Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Ruth Rendell: The Fairest One of All

Also read Ruth Rendell Upstages Two Recently Acclaimed Writers at:
http://entertainingviewsfromcinti.blogspot.com/2013/01/two-recently-acclaimed-debuts-upstaged.html

     Ruth Rendell has produced over sixty novels since 1964 in three different series:  the Wexford/Burden police procedurals that take place in Kingsmarkham, a smaller English city in the home counties; psychological suspense novels that focus on various pathologies set in seemingly ordinary circumstances; and the Barbara Vine novels that are usually historical in setting and also furthest from the bread and butter tropes of

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Is Andrew De Leon America's Susan Boyle?

Andrew De Leon vs. Susan Boyle
      We've waited for someone to take center stage on America's Got Talent and morph themselves into an instant celebrity.  Such was the case when Andrew De Leon first appeared on June 5th as a heavy metal teen goth make-up artist, fan of Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, and poised to

Thursday, June 7, 2012

An Unrivaled Cincinnati Reds Experience in the Diamond Club

Dexter Joins the Fun as Rosie Dances
      Looking for the ultimate Cincinnati Reds baseball game experience?  Then check out the Diamond Club on your own, or wait for friends to ask you to join them.  We were fortunate to have Pete and April invite us to a recent Friday night game.  

Diamond Club Lounge
      Specifics are laid out on the Reds official website, but I still didn't know what to expect exactly.  Entry was through a private entrance in the garage where your parking is reserved.  The Diamond Club Lounge decor is modern sports bar and restaurant with a circular layout and light fixtures mimicking a catcher's helmet.  It's a scene right out of a Las Vegas casino.  As one might expect, attire is anywhere from

Monday, June 4, 2012

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: The Return of the Literate, Middlebrow Romantic Comedy

Dexter Listens to a Scene with Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor
     A colleague of mine recommended Salmon Fishing in the Yemen a couple of months ago because of Kristin Scott-Thomas, but I hadn’t liked the previews much – it seemed perversely eccentric, plus I’m not a huge fan of Ewan McGregor.  However, more friends kept saying they’d seen it

Friday, June 1, 2012

"The Avengers"— Fun, Fast, and Fantastical

Dexter Investigates the Destruction with Hawkeye and the Hulk
      I didn't grow up with Marvel comic books.  I'm not sure why.  I remember seeing them at the newsstand, but none of my friends were in to reading them either.  So when Ann and Woody asked me to see The Avengers with them, I had to

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Bakersfield OTR: West Coast Blue Collar Anglo-Hispanic Electrifies the Gateway Quarter

     Bakersfield opened a few months ago in the Gateway Quarter and it’s rocketed off.  A few weeks ago, Neil and I stopped by late on a Saturday night and there wasn’t a seat to be had and the atmosphere was raucous and fun.  Kris was in town on business earlier this week and we thought, let’s try again, especially since he needed to be at the airport early.  We arrived at 4:30 p.m. and were seated immediately, though

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

How Does an Anglophile Properly Celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee?

Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation*
      What's all the hoopla and what is a Diamond Jubilee anyway?  For Queen Elizabeth II it means that for 60 of her 86 years she's been the Head of State of Great Britain and the Commonwealth nations of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and several islands around the world.  It means that from June 2-5 during The Central Weekend she'll be honored with parties,

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Kinda Weird…A Cincy Festival on the Fringe

     The Cincy Fringe Festival is in its 9th year and is pretty much run by Know Theatre's energetic staff and many volunteers.  (This would be a great time to support Know Theatre for bringing this type of experimental performance to our city, especially after the recent Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson).  The opening night party happens May 29 at the Know Underground, which is the bar area and performances

Saturday, May 26, 2012

The Unsettling Charm of the French at the Taft Museum


     The Taft Museum’s latest special exhibition “Old Masters to Impressionists:  Three Centuries of French Painting from the Wadsworth Atheneum” covers an enormous amount of ground in terms of historical period, styles, and subject matter.  It’s a series of snapshots (so to speak) that look at the life of ‘The Salon’ from around 1650 when Louis XIV first demanded parameters for French painting that would be sponsored by the king, the aristocracy and, in the nineteenth century, the merchant class or bourgeoisie.  It’s an ambitious show, but one that an attentive viewer can cover in about an hour.  It’s well worth a visit because many of these artists – especially those that are more obscure or considered second stringers – are rarely seen in Cincinnati.  

     It progresses along the walls in chronological order.  The seventeenth century ones in the first gallery are pretty dreary – mainly religious subjects and a genre piece that both patronizes its parochial figures and technically isn’t well drawn.  Don’t worry – it gets a lot better as the viewer steps into the Rococo where both the subjects and the viewer seem to be one step away from the boudoir.  Some of the curator’s comments are an unintentional hoot because there is a disconnect between what is being described as important about the painting and its subject and what the viewer can pretty easily infer as actually occurring.

An Elegant Interior of a Lady,
Her Maid, and a Gentleman
by Trinquesse
Nowhere is this more evident than in Louis Rolland Trinquesse’s An Elegant Interior of a Lady, Her Maid, and a Gentleman.  It looks like a scene out of de Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses, though it pre-dates that novel.  The lady is literally holding onto her hair (a hilariously top heavy

Friday, May 25, 2012

Taste of Cincinnati: The Nation's Longest Running Culinary Arts Festival

      Summer kicks off in Cincinnati with the 34th Annual Taste of Cincinnati running May 26 – May 28.  It’s held on six blocks of Fifth Street between Race and Broadway and showcases moderate food from local restaurants with lots of beer (and other drinks too).  The entertainment is exceptional this year