The Kinks 1984
The Kinks finally succumbed to the arena thing. Sad, but they handled it well. Dave Davies handled more of the load. Still, the Gardens seemed almost intimate after going to Riverfront Coliseum and other gigantor hell holes.

Iggy Pop 1980
Pop was touring the album Soldier which had an all star cast of musicians including Glen Matlock, Ivan Kral & David Bowie but I don't believe any of these guys were in the touring band. Matlock had toured with Pop before. It was a good rocking show, I don't recall any details, tho.
Pop was shirtless with his pants about as low as legally possible with the button undone. While crooning at the front of the stage, an arm came up and started pulling down his fly. Pop allowed this for a few seconds & then stopped it. After the show, my late friend Artie informed us in wide eyed amazement, "That was a GUY !".

Iggy explains his Dionysian influences to goonball Tom Snyder:

Going to White House Parties

With all the hullaballoo about the White House party crashers, I am reminded of a time when, even having an invitation, one might not get in.
Back in 1969 Richard Nixon's daughter Tricia had a tea party for her class at Finch College. Turned out one of her classmates had been none other than Grace Slick, the voice that launched a thousand trips. When Slick showed up with her guest, Abbie Hoffman, they were denied entry. Slick didn't launch any trips that night.



God forbid a druggie get into the white House under the Nixon administration.....

Terrorist ?
Folks are wrestling over whether Nidal Hasan is a terrorist or not. He seems to be a deeply disturbed man who has gotten all tangled up in his religion. Any religion can get abusive (or abused). Israel Regardie cautioned practitioners of magick to keep a firm grip & be ready to seek psychological counseling in their ventures into the mystic. Shame that isn't suggested for mainstream religions.
Anyway, as people try to compare Hasan's actions to folks like Tim McVeigh & even the Heaven's Gate group, I think a better comparison would be Matthew Murray, the guy who shot up a Christian Missionary school in Colorado. He was raised in an abusive religion that is arguably Christian. He was raised as a Gothardite. When the Method Men gave Bill Gothard the boot, a high ranking official in the church said that Gothard was definitely not teaching Methodistism & he wasn't sure if it was even Christianity that he was teaching.
While Murray rejected and turned on his old religion, Hasan turned on a rival religion, influenced by notions of his religions idea of Jihad. in the end, both guys lost it and just killed people. their insanity led them to objectify their victims along religious lines. It's not terrorism.

It's SHAW !

Shaw's land is outta town & he has rented an apartment inside tremont City's city limits. A mayor who doesn't want his real estate in city limits really inspires a lot of confidence. Maybe the council should annex his property....
Previously.....
Moose Son story here.

OG'd
What the Fuck is this shit ?
WCPO has changed their graphics. I would like to say it is a "retro" look as the garish gold 3D shit was very popular at one time, but nowadays it just looks pathetic. I am reminded of the satirical take on black exploitation movies, I'm Gonna get Ya Sucka! where the guy died of "overgolding". I was going to compare this to the graphics at The Onion where they go over the top on purpose, but even they have toned it down! Hell, Fox News isn't as crazy as this anymore.
Awhile ago, I posted that WCPO was laying off graphics folks & parent, Scripps, was consolidating graphics in Tampa. I am hopeful the decision to use this graphic theme was not made in Cincinnati. I have seen the work of area designers & have been privileged to work with a few. This area is teeming with talent. Apparently, Tampa is not. Or the head of Scripps just gave his teenage nephew with a warez copy of 3D Max a job.....
Beyond the garish hideousness is the impracticality & just doofynessness of the design.

In the 4-up / Hollywood squares kinda graphic, the announcers seem painfully aware that they look like douchebags.




The graphics dwarf the talent, they need to get the talent's head bigger. The title bar thingie is raised higher than need be to accomodate scrolling ticker crap. Don't see why they can't slide it down when there's nothing there. With all the other crap moving around, it wouldn't be any more distracting.




What the hell is this? Some 3D debris that was still flying around from the previous animation ? Just more flying shit. Digital monkey house design.....




The field photographers need to rethink how they are shooting & frame everything higher. Dunno if they can glob the new graphics into their viewfinder. Maybe stick some tape on it ?




the photographers need to rethink their canvas & maybe the talent should get a little bigger & move over to the side then frame the news scene to the side of the announcer. This would also move the title thingie away from the speaker's chin.
If the folks at WCPO want my help, I would be more than happy to oblige.

Would You Work on This Guy's iBook ?

Thinking different
The Consumerist has reported that Apple techs have refused to work on computers that have been exposed to excessive cigarette smoke. They claim it is a bio-hazard. It might be gross & the goop might actually damage the computer, but I doubt it is a bio-hazard. When I was a lad & started fooling around in radio at WYSO, WUSO & Bruce's Jolly Roger, I was instructed not to smoke around the electronics. At Jolly Roger it was more an issue that Bruce's parents would have killed us for smoking in his bedroom. Anyway, growing up in a house full of chain smokers I saw the yellowy brown residue everywhere, most notably on windows.
So, if you spend a lot of time tokin' up and zoning out on your iTunes Visualizer, I guess you can expect your Apple warranty to be voided. The kids at the genius bar putting on haz-mat suits might be worth it, tho.

Reasons to Ride the Bus

or not.....
Will the streetcar have newer music ?
oh well, it could be worse.

What To Do, What To Do
Because Cincinnati sucks.

Dunno how I missed this one -
The Horror Hound Weekend @ the Cincinnati Sheraton North all weekend.
Featuring Elvira

Friday:
Vermicomposting Workshop @ LaBoiteaux Woods off Hamilton Ave. from 7-9PM For info - 542-2909
Grand Opening of Fabricate 4012 Hamilton Ave. 7-11PM. For info 541-2394

Saturday:
Crafty Supermarket at the Northside Tavern 4163 Hamilton Ave. noon - 6.
Happen Inc. @4201 Hamilton Ave. hosts an all day (10-5) session you can make Thanksgiving decorations. For info - 751-2345
Gajah Wong,3937 Spring grove Ave. is saying goodbye but will be open from 11-6 selling out their Indonesian imports.
Cincinnati Unchained all day, all over town. Some of the cool sponsors are:

• Chicken Lays an Egg - 1608 Chase Ave
• College Hill Coffee Co. - 6128 Hamilton Ave.
• NVISION - 4577 Hamilton Ave.
• Melt - 4165 Hamilton Ave.
• The Mustard Seed Boutique - 311 Ludlow Ave.

Sunday:
St Boniface Homecoming 1-5 PM Turkey & Roast Beef dinners, games, a Christmas booth & gambling.
Northside Tour of Homes - 10 Homes will be open, BEFORE the Bengals play, for all to preview:
1638 Chase Ave. (2 family, $135,000) open from 12-2 pm,
Libby Hunter, Comey & Shepherd Realtors (513) 260-9632
1582 Glen Parker (2 BR 1.5 BA $112,000) open from 12-1 pm,
Libby Hunter, Comey & Shepherd Realtors (513) 260-9632
1569 Springlawn (2 BR 1.5 BA $114,900) open from 12-2 pm,
Emily Buzek Valentino, Sibcy Cline Realtors, (513) 602-7414
4360 Hamilton Ave. (5 BR 2.5 BA $499,900) open from 12-2 pm,
Patty Williams, Robinson Realtors, (513) 236-3586
4301 Beech Hill (3 BR 2 BA $155,000) open from 1-3 pm,
Grace Zobeck, Zobeck Realtors, (513) 615-2204
4226 Cherry (4 BR 2 BA $125,000) open from 1-3 pm,
Grace Zobeck, Zobeck Realtors, (513) 615-2204
4320 Hamilton Ave. (2-family $175,000) open from 1-3 pm,
Grace Zobeck, Zobeck Realtors, (513) 615-2204
4392 Hamilton Ave. (3 BR 2.5 BA $185,000) open from 12-2 pm,
Sheri Mapes, Coldwell Banker, (513) 253-7156
4396 Hamilton Ave. (2-family $155,900) open from 12-2 pm,
Sheri Mapes, Coldwell Banker, (513) 253-7156
4823 Doberrer (off Froome in Spring Grove Village – 3 BR 2 BA $118,000), open from 12-2 pm,
Carol Meadows, Keller Williams (513) 766-3879

Readmore
The Noose Son reports that both bookstores at the Springfield Upper Valley Mall are closing. One wonders if one might have been viable on it's own. The stores are typical mall fare, B. Dalton & Waldeenbooks. They offered pretty much the same products & nothing you couldn't buy online & have dropped off on your doorstep. Shopping for books online also gives you the chance to read reviews by other readers instead of pestering other shoppers at the store. The bookstores need to offer something extra.
The original Springfield bookstore was a place called Readmore. They had a large old store on the central block of a pretty much one block downtown. It was on the north east corner of Limestone & High. What I really remember was their magazine selection. They eventually branched out and had a series of stores throughout the city. This is where the store got interesting. Their book selection was paperbacks only. However they also carried, magazines, newspapers, school art supplies, springfield collectible memorabilia (clothing, plates, spoons, banners, postcards), comic books, pipes, cigarettes, chips, pop, beer, wine and, the best part - pizza & subs.
They had this tomato sauce that was heavy on pepper & lemon. They made subs (heavy on banana pepper) the usual way & then wrapped 'em in foil & cooked 'em in the pizza oven. ~drool~
It might seem like a strange combination of crap but the number of times you found yourself buying a combination of those things was amazing. Readmore was a major missing element for Springfield transplants. Return visits to the Champion city always involved a stop at Readmore. Folks, like me, who emigrated to Hamilton County also noticed another big difference. Porn.
In first amendment challenged Hamilton County one cannot get a pizza, 40 oz malt liquor & a copy of Juggs in one place. Frequently, it takes a couple stops and a trip out of the county or state. Even in Clark county the mall bookstores didn't have much of a porn selection.
Readmores are gone now. A quick interweb search gets some hits. They seem to be ghosts. I remember reading that the family that owned the stores had shelved their tomato sauce recipe. They closed their business more because the family wasn't interested than bad business tho that had declined, too. Thing is - maybe this is what bookstores need. Screw the coffee & pastry & poofy croissant sandwiches. Get down to the basics - porn, paperbacks, pizza & beer. Grab an audience that places like Joseph Beth quake in fear of.
As Amazon increases it's distribution centers they could start delivering pizzas & subs to those vicinities. Maybe this is what the public libraries need to think about to pay their way. I always thought pizza and video rental went hand in hand, but in the days of local video stores, it never seemed to catch on. I can't help but think that, if Drew's (SP ?) had adopted the Readmore business model, it might still be with us today.

Knowing When to Quit
HAHAHA ! No - not me. I'm the proverbial blind, 3 legged, Energizer jackalope from Hell !
Over at the Fishwrap, they have an article about the latest police fatality in Cincinnati. It's the first since 2007. Apparently, a young guy got pulled over in his car for a traffic violation and he hopped out of the car holding a firearm & took off on foot. After running into a dead end, a confrontation with police resulted with the guy being shot to death. This all took place around a busy intersection in a kind of suburban / industrial area. There wasn't any real good place to hide. The area is very accessible by car so zillions of police could have been on the scene in minutes. The kid had nowhere to go.
At last look, The Fishwrap had about 400 comments. The MAJORITY were deleted. The remaining comments were ignorant, lotsa race baiting & one fella even expressed that he was "doing the suburban happy dance". I like readers comments. I like that technology allows for more readers comments. I am not interested in the comments of pro op-ed columnists at the WSJ. I am interested in real working folks ideas. I am against censorship, but when the majority of comments on one article are censored and the remaining comments offer no value, isn't there a point where you just shut down the comments on a particular story ? Especially one where a young'n just died ? I am assuming his parents are reading. As I write this, the guy's name has not been released. Any parent whose son hasn't come home might be wondering.
yeah, I know, I just posted about letting "assholes" speak, but when you have, like, 300 snarky anonymous posts deleted & another 100 snarky anonymous posts left posted, it just becomes counter-productive.

Your Guide to Northside on the Interwebs
Can't find Cincinnati's Northside neighborhood on the web ? It's tough. Here's a short list.

From the official site
Northside
Northside Community Council
NBA
Northside House Tour
Farmers Market
Northside Arts

Northside Arts

Northside Greenspace

Northside Village Green

MoBo

Northside Celebrates July 4th

Northside Rock-n-Roll Carnival, Festival & Parade

CNCURC

FaceBook
Only in Northside
Northside Against Violent Crime
Farmers Market
Northside Arts
Northside is Awesome
Cincinnati Northside
ComeTo Northside
RocknRoll Carnival

MySpace
I ♥ Northside
Northside 3 & 4 of July
Northside Arts

Wikipedia

CAIN

Fishwrap

Northside Militia

P&G

Soapbox

And Northside's own social networking site.....
CincyNorthside

And then there's the churches, businesses and other organizations.....

Todd Rundgren Xavier Field House 1973

no image available

I went to this show with some chick from an art class, Vegasant's little brother & somebody else. We made the Frogtown - Porkopolis run on back roads. The art class chick drove her mom's lime green Buick or something like that.
The Xavier fieldhouse was like a slightly bigger, slightly nicer version of the Wittenberg Field House.
Sounded about the same.
Rundgren did 2 sets. First set was solo with recorded accompaniment, second with a band. I think it was Utopia. He was still playing a sensible SG. Vegasant's little brother was really getting into photography & you could still take cameras into concerts back then (Rundgren still allows cameras) and he damn near got in Rundgren's lap taking pictures during the solo set. I have nary a print, of course..... The second set was synthesizers & screaming guitar & trippy rock goodness.
I was sold.

1st Amendments & Such

I am pretty much a 1st amendment junkie. I tend to think that folks in first amendment related rackets tend to think similarly. This is one of the reasons I like blogs and don't like people who don't use them accordingly. Seems to me if you believe in the spirit of America, you would want to aspire to the tenets of the nation.
A couple issues came up recently, one being an atheist recruiting billboard in Cincinnati & the other being an ad in an NKU student paper.
Prior to hearing about the local billboard story, I was alerted to an article in The Daily beast about the movement to proselytize Atheism over at Chris's Commons.
Atheists, in my world, have fallen into 2 camps - people who have just "walked away" and people who have "angrily reacted & rejected". Most of the latter category have been Catholic while the bulk of the former have been Protestant or Jewish. When one hears about sexual abuse in the Catholic church, the motivations of the angry reaction & rejecter types gets kinda ominous. Apparently, there are 2 camps in the Atheist community in regards to the issue of proselytizing Atheism. I wonder how much these 2 camps represent my 2 camps? I certainly understand the folks like Richard Dawkins who go about debunking foolish myths that have been fairly proven wrong by science and I understand the anger towards people who perpetuate fairy tales, deny science and prattle on about scientists practicing their own heretic religion. The debate over the local Creation Theme Park -er- Museum being a prime example.
In the early 1800s, theocratic Muslim nations defended the actions of pirates in the Mediterranean Sea, plundering, killing and enslaving Christians, as perfectly justified in their society & religion and cited scripture in the Koran to back it up. Christian Europe was pretty much in the same mindset for centuries, too. We founded the USA as a secular nation, however, and we tend to condemn such beliefs and actions and promote free discussion instead.
So it was no surprise but disheartening to read, over at the Asylum, that religionists had intimidated the landowner who leased billboard space to the company who posted the Atheist billboard. I am very happy Lamar accommodated their customer with a new billboard. The only details are posted in a media release at Cincinnati Coalition of Reason website. What the threats were against the guy who hosted the billboard are not specified. They could have been threats of physical harm, boycotting or armies of protesters. Whatever, they got off easy with Lamar not identifying the people making the threats.
Meanwhile, down at NKU, the student newspaper accepted an ad for Resistance Records which specializes in White Supremacist music. First of all, if you don't think your beliefs and lifestyles are the best, what the hell are you doing ? Anyway, one of the great things about free speech is letting a person prove he is an asshole himself. Saves everybody else a lot of trouble. The Barbary Coast pirates felt they were superior. Running an ad is not an endorsement but publications do need to keep an eye on their advertisers to make sure they are not scamming the readers. Resistance is pretty daggone upfront about themselves. Would their ad have been better with some White Supremacist iconography ? Perhaps, but if they are denied the ability to publish their iconography, who would recognize it anyway ?
Sadly, some of the same people who would happily silence the White Supremacists condemn the folks trying to silence the Atheists. One guy at the Asylum condemned that blog for even mentioning the NKU story because it made people aware of the White Supremacist company.
One of the greatest things about the society proposed by the United States founders was the guarantee of the free, unfettered exchange of ideas and the inability of the government to impose or discriminate against faith. Keeping people unaware of ideas is tantamount to lying. For the most part, I applaud Lamar for their efforts in this case and I am disappointed by the NKU paper for stifling speech, especially in their quest for "diversity". Diversity as long as you agree with me is not diversity. Letting assholes speak is the best way to discredit them.

All I Want for Christmas

Oh, I so wanted one of these when I was a kid. Now it would be the perfect accompaniment when sitting in the dark in the glow of the TV set while eating burnt frozen pizzas & grape Faygo. Not that the 1940s era office chair I use now is bad, but.....
This thing would command so much more respect from the spiders, roaches & centipedes that run across my feet as I watch local access cable and plot out my New Era of Empire.
mmmm
Now, where's that yeoman Rand clone ?

Bicycle Improvements in Northside / Spring Grove Village

Or is it Clifton ?
Just got this from the folks at MoBo:

The City is considering two potential projects that would impact Northside cyclists. Before we move forward on either project, we need to know whether or not cyclists think they would be helpful. The City will not move forward unless they receive positive feedback from cyclists.
1. Bike Corral on Lingo Street: Proposal - The metered motor vehicle parking spot immediately before the stop sign on Lingo Street (facing Hamilton) would be converted to a bike “corral” that would hold 8-12 bicycles. Question – Would cyclists use this corral, or is it too far away from Hamilton? (A corral cannot be installed on Hamilton itself because of the peak-hour parking restrictions.)
2. Loop Detector Pavement Marking on Clifton Ave: Proposal – A bicycle pavement marking would be installed over the loop detector on Clifton Ave at the Spring Grove intersection (by the Kroger). The pavement marking shows cyclists where to position their bike in order to change the traffic signal to green. Question – Do cyclists have difficulty triggering this traffic signal when making a left turn onto Spring Grove
Please send feedback to Melissa McVay.

I actually suggested the Lingo bike coral awhile ago, after seeing an article about it on UrbanCincy, so, duh, I think it is a terrific idea. It would be right across the street from the Northside Tavern, adjacent to the parking lot run by the NBA. A good central location. Another good location might be down by the bank, on Palm, the street just north of Hoffner Park.
As far as the loop locator, I don't ride in the street in that area. Motorists through there are complete loons. Praise the NAACP/COA T for their patented campaign of fear & lies that got red light cameras banned. That area is ripe for monitoring/enforcement.
Thanks to UrbanCincy for locating the video.

Todays Censored Post
Today's censored post at cincinnati.com was in reference to a story about Jesse Jackson visiting the Queen of Death City.
I wrote:

Wayne Pacelle, Jesse Jackson & Sarah Palin - is Cincinnati suffering a "Plague of A$$h01e$" ?

A$$h01e$ means assholes. The Fishwrap's TOS bars "look like" words but it doesn't enforce the rule much. It even allows their use in usernames. Was it somebody in my list ?
whatever - they can only dream of having my readership.

Zombie Walk - Post Mortem

Cincinnati Zombie Walk is over til next year but it is well chronicled in video and pictures.
Also, Gordon Bombay has posted his take on Queen City Discovery.
I think my favorite part of this is that these images probably look a lot like what many people think downtown Cincinnati normally looks like. It's certainly the image of the average Enquirer reader.
Thanks to the organizers for dragging Cincinnati into the apocalypse.
When I get reanimated, I want to be in Cincinnati because, oh never mind.....

I have heard that Daytonistas prefer the soap opera of Cincinnati politics to their own for the sheer drama. Tremont City can't be far behind.
In a heated mayoral race, David Shaw was elected mayor 86-69. Now the town council has sued to have him removed from office for not being a resident. He is, actually a resident, for now, at least. Earlier in the year he had petitioned with the county to have his home property removed from the city. The county approved but there were some paperwork errors and the petition had to get sent through the Clark County bureaucratic maze again. The result is that Shaw was a resident when he got elected but he won't be in a couple weeks & he knew he wouldn't be eventually. or he has amnesia. Or maybe it's a dream. Or maybe there is an evil twin running around.
Could be one of the shorter lame duck administrations out there.

Full story at the Noose-Son here

New Blog in Town
Well, not a new blog but for Cincinnati it's kinda new. ok it's been here a few months..... ~I'm not paid to be timely~
Social Gumbo is dedicated to internet social media stuff. The author, a god from Asgard, Loki, is into connecting the corporeal through the electronic. He has lots of ideas for blogging and he doesn't limit himself to just text. Coming from a radio background he has an interest in audio.
I just recorded myself recently. I will stick to typing (and retyping).
Anyway, here's musings on his new digs in Porkopolis.

National Map Viewer

Fun, interesting, interactive map from your pals at USGS. Add layers for all sorts of geeky info.
nmviewogc.cr.usgs.gov/viewer.htm
Thanks toBrian Lawson
Blogging Isn't Cool is not responsible for time lost from work.

Divided Council ?
How do Cincinnati voters fix a divided city council ? Easy, they re-elect it's most divisive members and toss in the village idiot. When people say Cincinnati gets what it deserves because of the governments it elects, our new council is a shining example. Did voters think the Windbag was going to anoint us with cash ? Did they find Harris' honesty & pragmatism frightening? Why in the world were Cole & Ghiz returned to office? Those two would do better on a radio program.
Harris, Murray, Watson, Young or Zamary - heck my neighbor's yapping bitch, Chelsea were more qualified than Winburn & more likely to play well with others than Ghiz or Cole (especially Chelsea).
Well, don't blame me.

Voting
First time I voted was in my old high school. Ran into my last social studies teacher. He was all smiles. We hated each other when I was in his class.
The second time I voted was in a Catholic elementary school. The nuns all told me how good it was to see me again. I had never set foot in the building in my life. Rents razed me Prezbo.
First time I voted in Cincinnati was in some guy's house. He looked like Paul Reubens on a bender. He had everything set up in his lounge. It was all red with an aquarium motif. You signed in at the bar.
I lived less than a mile from my boss for a few years. I ran into him voting one time. I said, hi & told him I was going to go cancel out his ballot. He said, hunh ?
The accursed corporate parties in control of the HamCoBOE force me to vote over a mile away in another neighborhood rec center that is as far away as my own neighborhood's rec center. Couple elections back I was walking up the hill (the entire trip is uphill) in the rain feeling sorry for myself and a fella came up behind me. He was walking to Hamilton with a garbage bag full of clothes on his back & $5 in his pocket. I didn't feel so bad & I cast my vote for Ron Paul.
Why would anybody vote absentee ?

The Blogging Isn't Cool Voting Guide


Because I know my reader would likely have a panic attack without this.... Man, I had no idea I had so many posts about Charlie Winburn. I think this explains why the Fishwrap endorses the clown. He makes for easy copy !

Issue 2
Link
Link
Ohio Staves of HSUS

Issue 3
Link

Issue 7
Link

Issue 9
Video Report
Video Report
9 Makes Kids Cry
Populations
Changing Trends
Permanence or Success ?
Streetcar Arguments That Make Me Wonder
Streetcar Arguments That Make Me Wonder

Charlie Winburn
Can Charlie Be Trusted ?
Charlie Winburn's Dreaming