Easy Rider, The Ride Back

The prequel to 1969's Easy Rider, Easy Rider, The Ride Back, should be in theaters by the end of the year. The movie is partially filmed in Springfield, the hometown of the film's maker and lead actor, Phil Pitzer.
Pitzer promises a killer soundtrack and, as the movie covers 3 decades from the 40s through the 60s, he certainly has some good material to choose from.
Over the weekend he was promoting the movie in Springfield where he was showing off the recreation of the American flag decorated Harley used in the original movie.

Noose Son story here.
Interview with Two Wheeled Thunder TV:

The Plot Thickens
Cincinnati's NAACP has voted to address the Ohio Ethics Commission about Cincinnati City Councilmember Chris Bortz' alleged conflict of interest regarding the streetcar proposal. They are claiming his employer, Towne Properties stands to make out like a rat if the streetcar is installed.
I think this is the first time I have heard them say the streetcar will be effective aa an economic stimulator. The local NAACP president has stated he thinks a better investment for the city would be speed bumps & handouts to particular developers who can't finish their projects.
On the NAACP website they list the properties they claim will make Bortz fabulously wealthy.

Suspect Properties in Red
yeah, another one of my BistroMaps...
People have stated that the development spurred by the streetcar will have an effect out to 3 blocks from the track. I think that's pretty optimistic. I would guess it would trail off at two.
On the map you can see the suspect properties are not all directly on the route and a few are actually in the third block range. You could probably argue that the route almost avoids the Garfield Place properties.
Now, these properties aren't all owned by Towne. Some are only managed by Towne.

A Property Manager
I don't know how much Towne will get out of this deal. It would depend on how their contracts are set up. If they only receive flat fees, it won't do them any good at all.
The advantage of the streetcar initiative over the funding of the sports stadia is that, while the sports facilities depended on the goodwill of the 2 sports franchise owners, the streetcar relies on a large number of more diverse, middle class entrepreneurs. Directly on the route there are about 500 properties owned by about 400 entities. Expanding out a block and adding cross streets you can probably add close to 1,000 more properties. Expand further & get even more.
The NAACP president has complained that the stadia & the current Banks project have shut out black developers and contractors because bids were for large projects that required large contractors with plenty of credit. He argued that by breaking the projects down into smaller projects the poorer black contractors would have a better chance to compete. Of course poorer white, latino & female contractors would also have a better chance, too.
The Development along the streetcar route will be driven by these exact same middle class contractors & developers.
The NAACP should be concentrating efforts on seminars and workshops educating and training it's constituency on how to form businesses, get loans, learn about real estate development, etc., so they can catch the wave and be a part of the revitalization of the core of our community. Instead they continue in a long march of bombastics, obstructionism & demanding hand outs.

Yes 1977
Not a clue.

thanks

In a previous post I postulated about bike lanes designed by hop head surveyors on acid or, worse, east side cyclists. All has been made clear now as about a half dozen fire hydrants have now been installed on a stretch of road that runs between a nature preserve and a cemetery.
Why ?
Could the city be planning on tearing down more greenspace to build more cookie cutter LEED certified housing ?
Is the city worried that a forest fire in Parker's Woods might cream Northside ?
Will the hydrants carry holy water to be used in the event of a zombie outbreak in Spring Grove Cemetery ?
My guess is that they were put in due to the intense lobbying of the Cincinnati Dog Walkers Union.

Passport to Springfield
yep. Finally happened. The Champion City has seceded from the US of A ! You will be required to show your papers at it's iron gates.
no, not really. It's a community / Wittenberg event arranged by a kid involved with Wittenberg’s Center for Civic and Urban Engagement to bring students together with Springfield organizations and businesses. It is meant to bridge the gap between students and the community and, maybe, to retain some of the students as future citizens.
In the past, students introduction to the city was frequently the neon sign on a prominently located church that blinked back and forth, "Jesus Saves / Sin Kills" in red and white, complete with crucifixes & lightning bolts. After that it was chance encounters in the cemetery or students picking fights with bikers at area bars. Things seem to have taken on a more genteel tone, here in the 21st century.

Noose Son story here.

Why Downtown & OTR Needs Streetcars

Over the Rhine was developed before we had cars. People weren't as spread out in their lifestyles back then. Christian Moerlein had a house with an office next door and a plant across the street. No 2 hour commutes for that boy. The guys who worked in his brewery & bottling plants all lived nearby and walked or took streetcars to and from work. The area was a mix of residential, retail, services, manufacturing & whatnot. Residents were a mix of workers & merchants, owners and renters.
Over time, for one reason or another, people left the area. As people began to buy cars and use them as a primary form of transportation, areas like OTR became lees and less attractive.
Today, people are getting into the idea of the old walkable neighborhoods. Well, without the stinky factories and with air conditioning, private bathrooms and laundry facilities. Younger people are not as interested in cars as my generation was.
To make the area viable again, we need to make it work the way it was designed to. A downtown Cincinnati without a streetcar is like a three legged race horse.
To make the OTR area work in a car-centric way would ruin it's appeal since you would need to tear down about half the buildings to build parking lots and parking garages. It would no longer be a walking neighborhood. The people who would revitalize the area would lose interest.
Will people still be interested in an area like OTR in the future ? In 50 - 100 years ? Dunno. Ray Bradbury wrote a story where everybody teleported everywhere. But people are interested now & we should ride the wave.

Selling a Streetcar System

Let's face it. Selling a streetcar system to voters is a PITA. How do you explain to the common Joe, in a soundbyte, economic development, perceived permanence, crime reduction through occupancy, complete streets, capital budgets v operating budgets ?
Do nothing opponents, whose arguments are shortsighted at best and bizarre to evil at the worst, have a lot easier job. They only have to lie, misdirect, ridicule, obfuscate - things that can always be done easily and in moments.
It is time to fight fire with fire. November is coming like a jail on wheels, folks, & I say it's time to use what's been the ultimate marketing tool since the dawn of man. damn straight - Pretty Girls ! And who should be a model for our streetcars ? Well since the cars are made in the Czech Republic, howzbout Czech model, Nella Miartusova ?

next ?
A jingle !

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts 1983
Joan Jett was a novelty in The Runaways, she was kinda cute & had an ok hit with I Love Rock-n-Roll. On a lark, I went to see her at Bogart's. I could not get anybody to go with me. I was laughed at and insulted. A co-worker told me he had met Jett once backstage at Bogart's. "She had absolutely no personality. She was like a fucking guy." he told me. Whatever, I went alone.
What I got was no novelty, no gimmicky, straight ahead, no nonsense, no bullshit, straight from the heart rock-n-roll. After that show, I vowed to evangelize her & see her every chance I could.
She's playing The Corn Palace on Friday. Anybody want to go ? It should freak out the squirrels for sure.

Zombie Outbreak in Fairborn !!

Brittney Skye in Grub Girl
Quick ! Somebody call the Bennet sisters !

Noose Son story here.

The Northside Post Office
Storefront, a large back workroom and an office are available for rent beginning September 1, 2009
call 542-0088

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - 1971
ELP had released their debut album a year earlier to popular success and critical acclaim. They were a progressive supergroup of sorts with Emerson from the jazz rock, Nice and Lake from the heavy prog rock band, King Crimson. They had just released their second album, Tarkus when this show came about.
My friends and I still couldn't drive, so the search was on for a driver. My oldest sister agreed to drive to Dayton's Hara Arena for a free ticket. We had pretty good seats in the first row on the side fairly near the stage but not so close as to have an obstructed view. Edgar Winter opened for the show and he was touring with Johnny Winter sideman and ex-McCoy, Rick Derringer. Derringer & the McCoys recorded Ohio's official rock song, Hang on Sloopy. Derringer also wrote Rock-n-Roll Hoochie Koo. How these guys got paired with Emerson, Lake and Palmer is beyond me.
It was a good show. Derringer was doing laybacks, Emerson was the Pete Townshend of keyboard. Through it all my sister sat & did her knitting like a good babysitter.
Afterwards, we went around back with a portable tape recorder to try to get an interview with ELP. They stopped to say hi to the assembled throng from their cab which they had crammed with as many girls as possible. They sped off to Dayton's finest hotel, I am sure.
While we were waiting for them to come out, however, Derringer spotted us and came over to ask if we wanted an interview. We said sure & he commenced to talk. He was a nice guy. We wondered if he was kinda desperate but then he wasn't much older than we were when he started his career in Ohio. Maybe he just wanted to help out some kids writing for their school paper.
Went home and dreamed about cruising around in a car smooshed with girls.....

Springfield Post Office Restoration Underway
Springfield's post office was built in the 30s and, surprise, was an Art Deco design. In utilitarian government fashion, a lot of the design elements were ignored and, in the 70s beautiful drop ceilings were installed covering up the upper portions of the rooms and hiding murals by Cincinnati artist, Herman Wessel. The Springfield Preservation Alliance knew about the murals depicting scenes of Springfield's industries of agriculture manufacturing and publishing. They considered moving and restoring them but figured it was cheaper ($78k) to just restore the post office including restoring the marble floor.
The Springfield post office is at 150 North Limestone Street (north end of downtown).

Noose Son story here.

MC5 North Baltimore - 1972
We went to see The Doors. Wrong day. Canned Heat & The MC5 were scheduled. Canned Heat had cancelled. Fleetwood Mac was brought in as a replacement. Fleetwood Mac went to Baltimore, Ohio instead of North Baltimore. 3 hour drive. They bailed. The MC5 played twice.
And people wonder how we survived without the internet.....

Neil Young - 1985
This concert was at the Gestapo Training Facility known as Riverbend. I think it might have been the first year they had a whole series of summer shows. You could still park across the street for free - probably the last year for that. I had gone to a company picnic earlier in the day near an AJ Jolly golf course in Kentucky ? The guys were playing football - I went off & caught a buzz with the girls. On Monday the guys were all limping around in agony. choices, choices....
I had made Dirty Rice - what Popeye's calls Cajun Rice. Popeye's made a good marketing decision on that one. Nobody would eat my rice at the picnic. I watched one lady pull all the chicken guts out of her rice before she ate it. maybe she was going to do some divination - I don't know. I left early with my crockpot of rice and headed to Riverbend where I parked in one of the aforementioned unpaved lots across the street.
Riverbend promoted bringing picnics and enjoying music "on the lawn".
bullshit
You couldn't bring drinks in and they searched your food. I don't think you could even take food out onto the lawn concert area. The way speakers were set up and the way the pavilion effectively blocked not only the view but the sound as well, made the lawn a completely useless place to enjoy a concert. So where was I sitting ?
Anyway, after awhile I walked up to the back of the pavilion to see and hear. I had no intention of rushing the pavilion but when one guy did and ABSOLUTELY EVERY SECURITY GOON went after him, about a half dozen of us looked at each other and calmly stepped over the railing and took seats.
That last part of the show was pretty rockin'
Afterwards I returned to my car & decided to wait a bit for traffic to thin out before I left. I commenced to eating handfuls of dirty rice. I was so impressed with my culinary work that I offered it to some of he other folks standing around waiting to leave.
Why in hell would people not stick their hands into a crockpot of some strange guy's rice that had flecks of black shit in it ? Beats me.

Cash for Clunkers ?

The 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX2601 was sold at auction in Monterey, California for $ 7,250,000. This sets a record for the price paid for an American car. The car was part owned by a Springfield, OH car dealer that specializes in Corvettes and other sports cars. It was sold to a Cincinnati collector. So why didn't they just meet at a Frisch's in Dayton ? I am sure we will be seeing this car in Kroger parking lots (over by the cart corral) real soon.

Noose Son story here.

Why We Should Finish the Subway
This video is from the movie Kontroll filmed in the Budapest subway. It follows the lives of a team of ticket inspectors that, for some reason, gets into fights with other teams of ticket inspectors. No, it is not a documentary, although some Cincinnatians would probably believe it.

Fair Coverage
Channel 5 WLWT had a short article that was fairly positive. They gave most of the attention to a sign telling people gang colors and foul language would not be tolerated, tho.
Few reader comments. People who hadn't been to the fair hated it. Hated the location in Hell on Earth, Carthage. One person had actually gone and had a great time. Obviously a liberal Kool Aid drinker.
Channel 12 WKRC ran an article. They focused on the fair making making a great comeback & the participation of non-ruralites.
Couldn't find anything on WCPO's site. WXIX had hints but no bites, although I think I saw something on the air one night.
After the fair, the Enquirer ran a story about the attendance being up markedly. They also talked about how lame the turnout was compared to neighboring, more rural counties.
During the fair, the Enquirer's online coverage was a 9 picture slideshow. Woodstock got 10.
As much as I would like to condemn these guys, I'm finding nothing on the fair's website either. They have a search function that doesn't work. They ran the day's list of events on that day & not the day before.
Did the Hamilton County Fair crown a queen ? One of my highest ranking pages is this'n about the queen contestants for this year's Clark County Fair. Seems like the local media outlets would want the traffic on their commercial websites. Seems like the fair would want the interest. The demolition derbies were, apparently a crowd pleaser. How about a list of the winners ? Heck, if I am going to wreck my car for entertainment purposes, I want some recognition, dammit.
I guess, what I am getting at is that with no appreciation there is going to be a lack of participation and with a lack of participation there is going to be a lack of attendance.
To be fair, there was actually a lot of stuff going on all week- Mt Adams Music Festival, Reds games, Tours, Theater, Tennis and then all the usual stuff like King's Island, the Museums.....
yeah, life sucks around here to be sure.
oh well, here's to the Hamilton County Fair continuing to grow and bring people together to celebrate the things we do to live (like demolition derbies). I will shut up about county fairs til next year.

Sunday Past Blaster

This picture of The Phoenix Cafe ran in the Cincinnati Enquirer's Sunday magazine back in the 80s. The Phoenix had the bragging rights to being the only bar continually open since the repeal of Prohibition. They refused to serve women at the bar because it was unladylike. They had news clippings framed on the wall about Women's Rights protesters invading the cafe and crowding the bar in the 60s.
I have fond memories of The Phoenix. Sipping $1.00 longnecks. The little old man who threatened to kill me & dissolved into laughter when I told him, "ok".
I admired the Sex Pistol pink and green neon lights that framed the tinned ceiling and the woodwork that hadn't been touched in gok how many years.
With the opening of the Aranoff and the development of upscale condos in the area and the notion that we need mixed income residents to make an urban core "work", it wasn't surprising to see the low end Phoenix targeted for removal. Dealing with police requests, the Phoenix cut hours and called the police whenever they saw anything going down even if it was across the street and totally unrelated to the bar.
In liquor permit renewal hearings this cooperation & calls for service were cited as reasons to shut the place down. Actions by people in the vicinity of the bar when the bar was closed were cited as reasons to pull the bar's liquor license. This type of railroading was not unique to The Phoenix, in fact, it's pretty common. It left a bad taste in my mouth regarding The Phoenix, tho & I doubt I will ever go to the new Righteous Room that now resides in The Phoenix' corpse.
5chw4r7z visited and had a great time there. He has assured me the tin ceiling is still there. Apparently the Righteous management has no taste for timeless pink and green neon. I will assume they have adopted the crassness of the 21st century and now serve women at the bar. But I don't think they will be serving me. Well, maybe if I'm really drunk. wataminnit! - that's the only way I went to the Phoenix in the first place......

Jefferson Starship - 1975
I think the Jefferson Airplane had finally been put to rest for the first time by this time. The Starship had just released what was going to be their biggest album with top 40 hits like the sugary sappy "Miracles". The seeds for disaster were very present. The show was actually really good. The highlight was the band playing a major chunk of side 2 of Blows Against the Empire. It had become a kind of psychedelic space opera for the initiated.

7,000 gypsies swimming together
An offering to the sun in the name of the weather
Gonna Hijack
Hijack the startship....

Grace Slick could still sing, Paul Kantner still couldn't but he could play a driving rhythm guitar like a sonofabitch. Craig Chaquico was firmly in as a band member and Papa John was, well, Papa John.

Last Chance !
Today is your last chance to visit the Hamilton County Fair this year !
Riding Lawnmower Derby ! Robin Lacy & DeZydeco ! Critters ! Poo !
I still haven't found squat on a Fair Queen and given the lousy ass coverage of the fair in the local media, I doubt that I ever will.
Anyway, here's a shot from the Llama show at the Champaign County Fair...

Freddie and Carmen Hillman

Les Paul RIP

Les Paul was credited with all sorts of electronic innovations in music including over dubbing and the solid bodied guitar.
He was also a kick ass guitarist. His work has seriously been integral to the modern music scene. Born in 1915, he performed well into his 90s while suffering arthritis. Earlier in his life, an automobile accident fairly destroyed one of his arms. He had doctors set it so he could play his guitar. After playing with a host of musicians including Fred Waring (the guy who came up with the Waring Blender), he teamed up with singer mary Ford and created a pop sensation.
He is revered by, well, pretty much anybody who has picked up a guitar. He will be missed.
Here is the Wikipedia entry on the guy.
And if you are not inclined to read, here is a really short encapsulation of his life.

Baby, Don't Do It
The Who, Dayton Hara Arena 1971
The ad was in the Springfield News Sun. We all saw it. We hightailed it to the gift wrap department at Wren's Department Store to buy tickets from the little old bag (few years earlier it would have been my grandmother) working there. Tickets were $6.50. My sister told me I was getting ripped off. No rock concert should cost more than $4.00 !
The seats were about a third of the way back up on the left side. Back then different outlets got real tickets and different locations had better or worse seats. Later we would drive to Dayton and get tickets at Rikes or Hara for better seats, but then Ticketron/Master came along and added a little democracy to the process.
I digress.....
I forget how we got there. I think Pete drove that weird gold colored Oldsmobile ?
Walking across the parking lot (The Hara parking lot parties were pretty nuts) we spotted columns of police in riot gear. Ferreal, helmets, batons, clear plastic shields. Absolutely nothing happened, but it was kinda neat to see. Doubt the Dayton PD had much call to ever put the stuff on.
The Who were touring Who's Next. All those iconic songs like Baba O'Reilly, Behind Blue Eyes and, of course, Won't Get Fooled Again were all brand new at the time and absolutely blowing our teenaged minds.
During this tour, Townshend was asked when was the last time he had smashed a guitar. He relied, "Last night". He explained he had a contract with Gibson that stipulated free SGs as long as he smashed them. Kalamazoo sell out.....
From the first song, Love Ain't for Keeping, with it's first three chords thundering through the hockey arena through to the end, it was just glorious rock and roll. After Won't get Fooled Again, somebody in the audience called out, "Play some rock and roll !" Townshend asked, "Play some rock and roll ? What do you think THAT was ? Mantovani ?"
By the end of the show my friends & I were hoarse from singing along at the top of our lungs (nobody could hear, so what the heck ?) and our legs aching as we had Keith Mooned our legs with our fists the whole time.
We were happy boys.

Some folks from Antioch's WYSO recorded the concert and I believe that is where the bootleg recording of the show came from. It was released as a single and double vinyl disk edition. Not sure what all is on the double album, this is the setlist:

• Love Ain't for Keepin'
• Pure and Easy
• My Wife
• I Can't Explain
• Substitute
• Bargain
• Behind Blue Eyes
• Won't Get Fooled Again
• Don't Know Myself
• Baby Don't You Do It
• Pinball Wizard
• See Me, Feel Me
• My Generation
• Magic Bus
• Naked Eye

Hamilton County Fair Pics !
The Cincinnati Enquirer has posted 9 (count 'em) pictures from the 154th Hamilton County Fair which runs through Saturday.
Foul ! Ewes ! Flowers ! Horses ! Baby Chickies !
Hopefully, more to come - Go Enquirer! Go !
Pie Eating Contest Friday at 5 !
Gallery here.

Council Theatrics

Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz has an editorial in the Enqiurer's "Other Voices" section. In it she rails against other council members for not supporting big labor and for a committee passing legislation to the council allowing for the purchase and distribution of recycling bins.
She offers no solutions, however.
She cites the up front cost of the recycling bins but doesn't mention the impact they would have on the city's budget. You can find that info on council woman Quall's site, here.
While Quall's numbers don't add up to a break even figure & alternatives are not offered, her commentary does bring some clarity to the issue.
Ghiz just offers blame and unexplained numbers.
During Ghiz' successful campaign for office she held that council members are considered part time employees and should be compensated with part time pay. At this time of budgetary crisis, why isn't she putting this back on the table ? Why isn't she pushing for greater efficiency in the police department ?
All she appears to offer is grandstanding.

Hamilton County Fair !
On 8/8/09 the Enquirer ran a story about The Hamilton County Fair. In an earlier post I griped about the coverage of the fair in the Enquirer. This story, already stuck onto the nky.com pages describes the fair glowingly with words like, "struggles" & "dismal". The story prominently focuses on poor attendance and cites better attendance at other nearby fairs. The story tells us about a manure giveaway. We are reminded of "nearby gunfire and groups of unruly youths".
Of course the racism and optimism of the Cincinnati.com commenter is present:
From navrat," Why on earth would decent people want to take their kids to an event about agriculture,located in an area taken over by low life ,punks and thugs?"
From chillymost1 (referring to the one incident of gunfire), "Inside or Outside...gunplay is gunplay. I feel bad that we're losing this tradition, but once it is tainted by idiots firing guns...inside or out on Vine street...I don't feel safe there.".
and (continuing to obsess over the one time gunfire incident, "Im sure as heck not going there! .... make it into an Urban County fair with Uzis & Glocks and Phat Farm & Enyce clothes and boom cars with 26" wheels!"
There was a ray of hope from LetsAnnex, "A lot of hard work has gone into planning this Fair, and it is in poor taste to dismiss the work of hundreds.".
The Enquirer does mention sections of the fair being dedicated to green living and urban gardening, a new ride company, more carny game booths and a first ever parade. It also brings up fair organizers wanting to abandon the Hell on Earth that is Cincinnati. With coverage from the local paper like this, can't blame 'em.


Anyway, here's the details:
7801 Anthony Wayne Avenue
Tuesday-Friday: 3 PM-11 PM
rides start at 5 PM
Saturday: 11 AM-11 PM
rides start at 1 PM
$8 admission - $4 parking rides are included with admission.




Fiswrap Story here.

Crosby, Stills & Nash 1978
wow
I had no idea I had been to a CSN concert.

City Layoffs and Republican Bizarro World

Who would have thought the local Republicans would become the party of big labor ? It's not terribly surprising. Shortly after I moved here in the early 80s, I noticed the "conservatives" had a decidedly fascist streak.
In one of the worst global economic downturns, the city, suffering an extreme lack of tax revenue, decided to make across the board budget cuts. City Manager Dohoney directed department heads to propose what to cut. The labor unions were asked to make concessions. People were afeared of cuts in the fire and police departments. The Fire Department trimmed expenses and avoided the loss of personnel. The Police Union attempted a game of brinksmanship and has, so far, lost.
Now Republican candidates for mayor and council, challengers and incumbents are lining up behind the FOP. Kinda weird that the party of business and smaller, more efficient government is backing up what appears to be a bloated big labor type department that has duplicated resources and relies on union rules and not sound management rules to make changes.
I do have to recognize mayoral hopeful Wenstrup for his fairly proper use of the word decimate.
Republican Candidate Amy Murray, who twittered, "we must run efficient gvnt - managed competition would save $$" appears to back up the police union and not want to apply managed competition to the law enforcement agency.
It's impossible to make strategic layoffs in a completely unionized organization. I can't imagine how a business like, maybe, 5/3, would run under such conditions. The Republicans should be looking at outsourcing law enforcement to a private company like Blackwater/Xe. heck the president is even a hard core evangelical.
Even with that, a police department is largely reactionary. It can't do much to prevent crime except by just being there. People need to stop committing crimes. How do we go about that ? Municipal recreation facilities were proven to help in combatting juvenile delinquency in the 1920s. Rec centers are a good place for communities to congregate and organize civic projects. All of this stuff is only sustainable through taxes, tho. If kids are not making constructive use of recreational facilities then there's no need to have them. If the tax revenue is not there to keep them open, alternatives must be found. For meeting purposes, civic centers could be merged. Meetings and activities could be held in public schools and branch libraries. This would cut down on the duplication of management and maintenance of these facilities. this would also bring kids and adults together which could foster a greater sense of citizenship in the kids which might lead them away from juvenile delinquency (which would cut costs in law enforcement).
Increasing tax revenue to pay for public services like law enforcement is essential and utilizing our assets, like beautiful old architecture, a large riverfront, a university and medical complex is essential. Investing on a short-distance rail transit circulator option (street car) from the riverfront to UC makes perfect sense. It will empower developers of varying size to create business sites, condos and apartments. Entrepreneurs will be able to start or expand businesses to cater to the new residents. People will be able to live in a relatively small area with a great variety of locally owned businesses and services. The resultant re-population of the largely vacant Over the Rhine neighborhood would expand the tax base and dissipate crime.
Using infrastructure (at a time when construction costs are low - saving tax dollars) to empower entrepreneurship, lower crime and increase the tax base to pay for services appears to be anathema to a lot of our area Republicans, tho.
weird

And This is Going Out to All You COA Ters !

Flaw by Runt
I really like the idea of a watchdog group keeping track of the government's taxing and spending practices. It is something we as citizens need to do. I wish we had one in Cincinnati. I mean, an ethical, non-idological one that didn't involve itself with religionist groups like the CCV. One that was interested in civil rights. One that didn't regularly distort issues and resort to out and out lying and fear mongering.
yeah, I could go for that....

...and This Weekend in Historic Northside !
yeah, I know what you're thinking -
"C'mon Quimbob, we all know about the northside.net Community Calendar and the weekly eNewsletter, Bits & Pieces. We come here for your sage philosophy, insight and wisdom. We don't need to hear about all the cool stuff going on in Northside that makes our neighborhoods look like clusters of little houses made of ticky tacky !"
irregardless.....
Starting on Friday evening
An evening Walk in Buttercup Valley brought to you by Northside Greenspace.
meet at Stanford Avenue at 6:30
Saturday, beginning at 9 and lasting til 2, the CAIN Northside Neighborhood wide yard sale ! This year augmented by the College Hill/Northside Kiwanis setting up at Hoffner Park.
Later, at 9, take the Full Moon Tour at Spring grove Cemetery !
Sunday morning at 8 is the SpringLight 5k run/walk in Spring Grove Cemetery benefitting the Cincinnati Association for the Blind. Dunno if you can just spend the night....
If your tennies still have soles after that, you can take the Architreks walking tour starting at 11 at Sidewinder Coffees and Teas.
Hang around and do to the Village green Community festival and Potluck at the Gardens at the Village green (MOBO) at 5. You could win a goat.....

Judas Priest Cincinnati Gardens 1986
This was my farewell to my twenties show.
I was working third shift and headed down to Lazarus (or was it still Shillito's ?) to get my ticket the day the ticket sales started. I figured there would be a couple hundred people there. I guess the Priest's day had come and gone. There were about 15 people there, most of whom had spent the night. I got a ticket for the 4th row just left of center.
This was towards the end of my dope days with cocaine being about the last illegal recreational drug of choice. Fortified with beer, pot & coke, I headed to Cincinnati Gardens fashionably late. I really did not want to hear the opening act. I am not that big of a metal head. My timing was perfect. I got there right as the intermission started.
I frequently sat in other people's seats at concerts (squatting ?). People don't make it to shows or sit elsewhere with friends - I always relinquished when an owner arrived. So somebody was in my seat. ~no biggie~ I told him it was my seat. He informed me he didn't care. He informed me someone else was sitting in his seat & I should talk to him. Fortifried, I told him I didn't care about his seat. Getting nowhere, I talked to an usher. He couldn't do anything (They always seemed to be able to do something when I was the squatter). The usher referred me to the head usher. Nothing there. I approached a large burly SECURITY guy. nope - I was on my own. I thanked him and told him I would just have to beat the guy's ass. I returned to my seat and proceeded to engage in the yelling, cussing and posturing that usually precedes a fight. As this escalated, head usher and security guy finally intervened.
Turned out the asshole was not only a seat thief but a liar as well. His seat was, yep, right next to me, so I got to spend the rest of the evening sitting next to the butt head I had just been threatening to kill.
yay
The show was good. The guitarists could get some good interplay going. They had this one prop that was straight out of Spinal Tap. A robot looking thing with Christmas tree lights on it. It had 3 appendages that lifted the singer and 2 lead guitarists into the air. Rob Halford clearly did not want to get onto the thing. It was wobbling really bad.
After the show I bid my new friend adieu. He grunted at me and slunked away. I went on my way and broke the law a little more. The next day, I turned 30.

The Enquirer's Censors - Again
ok, this time I was censored for replying to a guy and saying that what he said wasn't true.
Cincinnati's black population is not 14.5%.
He had some percentages for racial makeup of the jail population but after that gem of a non statistic, why bother ?

The List
in case anybody is interested.....

Everybody Pays by Andrew Vachss
Live Through the 70s Johnny Winter compilation DVD
The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul
Zombie Strippers the unrated special edition DVD
Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell
Sonic Revolution - Celebration of the MC5 DVD
World of Ornament by David Batterham
Star Trek DS9 Season 3 DVD set
A Practical Grammar for Classical Hebrew by Jacob Weingreen
The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker edited by Matthew Diffee
The Haitian Vodou Handbook: Protocols for Riding with the Lwa by Kenaz Filan

Waylon Jennings Festival - Bellefontaine, Ohio 1979
This was an all day event at the Mad River Mountain Ski Resort. I have no idea who played. Some guy from the Band (Rick Danko ?) played. His set was interrupted by rain. When he returned to the stage, he was shit faced drunk.
Bellefontaine (pronounced bell-fountain) is, of course, the highest point in Ohio and home to the first concrete roadway in the country. Mad River fishing up there is also supposed to be good.
Honestly, I don't remember shit about this show.....

Jethro Tull - Cincinnati 1976
Tull came through Cincinnati & played at the crappy-ass Coliseum about once a year in the late summer early fall every year for awhile.In 1976 they released Too Old to Rock n Roll: Too Young to Die which was pretty much shit. Their concert was not dominated by it. Tull concerts were all pretty much the same. They were good & professional. Ian Anderson' banter between songs, Martin Barre's piercing lead guitar, John Evan's piano & antics all made for a fun evening. Wish they could have played at Music Hall, tho.

The Cramps - Jockey Club 1986
Pat was a pretty reserved person. 30 year old African American mother of 2, active in her church & kid's schools - that type. When she heard us excitedly planning to see The Cramps, it piqued her interest and she asked if she could join us because she had never been to a "rock show" and she had heard some interesting things about the venue in the news. We stared at her for awhile and said, uh, sure. Throw in a few freaks from The Champion City & we were off to Newport.
The Cramps were touring the soon to be released A Date With Elvis.
The Boondocks and, locals, The Reduced opened. I have no recollection of The Boondocks.
The Cramps took the stage. Ivy in high fashion harem attire & trademark orange Gretsch guitar and Lux in gold lamé from head to toe. Reverb on 11, the Cramps rocked.

Lux Interior
Lux had a couple bottles of wine. Maybe half of one made it down his throat - I mean the inside. The rest went all over the place. As the show progressed (regressed ?) through gems like The Garbage Man, Drug Train & Can Your Pussy Do The Dog ?, the gold lamé was steadily discarded to the point of gold lamé bikini briefs. At the end of the show Lux was convulsing on his side in a fetal position atop the PA speakers with the microphone in his mouth as he made not-too-human sounds to the song, Surfin' Bird. Nick, Ivy & whoever was playing bass just kept pounding away. It was a great show.
Pat never returned to The Jockey Club.

Images from The Jockey Club page

GBH & The Cro-Mags - Jockey Club 1986
I doubt that GBH (no idea what it stands for - Boston public radio ?) is anybody's favorite band but they are an energetic and fun punk band. Some of their songs are Slit Your Own Throat, City Baby Attacked by Rats, Drug Party in 526, Self Destruct.....
you get the idea
Anyways, they played with the Cro-Mags.
It was loud, fast and loud.