The Journey is the Reward

From Soapbox Media: Ride the Ducks, Cincinnati 'a perfect fit'

I've seen "Duck" tours in other cities, and I think it's a fun little tour for those visiting Cincinnati/Newport.  However, any tour that lists the "World Peace Bell" as a "hot spot" on their tour seriously needs to reconsider the path of their tour. 

The "World Peace Bell" is good for a WTF reaction, that's about it.

From NewportDucks.com:

Experience sightseeing fun from a duck's eye view on Greater Cincinnati's only duck tour. Travel on land and water in one amazing vehicle. Tour the streets and SPLASH into the Ohio River. Ride The Ducks is the fun thing to do in Newport.

Ride The Ducks hits all the hot spots within the historic district, such as...

World Peace Bell
Roebling Suspension Bridge
Newport Aquarium
Serpentine Wall
Historic Riverside Drive
Paul Brown Stadium
Great American Ballpark
And much more!

On July 26, 2008, the Cincinnati Reds are offering a 1980's themed Adam Dunn Bobblehead to the first 30,000 fans.

Here's an interview with Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber right after they wrapped the series finale.  No secrets, but he does go a little into the emotions of finishing up filming Battlestar Galactica.  Jamie's next project is Law and Order: London.  I'm so used to hearing Jamie speak as Lee Adama, that every time I hear his native British accent, it surprises me.

From GALACTICA SITREP

From Cincinnati.com: Bootsy's fire was arson

Lighter fluid had been used to set fire to blueprints, along with the corporate chef's pile of work, which included about 10 months worth of recipes and research.

I saw this interview of Jeff Ruby on Channel 5 WLWT and one, I can't believe that it lead off the news and two, that it's the weirder arson story I've heard in a while.  It was a strange interview with Jeff Ruby kind of rambling on about the fire and recipes.

So, someone entered the place through an unlocked door, set a small fire on the first floor and then went upstairs to set some blueprints and recipes and research on fire.  If it's arson, what's the motivation?  It doesn't seem like a random act of vandals or criminals.  Sounds more like a disgruntled employee or associate.

Is their really 10 months worth of recipe work for a Jeff Ruby restaurant?

From NYTimes.com: Lost in the New Beijing: The Old Neighborhood

The flip side to the amazing architecture that is being built is the loss of historical neighborhoods, from ancient courtyard houses to Communist era big block housing.

From Boston.com: Beijing 2008 Preparations - Three Weeks to Go
Amazing photographs.  Definitely worth a look.  The architecture is stunning, but besides the government clearing the air for the Olympics, will there be another time where you can see these buildings without the smog?

From NYTimes.com: Clinton Lends Her Campaign More Money as Its Debt Proves Stubborn

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton lent her campaign an additional $1 million at the end of June, underscoring the difficulty she is having staying ahead of creditors and retiring a mountain of campaign debt, filings with the Federal Election Commission show.

If all of Hillary Clinton's 20 million supporters kicked in a dollar, her debt would be gone tomorrow.

From Indianapolis Business Journal: BREAKING: Controversial cadaver exhibit coming

Atlanta-based Premier Exhibitions Inc. is looking to bring its controversial "Bodies ... the Exhibition" show to Indianapolis. The exhibit, which features cadavers that have been plasticized, dissected and posed, has been dogged by reports that the specimens used in the presentation may be the remains of tortured Chinese prisoners.

If the show opens here, it would debut mere months before the Indiana State Museum is slated to bring the more reputable "Body Worlds III" exhibit to Indianapolis. The founder of that show's company, Dr. Gunther von Hagens, has spoken out against using bodies from China, which doesn't closely regulate its specimens.

Premier is looking at putting the exhibit at the Circle Centre Mall.  Cincinnati is one of the few places where this exhibit has been shown in a museum.  More often the exhibit has been shown at shopping malls or casinos. 

It's clear that Premier is all about making profit, trying to slide the show into Indianapolis to steal the crowd before Body World III shows up.

Premier is about to open Bodies the Exhibition at the Luxor in Las Vegas on August 2, 2008.

If you're new to controversy about Bodies the Exhibition, here are some links to what I've written previously about this exhibit.

Bodies: the Exhibition in Cincinnati. Unethical. Bodies shown without consent of the dead
Exhibitor of Cincinnati's Bodies the Exhibition settles with NY Attorney General

Boycott Bodies the Exhibition Cincinnati

From CNN.com: Zimbabwe introduces $100 billion banknotes

Zimbabwe's troubled central bank introduced $100 billion banknotes Saturday in a desperate bid to ease the recurrent cash shortages plaguing the inflation-ravaged economy.
...
As high as they are, though, the bills still aren't enough to buy a loaf of bread. They can buy only four oranges.

The new note is equal to just one U.S. dollar.

That's some messed up currency.

From NYTimes.com: Yes We Can

Mr. Gore's focus is primarily on solar, wind and geothermal energy. His belief is that a dramatic, wholesale transition to these abundant and renewable sources of energy is not just doable, but essential.

My view of Mr. Gore's passionate engagement with some of the biggest issues of our time is that he is offering us the kind of vision and sense of urgency that has been so lacking in the presidential campaigns. But the tendency in a society that is skeptical, if not phobic, about anything progressive has been to dismiss his large ideas and wise counsel, as George H. W. Bush once did by deriding him as "ozone man."

The naysayers will tell you that once again Al Gore is dreaming, that the costs of his visionary energy challenge are too high, the technological obstacles too tough, the timeline too short and the political lift much too heavy.
...

When exactly was it that the U.S. became a can't-do society? It wasn't at the very beginning when 13 ragamuffin colonies went to war against the world's mightiest empire. It wasn't during World War II when Japan and Nazi Germany had to be fought simultaneously. It wasn't in the postwar period that gave us the Marshall Plan and a robust G.I. Bill and the interstate highway system and the space program and the civil rights movement and the women's movement and the greatest society the world had ever known.

Bob Herbert has hit the nail on the head with this insightful op-ed piece.  What happened to having goals and striving to accomplish them?  I feel like we've adopted a siege mentality to all things.  This has to change.