Pete and Repeat Go Into a Bar

I didn't like this negative screed even when I read it for the first time.

COAST Shows Its Anti-Gay Bigotry

In it's latest news letter the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) included the following:

Commissioners Portune, Pepper Proclaim Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Day

In yet a further waste of County resources, Commissioners Todd Portune and David Pepper proclaimed Saturday, June 14, 2008, as Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Day. COAST is just bursting with pride at this proclamation on behalf of our County. We are sure Simon Leis is also proud of his endorsed County Commission candidate. Read about the resolution here.

Yes, you'll want to pay attention to the link, which is to the CCV's website. I hate to link to it, but that is news I want to make sure people understand, COAST and CCV appear to be in bed together. To claim that this somehow wastes county money is laughable. These types of proclamations are common and cost virtually nothing. Where was COAST in 2002 when the Commissioners proclaimed May 2, 2002 National Day of Prayer in Hamilton County, Ohio.?

What's more important, however, is that the CCV article is full of bigotry. Will all COAST members stand by this bigotry? Will groups and individuals who work with COAST stand by them?

A Lesson in Media Bias

In this story you get a slanted spin on the situation. If you reordered the quotes and changed it around, you could have a totally different story. The headline could have read "Departure of Sheriff Deputies has not increased crime in OTR" I'd like someone at the Enquirer state who pushed this story and how much was it edited to fit a point of view?

What Do They Have That We Don't Have?

There's an interesting piece in the NY Times's travel section on Pittsburgh. It's worth a quick read.

I realize that as Cincinnatians, it's our sworn duty to hate all things black-and-gold. But I've always thought that Pittsburgh is a good point of comparison for Cincinnati. We're nearly identical with respect to population. Our weather and geography are very similar (Pittsburgh's is a little more challenging, since the rivers actually cut through the city). Both cities' residents are extremely neighborhood oriented. And our baseball teams play to approximately equal levels of futility (though more turn out to see the Reds).

The Times piece describes a pretty vibrant city. My question: could a similar piece be written about Cincinnati? And if not, then why not: what does Pittsburgh have that we don't have?

For what it's worth, the most significant difference I see between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh is the latter's Oakland area. It's a concentration of the city's colleges (chiefly, Pitt and Carnegie Mellon, but also Duquesne and some smaller schools). There's no equivalent in Cincinnati (though I'm not arguing that makes Cincinnati a "worse" city, just different).

There is one other difference that I keep raising that none of you seem to care about. Inclines. It's all about inclines, darn it!!!

Full disclosure: I lived in Pittsburgh for four years (1988-1992) and graduated from a Pittsburgh public high school. I have never, however, rooted for the Steelers.

Enquirer's New Website

Ok, so I have had some time to evaluate the Enquirer's revamped website and I must say I do not like it. I don't mind the general look of it, what I dislike is the new structure. I can't find where anything is supposed to be.

Other opinions?

A Theatre Bridge

In an update on the effort to move the Cincinnati Playhouse to Downtown we learn that the effort includes putting four theatre spaces over two structures with a shared lobby that spans Race Street. This is an ambitious idea, but one that sounds wonderful.

On a side note, I think I need to subscribe to the Business Courier.

Farewell, LOL Blog

Larry Gross has decided to end his tenure as a blogger, and CityBeat, in turn, has decided to terminate the Living Out Loud Blog.

I (and others at this blog) have taken issue with Larry's sometimes-too-pessimistic attitude about Cincinnati. But that hasn't stopped me from reading (and looking forward to reading) his work on a daily basis. When I do my daily blog reading, I generally check the Cincinnati Blog, the Porkopolis Blog, and the LOL Blog, in that order. (Please, no lectures about using a blog reader. I'm too old school to learn that trick.) I'll greatly miss my daily dose of Larry. (Lately, though, it's a good thing I'm my own boss, since the LOL blog is the epitome of "not safe for work.") Larry's posts always get a reaction--sometimes it's laughter, sometimes disagreement, sometimes just a frown and "What the hell was that about?" But it's a reaction, nonetheless. Larry is lots of things, but vanilla is not one of them.

The good news is that Larry will continue to write for CityBeat. He also reports that he's working on two books.

I may have to stop into Madonna's some afternoon and buy him a drink.