George Thorogood and the Destroyers 1985
I don't remember much of this concert. It was just good old classic George Thorogood - Thorogood having graduated to the arena size audience and the Dayton audience is a good Rock-n-Roll audience to be sure.

Hamlet at the State

Springfield's StageWorks alternative community theater group will be presenting Hamlet 4/30-5/2 at the historic State Theater @ 19 South Fountain Avenue in the heart of downtown Springfield.

Noose Son story here

Bicycle Races at Union Terminal

The Firm 1985
Jimmy Page was in this band. They had a hit. I don't think they wrote it.
So, why was I in line at Lazarus at the crack of dawn with a hundred other fools trying to get tickets ?
I was one of the last people in the line who got a ticket. HA ! it was dead center in THE VERY LAST ROW of Riverfront Coliseum. The sound tends to bounce around in the steel rafters in that hole, so the higher up you are - the worse the sound. I think the singer, who was some kind of star (?), had a cold. Page shone on, like, one song. By 1985, I was way over the stadium rock superstar thing & this concert fairly cemented it. The show was a major disappointment and having to sit in that fucking building sucked big time. I think I returned one other time before my last visit, which was my nephew's graduation from XU.

Wall of Voodoo 1983
These guys were pretty silly. I think they wanted to write scores for movies & wound up in the middle of the MTV craze of the 80s. They had one hit, Mexican Radio. I related to it because I really like foreign TV and radio. Mexican TV game shows are a complete trip. Their only competition for utter bizarrity would be the Japanese shows. Somehow, I think understanding the language wouldn't make the shows any less bizarre.
For a real treat, check out Luchadores Enmascarados movies. The Blue Demon is a true hero. The DVDs I have found have no subtitles.
If you have a penis and don't mind paying insanely high prices for mediocre Mexican food, they play trailers for these movies above the urinals at Nada.
So - what was I talking about ?
Wall of Voodoo - yeah, they were ok.

Weekend Fun

Like you guys weren't gonna wind up cruising up and down Hamilton looking for kicks anyway.....

Wild Life: Animal, Landscape, Skin
Friday April 24
5 - 8 PM
Banner and Ross Gallery on Spring Grove Avenue
513-861-4333

Great American Cleanup
Saturday, April 25
9AM - noon
In Northside meet at the McKie Center on Chase Avenue

Words of Peace
Saturday, April 25
4 PM
Northside Library on Hamilton Avenue
513-369-4449

Reduce, Recycle, RUN!
Benefitting The event benefits Cincinnati Northside Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CNCURC)
Sunday, April 26
9 AM
Spring Grove Cemetery on Spring grove Avenue
info 513-541-4310

Fergus Street Homeownership Open House
Sunday, April 26
3 - 5 PM
513-541-4109

- and up the hill at the nursing home.......
(do College Hilligans know how to have a good time ?)
College Hill Historical Society's Annual Meeting
Sunday, April 26
3 PM
Twin Towers Retirement Center on Hamilton Avenue
Featured speaaker : historical architect Walter Langsam

and, as usual, all the best grub, goods and hooch:
Ali's Boutique
   4185 Hamilton Avenue
   513-591-2547
Art Damage Lodge
   4120 Hamilton Ave.
Banner and Ross Gallery
   3841 Spring Grove Ave.
   513-861-4333
   hrs: 8:30 AM - 8:00 PM Mon-Thurs, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM Fri
The Blue Jay
   4154 Hamilton Ave.
   513-541-0847
   hrs: 8:00 AM - 3:30 PM Mon-Sat
Blue Rock Tavern
   4221 Hamilton Ave.
   hrs: 5:00 PM - 2:30 AM Mon-Fri, 6:00 PM - 2:30 AM Sat
Bonomi
   1677 Blue Rock Ave.
   513-541-7501
Boswell Alley
   1686 Blue Rock Ave.
   513-681-8100
   hrs: 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Mon-Thurs, 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM Fri-Sat, Bar til 2:30 AM Mon-Sat
Bug House Video
   4170 Hamilton Avenue
   513-541-3700
   hrs: 4:00 PM - 10:00 PM Mon-Thurs, 4 - 11:00 PM Fri, noon - 11:00 PM Sat, noon - 9:00 PM Sun
Bullfishes
   4023 Hamilton Ave.
   513-79-4999
The C & D Cafe
   1714 Hanfield Ave
   513-541-9881
Club Bronz
   4029 Hamilton Ave.
   513-591-2100
Cluxton Alley Coffee Roasters
   4037 Hamilton Ave.
   513-698-2966
   hrs: Tues-Fri 9:00 Am - 2:30 PM, 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Sat
The Comet
   4579 Hamilton Ave.
   513-541-8900
   hrs: 4:00 PM - 2:30 AM Sun-Sat
Gajah Wong West
   3937 Spring Grove Ave.
   513-591-3935
   hrs: 5:30 PM - 10:00 PM, bar open late
Ginger's Bar
   1701 Blue Rock Ave.
   hrs: til 2:30 AM
Designs by Dana
   4167 Hamilton Ave.
   513-681-8871
The Gypsy Hut
   4231 Spring Grove Ave.
   513-541-0999
   hrs: 8:00 PM - 2:30 AM
The Hideaway
   44163 Hamilton Ave.
   513-542-2444
   hrs: 11:00 AM - 2:30 PM Tues-Fri, 5:00 PM - 9:30 PM Tues-Thurs, 5:00 - 11:00 Fri-Sat, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Sun
Honey
   4034 Hamilton Ave.
   513-541-4300
   hrs: 11:30 AM - 9:00 PM Tues-Thurs, 11:30 AM - 10:PM Fri-Sat, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM Sun
Junker's tavern
   4156 Langland Ave.
   513-541-5470
Marshiella's
   Hamilton Ave.
   11:30 AM - 2:00 PM Tues-Fri
Melt
   4165 Hamilton Ave.
   513-681-MELT
   hrs: 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM Mon-Thurs, 11:00 AM - 10 PM Fri-Sat
NYPD Pizza
   1566 Chase Ave.
   513-681-NYPD
   hrs: 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM Mon-Thurs, 11:00 AM midnight Fri-Sat
Northside Bar
   Hamilton Ave.
Northside Tavern
   4163 Hamilton Ave.
   513-541-3603
   hrs: 5:00v PM - 2:30 AM Mon-Fri, 8:30 PM - 2:30 AM Sat-Sun
NVISION
   4577 Hamilton Avenue
   513-542-4577
   hrs: 2:00 PM - 9:00 PM Wed-Sat
Park Chili
   4160 Hamilton Ave.
   513-541-9902
   hrs: 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM mon-Fri, 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM Sat, 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM Sun
Portofino's
   1609 Chase Ave.
   513-542-5808
   hrs: 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM Mon-Sat
Prairie
   4035 Hamilton Ave.
   513 703-5729
The Serpent
   4042 Hamilton Ave.
   513-681-6969
   hrs: 9:00 PM - 2:30 AM
Sidewainder Coffee & Tea
   4181 Hamilton Ave.
   513-542-8321
   hrs: 7:00 AM - 9:00 PM Mon-Fri, 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM Sat-Sun
Slim's
   4046 Hamilton Ave.
   513-681-6500
   hrs: 5:30 PM - til he food's gone, 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Sun
Taco Bell/KFC
   4147 Hamilton Ave.
   513-541-7861
Take the Cake
   4137 Hamilton Ave.
   513-241-2772
White Castle
   3940 Ludlow Ave.
   513-542-7291
   hrs: 24/7

More COASTAL Wet Dreams
Without the sound, videos like these really miss a good part of the experience of red light runners. That is, they are frequently accelerating towards the light. Indeed, hearing people floor their cars through red red lights is pretty common.

Must See TV
I am guessing that most Cincinnatians program Citicable off their remotes. Too bad, it can be great theater. Chuck Luken canceled the televising of the open comments section of council meetings some time ago. That got to be kinda like the Jerry Springer show. (hmmmmm, wonder where he got the idea for his show ?)
In later years, Mayor Qualls dealing with Tom Lukens inane babblings was easily as entertaining as any Jack Benny show.
While the fights between councilmembers are fairly lame these days, the high point of committee meetings is the Vibrant Neighborhoods, Recreation, Parks and Public Services Committee Liquor License Renewal Hearings.
Liquor permits are issued by the state and renewed every year. When permit renewals are challenged by police or citizens groups - the challengers and the owners/defenders meet twice every year to make their cases.
This years challenges are listed here.
Some bars and stores are in crappy neighborhoods. When an establishment is on the edge, police will talk to the owners/managers. They invariably tell them to call the police whenever they see criminal activity inside or outside the establishment. These calls for service are then cited by the police as reasons to object to the renewal of the establishment's license. crafty, eh ?
People tend to gravitate to places of commerce. Think Floyd's barbershop. This proves a double whammy for small stores in poor neighborhoods as the kids tend to congregate around the stores. This is bad for their business but then police and citizens groups cite the unwanted youth as something to blame on the shopkeeper. Once again, he gets damned if he calls the police or if he doesn't.
One of the real joys is hearing owners and police tell completely different stories. One lady said there had been no drug dealing in her bar and no arrests. The police had 4 arrests with court dates pending. One was not actually at the bar but the agreement to the deal was made there. Neighbors complained of large crowds but the owners friend said there was never more than 5 people there.
Some of the owners seem barely socially functional. Some seem very articulate. One claimed to be "recognized" by an "ex-president". Some of the owners/managers seem to be pathological liars.
When a place is on the edge, owners and police/neighborhood groups will work out plans to bring the offending businesses in line with the community. One owner, who had made such an agreement, had not held up his end. The police complained the guy had not hired a police officer for security on weekend evenings. The owner countered that there was no reason since the police were always there on weekend evenings anyway. -hint ?-
In that case, the police said the place was under heavy surveillance but the police had no idea if the owner was picking up litter. ?
A common refrain is the police telling owners to hire security. Not just any security, tho - off duty Cincinnati police officers. Frequently private security or off duty county deputies are not good enough for some reason.
A guy from a community council expressed surprise that a restaurant owner testified in English as he claimed she always told him she spoke no English whenever he tried to talk to her.
While it might be seen as anti-business, I think renewing liquor permits every six months would be worthwhile just for the entertainment value.
Did I mention - no commercials ? It is non stop, edge of the seat excitement as Qualls just keeps the speakers coming.
What's really great is that owners, police and citizen groups all can be yahoos or good guys.
I imagine the meetings are rerun and maybe even on the city's website but Citicable hasn't updated their schedule in months.
One thing that would be a nice addition is a soundtrack. I think that just the addition of an organ player could lend quite a bit more drama to proceedings. I guess an announcer doing background color type commentary could be kinda fun, too.

The Springfield Symphony 1979
I got no idea what was performed this evening. My mom had been a president of the Springfield Civic Theatre for a couple years and would buy 1 season ticket to the Springfield Symphony Orchestra as a sort of reciprocal arts organization president kinda thing. Dunno if her counterpart reciprocated or not. She had no interest in attending the concerts so she gave me the tickets. While I attended Clark Technical College, now Clark State, I got free admission to the symphony, too.

One year my (my mom's) season ticket was in the 2nd row center in the first balcony. It was usually almost this full in the late 70s.
So, for a few years, I got to see the symphony for free.
They were ok. Some of the musicians were also in the Dayton and Cincinnati Symphonies, probably Columbus', too. Springfield society was still showing up, high school teachers would be there and act happy to see their old nemesis again. It was fun.
I was in and out of almost every nook and cranny of the auditorium in the course of about 20 years. it's sad to see what has become of it.
The Symphony now plays in the Clark State auditorium. It's really great to see the town still has an orchestra.

The Grateful Dead at Columbus Vet's Memorial 1978
I had been to quite a few Grateful Dead concerts by 1978. I was well versed in Dead lore. I had done the acid, smoked the hash...
One of my buds had been in the band's official fan club which offered some really cool benefits. By 1978 I was starting into the punk scene that had simmered for awhile in '76 and had erupted in '77. I had a Grateful Dead uniform with workboots, flannel shirt etc. I took great delight in wearing said uniform to punk shows. It pissed off the punks who were trying to outrage everybody with their dress. Go figure.
This was probably the worst - the most commercial Dead concert I had ever attended. The gypsies who followed the band around were really starting to assume a level of professionalism. The jock fratboys were all fans now. I remember that whenever Garcia or Weir used a profanity - the crowd would erupt in cheers. I was barely in my 20s and I felt like one of the old timers and the lack of real old timers was pointedly evident.
I am pretty sure this was the last Dead show I attended.

The Kinks at the Albee Theater 1974
Getting to this concert was a real nail biter. Only 2 of my friends had any interest and only one had (just recently acquired) a driver's license and his parents weren't keen on letting him drive the purple LTD to Cincinnati. After much ass kissing and promises of responsibility and good citizenship he got permission and we loaded up the tequila & pot & headed down I-75 to a place in Cincinnati called The Albee Teater.
At a time when bands were routinely playing sports arenas, The Kinks tried hard to keep their shows in auditoriums and theaters. Their unpopularity in the U.S. helped in that they didn't have to find huge & expensive halls. The tour was promoting Preservation Act 1.
When we got to downtown Cincinnati around dinnertime, we commenced to looking for a place to park. Workers were still present and parking spaces were still kinda scarce. We started to park in the Netherlands parking lot, not realizing it was valet parking. As we had planned on catching a buzz in the car, that wouldn't do. They helped us back out of the garage and we found a spot in the parking lot at Third and Walnut. When I see the parking lot today, I am amazed how stupid it was for a trio of teenagers from out of town to be smoking and drinking there at about 6 PM on a Thursday night. sigh.....

As we came around the corner from Vine onto 5th street, we instantly recognized The Albee was a big old fashioned theater. I was used to going to old style theaters. Dayton's Palace was a popular concert spot there for awhile. In Springfield, movies were shown at old theaters, The State & The Regent and of course concerts at The Memorial Hall. These establishments all had signs of medium elegance but over the years, had pretty much been stripped bare. That is, there were lounges in the restrooms but there was never anything there. Occasionally a folding chair might be sitting out or leaning against a wall. The walls were kinda dirty and there was a notable amount of disrepair. While The Albee had seen better days, how much better my droogs & I were not prepared for.

Upon entering the lobby, we were met with marble floors, a grand double stairway & more deco decoration than we had ever seen in one place. The ceiling went up 3 or 4 stories with a front window rising all the way to the top. After the sun went down, the light from outside the window gave the upper story lobbies a romantic glow. We went in and started looking around. It didn't stop at the lobby - the whole place was like a friggin' palace !
the bathrooms were a first stop.

Like I said, the lounges I was used to were all abandoned, empty rooms. I don't know when the picture above was shot, but that's what greeted us when we entered. Not only were there chairs, but nice chairs. The pictures were even on the walls.
At this point, we felt like guests - not like the PITA nuisance that the sports arenas made us feel like. We were awed and appreciative. Not everybody felt quite the same. I remember walking over to an ornate metal drinking fountain and, as I approached, a young lady walked up to it and barfed her brains out all over the drinking fountain. yay

The auditorium was magnificent. It was not a huge place and The Kinks made it an exciting and intimate experience with Ray Davies' drunken banter & brother Dave's kickass RnR chops rocking the place out. This tour included a horn section - a trio, I believe.
After the concert, we went across the street to the Fountain Square. It was almost midnight on a Thursday & there were people milling about. ok, not just the people from the concert - other people. We walked about the square and the skywalk for awhile before heading back up I-75.
I had been to concerts at the Coliseum (First Star Center ?) and Cincinnati gardens before but I had never been impressed with Cincinnati. This experience impressed me - the people seemed nice and welcoming. Even the puky chick in the theater seemed like a nice person - just a little off her game that night. but what can you expect from a Kinks fan ?

From later in the tour in NYC (the Cincinnati show was actually in color)

Cedar Bog Educational Facility Open House

Saturday, April 18, from 11 A.M. to 4 P.M. the recently completed educational facility at Cedar Bog will be open to the public. Refreshments will be served and tours and educational material will be available.
There will be a bird walk at 9:00 AM.
The facility was designed to be ecologically friendly, with features that include solar panels, geothermal heating and a Trombe wall to absorb additional heat from the sun.
The facility had been planned for years but state budget cute almost killed it. The Cedar Bog Association came through and got the project done.
The bog ,hich is actually a fen is a weird little patch of natural history that got deposited out of place there about 12,000 years ago (or in the 60s if you're a creationist).
PS Toad Tuning is just around the corner.

Noose Son story here.

The Jam 1979
I found out about this concert on the upcoming Monday late on Saturday night while at a record store in Dayton. My friends and I went into high gear to get tickets. Thing was, we couldn't find everybody we figured would want to go. Money was tight but we went ahead and bought tickets for everybody we knew would be willing to skip work on a moment's notice to drive up to the Cleveland Agora to see The Jam. Well, we didn't. There was no way to get tickets to that venue at such a late date than just go to the club. We enlisted Phil's uncle, who lived in Clevo, and he came through in flying colors.
I have no idea who Dwight Twilley is. I think he was a local bigshot in the Clevo area. I remember him sucking. I think somebody nailed the guy with a shot glass. We wanted British mod music, dammit !
The Jam were cool. They hung out in the audience during Twilley's act. Paul Weller's dad was the manager. I guess he was being fatherly in not letting Buckler have any money for cigarettes as he was chain smoking bummed cigarettes. Weller, Foxton and Buckler were gracious and friendly. They hung out in he bar, chatting with fans after the show, too.
We got to ask Weller if the band would play News of the World. He replied that they usually didn't have it on the playlist. They played it. We were appreciative. The show was an orgy of Rickenbacker guitars and neo-Modism.
They handed out gold vinyl singles of "Strange Town", which was nice but they had been pressed off center, so it was kinda useless. I guess that's why they were giving them away. :-)

Changing Community Councils

Councilwoman Y.L. Cole has proposed a change in how Cincinnati's community councils handle memberships and voting.
Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods are represented through quasi-governmental private bodies of volunteers called community councils. While they are set up on their own with their own by laws, they administer funds from the city for various purposes and the city also recognizes them as representatives of their respective neighborhoods. Information is routed to and from the city through the organizations. Their influence was deprecated significantly under Mayor Luken and City Manager Lemmie.
Naturally every city resident can weigh in on anything anywhere in the city with the mayor or any city councilmember.
Currently, the community councils all have their own rules concerning membership and voting qualifications and what members can vote on. Some councils require attendance at meetings to vote, others require a minimal number of hours of service. Some require dues - some don't. Oftentimes the rules are set to avoid people "stacking the vote" or "stuffing the ballotbox". Most of the experienced people on the councils have had the experience of people showing up for one vote to get their way to sway votes on zoning and liquor permit issues or to stack the councils with particular candidates. Bond Hill, College Hill and Westwood have all had such problems.
Ms Cole's efforts are to enfranchise all members of the community and not bar them from having their vote counted through service that may not be doable due to time or physical constraints or the financial constraints that dues might have.
The problem is that Ms Cole's changes erase the safeguards the councils have had to enforce to avoid dirty politics.
One of the issues I have is, after years of working night shift, is that the meetings and voting are usually in the evening and the voting time is usually under an hour. many of Cincinnati's working poor probably fall into this category and the current ordinance does not address the issue. I have no idea how the councils could afford to do such a thing, anyway. They do not have the budget of a county BOE. The city currently funds the community councils to the tune of about $7k/yr. Accommodating 12 elections a year could eat that up right off. The next bit of funding the councils have is dues and that will be eliminated.
Currently, these are private organizations of volunteers. I have heard of the Northside Community Council referred to as a social club and I don't think the speaker was being sarcastic.
The thing is, I can see this effort to enfranchise the greater public as disenfranchising the paltry number of volunteers the city has and never really engaging the apathetic majority of citizens. Westwood has it's community council as well as Westwood Concern. How many people can afford the extra time to be involved in multiple organizations ? A good number of the few who do the most already are - it would be one more burden on the people the city already depends on.
Ms Cole has good intentions here, to be sure, but I don't think this is a really good idea and I don't think there is a practical way to implement it.

The initial proposal can be found here, but this is not a FINAL VERSION, there is, apparently a revised version somewhere which is ALSO not a final version.

Click here for links to councils' websites.

Invest in Neighborhoods

Community Development

Marilyn Chambers R.I.P.

Marilyn Chambers was found dead in her home by her 18 yr old daughter today. She was only 56.
She worked in film, modeling and was a vice presidential candidate in 2004.
Reuters story here.
Clip from "Behind the Green Door" (XXX) here.

Interview from 1977

Since it's Easter Sunday, I thought I'd post something kinda politicaly, socially, religiousy.
Lets go back 75 years.....

The problem of statesmanship is to mold a policy leading toward a higher state for humanity, and to stick by that policy and make it seem desirable to the people in spite of short-time political pressure to the contrary. True statesmanship and true religion therefore have much in common. Both are beset by those, who, professing to be able politicians and hard-headed men of affairs, are actually so exclusively interested in the events of the immediate future or the welfare of a small class that from the broader, long-time point of view they are thoroughly impractical and theoretical.
Isaiah, Jeremiah and Micah were truly great statesmen. They caught the vision of a superior social state and with all the fire at their command held up that vision before the people in spite of the protests of those concerned with politics, priestly intrigue, and commercial gain.
The prophets failed in that their states manship was not adopted, but their efforts were so striking that the record remains to this day as an incentive to those who desire to look beneath the surface.
Religion to my mind is the most practical thing in the world. In so saying I am not talking about church-going, or charity, or any of the other outward manifestations of what is popularly called religion. By religion I mean the force which governs the attitude of men in their inmost hearts toward God and toward their fellowmen.
Jesus dealing with that force said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. with all thy heart and all thy strength and all thy soul and all thy mind. Thou shalt love thy neigh- bor as thyself." The Catholic Church dealing with this force said in effect that the minds and hearts of men are best attuned to God and humanity through the continual celebration in due form of the mass by specially ordained priests whose duty it is also to receive and distribute alms. Martin Luther and John Calvin dealing with this force said each man can meet his God face to face without priestly intercessor each man can worship God most effectively by working hard in his chosen calling every minute of every day except the Sabbath. The Reformation in action contracted rather than expanded the doctrine of Jesus, nevertheless the extraordinary emphasis on the individual unleashed forces which enabled man through energetic self-discipline to conquer a new continent in record- breaking time, to develop an unprecedented control over nature, and to develop capitalism as a temporary mechanism for social control. The classical economists of a hundred years ago in their highly individualistic, laissez-faire doctrine expressed in non-emotional terms the economic essence of Protestantism. Spencer, Darwin, Huxley, and their followers in promulgating the doctrine of natural selection and the survival of the fittest gave the whole idea an apparent foun dation in nature. As a result Protestantism, which in its origin was highly spiritual, be came in fact more and more material. Many of the ministers fought against the trend, but the children of the best families in their con gregations for two generations or more have gone to college and accepted as gospel truth laissez-faire economics and survival of the fittest biology. Trimmings have been put on this foundation but most of the children of our leading families have accepted as a matter of course an attitude townrd the uni verse and toward their fellow man which is based on pseudo-economics, pseudo-science, and pseudo-religion. Today I am glad to say that economics, science and religion are all re-examining the facts under pressure from the common man who is appalled by the tragic nonsense of misery and want in the midst of tremendous world stocks of essential raw materials. Science has given us control over nature far beyond the wildest imaginings of our grand fathers. But unfortunately the religious attitude which produced such keen scientists and aggressive business men makes it im possible for us to live with the balanced abundance which is now ours as soon as we are willing to accept it with clean, under standing hearts. To enter the kingdom of heaven brought to earth and expressed in terms of rich material life it will be necessary to have a reformation even greater than that of Luther and Calvin. I am deeply concerned in this because I know that the social machines set up by the present administration will break down unless they are inspired by men who in their hearts catch a larger vision than the hard driving profit motives of the past. More than that, the men in the street must change their attitude concerning the nature of man and the nature of human society. They must develop the capacity to envision a co operative objective and be willing to pay the price to attain it. They must have the intelligence and the will power to turn down simple solutions appealing to the shoit-time motives of particular class.
Statesmanship and Religion - H.A. Wallace 1934

Procol Harum & Steeleye Span 1973
While the ticket says Ohio Theater, this show was actually at Mershon Auditorium which is now part of the Wexner Center nowadays on High Street on the OSU campus.
I went with my sister in her weird little red Fiat that nobody in Springfield knew how to work on. We ate Archway date-filled oatmeal cookies on the way.
Procol Harum had a reputation for not showing up (this concert's change of venue was troubling) and they had previously cancelled on me as an opening act for Ten Years After in Dayton. This tour introduced Mick Grabham on lead guitar as they promoted their album, Grand Hotel. I remember the concert was excellent. B.J. Wilson live is an amazing experience, but what really stood out was the performance of Steeleye Span, who I had never heard of. If I had, I still would have been surprised as they had just gone electric with their album, Parcel of Rogues. They were a traditional Brit folk music band with the recent addition of screaming guitars, amplified violins and a thumping bass (but still no drums - well, jazz drums). Maddy Prior's voice just soared. Violinist Peter Knight entertained with stories, acrobatics and sizzling fiddle palying. They were friendly and chatty with the audience, telling bawdy jokes and generally making a modest sized auditorium feel like a neighborhood pub.

Weird Shit

EES

Genesis 1978
Most of the original band had left and this tour was promoting the album titled, And Then There Were Three. I remember the band members switching instruments a lot at this show in Dayton's Hara Arena (home of the Dayton Gems hockey team). Genesis had been knocking around for about a decade, had some success in England and had a bit of a cult following in the U.S.- this concert was right before they got really popular & Phil Collins set out to bore and annoy the shit out of people for years to come.

Streetcar Arguments That Make Me Wonder
The one armed brakeman.
Be afraid - be very afraid.....

The proposed Cincinnati street car will make a car free downtown lifestyle an attractive alternative for the elderly.
It will connect the elderly resident with sports, restaurants, theater, music & shopping. The street car provides ease of access to people using walkers and wheelchairs. The second stage of the project will provide easy transportation to the medical facilities in Clifton. The dense housing downtown will make the delivery of in home services more efficient. The expected increase in street activity will provide safety as well as plenty of positive human interaction to keep the older person active and alert both mentally and physically.
Given that the large baby boom generation, with fond childhood memories of downtown, is rapidly approaching this age, the time for this development is now.

Story behind the Fishwrap photo here.

How to Instruct

Because it's Friday & what you really want to do right now is to start training the new guy.
I came across this sometime in my 20s, forget how & where..... Over the years I have had to train a few people and I have always reflected back on what is on this crd. I wish a few of the people who were supposed to train me had.
The card is brought to us by a wartime government, at a time when people were thinking a bit more practically than we usually do today.
Click on the images to see them at a readable size.

Shouldn't this guy be wearing brown shorts ?

Mt Lookout Citizen of the Year
Mt Lookout has chosen their Citizen of the Year, Congressman Tom Brinkman jr.
They cite his efforts to get state money to fund their upscale neighborhood's recreational facilities.
Mr Brinkman is a fiscal conservative (when his friends and voting neighbors don't benefit from the spending) and a cherry picking libertarian. He has wasted taxpayers money pursuing legislation aimed at requiring teenage girls to bear the awful fruit of their rapists, admitting that he knew the legislation would go nowhere. He has tirelessly fought against legal protections for homosexuals. His obstructionist organization, COAST, has been an exercise in jacking up the cost and reducing the effectiveness of local government.
Go Mt Lookout !

Mt Lookout also chose Mary Vockell, a crossing guard for 27 years, who will be retiring in June, as a Citizen of the Year.
Attending to the safety of over a generation of students is, indeed, something to be noted.

New Sillyman City ?
Thugggery has a long, established role in politics both governmental and social. Sadr, Corleone, Jones are a few of the names of people who, from weakness of character, have, through the power of fear, laid claim to positions of authority that have been maintained through demands of fealty and the threats of terror, extortion and blackmail.
CityBeat reports that Cincinnati's Sillyman has issued "warnings" to the LGBT community to not challenge him. He claims that by not "buying a table" (kissing his ring), he has no obligation to their community.
This request for obeisance is interesting given the comment by the Renfield of Sillyman, inferring that Sillyman's opposition to a streetcar plan might be assuaged if the promoters were to make Sillyman an "offer".
Now the silly one has issued "warnings" to the mayor and the GLBT community.
These actions are more in line with a gangster than the leader of a civil rights organization. Of course, many his actions with the NAACP have been well outside the issues of civil rights, such as his obstructing transit programs and demanding money from the mayor for pet real estate projects.
Civil rights aren't something you trade with. To take a position to stand up in their defense is to assume a grave responsibility and not a job for a hustler.

For a more fair and balanced viewpoint, go here.