Bodybuilding!

I'm sure all of you folks out there in readerland are as into physical fitness as I am, right? Right?

So you probably already know that the deadline is quickly approaching to take part in the 2011 NPC Kentucky Bodybuilding, Physique, Figure & Bikini Championships, right?

The deadline to enter is February 21, and the event takes place on February 26 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, brought to you by National Physique Committee of Kentucky.


According to their website, there will be exhibitions of men's bodybuilding, women's bodybuilding, teen bodybuilding, bikini demonstration, and something called "open figure".

So, there's your public service health message for today, friends and neighbors. I'm off now to do some exercising myself - push-ups (the ice cream kind), donut-lifting, extreme respiratory endurance tests (cigar-smoking, some call it) and beer therapy.

The Phoenix Cafe

Here's a nice old postcard from a photo archive on the I Survived Covington group.

Oh, to have lived in the days of Covington's Phoenix Cafe (any relation to the one over the river in Cincinnati?) - a vaudeville house that, given the slightly seedy nature of the area, was probably closer to the realm of burlesque.

The Phoenix Cafe was located at the corner of Pike and Russell, and later became the Depot Cafe. In this incarnation, its name turned up in the legal case United States of America v. Sykes:

A bartender at the Depot Cafe testified that the three appellants would occasionally be together in the cafe and on one occasion told him while he was serving them drinks at a table that "they had a big job planned." Strunk testified that shortly before the arrest he and Preston were in the back room of the Depot Cafe and Sykes came back there and said, "I have the opportunity to make $5,000." Preston testified substantially the same, and added that Sykes wanted their opinion as to whether or not he should go through with it, whereupon Strunk said, "Well, if you are going to make $5,000, you must be going to rob a bank," to which Sykes replied, "Well, how did you know?". Sykes testified that he had been approached by some men to drive a car for them on a bank robbery and that he went to Strunk and Preston and had the conversation above referred to.

Currently the Welcome House is in this location.

Psychiatrist Goes Insane

From the Kentucky Inquirer:

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Patients of a northern Kentucky psychiatrist jailed on a charge he stabbed a woman with a sword have tried to keep appointments with him in jail. Kenton County jail Chief Deputy Scott Colvin said deputies have had to turn away several patients of Douglas Rank, charged last month with first-degree assault in an attack on 32-year-old woman.

Colvin told the Kentucky Enquirer that some patients have asked if they could drop off Rank's prescription pad at the jail so he could write their prescriptions.

Colvin said the requests have been denied, as prisoners are not allowed to practice their trade in jail.

At a hearing Tuesday, witnesses said the psychiatrist towered over his bloodied patient with a sword in both hands before he was distracted and had the weapon wrestled away from him.

And according to Broken Country:

According to the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure, Rank’s license is active this week, but is it set to expire on Sunday.

Rank, who is also board certified in internal medicine, had his license to practice medicine restricted by the board in 2001 it found that after he prescribed “high doses of narcotic prescriptions” to one patient while practicing in Lexington.

The Board of Medical Licensure found that Rank had given the patient 57 prescriptions over 14 months. Rank agreed to no longer treat the patient.

Rank also faced disciplinary action from the board in 2000 after he admitted he had sexual intercourse with another patient.

Covington's Futuro House

The Futuro House was a short-lived fad during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Okay, maybe it wasn't even a fad, because they only ever built 96 of these things.

With 525 square feet of living space, the Futuro House could supposedly accommodate 8 people, its press releases said. Hmmmm... maybe, but only if you're cozy and unclaustrophobic. These things seem more like children's playhouses to me. While it lacks the size and majesty of Berea's Spaceship School, it still possesses a certain space-opera charm.

The official reason given for the failure of Futuro is that the rising price of plastic during the mid-1970s oil crisis made production of the domed domiciles too expensive. Personally, I think the real reason is simply that no one wanted to live in a tiny plastic space pod.

Of the 96 Futuro houses originally sold, Wikipedia estimates only 60% still exist. We're fortunate to have one of them still intact in Kentucky, on Wright Street in Covington. See it on Google Maps Street View here.

Goetta

Goetta is a food item that's little known outside of areas historically populated by those with German ancestry. Here, it's most commonly found in the Northern Kentucky area and in a few select spots in Louisville. Over the river, it's hugely popular in Cincinnati, and it can also be found in several places in Southern Indiana.

What is it? It's highly seasoned ground meat (usually pork, sometimes pork and beef) mixed with steel-cut oats and onions. It's most commonly seen in a wrapped log, much in the same way polenta is offered, but also can be found in smaller sausage-like links.


In recent years, Goetta burgers and Goetta pizza have been growing in popularity at German-themed fairs, and it also has two fairs dedicated completely to it: the Glier's Goettafest is held every year in Newport, and the Original Goettafest is in Covington.

Dance of Death in Northern KY

Franz Liszt's Totentanz ("Dance of Death")is a symphonic piece for piano and orchestra, based on the Gregorian plainchant melody Dies Irae, but with dynamic stylistic innovations that approach atonal avant-garde. Liszt began work on the piece in 1838 and completed it in 1849; then tweaked it further in subsequent years.

Michael Chertock, faculty member at UC's College-Conservatory of Music, will perform "Totentanz" on piano with James R. Cassidy and the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra this weekend:

8 p.m. Saturday at Florence Baptist Church at Mount Zion

3 p.m. Sunday, Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington.


This Gregorian Chant-inspired program also includes Requiem by Maurice Duruflé, featuring the KSO Chorale and the Cincinnati Choral Society. Duruflé wrote it in 1947 as a tribute to his father. The piece, composed for mixed choir with mezzo-soprano and baritone soloists, exists in three different orchestrations: one for organ alone, one for organ with string orchestra, and one for organ and full orchestra.


Also on the bill for the evening: Aaron Jay Kernis’ Musica Celestis, inspired by the fascinating life of the 12th-century clairvoyant Hildegard von Bingen (pictured above). Hildegard is described by Wikipedia as "a Christian mystic, German Benedictine abbess, author, counselor, linguist, naturalist, scientist, philosopher, physician, herbalist, poet, channeller, visionary, composer, and polymath."

Tickets are $28 for A section seating and $23 for B section seating. B Section seating is further discounted for Seniors ($18) and students ($10). 859-431-6216 or visit the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra's website.

High Bridge

This railroad bridge crossing the Kentucky River between Jessamine and Mercer counties is simply known as "High Bridge".

It began in the 1850s as a suspension bridge with stone towers, designed by John A. Roebling (designer of the Roebling Suspension Bridge that takes you from Covington to Cincinnati, as well as the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC). That project went unfinished, however, and its remains were later revised with a cantilever design. At its completion in 1876, it was the first cantilever bridge in the United States and the tallest railroad bridge in the world.

The bridge was modified and expanded greatly in 1911, and then again in 1929. It's still in operation today, serving the Norfolk Southern Railway.

St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption

Not to be confused with Louisville's Cathedral of the Assumption, this is a Catholic Basilica located in Covington. The structure, laden with gargoyles, is one of our state's most amazing religious and architectural treasures.

The cathedral project was begun in 1984 by the Diocese of Covington's Bishop Camillus Paul Maes. Oddly, the construction was terminated in 1915, and remains incomplete and unfinished to this day. It is one of only 35 minor basilicas in the United States - Pope Pius XII elevated St. Mary's Cathedral to the rank of Minor Basilica on December 8, 1953. (There are only four Major Basilicas, all of which are in Rome.)

The interior of the cathedral contains murals by the great Kentucky artist Frank Duveneck, born in Covington.


Flickr user ucb411 has some truly amazing photos of the Basilica, apparently done in time-lapse so that the clouds seem to be moving, and at dusk for heightened contrast with the evening lighting. An example is below; click here to see more!

St. Patrick's, Taylor Mill, 1885

Found this lovely old photo, circa 1885, of St. Patrick Church located in Taylor Mill, KY (just outside of Covington). Submitted to Rootsweb via Mary Hammill.

Larry Vincent

One from our Creeps Records mp3 blog:


Born in California, Larry Vincent (no relation to the horror host) moved around the country plying his musicianly trade for many years in many places, including Chicago's Alamo Cafe in 1926, before settling down in Covington, KY in the late 30s, early 40s.

Larry arrived in Northern Kentucky at the peak of its decadent period, when the area was ruled by mobsters, strippers, prostitutes, card sharks, burlesque halls, and other such glorious sleaze. He took up a residency performing at Jimmy Brink's Lookout House, a supper club that was actually a front for an illegal casino. This became Larry's second home for years to come.


He formed Pearl Records, an odd label whose artist roster consisted almost entirely of Larry himself performing under many pseudonyms. This particular recording, "The Freckle Song", is one of his tamer outings, an almost Benny Bell-like novelty song based around rhymes that you think you will go one way but then go another, and the fact that its chorus "She's got freckles on her, but she's nice" sounds rather uncannily like "She's got freckles on her butt, she's nice."

People were easily amused in those days. Other puerile Larry Vincent gems include "I Took My Organ To The Party", "Sarah Sittin' In A Shoe Shine Shop", and "I Grow Gooey over Chop Suey".

Near the end of his life, Larry told radio host Dr. Demento:

At a time when sale or possession of records with the f-word and other indiscretions could get you arrested, I made records that were just risque enough to be slightly scandalous to Middle Americans, yet discreet enough to be acceptable to at least some mainstream record stores.

I did have some regional success as a pop crooner in the 1920s. In the late 1930s I collaborated with several established Tin Pan Alley songwriters. With Henry Tobias and Moe Jaffe I turned out one song that eventually became a semi-standard, "If I Had My Life To Live Over."

Larry Vincent - The Freckle Song

He died in 1977 in Forest Hills, KY (a suburb of Louisville).

The Ascent

What's the weirdest building in Kenton County? Probably The Ascent, an amazing avant-garde structure that looks like something out of a Weimar wet dream. Resembling an elegant staircase or a bridge to infinity, The Ascent is the creation of Studio Daniel Libeskind, who were commissioned to design it in 2004. The building was completed in Covington last year and is one of Kentucky's boldest and bravest buildings, architecturally speaking.


Their website states:

More than a luxury condominium, The Ascent is at once an aesthetic statement and a towering architectural achievement. Its signature arcing profile invites a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to be part of an exclusive community that literally lives in an original work of art.

Claim your reward in this magnificent, inspiring structure that soars upward, reaching to the sky.

Heck, they're just about talking me into it.

Arrests made in burned-body killing

Following up on our earlier post about a burning body found under a bridge in Cold Spring, KY, the Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that four people have so far been arrested in connection with the case.

Thursday night police arrested Marion Lawson Parker III in Arlington Heights, Ohio, said Covington Police Lt. Col. Spike Jones. Parker, 27, of Covington, who is known as "Timmy," is charged with murder while being held in the Hamilton County jail.

When Parker is brought back to Kentucky he will be charged with robbery, unlawful imprisonment and tampering with physical evidence.

Shawn Davis, 28, was found dead under the bridge on Dodsworth Lane in Cold Spring after firefighters responded to a report of a fire.

Three other people were arrested in the death.

Five days after Davis was found, Patrick Cooke, 24, of Covington; Samantha Mayse, 19, of Independence; and Mary Ann Hartbarger, 34, of Covington were all charged with complicity to commit murder and complicity to commit robbery.

Cooke and Hartbarger also are charged with tampering with physical evidence. Cooke faces an additional charge of first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

All three are being held without bail in the Kenton County jail.

Covington police Lt. Col. Spike Jones said Thursday that the tampering with physical evidence charges stem from the burning of the body.

The funeral for Mr. Davis is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday at Don Catchen and Son Funeral Home, 313 W 19th Street, Covington, KY. He will be buried at Mother of God Cemetery in Fort Wright, KY.

Burning corpse found under bridge

This past Saturday, someone called 911 to report a fire blazing underneath a bridge in Cold Spring, KY. When local firefighters arrived, they discovered some had dumped a dead body there and set it on fire.

Keith Hill, police chief of Campbell County, told The Kentucky Enquirer that they don't believe the man had been dead for very long before the incident occurred.

By way of fingerprints and tattoos, the man was identified as Shawn Allen Davis of Covington. Davis was 28 years old, a father of three, and no one seems to have a clue why anyone would have done this to him.

The Bridges of Kentucky

For those of you who have an unexplainable obsession with bridges - and I know you're out there - the "street view" feature on Google Maps can be quite a handy toy, allowing you to traverse Kentucky's bridges virtually.

Madison-Milton Bridge, Milton, KY

Cumberland River Falls Bridge, Whitley County, KY

Boonesboro Bridge, Boonesboro, KY

Sherman Minton Bridge, Louisville, KY

Clark Bridge, Louisville, KY

Gordon Hill Pike Bridge, Corbin, KY

Paducah Bridge, Paducah, KY

J.R. Miller Blvd Bridge, Owensboro, KY

Lake Barkley US 68 Bridge, Cadiz, KY

Clays Ferry Bridge, Clays Ferry, KY

Ironton-Russell Bridge, Ashland, KY

Roebling Suspension Bridge, Covington, KY


And while Google currently doesn't let us street-view the William H. Natcher Bridge in Daviess County, we do get to go underneath it, at least:

The Behringer-Crawford Museum

The Behringer-Crawford Museum, located near Covington, KY, is a small but amazing collection of all manner of natural wonders and curiosities, highly recommended.

What really tends to pack in the crowds, though, would be the museum's crown jewel of an exhibit: a genuine human shrunken head. Shrunken human heads are increasingly only in the hands of private collectors and as far as I know, this is the only opportunity to view one up close in Kentucky. You don't see shrunken heads at the Speed.

Also in their archives: a hairball taken from the stomach of a cow. Why? I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with The Mad Stone. There's also a two-headed calf, as well as a giant Elk and a stuffed specimen of the now-extinct miniature breed of English terrier. It's a taxidermist's wet dream.

According to their website, a most intriguing event is coming up in 2009: a culinary celebration of Dixie Highway restaurants. Save a table for me.