Wednesday, Feb 6, 7pm
Grammercy Books, 2424 E. Main St.
A Black History Month special event not to be missed! Join veteran, teacher, historian and author Sandra Bolzenius as she discusses her book, Glory in Their Spirit, and learn about how four black women risked their careers and freedom to defy the United States Army over segregation during World War II.

When beloved Acorn Books on W. 5th Ave. began their three-month long-goodbye going-out-of-business sale a year ago, books were half-price. Nice.

Sad, but nice. I scored a few. Mostly World War II histories.

Then, after a few more price drops, they hit a dollar apiece. Time to plunder – without the guilt. I bought nearly 200, including a fat handful on our tortured history of race. Here's my recommended list you should read at any price:

Chop5 Salad Kitchen is a new “create a chopped salad” concept sprouting up in the Polaris area. It makes getting your daily requirements for leafy greens, vegetables, legumes, fruits, and seeds fun and easy!

When 97% of the American population is deficient in fiber consumption, this is a much-needed service to society. While they have many combinations of salad you can choose from, you are also encouraged to create your own masterpiece that the staff then chops and adds dressings to present an energizing, fiber-rich and refreshing delight.

They seek to avoid cross-contaminating plants with animal ingredients on the chopping surface by only adding any animal products to the salad AFTER they chop the greens, beans, fruits and nuts/seeds on the board and place the salad on the plate. While vegans are definitely concerned with animal product cross-contamination, for those with allergies to nuts, dairy or meats (allergies to meats was news to me), this seems like it could be high-risk depending on the attention to detail and protocol compliance of the staff.

Someone once observed that when a film borrows a few elements from earlier works, it’s considered unoriginal, but one that borrows every element is considered “well-researched.” In that sense, What Men Want is very well-researched indeed.

Though star Taraji P. Henson is a fresh and funny talent who easily holds our attention as sports agent Ali Davis, the film around her can’t escape the narrow path laid down by previous romcoms. In particular, it seems to borrow heavily from Amy Schumer’s 2015 starring vehicle, Trainwreck.

Is it just a coincidence that the heroines of both films have fathers who taught them to be tough and independent to the extent that they avoid committed relationships? That both relax their non-commitment rules after meeting nice guys? That both eventually screw up those relationships, causing them to re-evaluate themselves? Or, finally, that both stories revolve around basketball and feature appearances by real-life players?

The Offense Book of Books Release event at Ace of Cups allowed me to think about music writing within context. The book is a compilation of The Offense post punk zine published from 1980 to 1982 curated by Tim Anseatt.

 I first came across The Offense Zine in 2009. I was impressed by the layout, the writing. I was impressed by the people writing for the zine. The writing was succinct. The Offense writing was funny. If the writing wasn't succinct the text was pre-familiar.

Book of Books is the correct name because the zines were compact and neatly designed. The writers themselves were the list of what defined Columbus, Ohio's national music image within rock music for the past 30 years: Ron House From Great Plains and Mike Repp were the names that kept me turning the pages of the Offense zine because I was listening to their music.

At the Ace of Cups show, Ron House and Mike Repp were joined by Great Plains' Paul Nini, Mike Ravage from Screaming Urge, Lynn Whitacare, Nancy Kangas from Naked Skinnies, Shirley Tobias and of course Tim Anseatt with reading excerpts from the Offense. The musicians (House, Repp, Ravage, Kangus, and Nini) played acoustic sets.