Discrimination against single people, originally uploaded by hjoew.
This sign - seen at the Anderson Days festival last weekend - shows just how far they go out in that Cincinnati suburb to push their family values.
Sent from my BlackBerry.
The "big ball," as it's called, means double runs for the offense in the third inning. For us, it's meant double trouble.
Here's our hapless crew, some of the members of KARA THRACE & HER SPECIAL DESTINY
No rim shots, originally uploaded by hjoew.
Ba dum da. Take that.
Sunday evening, Melissa, Kaille and I took an impromptu trip to Ripley, Ohio - about an hour’s drive east of Cincinnati. The sun was setting, the air still somewhat heavy and warm and we were a little hungry. So, we stopped into Cohearts Riverhouse for dinner. I had not been there in several years, so it was nice to be back. I have some fond memories of that town and I was glad to feel some of those same feelings there again. It was also neat to see the improvements made to the riverfront area - including a beautiful new river walk area.
Late last month a story I wrote ran in The Post that outlines serious plans - presented through the publication of a report that cost more than $800,000 to produce - to spend several million dollars both rehabilitating and preserving Cincinnati’s most recognizable landmark, Union Terminal.
On top of the important preservation work, part of the visioning and overall plan for the Union Terminal would be creating a district that would completely transform the area around the building into a hustling, bustling neighborhood of offices, apartments, condominiums and retail shops. Plus the plan calls for building two new parking garages on either side of the main terminal building, while two giant asphalt parking lots in front of the building - along the circular drive - would be returned to green space for a park (the area that was once a popular Cincinnati gathering place, Lincoln Park).
Most notable was the building that Cincinnati City Council nearly voted to tear down in the early part of the 1970s is in pretty bad shape overall and needs about $111 million worth of critical architectural and historical preservation.
In the ar
ticle I retold a story that Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory shared during one of his weekly press briefings. In that meet-up Mallory mentioned he was about to sit down with Cincinnati Museum Center officials - the folks now operating Union Terminal under a lease from the city - about restoration and renovation issues. He also mentioned TV talk and reality show host, former Cincinnati Council Member and Mayor Jerry Springer, crediting him with saving Union Terminal, in part, through a song he had written, sung and recorded back when he was on Council.
Springer apparently called a press conference back then on a grassy knoll, dawned a dashiki, surrounded himself with young children, strummed a guitar and sang his song called “Save the Union Terminal.” Among those children sitting with Springer was a young Mark Mallory.
When I heard about the song I went on a mad hunt to see if I could actually get a copy of it. After several calls and conversations with some very helpful people, I tracked it down. Special thanks to Jay Gilbert at WEBN-FM for getting it to me.
The lyrics talk of the grand building losing out to the “Greyhound Bus, the airplane and the hungry automobile.” Springer encourages citizens to save the building from “the wrecking ball and chain” so children can not only ask their fathers about trains, they can actually be taken to see an old train station.
If you’re a Jerry Springer fan or not, it’s a hoot to listen to. If you remember that time in Cincinnati politics, I imagine it’s pretty special to hear it again. If you love Union Terminal and you are any age, the song is a must-hear.
As a side note, though the story was not followed by any other media outlets, it did become the highest vote-getter ever on Cinplify.com, which is very cool. Thanks again to everyone who voted for it.
That’s my Mom (Judy) on a flotation device in the swimming pool adjacent to the beach house I just got done spending a solid week in just outside of Destin, Fla. Went there with the whole family - Mom, Dad and my sister’s family and some of her in-laws.
It was a good time. To see photos, click on Mom and be taken to the set on Flickr.
So, this “cat” I know has a blog. And every time I read it I think I’m going to wet my pants I’m laughing so hard.
It’s like Toonces the Driving Cat, but instead it’s Paris Hilton - in the form of a kitty cat - who, like the heiress, is at the same time self-absorbed and insightful, plus honest and, well, crazy. Rehab Cat has himself some very big adventures and mishaps, like the pill-popping pictured above. Check out the blog to read more.
The entries are all about this cat’s partying life and the people he does drugs with and socializes with and all the celebrities he hangs out with, the cats he hooks up with and it goes on and on. And it’s all written from this cat’s perspective.
I hope Rehab Cat gets some help, but part of me hopes he continues the binging, the blaming and the excuse-making. It’s really funny. Can’t wait to see where it goes.
(The actual writer of the blog is someone quite a few Report This! readers might know, by the way. But she has asked to remain anonymous.)
I’m thinking about getting a group of friends together Saturday, picking up a bucket of fried chicken and grabbing a spot right up in front while I watch this guy try to not kill himself in front of me.
His name is Phil Dalton and he’s an illusionist in Cincinnati, and his press release caught my eye. At 2 p.m. Saturday be at Whitaker Elementary, 7400 Winton Road, in Finneytown to watch Dalton “attempt to free himself from a straightjacket while suspended from a burning rope 85 feet above the ground.”
He will have members of the crowd buckle him into the jacket, attach the rope to his ankles and be lifted up in the air, upside down, 85 feet. Then the rope will be set on fire.
“Phiil will have only seconds to free himself before the rope burns through, sending him plummeting to the ground!” his press release says.
Oh, and no charge to watch. It’s free. Sweet. Better than pay-per-view cable TV.
This ain’t Las Vegas. Those folks out there are used to this oddness. Here in the ‘Nati, this is a wee bit unusual, so I called him up.
“It’s different every time you do it,” Dalton said. “So, it’s a little bit of a challenge.”
This will be the first time he’s done this particular trick, but he has escaped from straightjackets before while upside down - not just from a burning rope 85 feet in the air, he tells me. Yeah, me, too (not really).
Dalton, who, it turns out, is from my neck of the woods, Colerain, and also graduated from Colerain High School (in the same class as my sister, Shelly), is doing this as a promotion for an upcoming magic show.
By the way, this is his full-time job, he told me. He also remembers Shelly, who I also called to ask if she remembered him. She did. And said he was “really into magic in high school” and “always trying to show us tricks.”
She said she hopes he doesn’t die and won’t be bringing my nieces (2,2 and 4 years old) or my nephew (6) to see him Saturday in case he does. I told her I’d let her know how it turns out and that I am rooting for him, too.
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