The main act at the CAC on Thursday, Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, was in a car crash in Indiana on their way to Cincinnati for the MidPoint Music Festival. All six members of the Chicago based band were involved in the accident and suffered injuries. One band members, Mark Yoshizumi, suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to a local hospital.
Let's hope for a quick recovery for everyone and we'll see them at next year's festival!
More Here
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
MidPoint Field Report Day One
As of 10 pm the best of the festival is John the Savage.
Seedy Seeds up next.
Kings Island Making National News
Kings Island had planned to feature plastic skeletons posed to resemble dead celebrities as part of its Halloween Haunt. WLWT's Karin Johnson reported the story, which is starting to get some national attention (link: New York Daily News). Some of them, I thought, were pretty funny--like Ted Williams in a freezer case. Others--like Steve McNair or Michael Jackson--probably crossed the line between good and bad taste due to how recently the celebrity had passed away. And a Kings Island spokesman was quoted as promising more dead celebrity spoofs, including Ted Kennedy.
The "outrage" over the display has, of course, convinced Kings Island to pull the plug on the whole thing.
I have to wonder: how many people who insist that the plastic skeletons are "offensive" had no problem paying money for entrance to "Bodies: The Exhibition" and examining actual, posed and manipulated cadavers in awe and wonder? I guess the rule is that if a dead person is American and famous, it's taboo to reference his or her death for entertainment purposes, but if someone is Chinese and poor, we can do whatever we want with the body for commercial purposes.
The "outrage" over the display has, of course, convinced Kings Island to pull the plug on the whole thing.
I have to wonder: how many people who insist that the plastic skeletons are "offensive" had no problem paying money for entrance to "Bodies: The Exhibition" and examining actual, posed and manipulated cadavers in awe and wonder? I guess the rule is that if a dead person is American and famous, it's taboo to reference his or her death for entertainment purposes, but if someone is Chinese and poor, we can do whatever we want with the body for commercial purposes.
Westwood Concern Run By Right Wing Nuts
Yes, the title states something most people would say is akin to making a grand statement that "Water is wet." That being said, those few hold outs or deniers should read about the insane flier Kevin Osborne wrote about on CityBeat's blog.
To say that the authors of what Osborne calls "Melva's Manifesto" are living in an alternate universe is putting it lightly, assuming they actually believe what they are writing about. They either believe we live in Iraq or are lying to their potential supporters in hopes that fear of the poor and blacks will drive them to get in line and support their insanity.
I am glad CityBeat provides commentary and news facts about this group. Other News Outlets, the rest of them in the city, give these nutcases a free ride. I guess the hate they represent speaks for a lot of Westsiders? I really don't think that is true, but somehow Westward Concern is taken as speaking for more than a few nuts. I hope Kevin's post will convince others
To say that the authors of what Osborne calls "Melva's Manifesto" are living in an alternate universe is putting it lightly, assuming they actually believe what they are writing about. They either believe we live in Iraq or are lying to their potential supporters in hopes that fear of the poor and blacks will drive them to get in line and support their insanity.
I am glad CityBeat provides commentary and news facts about this group. Other News Outlets, the rest of them in the city, give these nutcases a free ride. I guess the hate they represent speaks for a lot of Westsiders? I really don't think that is true, but somehow Westward Concern is taken as speaking for more than a few nuts. I hope Kevin's post will convince others
MidPoint is Live #mpmf
And so it begins with live.mpmf.com. What will the flood of tweets be like? Will we read about more than one 23 old women at MidPoint swear she will not sleep with another musician, ever!? Will we read 30-something guys swear that Erika W. remembers serving him a beer the last time she worked the bar at the Tavern? He was the one guy who did not order PBR, and she noticed. Will we find links to naked photos of wanna be groupies in the Lodge Bar bathroom?
Let's hope so! Well, assuming its not a groupie for an all female Japanese Punk Band.
Anyway, this experiment should be interesting where anyone with using the #mpmf hash tag on Twitter will be included in the stream, or if you are a Cincinnati Bell Wireless Customer and text to 4632. I hoping for a combination of the insightful and insane and a little bit raunchy, but actually, no naked shots please, we don't actually need to see your balls. That means you: band members of Lions Rampant!
Let's hope so! Well, assuming its not a groupie for an all female Japanese Punk Band.
Anyway, this experiment should be interesting where anyone with using the #mpmf hash tag on Twitter will be included in the stream, or if you are a Cincinnati Bell Wireless Customer and text to 4632. I hoping for a combination of the insightful and insane and a little bit raunchy, but actually, no naked shots please, we don't actually need to see your balls. That means you: band members of Lions Rampant!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Star & Micey at Blue Rock Tavern Thursday
I know that blogging the music scene is Griff's job, but I thought I'd infringe for just a moment.
Earlier tonight, a friend and I decided to check out Star & Micey's performance at FB's. FB is the newest downtown club, on Sixth Street between Race and Elm.
First, about FB's: 5ch4r7z has previously photo-blogged about the place, so go there if you'd like to see pictures. Both the club and the clientele were trendy enough that I often wondered why no one had asked me to leave yet. Nonetheless, the place was comfortable and the bar staff was friendly. Wednesday nights the club is open for live music.
I only caught about an hour of Star & Micey, since it's a week night and I have to work tomorrow. But I was impressed by what I saw. Drew LaPlante and Chris Robinson opened for the Memphis-based "folk pop band." I'd not heard Drew before, but I'll definitely look for an opportunity to hear him again. Star & Micey also made the night very much worthwhile. They had nice, tight vocals and some interesting instrumentals (you've got to love a band with a xylophone, right?).
Star & Micey plays again in Cincinnati tomorrow night at the Blue Rock Tavern. I realize that the timing is bad (as most of you will be getting your Midpoint on), but if you're not attending the first night of MPMF, of you're looking to take a break from the festival, then definitely head on up to Northside and check out Star & Micey.
County Government Reform on the Horizon
Last year, I suggested that David Pepper was asking some important questions. What should our county government look like? Which officials should be elected, and which should be appointed? Earlier this year, I wondered if our commissioners had gotten too busy protecting us from the sky--which seems to be falling at an alarming rate--to start answering these questions.
According to the Enquirer, the Commission today voted to form a task force to study and make proposals about County government. The idea is to look at alternate forms of government with the aim of reducing duplication and saving money, with a goal of a something on the November 2010 ballot for voters to consider.
Commissioner Portune is quoted as saying that the task force's goal isn't about metropolitan government. That probably makes sense, as the switch to a metropolitan government would (I assume) require the approval of any cities or townships whose operations would be merged into the "metro" government. Instead, I think the commissioners intend to look at County operations themselves. Are there redundancies? For instance, does it make sense to have a separate Treasurer and Auditor? Could fiscal stability be better achieved if there were fewer independent, elected officials each protecting his or her own slice of an increasingly smaller pie?
As I've written before, I hope that any reform comes with the de-aggrandizement of the county administrator. Our local governments have become too dependent on unelected, professional managers to make policy decisions that are better left in the hands of elected public servants. Permitting a city manager or county administrator to set budget priorities lets the people we elect wriggle out of difficult decisions and hide behind their own appointees.
There's no telling what the new task force will recommend, or whether HamCo voters will approve any proposal that is advanced. But I applaud the Commission for thinking about the bigger picture at a team when the details are all so frightening.
According to the Enquirer, the Commission today voted to form a task force to study and make proposals about County government. The idea is to look at alternate forms of government with the aim of reducing duplication and saving money, with a goal of a something on the November 2010 ballot for voters to consider.
Commissioner Portune is quoted as saying that the task force's goal isn't about metropolitan government. That probably makes sense, as the switch to a metropolitan government would (I assume) require the approval of any cities or townships whose operations would be merged into the "metro" government. Instead, I think the commissioners intend to look at County operations themselves. Are there redundancies? For instance, does it make sense to have a separate Treasurer and Auditor? Could fiscal stability be better achieved if there were fewer independent, elected officials each protecting his or her own slice of an increasingly smaller pie?
As I've written before, I hope that any reform comes with the de-aggrandizement of the county administrator. Our local governments have become too dependent on unelected, professional managers to make policy decisions that are better left in the hands of elected public servants. Permitting a city manager or county administrator to set budget priorities lets the people we elect wriggle out of difficult decisions and hide behind their own appointees.
There's no telling what the new task force will recommend, or whether HamCo voters will approve any proposal that is advanced. But I applaud the Commission for thinking about the bigger picture at a team when the details are all so frightening.
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