Ballerina on the Coffee Table

I am a Benjamin Plattner, what does that mean? Who knows?!?! Occasional musings about a bountiful cornucopia of topical somethings from whatever appears out of the ether on a given day.

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Perk #174 of spending a night at the Hampton Inn Evansville airport; prime view of the WWE jet so you can walk that aisle with style and profile #woooo #peopleschamp #hulkamania #sweetlife #ultimatewarrior #slimjim

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I recently got to visit OTR-based startup ChoreMonster who are currently riding a huge wave of momentum following a four-month stint in the Disney Accelerator in LA. Click on through to read my interview with Choremonster CEO Chris Bergman. http://bit.ly/1uFm3fR (at Choremonster)

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TV on the Radio: Love Stained Troubles

Lior Phillips scoops into the mulch and connects with thriving souls.

“To be only interested in yourself or the things you’re achieving is wrong. It is only when you start to completely lose yourself to the ebb and flow of everything in life that you find transformation.” 

This album - like everything else TVOTR - is damn fine, damn fine indeed. 

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Cincinnati is in the middle of a musical renaissance. Ben Cochran is playing a big part in that momentum with his Soap Floats Recording studio in the Columbia-Tusculum neighborhood.

I sat down with Ben for @soapboxcincy a few weeks back. Check out there interview at the link - http://bit.ly/1tDaBvO

#cincinnati #soapboxcincy #cincymusic #audiophile #music #

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Might be dreary outside, but damned if I'm not doing the Blueberry Dale Cooper out the door today.

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“Just because somebody hears something you say, or reads something that you write, doesn’t mean you’ve reached them.”

Frank Zappa to Dave Rothman in Oui Magazine 1979

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First and foremost I am absolutely distraught that The Really Big Questions isn't going to be a permanent fixture during the lunch time WVXU schedule. The hour of radio they played today on stories and the human species inescapable, insatiable need to compose everything into story form was amazing. I know people use terms like amazing and awesome waaaaaay too much in this country, but fie on them because this is the real deal.

Personally I am constantly trying to put things in my personal life into some sort of story context and I know that is ridiculous. The danger is our need for beginning, middle and end leads to situations like the current political or media environment. All about the narrative! Control the narrative! Which is how we lost sight of actual discourse and meaningful discussion. Lemmingization. Even worse is the sinking feeling of lacking control over your "story" which is a slippery slope-and-a-half.

In the words of the legendary story man Levar Burton "Don't take my word for it". Check the link out yourself, the hour of radio has been broken down into multiple short podcasts so pick and chose.

I especially enjoy the E.O. Wilson portion - I'm a sucker for evolutionary biology and sucker for stories. Combine them and it's good night Mary Beth for yours truly.

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... a tape deck, some Creedence tapes, and there was uh, uh my briefcase. All you really need for a road trip except the @roadtrippers app. I sat down with CEO James Fisher to find out how the Roadtrippers team is improving the travel experience one road at time. http://bit.ly/1vMI7op #roadtrippers #cincinnati #soapboxcincy #travel #roadtrip #otr

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Martin Scorsese to direct Ramones biopic

40th anniversary celebration also includes a documentary, book, reissues, and more.

Someone put me in touch with Scorsese's people asap I've been waiting for the opportunity to play Dee Dee and it is finally here! Time to get Hollywood.

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Just found this pic from that time Violet and I took a wrong turn during a walk and ended up in a barren, post-apocalyptic wasteland full of cannibals and maniacs. #tbt #dogsofinstagram #whatthehelljusthappened #roadwarrior #takeahike

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Prepare For 'The Simpsons' Marathon With Interviews From The 'Fresh Air' Archives

Starting Thursday, FXX will air all 552 episodes of The Simpsons in the longest single-series marathon in TV history. Fresh Air listens backs to interviews with the show's creator, writers and actors.

"Me fail English? That's unpossible!"

"Then the doctor told me BOTH my eyes were lazy! And that's why it was the best summer ever."

"Let's go crazy - Broadway style!" 

"Unshrink you? Well that would require some sort of a Rebigulator, which is a concept so ridiculous it makes me want to laugh out loud and chortle..."

"Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such self-help videos as "Smoke Yourself Thin" and "Get Confident, Stupid."

"Well, if it isn't my old friend, Mr. McGreg, with a leg for an arm, and an arm for a leg."

"Ow, my eye! I'm not supposed to get pudding in it."

"I was saying "Boo-urns."

"Homer, you're as dumb as a mule and twice as ugly. If a strange man offers you a ride, I say take it!"

"You must love this country more than I love a cold beer on a hot Christmas morning."

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How to Fight Loneliness

Why Jeff Tweedy set aside his Wilco responsibilities for his first solo project, which features his drumming son, Spencer.

Great piece by Grantland's music guru Steven Hyden. Personally been pretty heavy into 'the Wilco' lately and very eager to hear more from Tweedy. Hadn't realized it had been ten years since A Ghost is Born came out earlier this year, but for whatever reason that album has been on constant play for months and months. Must be in a state or something. Either way this profile does a great job of breaking down all the emotion and love that went into making  Sukierae while also depicting what a fantastic relationship Tweedy and his son (and drum prodigy) Spencer. Everything I have heard off the record to this point is fantastic and really looking forward to taking it all in. 

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Premature Evaluation: Spoon They Want My Soul

There's a moment on Spoon's new song Outlier where Britt Daniel sneaks a sharp splinter of film criticism into one of the tough, terse, personal songs that

Can't wait to get hold of this and wear it out

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Lunch well spent standing with @saveouricons #savingplaces #speakforus. Let the people decide. These buildings are our shared history. They are us. (at Hamilton County Courthouse)

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McDonald: Don't kick can on iconic buildings

Let the public vote and decide the fate of Union Terminal and Music Hall in November.

Preach Bob McDonald (something I am surprised to see myself type, but when you're right your're right). Save Our Icons

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Immigration Lunacy Down in Arizona

Give me your tired, your poor...

The irony of the madhouse behavior along our border is hard to really wrap one's head around at times. The screamed-at-the-top-of-one's-lungs, rabid dog bird flu berating and hostility toward children trying to escape from desperate, bleak and violent conditions is one of the more abhorrent things I have seen in some time, which is saying a lot.

Hard not to feel ashamed. 

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I'll take my coffee with a side of wookie you scruffy looking nerf herder. Han Solo mug is like having breakfast in the break room of the Millennium Falcon. #starwars #hansolo #coffee #nerdalert #carbonite #cityflea (at millennium falcon)