Drumline Live!

Band is Cool.

Good Tuesday morning everyone. Rob here.

Drumline Live! is an explosive show created by the music team behind the hit movie "Drumline. Bruce Davis loves this movie BTW. It transports the African American marching band tradition from the playing field to the stage. The show features high energy performers in the show style marching band tradition of America's top Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This versatile group of musicians, dancers and vocalists is bringing their show to Cincinnati tonight at the Aronoff Center. The music includes the sounds of Africa, Motown, Gospel, Swing and Hip Hop. However the star of the show is the drumline. The showdown of rhythm and speed between the "lines" will amaze audience with its pulsing force. Tickets cost anywhere from $25 to $42. They're still available. Tickets are half price for students. For more information call (513) 621-ARTS.

Sleepy??

Good Morning and Happy FRIDAY.

Dan Wells writing, I'm going to guess unless a microwave dinner was your Thanksgiving feast, you probably have had firsthand experience with the after-dinner fatigue that sets in after the meal.

But did you ever wonder why you wanted to take a nap?

To escape the dishes?

Perhaps, but the meal itself plays a big part in the way you feel.

The turkey is often cited as the culprit in afterdinner lethargy, but the truth is that you could omit the bird altogether and still feel the effects of the feast.

According to medical experts....turkey does contain L-tryptophan, an essential amino acid with a documented sleep inducing effect. L-tryptophan is used in the body to produce the B-vitamin, niacin. Tryptophan also can be metabolized into serotonin and melatonin, neurotransmitters that exert a calming effect and regulates sleep.

However, L-tryptophan needs to be taken on an empty stomach and without any other amino acids or protein in order to make you drowsy. There's lots of protein in a serving of turkey and it's probably not the only food on the table.

It's worth noting that other foods contain as much or more tryptophan than turkey (0.333 g of tryptophan per 100 gram edible portion), including chicken (0.292 g of tryptophan per 100 gram edible portion), pork, and cheese.

As everybody knows...It takes a great deal of energy to digest a large meal. When your stomach is full, blood is directed away from other organ systems, including your nervous system.

The result?

You will feel the need to snooze after any big meal, particularly if it is high in fats and carbohydrates.

So, why are you sleepy after a big turkey dinner? It's a combination of the type of food, amount of food, and celebratory atmosphere.

Happy Thanksgiving! Dan Wells FOX 19 NEWS

I Am Thankful

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." -- Mother Teresa

Hi, it's Sheila.
Today I am thankful. Thankful that I live in America, thankful that I have a career I love, friends who support me, and thankful for a place to live and food to eat. But most of all, I am thankful for my faith and my family.

Today we will travel to see part of my husband Ric's family in Morehead, Kentucky, where his mother grew up, and where Ric spent summers during his childhood with his grandparents. Tomorrow, we'll head up to Sidney, Ohio to see my parents and my brothers, Jeff and Jim and their families. It's not possible to be with all of our family members, who are spread from Illinois to Texas to Connecticut, but I am grateful to have such a big family. It means lots and lots of love in my life and in my children's lives.

Many years ago, my father-in-law Robbie was visiting for Thanksgiving, and he supervised while I made Ric's grandmother's Sage Stuffing for the first time. Alice and Albert William Frederic Robinson, Senior owned a restaurant in Naugatuck, Connecticut, and it was passed down to Robbie and my mother-in-law, Pat. Robbie joined the Army Air Corps during World War Two and tested some of America's first jets, but when his superiors learned how talented he was in the kitchen, they also put him to work feeding his fellow service members. Ric spent a lot of time in the restaurant when he was a kid, and this stuffing, first made my his grandmother and then his mother, is one of his favorites.

I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you have a blessed, wonderful, warm Thanksgiving.

Grandmother Robinson's Sage Stuffing
2 celery stalks finely chopped
2 sweet onions chopped
3 small apples (gala) peeled and sliced (I use 2 if they're big)
1 lb. Sage sausage

Brown sausage with heaping amount of black pepper, salt and more sage, plus a pinch of nutmeg.

Add other ingredients and simmer until apples are soft. Let cool.

Add this mixture to a package of Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing, made according to directions on bag.
Cook in turkey or for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Goodbye

Farewell, FOX19 viewers!

It’s not without some sadness that I find myself writing my final blog for FOX19. Hi, it's Meghan. :)

Wow. It's hard to believe this is my last day. It went by so fast. I guess that's a sign I enjoyed my five years here at FOX19.

It was a little more than five years ago that I signed on as a WXIX reporter, coming from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. I was so thrilled to be able to come to Cincinnati and live in a big city. Living and working here has been all that I hoped it would be and more. That may sound cheesy but it's true. I have met so many great people and formed lasting friendships.

Me with my new co-anchor, Pete Scalia

Reporting for FOX19 allowed me to cover an important breaking news story one day and hang on a trapeze to showcase a circus in town the next. It's a job that's hard to leave. But being a morning anchor was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. I am excited to join the ABC22/FOX45 team in Dayton where I’ll co-anchor alongside Pete Scalia.

I want to thank everyone so much for watching my colleagues and me at FOX19 the past several years. Live TV can certainly be an adventure, but we enjoy what we do and work hard to deliver a quality product every day. I hope it shows.

Top 10 things I’ll miss (and a few I won’t – you’ll have to guess which are which):

1. My close friends on the show and my main photographer Dale.
2. The camaraderie behind the scenes, like chatting with Sheila while we put finishing touches on our makeup.
3. Rob’s cornucopia of strange morning foods like beef jerky, watermelon, Greek yogurt, and popcorn.
4. Frank’s annoyingly chipper attitude at 3:30 AM.
5. Live shots at GABP when Reds fans camp out for Opening Day Tickets, and Opening Day itself.
6. Getting out of the warm FOX19 truck to do a live hit in the cold – 8 times per morning!
7. Setting up at our four favorite live locations: the courthouse, CVG, the police station and… the salt pile.
8. Watching countless salt trucks get refilled during bad weather at the aforementioned salt pile.
9. Dressing up in a German Dirndl for the start of Oktoberfest.
10. All the viewers who got up with us each morning and especially those who were so nice when I saw them around town.

Thanks everyone. I will really miss being on the air here in Cincy. I really appreciate your support. Remember I'm not too far away. You could buy a really strong antenna to watch me in Dayton!  :)  Best wishes and Happy Thanksgiving!

Bengals Blackout

The blackout actually turned out to be a good thing.

Good Tuesday morning. Rob here.

It was ugly Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium, but it didn't start that way.

As I was getting ready for the game, I asked myself, "Will I be too warm in a long sleeved t-shirt?"

That's a great question to ask in late November. I caught the Monks bus down, and like a lot of Bengals fans I was hopeful. They were facing off against the Buffalo Bills. A team with fewer wins than the Bengals. The stadium was actually fuller than I expected. In the first half, they were playing well. We were cheering ALOT. Carson was playing well. Benson was running well. We kept saying, "They're playing well, but its the Bills." Nevertheless, happy that the Bengals entered the locker room with a 31 to 17 lead. Then it happened. A huge collapse. One of the biggest I have ever seen. Everything was falling apart. The offense could and didn't score and the defense couldn't stop Fitzpatrick and the offense. Before Sunday, the Bengals have never been outscored 30 to 0 in a half. Final score 49 to 31. Take a look at the picture I took in the beginning of the 4th quarter. A virtually empty Paul Brown Stadium. I hear some of the fans walked out wearing their Bengals jersey inside out. Who can blame them. Talked with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com yesterday morning on the Fox19 Morning News. He said the players don't want to be embarrassed this Thursday against the Jets. I say, after losing their 7th straight, it's maybe too late for that.

Up...Up...And Away...

Good Morning Everyone...Frank Here...It was up, up, and away this Saturday in Eden Park. The annual Balluminaria took place around Mirror lake and officials say they had record crowds. Over 4,000 people showed up for the event which many call the official kick off of the holiday season here in Cincinnati. In addition to Santa the little kiddos lined up for the always popular balloon animals. I attended the event with our reporter Corey McConnell and her husband and children. This is such a cool event, you can actually interact with the balloons and there crews, you can get up close and personal and actually feel the heat from the giant flames that keep these large balloons flying high. The real cap off the event is when all the balloons line up in place surrounding mirror lake and for 30 minutes they light there flames in a orchestrated time frame which provides photographers with stunning pictures. If you have not made it to this event in it's 15 year plus run I highly recommend you bring your families next year.

It's time for the next Harry Potter Movie!

Good morning Everyone!

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

So I woke up a bit early this morning to check out the hype of Harry Potter. YES, I'm a fan of the books and series and YES...I was one of those people who stood in line and went to see the premier of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1,"

Ok here's the deal Harry, Hermione and Ron don't spend ANY TIME in Hogwarts but it actually just fine....the movie in my opinion is great!

In this next-to-last installment in the "Harry Potter" franchise, the story rushes ahead and it takes the young heroes (Harry, Hermione and Ron) across a desolate England that's almost post-apocalyptic.

I needless to say thought the shooting or filming was pretty cool.

"Part 1" is a quest story. An on-the-run thriller, drama and moving exploration of loyalty.
There's a ton to take-in, including an early, mind-bending scene featuring multiple Harry Potters (I lost count) in one room. And the infiltration of the Ministry of Magic is just plain cool. The scene starts off comical, turns thrilling, and ends up poignant.

I don't want to give away the movie but I have to tell you that it ends at a perfectly logical place that left me dying for July 15 (that the next movie "Part 2" to arrive.

If you're a Harry Potter fan you will like this movie...it sticks to the book for the most part....if you're not a fan...sorry I just wasted your time.

Have a great weekend.
Dan