Well dang, here's something you don't often see in Russia: A reunion of the Romanov Clan. That's Romanov, as in royal family.
This was the first one, says Cincinnatian Michael Pavlovitch Romanov-Ilyinsky, grandson of Grand Duke Dmitri (the guy who allegedly assassinated Rasputin) and Cincinnati's Audrey Emery, of the famous and oh so wealthy Emery Clan.
You remember the Romanovs: They ruled Russia until 1917, when Czar Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra and their five children were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad.
Surviving members of the clan weren't welcome in the former Soviet Union. In fact, only a few of them ever went back.
Until now. Eight members of the family, including Ilyinsky, did the royal reunion thing in Russia. They were in St. Petersburg last week to take part in the opening of the exhibition The Princes Romanovs: Family Album of the Period of 150 Years.
''Way cool,'' Ilyinsky says. ''Meeting all the cousins like that, it was like putting a big jigsaw puzzle together. We all knew of each other, but not very much, so it was interesting putting together the family history.
''We decided to meet on a regular basis and get involved in some projects.''
Project No. 1: A memorial to Tsar Alexander II, made with materials from cities where Romanovs live. Project No. 2: Lots of bells. Several cathedrals, Ilyinsky says, need bells, so he'll investigate working with Cincinnati's Verdin Co. to get those babies ringing.
Ilyinsky and clan spent a week going to functions, making appearances, touring sites of family interest (Church of the Spilled Blood, archives housing family documents) and, as they say in regal circles, getting feted all over the place.
Oh yeah, and learning the hard way not to drink the water: As of Wednesday, Ilyinsky's first day back, he was still suffering a monumental case of Montezuma's revenge, Russian-style. Rasputin's revenge, we guess.
PROPHETIC WORDS:
Looks like for once a high school yearbook prophecy came true.
Referring here to the late Andrew Cunanan, the prime suspect in the murder of high-end fashion designer Gianni Versace. Seems he was a classmate of Cincinnatian Blake Van Es (Mrs. JohnJay from Q102's morning show). She and Cunanan are 1987 grads of Bishop High School in LaJolla, Calif.
Always considered a strange bird, he showed up in the yearbook with a prediction: Most likely to be remembered.
We'll say.
Anyway, he and Van Es were friends back then. She remembers classmates making fun of him because he was a flamboyant soul. He hung around with rich folk and, even in high school, went jetting off to London or New York for long weekends. On, uh, someone else's tab, as they say.
BUZZ AROUND TOWN:
Keeping eyes and ears open, Psst! has heard . . .
That Howl at the Moon, the raunchy Covington Landing bar where piano players sing bawdy songs and abuse the guests, is leaving town.
But it's not going far, says owner Jimmy Bernstein. Word is that the successful bar is headed to Newport, specifically the second level of Sloppy Joe's, the new restaurant that went into the former Crockett's.
That arrangement, the feelings go, would make the place a destination: Chow at Sloppy's, a song at Howl. The same combination apparently is working well in Fort Lauderdale, where Sloppy's and Howl share the third floor of a beachside building.
Bernstein would like to pull it all off by Labor Day.
Psst! appears Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330. And listen to his Weekend Report with Jerry Thomas at 8:30 a.m. Fridays on WKRC-AM (550 kHz).
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