The Cavs Probably Shouldn’t Trade LeBron
From ESPN.com: In his annual Trade Value column, Bill Simmons ranks LeBron as the least tradeable player in the NBA, just ahead of Dwight Howard and Tim Duncan. And, yes, LeBron’s the only Cav on the list.
Public Square: What’s with the Gushfest over Terry Pluto?
When is the love fest between Terry Pluto and Page One going to end? My God. Enough is enough. Do we have to read his crap after every win? And then we have to read 20 inches from his “Scribbles” crap after every game. Mary Kay Cabot has the same sort of wrap up after…
Public Square: Democracy at its Lowest, Starring the Cuyahoga Democratic Party
Endless hours on the phone trying to convince volunteers to attend the Democratic endorsement meeting at Euclid High School this past Saturday. Praying just for the opportunity to have your candidates name brought before the executive committee for nomination. Along with all this hard phone work comes the anticipation that you really do have chance…
This Just In: Chris Rock, Chris Brown, the Bravery, and 52 more shows for your day-planner
Chris Rock plays the Palace February 8. This week, Santa’s sleigh is loaded up with 55 new concerts. Singer Chris Brown. Comedian Chris Rock. An all-star blues festival. Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, and Buddy Miller — simultaneously. New-new wave heroes the Bravery. Christian sensations Casting Crowns. Pink Floyd tribute Wish You Were Here.…
BBC Cuts Up “Fairytale of New York”
Our all-time favorite Christmas song – that would be the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl’s “Fairytale of New York” – is in the news today. Apparently the BBC just realized (20 years after the song first came out!) that MacColl calls Pogues’ frontman Shane MacGowan a “faggot” at one point. (In case you’re not familiar with…
Natural Gas’ Accident-Free Record Explodes. Literally
If you’re one of the hundreds of people in Cuyahoga County who have decided to drill a natural gas well in your backyard, you may want to read this. When Scene ran a story recently chronicling the new suburban oil and gas boom (“The Gates Millbillies”, the guys in the drilling business boasted that putting…
Taxi Driver Says Flats Are Scary, Explains That Christie’s Bus
A taxi driver named Chuck called Scene today in response to Gus Garcia-Roberts’ recent article about the Flats, “The Wild, Wild West Bank.” I’m a taxi driver, and the neighborhood of the Mirage is one of the most dangerous places I fear in the city. I wanted to let you know, I’ve heard from various…
Why Does Every Cleveland Sports Slogan Have to Be So Jesus-y?
Associated Press, Heaven Bureau, Dec. 18, 2007 – Just days after the Browns unveiled their new “Believeland” campaign, officials here have asked Cleveland’s sports franchises to stop using religious-sounding slogans to promote their sports teams, citing fear that local fans might think actually God cares about sports. The Heavenly Committee for Slogans and Signage penned…
In This Moment: Pre-Show Acoustic Set at Peabody’s
Before In This Moment open the Ozzy Osbourne/Rob Zombie concert, the female-fronted California metal band will appear at Rockstar Cleveland (2083 ½ E. 21st St., above Peabody’s) Thursday, December 20. The group will greet fans and perform an acoustic set. Doors open at 5 p.m. No cover, all ages. — D.X. Ferris
The Twelve Days of Holidays, Part VIII: [Junk] in a Box
Whether you’re celebrating Kwanzaa, Christmas, or Hanukkah, it’s the gift that keeps on giving: Saturday Night Live’s “Dick in a Box.” Justin Timberlake and Adam Sandberg’s soulful slow jam won an Emmy. Click here for the uncensored version. — D.X. Ferris Previously on The Twelve Days of Holidays …
Murder in Painseville: Could court ruling help cops’ case against Tyrone Jeffries?
It’s hardly a secret that prosecutors and police in Painesville believe Tyrone Jeffries got away with murder. Tyrone’s wife, Jennifer, brought 21-year-old Dustin Spaller to a park on the night of December 3, 2001, supposedly to arrange a crack deal between the boy and her husband. Just hours later, a fisherman discovered Dustin’s lifeless body,…
Ladies’ Night Under Attack!
Ladies like Ladies’ Night because it means free or cheaper drinks. Men like Ladies’ Nights because there’s a lot of ladies at the bar. This ain’t Kant. It ain’t even Dr. Phil. But one man — Roy Den Hollander, a lawyer in the hoighty-toity land of Manhattan — just doesn’t get it. And he threatens…
The Browns Are Just So Umami
It’s hard to find an apt way to describe the 2007 Browns’ season so far. Peter King, among others, had them pegged for one of the two worst teams in the league, and suddenly, they’re 9-5, sitting atop the NFC North with the Steelers, and on the verge of clinching a playoff berth. “Believeland,” a…
12 Days of Christmas, the Jewish Edition
Move over, Adam Sandler. Looks like your “Hanukkah Song” is about to get some competition. A 17-year-old British pop singer, Lauren Rose, is making headlines with her just-released single, an English version of the Jewish wedding classic “Hava Nagila.” And according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz (a totally unbiased source), British bookies are betting that…
Can Tat Artists Turn Down HIV-Pos Customers? Ten Years Later, the Answer’s Still No
For the past 25 years, we’ve been bombarded by AIDS education, from how the disease is actually transmitted to prevention. Still, it appears that these grade-school lessons have been lost on most of the general public. Take the recent case of John Napier. The 24-year-old was diagnosed with HIV in August. A fan of tattoos…
The PD’s 153-Word Headline
There are a few things they teach you in journalism school, according to people who were allowed into such institutions. Rule number one: a 153-word headline for a story is probably a little too long. Via Fark.com, Cleveland.com used exactly that many words to set up an article on guns and Ohio. Check it out…
Akron’s Waitresses Still Know What Boys Like
More holiday spirit, more free music: The Waitresses, who rode Akron’s new-wave boom to early-MTV fame with “I Know What Boys Like,” have posted an album of outtakes to its website. Fans can download the entire album for free and read songwriter Chris Butler’s notes (singer Patty Donahue died of cancer in 1996). Unfortunately, the…
The 12 Days of Holidays, Part VII: Charlie Brown’s Funky Christmas
Set to a soundtrack of OutKast’s “Hey Ya,” the web classic “Hey Ya Charlie Brown” shows what Charlie Brown’s Christmas would have been like if Franklin had been calling the shots instead of some manic-depressive, bald white kid. — D.X. Ferris
Public Square: Was Kucinich a Race Baiter, or was Our Story a Hit Job?
A vigorous debate is breaking out over our story “King of Spin: How Dennis Kucinich remade himself from race-baiting bomb-thrower to liberal sweetheart.” While some have found the story an interesting take on Cleveland’s man who would be president, others see it as a “hit job.” Zee offers the latest thoughts on this most pressing…
When Virgins Attack (By Phone)
From Jill Miller Zymon’s Writes Like She Talks blog: Apparently the folks pushing for abstinence-only education — the same people our Lisa Rab recently told you were clamoring for more cash — have gotten into the annoying and aggressive polling business. — Joe P. Tone
For Florida Sex Offenders, It’s Under the Bridge or Back to Jail
And you thought Ohio was strange: By passing legislation that prohibits convicted sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a school, Miami and Dade County have basically made the entire county off-limits for the ex-cons. So the state’s set up a special place for them — under a bridge. From the Miami New Times…
Will Ferrell and Friends to Play OSU
It’s in Columbus, but it might be worth the drive: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Demetri Martin and Nick Swardson will share the stage at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center in February, part of a campus tour to promote Ferrell’s new comedy, Semi-Pro, and his humor video web site, FunnyOrDie.com. You can get tickets here. Variety covers…
Shocking Revelation: Reporter Catches Marc Dann Using the S-word!
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann just can’t seem to catch a break. Last month, a reporter from the Dayton Daily News broke a story exposing dirty words in Marc Dann’s internal office e-mail conversations [First Punch, November 21]. The story seemed a bit anti-climactic, considering the reporter combed through 4,300 e-mails, only to find one…
Reader: Black People Unwelcome in Flats, Warehouse District, Everywhere
A reader chimes in, via voice mail, on “The Wild, Wild West Bank,” a story in this week’s Scene about Flats’ business owners’ efforts to shut down Mirage. I came from Colinwood, and I came from residential streets. I’ve seen the same behavior that [Scene] wrote about in the Flats and in Mirage. I’ve seen…
Let’s Go to the Replay Booth: Flats chaos, caught on tape
As detailed in a story published this week, “The Wild, Wild West Bank,” hip-hop nightclub Mirage on the Water is currently being sued by Cleveland City Council, which hopes to strip the club of its liquor license. The owner of Downtown Self Storage, located a block from Mirage, has helped the cause by capturing footage…
Trakas Announces Congressional Bid; Someone Light the Barbecue
Jim Trakas is hoping West Side voters may actually support a Republican The battle for Dennis Kucinich’s congressional seat in 2008 is so hot it could toast a Pop-Tart. Since the West Side congressman decided three years ago that it would be way more fun to represent Hawaii and California – “Bill it to that…
Cuyahoga Commissioners: Be Still, Thy Peasants, and Don’t Talk at Our Meetings
County commissioners have hired a new consultant (pictured above) to help them open greater dialogue with the people they represent The Cuyahoga County commissioners, noted defenders of freedom and leading financial scholars [“Lose Excess Wallet Weight!” December 12], have come up with a new version of democracy for our little kingdom. Traditionally, the public comment…
Dave Eggers and Why It Sucks to be a New York Writer
Dave Eggers discovered that even at the big New York magazines, they still make you show up for no reason, just like real jobs Last night Dave Eggers, erstwhile writer of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and the founder of the literary magazine McSweeney’s, came to the Cleveland Public Library to talk about art…
Mired University: The President is Arrested as the Myers Saga Continues
Myers President Richard Scaldini should be fired by a court-appointed receiver today. Earlier this year, when we detailed Myers University’s fall from grace, the school’s president, Richard Scaldini, sounded confident he could save the school. Months later, he’s been arrested and is about to get fired. A judge has appointed a receiver named Mark Dottore…
A Critic’s Pick: This Weekend, Stroll into Hudson’s Downtown 140
There’s just something about the Christmas season that makes us want to reconnect with the past: to silence the cell phone, zip up the laptop, and simply stroll along an old-fashioned Main Street, where colored lights twinkle, treetops sparkle, and festive wreaths beckon from every doorway. In other words, we want to go to Hudson.…
Akron’s Gun-Toting Council President Pleads Idiocy … and Gets Off!
Last month, we reported that Akron City Council president Marco Sommerville “accidentally” carried a loaded .38-caliber through security at Akron-Canton Airport. Seems he didn’t notice all those big ass signs saying “No Guns Allowed.” A few days later, Sommerville was charged with a felony. If convicted, his 20-year tenure on City Council would have come…
Juan-Gone, Justice Lead List of Indians in Mitchell Report
Paul Byrd’s on the list. Are you? The Mitchell Report was unveiled this afternoon. Bad news for true baseball fans, unfortunately. Names were named and the 74 year-old former Senator sucker punched Major League Baseball in the eye like only a 74 year-old man can – with 410 pages of babbling nonsense. In your obligatory…
Dick Feagler: Santa Claus has Turned Pansy
Today’s topic: Santa Claus I was at the coffee shop, and the guys all agree: Santa Claus has turned pansy. Why, back in my day, Claus was a real guy who lived at the North Pole, which was over on Euclid, which used to have department stores where a guy could buy a plow horse…
Public Square: Teacher Refuses to Teach Until She Gets Apology
Some time ago you did a story on White Hat Management [“Education at its Worst,” August 29]. I kept that story for the longest time and shared it with others, specifically a teacher at Hope Academy, who was later fired, because she had the audacity to speak up and say how a school should be…
Profiles in Alcoholism: German dude disposes of vodka the old-fashioned way
When told by airport security personnel that the two-pints of vodka in your luggage needs to be thrown out in order to board your plane, the normal person might respond by offering a few meager words of protest before resigning to buy a new bottle after landing. The typical hardened alcoholic, on the other hand,…
Concert Cheat Sheet: Motion City Soundtrack
Who: Motion City Soundtrack When: Friday, December 14 Where: The Agora Theater Why: MCS are the poppiest of all emo groups. Hard to get bummed out by all that heartbreak when the hooks are this killer. Latest Album: Even if It Kills Me Best Album: Even if It Kills Me Didja Know? The Cars’ Ric…
Peking Gourmet is Dead. Long Live Peking Gourmet
In September, we shared with you the sad, sad news that Peking Gourmet, the fabulous vegetarian Chinese restaurant in University Heights, was closing. What were we to do without their sultry, 180-calorie tofu chocolate cheesecake? Their sumptuous, crunchy General Tso fake-chicken? Many a tear was shed over the imminent closing, let us tell you. Happily,…
Madonna, Cohen Top ’08 Rock Hall Picks
Madonna’s never made a rock song. She’s a worthy pick anyway. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its 2008 inductees this morning, and the winners are about as predictable as can be. There’s an oldies group (the Dave Clark Five), a heartland hitmaker with some rock-and-roll cred (John Mellencamp), and the annual WTF?…
Explaining Kevin O’Brien & the Really Cool Thing about the 2nd Amendment
We read Kevin O’Brien so you don’t have to … Column: It’s nice to see a gun even things up a bit December 12, 2007 Topic: Kevin addresses the recent religious shootings in Colorado, where two teenage girls died, their dad got shot, but at least a church security guard got to blast a bad…
Feagler: Mount Pleasant’s a Bunch of Swishers & Fairies
Today’s topic: The Plain Dealer’s five-part series on Mount Pleasant … I was at the coffee shop, and the guys all agree: Mount Pleasant was better back in my day. Back in my day, everybody was poor, and we didn’t write five-part series about it, because we liked it. Which is why we called it…
The Twelve Days of Holidays, Part V: Christmas Goose, Holiday Turkey, Robot Chicken
If you missed Robot Chicken’s Half-Assed Christmas Special this weekend, here’s a little Festivus miracle for you, courtesy YouTube. Led by Seth “Scott Evil” Green, the Robot Chicken crew are the geniuses who have parodied Star Wars using stop-motion animation and pop-culture references. Click here for part two. Look for parodies of the Charlie Brown…
Crank That Coup: With Andy Back, LeBron and Co. Dance Around the Boos
Cavs fans weren’t sure how they were going to greet Anderson Varejao in his return to the team. After all, he and his agent, Dan Fegan, did just execute some super-sneaky maneuvering on Danny Ferry, who’s like our uncle that we barely love. And even though Varejao missed a quarter of the season, ruined his…
Concert Cheat Sheet: The Sword
Who: The Sword When: Wednesday, December 12 Where: The Grog Shop Why: These Austin rockers bring a Texas-size stomp to their doom metal, which is familiar to anyone who’s rocked the plastic axes of Guitar Hero II. Latest Album: Age of Winters Best Album: Age of Winters Didja Know? Drummer Trivett Wingo was a high-school…
Shred Those Abs the Winslow Way!
In an interview with Stack, Kellen Winslow Jr. explains that Miami was a compromise with Sr. The Plain Dealer ran a short profile yesterday of Stack, a locally produced national magazine that targets high-school athletes with tips on training and nutrition, straight from the pros and big-time college programs. Surfing the site, you’ll come across…
Okkervil River + Otis Redding + Free = Yay
Giving away music is the new selling music, and Okkervil River is all over the trend. Keeping in the spirit of the season, Okkervil River – which released one of our favorite albums of 2007, The Stage Names — is giving away a cool Golden Opportunities mixtape on its website. The nine-cut download includes live…
Shopping Under the Influence: Promotion gives new meaning to “Shop ‘til you drop”
The three-martini lunch may be history, but if our pals at Woodmere’s upscale Eton-Chagrin Boulevard shopping center have their way, the days of tipsy Christmas shopping are just beginning. Long the domain of gin-addled housewives whiling away their empty hours with a bottle of Beefeater in one hand and the QVC phone number in the…
Jamal Lewis: Prison time won’t affect Michael Vick
I’m not complaining — we reporters are all for lax PR — but it seems like the usually savvy media-relations machine at the Browns let one past them this week, when Jamal Lewis appeared on ESPN’s Cold Pizza (the clip is above and here) to discuss Michael Vick’s 23-month sentence for killing dogs, beating dogs,…
Hey Greedy Assholes Who Found Money in the Wall: Ever Hear of Division?
Lost amid the uplifting “City Finances Hosed” story and the “City Neighborhoods Screwed” story in this morning’s Plain Dealer is a pretty fascinating story that should never have become so damn fascinating. The lowdown: A contractor ripping up a friend’s bathroom — note that word: “friend’s” — stumbled on some boxes stuffed with really old…
Cash Machine
On an October Sunday in 2006, Dennis Blaeuer was curled up with The New York Times at his home in Virginia when a headline caught his eye: “Campaign Cash Mirrors a High Court’s Rulings.” The story detailed how Ohio Supreme Court justices routinely sit on cases after receiving hefty campaign contributions from the parties involved.…
Free for All
When Radiohead offered its new album, In Rainbows, to anyone with an internet connection a couple months back, you couldn’t Google without bumping into a story about it. “Revolutionary!” “It’ll change the way record companies sell music!” “Cool!” These were typical responses heard and read throughout the world regarding the band’s decision to let fans…
Gil Mantera’s Party Dream
Imagine a homoerotic interpretive-dance tribute to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. With guitars. That pretty much sums up Gil Mantera’s Party Dream live. The duo’s first DVD captures two sweatbox club shows from Chicago; the only thing missing from this concert souvenir is scratch-and-sniff stickers. Three songs in, you’ll be glad there aren’t…
Merry & Gay
You won’t catch Sue Doerfer lighting up the dance floor at tonight’s Winter Wonderland 2007. But you can track down the human-rights activist as she schmoozes more than 200 revelers to patch together Northeast Ohio’s gay community for the holidays. “I don’t dance unless someone embarrasses me and drags me out there,” laughs Doerfer, the…
Killer Climax
The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) The final installment in the Bourne-again trilogy is the one in which the CIA assassin’s true identity is revealed. It’s the origin story in reverse — how brilliant. But solving the mystery (and misery, as Jason Bourne’s among the most tormented action heroes of all time) is only half the kick.…
K. Voegele Replaces K-Fed
Bay Village native Kate Voegele will appear in a multi-episode run of The CW Network’s One Tree Hill, beginning with the January 22 episode. Voegele, who recently relocated to Los Angeles, made the cut at an open-casting call. “We wanted someone who could inhabit the character from an acting perspective — and obviously, someone who…
Various Artists
If the past couple years of local hip-hop breezed right by you, this mix is a good way to get caught up. It gathers some of the city’s top rappers — including Ray Cash and Chip Tha Ripper — and features a remix of the area’s best rap song of 2007, Al Fatz’s monstrous “Came…
Hillbilly City Limits: Pop. 24
A hodgepodge of offbeat Texans populates Kent State University’s Trumbull Theatre for this weekend’s run of A Tuna Christmas. The comedy takes place in Tuna, the Lone Star State’s third-smallest town, where residents compete in the annual Christmas lawn-display contest. Eight actors play all 24 roles, including an owner of a used-weapons store and a…
Almost Famous
At a Guitar Hero tournament a few months back, one kid complained to me that Expert Mode is “too easy.” Then he demonstrated the game’s secret Hyper Speed mode. My pupils nearly ruptured at the sight of him as he navigated the light-speed stream of colored notes; it looked like the trippy ending to 2001:…
The Frode Gjerstad Trio
Most Americans see Norway as a region filled with giant musical question marks. But the frigid birthplace of black metal is also home to a thriving jazz-improv scene that revolves around an interlocking group of musicians. And Frode Gjerstad has been at the center of the movement since the 1980s. The sax and clarinet player…
Carrett Shtick
New York comic Lord Carrett insists that 90 percent of his act mirrors real life: His dad does own a bar; his sister is super-religious; and his second wife did walk out on their marriage 90 days after they moved cross-country to L.A. from the Big Apple. “I learned a lot from that relationship,” says…
No Place Like Gnome
A strange dwarf replaces Santa Claus as “the guy in red” in Convergence-Continuum’s production of Demon Baby. In Erin Courtney’s dark comedy, the goblin haunts an American-born writer as she creates pamphlets for kids who have relocated to London. But her party-hardy husband, Art, ignores her tales of the apparition. The brush-off only makes her…
Bourne Again
TOP PICK — The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal) Matt Damon returns as globe-trotting amnesiac Jason Bourne for a third outing — his most turbo-charged adventure. Ultimatum — now out on DVD — follows a familiar setup: Someone’s trying to kill Bourne, so he goes from city to city (Moscow, Paris, and London this time) trying to…
Charlie Louvin
Most music legends wouldn’t think to compare themselves to a jackass. But 80-year-old country pioneer Charlie Louvin finds pride and a sense of loyalty in the association. Overworked, a horse will go on strike, he says. But “a mule will work until he falls dead. I suppose a horse has got more sense, but not…
Sorry State of Affairs
Re-reading Ian McEwan’s Atonement last weekend, my first thought was: I hope to God that Joe Wright — whose broadly grinning Pride & Prejudice made a mess of Jane Austen two years ago — doesn’t screw up this wonderful novel about lust, love, loss, and what art can do to life. My second was: What…
Bloggonit!
Words collide with art in the world of self-publishing tonight, when San Francisco writer Dave Eggers and New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman powwow for Pen & Ink, the latest installment of the Spectrum: The Lockwood Thompson Dialogues series. “We’re trying to look at the back-and-forth of pop culture and fine art,” says Corrie…
Tall Tale
“Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.” The columnist Franklin Pierce Adams said that, and there’s no more bracing counterpoint to the fits of nostalgia that run rampant this time of year. The Grand Marshal of this annual nostalgia parade might be A Christmas Story, the warm and witty…
Barry Manilow
Like Rod Stewart, Barry Manilow knows the value of old songs. But unlike Rod (who caught his third career wind by recording 76 albums’ worth of tunes your grandma got busy to back in the day), Manilow has slowly been working his way through the 20th century, starting with the 1950s. But you wouldn’t know,…
It’s All Downhill
Lyn Lucius has heard it all before: Skiing is too hard, too much work, too dangerous. But she’s not buying the excuses for today’s Learn to Ski lessons. “It’s not as hard as people think. I learned to ski on ice,” says Lucius, a member of the Cleveland Metro Ski Council. “The falls come with…
Petal to the Metal
Rocker-turned-music-professor Martin Atkins groans at every undiscovered band that squanders stardom through sucky business savvy. So to plug his new book, Tour:Smart, the ex-drummer of British punk-rock pioneers Public Image Ltd. gives a pull-no-punches lecture tonight on the mistakes most bands make as they search for elusive record deals. “You don’t have it because you’re…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
NEW Dissolving Nature — Three years after she last showed in Cleveland, Lissa Bockrath is back. The wait was worthwhile. Having moved to the country, Bockrath is now taking cues from nature and producing images that are consistently sensuous. Her landscape subjects are mostly of the vast-valley and sweeping-mountains variety. Others are pure abstractions, explosive…
The Raspberries
The Raspberries have been basking in the glow of their reunion shows and the subsequent Live on Sunset Strip CD for a couple of years now. It’s fitting that the group — featuring all four original members — comes home for the holidays this week. Eric Carmen and crew racked up a string of medium-size…
What the Puck?
In its inaugural season, the Lake Erie Monsters hockey team is giving itself a crash course in public relations. At a Parma stop tonight on its “neighborhood tour,” players will sign autographs and slap around some pucks for fans. The tour will continue on January 14 with an evening stop at the Rocky River Rec…
Taking a Pounding
Pounding Nails in the Floor With My Forehead is a 100-minute, one-actor rant in two acts and ten scenes. It features the scathing, often acidly funny writing of playwright Eric Bogosian. The playwright’s 1987 Pulitzer-nominated play, Talk Radio, was made into a movie by Oliver Stone, if that tells you anything about how Bogosian’s mind…
Death by Decibels Tour
Cattle Decapitation hates you. The San Diego death-metal band’s lyrics are all about annihilating mankind. Think of it as vengeance laid upon humanity for raping the earth and everything on it, the band says. The brutally intense group — whose members are vegetarians, by the way — bulldozes through songs like it was on its way to…
Philly Cheesecakes
Liam and Me plays coy about its name, even though the bandmates go by Matt, Dan, Jon, amd McKenzie. But nobody’s going to care at their Cleveland Heights concert tonight, when the Pennsylvania indie-poppers share the bill with New York’s Action Action, Cleveland’s Midnight Passengers, and New Philadelphia’s Wake Hollywood. The GQ-handsome boys from Philly…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Beauty and the Beast — Back for its third and final appearance, the Beck Center production of this Walt Disney epic hasn’t lost any of its charm. Dan Folino is still comically shivering as the Beast, and Natalie Green will warm any little girl’s heart as the beauteous Belle. Even though the show is almost…
The Lemonheads
At some point, Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando must have realized that no one really knew who he was. This most likely happened sometime earlier this decade, when he was trying to make it as an alt-country troubadour — just like Gram Parsons, one of his musical heroes. Dando didn’t get far, even with all the…
Tinkle Belle
Before she married her Ohio-born husband, Helen Welch believed him when he told her it flurried for only a couple of weeks during an average Cleveland winter. Nothing prepared her for the more than 100 inches of snow that fell after she moved (here?) from her native England in 2003. Because she now knows better,…
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week:
Beverly Hills 90210: The Third Season (Paramount) Big Love: The Complete Second Season (HBO) Born Killers (Lionsgate) The Boston Red Sox 2007 World Series Collector’s Edition (A&E) The Conscientious Objector (Cinequest) Dave Attell: Captain Miserable (HBO) Dirt: The Complete First Season (Buena Vista) Flight 29 Down: Volume Three (Discovery Kids) Frasier: The Tenth Season (Paramount)…
OneRepublic
No one really considers filthy-rich old-fart Rupert Murdoch a shrewd record-company exec. But the Fox media mogul has catapulted tons of bands onto folks’ iPods and into record stores over the past couple years for one simple reason: He owns MySpace. So, when you think about it, the dude could very well be one of…
Taking out the Thrash
Cleveland’s Neil Zaza shreds guitar for tonight’s One Silent Night concert. But don’t think the two-hour show is all thrash-rock on holiday staples like “O Holy Night” and “Little Drummer Boy”: Zaza will share the stage with the Lakewood Project, Lakewood High’s professional-caliber rock orchestra, along with Italian musicians he met on tour and a…
The Wee, Wee Café
Eight tables, a handkerchief-size kitchen, and a scurrilously embellished set of stairs leading down to the basement restrooms: What is it about this unlikely little slice of Ohio City real estate that leads restaurateurs to keep trying to make it a success? Ever since 2003, when singularly named Denajua — an ardent Francophile — crafted…
Christmas Karaoke.
Two words: Christmas. Karaoke. First loosen up with a couple Christmas Trees — that’s Rumple Minze mixed with Sprite. Oh, don’t make that face . . . It’s good. OK, instead throw back a Black Christmas — that’s Guinness plus Great Lakes Brewing Company’s spicy Christmas Ale, and they have it on tap. Then let…
I’m Not a Terrorist, Biatch!
Yeah, he’s glad he’s big (his act is big enough?) enough to have to travel far and wide for gigs. But Boston-born comic Bill Burr would rather stay home in his adopted L.A. than endure another strip search at airport terminals. He’s done that dance so much, he’s convinced that Homeland Security has botched the…
Head East
We’ve been jonesing lately for Asian fare — a craving that has taken us to Japanese, Thai, and Chinese spots around the region. That includes Chagrin Falls’ always-reliable Hunan by the Falls (508 East Washington Street, 440-247-0808), where the kitchen tempts upscale-American palates with sassy Asian stylings. Take a recent $17.95 seasonal special: slices of…
Hollibilly Ball
The inaugural edition of the Pussyfoot Girls’ new monthly party will be a December blowout to remember. On the third Saturday of every month, Cleveland’s resident roots-rock burlesque troupe will henceforth host Jump in the Sac. This month’s subtitle is Hollibilly Ball, a yuletide bash with West Virginia psychobilly punks the Heptanes, the moonshine-burning Amazing…
All in the Family
Shaker Heights native Rhonda Brown takes after her artistic father, Malcolm, as she exhibits 20 new paintings in Shine Your Light on the World. So it’s only fitting that the collection will be housed until early January in the hometown gallery that bears her dad’s name. The African American-themed display of vividly colored art is…
Legend Has It
There are two momentous performances in the Darwinian horror fable I Am Legend. One is by the movie’s star, Will Smith. The other is by the movie’s visual effects — not the ones that bring to life a nocturnal army of shrieking, carnivorous beasties (although those are impressively badass), but the effects that render a…
Os Mutantes
Last year, a trio of Os Mutantes’ original members played their first gig together in more than three decades at a concert that marked the 40th anniversary of tropicália, the influential, culture-spanning arts movement that sparked Brazil in the 1960s. Os Mutantes was one of the musical leaders of the group. On Barbican Theatre, London…
Treasure Island
It’s a fact of life that kids break toys. Still, what a waste of Mommy and Daddy’s hard-earned money when dolls’ heads turn up missing and the wheels roll off Matchbox cars. Nevertheless, that’s what the Akron Art Museum wants to see at this afternoon’s Island of Misfit Toys workshop. For four hours, kids can…
Respect the Paddle
How to bring discipline back to Cleveland schools is a question that’s long perplexed the district’s deepest thinkers — mainly because they’re first committed to figuring out how Papa John’s gets the cheese inside stuffed-crust pizza. Yet some rural Ohio districts believe they’ve held the answer for years: Smack ’em till they listen. At least…
Relatively Daring
There are comedies of discomfort, and then there’s Margot at the Wedding, Noah Baumbach’s scalding follow-up to The Squid and the Whale. An immersion in sibling malice and simmering resentment, with one of the most infuriating characters in recent movies holding us under, Margot tramples the commandment that only the pure of heart are worth…
Café Tacvba
As rock en español becomes less adventurous and more homogenized, leave it to the genre’s principal exponent — Mexico City’s Café Tacvba — to make one of its most wide-ranging albums. While Sino doesn’t quite simmer the way earlier records did, the mix of ’80s new wave, classic arena rock, and head-nodding power ballads still…
Strike a Pose
For the next two weekends, artist Shannon Casey will be cranking out Charcoal Portraits at breakneck speed, just in time for the gift-giving season. As long as you sit still, she’ll only take 30 minutes to draw your mug onto a 12-by-16-inch canvas. “Sometimes it’s shorter once I get going,” says Casey. “There are some…
Guns Half-Cocked
“Contract Killing,” November 14 These guys can’t pull their own trigger: This is disgusting. I would like to put all of these men (who are not really men at all) into a fenced-in area and hunt them. And I can’t believe they teach their children to slaughter animals. Then the idiots go home, mount the…
Pop Goes the Emo
There were times when Motion City Soundtrack singer and guitarist Justin Pierre’s drinking problem got way out of control. Not Keith Moon-style out of control; he never passed out onstage and had to be replaced by an audience member for the rest of the concert. But it came close a couple of times, says drummer…
Enter Shikari
The U.K.’s latest buzz band makes a noisy racket on its debut CD. But don’t believe the hype: Enter Shikari isn’t breaking any new ground. Stateside listeners will recognize Take to the Skies’ tuneful verses and larynx-shredding choruses as no more than a continental version of screamo. One difference: The English quartet punctuates nearly every…
Lotus Entertain You
A fortysomething metalhead, Todd Shainoff’s biological clock hasn’t stopped ticking; the Lotus Pedal guitarist simply winds up his internal timepiece before going onstage. Find out for yourself when the band opens for Buffalo’s Snotrockets tonight in Tremont. “What’s great is that we play all these metal fests. You have all these bands, and they’re half…
The Wild, Wild West Bank
A sparkling Buick creeps down the gridlocked street. Its front doors are flung open, unleashing the heavy bass of Young Jeezy. Other cars cruise by in the same cocky manner — doors open, passengers hanging out, bass thumping — as four hip-hop chart-toppers clash in one ear-piercing symphony. It’s 3:05 on a Sunday morning. This…
Copping an Attitude
Rodney King was attacked again last month, shot in the face with birdshot as he rode his bike. If you didn’t know better — that is, if you didn’t realize that King has managed to keep his pseudo-celebrity alive for nearly two decades, through a series of run-ins with the law — you’d almost figure…
The Pearlfishers
Over the past 20 years Scotland has treated us to some of the very best power pop and indie jangle known to man. The Pastels, Vaselines, and Teenage Fanclub all hail from the land of kilts and haggis. You can add the Pearlfishers to that list. Since 1989, singer-songwriter David Scott and his ever-rotating backing…
Hess Is More
Cleveland artist Derek Hess has been dipping into many creative cookie jars lately. His latest venture is tonight’s Every Day’s a Holiday sale and exhibit. Hess has created posters for Pantera, Thursday, and Pearl Jam, and his dark and brooding drawings are dynamic enough to stand out on any canvas — even as a tattoo…
Lose Excess Wallet Weight!
As the holidays approach with their annual onslaught of dieting advice, we’d like to offer a few humble tips on how to lighten an oft-overlooked load in your wallet. We understand that in these bountiful times, you may feel burdened by harboring too much money. So take a cue from the Cuyahoga County commissioners and…
How Does It Feel?
It might sound a little unconventional to hire six actors to play one guy. But Bob Dylan ain’t exactly the sort of role just anybody can get a handle on. After all, the legendary singer-songwriter has built his career on reinventing himself many, many times over the past four decades — and often with total…
Six Organs of Admittance
Ben Chasny has spent the past decade injecting a rosy, psych-folk vibe into several acoustic solo records, as well as into electric collaborations with veterans of the territory like Current 93 and Comets on Fire. On the latest album by his most steady project, Six Organs of Admittance, Chasny gets political, making protest music just…
Grave Consequences
Death doesn’t always have to be a downer. In Heddy Honigmann’s documentary, Forever, beauty and vivacity link the living to the dead. Set in Paris’ famed Père-Lachaise cemetery — where Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, and other luminaries are buried — the film focuses on commemorative graveyard art and sculpture. One man’s creep-out is another’s solace…
