The Nati

There’s a lot of talk about bringing together people of different backgrounds in Cincinnati. The fact is, we need it. We tend to live and socialize with people who look just like us--rarely with people of a different race. That contributes to racial barriers in our community. Do you want to be a part of changing this? We can help bring people together, starting with ourselves.

Give Back Cincinnati and FreedomYP (the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center young professional group) are giving you an opportunity to be a part of a change. It’s called the Freedom Project, and it will provide you with a unique opportunity to build relationships with people of diverse backgrounds through shared volunteer experiences and communication.

A diverse team will be selected from applicants, and will participate on teams at 4 Give Back Cincinnati events throughout the year. The week following each event, members of the Freedom Project will get together for a facilitated reflection on their experiences and a chance to socialize together.

An info session for the Freedom Project will be held on Wed. Jan. 10th from 6:00-8:00 PM at McFadden’s – 7th St. Downtown.

By attending the info session you are not obligated to apply.

Please help anticipate the crowd by RSVPing here: http://www.givebackcincinnati.org/events_details.asp?EventID=1117

If you are interested in the project, but can not attend the info session, fill out and send in the application: http://www.givebackcincinnati.org/THE%20FREEDOM%20PROJECT.doc

It's a new year and a new schedule of events for Give Back Cincinnati. The final list of events for all of 2007 should be published on the Give Back website in the coming days. But there are two that I want to specifically call out, because I think they are really important and unique. I will create a second post for the other in just a moment.

• Service Travel – New Orleans (June 2007), Dominican Republic (October 2007) - http://www.givebackcincinnati.org/events_details.asp?EventID=1122

First is Service Travel:

Join us to learn about Service Travel trips to New Orleans and the Dominican Republic with Katrina Collaboration, Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity Young Professionals, and Give Back Cincinnati. Having been on the trips to Ecuador (2005) and New Orleans (2006), I can tell you that it's both fun and rewarding. I have an incredible group of friends that many I had not even met prior to these trips. It's a great way to meet new people in Cincinnati.

Click on a link below to RSVP for one of the Info Sessions:

• Wed. Feb. 7th – 6-8 PM – Contemporary Arts Center – 6th & Walnut St., Cincinnati
• Sat. Feb. 10th – 12-2 PM – Newport on the Levee Community Room – 2nd Floor
• Tues. Feb. 13th – 12-1:30 PM – McCormick & Schmick’s Private Room – 5th & Vine St., Fountain Square
• Sun. Feb. 18th – 4-6 PM – Kona Bistro - 3012 Madison Road, Oakley Square

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I assume that most everyone that reads this blog (yeah, both of you), know that I'm a pretty big live music fan. 2006 actually turned out to be better than I thought it was going to be, and here is my best of list. This is actually the CD I created for the best music of the year, and it's followed by a listing of the albums the songs came from.

The only song (I think) on the list that is not from 2006 is 'Marching In', as a tribute to Katrina Collaboration's trip to New Orleans in August... what a fun trip that was!

1. We Don’t Run – Willie Nelson
2. Broken Boy Soldier – The Raconteurs
3. Your Touch – The Black Keys
4. G’Dang Diggy – Common Market
5. Think I’m in Love – Beck
6. Dearhead on the Wall – Alejandro Escovedo
7. Please Don’t Talk About Murder While I’m Eating – Ben Harper
8. So Hard to Find My Way – Jackie Greene
9. I Gotta Get Drunk – The Little Willies
10. Into the Open – Heartless Bastards
11. When the Saints Go Marching In – Louie Armstrong
12. The Heart Bionic – Bobby Bare Jr
13. We’re Going to be Friends – Jack Johnson
14. Store Bought Bones – The Raconteurs
15. Leave the South – Nathan Asher & the Infantry
16. For the Price of a Cup of Tea – Belle & Sebastian
17. Lmno6 – The Selmanaires
18. Just Got to Be – The Black Keys
19. Beat Beat Beat – Glue
20. Searching for the Ghost – Heartless Bastards
21. Lucky – Richard Buckner
22. Today Is the Day – Apollo Sunshine
23. Streets of Baltimore - The Little Willies
24. Steady, As She Goes - The Raconteurs

And the Albums:

Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
Jack Johnson – Curious George
The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldier
Beck – The Information
The Black Keys – Magic Potion
Willie Nelson – Songbird
Common Market – Common Market
Jackie Greene – American Myth
Nathan Asher & the Infantry – Sex Without Love
Glue – Catch As Catch Can
Alejandro Escovedo – The Boxing Mirror
Richard Buckner - Meadow
Ben Harper – Both Sides of the Gun
Apollo Sunshine – Apollo Sunshine
The Selmanaires – Here Come the Selmanaires
The Little Willies – The Little Willies
Heartless Bastards – All This Time
Bobby Bare Jr – The Longest Meow

I took December (and most of November) off from the world of blogs. It was a nice break, and I think I'm ready to make a resolution for 2007 to post to this lovely blog at least 3 times per week. Hopefully that's enough to keep people's interest! Maybe I'll even come up with some 'columns'. Tuesday's Song of the Week, Friday's Crazy news story of the week. Or maybe I won't but what I will do is post here at least 3 times a week. If I find that I'm unable to keep up with this schedule (barring any vacations, etc), then I'll likely go into blog-retirement and sit on my couch drinking Miller High Life instead!