Local

Independent candidate for Columbus City Council Nicholas Schneider is making his support for public access TV a major issue of his campaign. The issue is featured on his campaign’s website, and he is raising it at campaign events. At the Oct. 16 candidates’ forum at Centennial High School, Schneider charged that Council’s failure to fund public access TV stems from a desire to suppress freedom of speech and dissenting views in the city. During closing remarks at the event, Schneider said that earlier in the evening he asked Democratic incumbent Councilman Troy Miller what Miller’s position is on the issue, but Miller refused to answer. The audience at the event also heard nothing about the issue from Eileen Paley and Priscilla Tyson, the other two incumbent Democratic Council members on the Nov. 5 ballot. Schneider later told The Free Press that public access TV would be good for local groups to use to communicate with the public and for showing documentaries made by activists around the country.

Eight weeks ago The Free Press filed a public records request with Columbus City Schools (CCS), related to legal fees.

An Intimate Experience Giving head is so pleasureful and intense. There are few things that can compare with the intimacy of this sexual act. Placing your mouth into the heart of sensitivity and sexuality to cause arousal, manipulating the movements of your tongue, lips, face, hands all at once, concentrating so many nimble movements - solely to give your partner pleasure. Think of all the variations of sensations that can be applied. It is a personal decision and a beautiful expression of intimacy. Getting’ Down If you’re thinking about the possibility of submitting to head, I recommend learning about a variety of techniques, including the reading list at the bottom of this article, and the video, Nina Hartley’s Guide to Oral Sex (www.nina.com). If you have a partner that is unwilling, I suggest bringing up your desires in a neutral setting, outside of the bedroom first. If your partner is hesitant about oral sex, and doesn't want to watch the video or discuss the possibilities, I don't recommend pushing the issue.

We are in desperate need of documentary filmmakers at Fukushima. The Japanese government is about to pass a national censorship law clearly meant to make it impossible to know what’s going on there. Massive quantities of radioactive water have been flowing through the site since the March 2011 earthquake/tsunami. A thousand flimsy tanks hold still more thousands of tons of radioactive water which would pour into the Pacific should they collapse. An earthquake and two typhoons have have just hit there this past weekend, flushing still more radioactive water into the sea. The corrupt and incompetent Tokyo Electric Power Company will soon try moving 400 tons of supremely radioactive rods from a damaged Unit Four fuel pool, an operation that could easily end in global catastrophe.

By now you've surely seen the cover of this week's issue and may have wondered just what we at the Free Press are up to with our mask of Andy Ginther. Many of you are probably asking yourselves if we are ripping off Columbus's former independent weekly newspaper, The Other Paper. The answer is, yes. And no. Actually we are paying tribute to The Other Paper, an homage if you will. For many years TOP graced its Halloween issue with a mask of someone in the news, either locally or nationally. While TOP was owned by Max Brown and his company, CM Media, they did a good job putting forth an informative and often entertaining paper. We respect those efforts even now. A number of us at the Free Press (including myself, Richard Ades and John Petric) worked for CM Media for many years, and have fond memories of our working lives on Sinclair Ave.

Latitude 41 offers fine dining downtown at the Renaissance Hotel, and one of the things that caught my attention (years ago) about this restaurant is that they say what they stand for on their signage. Fresh. Natural. Organic. Local. In fact, some of their food is so local it is actually grown on site. Their team knows what a vegan is (surprisingly, this is still confusing in 2013 in some restaurants) and even better, they just happened to be serving vegan roasted pumpkin soup as a starter and the perfect starter or a fall evening. The chef, Dean James Max and his team are certainly capable of ensuring vegans can have an exceptional dining experience there; mine included a remarkable, earthy, fusion pizza with lemon curd, shitake mushrooms, figs and greens and a robust mushroom risotto. Their menu is seasonal, changes daily and is a great example of ensuring all customers have all options, even dessert. Open daily for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and located 50 N 3rd St. http://www.latitude41restaurant.com/

Nasir Latif has a long history in the Columbus Mediterranean restaurant business. He stepped out for a while but came back with Lavash several years ago. He planted a fast casual restaurant in south Clintonville and it has been a huge hit, especially with me since, it opened. I will mention a few things I really appreciate about the place: great daily specials, very good vegetarian and carnivore friendly offerings and a wide selection of baked goods, many from Nanak Bakery. I have enjoyed each meal from a simple shawarma to any of the daily specials. However, I never visit without ensuring I get a serving of hummus with a side of their freshly made pita bread. Hummus is one of the basic staples of any middle eastern restaurant but not all are created equal. The Lavash hummus blends ground chickpeas, tahini sauce, lemon juice, garlic and extra virgin olive oil in just the right proportions. The balance of all of the flavors mixes together in just the right proportion and pairs perfectly with the pita bread. Lavash pita is thicker than what you typically encounter elsewhere.

Jim Azelvandre’s last name is pronounced “A-zel-van-der,” with the accent on that first, long “A.” You’ll need to know that in case you ever get in a conversation about Ohio’s up-and-coming playwrights. Anyone who’s been around the local theater scene for long knows Azelvandre can act, but The Air Loom proves he can write, too. The darkly comic mystery/political thriller rolls out its ingenious plot over the space of two consistently engrossing acts. Is the new play an instant classic? Hard to say, because the premiere production owes so much of its success to Azelvandre’s additional skill as a director. Under his leadership, the cast turns the characters into an intriguing and complementary group of eccentrics. The mystery revolves around Tilly (Travis Horseman), a formerly upstanding businessman who’s undergoing psychological evaluation after assassinating the prime minister of the unnamed country where the story takes place. State-appointed psychiatrist Dr. H (Julie Ferreri) hopes to save Tilly from execution by proving he’s insane, but Tilly insists he did what he did to prevent an unnecessary war. Is Tilly really insane?

Monday found me floundering musically to fit the mood--and what was that mood? Normally, I'll wake up, trundle downstairs, start my coffee, open my patio door to sniff the air and the temperature, turn on NPR, then go down to the basement and fire up some vinyl on ye olde turntable. Yes, I let the morning news team compete with my records, so what? I began with an old Atlantic Records sampler that had Sergio Mendes and Brazil 66 doing a samba-esque medley from the play, Black Orpheus. As light as he can be, Mendes does some heavy arranging on the three-part mini-suite, wordless vocals by his smoothly sensual backing singers floating over lightly percolating rhythms just right for a grump with creaky knees. Outside, the bushy-tailed neighborhood groundskeepers bounced from acorn to acorn, hoarding for the winter. What would I be reincarnated as next lifetime? Memo to me: improve karma, do it today. As NPR's Morning Edition with Renee Montagne and David Greene roll along, I am plagued by a returning uneasiness, particularly with Steve Inskeep the Washington NPR correspondent (he and Greene are the weasels to Montagne's more credible badger).

I shall be so happy when Election Day has come and gone. Its passing will mark the end of the annoying television ads we are currently suffering through. The most galling of these are aimed at Columbus voters, urging them to vote for Issues 50 and 51, the school levy package asking for $515 million over the next 5 years – a 24 percent increase in school property taxes. One of the commercials features Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, who stares into the camera while dead panning the mantra issued by Columbus mayor Michael Coleman.