The conversation went like this:
"Bonjour, bienvenue." = Hello and welcome!
"Bonjour, merci, Je m'appelle Napoléon" = Hello, thank you ... My name is Napoleon.
"D'où venez-vous?" = Where are you from?
"Etats-Unis" = USA
"Oui! mais quel ville?" = Yes I know, but what city?
"oh! .. Yes Cincinnati ... I live in Cincinnati !!!"
"Tu connais Cincinnati?" = Do you know Cincinnati?
"Non, Juste le nom" .. = No just the name ...
I have this exchange often ...They don't know what state it's in ... but they are confident that they know the name. One French guy even asked me directly, "why is this town Cincinnati so popular?" I replied, "Is it? ... A lot of people don't even know Cincinnati exists." He rebutted, "oh! ... pfffffff !!! people know about Cincinnati ...they know !!!"
That got me thinking, what DO people know about the Nati ??? Could it be they heard the name so many times over the years in bizarre news stories? Is it that WE are the NOTORIOUS C.I.N. ??? Another person (in Europe) did in fact say to me recently, "ah ouais, you are from where the people voted for Bush." I had to break it down for him ... "everybody in the city didn't vote for Bush back in 2004, in actuality, there were major problems and scandals about the voting machines." Then to drive my point home, I said with pride, "Cincinnati led the
way to making Ohio a blue state for President Obama during the last presidential elections !!!"
A lot of things about Cincinnati's double personality astonish people. I think this duality might be the reason why the name sticks. The same town that has the National Underground Freedom Center was known for the KKK cross on Fountain Square and race riots. We can share another entire blog RE: the historic Yin/Yang personality of this area. The ironic thing is, the coolest stuff about this city doesn't usually make the international news. I have fun telling the WHOLE story in conversations and interviews. Representin !!!
Midpoint Music Festival...Bootsy Collins living here and being involved in the community...Shake-It Records and their ability to survive the new anti-retail music industry...that's good stuff !!! And recently, I've been hooking up with old friends and meeting other good folk that are doing great things right here in the Nati...(ie. music, media, art, fashion, etc.):
-The shop downtown on Main Street called
OTR (Original Thought Required)
and designer Bob Tengen.
-Jai Washington with her
Cincinnati Conscience radio show on WVQC
-The provocative, progressive Nathan Ive on WIZF and WBDZ talk radio ...
-PMO Music, which is about to hold their second annual
Urban Music Conference downtown Cinci in July ...that's MORE good stuff !!!
All of this is REALLY happening right here in Cincinnati !!! As an artist, isn't it better for me to let them know about the real Cincinnati, rather than just the number of homicides in the city, meth-labs in the burbs, and the often confusing local politics ???
So ... as I speak of the things that are worthwhile in Cincy, I hope I can rock hard enough to make my city proud!!!