June 2009

This month has been busier than usual for both John and myself. I just looked at the calendar and on all but 13 days in June we had some meeting or event. John has so much work he is working weekends and evenings whenever he can. I am turning over 2 apartments with less than 2 weeks between move out and in. The first half of June was busy for me as well at the conservatory with the Butterfly Show ending on June 21st. But the month started out with very sad news of the surprise death of one of the kindest and funniest people I have ever met. Shad O'Shea died around midnight Saturday June 6,2009.

So here is how our June 2009: Friday June 5 John and I went to the Reds Game. They played the Cubs and we were surrounded by Cubs fans. Not surprising as Cubbies travel a lot for games. But surprisingly the ones near us were not that bad. Unfortunately the Reds lost but "our" Cubs fans were actually very gracious. Saturday June 6 I read the email from Bob Croskery (our minister @ Pilgrim) saying that Shad had died around midnight last night. This was completely shocking. Shad was absolutely fine when we saw him 3 weeks ago at church. John and I had assumed he was traveling, probably in California. Later we found out he went into the hospital for pneumonia which progressed to 2 strokes and a massive heart attack. Shad O'Shea (real name was Howard Lovdal) was his radio name and the one he went by. We only knew Shad the last 7 years from Pilgrim, but we were lucky we knew him at all. Oh did he add a lot of color, laughter and fun to our little church. He was 77, but to me he was ageless. I also loved his amazing storytelling abilities. His memorial (more on that later) was Thursday June 11. And that was like no memorial I've ever attended.

The obituary in the Cincinnati Enquirer wrote:

Shad O'Shea was kind, funny

"Family and friends remember with laughter the crazy antics, funny stories and kindness of former DJ, record company owner and author Shad O'Shea." Some of the quotes in this obit included:

"In the 25 years I've known Shad, there was only one thing bigger than his sense of humor and 6-foot-6-inch frame. That was his heart." Terry Armor Enquirer editor

His son Scott Lovdal said his father "was a phenomenal storyteller. He was extremely interesting, to put it mildly. He really loved me and my brother."

His radio sign off was "This is Shadley O'Hadley, the badly dadley from Cincinnadley who loves you madly."

That Saturday afternoon we went to the Lloyd Library and Museum for an art showing. The Lloyd Library is located downtown and is a scientific research library of botany, pharmacy, chemistry and natural sciences. Three pharmacists from the 1860's (brothers with the last name Lloyd) had their pharmacy on this site and collected books and papers on these topics.

This event, according to the invitation, was "the unveiling of the plans for the forthcoming Lloyd Medicinal Garden (LMG) to be located in Columbus at the Ohio Governor's Residence and Heritage Garden". It was hosted by Hope Taft, former first lady who has evidently done quite a bit of work on the Governor's mansion gardens during her husband's 2 terms and still today. The current first lady, Frances Strickland, is allowing her to complete the garden. The landscape architects and book illustrator, Dianne McElwain, were also included in the talk before the book signing. We came to see Dianne's exhibit, 20 botanical paintings, but we bought the book too. Dianne and her husband Frank are hugely talented local artists that we only know because they briefly had a studio in Mt Adams. It was a fluke we wandered in to their studio a couple of years ago. They are completely down to earth, so interesting and kind. So at this event we found a painting we wanted to buy! A companion orchid to the one we bought by Dianne last year. BUT, someone bought it before we got a chance. I could not believe it and yeah I was bummed at the time. As it turns out it looks like we are going to get a better painting.

The Clematis of Dianne's that I inserted is not like anything at the exhibit or for that matter the painting we have commissioned from her. But I think it shows something of her talent. She paints in water colors while Frank paints with oil. The painting she is working on for us is a "Pansy" orchid. Lots of dark red and will include the plant roots. It is based on another orchid from the conservatory. Tuesday June 9 I went to the Carnegie to see the documentary Who Does She Think She Is? It was thought provoking but not as good as I had hoped. The topic was sexism in the art world, which although believable, I don't think the movie told the story well. Preached a little too much to the choir. But I like the series and will attend again. The next one is about music... called The Wrecking Crew about the music produced in the 60's in LA. The 2 after that sound really interesting and timely as well. The first one after The Wrecking Crew is called A Crack in the Pavement (about urban/suburban infrastructure in Cincinnati) and then Taken for a Ride (future modes of transportation) in our region.

Thursday June 11 was the reception for Shad at Twin Lanterns on the west side of town near his home. There were easily 250+ in attendance and it truly was a celebration. In some ways like a wedding (dinner, drinks, covered tables & chairs, pictures). His sons (whom he was so proud of) played his old radio bits. One was a song Shad wrote and "sang" (kinda like Rex Harrison "sang" in My Fair Lady) about his son Scott after his 5th birthday. So sweet. I cried so much my eyes were swollen the next day. Scott also told this very funny stories about his dad. They gave away his books and CD's. We took home 3 books and 2 CD's. I am half way through reading Common Sense and the Music Business Somehow, the Two Just Don't Mix.

Shad dictated his books so they read just like he spoke. It is hard to put down.

Although the topic, the music business, is not one I've been interested in, this book is great. I actually looked at these books online after one particularly interesting coffee hour with Shad but decided not to buy since I assumed it would be technical stuff I would not find interesting. But his perspective is universal in many instances. For example, Chapter 3 titled "Negative People, Or "That'll Never Work, Mr Ford!" (Proof Positive If You Follow The Dictates Of Your Heart, You Too Can Make It). He is self deprecating in this chapter and makes a good case for achieving more and uncomplicating your life by disassociating with negative people. Chapter 12 Hiring the Right Person, Or "Yes, Mr. Hitler, We Have Your Resume on File" (Never Do Business With Friends .... OR Else!) One line from this chapter " 'Friends' don't cut it. Experts do." is true universally. Also in this chapter he talks about "for free" which here is how he describes it "We are going to talk about 'for free' in a minute, because 'for free' never happens. 'For free' doesn't exist. 'For free' is very expensive. " Again I think that is applicable outside the music business. Chapter 13 Like Momma Said, "You Better Shop Around." (This One Chapter Is Worth At Least One Hundred Times The Price Of This Book) is true for everyone and although cliche such an tempting and easy mistake to make.

Here are some of the comments from the online memorial obit for Shad:

• SOS was unique, annoying, funny, a FORCE! He sucked all the air out of any room he was in, leaving you breathless with laughter at his goofy stories.
• Shad was the first real character I met when I moved to Cincinnati in '64 and went to work at WCKY. He told me how great my suit was and opined that I'd be ready it if ever came back in style.
• Shad was a great friend and a wonderful man. I'll miss him. I consider him a true success in life. He leaves behind a great family and a solid body of work.
• Bigger than life, he was. To paraphrase Jay Leno's tribute to Carson, we will not see his like again. Along with his on air partner, the team of "Shad & Mike" belongs right alongside Abbott & Costello and Martin & Lewis.
• Your dad was certainly a unique guy, a character full of life
• They are laughing in heaven now. My comments were about how much color Shad added to our little church and about a story Shad told at the Reindog Parade a couple of years ago. I will never forget that story or this man.

Dr. Bob told us his son's are going to publish his last book Thumbing It With Molly. It is the half true and half fictional story of his trip to California in his old car (250,000+ miles) that broke down in some remote area and he abandoned it to hitchhike with his dog Molly. That is the true part. No doubt this will be funny. I can't wait to read that book.

Sunday June 14 We attended a graduation (college) for Patrick one of our neighbors. It was fun to catch up on neighborhood events and stories which included a pregnancy and the recent power outage caused by a raccoon. Last Friday morning around 4:30 AM a raccoon climbed the power lines at our end of the street causing the transformer to blow. Corky (our FV neighbor who can really tell a story) had to dispose of the dead raccoon. We had a lot of fun.

Monday June 15 my new tenants moved in to the 1 bedroom apartment just up the block. Here are some pictures. It looks pretty good...probably the best since we bought it in 2002 (a month before we our wedding.) Here are some pictures that really don't do it justice (especially since I broke the flash on my camera):

Tuesday June 16 a friend of John's from grad school and his wife came to stay with us. Oh my gosh we had some late night cleaning to get ready for them.

Wednesday June 17 we went to the Reds V Atlanta Brave game (Red's Won!)

Thursday June 18 Frank & Dianne McElwain came over in the morning to look at the space for the orchid Dianne is going to paint for us. She also gave us a great ideas for wall color and the chandelier medallion. Someday we hope to buy a painting by Frank for the 3rd floor stairwell. We talked about this painting being of the inclines in Cincinnati in the 1870's. I've attached a picture of Phyllis Weston and myself (really awful pic)from Phyllis' gallery in front of the other orchid painting we bought last year. The next orchid painting will be dark red and probably slightly bigger.

Thursday evening we went to the Mt Adams Movie Night. The movie was Some Like It Hot with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. I volunteered so I had to show up 30 minutes early. John brought a picnic dinner (yellow chicken curry from Teak and a bottle of Chardonnay). It was more fun than I imagined it would be. Here are some pictures:

Neighborhood kids had as much fun as the adults. The kids sold popcorn for $1.00 /bag. The movie was politically incorrect by today standards but a lot of fun to explain 50's culture to a younger generation.

I thought the Movie trivia was great. Jack and Margie Frondutti pulled the raffle tickets. Prizes raffled included: big screen tv, Art Museum membership, Playhouse tickets, fly fishing lessons at Mirror Lake and more.

Friday June 19 Rumor Queen posted that the CCAA referred 6 more days! Woo Hoo ripped 6 more links off our referral chain. That means we have only 58 more days before our LID referral. Saturday June 20 we went to the Mt Adams "Getting to Know You" Yard Sale at the Monatery. I bought this tassle for $5.00. Here are pictures from the Civil Rights Game:

Muhammad Ali accepting award at luncheon earlier that day and entering the stadium.

Sunday June 21 Butterflies from India Show closed at Krohn Conservatory. Ironically that day we also attended a Going Away Lunch for the Milar's who are moving to India for 18 months. (P&G relocation). Before the lunch Ken was telling the group about their plans and just as he was saying how comfortable their family was at Pilgrim he turned around to see his 2 year old daughter Teagan holding her dress over her and and he calmly said "we are so comfortable here that we want to take our clothes off". So funny.

Pictures:

Front of Krohn, B-fly forms in the park (new this year), the Peacock display in the showroom, the Neusole glass flowers that helped us make our sales goal for the gift shop and the bird bath I bought for our garden at home.

Friday June 26 we went to 3 art shows. The first one was at the Verona a condo complex that was showing artwork done by a local artist. Toni (our friend and neighbor)told us about this last week. The Verona has some interesting history. It was built in 1928 by Myers A Cooper, who was elected governor of Ohio the next year and whose construction company still exists today. In May 2006 it was converted from apartments to condos at the cost of $5.5 million. In it's hey day this building was built for some of the wealthiest people in the city. They had servants quarters on the top floor which are now loft condo's with roof top decks. The current developers have done a terrific job but their timing is not great. I really like the closet doors (pictured right). I thought it was particularly creative solution for a small bedroom. They did such a good job restoring the hardwood floors and the appliances and cabinets are really top notch. The other problem (besides the current real estate market) is the neighborhood is somewhat dicey. So we left the Verona around 5Pm and ran into our minister and wife (the one that officiated our wedding 7 1/2 years ago) on our way out. The artist whose paintings were being shown @ Verona we found out had been one of their tenants years ago. That is a typical scenario in Cincinnati ... it is such a little town in some ways.

Next we went to Final Friday's @ Pendelton. The Pendelton Show is in the Krohn-Fecheimer Shoe Company building that was built in 1909. Today it houses 8 floors of artists studios with over 200 artists. We start by taking the elevator to the 8th floor and working our way down. Because we wanted to go to Neusole's Inside Out Show (from 7-9PM) we only made it to floors 8, 7 and 6. But here are our 2 inspiration pieces for future art for our home. The first one for our second floor stairwell. I think this inspiration piece may be a little too dreary and I would prefer it looking up the street but it is just the idea. It reminds me of a really cool bendy street in Edinborough (Victoria Street) just off the Golden Mile.

The abstract inspiration painting is the idea (but not the colors) of what we have in mind for the entry way. Some day ...some day.

So we made it to Neusole about an hour before the show ended. It was fun to show John the studio and the art glass was cool but what was most interesting was hearing about their new digs. Well hopefully...odds are good that they will be moving here. Their current building is 30,000 sq feet and this one is 50,00 sq feet. The Cincinnati Public Schools are selling 9 buildings on 22 acres and the Windsor School is the one Neusole (Jon Schiff Foundation) is trying to buy. It has been abandoned for a couple of years and needs a new roof and has lead, asbestos and highly toxic pidgeon excrement to remove.

Saturday June 27 John went to an Ultimate tournament in Lebanon, Ohio. I rented 2 forgettable chick flicks, shopped for fabric swatch samples and paint colors for the dining room and blogged. So here are the swatches (for swags) and the paint colors. I'm not happy with the peach color (too pink) but I love the red for the fireplace bump out wall.

This is our dining room rug we are trying to coordinate the colors with in the swags. We are going to paint the ceiling off white (yellow cream) and possible paint the medallion gold, peach and maybe green. The other thing possible item I found for this room is the buffet pictured below. It is currently $1800 at Legacy's (consignment shop that benefits cancer society) but is going to $1600 next month.

Sunday June 29th John and I went to see The Wrecking Crew a documentary shown at the Carnegie as part of the Cincinnati World Cinema Series. The movie was about how music was produced in LA in the 60's and 70's. Particularly focus on the studio musicians. Shad's company, Counterpoint Creative Productions was mentioned in the movie. It was fascinating. Afterward there there was a discussion with Mickey Foellger (The New Lime) about Cincinnati music history. Again this discussion included more about Shad and his company. In fact Shad named Mickey's band and signed them with Columbia. Shad even suggested Mickey's band's name which was a reference to the Beatles (the New Limey's ... but according to Mickey no one got it). The timing of this showing had nothing to do with Shad's death (planned well in advance) just ironic. Sunday June 29 we went to the Mt Adams Block Party at the Blind Lemon. The party was lots of fun. I'm inserting lots of pictures because this is one of my favorite places in the neighborhood. It was established in 1962 and has loads of history and I love the ecletic decor. Vintage everything and although packed to the gill the word clutter is not a description for the Blind Lemon. It is definitely one of the top 10 romantic spots in Cincinnati. One of our new neighbors at the party told us The Blind Lemon was one of the reasons his family chose Mt Adams as a residence. Pictures: Inside tables, vintage walking sticks at the entrance, antique tiffany lamp lined with old postcards, vintage ice cream scoops, framed antique toys and framed picture and old brass mugs lining the bar. The "block party" was outside in the courtyard. This place is such a hidden treasure. You really do not feel like you are in the U.S. (much less the midwest). Feels like an Italian courtyard.