Cincinnati Blog: Change the Law

There is some kind of blogger hiccup going on, but this post on Malone: Cincinnati Blog: Change the Law is still around. At least I think it is.

Showdown

The battle over the banks is starting to look like a wild west stare down contest.

Will Pepper use this as an issue in the election, specifically playing Heimlich as being anti-city or unwilling to work well with others if he balks at the city's demands?

Both Sides of the Mouth

Peter Bronson is making two divergent points while trying to only make one. His article is about a religious group indoctrinating kids into becoming Christian shock troops in the media. His conflict comes plainly:

"Our hope is that someday at some moviemaker, some of our people will be in the room when they want to make an R-rated movie to say, 'We don't need to do that,'" said executive director Mike Volette.

...

The idea is not to push a Christian agenda, he said, but to have people in media who at least understand Christianity."

If the idea is not to push a Christian agenda, then what's the deal with being against "R" rated movies? Read this section:

Two-thirds of the $1.5 million invested in the UndergroundZone came from business sponsors such as Cincinnati Bell, Key Bank and Grippo's. But more sponsor help is needed to train "media missionaries," to take their message into the deepest, darkest heart of hostile Hollywood and tone-deaf newsrooms.

It sounds like hazardous work. Cartoons of missionaries in pith helmets tied to stakes or being cooked in giant pots come to mind. But maybe there's hope.

Just this year, TV shows have been canceled or rewritten after protests by Christians. "The Book of Daniel" on NBC, about a pill-popping priest and his sidekick surfer-dude Jesus, was yanked almost immediately. And ABC has agreed to cut scenes in an April 13 "Will & Grace" that had Britney Spears mocking the Crucifixion of Christ.

"Media is not good or bad," Vollette said. "It just depends on how it is used."

Now that sounds like a fruitful salt ministry.

Once again Bronson contradicts his own points within his own column. Either the guy he's interviewing believes "The idea is not to push a Christian agenda" or he's creating Storm-troopers to go out and try and get "Will & Grace" censored because a bunch of prudish Christians are too sensitive to have the religion questioned through the mass media. He can't be both. Trying to be both means you are lying to someone.

Sorry Peter, this program is all about pushing the Christian religion. What is sad, is that the kids are likely being mislead into thinking otherwise.

Target Practice

Shoot me a river of bias Faux News interviews. Otherwise:

Open Thread!!!

CAC Slammed By Idiot

What it is with idiots who walk into town for a day and think then know the facts about anything going on in this city?

I will agree that the CAC has a bunch of problems and I am not a fan of the building, but to judge the attendance and importance by what you saw on one weekday visit and to view the building as hip to only the old fogies from the 80s and 90s, you sound like a lazy inept critic who phoned in his trip to the Queen City.

The only point this guy makes worth while is the fact that membership is down to pre-move levels. Some of that is out of the control of the CAC, but one of their biggest problems is that they do little to bring people into the space. Art should be for the people, not just for a few snobs looking for a faux sense of superiority. John King, the critic, fits that faux sense with what appears to be his inanity to get over the changes Cincinnati underwent since he was an intern (kid) here 25 years ago.

Mr. King should have seen the CAC last Friday night where a large crowd enjoyed a great evening of art and lightening music from the Heartless Bastards. That event brought WEBN-FM to the CAC. Freaking white-bread WEBN! Variety is what the CAC needs and it can't be pretentious and expect anyone but art freaks to join. Cross promotions with other arts groups, like the Cincy Fringe Festival, are what a contemporary arts museum should make its priority. Anything less and this museum becomes what it was created to be an alternative to: the institutionalism of the Taft Museum.

I find I get more pissed by critics who slam Cincinnati at the drop of a hat out of laziness, personal spite, or ignorance. I think King has achieved a hat trick with all three.

Cincy Streetcar Desire

I love the idea of Streetcars in Cincinnati linking all of the tourist and entertainment districts. Would it work? That depends on how big a system one envisions. I don't know enough about how this will be financed.

Some kind of targeted and versatile mass transit should be developed to link Northside -Clifton -OTR -CBD -Riverfront -Mt. Adams -Newport -Covington -Airport. With the right structure, pricing, and schedule a route could be created by Metro. Using a special or even smaller bus would add a unique and attractive experience to make it complementary to the tourist/entertainment districts, not just utilitarian.

Newport IMAX Site To Be Filled?

With the auction of the Newport IMAX lease, the Enquirer reports that this could lead to a sale of the location. What could work on the site? The theater is a very unique structure, so what ever it is will have to be different. I would guess a bar/nightclub could work. Would a live music club work or even be economically feasible?

I think I once hear someone claim a laser tag location could work. What else?