I’m going to Detroit to see The English Beat in concert, but if you are someone who isn’t pining for ’80’s ska you might enjoy doing some things around town this weekend.
Red White and Boom! takes place on July 3 and while most people focus on the fireworks in the evening, this is actually an all-day festival that begins at 10am. www.redwhiteandboom.org
Celebrate your 4th of July with a heaping helping of humor! The Doo-Dah Parade takes place at noon in the Short North. www.doodahparade.com
Dublin always hosts an amazing July 4 experience complete with an awesome free concert. This year’s entertainment is Boys II Men and The Four Tops. http://www.dublin.oh.us/events/independence/index.php
Short North Independents Hop July 4 from 4-10pm. Former FIN student employee Alex Walp will be featured in a new show at Roy G Biv Gallery! Check it out! Through July. http://www.roygbivgallery.com/
Have a good one! Gretchen
July 2nd, 2009
Memorial Day Weekend!
My pal Mary Neno at Sullivant Library is going to have one tired behind after sitting on it to watch all those movies at Cinevent this weekend. $15 a day at the Ramada on Sinclair Rd. www.Cinevent.com
Our student employee Amelia is a Trekkie-in-denial. And she SAYS she isn’t going to Marcon 44, the 44th Multiple Alternatives Realities Convention, but I think she secretly has a Klingon costume ready to go. http://www.Marcon.org
My parents were here from out-of-town last weekend and wanted to go birding at Greenlawn Cemetery, but couldn’t find it. Unfortunately, they aren’t here this weekend, because if they were they could just follow the crowd to the Greenlawn Abbey Memorial Day Open House from 10am-4pm on Monday. 700 Greenlawn Ave.
The Lincoln Theatre Community Open House is Monday. 771 E. Long St. http://www.capa.com The recent press articles I’ve read make its refurbishment sound amazing.
Have a good one! Gretchen
May 22nd, 2009
Want to go up to Motor City Comic Con to meet Carrie Fisher this weekend but can’t get away? Oh, wait, you say that’s just me projecting? Well, nonetheless, there are things to keep us all occupied in C-Town this weekend.
Whetstone Community Center is hosting the Eco-Chic Craftacular on Saturday from 10am-6pm and Sunday noon-5pm. Crafts will be for sale by Etsy sellers and workshops will be offered. Free admission AND parking! Score!
Sunday afternoon see my cousin, the amazing Ashley Donelson, sing in her last choir concert before graduating high school. Gahanna Lincoln High School 3:30pm. Admission fee required.
Sunday evening make an “I Love Lenny!” sign to take to the show, as former Laverne-and-Shirley star Michael McKean joins his pals Harry Shearer (The Simpsons) and Christopher Guest (Best in Show) in concert. Songs from their movies Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind should be amazing in this “unwigged, unplugged” format. Palace Theatre, 8pm.
Gena’s Restaurant in Westerville has a Wall of Fame that I have made it one of my life-long goals to appear on. In the 5 years Gena’s has been open, only 14 men have been able to finish a plate of 3 pancakes. No women. Well, people, sexism cannot exist where pancakes are concerned and I am making it my goal to break down that barrier. Try it yourself..IF YOU DARE! Actually, I have a hard time believing it can be that difficult. 5947 S. Sunbury Rd.
Happy 3rd Birthday Charlie Green! Have a good one! Gretchen
May 15th, 2009
Mother’s Day weekend!
Friday is the annual ACCAD Open House from 4-7pm. This event is always SUPER fun and educational for all ages. Get there early for the best snacks!
Saturday evening Michael Neno will be exhibiting Steinweiss: the Inventor of the Record Album Cover at the Wild Goose Creative at 2491 Summit St. The exhibit of 50 Alex Steinweiss covers from Michael’s personal collection begins at 7pm.
Sunday is the John Doe concert at the Rumba Cafe on Summit St. The Sadies will also be appearing. Don’t take Doe’s appearance here for granted - living legends don’t appear at tiny places like this all the time, so make sure to see the X frontman before he moves on. FYI - X will be in Detroit in mid-June at the Majestic Theater.
My favorite reality star Bridget Marquardt will be on campus Wednesday! The star of The Girls Next Door and Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches will be lecturing in Independence Hall about her experiences. No word if her little dog Wednesday will be travelling with her. Tickets are available to students-only through the OUAB office.
Have a good one! Gretchen
May 7th, 2009
Woot! The Columbus Museum of Art is offering FREE ADMISSION to all exhibits on Friday night from 7pm-midnight for all OSU affiliated patrons.
Found Footage Festival makes a stop at the Drexel in Bexley Friday night with 2 showings at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. According to the official website the video collection of garage sale and thrift store finds was begun by the finding of a gem entitled Inside and Outside Custodial Duties in a McDonald’s breakroom.
Don’t bother eating breakfast on Saturday because at 1:30pm a taco extravaganza shall begin! Four West Side taquerias will be participating in a kind of road-rally for the belly as visitors are invited to patronize all tasty venues in 1 afternoon. http://www.tacotruckscolumbus.com
Get ready to be offended! The morally-questionable yet hilariously-clever 1980’s punk band The Meatmen play at Bernie’s Saturday night at 9pm. Hopefully you won’t end up with the song Crippled Children Suck in your head for the next week.
Have a good one! Gretchen
April 24th, 2009
The Columbus Clippers season opener is finally here! 4:05 Saturday. If you haven’t seen the stadium, go on and drive by on Neil Ave. at Nationwide Arena. You can see inside from the street, no visual blockages.
Can Columbus become the new, or at least the second, Hockeytown? I guess we’ll find out as the Columbus Blue Jackets kick off the playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings. Saturday is game 2 in Detroit. Let’s go Jackets, CARRY THE FLAG!
Safety Is of the Lord: Jim Zellinger and Michelle Maguire is the current exhibt up at the Chop Chop Gallery. Michelle is one of our homeslices who works over at the Visual Resources Library at Hayes Hall when she’s not being artiste extraordinaire. Check out her awesome demolition derby photos! Opening reception Friday 7-11pm.
Small Press and Alternative Comic Expo, or S.P.A.C.E. takes place again this year at the Alladin Shrine Center. 10-6 Saturday, 10-5 Sunday. $5 for one day, $8 for both.
Last but not least, our buddies at the Cartoon Library and Museum are having an open house Friday from 3-5pm. See the new Light: A Forgotten 19th Century Humor Mangazine exhibit and get a ‘behind the scenes’ tour.
Have a good one! Gretchen
April 16th, 2009
Wooo! It’s finally not only spring on the calendar, but also in weather-terms…the sun is shining and I’ve thrown my winter coat in the laundry. So what to do this weekend since I don’t have a parka draggin’ me down?
I know I blog this in every year, but it’s cool. The Whetstone Daffodil Garden, just to the north of the entrance the the Rose Gardens, is in full-bloom this week. They aren’t out for long so get ‘em while they’re yellow!
Let’s go, Jackets! (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap) The Blue Jackets continue their best season so-far Saturday night in Tennessee against the Nashville Predators. Seriously, the PREDATORS? Sounds like a Law&Order: SVU episode in the making! And Sunday they are back home against the Chicago Blackhawks. You might want to start your day by stopping by Tim Hortons to pick up their new limited-time-only Stinger donut.
Well, if you feel like a road trip, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland is free on Saturday in honor of the 2009 class of new inductees. Unbelievably, it’s $22 for non-Cleveland-resident adults to get in now, so if you can get in for free it might be worth fighting a crowd. I myself am a huge fan of the B-52’s/Duran Duran wall of memorabilia! They also have some rockin’ frocks worn by a Mr. Jimmy Hendrix back in the day, donated by his late father. However, the star of the show this month is a new 2-floor temporary exhibit, From Asbury Park to the Promised Land: The Life and Music of Bruce Springsteen.
Prepare for Easter by meeting it’s king. The Easter Bunny will be at Easton for pictures Monday-Saturday 10am-8pm and Sunday Noon-6pm. 5×7 photos are $5 each, other packages are available, or you can just use your own camera.
Tuesday, April 7, there will be a lecture in Mershon Auditorium by production designer Alex McDowell. Mr. McDowell has done the production design for more than a dozen major motion pictures including The Watchmen, The Corpse Bride, and Fight Club. Free, 7pm.
Oh, and you all missed it (at least I didn’t see you there!), but Morrissey rocked the Palace Theater last night! Prepare in case it rains all weekend by running out now and getting his new album Years Of Refusal to keep you company.
Have a good one! Gretchen
April 2nd, 2009
Back in action after a set of nasty head-cold infections! (Thank you Z-Pac!)
This is Friday, so drop what you’re doing and get over to COSI with your $15 entry fee so you can enter the Guitar Hero World Tour Tournament. My Guitar Hero song is Possum Kingdom by the Toadies.
Also on short notice, former FIN student employee Andrew Graham’s band RTFO Bandwagon has a slammin’ new album out (above) and celebrates its release Friday night at Skylab starting at 9pm.
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Khaaaaaan!
The Drexel is having their 26th Annual 24-Hour Science Fiction Marathon from Saturday at noon until Sunday at noon. $36 You also have a less-expensive option of attending the 1/2 Marathon beginning at midnight Saturday. http://www.scifimarathon.com
Denison University is rockin’ the lecture circuit next week! Esquire editor A.J. Jacobs (author of one of my favorite books, The Year of Living Biblically) will speak March 31 at 7:30pm and on April 1 at 7:30pm Denison hosts Hip-Hop in the New Millenium with Public Enemy founder Chuck D and his wife, Professor Gaye Theresa Johnson.
Everybody always says to me, “You’re shopping for Christmas already??!!!” But then when it comes around Thanksgiving and the week after and people are starting to freak out, they finally understand the method to my madness. Don’t go crazy, go to the Short North Warehouse Sale Saturday and Sunday from 12-6 at 1201 N. High St. There will be stuff there from tons of Short North stores up to 90% off.
Have a good one! Gretchen
March 27th, 2009
Well, spring is on the horizon which means there’s finally starting to be stuff to do on the weekends.
The Columbus Home and Garden Show this year features 14 movie-themed gardens, including a Terminator display entitled Hosta, La Vista and a Ratatouille garden that requires you to pass through a giant sewer pipe before encountering the restaurant facade and the Eiffel Tower. At the fairgrounds all weekend. http://www.dispatchevents.com/home_garden.php
Speaking of The Terminator, Ah-nald is back in town for the Arnold Sports Festival this weekend. Literally an international event, the top competitors in body building, weightlifting, arm wrestling, strongman competition, and many other events fly in from all over the world to compete. Look for Maria Shriver if you’re out at Easton - in other years she’s been spotted at shopping outlets around town during the event. The festival is held at the Convention Center and 3 other venues all weekend with event, day or all-access passes for sale. http://arnoldsportsfestival.com/
Woot! Woot! Cheryl & Co. may have been bought out a few years ago, but the catalog distribution center is still in Westerville which means it’s time for their annual Cheryl & Co. Warehouse Sale. When Cheryl still owned things I went to the sale and it was AWESOME - I got a $75 box of individually wrapped assorted cookies for $5 and a $22 pineapple upside down cake for $1. Then a couple years later they held it at the fairgrounds and things were hardly marked down at all and I didn’t buy anything. This year, the flyer promises 50-75% off, and I suspect that the prices will drop as the day goes on. Saturday March 7, 7am-7pm at the Windsor Bay Shopping Center, 1220 County Line Rd., Westerville.
Tom Wilson II, son of Ziggy creator Tom Wilson, will be signing his new autobiography Zig-zagging: Loving Madly, Losing Badly, How Ziggy Saved My Life at the Lennox Barnes & Noble on Olentangy River Rd. Friday night at 7pm. Tom-the-Second took over the comic from his father in 1987.
Yay! Former UND Library (yes, there used to be an Undergraduate Library) student employee Kerri Marcinko comes back to perform in recital at Weigel Hall Friday night with fellow OSU alum Margaret Mack. Kerri has performed with opera companies around the world including major roles with the New York City Opera. 8pm, $12, $6 for students.
Have a good one! Gretchen
March 5th, 2009
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