Comic Book movies piss me off.
This article in a local blog got me going on this. First of all, Elbowroom's assessment of the Cinti comic book scene seems pretty good. There were the sleazy old stores here 20 - 30 years ago with gross clerks and the ancient porno in the back room, but they are all gone now (I think).
I have not been reading comics much for almost 10 years now, since my eyesight started to tank, and a lot can happen in the comic book industry in 10 years.....
In my prime, I was reading about 10 - 15 titles a week and (mostly) keeping track of the plotlines in all of them. Very few were one book stories, most were monthly, and that is what comic books are about.
Comic Books Are A Serialized Story Format.
So the big blockbuster movies are just wrong. While a title like The Watchmen might lend itself to a movie format because it is a closed ended story, the greatness of the characters like Batman, Spiderman and The X-Men is that they are living, open ended characters. they grow and change over time and relationships and situations blossom, mature and end over time.
The X-Men movies are particularly jarring to a person who has been reading the story for 30 some years when all the characters are there but they are all the wrong ages. The relationships and dynamics of the story are thrown out the window so Hollywood can grab a few moments, rearrange them and glob out a movie they can make a quick buck on. Granted, Stan Lee has a vested interest in making his money quick.
Of course, the only reason the movies are worth a pooh, nowadays, is because the tech finally exists to pull 'em off. It takes a major studio budget to pay for all the effects and that is why we are not seeing the stories being told where they should be, on television. Still, the original Babylon V did quite well with a low budget and FX are better and cheaper now than they were then.
Television, of course has a reputation for being cheap and not being as serious or mature as the movies but, hey, comics have the same bad rap, so, what the hell ?
Ultimately, comics also lend themselves to animation much more than "real" "live" mediums and other cultures (Asian, particularly) are cool with this but Americans are too jaded and require "realism" that puts impossible characters like the Batman in stupid body armour instead of the silky thin costume he is supposed to wear.
I always thought the style of Peter Chung (Aeon Flux, Phantom 2040) would translate well to 3D super hero animation. Japanese Anime has embraced creative, non-realistic animation for a long time. Mainframe's War Planet series is a good example of what can be done and on the low budget and tight schedule that television requires.

Libertarians have got to stop latching onto entertainers and has been politicians for the sake of name recognition and publicity purposes.
Picking clowns like Howard Stern or losers like Bob Barr just wind up making the party look silly. Badnarik sounded pretty good at first, and I remember hearing that he would ultimately be an embarrassment, and that side did eventually come out. He could have been handled more by the party leaders, however, when you get the inflated egos of the aforementioned embarrassments it is much harder to reign them in.
The choice of Landham for a senate run in KY was a disaster just waiting to happen. Maybe the party will get some cred for dumping the dumbass.
Doubt it.

Fishwrap story here.

Springfield's Westcott House will be hosting a glass art exhibition featuring the works of Michael Scott Rozell from 7/25/08 to 10/5/08.
On Friday July 25th there will be a "Meet the Artist" reception from 7:00 to 10:00 PM.
"Beauty, form, balance, and abstraction are the qualities present throughout the work of a contemporary glass artist Michael Scott Rozell. His art combines the admiration for traditional Italian and Swedish glass techniques with a modern American design sensibility. Designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, George Nelson, Harry Bertoia, and Charles Eames, provide a source of inspiration for Rozell’s beautiful pieces recognizable for their clean lines, soothing yet vibrant colors, and simplicity of form."
Details here.

Due in October of '08
Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" Barbie

Details here.

More on the Clark County Fair

Hannah Shouvlin guides her alpaca, Portobella and Swiss, over toys as part of the public relations course on Monday, July 21, at the 2008 Clark County Fair.


Emily Donaldson is crowned the 2008 Clark County Fair Queen by last year's queen, Chelsea Stridsberg, Sunday at the conclussion of the contest.


Winners in the "Best Cookie in the County" contest.


James Davenport competes in the Junior Fair Tractor Driving Contest at the Clark County Fair Saturday, June 19, 2008.


Beth McCrite (left) helps Alex Davis and Olivia Evans wash chickens.

more pics here.

Former presidential candidates Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich join in pursuing the
impeachment of George Bush.

Nine Republicans Vote for Impeachment Hearings, Ten Abstain
by Ralph Lopez
Global Research, July 20, 2008
In a stunning development which fell with the silence of a feather yesterday, 9 Republicans broke with their iron-fisted party to put country first, and voted to send Rep. Dennis Kucinich's article of impeachment HR 1345 to the Judiciary, where Chairman John Conyers will hold hearings on abuses of power by the Bush administration, according to the Congressional Quarterly's CQToday.
Ten Republicans abstained in this critical moment, while only 5 Dems did.
Those Republicans are:
Congressman Kevin Brady (TX)
Congressman Wayne Gilchrest (MD)
Congressman Walter B. Jones (NC)
Representative Don Manzullo (IL)
U.S. Congressman Tim Murphy(PA)
Congressman Ron Paul (TX)
Congressman Dave Reichert (WA)
Congressman Christopher Shays (CT)
Representative Mike Turner (OH)

Story here.

The FCC blows it again.
Four flippin' years after Justin Timberlake accidentally exposed Janet Jackson's boobie for about half a second during the entertainment section of a nationally televised sports show, the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that the FCC fine against CBS was applied in an arbitrary and capricious manner not in keeping with prior policy.
Let's face it - the FCC, like many unconstitutional government agencies frequently acts in arbitrary and capricious ways that, all too often, seem to be more likely career moves for the individuals on the commission than genuine acts of rational policy.

Story here.

Woeber Mustard Expands
One of Ohio's culinary gems is Woeber's condiments in Springfield, Ohio. They have been serving up mustards and other sauce/spread type stuff for over a hundred years and are now expanding into a new facility on the site of the old New Moon drive in theater. The New Moon as a theater has long been closed. The site served as a flea market for some time.
The new site will operate as a distribution facility, leaving the old facility on Commerce Dr. with room to expand production. Woeber's expects to create 15 new jobs.
While Woeber's has had good business domestically, their international business has increased dramatically, notably in Israel, Korea and in England where they are the number 1 private label yellow mustard packager.

Noose Son story here.

FAIR !

It's hot. Crops are coming in but it's not harvest crunch time. Must be time for a fair.
As county fairs go, Springfield's Clark County Fair has long had a great reputation. No doubt, being the birthplace of the 4H Club and corporate sponsorship from the International Harvester company helped (even tho the local division IH was not involved in the agricultural side of the business). Dunno what role in sponsorship Navistar plays.
2007 brought 91,000 visitors to the Clark County Fair which is generally ranked as the second largest fair (behind the Ohio State fair) in the state.
The fair is easily accessible from the highway at 4401 S. Charleston Pike.
Dunno if they still run the (un-air-conditioned) buses from downtown and I am sure the hole in the fence over by the horse barns has been fixed, so I can't recommend that avenue for sneaking in anymore. The trek across the fields in the dark was fraught with surprises, anyway. :-)

Can you say, "Over the Top" ?

ok, I have seen some of the insane emails floating around about Obama and this is clearly a take off / satire of those nutcase ramblings. The New Yorker is not WLW. The crazy accusations people are making against this guy can only work to his advantage, however, as his opponents find themselves in the uncomfortable position of defending the guy and distancing themselves from the psychopaths who circulate the misinformation.
That is - such talk promotes division amongst the very people who don't want Obama elected.
That is the joke at the New Yorker.

60-pound beaver on display at court building
Giant beaver, the 'largest critter of its kind' found around here, on display.

From the Noose Son:

Don't be alarmed by the 60-pound beaver on the fifth floor of the Clark County Offices and Municipal Court Building.
It's just the new unofficial county mascot — even though it's dead, County Commissioner John Detrick said.
Aptly named — you guessed it — "Clarkie," the beaver is on display because it was the largest critter of its kind that had been caught around here, the commissioner said.
Clarkie's story begins in 2003 when it met with an untimely end after being hit by a car on U.S Route 68 just south of the Ohio Masonic Home, Detrick said.
Harold Blackwood, former game warden, took the oversized beaver to Anderson Taxidermy because "it was unique and offered a historical and educational value for the county," Blackwood recalled.
Clarkie is now on a sort of a tour, having spent nearly a year at the Clark County Heritage Center before its debut at the municipal building, 50 E. Columbia St.
Detrick, who personally paid for Clarkie to be mounted, said it's not only interesting to see a beaver of that size, but it's also a glimpse into the past.
"The beaver played a role in the settlement of the area in the 1700s because trappers would collect their pelts," Detrick said. "It's a very good teaching tool."
It may comfort some to know that Clarkie's ill-fated crossing of the highway was not in vain.

Story here.

Springfield's NextEdge Park lands The National Environmental Technology Incubator of Central State University.

From the Noose Son:

Environmental technology incubator coming to Nextedge

Springfield, Ohio — Nextedge Technology and Applied Research Park revealed plans to welcome an environmental technology resource organization to 'Silicorn Valley,' Springfield's technology center in a corn field, at the grand opening of the Mills-Morgan building Friday, July 11.
The National Environmental Technology Incubator of Central State University intends to lease 5,000 square feet of the Mills-Morgan building's first floor by December. Another part of the incubator will move to the Brinkman building downtown.
Technology incubators help entrepreneurial companies by providing technical and financial advice, Nextedge President Ray Hagerman said.
The Central State incubator also will provide job training to college students and encourage them to stay in the Springfield area, Hagerman said.
Bill Pardue, chief executive officer for Qbase and chairman of Future Jobs — a group that promotes science, technology, engineering and math jobs — helped to negotiate the incubator's move.
Environmental technology is important because businesses need to look for alternative fuel sources and ways to save energy, Hagerman said.
The 55,000 square-foot Mills-Morgan building cost about $8 million to complete, said Tom Franzen, economic development administrator for the city of Springfield. Current tenants in the 205-acre park, which cost about $20 million include Qbase, SAIC and Newport Spectra-Physics. It was created to draw technologically based industry to Springfield, Franzen said.
About 60 to 70 percent of the park was funded by state and federal grants, Franzen said.
U.S. Rep. David Hobson of Springfield was instrumental in creating and funding the park, Pardue said.
"We would not be here today... if it weren't for the power of one and his desire to create jobs," Pardue said.

Story here.

Ohio Taxes
An interesting piece from the Noose Son

Cut the lies; Ohio taxes not out of sight

Last weekend former Ohioan Chester Finn Jr. went off on a rant about our state in The Wall Street Journal. Important truths were hyperbolically mixed in with patent untruths.
Mr. Finn, who, like The Journal, is no fan of Gov. Ted Strickland, is correct that the state has serious economic problems. But he — with other conservatives — should stop saying Ohio is among the highest-taxed states in the country. He is wrong.
That contention originates with the Tax Foundation, a think tank that gets a lot of mileage from celebrating Tax Freedom Day. It and Mr. Finn say that, in 2007, Ohio had the fifth-highest state and local tax burden.
The Tax Foundation's calculation is complex, and it includes subjective assumptions that experts across the country, not just in Ohio, argue are dubious.
A more straightforward — and the most universally accepted — way of looking at a state's tax burden is noting the amount of state and local taxes people pay per capita, or the percentage of personal income they pay in taxes. On these scores, Ohio has been in the middle of a tight pack.
According to 2006 Census data, Ohioans' state and local tax burden, as a percentage of their personal income, ranked 18th. Note that Kentucky scores seven places higher, but just three-tenths of 1 percent separates Ohio and its neighbor.
On a per capita basis, Ohio did better, coming in at 24th.
In this case, the difference between Kentucky and Ohio is $548. Again, though, many states are bunched together. Kentucky has a much-better sounding — and enviable — 40th-place ranking.
By these measures, there's just no case that Ohio's taxes are widely out of the mainstream.
More important, these 2006 numbers — the latest that are available from the Census Bureau — do not take into account Ohio's well-publicized and major tax cuts. In 2005, individual Ohioans saw the first installment of a 21 percent income tax cut that will be phased in over five years. The last of the annual 4.2 cuts will take effect next year.
Meanwhile, the equivalent tax for businesses — the corporate franchise tax — is being eliminated, disappearing next year. And the tangible personal property tax has been done away with.
These business taxes were replaced by a broadly based commercial activity tax that will result in lower taxes for most Ohio companies. All the projections are that the new CAT tax is a net major tax break for businesses.
These cuts were passed under former Republican Gov. Bob Taft and a Republican legislature, but mostly are taking effect under Gov. Strickland, a Democrat. In other words, it's this administration that's having to hold down spending to pay for the tax cuts. Guess which work is harder?
If, as Mr. Finn suggests, many of Ohio's problems are rooted in its tax rates, it's hard to see how the state is "making all the wrong moves" to reverse its decline. Or maybe Mr. Finn has been gone from his home so long he doesn't know about the tax cuts.
If there's anything Ohio should be rabidly criticized for, it's that political leaders have been slow to invest in higher education — refusing to see the connection between affordable and quality colleges and creating a knowledgeable work force.
Making that commitment, of course, is not free, and Gov. Strickland, as Mr. Finn notes, is backing those investments even as he's having to make budget cuts.
Ohio and its politicians should have to account for the state's shortcomings. But nobody should have to spend precious energy rebutting diatribes that rely on partisan and ideologically-motivated fiction.

Story here.

Anyone familiar with the Clevo music scene of the 70s (Devo, Pere Ubu, The Dead Boys) should know the name of Peter Laughner. Smog Veil Records has been working nearly 3 years on a Peter Laughner retrospective. They are looking at a 2009 release.
Here is a recording of Heroin by Cinderella Backstreet featuring Peter Laughner and Scott Krauss circa 1973.

Been animating it out last week or so. Watched 2 3D movies, Appleseed Ex Machina ans Barbie in The Princess and The Pauper and a mangafied Batman called Batman Gotham Knights.
Gotham Knights is the Batman Franchise attempt at the Matrix franchise's Animatrix. It comes up lacking. 2 of the six stories were ok. The art resembled the Spawn cartoons from some years ago. It was nothing too impressive. Probably had a crap budget.
I always liked the Barbie movies made by Mainframe. They are fairly low budget. The Barbie character lends itself to crappy 3D because she is a crappy doll. This particular movie, unlike the others, was a musical.
Appleseed Ex Machina had a fairly dumb storyline and the typical manga angst-ridden characters and all, but, man, there was some really purdy rendering in that sucker.
I would recommend any of 'em for anyone who is interested in that kind of crap.
How's that for going out on a limb ?

YouTube trailers:

Barbie in The Princess and the Pauper

Appleseed Ex Machina

Gotham Knight

King's Island - a cheap holiday in other people's misery.
What is wrong with the people in Warren County and King's Island ?
This story from WCPO details the way they trick and abuse young foreign workers similarly to the way prostitution gangs work.
Cincinnati and Hamilton County have to come up with plans like Everybody Rides Metro to give them workers because they are too cheap to pay for their local unskilled labor and then they pull this on foreign kids ?
They could have at least had the kids stay in Cincinnati & use the "Everybody Rides Metro" plan for transportation so the kids wouldn't have been stranded out in the friggin' autozone.

Pat Dewine, Hamilton County's pugilistic commissioner and author of the G.A.S.P. boondoggle has made news again in his run for Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge.
While Dewine was considering a run for re-election to the commissioner seat, he raised about $80,000. When he switched his aim to the Judge's seat, however, he was faced with a dilemma as one cannot use non-judicial campaign funds for a judicial campaign.
The solution was pretty simple, of course, he only needed to give the money to people who would turn around and give it back.
When questioned about this, Dewine repeatedly claims that what he did was legal.
Of course legal and ethical aren't exactly the same thing and his actions clearly violate the spirit of the law.
Is this the caliber of character we want on the bench ?

Read WKRC's story here.

A new Taco Bell in Springfield !
Well, ok, a replacement one.
Taco Bell has had a presence in Springfield for almost 40 years starting with their E Main St location.
It seems like just yesterday that Ray's mom was whisking Ray & Jeff & me off from the Roosevelt campus on Limestone to the new and exotic fast food joint that served strange and wonderful things called tacos and burritos.

From the Noose Son:
A new Taco Bell restaurant is being built at 2149 S. Limestone St. to replace the previous South side location at 1931 S. Limestone St. that was destroyed by fire in August 2007. The new location will be a stand-alone Taco Bell with no other brands represented; the store is scheduled to open at the end of August.
The store will support approximately 30 to 35 employees, with some old employees returning. The remaining positions will be filled with a number of new hires, said spokesperson Monica Hawkes.

Story here.

OK, this is kinda freaking me out.
This tree across the street is looking like the leering skull of Genghis Khan.
ugh
I hate to say it, but, I hate it when that happens.
I think I need to quit pussyfooting and get down to some serious July 4thing.....

Celebrate the 3rd, 4th AND 5th of July in scenic Northside in Cincinnati !



Hoffner Park is on Hamilton Avenue at Blue Rock right across the street from the Art Damage Lodge.
Here are some pics from last year's event.
(NOTE:the page doesn't display correctly in Innernet Exploder)

The Schedule:
Main Stage
Stardevils 6:00-6:45
Los Honchos 7:05 – 8:00
Wolverton Bros 8:20-9:00
Ghostfinger 9:20-9:55
The Sundresses 10:20-10:55
Wussy 10:55 – 11:25
Black Diamond Heavies 12:25-1AM

Front of Park
Incendium Fire Arts 9:30

Side Stage hosted by Cloven Hoof Theater
Pickled Bros 9:55 – 10:20
Panty Raid 9:55 – 10:20
Sideshow Bennie 10:55 – 11:25
Barnyard Burlesque 12:10-12:25

July 4
Main Stage
Eclipse 2:45-3:30
Baoku 4:00-5:00
Tropicoso 5:30-7:00
Tracy Walker 7:20-8:00
Cash Flagg 8:20-9:00
FG’s 9:20-10:00
Me Or The Moon 10:20-11:00
BPA 11:20-12:00
Caterpillar Tracks 12:25-1AM

Side Stage hosted by Dantes Gypsy Circus
Performances at
9:00 – 9:20
9:55 – 10:20
12:00-12:20

July 5
Main Stage
Daughters & Sons 6:00-7:00
Libertines 7:20-7:55
Purple #9 (members of Pernicious Kniffs) 8:15-8:50
Peter Adams 9:10-9:50
Eat Sugar 10:10-10:50
Angels Of Meth 11:10-12:00

The Pew Research Institute just did a survey on religion and practices and beliefs in the US. It had some interesting results.
They cited a group called Historically Black Churches (HBCs) that consisted of Baptist, Methodist and Pentecostal churches as well as others. Vodou was not included.
"Pagan" groups got lumped into "Other Faiths" with New Age & Unitarians. Dunno if Vodou would be filed under "Other" or "Other World". Total of "Other" and "Other World" was 1.5 %.
"Other Christian" listed metaphysical & spiritualist. I don't think that is what most people mean when they list themselves as "Christian - other" on social networking websites.
Evangelicals are fairly split between desiring big and small governments leaning towards smaller with 48% vs larger 41%.
HBCs are overwhelmingly in favor of big government with 72% in favor of big spending bureaucracies, a sentiment mirrored by Muslims at 70%.
This nugget should please anti-Obamamaniacs of the reasonable and crazy ilk alike.
Muslims (surprise) believe the government should be involved in "protecting morality" by 59%. Mormons, Evangelicals & the HBCs follow at about 50%.
Mormons and Jews are more in favor of more active foreign policies while the HBCs and Jehovah's Witnesses lead the pack in keeping our meddling here at home. FWIW, 55% of people overall want to reign in foreign policies.
People of most faiths want stricter environmental controls. The HBCs & Evangelicals would be the least aggressive but it is still a minority of these groups.
Jehovah's Witnesses are easily the biggest church goers in the country with "Other Faiths" coming last which makes sense as many of them have nowhere to go and many frequently refer to themselves as solitary practitioners.
Jehovah's Witnesses are by far the most assured they practice the one true faith. I guess that is why they are at church so often - to be reassured.
the faiths with the most singular interpretations are Jehovah's Witnesses followed by Mormons, HBCs and Evangelicals. The majority of other faiths overwhelmingly agree there is more than one way to interpret their religions.
Anyway, these are just a few of the findings. It is worth looking at on your own.
http://religions.pewforum.org/

Why Americans elect politicians with crappy foreign policies.

Breaking News: Something Happening In Haiti

The Prince Gaynor Memorial Garden

Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby



ugh
I guess I am just getting old. I set up a MySpace page (for various reasons) and I was instantly peppered with "friend" solicitations from countless young women. Thing is, I am old enough to be their fathers. Sure, they are pretty but what would I have to say to these young women ? For one thing, "When you offer your 'friendship' to someone, sending them a picture of your butt isn't exactly appropriate".
If they were offering to introduce me to their mothers it might be a different story. Instead they tell me they find me "cute", "hot", "sexy", etc. They tell me they want me to fulfill their sexual fantasies. These chicks have some seriously boring fantasies.
I really have nothing in common with any of these girls. Many appear to be avid swimmers (albeit with some really scrawny arms) and, while swimming is a fine sport, I don't enjoy swimming at all.
I just don't understand it.
I guess I am just a grumpy old fart.

In this article it is stated that David Crowley wants to save energy by replacing the light bulbs in the city council chandelier with fluorescent bulbs. This is, of course, problematic as the bulbs are expensive and their disposal creates a hazard.
A better idea would be to just turn off the room lights altogether and use the desk lamps at people's desks.
You would save energy, cut costs and have a real dramatic visual effect to boot.
Keeping council members awake could be a problem, however.

I don't even ask anymore.......

Red Beans and Quinoa

I like red beans and rice. Being an ignorant cook, I usually just make the Vigo mix with some veggies and some hot smoked sausage.
While reading a book called Collapse, the author discussed the diet of Incans and Azteks and that they ate a grain (a psuedograin ?) called quinoa that was high in protein.
In an effort to be a little more self sufficient, eat more healthy & cut food costs, I attempted red beans and quinoa from scratch. Well, ok, really the only difference besides substituting quinoa for rice was using bagged kidney beans and using the spices in my hellhole -er- around the house.
Fast soaking 1/2 cup of beans involved rinsing a half cup of beans and then bringing them to a boil in 2 cups of water, covering and, after removing from the heat, letting sit for n hour.
This tenderized the beans but they were still pretty chewy.
In another pan, I sauteed a tsp of chopped garlic, a small yellow onion and a green bell pepper (chopped up) in a bit of butter for a few minutes. Then I put in a cup of quinoa. they say to rinse and strain the quinoa but I had nothing to strain the little bastards and upon adding any water, the stuff just clumped up, so I figured, what doesn't kill me makes me stronger & just dumped it into the sauteing vegetables.
Stirred that around for a few & then dumped in 2 cups of water, some black pepper, soy sauce and Tabasco® sauce.
Then I stirred in the beans. brought the mess to a boil and reduced heat and covered for about 10 - 15 min.
Then I stirred in two chopped up celery stalks & let sit uncovered on the stove for about 5 minutes.
The result ? It was ok.

McCain Ditches Berry for Abba and Berry Roots for Obama.
In this article, it states that McCain was using Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode as a theme song, but has now switched to Abba's, Take a Chance on Me.
Someone in McCain's camp needs to be fired. Why is he using a song by a Swedish band that infers that choosing McCain might be risky ?
He would be better off promoting a song by a conservative American artist like Johnny Ramone and his band, The Ramones.
Candidates ?
Too Tough to Die
Highest Trails Above
Cretin Hop
I Don't Care
Commando
I Want You Around

sigh
McCain is gonna get creamed.

Westcott House on WPTO 6/7/08 at noon
The Westcott House in Springfield, Ohio was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright about 100 years ago for an automobile manufacturer on Springfield's prestigious East High St.
After years of neglect and downright abuse, the property was restored to it's original condition.
This program chronicles the history of the house.

http://www.thinktv.org/onair/onai_prog_westcott.html
http://www.westcotthouse.org/

Well, I guess we all knew this.

Springfield Farmers' Market Resumes in Historic Location

Farmers' market to reopen

By Samantha Sommer
Springfield News-Sun Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Springfield, Ohio — Locally grown food can taste better, help the environment and boost the local economy.
Buying that food at a farmer's market also offers a chance to connect to farmers and friends, said Sherry Chen, one of the co-managers of the Springfield Farmers' Market.
"It's all about community," she said.
The Springfield Farmers' Market kicks off from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 7, on Market Street between the Heritage Center and Elderly United.
It will run every Saturday through Sept. 27 and feature a variety of goods and produce.
Items on sale will range from buffalo meat to cucumbers and berries to fresh flowers.
This year the market will feature only produce grown in Ohio, Chen said.
The fruits and vegetables on sale also will change with what's in season.
That means food is picked when it's ripe, Chen said, and isn't treated with chemicals or waxes for a long, fuel-consuming journey.
Buying local food also keeps money here, Chen said, and offers shoppers a chance to talk to producers about how they grow their food.
"Those are the connections people are looking for now and is another reason to get it from the farmers as opposed to a truck that came from 1,000 miles away," she said.
The market also is working on accepting food stamps.
Live music will be featured every week, and some weeks will include food demonstrations. Educational information about preserving farmland and eating seasonal, local food will be on hand.
The Heritage Center bell will be rung to mark the opening of the market, as it did when it was a market, said Gene Barnett, market co-manager.
"When the market opened 110 years ago, they rang it at 4 a.m.," he said. "We're not going to open that early."

Story here.

Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD 1921
Obama at the Corn Palace ?
great
Any chance we can just leave him there and let the squirrels eat his scrawny butt ?

Well, I am not happy at all about the Libertarians picking Bob Barr as their presidential candidate. I felt Mary Ruwart would have been much better. At least they did not embrace an entertainer the way they have in the past with the likes of Howard Stern.
In this WSJ opinion piece, Bruce Bartlett suggests that a strong Libertarian candidate could bring out the Republicans who are currently vowing to stay home and not vote as a protest against John McCain.
This could cinch a win for the Democrat presidential candidate but help out Republicans in the congress and senate which would hamper the effectiveness of the Dem president.
Wonder what the Greens are gonna come up with.

The Libertarian National Convention is ON !
C-Span will be covering it today from 10:30 AM on through the afternoon.
From what I saw last night, Mary Ruwart looks like the best candidate to me.
Bob Barr comes off as the most polished, but his experience in DC gives him the edge on that. Mike Gravel looks old and tired and the rest of the pack come off like late night infomercial hucksters.
While the Democrat convention might actually be interesting this year, the corporate parties' conventions are usually no more than dull coronations. Libertarian conventions are a trip. Things actually happen. Issues and ideas are discussed and real change is always the focus.
Never a dull moment.

G.A.S.P. is a BOONDOGGLE !
HamCo Comm DeWine's idea to create a website that chronicles every penny of county spending is nothing but a boondoggle.
It will make great fodder for bloggers and armchair politicians. It will be the first source of ammo whenever someone wants to slam a government program. It will be the number one bookmark for C.O.A.S.T.ers.
But, without an understanding of what the money bought, it will offer no real information or value.
On top of that, the website won't just appear out of thin air. It will need to be built and databases populated. Then, there are the long term costs as every bit of accounting will have at least one more step as the information will have to be entered onto the site. This will all add up to more and more man hours endlessly accrued and paid for by the residents and workers in Hamilton County who will see no real benefit.
It is merely one of Commissioner DeWine's last bits of feel good legislation - a legacy of a boondoggle that will continue on forever.

Cool things you can do with a Mac Mini.

Read the article here.

Is the MSM picking our president for us ? Are they surreptitiously manipulating us ?
hm........

CC IS BACK !
WOOHOO !

Stronger by Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter is seriously old school. She, whaddyacallit ? Tries ?
I saw June's daughter at Kettering's Fraze Pavilion some time ago and she just absolutely rocked. She worked the crowd in a way most younger performers just can't. They probably don't know how. CC learned from some masters.

iTunes

The Aronoff is a torture chamber.
I finally went to the Aronoff. Most of the events there don't appeal to me, but my sister dragged me to the ballet with her. The ballet looked pretty good to me. I know nothing about good or bad ballet, of course.....
The orchestra was pretty good and the Xavier chorus was good.
The %@*! seats, however were horrible. I felt like I was forced into a near fetal position for 2 hours. The seats are so low, my hips were bent more than 90 degrees. My knees, in such a position would, of course, also be bent more than 90 degrees, but with the short distance to the seat in front of me, I had to tuck my feet back in, making the angle of my knees even more severe.
I am not young but I am not old, either. I am only 6ft 2in - not freakishly tall. But when I rose at the end of the performance, I could barely stand. I barely made it to the end, tho, what with the pain in my knees, butt & lower back.
I guess a key to being a patron of the arts is to be short and skinny. It is a shame that such an expensive new facility was designed so poorly.

WOW
Saturday, May 10th is shaping up to be a Northside "Go To" day.
Starting at 9:00 AM a group bicycle ride to Findlay Market will meet at Hoffner Park. The ride is expected to return to the park by noon.
At 11:00 AM Mayor Mallory will dedicate the ArtWorks mural on the wall of 4119 Hamilton Ave (facing Hoffner Park).
Also, from 11:00 AM til 5:00 PM is the Northside Spring Art Fair along the sidewalks on Hamilton Avenue. Shop for locally made fiber arts, jewelry, pottery, paintings, photography, greeting cards, hand blown glass works and more !
From 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM 2 artists on Brookside (E of Hamilton between Chase and Pullan) will be having a "funky huge" yard sale.
Later in the evening, Blues Merchant will be playing at The Comet.
The Delusionals will be playing at The Northside Tavern
The Muttss and Watusi Tribe will be playing at The Gypsy Hut.
Of course, Northside's bevy of eateries, Gajah Wong, Melt, The Hideaway, The Blue Jay, Park Chili, The Comet, Portofino's, Boswell Alley and more will be serving up lots of delicious food and White Castle is open all night !

How bad does the Cincinnati Enquirer suck ?
Would a Porktowner be interested in ODOT ? A city quartered by 3 highways ?
A search of the Enquirer.com site gives me polka dot bridesmaid dresses, the odot website, and a link to a directory of rest areas.
Search Results
The Urbana Citizen actually links to a real article about a land auction.
Results here
The Dayton Daily News and the Cleveland Plain Dealer give up a whole buttload of articles.
Dayton Daily News results
Clevo Plain Dealer results
Of course, it could be worse, the Columbus Dispatch seems to come up with some decent results & then gives me an XML error.
Dispatch results

Cedar Bog, near Urbana, Ohio, like many other sites maintained by the Ohio Historical Sociesty, has suffered considerable budget cuts in recent years. Threatened with closure, the volunteer group, The Cedar Bog Association, has stepped up to the plate to, not only keep the nature preserve open, but to continue the efforts to move forward with plans to build an education center and pay a person full time to manage the site.
Cedar Bog was "discovered" by Col. Israel Ludlow when he was surveying the Northwest Territory in the late 1700s. In 1942, the Ohio Historical Society designated the area a nature preserve because it was the best example of a boreal and prairie fen complex in Ohio with many rare plants and animals, excellent orchid and prairie wildflower displays. The Bog was threatened, briefly, when the construction of a new Route 68 was planned to go through it in the '70s. The bog prevailed.
Now the Cedar Bog needs YOU !
With your help in time or money we can keep this rare area of Ohio alive for generations to come.
Article from the Springfield News-Sun here.

Cincinnati's Metro's routing and scheduling are pretty exclusively geared towards the notion of getting dayshift workers from the neighborhoods to the central business district.
This routing scheme is getting kinda shaky as businesses & homes shift here and there but Metro seems to be slowly adapting.
Where their model really fails and they seem to be doing nothing about it - is scheduling.
While fine for standard dayshifters, the frequency of trips in the 11 PM to 1 AM time slot makes it hard for second and third shift workers to use the system. The problem gets even worse if the rider has to transfer. This can mean 30 - 40 minute waits at midnight at Government Square in January. Frequently these buses are very off schedule, too.
This plan does not address the needs of a society that is increasingly becoming a 24 hr society.
Even as a traditional dayshift society, a common activity is the worker going out on weekend evenings.
Metro's schedules are exactly the same on Friday nights as Monday through Thursday. Saturday is even worse with less frequent trips and some routes not being served at all. I doubt all routes would need the increase in trips on Friday and Saturday evenings, but investigating, locating and targeting centers of entertainment for more active service seems to be a good place to start.
Metro tries to work with different areas - primarily in the outer regions (King's Island) but neighborhood business organizations might do well to petition Metro (or Metro petitioning communities) about adding these late night runs.
As the city embarks on a streetcar system, I wonder if they will continue this antiquated and provincial scheduling scheme. It makes little sense in the downtown area that is a hub of entertainment and conventions to not have frequent late night service.

This May 3rd and 4th, Cincinnati celebrates Cannabis Liberation Day along with hundreds of cities around the World.

On Saturday, May 3rd
START THE CELEBRATION AT HEMPROCK'S MUSIC HEMPFEST
Riverfront West Sportspark Pavilion
7958 Harrison Ave.
in Miamitown, Ohio
Doors open 7:30pm

Music Guests include:
EAZY
The Frankl Project
Open Mind Productions
VEDGE &
The One Man Electrical Band

Also featuring BURNDEM GLASS REEFERGIRLS
RAFFLES, VENDING, FOOD & BEER CONCESSIONS.

Ticket price is $5.00 a Head plus party all night with a primitive campsite for only $5.00 for each tent.

On Sunday, May 4th
Head Downtown for the Rally & March!
Fountain Square 3:00-6:00pm

At the GMM Downtown Rally, we'll have Speakers, Hemp organizations, Hemp & Drug war info, plus lots of fun, including!!!...

Music Guests VEDGE & EAZY

Prizes for Best Political Signs & Best Rally Outfits & Costumes!

A DRUM CIRCLE at 5:15!!! LED BY RICH SPIRIT DRUMS
Please bring your drums & other musical toys & join in!

MARCH STARTS AT FOUNTAIN SQUARE AT 5:45, LED BY REEFERROACH & THE DRUMMERS!
ENDS AT THE FEDERAL BUILDING AT 6:00pm!!!

Guest Speakers & Organizations include:
Gatewood Galbraith, Craig Lee, HempRock, North Ohio NORML, Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR), Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Ohio Patient Network, MMJActionNetwork, Kentucky Marijuana Party, Conservatives For Cannabis, Cincy Attorney Timothy Smith, Paul Green, Blunt Politics, Cincy Bud Kid.

Guest MC's Doc Diablo & Senor Bull, Colonel Cannabis!

For more details on both events email or call the
HempRock Hempline
513-68-4-HEMP
www.hemprock.com


SPONSORS...

HUSTLER CINCINNATI
411 Elm St.
Cincinnati, Ohio 513-421-3769
1038 Lebanon St.
Monroe, Ohio 513-539-6969

HEMPTATIONS CINCINNATI
2034 Madison Rd.
Cincy, Ohio 513-871-HEMP

RANDY'S WIRED PAPERS
1-888-34-RANDYS

Shortly after moving to Cincinnati I found the super cool hillside stairway system that gives peds an easy shortcut between neighborhoods.
This pedestrian path/stairway is really wicked cool, tho.

Note all the criminals congregating.....

Civil injustice strikes Ohio

Cleveland Plain Dealer
Bob Ewing

For 40 years, Meredith and Luther Ricks did everything the right way. They worked hard, saved carefully and raised a family in their modest Lima home. They were poised to enjoy their retirement years in peace.
Despite their four decades of hard work, however, an absurdly unjust law has turned their hope for the American Dream into an outrageous nightmare at the hands of the Cleveland FBI.
Both of the Ricks spent their careers at the Ohio Steel Foundry, eschewing lavish spending to save for a comfortable retirement. Not trusting banks, Meredith and Luther kept their life savings in a safe inside the house.

Last summer, two violent intruders broke into the Rickses' house. Luther and his son fought with the burglars. After his son was stabbed, Luther broke free, got his gun and saved the family by shooting one of the intruders and scaring the other off.
When Lima police arrived, the Ricks' nightmare should have been over - but it was just beginning.
The police entered the house and discovered the family safe. Because a small amount of marijuana was inside the home - used by Luther to ease his painful arthritis, hip replacement and shingles - the officers decided to confiscate Meredith and Luther's entire life savings, more than $400,000.
Shortly afterward, the FBI got involved - not to help the stricken family, but to claim the money for the federal government.
Such is the result of civil forfeiture laws, which represent one of the most profound assaults on our rights today.
Civil forfeiture can apply to virtually any property: cars, houses, boats and, as the Rickses' case demonstrates, even money. The property can be seized merely on suspicion that it was used in connection with a crime or resulted from criminal activity.
The police did not charge Luther for the shooting - he acted in self-defense - or for the small quantity of marijuana he used as medicine. Under civil forfeiture, the government can confiscate money or property without proving that a person is guilty of criminal misconduct.

While criminal forfeiture requires that a property owner be found guilty of a crime beyond a reasonable doubt, civil forfeiture does not require that the owner even be accused of a crime, much less convicted. The government proceeds directly against the property it wants to take, which means owners are not entitled to any of the protections they would receive if they were accused of a crime.
This bizarre practice was not widespread in the United States until alcohol prohibition and has been used extensively since drug prohibition stiffened in the 1970s and 1980s.
The FBI's adoption of the Lima police's forfeiture is not unusual - the federal government regularly seizes property that was originally confiscated by local authorities and then splits the resulting profits. In Missouri, for example, authorities were recently caught turning forfeitures over to the federal government in order to avoid a legal requirement that proceeds go to schools.

The abuses don't stop there. In the 1990s, police in Louisiana were stealing innocent people's property by fabricating drug crimes. They used the proceeds for ski trips to Aspen.
Civil forfeiture is now a nationwide epidemic with proceeds from federal civil forfeiture alone reaching hundreds of millions of dollars each year. This is part of a larger trend over the past several decades of weakened property rights protection.
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the landmark Kelo case that government officials can use eminent domain to buy your home, business, church or farm and then hand your property over to another private entity so long as the new owner promises to generate more tax revenue with your land.
Importantly, a nationwide backlash is under way. Ohio leads the country with a historic unanimous ruling in 2006 by the state's Supreme Court that reined in the awesome power of land confiscation. Forty-two states have now reformed their laws on land grabs, making it harder for governments to take your property to boost their tax revenues.
We desperately need a similar backlash against the abuses of civil forfeiture. Thankfully, Meredith and Luther Ricks are fighting back. With free legal help, this week they filed a notice with the Cleveland office of the FBI, demanding the return of their life savings.
Governments should protect, not plunder, our property. Common sense and justice demand that the rampant abuse of civil forfeiture must end.
Ewing is the assistant director of communications for the Institute for Justice, the nation's leading legal advocate for property rights.

Story here.

Another reason to fear downtown Cincinnati
Wild Horses

Horse takes off with carriage
BY CARRIE WHITAKER
What started out as a calm carriage ride downtown for four adults turned ugly Saturday night when the horse pulling the carriage tossed its driver and took off.
Cincinnati Police found the driver of the carriage near Vine and 6th streets and believe the horse galloped about a block-and-a-half south on a Vine Street sidewalk before passengers jumped or were dumped out of the carriage.
One passenger, a woman in her 20s, suffered a head injury. Cincinnati Sgt. Matt Vogeler said her injury was not life-threatening. The driver was transported to the hospital, with what looked like a back injury, Vogeler said.
After losing the passengers, the horse pulled the carriage, then on its side, another half block, dropping horse treats and horse droppings along the way before police were able to stop the horse.
A police unit chaperoned the horse back to its Covington-based business. The name of the carriage company was not immediately available Saturday night.
Vogeler said there was minor damage to the Macy's building and damage to the carriage, but no other damage was reported.

Story here.

Wrecking Springfield
Taking the lead of Building Cincinnati, I give you a one shot of Wrecking Springfield. A few interior pictures of the soon to be demolished Springfield North High school and some shots on and around Plum Street of homes slated for demolition to make way for the big new hospital.
North High


Plum Street

Sneak Peek at new Springfield High School

Residents interested in getting a sneak peek at the new Springfield High School can do so on Saturday, April 5, from 1 to 4 p.m.
District officials and board members will be on hand to showcase the construction progress of the combined high school set to open to students on Sept. 8.
Tours will be offered, while students and staff answer questions about the high school, located at 701 E. Home Road.
Organizers from the Springfield Alumni Foundation will also be on hand to answer questions or take donations for an auditorium in the new high school.
The $60 million project is just a few months away from completion. North High is set to be demolished shortly after the last day of school on May 20 to make way for parking lots and green space.
If you can't make Saturday's event, there will be another on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m.
Students must be in eighth grade or older to take the tour. All participants must wear long pants and close-toed shoes.
The open house is handicap accessible, but the tour is not. For more information call (937) 505-2800.

Story here.

UPDATE
-PICS-
here
here
here
here

Installing Windows Vista Business SP1 on a MacBook Pro
First dilemma - how the hell do you open the Windows Vista box ?
It looks like a book and has a curved front along the left side of the box. But it doesn't open along the left side.
After breaking the box into pieces & still not being able to access the disk, I look online for Windows support and find out the box opens along the Z axis from down on the lower right.
This is going to go well.
I begin to partition my HD with Boot Camp Assistant. A few minutes into this and the computer crashes. oboy.
Fortunately, the partial partitioning somehow ate up a bunch of diskspace that I do not know how to clear, but now I do not have enough room to install Vista or do much else on the Mac side, either, for that matter. So it's time to wipe & reinstall Mac & lose my purloined Acrobat & InDesign.
No rest for the wicked.....
Re-installed Mac
Ran updates
Everything looks ok
Start up Bootcamp, partition works ok - start Windows installation.....
yeesh
This thing starts and stops so many times I don't know what the hell is going on.
Looked like everything was done, so I inserted the Mac installer disk to load Apple specific drivers & tried to run the installer but I kept getting a message saying I could not install because I had a "pending restart".
Sorta weird as I never saw a dialogue box saying I needed to restart and that I could do it now or later. So I restarted, and then I was able to install the drivers & Bootcamp control panel. It is just like the typical Mac startup disk control panel for anybody who remembers or still boots into OS9.
So, 4.5 hrs after I started I was booting back & forth between OSs.
Now I just have to install plug ins, applications on the Mac side, set up email and Airport....
ugh
Do that tomorrow.

Well, according to this article in the Fishwrap, CityLink will be putting a stop to West End redevelopment and will probably throw a wet blanket on OTR and The Brewery District's plans to improve their neighborhoods as the suburban non-denominational "churches" will suck the poor and their problems from the surrounding tri-state area and concentrate them in barracks in an old factory in the West End.
Congratulations. A delicate area that offered some hope is probably now doomed to be crowded with wandering, derelict drug addicts looking to score and to support their habits by preying on anybody who will still live in the area.
Triumph of the Ignoroids.

Streetcar arguments that make me laugh.

Criminals will wait at stops to make their getaway from crime scenes on a streetcar (that will probably have internal cameras) along a fixed route at 25mph (tops) while making frequent stops.(Criminals are more likely run down a maze of alleyways and backyards or use an old junk car (likely stolen) that is easily discarded.)

Dope dealers and hookers will hang out on streetcars and sell their goods and services. (These people need some privacy to do their work which is why they use fairly deserted neighborhoods to ply their trade.)

People will be shot at like targets in a shooting gallery while riding streetcars because that is what inner city people do. (Disgruntled suburbanites are more likely to fire from wooded hillsides at passing motorists on the highway. People engaged in the black market (that our vice laws provide them) are more concerned with enforcing their illegal deals than in murdering prospective customers.)

Streetcars will be subsidized. (As opposed to a subsidized road/highway system, trash pickup, police service, fire departments, public schools.....)

People don't use a goofy looking bus that is supposed to look like a 19th century trolley car, so nobody will use a modern streetcar (Which has much better entry and exit and actually goes places people want to go all day instead of for a few hours on Fridays.)

It doesn't go anywhere. (As opposed to a system of cul-de-sacs? Points of interest along the proposed streetcar route include Great American Ballpark, Paul Brown Stadium, Music Hall, The Aronoff, Findlay Market, The Contemporary Art Center... no, no Applebee's along the way.)

It only serves a small segment of the population. (As opposed to YOUR neighborhood?)

It's too expensive. (The estimated ROI is greater than 2:1 and de-blighting a central neighborhood and subsequently reducing the blight of the surrounding neighborhoods is priceless. It is an investment to provide opportunities for current and new residents.)

It will be full of bums. (These guys save every penny for dope/booze. They would rather walk 5 miles for a fix than spend a dime on transit.)

We need to eliminate crime before we invest in anything new. (A lot of the crime in the downtown area exists elsewhere but is not out in the open. Anyway, we haven't solved crime in about 6000 years of human history, so whatchagonnado ?)

It doesn't serve enough people. (It is an investment in growth. Ridership will likely be lower in the beginning than later as more housing and business come online.)

The streetcar is a step backwards. (Right. It is, but it's an old neighborhood we are talking about. We are in a position of having a basketful of lemons & we should commence to making some goddamned lemonade NOW. The downtown area was designed prior to the automobile and, to make this old area work, we need to use the transit method that worked before. Communities need to work and compete on their unique strengths and qualities. Streetcars in downtown Cincinnati make sense - streetcars in Springdale make no sense.)

Some real helpful management tips (that might land you in the hospital)

I don't understand the media's amazement that a black guy could become governor of New York. Do they think black guys are dumb ? Do they think that the Klan and racists in NY are so prominent that they would have the ability to keep a black guy out of office ?
Paterson's dad was a successful politician in NY. As I look at elected officials across the country, I see plenty of black men and women holding office. Heck, Rapid City, SD, with maybe a 1% black population has/had a black mayor.
What I don't see out there are many handicapped politicians. Why isn't this a bigger deal than the color of this guy's skin ?
Paterson has to be a seriously smart and brave man to take on such a post with his handicap. A politician needs to be able to "get around". Even being in a wheelchair would make it hard to do one's job as an elected official. Not being able to read, to be able to take notes that can be easily found is a tremendous handicap for a person who has to assess problems and then find ways to deal with them.
Dealing with people face to face is also a problem for blind and visually impaired people as they cannot make out people's facial expressions or body language.
By all accounts, David Paterson has dealt with all these adversities admirably. I hope he succeeds for himself & for New York.
I just don't understand why the media is so fixated on race over handicap. Black people run the gamut, nowadays, from the boardroom to the homeless shelter. Black people are successful all the time, folks. This one goes to the gimps.

Robert's on Miami

I have had 2 occasion's to eat at Robert's on Miami in downtown Urbana, Ohio. Neither occasion was terribly celebratory (funerals) but the quirky atmosphere, great service and excellent food helped make for delightful events.

Seriously, my dining there has led me to recommend a friggin' restaurant in Urbana, Ohio !

Located at 116 Miami Street, just west of the square, it is easy to find & has a handy parking lot right next door.

they offer a decent wine list and a menu loaded with pasta, seafood & desserts.

Don't let the hideous website and photography fool you !

http://www.robertsonmiami.com/

(their area code is 937)

Springfield, Ohio's People's Choice Awards
Supporting local businesses isn't a priority, unfortunately.
Anyway, be sure to check this out before making your vacation plans.

Restaurant
1. Texas Roadhouse
2. Red Lobster
3. Casey's

Family restaurant
1. Joe's U.S. 40 Grille
2. Collier's
3. Bob Evans

Pizza
1. Hickory Inn
2. Donatos
3. Cassano's

Barbecue
1. Rudy's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que
2. Riddle's Ribs
3. Texas Roadhouse

Sub sandwich
1. Our Hero
2. Subway
3. Penn Station

Breakfast
1. Bob Evans
2. Perkins
3. Cracker Barrel

Burger
1. Wendy's
2. Groeber's Lounge
3. Burger King

Steakhouse
1. Texas Roadhouse
2. Lone Star
3. Casey's

Mexican restaurant
1. Los Mariachis
2. El Toro
3. Mi Jalapeno

Asian restaurant
1. Golden Bowl
2. Hung Lung
3. Golden Chopsticks

Buffet
1. Golden Corral
2. Ryan's (sorry, now out of business)
3. Golden Bowl

Best place to play darts
1. Savoy Lounge (tie)
1. Buffalo Wild Wings (tie)
2. Murphy's Irish Pub

Romantic dinner
1. Casey's
2. Mela Urban Bistro
3. Cecil & Lime Cafe

Best place to shoot pool
1. Backstreet Billiards
2. Forest Lake (tie)
2. Savoy Lounge (tie)

Doughnuts
1. Schuler's
2. Krispy Kreme
3. Tim Hortons

Ice cream
1. Young's Jersey Dairy
2. Hershey's at Smith's Market
3. Dairy Queen

Cup of coffee
1. Tim Hortons
2. Speedway
3. Un Mundo Cafe

Bar
1. Savoy Lounge
2. G.Z. Pete's
3. Blackhorse Tavern

Drive-through carryout
1. Ooh Ooh
2. Wendy's
3. Valero

Best place to skateboard
1. Mitchell Boulevard skate park
2. Enon Park (tie)
2. Yellow Springs Bike Path (tie)

Bowling alley
1. Northridge Lanes
2. Victory Lanes
3. Shamrock

Golf course
1. Reid Park
2. Snyder Park
3. Windy Knoll

Karaoke
1. Murphy's Irish Pub
2. Hero's
3. Savoy Lounge

Festival
1. South Vienna Corn Festival
2. Fair at New Boston
3. Summer Arts Festival

Local band
1. Callahan
2. Cosmos
3. Override

High school marching band
1. Kenton Ridge
2. Shawnee
3. South (tie)
3. Graham (tie)

Teen hangout
1. Upper Valley Mall
2. The After Studio
3. Applebee's

Best place to ride a bike
1. Springfield to Yellow Springs
2. Buck Creek State Park
3. Simon Kenton Bike Path

Best place to stargaze
1. Buck Creek State Park
2. Your backyard
3. George Rogers Clark Park

Best place for kids to play
1. Chuck E. Cheese's
2. Snyder Park
3. Veterans Park

Best place to avoid kids
1. Your home (no, seriously)
2. Rosy's Press Box
3. Savoy Lounge

Best place to people watch
1. Upper Valley Mall
2. Fair at New Boston
3. Dayton International Airport (tie)
3. Yellow Springs (tie)

Hair salon
1. Great Clips
2. The Styling Gallery
3. Oasis

Spa
1. Oasis
2. Reflections
3. Mallia

Best one-tank weekend getaway
1. Cincinnati
2. Hocking Hills
3. Columbus

Thrift store
1. Goodwill
2. St. Vincent De Paul
3. Animal Welfare League

Jeweler
1. David Garrett
2. Kay
3. Ridgewood

Pawn shop
1. Max's
2. Rose City
3. Rich's

Best place to get a tattoo
1. Thin Lizzy's
2. Dream Merchant
3. Gailz Tattooz

Car repair
1. Rogers' Garage
2. Sexton's Shop
3. Bill Marine Auto Center

Book shop
1. Logos Christian Bookstore
2. Barnes & Noble
3. Waldenbooks

Clothing store
1. Kohls
2. Macy's
3. J.C. Penney

Sporting goods store
1. Dick's
2. Meek's
3. Reco

I sure as hell didn't expect to see this while I was flipping past GAC.
The Velvet Underground sure made some good music 40 years ago !
Now, if Brian Paisley would cover Train Comin' Round the Bend.....

R.I.P. William Buckley Jr.

ok, when I was a kid I watched Firingline. I know I'm a geek - you don't have to tell me. When I was older I subscribed to National Review. I really enjoyed Mr Buckley's insight and enjoyed having a reason to bust out the dictionary. When the reins were passed to Willam Kristol, however, the magazine devolved into neocon vomit.

I thought he kicked Germaine Greer's ass in debate & I was appalled when he dismissed a rapper because he couldn't understand his slang (which was largely adopted from jazz slang of hte 30s and 40s).

The USA is largely founded upon liberal ideas but what passes for liberalism these days is hardly liberal. The terms liberal and conservative have been appropriated by political groups who should be required to put little copyright c's at the end of the words to distinguish their use from the proper uses of the words.

That Buckley condemned the Bush administration & it's policies in Iraq was no surprise.

Anyway, here's a few (hastily found) quotes from the guy.

“Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.”

“Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views.”

“The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.”

"One can't doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed - different plans have to be made. And the kernel here is the acknowledgement of defeat."

"One must bear in mind that the expansion of federal activity is a form of eating for politicians."

"Some of my instincts are reprehensible."

heh, I can really relate to the last one.....

Trying to do searches on Google for historic stuff has long been a vexing task. They now have a timeline search function/filter that lets you filter your query by date & then, further drill down into more specific dates that are rated by relevance.
To use it, enter your query, then enter a space and enter "view:timeline"
for example

cincinnati riot view:timeline

pretty sweet

Man, it was hard to pick a quote for this. This guy's Dobbsianessness is pretty amazing, tho.


Alternatives were:


You'll PAY to know what you REALLY think


We are the ones we've been waiting for.


Pull the wool over your own eyes.


What are you going to do about it, Pink Boy?


We are the change that we seek.


whoops, some of those are actually his !

After reading John Cranley's 9 pages of questions about developing a streetcar route connecting Cincinnati's downtown neighborhoods, existing and future, I saw that he missed a lot more good questions.

being the civic minded guy that I am, I came up with a few more that he can use in his next round of stonewalling.

My proposed questions in red.

II. Economic Impact



b iv. If the streetcar reduces the required subsidy on a per unit basis, how much does it reduce the subsidy? Please provide specific market analysis from another city. How was that analysis made?

  Why has 3CDC never broken down their subsidy requirement estimation to detail what the cost of developing parking per unit costs ?

  Why do I not already know that ?



v. Are any developers willing to develop these units without a subsidy? Who?

  Why isn't there a line of developers waiting with baited breath for the Cincinnati City Council to DO something ?



vi. If the city alternatively spent $100 million to revitalize these 1574 units, wouldn't it be cheaper than subsidizing these units and building the streetcar?

  Is this a strawman question ?

  What would it cost to raze downown & erect subsidized housing made of concrete & cinderblock ?



c i. How much of this vacant land and surface parking is along the proposed route? Please list the addresses.

  Again, why don't I already know this ?



d. i. What is the average subsidy on a per unit basis for new construction in the city? Please answer by referring to Parker Flats.

  When you answer this I will ask you to compare subsidies to another development

iv. Will the construction wait until after the land is rezoned?

  Will we willfully violate zoning laws ?



v. How much of the vacant land is in a historic area or historic overlay district?

  Will these properties be developed with respect to historic parking lot guidelines ?



III. Ridership

a. ii. Was ridership greater for the proposed alignment than the alternatives? If so, why?

  Are there altenative stops planned for any of the proposed routes ?

  What will ridership estimates be for each of these routes be considering every feasible number and location of stops on an hourly and daily basis.



i. What percentage of trips will be internal, external, and special event trips respectively?

  Please provide figures for every porposed route & every feasible number and location of stops on an hourly and daily basis.

iv. How did the city arrive at these numbers?

  Please be prepared to answer several questions for each answer you give here.



v. Were these numbers drawn from other streetcar markets?

  Is this a loaded question ?

 For each of the other markets (Portland, etc.), how many people worked and lived near the line when it opened, how many shops, restaurants, etc. were there?

  Who owned them, what type of businesses were they, what was each & every one of their sales per hr depending on what hours the streetcars were running



i. How many people live within two blocks of the proposed route and how many will need to use the streetcar to get to work? How did you generate these numbers?

  And how is this relevant to the idea of an area that will (theoretically) increase it's opulation after the line is established.

  Please provide estimates on an hourly daily basis given the effect of seasons, weather conditions (which will be questioned at a later date) and day of the week ?

  Would estimates be different if we abolished labor laws ?



iii. How many people do you project will drive to downtown or Over-the-Rhine and then use the streetcar to complete their commute to work?

  Being as this is an icredibly stupid question, how many people are expected to take the bus downtown & use the streetcar to continue their communte to work ?

    How many bus riders who use transfers

    How many who come from outside Zone 1 zone 2 zone 3 & 4 ?

    How many bus riders who use park & ride ?



v. Will anybody park at Findlay Market? How many?

  Will anybody park at the riverfront and ride to Findlay Market ? How amy ?

    as usual, provide estimates for every day of the year & the hours they would be using the service because I am a simpleton andx am basing all my uestions on first shift workers



vii. What percentage of streetcar riders will consist of those making the trip to and from work?

  What percentage will be to visit people who live in the area ? I am drunk and keep forgetting that this idea i to promote more residency in the downtown area.



d. The second use for the streetcar is shopping: how many will use the streetcar for shopping purposes on a daily basis?
 What percentage of the total ridership does this constitute?

  What will they be shopping for ?

  How many cubic feet of goods will they be carrying ?

  What is the estimated weight of goods purchased expected to be ?

  What percentage of riders will be buying black market goods & services ?



e. The third use is entertainment: how many will use the streetcar for entertainment purposes on a daily basis? What percentage of the total ridership does this constitute?

  Seriously, doesn't this need to be broken down into time & day of the week ?


iii. How long would it take the average downtown worker to leave work, get to the restaurant, eat lunch, and return to work? Will a worker have enough time to take the streetcar to lunch during a typical one-hour lunch break?
  Be sure to break this down by the average serving time of each and every restaurant along the route and all proposed alternative routes.



iv. What is the expected loss to downtown restaurateurs as a result of the streetcar, if downtown workers take the streetcar to Over-the-Rhine for lunch?

  What is the expected loss to Over-the-Rhine restaurateurs as a result of the streetcar, if Over-the-Rhine workers take the streetcar to downtown for lunch?

v. How long does it take to walk from Fountain Square to Findlay Market?

  In the snow

  Pushing a baby carriage

  pulling a grocery cart

  If you are obese

  If you are 3' tall

  If you are 4' tall

  If you are 5' tall

  if you are 6' tall

  if you are an Olympic marothoner

  if you are a 75 year old with one leg

  How long on a rascal

  How long in a wheelchair

  How long for an obese 60 yr old blind grandma in a wheelchair being pushed by an obese 40yr old mother trying to keep track of her kids while carrying groceries on the snowy streets that the city does not enforce the laws concerning clearing of ?

  How long for an obese 60 yr old blind grandma in a wheelchair being pushed by an obese 40yr old mother trying to keep track of her kids while carrying groceries on the snowy streets that the city does not enforce the laws concerning clearing of at night ?

  How long for an obese 60 yr old blind grandma in a wheelchair being pushed by an obese 40yr old mother trying to keep track of her kids while carrying groceries on the snowy streets that the city does not enforce the laws concerning clearing of with a tailwind ?

  How long for an obese 60 yr old blind grandma in a wheelchair being pushed by an obese 40yr old mother trying to keep track of her kids while carrying groceries on the snowy streets that the city does not enforce the laws concerning clearing of with a headwind ?



vi. Wouldn't it be quicker and cheaper to drive or ride a bike?

  Nevermind that the city has inadequate parking and charges a premium for what it has.

  Nevermind that there is basically no dedicated bicycle parking.



vii. How long does it take to walk from the Kroger building to Fountain Square?

  How long does it take to walk from Music Hall to City Hall ?

  How long does it take to walk from the DIC to 3CDC ?

  I can keep these up all day long - it's kinda like filibusterng. See, I am up to holding a federal office !



viii. If it is faster to take the streetcar, how much faster?

  Have you deduced that I am batshit crazy ?

In all honesty he had some good questions - he just had a lot of dumb ones that indicate he isn't doing much to keep up on what's going on in the city he is supposed to be running.

oh wait, that's the city manager's job.

Ladies and Germs, I give you the Obama yard sign !

Why can't Cincinnati Bell come up with ads like this ?

Ohio's lead position in fighting ghoulism is frequently overlooked. In fact, in no less than Springfield (The Champion City), a major coup in the battle was made about the turn of the century.

Locking out the grave robbers
By Tom Stafford
Springfield News-Sun
Monday, January 14, 2008
The threat would disappear in years to come.
But to Springfield's Champion Co. of 1879, the danger was both clear and present: Graves were being robbed to provide cadavers for use by medical students.
The solution envisioned by a Springfielder named Boyd, was "a receptacle to make the grave safe from ghouls and grave robbers" — the burglar-proof vault.
An Oct. 18, 1930, letter describing the development of Champion vaults says improvements were incorporated into the subsequent designs of mssrs. Armstrong and Baker, the latter of whom likely crafted the vault used for Buffalo Bill's grave.
But for conjuring up the bad old days of grave violation, it's hard to imagine anything more effective than the undated advertisement for the improved version of the original Boyd vault — an ad that survives in the company archives.
Available in regular and extra sizes, the vault was touted as "the great grave robber foiler."
In a time when —according to the ad — more than 40,000 human bodies were "mutilated every year on dissecting tables in medical colleges in the United States," the vault represented the perfect solution to the problem "that has long agitated the public mind."
With a heavy angle iron framework, a steel plate on the bottom and a sheet steel casing on top, the security of the vault was assured by rivets and bolts "concealed by additional iron, so that it would be absolutely impossible to locate their exact position, even if the ghouls should go to the trouble of doing the additional amount of excavating that would be necessary."
To hold the top in place "six heavy spring hooks ... attach themselves to lugs on the inside of the top casing as it is placed in position," the ad says.
Once closed, "it is impossible to open the vault except to cut the top casing entirely open, which would require a mechanic to work at least 24 hours with the best of tools, which, of course, would render any attempt at grave robbing futile."
On the ends of the vault, "letters finished in gold bronze" added a handsomeness to complement a compartment the company promised would protect "both the casket and body from dampness, mould and decay, and from burrowing animals and vermin."
That last bit of information is what we today might call TMI (too much information). And whether it was included to reassure customers or drum up businessis unclear.
As to cost, the vaults ran $15 for child sizes, $30 for most adults, and $40 for the largest, which required special orders. And, promising to pay special attention to telephone and telegraph inquiries, the company said it stood ready to handle orders "every hour in the year."

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/13/sns011408cnlbsidebar.html?UrAuth=`N`NUObNXUbTTUWUXUaUZTZU\UWU^UbUZUaU[UcTYWVVZV

The Champion company
http://www.champion-newera.co

Mandating bicycle helmets for kids on a state level is ridiculous in Ohio. The residential areas of Ohio are vastly different, ranging from rural to small to large urban areas with a healthy dose of suburban areas as well. If mandatory bicycle helmet laws are to be passed at all, they should be passed on a municipal level.

The notion that a $10 helmet is worth a crap is ridiculous at best & dangerously misleading at worst.

The cost of a helmet is prohibitively expensive for poor urban kids who frequently don't have the money for a bike to begin with.

Bicycling should be promoted in Ohio for reasons of personal health, economy, social awareness and energy independence as well as personal independence.

The state's efforts would be better spent concocting a bicyclist education program that could teach the "Rules of the Road" to kids 8 - 12 that they might otherwise not learn til they turn 16 and begin to learn how to operate a motor vehicle. With any luck the reinforcement of this education will also improve the quality of drivers in the state.

While on the subject, driver's education should be more rigorous & drivers should be re-tested every 12 years or so to break bad habits.

This comes down to feel good, "Look what I did to protect our children" grandstanding, nanny statist pooh. The city of Cincinnati pased such legislation several years ago & it is hardly enforced. It is not enforced at all in Over the Rhine where kids ride around on bikes acting as lookouts for the vice lords.

What I'm babbling about:

State bills require bicycling minors to wear helmets

If law passes, offenders face warnings in first year, then a $25 fine.

By Laura Bischoff

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

COLUMBUS — Ohio may join 32 other states that require minors to wear bike helmets while riding a bike or in a seat or trailer.

Two bills are pending in the General Assembly that would require cyclists under the age of 17 to strap on a proper bike helmet or face a $25 fine. (Some cities, including Centerville, already have local laws requiring children to wear bike helmets.)

Only warnings would be issued the first year of the law, but after that, parents would be ticketed. Money from the tickets would be put into a fund to pay for helmets, which cost as little as $10, to low-income children.

The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute reports that 45 percent to 88 percent of reported head injuries in bike accidents could be prevented with helmets.

Ohio has 2.8 million children. Even if only half bike, the bill would affect 1.4 million Ohioans.

State Rep. Mike Skindell, D-Lakewood, an avid bicyclist, will give sponsor testimony on the House bill Wednesday.

Skindell was hit by a vehicle while cycling last year and credits a helmet for reducing his injuries.

State Sen. Tom Roberts, D-Dayton, is sponsoring a similar bill in the Senate.

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/hp/content/oh/story/news/local/2008/01/07/ddn010808helmets.html

Did the Obama campaign clear this with Pepsi ?

Well, the results of the much ballyhooed Iowa caucus are in. The result ?

Apparently the majority of Iowans like presidents who are friendly, have an "aw shucks" demeanor, nice smiles & offer little substance.

An American president has to be able to negotiate or not with the powerful leaders of countries like Russia, France, Pakistan & N. Korea. I see any of these guys having Huckabee or Obama for an appetizer.

If this vote is going to sway people's opinions nationwide, we are screwed.