GCrites

Uptown Commons = UC. I wonder if they thought of that.

That "why?" house looks more like a bar where it would be real easy to get your ass kicked.

Really not bitter about public transportation. It is just an opinion I have after reading many comments on many threads on UO. Just appears to me that their time doesn't mean that much to them if they will wait that long for buses, trains, or connections. I'm not judging them. Just an observation. Cars involve a lot of waiting too... waiting to get it fixed, waiting on parts, waiting at the gas station, waiting in traffic, waiting on someone to drive you around if you can't drive...

^ I think that's called "Firring it out".

Another bonus about light rail is that once trains replace more bus lines, suburbanites and other bus haters won't dislike transit as much. Streetcars/light rail are much more predictable in their movements. You can't really complain about what a streetcar does when you made the decision to drive on the tracks.

I always like hearing people from out of state (or Cincinnati, hardy-har-har) try to pronounce this town's name.

^ mmm, more surface parking. There have been talks of a garage for many years, but a lot of commuters in the area still don't understand the concept of paying to park. Eventually those students are just going to have to realize that a college campus is not Wal-Mart.

Germany is awesome. Sell your soul if you must.

Unmoderated forums and USENET have just gotten nasty over the years. My fellow MTR (misc.trasnsport.road) readers such as Seicer, Magyar and Mr. Sparkle can vouch for the negativity, name-calling and flaming that are rampant there. I am disappointed in what has changed in that newsgroup since I started reading it in the mid-'90s. Everybody used to be so nice to each other.

I went to Learning Unlimited for 2nd to 4th grade. Looking back... man, that school was intense, in a good way. It was a unique experience. For those unfamiliar, Learning Unlimited is a progressive private school in Columbus started in the late '70s by an Iranian immigrant named Pouneh Alcott. It was featured in Columbus Monthly quite often. We were taught in the European method, with foreign language immersion (French, which I don't remember now) and de-emphasized grades; actually it was an ungraded school. Not to get off topic, but is there anything like that in the rest of Ohio? It seemed like it was a nice alternative to regular schools if you have the money and your kid passes the IQ test. See the thing I don't like about public schools is the propaganda aspect. At LU, I was taught that the U.S. is a great country with lots of advantages over the rest of the world, especially in the areas of freedom of speech (which even western and central Europe don't completely have) and opprotunity. But at the same time, they pointed out that we are not perfect and that we can learn from other countries to make our nation better. I never heard anything like that at public school; it always seemed that there were endless assemblies with videos of fighter jets and "I'm Proud to be an American" blasting over the PA with D.A.R.E. class afterward. I've heard lots of good things about Columbus Public Schools' Alternative Schools system. edit: why don't I ever see all my grammatical mistakes until I actually post?

On another note, schoolteaching has a lot of appeal for many because it is one of the few white-collar jobs that never get caught up in the go-go BS that started in the '80s and continues even more intensely today. Old-school white collar jobs used to not involve working evenings, weekends and holidays, intrude on people's personal lives so much and paid well right off the bat with good benefits. In the '80s, corporations seeking higher productivity, began using their power and influence in the media to sell white-collar workers on the idea of working too hard and giving up their free time to "get ahead". It continues today. Too many white-collar workers are overstressed, overweight, unfulfilled, spend too much time in the car and in front of screens, don't have any down time and spend too much money in their free time. The funny part is that our productivity isn't any higher than the rest of the world, so people from other countries laugh at us because we spend so much time at work yet only accomplish the same amount of work they do in 30 hours a week (approximately the standard workweek in Europe). Longer workweeks see diminishing returns very quickly. Plus, because other nations' balanced lifestyles lead to less stress, their health is fantastically better than ours, decimating healthcare expenses and other externalities associated with working too much. Basically, the corporations' productivity trick didn't work, but they continue to do it anyway. Another big thank you to TV and movies for brainwashing us into a suicidal lifestyle. Teaching, though, eliminates some of the disadvantages of the nu-work scene. Extra hours are by choice, often paid and in fulfilling things such as tutoring or coaching. They have also the choice of working or not working in the summers, to equal the long vacation time that used to be seen in the U.S., but is now reserved for the rest of the world only.

Great shots of Eat 'N Park!

I went to Independence H.S. in Columbus for one year. It was on the east side, in a suburb that I guess you could compare to probably Bridgetown outside of Cincy. It was only 15-20% white. (Fake) Bloods and Crips but fights all the time, never the less. My Social Studies teacher asked me to join this group called "In the Know" where you compete with other schools in a Jeopardy academic kind of game and we traveled around to other schools. I remember going to Ft. Hayes which seemedd like the Columbus version of Walnut Hills, except not as diverse. Eastmoor also seemed to have a lot of white even though it was Columbus Public. Even though blacks and whites live in the same neighborhoods I do think there is a tendency for whites to send kids to other public schools that have more white people within CPS. Thinking about my mindset back then, it sucked being a minority. Whether you're black, white, asian, gay - what have you, kids want to be around people like themselves. Every 'mostly black' school I've been to, the white kids I felt either tried too hard to 'act black' and fit in or were just crazy and listend to ICP and Marilyn Manson. It was really hard to find a group of people like me. A few of my white friends there ended up transfering to east moore or their parents moved them to Canal Winchester. Unlike Cincinnati, a lot of Columbus' suburbs, particularly on the east side have declined a lot yet people don't seem so adament about moving further out. This is just based on experience though, not data. Er, well, what I meant by assimilation and culture wasn't racial. I mean more along the lines of how people move around Columbus a lot, going to say Hillard schools for a few years, then Dublin, then Grove City, which weakens the culture of the schools. In Cleveland and Cincy it seems that people take a lot of pride in which high school (and the feeder schools) they went to, be it Hughes or Sycamore in Cincy for example. Obviously, pride and culture make for a stronger school and often better grades and test scores. You mentioned Columbus' East Side and how white people there are less likely to bolt for an area further out. I lived there for a year and may move back to that area in a few months. That is one aspect of the East Side that I really like -- people getting along and realizing that those who look different than them aren't as bad as the "bolters" make them out to be. Some parts of the East Side are too auto-dependent, though.

Does anyone have any insight into why Columbus-area schools didn't do well? Too "average" perhaps? Assimilation leading to lack of strong culture in the schools?

No love for Columbus on the list.

Some businesses don't want to spend more than 2 cents on a sign, do they?

^ White Castle Charlie's Steakery Donato's Rooster's

They should use part of the Nolan property to build an access road from Highland to the Burlington Coat Factory, its associated strip mall and the Golden Corral then block access from Ridge to ease congestion.

Residents oppose plans for apartments Wednesday, September 10, 2008 By ROBERT PASCHEN, ThisWeek Contributor A developer pulled plans to build a 128-unit apartment complex in Canal Winchester after roughly 100 residents crammed Town Hall Monday in unified opposition at the planning and zoning commission meeting. "The people have spoken," said Don Roberts, speaking on behalf of property owners Myron Rush and Mary Westinghouse and developers State Street Realty Partners LLC. "I don't know how you ignore 100 people who all have the same opinion." The planning and zoning commission had intended to table action on the plans until October so a traffic study could be finished. But developers withdrew the project from consideration after nearly 20 residents spoke against it and others, filling the balcony and stairwell, applauded their statements. The apartment complex was slated to be built on 10.8 acres on the south side of Groveport Road. MORE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/canalwinchester/stories/2008/09/10/0911cwapartments_ln.html

I like your place both before and after the remodel. I probably would have left it alone because I'm cheap and and like cheesy stuff. But you did a tasteful, classy job -- I'm real picky because I think a lot of times these days, people make their houses look worse when they remodel.

Hmmm. Skolnik, Zakk Wylde and the Betts/Haynes tune are the only ones that I know for a fact that would excite me... and that's if the Zakk Wylde song wasn't one of those generic "wah fest/try-to-play-a-penationic-fast-as-Iommi-but-not-tap-into-Iommi's-brilliance" that Zakk is known for. I've heard good things about Albert Collins and I know I've heard the Earl Slick song somewhere, so they are possibles. The Elliot Easton song may also be worth checking out. Don't know that Gabrels guy.

I always thought that Jungle Jim's is located where it is not fully appreciated by those who live in the immediate area. "Screw making these fresh exotic foods at home; Applebee's has Curbside to Go! Fire up the Yukon XL!"

^ Does Georgia inspect automobiles on a regular basis? Ohio and Kentucky are full of cars held together with baling wire and a dream because there are few consequences for driving an unroadworthy vehicle. West Virginia inspects cars every three years and each time they are sold. No bald tires, cracked windshields, broken taillights or jagged fenders are allowed there. In fact, I'm pretty sure you can't even have a wrong-colored fender on a car. Law enforcement will definitely bust you for violations while out driving around. If you see a beat-up car in WV, it's probably from Ohio.

Don't like Nuno, Reb Beach is alright, but Yngwie rules!!!!!! The thing with Yngwie is that standard progressions bore him, leading him to overplay and lose the spirit of the song. He can work wonders when he covers songs such as "Mr. Crowley" or Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon" that are made up of riffs. But, as seen on the G3 DVD commemorating his tour with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, when in a situation requiring him to jam out with other guitarists on a simple song ("Keep on Rocking in the Free World") Ing-vay doesn't get it. What other guitarists were on the album?

St. Anger