As they do to much of the city's media, Building Cincinnati scooped us on this one.  The crew at Edgecliff Press contacted us earlier this week with details on their new book: I Thought Pigs Could Fly.  Edgecliff is a new small Cincinnati publisher that, as they put it, "combines the best aspects of various publishing models and new online and digital services."        

Ari Buchwald, who heads up Edgecliff, will be signing I Thought Pigs Could Fly tonight at 1431 Main St. during the Final Friday activities.  The book, which will be available to purchase tonight, takes a look at the architectural details throughout the Queen City - get a sneak peek here.

::Edgecliff Press   

It's time to finally wake up from your week long turkey coma.  This weekend, the Christmas season kicks off in Northside and OTR with two shop local events.

First up, Northside's Holiday Art Sale this Saturday, December 1 from 11am-5pm.  Photographs, pottery, holiday cards, jewelry, paintings and other artsy stuff from over a dozen local artisits will be on sale.  The event will be held at Off the Avenue Studios - 1546 Knowlton St (which is behind the National City Bank in NSide).  

Also Saturday is OTR's Christkindlmarkt on Main St - a take on the German holiday street markets.  Check out not only some great independant shops along Main, but holiday entertainers on the street, and Architreks tour (2pm at Kaldis), bar/restaurant specials and... wait for it... the official launch of Christian Moerlein's Christkindl Ale at several Main St. bars.  Noon - 8:30pm.

So get off your duff and get some truly unique gifts this weekend.

When it comes to holiday gifts for friends and family, its hard to go wrong with wine.  But the question becomes, which wine to choose?  For non-oenophiles like the crew here at BuyCincy, it helps when you can give a price, maybe a type of wine, and let wine experts pick out the vino that will leave giftees impressed. 

So it was when I stopped in City Cellars this past Tuesday as I was getting ready to leave town for Thanksgiving.  I gave the gang and City Cellars a price range (pretty cheap) and a type (Riesling) and I had a great wine ready in about a minute.  Unlike stopping in the grocery store, I was in and out of the store in under 5 minutes with a great bottle of wine.  And, not only were those extra minutes put to good use packing my gear, the wine was a big hit.

 
City Cellars
908 Race St
Cincinnati, OH 45202

See Also: Piazza Discepoli 

We're very happy to have Cincinnati independant record store extraordinaire, Shake-It Records, drop some music knowledge around the BuyCincy grounds.  Check back for regular columns from Billy Carter of Shake-It.

What's Shaking - 11/20/07 

MUSIC FOR BOTH SIDES OF YOUR BRAIN:

Charlie Louvin - "LIVE AT SHAKE IT RECORDS" / Tompkins Square
In 1941 The Louvin Brothers made thier performing debut in Flatrock, AL.  There was a talent show (they won) & a July 4th get together prior to this "professional" debut, but who's counting? They would stop and start again for a while, ya know with WWII and allgetting in the mix. But for the next two decades the boys, Charlie and Ira, would carve out a place not only in counrty music, but American music history. To list thier string of accomplishemtns and accolades would be best left to your own discovery. There is plenty there to be educated on for sure.

In 1965 Ira left us far too soon in a fatal car wreck. Charlie kept going - that's what Ira would have wanted.
So, 60 plus years after he began, Charlie Louvin walked through the doors of Shake It Records in Cincinnati, OH - his band was right behind him, he was there to play. For over an hour a packed house was treated to six
decades of a life story told in song. Nobody came out and said it, but you could feel it hanging in the air, "I was here, I got to see this this". This is the document of that May 11th evening. You can hear it for yourself in all its raw glory. And if you listen really closely you might get a itch of what was in the air that night, genuineness.  And as Charlie would and did say, May the good Lord bless and keep you.

BuyCincy is proud to team up with Bughouse Video, "Cincinnati’s only independently-owned arthouse video rental store" for a BuyCincy exclusive column. The crew from Bughouse will be stopping by on a regular basis to give us their picks for new releases, hidden gems, or anything they think you might dig.

Perfume - The Story of a Murderer
Review by Jessica

Jean-Baptiste Grunuis (Ben Whishaw) is born under his mother's fish market table in an 18th century France open air market. After being almost intentionally smothered by his new mother he is rescued and sent to an orphanage where he realizes his gift...his magnificent olfactory sense. After the orphanage and a stint as a tanner he begs to apprentice with a perfumer (Dustin Hoffman) who reluctantly takes him on, but then learns that his young worker has the most remarkable talent for creating tantalizing and seductive scents.

BuyCincy invites you to help Cincinnati break the chain habit on November 17th by shopping only at locally-owned businesses.  With locally-owned businesses pumping about 3 times more money into the local economy for each dollar you spend than chain stores, imagine what kind of impact we could have by shopping at these stores for just one day.  

And, with many independant local stores doing promotions and giving to charity for Cincinnati Unchained, you dollar could have an even bigger impact.  Go to www.buycincy.com/unchained for a full list of stores with promotions for Cincinnati Unchained on November 17th.

 

What's the Deal?

As the seasons change so does our attention from the outside of our homes to the interiors.  If the prospect of spending another long Cincinnati winter trapped in the confines of your four walls has you planning to do some remodeling, you may want to check out American Heritage flooring.  American Heritage specializes in high-end flooring ranging from carpets, laminates, hardwoods (bamboo, cork), and tiles (ceramic, marble, etc).  American Heritage even offers decorative stair risers, something you can only find here and would fit the class and elegance of many older homes, especially in OTR.  Come on in and take a look at their project books (the bamboo floors are amazing).

Perfect for:

American Heritage is perfect for people who are looking to class up their homes but not necessarily do the work themselves. 

What they offer that the big boxes don't:

In addition to high quality products that you can't find at Home Depot, service is key.  American Heritage will handle every aspect of your project, including installation from their own, professional staff.  American Heritage is family owned by the Norris family (Ramon, Regina, and Randy), and they take real pride in the work their company does.  Ramone or Randy will frequently come out to inspect the final product.  They are committed to quality from start to finish.

What will it cost:

For hardsurface flooring (ceramic tile, bamboo, etc) it will cost $10 to $11 per square foot, installed.  Carpets also range in price.

Where to find it:

American Heritage can be found at 5854 Hamilton Ave. in College Hill (diagonal from Piazza Discepoli wines).  Open Monday-Friday 10-6, Saturdays from 10-5.

For those of you who have yet to send in your best photos of the new MiCA 12/v location (at the corner of 12th and Vine streets), today is your lucky day.  We have decided to extend the contest closing date another week to the 19th of November.  So, get out to MiCA 12/v, snap a cool photo of the store, and send it to: sean [at] buycincy [dot] com.  The first prize photo will come away with a $75 MiCA gift certificate, second prize with a $50 gift certificate, and third prize with a $25 gift certificate.  Just make sure to get those photos in by the 19th!

BuyCincy is excited to annouce a new column highlighting Cincinnati small businesses that have been serving the city for over 75 years: Old School Cincinnati.  To kick off this new feature, we head to the current king of Old School Cincinnati, Bromwell's, the city's oldest business.

What's the deal? 

Bromwell's recently finished with a complete renovation of their 4th St. space, completing a modern transformation of a company that has been in business since 1819.  You owe it to yourself to stop in the showroom and stand, jaw agape, at the 14 foot back wall made entirely of wood logs.  When you are able to close your mouth and move on, it is quite a show.  Not only is the restored building itself a sight to see, but the fireplaces - oh, the fireplaces, so many fireplaces (some of which are exclusive in Ohio and Kentucky to Bromwell's - such as London-based Chesney).  So, we thought a few examples of some of the coolest products in the store was in order.

We were very sorry to hear that the mother of the sisters who run City Roots had passed away this morning (and our thoughts are with them).  We found this out today when we called City Roots, and George from Metronation (less than a block away from City Roots) answered the phone.  Lisa and Kristen obviously had to take a leave from the business of the store, and George was filling in for them today, and possibly tomorrow as well.  

After a taking a minute to think about what had just transpired, it hit us how incredibly cool this was.  We don't know if George has the green thumb that Lisa and Kristen do, but it really says something about the power of community, and role of local business in it, that he held down the fort so they would have one less thing to worry about in a time of need.  Reason number 4197 that local independant businesses beat the pants off "supercenters."    

What's the deal? 

Stained glass.  And lots of it.  Not necessarily the grand works you find in churches (although they do work with restoration of those), but the type of glass that works as classy art in your home.  GlassWorks in Norwood is the convergence of Stan Sabick's Beveler's Glass Studio and MaryJane Riggi's award-winning Tiffany Art Glass Gallery.  Not only do they do some sweet decorative glass work such as panels (the steamboat/Roebling bridge glass above is quite cool), lamps and jewelry, but also do stained glass restoration and sell supplies for DIY stained glass enthusiasts.     

Perfect for?   

Homeowners with huge old homes.  Think Gaslight District, Wallace Woods, Newport and Northside.

Where to get it?

2501 Norwood Ave in Norwood, 45212.

How much will it cost? 

Usually, the works range anywhere from $75-$2000, with most items in the $150-$400 range.  However, this weekend (November 3-4), GlassWorks is having a sale where you can get 30% off most of the products in store.  In addition, 5% of all sales from the sale are being donated to HART, a dog and cat rescue operation. 

To help celebrate the grand opening of MiCA 12/v, BuyCincy and MiCA are teaming up to give away $150 in MiCA 12/v gift certificates to three lucky folks.  The grand opening celebration happens tomorrow night (November 2) from 5pm to 9pm, but we are giving you all week to enter.  

So, want a shot at some swag from MiCA 12/v?  Here's what we want you to do.  Head on down to the new MiCA 12/v store in the Gateway Quarter (at the corner of 12th and Vine) anytime between Friday's grand opening celebration and November 12 and take a photo of the store, customers or products.  Our friends at MiCA will pick the three coolest, stylish and artistic photo entries, giving a $75 gift certificate to the first place winner, $50 to the second and $25 to the third.

Email those shots to sean [at] buycincy [dot] com by November 12th November 19th to be entered in the competition.  Winners will be notified by November 16th 20th, just in time for Christmas shopping season.  Full details after the jump.