Every year, we're told by our various media outlets of a baby Jesus figure being stolen from a nativity scene. This year, we heard that same old news at least twice: once when it happened in Mason, and once when a Cincinnati attorney donated a replacement Jesus for a suburban Miami creche. (I'm not sure why he didn't just replace the Mason Jesus and save himself a long-distance phone bill. I suppose he wouldn't have gotten himself on CNN for doing that.)
I'm sick of hearing these stories.
Blaming the victim is usually wrong. But these nativity-scene owners are at least partially to blame for the kidnapping of Jesus. If they had just held to tradition, baby Jesus might still be safe and sound. It always used to be the case that the baby Jesus figurine/statue/what-have-you wasn't placed in the nativity scene until Christmas Eve. Until then, the manger sat empty. Tradition is a good thing a lot of the time. Displaying a completed nativity scene prior to Christmas Eve is (in my opinion) one more symptom of a general failure to remember the "reason for the season." (The Miami Jesus was stolen sometime before December 5, for you-know-who's sake.) The act of laying the Jesus in a manger on the night before Christmas helps to focus our attention on the religious nature of the holiday. A nativity scene shouldn't be an accessory to a Christmas tree and plastic reindeer (or worse yet, one of those awful inflatable globes with a scene inside).
In fact, every time I drive past a nativity scene with a prematurely-displayed Mary's child, I fantasize about stealing it, only to surreptiously return it late on Christmas Eve. Stealth, however, has never been one of my gifts, so I have no doubt that I'd be caught either taking Jesus or giving him back. With my luck, I'd probably be tased before being taken into custody.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Monday, December 24, 2007
Food, Glorious Food
The only thing new in this article on the effort to get a full service grocery store in Downtown are the quotes from Council member Roxanne Qualls.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Bearcats 31, Southern Miss. 21
O Cincinnati magic name
I proudly to the world proclaim
No sweeter name e'er charmed my ear
None to my heart was e'er so dear;
A fountain of eternal youth,
A tower of strength, a rock of truth.
Varsity, dear varsity
Thy loyal children we will be,
Thy loyal, loyal children we will be!
The Bearcats won their bowl game for their first ten-win season in 56 years; Team Lachey came through Thursday night; can the Bengals make it a Cincinnati trifecta on Sunday?
I proudly to the world proclaim
No sweeter name e'er charmed my ear
None to my heart was e'er so dear;
A fountain of eternal youth,
A tower of strength, a rock of truth.
Varsity, dear varsity
Thy loyal children we will be,
Thy loyal, loyal children we will be!
The Bearcats won their bowl game for their first ten-win season in 56 years; Team Lachey came through Thursday night; can the Bengals make it a Cincinnati trifecta on Sunday?
Friday, December 21, 2007
New Year's Eve: Where Are You Going?
CityBeat has their guide (pdf) to what is happening on New Year's this year, and Zipscene's NYE page has some of the bars with deals.
The Know Theatre has announced their NYE bash as well.
CSO is having their annual NYE Concert.
CSL is having a party at the 20th Century.
The Know Theatre has announced their NYE bash as well.
CSO is having their annual NYE Concert.
CSL is having a party at the 20th Century.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Cincinnati Victorious
That's something you haven't heard much this year.
OK. I'll admit it. I watched the finale of "Singing With the Stars," or whatever it's called. It was pretty good TV. And Nick Lachey's team won. The Enquirer's early coverage is here.
I'm pretty sure that a lot of people assumed Patti LaBelle's team would win. I know I did. I don't mean any disrespect to Lachey by that--say what you will about boy bands like 98 Degrees, but at the end of the day, Nick's a very talented singer. But Patti LaBelle is . . . well, Patti LaBelle. Lachey's choir, though, really put it together, from what I could tell by the live performances tonight and the clips from the past few days. (The vocal rendition the choir did of Flight of the Bumblebee was particularly imnpressive, I thought.)
In fact, Tracy Morgan (who NBC had announce the winner, in order to promote his new movie--yeah, that's right, now he's got his own movie) was so sure he'd be calling Patti LaBelle's name, he didn't bother to make sure he knew how to pronounce "Lachey." (Morgan thought the winning team's name was "lake-ee".) He tried not to pronounce it at first, just pointing and saying "this team over here. I think someone must have whispered to him to read the name.) I have to admit, I got a chuckle out of that. Five minutes too late, you could hear him yell, "Lachey" correctly. It was hilarious.
During the show, LaBelle announced that she's going to do at least one more performance (on New Year's Eve) with her choir. I hope Lachey follows suit. He seemed guininely moved by the experience. And it's not as if he's got anything better to do--none of his former bandmates are running for office right now, and he doesn't seem to be able to compete with Tony Romo in the romance department.
Sorry, that last bit was a little snarky. Congratulations to the outstanding group of Cincinnatians who got together for a good cause. And a big thank you to Nick Lachey, for making a Cincinnati team competitive on television. And I do hope we see Lachey and his choir singing somewhere again soon. They're entertaining.
Next year: Lachey replaces Marvin Lewis; Bengals go 16-0.
OK. I'll admit it. I watched the finale of "Singing With the Stars," or whatever it's called. It was pretty good TV. And Nick Lachey's team won. The Enquirer's early coverage is here.
I'm pretty sure that a lot of people assumed Patti LaBelle's team would win. I know I did. I don't mean any disrespect to Lachey by that--say what you will about boy bands like 98 Degrees, but at the end of the day, Nick's a very talented singer. But Patti LaBelle is . . . well, Patti LaBelle. Lachey's choir, though, really put it together, from what I could tell by the live performances tonight and the clips from the past few days. (The vocal rendition the choir did of Flight of the Bumblebee was particularly imnpressive, I thought.)
In fact, Tracy Morgan (who NBC had announce the winner, in order to promote his new movie--yeah, that's right, now he's got his own movie) was so sure he'd be calling Patti LaBelle's name, he didn't bother to make sure he knew how to pronounce "Lachey." (Morgan thought the winning team's name was "lake-ee".) He tried not to pronounce it at first, just pointing and saying "this team over here. I think someone must have whispered to him to read the name.) I have to admit, I got a chuckle out of that. Five minutes too late, you could hear him yell, "Lachey" correctly. It was hilarious.
During the show, LaBelle announced that she's going to do at least one more performance (on New Year's Eve) with her choir. I hope Lachey follows suit. He seemed guininely moved by the experience. And it's not as if he's got anything better to do--none of his former bandmates are running for office right now, and he doesn't seem to be able to compete with Tony Romo in the romance department.
Sorry, that last bit was a little snarky. Congratulations to the outstanding group of Cincinnatians who got together for a good cause. And a big thank you to Nick Lachey, for making a Cincinnati team competitive on television. And I do hope we see Lachey and his choir singing somewhere again soon. They're entertaining.
Next year: Lachey replaces Marvin Lewis; Bengals go 16-0.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Public Service Announcement On Street-Crossing
My earlier post on red-light cameras led to some comment-thread discussion about downtown drivers mowing down pedestrians. As both a downtown driver and a downtown pedestrian (though usually not at the same time), I feel it necessary to offer the following advice to those strolling about downtown:
In order to safely cross the street, follow these simple steps:
1. Proceed to the nearest crosswalk. Downtown, you can usually find one every half-block.
2. Wait for the crosswalk indicator to say "Walk." The flashing "Don't Walk" sign does not mean "Walk, but do so very quickly."
3. Cross the street at a ninety-degree angle to the curb, within the marked lines.
For those that think it's okay to cross the street with the traffic signal when the "Don't Walk" sign is flashing, you're wrong. You may notice that the pedestrian signal on one side of the street will read "Walk" longer than the one on the other side. This is not an accident. Instead, it occurs so that cars can turn off the street they're on without fear of hitting someone in a cross walk. Race Street, for instance, is a one-way street headed southbound. Fourth Street is one way headed west. The crosswalk indicators on the west side of the intersection (to cross Fourth) will start flashing "Don't Walk" well ahead of the traffic light turning red. If it didn't, cars that want to turn right could never do so. So when you cross against the pedestrian signal, you create a traffic jam. Don't do it.
And for the commenter who wondered: pedestrian injuries are a real issue downtown. Over the last year, I can think of at least two downtown pedestrian deaths, just off the top of my head.
Finally, to the guy who yesterday afternoon decided to run across Central Parkway (at Main Street) while carrying a baby in a car seat after the light turned red (meaning oncoming cars had a green light) : you're an idiot. And if I find out who you are, I may try to file a complaint for child endangering. I don't care how expensive your suit was. You need a couple of days at Queensgate to reflect on life.
In order to safely cross the street, follow these simple steps:
1. Proceed to the nearest crosswalk. Downtown, you can usually find one every half-block.
2. Wait for the crosswalk indicator to say "Walk." The flashing "Don't Walk" sign does not mean "Walk, but do so very quickly."
3. Cross the street at a ninety-degree angle to the curb, within the marked lines.
For those that think it's okay to cross the street with the traffic signal when the "Don't Walk" sign is flashing, you're wrong. You may notice that the pedestrian signal on one side of the street will read "Walk" longer than the one on the other side. This is not an accident. Instead, it occurs so that cars can turn off the street they're on without fear of hitting someone in a cross walk. Race Street, for instance, is a one-way street headed southbound. Fourth Street is one way headed west. The crosswalk indicators on the west side of the intersection (to cross Fourth) will start flashing "Don't Walk" well ahead of the traffic light turning red. If it didn't, cars that want to turn right could never do so. So when you cross against the pedestrian signal, you create a traffic jam. Don't do it.
And for the commenter who wondered: pedestrian injuries are a real issue downtown. Over the last year, I can think of at least two downtown pedestrian deaths, just off the top of my head.
Finally, to the guy who yesterday afternoon decided to run across Central Parkway (at Main Street) while carrying a baby in a car seat after the light turned red (meaning oncoming cars had a green light) : you're an idiot. And if I find out who you are, I may try to file a complaint for child endangering. I don't care how expensive your suit was. You need a couple of days at Queensgate to reflect on life.
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