The silliness we had scheduled here for today can wait. There’s nothing silly about a massive tornado and that’s what Moore, Oklahoma had to deal with yesterday afternoon. Dozens, including children, have been billed.
Moore, Oklahoma is now basically gone. I can’t pretend like everything is normal here today.
This blog shouldn’t be your news source, but if you’re sticking around, you can get updates here and here and here.
(Photo from denverpost.com)
Seems like nothing is simple anymore—not even providing elementary school kids lunch.
40 students at R.C. Hinsdale Elementary School in Edgewood, Kentucky weren’t served lunch last week, because they had a negative account balance on their pre-paid lunch accounts. I’m assuming it’s actually the accounts of their parents. Yesterday, a Good Samaritan paid off the 56 dollars owed. No point in me going into it too much—just click here to read more about it.
Back when I went to grade school—yes, of course, it was decades ago—this type of thing never was a problem. I went to elementary school in Allensville, Indiana. That’s only a few miles from East Enterprise. Still lost? Think small towns around Vevay, Indiana. If you still don’t know where I’m talking about, get a map.
Anyway, school lunches weren’t a problem back then. Why? Because school lunches were free. If a student wanted an extra milk to go along with lunch, it would cost that student two cents to get it. That was the only cost involved with those lunches. And the cooks at Allensville Elementary School were known to be excellent cooks. I’m a kid who ate those lunches, so I can vouch for that. Parents liked their food too. There would be annual dinners (with a cost) to help raise money for the school.
I know. I’m getting off the topic here.
Perhaps I’m an idiot, but I still think school lunches should still be free. Raise tax dollars and let those tax dollars pay for it. R.C. Hinsdale Elementary is located in Kenton County, Kentucky. I live in Kenton County. I’ll vote to have my taxes raised for this. Will you? Let the debate begin.
Or maybe just make this simple. If parents won’t want to pay for their kid’s lunches, let the kids brown bag it. There shouldn’t be any debate on that, but what the hell do I know?
(Image from Komonews.com)
If you’re fans of Arrested Development, this is probably old news to you. The show is coming back to television on May 26th.
Well, I guess Netflix is considered television. At least give me some credit that I know what Netflix is. I kind of know how it works, but then again I don’t. I don’t keep up on this new stuff, but please don’t feel bad for me or think I’m stupid. It’s my choice.
Arrested Development ran for three seasons on Fox from 2003 to 2006. The show developed a cult following which means it had a small audience which means that the network had to finally cancel it. I found out about the show through my son who put all three seasons on my computer.
I watched every show at least three or four times and laughed my ass off each time. Every time I watched an episode I had already seen, I found something I missed previously. The show is so quick and smart.
Keep in mind, I was laughing at Arrested Development two or three years after the comedy went off the air.That’s how I am when it comes to good teevee shows. I’m usually a day late and a dollar short. I didn’t find out about Mad Men until the fourth season. Again, enter my son who let me know how good that show is.
Netflix has produced 15 new episodes of Arrested Development. It may take me a while to get around to watching them (again, I’ve have to count on my son to help me), but I look forward to the return of the Bluth Family. From judging from the previews I’ve seen, the show is still funny and intelligent. You don’t find that very often on the tube these days.
I’ll be back on Thursday.
(Image from bite.com)
Part of my job, or so I tell myself, is to pay attention to the news and to the media. Paying attention to the media, as sad as it may be, means paying attention to Rush Limbaugh.
Not that I do all that much. Sound bites of his show have been forced on me from time to time, but that’s about it. I have never once listened to an entire radio show of his—and I don’t ever plan to.
But Rush is in the news again. The Cumulus Radio Network isn’t too happy with him and neither are advertisers and it’s possible they may not want Rush and his award winning show back when his contract is up.
Just in case you care about Rush Limbaugh, The Huffington Post can fill you in on what’s going on. I personally don’t give a rats ass.
(Image from gifsoup.com)
Wiedemann Beer is back in the news. Just consider it a slow news day.
Wiedemann Beer is all set to make a comeback in Cincinnati on May 17th at Arnold’s Bar and Grill. You can click here to read more about it.
And you can click here to read about the history of Wiedemann Beer and about the man who came up with the stuff.
I’ve probably said this here before. The last Wiedemann Beer I had was decades ago at my father-in-law’s house. I didn’t want to drink it, but he insisted. It gave me a headache.
He’s my ex father-in-law now, not because of the beer, but for other reasons.
Maybe this new Wiedemann will taste better than the old. It certainly couldn’t taste any worse. I’m not trying to be a beer snob but why bring this beer back to life? Is anybody really missing it? To me, it would be more interesting to bring back a truly, terrible beer — maybe Top Hat. Remember how bad it was? But it was cheap.
All right. I know. I’m being negative. It’s Monday. I’ll try to be better tomorrow.
(Image from Wikipedia)
I got some news yesterday afternoon, news that didn’t surprise me all that much.
20 West 10th Street in Covington, Kentucky, the apartment building where I lived for almost a year and a half, has been condemned by the City.
I found this out from Cat Lady who I ran into yesterday while, again, sitting on that bus bench at the side of Walgreens in Covington. Just wanting to confirm what she was telling me, after we parted ways, I walked over to West 10th Street. Sure enough, the building is condemned. So is 24 West 10th Street which is also an apartment building. Both buildings have signs posted to the front windows.
Tenants were be out of both buildings by the 13 of this month, but apparently that time has been extended to the 3rd of May.
The buildings have been declared not fit for habitation, something I always suspected when I lived in that area.
I do have some friends who still live in my old building (no many), and I feel bad that they’re going to have to find a new place to live in a hurry. I feel lucky that I’m long gone and out.
My experience at my old address needs to be told in it’s entirety. Beleive it or not, dear friends, you haven’t heard the whole story yet. That will be coming soon in a CityBeat article.
I find myself thinking about Cat Lady. What in the hell is she going to do with her six cats?
(Photo from Google)
Ann Curry hasn’t been on “The Today Show” since June 28th of last year. That’s when she said her emotional goodbye and was forced off the show. Being forced out was common knowledge then—still common knowledge now.
The fallout from this continues to make news. It’s being reported that Matt Lauer didn’t like Curry and wanted her off the show. That sort of makes Lauer a jerk. His bosses at NBC are also jerks. When Robin Roberts was going through her health problems over at ABC and “Good Morning America,” the executives at the peacock network didn’t want Curry to tweet her any well wishes. Pretty petty, don’t you think?
So, “The Today Show” is no longer #1 and viewers are hating Lauer. The noise continues. To be honest, I don’t care about any of this stuff. You know what’s really the bad news here?
When was the last time you saw Ann Curry do a report for NBC News? It’s been a long time since she’s done anything meaningful for the network and it’s all because of this “Today Show” mess.
Curry is a find journalist and the viewer is the one being punished because of the games being played at NBC. If that network can’t find anything for her to do, they should let her out of her contract, so she can go to another network and work. The news executives at NBC need to put on their big boy pants here. Come on. It’s beyond time.
(Image from mashable.com)
I hate it when any newspaper goes out of business, but when an alternative-newsweekly goes under, I feel especially bad. Hell, I write for one of these kinds of papers in Cincinnati—you know, CityBeat. We need different voices and different views and alternative papers provide that.
That’s not going to be the case in Boston. After 47 years, the Boston Phoenix is about to call it quits. In recent years, it’s been a bit of a sell-out alternative, but still it was alternative. That voice is going to be missed.
Camille Dodero has written an interesting piece about the Boston Phoenix and their excellent Senior Managing Editor until 2009, Clif Garbodex. You can find it at Gawker by clicking here.
Goodbye Boston Phoenix. 47 years is a good run I guess, but I wish it could have been longer.
(Photo from bostonherald.com)
I live in Downtown Covington, Kentucky and on most days, I go for a walk. On most of those days, I walk past the Madison Theater on Madison Avenue. Now I think this theater is vital to Downtown Covington—one of the biggest assets we have in the area. Having said that, it hasn’t been a pleasure walking by it lately.
To the right of the theater, there’s a big old pot where, in the spring and summer, there are usually flowers growing. That’s not the case in the fall and winter. During these months, patrons of the Madison Theater turn it into a big old ashtray.
When I walk by it, and I’m not the only one walking by it, it looks disgusting. At the beginning of last week, it was loaded with cigarette butts. At the end of last week, the pot was not only loaded with cigarette butts, but also empty cigarette packs and soda cans. In fact, all of the sidewalk in front of the Madison Theater is, in a word, disgusting.
This past Friday, I decided to call the Madison Theater and voice a complaint. Tom (he wouldn’t give me a last name) answered the phone and I told him what I thought.
“We clean it out (the pot) at the end of every week,” he said. I know that’s not true, but I kept my mouth shut.
“It’s an eyesore,” I replied.
“You want to talk to somebody about it?” He asked.
“Yes. That’s the reason for the call,” I replied.
“Hold on.”
A few seconds later, Esther Johnson, the owner of the Madison Theater, was on the phone with me. We’ve talked before—I am a writer after all—but this time I was calling as a resident of the area.
“We’ve had a lot of shows lately,” Johnson said. “You should have seen the cigarette butts there last week!”
“I try to put flowers in that pot every spring,” Johnson continued. “I try to keep it nice, but, you know, I’m dealing with the public here. It can be a struggle.”
We talked a little bit about the fact that those city workers who used to clean the city’s sidewalks are now gone and the city is paying the price for it, namely looking dirty. Johnson agrees, but. . .
“The City of Covington wanted to charge us $500,000 to keep the sidewalks clean,” Johnson says. “Businesses up and down Madison Avenue know it doesn’t cost half a million dollars a year to do that.”
Johnson promises cleaner days ahead. “It will look a whole lot better in another week,” she says.
I’m looking forward to the sidewalk cleanup and I will follow up to see if it happens—both as a writer and as a Downtown Covington resident.The Madison Theater needs to look like a theater and not a garbage dump.
(Photo of Madison Theater from flickriver.com. Photo of ugly cigarettes butts from WordPress)
This is interesting. Actress Ashley Judd plans on announcing her candidacy for U.S. Senate in May. Judd, a Democrat, will represent the Bluegrass State. Bluegrass means the State of Kentucky, but you probably already know that. You can click here to read more about it.
Can a Democrat win in conservative Kentucky? We’ll find out. No doubt when the campaign starts, the GOP will bring up the fact that she’s an actress and has appeared nude in some of her movies. Yeah, like that’s a bad thing. I think the left is less uptight about their bodies than the right, but what do I know?
Reports are stating that Judd, who currently lives in Nashville, will move to Lexington, Kentucky. I’m going to suggest to her that she should really move here to Covington. I’d love to run into her at the Anchor Grill sometime. Now that’s something that I do know.
(Photo found on Google)
larrygross@hotmail.com
|
