Did You Hear the One About Jesus’ Mom?
Stand-up comedian Kathie Dice suspects that her Methodist upbringing helped shape her decidedly non-Catholic take on the Virgin Mother’s immaculate conception in her one-woman show, I’m Just Me . . . Mary. “One Christmas Eve, I was at service, and the inspiration hit me: ‘What do you mean, I’m pregnant? Don’t you have to be…
Lifestyles of the Rich and Prepubescent
At 2:15 on a snowy afternoon in December, a few minutes before the start of the most exclusive soiree of the year, the nervous hostess steps back to survey the decor. She’s truly outdone herself this year. The room has been done up in contrasting shades of evergreen and wine. On every table sits a…
SSM
You know a trend has laminated its AARP card when a “supergroup” arrives. SSM features members of longtime Detroit garage-rock stalwarts the Hentchmen and the Sights. Like Asia, Damn Yankees, etc., SSM has taken the earmarks of a trend sound, wrenched them out perfectly, and rendered them pedantic in the process. There’s plenty of fuzzy…
Potty Training
In Mr. Lewis Rules: Stories From the Juvenile Justice System, Myron J. Lewis, a drug-and-alcohol counselor at Summit County Juvenile Court, recounts tales from his job. Among them is the story of a troubled teen who wanted to kill himself by drowning in a toilet. But the kid’s hands couldn’t reach the handle. So, Lewis…
Who Do You Believe?
John Bausone was the proud father of a baby daughter. It was his first kid, his wife’s first day home from the hospital, and he was riding an impossible high. So four days after Thanksgiving, he stopped by the Arabica he owns on East 185th Street and grabbed a cup of coffee, eager to crow…
Harper
Well, if a guy who’s a blues-harmonica whiz wants to get by with just one name, “Harper” is a better fit than most. And if Perth, Australia doesn’t automatically evoke the blues the way Memphis or the South Side of Chicago does, at least it’s a place where the records of the masters could be…
You Say You Want a Resolution
You probably made a New Year’s resolution in a drunken haze about a week and a half ago. You also probably haven’t done a damn thing about it. Kim Langley is here to help. At today’s Fine Art of Goal Setting program, Langley — president of Lakewood-based LifeBalance Enterprises, which holds self-help seminars around town…
Like an Onion
For the record: It’s unfortunate that Becky Meiser’s article was titled “Selling Kabbalah” [December 14] and that her reporting led others to believe my goal was to “market Jewish secrets to the masses.” In fact, I am proposing something quite different. Given the contemporary popularization of Kabbalah, rabbis and Jewish scholars ought to take the…
Rudy Ray Moore
The master of blaxploitation is back. The sexually explicit rhymes of Rudy Ray Moore (aka Dolemite), considered the predecessor of rap, had to be sold from behind the counters of record stores brave enough to carry them. Even in the ’70s, when the sexual revolution should have made such expressions trouble-free, his “party” albums such…
Don’t Cry – Clap!
Petite, girly Sarah Litzsinger, who plays Eva Perón in the musical Evita, says she identifies more with the power-hungry, manipulative First Lady of Argentina than with Belle, the imprisoned Beauty and the Beast heroine she portrayed on Broadway for two years. “My friends would tell me [after watching Beauty], ‘You’re really acting up there, because…
Heath in Heat
For your Heath Ledger holiday-movie options, you have a) a cowboy in love with another man, and b) history’s most infamous womanizer. Since the name Casanova is synonymous with an unquenchable thirst for straight sex with women (or at least for boasting about it), the role might seem to be a strategic selection for a…
EDEN Records Showcase
Indie and experimental rockers This Is Exploding, Infinite Number of Sounds, Winter of Discontent, and Brian Straw will headline the EDEN Records Compilation Volume 1 CD-release show at the Beachland Ballroom on Saturday, January 7. The disc also features varied, creative-leaning rock from locals Run Run Addington, Madison East, Xela, and others. According to label…
The Russians Are Coming!
Like the day after too many shots of vodka, Swan Song + Confessions balances reflection, regret, and humor. As part of its Viva! and Gala Around Town Series, the Cleveland Museum of Art gathers a pair of satirical one-act plays — by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov and Nikolai Gogol — and presents them in a bite-sized…
Beautiful Dreamer
The gifted Irish novelist and filmmaker Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Michael Collins) says that his overriding concern is “how individuals work with what they’ve been given.” Case in point: Jordan’s new feature, Breakfast on Pluto. This bittersweet, gender-bending drama takes a page from Candide — its beleaguered hero, too, happily perseveres in the face…
Run Avril Run
Seven reasons to see Run Avril Run, one of the more popular regulars across the Northeast Ohio club circuit: 1) Bowling For Soup’s “1985.” 2) Meatloaf’s “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” 3) Michael Stanley’s “Lover.” 4) Donnie Iris’ “Love Is Like a Rock.” 5) Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.” 6) Toni Basil’s “Mickey.” 7) High-energy…
Glory Days
Long before he catapulted to legendary-filmmaker status with 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange — and way before he scarred that legacy somewhat by having Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman contemplate dark, dank corners in the overly murky Eyes Wide Shut — Stanley Kubrick directed Paths of Glory. The 1957 antiwar treatise is…
Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations.
Dark Room — The conventional image we have of playwrights and poets is of lonely souls slaving away in a poorly lit basement. Well, you’ve got the location and the illumination right, but everything else about the Dark Room project is much cheerier. Sponsored by the Cleveland Theater Collective, it’s a once-a-month workshop/cabaret for writers…
Iyan Anomolie and Friends
Iyan Anomolie’s set at the Grog Shop will be his final performance as a Cleveland hip-hop artist. The renaissance rhymer says that this show will be the culmination of his tradition of multimedia presentations, and the room will be decorated with his original paintings and a video screen displaying his short-film work. Anomolie plans to…
Sound Affects
In 2004’s It’s All Gone Pete Tong, a popular club DJ loses his hearing, retreats from his adoring public, and goes into hiding. He surfaces some time later, a master on the decks — despite his disability. It was a good story. Only problem, it wasn’t true (though you wouldn’t know it by how straight…
Capsule reviews of current area art exhibitions.
Design for the Modern World: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Europe and America, 1880-1920 — The art museum’s first major arts-and-crafts show in years is notable not only for its enormous size, but for the many far-flung cultures (included are works from Germany, Scandinavia, Scotland, and Hungary) that share space. But what really unites…
The Strokes
The Strokes were labeled the saviors of N.Y.C.’s rock-and-roll scene when they oozed out of hipster enclaves (and, er, prep school) in 2001. But in the ensuing years, all the tricks that made the fab five so exciting — snappy hooks, half-drunken confessions of love/lust, and off-balance, VU-meets-AOR riffs — began to sound just as…
Taking the Fifth
There’s no greater hit in classical music than Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Those first four thundering notes have been used for everything from selling cars on TV to freaking out disco fans on the dance floor. The Cleveland Orchestra performs Ludwig van’s most popular composition this weekend, along with a couple of other pieces that can…
Beer Here!
You say your Christmas gifts were lame, the trip home was a nightmare, and the only promise the New Year holds is FAFSAs, tax forms, and Visa bills? Dude, you need a beer. Or maybe an entire world’s worth of them — call it a “World Tour of Beers,” if you will — composed of…
The Long Winters
Best thing we’ve heard in the past year? That would have to be this fantastic EP’s opening cut, “The Commander Thinks Aloud,” in which the Long Winters’ enigmatic frontman John Roderick caterwauls over a symphonic mess of a song. While obscurely tackling the two NASA shuttle disasters, Roderick stakes a claim on history that’s downright…
Game? What Game?
While we wish we could have nabbed one a month or so ago, we’re not complaining about the Cavs’ Winter Cap giveaway tonight. In fact, we can’t wait to score one. Not that recent promotions — like the Mr. Potato Head freebie — weren’t cool; but they sure don’t keep us warm on cold winter…
New Order Comin’ Up
“Whitechapel are better drinkers than we are musicians,” says Whitechapel singer-guitarist Ben Childs, taking a swallow from a tall, 23-ounce glass of black Smithwick’s Ale. “The beauty of what we do is that we’re drinking buddies.” Music has a little bit to do with it too. The Cleveland trio might be the city’s most signable…
Head Wound City
A prime example of a drunken idea that turned out to be a good one, Head Wound City is a noise-rock supergroup of sorts, featuring two members each from hypercore outfits the Locust and Blood Brothers, plus guitarist Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Recorded in a week, this seven-track EP is exactly nine…
Who You Gonna Call?
Ghosts are more photogenic than you think, says Elaine Hinton, organizer of today’s Meet the Spirits, in which folks armed with cameras will have an opportunity to snap pics of poltergeists floating around the Mentor bookstore A Touch of Serenity. In fact, only one shutterbug has ever walked away from one of Hinton’s events empty-handed,…
Tiny Drink, Big Headache
Mini-Margarita Monday reminds Hawk bartender Billy Thomas of sipping the orange-flavored drink under a palm tree in his native Orlando. Before serving the diminutive-but-potent cocktail (made of Grand Marnier, tequila, Triple Sec, 7-Up, and OJ), Thomas swirls the rim of an eight-ounce glass in kosher salt. “It’s like popcorn at the movies,” he says. “It…
Like Clichés on Acid
Let us now discuss the labyrinthine, in-your-face, introspective, esoteric, head-bobbing, fist-pumping, booty-shaking, genre-defying mélange of the Rock Critic Cliché milieu. (Riffage. Let us also discuss riffage.) Next time you spot one of these doofuses at a party (riffling through the host’s CD collection, pilfering all the Cheetos, sulking despondently in a darkened corner), ask him/her/me…
Prince Paul
Prince Paul might be the least commercially minded beatsmith in hip-hop to be afforded superproducer status. An old-school devotee still young enough to have helped widen hip-hop’s sonic palette during the now-mythologized late-’80s/early-’90s era, he’s often given credit for being the Godfather of alt rap for his work on De La Soul’s 1989 classic 3…
All Shook Up
Of all days the Elvis Birthday Tribute Tour is on the road this month, it stops in Cleveland today — on what would have been the King’s 71st birthday. Take that, Memphis! The show, hosted by Elvis impersonators Shawn Klush and Ryan Pelton, takes the audience through four Presley eras: It starts in the ‘50s…
Digging in the Dirt
Broken Flowers (Universal Home Entertainment) Bill Murray, who long ago swapped manic kineticism for melancholy deadpan, is once more mired in a middle-aged funk; what else is new? As Don Johnston, an aging lothario whose latest young girlfriend is walking out as the audience is just settling in, Murray’s on a reluctant quest to find…
Critical Fatwa
All hail Dr. Dre, who has spent his life lying with dogs, yet never catching fleas (or bullets). Unlike so many of those around him, Dre has always known that gangsta rap is music, not life. But so many others foolishly think that they are less cartoonish than Alice Cooper, yet get angry when anyone…
Betty Wright
Why there hasn’t been an A&E biography dedicated to Miami soul goddess Betty Wright is unfathomable. She has written, sung, and recorded fine R&B since the mid-’60s; collaborated with Stevie Wonder (“What Are You Gonna Do With It”); had her own talk show; sung backup for Erykah Badu, Jennifer Lopez, David Byrne, and Johnny Mathis;…
For the Dogs
Mallory and Eleanor take their Puggy New Year attire seriously. Or at least the dogs’ owner, Amanda Kleps, makes sure they do. “We have no shame,” says Kleps, organizer of the Cleveland Pug Meet-Up Group. “Mallory will be in a stunning, sparkling velvet-tulle number, and Eleanor will be in red satin. It doesn’t faze them,…
Full Court Pressure
Pity the college basketball coach. He toils endlessly to explain the vagaries of offensive sets and defensive zones. He frets over lineups, injuries, and scouting reports. His job is never safe — one losing season, and it’s back to teaching bounce passes to the JV girls at St. Elizabeth’s. Few videogames capture the coach’s life…
Sound Advice
A DJ and owner of Lakewood’s Grand Poo-bas Record Shoppe, Doug Burkhart knows what’s hot on the dance floor. He shares his top party tunes: What have you been listening to lately? Discs from local DJs Mike Metz, Jamie Tyler, and a tag team between Jason Soditch & Jayme O’Brien have been my favorites. On…
Madman Mundt
Madman Mundt’s second LP is the rare metal album that namechecks both Fritz Lang’s arty Metropolis and B-movie detritus like C.H.U.D. Pairing heated political diatribes with drawings of demons devouring naked ladies, this disc manages to be both high-brow and low-class all at once. Similarly unorthodox is Madman Mundt’s twisted thrash, which runs the gamut…
Born to Be Mild
Don’t ever mistake modern-day recreational vehicles for their white-trash cousin, the trailer. Today’s motor homes are loaded with all the comforts of home: state-of-the-art electronics, spiffy cooking amenities, and comfy sleeping quarters. Many models will be on display at the Ohio RV Supershow, which also features talks by motorin’ experts, new accessories, and plenty of…
Our top DVD picks for the week of January 3
All in the Family: The Complete Fifth Season (Columbia/Tristar) Annie Duke’s Beginner’s Guide to Texas Hold ‘Em (Big Vision) As Time Goes By: Reunion Special (PBS) The Cave (Sony) Dumb and Dumber: Unrated (New Line) Football Collection: Radio, Jerry Maguire, and Rudy (Sony) The Gospel (Sony) Green River Killer (Lions Gate) Gunsmoke Gift Set (Paramount)…
Money Where Your Mouth Is
Band: The Hellfire Klub (www.jswagger.com) Hometown: Eastlake Sounds like: “ICP, White Zombie, a side of strippers, and a sprinkle of Jay-Z, with some Digital Underground and just a dash of Mushroomhead.” Fun fact: “The Hellfire Klub, originally know as the Mobstarz, consisted of J Swagger and Machine Gun Kelley. Rumor has it that one day…
10% Animal
The newest duo featuring Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney, 10% Animal has a hilarious bio, stellar lineup, and a grimy-fun debut to match. The other half of the band is Gabe Fulvimar — the two played together in Akron’s Churchbuilder, and Fulvimar has been a third Key. The two are more concerned with having fun…
Know When to Fold ‘Em
Players pray for winning hands at church-sponsored Hold ‘Em tourney. This weekend’s No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournament at St. Patrick’s Church isn’t merely the church’s way of saying thank you to local poker players. “It is by far our most successful fund-raising opportunity,” says Dave Kramer, vice president of St. Patrick’s Athletic Association. “And…
Here are the week’s best releases from the pop-culture universe:
BOOK — Queens Reign Supreme: Ethan Brown’s profile/exposé of New York City’s outer borough — subtitled “Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip-Hop Hustler” — ties together 1980s drug dealers, brutal killings, and legendary rappers. The book plants a branch-sprouting family tree that’s often knotty (wiretap transcripts, historic hip-hop battles, and the…
Last Word
“I’ve played over 30 venues in three states, and Ronda from the R/E Nightclub flat-out rules!” — Kris D., guitar, Hatecore Inc., Akron “At Verlie’s, [the band] can let it rip and let it all out, and the locals will really dig you. They treat you like rock stars — well, maybe with their beer…
Pressure Drop
Seven weeks into her first tour, California singer-songwriter Jocelyn Scofield tallies the pitfalls of the road like a vet. “It gets fairly strenuous, driving 4 to 10 hours a day, loading and unloading equipment, sleeping in a new place every night, and getting lost,” she says. “However, none of those things bother me.” Scofield’s laid-back…
The 2005 Modell Awards
As night falls on yet another calendar, and a new year beckons with her come-hither pose, we at Scene like to count our blessings. ‘Tis the postseason of Jesus, whose birth ushered in a spirit of peace and goodwill, until his followers decided that shooting each other and blowing stuff up would be way more…
Rookie Round-Up
Every now and then, Soundbites likes to do a little community service. It’s the least we can do after bombarding you with crappy jokes and highly suspect pontificating all year. So how do we give back? By sheltering the homeless? Nursing wounded seagulls back to health? Teaching schoolchildren the proper way to roll a doob?…
Chinese Rocket
As the Cavs tangle with the Houston Rockets at Asian Culture Celebration Night, Japanese lanterns will light the arena, concession stands will offer fortune cookies, and the halftime show will star taiko drummers. That’s because Yao Ming, the Rockets’ 7-foot-5 Chinese standout, is in town. Says Cavs spokeswoman Brooke Novak: “He has such a following.…
Forget LeBron
Say what you want about his play, but Cavs guard Damon Jones is clearly putting in the work when it comes to promoting “D-Jones.” First, after losing the starting point-guard job to 114-year-old Eric Snow, Jones staged a lengthy media boycott, which drew as much attention as the great Tony Dumas Press Freeze of 1998.…
Odious Signing
Odious Sanction has signed a new deal with Unique Leader, a California label with an international roster of brutal death-metal bands that includes Trauma, Vile, and Internal Suffering. “Odious Sanction has the intensity that Unique Leader looks for,” says label founder Erik Lindmark. “But they also add new elements. They bring a lot to the…
