jdm00

Apparently there was a shootout at 13th and Walnut last night. http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20120727/NEWS/307270041/Police-investigate-OTR-shootout?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|News Walnut feels like it has been completely forgotten in the redevelopment of OTR. I hope that Mercer Commons has a positive impact on the street and gets positive momentum going that way.

I'd be posting more about them but I am afraid to jinx this streak they are on.

Waynesville is a small town with a lot of antique-type stores, but it's not to the level of a Nashville, IN.

$3500 for 203 pieces by Kirby, Ditko, etc. is a ridiculous bargain! I'd like the name of your art dealer. ;) Good luck!

Well, Well, Malta and Cyprus are both tiny islands, so that isn't surprising that they top the list. However, I specified Portugal and Greece as being among the tops in tourism and poverty in Western/Mediterranean Europe. Of the cities ahead of Portugal, Ireland, Denmark and Sweden are all part of Northern Europe, and Luxembourg is another extremely small country that isn't a great statistical comparison. Out of 17 possible nations, not counting the extremely small ones: 1. Austria 2. Spain 3. Italy 4. Greece 5. The Netherlands 6. France 7. Portugal 8. Slovenia 9. Germany 10. Belgium 11. Croatia The rest are unlisted. Greece has the highest poverty rate, followed by Spain, then Portugal. Those are three of the top 7 countries. Poverty rankings among EU-15 member nations: 1. Greece 2. Spain 3. Portugal 4. Italy 5. Ireland Of these nations, only Italy has a sizable manufacturing sector comparative to its size and necessity for a 21st century economy. Massive corruption and public policy prohibitive to economic growth have hampered Italy since the '80s. The tourism stats were done per capita to take into account the relative size of the places.

Things to do, assuming money is no object: Zoo Newport Aquarium Museum Center (could do any of the museums, really--the 8 year old would probably love the Children's Museum, but the Natural History museum has stuff for younger kids too) Reds game (they will be back in town starting Monday, the 30th) Cincinnati Fire Museum (kid-friendly) Carew Tower observation deck (depending on where they are from--if from somewhere like NYC or Chicago, this would hold less appeal) Findlay Market (a good outing for everyone, lots of fun stuff to see) If the 14 year old has any interest in trains as a hobby or whatever, I think that Entertrainment Junction in West Chester is really good Food is a lot tougher. I find Rock Bottom is a reasonable spot downtown--sort of a Friday's menu that kids can get with. Pompilio's might be a decent idea, and if nothing else Tom and Chee (esp. if you go to the Aquarium) would be an option at the Levee.

Portugal is decidedly middle-of-the-pack in tourism in Europe: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/tourism/documents/TOURISM_INTENSITY.pdf

That's a good point...it could partially be an effect of many of what we all know are Cleveland suburbs actually being located in the Akron MSA. I don't understand this. If it is measuring MDP based on MSA, wouldn't those same suburbs count toward Akron's MDP?

^Bronson is having a nice bounceback, but so far he hasn't come close to pitching as well as he did in 2006. He's having a year pretty much along the lines of his '07 or '08 seasons. Which is a huge improvement over last year. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=978&position=P

I hate to jinx him, but I have to say that Homer is turning into a pretty good pitcher. I like the front of the rotation with Cueto/Latos/Bailey right now.

I agree the Tribe should (if they can afford it prospects wise, etc.) make a splash. I know some commentators have focused on the negative run differential as an indication that they are going to take a dive, but to me that just means they should go for it this year--take advantage of their overachievement so far (at least from a SABR perspective) and build on it with a trade that improves the team. No reason they can't outscore people by the same margin from here on out. Is there a chance that the front office will be wary because the Ubaldo trade has not worked out as they might have hoped?

That's an interesting idea. There used to be a comic museum (I wanna say in Boca Raton, FL or somewhere like that) called Words and Pictures, but I think it went out of business. The good news is that there are a lot of potential things that could be used in a HOF/museum (comics, memorabilia, movie props, etc.). And it would work quite naturally if you put in something like a theater/IMAX with it to show films and TV shows.

That said, I guess getting some picks (whatever they are) and cap relief is preferable to just having Howard walk at the end of the year. Makes sense in that regard.

I get that, but what good are draft picks when you're picking in the 20s? You might get a Rondo here and there, but getting blue-chip players generally means being at the top of the draft, and neither the Lakers or the Cavs are going to be there if the trade goes like that. If Orlando got rid of the bad contracts, got some picks, and got Bynum, I could see it. But just getting those picks and space doesn't make that much sense to me. I'd think somewhere like Houston--who can take on salary and offer any number of their young players--would be a better partner. Who knows. Bynum would be a big get for the Cavs.

I understand that a third team is needed to work out the numbers, but if Bynum goes to the Cavs and Howard to the Lakers, who/what exactly is Orlando going to get in return? Draft picks don't seem as enticing at that point--the Lakers will be title contenders and the Cavs with Bynum/Irving/etc. would be much improved and out of the high lottery.

how long has Casey been out of baseball? Like years, right? Come on.

^^ As to the Hall of Fame, the Eisners have been inducting comic creators into their Hall of Fame since 1987.

I don't know off the top of my head, but I will guess 5 to 10 years. His collection has been around far longer and is enviously extensive--he owns some of the best copies of the rarest and most valuable comics (Action Comics No. 1, Detective Comics No. 27, etc.). Is there a Superman museum in Cleveland somewhere? That would be an interesting idea--and in some ways I think it might have more visibility/crossover appeal than a more generalized comic book museum. I am not aware of any Superman museums anywhere, though I would not be surprised if Metropolis, Illinois had something. I think Superman has the level of recognition and popularity that the character could support its own museum, too.

I'm a little confused about the article in CityBeat. Is she complaining that a guy with indie rock connections put on another indie-rock(ish) festival? I guess I can't tell if the idea is (1) she wants a more diverse lineup of acts (which would take it away from being a rock festival), or (2) she just wants the Macy's music festival to be better.

If you guys want to focus on making it a reality in Cleveland, more power to you. I'm just trying to point out--as a comic fan--that the idea is a far-fetched one. It's not like nobody else has thought of a comic book hall of fame before. The main comic book industry awards already have a hall of fame that has an induction ceremony each year at the single-biggest comic book event in the country (and probably in the world). And the chances that a brand new comic book hall of fame will be able to compile more memorabilia than, say, the Geppi Museum in Baltimore in a short period of time is pretty remote. (Steve Geppi owns the distribution company that distributes 95% of all comic in the US, and is a huge collector with a ton of materials that he has put on display). Just because someone says "this is an idea" doesn't mean it's a good one. I could say tomorrow, "It'd be a great idea to build a baseball hall of fame in Cincinnati, where professional baseball began," but that doesn't mean that it woudl work or that the idea should be pushed. I assume that if I did so I would be greeted with statements like "you know there's already a baseball hall of fame that's pretty good and well-established in Cooperstown..." Sorry if my bringing relevant facts to the discussion is somehow considered Cleveland bashing. I didn't realize that only cheerleading was allowed in the forum.

I'll give you Harvey Pekar. I will reserve comment on Bendis--not my cuppa tea. Watterson and Wilson are comic strips--and humor at that--not really comic books. The Eisner Hall of Fame includes plenty of comic strip artists, but they are mostly adventure artists (Caniff, etc.). And you really don't want to get into a comparison with NYC when it comes to comic creators. Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and more too numerous to mention are New York guys!

Not to betray another geeky hobby of mine, but this seems very unlikely. There is already a Hall of Fame induction for comic book creators that takes place every year as part of the Eisner Awards, at the San Diego Comic-Con. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisner_Award Comic-Con is like a cottage industry at this point and has so far lapped all other comic book conventions that it's not even close, which makes it unlikely to me that they would move their award ceremony to Cleveland. So unless he plans for this comic book Hall of Fame to start from the ground up that will compete with the well-established Eisner Awards and their yearly Hall of Fame inductions, it seems like a really uphill climb. Also, for what it's worth, NYC would be by far the most logical place for a comic book hall of fame, just based on number of comic book creators and where the companies are. The Siegel and Shuster connection to Cleveland is nice, but that's about the only major connection I can think of for Cleveland off the top of my head. (And yes, I have more than 203 comics.... don't tell anyone.)

Ooops. Quoted the wrong post.

Street level retail stores besides the department stores in Cincy are almost all upper-end clothing and jewelry stores and drugstores (in addition to restaurants and bars and pharmacies). Saks, Macy's, TJ Maxx, Brooks Brothers, Joseph A. Bank, some independent clothiers (Mike Trotta tailor), Batsakes hat shop, Tiffany, Richter & Phillips jewelers.

Mr. Humphries, are you free? If a downtown Cincy store had Mrs. Slocumb working, I'd visit everyday for comic relief.