In our most recent election, the people of Ohio spoke.  In 2011, Cincinnati, along with Columbus, Cleveland and Toledo will be getting a casino.  Past proposals for casinos have been turned down by conservative Ohio voters, but this one gave enough incentive to pass.  There was plenty of advertising going both ways, but in the end, I believe the opportunity to funnel money into the economy drove people to say Yes on the issue.

There’s no question that the economy could use a jump start.  A casino on Broadway Commons in Cincinnati will drive more people to want to stay downtown.  And putting it right in the middle of the Reds and Bengals stadiums gives people something to do after the games.  A lot of the money stays in the city, which I liked about it.  Certainly, local businesses could use the money.  And if we draw more people to the area, the Cincinnati home builders should stay busy.  I’m for anything that will fuel the economy.  I recognize all of the negatives that come with a casino, but I was pretty sick and tired of the neighboring states receiving money that could stay in Ohio.  Why lose out on that revenue?

I’m not an avid gambler, but I’m sure I’ll go occasionally with my wife.  Perhaps I’ll smoke a Puros Indios with a drink and enjoy some roulette.  It’s not a fancy show or anything like that, but it’s a fun night of entertainment, especially when you can discipline yourself going in to a limit of money you are going to spend.  It’s the people who have no business spending money on casinos that make me sad.  But again, why should they give the money to Indiana?  Though morally torn by the vote, I’m glad to see Ohio take this step.

Well, here we go again.  I’m at yet another Chick Fil A Grand Opening, where they give away 52 value meal coupons to the first 100 people in line.  At this point, more than 100 people always show up more than 24 hours before.  So, they give everyone raffle tickets and you have to get lucky to make the top 100.  I’m lucky #88 today!  So, I have my tent pitched.  I have electricity, and I have wi-fi.  This is going to be a good day.  As long as I stay dry, I’m in the clear.  So, I get to get a day of work in and make over $300 in food coupons for my wife and I.  You won’t find any Cyber Monday Deals better than that.  I guarantee it.

As usual, there is a mixture of people here from all over.  You start to recognize the regulars when you make it to about 10 of these openings.  There are other people out there as cheap as me.  There are old couples as well as young families, with all their gear, skateboards, iPods and all.  What’s weird is that this opening is only 30 minutes from my house and none of my other friends showed up.  Usually, we bring 10 people or so, but I’m the only one today.  I think they are getting soft.  Or, they are spoiled by Chick-fil-A.  Not me.  I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.

One of the best I’ve ever seen.  Some nuthead UK reporter asks him, “How the game got away from him.”  Enjoy Charlie’s response.

Who Dey Baby!  The Bengals played a phenomenal game yesterday in Pittsburgh, beating the defending Super Bowl Champs for the 2nd time this year, 18-12.  Now, at 7-2 and 5-0 in the division, including a sweep of both Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the Bengals are in the driver’s seat for the AFC North.

The game was incredible.  The Bengals went to Heinz field and out Steelered the Steelers.  Our defense was tough all game long.  They played phenomenal.  Our downfield coverage allowed time to get pressure on Big Ben, and the D-Line did a fantastic job of keeping Ben in the pocket.  Great job Coach Zimmer!!!  It’s like we took the Steelers out to a wood shed and smacked them with a dowel rod a time or too.  Incredible.

Even with out Carson’s A game and with Cedric Benson getting injured early, we were able to pull it out.  Frostee Rucker came up with the only turnover of the day on a great deflection by Morgan Trent.  The Bengals played smart.  They won the field position game and didn’t turn the ball over.  What a ballsy move by Marvin Lewis on the Bengals last drive to run it, kick the field goal and let his defense win the game.  That was a statement.

For the first time in a long time, Bengals fans can celebrate that they have the best team in the division.  Kick back and enjoy with some Baccarat cigars and let the lowly Pittsburgh fans follow the signs to tear in their beer.  Awesome.  This feels so good, and I don’t care if I flaunt.  Don’t tell me to act like we’ve been here before, because we rarely if ever are.   I’m going to enjoy this 1st place team for all it’s worth.

How much respect should Marvin Lewis get right now?   The guy should get huge props.  This makes me wonder how good this team could have been the past few years without key injuries to players like David Pollack and Rivers, and losing talented players like Thurman.

Who Dey.  Who Dey.  Who Dey.

Bwwwaaaaa  Haaaaa Haaaaa Haaaa!

WHO DEY!

WHO DEY!

WHO DEY THINK GONNA BEAT THEM BENGALS?

Some days, it’s just hard to work.  And those days for me tend to be Mondays and Fridays.  On Monday, I’m usually better because I have some energy to go at those projects, but Friday is another matter all together.  When you are looking forward to the weekend, it’s hard to get anything done.  That’s the time when you find yourself staring at the clock, and it’s going really slow.

People get excited for all kinds of things on the weekend.  We are in prime football season, and my Bengals are 6-2, heading into a first place showdown with the reigning Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.  Oddly enough, I’m going to miss the game because I’m going to Nashville for the weekend.  I’ll have to watch the lowly Titans down there.

If you’re not a football fan though, you can do other things on the weekends.  I have some friends who are avid paintball players.  They throw on their 5.11 tactical gear and pants, and either go to a paintball course or someone’s farm.  I’ve played paintball some, and it is a lot of fun.  But if you are that into it, just join the army.

There are other ways to enjoy the weekend too.  Take a photography course.  You could become as good as this Portland Oregon photographer.  Fall is a great time to get out in nature and take some pictures.  Of course now, it’s a bit late for the leaves, but you can still find some pretty shots, especially in places like Portland.

Well, back to work.  I think 2 whole minutes just passed.

Go Bengals.  Go Bearcats.

For those of you who don’t know, there is a baby in my house and it’s not mine.  (Insert joke here).  While it has been rumored that I have been supporting 2 kids in Seattle for years (child support is a bitch), it’s not really the case.  I can thank my good friend Dave Wernz for working a tall tale that has had some legs.  However, there actually is a kid in my house, and his name is Ajax.

Ajax is the son of my friends and roommates Josh and Stacy Knoechel.  I got to see Ajax the day he was born and basically every day since.  He gets stronger and cooler every day.  Now, he’s even been in his bouncy chair that attaches to a spring on the door frame.  It’s a mini crossfit workout.

With Ajax in the house, my wife loves giving him gifts.  She’s already given him some aden and anais blankets, which Stacy loves.  Of all of the swaddling blankets they had for him, she swears the aden and anais are the best because of how large they are.  Since he is growing, the only blanket he can be swaddled with are from that 4 pack.  He also has grown into his sleep sacks, which he loves.  Outside of blankets, the kid has plenty of toys.  There’s really no sense in buying him more because his dad is a minimalist.  I’m pretty sure Josh has 7 shirts, if that.  When you are living in 1 house with 2 families, there’s no other roommate I’d rather have.

Ajax has some great parents, and I can’t wait until he gets older.  His training has already begun, and I’m excited to watch him grow into the likeness of his father.  One day, he’ll grow up to look like this:

Last week was an awesome week of worship for me.  Let me clarify, I was able to worship my God through music on several occasions.  On Monday night, I went to a concert of my friends, The Never Setting Suns, who opened for The Whigs at the Mad Hatter in Covington.  I love listening to the Suns because while very few people realize it, their songs are ladened with the gospel, dripping in grace.  And I would define them as the opposite of K-Love.

On Tuesday, I got to play at a city worship event.  We do this event monthly and several Christians from various local church bodies come out to worship.  Then, on Saturday night, I got to go to a Crowder concert.  It was fantastic!   I worshipped my guts out!  When you leave a concert having sung at the top of your lungs and danced til your dripping in sweat, it is a good night.  But what I really love about Crowder is that they are not seeking worship of themselves.  They always have the lyrics up on the screen, which draws attention off of them and allows people to give glory to God.  I love that.

People are worshipers.  We worship many, many things.  It’s not a matter of whether or not you have faith.  There are people who worship sex.  There are people who worship fame.  There are people who worship appearance.  There are people who worship sports.  Next UFC fight, go to your local beer and wings joint and see all the people with their MMA equipment and apparel.  It’s clear.  I watched the Bengals game yesterday with some friends on a porch.  We were eating game food, smoking a nice Rocky Patel sun grown.  It’s easy to place these things or anything above the only one who deserves our worship.

So, how do we live as Christians?  Perspective.  We don’t deny the good things that God has made, but give proper thanks to our good God.  Worship is a part of who we are.  Who or what are you worshipping today?

Oh…I like DCB.

 

Well, Halloween has come and gone.  It’s time for me to put away my Renaissance costume and look ahead to the holidays for the rest of the year.  Funny, we’re house sitting for the weekend in a nice neighborhood, but we only had about 30 kids come trick or treating.  Did it seem down to you this year?  There were actually some kids who were just walking around with their friends and not trick or treating.  One was doing research on how Halloween is “dying.”  Interesting.

Oh well, now I’m looking at how I can get some Christmas shopping done a bit early.  So, I’m sitting down to a nice hot cup of tea and getting to work.  There are some deals to be had online, but you would be wise to take advantage of all the holiday internet sales.  You can find cyber Monday deals just about anywhere.  For my niece and nephews, All Aboard Toys is a perfect place to shop.  They have all sorts of great clothes and toys, and they love anything that has to do with Thomas the Train.

So, good luck to you in your shopping.  Don’t procrastinate.  Get it done early so you can enjoy the holiday more.  Or, better yet, give less gifts so that you can give elsewhere.

My wife and I are housesitting for some friends until next Tuesday.  They are a family whose kids have gone through our Young Life group, and we were glad to help them out.  So, while they are enjoying a long business trip to Paris (with the tab picked up by the company), we are at home with their 2 kids and one exchange student, 2 dogs, one cat, and I think some pet rats.  The kids are very responsible, all in high school, and the mother has all of the rides lined up already, so we are just an extra safety precaution.  All we really have to do is get them out of bed, give them their kids school backpacks and away they go.  However, this morning I woke up to the front door being pounded on veraciously and the door bell ringing about 30 times.  It was my wife.  She had locked herself out and lost the cat and was none too happy.  It’s all good though.  She went to work, and I waited for the cat.  He’s chilling on the hot tub cover outside as I write.

It’s always interesting being in someone else’s home.  People certainly have different habits.  Lets just say that I like to live in a house that’s a tad bit more organized.  But, we are made differently.  I caught a part of 30 Rock last night after The Office and in between the World Series, and Tina Fey actually made a good point.  She said all God’s children are horrible or something to that affect as Jack was trying to prove that country folk are purer and better.  Well done, Tina.  All people are horrible.  She might actually get the Fall.

Well, the nice thing about this house is they are giving us food and a clean bed.  They have a sweet walk in bathtub, which makes it easier to get in and out in the morning when I am groggy.  My allergies are flaring up and it smells a bit like these, but all in all, we are happy to be here.  The kids have a band competition this weekend.  There is Halloween.  My brother in law has a going away party for leaving for the Army.  It’s election day on Tuesday.  So, it’s kind of busy, but it’s all good.