Bridge Climb Falls

The Purple People Bridge Climb has ceased operations. It was an interesting idea. I think it had too many legal hold-ups that resulted in this downfall.

Walnut Hills High School 34th Best in the Nation

The Jewel of CPS has been ranked 34th best public school in the USA. That was up 31 spots from the prior year.

CAC Relaunches Their Website

The Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center has redesigned their website: www.contemporaryartscenter.org.

VIA the CincinnatiArts.com Blog

It's Fringetastic!

Changes at CityBeat?

Via CityBeat's Spill It Blog, Mike Breen stateschanges are afoot:

"Some changes have been a-brewin' here at CityBeat (I would have my hands chopped off if I even hinted at what they are, but it will be known soon enough) and it's keeping us all extra busy. It's worth it, though — change is good, no?"

So, curiosity is looking to smite some cats right about now. Staff changes? An Update to the website? (Please be yes!) what does the rumor mill have to say?

Parking Meter Increase

Ok, I find it confusing that local downtown businesses welcome the increase. I would think that would be a negative. I also find this change confusing because right now there are short term meters and long term meters. The 2 hour meters give you an hour for a quarter. I hope that is not going to change. If so, that really sucks.

I'm going to be parking during the day in early June in Downtown/OTR, so I am looking for the best prices/places to park.

Big Dog To Visit Cincinnati

Bill Clinton will be in town to accept an award at the Freedom Center on June 2nd.

What The Fuck Is This?

How much pandering can one newspaper do with a special section like this? I have to wonder what kind of idiots, and I don't say that lightly, are editing the paper. Are there creationists who are pushing this crap? Or did someone think it would be a great idea to try and attract the extreme fringe of the fundamentalist movement who are delusional enough to believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old.

What is next? Are we going to read a special section for those who still think smoking doesn't cause cancer? Will Holocaust deniers get attention? The Flat Earth Society is also looking for their front page story too.

Radio Joe

Joe Wessels will be hosting City Talk Radio at 7 p.m. tonight on 96.5 FM. Turn on your radio or listen live here.

Mike Breen With the Shaky Hands

Mike Breen at Citybeat's Spill it Blog has a long post on local musicians doing commericals. He pulls together both local and the national acts doing this, in particular local bands Buckra, the Newbees and Whitney Barricklow. The meat of the post comes from analyzing the message boards at local music websites. If you have not bee to such sites at cincymusic.com or neussubject.net, then you don't know how volatile and often just insane some of the posters can be.

Throw Buckra into the mix and you are going to get a flame war.

For those who don't know Buckra, www.buckra.com, they are a popular local band that plays original pop music with a blues/jazz feel to it. They are not a stare at your shoes type band, they are professionals. They play often, show up on time, know how to tune their instruments, and begin their shows on time. They are popular and get grief from those who are a lazy ass musicians because they don't write "serious" indie music. That is no reason to bash them for making a living and getting break with the Gold Star commercial.

Side Note: My title is not a slight on Mike. I am a big Who fan, so I thought I'd pick a song title to mimic. "Mary-Anne with the shaky hands" won out. Yes, it is from the Who Sell Out album.

Yes, We Need Streetcars

The Enquirer asks "Does Cincy need streetcars?" The answer is obviously yes. We need need it for two reasons. First we need more public transportation. We as a society need to stop using our cars as often.

Secondly, we needs this to make Downtown and OTR into a residential community. Transportation is one of keys that will make it easier for more people to move downtown and to OTR. This will help push crime out, help pull in businesses that would serve residents. This also will feed the tourists (both locals and actual out of towners. Streetcars should be installed now. What sucks is that it will take years for it to happen. The mayor and council need to show leadership and make it happen.

This is an election year, so I look for council to be all talk and no action. With the recent arts funding troubles, this will be a battle. This is a top level issue we should hear where every candidate stands during the campaign. If they don't have an opinion on this issue, you shouldn't be voting for them.

Fringe Fest 2007 Kicks Off

The old faces from Cincy Fringe festivals of the past came out for a what ended up being one of the biggest Cincinnati Fringe related events ever. Over the course of the whole day, 500 people came through the doors. What felt odd yet good at the same time were the many new faces. The art and theatre crowds were out in good numbers, but the bigger influx of people came for music and the OTR Pale from Christian Moerlein.

The only comparison I could make to Fringe experiences of the past was the audiences who filled the seats to last years big hit The Catholic School Girl's Guide to Losing Your Virginity. That play brought Fringe new blood in 2006 that hopefully will be back in 2007.

This is second year the Fringe Festival is based at the Know Theatre space at 1120 Jackson street, but the first year with a bar at the Fringe HQ. The Fringe fest bar series is at the Know each night of the Fringe, so the Moerlein empty bottles will fill up a few trash bins. Most important to any festival are those looking to find a Fringe boyfriend/girlfriend. The prime time hook up zone will be about 12:30 AM most nights during the fest. How else do you think people come up with ideas from scripts for Fringe 2008?

The two biggest musical draws were Ellery and Jake Speed & the Freddies. Jake's set got off to a slow start with a little technical gaff, but they managed. My memory and the ears of my friends sitting near me were testing as I belted out the chorus to every song.

The festival officially start off on May 30th. Keep tuned to the Cincinnati Blog and theconveyor.com for interesting perspectives on the Festival.

City Population Bigger?

A new estimate of Cincinnati's population puts it much higher than even the revised numbers:

Cincinnati might be more populated and richer than the U.S. Census thinks. Results of a demographic study by Social Compact, a national nonprofit group supported by financial institutions:

Population: 368,868 (compared with the Census 2006 amended projection of 331,310; original projection was 307,573).

Households: 166,143 (139,590).

Avg. household income: $53,877 ($50,371).

Aggregate neighborhood income: $8.951 million ($7.031 million).

Median home sale value: $139,715 ($134,525).

The perception of a stable or dare I say even a growing city is one that should go along way to improve business and residential growth for the city and the entire region. Thinking positive and having the numbers to back it up is a good feeling.

Via Joe Hansbauer.

Hip Tips Minute: Arts Events in Cincinnati: May 18, 2007

For more information, check out the Enjoy the Arts website at www.etastart.com.

OTR 5K

June 2nd get out your running/walking shoes and take a jaunt through the historic Over-the-Rhine in the OTR 5K run:

See What’s Old and See What’s New in the GO OTR 5K Run/Walk in Historic Over-the-Rhine. The race/walk travels past much of OTR’s breathtaking historic architecture and provides a glimpse of the revitalization taking place in Over-The-Rhine. Proceeds benefit the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce.
Cost: $10 Pre-Registered, $15 Race Day. Both fees include T-Shirt and a Goody Bag.

For more info check out the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce's website at www.otrchamber.com.

Fringe Kickoff Party on Friday

The Cincinnati Fringe Festival kicks off early this Friday with a special happy hour from 6 PM to 8:30. Admission is free to this pre-event.

9PM to 1AM: join in on a great list of local music at the Fringe 4 Kickoff Party. $5 gets you a line up of: The Newbees, Jon Justice Band, O. yemi Experiment, Jake Speed and the Freddies, Ellery, & The Late Circuit.

Come out and support a great event with the best line up of music for a Theatre event in Cincinnati, ever!

Grandstanding Queen

If you were thinking ABBA, then you would have the type of show that came to mind when I read about the drama Ghiz and Cole generated about already vetted arts funding at Wednesday night's Council Meeting. Leslie Ghiz sounds like she is out to be confrontational for the sheer fact that she wants people to know she knows how to be confrontational with older men like Vice Mayor Jim Tarbell. The attacks on Tarbell were unwarranted and just mean.

Laketa Cole seems to have not been paying attention every year when this annual arts funding takes place. She was "disgusted." How the funding is determined isn't any different than it has been since 2002, so what is different in Cole's mind now? Did she forget how the process worked? Is she losing her memory? More puzzling, after all of her complaints, she voted for the funding anyway. If the process is disgusting, then its outcome should be voted down. Cole appears to want to play both sides for effect. Complain and look conservative, but in the end her voting record is in line with most Democrats.

Jeff Berding appears to be an obstructionist against fine arts. He will vote for "community" arts projects, but not fine arts project because they somehow don't help the public enough. I'm not being helped enough by Paul Brown Stadium, I'd like the Bengals to pick up the tab, immediately. I wonder if Jeff would agree there. How about funding community sports leagues instead? I think a pee-wee football stadium would have been the way to go.

City Wide WiFi?

I don't know how this would work, but in concept it sounds great.

Ken Lawson's Law License Suspended

For some very strange reason this news article about Cincinnati attorney Ken Lawson labels him as an "activist." Lawson has had his law license suspended until the Ohio Supreme Court makes a decision about the allegations Lawson mishandled cases. Lawson may be considered an activist by some, a small number. He is known foremost and in this situation it is most relevant to refer to him as a lawyer, his profession.

Joan Kaup Un-Interview Blog Post

The Enquirer's Jane Prendergast has an interesting blog post talking about what she talked to City Council candidate Joan Kaup about over coffee.

The impression Jane paints of Joan has a little bit of rookie overtone to it. Without any direct quotes that might be a little bit misleading, whether intention or not.

I do like this type of blog post. I called it an un-interview because it references what I presume was an interview, but what is in the post isn't anything close to what one would call the publication of an interview. It is something you wouldn't ever read in the newspaper. It is an odd mix of journalism the and personal influx that occurs with blogging. I hope Jane repeats these types of interactions with council candidates.