Last night was my first night ever seeing a concert at the historic Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky. I know that may be hard to believe, but I can now say it is one of the cooler venues in the Cincinnati area. I was a little hesitant at first as the smell of smoke immediately greeted me upon entering the front doors. The building is open to smoking, but according to the website shows in the ballroom are often smoke free. Fortunately the Robert Randolph show was scheduled for the ballroom and was a smoke free show last night.

The venue itself is really great. I was definitely pleasantly surprised. The room has a decent sized stage up about four feet from the floor. The room itself can squeeze 600 inside and there is a large balcony that wraps around three sides of the room. The sound was excellent and last night we had plenty of room. I definitely cannot wait for my next show in this fantastic space.

The Cincy Brass

I arrived as the opening act of the night was already on the stage. The Cincy Brass are a nine piece brass band that combines elements of Bourbon Street with funk, hip-hop, and jazz. They mixed some of their own original songs from an upcoming album with New Orleans street music and even some instrumental covers. Their version of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” was especially awesome! They don’t have an official website yet, so future tour dates are a bit hard to find. Their Facebook page may be the best place.  I definitely  want to catch a future performance.

Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Robert Randolph & the Family Band  took the stage after The Cincy Brass and started things off with a couple of tracks from their latest album, We Walk This Road.  “Traveling Shoes” was a catchy number that got the crowd ready for some serious dance numbers that would follow. “The March” was played third and the crowd really loved hearing this one. And following it up with “Squeeze” was an incredible combination.

Also played were “Shake Your Hips,” complete with a dozen women from the crowd on stage dancing, standout track for the latest release “If I Had My Way”, the always incredible cover of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile”, and crowd sing along  “Ain’t Nothing Wrong With That.” Robert played all songs but two on his pedal steel, while cousins  Danyel and Marcus laid down the beat on bass and drums. Also on stage was “Noodles” on guitar and keyboard as well as Robert’s sister  Lenesha on vocals for the newer material.

As always Robert was all smiles while performing on stage. You can really tell that he enjoys every moment of their shows. His pedal steel playing is still incredible. In 2003 he was on Rolling Stone’s list of the top 100 guitarists of all time, and this designation definitely still applies. If you’ve never seen them play before, I would highly recommend it. Their shows are full of a ton of energy and the crowd is full of dancing and smiling the entire time.

After the Queen City Underground tour a couple of weekends ago, I stopped into the Lavomatic Cafe for lunch with my wife and parents. Honestly I probably would have dined somewhere else this Sunday afternoon but all the other nearby eateries were closed. Fortunately the tour guides told us that there was a 10% discount to Lavomatic for anyone on the tour. We figured that it was worth a try.

Inside Lavomatic

None of us had ever dined at Lavomatic before so we weren’t exactly sure what to expect. Plus the name isn’t descriptive in what type of restaurant it is going to be. Their website has the word urban in multiple places, such as urban wine bar or urban food. I’m sure the environment is much different during dinner hours, and there is a separate menu for dinner, but during the day I wouldn’t call this a wine bar. In fact the six or seven solid beer choices on tap and their signature cocktails were more highlighted than any wine.

Jerk Chicken Sandwich

During our visit we could order from either the lunch or brunch menus. I decided to go with the jerk chicken sandwich, which I don’t see listed on their online menu. It was pretty basic with a seasoned chicken breast, slice of cheese, onion and tomato. The chicken was a little overdone in my opinion, coming from someone who always overcooks chicken at home. Also I didn’t feel that the jerk flavoring was there much at all. And the small green salad on the side didn’t have much flavor either.

Omelette

My wife ordered from the brunch side of the menu, some sort of omelette. I didn’t hear any complaints from her about the omelette, but I did find it strange that the same green salad was served on the side. Would some kind of potato have been a better choice? My mother had the same sandwich that I had, and my dad went with a turkey club. Judging from looks alone, I should have went with the turkey club myself. We shared a couple orders of the house cut fries, and though they were much tastier than my sandwich, I felt they were overpriced.

House Cut Fries

On the positive side, our service was excellent! Though the food took a long time to arrive, our drinks were always full and both our server and the bartender were very pleasant to speak with. I also liked the draft beer selections that I had while there, and I’m sure they boast a decent wine selection too. Maybe their dinner is better, but my advice would be to stick with drinks and appetizers at the Lavomatic.

At the end of July I bought discounted admission tickets through Groupon to the Queen City Underground tour. Tickets are regularly $20 each if you buy them online, but the Groupon gave us buy one get one free admission. After the tour you can also buy tickets for any future tours for $10. So I would not pay full price as half price tickets should be easy to come by. My parents bought tickets as well and we all decided to check it out this past Sunday.

Me and Trey on the streets of OTR.

This is a walking tour along historic Vine Street in the Over the Rhine neighborhood. The tour lasts between 90 minutes and 2 hours and is probably about 1 mile walking. Along the way our 2 tour guides provided a lot of historical information on the neighborhood and various buildings along the walk. We also go the chance to go into a few different buildings, the highlight of which had to be the old lagering cellars of the Kauffman Brewery, which shut down at the time of prohibition. These old cellars sat 70 feet underground, undiscovered for years.

Me and my dad investigating the cellars.

Also on the tour was an old beer garden,  Weilert’s  Beer Hall. The first floor of this building was most recently a gothic club, and is uninteresting. The neat part of this building is the beer hall that is up above street level. A set of old stairs leads up to this space which has been relatively untouched for decades. We were also able to see inside some old housing units. With a good imagination I could see and feel what life could have been like in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in this neighborhood.

Over the Rhine

I would easily recommend the tour for anyone looking for a little education and adventure on a Saturday of Sunday afternoon. One thing to note is that the Saturday tours go into the crypt below St. Francis, which I have already seen  separately. I think this is much cooler than the old housing units that we were showed instead, so you may want to catch a Saturday tour if possible. We all enjoyed the tour enough to buy additional tickets to the Newport Gangster Tour, which I hope to use soon.

My mom has many more photos of the tour on her flickr page.

Earlier this year I mentioned an award that I received at work. At the time it was just a certificate that I filed away with other paperwork. Today an actual award plaque arrived in the mail. It appears to be made completely of glass with gold etching for the drawing and text. It should look nice in my cube even though I am hardly there.

Lately I have been working on a project that requires working with a couple of servers that are off of the network. To do so I have to sit in a secure lab in our building for most of the day. As much as I am enjoying this project, I hope that I can get back to spending some time working from home, or at the minimum from my cube with views of the outside world.

While at the Big Band & Bigger Beer event last week, I had the opportunity to try Taco Azul. This food truck specializes in authentic tacos (2 for $5), burritos ($5), tortas ($7), and quesadillas ($5). Each item is available with chicken, pork, steak, or mushroom filling.  Everything is made fresh daily and local ingredients are used when possible.

Taco Azul Truck

I made the mistake of waiting too long before placing my order. When I finally did the pork was completely gone and there was only enough chicken for one taco. I was hoping to get one chicken and one pork taco. I decided to switch the pork over to mushroom. The tacos are served on corn tortillas with only onions and cilantro. Pico de gallo and lettuce can be added, as well as cheese for a quarter, but I decided to keep them simple.

Mushroom And Chicken Tacos

The menu doesn’t mention it but lime wedges are served with the tacos for squeezing onto the top. I decided to skip this step since the slices of lime I was given weren’t fresh, as evident in the photo above. Also wedges of radish are served on the side, which I wasn’t really sure what to do with. I started with the chicken taco and was immediately impressed with the spice and flavor of the chicken. The cilantro and onion add simple flavors to the taco but let the meat shine through. The mushroom taco wasn’t as nearly as flavorful, but was still a decent option for the  vegetarians  out there. In conclusion I enjoyed the food and I would definitely give them a second shot, especially if they have pork available this time.

My first game as a new Cincinnati Bearcat football season ticket holder was a huge success! Our group of at least a dozen met in a parking lot just off of campus between 3:30 and 4 for some tailgate food and drinks. After a few hours we were all ready for the season opening game against the Austin Peay Governors. It started with a few skydivers, the always entertaining traditional marching band charge down the steps, and a won coin toss for the Bearcats.

UC decided to receive the opening kickoff, which ended up being a great decision. Freshman  Ralph David Abernathy returned the kick 60 yards, which set up a 40 yard run on the very next play by Isaiah Pead for a really quick score. Redshirt freshman  Tony Miliano missed the extra point, but that was one of the very few mistakes the Bearcats had all game. Pead added another touchdown before the first quarter was even half over.

Nippert Stadium

Attendance was officially  23,282, which is pretty good for a season opening game against a  non-conference division I-AA  team. The student section was especially good considering that classes still don’t start for another couple of weeks. Every one in attendance was treated to quite a performance as the score was 41-0 at half time. The other four touchdowns of the half came on senior Zach Collaros passes to junior  Kenbrell Thompkins, senior  D.J. Woods, and twice to sophomore  Anthony McClung.

The crowd thinned through the night, but we stayed through the end of the third quarter before heading out. At this time the Bearcats were using second and third string players for the most part, and doing a good job at spreading the scoring around. They were still able to add a field goal from Miliano as well as a running touchdown from sophomore quarterback  Munchie Legaux, making it 51-0. Before the third was over Austin Peay got on the scoreboard with a 21 yard  field goal.

After we left we listened on the radio as the Bearcats added three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, while the Governors added one of their own. Scoring for UC were freshman running back  Akise Teague, sophomore quarterback  Jordan Luallen, and former practice squad member junior  Adam Fearing. Final score of the game was 72-10. The season continues this coming Saturday as the Bearcats head to Knoxville to take on the Volunteers of Tennessee, which should be a much more  challenging  game.

Setting Sun Behind Pavilion

Last night I attended the Big Band & Bigger Beer Festival in Ault Park. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the festival other than the little information that was advertised. We knew that we would get 20 beer samples for just $20, but we had no idea what breweries would be there. We also knew that the  17-piece Jump n’ Jive Show Band would be there, but we didn’t really know what to expect from them. We also knew that there would be food for sale, but little information on the vendors was available. After spending nearly four hours at the event I can say that I was pleasantly surprised by most of what the event had to offer.

Event Ticket

Dutch’s is a fantastic wine bar and bottle shop nearby that was presenting the festival. Having them in charge of the beer tasting, I knew there would be some good offerings. I was happy to see Colorado well represented immediately upon our entry with Boulder, Breckenridge, Great Divide, and Left Hand featured at a couple of tables together. They mostly had the regular offerings from each of those breweries, so I spent the majority of the time trying to find good beers that I had never heard of or seen before. I really enjoyed some of the Buckeye Brewing Company offerings as well as Hoppin’ Frog Brewery.

Buckeye Brewing Hippie IPA

Here’s a full list of what I tasted (though I might have missed a few). I used the Untappd app to track my samples:

• Left Hand Brewing Company – Good Juju
• Boulder Beer Company – Cold Hop
• Buckeye Brewing Company – ’76 Imperial IPA
• Hoppin’ Frog Brewery – Frogs’ Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale
• Hoppin’ Frog Brewery – Hoppin’ To Heaven IPA
• Tallgrass Brewing Company – Oasis
• Buckeye Brewing Company – Hippie IPA
• Clipper City Brewing Company – Heavy Seas Marzen
• Great Divide Brewing Company – Denver Pale Ale (DPA)
• Stevens Point Brewery – Pale Ale
• Mendocino Brewing – Eye of the Hawk
• Unibroue – Trois Pistoles
• Great Divide Brewing Company – Claymore Scotch Ale
• Boulder Beer – Mojo IPA
• Breckenridge Brewery – Vanilla Porter

Jump n' Jive Show Band

Overall it was a great time. One suggestion is that I would do away with the sample counting and just offer unlimited samples. I found it impossible to completely fill my card with 20  check-marks, even giving some of my samples away to others. The tasting glass was probably three ounces, so a good amount of beer is already being offered with 20 samples. Plus some of the volunteers forgot to mark cards anyway. Other than that, this was the third year for the festival and I think they have a good thing going. I hope to see it return next year, as I will definitely be there.

As of yesterday I am officially registered for the  Hudepohl 14K Brewery Run. When I first read about the race a couple of months ago I was immediately intrigued. At the time I was running around four or five miles nearly every other day. I figured if I could keep that up and add in some longer runs I would be well prepared for the race. I didn’t register for the race immediately since we would soon be moving into our new house and I figured many busy days would be ahead, but that didn’t stop me from thinking and talking about the race.

I convinced a couple of friends of ours, who also just moved back to Cincinnati, to consider running the race. I must have convinced them so well that they both registered the next day. Once they were registered I realized that I better hold up my end of the deal, so I found a 15K training program and decided to loosely stick to it. With just over two weeks to go, I am proud to say that I am just about completely ready for the race, and so is my dad. I convinced him to join me for the run, which was really easy to do as the race was one of his favorites many years ago. He took me out with a group he runs with often this past Saturday and I was able to rack up nearly 7.5 miles. I plan to run about the same again this weekend and then a bit longer the following Saturday. Sprinkle in some three, four, and five-mile runs and it will be race day before I know it.