With local teams in two different tournaments this year, I thought I'd offer my picks for the Final Four (of each). Feel free to make fun of my picks and/or offer your own in the comments.
NCAA: Kansas, Pitt, Kentucky, Duke, with Duke winning the championship.
I have Xavier making it through the first round, in a very close game with Minnesota. And I have 5 Big East teams (Georgetown, Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, and Villanova) in the Elite Eight.
NIT: Cincinnati, Arizona State, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina, with Virginia Tech winning the tournament (over Cincinnati).
I have Dayton winning the first round, but losing to UC in the second round.
Griff...how far do you think the Redhawks will.....oh, never mind.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
MidPoint 2010 Release Show Changed to April 23rd
The Midpoint Music Festival has announced a change to the date and performers for its release show. The CAC will host Midpoint on April 23rd for show from Aloha(www.myspace.com/aloha), Pomegranates (www.myspace.com/pomegranatesart), and The Buried Wire (www.myspace.com/theburiedwires).
Midpoint is slated to announce other new features of this year's festival including performers, new stages, and partners.
The show was previous announced for March 25th at the Blue Wisp.
Midpoint is slated to announce other new features of this year's festival including performers, new stages, and partners.
The show was previous announced for March 25th at the Blue Wisp.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Cincinnati Fringe Festival: New Website and Line-Up
Last night the Cincinnati Fringe Festival held an event to celibate the relaunching of their website www.cincyfringe.com and at the same time announced the line-up for the 2010 festival.
32 shows mostly from out of town will descend on Know Theatre starting June 1st for the 7th annual event. For a listing of the productions, check here. As is normal, the line-up is subject to change.
This year TheConveyor.com will once again be reviewing shows and giving insights and out of sights on the festival.
If you have never been to Fringe, then clear your calendar for the first 12 days of June. It is theatre and community at its best.
Twitter folks, please spread the word. We used #cincyfringe last year, so I hope that is repeated!
32 shows mostly from out of town will descend on Know Theatre starting June 1st for the 7th annual event. For a listing of the productions, check here. As is normal, the line-up is subject to change.
This year TheConveyor.com will once again be reviewing shows and giving insights and out of sights on the festival.
If you have never been to Fringe, then clear your calendar for the first 12 days of June. It is theatre and community at its best.
Twitter folks, please spread the word. We used #cincyfringe last year, so I hope that is repeated!
OTR Gateway Quarter Website Updated
The team at Vine Street Interactive did a great job redsigning the OTR/Gateway Quarter Merchants Group website.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
What is Content Stealing?
As I mentioned in the previous post, the Enquirer has rolled out a "First in Print" strategy, through which on Sundays certain articles will appear only in the print edition until Monday morning, when they will then become available online. One justification cited by editor Tom Callinan is the blogosphere's theft of his paper's content:
When does a blog or website (why does the Enquirer's style book still require the capitalization of "web"?) "rob" a newspaper's content? Are Griff and I among the robbers responsible for the demise of the print media?
Neither Griff nor I has ever claimed to be a reporter. (To the contrary, I have repeatedly disclaimed any such notion.**) Instead, our typical post is a comment on a news story published elsewhere. We always reference--and link to--the source of the story. (In fact, when Griff initially invited me to blog, the only rule he gave me was to link to any story about which I post.) That's the same practice followed by other blogs I read. Is that robbery?
As I noted below, even the Enquirer follows the lead of other sources. The "Vanity Fair controversy" originated at Kate's Random Musings. Callinan himself wrote about it, attributing the story to Katy. The Enquirer reported on CityBeat's story about the unfortunate email from Monzel's aid, once again properly attributing its source. Was that robbery? And even in the Cole piece I talk about below, Jon Craig remarks that Cole's appointment "drew scorn from some bloggers." Really? Which bloggers? How about a link to one or more of the bloggers? Does Craig mean Griff? I hope not, because Griff's post doesn't criticize the appointment itself, only Cole's decision to leave her current post early.
So here's my question: what does the Enquirer consider fair use, and what, according to Callinan, is robbery? And how do the paper's own practices differ from those they condemn?
In this environment, the Enquirer isn't likely to create new positions anytime soon. But it should seriously consider the addition of a public editor or ombudsman who would write a weekly column. If the Enquirer is serious about consistently generating a quality product, it ought not be afraid of an independent person to perform a quality-assurance function.
*This sentence is a clear illustration of the utility of the serial comma. Until I got to "has long been a vexation," I thought that "watching broadcast outlets" was something websites and blogs did while robbing newspapers of their reporting. Once again, Judge Painter is correct; check out Rule 24 in the linked book. Of course, this is a "talking footnote," a Judge Painter no-no; see Rule 12.
**Obviously, there are exceptions. Griff typically "reports" on MPMF. If I happen to notice a restaurant opening or closing, I'll "report" on this--but even then, I'm usually scooped by Polly Campbell or Julie Niesen, to whom I link, if I know they've posted.
Watching broadcast outlets, Web sites and blogs essentially rob newspapers of their hard - and expensive - reporting has long been a vexation, but not a mortal threat.*
When does a blog or website (why does the Enquirer's style book still require the capitalization of "web"?) "rob" a newspaper's content? Are Griff and I among the robbers responsible for the demise of the print media?
Neither Griff nor I has ever claimed to be a reporter. (To the contrary, I have repeatedly disclaimed any such notion.**) Instead, our typical post is a comment on a news story published elsewhere. We always reference--and link to--the source of the story. (In fact, when Griff initially invited me to blog, the only rule he gave me was to link to any story about which I post.) That's the same practice followed by other blogs I read. Is that robbery?
As I noted below, even the Enquirer follows the lead of other sources. The "Vanity Fair controversy" originated at Kate's Random Musings. Callinan himself wrote about it, attributing the story to Katy. The Enquirer reported on CityBeat's story about the unfortunate email from Monzel's aid, once again properly attributing its source. Was that robbery? And even in the Cole piece I talk about below, Jon Craig remarks that Cole's appointment "drew scorn from some bloggers." Really? Which bloggers? How about a link to one or more of the bloggers? Does Craig mean Griff? I hope not, because Griff's post doesn't criticize the appointment itself, only Cole's decision to leave her current post early.
So here's my question: what does the Enquirer consider fair use, and what, according to Callinan, is robbery? And how do the paper's own practices differ from those they condemn?
In this environment, the Enquirer isn't likely to create new positions anytime soon. But it should seriously consider the addition of a public editor or ombudsman who would write a weekly column. If the Enquirer is serious about consistently generating a quality product, it ought not be afraid of an independent person to perform a quality-assurance function.
*This sentence is a clear illustration of the utility of the serial comma. Until I got to "has long been a vexation," I thought that "watching broadcast outlets" was something websites and blogs did while robbing newspapers of their reporting. Once again, Judge Painter is correct; check out Rule 24 in the linked book. Of course, this is a "talking footnote," a Judge Painter no-no; see Rule 12.
**Obviously, there are exceptions. Griff typically "reports" on MPMF. If I happen to notice a restaurant opening or closing, I'll "report" on this--but even then, I'm usually scooped by Polly Campbell or Julie Niesen, to whom I link, if I know they've posted.
Back to Basics, Enquirer-Style
The Enquirer's revenues are down. It's doing everything it can to remedy the situation: laying off veteran reporters and columnists; furloughing the folks left behind; making the paper smaller; plastering ads right on the front page of sections of the paper; and withholding stories from its online edition to keep us nefarious bloggers from "stealing" the paper's content (interesting how the paper doesn't mind taking stories from the pages of, for instance, CityBeat or KRM (here and here, respectively)). In tough economic times, however, the Enquirer has decided to return to a time-tested method of increasing readership in conservative southwest Ohio: Democrat-bashing.
Today's Enquirer carries a lengthy story on how documents "shed light" on Laketa Cole's hiring as chief of reliability and service analysis for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The story contains all sorts of innuendo, obviously meant to suggest that Cole was offered the job only as an enticement to stay out of the race for the Ohio House seat left vacant by Tyrone Yates's appointment to the bench. A reader has to make it to the article's twentieth paragraph to learn:
In an editorial yesterday, the Enquirer suggests the "Cole deal" is "arrogant." (Notice a very strange thing about the piece: apparently, after it was initially posted, a letter-writer commented on it. The Enquirer then updated the editorial to reference the letter. So now the editorial references the letter and the letter references the editorial.) The Enquirer goes so far as to suggest "a Mark Painter to William Mallory to Nadine Allen to Tyrone Yates to Alicia Reece quintuple play." Really? Does the Enquirer really believe that the Democrats arranged for Mark Painter (formerly a Republican-endorsed judge) to get a position with a UN appellate court so that Alicia Reece could have a job?
Maybe, though, the editorial staff just thinks that once Judge Painter's seat on the First District Court of Appeals became vacant, a grand scheme emerged, like so many dominoes in a line. Not likely. Probably not even possibly. Each appointment had its own process. And those of us who toil in the courthouse know that for a while, a new rumor swirled each day about who would take Judge Painter's seat. Then a new rumor swirled each day about who would fill Judge Mallory's seat. And then a new rumor was floated every day about who would fill Judge Allen's seat. If there was a conspiracy to create a line of succession all the way down to Alicia Reece, it's the best-kept secret in courthouse history. And let's not forget, no one gets a free pass: Mallory, Allen, and Reece must all stand for election this November. Yates, I believe, will appear on the 2011 ballot.
It's good to know, though, that some things (like political editorials masquerading as news stories) never change.
An extra note: I'm glad I'm not in the newspaper business. These are tough times. And in all fairness, there is, actually, lots of good reporting going on at the Enquirer, and some really talented young reporters getting a chance to write stories that, just five years ago, might have gone to more senior (but less enthusiastic) staff. Tom Callinan is doing some good things; the "Vanishing Cincinnati" series is but one example. But these lots-of-smoke-without-discernible-fire stories aren't worthy of a paper struggling to retain its readers and remain relevant in the new decade.
Today's Enquirer carries a lengthy story on how documents "shed light" on Laketa Cole's hiring as chief of reliability and service analysis for the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. The story contains all sorts of innuendo, obviously meant to suggest that Cole was offered the job only as an enticement to stay out of the race for the Ohio House seat left vacant by Tyrone Yates's appointment to the bench. A reader has to make it to the article's twentieth paragraph to learn:
According to state personnel records, Cole will replace John D. Williams, who was promoted to director of PUCO's Service Monitoring and Enforcement Department on Feb. 28. The department employs 83 people. Williams was named acting director Jan. 3.In other words, Cole isn't being offered a position that's been created for her. This is a real job, filled by a real human being until quite recently. And while I have not always agreed with Cole's positions or tactics on Council, any reasonable person has to agree that she is appropriately credentialed for the job. If I really wanted to make trouble, I'd ask why Cole, an African-American female, will be making less than 85% of the salary of the white male who previously had the job. (This, of course, is a question the Enquirer does not address.)
Cole's annual salary will total about $15,700 less than Williams got before his promotion and $5,000-a-year pay raise.
In an editorial yesterday, the Enquirer suggests the "Cole deal" is "arrogant." (Notice a very strange thing about the piece: apparently, after it was initially posted, a letter-writer commented on it. The Enquirer then updated the editorial to reference the letter. So now the editorial references the letter and the letter references the editorial.) The Enquirer goes so far as to suggest "a Mark Painter to William Mallory to Nadine Allen to Tyrone Yates to Alicia Reece quintuple play." Really? Does the Enquirer really believe that the Democrats arranged for Mark Painter (formerly a Republican-endorsed judge) to get a position with a UN appellate court so that Alicia Reece could have a job?
Maybe, though, the editorial staff just thinks that once Judge Painter's seat on the First District Court of Appeals became vacant, a grand scheme emerged, like so many dominoes in a line. Not likely. Probably not even possibly. Each appointment had its own process. And those of us who toil in the courthouse know that for a while, a new rumor swirled each day about who would take Judge Painter's seat. Then a new rumor swirled each day about who would fill Judge Mallory's seat. And then a new rumor was floated every day about who would fill Judge Allen's seat. If there was a conspiracy to create a line of succession all the way down to Alicia Reece, it's the best-kept secret in courthouse history. And let's not forget, no one gets a free pass: Mallory, Allen, and Reece must all stand for election this November. Yates, I believe, will appear on the 2011 ballot.
It's good to know, though, that some things (like political editorials masquerading as news stories) never change.
An extra note: I'm glad I'm not in the newspaper business. These are tough times. And in all fairness, there is, actually, lots of good reporting going on at the Enquirer, and some really talented young reporters getting a chance to write stories that, just five years ago, might have gone to more senior (but less enthusiastic) staff. Tom Callinan is doing some good things; the "Vanishing Cincinnati" series is but one example. But these lots-of-smoke-without-discernible-fire stories aren't worthy of a paper struggling to retain its readers and remain relevant in the new decade.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Cole to Leave Council in June
Well, the Cole-Train is on its way to Columbus and the crowd is going wild. We are cheering her on. Cheering that she is leaving, of course. She will not be missed.
Cole is leaving in a selfish manner, which is not a surprise. She's not resigning until June, a logical date because that is when the position in the state becomes available, and she needs a job until then, so will stay on as a lame-duck Council member. Yes, this means we have to put up with her on Council for 2 and a half more months. I really hope she stays quiet, votes with her Democratic colleagues and exists the stage somewhat gracefully.
Short of doing that, it would be really fun if Cole started a Twitter account and just blasted Leslie Ghiz during Council sessions. It would be classless, but it would be fun.
Watson is still the CW choice to fill the seat, but according to the article, Cecil Thomas said he will sit down with three to five possible appointees. Thomas is known for changing his mind, so it would not surprise me if he had his pick already and just wants sign off, and political assurances, from Mayor Mallory and Tim Burke. Thomas may want to have influence over who gets the Finance Committee Chairmanship after Cole steps down. I would think Thomas would like to have that as a possible position for himself, if he loses the May County Commissioner Primary. It never hurts to plan ahead, even if you don't need it. I hope he needs it.
Cole is leaving in a selfish manner, which is not a surprise. She's not resigning until June, a logical date because that is when the position in the state becomes available, and she needs a job until then, so will stay on as a lame-duck Council member. Yes, this means we have to put up with her on Council for 2 and a half more months. I really hope she stays quiet, votes with her Democratic colleagues and exists the stage somewhat gracefully.
Short of doing that, it would be really fun if Cole started a Twitter account and just blasted Leslie Ghiz during Council sessions. It would be classless, but it would be fun.
Watson is still the CW choice to fill the seat, but according to the article, Cecil Thomas said he will sit down with three to five possible appointees. Thomas is known for changing his mind, so it would not surprise me if he had his pick already and just wants sign off, and political assurances, from Mayor Mallory and Tim Burke. Thomas may want to have influence over who gets the Finance Committee Chairmanship after Cole steps down. I would think Thomas would like to have that as a possible position for himself, if he loses the May County Commissioner Primary. It never hurts to plan ahead, even if you don't need it. I hope he needs it.
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