Friday, June 11, 2010

Final CincyFringe Weekend Recommendations

Tonight and tomorrow are the last days of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, if you want to Catch a few shows here are some recommendations:

Friday
The Finkle's Theater Show
Harold
Tantric Acting at the Holiday Inn
A Short Lecture of a Different Time
Queer in the U.S.A.
Medea
A Night of Well Adjusted Ladies
Just Say Know
That One Show
Soul Juice
Cyrano

Saturday
Aberrant Reflections on the Barbarism of You & I
The Finkle's Theater Show
Harold
A Short Lecture of a Different Time
The Council
Ain't That Good News
Sophie's Dream
Money Back Guaranteed
Blue Collar Diaries
True Body Project III
Queer in the U.S.A.


Best advice: Get your tickets on line NOW! Many of these shows are going to sell out well before the show starts.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

A Slap in the Face For Miller

The Cincinnati Business Courier is reporting that Mark Miller, Treasurer of COAST, lost his legal case against the Hamilton County Commissioners, in which he claimed certain commission executive sessions violated the Ohio Open Meetings Law. The Judge ordered Miller to pay the costs of litigation.

I've seen no word on an appeal, but I would expect one.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

World Cup at Fountain Square!

Are you looking to root on the USA against England in the World Cup on June 12th? Come out to Fountain Square where organizers will have the game on the big screen and will have beer flowing from 1:30PM to 5PM.

Monday, June 07, 2010

CincyFringe 22.5 Hour Play Project Starts Tonight!

The Cincinnati Fringe Festival's 22.5 hour play project starts tonight at about 12:30 AM after Fringe Olympics. There are still a few spots open. Here are all of the details:
Does a 12 day festival of explosive and experimental independent performing arts seem a little too…rehearsed to you? Is the honest, free-form flavor of unbridled creativity that runs rampant at the Cincy Fringe a little…over-polished for your spontaneous personality? Are you looking for the freshest of the fresh, the rawest of the raw, the spontaeousest of the spontaneous?

This year’s Cincy Fringe is embracing that critical mass of contagious creativity that incubates amid all of the artistic stimulation of the festival. We invite your participation in our first attempt at a 24-Hour Play Project.

Artists meet, are assembled into teams, given some very loose framework, synchronize their watches, and meet again 24 (or in our case, maybe something like 22 ½) hours later, each team with a short play that has been written, staged, rehearsed, memorized and ready to perform in less time than it takes for this lumbering old planet we’re sitting on to heave itself around on its axis.


HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
-You sign up by emailing sbowman@knowtheatre.com. Participation is limited to 25.
-After Fringe Olympics on Monday, June 7 (around 11:30pmish) you and the other participants assemble in Know Theatre Underground. You will be randomly assigned to teams of 4-5 people.
-Your team will be given a series of elements (perhaps a phrase, an image, a prop, and/or something else) that you are required to work into your piece.
-Your team then has until 10:30pm the following day, Tuesday, June 8 to make a play! It should be 10-15 minutes in length (no more!), be completely original (so no adaptation of or borrowing from existing works—these are to be world premiers!), it must be at least somewhat rehearsed and finished (it's not an improv jam) and other than the required elements you’ll be given, there are no restrictions!

It is up to your team to democratically allocate responsibilities. Your team can write collaboratively or assign a head writer. Your team can say “screw text” and base it on improv, music, secret dreams, or anything else. Your team can appoint one director or not. Costume designer? Dramaturg? Foley artist? Decide what needs to be done and make sure one of you does it. Your team can all act in it, or some or only one of you can act in it. Your team can do whatever your team wants. Just keep your finished product to 15 minutes and be ready to perform—no matter what—at 10:30pm Tuesday.

WHAT FRINGE PROVIDES:
A performance space. The event will take place on the Underground Stage. We will provide two chairs, a piano and two actor blocks for you to use or not use as you desire.

An audience. So make your show good. And invite your friends—admission is free as part of the Underground Series.

Access to props and costumes. During the hours of 2-4 on Tuesday afternoon, you are invited to Know Theatre’s stock storage to sign out any costume or prop pieces that you desire. We do take names and we do kick asses, so you will be held accountable for returning everything you borrow in the same condition in which you took it.

WHAT FRINGE DOES NOT PROVIDE:
Rehearsal space. Sorry—you gotta be creative here.

Uptight rules and restrictions that otherwise stifle your creative spirit. This project is about the joy of feverish creativity. We want your piece to be original and we provide some unifying elements to get you going, but otherwise you will not be censored for content. Working in a short time frame with randomly assigned partners is an experiment and is sure to lead to surprising discoveries. Have fun! Oh, but keep your clothes on while you’re on the stage—nudity’s not allowed in the Underground. Liquor laws, blah blah blah.
If you do this, you might be on my team. Ahhh! The Horror!

Friday, June 04, 2010

Wendell Young Appointed to City Council

So, who was surprised to hear that Wendell Young was appointed to fill Laketa Cole's Council seat? The job had been Bernadette Watson's, but reports indicate she didn't get the appointment because she wouldn't guarantee the jobs of Cole's staff.

So, we have a new council member because Cole was given a job to avoid running against Alicia Reece. Cole in turn stated publicly that she was picking the person based on race, and one would pick a person who would keep her staff employed. Cronyism is common in politics, but it is not good for politics.

Yes, this sucks. Picking a person based on race is illegal. People have shed blood to make that happen. Politically speaking, Cole had no choice but to pick a black person to fill her seat, but why would she be so upfront about it and not get any flack for doing that? If Berding or Qualls or Bortz or Ghiz did the same thing, you know what we would be hearing. We aren't hearing that. Why are we not hearing Chris Smitherman screaming at the top of his lungs against Cole for publicly stating she was picking a person because of race? Yes, I think there's an obvious Conventional Wisdom answer to that question, but can anyone answer it honestly? Why is there not outrage about this? Why was it OK for Cole to Discriminate against every other race but her own?

Wendell Young seems like a very nice person, but he has not shown he has the passion needed to be a vibrant councilman. His campaigns have not been very strong, a sign he's not had the full commitment to get elected. The job is now his, so he has the power to show he was the right choice. I hope he is successful.

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Fringe Day Two

Last night Fringe kicked off to a raucous start with great music and food that you may have missed. That's your loss. Tonight you get your first change to see performances, so go on-line to www.cincyfringe.com and buy your tickets!

Not sure what to see? More ideas on can't miss shows can be found in Metromix from Enquirer Theatre critic, Jacki Demaline.

My shows tonight are That One Show and Aberrant Reflections on the Barbarism of You & I.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Changes in Enquirer Coverage

It looks like the Enquirer's Politics Extra Blog will have a new voice: Sharon Coolidge, who will now be covering Hamilton County for the paper. For the past several years, Ms. Coolidge has covered the Hamilton County Courthouse. Jessica Brown, previously assigned to the Hamilton County beat, will now cover CPS issues.

No word yet on whether the Enquirer will shift someone to replace Ms. Coolidge, or whether the paper will now have just one HamCo Courthouse reporter (Kimball Perry). Dan Horn covers federal court issues, so perhaps he'll be split between the two now.

Either way, Ms. Coolidge's presence in the courthouse and her courthouse reporting will be missed.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Give Your Opinion on the Taste of Cincinnati

Organizers of the Taste of Cincinnati are seeking opinions on this year's event from those who have attended. Chime in and voice your views on what works and what doesn't.

UPDATE: Link Fixed, I hope!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Friday, May 28, 2010

CincyFringe: The Buzz on What to See

I am always asked by friends and even random strangers, what should I see at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival.  My first answer is EVERYTHING.  I get a blank stare and tell I am going to see all 29 shows and 1 special performance.  That gets another blank stare, followed by a comment along the lines of  "Wow, that's kind of crazy."  When I get past that I offer up some shows I've heard some buzz about.  Below is the list of shows I would suggest everyone plan on seeing.  These are not going to be the best shows of the festival.  These are the shows that are either from groups that I've see before and like the synopsis of their show, or these are shows people have mentioned they've heard good things about.  If will be leaving out a bunch of good shows that people will rave about.  That happens every year at Fringe, you will be surprised by at least one show, if not ten.

These are not in any significant order, other than I hope alphabetical.


A Brief History of Petty Crime
A Short Lecture of a Different Time
Aberrant Reflections on the Barbarism of You & I
Cyrano
Harold
Salem! The Musical
Tantric Acting at the Holiday Inn
That One Show
The Council
The Finkle's Theater Show
Trust

Knock Three Times

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

It's Time to Make Your CincyFringe Selections

It's time to start selecting the shows you are going to see at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival. Below is a listing of all of the Productions with a link to TheConveyor.com's preview article.

A Brief History of Petty Crime
A Night of Well Adjusted Ladies
A Short Lecture of a Different Time
Aberrant Reflections on the Barbarism of You & I
Aftershock! An Event!
Ain't That Good News
Cyrano
Harold
Just Say Know
Medea
Money Back Guaranteed
Nevermore
Of People and Not Things
Queer in the U.S.A.
Safety In Numbers
Salem! The Musical
Sophie's Dream
Soul Juice
Tantric Acting at the Holiday Inn
That One Show
The Comfort of Anger
The Council
The End Is Near
The Finkle's Theater Show
The Global Lovers
The Long Way Home
The Water Draft
Trust
Blue Collar Diaries

Congrats to Liz Vosmeier on Acclaim Award

At Monday night's Acclaim Awards, see Rick Pender's recap here, the Know Theatre's Liz Vosmeier received a special MVP award for her efforts during the 2009-2010 Theatre season. Liz has done a great job this year acting at the Know, but as Rick points out, her work backstage has been crucial to the company's success. This was a well deserved honor.

You can show your support of Liz and the rest of the Know at Fringe. Liz appears in Of People and Not Things.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Volunteer For CincyFringe!!!!

The Cincinnati Fringe Festival is an amazing event, but it takes amazing people to put it on. Please volunteer today for the festival and be part of Art in Cincinnati. Check out the Volunteer page where you can see the available shifts. As always you can earn free tickets!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Reds Game Sounds Like Fun

Tonight's Reds game commemorates the 75th anniversary of the first night game in professional baseball, which was played at Crosley Field. The Enquirer's Reds Blog posts the Reds' press release here.

Among the highlights: the Reds mascots will actually race around the bases between the third and fourth innings. (Usually, the race is only a virtual one via graphics on the scoreboard.)

Given that the Pirates are in town, though, the mascots would do well to stay away from the visiting team's dugout.

Support for Street Car Has Increased Since 2009

The Mayor's Office issued an interesting press release last night, where they point out that the Enquirer commissioned poll has one overlooked result: support for the Streetcar has risen since the last time a poll on the streetcar was completed. The details from the press release:
Truth about the Enquirer Poll: Streetcar Gains Popularity
Streetcar is more popular today than it was a year ago

“The successful streetcar projects in cities around the country were met with public opposition before construction, and once they were built, neighborhoods fought to get the streetcar line to come to their area,” Mayor Mark Mallory said. “We were told to expect this. However, the fact remains that the Streetcar project is going to be of financial benefit to Cincinnati.”

Quick facts about poll in the Cincinnati Enquirer today:
Streetcar popularity:
  • 44% of poll respondents are in favor of building the Cincinnati Streetcar.
  • “24% say the streetcar would "revitalize Cincinnati's core;" 20% say it is a "risky project," but should still be built in order to help improve the city.” From Cincinnati Enquirer Politics Blog. 
  • 48% oppose building the Streetcar.
  • 7% remain undecided.

Some things to think about:
  • A similar poll was conducted in April 2009 in advance of the Issue 9 campaign.
    In that poll, 59% were opposed to moving ahead with the Streetcar and 38% were in favor of moving forward.
  • In today’s Enquirer poll, those opposed have dropped by 11% from 59% to 48%, and those in favor have increased by 6% from 38% to 44%.
  • That is a 17% change since last year.
  • Today’s poll shows that the Streetcar is much more popular today than it was a year ago and is in fact gaining momentum.
  • 44% is a tremendously high level of support for a project that is not even fully funded yet (the City is awaiting word of significant federal grants).
Please refer to the actual crosstabs located at the Cincinnati Enquirer Politics Blog http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=4c098407-50d2-423f-89c2-4f8d6facd864
This does not mean the poll is not flawed. I would like to know the zip code breakdown of those polled. It also of course doesn't account for the Cell Phone problem, but even taking both of those of those flaws, not everything is bad.

New Blog From the Enquirer: Opinionati

The Cincinnati Enquirer has a new opinion blog running and call it "Opinionati." The blog seems to be from the Editorial Page Team, but focuses on what blogs and social media commentary is out and about about all sorts of topics. It's attempting to be a bit of a panoptic blog about the hot topics of commentary around the city. Leaving out local Talk radio is a plus, since WLW sucks for valuable opinion, but that leaves out what the extreme right-wingers are talking about.

It's funny how basically there are no local Conservative bloggers who cover mainly local issues and politics. (Beyond activists or candidates of course) Why is that?

At CincyFringe Speed Is Sometimes the Key to Success


But, not always.

www.cincyfringe.com

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Streetcar Poll Raises Questions (Mainly About the Enquirer)

Today's Enquirer releases poll results purporting to measure City residents' views on the streetcar. The article raises two questions: one about the Enquirer, and one about City voters. (Note: I am assuming, for the purposes of this post, that the instrument is valid and there were no sampling errors.)

1. Why is this article so intentionally misleading? The article, which sat on the front page of the online Enquirer most of today, begins:
Residents of Cincinnati overwhelmingly oppose the proposed $128 million streetcar project, objecting 2-to-1 to City Hall's plan to borrow tens of millions of dollars for a plan widely viewed as a waste of taxpayer money, an Enquirer poll shows.

But a look at the cross-tabs for the poll--linked in the Enquirer's blog, but not the article itself--tells a different story. 48% of those surveyed said that the streetcar is a "waste of taxpayer money." 24% said that it "will help revitalize Cincinnati's core," and another 20% said it's a "risky project but one that should proceed anyway to help Cincinnati."

In other words, in a poll with a margin of error of 4.1%, those opposed to the streetcar outnumber those in favor by just 48% to 44%. Another 7% are unsure.

So where does this business about opposition by a 2-1 margin come from? It turns out it's in the funding mechanism. Respondents were asked, "To pay for the construction of the streetcar line, the city will borrow $64 million. Do you approve? Or disapprove?" That yielded 61% disapproving with 31% approving.

While I don't have the expertise to question instrument validity, I have to wonder if the result would have been different if those surveyed were asked if they approved or disapproved of the city "issuing $64 million in bonds," rather than "borrowing." The composition of survey questions makes an enormous difference. "Borrowing" by the government is perceived quite negatively right now, and is associated with the national debt and deficit. I'm not sure that the issuance of bonds has quite the same connotations to people, though.

In the last few minutes, another article has been posted, and this one finally notes that the number of those who support and those who oppose the streetcar are pretty even. Of course, even that one is headlined 'Poll buoys streetcar foes."

So the question is: why is the Enquirer's editorial view--that the streetcar is bad--so transparently shaping its "news" coverage? I don't have a problem with the Enquirer commissioning a poll and publishing the results, but why not report the results fairly--at least when putting the results in the news section? Randy Simes offers an answer and a proposal to boycott the Enquirer. I don't know that I agree with him on either of these, but his post is worth reading.

2. What does this say about Cincinnati's voters? Assuming (for the sake of argument) the validity of the instrument, the tepid support for the streetcar (a nearly 50-50 split) is a bit surprising. This past November, City voters elected a Council majority that favors the streetcars and re-elected a mayor who has made the streetcar the primary and central piece of his agenda. So why the disconnect between candidates' stances on issues and the poll results? Are elections really about nothing but personality? Are our voters really so disconnected as to be unaware of their candidates' positions? I don't know.

Still Recovering From The Event

Today I didn't get up as early as I did yesterday. My energy drain and lack of youthfulness met in the alley behind the CAC last night. It was a blast. I can say that I really am in tune with Shepard Fairey's musical taste. My age shows when I say that, but it is true. I love the Clash and so does Fairery. When he's mouthing the words to "The Guns of Brixton," oh yeah, I can relate:
When they kick at your front door
How you gonna come?
With your hands on your head
Or on the trigger of your gun?


Lori Kurtzman of the Enquirer sums up the party fairly well down to the Rumpke pool. It was odd weeding your way through the crowd and at times running into people in their bathing suits soaking wet. Word in the alley was that the daughter of a local politician went for a swim. No one's going to confirm that. One thing I will have to do is introduce Lori Kurtzman to "Duckie." I think I know the person she was talking about. As far as I know, Lori did not go for a swim, but who knows what happened after I left.