I Love Columbia Parkway...If I Could Be A Road...

Marzullo Here... If you know me you know that I love to drive! I usually am the one who is doing the driving when my FOX19 co-workers and I hit the road. I am also not one who should ever lease a car because my miles always exceed what is given to me. So with that said I do have my favorite roads and I have to say if I could be a road I would want to be Columbia Parkway. I love that road, something about the way it curves and winds along the gorgeous Ohio River. When your driving west on it you start to see the city skyline and the new towering Great American Tower. It is a road that speaks to me, some great music and all of my cares go away. I call it the auto-bond of Cincinnati, it feels BIG CITY to me, I love it! Plus it is a road that takes me to all of my favorite places including Annabells in Mount Lookout, where I can get the best pancakes in the city. You must go and get the Buttermilk Corn Cakes, they are to die for with the honeycomb butter. Sooooo gooood! So take a drive on Columbia and see where it takes you.

Potholes EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good Friday Morning! Dan Wells here, and I hope this note finds you guys well and in good spirits!

Ok, here's my big annoyance, the "potholes" caused by this severe winter weather we've had, could remain in the foreseeable future. (that's what I'm being told)

Over the past couple of months, the city's road infrastructure has suffered extensive damage. If you didn't know fluctuating temperatures are hard on the roads. When temperatures go from freezing to above freezing, the pavement can buckle, which can cause huge headaches for drivers.

The streets department says that my mid-week, the city will begin to see even more potholes. So what do WE do about it?

Well according to Cincinnati Public Services, the department is committed to repair any hazardous pothole within 48 hours of notification of its existence.

If the pothole is small, crews will fill the hole with a cold asphalt mix. For larger repairs a more extensive crew is sent.

The department currently has 4 specialty vehicles that function as pothole and small repair trucks. Each of these trucks comes equipped with a jackhammer for removal of damaged asphalt as well as heated compartments for asphalt and hot tar. These trucks reduce the crew size for pothole repair, freeing up personnel for other operations.

Two new pieces of equipment in Public Services' fleet designed for pothole repairs include a "Spray Injection" machine. These machines are equipped with a bin of aggregate and a tank for an emulsion similar to tar. The materials are mixed as they are blown into the pothole.

Sometimes damaged areas are too large for any of these types of repairs.

In these cases, a "General Repair" crew is sent. These crews handle repairs ranging from small sunken areas to hand paving alleys. They apply an asphalt overlay to the surface. The area is prepared by being swept and then covered with tar. Asphalt is then wheel-barrowed into place and raked smooth. A small roller then compresses the asphalt into a smooth surface. The edges are sealed with tar to complete the repair.

Citizens requesting street repairs should call our hotline at 591-6000, or submit an on-line Service Request.

Hope it helps and hope you avoid the craters all over the Tri-State.

The King's Speech

Katy Morgan Here...This past Tuesday we were streaming the Oscar nominations live on Fox19, and I realized that I haven’t seen most of the movies up for best picture. Before the nominations came out I’d only seen two, Inception and Toy Story 3. Both very good. So, my fiancé Tom and I made a pact to go see as many movies as we can before the Oscars on February 27th. First one down, The Kings Speech. We went this past Tuesday afternoon, after Frank Marzullo suggested we all go see it. I heard a lot of good things about the movie, and it was one I had wanted to see for awhile, so I was excited to go see it. I can safely say now It’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in the theatre in a long time. I’m ready to buy the movie and soundtrack. It brought my favorite things together, history and music. Colin Firth was excellent in the role of King George VI. I’m really pulling for him to win best actor, although I guess I should see the other movies first before commenting. All I have to say is that the other actors have a hill to climb to beat Firth’s role in my opinion. Guess I know what I’ll be doing this weekend, watching movies! Up next… True Grit, The Kids Are Alright , and The Fighter.

Rockin' The Reeboks

How does my backside look?

Sheila here. Don't answer that! It's a hypothetical question for the 'blog only! But here's the thing. I really think my Reebok EasyTone shoes are helping my thighs and backside. Is it all in my mind? Maybe.

Ric, Katie, and Eric bought me a pair of EasyTones for my birthday last year. The scientist who came up with these body balancing shoes is a former NASA engineer. Reebok claims four out of five women studied got tighter backsides and hamstrings from exercising in the trendy kicks. And as you can imagine, women started snapping the shoes off of store shelves.

My friend Jan started wearing them while cleaning the house and taking walks around her neighborhood. She swore they were working. I got my birthday pair and starting wearing them to the gym. My trainer, Ennis at Five Seasons, said the balance balls built into the shoes would be a nice add-on to my exercise routine. I think my balance has improved, and I'll say this. There's a ton of cushion in the shoes, so my feet always feel fantastic when I'm wearing them.

Since Reebok made its initial claim, a lot of articles have pointed out that Reebok only used five women in the study, and exercise experts have poo-poo'd the findings. However, Harvard psychologist Ellen J. Langer has studied the connections between mindfulness, exercise and health. She told the New York Times, "It will probably result in even more walking, with the implicit and explicit virtues endemic to exercise." (Translation: if we feel good about it, we'll do it!)

I bought my second pair of EasyTones during the after Christmas sales earlier this month, and I think the new version is even more comfortable than the old. I got pair #2 for a steal, just $35 dollars because they were on clearance. So if they're not making my bottom line more firm, that's okay. I feel good about wearing them, and if I feel better about working out because of a little help from my shoes, that can't be a bad thing.

Italian Traditions Part Duex

Obviously, I'm not Italian.

However Frank and his dad Frank Sr. allowed me to take part in their family tradition. We made sausage from scratch. It happened this past Saturday at Dr. Deb's house in Anderson Township. I was a little skeptical. How much fun can be had making sausage. Can't we just go to the store and buy some. Well, it was so really fun. Dr. Deb bought 20-pounds of meat from Kroger and Son's at Findlay Market. It was seasoned into two batches, one spicy one sweet. I was the best sausage ever, probably because I saw the entire process. So thank you to Frank Sr. and to Dr. Deb and her husband Max for hosting. Dr. Deb put together this video that documents the evening which was capped off by watching "The Godfather II" In my opinion, one of the few movies where the sequel tops the original. You can find Dr. Deb's video on my facebook page www.facebook.com/RobWxix

Italian Traditions

Good Monday Morning Everyone, Frank Marzullo....As long as I can remember at least once a winter my father and other relatives get together on a Saturday afternoon to make homemade Italian sausage, and I mean HOMEMADE. This weekend my dad brought his talents to Anderson TWP. where a bunch of my work friends and non-work friends gathered for a day of celebration and fun. It starts with pounds and pounds of pork butt! You need to remove the bone and then cut it up into chunks leaving some of the fat on the meat because that will add flavor to the sausage. Then you grind the pork butt up and season it with whatever you fancy. We prefer fennel, salt, pepper, garlic, romano cheese, and basil. You can also add some red pepper flakes to kick it up a notch. Once it is grinded you take your casings that have been soaking all night and you start the stuffing process. It is a very delicate process because you do not want to break your casing. Before you even start to stuff it you want to fry up a patty to see how it tastes and to decide if you need more seasoning. It's a pretty lengthy event but the actual sausage comes secondary to the atmosphere. You must first have plenty of red wine on hand, then you need the Italian classics playing in the background, and a large anti-pasta plate. Yep, you need a variety of cheese, Italian lunch meats, and olives. Finally the day would not be complete without The Godfather playing on repeat in the background, something about that music gets you in the mood and makes you feel like your in the old country. Stay tuned Rob will talk about how people came together on this historic day!! ha

The "NEED" for a vacation!

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING EVERYBODY!

Dan Wells writing....I hope this note finds you well and in good spirits!

I talked about the "NEED" for a vacation last week in my blog....with that said here are some tips I found about a family vacation that I thought you guys might want to check out!

Finding the best family vacation spots depends on your family, but still, there are important things every family should look for before booking a trip.

These five questions will arm you with the right information to ensure you and your kids have the best family vacation ever!

1. How much can we spend?

This may seem like a no-brainer, but knowing how much you can spend on not just the hotel and airfare/gas, but the whole shebang, is imperative. You may find that an all-inclusive resort is a better choice for your family, or that you should stay at a less expensive hotel so you have more to spend on adventure and learning activities.

2. Does the hotel offer freebies for kids?

Good family hotels want you and your family, and they want you bad. When choosing your hotel, ask about or research whether or not the hotel offers freebies for kids. Not only can these perks be tie-breakers when you're debating two places, but their very presence means that the hotel staff won't roll their eyes when they see your brood. The best family vacation spots love families.

3. What will we do there?

Whether you're planning a beach resort trip or a sightseeing excursion to Europe, the best family vacation spots have so many things to do, you won't be able to do it all. Have a talk with your family ahead of time about what activities you all want to do -- this can be an excellent lesson in compromise and "trying new things" for the little ones. Knowing what your family wants to do in advance will help you budget and schedule the trip, and it will help you choose money-saving packages and even hotel locations.

4. How much does the childcare cost?

Hotels always either have, or can recommend, childcare or babysitters to watch your kids. You and your spouse or significant other will want (and deserve) time alone during the trip and should plan to have at least one dinner on your own. Ask how much the childcare costs at a hotel before making your decision. In the some of best family vacation spots, it's free!

5. What will we learn?

You can't go on vacation every day, so don't waste the opportunity for your kids (and even yourself) to learn something outside of their normal realm of awareness. The best family vacation spots have programs for kids, whether it's museum tours or ecological learning centers. Or, maybe you can all learn a new skill, like scuba diving or snowboarding, together. Just make sure you all come back knowing something you didn't know -- that's the kind of family vacation memory that truly lasts a lifetime.

Here's to some sort of vacation for you and your family in 2011.
Dan