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.

Miss Great Lakes EOY 2009 (2nd Night)

My friend Brian came up for the final night of the pageant, and more of the Columbus gays were there as well. Erica Andrews (National EOY 2006) co-hosted the evening... she looked flawless, and as the dozen or so drinks she had sank in, rants of sexually-explicit scenarios in Spanish were frequent. Here's a picture of Erica (left) and Nina West (right) addressing the crowd from the MC podium.

The night's performances were highlighted by numbers from Kitty Litter, Savion Simpson Black, D'Andre, Paige Passion, Dee Ranged, Nina West, Erica Andrews, Amber Stone, Hershae' Chocolate', and the four contestants. These pics are from the non-contestant talent of the evening:

Erica:


Nina:


Kitty:
(w/ Brian)


Dee:


Amber Stone:


Nickki Stevens:


Hershae Chocolate:


Savion Simpson Black:


THE CONTESTANTS:

Dashae(?) Desmond-Rose


Sashay Love


Trinity Taylor



AND THE WINNER IS (what a great time for my camera batteries to die)... TRINITY TAYLOR!

Miss Great Lakes EOY 2009 (1st Night)

Last night was bittersweet. Great entertainment with a lackluster attendance. My question: where was the big Columbus gay scene for the pageant? Thursday night you were out in force. And if the pageant would've happened at 11pm in stead of 8:30, you'd probably make it for the last half.

I'll be up front in admitting that I didn't stay for the cabaret that followed on the second floor, but the attendance from the local community for the pageant was obviously absent. The owner of the National EOY Pageant made it in. So did Missouri EOY 2008 Kitty Litter from St. Louis; Mr. EOY 2003 D'Andre from Houston; Mr. EOY 2008 Savion Simpson-Black; Nickki Stevens from Detroit; National EOY 2007 Dee Ranged; the Toronto EOY representative; queens from all over the state; and your hometown hero Miss Nina West, current National EOY title holder. But Columbus queers.... nope.

Oh well... the performances were great. Trinity Taylor's Trinspa Commercial was hilarious (a little too reminiscent of the I Love Lucy Vitameatavegamin routine, but still funny). Dee Ranged did the madonna/baby routine I blogged about recently (except apparently it was Whintey Houston's "I'm Every Woman"). Nina did her Beauty and the Beast number, and Kitty killed it with a dance that ended night one of the pageant. Here are my pics...

Nina West:


Kitty Litter:


Trinity Taylor:


Dee Ranged:


D'Andre:

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)