Ad Placement Fail

An oldie but goodie - the chills that go down your spine when the ad starts are just awesome.

The Pariahs

Catch The Pariahs at The Comet Halloween night

Horror Lounge Music

Not a fan of this show Jessica Lange?
Still this is nice & creepy.

The Martian Influence in WWI Exposed

The government coverup will never work, the truth will overcome the lies.
HA, this History Channel show looks like it could be pretty good. Their real history is so bad, what the hell?
Beats another pawn shop show...

Horror Sells

Around this time of year, things get a little spooky. Nature, all around us is dying. Days are getting shorter. People say the veil between the dead & the living is it's thinnest and the ability of the capricious spirits to foment their malevolent tricks on the living is at it's easiest.
So what a perfect time for some RNC fear mongering.

CRANLEY!

After loud complaints and Mayoral condemnation concerning the horrible trash pick up policies promoted by the hated Mallory, Qualls, quinlivan cartel, turns out most people are AOK with it.
Results of a recent survey show a vast majority, 80-90%, are perfectly happy with their horrible schemes.
hmmm….

PISA

First I heard of this group was in Pat Buchanan's The Sky is Falling book where he cites a study of the PISA results published by virginiadare.com.
Like the video, it states that US schools ain't bad. But that author breaks things down by ethnicity & points out the US average core is weighed down by African Americans and Hispanics while Euro Americans & Asian Americans have very good scores. He also points out that Hispanics in the US schools did better than Hispanics in Central & South American countries.
So, maybe our schools are doing something right?
Here's one of the graphs that is missing on the site.As the vdare guy says, there's a ton of data and he does not cite a lot of factors like student wealth or if the kid lives in a rural or urban area. You could break it down to poor rural Asians v. wealthy urban Hispanics, single parent v. double parent, ethnicity of adopted parents & see where it gets you, but the bottom line is not the initial, overall national scores.

Monzel v Feeney v Tarbell

Dan Hurley takes on the Hamilton County commissioner's race.
Monzel spins his soviet style, bistro math, knee jerk style of government.
Feeney gets raked over the coals for playing the game as the rules go & not playing the backroom deals game.
Tarbell seems somewhat coherent & shows some life attacking Feeney at the last moment.
Newsmakers

Vote Fitzgerald

Kasich needs to go. We can't afford another 4 years of this creep.

Fitzgerald D v, Rios G Elitist Kasich R Chickens Out

Contrasts in Journalism

As the newspapers roll out their endorsements, it's interesting to see who they pick and, especially with the Cincinnati Enquirer, how they pick. The Fishwarp should have ben given some sort of award for twisting, writhing, backpedalling endorsement of John Cranley for mayor. Their endorsements this year have almost been on a par and their endorsement of Mitch McConnell is right in there.
Meanwhile, The Lexington Herald Leader is pretty darn clear in theier endorsement of Alison Lundergan Grimes and so is the Louisville Courier Journal.
The Fshwarp is the paper of record for a chunk of Kentucky, so it's not like they should keep their mouth shut but the timidity of their endorsement contrasted against the 2 Kentucky papers (one also a Gannett paper) is striking.

Horror Sells - Safety

The Finishing Line
This 1977 documentary was made to get kids to quit playing around the train tracks. Like that's even possible.
Anyhoo, it was shocking enough that the film was abandoned & banned.
The kid that was fantasizing the whole thing is definitely my kind of guy. Unfortunately, in typical cheap ass British film making tradition, it's pretty sparse on special effects. Americans & Japanese would have a lot more gore, mutilation & dismemberment. Still, it has that eerie British The Prisoner thing going on.

Read more at Dangerous Minds

Horror Sells

Horror sells late night shopping for cheap furniture.

Rethinking Death

The history of the funeral process is interesting in this TedX chat but the stats on materials 6 ft under is pretty amazing.
Wood for 4M homes, 90M tons of steel, 2B tons of concrete, 800,000 gallons of embalming fluid/yr…
Mr Wilde (of the Wilde Funeral Home, LOL) also discusses green & DIY funerals.

Manhole

WLWT Reports that people are stealing manhole covers. Well, actually sewer grates, but they posted this picture of a manhole cover.
The story says they cost $120 but the damage to you, your car, bike or segway, if you hit the hole, could be much more costly.
So, to get some revenue, maybe the city could sell miniature replicas of their manhole covers to use as trivets. Meanwhile, start using covers & sewer grates made out of something other than metal, like fiberglass. That is, generate a new revenue stream & curb losses.

The Twisting, Spinning GOP Dervish Strikes Again

Apparently Chairman Al doesn't know the difference between true conservatism and democracy denying, statist, big brotherism.
Perhaps what he meant to say was that Monzel was a dictatorial fascist engaged in divisive class warfare - painting Music Hall supporters as elitist and not really in line with the rest of the county.
What the Hell, worked for Hitler & Reagan…

Horror Sells - kinda

The National Wildlife Federation wants us to know bears will be one of our biggest allies in the coming zombie apocalypse.
I don't think their science is so hot, tho. If we could bite back, wouldn't it have been documented in some horrible movie?
Further, if their bites turn you into a zombie, wouldn't it make sense that biting the zombie have the same infectious result? Or is it just that you die what makes you a zombie….
fuck it, time travel is easier…

Read more at CNET

Betty Does Halloween

Not really a Betty Boop fan but that 'Witch Paint' is pretty awesome.

Luken v. Winkler

Glad WKRC is getting these political candidate Newsmakers shows out earlier that usual this year.
Dan Hurley interviews Charlie Luken & Ralph Winkler/
BiC HATES political dynasties & this is a war between dynasties but as much as I dislike both of these guys, Winkler comes off really bad. Luken is a much better speaker & that makes sense with his experience as a TV announcer. Winkler's voice is what it is, but his body language is terrible.
Add to that, the Winklers belief that they shouldn't have to take budget cuts when the county is hurting for money, that they should get free junkets off to posh resorts, I don't see this guy as someone I want on the bench.
We're going to have to go with Luken on this one.

Josh Mandel's BS Called Out

man, this guy is a weasel...

A Return to Monarchy

With all the crap going on in SE Europe & Russia rattling it's sabers, fucking Romania, a republic, Is talking about going back to being a monarchy.
I honestly don't know how precedented this is but it does fall in line with the rise in nationalism throughout Europe & the rest of the world.
It would certainly be a real life Conservative thing to do. Wonder if the royalty would take over the church, too?

Read more at The Romanian Insider

Read even more at >The Romanian Insider

Hurley with Chabot & Kundrata

Steve Chabot blames everybody else & Fred Kundrata pledgs bi-partisan efforts.
Why does nobody call out Chabot for his reckless obstruction that is killing any chance for jobs creation & stalling any kind oeconomic recovery on Main Street?
Kundrata is right that Chabot is an extreme ideologue. He is a danger to our nation and, with all his saber rattling, the world.


Watch the interview here

John Cranley, Cincinnati's Own Vladimir Putin

A group of Russia experts got together to try to guess Vlad Putin's next moves. Their evaluation of Putin's strategies seem very John Cranleyish.
Divide & divide, stir people up & then swoop in with a seemingly reactionary plan.
And all of it stemming from an insatiable lust for control and power.

He (Gary Kasparov) said that, rather than marching across the border, Russia would try to stir up some pro-Moscow "form of dissent" in the Baltics. This would allow Russia to maintain plausible deniability and characterize any military action in the region as a reaction — something that would make it difficult for NATO members to call it an invasion.
and
What may be most disconcerting about Putin in general, however, is his lack of predictability. All of the panelists agreed on one thing: Putin's end goal is to stay in power. And if that goal is suddenly best furthered through making noise in the Baltics, then there's a very real possibility he'll take action.
"We're talking about a man who doesn't have a plan. So we're trying to figure out what his plan is, but he doesn't have one," Gessen said. "He sees that as an option. It is definitely an option, he is considering it, and he may wake up one morning and do it."

But, hey, maybe annexing some nearby towns might be a good idea.

More on Vlad here.

Horror Sells

Well, maybe not horror, but Halloween. Apparently this is considered a sexist ad, altho I'm pretty sure few women are being forced into wearing these costumes. In fact, going out in slutty costumes seems pretty popular for young women.
I recommend, horror.
and gore
and outer space aliens
and robots
and zombies

The Rail Towers of Springfield, OH

For you train fetishists.
I remember some of these from biking around in the county. It should probably be called The Rail Towers of Clark County.

The Freaks & Geeks of Halloween

I liked this show, Freaks & Geeks. Kinda sappy but, what the heck. Anyway this episode brings up an aspect of Halloween celebration that is really interesting.
People spend the most money on Christmas but Halloween is #2. Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Memorial day - while people vary their celebrations a bit, they all tend to do the same thing. There is a single underlying theme in all those holidays. Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus (on the wrong day), 4th of July - American independence, Thanksgiving - start of the Christmas shopping season...
Halloween is all over the map.
For some it's dress up, whorish dress up, slasher movies, horror movies, food ffod & more food, pranks, whatever. A small minority of people celebrate it as Samhain or as a time when the departed ancestors are closest to the dimension of the living.
In the TV episode the family is split between the parents & their 2 kids and the evolution of their attitude and approaches to the holiday.
The cookies in the front yard with ants all over them is one of my favorite parts.

Brad Wenstrup is a GENIUS!

ZOMG!
What a way to meet chicks! Women 4 Wenstrup has gotta be just brilliant!!
OK, it's on, Women 4 Quimbob is taking registrations NOW !!

Keeping it Vague

Monzel, detail light bistro math self promotion. Monzel will save bazillions by coming up with tax schemes written on used Skyline napkins.

Flying Saucers on Wistful Vista

Be Afraid - Be Very Afraid

While I expected the big hysteria thing this Halloween would be Ebola tainted chocolate, it appears the Denver Heat is whipping people up over pot laced candy.
WKRC is only too happy to jump on the fear mongering because you know people will travel from Cincinnati to Colorado so they can buy cannabis products & zap 'em into candies so they can bring them back to Cincinnati & distribute them on Halloween, ultimately turning kids into commies and homos.
We need to set up road blocks now to search every car for loose candy & to find out if the drivers have been to Colorado recently. We should probably test their blood sugar, too.

Know fear at WKRC

Why Does Cincinnati Hate Itself?

While Pasadenians invest in and restore a Gamble house, Cincinnati tears theirs down. While a Crosley estate in Cincinnati sits largely ignored & unused, a Crosley estate in Sarasota has events pretty much every holiday.
What gives? Cincinnatians give less of a fuck about the people who put the city on the map than people off in sun splashed touristy areas where the Cincinnati families just went to vacation?

It's Beginning to look a Lot Like Halloween

Creepy Cincinnati

OK, this site, Creepy Cincinnati purports to list & review the creepy places in Cincinnati. Dunno why my basement isn't listed, but that's another story.
Just remember, creepy is not a place ~ but a state of mind.
Is something touching my leg?

State of Ohio School Board, District 4

This episode of newsmakers looks at the candidates for the school board of the state of Ohio candidates Patricia Bruns - D and Zachary Haines - R.
Bruns comes off not real great as a communicator but appears to have a grasp on teaching with 30+ years experience. Haines seems to have no experience in education, running a janitorial supply store, but he does seem to be a strong partisan Republican who likes to regurgitate their talking points right or wrong.

Classic Love Story

I don't really listen to this band but thot the animation was kinda cute.

Horror Sells

Even the limeys dig it!

Spring Grove Cemetery Annual Cruise In

The 9th annual Spring Grove Cemetery Cruise In is nigh upon us, Sunday, October 12, 3PM - 7PM.
"Quimbob, that date sounds familiar…"
Of course, fair reader, it's (Uncle) Al Crowley's birthday!
While I doubt they will celebrate that with a portable rock wall climbing thingy or a cat blood drinking contest, there will be grub, (recorded) music, tram rides, hayrides, and lots of cars.
While one would expect a lot of hearses, there are, but, unfortunately, not that many.
There is no official motorcycle show, but in the past, there is a pretty good showing of bikes that make for a show in itself.
People argue over this kind of event at a cemetery because it defeats the 'eternal rest' aspect of a cemetery and smacks of self promotion on the part of the cemetery. On the other hand, it makes the cemetery more relevant to the community & the cars are older and lend themselves to the past & ancestry that is kind of an aspect of a cemetery, too.

I admit that my visions can never mean to other men as much as they do to me. I do not regret this. All I ask is that my results should convince seekers after truth that there is beyond doubt something worth while seeking, attainable by methods more or less like mine. I do not want to father a flock, to be the fetish of fools and fanatics, or the founder of a faith whose followers are content to echo my opinions. I want each man to cut his own way through the jungle.
—The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, Ch. 66

The Next Governor of Rhode Island

Combover v. Kundrata

Feeney v Monzel Tarbell a no show

Feeney comes off better than expected, Monzel offers rhetoric, Tarbell offers absolutely nothing.

Community and Social Media

Two books are coming to mind as I ponder the use of social media to bond people with a common geographical area (a neighborhood).
Contested Ground by John Emmeus Davis and Being and Time by Martin Heidegger.
In Contested Ground, Davis looks at people in a neighborhood having different roles & goals. There are residents and business people. There are renters and owners. Online, these people are on a kind of common ground but while their goals might be common they might also conflict. Since everybody in a news feed pretty much looks the same, a participant might not grasp that the social media group is not a single entity but a group of individuals. As such, this kind of person might think the egroup to be schizophrenic.
But there's another aspect that Heidegger got into in that the communications are streaming in time and the participant might be reading a conversation forwards, backwards or all jumbled up by creative programmers. This can lead to a further suspicion of schizophrenia within the egroup.
People see things in different ways, too. I look at pages while others just use email or some kind of phone alerts. So - not everybody is looking at everything with the same graphic interface nor in the same order.
When 'Breaking News' hits a site, it can become a riot of information, frequently conflicting and tantamount to a bunch of blind men furiously describing an elephant. Rumours fly, tempers flare.
It used to be, one had to actively find an egroup, usually an email user group, chatroom or a BB forum. The ease of use of modern social media has led to what some refer to as 'Amateur Hour' on the internet. Some of the problems people have on the intertubes might be naivete but some might just not be cut out for it. They might need to face one another or even deal with one another in their traditional settings like across the meat counter.
People who organize and have physical meetings are frequently not inclined to use social media to inform community members who prefer to use social media to find out the results of their meetings. The community leaders not embracing the community's social media outlets seriously impairs the ability of social media have a bonding, building effect, but by the same token, the level playing field of the emedium frequently results in sniping, snark and a 'too many cooks' effect. Roberts Rules don't apply online and, in a physical community meeting, the leaders usually physically distance themselves from the rest of the body.
So, can community building via social media work? Not on it's own, of course, and it's not at odds with traditional means but the delivery of information needs to be somewhat uniform & controlled and not interfered with by hosts profiting off their 'free' product.
Maturity of the user should, hopefully, come with time.
Then, of course, there's caffeine & alcohol...

Should Halloween be a National Holiday ?

Well, there's a petition on White House . gov to make the revered holiday a little more official. Some anarchists are afeared of having the gummint in charge but the local police, sheriffs & other officialistic nosferatu are already setting begging hours. Maybe, with some hamfisted over the top legislation we could get holiday displays in stores to not overlap.
As I write this, the petition is about 98,000 short with a deadline of 10/31, so…
no, really, I am guessing the throngs of fans of Blogging Isn't Cool can put this over the 100,000 mark in a few days.
VOTE !

The Grand City Experiment

Judging by the website's pictures and videos, The Grand City Experiment is only inclusive of downtown Cincinnati & a smidgen of Clifton. Not a great start in being 'welcoming'.
Idea for 'Day 2' is to do it 3 days later. Should I do 'Day 5' on 'Day 2' ?
I can't keep up with the yunguns anymore. In my day...Anyhoo, if 'Day 31' isn't 'ask a stranger to give you candy', I quit.

Human Foosball ?

When I heard the Asian Food Fest, 10/5/14, this year held in Washington Park, would have human Foosball, I was seriously stoked. I had visions of people strapped to rods that were attached to motors that could be activated by users to spin the people, jerk them side to side & hold them steady to block or let pass some big heavy metal ball.
Imagine my disappointment when I found all it really was, was people hanging on to rods and acting independently. Add to that, the set up to be used at the food fair is some inflatable thingy.
phooey
Whatever happened to Human Chess where, when the players met, they had to fight to the death?

Ohio Governor Candidates

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What do you want for your last ride?

1 in 15 funerals use non-traditional hearses.
Could custom vehicles lure people away from cremation?
Unfortunately funeral prices continue to increase and cremation is becoming more popular every day, so maybe funerals & processions featuring special vehicles may become a popular oddity for the wealthy that might attract attention from the lower castes. Maybe Funerals of the Starz could be a hit & those guys who customize cars on the History Channel can get in on the act.

Guardian article here

AG Debate - kind of...

The Fishwarp records it's interview with Ohio AG candidates Mike DeWine & David Pepper.
Proof that timed remarks are way better...

kudos to the 'Warp for doing this.

Dale's Latest Fail

When Dale Mallory faced ethics & embezzlement charges in Hamilton county where people worship the Mallory dynasty, he got off scot free. Now he's being charged with ethics violations in Franklin County. Will the Teflon still work?
That being said, the ethics rules pertaining to the value of gifts that state legislators can receive seems to make pretty low end gifts illegal. $25? $75?
When were these limits set? $25 is lunch nowadays or maybe a delivered supreme pizza. I'd be fine seeing Dale get keelhauled on a BB riverboat but the monetary level of these gifts really does strike me as being pretty low.
And just because a Bengals ticket costs a lot, it doesn't mean it's worth it.

Are Republicans Really Humans ?

This ad kinda makes you wonder if Republicans are actually being a little too defensive.
Does anybody really think Republicans are not humans?
In a study 11% of Americans weren't sure if the planet was controlled by shape shifting alien lizard men and when you break it down by political party, Republicans believe more than 2 - 1 the space aliens rule the world over Democrats. Republicans believe Bigfoot exists a little less than half the number Democrats do.
The notion that these space aliens live in caverns and manipulate us with rays, chem-trails, electronic broadcasts are nothing new, there were David Icke's Anunnaki and Ray Shaver's Deros, and John Carpenter's They Live.
Basically, the Republicans are a little more concerned with mythical beings & conspiracies than Democrats. Is this an ad meant to soften their image or just a crack into their paranoid fantastical minds?
Or are they just trying to throw us off?