Final Friday in Cincy

Friday night was Cincinnati's Final Friday Gallery Walk. I decided to check out the galleries along Main St. in stead of going to the Pendleton Arts Center. Jake Constantine 's "A Comma in the Sky" exhibition at the Creative Gallery was playful, exploring the media's influence on life, culture and art. His show hangs until March 25 and the Creative Gallery is at 1315 Main St... check it out.

(I laughed out loud when I saw the VHS in a casket... maybe it was the wine, but I still think its pretty fun)

Just a couple doors down, Andrew Neyer showed his "Pick a Pocket" series of large cut-out figures painted with acrylic at the 1305 Gallery. Each figure has an over-sized pocket with a wallet inside for you to rummage through.


At the Chamber offices, Visionaries and Voices artist Kevin White showed his work, "Life on Canvas"... intense color palettes, patterns of lines and dots.


And at Peaslee Neighborhood Center, Tim Freeman has his photography up in the main lobby. I didn't get any pictures, but think grainy inner-city portraits and cityscapes on textured paper.

After the galleries, some friends and I went down to the Contemporary Arts Center, who has rejoined the event line-up for final fridays. CAC presents CAC Contemporary Fridays, a post-gallery walk event with DJs spinning tracks, drinks and dancing. It was a fun time with a decent turn out, but we walked in on a series of older rock ballad-type songs that (to me) was quite off-putting. Once some Michael Jackson remixes came on, I was a happy camper :) Not quite sure how the event is profitable, seeing as though I watched a number of people come in without paying a cover (myself included) and the amount of staff on hand seemed like over-kill. But oh well, not my problem.

Around 11:30 we headed over to Gypsy Hut in Northside to see GLUE... great live performance as always. If you can check them out.

Ruby, Freesia, and Nina

Last night was a fun night that started at Ruby Tuesday (the bar, not the chain restaurant). I was invited to go see Ethan (this is his blog about doing dances/movement in public places) perform with his friend Issac. The show opened with a performance piece by Micah: He was hilarious... made the half of the bar that was playing pool feel EXTREMELY AWKWARD (yay!). Ethan and Issac played a set together that captured everyone's attention and moved from upbeat to melancholy and ended with a fast-paced plucking piece. Ethan plays cello and Issac plays guitar. Good stuff... they're playing this Saturday at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati if you wanna check it out (and I suggest you do).

After the show, Ethan, his partner Will and I went to Union for a couple drinks. Still being new to the city, I was happily surprised to see a full house, $3 Long Islands (made shot for shot. no mix crap), and Nina West performing with other queens (of which we only caught Freesia Balls and Nina).

Thanks for the free shots! ...And here's another plug that this Saturday and Sunday is the Miss Great Lakes EOY 2009 Pageant.

It's at Axis.

POS at Skully's

Rapper P.O.S. (of the Rhymesayers label) will be at Skully's. P.O.S. (with Plain Ole Bill and others) are performing in Columbus this Wednesday and are sure to put on a good show. The performance is part of a CD launch tour for his latest album, Never Better, which came out on the 3rd of this month. Don't expect this to be your typical hip hop show. POS's musical style borrows heavily from punk and rock, and transcends the idea of genre. Check out his video "Drumroll" off the new album.

Worth your time: Andy Warhol, drag queens, and hip hop

Here are some upcoming events that will be worth your time:

Happening in Columbus:

ANDY WARHOL: OTHER VOICES, OTHER ROOMS @ The Wexner Center

Sept 13, 2008 - Feb 15, 2009 (its the last week to see it!)
Sure, I'm behind on this one, but I just moved back. This thursday from 4-8pm its free to get in and they'll have alcohol for purchase. Adult admission (outside of Thurs evening): $8


GREAT LAKES EOY 2009 @ Axis

Feb. 21, 8pm & Feb. 22, 9p
General admission: $8 (call for tables)
This will be a pageant worth seeing so get there early. The doors open an hour before it begins. It's an official pre-lim for the National Entertainer of the Year Pageant. Dee Ranged (national EOY 2007) will obviously be there (yay!). I'm excited to see her living up here in Columbus... I can remember her Spicy Diva days at Pipline (former Cincy gay bar) back in '03. Her performance to Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach" killed it.



Happening in Cincinnati:

GLUE @ Gypsy Hut

Feb. 27, they say it'll start at 10, but i'd guess most likely 11ish
Admission: $3-5
I always love when Glue stops by Cincinnati for one of their regular shows at Gypsy Hut. This three part hip hop group (DjDQ, Adeem, & Maker) always put on a great show and make great music. Who knows... maybe Mr. Dibbs will be there too?! Now that the Northslice pizza window is open in the back of the bar you can soak up some of the alcohol and satisfy your munchies before you call it a night.

Columbus... first impressions

Friday was my first full day back in Columbus. I decided to walk the OSU campus, Short North, and Arena District) to see if I could blindly find some good stickers, pastes, or graf... this is what I found on day one:














Saturday night was the monthly gallery hop on High St. I was glad to see some great work. The Kiaca Gallery (Contemporary African Art)exhibited Andre Coleman's work: large-scale portraits of jazz's legends done with graphite... very nice.

Maggie Hardin and Trish Lander's show was another great stop at the Sean Christopher Gallery at Health Perspectives. Here's a quick pic i took of Maggie's mask-inspired sculptures:


After the gallery hop, we got a bite to eat at Press Grill and then went over to Axis for Virginia West Presents: FREAKSHOW. Great performances by most of the queens, plus I got to see Penny Tration... looks like we both made the trip up from Cincy!

Over-all... a good first weekend back.

Best of Cincinnati

Update: I'm moving back to Columbus... well... ok I've already moved, but I do have my place in Cincy for the next week. Leaving the Nati has made me reflect on all the great places it has to offer. And with all of these memories bottling up in my head, I decided to compile my own "Best of." So here are my 50 favorite food- and entertainment-centered places not to miss in the 513.

~The Gay Bars~
... if its "not your scene" then get over it
Bronz's Hip Hop Night (Thursdays at the northside gay bar)
Friday night drag shows at The Dock
Saturdays at Adonis
Bullfishes
Below Zero Lounge
Golden Lion Lounge
Serpent (Check out their sex shop, 77 Leather )

~The Northside Stuff~
...for the out-of-towners, this is a great neighborhood known for social activism, cincy's indie scene (okay, hipsterville if you wanna be a dick about it)
Gypsy Hut (while you're there, grab some pizza at Northslice)
Northside Tavern
Blue Rock Tavern
Melt
The Hideaway
Portofino's
NYPD Pizza
Boswell Alley
Shake It Records
Bughouse Video

~Gas Light District~
...nice walkable neighborhood off of UC's campus
Matthew O'Brien Diggs III Plaza (Nice sculpture/fountain, Jazz in the summer)
Esquire Theatre
Ambar India
Habanero
Thai Cafe

~OTR~
...Cincinnati's controversial ghetto-turned-artsy-turned-gentrified neighborhood adjacent to the central business district. still good times to be had despite the influx of assholes.
Elementz (non-profit hip hop youth center!)
Final Friday Gallery Walk
Peaslee Center (great early child development program and innovative preschool gardening curriculum)
Venice On Vine (good pizza with an inspiring reason to eat it)
Know Theatre (indie theater company)
Grammer's (lots of board games, free popcorn(!), friday dance parties)
Mr. Pitiful's
Kaldi's (RIP... come back soon)
Mixx
Lucy Blue pizza window (Walnut St location)
Coffee Emporium (good sandwiches, too!)
Courtyard Cafe
Tucker's (I prefer the one on Vine St)


~Downtown~
...go forth... make your city
Paul Brown Stadium (Go Bengals!)
Fountain Square
Rock Bottom (sit on the patio and have the beer sampler after work)
Via Vite
Palomino's (great view of the square)
Ingredients (good lunches)
Akash India
Diner on Elm (formerly the Marrakech Cafe... GREAT falafel)
Arnold's
Madonna's
The Beer Sellar (good view of the city from the riverfront)

~Other~
Mt. Echo Park (good view of the city from the west. plus, who doesn't love swings?!
Bellevue Hill Park (in Clifton... good view of OTR and the city from the north)
Annie's (home of Scribble Jam... here's a pic of Anna and I at the 2008 event)
Cincy Graf (Annie's; highways 71, 75, and 562; rooftops of OTR and Northside)
Contemporary Arts Center (its free on mondays, 5-9pm)
Saturday's at OTRCH (affordable housing non-profit)

Take a look at this ode to balloons! Its been out for a while, but I still love it. Check out the LED-helium balloon structure "the burble" from London's 2007 fashion week, and the eco-friendly garden gnome balloons that are biodegradable and plant seeds when it deflates... the video at the end of the article: GREAT!