Nick Adenhart

Spring is here and so is baseball season. I love baseball and follow it as closely as I can and so I was saddened to learn of the tragic murder of LA Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart. Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver early thursday morning (4/9) just hours after his first start of the new season. I had also read somewhere that it was also only his fourth major league start ever. Two others were also killed in the same accident and I think it’s really lousy that three people had to die because one person decided to drink and drive and then while speeding ran a red light. What makes it even worse is the driver,whose blood alcohol level was nearly 3 times the legal limit, fled the scene. Although this post is coming three days after this horrible tragedy, my thoughts are with Adenhart’s family and the Angels organization. For more details on this, please click here.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Right before Christmas on December 20, I had the privilege of seeing the Trans-Siberian Orchestra  in concert as part of their winter tour. It was truly one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. They have become more and more popular over the years and if you have never heard of them, chances are you have at least heard their music and don’t even know it. They are best known for their Christmas music. The instrumental music and the vocals were breathtaking and the fire and lasers only added to the experience. It was a pretty long concert, lasting about three hours. I really can’t express to you in words just how awesome this group is. I urge anyone out there who has not been to a TSO concert to go. You will not be disappointed. I know I’ll be back! Enjoy the video below, filmed from Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Movies Filmed in Ohio

One of my hobbies as of late is logging onto wordpress and checking the stats of my blog. I especially enjoy seeing what people search for to find my blog. Through doing this, it has recently occurred to me that many searches bringing traffic to my weblog are titled “movies filmed in ohio”. The posts titled “My Op-Ed” and “My Op-Ed (Revised)” refer to movies made in Ohio and the research paper I wrote on the subject but do not actually go into detail about them. In an attempt to satisfy readers here are the movies I focused on. The first movie I focused on (and my personal all time favorite) was A Christmas Story. This movie was set in Indiana but filmed in Cleveland. The exceptions are the outside scenes which were filmed in Canada. You can find more info at the A Christmas Story house website. The second movie I wrote about was Major League. This movie was appropriately filmed in Cleveland at Cleveland Municipal Stadium as it was about the Cleveland Indians. For more info on this movie log onto the Internet Movie Data Base. The last movie I focused on was Tommy Boy. This movie was set in Sandusky and portions of it (such as Prehistoric Forest) were also filmed there. Try Wikipedia for more info. Here are some more movies made in Ohio. Enjoy!

East Harbor State Park

I am writing this post half asleep after returning today from our family vacation of camping at East Harbor State Park. East Harbor is located in Lakeside-Marblehead, Ohio and is the largest of Ohio’s state parks. Camping is divided into primitive and electric. I think my family falls somewhere in between. Unlike many people we still use tents but at the same time we do camp in the electric area. I am usually the one who plans our family vacations and I have been doing that since I was about 15. I absolutely love camping and it is pretty much my vacation of choice. The park has flush toilets and hot showers and is well taken care of. There are playgrounds for the little kids as well as fishing, swimming, campfires, basketball courts, and baseball diamonds for the whole family. All of these things help make it a great vacation because there is so much to do but it is much cheaper than a hotel room. It is also very close to Cedar Point, Prehistoric Forest, and the Jackson Street Pier (all located in Sandusky). Reservations can also be made for campsites. Camping at East Harbor has been my favorite thing to do since I was a little kid so I thought I would share it with you. Happy Camping!

How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

This past weekend, the department of theatre at OSU Mansfield put on an excellent production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. This play was based on the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Shepherd Mead. The play puts a hilarious spin on how a business works on the inside by showing one young window washer’s attempt to climb the corporate ladder. All of this mixed in with musical numbers the whole way through, each minute was thoroughly entertaining. This really was a quality performance the whole way through, on and off the stage. The live music added even more entertainment to it. I’d like to say “great job” to anyone involved with this production. Enjoy this YouTube clip of How to Succeed being performed on Broadway with Matthew Broderick.

Cash Cab on Today

On of my favorite shows, Cash Cab, was featured on the Today show Wednesday morning. If you are not familiar with Cash Cab, it is a game show airing on the Discovery Channel. Host Ben Bailey drives his taxi around New York City and picks up unsuspecting people waiting for a ride. The Cash Cab looks no different than any other cab. Once inside and the riders have given Ben their destination, he turns on the flashing lights and music inside and tells them about the game. He then asks riders trivia questions at 50, 100, and 200 dollar levels until they arrive at their destination. If they get 3 wrong though, he kicks them out of the cab whereever they are. If they get to their destination riders must choose between keeping the money or going for double or nothing on a video bonus question. Riders are also given 2 “shout-outs” for help. Wednesday, Ben Bailey brought the Cash Cab to the Today show and Matt, Meredith, Al, and Ann were given a chance to ride in the cab with the money going to charity. The money won went to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Check out the video of Today’s cab ride at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23914860#23914860.

Barack Obama’s “typical white person”

Early this morning I was watching a national news show. In the featured politics piece, the show highlighted the points of an interview with Barack Obama. During this interview, he referred to his grandmother as a “typical white person”. I was rather shocked by this. For as long as I can remember America has been referred to as a “melting pot”. I believe part of America’s success as a melting pot is due to the acceptance and welcome of all races, nationalities, religions, etc. So I have a few questions: Is there such a thing as a typical white person? If there is, what makes a white person typical? If there is a typical white person, is there a typical black person? Is there one certain characteristic or set of characteristics that makes a person typical? What makes Barack Obama qualified to decide who is or is not a typical white person? America is still a melting pot. Can a good presidential candidate for America really define people for their race?

Tucker Carlson

I am very disappointed to find out that Tucker Carlson’s tv show was recently canceled. I became a fan of his a few years ago when I started watching The Situation with Tucker Carlson. It aired Monday through Thursday at 11p.m. and was a mix of news, politics, and pop culture. It was then moved to 4 and 6 p.m. (and the name was changed to Tucker) which is where the trouble started. When the show was moved to an earlier time, the content of the show changed and just covered mostly politics. Shortly after, it aired only at 6. Producer Willie Geist also went on camera at the end of the show, earning him co-host of Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough. I’m sure this isn’t the end of Tucker though. He’ll be back stronger than ever somewhere. Good luck Tucker!!

The “A Christmas Story” House

Because of the ice storm (here in Bucyrus) on the 4th, my birthday was postponed until today. I spent the day with my family at 3159 W. 11th Street in Cleveland. This is the address of the “A Christmas Story” house. From the outside, the house looks just as it did in the movie. It is really something to see. I must say though, I did find the inside a little disappointing. 30 minute guided tours are given and the first 20 minutes are spent standing in the same place listening to a tour guide talk about the movie. You are left with only 10 minutes to go through the house and take any pictures you may want and then you must be out before the next tour begins. Some of the furniture and other items brought into the house also seem too modern to fit into the house. The tour guide explained to us that because this movie was not expected to be very popular, almost everything, including the original leg lamp, was thrown away after the making of the movie. Anything that was left went home with the actors. There is a museum across the street dedicated to the movie and it is currently being renovated. I did enjoy seeing Randy’s snowsuit and Ralphie’s Red Ryder gun. Other than these two items, there really isn’t much in the museum right now due to the renovation. The gift shop was pretty cool. The typical tourist souvenirs are sold there (tshirts, mugs, magnets, etc…) along with replicas of props from the movie such as leg lamps and decoder pins. The original Ford driven by Ralphie’s father in the movie is also parked there. As a fan of the movie, the house is somewhere I have wanted to visit since it has opened. Although winter quarter at Ohio State is now over, I am still interested in my research topic of “Movies Made in Ohio” and I couldn’t help but consider the relevance of my experience to the research project I completed for my English 110 class. I felt the sense of pride and familiarity while visiting the house. I also learned that the reason Cleveland was chosen for this movie was because Higbee’s was nearby and was the only department store willing to participate in the making of this movie and because there is a steel factory right behind the house. If this movie had been filmed in a studio those things would have been difficult and costly to recreate. I really had a lot of fun today and I learned more about the movie as well. This year marks the  25th anniversary of A Christmas Story. Celebrate it with a trip to Cleveland!

Op-Ed Comments

Wow….when I posted my op-ed to WordPress (I’ve never written one before), I was just doing it as an assignment for my English 110 class. I can’t believe that people who don’t even know me have been reading it. Someone even called it “fantastic” and put a link to it on his website. While that might not mean much to some people, I take it as a great compliment. Thanks to all who have read it and commented!