A lot of Punk bands' political activism extends as far as sporting a stylishly ripped Che Guevera T-shirt, but Strike Anywhere is not a band that wears its politics on (or as) its sleeves. You'd be hard pressed to find a more informed and literate group of guys playing political, social and cultural manifestos at skin-blistering volume.

Instead of the bizarrely scripted sugar bombs with flavors not found in nature, most grown-ups go the expensive chocolate route for Valentine's Day. But since we’re talking cheesy anyway, why not go for the real thing? Le vrai fromage! I spoke to three local cheese experts for their take on Valentine cheese.

One of the last artists to benefit from Cincinnati's city-funded art grant program is Kim Flora. In 2008, she was awarded $6,000 to support the creation of the large-scale encaustic paintings that grace her exhibition 'Personal Vistas,' opening this Friday at PAC Gallery in East Walnut Hills.

My Facebook status on Jan. 8: "I drove home calmly and safely, keeping the RPMs low as I navigated the steep hills. I stepped into enormous silence, so brilliantly alone, with the snow moving, but seeming so still all around me. I opened my mouth to taste and to let out a deep laugh. A perfect moment: I am grateful for this solitude."

Lasse Hallstrom's adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel 'Dear John' places his usual relationship melodrama against the topical backdrop of wartime service. Sparks' stories are known for sentimental and soap-lite scripting, but Hallstrom's marks the first time that, as a critic, I came to understand the pejorative meaning of "chick flick." Grade: D-.

Jasen Burwinkel, 27, could be like any number of job seekers in the Tristate, except for one thing: His record includes a theft conviction, a crime for which he served about three months in jail. "It hurts every time I come back from an interview, because they say, 'You have a theft? No job.'" About 650,000 people are released from prison each year in the U.S., and many advocacy groups are pushing for more lenient expungement laws for non-violent offenders as a way to help them gain employment and avoid becoming repeat offenders.