GCrites

I must have been snoozing, because I didn't notice that Ohio's minimum wage did indeed go up to $7.70 on January 1; which is an increase of 4%. Inflation's back.

^Having worked in the convention and trade show industry in the past both in Columbus and Cincinnati, when I say "state show", I mean things like "Ohio Association of ________". Often, it's things like dentists, school boards, libraries, churches etc. To participate, members have to be from Ohio. They generally find that attendance for these is highest when they hold the events in Columbus (or Dayton, if they find a facility they like). These state shows make up a large portion of the convention and trade show industry in Columbus. Without them, our facilities would not be as extensive. With that said, yes, Cincinnati's Convention center is still too small to attract really big shows; I believe it's 1/3 the size of Columbus'. But, the city should not throw itself on a knife or spend too much money on a center that may or may not attract enough growth to pay the bills. The people who make these decisions need to do extensive research.

That reminds me of another good ride name: Raging Wolf Bobs.

^ Correct, competition for shows is incredibly fierce. One of the main reasons Columbus' convention center is so large is that it sees a lot of "state shows" due to its central location and Ohio's large population.

^

Here she is doing "Mother" with Roger Waters at the Berlin Wall in 1990. They did The Wall all the way through with lots of special guests such as Scorpions, The Band, Joni Mitchell and even Soviet orchestras and choirs. It was really badass; I'm pretty sure the crowd lost their minds.

Get thee to Grandview, it's always a rager out here come St. Patrick's Day.

Who would have thought that a story like that would have come out of Mississippi?

^That article's "facts" on public transit are largely inaccurate. I generally don't like articles about transportation written by environmentalists and the far Left because they turn out like that one.

Rail transit improves the image of all transit in a city. It's not long after rail goes in that support for the bus system increases greatly.

Mind Eraser -- what a name. Oh, and I haven't thought about Carowinds for a while, I'll tell you that. I always wanted to go there when we'd go to Heritage USA (PTL). Alas, PTL was so expensive to stay at that there wasn't much money left. That, and the Jim Bakker tax.

I really liked how the hillsides and trees worked with the slides and tube rides. Bogus.

Oh man, Whiskey Ranch in the old Rite-Aid. I've got quite a few buddies that have barfed there after a big meal, rivers of booze and rides on the mechanical bull. Yet another Old Rusty Bucket of Nails opens. And ah yes, the Brickyard was a pretty hoppin' place in the early 2000s back when it had the open floor plan. Then the place that came after it was one of those joints with a small girls-only raised dance floor that played a lot of Journey, Def Leppard and Whitesnake. Hey everyone else, look at this dancing girls-night-out group that you're not supposed to talk to or dance with.

Corporate bureaucracy can be pretty rough as well.

Privatizing something adds profit motive, but also puts it in a position where it has to turn a profit -- sometimes at the expense of the agency's mission.

Anybody see or hear about the tax meeting they had yesterday? Kasich actually explained to the people how the government works regrading tax loopholes vs. tax exemptions. Explaining to the people how the government actually works rather than keeping them in the dark with "Government bad!"-style platitudes is something we don't see politicians, especially ones on the Right do often enough. If they did, people would understand how the government works rather than treating it as a boogeyman. Shades of more-reasonable '90s Kasich. So there you go -- a compliment for the man.

They were probably thinking that curved windows would really suck to buy but found the solution that they ended up using.

And it's weird having two Shoes in Ohio.

^Probably a copy of Thriller, a Beta VCR, a depressing 1983 Reds program, a People Magazine with hot picture of the Landers sisters, an Atari 5200, keys to a Norwood-made '83 Z28, an Ewok plush and an Enquirer promoting Reganomics.

All 216 square miles of Columbus aren't just like the Short North yet, so...

I just read Ace Frehley's book. Gene used to think Ace was always late to stuff because of his heavy drinking and drug use, which seriously angered Gene as a lifelong teetotaler. So after Ace cleaned up in the mid-2000s he still found himself running late. So Ace basically said, "Suck it Gene, I'm late to everything anyway!"

Yet another industry for Gene to dabble.

My interpretation of it was that he basically said initially, "Nah, this isn't bad enough. I'm not going to apply."

http://blip.tv/play/hLEMgbz8BgI.html?p=1

That the Feds would determine that the area wasn't eligible for federal disaster relief help. It's not like they show you how to assess disasters at Goldman Sachs.