We've been kind of fascinated by the blimp floating around downtown today, presumably in town for the Bengals-Patriots showdown.



We've decided, though, that it looks like it gets tossed about by the wind too much for us to want a ride. And it looks a little like Shamu in the sky.

Yesterday was kind of a different day for us, here in the offices of CiN, high above the mighty Ohio. One of our writers attended the Nick Lachey concert and wrote a review that actually appeared in the "big paper." And one of our new contributors went to KT Tunstall's show, so we posted a review on our web site.

• Cincinnati still loves Lachey
• We love KT Tunstall: The bluesy pop singer-songwriter put on a killer live show at Bogart's

Yes, there was a lot of love in the room.

But, since you can't leave your comments directly on the stories (yet), that's what this blog post is for.

Which show did you attend and what did you think?

Now, I know I've got some pretty sweet moves on the dance floor (the sprinkler, anyone?) but Cincinnati welcomed ten dancers whom America discovered really can dance...and very, very well. The So You Think You Can Dance tour graced the Aronoff Center with a knockout, high-octane performance. Screaming fans were rewarded with some of the shows most popular dances as well as some fresh choreography, including original pieces from contestants Travis, Dmitry and Heidi.

Donyelle and Benji got things off to a rip-roarin' start with the hip-hop number Too Much Booty in the Pants (a personal booty-shakin' favorite of mine). Heidi and Ryan worked the crowd with the Cuban Rumba showing Ryan, in my opinion, at his utmost best which is nothing short of pure grace and ability. Travis brought sexy back during the group's dance set to the popular Justin Timberlake song. Natalie and Dmitry got hot and heavy with a Latin dance and later with disco. Ivan and Allison took the stage for their much loved contemporary and hip-hop dances (the smooth hip-hop was choreographed by Cincinnati's own Shane Sparks...I gotta give a shout out to my man whose work is unbelievably kick ass every time!) And the infamous Tranji dance with finalists Travis and Benji (also choreographed by Shane Sparks) made an appearance. The only thing crazier than the dancing were the costumes. Heidi's bright personality was matched only by her sequin and rhinestone encrusted costumes, and somewhere Joan Rivers was having a heart attack thanks to Ivan's powder blue suit and bright yellow shoe combo during the disco number.

Sadly, host Cat Deeley was not in attendance but came to us via pre-recorded video along with regurgitated video packages that aired during the show's run (some fresh behind-the-scenes footage would've been cool). But winner Benji was there in all his goofy glory entertaining and wise-cracking his way into Cincinnatian hearts.

The cool thing about the show was the age range of its audience. From grandparents to grade schoolers, every age group was represented, and I got a kick out of watching the tweens practice their sweet moves at intermission.
By the end of the show my feet hurt from dancing in my seat and my ears were ringing from the continuous screaming fans, but I had a huge smile on my face and an incredible urge to shake my groove thang. Sigh.

I cannot hide my geeky love affair with SYTYCD (insert girlish squeal here), but just in case you were sucked in to the phenomenon like me but weren't able to score tickets to the sold out show, check out other city's show dates for future performances.

Rain, rain and more rain. Friday night's downpour put a slight damper on MidPoint's attendance, but many showcases were still packed. Music fans were out in full force, bands were promoting and Main Street was alive. (That's more than I can say for my east side neighborhood, where the storm had knocked out the power.)

I headed down to MidPoint around 7:30 p.m. for the "pre-party" at J Hall, which pulled in a good crowd. Bottles of Christian Moerlein were just $2 and wristbands were just $5 (sort of a prize for getting to the festival before the "real" starting time, 9 p.m.). Everyone was there to see Erika Wennerstrom of the Heartless Bastards play a solo set. It was a perfect way to kick off the night (though a bit unfair to the other bands. I love HB songs so much that it's hard for anyone else to live up to that).

After J Hall, I moved on to the Exchange to see Paper Airplane, a band I wrote about for CiN's 2005 MidPoint cover story. They're still one of my favorite local bands - it's all about the keyboards, my friends. Pop songs are great, especially when there's quirky guitar and clever lyrics, but the keyboard brings it all back home.

After Paper Airplne, I braved the rain to run down to Guido's Corner Tap to see Fairmount Girls, my first favorite local band (I saw them play a downtown festival back in high school and have loved them ever since). I grabbed a slice of pizza (decent, but not as good as the pizza at the original Guido's in Mount Adams; but this location is brand new, so I'll give them time) and found a good spot in front. I wanted to leave a bit early so I could also see 7 Speed Vortex playing next door at Crush, but somehow lost track of time and missed it.

By that time it was almost 11 p.m., and I knew I wanted to see at least one more band ... so I headed back to the Exchange and caught Captain of Industry's entire set. The crowd was huge and the band definitely lived up to all the great things I've heard about it - good way to end the night.

So, yeah, I skipped out on the last couple hours of showcases for the night. My excuse: I have a soccer game in the morning! I'm just not hardcore enough to rock out all night AND run around in cleats in the morning. I think I found a good balance. But i'll be back at MidPoint on Saturday night. Let me know if you've got any suggestions for bands I've got to see..

If you've been following the whole CW/Time-Warner kerfuffle (I have, seeing as how the only shows I follow are Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars), you probably already know the new network has landed a basic-cable spot just in time for its premiere.

Yippee! Now I can invite myself over to my cable-having friend's house every Tuesday for some good old-fashioned single-mother-giggles-with-daughter/teen-detective fun!

Today's the last day for woxy.com, so tune it to your iTunes radio and listen. It's very funny - they're talking about favorite bands, least favorite tour managers, etc. Kinda catty, but very funny. Listen while you can!!

I loved your work on Growing Pains and all, but come ON! Here I am, 100 miles from the nearest La Salsa, and you just have to wave your bag of delicious takeout Mexican food in my face?

I hope you enjoy your taquitos and crazy shredded carrot salsa or whatever, because we are THROUH.

(via Popsugar)

... that says if you run three successful restaurants into the ground in the space of one year (plus the additional one that was supposed to open a year ago never materializes), your one remaining restaurant gets taken away and given to someone who can actually remember to pay their taxes and stuff?

And also, you have to be the personal slave for one month to each employee you made work without pay for five weeks before you just locked the doors. You can start with the assistant manager you threatened to sic the sheriff on.

Yes, today you can get new discs from Justin Timberlake and Beyonce (both fun end-of-summer options) - but in the up-and-coming indie department, I recommend checking out the new Viva Voce disc, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out.

I can't remember how I first heard this band (I think it was at a listening station at Shake It in Northside, perhaps), but it's perfect lo-fi indie with a little bit of psychadelic 70s stuff going on. The band is husband-and-wife duo Kevin and Anita Robinson - and they make pretty music in their house in Portland, Oregon.

Seriously, check it out. Watch a video and stream the album, and enjoy the music, my friends. If you like what you hear, see Viva Voce play live at the Southgate House on Oct. 8!

So there's this new movie coming out. It was written and directed by Mike Judge. You've heard of him. It stars Luke Wilson. You've probably also heard of him.

But there's a good chance you haven't heard of this movie. It has no publicity, no trailer - not even a website, as far as IMDb and I can tell. We haven't received a press kit, and Tabari tells me it was taken off his list of local movie screenings. (He also tells me I'm not the first to ask him about the movie.)

I can't figure it out. I'd like to think that 20th Century Fox execs are trying a new approach to marketing, letting Mike Judge's fans create their own buzz ... but I doubt it. (Even though it's kind of happening - people are starting to say, "What is this movie and why don't I know anything about it?")

One rumor is that the movie is just bad (see the linked Wikipedia entry), but it's got a 73% rating on Rotten Tomatoes right now - and besides, it's not like poor quality has ever stopped a studio from releasing/promoting the hell out of a film if they think it'll make big money. (Which this movie could totally do, seeing as how it's "from the man who brought you Office Space" and all.)

The other theory is that the lack of publicity is due to pressure from a few corporations who don't like the way they're portrayed in the film. I guess this, combined with poor initial reviews, would be enough to give a studio pause ... but they're releasing it anyway, just not with any fanfare. At all.

Ah, well. Just let it limp through its theatrical run, and in a few months or years, it'll become a DVD phenomenon.

(Esquire has an interesting article on Judge and his studio struggles.)

Vanity Fair has a striking slideshow.

Well, it's Tuesday. How's everybody doing? Did you enjoy your three-day weekend? I did. It was a nice, relaxing weekend of rearranging furniture and battling the clouds of cat hair that threaten to crowd me out of the apartment.

I also watched plenty of TV (football, Veronica Mars and Arrested Development on DVD) and finally saw Little Miss Sunshine. If you haven't seen it, I recommend you do so soon - not only is it a wonderful movie, but it has a sort of summertime feel to it, and watching six people simmer in the Southwest heat in a lemon-yellow VW bus might not translate well to crisp weather and autumn colors. (See here for our interview with the filmmakers.)