From the Short North Insider:

This evening at 7 pm starts of the North Market Food & Ohio Wine Festival with a preview party and continues Saturday and Sunday. It has become quite popular and good way to sample some of the wines Ohio has to offer. Also, since some of them don’t distribute their wines, a way to sample and buy some without having to travel to their winery. The Friday preview is $20 and the the two other days are $5 admission.

Are Ohio wines supposed to be any good? This is from the event’s page, linked above:

Ohio is a state of wine. With its fertile soil and drainage and latitude similar to that of the great wine-producing countries of Europe, Ohio is ideally suited for growing a variety of grapes. From the Lake Erie coast to the Ohio River shoreline, Ohio has 96 wineries scattered throughout it borders. Come savor tastes of select vintages from 15 Ohio wineries at the 6th Annual North Market Food and Ohio Wine Festival presented by National City. The North Market will host a weekend celebration of Ohio’s finest wines and great foods to pair with them during the weekend of July 13th-15th. Sponsoring organizations include National City, Ohio Grape Industries, smartUSA, Master Clean and Columbus Alive.

Hmm.

From ThisWeek:

Williams Shakespeare’s tragic tale of madness and betrayal takes the Actors’ Theatre stage for four weeks, starting tonight (July 12). Performances of “King Lear” will be held at the Schiller Park amphitheater Thursday through Sunday each week through Aug. 5. Shows begin at 8 p.m.

Unbelievably, I’ve yet to see one of these plays in Schiller Park. It’s been on my to-do list forever. Here’s the Actors’ Theatre website for more info.

This sounds kind of cool.

The show, based on the award-winning BBC Television series [Walking With Dinosaurs], is supposed to be educational and fun. The story, which travels 180 million years from Triassic to the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, features 15 life-size dinosaurs from 10 species including a mother Tyrannosaurus Rex and her baby.

The show is so big it can only play to two-thirds of the seating at typical American arenas. The Tacoma Dome, for example, will seat 8,000 for each of the eight performances.

Here’s their site. The show will be in Columbus at the Schott August 22-25. Tickets are here.

Restaurant recommendations are requested for a couple of Boston transplants:

My brother and his girlfriend are moving to Columbus, and I’d like to get a couple of gift certificates to help them explore their new neighborhood, which is called German-something, and is near downtown.

It looks like the commenters have covered all the usual suspects, plus Happy Dragon, which is indispensable ’round here.

Keith at Buckeye Commentary has a report. He’s not completely happy:

Unfortunately, according to a recent post (hurry, time senstive link) on the OZone, the area surrounding the field is only being resurfaced with a rubberized material. Worse yet, the color will be gray. Work on this project began today and university webcam’s provided the horrific frame by frame account of the transformation.

Ugh!

Hmm. Bad review for Bag of Nails at the new Fine dining guide to Columbus, Ohio blog, which apparently has some relationship with the also new the 270 blog. From the review:

I would say that this place appeals to heavy drinkers of hard alcohol who, regardless of their experience, will inevitably need something starchy and greasy to combat the burning sensation that the alcohol is creating in their stomach…save for the one client who was falling off her barstool (a perplexing scene amidst the otherwise pricey district of Worthington).

Whoa. Tell us how you really feel!

But I don’t care what anyone says. The Old Bag of Nails is my favorite local chain- it is not fine dining however. Maybe the reviewer had the wrong idea going in. Note to newbies: get the fish’n'chips. They’re also famous (or infamous) for their fried beer-battered pickles.

Here’s their website, which informs that Bexley will be getting a reopening its Bag of Nails soon.

Columbus NPR station WCBE has a story on how much money the arts generates for Columbus:

A recent study shows arts and cultural events in Columbus generate more than 300 million dollars in the region each year. Greater Columbus Arts Council President Bryan Knicely talks about the results of a study conducted by Americans for the Arts.

No doubt a lot of business is generated, but that group doesn’t sound particularly impartial. Here’s a direct link to the audio.

Columbus was one of 156 cities in the study. Here’s the Americans for the Arts page which links to the study in several pdfs.

Tomorrow is 7-7-7, or July 7, 2007.

Time for another Gallery Hop in the Short North.

Nightline had a thing last night where they said that tomorrow is the most popular wedding day ever.

It’ll also be science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein’s 100th birthday. (Although he’s dead.)

For other 7-7-7 activities, and 7-6 and 7-8 too, here’s a weekend roundup from Discover Columbus. Where’s Restaurant Widow’s?

From John Kazalia’s About.com Columbus blog:

In Columbus, the Columbus Historical Society has a solution: take the history bus! On Saturdays through October 6, 2007 you can ride an air conditioned bus tour to see the historical sights around Columbus. Each week the same tour route visits Franklinton, German Village, the Arena District, Short North, Olde Towne East, Woodland Park, and the Franklin Park Conservatory among others. Busses board at 10:00 a.m. at the Columbus Historical Society Offices, 51 Jefferson Avenue, downtown Columbus, returning at 12:30 p.m.

Sounds like that could be good. Tix are $20. You need to make a reservation at 614-224-0822 x2.

Just in case you didn’t get your fill of fireworks in the last couple of days, here’s amateur video of Red White & Boom’s big finale.

(Video: Red, White & Boom Columbus 2007 by pontiacmangt @ YouTube.)

Here are some photos of today’s Dooh Dah Parade in the Short North. This one was the 24th annual.

That’s the split. Not too far from the truth, I fear.

Requiem for a club.

A perennial favorite.

The title at the end. I want one of those cooler scooters.

Here’s a link to all my Doo Dah pics, and to all Flickr photos tagged Doo Dah Parade. I recommend viewing the slideshow.

After Red White & Boom there’s the satirical Doo Dah Parade in the Short North:

Doo Dah Parade
Wednesday, July 4th, 2007 (and every year)
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Line-up at Noon on Park Street & Buttles (Come in through Goodale to Park)

Here’s what it’s about:

Joe Theibert, a disorganizer and the unofficial starter of the parade, described Doo Dah as the greatest event in Western Civilization. “It’s sarcasm at its finest.”

Theibert said there are few rules for parade participants, though he asks that entrants not embarrass their families by, say, appearing naked. And he once had to kick out a glad-handling politician who was taking himself a little too seriously (politicians must wear funny hats). Commercial pitches are a no-no at the non-profit, volunteer-driven event. Racism and cruelty are also forbidden. A recent float featuring “honest attorneys”–the float was empty–should clue you into Doo Dah’s tongue-in-cheek humor.

Anyone is invited to get dressed up and join the community parade, poking fun at themselves or current events as elaborately as they want. There are no entry fees.

(Photo: The Marching Fidels by skippy13 @ Flickr.)

UPDATE: Here’s a post of 2007 Doo Dah Parade photos.

Via Urban In-Fill comes news of the Merion Village Garden Tour:

Explore the unique and lovely gardens of Merion Village at your own pace with this self-guided afternoon tour. Since its inception in 1999, the tour remains FREE to the public and will be held “rain or shine.”

The delightful collection of gardens range from larger, more expansive gardens to ones in smaller, more private settings. Many varieties of perennials and annuals will be featured.

The tour kicks off this Sunday from 10 to 4.

That’s a lot. Per NBC4i:

More than 500,000 people are expected to participate in the 27th edition of Red, White & Boom! on July 3. The day-long event includes unique, family-oriented entertainment at the Children’s Park, the Midway, Taste of BOOM! and Bicentennial Park.

This site has a good write-up of events:

If you want a good seat for the premiere fireworks display in central Ohio on July 3, you’re going to have to show up early to jockey for position among the estimated 500,000 attendees. But no need to drag a stack of books and magazines to occupy the wait; the organizers of the event have planned plenty of things to keep you busy leading up to the big show at 10:00 pm.

And there’s a full schedule. Here’s the event’s official site.

Apple will start selling the iPhone at 6pm today. Yes, there are lines. This blog post has a picture of the line at Easton. Here’s an NBC4i story on the big day:

“It’s the new must-have,” said Michelle Schleppi, 32, explaining why she wanted to be first in line at the Apple store in Columbus, where the iPhone was going on sale at 6 p.m.

Apple and AT&T Inc. stores nationwide were offering the product at that hour in each time zone, with customers limited to two iPhones per purchase on a first come, first served basis.

Schleppi said she had scoped out the Columbus Apple location since midnight Friday but saw no one else around, so she didn’t try waiting until 6 a.m. Security at the outdoor shopping center chased her away and didn’t allow the line to start forming until two hours later, she said.

By midmorning, dozens of people were behind her.

I’m going to wait until they come out with the implant version.

UPDATE: This is hilarious:

A film major was trying to escape with his iLife. He was only buying software, but his waif-like consitution was no match for the mad throng that pressed forward. Bruised, he retreated to the Genuis Bar, where several of the weaker sales associates had taken refuge. They were calling Cupertino for support, their fingers dancing away on the revolutionary interface, but the network, like the fading promise of salvation, had collapsed.

Make sure you read it all.