Bush and the CNN Ladies' Room

You may be seeing President Bush speaking on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, but you are also hearing Kyra Phillips in the CNN Ladies' Room. And you thought Bush's live mic at the G8 Summit was shocking...

HS Football Update

The time of year is finally here. Today at Nippert Stadium at the UC campus is the Crosstown Showdown: Ryle playing Glen Este, then after 1pm, Lakota East will play LaSalle. The big game of the day is Covington Catholic vs. Elder at 4:30. Will the Panthers have a strong season after two weak ones, after two consecutive state titles, then last year going 4-6?
Because of the Huber Heights teacher strike, the St. Xavier vs. Wayne game originally scheduled for tonight was played Thursday at St. Xavier - the Bombers won 52-14. There will be no fourth game replacement. Tickets are $12 at the gate, so come on down to the beautiful Clifton campus, see the completed MainStreet and Varsity Village, and see some great high school football! Lots of parking available in the garages.

Cedar Fair: New for 2007

Confirmed:
Cedar Point: Maverick: IntaRide steel looping coaster, with lims, on White Water Landing site.
Valleyfair!: Renegade: GCI wooden coaster, Millennium Flyer trains.
Geauga Lake: Removal of X-Flight to another Cedar Fair park.
Kings Dominion: WaterWorks expansion: second wave pool, family play house, ProSlide Tornado? (Not officially announced, but listed in '07 Career Days brochure on park site)
Knott's Berry Farm: Timberland Twister, Mack Spinning Coaster in Camp Snoopy

Rumored:
Canada's Wonderland: Water park expansion, make-over into Boomerang Bay. (Rename/retheme unlikely, since KD is keeping WaterWorks name despite expansion) Kids Area/Nickelodon Makeover as well?
Kings Island: Bunch of things: X-flight from Geauga Lake... Return of flying scooters... New dining options?
Geauga Lake: Redevelopment of former Hurricane Hanna's water park site, new slides for Wildwater Kingdom, Coasters Drive-In?
Carowinds: Coaster?
Dorney Park: Racing slide at Wildwater Kingdom
Michigan's Adventure: Mad Mouse midway rehab, new ride in, some flats out... X-Flight?
Great America: Kids Area/Nickelodon Makeover. Makeover coming to Orleans Place as well?
Worlds of Fun: Unknown.

Now the KI 2007 Passes AREN'T for sale yet...

Looks like the folks in Sandusky have yet to get their act together with the 2007 passes...

First, it's announced that Canada's Wonderland is going to sell passes this week, but they will no longer be accepted at other parks.

Then, supposedly, Kings Island passholders won't get free parking, even if they are renewals.

Now this:

Canada's Wonderland 2007 pass page is blank.
Kings Island's gives a notice:

2007 Season Passes are currently unavailable for sale via web, phone or at the park. Please check this web site periodically for updates as they become available. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

So, if you're dreaming of a Maxx Pass, print one out for yourself right now!

Pricing for the 2007 Passes at KI.

Gold Passes: Valid only at Kings Island
Adult: 74.95, Child/Senior: $44.95

Cedar Fair Maxx Pass: Valid at ALL 12 Cedar Fair amusement parks
All Ages: $124.95

Parking: $34.95 per pass - Free for renewing 2006 passholders when purchased by by October 29, 2006.

Kings Island announces 2007 Season Passes

From the "PKI" web site:

2007 Season Passes on Sale Friday, Aug. 25, 2006

3 Great Pass Options - 2 Parks for the Price of One!


ADULT GOLD PASS

Everyone Gets Gold! Enjoy over 80 rides, shows & attractions, including Nickeodeon Universe and the award winning Boomerang Bay Water Park Resort! Plus, get the rest of the 2006 season and all of the 2007 season with all the great Gold Pass Perks:

· FREE 2006 Fearfest & Nick or Treat
· Early Ride Times
· Walk on Weekends
· Bring-A-Friend FREE Days
· Meal Deals
· Priority Concert Seating


CHILD / SENIOR GOLD PASS

Get all the same great passholder perks and benefits. For person’s under 48” tall or ages 60 and over. $20 less than the 2006 Child/Senior Pass! Height and age determined at time of processing when photo I.D. is made.


NEW! Cedar Fair Maxx Pass

A Cedar Fair Maxx Pass gives passholders access to Paramount's Kings Island for the rest of the 2006 season, and all of the 2007 season with all the Gold Pass Perks! This pass also gives guests access to all 12 Cedar Fair ride amusement parks (including 3 in Ohio) for the 2007 season, including:

Kings Island, Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio; Geauga Lake near Cleveland, Ohio; Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, California; Dorney Park near Allentown, Pennsylvania; Valleyfair near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Worlds of Fun, Kansas City, Missouri; Michigan's Adventure near Muskegon, Michigan; Kings Dominion near Richmond, Virginia; Carowinds, Charlotte, North Carolina; Great America, Santa Clara, California and Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Ontario.


FREE PARKING FOR RENEWING PASSHOLDERS!

How does the Chicago "Big Box" law affect low-income residents, inner city?

Big Box Rebellion Wall Street Journal

Well, that didn't take long. Just as Mayor Richard Daley and these columns predicted, the law recently passed by Chicago's City Council requiring a super-minimum wage is driving big retailers out of the city.

Target was the first big chain to react, recently cancelling plans to open a new superstore in a run-down area on the city's North side. Only a few months ago the project was hailed by city leaders as an anchor for redeveloping that depressed neighborhood. Now it gets to stay depressed. Wal-Mart has also announced that its plans to build 20 new stores in the city over the next five years are "on hold" until the wage issue is resolved.

This isn't what the politicians said would happen when they mandated that certain mostly non-union "big-box" retailers pay a minimum of $13 in wage and health benefits by 2010, or more than two-and-a-half times the national minimum wage. "This is a great day for working men and women of Chicago," said Alderman Joseph Moore, who sponsored the ordinance but clearly doesn't think very far ahead, if he thinks at all. The Council was warned that stores would flee to the suburbs or not be built. But instead it heeded such activists as Annette Bernhardt, chief economist at New York University Law School, who claimed that "We're very confident that retailers want and need to be in Chicago." Whoops.

This liberal red-lining may yet be overcome by common sense. Mayor Daley seems intent on vetoing the bill, which he says would result in higher property taxes to compensate for lost sales-tax revenue once stores leave. Alderman Shirley Coleman voted for the law but has since changed her mind now that a Wal-Mart in her district may never be built. At least three other aldermen who voted for the measure are also reportedly now open to giving Mr. Daley the votes he needs to sustain his veto.

The entire "living-wage" movement is the latest product of upper-income politicians who want to stick it to non-union companies in the name of helping the poor. But the working poor lose twice in Chicago: first, in lost retail jobs and then in less access to low-cost goods. Alderman Carrie Austin, who represents the area where the Target store was supposed to locate, puts it this way: "My colleagues are saying, 'Don't worry they [the big box retailers] will come.' Well, mine just left."

We all know well the battle between those who love and those who hate big-box retail. A great opportunity to build these stores on brownfields and other vacant sites, probably even build more urban-friendly stores, and create jobs (which pay more as one advances), seems to be going out the window. Instead of helping to improve the big box, some politicals have decided to oddly enough stick to status quo in the name of "change."

Kings Island lays off 15

Cincinnati Enquirer article

Kings Island said it has laid off 15 employees as its new owner Cedar Fair restructures and integrates the amusement park into its operations.

Sandusky-based Cedar Fair, which also owns Cedar Point and Knott's Berry Farm, said the move on Thursday eliminated some overlapping functions since two new managers have assumed oversight.

"A number of duplicated positions were reduced by the company here yesterday," said Maureen Kaiser, a park spokeswoman, who added the 15 managers and other employees received severance packages.

What about "Paramount?"

While mulling the future direction of its acquired parks, Cedar Fair has indicated in government filings that it doesn't plan to rename the park, noting its "strong local brand." The company said Kings Island did $108 million worth of business last year.

After opening this year the largest collection of Nickelodeon-inspired attractions at any amusement park before the takeover, Cedar Fair has also signaled in filings that it plans to keep the features.

The company, however, has indicated it might reduce its association with Paramount - including such Kings Island rides as the Italian Job and Top Gun - after the current season after studying customer opinion. Such a change would cut the company's royalty expenses.

While there's no official move/announcement on the Paramount name, here's some hints:

Latest from Apple: Leopard Preview, and Launch of Mac Pro and Intel XServe

(OS News)

Prior to the 2006 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, rumors swirled around about a "dizzying" amount of new products to be unveiled.

Now, at the WWDC in San Francisco, it was announced by CEO Steve Jobs that the first peek at the latest version of Mac OS X, Leopard, is now out, as are the first Pro-level versions of the desktop and server models using the Intel processors.

First of all, Jobs announced the Mac Pro, a dual dual-core machine with 64bit 2.66Ghz Woodcrest processors. The processors have 4MB of shared L2 cache, with 128bit vector engines. The machine is "1.6 to 2.1" times faster than the G5 quad. Because of the reduced cooling system, there is now space for four hard drives and a 2nd optical drive. Inside the machine has been completely redesigned; on the outside, it is basically the same. There is one standard configuration, which costs USD 2499.

Next up, Jobs announced the new Xserve. The new Xserve's specifications are similar to those of the Mac Pro, and still has the 1U footprint. Apple says the machine is 5 times faster than the previous Xserve. With this announcement, the transition to Intel is complete.

And if you're waiting for Windows to catch up to Mac OS X, bring a ton of books to read! By the time Vista comes out, OS 10.5 (better known as Leopard) will likely be out! The newest features and upgrades:

Leopard will support running 32bit application side-by-side with 64bit applications. Other than that, applications can be run completely in 64bit, and a 64bit Carbon UI is also available;
A feature called 'Time Machine' will be available; it's an automated back-up solution that lets you switch back to older revisions of files, or of entire harddrives. Back-up can be done towards a remote server or a local harddisk. However, the biggest feature of Time Machine is that you can enter specific dates into Finder windows, after which the directory will appear as it was on that specific date. Time Machine is Spotlight-enabled, so you can search through documents in the past. Update: A similar solution exists for Linux, called 'Dervish';
Boot Camp will be included in Leopard;
Leopard will have virtual desktops (Apple calls them spaces), with drag and drop support;
Spotlight will be capable of searching through files on remote machines (if you have the proper permissions);
Apple also introduced a new core technology of OS X, namely, Core Animation, which allows developers to easily integrate fancy animations into their applications. The live feeds were a little unclear as to what Core Animation specifically is; I believe it does a whole lot more than animations, but it was hard to figure out from just text feeds;
Leopard will focus on accessibility; it will have better text-to-speech functionality, closed captions in Quicktime, etc.;
Apple has added system-wide to-do's and notes into Leopard; any application can create notes and to-do's. For example, you can turn an email that just arrived into a to-do;
Dashcode helps to design, develop, and debug Dashboard widgets;
Webclip allows you to create widgets out of any part of a webpage;
iChat will see some serious enhancements, such as multiple logins, animated user icons, video recording, and tabbed chats. Besides those, the iChat Theater allows you to i.e. watch photos with your contacts or doing a Keynote presentation, while holding an a/v conversation;
Xcode 3.0 will be released today.

Missing from the conference were the anticipated iPhone and a new iPod. Of course, the year isn't quite over yet, so I'd be surprised if there weren't the release of a new iPod prior to the holiday/Christmas season.

Bad fans at the Bengals game? Call 381-JERK

Bengals Offer "Jerk" Hotline (WCPO Channel 9)

For the first time, the Bengals are offering a tip line for fans to call to report unruly behavior.

The hotline number is 381-JERK.

It will be set up and ready to go at this Sunday's pre-season game.

The Bengals said they've started this new approach after seeing a rise in bad behavior last season.

There were more fights and beer bottles being thrown, so this year they decided to do something about it.

While the Bengals had a winning season last year, some fans walked away from Paul Brown Stadium with a bitter taste in their mouths after spending time with unruly fans.

It's about bleeping time. Why people would spend hundreds, even thousands to see a football, and then to get drunk and rude is beyond me. I see people cramming bars to get tanked, why don't the Bengals and the NFL put a disclaimer warning to people entering the stadium?

Also: Getting tough on boorish fans (Cincinnati Enquirer)

"You can get a lot of abuse with these things," (Bob) Bedinghaus said. "If you get 6,000 people calling this line - 'Hey, Ben Roethlisberger is a jerk' - then it becomes less effective. The thing to remember is we have caller ID on this line. So if you're crank calling, we are going to be able to ID who you are."

Who's the real jerk, the one with the Super Bowl ring, or the one with 2 Bud Lights in each hand?! Seriously though, sports needs to take a look at its relationship with alcohol: the balance between profit boosts and alcohol's potentially dangerous side effects.

Happy Birthday to Six Flags!

If you have set foot inside a Six Flags park this year, like I have, you may have noticed signs celebrating a "45th Anniversary."

The exact anniversary is today, August 4, when Six Flags over Texas opened in 1961. Texas has been under six different governments, and officials originally called it "Texas under Six Flags," but some felt that the name might have been coined by Debbie Downer. The Arlington, TX park was among the first of many regional theme parks that would open across America in the next two decades. While the parent company is a troubled time now, they list the original Six Flags park as one of its "core" protected/safe properties. So...

Happy Birthday Six Flags! Here's hoping the next one is better...

AOL going free

America Online (AOL), who has been facing the loss of customers, and customer service nightmares, most notably account cancellation, is now offering its service for FREE. Anyone using the service along with a separate internet connection (DSL/Cable/Broadband or dial-up) is no longer charged a monthly fee. Those needing a dial-up connection now pay only $9.95 to get AOL. Because of the changing internet user and technology, not to mention what the market offers, AOL is having to reinvent itself.

Son of Beast to be partly rebuily

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060804/NEWS01/308040024

Part of the Son of Beast roller coaster at Paramount’s Kings Island must be taken apart and rebuilt under state supervision, a time-consuming process that raises questions about whether the ride will reopen this season.

“If they want to operate it again, that’s what they have to do,” said Melanie Wilt, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture, the state agency that regulates amusement park rides.

The Son of Beast has been closed since July 9 when 27 people were injured after a particularly rough ride. On Friday, Wilt said the problem has been narrowed down to three possible structural issues: wood strength, maintenance or design.

Inspectors found a cracked vertical support beam in the double helix part of the coaster the day after the accident. Inspectors say that might have contributed to the big jolt riders described.

Kings Island must now take apart a small section of the ride, including pieces surrounding that cracked beam. Those pieces must be turned over to the state for analysis. Meanwhile, the park would have to rebuild that section and test the new portion under the supervision of an independent engineer hired by the state.