If You Are Going to MidPoint

Midpoint is a tremendously fun event. That being said, you might want to plan out your weekend before jumping into it, unless you want to play musical roulette with your ear drums.

For the hardcore music fan, nothing will surpass your own judgment. You need to log onto www.mpmf.com and listen to all of the group’s MySpace pages yourself. Yes, this will take about two days, but nothing is too good for you.

Ok, so if you are not that much of a fanatic about your music and would like some help, well I’ve got some ideas for you. Before I get into some band names, you need to first identify how you want to attend the festival. There are several ways, but lets focus on the most affective methods. When thinking about this I’m going to assume you are getting a three day pass. There are no single day passes this year, so if you plan on going more than one day to more than one venue, you should cough up the $29 bucks for the three day pass. The three main types of fan are the following cleverly named categories:

1. The Floater

2. The Traveler

3. The Focused Planner

The Floater is out to see as much music as possible, and will float around and take chances on bands. The best preparation for a Floater is to plan out your time. Know what bands are playing when, and then catch half a set here, and half a set there. It is nice to have the freedom to hear a few songs of a band you’ve never heard of and if they suck or aren’t of your taste (to put it more pleasantly), then you can hit another band playing near by that you do know and can support. This is great way to see local bands you like and want to support, but weren’t your first option, since you’ll have more chances to see them.

The Traveler has set destinations and a schedule to keep. They have planned to see bands they know or like and worked out a firm plan on who they can see and where. This requires going hour by hour and using something akin to a sextant to map out a route from venue to venue, all while keeping to a time table. If you are smart you will maybe become friends with the Scion Taxis running around town, or maybe hire your own chauffeur if you plan on some trips over to Newport and back. This method is good when you are going to see local bands and only local bands.

The Focused Planner is a person who wants to go one place and stay there. A little boring, but if you are drinking or have a favorite bar, then can work best. This year’s festival is uniquely able to make this type of fan’s experience even better. With special events like the Lite Bright Film Test at the CAC, a fan can spend each night in one place and see a great variety of local and out of town acts, as well as see cool film. The same could be had at various venues where local promotions teams have cooked up cool ways to program certain venues each night. The All Night Party hosts a big night at the Blue Wisp on Friday, and Grammer’s hosts a big tent each night with some of the best known groups, like the Heartless Bastards. Some of these events even work to complement each other, where venues like Fountain Square, end early on Thursday night, allowing you to hit up a second location.

Other concerns: Food! No matter where you are, there are tons of late night food options: Arnold’s will have the full menu available until at least 2:30AM per the owner (Rhonda for those who know her). Other options are Cold Turkey & Shanghai Mama’s on 6^th, Lucy Blue on 12^th and 7^th Streets, and Gilpin’s also on 7^th Street.

OK, so now on to the good stuff, who to see….well, you are going to have to wait for my picks just a little while longer. Yeah, I suckered you in, but tough cookies, sweetheart!

Mynt Martini On The Square

Queen City Survey has the photographic evidence to support the news UrbanCincy reported way back in March. So if this Mynt Martini Twitter page is correct, the club will open this fall.

Vote No on Issue 9

Via UrbanCincy

Oktoberfest Political I Spy

I Spy a Drunk Westwood resident with both a Mallory and Wenstrup sticker on their ass!

That would be worth double points in the game I like to play when at Oktoberfest: What are most bizarre, interesting, or politically significant sights at Oktoberfest Zinzinnati?

This game is totally subjective, has no prizes, and at best if you send in a photo of what you see, I might (keep it clean) post it on the blog.

Mostly this is a way to see what political campaigns are out in force and which ones are absent. Good campaigns treat any festival as an opportunity to meet voters. This is the biggest festival of the campaign season, and the one that actually brings city residents who can vote, as opposed to Riverfest where teenagers make up a high portion of the attendees.

The things I am looking for are simple: candidate stickers, supporters wearing T-shirts, and the candidates themselves. There is no science to this, there is only subjective feeling about the health of a campaign.

Issue campaigns also should be there in strong numbers. I hope to see No on 9 supporters out in force! Those voting for Issue 9, I would think don't go to Oktoberfest or any other event anywhere.

If you happen to get into a discussion about the anti-passenger rail issue, the first question to ask the other person: do they live in the city. If they don't, well, I think you can take it from there.

I'll report in from the festival as best I can. I hope to not break Donald's Blogging While Intoxicated rule set for the blog, but I make no promises!

Good News for Tower Place Mall

The Enquirer reports that Tower Place Mall has attracted at least three new tenants: Elegant Attire; Eyebrows LLC; and Sushi at Tower Place. Right now, it looks like Tower Place's owner, Northeastern, is making good on promises to revitalize the beleagured downtown mall.

While I'm not sure I'll be in the market for evening-wear or an eyebrow wax anytime soon, I'm looking forward to a second option for sushi downtown.

POWR PAC Endorsements Are Out

The Westside political action committee has released their endorsements for the City.

For council:
Jeff Berding
Leslie Ghiz
Chris Monzel
Chris Bortz
Amy Murray
Bernadette Watson
George Zamary
Tony Fischer
Cecil Thomas

For Mayor:
Brad Wenstrup

A very mixed group. Funny part, I think maybe one person lives on the Westside?

Guest Post on CPS Superintendent Mary Ronan

Editor's Note: Here's a guest post to the Cincinnati Blog from regular reader Miles.

Give Back Cincinnati had a YP sounding session with Mary Ronan, the CPS Superintendent.

She did her rote presentation, with no changes for the YP crowd. That was disappointing, because it seems like the people CPS needs to attract are those who will otherwise move to the suburbs when they have kids. Instead, it was more of a justification for taxing Cincinnatians to pay for school.

She pointed out the great strides the district has taken since 2000, and the federal and state accolades it's received. She also made it seem like a completely reactionary district that hopes to assuage the Enquirer and its archconservative base.

She said that CPS was trying to rebrand and shed its negative image. When asked about LEED certification, she was defensive and apologetic about the financial investment. CPS is the greenest school district in America, in terms of the number of LEED buildings. Boy, that's an albatross!

She said she no longer saw a need for teachers' unions. I guess, after 30 years in one, Mary got hers, huh? She complained that they prevent her from moving teachers from school to school, without realizing that teachers' unions exists to keep the superintendent from treating them like commoditized capital.

She said she didn't believe in mandatory comprehensive sex ed while bemoaning the fact that there are so many children of poor young mothers in Cincinnati. Guess what? That 17-year old who's dropping out of Mt. Airy because she got pregnant? You're going to have to teach her kid in 5 years! If you want the 5-year olds to be better prepared, prepare your 17-year olds to not get pregnant!

I think she thought we were Republicans. I think she thinks Cincinnati is a Republican city, rather than one that votes 80% Democratic. She can be the superintendent at Colerain if she wants to pander to conservative Catholics.

I understand that I'm about as liberal as they get, but guess what? Liberals have kids too, and there are a lot more of us in your district. Hamilton County shouldn't concern her.

It's kind of sad, because I left the meeting thinking that if I want my hypothetical kid to have a liberal education, with diversity and tolerance instilled in those around her, I'll have to move to another district. After all, I'm not concerned with my kid being liberal; he'll be a DFH. I want to limit her exposure to bigotry and religious conservatism at school, and Mary Ronan doesn't seem prepared to attack those things as vociferously as other school districts do, even those with far more conservative constituents.