Go now!

Every Memorial Day Weekend Columbus hosts an Asian Festival. After being in Columbus almost 5 years, we finally made it. Wow is all I can say. I could've survived without the arts portion but the comprehensive array of asian delicacies served up was amazing. Even Frankie had a steamed dumpling containing a mixture of cabbage and veggies. Satays, dumplings, rice, spring rolls, bubble teas, it's all there. It's going on through Monday.

Fame

If you Google "webernation", my story is about the 3rd answer. It's pretty funny. This is the piece that was chopped up for the commercials.

Tonight, the family is outside enjoying the last bit of the shake we shared when 3 surly and angry looking youths come walking toward us. They look, stare a bit and one of them says ..."you the guy on the Weber grill commercial?". I said yeah and they just giggled all the way up the street.

"Fish aren't meant to be in a box, kid. It does things to them."
-Gill, Nemo

Are we still welcome?

Last night, after our wild rampage of 2 year olds dinner party, we didn't quite feel like cooking. One of things we miss about Baltimore is the plethora of Indian food places that deliver. We finally found one right down the street. Unfortuanately, we learned of the delivery option after we got there to dine. Indian Kitchen at the corner of Patterson and High delivers from 5-9 pm (except Tuesdays). We sat down to eat last night - kind of. Half way through the meal, Frankie decided to start removing her clothes. After the shirt came off, she reached for a piece of naan and then started to start playing with the idea of removing her pants and then just wanted to run around the restaurant.

I think we'll just get the food delivered next time and just wait a year or 3 before going out again. The menu is on their site.

No thanks.

After being assaulted by another wristband salesperson, I Googled "those stupid f##king bracelets" and found this cool link of things that should be banned.

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude; good advice, an inspiring essay and a great series on NPR.

Blogs don't seem to be going away

I find a lot of my favorite sites to read (aside from the locals) at Yahoo! Picks. It's become common for their pick of the day to be in a blog format. Drawn is a community blog of art that I think I'll be visiting daily. And, because I'm a rabid consumer, I'll also be regularly visiting The Impulsive Buy. It looks strange. I like strange.

Noteworthy is the blog software running these two sites is Wordpress. Ever since MT changed their pricing, Wordpress has become quite popular. I'm still an amateur with Blogger but Wordpress is nice, I'm just not good enough to skin it with the CSS to get what I like. And some of the available CSS templates out there break on some platforms.

Anyway, my (and Yahoo!'s) picks of the day - enjoy - and have a nice weekend.

Concert

What's in Dave's Beer that you can't find in the Dispatch? Free content and local cultural events. Here's one from regular reader AL:

This is an invitation to a house concert with Beth Amsel. The show will be a mixture of intense music and off the cuff levity. Contemporary singer-songwriter Beth Amsel is a gifted performer whose love of the art is as infectious as it is intoxicating. Her live shows are a cool balance of emotionally articulate writing and bawdy humor.

Performer: Beth Amsel (www.bethamsel.org )
Date: 22nd May, 2005 (Sunday)
Venue: Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resource Center, 14 W. Lakeview Avenue
Time: Doors open at 6:30pm, show starts at 7:30pm
Donation: $10/per person

You can BYOB but no alcohol on the premises-sorry it's a community center rule. Feel free to bring some snacks or dessert and bring a canned good for the community center. Someone thought it would be a great way to show our appreciation for the community center for loaning us the space. Spread the love :)

Email cocoabeano@hotmail.com to reserve your seats.
Limited seating, advance reservations preferred. Thanks and I hope to see you guys at the show!

A cool review of Dave Eggers' (of McSweeny's) new book Teachers Have it Easy. In it is a comparison of a day in the life of a math teacher vs. a drug rep.

Next?

In a few months my former cohort will be venturing into the classrooms as newly minted Mild to Moderate Intervention Specialists (Special Ed teachers) in the Columbus Public School System. I bailed during the program. Four years of night classes, parenting and working full time brought me to the decision. But, for some reason, today, that decision hurts. I didn't think I could parent well enough and work and take classes at night (and do the silly exercises of ed classes). As painful as the decision was, I still think it was the right one. Obviously, I have some doubts, but I have to move on.

For now, I'll just keep plugging and trying to figure out the next direction to pursue. I think it's unfortunate a Ph.D. can't break into k12 teaching without years of additional schooling (in silly courses), but that's the system and it's not going to change just because I think it should. But it's my blog and I say it's wrong.

Gateway Update: Retailers

I'm on Steve's (of Campus Partners) email list and just received an update of the retailers signed up for the Gateway Project:

Bringing an element of “star power” to the announcement, Eddie George, former running back for the Ohio State Buckeyes and winner of the Heisman Trophy, revealed plans for Eddie George’s Grille 27, a sports-theme restaurant which will open in a prominent High Street location at the north end of Gateway.

The other tenants include:

• The Skye Bar, a locally owned and operated entertainment venue of more than 10,000 square feet, is being developed by Tom Selvaggio and David Allsbrooks, owners of The Frog Bear & Wild Boar Bar in the Arena District. This second-floor venue will include DJs and a dance-oriented format, as well as live music events, an 80-foot bar and “sky box” private party rooms overlooking the stage and dance floor and a private VIP room.
• Ugly Tuna Saloona, “fresh fish ugly owners,” is an ultra-casual, old-style Florida seafood grill being developed by the owners of Adobe Gila’s of Easton. Ugly Tuna, which will be in second-floor space, will feature fresh fish and cool cocktails with entertainment seven nights a week.
• Pesto Creative Italian Bistro, a quick-casual Italian restaurant featuring fresh, made-to-order pastas, pizzas, salads and gelato. Pesto will launch its flagship location at South Campus Gateway and will be owned and operated by Lee Shadle, who will be graduating next month with a bachelor of science degree in marketing from Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business.
• Mad Mex brings its award-winning combination of fresh Cal-Mex menu and funky, fun bar to Ohio. The Big Burrito Restaurant Group, based in Pittsburgh, operates the existing six Mad Mex restaurants in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and State College.
• Lave, a unique, locally owned and operated store, will feature fresh, handmade natural bath products. The store is being developed by Columbus entrepreneur Lisa Karst.
• A full-service Greek restaurant is being developed by Mohamed Hassan and Gihan Zalat. They currently own and operate The Happy Greek, an award-winning restaurant on High Street in the Short North.
• Potbelly Sandwich Works is a quirky sandwich joint serving up crispy, hot sandwiches, hand-dipped shakes and live local music.
• Panera Bread, a bakery-cafe featuring artisan and sourdough breads, soups, sandwiches and salads, is owned and operated locally by Breads of the World, L.C.C.
• The Finish Line, Inc., one of the nation’s leading athletic specialty retailers, offering the best selection of footwear, apparel and accessories for men, women and kids, will open one of its first college-town stores at Gateway.

Aside from Panera, some pretty interesting and not-too-common offerings. Gateway's opening around Fall of this year!

Doesn't anybody notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
-Mugatu, Zoolander