Brunhoff's Modernity

Just found these while trolling aimlessly through another's visual archives, and they're darn unique ... especially for postcards. I can't stop staring at the first one. So good...

View back of card here.

View back of card here.

• Read about Brunhoff and his contributions to our city here, and an interesting article on his packaging designs here.

Rename Cincinnati's Newest "Neighborhood"

Hopping onto "The Banks" renaming-bandwagon, I just thought I'd move this little tidbit along to those of you haven't heard (source: The Banks Blog & Business Courier):

Vote on a potentially new name for The Banks.

I like that they've already narrowed it down to four options, on top of the fact they're hinting that the associations with the current name reside in the mud. Here are the four choices:

Parkside • Riverfront District • Park District • The Banks

My selection: It was a good idea to leave the current name in there, because along with being the current crowd favorite, it also saves on rebranding everything. Parkside and Park District sound too Buckhead-ish to me, and honestly, any neighborhood with the word "park" in it should reside near one of the city's storied parks (i.e. Eden). Our city's park system has a rich history, and the most notable ones lie inland - I just can't make the connection with riverfront. Thus, I picked Riverfront District. It's not flashy, and doesn't have that staccato ring to it like The Banks, but it does remind me of the Riverfront Stadium glory days, while being helpfully obvious to out-of-towners, newbloods, and the like. I do like the The Banks, and honestly, I wouldn't mind if they kept it, but a new name with the new steel going in makes a lot of sense.

The current results of the poll are here.

• NOTE: I'm not digging Sawyer Point or Friendship Park by any means, nor the planned Riverfront Park, because I think they're all great & necessary additions to downtown, but they didn't build the city's rich heritage, they've only followed in their footsteps. Personally, I've supported and followed almost all of the city parks, and encourage their continual beautification and growth, but as far as the renaming of the new district on the river is concerned, I associate "banks" and "riverfront" with it much more than "park". Read about the Cincinnati Parks history here.
 
• Update (3/6/9): A funny writeup over at The Banks Blog on rejected name suggestions, and many other discussions on this topic floating around, like at Quim's and Pepper's blog.

Around Town

Here are a couple of recently-written, local articles that are just outstanding (in my opinion) - check 'em out:

√ History: Queen City Discovery recently posted a great writeup on local, shuttered theaters. At first when seeing the headline, I thought it might be revisiting Allen J. Singer's content in Stepping Out in Cincinnati, but no - not right off the bat. After reliving some of memories of non-stadium-style seating, you're hit with a firsthand account of an OTR relic that shouldn't be missed - read it here.

QCD's excellent research and on-site reporting of the usually-forgotten local, built environment has made it top-fare in my blogroll. Here and here are a couple of my other favorites that demand attention.

√ Preservation: In related news, Kevin LeMaster (of the inveritable Building Cincinnati blog, who also writes for Soapbox Cincinnati), recently posted a great writeup on the Emery too - view it here - but, the focus for this post is on Soapbox in general. I've overlooked the site for far too long, but after seeing the recent posts by Kevin, and this incredible post by Casey Coston, no more.

√ Art: I haven't seen a lot of Brett Harper's work, but what I have seen, I really, really like - he is, of course, the son of Charley and Edie. A recent Fabulous Frames & Art post on Brett's work here.

There are a ton of other great daily posts and blurbs by other local sites (listed in the sidebar). Note: This post was developed in the tradition of Visualingual's interesting, weekly Elsewhere posts.