It seems I have been remiss in updating my blog lately. It seems like there's just been so much going on. However, I doubt that my lack of posts has left a hole in anyone's daily life. But just in case, here is something interesting to peruse.
The plans for updates to Cincinnati's Riverfront Park are here: http://www.crpark.org/

Fun stuff!

Old Times

In anticipation of the upcoming 4th movie, I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark tonight. On a VHS tape. I had to rewind it when it was over! How very retro.

Afternoon At The Zoo.

On Wednesday, Sarah and I had a lunch meet with the Zoo's Director of Development to talk about partnerships with CincyUpdate. It was a good meeting, but I thought, as long as I'm at the zoo, I'm going to stay awhile, so I took the afternoon off from work. I'm so glad I did! The weather was beautiful and the zoo was freakishly uncrowded. That is the way to do the Zoo. The polar bears were my favorites on Wednesday. But only for Wednesday! Nothing beats my cheetahs!
I capture the gazelles fighting on film. It's my first video on my PowerShot digital camera!
For the rest of the photos, go to my Flickr page.

This is a cool thing.  The TAP Project is a UNICEF
initiative to provide clean drinking water to kids around the world.
 It started last year with restaurants in New York City and has expanded
this year to 16 cities including Cincinnati.  When you dine at
participating restaurants next week, you can "pay" for your water with
a $1 donation to TAP.  There are too many participating restaurants to
list here.  The kickoff party is Friday night at Bang nightclub.

www.tapproject.org

Dating Advice

What? Me giving dating advice? Yes. Just a few little tips for the men in the Cincinnati area. And I do know I am not the easiest person to date. I'm not naturally outgoing and bubbly and exciting. I need time to get to know people and warm up to them. But I can still give advice.

When you ask a girl out on a date, make an effort to plan something. Maybe you think you're being really thoughtful to agree to do whatever she wants, but really, put some effort into it. I'm not saying you should dictate the evening, but at least make some suggestions. "Would you like to go ___?" "Do you like___?" Don't show up at her door and then throw the whole evening into her lap to decide everything. And "I'm not familiar with this area of town" is not an excuse. Read the newspapers, get on the internet. Ask her, before hand, to suggest a restaurant. After dinner, again, its no excuse that you don't know what is in the neighborhood. You can at least suggest activities. Do you want to go for a drink or for coffee? See a movie or a show? Listen to music or go dancing? Have ideas! Make suggestions! We don't think the best answer is, "I don't know," or "It's up to you. Whatever you want." If she asks for your input, have some input to give! Otherwise, she may be forced to find out where her friends are that night, and then "bump into" them.

However, your plan, your ideas or suggestions should not include going back to her place with a bottle of wine. Especially on the first date!!!! If she wants you there, she will suggest it. Unless you are Andrew Dan Jumbo (TLC's Take Home Handyman) or Brad Pitt, don't invite yourself back to her place! On the first date! (Of course, if you are Andrew or Brad, you probably won't even leave her place.)

Now I'm trying to think of somewhere to take the next clueless date I find myself with. Somewhere very offbeat and strange. If he can't even give me a clue as to where we should go next, I want to take him somewhere where he'll be uncomfortable. That's what he gets for not having any thoughts about how to have an entertaining evening, besides hanging out at my place.

Last weekend there was a Doggy Fashion Show at Bang to benefit the SPCA!! It was great! I think nightclubs should have "Bring your dog" nights more often. Everyone had such a good time, but its too bad there weren't more people there. I do hope they do it again. My favorite was this little 8-week-old pug! So cute!
There are good photos of the fashion show on CinWeekly. I haven't seen the other photo galleries although there was a group of professional photographers at the end of the runway snapping pictures as each dog strutted down. Just like New York Fashion Week. But with four-legged models.

I like to look at the Freakonomics blog from time to time.  Recently they ran a contest to
come up with the best 6-word motto for the United States.  The top five
mottos, and the number of votes for each, are as follows:

Our Worst Critics Prefer to Stay (194 votes)
Caution! Experiment in Progress Since 1776 (134)
The Most Gentle Empire So Far (64) votes
You Should See the Other Guy (38)
Just Like Canada, With Better Bacon (18)

I like 1, 2, and 5.  I wonder if bumper stickers are already available.

The first Wild About Wine of 2008 was rescheduled to Monday night. The weather was much more cooperative despite some periods of light rain. Eight Australian wines were open for tasting. Not a lot of animals attended. A few birds, a snake, and a bearded dragon were all I saw. I was hoping for a koala to go with the Australian theme. The manatees were a big hit with the crowd, especially when the staff gave them a watermelon to play "football" with. Later they were munching on a big bunch of lettuce.

A lot of the zoo staff attended, including celebrities like Thane Maynard and Terri Roth (she's the one who helps make Sumatran rhino babies).

The 4-D Theater was open for free screenings of Planet Earth. I liked the Planet Earth film. I generally like Discovery Channel-type films with great wildlife photography. The 3-D aspect of Planet Earth was not really what I had expected. We had to wear ill-fitting glasses and, while the film had a little more depth, it wasn't 3-D in the sense that you felt you could reach out and touch any of the creatures on the screen. The "4" of the 4-D experience is accompanying physical sensations. Naturally Planet Earth focused on the ocean so the audience was subjected to light sprays of water, rumbling seats, a water snake attack (not as bad as it sounds) and bubbles. Overall, I was underwhelmed. But, as the film is only 15 or 20 minutes, I would still recommend going to the 4-D theater, at least once. And, with all the extras, kids will love it.

Why does the zoo have this series of wine and beer tastings? Obviously the zoo is very popular with families with young children. But you generally don't see a lot of 20 and 30 somethings there without kids. Maybe I am just a big kid but I get so excited about going to the zoo for one of these special events. I love the animal interaction and the social atmosphere. The crowd Monday night was rather diverse in age. It did seem like most people were upwards of 30. Of course, I'm just guessing based on what I saw. There were people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s there.

The August wine tasting will be held at the brand new Giraffe Ridge exhibit. It's the most popular one so far. I found out last night that over 200 tickets have been sold and the zoo staff is concerned about hitting capacity. So if you are interested, you'd better get your tickets soon.

GOOD TO KNOW

Midpoint Music Festival will be back again this year!  There were
rumors, after last year's festival, that 2007 was the last year of
MidPoint.  We were sad.  But CityBeat has acquired the popular music
festival and will keep it running.
www.mpmf.com
September 25-27, 2008.

Dancing, Yeah!

Thursday was the first of our 6 Salsa dancing sessions at ballet tech Cincinnati. Besides Robb and I, there was only 1 other student. That's kind of good for us, the students, but not so much for ballet tech. I'm not sure how long the organization has been around, but I have seen the name in connection with performances at the Aronoff and at other venues. Now they have a practice space on Montgomery Road in Kennedy Heights. It's not a pretty space, but it works just fine as a dance studio.

I think the classes for the public might be a new thing for them. I can't even remember how I found out about it. But it is a great deal: $90/couple for 6 classes! (I think it's $60 for singles which is discrimination.) That is awesome. And for once, I have a dance partner. Poor Robb. He has never taken any dance classes before and was so self-conscious about his slow process. Patience! Everything like this is hard at first, but then, somewhere along the line, it just clicks. I'm so glad to be taking classes again.

Classes just started last week, so I'm sure if anyone is interested, you could still get in.