Best "Built In" Crowd for Local Original Bands
The Mad Frog has done a great job of booking up-and-coming acts, building a solid original music scene all its own. What's nice for local bands is that the place is almost always packed and, with the club being so close to UC, is often full of young, attractive co-eds. Sure beats playing to the bartender, the soundguy and your girlfriend. Mad Frog, 1 E. McMillan St., Corryville, 513-784-9119.

Best Monday Night Activity, Arts Division
The Playhouse in the Park's alteractive series, nine Monday evening performances featuring solo artists, poets and musicians that have been packing the Playhouse lobby. Highlights included Broadway storyteller David Gonzalez, presenting a mix of stories, music and poetry on topics ranging from AIDS to the CIA in Chile. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Mount Adams, 513-421-3888.

Best Monday Night Activity, Crafts Division
Monday night wrestling at Warehouse, one of the city's hippest dance clubs on most nights. Gather with your buddies and watch the pros "Get It On" on television, then drink beers and discuss the perfect piledriver the rest of the night. Cincinnati's version of Fight Club? You decide. Warehouse, 1313 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-684-9313.

Best Monday Night Activity, Bar Division
Rhino's is packed on Mondays, so we're not the only ones to discover this diversion. It's difficult to find a babysitter on weekends, so try unwinding on Monday nights while everyone else recovers from the weekend. Always a fun time, and there's tons of beer on tap. Rhino's, 119 E. 12th St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-241-8545.

Best Monday Night Activity, International Division
Stop by the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati on selected Monday evenings for readings by Theatre of the Mind. Some of Cincinnati's best actors and directors have been doing one-night stands in plays by Nobel Prize-winning writers and others. Encore! Theatre of the Mind, ETC, 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-421-3555.

Best Monday Night Activity, Awards Division
The fourth annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards, held the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27, 2000), once again honored the best cutting-edge music and theater talent in town. CityBeat's nomadic show, in its fourth venue in as many years (Aronoff's Jarson-Kaplan Theater), featured excellent performances by The Simpletons, Tracy Walker, Mike Wade, ETC's Spring Starr Pillow and others. Jazz historian and DJ Oscar Treadwell was inducted into the CEA Hall of Fame. A fun night for everyone involved.

Best Ants-in-the-Pants Bar Experience
Don't spend much time at Murphy's unless you've brought your traveling shoes. There's a signup going constantly for some sporting event: Opening Day, the Reds in Cleveland, Bengals games, peewee basketball camp, etc. And while you're waiting for the bus, dabble in the bar's pool, darts and decent monthly drink specials. Murphy's, 2329 W. Clifton Ave., Clifton Heights, 513-721-6148.

Best Vent-Your-Spleen Bar Experience
The Wednesday night poetry slams at The Greenwich. Some of the area's youngest and brightest poets speak their minds here, including the awesome poetry collection, 144,000. Stop by and you might learn something. The Greenwich, 2442 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills, 513-221-1151.

Best Drum Circle
Bukafest performs on Saturdays from 9 p.m. until dawn. The largest drum circle in the Midwest, with djembe, conga, belly dancing, chanting, flutes and more. Master drummers lead the beat. Bukafest, 3900 Eastern Ave., East End.

Best Fresh Air on the West Side
Newly opened Kohlhaus is the non-Price Hill Price Hill bar. That's not to say it's stuffy, filled with black-clad yuppies who drink wine and talk stock market. Oh no. It's still very "West," but it caters to the discriminating, diversified Westsider. The featured entertainment ranges from Jazz trios to acoustic guitar bands to open-mic Broadway tunes, and there's never a cover. All the more money to spend on the Guinness on tap. But don't worry
they still serve Hudy Delight in a bottle. Kohlhaus, 4068 W. Eighth St., Price Hill, 513-921-7929.

Best Fresh Air in Classical Music
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has appointed Paavo J”rvi as its next music director. Young, vibrant and exceptionally talented, he'll finally provide the burst of creative energy necessary to generate new audiences. Think about it: When was the last time you were excited about the CSO? Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-621-1919.

Best Fresh Air for Music Students
The College-Conservatory of Music has appointed Douglas Lowry as its new dean. He's a trombonist with great credentials, and before long he'll be blowing CCM's horn. With a gorgeous new architectural design and professional-caliber talent in training, CCM is ready to make its mark both locally and nationally. CCM, University of Cincinnati, Clifton Heights, 513-556-4183.

Best Clubhouse for Music Lovers
The Southgate House might look like something out of a Scooby-Doo episode from the outside, but inside is some of the best live music in the area, from great national acts (Yo La Tengo, Stereolab, Elliott Smith, Jets to Brazil) to local favorites (Ruby Vileos, Ass Ponys, The Fairmount Girls, Simpletons). We love the make-shift ramps that take you up to the ballroom balcony. The parlour upstairs is a good place to grab a beer and a breather before descending back into the ballroom lair. The Southgate House, 24 E. Third St., Newport, 859-431-2201.

Best Dance Music for Cutting-Edgers
DJ Boom Bip spins the tunes Tuesdays at Spy Club, where the hip meet to hop. BB also makes cutting-edge Hip Hop albums as well, available at discerning local record stores. Spy Club, 305 W. Fifth St., Downtown, 513-684-0123.

Best Laugh for the Witty
Go Bananas has been bringing in the top up-and-coming names in comedy for 10-plus years now
people like Joe Rogan, Jim Breuer, Dave Chappelle, Robert Schimmel and more. Other comedy clubs have come and gone, but Bananas hasn't slipped. How about a downtown location? Go Bananas, 8410 Market Place Lane, Montgomery, 513-984-9288.

Best Happy Hour for Computer Geeks
How can you beat $2 pints of Guinness at Cody's Cafe? Cody's is like a modernistic, hipster Jillian's
the bottom floor has computer terminals and coffee, while the top floor has a restaurant, a full bar off to the side and live music. Cody's CafÈ, 113 Calhoun St., Clifton Heights, 513-569-0555.

Best Happy Place for Rum Runners
At Bahama Breeze, where we counted 31 different labels of the world's rums, from Bacardi Anejo to Barbancourt Reserve Speciale. Try one of the labels in their sinful Mojita Cubano cocktail (crushed spearmint, rum and sugar cane juice). Bahama Breeze, 325 N. Commerce Way, Springdale, 513-671-1488.

Best Pre-Theater Meal
At Daveed's, where the food is so good and the wait staff so knowledgeable that it's a good choice whether you're going to the Playhouse or not. You'll get the right glass of wine and cheerful suggestions about how to accommodate your short timeframe to eat before walking up and down the hill for the curtain. Daveed's at 934, 934 Hatch St., Mount Adams, 513-721-2665.

Best Use of Theatrical Explosives
The Playhouse's production of Keith Glover's Dark Paradise came with lots of bang for the buck. Too bad there was more smoke than fire: The good intentions seem to have backfired in giving carte blanche to a show that needed to be reined in. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Drive, Mount Adams, 513-421-3888.

Best Off Broadway Theater (Not in New York)
Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati is doing a great job of presenting premieres of plays that still have wet ink on the scripts. In fact, ETC's production of Glimmer, Glimmer and Shine, Warren (Side Man) Leight's newest work, not only had its premiere right here - it's also been selected as a finalist for a prestigious new play prize. New Yorkers will (finally) get to see it in May. ETC, 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-421-3555.

Best Example of Schizophrenia Onstage
For the holidays, the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival (CSF) made us laugh with The Compleat Works of Wllm Shkspr (abridged) and then squirm with Pinter's Betrayal. CSF, 719 Race St., Downtown, 513-381-2288.

Best Utilization of Schizophrenic Actors
Three Days of Rain at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, where three actors played a brother, his sister and their friend in one act and then, after intermission, their parents
mom, dad and business partner. ETC, 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-421-3555.

Best Way to Expand Horizons
The Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival has stretched its wings this season with works beyond the Bard, who they haven't abandoned by a long stretch. It's great to see CSF's talented troupe of performers applying their acting chops to meaty contemporary work like The Weir and Betrayal. CSF, 719 Race St., Downtown, 513-381-2288.

Best Free Theater
Workshop productions of plays and musicals at the CCM's Studio Theater at UC. These shows feature top-notch talent, students preparing for careers in theater and film. CCM, University of Cincinnati, Clifton Heights, 513-556-4183.

Best Reason to Drive to Dayton
Plays at the Human Race Theatre Co. (HRTC) in its pleasant Loft Theatre, right next door to the Victoria Theatre. HRTC has a knack for getting the rights to new shows a step ahead of Cincinnati theaters. Human Race Theatre Co., 126 North Main St., Suite 300, Dayton, Ohio, 937-461-3823.

Best Reason to Drive to Middletown
No longer are those who live between Cincinnati and Dayton stuck in the arid tundra of no-theater land, thanks to a group of intrepid folks who have made a theater out of an old Masonic Hall. Their eclectic season
Sondheim to Coward to Shakespeare - is both appealing and approachable. Actor's Repertory Theater, 2 N. Main St., Middletown, 513-727-9361.

Best Place to Sneak Into Movies
The laid-back staff at Showcase Cinemas Western Hills is too busy making popcorn to police the two aisles connecting their 14 auditoriums. Imagine: Buy a ticket to the 12:30 p.m. showing of The Mexican, then stick around and watch as many movies as you want. Now, if there were only a way to get your hands inside the candy counter. Showcase Cinemas Western Hills, 5870 Harrison Ave., Dent, 513-574-7777.

Best Event for Serious Cinephiles
The appearance of avant-garde filmmaker Stan Brakhage for a career retrospective by the Cincinnati Film Society gave local audiences an opportunity to watch rarely seen films and meet the artist who made them. For people interested in the avant-garde, it was a momentous occasion. Cincinnati Film Society, 15 W. Sixth St., Downtown, 513-251-6060.

Best Happy Short Cheap Film Festival
The Happy Catchy Flashy Named Motion Picture Festival Part Deux wasn't actually that short last May (six hours), but the films were. Local filmmakers submit their best works under 10 minutes. Talent varies from anti-drug high school messages to underwater footage to skilled amateurs. The local festival moved from Sudsy's to the Southgate House and will be there again this year.

Best Saturday Matinee Experience
The Marianne Theater keeps art-deco cinema alive as a second-run house offering cheap tickets and an old-fashioned movie experience. The Marianne will remind you of the places you used to go to as a child. Our favorite perk is the candy stand window that opens into the back of the auditorium. Currently closed for repairs, the theater plans to reopen in early spring. Marianne Theater, 607 Fairfield Ave., Bellevue, Ky., 859-291-6666.

Best Roundup of Theater Talent
The League of Cincinnati Theatres' annual "unified auditions." Actors from all over the region can come together to tryout for productions at almost two dozen local theater companies. More opportunities for actors means more good theater for us to watch.

Best Lineup for Art
So many people wanted to see European Masterpieces: Six Centuries of Paintings from the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia on its final day at the Cincinnati Art Museum that the museum lined 'em up in the parking lot for hours. Too bad art has no relevance in today's society, right? Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams, 513-721-ARTS.

Best Name Change
Our old friend, the Taft Museum, became the Taft Museum of Art, because too many visitors didn't know what the hell they were coming to see. Now if only the folks at Cincinnati Bell were so smart: Can you tell us what "Broadwing" means? Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike St., Downtown, 513-241-0343.

Best Museum Exhibit You Probably Haven't Heard About
Imagine a museum crammed with art, sculpture, lamps, blown glass, cups, plates, desks, jewelry
all themed to the Jewish experience in America and the world. Living in the Moment: Contemporary Artists Celebrate Jewish Time, a free exhibition, is exactly that. The collection features the sacred and the non-sacred, from dreidels (toy Hanukkah tops) and gold yads (Torah pointers) to chuppas (marriage canopies) and Seder plates. Just about every aspect of Judaic faith, culture, ceremony, ritual and history is examined, with a special focus on the Jewish concept of time cycles on the calendar. Several of the pieces address the Holocaust, including a yahrzeit memorial lamp that features shards of broken glass (to symbolize the destruction of synagogues during Kristallnacht in Nazi Germany). The show continues through June 29. Skirball Museum, Hebrew Union College, 3101 Clifton Ave., Clifton, 513-221-1875.

Best Cultural Mainstay
Kaldi's has been the main outpost in Over-the-Rhine for creativity
from a place for artists, designers, musicians and writers to hang out to a performance space for professional quality Jazz with no cover. It's where daring dreams become reality on a daily basis. Kaldi's Coffeehouse and Bookstore, 1204 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-241-3070.

Best Uptown Cultural Center
Baba Budan's is doing its best to support creative folks up near UC, with art exhibits, live music, open mic nights and movie screenings. With the coming "urban renewal" project in Clifton Heights, Baba is setting itself up as a true community center. Baba Budan's Espresso Bar, 243 Calhoun St., Clifton Heights, 513-221-1911.

Best National Anthem Go-to Guys
The Mistics, who've sung for nearly every major non-college sports team in town: the Stuff, Mighty Ducks, Cyclones and Reds. Hey, there's nothing wrong with a regular gig.

Best Folk Survivor
Steve Carson's folk concerts at Grammer's. He used to host big international acts at his house, but moved to the mercurial Grammer's this year.

Best Recognition of the Cincinnati Music Scene's Waning National Presence
The Afghan Whigs broke up in February, after a long period of speculation amidst lead singer Greg Dulli's growing solo career. The good news is John Curley will be in town more to help local bands at his Ultrasuede Studios. The bad news is Cincinnati loses some bragging rights. Maybe the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards' Hall of Fame induction of the Whigs in 1998 jinxed them.

Best Sign the Cincinnati Music Scene's National Presence Is OK
Over The Rhine just released a new album and kicked off a national tour. With almost as many lives as a cat, OTR has survived national record labels to regroup and refocus under its own leadership. It's your thing, guys, do whatcha wanna do.

Best Tunes for the 'Hood
Cincinnati Opera's annual neighborhood outreach performance. Last year, hundreds of folks from Over-the-Rhine and thereabouts crowded into Music Hall for Rossini's Cenerentola (that's Cinderella for those of you who need the SurCaps). Cincinnati Opera, 1220 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-241-ARIA.

Best Time Off for Good Behavior
Cincinnati Opera recruited 19 guys from the River City Correctional Facility to be extras in last summer's production of Aida. The non-violent offenders behaved themselves, played burly men very well and soaked up some culture at the same time. Cincinnati Opera, 1220 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-241-ARIA.

Best Kicks
The Broadway Series lined up The Rockettes for the holidays and managed to attract 65,000 people to the Aronoff during December, even though the tickets averaged $50 apiece. Word is they'll be back for 2001 holiday season. Broadway Series, Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, 513-241-SHOW.

Best Swap
The Contemporary Arts Center finally got its corner, and Batsakes Hat Shop moved to another one. We think it would make sense to sell hats in the CAC's gift shop and some of the CAC's great tchotzkes next to the shoeshine guys who relocated to Sixth and Vine. CAC, 115 E. Fifth St., Downtown, 513-721-0390. Batsakes Hat Shop, 1 W. Sixth St., Downtown, 513-721-9345.

Best Jumpstart
The Greater Cincinnati Foundation announced its Regional Initiatives Fund, promising to provide up to a million dollars toward good ideas that would further the cause of everyone working together. Dozens of proposals were generated, and lots of people started talking. Of course, they won't all get funded, but good ideas will find the light of day, so this is how things ought to work. Greater Cincinnati Foundation, 200 W. Fourth St., Downtown, 513-241-2880.

Best Addition to the Arts Scene
Lois and Dick Rosenthal bought an old cigar factory in Over-the-Rhine and created Uptown Arts, a cheerful center for classes in art, dance, theater and music for kids from the neighborhood. Uptown Arts, 123 E. Liberty St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-651-1500.

Best Disappearance from the Arts Scene
The Regional Cultural Alliance (RCA) made a big splash two years ago and then faded from view until last summer, when Hamilton County Commissioner Tom Neyer Jr. announced he planned to advance $600,000 in county funds to get the collaborative organization going. Politics tripped up his effort, and RCA has been invisible since. The possibility of creating a regional arts council looks dead.

Best Premature Prognostication
Last summer's almost daily reports that Son of Beast, Paramount Kings Island's newest rollercoaster, would open "any day now." A series of miscues and technical problems prevented the coaster, heir apparent to The Beast, from opening until weeks into the season, and problems plagued it throughout the season. At 218 feet, Son of Beast sets four world records: Tallest wooden roller coaster on the planet, the world's only looping wooden coaster, tallest wooden coaster drop (214 feet) and fastest wooden coaster (78 mph). We wonder what the world record is for closed rides. Paramount's Kings Island, I-71 at Kings Island Drive, Mason, 513-754-5600.

Best Trunk Show
The Vanishing Giants elephant and giraffe exhibit, the new state-of-the-art facility for the big guys at the Cincinnati Zoo. The 3.5-acre complex includes a 38,000-gallon pool, lots of roaming space and a 9,000-square-foot giraffe habit. It's a breath of fresh air, literally, for both wildlife and zoo visitors alike who remember the old, cramped and stinky Elephant House. Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, 3400 Vine St., Avondale, 513-281-4700.

Best Place to Run into the Sopranos (or Have Them Run into You)
The annual Newport Italian Festival, the region's largest food and music festival devoted to all things from Italian. The participants sling around the mascarpone, cannoli and tiramisu like there's no tomorrow, and the celebrity pizza-tossing and cooking contests are a howl. No doubt Newport Mayor Thomas Guidugli and City Manager Phil Ciafardini had something to do with the success of the last fest, and we hope it continues. That's amore! Newport Italian Festival, Newport Shopping Center, U.S. 27 at Carothers Road, Newport, 859-292-3666.

Best Apropos Tip of the Hat
The very fitting Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra salute to the restored Genius of Water statue on Fountain Square, a concert featuring - what else - Handel's Water Music. CSO, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-381-3300.

Best Local Shot of Amadeus
The Mozart Festival, which turns the city of Hamilton into the Salzburg of the Midwest each April as the Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony performs a series of concerts at various venues. Oh yeah, and the concerts are free. Various venues in Hamilton, 513-474-1584.

Best Summer Arts Happening, Underground Division
The VOLK/Contemporary Summer Project Initiative. Local artists and close friends Zoltan Faltey, Tim McMichael and Joe Winterhalter didn't know what to expect last summer after converting a 14th Street warehouse space into a temporary gallery. The enthusiastic response from emerging artists helped make VOLK Cincinnati's most exciting arts happening. Ground zero for a series of impressive collaborations, VOLK proved that Cincinnati can support new artists in an exciting manner.

Best Summer Arts Happening, Mainstream Division
OK, there's not much else to say about the Big Pig Gig. Except that the painted, sculpted, molded, shaped and dressed up ceramic pigs got more attention than any Main Street gallery. What's so wrong about that?

Best Exhibit by Local Artists
Curator Matt Distel united a team of local artists including Mark Fox, Charles Woodman and Tony Luensman into an exciting mixed-media exhibition, Stacked, at the Weston Gallery. The exhibit made clever use of the gallery's open spaces. The Weston never set out to be the savior of the local visual arts community, but Stacked just makes it look that way. Weston Gallery, Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., 513-977-4165.

Best Place to Look Poor and Not Get Questioned About Carrying Your Parents' Visa Gold Card
Last September's Phish show at Riverbend, where all the suburban kids grunged out as much as possible. Possibly the muddiest and smelliest concert we've ever been to. Security could do nothing about the dancing hippies in the aisles, seat jumping or drug taking.

Best Place to Do the Shuffle
Fries CafÈ has the cool old-fashioned shuffle board game in the back, plus darts upstairs, pool downstairs, a courtyard out back and hanging out in the middle. They always have at least three drink specials going on (beer of the week, import of the week, microbrew of the week). Fries CafÈ, 3247 Jefferson Ave., Clifton, 513-281-9002.

Best Bluegrass in the Bluegrass
Head to the Oakbrook CafÈ in Burlington. Almost every Saturday, the little suburban neighborhood bar features a Bluegrass band, with most of the people who play the slightly hipper Sunday shows at The Comet. The food and employees kick ass, too
crab cakes, prime rib, New York strip and broiled codfish sandwich, to name a few. Oakbrook CafÈ, 6072 Limaburg Road, Burlington, 859-746-2999.

Best Academic/Jazz Fusion
Ray's Music Exchange is an example of how the academic world and popular culture are able to make beautiful music together.

Best Achingly Authentic Rock
Elliott Smith at the Southgate House in October was simply one the best live shows of the past year. A disheveled Elliott played tuneful tales of woe like no other. His solo encore was achingly authentic and true. And with their spacey, Casio-laced, Folk Rock excursions, Grandaddy were a great way to get things warmed up.

Best Non-Turkey on Turkey Day
The psychodots' annual Thanksgiving show, also at the Southgate House, was the classic band at its best: great songs played with passion, wit and dexterity. Now, where's that new Bears record?

Best Reunion for Celtic Music Lovers
The 1980s Celtic band Medallion, a group composed of Silver Arm's Cindy and Stephen Matyi and Nancy and Frank Clark, reunited for a limited number of performances to benefit the public library. Medallion Go Bragh!

Best New Concert Venue for Old Fart Rockers
Belterra Casino Resort has a spring concert lineup that includes the Beach Boys (April 6-7), America (April 20-21), Paul Revere & the Raiders (April 26-27) and Lynyrd Skynyrd (May 3-4). Belterra Casino Resorts, 777 Belterra Drive, Florence, Ind., 812-427-7777.

Best Place to Take Kids When It's Cold Outside
Kids have been known to gasp at the beautiful "fishies" at the Newport Aquarium. The only downside is that it's not stroller-friendly. The youngsters love the gift shop, too. You just can't have enough beanie crap. Newport Aquarium, 1 Aquarium Way, Newport, 859-491-3467.

Best Traveling Kids Show
Madcap Productions Puppet Theatre stages its own take on classic fairy tales. Madness reigns as 11-foot-high puppets roam local stages in productions directed by Jerry Handorf, who once worked with Muppets creator Jim Henson. Handorf goes on a national tour this summer for the Ronald McDonald House charities. You can catch Madcap locally at the Cincinnati Art Museum on select Saturdays and Sundays, as well as at local library branches and Cincinnati Museum Center. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams, 513-721-2787.

Best Theatrical Experience for Kids
The wonderful Sleeping Beauty staging at Ensemble Theatre, which reminded parents of the value of a live stage play for small children. It was well acted, tastefully directed, and moms and dads especially appreciated it when cast members interacted with the children after each performance. ETC, 1127 Vine St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-421-3555.

Best Art Experience for the Open-Minded
If only we had saved that last hit of acid! That's honestly how we felt visiting the Contemporary Arts Center exhibit, An Active Life. The laser cube room, for lack of a better term, had a 45-minute "show." Through mirrored cubes, prisms lights and lasers, it was as if we were inside a diamond. There was also a room to throw balls, some kind of flying device, a climbing wall and a room with padding that represented fallen leaves. Weird and wonderful. CAC, 115 E. Fifth St., Downtown, 513-721-0390.

Best Art You Can Climb
New York sculptor Arthur Gibbons' latest work, Twelve-Seven-Five, is a tribute to the hills of Cincinnati. The work was meant to be played on, as visitors interact with the various moving pieces. Fun stuff. Chidlaw Gallery, Art Academy of Cincinnati, 953 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams, 513-562-8777.

Best Paul Simon Knockoff
Cincinnati Ballet's world premiere of a ballet set to the music of Paul Simon's Graceland. True Art, uh, we mean True Paul. Cincinnati Ballet, Aronoff Center for the Arts, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, 513-241-SHOW.

Best Museum for a Day Trip
The M*A*S*H and More Museum in Kettering, just south of Dayton. J.D. Sherrow's museum is devoted to memorabilia from the long-running Korean War comedy/drama series, and it's the next best thing to having Alan Alda in your living room. M*A*S*H and More Museum, 2282 Patterson Road, Kettering, 937-320-9719.

Best Kentucky Craft Gallery
Kentucky Haus, immediately across the street from the World Peace Bell. This is the place to find all things Bluegrass, from Berea College crafts and Bybee Pottery to paintings and prints of regional scenes. Workshops on soap making, hand-painted floorcloths and historical topics (such as the Old Latonia Racetrack's place in history) are just some of the offerings here. Kentucky Haus, 421 Monmouth St., Newport, 859-261-4287.

Best "Moving Van" Goghs
The traveling American Watercolor Society Show that featured artworks selected for the society's annual exhibition in New York City. The free exhibition was virtually ignored by the media, sadly. Middletown Fine Arts Center, 130 N. Verity Pkwy., Middletown, 513-424-2417.

Best Screening of Shaft in a Place You Wouldn't Expect It
The showings of the original Shaft and Shaft's Big Score, two movies directed by Gordon Parks and starring Richard Roundtree, at the Cincinnati Art Museum. It was all part of the exhibit Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks, a tribute to the photojournalist, filmmaker and African-American icon. Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Mount Adams, 513-721-2787.

Best Touring Representatives for the City
The Children's Choir of Greater Cincinnati, which is actually six choirs (divided by age group and ability) that include children from more than 50 school districts, 2-12 grades. The choir has recently gone on tours across America, Canada and England. Truly an underestimated and unrecognized resource. Children's Choir of Greater Cincinnati, 7865 Tyler's Way, West Chester, 513-759-0644.

Best Fest for an NRA Nut
The high-caliber annual celebration at Annie Oakley Days up north in Greenville, which features shooting contests and appearances by the First Ohio Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association. Indeed, it's a pistol of a party, but don't hit on the Homecoming Queen; the lady has won the weekend's crown as much for her marksmanship as her good looks. County Fairgrounds, Gate No. 5 off State Route 121, Greenville, 937-547-0400.

Best Esoteric Ballroom Dance Convocation
The annual Civil War ballroom dance convention organized by Cincinnati's Flying Cloud Academy of Vintage Dance. The events during the week-long series of workshops, which are open to the public, include a Victorian Bodice Workshop
we told you this stuff was esoteric - and a ballroom exhibition by the dancers, vintage 19th-century costumes and all. Anderson Hall and Heritage Ballroom, Shriver Center, Miami University, Oxford, 513-733-3077.