This weekend I was reading an article in the Economist about the rise in murder rates in mid-sized American cities. The article compared Minneapolis to New York, so I decided to see how my favorite mid-sized city (Cincinnati) did in 2005. With a population of 308,728, Cincinnati had 79 murders. That works out to about 25.6 murders per 100,000 people. San Francisco had 739,426 people and 96 murders (12.8 murders per 100,000). New York City had 528 murders, but their population is 8,104,079, so they only had 6.5 murders per 100,000. The national average is 5.5 per 100,000. Now just because Cincinnati had a murder rate four times higher than New York City doesn’t mean it’s the most dangerous place to live in America. That honor goes to Philadelphia suburb of Camden, New Jersey. “Most dangerous” is a composite of six crime statistics (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft) and I only have 2004 numbers for that. Cincinnati is #20 on that list (more dangerous that Oakland, but less dangerous than Compton). 25 Most Dangerous U.S. Cities

1. Camden N.J.
2. Detroit, Mich.
3. St. Louis, Mo.
4. Flint, Mich.
5. Richmond, Va.
6. Baltimore, Md.
7. Atlanta, Ga.
8. New Orleans, La.
9. Gary, Ind.
10. Birmingham, Ala.
11. Richmond, Calif.
12. Cleveland, Ohio
13. Washington, DC
14. West Palm Beach, Fla.
15. Compton, Calif.
16. Memphis, Tenn.
17. Dayton, Ohio
18. San Bernardino, Calif.
19. Springfield, Mass.
20. Cincinnati, Ohio
21. Oakland, Calif.
22. Dallas, Tex.
23. Newark, N.J.
24. Hartford, Conn.
25. Little Rock, Ark.

Sorry, to be on such a downer kick, but I just found out that Over-the-Rhine (the neighborhood where I lived and worked in Cincinnati) made the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 2006 list of the America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. Again, sad stuff. However, it could mean big business and government preservation funding for the area.

Around a million people turned out at May Day, immigration protests today. Christine saw wall to wall people all the way down Market Street (photo looking east, photo looking west). Los Angeles saw an estimated 300,000 people marching to city hall. I just had to check how Cincinnati’s newspaper (The Enquirer) was covering the story. Keep in mind Cincinnati is a pretty big city with around a million people in the metro area. But of course, nine hours after the demonstrations, there was not a single mention of the nation-wide protests on the home page and they led with this story. Yeah, reality shows!

Just once I wish that Cincinnati (my hometown) would make the national news with a nice, normal story instead of something like this. The video with the coroner interview is really bad.

Last Updated December 31, 2006

This is a running list of all the concerts and music events I can remember attending over the years. It is only vaguely chronological. I put it together a few months ago to try to show off and reminisce a little bit.

1. Tom Petty – Greek Theater, Berkeley
2. Ozric Tentacles and Particle – Fillmore, SF
3. Le Poème Harmonique – First Congregational Church
4. Mark Levine Trio – Jazzschool, Bekeley
5. Brad Mehldau Trio and Bill Frisell Quintet – Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley
6. Fishtank Ensemble – Frieght and Salvage, Berkeley
7. The Warlocks, Gris Gris, Boobonic Plague – The Independent, SF
8. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival – Golden Gate Park, SF
9. Ravi and Anushka Shankar – Memorial Opera House, SF
10. Shonen Knife – Slim’s, SF
11. Tino Corporation – Elbo Room, SF
12. David Byrne – Fillmore, SF
13. Lovemakers – Cafe Du Nord, SF
14. Galactic – Tipitinas, New Orleans
15. Philip Glass, Bang on the Can – Symphony, SF
16. Air – Paramount, Oakland
17. R.E.M. – Shoreline, Mountainview
18. Maceo Parker – Fillmore, SF
19. John Scofield – Yoshi’s, Oakland
20. Amon Tobin – Bimbo’s 365, SF
21. Beck, Flaming Lips – Paramount, Oakland
22. Grandmaster Flash – Kelly’s Mission Rock, SF
23. Stereolab – Fillmore, SF
24. Lovemakers – Ivy Room, Albany
25. “Kraftwerk”, Del, etc. – Cow Palace
26. Grandaddy, Super Furry Animals – Fillmore, SF
27. Belle and Sebastian – Greek Theater, Berkeley
28. Peanut Butter Wolf – Justice League, SF
29. Volksfest, Stuttgart
30. Club Rex, Paris
31. Sonic Youth, Stereolab – Aragon Ballroom, Chicago
32. Orbital, Low Fi Allstars – Bill Graham Civic, SF
33. Full Moon Party – Panang Island, Thailand
34. MTV Wow! Party – ?, Bangkock, Thailand
35. Hardkiss – Twilo, NYC
36. DJ Food – Coney Island High, NYC
37. Vampiros Lesbos – ?, NYC
38. John Aquaviva, DJ Hypractive – ?, Chicago
39. Chemical Brothers, “The Orb” – ?, Chicago
40. Sister Machine Gun – Nemesis, Ft. Lauderdale
41. Hallorave – Tunnel, NYC
42. Plasikman – ?, Lousiville
43. Rabbit in the Moon – ?, Miami
44. Oz Fest, Ozzy, Megadeath, Tool, Limp Biscuit – ?, Columbus
45. Spice Girls – River Bend, Cincinnati
46. Cincinnati Symphony (Dvorak) – Cincinnati, Music Hall
47. Dave Brubeck – Aronoff Center, Cincinnati
48. Sri Chinmoy – Zimmer Hall, Cincinnati
49. Cincinnati Opera (Madame Butterfly) – Cincinnati, Music Hall
50. Camping Rave – Outside St. Louis
51. De La Soul, Roots – UC Field, Cincinnati
52. Split Night Camping Rave – State Park / Private Campground, Northern Kentucky
53. Horse Park Rave – Lexington
54. Warehouse Rave – St. Louis
55. Lollapolooza, Beastie Boys, George Clinton, Breeders – River Bend
56. Duran Duran, Modern English, Chris Issac – Sawer Point, Cincinnati
57. Neil Young, Sonic Youth, Social Distortion – Cincinnati Gardens, Cincinnati
58. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young – River Bend, Cincinnati
59. Pieces of a Dream – Fountain Square, Cincinnati
60. Hewy Lewis, Fabulous Thunderbirds – River Bend, Cincinnati
61. Beach Boys – Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
62. Gwar – Bogarts, Cincinnati
63. Meat Beat Manifesto, Consolidated – Bogarts, Cincinnati
64. Meat Beat Manifesto, ? – Bogarts, Cincinnati
65. MC 900 Foot Jesus – Bogarts, Cincinnati
66. Flaming Lips, Looper – Bogarts, Cincinnati
67. Freakbase – Bogarts, Cincinnati
68. Tribe Called Quest – Bogarts, Cincinnati
69. KMFDM – Bogarts, Cincinnati
70. Pigface – Bogarts, Cincinnati
71. Beastie Boys – Bogarts, Cincinnati
72. Bad Brains – Bogarts, Cincinnati
73. Shane Mc Gawen and the Popes – Bogarts, Cincinnati
74. DeeLite – Bogarts, Cincinnati
75. Insane Clown Possee – Bogarts, Cincinnati
76. My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult – Bogarts, Cincinnati
77. Cake – Bogarts, Cincinnati
78. De La Soul – Bogarts, Cincinnati
79. Squirrel Nut Zippers, Dirty Dozen Brass Band – Bogarts, Cincinnati
80. Firehose – Bogarts, Cincinnati
81. Ween – Bogarts, Cincinnati
82. S.O.D. – Bogarts, Cincinnati
83. Medeski, Martin, & Wood – Bogarts, Cincinnati
84. Moby – Sycamore Gardens, Cincinnati
85. Stereolab, Chicago Underground Duo – Southgate House, Covington
86. Tigerlillies – Southgate House, Covington
87. Grandaddy – Southgate House, Covington
88. Big Ass Truck – ?, Cincinnati
89. Insane Clown Possee – Top Cats, Cincinnati
90. Dick Dale – Top Cats, Cincinnati
91. Sister Machine Gun – Sudsy’s
92. Hogscrapper – Top Cat’s
93. Iswat, ?(Torch Singer, dancers) – Top Cat’s