Clearly, this movement is way bigger and more permanent than I imagined. I thought it'd be like how for a while all girls knew how to knit - like all girls were going to want to be in a roller derby team? Well, the fad is not ending, and there's an Akron team starting up!

The team is called the Rubber City Demolition Dolls (so fitting, and feisty), and they want roller girls, coaches and volunteers! According to the flyer I was given, all derby girls must be over 21, be willing to learn, be dedicated, and have health insurance. And from what I know about derby girls, I'm pretty sure that that need for health insurance is pretty valid. Check them out! At the least, hopefully soon, Akron will have another rip-roaring event to go to on a Friday night.

I do not often to go to Akron, even though I do have family that lives near there - thankfully, it's not like they're on campus! And I have to say, I remembered Saturday night why I don't go to Akron more often: it takes forever to get there. Seriously! It's something like 45 minutes to an hour away from Cleveland, but let me tell you, it felt much longer.

But I had a big plan! Sidekick Girl had gotten hired to do a gig at Max McQ's bar, billiards, poker and apparently stand-up comedy club, and as a valiant friend, I wanted to support her. So I also dragged along another friend Kathleen, and we all sucked it up and bundled up and headed out to Akron. Max McQ's, I found out, is in a quaint area of Akron called the Valley, and I'm not going to lie - I still don't really know what that means. What does it mean? How much of a valley are we talking about here? I think it's because it's part of the larger Cuyahoga valley region, but I can't find this out for sure. Any Akron residents reading, please enlighten me. But surprisingly, Max McQ's had great martinis (and the drinks were so big, they were called maxtinis on the menu), and the comics worked hard against the poker game in one part of the room, basketball games on tv, and the lure of the pool tables next door. Rough.

So after a rousing hour or so of comedy at Max McQ's, we were still alert and looking for fun. So we did what all twenty-somethings in Akron do: we went downtown, towards the University, and hit the street of bars! We ended up at Thursday's Lounge, which had dancing. And while it took a really long time to fill up (what else was going on on a Friday night in Akron?! I kid!), the DJ had great choices and it was nice to kind of just get and shake it up while not wearing a giant winter coat.

Akron, I apologize. I assumed that with an hour's drive, there was nothing fun there! I was so wrong.

Big buildings are not unusual in Ohio, but Akron has a structure that makes "big" a bit of an understatement. In fact, when it was built, the Goodyear Airdock was the biggest building, without interior supports, in the world. It's vast. At its farthest points, it's 1,175 feet long, 325 feet wide, and 211 feet high. You could fit eight football fields inside with room to spare. The structure is so big that a legend developed about rain falling inside it. That's exaggerated, though. In high humidity, the interior gets misty, but it hasn't actually rained.

The Goodyear Airdock was built for the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation in 1929, at a cost of $2,200,000. Why so big? It was made for building airships, large, lighter-than-air craft, such as dirigibles and blimps. At the time, a lot of people believed that airships were the future of travel and military strategy. The burning of the Hindenburg and structural problems in vessels that used non-explosive fuels put quite a crimp on the idea.

To accommodate the enormous dirigibles, the ends of the building incorporate huge semi-spherical doors fastened at the top by six-foot long pins. The doors are set on wheels that open them by rolling on a track.

In its days as a construction site for airships, the airdock produced many vessels, including two US Navy craft, the USS Akron and the USS Macon. Even with a very much reduced demand for airships, their construction at the airdock didn't end until 1960. In later years, the facility was home to the photographic division of Goodyear Aerospace Company. It is currently owned by Lockheed Martin.

By the way, do you notice the silver squares about halfway up the building, in the picture? They're the windows. It will give you a sense of how big the place is when I tell you they're a hundred feet off the ground.

Buying chocolate, flowers, or those little message heart candies are fine if there's no time to plan ahead for Valentine's Day, but consider some other options. If you use your senses to lead the way, you might come up with some interesting ways to celebrate love. Or a deep like. Or an "I kind of like you." Here are some starting places:

Sense of smell- With Ohio's botanical gardens' conservatories creating a haven against the freshly arrived winter's chill, head to one of them. Breathe in the fragrances of the jungles, orchid gardens and mountainous regions of the world. So, what if you can't go to a tropical island with your honey this year? At Krohn Conservatory, Franklin Park Conservatory, and Cleveland Botanical Garden you can pretend.

If eating is a way to your loved one's heart, head to a cooking school where you can spend time together--plus taste your efforts. Dorothy Lane Market Cooking School in Dayton has wonderful options. Many restaurants, like Handkes in Columbus also have classes. Here is a Shaw Guides website with links to several of them.

If the sense of sound is your fancy, head to a symphony concert. You can engage your sense of sight as well since many of Ohio's symphonies perform in the most beautiful buildings in the state. In February, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, the Akron Symphony , The Youngstown Symphony and the Toledo Symphony have concerts.

For the soothing sense of touch, get a couple's massage. The Marengo Institute, a mind body spa that originated in California but now has Cleveland and Columbus locations, has a Couples Delight Package.

Another option for the sense of sight is an art museum. Here is the botanical garden and art museums page of Ohio Travelers.com to find one you may not have thought of before.

The second half of the 20th century may be remembered as the era of the shopping mall. Now there is a web site dedicated to dead (or, in many cases, moribund) malls. Deadmalls.com documents the passing of these hallowed grounds of consumerism. The posts are user submitted, similar to a wiki, so take the facts presented with a grain of salt.

What saddens me is the realization that this list is only a small fraction of the locations that even I, a non-shopper, could name off the top of my head. I can't help but wonder at the wastefulness of our constant pursuit of the new and novel. The first malls were built to replace the downtown shops, then enclosed to provide a Disneyland-like atmosphere. Now the hottest fashion in malls is to emulate the appearance of small shops in a downtown district.

The Ohio malls memorialized on Deadmalls.com -- how many of these have you visited?
Southwyck Mall, Toledo
Euclid Square Mall, Euclid
North Towne Square Mall, Toledo
Salem Mall, Dayton
American mall, Lima
New Market Mall, Columbus
Southland Mall, Marion
Woodland Mall, Bowling Green
Westgate Mall, Fairview Park
Columbus City Center Mall, Columbus
Arcade Square, Akron
Rolling Acres Mall, Akron
Portside Festival Marketplace, Toledo
Randall Park Mall, North Randall
Surrey Square, Norwood
Westland Mall, Columbus
Beechmont Mall, Cincinnati
Forest Fair Mall, Cincinnati
Western Woods Mall, Cincinnati

So sad, and yet so true. The twelve days of Ohio are over. In case you missed them, here they are again!

On the first day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: a state bird (by Jamie)!
On the second day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: a Twinsburg festival (by Tom)!
On the third day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: sports museums (by Katherine)!
On the fourth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: women astronauts (by Jamie)!
On the fifth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: great actors (by Tom)!
On the sixth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: art museums (by Jeffrey)!
On the seventh day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: baseball World Series Championships (by Tom)!
On the eighth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: presidents (by Jamie)!
On the ninth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: doubled cities (by Katherine)!
On the tenth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: famous Ohioans (by Jeffrey)!
On the eleventh day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: Native American tribes of Ohio (by Tom)!
On the twelfth day of Ohio, the bloggers gave to me: trivial Ohio facts (by Jeffrey)!

Ohio is a trivia fanatic's dream come true. There's always some new fact or odd story to dredge up. Here are twelve to start.

1. Oberlin College founded in 1833, was the first interracial and coeducational college in the USA.

2. John Lambert, of Ohio City, built the first gasoline-powered automobile in the USA.

3.The Cincinnati Red Stockings, as the Reds were known way back in 1869, were the first professional baseball team.

4 The first automatic traffic light was installed in Cleveland, in 1914.

5. Ermal Fraze, of Dayton, invented the first pop-top can. We should all be grateful for that one.

6. In 1870, Cincinnati established the University of Cincinnati. No American city had ever had a municipal university before.

7. Cleveland was the site of the first successful blood transfusion, back in 1905. It was performed by Dr. George Crile.

8. Akron is said to be the first city to use police cars.

9. Dayton produced the first patented cash register. It was invented by James Retty, in 1879.

10. The first municipal ambulance service was started in 1865. Cincinnati takes credit for that.

11. Cincinnati also had the first professional fire department. Really innovative folks, down there.

12. Finally, William Finlay Semple, from Mount Vernon patented a seriously important invention in 1865. Chewing gum.

Hey, everyone knows about the Wright brothers. What about some famous people who were born in Ohio, but found their fame elsewhere? You might not even know they were buckeyes.

You've heard of Zanesville, right? You've probably heard of Zane Grey, too. Ever made the connection? Zane Grey wasn't only born in Zanesville, his family started it. For a writer of westerns, he started pretty far east.

How many of you knew Steven Spielberg was born in Cincinnati? A lot of well known people came from there. Take Ted Turner, he was from Cincinnati, too.

It helps to have a sense of humor, especially when dealing with Ohio politics. Erma Bombeck, who was born in Dayton certainly did. So did my favorite on the list, the great humorist and cartoonist James Thurber. That's his picture at the top. He came from Columbus and told some good stories about the place. While we're on the subject of humor, Ambrose Bierce was from Meigs County. He could tell a funny tale or two when he wasn't in a darker mood.

Did you know Clarence Darrow was born at Kinsman, in Trumbull County. His law practice got started in northeast Ohio, before he moved west. Then there's Norman Vincent Peale, who preached the power of positive thinking.

Next we have someone whose face might not be familiar, but you'd probably know her voice. Nancy Cartwright, from Kettering provided the voice of Bart Simpson. Don't have a cow if you didn't know.

Finally, a woman was born in Licking County, or Athens County, the sources differ, back in 1838. She went on to lead an eventful life and was the first woman to be nominated for president. Her name? Victoria Claflin Woodhull.

It's odd. I can't believe how hard it was to cut this list down to only ten people. The only easy part was leaving out presidents,astronauts, and actors. They were covered in other posts. Ten? I could have listed a hundred and still had more. If you'd asked me years ago, back when I lived in Pennsylvania, about famous people from Ohio, I'd have thought of a few presidents, the Wright brothers,and Thurber. I had no idea how many famous people were born here. I do now, and I'll post on some of them from time to time.

Among the most influential figures to emerge in the 1990's music scene was Canton native Marilyn Manson, born Brian Warner. Senator Joe Lieberman called this band "perhaps the sickest band ever promoted by a mainstream record company." You can't buy that kind of publicity.

Here he covers the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams". The way he sings it, they aren't quite so sweet.

Did you ever realize that we share quite a lot of names with quite a lot of other cities? Look at this list.

1. Cleveland, Tennessee
2. Columbus, Indiana
3. Cincinnati, Indiana
4. Youngstown, New York
5. Akron, Colorado
6. Toledo - I mean, obviously, there's Toledo, Spain, but let's try Toledo, Oregon
7. Dayton, Washington
8. Miami, Florida
9. Athens, Georgia

I mean, let's get the heck out of Ohio! We've got towns all over the place!

How safe are Ohio's airports?

I'm not talking about the pat-down and feel-up security checkpoints, or confiscating your mouthwash. What you should be asking yourself is how alert and professional the air traffic controllers in the tower above you are.

I ran across some interesting stats about tower staffing of Ohio airports from the Gannett News Service.

• Columbus- They're authorized to have 48 controllers and trainees, but actually have 46 on staff for a 96% staffing rate.
• Akron/Canton- Targeted for 26, they actually have 19 certified controllers and 4 trainees, an 88% staffing rate. Four trainees seems like a lot, depending on where they are in the program.
• Cleveland Hopkins- Authorized for 67 staff, they actually have 52 controllers and 10 trainees for a 93% staffing rate.
• Dayton- Supposed to have 53 controllers and trainees, Dayton actually has 35 certified controllers and 4 trainees, for an abysmal 74% staffing rate. Assuming each staffer works a 40-hour week, to make up the missing 26% staff they'll have to average 14 hours of overtime apiece. I'd be pretty fried working such a schedule.
• Cincinnati- Authorized for 86 people, they actually have 75, only one of which is a trainee, for an 88% staffing rate.
• Toledo- Should have 27 on staff, but currently only have 21, for a poor 78% staffing rate.

Why does this matter? Remember in August when a plane leaving the Lexington Ky. airport chose the wrong runway and crashed on takeoff, killing 49 people? That tower was supposed to be staffed by two controllers, but only one was on duty, and he was trying to cover both radar and control tower operations.

Another issue explored in this report is the high percentage of these controllers eligible for retirement in 2007, which could exacerbate the shortfall.

I'm not saying we should be alarmed, but perhaps we should be asking why we're spending millions to confiscate aftershave while leaving the tower understaffed.

Are you a generous Christmas giver? Perhaps you'll feel like a piker compared to the gifts the state government is about to bestow on Ohio communities in the about-to-pass biannual capital appropriations bill.

By the way, I don't intend this to be a 'look how wasteful our government is" post. I'm sure every project in the budget has its passionate defenders, and things I think wonderful others would view as foolhearty.

Among the projects your money will fund in the next two years:

• Hocking College Center for Hospitality Training -- $1,838,986
• Butler County Voice of America museum -- $750,000
• Johnny Appleseed Museum, Urbana -- $50,000
• Galion Historic Big Four Depot restoration -- $30,000
• Cleveland State University windtower generator project -- $400,000
• Ukranian Museum -- $100,000
• Mountain Bike Park in Midtown Cleveland -- $100,000
• Little Brown Jug (horse race) facility improvements, Delaware -- $50,000
• Delaware skate park-- $50,000
• Center for Science and Industry, Columbus -- $1,000,000
• ODNR Ohio Fairgrounds display area improvements -- $700,000
• Gallia County French Art Colony -- $100,000
• Jamestown Opera House -- $50,000
• Cambridge skate park -- $50,000
• Woodward Opera House -- $50,000
• Heritage Center of Dayton Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship -- $1,300,000
• Morgan County Historical Opera House -- $25,000
• Shawnee State Motion Capture Studio Project -- $281,300
• First Lunar Flight Project, Trumbull Co. -- $150,000
• Mason ATP Tennis Center -- $1,300,000
• Georgetown Community Tennis Center -- $75,000
  
• Star Park Skate Park improvements (Meigs Co.) -- $65,000
• The Octagon House (Circleville) -- $100,000
• Pro Football Hall of Fame -- $1,650,000

The full list (174 pages!) is a fascinating read. I'd be interested in seeing a comparison of funding by county vs. the power of the state reps and senators from that county. I'm also surprised at the apparent influence of the skateboard and opera lobbies.

Keep in mind, though, that these local projects represent only a small portion of the budget. A vast majority of the funds are allocated to education.

I think it's interesting to note that our two-year budget of $1.78 billion is approximately 1% of our national budget for the war in Iraq in 2007 alone.

I do so love a brass choir! And there's nothing quite like 600 tuba and euphonium players, also known as TubaChristmas, especially in the Akron Civic Theatre. Why, what is the TubaChristmas choir, you ask? Quite honestly, I don't really know what to tell you! It's mostly an organization of tuba and euphonium players that get together in regional or geographic groups and play holiday music together for their communities! The players get to dress up their instruments with festive decorations, tinsel, garland and etc., and play! I miss concerts.

This will be the 27th year of the TubaChristmas performances in Akron, and they are a gift from the Akron Civic Theatre and the University of Akron School of Music to the Akron community at large. In other words, the two performances on Sunday the 17 are free! Please, please go. It'll be wonderful.

Who knew? We do love our sports, so really, we shouldn't be surprised.

1) The most famous, most well known sports museum in Ohio: the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I mean, come on. What did you think I would lead with? It's located in scenic Canton, and hosts things like the Hall of Fame football series. Oh right, and you can buy a My NFL monopoly game themed to your favorite team. That's pure genius!

2) Why not the Jack Nicklaus museum? Located in Jack's hometown of Columbus, Ohio, on the Ohio State University campus, the museum is designed to take you on a scintillating journey through Jack's career, his mementos and trophies, photographs of him... and stuff about the history of golf.

3) And something for our more southern readers, the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum! Let's not forget, the Reds were the first professional baseball league, and therefore has quite a lot of photos and artifacts and memorabilia for avid baseball fans to poke around in.

Jeff at Have Coffee Will Write posted an interesting story about a topic he discussed at his local Socrates Cafe this week.

No, the Cafe is not a place; it's a group of people. Under the guidance of the Society for Philosophical Inquiry, interested people set up discussion groups under this name all over the country to explore the big issues and ideas.

The Socrates Cafes are meant to support, in the words of the society, "philosophical inquirers of all ages and walks of life as they become more empathetic and autonomous thinkers who take active part in creating a more deliberative democracy." There are currently over 300 active groups in countries as far away as Afghanistan.

The meetings often take place in coffee houses, churches, and schools. Participants come from all walks of life, and share a couple of attributes; curiosity and a willingness to express themselves.

The questions they explore are rather open-ended, such as "What, to you, is courage?" or "What is happiness?" The Socratic dialectic theoretically allows the participants to move the discussion forward by laying a foundation of mutually-accepted assumptions that open up the key concept for conjecture.

To find a Socrates Cafe in your area, you can email the society at socratescafe@aol.com. Another site, socratescafe.meetup.com, brought up a couple near me, but I don't know how comprehensive their listings are.