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Arts & Entertainment News

St. Patrick’s Day in Downtown Cincinnati

You can celebrate St. Patrick’s Day over two days this year in the heart of Downtown Cincinnati with music, food, drinks, and the annual parade.

Starting a day early on Friday, March 13th you can enjoy live Irish music starting at 5pm, and Guinness drinks all night on Fountain Square. The activities will start at 10am on Saturday with the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade that runs through the streets (view parade route) of Downtown Cincinnati.

The parade will end around 1pm and will be immediately followed by day-long schedule of live music on Fountain Square. At 1pm the Unlucky Charms will take the stage, followed by the Pub Uglies at 2:30pm, The Seedy Seeds (my favorite – listen to them here) at 4pm, Joshua’s Tree at 5:30pm, and ending with The Serfs (irish punk) at 7:30pm.

Food and beer will be available on the Square courtesy of McCormick & Schmick’s. There will also be Irish merchandise for sale courtesy of Celtic Corner. The event is free and open to the public. Food and beverages are available for purchase.

If you would like to help with the event, or other events on Fountain Square, be sure to go sign up to be included on the volunteer opportunities email list. For more information check out the Fountain Square Volunteer Page.
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Absinthe, The Green Hour

Morton’s The Steakhouse (GoogleMap) will be the host of “Absinthe, The Green Hour” tomorrow night (3/5) starting at 6pm. The event will allow guests to enjoy Pernod Absinthe in traditional style with the assistance of expert tasters of the high proof distilled spirit.

Absinthe (aka the “Green Fairy”) is a distilled, highly alcoholic that has a naturally green color. The drink became quite popular with Parisian writers and artists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At that time the drink also came to be considered a “dangerously addictive psychoactive drug” and was banned in most European nations and the United States by 1915. This was later found out to be a great exaggeration and has since seen its revival in Europe beginning in the 1990’s and 2007 in the United States.

Pernod was the most popular brand of absinthe prior to 1915 and first came to France in 1805. Today, Pernod Absinthe is “based on the original recipe and returns to restore its reputation for quality and handcrafted excellence.”

Reservations are required and cost $45 per person (includes tax and gratuity). Guests will be treated to Morton’s private boardroom, three Pernod Absinthe cocktails and a Pernod Absinthe served in the traditional ritual which involves dripping ice water very slowly over a sugar cube that is placed on a slotted spoon over a glass of absinthe. The water passes through the spoon slots into the drink resulting in a green and flavorful drink. Guests will also enjoy oysters rockefeller made with absinthe, crab-stuffed mushrooms, sliced tenderloin on crostini and Morton’s famous miniature prime cheeseburgers.

Morton’s is located on the second floor of Cincinnati’s historic Carew Tower overlooking Fountain Square. Valet parking is available for $7. You can reserve your spot by calling (513) 621-3111.

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Cincinnati Bockfest 2009

In case you haven’t heard already, the annual Bockfest celebrations are taking place this weekend (3/6 – 3/8) starting with the opening of Bockfest Hall (formerly Jefferson Hall) at 4pm on Friday, followed by the Bockfest Parade at 6pm.

Bockfest started in Cincinnati in the 1800s and is the world’s oldest Bock festival. The celebrations stem from the glory days of Cincinnati’s many brewers (at one time producing more beer per capita than any other city in the U.S.). During that time a tradition developed amongst the brewers to release all of their bock beer on the same day – marking the end of the winter brewing season and the beginning of the spring.

This year’s celebration will include sub-subterranean tours of Cincinnati’s prohibition past (all 13 sold out), subway tours (all 3 sold out), the parade, glass blowing, Sausage Queen competition, book signing, live music, and of course lots of beer drinking at some of the best German bars in the city.

Click image for larger version – Parade Route = Green, Public Parking = Blue, Participating Venues = Red, Free Shuttle Route = Orange

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NolaCycle Bike Map Project

New Orleans, and its residents, are working to make the city a better place post-Katrina. One of those efforts is the creation of a “high-quality cycling map of New Orleans” that has engaged the community in a way that is truly special.

Lauren Sullivan, a soon to be School of Planning graduate, has been working closely members of the community, fellow bicyclists and Planners from the New Orleans area and started the whole project. Much work has already been completed and before the end of this year free maps will be available in print and online to help cyclists navigate New Orleans.

The final maps will include information about pavement quality, car travel speeds, lane widths, and other special caution areas for cyclists. This comprehensive data collection process was made possible through the help of volunteers that primarily participated in mapping events that made the whole process more of a social gathering. Volunteers also participated in the innovative NolaCycle DIY mapping (think wiki-style involvement in the real world) – see video below for more details.

The grassroots project has already garnered national attention and is currently in the process of applying for grants to help fund the remaining work. At this stage the group could use your help in receiving a $500 micro-credit loan through New Orleans’ Crescent City Farmers Market. The Farmers Market has opened the process up to voting, and you can help the NolaCycle cause by voting for the project.

The process is fascinating as it employs an innovative way to gather and engage community support. In the end, the community will have complete ownership, of the project, and will have also poured in tons of hours to help make it reality. This engagement organizes a group of people to create a new community asset for no cost at all to the taxpayers of New Orleans. For more on the project check out this brief video from The Times-Picayune.


UPDATE: NolaCycle was one of three winners of the $500 micro-credit loan

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Arts & Entertainment News

Thanks for the memories Huggs

A brief tribute video for former Bearcats basketball coach Bob Huggins. Huggins was back in town to play the Bearcats with his West Virginia Mountaineers team on Thursday. The tribute was gracious – the game not so much as the Bearcats went on to beat the Mountaineers and improve to 18-10 overall and 8-7 in the Big East.

Hopefully this is a cathartic moment for the many basketball fans that never really got over the departure of Huggins. Mick Cronin has done a heck of a job and has achieved success earlier that what many people thought possible.

Thanks for the memories Huggs. Go Bearcats!