Ko-sho Japanese in Northside
Originally uploaded by ekalb.
The box dinner for two. Enjoyed the variety of items. I do find Japanese food a bit bland after eating spicy Thai. But the selection here offered plenty variety for my tastebuds satisfaction.
Obey Propaganda
Originally uploaded by ekalb.
I have been using a sliding metal mint case for my credit cards for years. Today at the Cincinnati Contmporary Arts Center I found this business card holder fits the bill much better. Plus it has a matching fancy fountain pen so I look pimp when signing receipts.
Well, this will be my last full weekend free. I may be working overtime until mid-February due to an important software rollout at work. I am really excited to be part of it. I already found a couple of items missing from their instructions forms and informed the appropriate people. It feels great to contribute and help things run smoothly.
But it also means I may not have as much time to post here. I have already missed several days of food updates as well as not posting my workout progress. Which has been hit or miss a bit. I did actually finish a whole Yoga session on Wii Fit Plus. I am tired of the instructor saying I am a bit off balance. It is far tougher than I ever imagined. Now to keep my cardio promise. Anyone that works out knows it is important to not stop because of a missed a session. Get back on the horse. Otherwise you go nowhere!
Now for a positive view of shootings in Cincinnati. I remember the 1990 A Rage In Harlem transformed Main Street that summer. Production companies made over building facades and restored grocery store fronts. But Eight Men Out really started it all, getting developers to recognize Cincinnati's OTR historic district that resembles cities of the east coast in mid 1800s. Four minutes into this Sufjan Stevens video gives a proper glimpse into what the neighborhood may have looked. Showing the beauty of Washington Park atop Memorial Hall even in the stark winter. Many people involved early in the Cincinnati Film Commission have moved on to Hollywood. A college friend that worked for them. Was responsible for choosing locations here moved on to do location scouting for 90210, The X-Files and various films over the years.
Now a whole new set of performers are shooting for stardom from Cincinnati with MTV's "Taking The Stage" created by Cincinnati local Nick Lachey. It will be exciting to see the transformation that will now occur on the other side of OTR once the school moves into the new location next to Washington Park near Music Hall.
I will be riding the Metro Thursday to work since my convertible Miata has serious issues driving in the snow. I really need to start riding the bus daily. It is nice to be able to relax, listen to music or surf the web on my phone without having to deal with stop lights, bad weather and other drivers.
The city of Cincinnati's Economic Development department has created a website giving business and individuals reasons to choose the city. Scroll to the bottom for the directory.
I love blog posts that get to the point. The Social Organization has a point list for Social Media Metrics.
* Activity Metrics
* Survey Metrics
* ROI
* Individual Metrics
* General Tracking
Now this is a fresh view on bathroom fixtures. The One Bathroom System by Rapsel brings simplicity and warmth to the bath in this three tier setup. Sleek. I really like how the toilet lid is part of the system so the bathroom becomes like a spa.
The 2010 International CES, January 7-10 begins and already companies are releasing their press releases to get ahead of the flood of new products that will be presented this week. The gadget freak in me is all tingly.
Jerry Seinfeld's Productivity Secret - Goals - Lifehacker: "get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page". "He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day. 'After a few days you'll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You'll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain.'"
What’s Working?:
"Unsurprisingly, buying ads—even targeted ones—was the least effective type of social media marketing overall."
"most success with monitoring Twitter for PR problems and contacting users who posted negative comments about their brand".
"But the most effective tactic for consumer-oriented companies was creating a Facebook application"
Check out the post at Design Cincinnati about the brush factory. A new store opened up this month by a fashion design graduate of DAAP. Setup to enable designers to create their own store and sell their collections in meat space as well as in the cloud. I cannot wait to check this out!
Trendistic is a insightful way to see what topics are hot on Twitter. How they play out over time. And who are the people behind it.
The the Tech-Ease site seems to have been created for educators. It is a perfect resource when you need answers to basic technical questions. This link is to their Mac site, but there is a Windows resource as well.
Third year of Broomball on Fountain Square ice rink begins tonight at 6:00 pm. If your free, stop down and cheer on the teams. A great time to bring the kids will be for the Cincinnati Mascots game. This Saturday, January 9th.
I am interested in checking out the Cafe de Wheels sometime. I have read online about the illegal taco trucks in Los Angeles as well as the sponsored ones that twitter their location. For many the trucks represented a change of menus for those stuck within a lunch time radius. I recently tracked down the new Habanero truck during a concert downtown via twitter. Check out the article about Cafe de Wheels revs up gourmet food truck operation from Soapbox. As well as the Cafe de Wheels on twitter. Seems like a good trend for foodies in the city.
Had a Healthy choice meal of pasta and chicken at work. Snacked on roasted almonds. Banana. Plenty of filter water. Made an onion, green pepper omelet. Orange Juice. Ate last of the left over corn chips and salsa.
Six Kitchen Skills You Can Pick Up This Weekend Lifehacker
From properly seasoning a skillet, sharpening knives, to proper recipe ratios and cooking eggs properly. There are some good tidbits. As well as plenty of links to other sites.
"Apple iSlate should be this simple. With an aluminum or white polycarbonate body, perhaps even rubberized, and no bezel whatsoever, with a very thin black frame. It really doesn't need anything else. Ogle its simple beauty in the gallery".
Apple iSlate Concept Is Exactly How This Thing Should Be - iSlate - Gizmodo
The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs
Act 1: Create the Story
Act 2: Deliver the Experience
Act 3: Refine and Rehearse
How to Run a Meeting Like Google
1. Set a firm agenda.
2. Assign a note-taker.
3. Carve out micro-meetings.
4. Hold office hours.
5. Discourage politics, use data.
6. Stick to the clock.
Somehow I missed this article from Outside Magazine that lists Cincinnati as one of America's top 10 cities.
"Cincinnati topped our charts for best economy."
"The downtown is "very urban and completely walkable," and the city is ringed with green spaces, parks, and lush hillsides."
"Cincinnati boasts "cool architecture, genuinely awesome independent restaurants, and neighborhoods full of affordable, eclectic houses"
"The city is just two hours from Kentucky's Red River Gorge, a world-class climbing area (and a great place to hike and camp), and four hours from Fayetteville, West Virginia, the whitewater hub of the East Coast."
Another new year interesting list article:
10. Surfing the Internet may help delay dementia because it creates stimulation that exercises portions of the brain.
12. Scientists have discovered how to scan brain activity and convert what people are seeing or remembering into crude video images.
29. The human body emits a glow that is 1,000 times less than what our eyes can detect.
38. A chemical component in broccoli can protect the lining of arteries from blockage that leads to angina, heart attack and stroke.
50. Watermelon is more efficient at rehydrating our bodies than drinking water. It contains 92 percent water and essential rehydration salts.
Branding Strategy Insider "Twitter users will spend more money on the Internet than those who don't tweet."
Ten Technologies That Will Rock 2010 Out of the list I see the tablet already making grounds with readers like the Kindle and Nook which are not really computing tablets, but get users used to the medium of a flat screen only interface.Drew-o-rama.com used a mobile transaction iPhone app for accepting credit cards when he worked a craft booths in 2009. I thought that was amazing. Mobile video will become more prominent with augmented reality and chat features integrated into social applications. Imagine being able to check your twitter account to see if your friends have shown up at a location and they have left geo-tag notes for you there. Exciting times!
A few people have asked me my favorite apps on the iPhone. Honestly that changes on a weekly basis. I use various apps at different times for different needs. So I decided to limit this review to 5 apps. Most are new to me and a few I have used for over a year now.
1. UrbanSpoon is a must have iPhone tool. It allows quick searches of restaurants nearby for price and flavor craving. Shake your phone and it spins selections like a coin slot machine.
2. Gorillacam is the best fix for the iPhone camera. It provides advanced timing features. As well as a touch anywhere function eliminating those frustrating attempts at finding the photo button for self portraits.
3. Red Laser was recommended by my friend and trusted mall shopper Jason. It scans bar codes on retail items. Then provides online price comparisons from google shopping search.
4. Qik is the coolest application for mobile video. It is like having a mobile video broadcast truck in your hand. Only better since it is totally interactive. Allowing anyone on the internet to post phone chat messages with questions while recording live. I hope to get more use out this application now that it allows live broadcasting on the iphone.
5. 20 Minute Meals is a new cooking tool from Jamie Oliver. This is probably the most expensive iPhone app that I have ever purchased. But it is fairly slick using iPhone multimedia capabilities. While a simple free recipe search will work fine for most people. I enjoy Jamie's video demonstrations and hints on what makes that simple dish taste so much better.
Lunch. Cranberry juice and a tomato, onion and goat cheese omelette. Dinner. Peanut butter bananna with honey sandwich. Coffee with creamer. It was a day of rest for me.
Morning coffee with creamer. Lunch Cajun at Kenwood Mall food court. Burbon chicken, rice and broccoli with cabbage. Afternoon 3 chocolate Martinis and 3 small chicken tacitos at new Mynt Martini bar on Fountain Square. Thanks to Jason and Alex for picking up the tab for everyone! Dinner at McCormick and Schmidt, salmon stuffed with crab and asparagus with mashed potatoes.
I have never been one to commit to New Year resolutions. But considering this is a new decade I feel the need to really make some serious changes. One of my goals this year is to be more active on my blog. Something I have neglected. But more importantly I want to use this specifically to keep myself accountable to my goals.
A few of the goals are as follows:
Exercise 30 minutes everyday. Cardio, Jumprope, Running, or WiiFit. Noting days of rest as well!
Prepare meals at home and to take to work. Limiting my dining out to weekends only.
Stop biting my nails. This one is a big one since I tend to not realize when I am doing it. Now I will note each time!
Each of these three areas I have shown success in the past in accomplishing. But only for short periods of time. Making a more mindful effort will make it part of my routine.
So far I have been very successful not drinking cola. I have kept in my mind how it affects me. The poor sleeping habits. The nasty gurd it gives me. The obsessive compulsion to consume more even when I am full. Noting all the chemicals I consume when drinking it. What has been the most exciting part was having tasted some cola recently. I found it repulsive. Now that is success! I feel so much better now. I sleep more soundly. I no longer have horrible gurd. My compulsion to drink it is completely gone.
Here is to a decade of habits that make me happy!
I have been without cable for a month now. Luckily, with some internet service I have been surviving my TV cravings via Hulu and Netflix. I have recently stumbled upon Ghost Adventures from the Travel Channel. The show can be summed up as follows: "Dude did you hear that?", "What was that Dude?". Or more to the point it is the new version of Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy Doo. I am a kid all over again.
Saturday I went to see the movie Avatar in IMAX 3D. I have read lots of interesting reviews that summed up like it was an OK movie, or it was just another hyped movie. I personally thought it was fantastic. I liked the plot and the effects were amazing. Then add the amazing 3D effects in IMAX and then it a must see movie. I was going to go to the first showing of the day to hopefully get a discount, but all the shows until the late afternoon had been sold out. So I bought my ticket for later in the day. I loaded up my coat pocket with some snacks, a bag of cashews and some chocolate kisses. As well as a small container of juice. When I got to the theater an hour early so I could get a good seat. I found a huge line of over one hundred people! I could not believe it! I was able to manage a center seat, just a bit lower in the theatre than I would have liked, but a good location. Immediately people sat on either side of me taking over both of my arm rests while my arms were still resting upon them. I cannot blame them since their size prohibited them from putting their arms anywhere else but over their heads. So with my coat upon my lap and two people smashed up on either side of me. It was a bit warm. By the time the action had progressed on the screen, I had worked up a sweat. When I finally got in to the lobby I was rushing to get outside to cool off. I quickly pulled out my keys from my pocket and when I looked at my hand with my keys it was covered in a brown sticky mess. I heard some girl gasp at my predicament in the crowd of people. I tentatively sniffed my hand because to anyone looking at me at the moment it was if I had wiped my butt while having the runs. It was vile looking. But upon closer inspection I realized my chocolate kisses had melted in a heap within my steaming coat pocket. Every key on my key ring was coated. And now my hand was also covered in chocolate. Try walking in a mall attempting to discretely lick off chocolate covered fingers. It is bad enough walking in a mall with a hand covered in brown. But licking fingers covered in brown while walking through mall, chocolate wins.
New York Times lists local townhouse in it's "Great Homes and Destinations" section. But what makes this choice so interesting? Back in the 1980's 60 Minutes interviewed the owner about the townhouse renovation and it's impact on the neighborhood. What they did not tell her is that they were doing a show on gentrification of cities and how it affected low income residents. Local architect Donald Beck designed the renovation for previous city manager Nell Surber. I remember the 60 minutes show, instead of promoting the exciting possibilities of improving architectural treasures. It unfortunately painted Cincinnati as the prime example of displacing the poor. That show was used as ammunition by advocates that backed Buddy Gray and others attempting to squelch any improvements to Over The Rhine in the following years. I cannot help but wonder how different the city would be if that 60 Minutes episode never aired. So instead of painting anyone improving their neighborhood as an enemy of the poor. We would now be living in a world class city with one of the finest collection of architecture treasures completely renovated. And neighborhoods full of people providing taxable income to fill the coffers of social service programs that actually help rather than perpetuate social ills.
It is week two without cable or broadband due to a broken fiber optic line in my building. Thankfully I have my XBox 360 to keep me entertained. While XBox Live online makes for even more fun. I have been enjoying it offline with a few new games such as Guitar Hero. But I am not so great with instruments. So I thought getting a mic to sing along would help. I was lucky enough to pick up a used Lips game that includes two wireless mics. Even better, I found that the Lips game was even better than Guitar Hero for me. It is like having a professional Karaoke system for your TV. But it gets even better because it plays the original song video with lyrics as well as options for other less distracting video backgrounds. The video selection process provides a neat interface that provides the album cover with a preview sound of the song. After playing through a bunch of the selections I find myself amazed at the technology that is available to us today. When I was young I would have never dreamed that I could bring up such amazing entertainment right into my living room. I can count at least seven different places that I have sang Karaoke and none of them was as nearly as fun or amazing as playing Lips on my own television. OK, maybe not having to sing in public helps. But if you get the chance, check this thing out! Actually, drop me a line and come over and sing a couple songs with me. The game comes with two wireless mics so two people can sing together!
Parker Flats lobby
Originally uploaded by ekalb.
The downtown Saks Fifth Avenue department store sponsored the holiday decor for the lobby. It matches one of the department store windows only a few blocks away. Seems like a cool way to advertise.
Check out the ice rink at the end of the video. Larger than Rockafeller Center in NY!
Holidays have arrived early here at the Fox Den. I signed the contract and as of next week I will have Fiber Optic broadband connection to the internet. Speeds normally seen in Asia! Sweet! Compare to Time Warner that says they have a 10mb speed. But in reality it is shared with your neighbors. Almost always slow because everyone uses their connection at the same times.
Cincinnati Bell Fioptics is offering a direct connection. No sharing with others. Offering faster speeds up to 30mb, but the upload and download speeds are exactly the SAME! Which means if you want to access your computer away from home, your connection will be faster than the horribly slow upload speeds offered by TW. For me it will mean almost instant Netflix movies without the download waits. As well as almost instant gaming update downloads.
I have also signed up for some of the HD TV channels, but I doubt I will keep them since I rarely watch regular TV now. A majority of my TV consumption is either local stations or Internet streaming movies through NetFlix or Apple TV video podcasts and Hulu through Boxee.
I just read even better news. Their internet service provides access to Cincinnati Bells 350 local wireless access points in the city. AWESOME for my iPhone connections in town, no more AT&T crap speeds. SOLD!
The Fox Den
Originally uploaded by ekalb.
I have been gaming much more lately. Uncharted 2 for PS3 is amazing. But I have also enjoyed playing Guitar Hero and Rockband games. Even though I have poor rhythm.
