By Keith Mitchell on 7/22/2008 12:22 PM

Thanks to Ed Hartmann and everyone with Furniture Fair for inviting me to play in the Celebrity Golf Tournament at the TPC course at RIversbend Monday.  The tournament benefitted the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. 

Yes, I was the "celebrity" in my group (stop laughing) and we were bad, really bad.  The tournament was a scramble and usually most groups finish at least a couple strokes under par since the group uses the best shot each time.  We finished over par, way over par.  But it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed playing with Mike, Nancy and Billy Ray from Serta and Peggy from Furniture Fair. 

As for the course, it was brutal.  I lost at least 10 golf balls.  The course is set up for pros, and if you leave the fairway, you get in trouble, often not being able to retrieve the ball.  The greens were unbelievable and gave me a true appreication for what pro golfers are able ... Read More »

By Keith Mitchell on 7/17/2008 1:45 PM

Come listen to a story about my backyard shed...

This started about six years ago when I had sliding glass patio doors installed and some french doors taken out.  Instead of throwing the french doors away, I decide to install them on my backyard shed, which was in bad shape.  I was using a tarp as a door, so these glass doors would class it up, right?  My wife laughed as I am no carpenter but I pursued my dream and after a weekend's worth of work, I had installed the doors.  One coat of paint later, my terrible carpentry was hidden (unless you got close) and I had a conversation piece.

Fast forward to last fall when my 13-year old son decided to use a baseball bat to remove black walnuts from the yard.  You guessed it, he put one into the glass on the shed's french doors.  These doors had survived numerous bangings, storms and my clumsiness.  Fortunately he only broke one pane so the shed survived w ... Read More »

By Keith Mitchell on 7/14/2008 4:24 PM

Back on my regular 2-6pm time slot after filling in last week for Chris and Janeen.  One thing I'm doing once my kids are out of the house is to go on a vacation like they took to England.  (If I can afford the air fare 9 years from now.)

While I was walking downtown to get some lunch, a woman yelled "nice shirt" at me out her car window.  How exactly do you respond to that?  I didn't make the shirt so I don't really think its a compliment.  I laughed and said "thanks."  Whatever.

If you listen while I'm doing mornings, you might know that I like to cook.  Tried a new recipe for chile'-lime marinated chicken.  It was great - look for the recipe at www.allrecipes.com if you're interested.

 

 

By Keith Mitchell on 7/11/2008 2:37 PM

This week filling in for Chris and Janeen flew by.  We didn't get to go to England with them but the updates they sent every day were very cool. 

We had teen actor Josh Hutcherson in Friday - what a great, engaging you man.  Go see his new movie "Journey To The Center of the Earth", it's in digital 3D and getting pretty good reviews.  Refreshing to see a young actor who's level-headed, polite, witty and proud of where he's from (Union, KY). 

Also, Chef Debby Spangler is your go to chef if you're having an event and need delicious food and want to impress your guests.  She brought in a marinated pork tenderloin and creamy dill potato salad for us.  I think J.D. is still eating the tenderloin.  Check out her recipes through the link on Chris and Janeen's page.

Thanks for putting up with us for the week, C&J return Monday. 

By Keith Mitchell on 7/7/2008 10:34 AM

J.D. Hughes and I are filling in for Chris and Janeen while they're on vacation in England.  Technology is amazing - they're using an Ipod to record their updates from England and we get them minutes later.

The 4th of July was weird with the cool weather.  No cooling off for the number of people in my neighborhood who set off what looked like professional grade fireworks.  I dropped $75 on some backyard fireworks and felt like I wasted a bunch of cash.  I can't imagine spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on something I'm going to burn up in my backyard.  To each his/her own I guess.

Thanks to the Germania Society for inviting my family and I to their annual picnic.  I'll be the honorary Burgermeister at this year's Oktoberfest 8/22-24 at Germania Park.  It's my favorite family event of the year - hope to see you there.

 

 

By Keith Mitchell on 7/1/2008 12:21 PM

I watched the Nelson Mandela concert on VH1 Monday night to see Queen with new lead singer Paul Rodgers (of Bad Co. and Free fame).  I thought he sounded okay, definitely not Freddie Mercury.

On the other hand, the concert special featured three songs by Amy Winehouse, who looked and sounded like she belonged back in the hospital.  A complete, mumbling mess  Another Queen song instead of that beehived eyesore would have been appreciated.

I also got pretty tired of seeing Will Smith's wife attached at his hip.  Will was doing his hip-hop thing and I said to my wife, "give it 30 seconds and his wife will be jumping on stage."  Sure enough, there she was jumping around like she stepped on a high voltage line.  Oh by the way, Smith has a new movie opening this week - but I'm sure that was just a coincidence. 

By Keith Mitchell on 6/27/2008 12:03 PM

Cheers - Panegyri Greek Festival in Finneytown.  One of the best in the Tri-state, lots of fun and different than your run of the mill festival.  Thanks to the Panegyri folks for dropping off the Greek goodies at the station.

Jeers - it seems redundant, but Chris Henry.  Pay for parking, dunce.

Jeers - Bronson "JTM" Arroyo and Aaron Harang.  What happened to these guys?  I never had much faith in JTM but Harang hasn't been himself since that 19-inning debacle in San Diego.

Cheers - the Friday cod special at Sunshine Fine Foods at Plum and Eighth downtown.  Best $5 lunch I know of and they do it every week.

Yup, sports and food, that about sums it up.

 

By Keith Mitchell on 6/24/2008 8:07 AM

-Pretty quiet week off that included a trip to Pittsburgh for a couple days to visit my parents and then taking my three kids to Cedar Point.  If you love amusement parks and roller coasters, this is the place.  We've been to all the parks in Orlando and have Kings Island season passes but Cedar Point is the place to go if you love coasters.  I hadn't been there in 26 years and it was amazing how little it has changed yet has added so many attractions.  A long drive back on the same day though.

-Could ODOT have more projects going on in Cincinnati and Dayton?  On my trip back from Sanduskey, I-75 was closed at I-70 for the never ending construction up in the Gem City.  There was no warning, just a closure of one of America's main arteries.  Finish something ODOT, please.

-Played a couple rounds of golf and it continues to amaze me how inconsistent I can be one day to the next.  Sho ... Read More »

By Keith Mitchell on 6/11/2008 10:43 AM

-Ken Griffey Jr. surpassing 600 home runs has to be one of the most underhyped achievements in baseball.  I remember standing in a local watering hole watching the Griffey press conference in 2000 and how we talked about the great times ahead for the Reds.  D'oh!

-I never know what to tell my family to buy me for father's day.  I don't want any more tools, my golf bag is full (and I don't even play that much), I buy my own clothes, I don't wear cologne - how about a nice couple of cigars?  One year my kids gave me the worst looking golf shirt and I had to wear it a few times to be nice.  It was purple and green with golf balls and driving range buckets. 

-Not sure how we've been spared the great midwest floods like the folks in Iowa and Indiana have been suffering through.  A friend of mine in Iowa says entire towns are shut down from the flooding and its raining again.  Hang in there Hawke ... Read More »

By Keith Mitchell on 6/4/2008 2:01 PM

The new Aerosmith version of the video game Guitar Hero will be in stores June 29th.  You can pre-order your copy now from the official site. http://www.guitarherogame.com/ghaerosmith/

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is publicly supporting the Monkees getting into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.  More than 13,000 people have signed the online petition including Brian (I'm guessing).  Join the effort here:  http://www.petitiononline.com/Kretch07/petition.html