CityBeat reports that Bernadette Watson, former candidate for City Council, was appointed as campaign manager for Alicia Reece's run for the Ohio House 33rd district's seat.
This is a lock seat for Reece, so her campaign team needs to be competent, not world class. I will be interested in seeing if this is a hands-on job for Watson, or will she be more of a figurehead? She might serve as more of a strategist, than as a day to day manager of staff and message.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
PETA Loves a Butterless Jesus
The Oxford Press reports that PETA, the pro-animal rights group, has offered to rebuild the "King of Kings" statue located at the Solid Rock Church in Monroe. The statute known better as Touchdown Jesus and Big Butter Jesus, burned down recently after being struck by lightning. PETA sent a letter to the church leaders proposing a new statue of Jesus holding a lamb with an inscribed message reading "Blessed Are the Merciful. Go Vegan."
No word yet from the Church.
You can't make this stuff up.
No word yet from the Church.
You can't make this stuff up.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Watch This: The Evolution of the Internet (or Play Bingo at Hamburger Mary's This Tuesday!)
I've been meaning to write a post about Watch This for some time, but I've also wanted to put something together about how it fits into the broader context of the internet. Here we go.
Ten years ago, it was popular to point out the following paradox: while bowling alley revenues were increasing, bowling league participation was decreasing. The idea was that people were becoming more and more isolated from each other. And the internet, at one time heralded for its ability to "connect" people, wasn't counteracting that trend. Generally speaking, it was thought that the internet was enabling people to avoid in-person contact with each other. Why go to a "brick-and-mortar" store when you can buy everything online? Why go to a bar when you can get a six-pack, stay at home, and go to a chat room? The blogosphere is largely part of this phenomenon: you've got the conservative bloggers, liberal bloggers, libertarian bloggers, and so on. You can manage to avoid all contact with anyone who might disagree with you.
Over the past couple years, I think there's been a backlash against that. People don't want the faux connectionalism of the internet; they want the real thing. So the internet has become a tool to create and facilitate real, face-to-face interactions. Cincinnati Imports in a manifestation of this trend. Candace Klein's Bad Girl Ventures is another example of using the web to create connections between people that go well beyond fiberoptic. And Watch This also shows the power of the internet to get people together in the physical world.
For those of you who don't know, Watch This is the brainchild of Alex and Allison (who, I believe, actually met at a Cincinnati Imports event). The idea: watch all of the movies on the AFI Top 100 Movies list in 2010. It started off simple enough. Alex and Allison would screen each of the movies in their living room, inviting anyone who read their blog to come over. Then, others started offering to host movies. Then they started to book larger facilities (including the 20th Century Theatre and, later this month, Fountain Square).
I'm ashamed to say that they're nearly halfway through the list, and I still haven't been to a screening. I'll fix that soon, though (how can any lawyer worth his salt NOT show up on August 27th for To Kill a Mockingbird?). Showing up at a non-friend's living room is a bit out of my comfort zone. But if you're like me in that regard, fear not: lots of future screenings are at places like Take the Cake, Baba Budan's, and Grammers.
It turns out, though, that you can't just rent a movie and invite a bunch of strangers to a public place to watch it. Instead, you've got to pay for the screening rights to do that. So tomorrow night, Hamburger Mary's is hosting a fundraiser to help defray those costs. From 8:00 to 10:00, you can stop by the restaurant/bar (on Vine between Ninth and Court) and play drag-queen bingo. Apparently, there's prizes. And Hamburger Mary's has invented a drink for the occasion--vodka cherry lime with Cotton Candy.
So if you've been to one of the movies, or if you think you might go, pop into Hamburger Mary's for a fun, bingo-filled night (there's even prizes!). And show up to a movie sometime; I know I will.
(I do have one question about Watch This: when the movie is hosted at the Cincinnati Athletic Club, does everyone go for a naked swim afterwords?)
Ten years ago, it was popular to point out the following paradox: while bowling alley revenues were increasing, bowling league participation was decreasing. The idea was that people were becoming more and more isolated from each other. And the internet, at one time heralded for its ability to "connect" people, wasn't counteracting that trend. Generally speaking, it was thought that the internet was enabling people to avoid in-person contact with each other. Why go to a "brick-and-mortar" store when you can buy everything online? Why go to a bar when you can get a six-pack, stay at home, and go to a chat room? The blogosphere is largely part of this phenomenon: you've got the conservative bloggers, liberal bloggers, libertarian bloggers, and so on. You can manage to avoid all contact with anyone who might disagree with you.
Over the past couple years, I think there's been a backlash against that. People don't want the faux connectionalism of the internet; they want the real thing. So the internet has become a tool to create and facilitate real, face-to-face interactions. Cincinnati Imports in a manifestation of this trend. Candace Klein's Bad Girl Ventures is another example of using the web to create connections between people that go well beyond fiberoptic. And Watch This also shows the power of the internet to get people together in the physical world.
For those of you who don't know, Watch This is the brainchild of Alex and Allison (who, I believe, actually met at a Cincinnati Imports event). The idea: watch all of the movies on the AFI Top 100 Movies list in 2010. It started off simple enough. Alex and Allison would screen each of the movies in their living room, inviting anyone who read their blog to come over. Then, others started offering to host movies. Then they started to book larger facilities (including the 20th Century Theatre and, later this month, Fountain Square).
I'm ashamed to say that they're nearly halfway through the list, and I still haven't been to a screening. I'll fix that soon, though (how can any lawyer worth his salt NOT show up on August 27th for To Kill a Mockingbird?). Showing up at a non-friend's living room is a bit out of my comfort zone. But if you're like me in that regard, fear not: lots of future screenings are at places like Take the Cake, Baba Budan's, and Grammers.
It turns out, though, that you can't just rent a movie and invite a bunch of strangers to a public place to watch it. Instead, you've got to pay for the screening rights to do that. So tomorrow night, Hamburger Mary's is hosting a fundraiser to help defray those costs. From 8:00 to 10:00, you can stop by the restaurant/bar (on Vine between Ninth and Court) and play drag-queen bingo. Apparently, there's prizes. And Hamburger Mary's has invented a drink for the occasion--vodka cherry lime with Cotton Candy.
So if you've been to one of the movies, or if you think you might go, pop into Hamburger Mary's for a fun, bingo-filled night (there's even prizes!). And show up to a movie sometime; I know I will.
(I do have one question about Watch This: when the movie is hosted at the Cincinnati Athletic Club, does everyone go for a naked swim afterwords?)
Here's An Actual Socialist
Want to know a real live socialist? The Enquirer profiles one and you can get an idea of the extremism he represents, and as the article points out, President Obama isn't a Socialist.
If you ever read about Dan La Botz attacking OTR redevelopment efforts, take the fact that his motivation is politics, not anything else, when evaluating his message. Every position he takes will be against any type of capitalistic action, so even if there are efforts that will help people transition out of poverty, if it is not done on his terms, then I don't see him supporting it.
This type of thinking is rampant in the 'Homeless' activist community and keeps the problem worse than is should be. Many people, like La Botz, would rather keep people living in Washington Park instead of accepting good plans from the City or other local groups. They do that because they want Socialism to run the city and country, and need the weapon of poverty to make their case. Take away their weapons and their case against capitalism falls apart. Extremists like La Botz are little different than the nuts at COAST. They have a purist ideology, but no actual concept of how to govern.
If you ever read about Dan La Botz attacking OTR redevelopment efforts, take the fact that his motivation is politics, not anything else, when evaluating his message. Every position he takes will be against any type of capitalistic action, so even if there are efforts that will help people transition out of poverty, if it is not done on his terms, then I don't see him supporting it.
This type of thinking is rampant in the 'Homeless' activist community and keeps the problem worse than is should be. Many people, like La Botz, would rather keep people living in Washington Park instead of accepting good plans from the City or other local groups. They do that because they want Socialism to run the city and country, and need the weapon of poverty to make their case. Take away their weapons and their case against capitalism falls apart. Extremists like La Botz are little different than the nuts at COAST. They have a purist ideology, but no actual concept of how to govern.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Woxy.com Returning???
CincyVoices reports on a recent online comment which indicates WOXY.com may be back. No details are known on how or when, except the key element that the DJs who made the station what it is, are either looking for work or in the case of one staffer have a job and looking to return to Cincinnati. I have to agree with Classicgrrl that without Joe, Shiv, Mike, you don't have much of a station.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Cincinnati SPJ Awards
Last night at the Blue Wisp (which is neither closed nor boring, by the way), the Cincinnati chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists had its annual awards ceremony. For a run-down of awards, see this Enquirer article. Kevin Osborne was awarded for having the best news blog, while Cincinnati.com was deemed the best website.
One award not mentioned: Lauren Bishop (aka Miss Print), with Stacy Doose (video) and Michael Keating (photo), won first place for web news feature for this piece marking the thirtieth anniversary of the tragedy at The Who concert at the Riverfront Coliseum. We had linked to it when the article first appeared, thinking it was a great read for anyone not old enough to remember the event.
Congratulations to Lauren and all of the Cincinnati SPJ winners!
One award not mentioned: Lauren Bishop (aka Miss Print), with Stacy Doose (video) and Michael Keating (photo), won first place for web news feature for this piece marking the thirtieth anniversary of the tragedy at The Who concert at the Riverfront Coliseum. We had linked to it when the article first appeared, thinking it was a great read for anyone not old enough to remember the event.
Congratulations to Lauren and all of the Cincinnati SPJ winners!
Is "Black-on-Black Violence" A Myth?
Earlier this week, the Enquirer reported that several local non-profit agencies are working together to "curb black-on-black violence."
This piece, currently available at The Root, posits an interesting thesis: that the label "black-on-black violence" is an unnecessarily racialized view of problems that are really socioeconomic in nature. From the op-ed:
I've not fully thought this through, but I thought the piece made some good points (after all, have you ever heard a crime described as "white-on-white violence"?) that might be of interest to our readers.
And with respect to the linked Enquirer article: I should note that apart from the headline, the article doesn't use the phrase at issue. And, in fact, the body of the article does a pretty good job of exploring the socioeconomic causes of urban crime.
This piece, currently available at The Root, posits an interesting thesis: that the label "black-on-black violence" is an unnecessarily racialized view of problems that are really socioeconomic in nature. From the op-ed:
At this particular moment in our history, it is more important than ever to reject these kinds of racialized explanations. They are being used to slander public school children as incapable of learning; to deem affordable housing a hopeless cause. In gentrifying cities, ''black-on-black crime'' is used as a weapon to encourage public policies that treat black people as blights on the new urban aesthetic. There is a moral imperative to challenge these assumptions.
I've not fully thought this through, but I thought the piece made some good points (after all, have you ever heard a crime described as "white-on-white violence"?) that might be of interest to our readers.
And with respect to the linked Enquirer article: I should note that apart from the headline, the article doesn't use the phrase at issue. And, in fact, the body of the article does a pretty good job of exploring the socioeconomic causes of urban crime.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)