Caseyc

more importantly, does anyone know what happened to the "elvis" elevator and operator?

this will be my view...

escalators. the mounts of underground parking is staggering, albeit, necessary for a structure of that size. That was abig hole they have filled in on the north half....

next time...headed to grammer's later (with the hipsteratti!)

Hipsteratti can be both a term of derision as well as a compliment. Wear it proud! ...and you were just fittiing the bill with the judgmental and uninformed attitude based on your perusal of the website (haven't seen it but will need to check it out!). Look, I am no more interested in hanging out with noxious perfume and orange-hued females than you are....then again, I have never been there outside of happy hour. But if your opinion of bars is based solely on websites than that's your prerogative. It just seems a tad bit uninformed, to put it mildly. I think we're a lot more in agreement than you suspect, but the desperate attempts to establish indie cred ring decidedly hollow in the absence of any personal interaction with the subject matter in question. I don't take it personally at all....just like to spice it up. Come on. I'll buy you a beer.

that may be true, however for 7 days a week from 4 to 8 it's the best deal in town. If you want to know what beers they have, simply walk in. The taps, while limited, at least have a cold OTR pint. The bottles run a micro-gamut of decent to above-average quality. I'm not saying it is my favorite watering hole, not by a longshot, but it fills a niche downtown. That's enough for me. I can only imagine, based on their cocktail prices, what the cost of a decent beer is. Thanks, but I'll pass. I'm glad there's a place like it in Cincinnati, but that's not my scene at all. Well imagine this: the "cost of a decent beer"--a Stone IPA, an OTR, an Oberon et al. is $2.50 from 4 to 8, 7 days a week. I'm sorry but drop the bullschitt hipsteratti pretensions and be practical. Your assumptions as to the appropriate scene are off base. I have read the idiotic cocktail menu as well, but...really...I don't intend to order off of it nor have I ever...so what's your point? Go order sex on the beach and blue motorcycles elsewhere. Bottom line--You'll pay more at Arnold's, NST, Milton's, Comet, Grammer's etc. for the happy hour beer selection. This kind of harping is disingenuous and pathetic. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Did you miss the part were I said I was happy that Cincinnati's got a place like this? I'm sorry your favorite bar doesn't appeal to me, Casey, but it doesn't. I've seen the website and while it's a beautiful building on the outside, the clientele on the inside coupled with the menu lets me know this isn't the place for me. That's okay, right? We don't have to like everything. Still, I understand that others DO like this sort of bar, and I'm happy the city's able to accomodate them. whoahahoanoah....I never said it was my "favorite bar." I believe I said "it's not my favorite watering hole, far from it..." If you had actually been there and said it was full of annoying people with bad drinks, I would understand, even possibly agree. My problemn was making assumptions based on your "imagination" and an online drink menu. That's all. No biggie. Peace and love!

that may be true, however for 7 days a week from 4 to 8 it's the best deal in town. If you want to know what beers they have, simply walk in. The taps, while limited, at least have a cold OTR pint. The bottles run a micro-gamut of decent to above-average quality. I'm not saying it is my favorite watering hole, not by a longshot, but it fills a niche downtown. That's enough for me. I can only imagine, based on their cocktail prices, what the cost of a decent beer is. Thanks, but I'll pass. I'm glad there's a place like it in Cincinnati, but that's not my scene at all. Well imagine this: the "cost of a decent beer"--a Stone IPA, an OTR, an Oberon et al. is $2.50 from 4 to 8, 7 days a week. I'm sorry but drop the bullschitt hipsteratti pretensions and be practical. Your assumptions as to the appropriate scene are off base. I have read the idiotic cocktail menu as well, but...really...I don't intend to order off of it nor have I ever...so what's your point? Go order sex on the beach and blue motorcycles elsewhere. Bottom line--You'll pay more at Arnold's, NST, Milton's, Comet, Grammer's etc. for the happy hour beer selection. This kind of harping is disingenuous and pathetic.

apparently the Mt. Auburn broadcast antennas have been moved to 6th and Walnut...or so it seems....

that may be true, however for 7 days a week from 4 to 8 it's the best deal in town. If you want to know what beers they have, simply walk in. The taps, while limited, at least have a cold OTR pint. The bottles run a micro-gamut of decent to above-average quality. I'm not saying it is my favorite watering hole, not by a longshot, but it fills a niche downtown. That's enough for me.

that is what I envision as well (in an optimistic best case scenario). In any event, I am celebrating this with a 2.50 pint of OTR at the Righteous Room. See you there.

the Hamtramck Fest labor Day weekend is always pretty good. http://www.hamtramcklaborday.com/ Should be decent music, eccentric vendors, ethnic food and an ample supply of ready-made hipsters as well as moldy oldie veterans. Also don't forget the Jazz fest downtown, which is walking distance from your hotel. That always has some decent names and is worth a run through even if you're not interested in who's playing. Don't miss Cliff Bell's on Park Avenue just north of Grand Circus Park (also within walking distance) and neighboring Park Bar/Bucharest Grill. I am not at all a fan of the Arts Beats and Eats fest in Pontiac (which will necessitate some driving), but I'm sure there is passable "big fest" music (Los Lobos, Deadstring Brothers, Orbitsuns, the Muggs). Your parking situation is a typical Detroit screwjob. There are a number of nearby lots and garages but I don't have a solid recommendation, particularly with regard to the Jazz fest also going on. If you are parking 24 hours it may be a push.

LOL...I know but from the last time I talked to the Crane guys they have to tie the crane down before they can raise it. So until that steel gets higher that crane is staying put. I think by the end of the week the steel should be high enough to raise the crane another 80-100ft. We shall see, it is definately about time though. If you look at the QCS website's webcam you can see they have a ways to go with the steel. Wow this tower is at half it's height in about 6 months. Splendid!!! Tie it down indeed....you should see how that crane sways. It's crazy. Righ now steel framing is two floors above QCSI rooftop.

the core is at 21 stories. They definitely need to raise the crane soon.

Get out and support EATS this Wednesday: Please join Cincinnati E.A.T.S. for our Summer 2009 event Wednesday, August 26, at Sung Korean Bistro in downtown Cincinnati for cocktails, socializing, and great food - all for a great cause. Less than two years old, Sung Korean Bistro has brought traditional family style Korean food to Cincinnati in a modern, upscale environment. Born in Seoul, Chef Sung J. Oh immigrated to the United States in 1994. After studying Fine Arts at the University of Cincinnati, he opened Riverside Korean Bistro with his sister in Covington in 1998. Riverside soon achieved recognition as one of Cincinnati’s top 25 restaurants. At that time, Chef Oh decided that he wanted to bring a different dining ambiance to his native food. In October 2007, he opened Sung Korean Bistro, combining a modern upscale environment, traditional Korean cuisine, and tableside service. Sung Korean Bistro has also started garnering attention for its late night atmosphere replete with DJ. For more information, see www.sungkoreanbistro.com Similar format, different location: You pay a discounted flat fee (that includes tax and tip) in advance for your meal. There are no table reservations and everyone eats together at the same time. It's a party with great food! Drinks at 7 p.m. Come mingle while the DJ spins. Guests will then be seated in two shifts for dinner. The first half of the room (including the traditional area where patrons sit on the floor) will be seated at 8 p.m. and the second will be seated at 8:15 p.m. You do not need to pick a particular time when you register. IMPORTANT DETAIL. Sung will serve a traditional Korean meal, in the traditional style: shared dishes. Food will be served on large platters for the entire table to share. You only need to let us know whether you are a vegetarian. You’ll have an appetizer and three main dishes to share, plus six traditional side dishes, called banchan. Of course, kimchi (the traditional Korean pickled cabbage side dish) will be included. If you’re unfamiliar with Korean food, you’re in for a treat. Korean cuisine uses a variety of vegetables and relies heavily on chili peppers, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil for flavor. Most of the dishes are spicy, so be prepared! Don’t worry—all of the main dishes can be served “mild.” (One of our organizers, Stepfanie, lived in Korea for a year and will be happy to answer any questions before or during the meal.) To register, please visit www.cincinnatieats.com and purchase your ticket via Paypal. Tickets are $40.00. Because food will be served family style and there will not be individual plates this time, you only need to let us know whether you require a vegetarian plate or have any food allergies. On the night of the event, just bring your receipt with you. Drinks will be handled individually at the event. The evening will benefit Cincinnati COOKS!, a free, 10-week program of the Freestore Foodbank that prepares low-income, at-risk adults for employment in the food service industry.

The "name of the study conducted"? I am not sure of the formal nomenclature, but just shoot Bob Pickford an email. He has the data. I don't think it has a title, but we can certainly conjure one up e,g, "2009 Statistical Door Click Analysis Prepared for CFFM." What I'm saying is that Cinci mag (I have a copy here) got half of the story (if that) when it comes to that point. Yes they count door clicks, and out of that you can get a "zinger" quote from Debra Krause. What they ignore is that the door click count is just the first step. Obviously Debra Krause isn't fully versed in the methodolgy by which door clicks are adjusted DOWNWARD to reflect the cops that "open and close a door 75 times" a day, as she noted. I won't repeat the methodology as it is already set forth above. Like I said, email Pickford if you want a further explanation. I think that it is good that Cinci takes a more critical eye, like the hard-hitting publication that they are (sarcasm alert), but really, I have no problem with the unvarnished view. The thing is, you know who the merchants are that are still grumbling about having to stay open Sunday (nice to see Krause's finally go along with the party), or contracts/red tape ("enjoy your waffles") and that stupid billboard. I'm not sure it's worth devoting as much space to it as they did, but hey, like assholes, everyone has an opinion. It's clear that a lot of merchants are going to second-guess what the corporation is doing, it's the nature of the biz. As such, I would try and keep it balanced. In this case, what I pointed out, and what Sherman initially seized upon as an "interesting" anecdotal bit was just flat out wrong. I thought that should be pointed out, as it's obviously one of the key takeaways from the story (along with the billboard fiasco). A better angle would be to dig deeper, not on the inevitable give and take between the CFFM and merchants, but between the merchants themselves. Just as on Sundays, a lot of merchants are more established and believe they can be open on their own terms, for their own customers (hello Eckerlin) which can be detrimental to trying to make it a more daily type destination. It's also frustrating for those that stay open in accordance with the posted hours to have people going dark and covering everything up an hour or more before closing.

that's putting it charitably. It filled a void for chotch that lasted maybe a year or so until everyone upped and moved to Lodge, Caddy Ranch etc. It certainly is a large place, when you add the back rooms and everything into the mix. I can't say I went there very often, if at all....but I do remember a horrendous order of disgusting nachos that were ordered during a March Madness party my alumni group had there. blech.

A lot of the more established merchants ignore the Corporation. They have their longtime customers, and those customers know when to come down. I can pretty much tell you exactly who she spoke with based on the way her article is written. You are incorrect as far as the customer count, and Donna's article in Cinci mag is a bit of a hack job on that issue. It is not just door clicks. The concept was to adjust "door clicks" by a reduction factor to eliminate overcounting that would result from a simple gross number. They previously attempted several studies to determine the reduction factor for converting "raw clicks" from the electronic door counters to customers. These studies failed to gather sufficient data to make the determination so, based on our observations, they used a reduction factor of 2 (divide raw clicks by 2). That method yielded 350,722 shoppers. In April and May this year, a team of UC students and faculty helped the Corporation complete a "clicks to customers" audit by following 154 randomly selected shoppers on different days of the week and recording the number of times they tripped a door counter. The study revealed that they were significantly underestimating the market's customer traffic. It found that five percent of shoppers don't trip a counter at all, that weekend shoppers average 1.7 clicks, and that weekday shoppers average 1.3 clicks. Using this new data, the electronic counts for 2008 convert to 612,230 customers.

It must be Findlay Market week.....Sooapbox piece today as well as Cincinnati Magazine. http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/0818soapdishbullmarket.aspx

When we moved here we looked at Hyde Park, Clifton, Mt. Lookout and North Avondale. Fell in love with North Avondale. Although you certainly don't get the walkable business strip, you are in the absolute heart of the city, close to anything. 2 miles to Walnut Hills High School for our older son (amazing amazing school, and don't worry about testing in). And our younger son goes to The New School, a private montessori in the neighborhood to which he can walk. Of course, North Avondale Montessori is also nearby, but we fell in love with the New School, and it has been an excellent experience North Avondale, although in the middle of the east side west side divide, lies squarely on the liberal end of the spectrum, not unlike a Clifton. The residents in our neighborhood come from all walks, former mayors, symphony conductors, broadway producers, city government employees, doctors, lawyers, academics, etc. While it is true you cannot very easily walk to a coffee shop, there is a Cincinnati park nature preserve at the end of our street, which then leads to a public golf course. There is also a neighborhood swim club, Clinton Hills Swim Club, which was the first integrated swim club in the city, and which our kids love (me too). My wife is a real estate agent and can help you out on this stuff as well. Let me know and I will PM you her contact info. She has a good feel for out of towner's perspective, particularly those with kids.

I find it odd, in that particular block, that there were noise complaints. I heard about that the weekend before they opened when they had the Bad Veins after-party. Perhaps there are some tenants in those condos directly to the South (I knowthey have been for sale for quiet a long time). That's the only source I can peg for a noise complaint. It's not like the Righteous Room holds a ton of people or has bands playing. And the own the condos directly above.

pic from today

there really can be no disputing this fact.

decent happy at the Righteous Room. OTR drafts are 2.50 from 4 to 8. Check it out.

from this morning's Soapbox: http://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/0804soapdishnowisthetime.aspx

not sitting...I see 4 guys on top of the core right now. They have been pouring a lot of cement the past few days on the first 4 or 5 floors of the tower.