I went with a friend to the Midpoint Music Festival on Thursday, buying a three day pass for $49. You can buy a ticket to any stage, but the three day pass is by far the most convenient and economical way to listen to a lot of music. My friend had heard of a guitarist Kaki King, so we headed over to SCPA to check her out. Kaki King played instrumental guitar, but it was not like any guitar I’ve ever heard or seen. She was absolutely amazing. You can see her technique in this YouTube video of one of the songs she played last night.
Due to population decreases, Ohio has lost two seats in the House of Representatives forcing changes in Ohio’s districts. Ohio’s state government, dominated by the Republicans have gerrymandered the districts to strongly favor Republicans.
Here’s the old District 1, Steve Chabot’s district. It seems reasonable geographically, covering Southwestern Ohio.
Here’s the new District 1 that was passed by Ohio’s congress yesterday.
The new district is a convoluted mess which makes no sense geographically. But politically, by adding suburban areas of largely white voters and subtracting predominantly black neighborhoods by pushing them into District 2, the Republicans have neutralized the urban and black vote that leans more Democrat in District 1.
Just looking at race, on this mashup map that I created of a population map by race of Cincinnati from 2010 census data and the new district, you can see that the Republicans have divided the black population into District 1 and District 2. 
By doing this, the Republicans have created a mishmash district with mismatched groups of urban and suburban voters. How is a representative to effectively serve this disparate group? Effective governing doesn’t seem to matter to Republicans, just keeping the power of the Congressional seats. Cincinnati as the largest population center in the region should have a representative advocating the needs of the urban core and inner ring suburbs.
Fast Company: “Every day, iPhone users spend at least 1 million hours playing Angry Birds, making it the platform’s most popular app.”
I tend to get bored with games pretty easily so I haven’t played Angry Birds in about a year, but I noticed that Angry Birds Seasons now has a Moon Festival level. Yes, you now get to kill pigs wearing rice paddy hats.
NYTimes.com: Bloggers Don’t Follow the Script, to ConAgra’s Chagrin
IN August, food bloggers and mom bloggers in New York were invited to dine at an underground restaurant in a West Village brownstone run, apparently, by George Duran, the chef who hosts the “Ultimate Cake Off” on TLC.
…
The surprise: rather than being prepared by the chef, the lasagna they were served was Three Meat and Four Cheese Lasagna by Marie Callender’s, a frozen line from ConAgra Foods. Hidden cameras at the dinners, which were orchestrated by the Ketchum public relations unit of the Omnicom Group, captured reactions to the lasagna and to the dessert, Razzleberry Pie, also from Marie Callender’s.
Bloggers do not take kindly to deception.
I love this Chipotle video.
NYTimes.com: Family of Dr. King Charged Group Building His Monument
The family of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has charged the foundation building a monument to him on the Mall about $800,000 for the use of his words and image, an arrangement one leading scholar said Dr. King would have found offensive.
This article is from 2009, but I came across it while reading about the MLK Jr. memorial. Pretty shocking that you’d need to license the image of MLK Jr. and his words to honor him with a memorial.
Fortune.com: How Apple became the best retailer in America
Apple, meanwhile, has not returned the compliment by taking cues from others. “Why copy when you can create?” asks Johnson.
A reprint of an article from 2007, but still an interesting look at how the Apple stores were created.
Gigaom.com: Gallery: Steve Jobs throughout the years
Steve Jobs on magazine covers through the years. The Fortune cover with Bill Gates is priceless.
Grantland.com: The Fall of Austin Kearns and Adam Dunn
Dunn and Kearns will always be linked in the minds of those of us from Cincinnati who, nearly a decade ago, saw them as bookends for what was supposed to be the best outfield in baseball. Before Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, it was Kearns and Dunn — the duo that was supposed to help restore the Reds to championship form.
I really thought that these two would be great players for the Reds and the building blocks for the future.
CNN.com: Bachmann: I’ll bring back $2 gas
President Michele Bachmann has a promise: $2 gas.
“Under President Bachmann you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again,” Bachmann told a crowd Tuesday in South Carolina. “That will happen.”
Not content to just bring the crazy, Bachmann is now promising to bring us $2 gas. Lots of promises, but no details.