October 9, 2008
Oh! EH! It's the Italian Festival!
The smells of simmering sauce and hot pizza, the sounds of bocce balls thudding, the sight of thousands celebrating the Italian-American culture is just simply one of the city's best all 'round vibes. I'll tell you what - I'm getting hooked on this bocce game and I'm not ashamed to tell you I'm a natural. The object is to get your larger balls as close as possible to the small ball called the pallina. I outscored Festival Chair Joe Contino by a coupla points in an impromptu game live on air yesterday morning. But we were just playin' around -- these older guys take bocce seriously. They carry around string in case they need to settle a dispute.

October 7, 2008
Objects of Wonder
The Columbus Museum of Art has this exhibit right now called Objects of Wonder. They have some 600 different objects that they gleaned from OSU's various libraries, labs, attics, basements, museums. All kindsa weird stuff. It's a dizzyingly fascinating exhibit. Over there is a stuffed Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Right there is the lighter John Glenn used in Korea. Next to that is a piece of a goal post Buckeye fans tore down at the 1955 Rose Bowl. But wait, what's that -- oh it's a pair of Dean Martin's eyeglasses. Oh and this thing - this thing is a giant clam and this here, this is the fossilized skull of a prehistoric beast named Elvisaurus, because the crest on his head looks like Elvis' pompadour... I mean it's crazy -- but enlightening. Each object tells a story and you'll want to know all 600 of them... I personally love the fact that these things were culled from Ohio State -- these treasures really illuminate our state's larger relationship to the world and world history. Plus it's funny.

October 2, 2008
Leeds Farm
Pumpkins, gourds, and squashes don't exactly sound like a barrel of family fun? How about goats, pigs, and donkeys? No? What if I throw in slides, big tubes you roll around in, pedal carts you can race, a gigantic pumpkin trampoline and a trip down a 400-foot zip line? Yeah, that's what I thought. Leeds farm is only open to the public this one time of year and kids love it. I've brought my family there and I will again this year before it's gone.

October 1, 2008
Fountain Pens
Bexley Pens is the only company left in America making fountain pens. Extraordinary that Central Ohio is the last bastion of the inkwell in the U.S. I discovered that fountain pens aren't exactly a left-hander's friend though. First of all a lefty twists their wrist around in such a way that it's difficult for the ink to flow off the nib smoothly. Secondly a lefty is apt to push the pen forward thereby dragging their fist over the still wet ink and rendering their penmanship smudgily illegible. Practice though will pay off in a classy signature and a feeling of classic analog satisfaction! Of course if you're right handed you just get the satisfaction right off.

September 30, 2008
National Roller Skating Month
Yup, October. Not only is it National Popcorn Poppin' Month and National Chili Month and National Dental Hygiene Month it is also National Strap-on-your-skates-and-roller-boogie month. My visit to Skate Zone 71 brought some fond childhood memories back to me. I remember well all the skating birthday parties I spent clinging to the carpeted wall for dear life while my friends whipped by me to the strains of Cyndi Lauper and Journey.

September 24, 2008
BalletMet and Dracula
We got inside BalletMet today and boy are they ever busy. First, they've been invited to New York to perform at the Joyce Theatre (no small accomplishment mind you). Then, they come back to open one of their most popular shows -- "Dracula". After that, "Cool Nights, Hot Dance" in November and finally, "The Nutcracker" their annual holiday smash. They work like non-stop and by the looks of their musculature they can eat 10,000 calories a day and still be ripped. Amazing and amazingly talented. I know, you're thinking "ballet... YAWN." But it's one of those things that if you actually saw a live performance, I bet you'd run out, buy a tutu, and start practicing your arabesques on the front lawn.

September 23, 2008
Architecture Columbus!
I guess Columbus architecture is not so bad after all. Personally, I never knew that the limestone columns at the State House were riddled with prehistoric fossils of tiny sea creatures; I didn't know that the Wyandotte building on Broad is our only example of Chicago-style architecture; nor was I aware that every stone flower and curvy flourish of the Bricker and Eckler building on 3rd were carved out of sandstone by hand! I also now know the difference between sandstone, limestone, and terra cotta, the last of which means "cooked earth." And I owe my newfound enthusiasm for our architectural heritage to Jeff Darbee, co-author of The AIA Guide to Columbus, who was kind enough (and patient) enough to walk me through and point out the city's finest achievements. I still disagree with him about the 670 Cap. That thing looks like you could kick a hole in it.

September 15-19, 2008
Gone with the Wind Storm of 2008!
Wow. Was that crazy or what? Like most everyone else in Central Ohio I watched in awe as hurricane-like winds blew down trees and blew away most everything else. My kid's little swimming pool was tossed up and hurtled away like a flying saucer. If you see a blue, circular object with dinosaurs on it hovering over your house, it is not a UFO. It's just a cheap pool.
On morning #1 my only light source was the screen on my cell phone. I actually put the wrong color shoes on before I left for work. By Thursday, I was actually beginning to enjoy my candle-lit showers.
My family and I got off easy though. My sympathies to those of you who may have been hurt or whose property was damaged.

September 12, 2008
Newark High
Another Cool School -- this one laid out campus style and swarming with nearly 1900 students. This school is so cool it's been the setting for MTV's Made twice now. They're currently following around a student who dreams of being a hip hop dancer. You'd think what with the MTV glitz, these kids would be aloof. Nope - the students were amazingly polite. I think teens are nicer than they were when I was a kid. If a TV guy showed up at my school one morning, he ran the risk of being rolled in the parking lot.
Newark High has a great vibe. The students' love of their school isn't just shown in Wildcat Pride but in the respect they show to each other -- and to the strange TV guy disrupting their schedule.