El Pueblo Esto Dos Hermanos Construido

      Authentic Mexican restaurants can be hard to come by.  That’s why I’ve been particularly interested in trying El Pueblo since I worked in Blue Ash last fall.  The story goes that two brothers started El Pueblo after training in the kitchen and front of the house of other Mexican restaurants.  Then came

“The Artist”: A Beauty Mark of a Movie

      I was skeptical.  About 20 minutes into the film I was thinking it was going to be a long hour and 40 minutes.  It was fluff.  A cutesy story that was reminiscent of the silent era.  Eric was yawning.  I had seen an interview with Harvey Weinstein, the producer, on CBS This Morning (BTW…it’s the most intelligent of the morning news shows) where he was asked

Literary Torture Porn or Feminist Parable: "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"

      Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is an international phenomenon.  I remember seeing Dragon Tattoo for the first time in hardback in Nashville the summer of 2009.  It was at Border’s so that goes to show what a different era it was, though I bought Tana French’s debut In The Woods instead because it wasn’t as long.  (By the way, it’s an excellent portrait of a sociopath and the best of French’s three

The Light in the Piada

Piada Sets the Mood for Dining

      I had been to Piada a couple of times and wanted Eric to experience it on our last visit to Columbus.  It’s a take on Chipotle…Italian style.  The interior is more restaurant like, a reinterpretation of an Abercrombie store with moody lighting and large

Head To The Morgan House For Lunch Classics Done Well

      I was visiting family in Columbus and this was the day for Martha and me to have lunch and “shop around”.  She wanted to go to The Morgan House and since I had not been there for lunch I was happy to go along with her idea.  The two of us are well known for being late so our arrival was at the end of the lunch rush.

The Morgan House Dining Room

      The dining room was pleasant, colonial in décor, and welcoming.  The large mural set the mood.  There was a fire going and we

The Affordable Super Bowl

      Family and friends will gather as always to watch Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, February 5th.  But with the games at Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indianapolis, those close by have the opportunity to experience more…for free or at affordable prices!

Artist's Rendering of the Super Bowl Village

      Beginning Friday, January 27 and running up through game day, Indianapolis will become the Super City.  The centerpiece is the FREE Super Bowl Village, a three-block plaza with live concerts, light shows, and fireworks.  The concerts will be on two stages and sport big names like Patti LaBelle, Darius Rucker, O.A.R., and Brett Michaels to name but a few.  Food and beverages will be available for purchase.  The village will also have zip line rides above Capitol Avenue for $10 that spans 800 feet long and 96 feet high.  The iconic 30-foot roman numerals will be displayed at

The ‘90s Are Back? Oh, if only . . .

AllSaints Spitalfield's Chic Rock 'N' Roll Fashions

      In the last four or five years, it seems like American fashion is stuck in a time warp that is Ralph Lauren, circa 1973, and pop/rock music has recalled an amalgamation of 1970s glam rock and 1980s New Wave.  I’m not saying this is exactly a bad thing, but it does seem like American culture is in a transition period and trying to find a way forward through the past.  Perhaps artists aren’t going back far enough to find a key to s future development that might last longer than a couple of seasons or, at the least, a Presidential term.  Kurt Andersen is very concerned about this phenomenon in “You Say You Want A Devolution” in the latest Vanity Fair.  He thinks that we’ve reached a stasis in the culture that is a symptom of a lack of creativity and laziness.  We’re the fattest nation on earth so do we have the energy to create?  The next question is whether we’ll have the energy to lead?  And, after that, have we lost our edge or are we in decline, etc., etc.  Yeah, well Neil and I have talked privately that way since the 1990s when we noticed that everyone and the family dog was desperate to invest in either the stock market directly or in a tax-deferred IRA.  Both options would surely lead to incredible wealth and early retirement.  Ah, the 90s!

      One cultural signifier that Andersen misses is personal electronic technology.  Twenty years ago, William Gibson was still exploring the idea of cyberspace (his coined term) in science fiction.  Hello?  Now, everyone and the family cat

Iris Book Cafe: An Enchanting Spot Both Inside and Out

Iris Book Cafe on Main Street

      We were crazy about Iris Book Cafe with our very first visit back in 2009.  Eric appreciated their collection of used books for sale, and I wanted to spend every afternoon in the courtyard.  At first, we thought the co-owner, Julie Fay, was actually “Iris”.  It was only years later that we realized it’s the name of the building.  She, along with her business partner Mike Markiewicz, are a large part of the arts and entertainment scene on Main Street and can be seen helping out at the coffee house often.   

Latte and Apricot Pecan Scone

      I have to admit, all of our visits have been mostly for a latte and the occasional dessert or scone (Julie makes them and they are almost always exceptional, especially the Apricot Pecan Scones).  On our most recent venture there, we were celebrating Eric’s birthday so a more extensive

Looking at LUNA and The World

      The other night we went out with Susan and Kurt to LUNAFEST, an omnibus package of nine short films “by, for, and about women,” though we three men were able to relate.  Susan initiated the outing and we didn’t realize until we arrived that this was sponsored by the LUNA snack bar for

The Cincinnati Art Museum Keeps Humming While Renovating

CAM Raises the Roof on the Old Art Academy for Renovation

      We visited the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) last week and were impressed by the variety of exhibits currently on view.  Hats off to Museum Director Aaron Betsky for keeping the museum open and rethinking its space while it undergoes a renovation on the second floor.  A few years ago, the Cleveland Museum of Art kept the special exhibitions space open, but closed the rest of the museum for a renovation.  I realize it may have been a more extensive renovation than Cincinnati’s, but I wonder about its affect on tourism.

A Very Creative String Curtain Entrance

Mrs. Philip Thicknesse
by Thomas Gainsborough

CAM has taken out the changing vintage automobile at the entrance, which is a shame, but also moved the dreary sculptures from antiquities from the Schmidlapp Gallery– yeah, I know the Egyptian and Roman pieces are important, but it seemed like walking into an ancient funeral parlor or