Saturday, February 23, 2008

Sausage Queen Pageant Semi-Final

Last night was the first competition for the crowning of this year's Sausage Queen who will preside over the Bockfest Parade on March 6th, Downtown Cincy.

The first competition was held at Shooter's and the contestants consisted of 3 very manly female impersonators.



After it was all said and done, Gypsy Russell (the drag queen pictured on the left) came out victorious,



Check out the Bock Fest website to find out the next two chances to become Sausage Queen.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Obama Is Coming To Town


According to Politics Extra Blog, the big "O" is making his way to the Queen City this coming Monday. I will keep you posted on the place and time.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Book Review: Raising the Bar: Integrity and Passion in Life and Business: The Story of Clif Bar & Co.

As a rule, I usually do not pick up self help books. i tend to think that they are filled with feel good attitudes that do exactly that, make you feel good, but giving little information which I could not figure out on my own.

I am still convinced that the secret of life will never be found located between bound leather, but after speaking with friends, I have come to realize that some insight to life issues can be found printed in Black and White.

Still sceptical, I set out to locate a published work that would live up to my friend's promises.

Raising the Bar by Greg Erickson was the first book that jumped out at me. Bar was writtten by the owner and creater of Clif Bar & Co., a line of fitness bars and energy drinks which came out of nowhere and took the industry by storm.

Bar caught my eye for two reasons:

1. This book documents the success story of a small business who's healthy and eco-friendly business practices is the main readon for its prosperity

2. It documents a product that I have grown to love over the years, The Clif Bar.

If you are interested in learning how grow your business WITHOUT worrying about the economic bottom line, I would definitly recommend this book. Though containing some business theory and accounting mumbo-jumbo, it is still light and jovial enough to take on vacation with you or being considered a "light read".

NAMjA's Rating=======3 points (Rating based on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the best)

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Quiet After The Storm

Earlier in the week, the area was hit with a winter storm.Believe me, I am not complaining, I was called off of work that day.Due to the unusually warm weather that Cincinnati experienced, I thought I would take may camera along with as I traveled to Clifton for some of the best Indian buffets in town.





Thursday, February 14, 2008

Save The Date: Bock Fest 2008 (Take 2)

As I mentioned last month, Bock Fest is fast approaching. Here are some additional dates you should keep in mind if you want to participate in the parade that will kick off the fest:

BOCKFEST PARADE 2008
Friday, March 7th at 6pm
Starting at Arnold's Bar & Grill
210 East 8th Street
Admission is Free

Some additional notes:
Best Parade entry wins a HUGE, one-of-a-kind beer stein handcrafted by the Art Academy
The Bockfest Parade is Cincinnati's most bohemian parade!
Best entries are determined by originality, Bockfest themes (Bock Beer, Goats, German Renaissance) , and general funkiness!
Visit www.bockfest. com for more details!

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The snow has shut me in today


From time to time, the weather forecaster get it right.

Yesterday, they called for a huge snow storm would hit the area and low and behold, I am sitting on my living room couch watching it role in when I would usually be at my desk at work.

I snapped this picture this morning of my neighbor's cat Ben who likes to sneak into my apartment from time to time and make himself at home.

I am guessing it is going to be a lazy cat/couch day for me as well.

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

NAMjA's Calendar

Here are some interesting events I am going to try and stick my head in on.

What's The Next Step For The Queen City's Development
When: February 8th, 10am
Where: Corner of 14th and Vine Streets
Why: Announces next steps to propel the momentum of The Gateway Quarter to the next level.


Voice Opposition of Building Demolition
When: February 11, 3pm
Where: 7th Floor, Two Centennial Plaza, just West of City HallWhy: Please come and voice your objection to the planned demolition of 4 buildings near Walnut and Liberty streets by the Freestore Foodbank.

A "Down South" Weekend

I have been out of town for the past weekend. I left town moments after I ended my work day last Friday and drove down to Gatlinburg, TN, meeting some friends from the Nati who had moved to Asheville, NC (G-Burg being a nice in-between town for us to meet up).

Nine of us shared a cabin just outside of G-Burg and it was great being in the midst of these friends again. Friday, since we did not get into town until 10pm or so, most of the night was spent catching up on old times.

It was not until Saturday that I got out into town to see what the town was all about. The mountains were spectacular! We even got to do a bit of hiking. Good thing I grabbed my camera on the way out the door that morning. After the brief hike, we ventured into town.

Due to the warm spell and the fact that it was Saturday afternoon, the city was packed! We did not stay in town too long, but did not pass up the chance to have a drink and wings at Corky's. All in all, it was a great weekend (though I lost $40 on the Pat's performance on Sunday night). Here are some pics from the weekend: