The Nati

First off... I love Rudi Johnson, and is there anything more fun to chant at a football game than 'Rudi, Rudi, Rudi".... I mean, it just sounds good, not to mention it makes me think of one of my all time favorite movies 'Rudy'.

But the comments made by his agent, sure do sound a lot like Dillon to me... "He'd sit out a year rather than play under a 1-year contract". The fact that the article mentions that this situation is NOT like Dillon on several occasions means that it obviously is. If everyone wasn't going to think that it sounded like a Dillon move, then why would you need to qualify it as not being like Dillon?

I'm a Football nut... the bengals resurgence (does 8-8 two years in a row and no playoffs count as a resurgence?), and fantasy football have taken it to a whole new level for me. I just finished up my first year as a Bengals season ticket holder... is there a better way to spend a Sunday morning than in a parking lot at 9 AM drinking beer, grilling burgers, and playing cornhole?

Anyway, I digress... the reason I am posting is that the playoffs are upon us, and in two weeks we have the most watched television program in the entire world.... whether you like the game, the gambling, or the commercials, everyone is watching. However here in Cincinnati, we'll not be watching on HDTV. The show is on FOX, and while FOX broadcasts in HD, they have no agreement to provide HD content on Time Warner or Insight (in NKY). So, while I don't have HD, I was planning on going to a friends house to catch the game in HD, much to my surprise, the largest television program in world won't be seen this year in HD, unless something changes.

the 'Pepsi' Jammin on Main appears to be off for 2005, with no specific plans to return... I guess Pepsi got tired of Jammin, and it sounds like the Symphony has run into similar issues with corporate support for the effort. Although I was never a huge supporter of the festival (I much prefer to local/indie flavor of the MidPoint Music Festival), they did bring in some nice acts, and always supported the local scene with slots on the schedule. So I hate to see it go, but maybe it will mean more support for MPMF, and allow that festival to continue it's incredible growth.

Not Cincinnati related, but this sounds like a fantastic marketing machine. New Children's book "A Treasure's Trove" has clues to real life treasures in riddles. Decipher the riddle, find the token and you can find one of 12 Tokens hidden in public places for a Jewel... the prizes total $1 Million. The self published book is #2 on Amazon Children's books behind the new Harry Potter.

Not that I don't enjoy Christmas, but the news on Mix 94.1's ratings is my worst nightmare. Give Back held it's annual Food and Clothing Drive this past November 6th. And as a sponsor of the event, our team leads were advised to bring a radio and play Mix 94.1 at all drop off locations. Much to our surprise, almost 2 months before Christmas, and 4 weeks before Thanksgiving, Mix had gone to All Christmas All the Time! This seemed like a bad choice but based on the ratings results, looks like they understand how to run a radio station better than me! Now I fear we'll be having Christmas in July.... what's the threshold for too early to play Christmas songs?

Oh Joy... the council will get to vote for a 3rd time on taser use. I certainly don't want to see a Taser used on an 8 year old. However, as far as I know there is no rule prohibiting police officers from using their guns on an 8 year. So if the choice is between a taser charge and a gun shot, and you take away the choice for using a taser, aren't you putting children at greater risk than adults? At least police would have a choice to use a taser on an adult!

And the idea of having variable charges? What's the point of that? So that police officers can be investigated every time they use a taser to determine if the charge was in proportion to the size of the body? Not the type of decision I want police officers to be concentrating on when it's time to fight crime.

One last point... maybe I am naive, but when was the last time a law abiding citizen was walking down the sidewalk and got tased without warning?

Are we really this cool? Can we really command the highest hotel tax in the US? Seems a bit off to me... I'd think you'd almost generate more tax revenue by enticing people to stay in Cincinnati with lower hotel taxes.

While many bloggers tend to try to stay annonymous, I will not. I am a tech guy (IT Consultant for Accenture). I work downtown, and love the urban life. I life in Newport (yes, oh my gosh, I live across the river, I must HATE Cincinnati). I view Newport as being no different than Over-the-Rhine, just another inner city neighborhood of Cincinnati.

I am the current Advisory Board Chairman, and past Events Director for Give Back Cincinnati. Give Back is a non-profit focused on 'Developing Today's Communities and Tomorrow's Leaders', basically looking to provide leadership opportunities for Young Professionals in the city, hold some impactful volunteer and social events, and provide an opportunity for people in the city to meet some people outside their usual circles. I contend it's the best way to meet new people in the city. Very low pressure 'guilt-free' volunteering, that allows you to connect with folks in a comfortable way.

I'll get off my soap box now, but wanted to provide a little background on who I am as you read my posts.

I drive by every day (and sometimes get sucked in by the glow calling out to me to buy more beer and wine), and have been wondering what they're doing to the deli. They knocked out some walls, put in some new windows.... and while I'm sad to see the deli go (one of my favorites, but had really strange hours), I'm excited about the new development.

They're going to have some cooking classes, wine tasting, cigar tasting. I can't seem to find a lot about the details of classes, times, costs, etc... but interesting none-the-less.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050121/LIFE01/501210355

It's soooo Cincinnati. To always look at the negitive. What's wrong with the city? Why does Newport have the Levee? Why are the Banks sitting empty? There's nothing to do in the city, it's too dangerous to go downtown, and on and on.

Well that's just a bunch of crap. There are so many great things going on, and so many great people doing awesome things. I often find there's too much going on in the city that I can't get to everything I want to get to, can't see the things I want to see, or frequent all the great restaurants I want to go to. So I am going use this space to bring some of that alive, and if I slip and bitch about something every now and then, well I apologize, as I am sure it's bound to happen.

First question I have... why does it seem to be that anything that happens in Newport, Covington, or anywhere outside downtown Cincinnati is a loss for the city? I don't get that, opening the Newport Aquarium, or a new restaurant in Covington is simply a positive in my mind... so let's quit calling it a negitive!

Well.. I've been lurking for a little while, I thought it time to enter the blogging world and add my own comments. We'll give it a shot and see how it goes.