RiverViewer

From http://www.wcpo.com/specials/2003/newbuilding/museum.html: In 1883, the Cincinnati Water Works wanted to extend its efficient water supply main tunnel (which had remained incomplete for several years) 185 feet to the line at Gilbert Avenue. This efficient main started at the reservoir in Eden Park. To control the flow of water at the base of the steep hill, a valve house was needed. Because the Water Works wanted to enhance the landscape of the park, plus they wanted a structure that would also serve as a new entrance to the park, they felt that the valve house needed to have a special design. That spring, Cincinnati was host to the Shakespearean Dramatic Festival at Music Hall. The highlight of the festival was the performance of "Hamlet" on Friday evening, May 4. A famous actor by the name of James E. Murdock played the role of Hamlet. Even at the age of 72, this actor was very popular in Cincinnati, mainly because Cincinnati was his hometown. Although many in the audience felt that Mr. Murdock was too old to play the role of Hamlet, they were highly impressed with the stage sets, especially the opening scene. This particular stage set was a 65-by-65 foot painting of Elsinore Castle (also known as Kronberg Castle), where the moody Denmark prince walked at night and spoke with the ghost of his father. A local artist named merry painted this stage set. In the audience that night was Water Works Superintendent A.G. Moore. He was so impressed with the painting of Elsinore Castle that that next Monday morning he appeared at the offices of Samuel Hannaford and Sons (famous local architectural firm that designed, among other structures, Music Hall and the City Building) with a newspaper illustration of the Elsinore stage set. What resulted was that CHarles B. Hannaford, the son of Samuel, was commissioned to design the valve house in the form of Elsinore Castle. The Elsinore Tower was built later that year for a cost of $15,000. What resulted is the Norman Romanesque Revival mini-castle consisting of a cylindrical castellated tower joined to a smaller square tower by a battlemented archway. Since the Cincinnati Art Museum officially opened in 1886, steps were placed behind the Elsinore Tower as a short cut to the museum. However, the steps were too steep to ever become popular; and with the ever-increasing prevalence of motorized travel, the Elsinore Tower soon lost its appeal as an entrance to the Park. As of 1988, it was reported that the reservoir valves were housed in a vault underneath the tower and that the Cincinnati Water Works used the Elsinore Tower for equipment storage.

BTW, thanks for the definition!

Here's a Cincinnati avatar, from a shot I was really lucky to get - sun setting over downtown, taken from about three or four miles away, on Columbia Parkway. Here's the original: ...and here's an avatar from it:

Can I climb out from underneath my desk to ask what H.B.I.C. stands for? Or will I get hit with shrapnel?

If they say all the bricks are really in Hyde Park Near, make them a realtor!

Here's a site with regional radar: http://www.channelcincinnati.com/wxmap/4290772/detail.html Still might well get the game in - it looks like it may mostly sneak south of us. Best of luck to you - I hope your team loses, but I hope you have a great time! EDIT: Oh, I didn't mention, there's a drop-box with a bunch of radar views available. The Ohio Valley Radar Loop one seems to be the most helpful to me...

How about this?

^You can go up in that building (Carew Tower), and go to the observation deck. They charge $2. The deck is the roof of the building, and you get a view you wouldn't believe - just phenomenal. Just ask folks at the security desk, and they can help you out...

Wow...that's just fantastic.

I'm wondering what impact light rail has on bus ridership, and how that might impact these numbers. Like, the guy's hypothetical at the end is 60% of the 31K riders on the Woodward Corridor. A full bus is more efficient than an empty one - so that means if you pulled 60% of the people off the bus route, the price per passenger mile would go up on the bus route. So if the numbers quoted that compare light rail with bus ridership were formulated after the various cities added light rail, it might not be a fair comparison. Like, maybe it cost 50¢ ppm for the bus in Denver before light rail went in, and the decreased efficiency from more empty busses jumped that figure to 64¢ ppm. I doubt that's the case - it only makes sense that light rail's operating costs are lower. And "significantly increased ridership" is reason enough by itself to have light rail in my book. But I do wonder what the ppm for busses was in those cities prior to light rail...do you have any idea on that, KJP?

Very nicely done...

I want to make a PYT joke, but can't formulate one...

OK, I wouldn't be bragging about the whole "Ziggy" thing...but the Ukrainian Museum thing - that rocks out.

Wait a minute...I fell asleep reading last night, so I didn't know the game had even started back up - but let me get this straight...after a 2:23 rain delay, they start the 3rd with their bullpen, who pitch seven scoreless innings between six relievers, against the best team in baseball...and Jason LaRue hits the winning RBI double? I need to stop going to games and start sleeping through them...

I'm going to a game in August...it's a risk, no doubt, but I'm going to try it with a different ball cap...

That's extremely funny...

I understand there's even a stadium northside...of course, I went there for two years and never once actually saw the thing... I actually have no idea what the old logo looked like, either... Hmm...was this it? Ha, ha...actually, here's a shot of it:

Bad link in the second dispatch story - the webpage for Project Vote Smart is: http://www.vote-smart.org/

I've read this sentence about a dozen times now, and I still don't have the slightest idea what the hell it means.

I'd disagree, to this extent: some fuckhead bastard with a gun got this guy killed - his own poor judgement didn't prevent it.

Best of luck to you, Nick...your bar isn't my kind of scene, but it's obviously a great addition to the region. Wish it could stay in OTR, of course, as you've said over and over. But I would suggest that folks who bad-mouth this decision realize that they're trying to spend someone else's money...I've had my disagreements with Nick before, but never because I presumed I could invest his money and his time better than he could. If I felt that strongly about it, the logical conclusion would be to open my own bar at 12th and Walnut, not bad-mouth someone else for not doing it. (But I did think the misspelling of "karma" was pretty funny...unless that's some archaic or foreign spelling I'm unaware of?)

^Not sure what Kroger's supposed to do about that...

How about they maybe also try getting some decent goddamn produce in the Walnut Hills store? Maybe a little selection in the meat department? Maybe de-grungify the store a little, get a couple brands of cheese besides Price Saver and Kraft, update the 1979-era decor? I'd think they'd be embarassed to have their name on that place while they're building brand new mega-death-centers all over hell... I want to support the locally-HQ'd business, but I wish they wouldn't sweep my neighborhood store under the rug...

Is Nick investing in high end audio gear? ...sorry, couldn't resist...

Here's the thread where Playhouse Square was debated: http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=9086.0