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A DIY BLOODY MARY BAR ADVENTURE | 3 NEW BRUNCHES TO TRY | RECIPES FROM BEN BEBENROTH OF SPICE KITCHEN

THIS SATURDAY! SCENE Magazine presents

UNITED WE BRUNCH There’s no better way to chase away a hangover than brunch with friends. And SCENE is once again bringing together the best restaurants in town with one mission: unite to cure Cleveland’s hangover. Brunch tastings, Bloody Mary’s, mimosas, beer, wine and champagne - all in the historic, newly-renovated Galleria & Tower. It’s the ultimate cure for a Friday night party — and a great start to another night on the town! General Admission tickets are $40 in advance and include 5 drink tickets, unlimited brunch tastings and commemorative glass. VIP tickets are $60 in advance and include early entry, 8 drink tickets, unlimited brunch tastings, commemorative glass, VIP seating and access for full bar. Limited availability.

Saturday, January 21, 2017 Galleria & Tower at Erieview scenebrunch.com

MARK YOUR CALENDARS January 21 | THIS SATURDAY! ......................United We Brunch March 4 .....................................................................Vodka Vodka March 11 ........................................................ Shamrock Bar Crawl May 13..................................................... Best of Cleveland Party May 20-21 .................................................................. Rib Burn Off May 27-28 .......................................................... Taste of Summer July 29................................................................................Ale Fest September 29-October 1............. THE Downtown Oktoberfest October 14-15 .......................................................................MAIZE November 10 ................................................... Whiskey Business December 1 ........................................................Holiday Bar Blast December 14 .................................................................... FLAVOR *Dates and events subject to change

F I N D O U T A B O U T T H E S E E V E N T S A N D M O R E AT C L E V E S C E N E T I C K E T S . C O M

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

| cl clevescene.com levesscene.com m | January Janua uary ry 188 - 24 24,, 20 2017 17

JA N UA RY 18 - 24, 2017 Dedicated to Free Times founder Richard H. Siegel (1935-1993) and Scene founder Richard Kabat Publisher Chris Keating

VOLU M E 48

NO 2 9

CONTENTS

Editor Vince Grzegorek

Upfront

Editorial Managing Editor Eric Sandy Music Editor Jeff Niesel Senior Writer Sam Allard Staff Writer Brett Zelman Writer-at-large Kyle Swenson Dining Editor Douglas Trattner Contributing Dining Editor Rachel Hunt Stage Editor Christine Howey Visual Arts Editor Josh Usmani Copy Editor Elaine Cicora

City ﬁnally initiates discipline against ofﬁcers who killed Tamir Rice, and more

Feature

Nurse your inauguration depression with our special brunch issue

Advertising Senior Multimedia Account Executive John Crobar, Shayne Rose Multimedia Account Executive Kiara Hunter-Davis

Get Out

Creative Services Production Manager Steve Miluch Layout Editor/Graphic Designer Christine Hahn Staff Photographer Emanuel Wallace

All the events you should check out this week

Business Asst. To The Publisher Angela Lott Sales Assistant/Receptionist Megan Stimac Staff Accountant Kristy Dotson

Art

Circulation Circulation Director Don Kriss Euclid Media Group Chief Executive Offi cer Andrew Zelman Chief Operating Offi cers Chris Keating, Michael Wagner Human Resources Director Lisa Beilstein Digital Operations Coordinator Jaime Monzon Chief Financial Offi cer William Mickey www.euclidmediagroup.com

CMA presents an exhibition of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s noteboooks

Stage

It’s a fairy tale mashup in Into the Woods at Playhouse Square

National Advertising Voice Media Group 1-800-278-9866, voicemediagroup.com Cleveland Scene 737 Bolivar Rd, #4100 Cleveland, OH 44115 www.clevescene.com Phone 216-241-7550 Retail & Classiﬁ ed Fax 216-241-6275 Editoral Fax 216-802-7212 E-mail scene@clevescene.com

Film

New McDonald’s ﬂick is good, but reveres monstrous empire builder

Cleveland Scene Magazine is published every week by Euclid Media Group. Veriﬁ ed Audit Member Cleveland Distribution Scene is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader Copyright The entire contents of Cleveland Scene Magazine are copyright 2017 by Euclid Media Group. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Publisher does not assume any liability for unsolicited manuscripts, materials, or other content. Any submission must include a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. All editorial, advertising, and business correspondence should be mailed to the address listed above. Subscriptions $150 (1 yr); $ 80 (6 mos.) Send name, address and zip code with check or money order to the address listed above with the title ‘Attn: Subscription Department’

Dining

Sara Watkins goes goes solo solo at at the the Kent kent Stage Stage on on Tuesday Tuesday

Astoria Market and Cafe delivers an unmatched dining and shopping experience

Music

Ohio-born singer-songwriter Grifﬁn House traded in his golf clubs for a guitar

Savage Love

...The story continues at clevescene.com Take

SCENE with you with the Issuu app! “Cleveland Scene Magazine”

Yes, ear sex is a thing

COVER PHOTO BY EMANUEL WALLACE Printed By

248-620-2990

This madcap adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mystery transforms The Hound of the Baskervilles into an all-out comedic, theatrical adventure. Full of humor, horror, and plenty of stage magic, ﬁve actors play nearly 40 roles in this kooky and spooky caper.

TICKETS START AT $25

216.241.6000 clevelandplayhouse.com

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

JANUARY 21 - FEBRUARY 12 written by KEN LUDWIG | directed by BRENDON FOX

“Ingeniously funny”

—BROADWAY WORLD

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A Tribute to Moody Blues Sat., Jan 21

Rocky Horror Picture Show

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Tue., Jan. 24

Taylor Hicks

Fri., Feb. 3

Sat., Feb. 4

Albert Lee

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Sat., Feb 11

Wed, Feb. 22

Geoff Tate The Whole Story “Ryche” Acoustic Tour Fri., Feb. 24

Del McCoury Band

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ALL SHOWS AT THE KENT STAGE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED Tickets available at www.kentstage.org or 877-987-6487 GMK [w cw i {{ © a{ B e~ JJHJF | clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

UPFRONT DISCIPLINARY CHARGES FILED AGAINST OFFICERS WHO KILLED TAMIR RICE

THIS WEEK

IN A PRESS CONFERENCE called with 19 minutes notice to the media, after work on a Friday before a holiday weekend, the city of Cleveland announced that administrative and internal disciplinary charges were fi led against the officers involved in the shooting and killing of Tamir Rice. Despite the abrupt urgency of the press conference, city officials would not say what those charges are. The assembled leaders — Mayor Frank Jackson, Police Chief Calvin Williams, Deputy Chief Wayne Drummond, and Public Safety Director Mike McGrath — took questions in the most nominal sense of the word. They said the charge letters would be released after the press conference and that questions could then be directed to City Hall spokesman Dan Williams and police spokeswoman Jennifer Ciaccia, thus allowing the city officials to abscond without answering any direct questions. It was a dazzling display of how the city treats its press corps. “As you know, we’ve been conducting the administrative side of the investigation around the shooting in November 2014 of Tamir Rice,” said Jackson, who offered little else during the affair, to open the presser. “The criminal side has been completed and you also know there was a settlement on the civil side. The only thing left in regard to the procedure is that of the administrative side.” Now, that being said, we’ve since received and reviewed the charge letters for Timothy Loehmann, Frank Garmback and William Cunningham. (Read them in full at clevescene.com) All the charges for Loehmann stem from his lying on his application for the Cleveland Division of Police, specifically

From the AP story: “Columbus surgeon Jonathan Groner, a lethal injection expert, said past problems with Ohio executions have come about because executioners didn’t properly connect the IVs. “‘A reversal drug will not help with that problem, and could make it worse — if the IV is not in the vein, giving more drugs may cause more pain,’ Groner said.”

OHIO IS EMBRACING ITS FIRST (PROPOSED) ETHANE CRACKER Administrative charges announced last week bring us back to Nov. 22, 2014, outside Cudell Rec Center.

Ohio’s dubious track record with state executions is well known, and now, a month out from its ﬁrst lethal injection in three years, the state seems to be preparing for the

worst. In federal court testimony this month, the director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction revealed an interest in obtaining a drug that could reverse a lethal injection, if needed. A new Associated Press report gets into the details of what Ohio is trying to accomplish. In the event that executioners aren’t confident that midazolam, the first drug of a three-drug “cocktail,” is going to fully render an inmate unconscious, then officials would intervene and reverse the effects of that drug — ending the lethal injection process. Gary Mohr, DRC director, said that he would get in contact with Gov. John Kasich to officially halt and reverse the process if that were to happen. “Governor, I am not confident that we, in fact, can achieve a successful execution. I want to reverse the effects of this,” Mohr said in court, explaining how he would describe the potential situation. It appears via the AP report that Ohio is trying to obtain Flumazenil, which would reverse the lethal injection process, but has not yet been successful.

DELOS OUT

ANTI-BUSISM

WHAT’S OLD IS NEW

Cleveland Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove publicly decries anti-vaccination column published by Wellness Institute leader Dr. Daniel Neides on Cleveland.com. Donald Trump now reconsidering VA director post, reportedly planning to interview Neides.

American Bus Association leaves with mostly positive impressions after holding conference in downtown Cleveland. Attendees reportedly very displeased, however, with mayor’s “anti-bus” attitude after visit to Public Square.

Ohio City Libations announces new “pierogi taco,” hailed immediately as a watershed moment in Cleveland culinary history. You and your stoner buddy Zigzag, however, have been making them for years.

omitting his problems as an officer in Independence that led to him resigning from the suburb instead of being fired. No charges relate to his actions on the day he shot Tamir Rice. One of the officers, Williams said, will come before him directly for violation of department rules and procedures. While declining to get into specifics, officials broadly stated that charges for the officers ranged from administrative violations to violations of the use of force policy. Williams said he made the recommendations to McGrath after reviewing the report from the critical incident committee, impaneled by Jackson and led by Drummond. McGrath said that predisciplinary hearings will be scheduled for this month.

OHIO WANTS A DRUG THAT WOULD REVERSE THE EFFECTS OF LETHAL INJECTION

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

The Ohio EPA began 2017 by granting PTT Global Chemical a water permit that will allow the company to discharge wastewater from a massive ethane cracker into the Ohio River. The cracker, a proposed industrial complex covering hundreds of acres just south of Wheeling, West Virginia, would convert ethane into ethylene (for use in plastics manufacturing). Ethane is a component of the natural gas that’s found throughout the heavily drilled Marcellus and Utica shale plays in southern Ohio and West Virginia. Total investment costs for the facility hover around the $5.7-billion mark. A ﬁnal decision on the project from the Thailand-based company and the state of Ohio is anticipated in March. Until then, the permitting process continues apace. “Permitted discharges may result in changes from current water quality conditions, but cannot violate Ohio’s water quality standards that protect human health and the environment,” according to the Ohio EPA. As a spokesperson explained during a public meeting last fall, trace amounts of polyethylene and

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The Lakewood Hospital Professional Building is being demolished, as seen last weekend. The demolition process is part of the protracted closure of Lakewood Hospital.

ethylene will be inevitable in the wastewater discharge. The agency is currently considering air permit applications that seek to allow associated air pollutants. The Wheeling NewsRegister lists a number of airborne chemicals that would be discharged from the ethane cracker: â€œnitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds, ammonia, carbon dioxide equivalents, xylene and benzene.â€? Shell is moving forward with its own ethane cracker in nearby Beaver County, Pennsylvania. In our 2015 feature on the Marcellus and Utica drilling boom, Scene learned that â€œdownstreamâ€? industry â€” the production of more reďŹ ned petrochemicals â€” is the next step in the natural gas world. Ohio ďŹ nds itself in the heart of it all.

Once the demo job is complete, the city will welcome the Cleveland Clinicâ€™s new â€œwellness centerâ€? campus. Weâ€™ve reported extensively on that transaction.

FORMER CLEVELAND CATHOLIC CHARITIES EMPLOYEE ADMITS TO EMBEZZLING $2 MILLION

Photo by Jake Clemens

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Charities employee who worked at various times as the nonprofit’s comptroller and business manager was charged today with embezzling $2 million from the organization. Michelle Medrick, 58, of North Royalton allegedly used her position to steal millions between 2008 and March of this year. In a statement in November 2016 when the allegations (but not the employee’s name) came to light, CEO Patrick Gareau said: “We are shocked and disappointed that this occurred. Stewardship is one of the core values of our organization and we take the trust granted to us by our supporters, clients and community very seriously. We are working closely with our audit committee and board of directors and have taken steps to strengthen and improve our internal controls and oversight of systems within the organization.” An independent forensic audit was conducted by an outside firm and the FBI investigated. Medrick

DIGIT WIDGET $100,786.99 Amount of Cleveland Metropolitan School District payroll that was lost in an “email spooﬁng scam.”

170 Estimated layoffs at RTA once the transit authority loses funds due to a restructuring of Ohio tax laws. RTA will lose an estimated $4.5 million in 2017 and $18 million more in 2018.

$12 MILLION The full debt owed by RTA to the Federal Transit Administration on Jan. 19 (unless an appeal is ﬁled or an extension is granted).

11 Days notice given by Giant Eagle for the closure of two local grocery stores (one in West Park and one in Buckeye Shaker) and a GetGo gas station.

allegedly altered checks and used donor checks for personal income, among other nefarious acts of embezzlement. When she received payments for Catholic Charities invoices, she deposited them in the account of Parmadale instead of Catholic Charities. She then wrote checks for cash to herself from that account. The total number of checks: 1,449. The non-profit was reimbursed the stolen funds via insurance, but Judge Christopher Boyko is likely to ask her to give a portion of the money back to the organization as well. Medrick is facing between 33 and 63 months in prison under the plea. She’ll be sentenced April 27.

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JOIN THE MARCH ON CLEVELAND THIS SATURDAY The Women’s March on Washington, taking place the day after the presidential inauguration, is looking like it will be a massive political statement — one of the largest organized protests in American history. Buses are departing from Cleveland and many other cities that morning, and people are traveling from across the U.S. to march in solidarity. At the same time, “sister marches” are being organized in nearly 300 other cities. Cleveland is one of them. The Women’s March on Cleveland is set for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 21 at Public Square. More than 1,000 people have already RSVP’d to the Facebook event. “One afternoon while taking a break from research in our office, we discovered the Women’s March on Washington,” organizers Laura Johnson and Claudia Pasmatsiou wrote in a joint statement. “We saw that many cities were hosting sister marches, but were disappointed to find that Cleveland wasn’t on the map. So we decided to take action and organize a local event.” Speakers will address the crowd, and the march will begin around 11 a.m. (The route will take people from Public Square toward the Free Stamp and back.) The event is free, and all are welcome.

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SEE OUR AD ON THE BACK INSIDE COVER | clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

| clevescene.com m | January 18 - 24, 2017

FEATURE

Photo by Frank Lanza

SCHMEAR CAMPAIGN Cleveland Bagel’s come a long way in three years, and they’re not done growing yet By Douglas Trattner IT’S BEEN THREE AND A HALF years since partners Dan Herbst and Geoff Hardman peddled their first homemade bagel at the Gordon Square Farmer’s Market — and that bagel truly was homemade, fabricated as it was like all the rest back then at Herbst’s apartment. This past fall the duo opened a production facility and retail storefront with the help of partner Alan Glazen, whom the pair met while filming Cleveland Hustles. Since the beginning, the goal of Cleveland Bagel Co. has been to produce the besttasting bagels that money can buy while building a local business that lives up to the “Cleveland” brand. “One of the greatest assets of Cleveland is its people,” explains Hardman, a former software guy. “We have been afforded so many opportunities from people like Gary Thomas of Ohio City Pasta, who let us work out of his kitchens. This isn’t rocket science. We have a company that can train anybody, so why not train anybody? We can hire the people that maybe others wouldn’t.” Since graduating from the apartment to the shared space at Ohio City Pasta to the current production facility in Ohio City (4201 Detroit Ave., 216-600-5652, clebagelco. com), Cleveland Bagel Co. has more than quadrupled its output, to approximately 10,000 units per week. But more than sales figures, what

delights the partners most of all is the ability to show off their product in the best possible light. “Doing wholesale business, nobody ever really gets the chance to get fresh bagels right out of the oven,” says Herbst, noting that those bagels at the local coffee shop were baked and delivered hours earlier. “We’re not just selling bread rounds. We’re doing bagels the way they should be done.” The authentic process involves a slow, natural fermentation and prooﬁng process followed by a water boil and bake. In some circles, by the way, it’s heretical to toast a fresh-baked bagel. Just as they have done from the start, the team will continue to expand and grow the company in thoughtful, measured steps. Now that they’ve got the current system down to a consistent routine, the guys can begin to push the operation a little bit at a time. “Just in the short time we’ve been open our staff has come a long way,” Hardman says. “The shop is running like a machine and we can begin to add things without it being a huge hiccup.” Next up at the shop will be the introduction of hot breakfast sandwiches like a bacon, egg and cheese bagel, to go along with the bagel and schmears currently offered. When that has been rolled out successfully, guests might soon

see lunch service added into the mix, with an accompanying roster of bagel sandwiches. Also not too far in the distance is a second shop, so that customers elsewhere in the city can buy a hot and fresh Cleveland Bagel. “We’re actively, aggressively looking for a second location on the eastside, hoping that we can match the dynamics of our ﬁrst one,” Glazen reports. But despite the company’s trajectory, don’t expect to see the core values change, Hardman asserts. “We’re always going to stay smallbatch,” he says. “There comes a point at which you scale that might affect your product. We want to employ people, we want to pay them a living wage. The proﬁt is there, so why would we necessarily scale up the process so much that we eliminate those jobs and possibly mess up the quality of our product?” “We are asking a lot of our employees to show up at four in the morning and be on your feet all day,” Herbst interjects. “So paying a living wage goes a long way. If you pay them a decent wage and treat them with respect, you’ll get dedication and loyalty.” Herbst and Hardman manage to pay a dozen staffers $15 an hour by selling $2 bagels, less than you’d spend on a side of plain mass-market toast at the local diner. And it is precisely those employees who will

help Cleveland Bagel expand to new locations in Cleveland and elsewhere. “We’ve made a point of training our staff in every position so they can learn the whole process, from rolling bagels to the front of the house,” notes Hardman. “We could take anyone of our core staff and branch out.” And branch out they will, not just to a second Cleveland location, but beyond our borders. “Ultimately, we want to open up another shop here, maybe a third shop here,” Hardman says. “And then, we’re going to expand elsewhere outside the city — and we’re going to keep the Cleveland Bagel name. Right now, we’re at a time when the Cleveland name has cache. Maybe six, seven years ago the name might have been a hindrance.” If you haven’t tried a Cleveland Bagel since those early ﬂea and farmer’s market days, you might be pleasantly surprised by how far they’ve come. “We would be completely embarrassed about that early product,” Hardman says with a laugh. “But that’s how it should be. You shouldn’t wait around until you have the perfect product. You should get out there and do it and keep getting better. You should be embarrassed, because it means you’re growing.”

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner | clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

FEATURE BLOODY GOOD The West Side Market is your one-stop shop for building your own bloody mary bar By Rachel Hunt YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT you want, but with your own bloody mary bar, you can. Thanks to the West Side Market, you can stock that bar with fresh, local and delicious ingredients that’ll make your Saturday or Sunday (and any other day, to be honest) all the boozier right at home. We’ll take you stepby-step, stand-to-stand so you can nab all the gourmet garnishes you’ll need to not only get creative, but also tipsy. And maybe full, depending on how many ingredients you pick. Just stick to our philosophy behind the perfect bloody mary: “Eat it, don’t drink it.” Cheers. Narrin Asian Spice & Sauce (Stand E-11) Start with a great tomato-based mix. Pope’s Bloody Mary Mix in the “Mellow Mary” or original bold and spicy recipe cannot be beat. Pair

either with your favorite vodka, and whatever comes next, you will have a great canvas. Narrin also stocks a huge array of hot sauces from around the world. If you’re looking for some heat (and a good pun), look no further than “Flame of Thrones”

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or “Blair’s Beyond Death Sauce” to make you feel alive. Many of the varieties utilize some of the hottest peppers known to man. Be careful. Rita’s (Stand G-10) No bloody mary would be complete without olives, and the best in the city can be found here. Intriguingly stuffed with baconranch-cheddar, habanero pepper jack, smoked Gouda, and classic blue cheese, among others, these olives eliminate the need to self-stuff! If you like them plain, there’s common green, red Cerignola, California black, Kalamata, Sicilian and many others. Basketeria Produce (Stands 60, 62, 64) Specializing in produce from seven farms in Amish country, five of which are organic certified, Basketeria has a wealth of garnish supplies. Think celery, cucumbers, green beans and even cauliflower for a little pizzazz.

Czuchraj Meats (Stands B-10, B-11) Hit up this stand for amazing beef smokies and jerky — which happens to be Michael Symon’s favorite. Use the smokies as creative meat-

stirrers! They come in varieties like ghost pepper, teriyaki and buffalo chicken ﬂavor. Use their cheese smokies to impart subtle hints of garlic, spice and smoke. M&M Foods/Toney’s Baloney (Stands C-4, C-5) Bacon goes great with everything, especially bloody marys. Fry up a batch of thick-cut Christmas Ale bacon, slathered in beer and brown sugar for a hint of salty sweetness. Or, if you prefer, there’s Hungarian bacon covered in paprika, garlic and onion. Or what about candied bacon? Kate’s Fish (Stands F-12, F-13) For a special occasion, turn that bloody mary into a shrimp cocktail with some jumbo Texas Gulf shrimp, wild Florida pink shrimp, or jumbo black tiger shrimp. Seafood makes everything a little more elegant. Just poach, peel and serve. Juice Garden (Stand D-13) For a fresh hit of citrus in your bloody mary, grab some lemon or lime juice from this stand. Still feeling hung over from the night before? Score a bloody mary shot, concocted from fresh celery, lemon and kale juice with cayenne to get you moving and thinking again. Urban Herbs (Stand E-2) This is the last stop for a great bloody mary! This stand has hickory, bonﬁre and applewood smoked sea salts, which you can use to garnish the rim of glassware. Just run some cut citrus around the rim and dip into the salt. Grab some fresh black peppercorns for those who like it earthy and hot, or some powdered serrano for those who like it smoky.

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jimlanza@gmail.com | clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

FEATURE STAY IN When you want brunch but donâ€™t want to leave your house, Spice Kitchenâ€™s Ben Bebenroth suggests making this

Clevelandâ€™s Best Sunday Brunch Join Us From 10am-2pm & Experience Our Delicious One of a Kind Menu Selections 347 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44114 216-622-2626 | www.thechocolatebar.com

First, a drink, because youâ€™ll want to be drinking with the meal, if not while youâ€™re making it. Chocolate Strawberry Crepe

The Wild Ones Stir s OUNCES RUM s OUNCE &ERNET "RANCA -ENTA s OUNCE DRY CURACAO s OUNCE SWEET CREAM s OUNCES COLD BREW COFFEE s DASHES FULL MEASURE BITTERS Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker. Strain over ice. Garnish with an expressed orange peel. Now that thatâ€™s out of the way ... English MufďŹ ns Poolish s GRAMS CUPS m OUR s GRAMS Ă? CUPS WARM WATER s PINCH OF DRY ACTIVE YEAST -UFl NS s GRAMS CUPS m OUR s GRAMS Â CUPS WATER s GRAMS Â TABLESPOON SALT s GRAMS Â TABLESPOON DRY ACTIVE YEAST

WE WENT OUT WHEN YOU COULDNâ€™T. CATCH UP ON LAST NIGHT WITH SCENEâ€™S EVENT SLIDESHOWS. ONLY AT CLEVESCENE.COM SCENE

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

&OR THE 0OOLISH )N THE MORNING ONE DAY BEFORE MAKING THE MUFl NS MIX TOGETHER WARM WATER AND YEAST !LLOW TO SIT FOR A FEW MINUTES THEN MIX IN THE m OUR WITH A wooden spoon or spatula. Let sit in a warm place until it has doubled in size AROUND HOURS &OR THE -UFl NS 7HEN POOLISH IS NEARLY READY MIX TOGETHER THE m OUR AND WATER IN A MIXER l TTED WITH A PADDLE ATTACHMENT -IX FOR A FEW MINUTES UNTIL MIXTURE IS UNIFORM THEN ADD THE POOLISH SALT AND YEAST -IX ON LOWEST SPEED FOR four minutes, then mix on second-lowest speed for four minutes. Transfer the dough to an oiled container and let sit in a warm spot for two hours. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator overnight. )N THE MORNING PREHEAT OVEN TO DEGREES 2EMOVE THE DOUGH FROM THE REFRIGERATOR AND DUMP ONTO A WELL m OURED SURFACE &LOUR THE TOP OF THE DOUGH AND ROLL THE DOUGH TO A INCH THICKNESS WITH A ROLLING PIN 5SING A ROUND COOKIE OR BISCUIT CUTTER PRESS OUT YOUR %NGLISH MUFl NS 0LACE MUFl NS ON AN OILED PIECE OF PARCHMENT PAPER AND TRANSFER TO THE refrigerator. 7HILE THE MUFl NS ARE IN THE REFRIGERATOR HEAT A CAST IRON SKILLET TO medium-high heat. When hot, add a tablespoon of butter and place as many MUFl NS AS WILL l T COMFORTABLY #OOK UNTIL BROWN AND THEN m IP MUFl N TO BROWN ON THE OTHER SIDE 4RANSFER TO A DEGREE OVEN AND BAKE FOR l VE MINUTES $UST WITH SEMOLINA m OUR AND SERVE WARM AND TOASTY Cured Salmon s POUND SALMON l LLET SKIN REMOVED s CUP KOSHER SALT s CUP SUGAR s TEASPOON WHITE PEPPER In a mixing bowl, combine salt, sugar and pepper until evenly mixed. ,IBERALLY COAT THE SALMON ON BOTH SIDES WITH THE MIXTURE RESERVE SOME FOR FUTURE STEP ,AY IN A m AT SHALLOW PAN OR GLASS DISH 0LACE ANOTHER PAN OR

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

glass dish on top of the ďŹ sh and weigh it down with a couple of tin cans or a jug of water. Place in the refrigerator and allow to cure for 12 hours. After 12 hours, drain and ďŹ‚ip the salmon, pack with a bit more of the curing mix, replace the weight, and allow to cure in the refrigerator for another 12 hours. When ready to serve, rinse the salmon under cold water, pat dry with a paper towel and thinly slice with a sharp knife. Horseradish Creme Fraiche s CUP 3NOWVILLE #REAMERY #REME &RAICHE s TEASPOONS PREPARED HORSERADISH s :EST AND JUICE OF TWO LEMONS s 3ALT AND PEPPER #OMBINE THE CREME FRAICHE HORSERADISH JUICE AND ZEST IN A MIXING BOWL AND WHISK TO COMBINE 3EASON WITH SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE Poached Eggs s EGGS s 7HITE VINEGAR Bring a large, deep pot to a rolling simmer over medium heat. Add approximately two tablespoons of white vinegar. Working in batches of four eggs at a time, gently stir the water in a circular motion and crack each EGG INTO THE CENTER ONE AT A TIME !LLOW THE EGGS TO SIMMER FOR ABOUT TO minutes, until the yolk and whites ďŹ rm up to your desired doneness. Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and place on a clean kitchen towel to drain. To assemble the dish 3LICE THE %NGLISH MUFlN THROUGH ITS EQUATOR AND TOAST IN A SKILLET WITH a bit of butter and some vegetable oil over medium heat. When the mufďŹ ns are golden brown, arrange toasted-side up on a plate, place a dollop of creme fraiche on each, followed by the sliced salmon and the poached eggs. Garnish with a sprig of fresh dill.

E OP

AWA R D E D B Y

FEATURE

Photo by BurkleHagen

DEMYSTIFYING DIM SUM A beginner’s guide to your new favorite meal By Douglas Trattner I’LL NEVER FORGET MY FIRST dim sum experience, thanks simply to the sheer terror of it. I was seated in a massive hall with 300 strangers, all of whom seemed to know exactly what to do and how to act. In place of menus, there was an endless procession of carts being wheeled around the room, each

containing bamboo steamers that concealed their contents. Ordering items by pointing was akin to Russian roulette, where one prayed that what hid beneath the wrapper of this dumpling or that was not beef stomach or pig intestines, two possible outcomes. I’ve learned to relax and roll with

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

the punches at dim sum — and so should you. Consider this festive midmorning meal an instant brunch, where you and a group of friends drink tea, rehash the weekend’s shenanigans, and enjoy exciting foods that are wheeled right up to your seats. Over time, you’ll become familiar with the patterns and

customs of this venerable Chinese tradition. We’re here to help. After the tea, which appears in pots on every table, it’s the staggering variety of food that attracts diners. While exceptions exist, dim sum primarily consists of small portions of steamed, braised, baked and deep-fried items. They

Dim Sum 101 Go early. Dim sum is first-come, first-served and folks start filing in early on weekends. Get there much past 11 a.m. and you might find yourself in a line. Bring friends. Many of the tables are large enough to accommodate eight or 10 guests. And the more friends you have, the more dishes you can sample. See something, say something. When you spot an item that looks interesting, ask the cart person to show it to you. If it looks good, ask for it. If not, simply say no thank you. Order what you want. If you don’t see something you want, just ask for it and someone will bring it around. Likewise, feel free to order items off the regular menu. Drink tea. Dim sum is as much about sipping tea and catching up with friends as it is eating. When your teapot runs dry, simply flip the lid open to notify your server to replace it. Settle up. As items are ordered, servers make notes on your table’s tab as they go. When you’ve had enough, ask the server to tally the total for payment. Three to try: Li Wah, Bo Loong, Emperor’s Palace.

range from soft and supple steamed dumplings to crispy fried spring rolls. Most of the foods can be picked up and eaten out of hand, but some are best left to the chopsticks, and still others beneﬁt from a knife and fork. Since most dishes are inexpensive — anywhere from $2 to $5 — it’s harmless to order things that might be outside your comfort zone.

STEAMED DUMPLINGS AND BUNS The most popular tidbits at dim sum are the steamed dumplings and buns. Experience tells us that we can often discern a dumpling’s contents simply by its shape. For example, those half-moon-shaped pillows with pleats down one side of the see-through wrapper — known as har gow — will contain chopped pieces of shrimp and maybe some pork and scallions. Those delicate unsealed crown-shaped dumplings known as siu mai will be ﬁlled either with ground shrimp or ground pork. If you spot large orbs that look like Wonder Bread balls, they will very likely be steamed buns ﬁlled with chopped barbecue pork. Others, called soup dumplings, contain pork and savory broth that can catch oblivious diners by surprise.

RICE DISHES If you spy a large leaf-wrapped bundle, it is going to be ﬁlled with sticky rice studded with pork and Chinese sausage. Break through the lotus (or banana) leaf to reveal a steamy, sweet and savory treat that is one of the best things going at dim sum. On the other end of the spectrum are the rice noodle rolls.

Soft and silky textured wide rice noodles are rolled around various ﬁllings like shrimp, pork and even Chinese doughnuts and drizzled with soy sauce. Warm and comforting congee, or rice porridge, is ladled out of carts specially equipped to handle the hot brew. The porridge can be topped with ﬁsh, pork, eggs or just a sprinkle of scallions.

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS | SHAKER HEIGHTS 20630 John Carrol Blvd. 216-331-3555 | Melissa-univhts.com

MEATS The meats that one is most likely to encounter at dim sum include plates of sweet and tender steamed pork ribs in a savory black bean sauce. This popular but messy ﬁnger food is made with small pork rib tips, so expect to be spitting out bones. Golden roast ducks hang by their necks behind glass in most dim sum restaurants, so it’s not surprising when they roll up tableside. Hacked into slices, the meat is dark, rich and fatty beneath a layer of crispy copper-colored skin. Don’t knock chicken feet, often billed as phoenix claw, until you’ve tried them. Sure, they’re creepy as hell to look at. But these deep-fried, braised and steamed delicacies are covered in umami-rich skin, meat and cartilage.

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DESSERT Even dim sum gets dessert. You’ll be offered adorable little pies ﬁlled with sweet and creamy egg custard, sesame seed-coated fried dough balls ﬁlled sweet red bean paste, or bowls of sweetened tofu pudding topped with ginger syrup.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

FEATURE

An all-you-can eat brunch, with a view.

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By Vince Grzegorek WE ARE NOTHING IF NOT creatures of habit, and so it goes with brunch. Even those who crisscross Northeast Ohio for every new restaurant opening inevitably and understandably build a roster of standbys and ďŹ nd themselves returning time and time again, out of loyalty and/or convenience, to the same places week after week, month after month. Itâ€™s all the more understandable when the sun comes up on Saturday or Sunday morning and you manage to put on some real pants only because there is no food in the house and the faint pounding in your head is a not so subtle reminder from your hangover that it needs to be dealt with. You wouldnâ€™t be blamed at such distressing times for being unable to remember the new place youâ€™ve been wanting to try or straying too far from your house in search for sustenance. But whatâ€™s the fun in that? With that in mind, here are three new places dishing up your favorite weekend meal. SALT Jill Vedaaâ€™s sparkling new place in Lakewood was one of our favorite additions to the Northeast Ohio dining scene in 2016 thanks to its thoughtfully crafted menu of dazzling small plates. The same mission and execution shines on the brunch menu, which is ďŹ lled with a roster of similarly conceived smallish plates that stray from the usual fare. Try the clams with Parmesan brodo, herbs and toast ($10) or the smoked sturgeon with French-onion mascarpone and bagel chips ($11), along with one of their well-executed cocktails. CROP So, Cropâ€™s not really new and the Ohio City mainstay has been doing brunch for a while now, but there is something new to look forward

to: all-you-can-eat brunch. Yes, the high-end spread runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays and features all the things we love about these waistband-expanding endeavors. Did we mention that it was all you can eat? A carving station has houseroasted prime rib and ham. Omelets can be stuffed and folded to order at an omelet station, with choices including crab, shrimp, lobster, meat and a variety of veggies and cheeses. A chilled seafood section is festooned with shrimp cocktail, snow crab, mussels, crawďŹ sh salad and lobster salad. And a dozen hot dishes satisfy all the major food groups, including eggs, bacon, maple sausage, wafďŹ‚es, pancakes and more. A cold antipasto section will be outďŹ tted with domestic and imported cheeses, charcuterie, smoked ďŹ sh, fresh fruit and vegetable, and salads. Adults prices are $39, children ages 5 to 12 are $20, kids ages 4 and under eat for free. For reservations, call 216696-2767. PARKERâ€™S DOWNTOWN The restaurant at the Kimpton SchoďŹ eld Hotel downtown opened its doors in July, just before the RNC came to town. An offshoot of Parkerâ€™s Grille and Tavern in Avon Lake, the downtown location is led by executive chef Andrew Gorski, a CIA grad who worked at Thomas Kellerâ€™s Bouchon, MIX by Alain Ducasse and locally at Butcher and the Brewer and Tremont Tap House. Saturday and Sunday mornings Parkerâ€™s dishes up a mix of savory options including mac and cheese with Gruyere and veal jus, loaded potato pierogi, corned beef hash and a stout, traditional breakfast plate that will keep you fortiďŹ ed for the rest of the day.

vgrzegorek@clevescene.com t@vincethepolack

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

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| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

everything you should do this week

GET OUT

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

WED

01/18

FILM

Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies Three young snowboarders must counteract a zombie outbreak in Attack of the Lederhosen Zombies, a campy horror ﬂick set in the Austrian Alps. The trio employs snowboarding skills to get the job done. The movie screens at 7:30 tonight and at midnight on Saturday at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets are $9.75 for adults, $7 for seniors. (Jeff Niesel) 1390 West 65th St., 216-651-7295, clevelandcinemas.com. FOOD

Brewmaster’s Dinner Tonight at 6:30 at Hofbräuhaus Cleveland, head brewmaster Josh Jones and executive chef Oleg Makhayev host a four-course Brewmaster Dinner in the Hermit Club restaurant. They’ll pair four menu items with a sample of their tasty bier brewed in the onsite brewery. The duo will also explain why they’re serving a particular beer with a particular food. The menu includes bake brie as an appetizer; as the main course, there will be braised beef short ribs with chili corn mashed potatoes and spaghetti squash A seasonal fruit crisp with oatmeal topping will serve as the dessert. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the pub or emailing the staff at info@hofbrauhauscleveland.com. Tickets are $40. (Niesel) 1550 Chester Ave., 216-621-2337, hofbrauhauscleveland.com. FILM

Being 17 Two teenage boys start out as adversaries in Being 17, a French ﬁlm by director Andre Techine (Wild Reeds). Set in the mountains of southern France, the movie concentrates on the sexual awakening that takes place as the two teens must share the same house and learn to live with one another. The ﬁlm makes its Cleveland premiere tonight at 6:45 at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it shows again at 6:45 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $9, or $7 for members, seniors and students. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org.

Scene’s United We Brunch returns to the Galleria. See: Saturday SPOKEN WORD

Cleveland Stories Dinner Parties Earlier this year, Music Box Supper Club launched Cleveland Stories Dinner Party, a weekly series that pairs ﬁne food with storytelling. The series aims to help raise awareness of the mission of the Western Reserve Historical Society’s new Cleveland History Center. The club’s owners consider the Cleveland History Center to be “one of the most interesting museums in Cleveland” and “an unknown gem that Clevelanders should know more about and support.” The goal of the Cleveland Stories Dinner Party is to “bring to life some of the fun, interesting stories about Cleveland’s past — from sports, to rock ’n’ roll, to Millionaires’ Row.” Each week features a guest speaker and a custom prix ﬁxe menu — a full three-course meal for only $20. The popular series resumes tonight at 7:30 with longtime sports anchor and writer Dan Coughlin, who’ll read from his Pass the Nuts books. The menu includes ballpark soup, pulled pork and a brownie sundae. Admission is free. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-242-1250, musicboxcle.com. ART

Drawing Power Twice every month, Great Lakes

Brewing Company hosts Cleveland’s Drink & Draw Social Club. The event is organized by the Rust Belt Monster Collective and sponsored by Carol and John’s Comic Book Shop. Drink & Draws are an opportunity for artists of all levels to drink, draw, socialize/network and collaborate in a very relaxed and welcoming environment. Events take place at 7 p.m. on the ﬁrst and third Wednesdays of each month; that includes tonight. At the end of each Drink & Draw, prizes are awarded for various superlatives. Admission is free. (Josh Usmani) 2516 Market Ave., 216-771-4404, greatlakesbrewing.com. SPORTS

Monsters vs. Rockford Icehogs After a long road trip, the Lake Erie Monsters return home to face off against the Rockford Icehogs for a two-game series that begins tonight at 7 at Quicken Loans Arena. It’s College I.D. night so students with a valid I.D. can purchase tickets for only $6 and “meal deals” for $6 as well. The two teams play each other again at 7 on Friday night. There will be a Blue Jackets-themed auction at that game and fans can buy $1 Pepsi products, $2 Sugardale dogs and $3 beers. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

FILM

No Man’s Land Two of the U.K.’s ﬁnest actors, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart share a love for iconic avant-garde playwrights such as Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter. They famously worked together in an adaptation of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and they’ve teamed up again for Pinter’s No Man’s Land, a play about a place “which never moves, never changes, which never grows older, but which remains forever, icy and silent.” Today at 11 a.m. at the Cedar Lee, you can watch them perform together as the theater broadcasts a production of the play by the National Theatre. Tickets cost $20. (Niesel) 2163 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, 440-717-4696, clevelandcinemas.com. SPOKEN WORD

Think & Drink with the Extinct Billed as “one of the brainiest happy hours in Cleveland,” Think & Drink with the Extinct, a monthly gathering at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, represents more than just an opportunity to get wasted. Rather, patrons actually learn something as the museum’s staff members give interactive demonstrations and talk about topic such as the winter | clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

GET OUT

scheduled through Saturday. Tickets are $23 to $28. (Niesel) 2035 East Fourth St., 216-241-7425, pickwickandfrolic.com.

solstice and entomology. Libations are provided by a different local brewery each week. Tonight’s event takes place from 5 to 9 p.m. and involves biomimicry, the study of nature to develop solutions for human problems. Tickets are $8, but museum members and Case students get in for free. (Niesel) 1 Wade Oval Dr., 216-231-4600, cmnh.org.

THU

FRI

01/20

COMEDY

Earthquake Better known by his stage name Earthquake, Nathaniel Martin Stroman has worked as an actor,

01/19

“A

SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. Phoenix Suns When the Cavs took on the Phoenix Suns earlier this month in Phoenix, the Suns came back from a doubledigit halftime deﬁcit to make the Cavs work for the victory. This young Suns team shows potential in guards like Devin Booker and forward Marquese Chriss, but the team is a couple of years away from becoming truly competitive. Expect the Cavs to easily handle the Suns tonight when the two teams face off at 7 p.m. at the Q. Tickets start at $19. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

Flanagan’s Wake Now in its ﬁfth year running in Cleveland, Flanagan’s Wake transports the audience to a wake in Ireland where villagers tell tales and sing songs for their dearly departed

Experience a Divine Culture

MUST SEE!

”

guests are treated as the friends and family of the deceased. The show starts at 8 tonight and plays again tomorrow night at 8 at Kennedy’s Theatre. Tickets are $26. (Patrick Stoops) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. THEATER

Last Call Cleveland: Michael Stanley Superstar The local comedy troupe Last Call Cleveland once again turns its attention to local rock star Michael Stanley with Michael Stanley Superstar. Billed as “the unauthorized autobiography of the Cuyahoga messiah,” the production promises to take you through the life of Cleveland’s “favorite part-time rocker and full-time badass.” Catch it tonight and tomorrow night at 8:30 at the Outcalt Theatre. Tickets are $18. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave, 216-640-8669, playhousesquare.org. SPOKEN WORD

“A visually dazzling tour of 5,000 years of Chinese history and culture.”

Cool TLC A veteran comic, local hero Cool TLC has worked the Cleveland scene for years now. During that time, he’s shared the stage with national acts such as Eddie Grifﬁn, Bruce Bruce, Snoop Dogg and Patti Labelle. The rowdy, fast-talking comedian regularly punctuates his live show with singing and dancing as he brings an excessive amount of energy to the stage. He performs tonight at 7:30 at the Improv. Tickets are $15. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.

– San Francisco Chronicle

February 4-5, 2017

Playhouse Square

COMEDY

THEATER

-- Broadway World

COMEDY

Gary Gulman In a routine he delivered last year on Conan, comedian Gary Gulman expounded on a documentary film he had seen about how the states first received their abbreviations. He explains how the Post Office assembled “a crack squad of abbreviators” to take all 50 states down to two letters. His funny account of the documentary highlights his astute storytelling abilities. Gulman performs tonight at 8 at Hilarities, where he has shows

at 7:30 and 10 at the Improv, where he has shows scheduled through Sunday. Tickets are $25. (Niesel) 1148 Main Ave., 216-696-IMPROV, clevelandimprov.com.

216-241-6000 ShenYun.com

voice artist and comedian since the ’80s. His jokes tend to steer clear of current events as he talks generally about the trials and tribulations of being in relationships. “I’ve been investing in women for 40 years and have yet to see a proﬁt,” he jokes in one routine. He performs tonight

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

Flanagan. Finding the humor in life and death, the wake acts as a dark backdrop to an otherwise hilarious show in which alcohol fuels the humorous reminiscing. A sort of tragic Tony ’n’ Tina’s Wedding, the interactive and improvised show engages the entire audience as the

Lunch on Fridays Looking for an informative and fun way to spend your Friday lunch hour? How about free pizza? Either way, the Cleveland Institute of Art invites the public to the first presentation of its Lunch on Fridays weekly lecture series for the spring semester at 12:15 p.m today. This Friday’s lecture is presented by Steven Gutierrez, currently teaching both digital studies and charrette classes, as well as the engaged practice course, Animation for Food Safety. At today’s lunch, Gutierrez will discuss his very nontraditional career path — from his start as a mechanical and aerospace engineer at Cornell to his work at Little Tikes/Rubbermaid and NASA, before coming to CIA with 18 years of teaching experience. Lunch on Friday lectures are free and open to the public. As always, free pizza and beverages are also available on a first-come, first-served basis. (Usmani) 11141 East Blvd., 216-421-7000, cia.edu. ART

New Exhibits As the spring semester begins, the Galleries at Cleveland State University are ready to debut their ﬁrst exhibitions of 2017. The South Gallery, viewable from the building’s storefront on Euclid Avenue, features Susan Squires’ From There to Here, showcasing her geometric abstractions created by painting with encaustic wax.

Meanwhile, in the Center Gallery, Miriam Norris Omura’s Ghosts and Strangers features the artist’s dyed Tencel weavings; and the Media Room hosts a special screening of local independent ﬁlmmaker Robert Banks’ latest project, Paper Shadows. Lastly, the North Gallery hosts Riparazioni, an installation of 11 embroidered dresses and other work by Anne Kmieck. The new exhibitions open with a gallery conversation with the artists at 4 p.m.; an opening reception follows and runs until 8 p.m. At 6 p.m. in the North Gallery, dance artists Kathy Diehl, Jenna Hanlon and Lisa Yanofsky perform Illuminations of Identity with musical artist Mike McNamara. The exhibitions remain on view through Feb. 25. Admission is free. (Usmani) 1307 Euclid Ave., 216-687-2103, csuohio.edu/artgallery. ART

#RiseUpAgainstHate Hoping to kick off 2017 with positive energy, Lakewood’s Good Goat Gallery hosts #RiseUpAgainstHate, a charitable art exhibition that opens tonight. The exhibition’s proceeds will beneﬁt multiple humanitarian charities, including Small Kindness. The show features two- and threedimensional artwork, as well as performance art, poetry, short stories, messages and more. Included is artwork and written messages from both adults and children. A section of the gallery is devoted to dreamcatchers, and proceeds from the sale of these dreamcatchers will be donated to water protectors at Standing Rock. #RiseUpAgainstHate opens tonight with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m.; the exhibition remains on view through Feb. 10. Admission is free. (Usmani) 17012 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 440-799-0675, thegoodgoatgallery.com. ART

Third Friday 78th Street Studios’ first Third Friday open house of 2017 includes an exhibition of artwork created on skate decks by local artists. The board room includes more than 70 custom skate decks by 30 artists. E11even 2’s exhibition is sponsored in part by local nonprofit organization Graffiti HeArt. January’s Third Friday doesn’t stop there: The building’s numerous galleries and artist studios will be open with new or continuing exhibitions. Highlights include David Joseph’s Morning Joe: Recent Photographs and Jamie Morse’s

Light of Day, Light of Night at Tregoning & Company; an exhibition of watercolors from ARTneo’s permanent collection; Barbara Polster’s Cape Disappointment at Forum Artspace; Healing Through Art at Hedge Gallery; and Joseph Karlovec’s Impulse Paintings at PopEye Gallery. Tonight’s hours are 5 to 9 p.m. And don’t forget: Survival Kit presents free live music at 9 p.m. following each month’s festivities. This month’s performances include acoustic sets by Cassie Bishop, John Kalman, Charles Hill Jr. and Matt Rolin. Admission is free. (Usmani) 1300 West 78th St., 78thstreetstudios.com.

SAT

01/21

SPORTS

Cavaliers vs. San Antonio Spurs In the wake of the retirement of perennial all-star forward Tim Duncan, the San Antonio Spurs haven’t missed a beat. The team remains one of the best in the league. A great coaching staff deserves at least some of the credit. Regardless, the Spurs should prove to be a tough opponent for the Cavs and will provide a good test as the team gears up for another run at a title. The game begins at 8:30 p.m. at the Q and tickets start at $58. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com. MUSIC

Cleveland Pops’ Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! Guest vocalist Joan Ellison joins members of the Cleveland Pops Chorus and NEOS Dance Theatre dancers for Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance!, a rousing program featuring “American standards that deﬁned the golden era of movie musicals.” The concert, conducted by Carl Topilow, begins at 8 p.m. at Severance Hall, and tickets start at $29. (Niesel) 11001 Euclid Ave., 216-231-1111, clevelandorchestra.com. DANCE

Dance Theatre of Harlem Since its founding in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, Dance Theatre of Harlem has earned a rep as “one of ballet’s most exciting undertakings,” as The New York Times once put it. The group performs today at 3 and 7:30 p.m. at the Ohio Theatre; the performances will present a particularly timely message of “empowerment and beauty.” Tickets are $25 to $45. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

WJW.CLEVELAND

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

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GET OUT FOOD

Frostville’s Winter Farmers Market Finding a good farmers market in the dead of winter ain’t easy. That’s why we ﬁnd Frostville’s Farmer’s Market so appealing. Located at the Frostville Museum in North Olmsted, it includes local farmers, artisans and speciality food vendors. Expect to ﬁ nd seasonal vegetables, honey, eggs, organic cheese, tea, wine, soaps, jewelry and assorted crafts. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today in the museum’s barn, in the Cleveland Metropark’s Rocky River Reservation. (Niesel) 24101 Cedar Point Rd., North Olmsted, 330-592-6518, frostvillefarmersmarket.com. FILM

4530 COLORADO AVE., SHEFFIELD VILLAGE, OH

DEATH OF A

SALESMAN

BY ARTHUR MILLER

JANUARY 13 - 29

FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS AT 7:30 PM AND SUNDAYS AT 3 PM TICKETS: $10-$18 | (440) 949-5200 OR WWW.METROPARKS.CC/THEATRE SPONSORED BY:

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

Dance, Girl, Dance As part of the series, The Female Gaze: Landmark Films by Women, the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque will screen Dance, Girl, Dance, a 1940 comedy-drama by Dorothy Arzner, the only female ﬁlm director working in Hollywood during the 1930s. The ﬁ lm centers on two Broadway chorus girls (Maureen O’Hara and Lucille Ball), both of whom fall for the same wealthy playboy. Admission is $10, or $7 for Cinematheque members, those with CIA or CSU I.D. cards, or those age 25 and under. (Niesel) 11610 Euclid Ave., 216-421-7450, cia.edu. FILM

Leon: The Professional Cleveland Cinemas’ Late Shift, a ﬁlm series dedicated to the nostalgic cult and camp cinema that we love, has been a ﬁ xture at the local chain of theaters since 2006. The 2017 schedule continues tonight with Luc Besson’s Leon: The Professional, a 1994 thriller featuring Natalie Portman and Gary Oldman. It screens at midnight tonight at the Capitol Theatre. Tickets are $6. (Niesel) 1390 West 65th St., 216-651-7295, clevelandcinemas.com. THEATER

Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery Ken Ludwig’s ﬁrst play on Broadway, Lend Me A Tenor, immediately won accolades as the Washington Post called it “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century.” It won two Tony

Awards and was nominated for seven. For something completely different, Ludwig turns his attention to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mystery, The Hound of the Baskervilles. He transforms the story into an “all-out comedic theatrical adventure full of humor, horror, and plenty of stage magic.” It opens tonight at 7:30 at the Cleveland Playhouse’s Allen Theatre, where performances continue through Feb. 12. Tickets are $25 to $110. (Niesel) 1407 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. THEATER

Joshua Seth, Psychological Illusionist A noted voiceover artist who can be heard in more than 50 TV shows and movies (including the SpongeBob SquarePants movie), Joshua Seth is also a famous llusionist. His one-man show Beyond Belief: An Intimate Evening of Psychological Illusion arrives tonight at Playhouse Square. According to the press release, the show “combines thought reading, magic and some good oldfashioned showmanship to create an atmosphere of mystery and laughter that will absolutely astonish you.” We’ll see about that. Performances take place today at 3 and 7 p.m. at the Hanna Theatre. Tickets are $25. (Niesel) 2067 East 14th St., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org. BRUNCH

United We Brunch United We Brunch, Scene’s annual event that gives local restaurants the opportunity to showcase their brunch menus, returns today to Galleria at Erieview. The event, which takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., includes unlimited brunch tastings, ﬁve drink tickets and a commemorative glass. Tickets are $40. The $60 VIP ticket includes admission at 10 a.m., VIP seating, access to a Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar, unlimited brunch tastings, 8 drink tickets and a commemorative glass. Buy tickets and ﬁnd complete details on the website. (Niesel) 1301 East Ninth St., scenebrunch.com.

SUN

01/22

FILM

Harry & Snowman Released last year, the documentary ﬁ lm Harry & Snowman focuses on Snowman, a horse purchased off a truck headed

to the slaughterhouse. Director Ron Davis chronicles how a Dutch trainer transforms the animal into a champion show jumper. The movie screens today at 1:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it screens again at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25. Tickets are $9, or $7 for CMA members, students and seniors. (Niesel) 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7350, clevelandart.org. THEATER

Season 8: The Queens. Live Across America With the reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race, drag queen extraordinaire RuPaul has introduced the little known performers to national audiences. Tonight at 8 at the Ohio Theatre, performers from Season 8 will strut their stuff. Bob the Drag Queen, Kim Chi, Naomi Smalls, Chi Chi DeVayne, Thorgy Thor and Acid Betty will be on the hand for the performance. Tickets are $29 to $83. (Niesel) 1501 Euclid Ave., 216-241-6000, playhousesquare.org.

MON

01/23

BRUNCH

Industry Brunch Brunch isn’t just a Saturday/ Sunday thing. Over at Mahall’s, you can grab a great brunch on Mondays as the club caters to industry folks who have the day off. Not that you have to work in the restaurant industry to indulge. The menu features items such as Chicken and Donuts, a dish that features three pieces of fried chicken along with two Old Hushers doughnuts. Other staples include the Everything Pretzel and the Creamy Egg Sandwich. A live DJ from WCSB will be on hand to spin cool tunes too. It runs from noon to 4. (Niesel) 13200 Madison Ave., Lakewood, 216-521-3280, mahalls20lanes.com. FILM

Movie Mondays Every Monday, Cleveland Cinemas hosts $6 Movie Mondays, where film fans can catch up on the latest Hollywood flicks for significantly reduced prices. Bring your friends and family and make Movie Mondays a weekly tradition — many theaters even offer discounted concession stand items. Participating theaters include Apollo Theatre, Capitol Theatre, Cedar Lee Theatre,

Chagrin Cinemas, Shaker Square Cinemas and Tower City Cinemas. Unfortunately, additional charges apply for 3-D movies. (Alaina Nutile) clevelandcinemas.com.

SPORTS

WWE Raw Since it debuted in 1993, WWE Raw

has become a ﬂagship program for the professional wrestling organization. Tonight’s edition of WWE features “your favorite superstars in action.” Brock Lesnar and Goldberg will be under the same roof for the first time since Goldberg quickly disposed of Lesnar in last year’s Survivor Series. In other bouts, Roman Reigns takes on Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins goes up against Chris Jericho. It all goes down tonight at 7:30 at the Q. Tickets start at $20. (Niesel) 1 Center Court, 216-420-2000, theqarena.com.

TUE

01/24

SPOKEN WORD

Author Series with Peter Ames Carlin Known both as a solo artist and as the songwriting half of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, Paul Simon has written some remarkable songs during his decades-long career. Tonight at 7 at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives, on the Tri-C downtown campus, author Peter Ames Carlin takes stock of Simon’s career. Carlin will read from his book, Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon and then participate in a Q&A session. Copies of the book will be available for purchase as well. The event is free with your RSVP through the Rock Hall website or at the Rock Hall ticket office. (Niesel) 2809 Woodland Ave., 216-515-1956, library.rockhall.com. MUSIC

A Far Cry The Boston-based chamber ensemble, A Far Cry, brings its 10th anniversary tour to Baldwin Wallace College tonight for a performance of Conference of the Birds, a new piece by composer Lembit Beecher that features “an examination of shared leadership,” a key component of A Far Cry’s uniquely democratic structure. The concert also will feature two pairs of violin soloists who’ll play pieces by Bach and Pärt. The concert begins at 7 at Gamble Auditorium in the Kulas Musical Arts Building. Tickets are $5 to $20. (Niesel) 96 Front St., Berea, 440-826-2369, bw.edu/events/.

Find more events @clevescene.com t@clevelandscene | clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

A LANGUAGE OF ART CMA presents an exhibition of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s notebooks

Photo courtesy of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat

ART

By Josh Usmani FEW ARTISTS SYMBOLIZE modern art as much as the late Brooklyn-born artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Opening this Sunday, the Cleveland Museum of Art presents Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks, the ﬁrst major exhibition of Basquiat’s notebooks, featuring more than 150 pages of rarely seen documents, including sketches, poetry, wordplay, personal observations and more. Accompanying these pages are related works on paper and largescale paintings. This unique exhibition explores and emphasizes Basquiat’s juxtaposition of images and text, and offers unprecedented insight into the role of language in his creative process. “This exhibition provides a rare opportunity to understand better how Basquiat used the pages of his notebooks to ﬁnd new ideas and ways of expression,” says Reto Thüring, curator of contemporary art at the CMA. “At the same time

one realizes that he conceived some of them as works of art in their own right, illustrating his talent to process what surrounded him and incorporate it into his unique artistic language.” Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks is organized by the Brooklyn Museum and curated by guest curator Dieter Buchhart and Tricia Laughlin Bloom, former associate curator of exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum. The exhibition debuted at the Brooklyn Museum in April 2015. “This exhibition offers a great opportunity for Northeast Ohio to see a large selection of works by one of the most iconic artists of the past half-century,” said Beau Rutland, CMA’s associate curator of contemporary art. “Basquiat’s work feels even more powerful when seen in person.” Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks is on view in the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation

Jean-Michel Basquiat on the set of Downtown 81.

BASQUIAT: THE UNKNOWN NOTEBOOKS Cleveland Museum of Art, 11150 East Blvd., 216-421-7340 clevelandart.org

Exhibition Gallery from Sunday, Jan. 22 through April 23. In conjunction with Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks, the CMA presents Downtown 81 Outtakes, a small collection of short clips from 19801981 in the CMA’s video projection room (Gallery 224b). Additionally, the museum store features a fully illustrated catalog created to accompany the exhibition. Although the museum’s permanent galleries are free, Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks is a ticketed exhibition. However, admission is free from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday,

Jan. 22, for a special opening day celebration. After Sunday, general admission is $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and college students; $5 for children ages 6 to 17; and free for children 5 and under. Museum members are free, and member guests are $5. CMA members can view the exhibition during Member Preview Days, from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 20, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21.

jusmani@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

Print Room’s new slide exhibition explores issues in mental illness CURATED BY MAGGIE GODDARD, Brown University doctorate degree candidate, the latest exhibition at the Cleveland Print Room is a truly unique and challenging viewing experience. Inside Outside: Dr. Jelliffe’s Slides features an early twentieth century “magic lantern” slide collection from the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Hospital, now known as the Neurological Institute of New York, part of the Columbia University Medical Center. Although the photographer of these slides is unknown, the collection was formerly owned by physician Smith Ely Jelliffe, who used the slides for public and professional presentations. An author, professor and physician, Dr. Jelliffe was one of the earliest proponents of psychoanalysis in the U.S. These slides include photographs of patients, hospitals, diagrams, X-rays and even artwork by patients. Dr. Jelliffe’s slide collection is currently

owned by vernacular photography collector and dealer Stacy Waldman. “The collection challenges viewers and elicits conversations about the ethics of viewing,” says Goddard. “How can we view patients in a way that humanizes rather than further objectiﬁes them? If we consider the history of outsider art, how can we read these images as part of that legacy, and how can we blur the distinction between art and clinical tool?” For the exhibition at Cleveland Print Room, the 3-inch by 4-inch glass slides are displayed in several formats: illuminated within lightbox cases, reproduced as enlarged prints, digitally displayed on an iPad and projected onto the gallery walls. The exhibition also features a second show of original artwork by artists responding to the slides, as well as a series of workshops proposed by participating artists. Both the

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

Photo courtesy the collection of Stacy Waldman

By Josh Usmani

INSIDE OUTSIDE: DR. JELLIFFE’S SLIDES Cleveland Print Room, 2550 Superior Ave., 216-401-5981, clevelandprintroom.com

slides and the artists’ responses challenge viewers and encourage conversations about the history and ethics of mental health treatment. Inside Outside: Dr. Jelliffe’s Slides opens at the Cleveland Print Room with a reception from 5 to 9 p.m. this Friday, Jan. 20, and remains on view through March 17. In conjunction

with the opening, the Cleveland Print Room hosts a panel discussion in its gallery at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 21. The panel will discuss the slides and local artists’ responses, as well as the history of psychoanalysis and the issues raised regarding the treatment of mental illness. Moderated by Transformer Station gallery manager Caitie Moore, the panel includes James Edmonson from Case Western Reserve University’s Dittrick Medical History Center; Ewald Horwath, chair of the department of psychiatry at MetroHealth; Barbara Tannenbaum, photography curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art; and present owner of the slide collection Waldman and exhibition curator Goddard.

jusmani@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

Photo by Joan Marcus

STAGE

LONG WALK THROUGH AN INVENTIVE FOREST It’s a fairy tale mashup in Into the Woods at Playhouse Square. By Christine Howey IF YOU’RE USED TO ATTENDING Broadway touring productions at Playhouse Square and getting your socks blown off by lots of amazing set changes and special effects, you may be a bit let down by this Fiasco Theater production of Into the Woods, now occupying the Connor Palace Theater. It is an intentionally bare bones type of production that, although quite lovely, never changes much for the duration of the show. However, if you’re a fan of fairy tales and fables and have always wished those stories of magic and monsters could be mashed together, this is the show for you. Featuring music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine, this staging is a far cry from most live versions and is nowhere close to the opulent ﬁlm starring (“overrated”) Meryl Streep. In this telling, all the players gather on a stage cluttered with many random items from an old hoarder’s attic — a tall stepladder here, a mannequin dress form there — and they use those items to weave many familiar tales into a story about, among other things, the pleasures and perils of pinning your future on a bean-based economy. Yes, Jack sells his beloved cow for magic beans, and this becomes one of the story lines that works best, since Philippe Arroyo as Jack and Darick Pead as Milky White the cow develop

a tender relationship. And Arroyo handles Jack’s solo, “Giants in the Sky,” with aplomb. Joining Jack and his widowed mother in adventures are Cinderella and her sisters, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Granny, an all-purpose Witch, and the Baker and his Wife who are looking for a way to have a child. It’s a whole gang of familiar characters, all in search of something better that might be “in the woods.” For those who haven’t seen the show before (and there must be some), the intertwining stories in Lapine’s book can quickly become muddled. This effect is magniﬁed by this staging, since one is never completely sure which story we’re in and which one we’ve just left. The task of sorting

is no pit orchestra. The music is anchored by the pianist (Sean Peter Forte, on this night), who pounds away on the sometimes-rolling keyboard as the others contribute musically as they are able. Indeed, the mission of the Fiasco Theater company is to deliver actordriven interpretation of plays, and Into the Woods offers the 11-person cast every opportunity to show off their chops. And most of them do a dandy job. Laurie Veldheer plays Cinderella splendidly, but she is upstaged by her sisters, Florinda and Lucinda, who are played by two dudes, Pead and Anthony Chatmon II, wearing curtain-dresses with the curtain rod still attached, a la Carol Burnette.

INTO THE WOODS THROUGH JAN. 29 AT CONNOR PALACE, 1615 EUCLID AVE., 216-241-6000, PLAYHOUSESQUARE.ORG

these elements falls to the lighting design by Christopher Akerlind. And while the lighting effects are sometimes stunning (the night scenes in particular), it sometimes isn’t enough to separate one plotline from another. That said, the talented cast has a ball since most of them are cast in multiple roles, throwing off one character for another even as they cross the stage. Oh, and they also play some instruments, since there

Lisa Helmi Johanson shares a couple nice duets with the Witch (Vanessa Reseland, on this night), “Our Little World” and “Stay with Me.” And Eleasha Gamble does a wonderful turn on “Moments in the Woods” in the second act, when this plain woman kisses a prince and is confronted with the possibility of a more interesting life (“Who can live in the woods/and get what you wish/ only for a moment ... ”). Only two characters fail to

resonate in this production. As the Mysterious Man, who is actually the Baker’s father, Fred Rose seems as ill-deﬁned as his name implies. And in the protagonist role of the Baker, who is seeking to lose the curse put on his childless family, the charisma-challenged Evan Harrington never takes any interesting chances. As a result, this key role begins to fade into the background at times when he should be front and center. Scenic designer Derek McLane has crafted a handsome playing area for the actors to romp inside, with a cascade of vertical ropes on the back wall morphing at times into a dense patch of forest. And co-directors Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld choreograph the actors’ movements with what seems to the eye like easygoing precision. Into the Woods is all about dreams and the reality of how those dreams often turn out, based on the decisions we make. In that regard, this production is a ﬁne and inventive interpretation of this work. But at almost three hours with one intermission, and placed on a single unchanging set, it takes the resolve of a fairy tale hero to stay focused on these colliding yarns.

scene@clevescene.com t@christinehowey | clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

INVITE YOU DISCOVER

ENTER FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN THE SOUNDTRACK FROM

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24 7:00PM

REGAL CROCKER PARK For your chance to win a pass to the advance screening, visit www.tinyurl.com/ ADogsPurpose CrockerPark NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. While supplies last. One entry per person. Seating at the screening is ﬁrst-come, ﬁrst-served and is not guaranteed. Please arrive early. Winners will be chosen at random. Winners within the past 30 days are ineligible.

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| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

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BY GOING TO: TINYURL.COM/20THCWSCENE AND ENTERING YOUR INFORMATION! WINNERS WILL RECEIVE A SOUNDTRACK BY MAIL. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. NO WALK-INS OR TELEPHONE CALLS ACCEPTED.

IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE JANUARY 20

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MOVIES ‘GOLDEN ARCHES’ IS HOW WE REFER TO MICHAEL KEATON’S EYEBROWS McDonald’s flick is good, but reveres monstrous empire builder By Sam Allard WHEN RAY KROC (MICHAEL Keaton) first lays eyes on the original McDonald’s hamburger joint in San Bernardino, California, it’s love at first sight. He’d been schlepping all over the Midwest, hawking an eight-spindle multi-mixer with limited success — the latest in a series of speculative products on which he’d hoped to cash in — until two California brothers put in an order so large Kroc assumed it was a mistake. He is baffled, then smitten, by his virginal McDonald’s encounter. At first, he won’t believe that his food is ready instantly. “I just ordered it,” he reminds a cheery cashier. And then, relenting: “Where do I eat it?” Alongside families and smiling children, Sunday dresses as white as new-fallen snow, and even the occasional African-American — it is 1954, after all, the year of Topeka — Kroc immediately sniffs the restaurant’s broad appeal. For starters, it’s a welcome change from the drive-ins that have become dens of teenage promiscuity and poor service nationwide. An idea occurs … So begins The Founder, the story of the McDonald’s restaurant chain through the eyes of the man who built

the empire. It opens Friday in the Cleveland market. After a tour of the spit and polish operation, Ray Kroc begs owners Dick (Nick Offerman) and Mac (John Carroll Lynch) McDonald to tell him their story, the highlight of which might be the actual origin of American fast food: Dick and Mac tell how they assembled their teenage staff on a tennis court and forced them to rehearse their individual moves on a chalk blueprint of the kitchen — squirting imaginary ketchup and mustard, placing imaginary pickles on imaginary buns, frying up imaginary French fries for exactly two minutes and 57 seconds. Dick choreographs from atop a step ladder, occasionally hufﬁng down to rearrange the chalk drawings, until at last they achieve the key McDonald’s ingredient: efﬁciency. This, we intuit, is revolutionary stuff. It’s what innovation looks like. (And it’s a crisply edited sequence on screen, intercut with the brothers’ dinner with Kroc.) Kroc, of course, is not an innovator. He is a traveling salesman with a boner for the next big thing. He’s the man who wants to take the concept national, from “sea to shining sea.”

In a pitch to the McDonald brothers, Kroc invites them to consider their restaurant as the next American gathering place, a family-friendly establishment that will be as essential to the American small town (and psyche) as the courthouse and the church. What Kroc most certainly isn’t is McDonald’s “founder.” That’s the cruel irony at the heart of the film’s title. It’s also the film’s most difficult question: Kroc built the empire, and reaped the rewards. But should his sledgehammer salesmanship be celebrated alongside the McDonald brothers’ actual ingenuity and country-bumpkin nobility? Or should it be condemned? It’s not only the McDonald brothers who become victims of Kroc’s empire, after all; it’s not only his devoted wife (Laura Dern), who is cast aside. We all become victims. In another director’s hands — Oliver Stone, say, or Danny Boyle — the opening and closing credits might have been set to a montage of American obesity. And yet, the film is in John Lee Hancock’s hands, the same inoffensive hands that sculpted The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks. In them, Kroc

is sensitively, sometimes lovingly, portrayed. Through the raspy, plucky vehicle of Keaton, he is merely the down-on-his-luck salesman who, like any good American, just wants to strike gold. On a plot of land in Des Plaines, Illinois — the location he’ll eventually refer to as McDonald’s No. 1, in deﬁance of San Bernardino — he crouches in the dirt and grabs a handful of earth, not unlike Maximus did before his bouts in Gladiator, and whispers: “Let me be right just once … just this once.” The fact that you can root for this villainous dirtbag at all is a testament to Keaton’s performance (which is superb), but also speaks to certain omnipresent American ideals about capitalism and individualism, about the primacy of commerce and slime. And while there’s value in a textured 3-D portrait — anti-heroes are fun! Walter White! -- we need look no further than the newspaper to see where the veneration of such ideals has brought us.

sallard@clevescene.com t@SceneSallard

SPOTLIGHT: 20TH CENTURY WOMEN IF YOU’RE ONE OF THOSE COMPLETE-ISTS who insists on seeing all the Academy Award nominees — Picture, Director, Actor, Actress — before the Oscars ceremony, it’s a good bet that Annette Bening will nab a nomination for her turn in 20th Century Women, the ambling, nostalgic, slice-of-life period piece that features some of the richest individual performances and “most real” characters of the 2016 marquee crop. It opens Friday at select theaters. At large, the ﬁlm is somewhat plotless, a little vignette-y. Dorothea (Bening) is a heavy smoker and older mom in 1970s Santa Barbara, and she decides she’d like to outsource the parenting of her teenage son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) to a roommate Abbie (Greta Gerwig) and Jamie’s friend and crush Julie (Elle Fanning). William (Billy Crudup) is another roommate; he’s a handyman who ﬁxes up the big place in lieu of rent. (You can see both Gerwig and Crudup in supporting roles in this year’s Jackie, too.) This family-and-friends commune lifestyle, one

senses, is nearing its ﬁnal act. Everyone’s always coming and going. Big group dinners are a thing. The sense of expansive cultural change on the horizon is mirrored by the small changes and precipices that each character ﬁnds him/herself upon. Love, loss, liberation: It’s all reckoned with by this remarkable crew, which gels in

surprising, continually delightful ways under the guidance of Mike Mills (Beginners) and in the shadow of Bening, who lends her wisdom and grace, once again, to a seminal portrayal of the American Mom. See also: American Beauty (1999), and The Kids Are All Right (2010), both of which netted an Oscar nom. — Allard | clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

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| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

EAT ONE STOP SHOP Astoria Market and Cafe delivers an unmatched dining and shopping experience By Douglas Trattner THERE’S SOMETHING reassuring about dining in a market setting like Astoria. Just feet from where one sits are coolers, bins and shelves ﬁlled with gourmet food products from around the globe. More than just show, those very items form the backbone of the lunch and dinner menu. What diners may or may not know is that behind the wall sits an additional 25,000 square feet of warehouse space crammed with even more high-quality foodstuffs. “It’s like a playground for me,” says chef de cuisine Cory Kobrinski. “I can go back there and pick and choose whatever I want. The sky’s the limit.” On a recent Saturday night Astoria was buzzing with activity. On the retail market side, customers popped in to purchase bottles of wine, tubs of mixed olives, cheeses by the pound, thin-sliced imported meats, and whatever else they needed to survive an oncoming blizzard. Over in the cafe, nearly every seat in the bar and dining room was ﬁlled with guests who chose to leave the cooking to the pros. In stark contrast to the dark, cold and sinkhole-plagued scene just outside the front door, the interior was bright, merry and active. For almost a decade, owners Steven Daniels and George Kantzios have run Agora Foods International, a direct importer of Mediterranean specialty items that make their way to markets, groceries and restaurants all over town. That operation began in Ohio City but now resides in the enormous back portion of Astoria Market and Cafe. For the kitchen staff, it’s like the

Photo by Emanuel Wallace

pantry that keeps on giving. As if the city’s largest walk-in cooler isn’t enough, chef Kobrinski also has at his disposal a sleek, equipment-rich open kitchen that features a chef’s counter that bleeds right into the bar. For the past ﬁve years, the chef worked alongside David Russo at Russo’s in Peninsula. One of most uncomplicated ways to enjoy the fruits and charms of Astoria is to grab seats at the bar, order a glass of wine, and dig

($11) nets a pair of expertly grilled skewers of marinated chicken breast. The charred and juicy meat is served with refreshing tzatziki, a mini Greek salad and a portion of hot, savory rice. Crispy fried oysters ($12) are arranged on baguette toasts with roasted red peppers and a sliver of melted brie. We could have done without the bread-andbreading combo, but the oysters arrived hot, crisp and luscious. If you like octopus — or if you think you do not — the version

ASTORIA MARKET AND CAFE 5417 DETROIT AVE. | 216-266-0834 ASTORIACAFEMARKET.COM

into some cheese and charcuterie. The kitchen prepares small and large cheese boards ($9, $17) and small and large meat boards ($9, $17), but for some reason offers no combination of the two. The boards are outfitted with the good stuff, like prosciutto, mortadella and soppressata, sliced to order behind the counter, and fragrant Stilton, nutty aged Manchego and rich, buttery Fromage D’Affinois. The beauty of Astoria’s small plate-heavy menu is that it’s easy to keep the train rolling. Disregard the “tapas” designation — these are more like sharable appetizers — and start firing. An order of souvlaki

($14) sold here likely will win you over. As beautiful as it is delicious, the braised, grilled and sliced tentacles are artfully arranged on a plate, with each delectable coin of lean meat kissed, in turn, by the grill, lemon, olive oil and fresh oregano. Other starters of note include airy veal and ricotta meatballs ($12), decadent bechamelenriched arancini ($11), and a classic mussels ($10) steamed in white wine presentation. Also listed as a tapas, the lamb lollipops ($18) would be considered a main course at many restaurants. After sending them back to the grill for some much-needed cook time,

the four bone-in chops returned hot, medium-rare and as sweet as lollipops. They are paired with quinoa tabbouleh and a napoleon of goat cheese and grilled vegetables. Each of Astoria’s half-dozen pizzas ($12-$14) can be made with red sauce or white sauce, a savory, garlicky base. The doughs are light and crisp, and the toppings are hand-picked from that same selection of top-notch meats, cheeses and gourmet goods. At both lunch and dinner, those same ingredients ﬁnd their way into sandwiches like the Italian baguette ($11), which is layered with prosciutto, pepperoni, soppressata, provolone, roasted peppers and vinaigrette. If you can’t decide between a salad and a sandwich, the Greek salad sandwich ($8) combines the two, ﬁlling a warm pita with greens, feta, cucumber, onion, tomato and tzatziki. One of the things that impressed us most during each of two visits was the staff. Regardless where in the space one happened to be — over at the olive counter or seated at the bar — a friendly, helpful staffer always seemed to be close at hand. Pair that service with the selection and you’ve got the makings of a solid neighborhood asset.

dtrattner@clevescene.com t@dougtrattner

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

EAT

FIRST LOOK Masthead Brewing Co., now open By Douglas Trattner

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FRANK LUTHER KNEW HE wanted to open a brewery in Cleveland, he just didn’t know where that brewery would be. That is, until he and his partners landed on the two-story Bryant Building at 1261 Superior Ave., built in 1921 as an automotive dealership and most recently Cleveland’s title bureau. “We looked a lot in California and other West Coast spots,” says Luther, Masthead Brewing founder and CEO. “We were looking for the right property and Cleveland has an industrial background that gives you these kinds of buildings.” We’re standing in the brewery portion of the building, which is outfitted with shimmering equipment from Craftwerk Brewing Systems in Michigan. In addition to the 20-barrel brewhouse, there is a row of fermentation tanks and glycol-chilled bright tanks, which feed directly into the bar’s tap system. All of the equipment is highly visible from all points in the cavernous space. Luther and his partners, Matt Slife and Mike Pelechaty, who serves as brewmaster, have been hard at work making Masthead a reality for about two years. The former engineers and finance guys admit that the size of the project has fluctuated over the past couple years, leaning smaller and even larger than it currently stands. But throughout it all, the taproom was always going to be the main focus. “A taproom was always part of the plan,” Luther says. “It’s a good marketing tool; it’s how you build a brand, how you connect with your customers, and how you really get people in the spirit. You can put your beer on a store shelf, but it’s just noise on a shelf if they don’t have a

taproom experience to relate back to.” While regional distribution in kegs and bottles will be part of the future, Masthead initially is putting all of its eggs into three baskets: brewery, taproom and kitchen. All of those components ﬁt neatly into a 16,000-square-foot space that feels large enough to host a three-ring circus. Drop ceilings were removed during construction to reveal 16-foot clearances throughout the space, which will accommodate 250 guests. Visitors can congregate at beefy picnic tables, fabricated out of hemlock from an old barn in southern Ohio. Some tables weigh as much as 700 pounds. In addition to the low-slung tables and hightops, there is a long and winding bar that extends a remarkable 108 linear feet. Details such as dedicated ordering points will obviate the need to compete for attention with those seated at the bar. Pelechaty, who for three years worked at Black Box Brewing, has been brewing around the clock in preparation for the opening, which takes place next Tuesday. “We’re going to have six beers to start on tap and grow from there,” reports the brewer, adding that most of the brewery’s styles will be American and Belgian ales. The starting lineup includes an IPA, blonde, witbier, and three stouts, including coffee and winter-spiced versions. Other stouts are slumbering in Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels for future consumption. The 24 tap handles ultimately will be gobbled up by additional Masthead brews, a few guest beers, draft cocktails like an Old Fashioned, cold coffee and Old City Sodas.

“Being able to utilize the relationships we all have is important to us, both at the bar and with the food,” says GM Jeff Draeger. “Why not support the people who are doing good things in the city?” Off to one side of the massive space is the open kitchen, the focal point of which is the red-tiled Marra Forni wood-and-gas ﬁred Neapolitan pizza oven. Manning it is chef Nate Sieg, formerly of Butcher and the Brewer, Bar Cento and Lola. Sieg will preside over a casual taproom menu that features a dozen pies, broken into categories for red and white. Salads like chopped mixed greens or a roasted beet with candied pecans and blue cheese join starters like oven-roasted Brussels sprouts with pancetta; speckwrapped, smoked mozzarella-stuffed cherry peppers; and goat cheesestuffed dates drizzled with honey. In place of full-service dining, guests will place their orders at the bar and get notiﬁed via pager when their order is up. Given the downtown location, lunch service is a given, with hours coming online a few weeks after opening. The building commands a full 120 feet of frontage along Superior, all of which will accommodate outdoor seating come warm-weather season. Six glass-paneled garage doors will open the entire facade to the patio and great outdoors. There is a strong resolve to keep prices at or below market rates, says management, with pints of beer in the $5 range, 32-ounce crowlers around $8, and growlers to go at $12 to $14. Handmade pizzas will cost $9 to $13. “We’re in the heart of downtown, but we won’t be priced like a downtown place,” notes Slife. The continued rise in breweries and local craft beer does not at all concern the owners, nor signal to them any approximation of a bubble. “Yeah, there have been a lot of breweries that have opened up,” says Luther. “It’s kind of nice to see the swing toward what America used to look like pre-Prohibition, when there were a lot of neighborhood breweries.” And, yes, this is a neighborhood, he adds, despite the high-rise buildings and preponderance of 9-to-5 citizens. They point to the continued rise in downtown’s population, more educated and adventurous beer consumers, and the general rise in beer appreciation and tourism as signs that there still is plenty of room for more great beer. “I convinced Frank that Cleveland was the place to do this,” explains

Pelechaty. “I think it is the up-andcoming city of the Midwest. I think it is going to be the next city of the Midwest that people talk about in terms of culture across the board – the food scene, the beer scene, sports.”

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TERRESTRIAL BREWING COMPANY TO OPEN IN BATTERY PARK POWERHOUSE Since the Battery Park neighborhood was developed more than 10 years ago, the eastern half of the historic smokestacktopped powerhouse building has remained vacant. That changed this fall when Terrestrial Brewing Company (7524 Father Frascati) began construction within those red brick walls. The project, more than two years in the making, will cross the finish line as soon as April, according to partners Ryan Bennett and Ralph Sgro. Sgro, who is the brewer, was the opening general manager at Platform Beer, where he helped finish construction of that space and get it up and running. “Since I started home brewing, this has been a dream of mine,” he says. “And my experience at Platform increased my confidence that with the right people I could come up with a great concept.” The owners were attracted to the building and the proximity to Edgewater Park. The industrial building, formerly part of the Eveready Battery complex, has exposed brick walls, open rafters and unobstructed views of Lake Erie. But what appeals most to the owners is the number of current and future residents in the immediate area. “We had the opportunity to go out to Portland, Oregon, to do a workshop with Portland Kettle Works [the brewing equipment manufacturer],” Sgro says. “Just seeing the beer scene there, it was very similar to Cleveland. All these breweries pop up all the time there and it seemed like each brewery had its own little neighborhood that made it their own.” The 2,800-square-foot space will feature a unique layout, in which all the brewing equipment will be installed right down the middle of the room. Guests will be able to sit at a counter positioned immediately next to the brewhouse and the fermenters. All the plumbing and connections will be in plain sight. “People can literally sit right in front of us while we brew and ask us questions,” the brewer notes. “We really want people to be involved

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in the process: to see, smell and understand the entire process.” A rear bar will be located in front of the cold storage room, where kegs and bright tanks will supply the taps with fresh beer. The team plans on opening with eight of their own beers on tap. Most will be ales, and some will be one-offs and small-scale experimental creations like singlekeg infusions. “I want to brew things that excite me, to come up with wacky concoctions that take the experimental route,” Sgro adds. “One of the reasons I went with a five-barrel system is because it kind of has that homebrew feel to it. It doesn’t feel mass produced.” The 95-seat taproom will be pet- and family-friendly. There will be no kitchen; instead the brewery will take advantage of the myriad restaurants in the immediate vicinity like Cha Pizza Kitchen, Graffiti, Vita Urbana, Local West and Banter. A large wraparound patio is being constructed that envelops the north and east sides of the space. Bennett and Sgro see nothing but untapped potential for that neighborhood, where new buildings seem to go up weekly. It is on those residents that they will focus their attentions from the start. “We don’t want to fight over shelf space or anything like that,” Sgro says. “Initially, we want to drive people to this neighborhood. Cleveland is growing more passionate about beer. I’ve seen a growth in people who want to drink local as opposed to mass market stuff. We’re not here to make millions of dollars, we really just want to make our imprint in Cleveland doing high quality beers that excite us and better the Cleveland craft beer community.”

EDWINS TO OPEN BUTCHER SHOP IN BUCKEYE NEIGHBORHOOD Brandon Chrostowski promised he was just getting started. In addition to Edwins Leadership & Restaurant Institute, the ﬁnedining bistro that provides formerly incarcerated citizens a foothold in the hospitality industry, the philanthropist recently unveiled Edwins Second Chance Life Skills Center, a three-building campus in Cleveland’s Buckeye neighborhood that provides housing, services and amenities to current and former

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

students while striving to improve the surrounding community But even that was just the start when it came to Chrostowski’s plans to improve both the lives of the formerly incarcerated and the entire neighborhood around him. “To solidify the Edwins mission and make it stick, we have to keep doing these impossible tasks,” he explained. “This is just another notch in our long-term plan of building an elite culinary school, building this community up, enlarging our footprint, and casting that mission even farther.” The next step will be a butcher shop, the Buckeye neighborhood’s first fresh meat vendor in almost 50 years. The 3,200-square-foot shop is slated to open this winter. “Edwins Butcher Shop is the next step in an overall plan to combat the problem of re-entry through food,” Chrostowski adds. “It is also a step in a broader vision. For far too long, an entire system within U.S. society, from banks to prisons to city courts, has benefited from exploiting the poverty and powerlessness of inner-city residents, including people exiting prison.” The retail shop will be at 13024 Buckeye Rd., near the intersection of South Moreland. It is adjacent to the new Edwins Second Chance Life Skills Center student campus and less than one mile from the Shaker Square restaurant. The strategic location allows for a walkable, bikeable commute between the three properties. Designed by local architecture firm Bialosky Cleveland, the project will renovate a long-vacant one-story commercial building. “Unfair pricing, lack of healthy food options and economic oppression have gone unchecked in our poorest neighborhoods for decades,” Chrostowski says. “The butcher shop is another piece in our overall plan to combat these issues.” The philanthropic organization will continue transforming properties in the neighborhood, with plans that might include a bakery, fish shop, and wine and cheese shop, each of which will present students and alumni with a new set of skills, employment opportunities, and heightened self-esteem. Having purchased four properties in the neighborhood since 2014, and receiving ongoing support from several major foundations, Edwins is slowly but surely making the village a reality.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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HOUSE MUSIC Ohio-born singer-songwriter traded in his golf clubs for a guitar By Jeff Niesel

A SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, NATIVE, singer-songwriter Grifﬁn House originally thought he’d become a professional golfer. He even had the chance to attend college on a scholarship. Instead, he turned down that offer, bought an Oscar Schmidt guitar for $100 and began writing original music. Given that House has toured extensively and opened for artists such as Ron Sexsmith, Patti Scialfa, Josh Ritter, John Mellencamp, Mat Kearney and the Cranberries over the course of the past 15 years, that turned out to be the right decision. “It wasn’t really to focus on music; it just kind of happened that way,” he says via phone when asked about the decision to turn music rather than golf into his primary occupation. “It was a combination of things that I followed my gut on. Golf was what I had the most promise and talent in as a kid. I

went to Ohio University and interviewed with the people there. They let me know for sure that if I was an NCAA athlete, my time in school wouldn’t be my own. I would be expected to be where they wanted me to be and what they wanted me to be.” The thought of not having control over his spare time proved to the clincher. “If I believed I could have a great life and go on to be a pro and I could improve my performance, I would have gone that route,” says House, who adds that he decided to attend Miami University in Oxford instead of OU. “I wanted four years to be this adventure into the unknown and explore who I was as a person. I did that and put behind me any preconceived notions I had about golf.” While at Miami, he moved into an arts-oriented dorm. He used his free time to teach himself to play the

cheap guitar he bought. “When I got to college, I had more time on my hands than I realized,” he says. “You don’t have to go to class from 8 to 3. I could practice, and before I knew it I was learning songs and my roommate was a really good guitar player. He was a friend from high school who was also in theater. I picked stuff up from other people and one thing led to another. I was around a lot of musicians and changed my major to creative writing. I was falling behind in my other classes because of the work I was choosing to do on my own. I thought I should try to get credit for all that work. I found a love and passion for music that I wanted to explore.” One day, he took a song of his into his creative writing class because he wanted to show “how the meter of poetry was different than with a song.” “Poetry was a little more rigid,”

he says. “With music, you can bend it around and make two accents be one or vice versa. I sang a song in class and the teacher said, ‘Maybe you should do that.’ I didn’t know if he was telling me I was a shitty poet or a good singer.” When he moved to Nashville in 2003, he quickly picked up a couple of “odd jobs.” He started getting calls from record execs in New York and L.A. and eventually signed a deal that helped land his songs on TV shows and turned him into a national act. Now, he’s no longer on a major label and says his career has gone back to “square one.” “I make my own records and I manage myself,” he says. “I ﬂy to my shows and drive to my shows myself. I try to manage being a family man and a traveling solo music business man.” His latest album, So On and So Forth, features mid-tempo rock tunes such as the Jackson Browne| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

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inspired â€œYesterday Liesâ€? and the moody â€œStraight in the Night.â€? On â€œParis Calling (Sweet Sensation),â€? he sings about the â€œmagic of a Paris nightâ€? and effectively croons on the catchy chorus. The grinding ballad â€œEasy Come Easy Goâ€? beneďŹ ts from a driving guitar riff and rocks a little harder than the albumâ€™s other songs. House says the latter tune came together while he was sitting on his front porch. â€œIt was one of those ďŹ ve-minute songs,â€? he says. â€œI spent some time arranging it, but it was mostly done really fast. Another song like that is â€˜Yesterday Lies.â€™ I had that around for years. I had the bulk of it around, and it was a little idea I was trying to stretch into a song and turn into something.â€? He says the albumâ€™s other tunes all â€œcame over a period of a couple of years.â€? â€œIâ€™m part of a songwriting group that [singer-songwriter] Bob Schneider down in Austin put together,â€? he says. â€œThe guy from Bushwalla and [singer-songwriter] Jason Mraz and Bob and me and some people I am forgetting are in it. The group rotates in and out, and you get eliminated if you donâ€™t turn in a song one week. A lot of times, itâ€™s last minute. I turn my recorder on and do something just to stay in the game. It was a way of staying on task. Some songs were born out of that and were ideas that I came up with over the last year or two.

anyone had ever written about absinthe before. Hieronymus Bosch inďŹ‚uenced the album artwork on my last record. The cover was this surreal stuff.â€? The album seems like a big production. Organ and slide guitar appear on some of the tunes and it sounds as if 10 musicians play on other tunes. House says the disc is actually one of the â€œleast producedâ€? records heâ€™s ever made. â€œThere arenâ€™t very many overdubs,â€? he says. Itâ€™s just ďŹ ve guys in a room playing. I went to New Jersey to play with ďŹ ve guys I never met before. We went into the studio. I played them the songs and then we cut them. It was weird to meet these guys Iâ€™ve never played with before. I didnâ€™t know how it was going to go. It was a fun experience not having any personal baggage with anybody. There werenâ€™t any personalities in the way. We just went and played the songs. It was a basic way to record and not done that way very often. A lot of the vocals and most of the performances are all live.â€? Given that the making of So On and So Forth was so rewarding, House says he might employ similar tactics for his next album. â€œIt was stress and drama free,â€? he says. â€œIt was very positive. Usually, I spend all this time getting a song to sound as good as it can and put all these extra parts on them and then I play them in a stripped down setting. Maybe I donâ€™t need to have a big budget. Maybe itâ€™s better if I accept the fact that Iâ€™m more of an acoustic singer-songwriter.â€? He says fans often tell him they like his live shows better than his

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I used to feel like I wrote 100 or 200 songs a year. Now, itâ€™s like 50. Sometimes, they get left behind and I revisit them and put them on a record later.â€? â€œA Painting by Hieronymus Boschâ€? references a Dutch painter known for his depictions of hell. â€œI thought that was a cool title,â€? House says when asked about the tune. â€œThat is born out of being able to go overseas and experience artists like that and see their paintings in museums. I did an interview with Buddy Miller and Jim Lauderdale on their Outlaw Country station the other day. Thereâ€™s a lyric about drinking something green and evil in Prague. They said they didnâ€™t think

studio efforts. â€œOne of the things I hear all the time is that people like my â€˜live from prisonâ€™ record and just enjoy that,â€? he says. â€œItâ€™s a good and bad thing. They tell me Iâ€™m better live. Itâ€™s just me and my guitar, but thereâ€™s an energy in the room. I have plans about doing a live record to capture that, so people can hear what itâ€™s really like to be at the show. Thatâ€™s what Iâ€™m thinking for a future recording: maybe a live record or a more stripped down thing. With 11 albums, I could do some kind of compilation too.â€?

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

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| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

MUSIC

A TRANSITIONAL TIME Singer-songwriter Sara Watkins takes a fresh approach on new solo effort By Jeff Niesel SOME PEOPLE GO TO THE PIZZA parlor for the food. Singer-songwriter Sara Watkins went for the bluegrass. “It was a regular thing,” she says in a recent phone interview. “Every weekend, we’d see this band, Bluegrass Etc., play at a pizza parlor.” She says music was “a normal part of life” while growing up in northern San Diego. “My dad played guitar, and we sang a lot,” she says. “We started taking lessons and met other kids who were playing music as well. It became something we spent a lot of weekends doing. Dad played guitar, and my mom sang. They wanted music to be involved in our lives somehow. We became part of a community of people who played, something we really loved doing.” Watkins would eventually join the acclaimed folk/progressive bluegrass act Nickel Creek. That group released six albums between 1993 and 2006; its Alison Krauss-produced self-titled effort received a slew of Grammy and Country Music Association nominations. “We had the advantage of growing up together,” she says of her time in Nickel Creek, which disbanded in 2007 but reformed two years ago. “We learned to sing together and learned how to play together. Over the many years of writing and arranging and being a band, we were lucky to have something under our belt before we

made the self-titled record that people ﬁrst took notice of.” When Nickel Creek took that break in 2007, Watkins began to pursue a solo career. Her brother had played in Los Angeles with the Watkins Family Hour, a residency that the group now hosts every month. Playing with that group helped her ease into her solo career. “That was a great transitional band to be in,” she says of the experience. “It opened up my writing. To have a casual local residency helped me write in different ways and for different instrumentation. It opened up music for me a lot. That helped the pivot to the solo record. You just have to do it. I had been working on another project before, and we put the band on the shelf. It was great timing. It was something we were ready for as much

track opts for a radio-ready sound and downplays the bluegrass influence as Watkins belts out the refrain, “I’ve gone the miles and god knows I’ve got the fight.” “I hope that every album feels a little like a debut album,” she says when asked about whether the album signifies a fresh start. “I always want there to be something new on every album, and I want it to reflect that I’m constantly updating my worldview and thoughts on everything. That comes out in the lyrics and music. I always hope the newest album feels like a renewal in some ways.” Watkins says she didn’t “try out” the songs with her backing band much before heading into the studio. As a result, the songs have a real immediacy to them. “I wanted them to take shape for

SARA WATKINS, LIZ LONGLEY 8 P.M. TUESDAY, JAN. 24, THE KENT STAGE, 175 EAST MAIN ST., KENT, 330-677-5005. TICKETS: $26, THEKENTSTAGE.COM

as we loved that band. We had farmed that ground for a long time and it was good to let it lie for a while.” She issued her self-titled solo debut in 2009 and followed it with 2012’s Sun Midnight Sun. Last year, she returned with Young in All the Wrong Ways, an album that suggests a new start to her solo career. The poppy title

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

the ﬁrst time with these musicians,” she says. “I had arrangements in mind that were in place and the rest of the guys brought it home. I’m so happy I got to record with that band. I don’t want to be speciﬁc, but I will say that the album is about how we all go through these phases in life when you can sense a turnover. You maybe get a

new job or move to a new city or your social circle shifts a little. You might just graduate to a new phase in life. I can look back at a year before and see that I didn’t intend to be there for so long. Or I don’t identify with that person anymore. We all go through those things. It’s speaking to that.” A theme about change runs through many of the songs. “I was going through that transitional time in my life and meeting it head on,” she says. “I wanted to keep moving forward and not stay comfortable for the sake of staying comfortable. Any discomfort is a sign that you’re making progress.” Given all the changes in the business side of the music industry, sustaining a career hasn’t been easy, but Watkins says her love for music keeps her plowing ahead. “It’s just what I do,” she says. “It’s how I process things. It’s what I love: the relationships with other musicians and the camaraderie it provides. It’s the lens I get to see the world through and share experiences of being a musician with other musicians. It’s very special. It’s just what I do. And also, I am not qualiﬁed to do anything else. I have no other skills to contribute to the world.”

jniesel@clevescene.com t@jniesel

| clevescene.com m | January 18 - 24, 2017

MUSIC

BACK TO NATURE The Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park looks forward to a musical season By Eric Sandy THE LODGE IS TUCKED AMONG a stand of trees along Route 303 in Peninsula, right in the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Visitors deposit their cars on the other side of the road, walk through an underground tunnel and emerge at Happy Days Lodge, where the park’s Conservancy has been booking bucolic shows for the

chestnut (no longer available following a blight last century that took out some 3 to 4 billion trees) and sandstone (hauled over from nearby Deep Lock Quarry), Happy Days Lodge is a unique building that ﬁts in perfectly with its natural setting. “When you come to Happy Days Lodge for a concert, it’s an

■

Mountain Heart | Friday, Feb. 10

■

The Honey Dewdrops | Saturday, Feb. 18

■

Solas | Thursday, Feb. 23

■

Vishtèn | Friday, March 3

■

The Outside Track | Friday, March 24

■

Harpeth Rising | Friday, April 7

■

Alarm Will Sound presents Ten Thousand Birds | Sunday, April 23

■

Peter Mawanga & the Amaravi Movement | Friday, April 27 Find ticket information and showtimes at conservancyforcvnp.org

past 10 years or so. It’s as pleasant a concert-going experience as any in Northeast Ohio. Fashioned mostly from American

experience,” program director Chris Auerbach-Brown says. “It’s got its own ﬂavor. When bands come in — if they haven’t been here before —

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

that’s their ﬁrst reaction, like, ‘Wow, what is this place?’ It’s a different place than what they typically experience on the road.” The 4,000-square-foot Great Hall seems like an ideal place to see an evocative concert; it feels almost like stepping into Winterfell or something. The Heritage Concert Series came out of the Kent State Folk Festival that was held in Howe Meadow back in the ’90s. These days, a nice spectrum of genres is represented: Americana, bluegrass, “newgrass,” traditional Celtic, classical and, now and then, some Cajun music. This season, shows begin on Feb. 10 with bluegrass band Mountain Heart. (They’ve sold out a whole bunch of shows here at Happy Days, Auerbach-Brown says.) From there, the rest of the lineup through late April includes the Honey Dewdrops, Solas, Vishtèn, the Outside Track, Harpeth Rising, Alarm Will Sound and Peter Mawanga & the Amaravi Movement.

What’s going on Happy Days Lodge is just one spoke in the wheel of the Conservancy. “Many Northeast Ohioans don’t realize: It’s right here for you to access,” external affairs chief Kristina Haas says. “And there is a plethora of ways you can experience this park, from accessing the trails to riding the train, going to the farmers market, coming to a concert.” The Conservancy has done an excellent job in the past few years of marshaling all manner of resources and talents to offer park visitors assets like art galleries, interpretive outdoor programming and a bevy of musical events — from Happy Days Lodge to Howe Meadow and beyond. “We really want all Northeast Ohio residents to be aware that there’s a national park and ﬁnd an experience that resonates,” Haas says. “It’s their park.”

esandy@clevescene.com t@ericsandy

| clevescene.com m | January 18 - 24, 2017

LIVEWIRE WED

all the live music you should see this week 01/18

Local Toobe Fresco debuts his new band at the Grog Shop. See: Sunday.

10 X 3 Singer Songwriter Showcase: Hosted by Brent Kirby (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. City Limits: 8 p.m., free. Beachland Tavern. Sump Pump Sluts/Meanderthal/ Another Mother’s Milk: 7:30 p.m., $6. Grog Shop.

THU

01/19

After Funk/The Cat’s Meow: Bringing a party atmosphere to Beachland in the cold months, After Funk is the upbeat regional jam band that we’ve been needing. Check out tunes like “Zombie Dance Apocalypse,” the sort of all-in number that you can imagine them opening up wildly onstage. In fact, the band’s most recent album, ’Til the Sun Comes Up, is chock-full of that stuff: high-energy verses, head-bobbing chord progressions and heartfelt rhythmic ﬁ lls throughout. Probably one thing that we’d caution the band against is its use of the extended keytar solo, which was a bit much the last time they rolled through Cleveland. (Eric Sandy) 9:30 p.m., $9 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Eagles Tribute by Hotel California: 7:30 p.m., $22 ADV, $25 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Grifﬁn House (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $20 ADV, $22 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Chris Hatton’s Musical Circus (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge. Hello Luna/The Tom Katlees/Hello Violet/The Chestertons: 9 p.m., $6. Grog Shop. Jam Night with the Bad Boys of Blues: 9 p.m., free. Brothers Lounge. Jayke Orvis/ROEBUCK/Miss Macy & the Low Pay Daddys: 8:30 p.m., $10. Beachland Ballroom. The Rat Pack Featuring Frank, Dean, and Sammy: 7 p.m. Vosh Club. Russian Duo: 8 p.m., $15. Nighttown. Signal Ensemble Featuring Dan Bruce: 8 p.m., $10. Bop Stop. Superjoint/Battlecross/Child Bite: 6 p.m., $20 ADV, $25 DOS. Agora Ballroom.

FRI

01/20

Poro Record Release Show/Polars/ Holden Laurence: Shortly after the release of its 2008 EP A Whisper, A Clamor and a 2010 self-titled full-length, the local indie rock act the Lighthouse and the Whaler went through some lineup changes and added multi-instrumentalist Mark Porostosky Jr. In the wake of those lineup changes, the band has subsequently thrived and become a national act. In addition to playing with Lighthouse, Porostosky also fronts the side project Poro. The band celebrates the release of its new EP, Treat Yourself, with tonight’s show. The EP contains six songs, most of which address “the freedom to be conﬁdent in oneself.” This is the ﬁrst of two Poro EPs slated for release this year. The second EP has been partially recorded and will follow this release later this year. Fellow Lighthouse bandmates Ryan Walker (bass, banjo) and Thomas Ulle (drums) also play on the album. (Jeff Niesel) 8 p.m., $10. Beachland Tavern. The Analogia/Byke/Mossom/ Downtown Volley: 7 p.m., free. Agora Ballroom. Becky Boyd and the Groove Train: 8 p.m., $10. Bop Stop. Dale & Ray: 8 p.m., $33-$43. The Kent Stage.

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

Duchess (Rebekah Jean)/Demos Papadimas & Band: 9 p.m., $5. The Euclid Tavern. Ray Fogg from Put-In-Bay: 9 p.m., $8. Vosh Club. Jazz Jam Session: 11 p.m., free. Bop Stop. The Mega 80s: 9:30 p.m., $16 ADV, $18 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Motown and More by Nitebridge (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $10. Music Box Supper Club. Push Back 2017 with Signals Midwest/Heart & Lung/Vacula/ Refugee Response/Lost Center of Cleveland: 6 p.m., $8. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. R.A.T. Rock Against Trump with Lacerate/Deche/Shagg/Basement Boys: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Silent Disco: 9 p.m., $10. Grog Shop. Moss Stanley: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. Carter Winter/Blaire Hanks: 8 p.m., $15 ADV, $20 DOS. House of Blues. Womanatra/Ouster/Early Girl: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog.

SAT

01/21

G. Love & Special Sauce/Ripe: Not many of the alt-rock and hip-hop acts that MTV made famous in the ’90s are still kicking. G. Love & Special Sauce is the exception. Twenty years ago, the singer-guitarist G. Love and his two-piece band released their self-

titled debut and had an instant hit with the woozy blues-meets-hip-hop number “Cold Beverage.” In the two decades since that album’s release, Love and crew have consistently toured and recorded; they received a good second wind in 2003 when Love and singer-songwriter Jack Johnson collaborated on the Johnson tune “Rodeo Clowns.” Love’s 2014 album reunited him with Special Sauce guys James “Jimi Jazz” Prescott and drummer Jeffrey “The Houseman” Clemens for the ﬁrst time in eight years. The group’s been going strong ever since and dropped the noisy Love Saves the Day in 2015. (Niesel) 9 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. House of Blues. Michael Sonata-Frank Sinatra Tribute: Canton native Michael Sonata has always been involved in plays and choirs and was a member of the University of Notre Dame Glee Club. In 2004, he auditioned for a role in a Sopranos spoof that required a character based on Frank Sinatra. Sonata got the part and has been imitating Ol’ Blue Eyes ever since. He includes some 90 songs in his repertoire and covers all eras, including the Columbia years and the Capitol years. He even takes requests from the audience. (Niesel) 8 p.m. Vosh Club. Beachland Winterloo 2017 with Ottawa/These Knees/Playing to Vapors/New Moon Rising: 8 p.m.,

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

LIVEWIRE $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Beachland Ballroom. Da Rawkus — DJ Besto Birthday Celebration with DJ New/DJ Jack the Ripper/Anita T/Suave Goddi/ Peerless/A-Minus/Malik X: 10 p.m., $5. Grog Shop. The Four Freshmen: 5 p.m., $30. Nighttown. Heaven Is in You January Edition Featuring A-Live/Lucy & the Daze/Dranal: 9 p.m., $7. Now That’s Class. Hillbilly Idol (in the Supper Club): 8 p.m., $7. Music Box Supper Club. Kitschy/Us/Today/Listen/Little Man: 9 p.m., $5. Happy Dog. Jared Lees Band: 8 p.m., $10. Bop Stop. The Pinkertones 90s Era Weezer Tribute: 9 p.m., $5 ADV, $8 DOS. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Sailor Poon/Shagg/The Venus Flytraps (in the Locker Room): 9 p.m., $5. Mahall’s 20 Lanes. Shuicide Holla G.O.A.L.S. Tour/Dre Walton/Preme Dibiasi/Francis Fall: 6 p.m., $10 ADV, $15 DOS. Grog Shop. Songwriters’ Round in the Tavern: 3 p.m., free. Beachland Tavern. Team Rowland: 6 p.m., $26 ADV, $31.20 DOS. Agora Ballroom. Time Traveler — A Tribute to the Moody Blues: 8 p.m., $12 ADV, $15 DOS. The Kent Stage. Jackie Warren: 10:30 p.m., free. Nighttown. Wildcard Leader: 9 p.m., free. The Euclid Tavern.

BOP STOP

Winner Of

2015 Scene Magazine Best Jazz Club & 2014 Fox 8 Best Nightspot

SUN

1/17 | 9PM

1/19 | 8PM

1/20 | 8PM

OUTLAB SESSION

SIGNAL ENSEMBLE

BECKY BOYD

FREE

$10

GROOVE TRAIN

1/20 | 11PM

1/21 | 8PM

1/27 | 10PM

JAZZ JAM SESSION

JARED LEES BAND

BRITE WINTER WARMER

FREE

$10

1/28 | 9:30PM KAOS PRESENTS

PAJAMA DANCE PARTY

AND THE $10

1/29 | 3PM

2/1 | 8PM

TIME CANVAS

BOBBY SELVAGGIO’S RED RHINOCEROS

$10

$15

2/2 | 8PM

2/3 | 8PM

2/4 | 8PM

THERESA KLOOS

BEN GEYER TRIO

BLACK DOG OCTET

$15

$12

Bar sales directly support The Music Settlement and its many programs. Food provided by Cleveland Culinary Launch and Kitchen!

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

01/22

Fresco + Friends: One of the more proliﬁc local artists, local rapper Toobe Fresco (formerly C-Ro Del Fresco) admits he’s not sure how many singles and mixtapes he’s released over the past several years. At a time when local rappers come and go, Fresco, who grew up on Cleveland’s east side and started the hip-hop group 3 Kingz back in 2003, has been a consistent player on an ever-changing landscape. He’ll debut his new band, the Living Sound, a group that includes Gawaun Willams, TJ Robinson and D’Gregory Richmond, at tonight’s show. The band will mostly play songs from last year’s solo effort, Let Us Dream. The group hasn’t yet written new material, but Fresco hopes the band will back him on his next release. Billed as “Fresco and Friends,” the Grog Shop show

will feature opening acts the Scenic Route, Dre Mickel, Paris Lana, Okayche, LeBron Nelson and Darvon. Fresco picked all the accompanying acts. (Niesel) 8 p.m., $10. Grog Shop. Mayhem/Black Anvil/Inquisition: 6 p.m., $25 ADV, $30 DOS. Agora Ballroom. Mike Petrone (in the Wine Bar): 5:30 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

MON

01/23

Fruition: Allowing their already tight grip on bluegrass-oriented strings music to blossom into a more fullbodied rock ’n’ roll trip, Fruition offers plenty for listeners to dig into on their latest album, Labor of Love. It’s an exciting collection of songs. It’s louder — more electric — and the new tunes seem like a solid progression for the growing band. “Santa Fe,” for example, dishes a soulful story from singerguitarist-mandolinist Mimi Naja, with keys and reverb-drenched guitars painting a picture in the background. It’s still a far cry from radio-friendly “songwriting,” but there are some keen pop sensibilities ﬂickering here and there, which doesn’t hurt the band. (Sandy) 8 p.m., $13 ADV, $15 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Skatch Anderssen Orchestra: 8 p.m., $7. Brothers Lounge. Meat Dreams/Metropolitan/ Cannibal/Iron Bison (in the Bar): 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Metal Sucks Presents: Alcest with The Body and Creepers: 8:30 p.m., $15 ADV, $18 DOS. Grog Shop. Velvet Voyage (in the Wine Bar): 8 p.m. Brothers Lounge.

TUE

01/24

Colorful Cleveland (in the Supper Club): $10 ADV, $12 DOS. Music Box Supper Club. Max Eilbacher/Headband/Unikove/ Adam Miller: 9 p.m., $5. Now That’s Class. Myth & Company/Mason District: 8:30 p.m., $7 ADV, $10 DOS. Beachland Tavern. Rich the Kid/Forest Green/Proda/ Chucky $upreme/DJ CHOPUFL: 9 p.m., $15 ADV, $17 DOS. Grog Shop. Swingtime Big Band: 7:30 p.m. Vosh Club. Sara Watkins/Liz Longley: 8 p.m., $26. The Kent Stage.

scene@clevescene.com t@clevelandscene

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FROM JOURNEY ESCAPE

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

ACROSS

1 Body of beliefs 6 Zipped past 11 Heathcliff, for one 14 2016 Disney title character voiced by Auli’i Cravalho 15 Statement of empathy (or sarcasm, depending on tone) 16 He shared a phone booth with Bill and Ted 17 Sides at the monastery diner? 19 Commingle 20 Rotary phone feature 21 “Forbidden dance” popularized in the late 1980s 23 “Daily Show” correspondent ___ Lydic 26 Kombucha brewing need 28 Pitchblende and hornblende, e.g. 29 Is here 31 “Thank you,” in Honolulu 33 “Just don’t look nervous” 35 Pivotal 38 “Read Across America” gp. 39 Smoking alternative, once 40 Hogwarts letter carrier 42 Muhammad of the ring 43 The Jetsons’ youngest 45 Creator of “Community” and co-creator of “Rick and Morty” 48 Quenches

“Arise!”--get up to the challenge. Matt Jones

50 Most dangerous, as winter roads 51 ___ en place (professional kitchen setup) 53 “King ___” (Jackson moniker) 55 “Ring Around the Rosie” flower 56 Paper crane art 58 Makes a knot 60 B-movie piece 61 Team of nine that doesn’t draw, dance, or play an instrument? 66 Beehive State college athlete 67 “___ Joy” 68 Home of the Burj Khalifa 69 “WKRP” character Nessman 70 Tissue masses 71 Rating system basis, often

DOWN

1 “Unbelievable” band of 1991 2 Wrestler-turned-Bmovie-actor Johnson 3 Yes, in Yokohama 4 How files were often stored, before the cloud 5 Bangalore wrap 6 Part of the NRA 7 Crossword puzzler’s dir. 8 Places where one may tip for getting tips 9 It’s visible on cold days 10 “O.K.” from Tom Sawyer 11 Special appearance by a Chevrolet muscle car? 12 Emulate The Dude 13 State with the most

| clevescene.com | January 18 - 24, 2017

counties 18 Gives confirmation 22 New Mexico’s official neckwear 23 American Revolutionary patriot Silas 24 Shine 25 Places to buy Indian string instruments? 27 “I ___ robot, beep boop beep” (unusually common impersonation of a robot) 30 Tucker who sang “Delta Dawn” 32 Company with a duck mascot 34 Vague 36 At ___ (puzzled) 37 Like a clogged dryer vent 41 “Go forward! Move ahead!” song 44 Couturier Cassini 46 Cleopatra’s undoer 47 Removes, as an opponent’s spine in “Mortal Kombat” 49 ___ dragon (world’s largest lizard) 51 Business bigwig 52 Mad as hell 54 Others, in Spanish 57 Author unknown, for short 59 Comes to a close 62 Got into a stew? 63 “___ Action: It’s FANtastic” (old slogan) 64 Musical ability 65 “___ the season ...” ©2017 Jonesin’ Crosswords (editor jonesincrosswords.com)

Answers appear on page 55

BAND OF THE WEEK

TRANSISTOR By Jeff Niesel

MEET THE BAND: Tim Difrancesco (lead vocals, guitar), Alex Hlavna (backup vocals, guitar), Nick Mercurio (bass), Matt Hritz (drums) ALL OVER THE PLACE: All four members came together in October of last year. Veterans who’d played around town for a good decade, Hlavna and Mercurio recruited Difrancesco to front the fledgling band. “We heard Tim at an open mic night, and he was the perfect fit for us,” says Hlavna. “He had songs and played guitar and could sing. After that, we were looking for a drummer but couldn’t find one who was reliable. When we were trying to find a drummer, we wished Matt [Hritz], whom we had played with before, was back in town.” At their request, Hritz moved back to town and the group immediately clicked. “Our influences are all the way across the board with each member,” says Difrancesco. “It’s hard to tell what we sound like. We can’t pinpoint any one thing.” “It’s all over the place,” says Hlavna. “It’s hard to say because even if you say blues or pop, it’s not. We just call it accessible.” TRIAL AND ERROR: For the current EP, which is only available online, the band quickly mixed and mastered a few songs it recorded at its practice space where the cardboard and carpet on the walls provides great acoustics. “We just wanted to have something out,” says Hlavna. “It was two microphones and an interface. I studied some mastering and after trial and error, we figured it out.” Some

songs were just jams that emerged into songs.

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: “Control (Pre),” the lead track on the band’s new EP, features husky vocals and a blues-inﬂuenced guitar riff. “When the Earth Fades” commences with gently strummed guitars and bits of percussion that give way to rattling drums and soft vocals. “I don’t know anymore/where I might go,” sings Difrancesco. His soulful vocals emphasize the song’s theme about ﬁnding one’s way in the world. “2 Door Soul” starts with a spacey intro before a funky bass riff takes over, turning the song into an evocative jam, and a brittle guitar riff drives “Who’s Gonna Feed the Birds.” The band continues to write songs at a steady pace. “We have a couple more songs that are ready to be released,” says Hlavna. “For as long as we’ve been together, we just keep popping them out. We’re always working on new material. We’re all multiinstrumentalists and between the four of us, we have about 100 songs.” WHERE YOU CAN HEAR THEM: reverbnation.com/transistor7 WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM: Transistor performs with the Drift Tones, the Alarms and Titans in Time at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 20, at the Foundry in Lakewood.

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SAVAGE LOVE RISKY BUSINESS by Dan Savage Dear Dan About a year ago, I was pretending to read my boyfriend’s mind and jokingly said, “You want to put it in my ear.” Since then, I have seen references to ear sex (aural sex?) everywhere! There’s even a holiday (“Take It In the Ear Day” on Dec. 8), and I was reading a book just now in which the author mentions how much she hates getting come in her ear. So while I am honestly not trying to yuck someone’s yum, I do have two questions. First, is this really a thing? And second, how does it work? — An Understanding Requested About Listeners Ear sex is a thing. But we need to distinguish between auralism, AURAL, and an ear fetish. People into auralism are sexually aroused by sounds — it could be a voice or music or sex noises. An ear fetish, on the other hand, is a kind of partialism, i.e., a sexual interest in one part of the body (often parts not typically found in pants). A foot fetish is a partialism, for example, as is an ear fetish. Most ear fetish stuff — including the thousands of ear fetish videos on YouTube — is about tugging, rubbing, or licking someone’s ear and not about fucking someone in the ear or coming in someone’s ear canal. Dicks don’t ﬁt in ear canals, and blasting semen into someone’s ear could cause a nasty ear infection. So both are risky practices best avoided — but, hey, if PIE (penis in ear) sex is actually a thing, I invite any hardcore ear kinksters out there reading this to write in and explain exactly how that works.

Dear Dan, I’ve never admitted this to anyone: The idea of committing suicide turns me on sexually. I recognize how crazy that is, and I want to emphasize that I’m not suicidal. I love living, and despite this sexual impulse, I don’t want to kill myself. I’m turned on by the fantasy of hanging myself, but that’s not really how I want my life to end. (To be clear: Autoerotic asphyxiation gets a lot of press, but that’s not the situation here. Asphyxiation itself isn’t my kink, and other methods of committing suicide also turn me on.) My question is this: Given that I don’t want these fantasy scenarios to ever become reality, should I indulge the fantasy through

healthy, safe play with a responsible partner or should I try to repress it and shut it down? If I indulge the fantasies, I might reach a point where the safety precautions interfere with the thrill. On the other hand, I know that trying to repress sexual desires is a hopeless endeavor and trying to keep these fantasies in check might result in a scenario where they boil over and I end up engaging in riskier behavior than I would have otherwise. — Horny And Nervous Guy’s Endangering Deeds You’re not actually suicidal, right? I know you already said you weren’t, HANGED, but I want to double-check. Because fantasizing about killing yourself — for whatever reason — technically counts as suicidal ideation. If you or anyone else reading this is contemplating suicide, please reach out to someone you trust. Ask for help. (Some resources: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255; the Trevor Project, 1-866-488-7386; Trans Lifeline, 877-565-8860.) Okay, HANGED, I’m going to take you at your word: You love being alive and don’t actually want to kill yourself. But while I agree that repressing sexual desires is a hopeless endeavor, HANGED, “can’t be repressed” isn’t the only factor we have to take into consideration as we contemplate acting on our sexual fantasies. There are two other important considerations (at least!): Can the act be performed consensually? Can it be enjoyed with minimal risk of permanent harm? Your kink can definitely be performed consensually, and there are ways to minimize the risks of harm — and I’m not talking about only sticking your head in an Easy-Bake Oven. I’m talking about finding a responsible/indulgent/macabre partner who’s willing to indulge/assist/ monitor. Yours is a kink that can be explored only during supervised play, otherwise you run the risk of fucking up and accidentally hanging yourself. You can never do this solo. So if you don’t have a responsible and unflappable partner, HANGED, you’ll have to stick to your right hand and your imagination.

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