Holiday Theremin Disaster

Mad Todd

Ed Fitzgerald, a Cuyahoga boy, knew he had no statewide name recognition when he decided to run for governor, so he started last summer. Todd Portune, a Hamilton County boy just kinda pulled his candidacy outta his ass at the last minute. Name recognition schlame recognition…
Portune, when queried on the issue, cited the filing deadline was what was important. A perfect technocrat response.
Fitzgerald's claim to fame is as a good government guy having rooted out corruption in Chicago & Clevo. After 4 years of Kasich, there's probably plenty of work to be done in that department in Columbus these days.
Todd Portune has a thing about railroad park & rides. The 2 major parties have allegedly rigged brokered elections to keep him (& others) in office. I seriously used to like the guy but he's just appearing kinda worn out & just coasting.
So, why the challenge? Might there be conspiracy afoot? BiC certaily hopes so.
Could be the Green TWP GOP is putting Portune up to this. Could be the state Dems are putting Portune up to this, thinking the debate would improve Fitzgerald's name recognition and the run would put another line in Portune's Wikipedia page.
Or is it Portune's ploy to get on as Fitzgerld's Lt Governor?
Whatever, Kasich's bombasticness is most likely to win in 2014.

Audacity of the Echo Hippie

The dewy eyed Millennial liberal, buoyed by his doting parents' praise & admiration has brought forth an obnoxious group of wet behind the ears saviours - The Echo Hippies.
Silly twits who actually believed their parents when they heaped praise upon them for wiping their own asses, are coming out of the woodwork to solve all the world's problems.
Marx spewing babes - unaware of real problems & their roots and unaware of people already working on the issue, some longer than the Echo Hippie started to draw breath are driving me up a wall.
They seem to disavow anybody over 30, anybody in a uniform, including clerical collars. OK, granted, that sounds familiar, but as I have aged, I have seen the merits of fogeys and I have come to respect the brightness of the yunguns.
When you storm in demanding stuff and don't even know its already there & already in place - that is what bugs me. Then, when they are challenged, they scream & cry foul.
It's so easy to just ask first, but these fucking, liberal little impertinent, screaming maggots are really starting to piss me off.
and, furthermore - get offa my lawn !!

∃ ∀ ∈ ⊕

Year End Warp Up

The 2013 Sidebar GirlsAs the year winds to a close, it's time to take stock of ye olde blogge. The smashing success of the sidebar girls just can't be measured. Surfeit it to say, a slideshow with a moshed up GarageBand loop mess was merited.
Readership was down 3 years in a row - I didn't think that was even possible…
Google has made tracking keyword searches nigh impossible but I found top searches were:

• Grace Slick
• Amazing Hair Raising Monsters
• John Cranley
• Alyce & Rhae Andrece
• Ashley Bulgari
• bridge design
• Janice Rule
• brothel menu
• Gruss vom Krampus
• Britney Skye, zombie

Top countries are USA, Germany, Canada, Russia, & England. Top towns are Cincinnati, Ashburn, Palo Alto, Dayton & San Diego.
14.1% of readers stay longer than an hour, so I guess I, at least, have some kind of somnambulistical effect on some folks.
Top pages were

• The Cincinnati Streetcar Controversy
• Is John Cranley Even Lying to Himself?
• Death of a Star Wars artist
• Films of Cincinnati 1934
• The Fugs - CIA Man

My hottest merchandise appears to be the Seal of Mercury Mousepad. Sold 2 in the last 3 months. One in Wales & one in Australia. Ain't sold a thing from my Cincinnati Collection. sigh.
My Slummin' in the Sketchbook series is attracting a lot of attention. I'm kinda thinking a coffee table edition for Xmas 2014.
People are sharing links via FB more
Chrome is the most popular browser, with Firefox & IE slugging it out for second & Mac OSX coming in at about 15% & Linux at about 5% for operating systems.
So what's in store for 2014? Recipes? Showtunes? NASCAR?
Stay tuned!

Here They Come! Is Cincinnati Ready?

While the goons over at UrbanCincy are carrying on about whether the city is ready for echo-boomers, we, here at Blogging isn't Cool & our pals at the Bilderberg Group, are more concerned with whether the city is ready for the billions in European investment in the USA or not. These guys have already decided to invest in the country, but do they even know what Cincinnati is? Where Cincinnati is? What it's strengths & weaknesses are?
Our last mayor might have had the right idea by representing the city abroad but how well he did it & how good his aim was, I don't know. Did he go to Romania? One third of the Romanian companies, mainly from manufacturing, technology and consumer goods industries, are considering international expansion in the coming year, according to a study conducted by Citibank. The most popular areas for expansion are the Middle East, Europe and the U.S.
We have Globili - that's a start, but most of the international businesses that are interested in coming to the US already have English speakers. We have a website but so does everybody else.
What we need are people out scouting for businesses abroad that are a good fit with Cincinnati, it's location, people, skills, assets etc.
As the PIC @ UrbanCincy points out

As Cincinnati’s new leadership settles into their self-empowered roles of merely paving roads and keeping streetlights on, how does that position the city and region in an ever-changing economic landscape…

And it's not just foreign investment, American businesses are re-shoring, too.
A greater portion of the United States population is expected to move to urban areas in the coming years. The fastest growing segment of the population is immigrants as US birth rates have slowed.
Is Cincinnati prepared to reap anything from these trends? Or is Cincinnati, like a child, just going to stare out the window while chewing on the lead paint on the sill?

Psyche Rock

Pierre Henry's Psyche Rock. I only really know him from his work with Spooky Tooth that always comes up around Christmas.

Slummin' in the Sketchbook

Too Drunk to Fuck

Who knew Evan Johns did a cover of this DK classic?

Still There'll be More

Santa...

dear God - please make it stop.
HT to The Cincinnati Monocle

It's Christmastime In The City

Valeria Meets Barbie

As a fan of the barbie animated movies, I have to say Valeria Lukyanova is intriguing. I'm also a zombie fan , but Zombie Boy is just plain weird. Lukyanova takes it s step further, tho, with Space Barbie (below).
So here's what I want to see, Lukyanova in a Barbie animation. Creepy? Sure, but kids' entertainment tends to fit in there somewhere between creepy & horrifying so what the heck?
I wonder if this chick worries about somebody cutting her head off?

Slummin' in the Sketchbook

So be good for goodness' sake
I can't believe how legible my handwriting used to be. Anyway, time to get into the Christmas spirit & what better way than with a Santa hauling around a blood dripping axe.
Oh Ho Fucking Ho indeed...

Is the First City Wide Benefit of the Streetcar Greater Civic Engagement ?

Invest in Neighborhoods hopes so.
From their latest newsletter:

Let's Continue the Drive
The past couple of weeks have seen an exercise of citizen engagement unlike anything Cincinnati has experienced in recent memory. Historically at the neighborhood level, we tend to see a significant increase in participation when issues that touch self interest are being debated.
To be sure, the streetcar debate did for some involve self interest, but for many, many more (on both sides of the issue), it was a matter of what they felt was best for the future of our city. Many of those had not ever before spoken or acted publicly on an issue of such importance.
It's apparent to us there's a whole lot of passion about Cincinnati throughout the city. This passion, if pointed in the right directions, can benefit every neighborhood in the city.

Talk about swords to ploughshares…
Cincinnati can really benefit from friendly neighborhood rivalry but it can also result in bitter Balkanization. Our new mayor deftly used division to his favour in the last election.
Besides the outpouring of activism on both sides of the issue, the scrutiny applied to the streetcar project has also been pretty educating as to the processes of government, public infrastructure projects, government accounting, and such.
Taking this experience, we should be able to move forward promoting our communities & the city at large more efficiently & effectively.
Or we can waste it and just fall apart & squabble & threaten secession & bask in victimhood I guess...

Frank Zappa

12/21/1940

Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth

ya know?

Can You Spot the Difference ?

Torture 101

Torture is primarily a psychological thing. Beating the crap out of somebody is less effective (& a lot more work) than slugging somebody a couple times and threatening to beat the torturee to a pulp. Ultimately the torturee needs to think he can gain freedom by cooperation. If he believes he is doomed he might lie, clam up or try something heroic. You don't even need to use violence on the torturee. You can tell him he is about to be released and, at the last minute, tell him things didn't work out - can you offer this one bit of info, please?
In the end, the torturer has to expect to free his prisoner and must decide what message he wants to send. Does the prisoner go free looking healthy and unharmed or does the torturer want to send a message to other would be opponents and release the prisoner crippled with a noticeable injury, a limp, a missing eye or finger.
We can expect to see how John Cranley will handle that last part in the coming weeks & months.

Cornered Rats Don't Run

If you are a streetcar supporter heading down to the Cincinnati City Council meting Wednesday, 12/18 @ 1:30 PM, watch your back.
Streetcar foes, like the union thug presidents might get hauled out screaming & cursing or senile old politicians might stage a sit in. People might make throat slashing gestures or certain councilmen might lunge at his opponents. Or maybe a CO   er might think someone is standing too close and freak out on him.
We will see which city employees are dedicated to the city & it's peoples and which are bowing to their union bosses.
These are an irrational, angry, unpredictable lot with violent tendencies and Cranley is pleading with that thuggish horde to show up in force. Believing the fix to be in, they have not shown up at council meetings since the latest junta.
Cranley certainly doesn't have a good reputation for keeping control of his meetings and now that there are "no rules", who knows what bedlam might occur.
Remember, this isn't about money - it's about class warfare, nativism & political control. These people are beyond reason. Due to recent events they will be like cornered rats.
Watch your backs.

.

This swim club I belonged to as a kid - not a country club, more of a workingman's - WHITE workingman's recreation club, had a goldfish pond and a fish food dispenser thingie that you could plop a nickel into, like a gum machine, and get a small handful of fish food pellets.
When you'd throw the pellets, one by one into the water, the goldfish would be all over each other to catch a pellet or two.
It was kinda mean.
My buddy took the meanness & cheapness up or maybe down a notch. He didn't bother paying a nickel, he just threw pebbles into the water & let the fish fight over nothing. He would laugh and laugh and laugh.
He also got off on feeling up my dog's tits when she was pregnant.
Anyway, I am seeing Larry's mindset in John Cranley as he routinely plays streetcar supporters - tossing them pebbles.
Fuckin' with fish ain't the same as fuckin' with people.

The Boy Just Can't Help It

The Green TWP GOP

The gift that keeps on giving
The never ending font of corruption, nepotism, incompetence & right wing douchebaggery of the Green Township GOP, the latest gem is the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, tasked with maintaining court records, couldn't keep the office's domain name registered. If Tracy Winkler's name sounds familiar, it should, the Winkler family makes up about half the local judiciary. You might recall the judges were cited for lavish spending in their courtrooms & for going off on costly seminars & conventions at posh resorts while Hamilton county was facing deficits and making draconian cuts to the budget and laying off employees.
This is also the township the Terhars call home. A husband & wife wrecking crew, Mr terhar was virtually handed a seat on the Ohio General assembly while Mrs Terhar, after winning a seat on the Ohio school board, was virtually handed the presidency of that board by powerful GOPers like John Kasich. Qualifications be damned. She was recently caught making ridiculous statements regarding the President being akin to Hitler even though the actions attributed to Hitler were false and any Ohio high school graduate should have known that. Meanwhile Mr Terhar has been merrily working to restrict voting, restrict womens' health options, promote gerrymandering & opaqueness (in the name of transparency) in politics, etc.
How did Terhar, a man with virtually no political experience get the gig? His wife turned it down when the GOP had to replace another Green TWP resident Robert Mecklenborg, who got busted driving drunk, pumped full of Viagra on an expired drivers license in Indiana in he company of a stripper about 1/3 his age. "old family friend"? hell, even his wife called BS on that one.
Green Township trustees demanded SORTA keep their damned buses off their turf because they didn't want "those people" coming into their beautiful little Utopia.
But that's not the only threat they have faced. One of Green Township's best managed to get on as president of Hamilton County's CMHA where he slammed Cincinnati's Hyde Park neighborhood with Section 8 housing and blocked any Section 8 in his home township. This all fell apart, however when HUD found out & demanded Green Township take on their fair share. Residents howled about their victimization (Hyde Park's didn't matter) and Steve Chabot, R Westwood, ran to their side & then walked away.
Back to that board of trustees. After advertising for a secretary - stating necessary qualifications & posting a deadline for applications - hired a woman sorely lacking in qualifications and who submitted her application past the deadline. It turned out she was the ex-wife of a prominent GOPer.
Back in August, 2013, folks in Green Township, drunk with their self importance, called in a grocery bag as an obvious terrorist bomb threat - because terrorists really give a fuck about Green Township. And while the residents see fit to complain about Morticia Addams' attire, bonfires of Democrat yard signs are AOK.
I thought Tremont City in Ohio's Clark County was the drama capitol of the world, but Green Township…

Very Interesting

Borrowing $20 MILLION for a highway interchange is AOK without independent audits and promises from the private sector for maintenance costs over the next 25 years.
Support was largely based on ROI predictions made by some of the same people who made the highly suspect predictions for the Cincinnati streetcar.
How much will this $20 MILLION cost us? About $2Million a year for a total of about $43 MILLION.
What will maintenance cost over the next 25 years? Who knows? Who cares? It's FREE!
Did anybody consider just using highway type signage on existing roads?


Read not much more at the Fishwarp.

Growing Cities

Slummin' in the Sketchbook

Do you dream in cartoon? I frequently do & the fact that it doesn't totally freak me out kinaa freaks me out. While this looks nothing like the Loa, Legba, it was. Had to draw it next AM which kinda verified that it was. I guess…

Snubbed Again

ok, I'm used to it. I'm a big boy. This time around the CEAs don't even have a category for Best Slapped Together Soundtrack for a Dumbass Blog Video!
ugh the state of multimedia in Cincinnati is pitiful…
I will have my revenge.

Read more about this rigged for elitists awards mess here

It Wasn't Obamageddon?

The Fishwarp reports the 10 most discussed topics on American FaceBook were;

• 1 Super Bowl
• 2 Government shutdown
• 3 Boston Marathon
• 4 Syria Crisis
• 5 Harlem Shake
• 6 Pope Francis
• 7 George Zimmerman
• 8 Royal Baby
• 9 Nelson Mandela
• 10 Presidential Inauguration

On my feed #1 would have to be some form of Obama, Obamacare, Impeach Obama, Obama Traitor, The End of The World, The Sky is Falling or something. Maybe I just have the wrong friends...

Read more on the hottest topic of the day here

More of Cranley's Empty Promises

Another community asset dashed by Mad King Cranley is local access television. While he pledged to keep it alive during his campaign he has now opted out. Media Bridges thought they could count on the long on rhetoric/short on facts guy but are now definitely closing down. They will be having an auction for non-members 12/17 from 10AM to 4PM.
You can see some of the inventory here

Cincinnati 1934

Thanks to Digging Cincinnati History for finding this UTube of old film clips of Cincinnati's Mohawk & Camp Washington neighborhoods from 1934. (this is worth going full screen)
While there has been improvements in Northside & the southern part of OTR/Northern Downtown, the area in between is in pretty bad shape & pretty vacant. Unfortunately this area is not part of the current Cincinnati regime's agenda. The problem with their plan is that anywhere that borders on these blighted neighborhoods is in danger. Watching these clips, one can see the areas were once very vibrant. They can be again.

Marx !

Figures it would be a damn commie who would be behind putting the God of Thunder on a stupid pink scooter…

Is John Cranley Even Lying to Himself ?

Bad to BizarreAs Cincinnati's mad mayor had to get even with councilmemebers who called out his gangland style leadership during his first week in power, he as one might expect, lied through his teeth.

And we opened up government. People could be heard. Speakers were not limited as in the past and I listened carefully to everyone. Council members could freely express themselves, and actually introduce motions that will get a full hearing.

Seriously? Every public speaker was limited to 2 minutes & council members, if agreeable, had 6. Of course if you didn't agree with the mad king…Cranley's description stands in stark contrast to how other people there saw it.

Cranley’s first week lacked structure, included attempts to purposefully silence the voters of Cincinnati and elected members of council

Is Cranley capable of telling the truth? Is he even lying to himself?

Cranley's Fractured Fairy Tales

Bad to Bizarre
Interesting that John Cranley doesn't like / trust any of the info that's come out of city hall in the last 8 years except one memo that's 'just right'.
Interesting how he spins his communication with the Feds as if they are acquiescing to him

At our request, they have decided to hold off of on canceling the streetcar project until midnight on December 19th in order to allow the City to make a final decision. I appreciate their patience and collaboration on this important policy decision

When it actually sounds a bit more like a smackdown

[the city has breached the city and SORTA's grant agreement in] an unprecedented action to suspend a federally funded transit project while it is currently under construction. Unless this action is reversed and I receive not later than midnight on Dec. 19, 2013 unequivocal assurances that the city will proceed with the project to completion on the current FTA-approved schedule, FTA will immediately terminate all of its grant obligations for the project and initiate a debt collection action to recover money owed

If this guy was Pinocchio, he'd need a brace of some kind to hold his head up.

More at the Biz Currier

Happy Krampusnacht!

On the eve of the feast of St Nicholas, Nick's pal, Krampus, comes to visit all the little children & all the young ladies.
And if some of 'em wind up in the river? well...

yeah, this is how holidays oughtta be celebrated!

Cincinnati is NOT Open for Business

In less than 3 days Cincinnati's John Cranley & his Gang of Five has established Cincinnati as possibly the worst city in the midwest to do business with. Their actions have been worse than David Crowley's Environmental Justice legislation. Toss in John Kasich's corrupt economic development scheme & I don't know why anybody would come anywhere near the Buckeye state let alone the Queen City to invest.
While the obsession with killing the Cincinnati streetcar may be aimed at killing Mark Mallory's legacy, this recent move is also going to demolish any of his efforts to lure foreign investment to the city. Why would anyone from China, Germany or Spain ever want to invest in such an unstable political climate? While making the city a horrible place for investors has been a long term goal of CO    and the NA CP, their chaos is now institutionalized.
The U.S. is expected to benefit from tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment in the next ten years. Cincinnati has killed any prospect of reaping any benefit from that for at least four.
The next generation of Cincinnatians will have a bleak future for sure.

Mind Reading Robots ?

oh, great. Just fucking great. What could go wrong?

WC3PO article here

Remembering David Mann

When I was a yung'n, just getting to know Cincinnati, I lived on Halstead Street. In my time there I only ever saw 2 politicians. Quite a difference from Northside where they routinely pay to walk down Hamilton Avenue in sweltering heat & rain every year.
One of these politicians was Steve Chabot who was running for Cincinnati city council. He vowed to walk down every street in the city. Even if the guy's a complete asshole, I thought, he has to pick up something from this stunt. I had just got off working 3rd shift & had gone out on the front porch with an ice cold Stroh's, a bag of Mike Sells' and my latest haul from the comic shop. I had fashioned a speaker cabinet with a couple old car speakers I mounted in a cardboard box stuffed full of old newspapers. I had set that out on the porch & I distinctly remember it playing Black Flag's My War when Chabot ran up to me & breathlessly told me, "I'm Steve Chabot and I'm running for city council". He then darted off down the street. My Black Sabbath T-shirt, comic books, beer & chips at 8AM on a Saturday morning might have put him off, but both of us being Republicans, I was sad we didn't get a chance to discuss issues.
The only other politician I ever saw down there was David Mann. On steamy hot windless summer afternoon, I was on my bike outside the bar at the corner of Eliza & McMicken (I cannot remember it's name). Like most of the other guys hanging out, trying to stay cool, I was skinny, shirtless & unshaven with unkempt hair. We were all poor & trying to make the best of miserable summer day in the Ohio River valley. We were all a little surprised to see a large gray town car come rolling up the street - doors locked, windows up AC blasting - keeping the carload of suits inside nice & frosty. And there was David Mann, in the back seat, smecking & gavoreeting with his fellow suited droogies as they glided thru the slums of Cincinnati.
And that's about it.

Why Should I Care ?

Hundreds of Supporters Rally for Finishing Streetcar

image by NerdyParkerOn Dec 1, 2013, hundreds of Cincinnati Streetcar supporters lined the partially built streetcar line to show their support for finishing the thing and to protest the ego & politically riven efforts to stop it.

image by J. MecklenborgConstruction of the track is coming along nicely & appears to be of good quality. The gauge will also accommodate longer range light rail cars, making the line more extensible, and the boarding platforms will line up with the streetcar floor eliminating the need for slow & costly electronic ramps for wheeled stuff entering / exiting the cars. All in all, a smart, well designed system to be proud of for generations.
Meanwhile, councilman Smitherman still claims to not knowing his brother was involved with the project for the last 4 years, vice mayor Mann claims he needs 'good numbers' while touting the $50k/day construction costs the Fishwarp reported & City Bleat clearly debunked and John Cranley still assumes he can just walk away from the whole deal with no consequences even though CAF & the FTA have been clear to the contrary.
More from Sunday

Why is Chris Smitherman Lying ?

Because it's just what he does? As the late Dean of Cincinnati used to say, he just makes stuff up. Or maybe it's because he's a sociopath & the boy just can't help himself.
The Business Courier reported that Smitherman was surprised to know his brother, Al, thru Jostin Concrete was engaged in building the Cincinnati Streetcar line but to avoid any conflicts of interest, asked his brother to withdraw from working on the project. Offering no evidence, I guess we should just take his word for it.
But Jostin's involvement goes back to 2009 as reported at UrbanCincy. And the Cincinnati Blog dug up this gem on the NA CP websiteChris Smitherman shouldn't have been re-elected - he should have been impeached.

Who Needs a Bridge ?

Flying cars, hovercraft, amphibious cars, rocket packs, winged back packs, ultralight aircraft, ferries…
The reason to build a $300 BILLION 14 lane bridge that will blight Covington, KY just keeps getting weaker. Now Amazon announces it is looking into delivery by drone. Packages can be flown up from Hebron to your Cincinnati doorstep - no bridge necessary!
Stop the madness - forget the bridge - it's the past - we should move forward.

Cyber Monday Bonanza

You can camp out at Target, beat the shit out of your neighbors at WalMart, get murdered by C.H.U.D. downtown like all the other lemmings ~OR~ you can crawl in to work & get real cool stuff online.
Where else can you get a cocktail shaker emblazoned with the crest of Erzsebet Bathory? To Serve Man BBQ aprons? Seal of Mercury keepsake boxes? Simbi ornaments? Ault Park shopping bags? Music Hall & Union Terminal clocks?
WHERE ?
I'll tell you where - NOWHERE
From 80s midwestern punk rock to obscure 70s San Francisco acid rock - from futuristic man eating aliens to 16th century serial killers - from John Dee to Marie LeVeau - BLOGGING ISN'T COOL HAS WHAT YOU NEED !!
That's right folks, from the sandy beaches of Lake Erie to the white cliffs of Dover, all your holiday shopping needs are at your fingertips RIGHT NOW ! If you can't decide what you want - just get one of everything. While nothing is guaranteed, your satisfaction is imminent.
Your next mouseclick could be the most important twitch in your life.

• The Bathory Crest collection
• To Serve Man collection
• The Jockey Club collection
• The Ault Park collection
• The Knowlton's Corner collection
• The Music Hall collection
• The Union Terminal Clock collection
• The Union Terminal Queen collection
• Caduceus Corner
• The Tree of Life collection
• The Jack Therion Deluxe collection
• The Loa Simbi collection
• The Sigil of Saturn collection
• The Seal of Mercury collection
• The Kabbalistic Hexagram collection
• The 'You Gotta Ride' collection