Dayton937

Things to do in Dayton | Restaurants, Theatre, Music and More

Archives for April 2012

Presenting The Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival

By 1 Comment

John Legend

The Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival has just been announced along with the initial lineup for its inaugural year – including performances by several acts with local ties, like John Legend (a Springfield native), Guided by Voices (based in Dayton), Motel Beds (based in Dayton) and the Heartless Bastards (Dayton/Cincinnati area natives) . This two day street festival is scheduled for September 8th & 9th, 2012 and will have 3 stages in key locations in downtown Dayton.

Confirmed acts include:

Several more performers will be announced in the coming weeks, and as DMM is a Media Sponsor we will have festival updates right here as they happen!

Guided By Voices

“We are very excited to fill the streets of downtown Dayton with exceptional music from a wide variety of artists.  From Grammy winners to local talent, and everything in between this will be a weekend to remember,” said Matt Luongo, President, Downtown Revival, LLC. A Dayton native himself, Luongo graduated from the University of Dayton in 1998 and is enthusiastic about creating this music fest right here in Dayton.

The Downtown Dayton Revival Music Festival is to be a mix of national and local talent, with several slots still open for local acts.  If you are interested in playing this event, send them your info at [email protected].  In addition to over 30 bands, festival organizers are planning family friendly events as well as other activities to be announced.

Two day passes will be available at www.downtownrevival.com beginning April 24th, 2012 at 10:00a.m. A limited number of discounted early bird ticket will also go on sale on April 24th and will include entry into a contest for a VIP package upgrade including reserved seating, VIP hospitality tent, invitations to a Friday night preview party, artist meet and greet and more.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIh07c_P4hc ‘]

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0poaNfOKuPk’]

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETIJUW9P4Lo’]

 

Dayton Fashion Week Seeks Volunteers

By Leave a Comment

Recently it seems like no matter where I go and no matter what I do, I run into somebody who expresses their excitement or has questions about Dayton Fashion Week– from my close friends to random strangers who recognize me from my picture on this blog.  The word has gotten out and I’m pretty comfortable saying that the City of Dayton is ready to take its place as the Fashion Capital of the Midwest!!

When I first heard about Dayton Fashion Week in September and signed up to help last year, I naively thought this was just going to be a fun little fashion show that will give people something to do–BOY WAS I WRONG!!  Dayton Fashion Week has become a week long International Production that has grown beyond words in the past couple of weeks!  From Fashion Politque Magazine out of London, England naming us a “must see” Fashion Event of 2012, to our Cover Model Contest gaining national attention by Fashion Faces Magazine out of Phoenix, AZ.  We’ve had Fashion Bloggers from New York to L.A. seek out information and request press passes, and we’ve even had the head of several International Modeling Agencies reach out to support us and we are in talks of offering a few local models affiliated with DFW contracts.  More importantly on the local front the Downtown Dayton Partnership and Dayton Most Metro have played major roles in helping us get the word out, we’ve appeared on FOX 45 In The Morning twice, this Wednesday we will be appearing on Living Dayton on Channel 2 at noon, and Wednesday evening we will be featured on WYSO 91.3 FM Kaleidoscope Hosted By Juliet Fromholt and we CAN NOT THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH FOR ALL OF YOUR SUPPORT!

So to say that Dayton Fashion Week is just a “fashion show” would be an understatement because we have gone beyond just an event it’s officially a movement!!  Dayton Fashion Week has grown and like every great movement, we are looking for a few good leaders, supporting staff, and volunteers to add to our already talented team.  In July Dayton Fashion Week will be launching a quarterly print Fashion and Lifestyle Magazine; we are looking for writers, editors, and a sales and marketing team.

This event represents what the cutting edge fashion industry is all about and will be a great experience for anyone interested in a career in events, fashion, media, or marketing. There is a volunteer job for everyone and their roles will include:

  • Runway Venue Preparation
  • Designer and Guest Ushers
  • Backstage Assistance and Set Up
  • Assemble Gift Bags and Press Kits
  • Help maintain the main event Information Desk
  • Assist in the Volunteer Center
  • Various other tasks for the Dayton Fashion Week Staff

For the opportunity to be involved with the Volunteer Program, please RSVP and email your resume and cover letter to: [email protected].  We will have a Volunteer Meeting on Thursday April 19 from 6p-8p at the Kettering Library located at 3496 Far Hills Ave. Dayton, Ohio 45429.

 

I Was A White Knight…Once

By Leave a Comment

The Memoir of Comedian, Nathan Timmel

 

“The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child”

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

            With a creak of the mail slot and a muffled thump on the foyer floor, comedian Nathan Timmel’s memoir, I Was A White Knight…Once, unceremoniously arrived into my life. I picked up the crinkly Fed-Ex package and opened it with a sense of mild trepidation. I gingerly opened the package and inspected not only the contents, but all the cause of these feelings of apprehension, wondering from whence they came. As I explored the possible causes of this feeling, a note fluttered out from between the pages of the book that explained it all. It simply said, “Hey J.T.: Thanks for taking the time to read this – I really hope you enjoy it!”

The trepidation, I realized, came from the nagging possibility that I wouldn’t enjoy it and that it may put me in the precarious position of hurting someone’s feelings, which is something that I try to avoid at all costs. I began to turn the pages while a section of my mind dealt with these possibilities. Imperceptibly, as the words floated by, those alarming arguments that were careening through my brain quelled as I became instantly immersed and enamored with the story of Nathan Timmel’s life. As I stood there turning the pages, I felt a sense of glaring honesty emanating from the narrative. Page seven slammed the door on any niggling  suspicions that may have remained.

Page seven was the beginning of Chapter Two, which was a mere two pages long, but held such brilliant imagery and was so incredibly well written that I not only reread it several times as I stood there, but I have revisited that chapter several times. The chapter is simply titled The Shadow That Shouldn’t Be and relates the account of Nathan attending swimming lessons inWaupaca,Wisconsinwhen he was three years old. One is left with the image of Nathan standing on the edge of the pool, his sagging, soaked swimming trunks dripping onto the rough concrete, a skinny arm outstretched, pointing at a rippling shadow at the bottom of the pool.

While most people would write about such an incident in glaring detail, wringing every conceivable emotion out of it and filling in the blanks with their own perceptions and hindsight, Nathan chose to write about it in the most honest manner: from the perspective of an overwhelmed three year old. The event is painted in that impressionistically hazy hue of all of our childhood memories that are filled with a frenzy of colorfully blurred activity and dreamlike muted sounds with a singular, sharply contrasted snapshot held in time.

The memoir takes us from Nathan’s birth and childhood during the tumultuous time period of the late sixties and early seventies up to the present. Nathan’s parents, young and college educated, married seemingly out of a sense of obligation rather than for emotional reasons. The arrival of Nathan was the inescapable bond that held the marriage together…for a while. Throughout the tales of dysfunction and the ostensible denials that, at once, held the relationship together and tore it apart at the same time, there’s one truth that comes through Nathan’s writing with glaring clarity: perception. Every single one of us, on some scale or another, had a shocking point in our lives when, in dealing and communicating with others, we found that what had been our ‘normalcy’ was, in fact, viewed as insanely dysfunctional or, at best, mildly odd. With no reference point, everything comes down to one perception from whatever point one is standing.

Throughout Nathan’s memoir, the honesty follows through. He presents things as they were, admitting to the things that he has no real clear recollection of or answer to as well as owning the consequences that his own actions have wrought. This is also not a ‘woe is me’ sob story, wherein Nathan tries to foist all of his mistakes and behavior on his upbringing, thereby absolving him of his own responsibilities. This is a glimpse into a life shaped by the experiences, surrounding and subsequent emotions (or lack thereof).

One of the things that I noticed while reading Nathan’s chronicle is that, while it is written in almost chronological order, it is interspersed with interludes that are anecdotal stories of a more recent nature, most of which pertained to his comedy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as a story about a creepy Kathy Bate’s-esque style stalker that he had encountered. If you separate these interludes with the bulk of the memoir, they can almost be seen as being penned by a different hand. No, I am not casting any allegations of plagiarism. I am merely making an observation and one which may have more to do with me projecting my own perceptions about myself onto Nathan’s life.

When you read the interludes, they are written in a very conversational manner. They are very straightforward and contain a certain amount of humor to them. The rest of the memoir that deals with Nathan’s family, childhood experiences and his early travels from home to home, you will see a more carefully crafted account of events and emotions. It is as if there is a separation, a compartmentalization of segments of Nathan’s life; parts that have been boxed up and are carefully pulled out and examined in detail, yet from a distance. There is an accuracy in the accounts of his life that can only come from an observer and not from one who is actively in the fray. You can almost see a child, clothed in his Superman jammies or wrapped protectively in his Batman cape as chaos ensued all around him, taking it all in, unadulterated, through wide shining eyes. The impressions remain until the age when understanding comes and, at that time, the feelings and images are pored over: the child’s perceptions being viewed by the analytical mind.

Nathan Timmel’s book, I Was A White Knight…Once is a memoir that, while not filled with famous names or events, tells the simple story of growing up in the midst of social and familial dysfunction and coming out the other side. It paints a poignant vignette of an era and an epoch that, while not necessarily relatable to all of our lives, still resonates with the reader. The exemplary writing and moving mood of the narrative is compelling without being bombastic or unbelievable. It is just a story of a child becoming the man who, until recently, was unable to see the forest for the trees of his own existence.

Purchase the book in paperback or Kindle edition here.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIqkeIeb7xc’]

 

Dayton Music Scene Celebrates Record Store Day

By 1 Comment

Dayton MostMetro.com is a proud media sponsor for Record Store Day!

If you haven’t been keeping up with music trends in the past few years, I have some news for you: vinyl records are making a comeback. Surprising, right? I have even more news for you, then: there is an entire day devoted to vinyls and the stores that sell them. Hopefully you’re getting excited now. This Saturday, April 21st, is the fifth-annual Record Store Day, and it is a chance for Dayton’s music stores and scene to step forward and shine. (check out our calendar for complete Record Store Day schedule)

Record Store Day celebrates exactly what is in its name. The thing that is unfortunately starting to fade away with the advent of digital music. On this day, multiple artists and bands release exclusive vinyl albums and singles to independent record stores around the country (and world!), with the stores putting on live shows, various festivals, and anything else they can think of in celebration of actual physical music.

Omega Music (down in the Oregon District) and Toxic Beauty Records (out in Yellow Springs) are both getting in on the festivities. Both stores will be carrying the aforementioned exclusive Record Store Day releases, while featuring music and giveaways all day. Omega Music will have a full slew of local bands performing, including Buffalo Killers, Me & Mountains, and The Rebel Set. Toxic Beauty will be holding a performance by local band Wheels around 2PM, along with a ticket giveaway for Primus, and many other exclusives. Both Record Gallery and Feathers will also be featuring live local music.

Record stores aren’t the only ones getting into the celebrations. Other venues will be offering discounts when you bring in a receipt from any of the four stores mentioned above. Both Thai9 and Blind Bobs will be offering 50% select appetizers, while 5th Street Deli will be offering 20% off all food. Basho Apparel will be offering 10% off products with the receipts as well.

Ghettoblaster Magazine is hosting a screening of the movie Empire Records over at The Neon at 10PM, with all proceeds going toward the funding of this year’s Dayton Music Fest. Tickets for this screening will be running $6 on Record Store Day, and only $4 with a receipt from Omega, Toxic Beauty, Record Gallery, or Feathers.

Fans of music, the local scene, or just Dayton in general would be doing themselves a disservice by not checking out the festivities going on this Saturday. It’s a great chance to hit the town, listen to some local music, and start rebuilding that vinyl collection you got rid of back in the 80s. It’s going to be a great time, so don’t miss out!

Get Your Tickets for the 3rd Annual Derby Day Brunch

By 1 Comment

Grab your hats and get ready for the 3rd  annual Crown Jewels™ of Dayton Derby Day Brunch at Brio at The Greene on Sat, May 5th from 10am to 1pm.   This fundraising brunch will raise money to  further the work of the Kettering Medical Center Foundation’s Women’s Wellness Fund. The fund provides free screening and diagnostic mammograms, breast ultrasounds and prostheses to uninsured women (and men) in our community.

The event will include brunch donated by Brio Tuscan Grille and in true Derby-style, mint juleps.

Monica McGee & Maha Kashani at the 2011 Derby Day Brunch

Other activities will include a “Hat Strut” by all guests, a silent auction and roaming models from merchants at The Greene. Guests will also get their picture taken by the official “Derby Day” photographer and everyone will receive a Run for the Pink Roses commemorative glass.

Tickets for the “Derby Day Brunch” are $40. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (937) 572-8001 or [email protected]

Looking Glass Land (Ticket Contest)

By Leave a Comment

Looking Glass Land takes Lewis Carroll’s original story ‘Through the Looking Glass’, and adds to it a huge helping of unabashed silliness. This delightful romp through Alice’s looking glass retains all of the familiar characters, then introduces dozens of new ones: a baseball team, a gospel group called The Responsibilities, a train conductor, a peanut salesman, detectives, a Miss America, star struck tourist, plastic light saber knights and much more. This show is delightfully amusing and believable in a land that’s not, and is sure to please the entire family.

Produced through special arrangement with Pioneer Drama

Khris Royal and Dark Matter Bring The Funk To Gilly’s

By Leave a Comment

Khris Royal

Yeah You Right Music, Inc., in partnership with Gilly’s (132 S. Jefferson St., Dayton, OH) is thrilled to bring Khris Royal and Dark Matter to Gilly’s on Thursday, April 19, 2012. It will be the first local appearance for this up and coming jazz prodigy from New Orleans. Show time is 8:00 pm.

Khris Royal & Dark Matter (KRDM) is an alternative funk band steeped in jazz flavors on the forefront of the New Orleans music scene. Led by Khris Royal, a young and fearless saxophone player who has made his name playing as a member of both west coast-based Rebelution and funk legends George Porter Jr & the Runnin Pardners, KRDM are quickly building momentum on a national scale. KRDM can be seen performing at respected festivals such as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Hangout Music Festival in Alabama, and the Bear Creek Music Festival. With their Oct 2011 self-titled release, Khris Royal & Dark Matter has risen as one of the freshest and unique jazz/funk bands out of the city. For more on Khris Royal and Dark Matter go to KhrisRoyal.com

“[KRDM is] relentless and explosive: aerobic, heavy-handed drumming, whomping basslines, Royal’s quick fingers on the alto sax and powerhouse guitar that slid from slick funk to grinding rock riffs. Dark Matter plays with conservatory chops, but with the energy cranked up.” NOLA.COM

Tickets for the show are available at the following outlets: Rue Dumaine restaurant, The Trolley Stop, 5th Street Wine & Deli, Omega Records, and by contacting www.yeahyourightmusic.com. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 day of show.  Click here for show details and to listen to a few tracks.

Submitted by Yeah You Right Music, Inc. – incorporated in 2011 in Dayton to “Bring the best of New Orleans to YOUR town!”  Their goal is to bring great New Orleans/Louisiana (NOLA) artists to Dayton and the Midwest and create new markets for those artists while building audiences for these talented NOLA musicians throughout the region.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSste0pD-qg’]

Ticket Contest

We have TWO PAIRS of tickets to see Khris Royal and Dark Matter at Gilly’s this Thursday 4/19 – simplythis article and then fill out the form below.  We’ll draw two random winners on Tuesday April 17 at 4pm – GOOD LUCK!

CONTEST CLOSED

Congratulations to Andrea DelVerne Hubler and Shirley Hall Keller – they’re on the list to see the show!

 

Coal Dust in Her DNA – DPO presents Grammy-Award-winning singer in Kathy Mattea: From the Heart

By Leave a Comment

Kathy Mattea

She has never had a movie made about her. No Sissy Spacek to portray her. But, like Loretta Lynn who has, Kathy Mattea has a familial heritage that stretches back to America’s coal-mining regions. And a musical heritage and style that, like Lynn, includes country and gospel, but woven in with folk and bluegrass.

Suzy Bogguss, Alison Krauss, Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills and Nash are just a few of the artists with whom Kathy has collaborated. In her 28 years on the music scene, she has recorded 30 hit singles and 17 albums, including Goin’ Gone, Come From the Heart, 18 Wheels and A Dozen Roses, Burnin’ Old Memories, and Where’ve You Been.

And winning two Grammys for her efforts, the first in 1990 for Best Female Country Vocal (Where’ve You Been), the second in 1993 for the gospel-oriented Christmas album Good News.

On the way to becoming a star, Kathy joined a West Virginia University bluegrass band, dropped out of WVU, moved to Nashville, worked as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame, backed-up Bobby Goldsboro on vocals, and sang demos for songwriters and publishers.

She is no stranger to hard work; it’s in her genes.

Raised near Charleston, West Virginia, Kathy’s mining heritage is thick: both her grandfathers were miners, both her parents grew up in coal camps, and her mother worked for the local miner’s union. Her father was saved from the mines by an uncle who paid his way through college.

Oddly, she wasn’t exposed to much traditional mountain music. But when she was 19 years old she heard Dark as a Dungeon and began quietly cataloging mining and mountain songs she would someday record.

When Kathy was about nine, 78 miners were killed in The Farmington Disaster, near Fairmont, West Virginia. In 2006 the Sago Mine Disaster killed 12 West Virginia miners. “I thought, ‘Now is the time to do these songs’,” Kathy remembers.” The Sago disaster propelled Kathy back in her memory to what she had felt at that moment in her life, and she thought, “‘I need to do something with this emotion, and maybe this album is the place to channel it’. And so I knew the time was right.”

The album was COAL.

It was a life-altering decision, one that would forever change the way Kathy thought about music and singing. “This record reached out and took me. It called to me to be made,” Kathy states. “If you go through your life and you try to be open, you try to think how can you be of service, how can your gifts best be used in the world…if you ask that question everyday, you find yourself at the answer. And it’s not always what you thought it would be when you asked.”

She found herself discovering a part of herself she had never known before. “I had to unlearn a lot about singing. These songs are about getting out of the way; it’s about being with the song, opening a space and letting the song come through you.”

“I wanted some labor songs, some songs that articulated the lifestyle, the bigger struggles, and I wanted a wide variety musically,” Kathy notes. “Most of all, I wanted it to speak to the sense of place and the sense of attachment people have to each other and to the land.” She chose songs by such celebrated songwriters as Jean Ritchie, Billy Edd Wheeler, Hazel Dickens, Si Kahn, Utah Phillips, Merle Travis, and Darrell Scott.

Kathy says she’s had good luck picking songs because she goes with her gut. “I’ve found so much of my voice through interpreting other people’s songs, it’s like a marriage,” Kathy remarks. “I’m breathing something into the song, collaborating with the writers on bringing something forth.”

Kathy has played with guitarist Bill Cooley for 20 years and calls him “my silent partner, my unspoken collaborator on everything I do… I have been orbiting around him, musically, for a long time.”

Kirk Albrecht at minor7th.com describes Cooley as “… a guitarists guitarist, like Vince Gill, who seems to be at home in most any style.”

Versatility, the hallmark of any busy sideman, has been the stock in trade of a career that has seen Bill touring and recording with the likes of country icon Merle Haggard, country-pop diva Reba McEntire, traditionalist Alan Jackson and rockin’ singer-songwriter Hal Ketchum, as well as the eclectic, genre-crossing Mattea.

A native of Santa Barbara, CA, Bill moved to Nashville in 1985. A dozen years later he was called “one of Nashville’s most respected sidemen” by Guitar Player Magazine.

A native of Nashville, David Spicher is the son of session fiddle king Buddy Spicher. He has performed with Crystal Gayle, Pam Tillis, the Jerry Douglas Band, Carolina Rain, Jim Lauderdale, Nickel Creek, polka queen Lynn Marie, the Nashville Symphony, John England & the Western Swingers, and his family’s own Nashville Swing Band.

Eamonn O’Rourke (fiddle, mandolin, vocals) was born in County Donegal, Ireland. In 1993, Eamonn moved to New York. Working with a wide variety of artists throughout the United States and Canada, he was blessed with the chance to study with the great Mark O’Connor and cultivated a successful career as a session musician.

On Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5 at 8pm in the Schuster Center, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra will present Kathy Mattea: From the Heart, the final concert in this season’s SuperPops series, featuring Kathy, Bill, David, and Eamonn.

And quite a few other musicians on vocals.

“I think there’s a mystery there,“ Kathy says, “that somewhere in me, in my DNA, there’s my great grandmother singing, and my grandmother, and my people, singing through me, with me.”

 

How to use an FHA 203k renovation loan to Eco-Rehabarama your own Dayton home

By 14 Comments

When you head off to the Eco-Rehabarama in May (details here), you might go to find your next home- the homes will be for sale- but seeing as there are 10 homes on the tour and they are expecting a couple hundred guests, obviously not everyone who visits is going to buy one of those homes. Many guests will be looking for inspiration for either their own home, or, information on how to turn a classic brick ranch into a stunning dream home. You will find it all at the Eco-Rehabarama, but today I wanted to share some information that might help you finance not only a home, but the renovations as well.

This can be done through a relatively unknown loan called an FHA 203k loan. It’s basically mortgage and renovation

financing rolled into a single loan and a single closing. I spoke with Mortgage Banker, Jerry Stewart, of Evolve Bank & Trust in Dayton, 937.528.6881, to find out how home buyers in Dayton can benefit from using the FHA 203k renovation loan. Here’s what Jerry said:

There are several things that make these renovation loans so great and often they are the only option for home buyers.

By renovating an existing property you are really choosing location over property specifications and we all know the three rules of real estate, location, location, location. So you can now buy that distressed or obsolete home in that desired location.

Sometimes buyers want to live in a specific community, but the price of a move-in condition home make that area off limits to them. The buyer may not have the cash on hand, or skills to do renovations on a distressed home themselves.
The FHA 203k loan can help with that. This is going to be important factor for older cities like Dayton and the first-tier or inner ring suburbs, which have a tremendous stock of aging homes and distressed neighborhoods. What better way to get those homes updated and the neighborhood values stabilized than by renovating existing housing stock, like the homes you will see at Eco-Rehabarama. The photos used in this article are before-and-afters from the same home, pulled from the Dayton Area Board of Realtors. While the 203k loan wasn’t used to finance these updates, this is an example of the type of work the loan could cover. Jerry explains another way home values are improved through this loan:

The other factor is value. When bank foreclosures or REOs are placed for sale, if they do not meet the minimum home standards that conventional and government loans require, they can only be bought with cash. This severely limits the amount of potential buyers. Lowering the number of buyers in turn lowers the eventual sales price. This gives you a great advantage to come in and buy these homes at a substantial discount and finance the needed updates.

Think about the ramifications for older neighborhoods: this can increase the number of owner occupants and decrease the number of investors, absentee owners, and negligent landlords that can devastate communities. But a buyer’s financial stability is also increased when the renovations are financed through a renovation loan. Jerry explains it like this:

With upgrading the major mechanicals you provide a certain level of certainty for years to come. The majority of home buyers in our area are doing so for the first time. Finding a home is the first part of home ownership but staying in the home is the most difficult part. Why not renovate the major mechanicals at purchase, and make the process that much more enjoyable, not to mention the tax credits.

A number of the short sales and foreclosures we see are being sold in mid-remodel, in other words, the buyers simply ran out of money or their financial situation changed and they are unable to finish needed upgrades or cosmetic improvements to the home. Sadly, it’s back on the market and it’s distressed, and the neighborhood is suffering as well. The FHA 203k loan can help get these homes mechanically sound at the time of purchase so the families do not have to come up with the money for those repairs later.

Ultimately though, for anyone who is looking for a renovation loan, this is a labor of love, with all the benefits of creating the home you’ve always wanted. Jerry talked about the emotional benefits of making a house, a home:

By doing it this way you make it yours. You pick the kitchen, the carpet, the square footage, not the previous owner. In 15 years of originating these loans the majority of projects I’ve done didn’t require renovations but the owners wanted to make it their own at the time of purchase.

So your home doesn’t have to show a need for renovations- it does not have to be distressed, you can simply finance your wish list using this loan as well.

Meanwhile, over the past few years the big box home improvement stores have made it easier for buyers to get the 203k renovations done with a minimum amount of hassle. As an example, you can see Lowe’s REBuildUSA program here for some general information about the process.

This loan is not going to be for everyone. It takes patience, organizational skills, and tenacity, but if you are looking for a way to finance your home and the renovations you’ve dreamed of, talk to your own lender, or Jerry at Evolve, to see if you qualify for the FHA 203k loan.

Food Deals Take The Bite Out Of Taxes

By Leave a Comment

It’s become a spring tradition and it seems even more chains than ever are jumping on the tax day discounting bandwagon.  So after you’ve rushed around getting all your paperwork together and made yourself crazy trying to read the government instructions and get it right, you might as well take advantage of these tax relief freebies.   There’s something quite relieving about eating discounted food while you wait for your refund, and if you had to pay, it ‘s even more satisfying to get something for your pain.  If you know of others I’ve missed, please feel free to add them in the comment section below.

 

Arby’s – Free Curly Fries on Tax Day on 4/17 Only
Auntie Anne’s – Buy Any 1 Pretzel Get 1 Signature Pretzel Free (exp. 4/25)
Champps Americana – 2 Burgers or Sandwiches for $15 or Any 2 Entrees for $25 on 4/17 Only
Chili’s – Free Appetizer or Dessert with coupon
Cinnnabon – 2 Free Cinnabites on Tax Day 4/17 Between 6 – 8pm
Gold Star Chili – $10.40 for 2 Regular Three-Ways & 2 Drinks Starting 4/15 – 4/16
Hooters – Enjoy 20 Boneless Wings for only $9.99! 4/17
McCormick & Schmick’s – Extended Happy Hour on 4/17 (3:30 – 11:00pm)
Mimi’s Cafe – Free Lunch or Dinner entree with/purchase of 2nd and 2 drinks thru 4/20 with coupon
McDonald’s – Buy a 1/4 pounder or Big Mac, get a 2nd one for 17 cents
P.F. Chang’s – 15% Off Entire Purchase on 4/17 Only
Schlotzsky’s – Free Chips & 20 oz. Fountain Drink
Sonic – All Day Happy Hour on 4/17
Quizno’s – Like them on  Facebook – get a coupon for a BOGO  sub with purchase  of fountain drink
White Castle – 15% off your entire order (exp. 4/17)

 

 

The Con is On with “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”

By 1 Comment

Clark State Community College delivers a commendable production of librettist Jeffrey Lane (“Mad About You”) and composer David Yazbek’s (“The Full Monty”) funny, naughty 2005 Tony Award-nominated musical “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” a faithful adaptation of the 1988 film of the same name.

Smoothly directed by Geoffrey D. Moss and set on the French Riviera, admirably envisioned by scenic designer Dan Hunt, “Scoundrels” predominately succeeds on the entertaining teamwork of Troy M. Berry and Jimmy Straley as competitive con men Lawrence Jameson and Freddy Benson, respectively. As Lawrence and Freddy wage a bet to swindle $50,000 from American soap heiress Christine Colgate (the radiantly perky Haley Justice), Berry’s sophisticated flair and veteran aptitude fittingly complements Straley’s hilariously immature raunchiness. The tall, comically conceited Berry is also the stronger singer (“Love Sneaks In” is a tender Act 2 highpoint), but Straley, a genuine goofball, excels at physical comedy and sight gags which is essential. They particularly join forces for delightful renditions of “All About Ruprecht” and “Dirty Rotten Number,” terrific standouts within Yazbek’s wonderfully suave, lilting and peppy score, firmly handled by music director Thomas Kushmaul, Jr.’s first-rate orchestra, that reiterate his status as one of the most flavorful composers of contemporary musical theater.

In featured roles, David M. Schopmeyer brings an understated charm to Andre Thibault, Lawrence’s unassuming accomplice who sparks a middling romance with vacationing divorcee Muriel Eubanks, sharply portrayed by Kate Blackburn. As boisterous oil heiress Jolene, who precedes Christine on Lawrence and Freddy’s devious radar, the energetic Leah Schultz leads the infectious country and western toe-tapper “Oklahoma?,” spiritedly choreographed by Katie Kerry.

“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” concludes today at 3 p.m. in Kuss Auditorium of the Clark State Performing Arts Center, 300 S. Fountain Ave., Springfield. Act One: 65 minutes; Act Two: 65 minutes. Tickets are $8-$10. The show contains adult language. For tickets or more information, call (937) 328-3874 or visit pac.clarkstate.edu

From the Edge and Back with Carrie Fisher

By 1 Comment

WISHFUL DRINKING starring Carrie Fisher April 10 – 22, 2012 – Victoria TheatreCarrie Fisher, daughter of crooner Eddie Fisher and screen legend Debbie Reynolds, humorously bears her wacky, wounded soul in her breezy 2009 one-woman play “Wishful Drinking,” a revealing look at her fractured childhood, rocky relationships and bouts with mental illness and drug addiction.

Presented at the Victoria Theatre by the Victoria’s Premier Health Partners Broadway Series, “Wishful Drinking,” smartly structured to entertain with a wink and a smile instead of morphing into a celebrity pity party of endless diatribes, immediately charms as if reconnecting with an old friend. Best known for portraying Princess Leia of “Star Wars” lore, Fisher, 55, proves her worth as an engaging comedienne with naughty instincts who thrives on the playful interaction she generates with the audience in addition to her innate ability to simply poke fun at herself. Briefly schooled in London, the likable author/actress, who openly shares her disdain for Republicans and grew up in a house described as a cross between a government embassy and an air conditioner, bluntly addresses a wide array of dishy talking points ranging from her infamous tabloid history and forgettable stepfathers to her on again/off again romance with Paul Simon and deep affection for a gay talent agent who fathered her daughter.

Fisher, nicely framed within David Korins’ kooky hodgepodge set complete with R2-D2, could have carved her journey as a one-act, but her appealing personality and snappy one-liners (“distinguished-looking is ugly with money”) carry the momentum as topics change. There are no momentary lulls or an agitated feeling of rehashing, a sizable feat for any one-person play grounded in overtly familiar nostalgia. The most hilarious portion, arriving at the end of Act 1, predictably stems from memories of her breakthrough in a galaxy far, far away (her jabs at George Lucas and the oddity of having been merchandised are priceless), but I found her witty family tree dissection (a juicy rundown of divorces and remarriages dubbed Hollywood Inbreeding 101) to be an intriguing portal into her irreparably scarred past. Sure, Fisher has a field day joking about Eddie ditching Debbie for Elizabeth Taylor in addition to Eddie eventually marrying Connie Stevens (Debbie lite), but underneath is the harsh reality that the seeds of her commitment/relationship issues, emotional and psychological, derive from the undesirable examples she witnessed and endured first-hand.  She actually fought with Simon on their honeymoon, which sounds alarming but was not entirely damaging. After all, she easily, if grudgingly, became Simon’s muse, inspiring some of his most introspective lyrics regarding love gone wrong.

In the mildly deeper Act 2, Fisher effectively shifts her puns toward rehab (Ozzy Osbourne was beside her at one point) and the acknowledgement of her personal demons. Although she drolly admits “there’s no need for demons when you’re self-possessed,” a glimmer of poignancy arises when she reveals the potential cost of losing one’s mind followed by a silent, heart-stopping mention of suicide.

“Wishful Drinking” is prime fodder for “Star Wars” devotees, but Fisher’s story of survival is intended for everyone. I’m actually surprised she hasn’t used this play as a launching pad to a talk show deal. Nonetheless, having been married, divorced and in rehab before the age of 30, Fisher certainly deserves to bask in the contentment she currently feels. It’s obvious her happy days are here.

“Wishful Drinking” continues through Sunday, April 22 at the Victoria Theatre, 138 N. Main St. Performances are Tuesday-Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Act One: 50 minutes; Act Two: 45 minutes. Tickets are $40-$83. The show contains adult language and themes. For tickets or more information, call Ticket Center Stage at (937) 228-3630 or visit www.ticketcenterstage.com

WWII Documentary Shot in Dayton – Shown in Dayton

By Leave a Comment

The creators of the Emmy Award winning PBS hit Red Tail Reborn have now created a new aviation program, The Restorers-They Were All Volunteers.  The documentary film centers on airplane restorers and the WWII heroes known as the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, and will now appear in theaters in select cities throughout the Midwest.

What’s the history? On April 18th, 1942, Gen. James Doolittle led the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders on a top secret mission that would strike back at the heart of Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor four months earlier. The Raiders launched their B-25 Mitchell Bombers off an aircraft carrier that would get them close to the home island of Japan. The bombing mission was a great success, boosting much needed morale for the United States.

Each year the famous Doolittle Tokyo Raiders from WWII have a reunion to remember their mission, their comrades, and their heroic leader Gen. James Doolittle.  In 2010, an extraordinary event took place. For the 68th Doolittle reunion, seventeen B-25 bomber crews volunteered to gather in honor of the Raiders.  Over 70,000 people turned up to witness the event, to see the bombers, and to meet the remaining Raiders.

The Restorers-They Were All Volunteers follows the journey of a Minnesota B-25 named Miss Mitchell. Join this restored bomber as she travels to Dayton, Ohio to attend the largest B-25 gathering since WWII.

April 18th, 2012 marks the 70th anniversary of the historic Doolittle mission. The Restorers – They Were All Volunteers will screen on Tuesday, April 17th, 7:30 pm – The Neon Movies – Dayton, Ohio

Helpful links:

www.TheRestorers.com

www.hemlockfilms.com

www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/doolittle.asp

 

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy4tysi4TvY’]

“You’re A Jittery Little Thing, Aren’t You?” (an interview with Carrie Fisher)

By 1 Comment

A.)     Quote From Princess Leia In Return Of The Jedi

or

B.)     The First Thing Carrie Fisher Said To Bill Pote

 

Bill Pote, Carrie Fisher And J.T. Ryder

The oddly arranged living room held treasures and memorabilia that competed for attention so ferociously that it was difficult to focus in on one particular item. Celebrities smiled forth, frozen in frames strewn about shelves and tables. R2D2 sat on top of an old suitcase, peeking out from behind a leather couch as I walk in and a lone coffee table cascaded with various items, including cans of Coke Zero and a prescription bottle filled with M&Ms. The only thing that shattered the illusion of entering an eccentrically rich crazy cat-woman’s home was the glaring spotlights…and the 1,300 or so seats that were lurking out in the darkness. Of course, this was not someone’s home: this was the set of Carrie Fisher’s one woman show, Wishful Drinking.

Bill Pote (the über brain of Dayton Most Metro) and I were granted an audience with the princess and she did not keep her diligent followers waiting. She breezed onto the stage as naturally as most of us cross through our living room. Bill tried to ply Miss Fisher with cookies from Ghostlight Coffee & Thistle Confections, the fantasies of his youth playing through his head. Luckily, Miss Fisher was not aware that he had worn his favorite Star Wars underwear for the occasion…you know…the ones that have Yoda saying, “Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you?”

Anyway, after Bill presented her with the cookies and a list of things to do in Dayton while she was here, we dove right into the interview rather quickly…

Bill: So, J.T. here interviewed you on the phone a couple of weeks ago…

J.T.: Yeah, you had just gotten back from overseas. You sounded sleepy.

Carrie: Yeah, I had just gotten back from Asia. It was very exciting. Which part of Asia was I getting back from?

J.T.: Japan.

Carrie: Oh, Japan!

J.T.: Coming back from the ‘celebrity lap dance,’  is, I think, the way you put it. I was talking with someone, another writer, last night about you and one of the things he brought up was something that I hadn’t noticed.  I had to go back and reread some of your fictionalized work. He was amazed with your dialogues and the natural way in which it flows. Is it so natural because it is based on real conversations?

Carrie: Well, a lot of it is, but I also think it’s a self consciousnesses, like you are sort of watching yourself or listening to yourself. I would also say that I write some of the stuff that I wish I had said or something that I didn’t say in that context and so I drag it over.

J.T.: That is probably the more fun part of writing. Well, he was just talking about the natural flow and the way that you craft your writing. Is all that natural or something that you have been honing?

Carrie: Well, I fell in love with words as a kid and I used to go through books and underline things. Really, I like wordplay more, but that’s also how I talk. I talk in wordplay. I once saw a line of mine, although I don’t know that they knew that it was mine, that said, “Start putting the ‘fun’ in ‘funeral.’” I hear words and they break down automatically.

J.T.: Right. Bill can attest to this: I don’t speak in the same way that I write. Most people who have read something I have written before meeting me don’t believe that I wrote it when they do meet me.

Carrie: Some of my writing isn’t how I talk.

J.T.: Well, with the show, the connectivity that you have with the audience is amazing. How do you get that when most of the events that you’re talking about are so disparate from most people’s experiences?

Carrie: Well, I don’t think that they are necessarily. Also, it’s not so much what your experiences are, it’s how it hits you. I mean, everyone has had, from a certain slant, a weird childhood. It may not be exactly like mine and it probably isn’t, but from a certain slant, you’re going to have funny stories.

J.T.: So it’s based off of the emotion rather than the event.

Carrie: Definitely!

J.T.: So how are you finding the Dayton audience’s responding?

Carrie: They are fantastic!

J.T.: Just as receptive?

Carrie: Beyond receptive! Last night they were talking back! A lot!

Bill: I know that we have a thing about sex and nakedness here in Dayton, Ohio…

Carrie: Apparently! That was what was hilarious about it. The questions that they asked like, “Was he naked?”, “Were you naked?” That’s where you mind goes. If you find a dead body, they’re usually not naked. (Writer’s Note: A reference to Carrie waking up next to the lifeless body of Republican Party media adviser R. Gregory Stevens who died from a OxyContin/cocaine overdose in her bed)

Bill: That’s a great way to start the show too. It kind of lets you know that…

Carrie: Yeah, “This is where we are at and it’s going to get more normal from here…but not much.”

I know this probably isn't the time nor the place, but looking at these pictures, I believe I am going bald.

J.T.: Well, Daytonians aren’t the only nudity focused people. Look at George Lucas’ No Underwear In Space Theory… (Writer’s Note: According to Lucasian Physics, one would face many different pressure changes while tooling around in space and with all the expansion and contraction of the human body under these conditions, you would be strangled by your underwear. I think that this is based upon twisted yet justified fantasies and not on any kind of scientific protocols.)

Carrie: That’s what he said. I think it just destroyed the line of that stupid white dress and then if people were aware that you were wearing a bra, they wouldn’t accept that you were Darth Vader’s daughter. No, I think not.

J.T.: True. With Shockaholic, is that kind of a stepping stone to the next memoir?

Carrie: God no! I think that I’ve said about all I can say.

J.T.: Really?

Carrie: Well, about…the stuff that I’ve written about that was the toughest is that I exposed my daughter to any kind of drug abuse and it would be something that you would figure would happen, (whispering) but I didn’t do a lot. The fact that it happened at all is probably the thing that is most shameful about my life. But most of it was already out. They (the tabloids) wrote about me being in a mental hospital, so then I’m going to write my version and I’m going to say my version. Then they (the tabloids) write stuff saying that I’ve had a facelift and that just kills me because this would be the worst facelift ever! I’ve seen online…go online and I read that I’ve had a facelift and it’s not that good and there’s like three doctors commenting how it looks pulled here and pulled there (Carrie demonstrates by tugging at her face). I’m like, no, but I’ve been thinking about having one…

J.T.: Ryder: That’s another thing about the show, since you kind of brought it up: Somehow you have managed to avoid it seeming tabloid-ish. It’s not sensationalized.

Carrie: It’s not sensational. If you were in the situation, it’s just people. I mean, they might wear more make-up or they might have gotten where they are because they have…(pause)…more well ordered features, but they are just humans. It’s not…now I’m intimidated by the ‘good looking’ people, but you shouldn’t treat ‘good looking’ like it’s an accomplishment. It’s kind of valued that high, like you did something amazing and it was just that they were born with really nice features. Those are the people inHollywoodwho…I don’t know how to talk to them and I’m not really curious about them either. ‘How did you get those eyes? Oh! Your mom had them?’ Those are the people who got where they are purely on their features.

J.T.: That is across the board. People being ‘proud’ of genetics. A lot of people equate that with celebrity…

Carrie: It would have been a bigger trick to stay out of show business than to go in. I didn’t go in. It was…I had to tiptoe out. No. I wouldn’t have picked it, because I was sort of introverted, watching all those people.

J.T.: Which is hard to believe when one sees your stage show.

Carrie: Well, now I’m older and it’s now it’s acceptance run riot. Self acceptance. I mean, you get to a certain age…

J.T.: ..and you say to yourself, ‘Ah, screw it!’

Carrie: Right! ‘What the fuck!’

Bill: So if you weren’t thrown into that at an early age…

Carrie: I might not have chosen it.

Bill: What would you be doing?

Carrie: Well, I might have been a writer because of the whole word thing. It killed me, the word thing. I would have liked to have been Beethoven….not for his whole life, but just the part where he wrote his music. I want to be someone who can hear music like theat. Where does that come from? There are those people like that that have that kind of gift, but I do have a thing with words and I am grateful that I’ve got it because it a distraction for me and I listen to people better  so it makes me enjoy reading and listening  to people’s points of view and the way people say things.

Bill: You mentioned last night (during the opening night performance) that poetry was is something that you started at an early age and it actually helped you.

Carrie: I started writing, but you wouldn’t call what I wrote ‘poetry.’ It would be more like lyrics. But, I like some of what I wrote and I remember getting into states where I would be kind of taking dictation from somewhere that had nothing to do with me, but it did have to do with my emotional state. The way that it organized itself into…it’s an intense experience, then your way of managing it is basically to photograph it verbally so that you’re not just at the effect of it then, so you’re not saying, ‘Okay, now what is this like?’ It’s finding some way to say it. Otherwise, I’m just an incredibly emotional person, which I am.

J.T.: Well, at least when you’re performing, you have the ability to emote and convey a tone or meaning more than writing.

Carrie: Well, I’ve also gotten to the point where I’m also able to receive it. You just kind of get out of the way, so it isn’t me. I’ve been given something where impressions come to me and I can say, ‘Oh, that’s what that feels like!’ If I just wait, I let this thing in me that does that anyway…I can’t ignite it, I can just get out of the way of it.

Bill: Well, that leads me to this then: after watching your show last night, which I enjoyed a lot by the way…

Carrie: Thank you.

Bill Pote And J.T. Ryder Double Teaming Carrie Fisher...Wait...That's Doesn't Sound Right....

Bill: How much…I know it’s mostly scripted, if not all scripted, so how often do you go off script?

Carrie: A lot! I open it up for questions and the because the people that you (the audience) are talking with, I’ve never met them before…

Bill: Well, not even talking about audience members, but even with bringing up stories from your life, how often do you just think of something like, ‘I haven’t even told anybody this.’

Carrie: I said something the other night and…I say things by accident and it is sort of leaving it open to mess with, so there is a lot more I could say about any of the things I talk about and sometimes I will go off into it…and it’s more fun if I do. You really have to be alert…hyper-vigilant and hyper-alert, and that’s exhausting, but it’s interesting.

J.T.: Yeah, it’s great fun when you shut off all the filters.

Carrie: Yeah! And you’re in front of a lot of people and that can be very interesting.

 

(Photographs by Blush Boudoir, then heavily edited by J.T. without permission nor any sense of artistic content.)

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvVUMW_iUlw’]

 

Shrug, The Rebel Set & Sam at Eleven Play Cancer Benefit on Saturday

By Leave a Comment

The Rebel Set performing at Blind Bob's

One of the things that makes the Dayton music scene great is a willingness on the part of so many bands to play shows that help out the larger community (in addition to keeping us all entertained.  One such show is happening this Saturday (April 14th at Blind Bob’s in the Oregon District.  Shrug, The Rebel Set and Sam at Eleven will perform an evening of music for a mere $5 at the door.  That money will go to the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Greene County. More details are available at the Dayton Most Metro Events Calendar.

Support Local Artists at the Annual DVAC Art Auction

By Leave a Comment

"Life Raft" - MB Hopkins

The Dayton Visual Arts Center (DVAC) presents the Annual DVAC Art Auction on April 27, 2012 at the Sinclair Community College Ponitz Center. The much anticipated auction, now in its 18th year, is the only auction in the region dedicated exclusively to visual art and is responsible for generations of Daytonians living with and making art a part of their daily lives. This year, 109 works of art by DVAC member artists in a wide range of media and prices will be presented in both silent and live auctions.

DVAC presents artworks of the highest quality by respected veteran and emerging regional artists. Artists represented in the 2012 Auction include painters Julie Beyer, MB Hopkins, Katherine Kadish and Jean Koeller; photographers Doug McLarty, Richard Malogorski, Fred Niles and Francis Schanberger; and printmakers David Leach, Ray Must and Kim Vito.

About the Auction

The Annual DVAC Art Auction expects to draw in 600 guests and will also feature live music by Puzzle of Light, a cash bar, ample hors d’oeuvres and free parking. Not to miss: the DP&L Live Auction––an event in itself, the live auction features Dayton’s “Superstar” auctioneer, Doug Sorrell, whose high-spirited coaching of new and experienced bidders has become a highlight of the event.

Tickets are $50 for DVAC Members, $60 for nonmembers, and $75 at the door. Tickets may be purchased online at www.daytonvisualarts.org; or by calling DVAC at (937) 224-3822. All auction artwork will be available to be viewed digitally on our Web site, www.daytonvisualarts.org, beginning April 6. If you are unable to attend the auction, you are able to make a sealed bid.

"Spring Garden" - Kim Vito

About the Auction Preview Exhibition

You may also view selected artwork in person at DVAC’s Auction Preview Exhibition, April 6-24, 2012. The opening reception will take place as part of downtown Dayton’s 1st Stop 1st Friday celebrations, Friday, April 6, 5-8 p.m.

About DVAC

The Dayton Visual Arts Center provides art for the community and a community for artists. DVAC receives operating support from the Ohio Arts Council, Culture Works, Montgomery County, the Virginia W. Kettering Foundation and Members.

Ticket Contest

As proud media sponsors for the Annual DVAC Art Auction on April 27, we are happy to give YOU a chance to win a pair of tickets to this very popular event – a $150 value!  Simplythis article and then fill out the form below – we’ll announce winners on Monday April 16th… Good Luck!

Contest Closed…. and Congratulations to 

Jennifer Lockwood, Brenda Boyd and Lynn Kesson – you have each won a pair of tickets to the DVAC Art Auction!