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9.30.2009
Ohio Is a Piano

THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME OF ALL AWESOME THINGS.  Sent to me by my cousins in Portland (who are partially responsible for this): Ohio is a Piano.  Here's the backend and explanation. 

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posted by Gus at 8:56 AM | |


4.14.2009
A Smile for a Rainy Day

It is pouring in Columbus and I am worried about my grandmother. This made me smile in spite of that:



Obviously from the giant Cornhole All-Stars graphic, we’re bringing the game of Cornhole to the iPhone. I’ll quickly throw in that this is anything but an ordinary game of Cornhole....

...We are based in the great city of Columbus, Ohio. That’s right I said it: Columbus, Ohio. Our fine state lays claim to the origins of Cornhole. Don’t even give an ear to Kentucky who thinks they invented the game. It all started here. One only has to drive through the OSU campus to see lawn after lawn filled with Cornhole players. You get a feel for its popularity and tend to wax reminiscently on the game’s origins. The religious experience of Cornhole is spreading like wildfire. It seems to have found its way to the suits of downtown Brooklyn, who are rumored to participate in “Corporate Cornholing” and to Scottsdale, AZ, where they host the Worldfest of Cornhole.


That said, we did not set out to recreate a game for the iPhone because of popularity, rather, Chuck and I just wanted to create a fun, social game that showed some Ohio pride with a twist. So, we put our heads down and teamed up with expert designers and developers (Corn fed- Columbus grown I will add). And with local pride blowin’ under our wings (don’t forget Ohio gave birth to flight), we began to conjure up visions of corrupt sheriffs, scurvy-infested pirates and rickety crypt keepers who would dominate western towns, pirate ships and graveyards...

Much more, including development notes and concept art, at Graphic Conversation.

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posted by Gus at 8:58 AM | |


5.30.2008
Cornhole!


Okay, this one's pretty funny. I imagine it's pretty safe to reprint the entire press release:

Strickland announces 2008 Cornhole Tournament Tour

Governor Strickland announced that he will hold a statewide cornhole tournament, officially dubbed the Ted Strickland for Governor 2008 Cornhole Tournament Tour.

Cornhole enthusiasts can sign up to play in the singles bracket or team up in the doubles bracket. Governor Strickland will kick off every tournament – to be held throughout the summer in eight locations around Ohio. And the State Championship will be played at Ted’s annual birthday party in Lucasville on September 20th.

The Ohio Corn Growers Association is the official tour sponsor and many other organizations are participating. The Carpenters union is constructing 20 official Cornhole sets for the tour which will be painted bright yellow with the tour’s official logo. The Wholesale Beer and Wine Association will be on site providing beverages.

If you want to join in on the summer fun call (614) 221-3287 or email rsvp@tedstrickland.com. Space is limited - so reserve your spot today!

The tournament locations are:

Columbus - July 12th
11:00 a.m. Registration
Smith Farms
3285 Watkins Road, Columbus

Zanesville - July 19th
1:00 p.m. Registration
I.B.E.W. Local #1105
5805 Frazeysburg Rd., Nashport

Portsmouth - July 26th
12:00 p.m. Registration
Portsmouth Shriner’s Club
U.S. Rte. 52, W. Portsmouth

Athens – July 27th
12:00 p.m. Registration
Dairy Barn Cultural Arts Center
8000 Dairy Lane, Athens (the Ridges)

Dayton – August 3rd
12:00 p.m. Registration
Thomas Cloud Park
4707 Brandt Pike, Huber Heights

Toledo – August 9th
10:00 a.m. Registration
I.B.E.W. Local #8
727 Lime City Rd., Rossford

Canton - August 16th
11:00 a.m. Registration
St. George’s Center
4667 Apple Grove St NW, N. Canton

Youngstown - August 16th
2:00 p.m. Registration
U.A.W. Local #1714
2121 Salt Springs Rd., Lordstown


###

Note that it's the campaign, not the actual governor's office, if that kind of thing bothers you. But still, that's kind of awesome.

(h/t BSB)

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posted by Gus at 12:00 PM | |


5.23.2008
Your Legislature at Work

From yesterday's Dispatch:
Back in the days when Under the Boardwalk, Back Stabbers and Yakety Yak hit the airwaves, the groups who sang them -- the Drifters, the O'Jays and the Coasters -- were faceless voices spilling out of the radio.

But when the nostalgia craze for '50s, '60s and '70s music developed in recent years, hundreds of musical groups hit the concert, festival and fair circuit. Some of today's touring groups contain original band members, but many don't.

Most concertgoers don't know the difference. But many of the original artists sit idle at home, or have gone broke pursuing lawsuits against knock-off bands that profit from their hard-earned musical reputations.

...The Ohio General Assembly stepped into the spotlight yesterday, as the Senate unanimously passed the "Truth in Music Act." The legislation, which has been approved in two dozen other states, would require performing musical acts to have at least one original band member in order to use the original band's name.

In other words, there must be at least one original Drifter on stage, or the group can't be called the Drifters.

"False, deceptive or misleading" advertising and performances could constitute separate violations, each punishable by a civil penalty of $5,000 up to $15,000.

Seriously? This is going to be a law?

Note that the Dispatch article goes on to quote one of the founding members of the Coasters and Bowzer from Sha Na Na, itself a revival/cover group, both in support of the measure. The article doesn't, however, mention any actual examples, local or otherwise, of this problem.

I suppose that I'm greeting this thing with more bemusement than anything, since I would tend to agree that seeing a "fake" group is something of a ripoff -- but, y'know, that's what federal trademark law is already there for, isn't it? It doesn't really address who "owns" the name -- the fact that someone has adopted the name of a band decades after the original went defunct and performs the same music would seem to support the idea that there's a "brand", but there wouldn't be any market confusion, only that the participating parties had changed, right?

Thanks to the internets, here's a portion of what Wikipedia has to say about the Coasters:

Several groups used the name in the 1970s, touring throughout the country, though Carl Gardner, one of the original Coasters, held the legal rights to it. Gardner continued to tour with the Coasters and has made many attempts to stop bogus groups with no connection to the original group from using the name. In late 2005 Carl's son Carl Gardner, Jr. took over as lead with the group, when his father retired. The Coasters of 2008: Carl Gardner Jr, Ronnie Bright, Alvin Morse, J.W. Lance, and Thomas Palmer (gtr), with Gardner Sr as coach. [[1]]

As of 2007, all of the other original group members, except Leon Hughes, have either died or retired. Some of the former members suffered tragic ends. Saxophonist and "fifth Coaster" King Curtis was stabbed to death by two junkies outside his apartment building in 1971. Cornelius Gunter was shot to death while sitting in a Las Vegas parking garage in 1990. Nate Wilson, a member of one of Gunter's offshoot Coasters groups, was shot and his body dismembered in 1980. [2]

Don't get me wrong. The Coasters were a tremendously important part of rock 'n roll history and I frankly think the original members should be treated like royalty. But:

1) The Coasters, like many of the "classic" groups I suspect this law is aimed at protecting, were only performing someone else's material. They didn't write their own songs -- Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller did. At best, the Coasters can lay claim only to their own interpretations of the music itself.

2) If I read this right, Gardner is the only original member of the Coasters left who's trying to actively make money from the Coasters , only he's not even in the group, he's the "coach" -- meaning that there are no original members of the group performing. Wouldn't that be just as problematic under the new law as an "impostor" group? Where's the line between "these guys were never in the group originally but have the blessing of someone who was " and "these guys were never in the group originally"? The whims of an aging musician determine whether the state gets to fine someone up to $15,000? I call shenanigans.

3) Take this a step further. The Coasters, like many other musical groups over the last fifty years, have had a constantly rotating membership. Who's "original" in that scenario? Do they have to appear on the record in order to sing the song? What if they didn't record it but toured with the group in the 50s, or 60s, or 70s?

I have thought about this way too much, now, but I'm gonna wager I've spent more time on it here than anyone in the Ohio Senate, and this only took about twenty minutes. This is really one of the worst cases of "shouldn't there be a law...?" that I've ever seen. The answer is that there probably shouldn't.

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posted by Gus at 8:21 AM | |


1.28.2008
The Invisible Primary

I've cracked on Buckeye State Blog in the past, but they seem like they've stepped up their game in the last few months -- definitely leaning, but at least informatively leaning. And this roundup of Ohio Democratic "superdelegates" and their anticipated votes is some crackerjack work, frankly. Kudos.

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posted by Gus at 1:07 PM | |


4.13.2007
Things That Do Not Help Anyone, Part 2074

Buckeye State Blog.

Which I was reading there for a while via RSS, but after crap like this? Uh, no thanks. While we may see eye to eye on some fundamental issues, BSB, and you may genuinely dislike the guy on the other side of the fence, your continued and pathetic use of juvenile, personal insults is my whole problem with the state of political discourse in this country (see, e.g., my problem with MoveOn.org, which never properly learned this lesson, either.)

You are embarrassing. On behalf of the citizens of Ohio: please stop.

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posted by Gus at 8:54 AM | |


3.29.2007
No Child Left Somewhere

Buckeye State Blog uncovers an interesting bit of legislation in the Ohio Revised Code regarding required standardized testing for community schools and suggests that it's actually intended to reduce competition among charter schools, rather than encourage it.

The leap of faith you have to make in buying the argument is, of course, the cost of standardized testing; assuming that it truly is staggeringly expensive, as BSB suggests, then I can see how this would reduce the number of new charter schools by increasing their fixed costs. Anyone have any actual data or info regarding the costs of administering standardized testing? While I'm sure it does cost the State "millions of dollars" to pay for tests for public schools, how much would it cost one private school?

Aside from some amusing anecdotes I've read lately, I haven't been following the charter school kerfluffle in Ohio very well. Guess it's time to start.

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posted by Gus at 12:41 PM | |


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