Athens in the news

Since alot of our readers are former Athenians, I thought I would give an update of what's going on in this town.

1. Chipotle is coming to town. At one time, I would revel in this. But to be honest, I am not a huge fan of C anymore. The burritoes are too big and I often feel sick afterward. Figures, because it is owned by McDonalds. However, I know that many people/students are ecstatic about the coming. And it is better than as empty storefront.

2. Empty Storefronts on Court St.: Old Woolworth building (this will never change in our lifetime). Old Burger King. Tiny store next to Athena Cinema. Barons (Soon). Blue Gator and Seven Sauces are for sale. I guess that means that cheap food is in and sit-down fine cuisine is out.

3. Campus building. This is non stop. The newest groudbreaking is on West Green behind Stocker. OU is building another engineering building in the old river bed. (If you are familiar with Smallcombs disc golf course, this is hole 2 and 3.) They are also adding on to Porter Hall. They just finished a new dorm on South Green and Baker was completed just a year ago. Before that they built the Bentley Annex, the Life Sciences building, and a new HR office building on Union St where the old lumber store was. In the works are 2 new buildings, one for the Student Health Services and one for Alumni.

4. OU is going to buy the HDL Center AKA the old McBee building on Union St.

5. The Athens Criterion is trying to make a comeback. This was a staple event in the eighties and early nineties. Cyclists would race around the brick streets of Athens. It is very tense to watch them come around the corner of Congress onto Union St by Bromley Hall (old College Inn). Steep hill plus tight turn equals possible death. not for the faint of heart.

Oh there is always more to report but I'll stop here.

Doggie

Kara called to my attention the fact that a beagle won the Westminster Dog Show. This was a big surprise, since a beagle had never won the award before. Well, all I have to say is that it is about time. Although I prefer bigger dogs, I do adore Snoopy. Besides, it seems like the beagle is the everyperson's dog. It's not some frou frou dog. For a small dog, it has character. Yeah Snoopy! See, he even has a heart and it's valentines day!

When I was a kid, the peanuts were my favorite and Snoopy was the best of all. I had a couple of Snoopy stuff animals. I think they are still at Mom and Dad's. My favorite outfit to wear was my "Let's face it, I'm cool" Snoopy shirt and my Pac-Man hat. I somehow "lost" my pac-man hat, but I always thought my Mom gave it away because she didn't want me to wear the hat so much (and I did wear it everywhere, I looked like a boy). But now I know that I have a propensity to lose things, even when I cherish them, so most likely I left the hat at a friends house. Sorry for blaming you Mom. And if you did give it away, no biggie. I'm sure it made someone else just as happy as it made me.

Circus time

The Golden Dragon Acrobats came to town last night. This was a performance of majestical feats of contortion, balance, and most of all strength.

There was the spinning plates routine, balance on the stack of chairs routine, (that they had to do in front of the stage since the stage wasn't tall enough. Carol and I sat in the second row so these guys were right in front of us. I could feel the guys sweat. Okay, not reall
and my favorite (also new to me) was the spinning wheel routine. The acrobats would get in these human sized hamster wheels (for lack of a better description). But these hamster wheels were not attached to anything. So they rolled around in all different sizes of these things, one, two, or three people to a wheel. Fascinating. Plus the music was techno-ish and the blacklights were used.
Overall it was a very exciting performance for us Athens Countians. We need some good clean entertainment occasionally.

Tony Xenos

Last saturday, our neighbor Tony graced the Front Room with his musical presence. It was a good show, lasting almost 2 hours. He had a couple friends join him for a few songs.



More squeezebox!
The man of many talents, Rob Powell played alongside Tony. Rob has also played music at both weddings that I have officiated. Kent has photographed both weddings I have officiated. We are beginning to think we should go on the road. However, I don't thing Rob is going to make Kara and Ethan's wedding this spring in Idaho. However, Kara, if you need a musician...

winter pics

As mentioned, we had snow recently. Kent took some time before going to work one morning to experiment with the new lens he bought around Christmas. Plus, there is nothing like fresh snow and a blue sky to make a quality photo.

The ridges at OU is home to various sculptural art. I believe that is the Voinovich Center in the background. A driftwood quadruped graces the fore.

Old barns are synonymous with Appalachia.





Mist rising from the Hocking as the sun shines on Whites Mill.