Free Pizza Deal Actually a Tasty Accident

(Originally published in The Cincinnati Enquirer on April 2, 2009)

Featured on the front page of www.MSN.com and www.Yahoo.com for the entire day on April 2, 2009.

ONLINE GLITCH OFFER TASTY DEAL

By Alex Shebar

Michelle Imsicke isn’t one to turn down free food.

Still, an offer from Domino’s Pizza for a free medium pie did make her pause for a moment – but only a moment.

“I heard of them doing things like this, giving discounts, but a free one shocked me,” said Imsicke, 38, of Harrison. “But I said, ‘If they are doing it, I’m going to grab one.’”

Imsicke got her free pizza, as did many others throughout Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky this week. But no one should have.

In December, Domino’s created an online-only promotion for a free pizza using the codeword “bailout,” but it never got the green light, said Tim McIntyre, Domino’s vice president of communications.

“It had never technically been activated, but we hadn’t turned it off, either.” Monday night, an “enterprising customer” discovered the deal and spread it on the Internet, McIntyre said. By the time it was shut down at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, nearly 11,000 pizzas were given away.

“I started getting calls at about 10 a.m. from managers asking what was going on. I said I had no idea,” said John Glass, owner of 14 Domino’s franchises in the region. “I called corporate, they had no idea at the time. No one seemed to have any idea, everyone was scrambling. It all kind of snowballed.”

Glass thinks he was hit harder than anyone else in the area, since he owns all the Domino’s near college campuses.

In total, he thinks he gave away 600 to 700 pizzas. Corporate promises to reimburse every store.

Local coupon guru Heather Tenney of www.littlemissknowitall.net, Cincinnati’s top coupon site, wasn’t surprised. She believes the promotion was first discovered 8:30 p.m. Monday at www.slickdeals.net, and it would have come here instantly.

“Something like that would go viral very quickly and Cincinnati is very quick on the deals spectrum,” she said.

“Cincinnati is just one of those cities where people don’t mind using coupons.”

There could be a silver lining, Glass said. He’s hoping, in addition to the publicity Domino’s basked in Tuesday, it also gave customers a chance to experience the relatively new online ordering system.

It might have worked. “When I was working full time, we ordered online at LaRosa’s. You had to go through more hoops to order a pizza,” Imsicke said. “This was a lot faster, a lot easier.”

Domino’s is unlucky – or lucky, depending on the way it’s viewed – the whole thing didn’t happen Wednesday, said Catherine Deaton, 33, of Fort Wright, who happily fed her kids free pizza Tuesday.

“I would have thought it was an April Fool’s joke,” she said.

Channeling Pain Into Art

(Originally published in The Cincinnati Enquirer on Nov. 6, 2008)

Won first place in the 2008 Society of Professional Journalists’ Arts/Entertainment Feature category (Cincinnati.)

ARTIST ANTONIO ADAMS BREATHES NEW LIFE INTO TRAGEDY

By Alex Shebar

Antonio Adams is a beautiful speaker, though he rarely talks. His conversation is his art.

It’s true in his everyday life, and more so in moments of tragedy.

On Oct. 24, the house at 2654 Alms Place in Walnut Hills that Adams shared with his mother and four siblings was destroyed by a fire blamed on electrical problems. Everything the family owned, including Adams’ prized artwork, burned.

Although sad and frustrated, he channeled his pain into his work. Days after the fire, Adams began to sketch the scene seared into his mind.

The drawing lies on a white page in a small notebook with an incomplete sentence scrawled on top: “Still on fire before it’s all gone.”

Below, in pen, is a rickety three-story house – old and elegant. Flames burst from the door, windows and roof, and sparks around the drawing gives the house a human feel – as if the ancient building is crying as it slowly dies.

It’s an emotional scene. One that will eventually become a beautiful painting.

That is what Adams, 27, does; he turns negatives into positives.

Although Adams is slightly mentally challenged, and has trouble living by himself and doing things like driving and making appointments, he’s never let it hinder his work.

“I felt something negative going on, so I painted it,” he said.

Adams was at Visionaries and Voices, a Northside studio for artists with disabilities that’s become a second home to him, when he got the news. The only member of his family in the house was his brother Fazion, who got out safely. The fire took about two hours to put out. Firefighters estimated damage at about $150,000.

Adams’ work and life has touched many, and people now are working to help him and his family. Hamilton County Arc, a private organization that helps the mentally disabled, started the Antonio Adams Family Fund. V&V is also helping to set up a benefit concert Nov. 20 for him and his family.

“I’m shocked by all the people who are behind us and trying to help us,” said Diane Adams, his mother. “You never really know who will be behind you until something like this happens.”

Supporting Adams didn’t take a second thought for many.

Shake It! Records at 4156 Hamilton Ave. has his artwork hanging on its walls. On Nov. 22, 10 percent of all sales will be donated to his fund.

“Antonio has affected the lives of hundreds of artists in the area, so now it’s a time for everyone to step up,” said Darren Blase, co-owner of Shake It!

Walking into V&V, Adams is easily to single out easy to spot. He is imposing with his thick body and tall stature. Around his neck dangles a self-made, long beaded necklace. It’s meant to be an artistic tribute to African tribal culture. His heritage is important to him.

Adams has been creating art for years. He went to Hughes Center magnet school where he took classes, but mostly he is self-taught. Adams is best known for his hands-on work, although he has practiced in different media from photography to script writing. His cartoonish pencil drawings, brightly colored paintings and life-size statues sell from $350 to $1,000.

The money is not enough to live on. Adams also works at Frisch’s Big Boy in Norwood to help with family expenses.

Adams’ subjects include politics, comic books and even the dead. He said he used art to give them new life.

“What you see in his work is someone who is both wise and curious. He’s studying and trying to understand the world around him,” said Bill Ross, co-founder of V&V. “I think that’s why people are drawn him.”

People have been interested in Adams for as long as he’s been creating, Ross said. He’s worked with and inspired many people – sometimes by his work and other times by his positive spirit.

Adams’ work can be seen in buildings across Ohio, as well as in shows across the country from New York to Los Angeles. Gill Netter, a movie producer of films such as “The Naked Gun” series, has an Adams original hanging in his beach house in Malibu, Ross said.

“Antonio has a way of creating almost a magical pull for the viewers to be engaged in his work. I can’t quite put it into words other than he truly knows what’s he’s doing,” Netter said. “His limitations doesn’t stop him from making profound statements in his work.”

Before it burned, the attic of Adams’ old home was his studio. He had had a space to create and more importantly, house his most prized possessions.

While frustrated at the lost artwork, Adams remains optimistic. His attitude is that he remembers what all his work looked like, and he can reproduce it – maybe even better.

“He’s working everything out by drawing it,” said Blair Whitt, V&V studio coordinator. “It’s kind of therapeutic for him to be doing it this way.”

That is Adams’ way – taking the bad in his life and reworking it into something good.

It takes a few days, but Adams finishes the painting of his burning house. Through its simple, cartoon-like feel, viewers witness the anger and sadness that he feels when thinking about what’s been lost.

Yet, behind the glowing reds and yellows of the house’s towering flames lies optimism. In the painting, the sky is blue, the grass is green and there is space on the canvas to create something new.

“If you think about something positive, you can remember it, tear it down and do a new one. It’s rebuilding,” Adams said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Frampton: Quit Stealing My Obama Signs

(Originally published on The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Politics Blog on Nov. 6, 2008)

Was featured on CNN and CNN.com as well as in newspapers around the world through the AP wire.

ROCK LEGEND PETER FRAMPTON SPOKE OUT AGAINST PEOPLE’S ANTI-OBAMA WAYS

By Alex Shebar

Apparently, Peter Frampton doesn’t feel like others do … at least politically.

The Grammy winning artist is upset about theft – not of his music, but of his Barack Obama signs. Frampton, who lives in Indian Hill, has been proudly displaying his Democratic choice in the dominantly Republican neighborhood, and his signs keep being stolen.

“They are frustrating my attempt to use my First Amendment right to speech and political speech is supposedly the most protected,” Frampton said. “It bugs me that people are breaking the law because it bugs them so much.”

Frampton put an Obama sign up a few weeks ago, and it lasted about three
days. He then put up another, which latest about a week, and then disappeared right before he went on his last tour. As soon as he got back on Monday, he made sure more went up.

“I put up some more signs, and they are still there today, but I don’t hold out much hope,” Frampton said.

Originally British, Frampton became a naturalized American citizen after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

“The reason I became a citizen is because I wanted to be able to vote and be part of being an American,” he said.

This whole incident with the sign stealing has really gotten Frampton annoyed.

He contacted The Enquirer asking for an interview, and it’s the first time he’s ever done that with the media, he said.

He also made a public protest at his last local concert, although small. Frampton’s signs had been stolen right before he played at National City Pavilion at Riverbend on August 8th, so he changed into an ‘Obama’ shirt for his last song. This act actually angered a lot of people, but he felt it needed to be done, he said.

“I would not have done that if my signs had not been stolen,” he said. “The whole show I said nothing. I don’t say anything; my show is an escape. But hey, this is where I live and I felt it was time to make a tiny stand.”

Frampton has now put video surveillance up in the yard to catch whoever is doing it.

“You won’t see it, but it’s there,” he said.

While Frampton understand why people would steal his signs, he doesn’t think the thieves are actually thinking things through.

“The more they steal my signs, the more I have to donate to my candidate to get more signs,” he said. “There is an anti-productive thing to their cause.” Frampton: Quit stealing my Obama signs

As he was being interviewed, his signs had been stolen again.

Harry Potter Bridges All Ages

(Originally published in The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle on July 22, 2007)

Featured on the front page of the Sunday edition of The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

DIVERSE GROUPS GATHER TO CELEBRATE RELEASE OF FINAL TALE

By Alex Shebar

Twittering around the room in her costumed schoolgirl attire, Lena Weinstein couldn’t stand still. She was jittery, running on zero hours of sleep — for instead of resting, she’d been reading.

It was 11 a.m. Saturday, and Weinstein had been up all night reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and last installment in J.K. Rowling’s series. She bought the book at 1 a.m. — waiting in line at the Pittsford Barnes & Noble bookstore with hundreds of others after the midnight release — and finishing it at 7 a.m.

From there, it was off to a celebratory brunch in honor of the novel.

“A book like this doesn’t come up ever,” said the 18-year-old from Pittsford, who will be a freshman at Ithaca College. “In the age of TV and the Internet … it’s cool how something as old fashioned as a book can just completely get the whole world (involved).”

The release of the last Harry Potter book brought together people of all ages to simultaneously mourn and celebrate the culmination of the 10-year series.

There were lines into the parking lots at bookstores across the area — indeed, across the country — and people even stood in two-aisle long lines at some Wegmans stores as the most widely anticipated release of any book in history took place.

This camaraderie around the coming-of-age series was nowhere more apparent than at a Saturday morning party held by the Harry Potter class of the Oshier Lifelong Learning Institute at Rochester Institute of Technology.

Seated around the multiple tables of Keenan’s Restaurant in Irondequoit, worn and weary witches and wizards happily ate a hearty brunch, rejuvenating themselves after staying up till the early hours to purchase the book.

Some dressed in full costume, while others wore their muggle — in other words, normal street clothes. But they all had one thing in common: the love of the book.

“One person told me there are two important places they go in life: one is church and one is her Harry Potter class,” said Jeanne
Sandholzer, 63, of Rochester and the professor for the class.

“It’s formed such a bond between children and adults, it’s one of the first books that I know that has done that.”

The class is on the myths, legends and themes in Harry Potter. It’s been running for eight years, covering one chapter a week. Members also have watched the films together, listened to the books on tape and even celebrated Harry’s birthday every July 31.

The class has about 35 participants from different walks of life, all of whom are older than 50. There are former psychologists, ministers, scientists, teachers, doctors and even one retired CIA agent.

It’s quite a group, Sandholzer said.

“It’s time we had something that appealed to everyone. Parents can share it with their kids and their parents. It’s wonderful,” said Mary Santoro, 75, a retired school counselor from Brighton. She has been in the group since it began.

Sitting in on this event was Karen Morris, 57, a law professor at Monroe Community College and a Brighton town judge. She is nearly finished writing the book Lessons in Law and Life from

Harry Potter’s Adventures that examines the legal aspects in J.K. Rowling’s world. The book should help educate children about the law, she said.

“Everyone learns better when you identify new material with facts you know and like, and everyone likes Harry Potter,” Morris said.

While the party mostly consisted of the more than 30 members of the class, many underage wizards and witches attended as well. About 20 people ranging in age from 7 to 40, mostly relatives of people in the class, including Weinstein, also eagerly discussed the book with their elder counterparts.

“There’s not a lot of stuff you can talk about with other generations. You can talk about old movies or Harry Potter,” Weinstein said. The novel is a worldwide phenomenon, having sold a combined 325 million copies in 64 languages.

For the latest installment, retailers such as Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Borders reported that more orders have been placed for this book than for any other in history, and American Publisher Scholastic announced an initial print run record of 12 million copies.

People of all ages had camped outside of stores for hours waiting to get this book. Jenna Murray, 7, of Victor said she went with her cousin, Grace Meise, 6, to the Borders in Victor “because we want the books, our moms want the books and our dads want the books.”

The celebration at the Victor store was just one of many that took place over the weekend. All the area Barnes & Noble and Borders stores, and independent sellers such as Lift Bridge Book Shop in Brockport and Long’s Cards & Books in Penn Yan, held their own Potter themed events. All in anticipation of getting a copy of the novel.

“Stop and think about what J.K. Rowling has done for literacy,” said Penelope J. Robinson, community relations manager for Barnes & Noble in Pittsford. “Kids who have never read before are standing hours in line to get this book and then going home and burying themselves in their bed and reading it.”

Others celebrated the book in a more personal way. Meg Deller, 19, a Wegmans employee from Rochester, said she was going to a party with a few friends to read the novel together.

“It’s the very last book and the last thing we get to enjoy,” she said. “It’s really happy even though (the book) is called The Deathly Hallows.”

Managers from local Barnes & Noble, Borders and Target stores would not give out local sales figures, only saying that they had enough books to get through the first day and hopefully the weekend. Each said their corporate offices would be issuing national figures by today. Independent stores were more forthcoming with information.

Lift Bridge had sold about 200 copies, while Long’s in Penn Yan had sold almost double that. The Wegmans store on Hylan Drive in Henrietta had sold 500 of its 600 in stock, and had requested an emergency stash of 100 more books to get it through the weekend.

Every store sold more copies for this book’s opening weekend than it had for any other in the series, managers said.

Retailers are not the only ones riding the hype. Both branches of the Irondequoit Public Library held activities Friday afternoon. The Pauline Evans and the Helen McGraw branch, as well as the Monroe County Library, had more than 10 people reserving the latest edition before it was released, and each library will have about seven copies available.

Everyone in the world has been eagerly waiting this book, said Ruth Otto, children’s librarian for the McGraw Branch.

“It’s not just a kid’s book. It’s for every generation,” she said. “Teenagers, adults, even my 92-year-old mother-in-law. She was hoping she would stay alive until the last book was written.”

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice…

(Originally published in The Cincinnati Enquirer on March 25, 2009)

Featured on Huffington Post, MTV.com and BoingBoing among others.

UNION TERMINAL A MODEL FOR SUPERHEROES’ STRONGHOLD

By Alex Shebar

Without a doubt, the world’s greatest superheroes need the world’s greatest headquarters.

It must be a towering structure, massive in size and design. Something that displays not only power, but grace – a building that captures the essence of the heroes as they save the world time after time.

You would think a building like this would be impossible to find in real life.

You’d be wrong. It’s in your backyard.

In 1973, the now-classic cartoon “Super Friends” premiered on ABC. It was the first show to group the world’s most powerful DC Comics heroes: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and more.

Unlike the comics, where the group met in a satellite in space, the show grounded them on Earth in a building called the Hall of Justice.

A building based on Cincinnati’s Union Terminal.

The resemblance is undeniable, from the massive arch to the carved pillars. They are nearly identical, right down to the colossal fountain leading to the front entrance.

While the similarities are striking, the hometown connection has been lost in the generations since the show premiered.

“There have always been legends,” said Douglass W. McDonald, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal. “You do Google searches for Union Terminal and you get these funny little hits, but nothing confirmed.”

Drawing from the past

“Super Friends” was created by cartoon studio Hanna-Barbera, famous for shows like “Tom and Jerry” and “The Flintstones.”

William Hanna and Joseph Barbera first teamed in 1937 and established their cartoon studio in 1957. In 1967, it was sold to Taft Broadcasting Co., a media conglomerate located in Cincinnati.

Taft had a hands-on relationship with Hanna-Barbera. It opened Kings Island in 1972 with a Hanna-Barbera theme.

The company also worked with Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera to create new cartoons.

“They came to Cincinnati once in a while,” said Dudley Taft, former CEO. “We would have company meetings and some of them were here.”

When creating “Super Friends,” the producers wanted a grand headquarters for their heroes.

The job was given to Al Gmuer, background supervisor for Hanna-Barbera for more than 30 years. Using his knowledge of architecture, he sketched out a building that almost resembled the finished product.

“Mine had more windows,” Gmuer said.

The drawing was then given to the network, including Joe Barbera, where it was turned into the Union Terminal look-a-like that’s known today, he said.

Gmuer isn’t sure why they redesigned his building to look like Union Terminal. He doesn’t give the Hall of Justice much thought today.

“In the long run, I hated that building,” he said. “The way it’s designed, it was not easy to draw. I had nightmares about that damn building.”

Union Terminal in peril.

The local connection for the Hall of Justice is not only based on a “where” but also a “when.”

Only a year before the show’s Sept. 8, 1973, premier, to borrow the thematic tone of “Super Friends,” the fate of Union Terminal was in jeopardy.

The building had been created as a monumental train station by architects Alfred Fellheimer and Steward Wagner in 1933. It was designed in an art-deco style that’s still critically praised today.

Yet, on Oct. 16, 1972, the train station was decommissioned, and there was talk of destroying the building – nearly 11 months before it would be immortalized as the Super Friends’ headquarters.

“Anyone in Cincinnati would have been aware that the city might have lost the building,” said Ruby Rogers, director of the Cincinnati Historical Society Library.

The rest of the world, though, would have been unaware of this potential loss.

In fact, because Union Terminal remains a relatively obscure building nationally, it’s only helped to make the Hall of Justice such a powerful pop-culture icon, said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture.

“Someone knew of a great building with a wonderful visual look that reeked of the power and energy it was designed for,” he said “It also wasn’t overused like, for instance, the Chrysler Building. It wasn’t a cliché.”

Getting animated

There is something grand about Union Terminal. Its larger-than-life aura often makes it so that visitors to Cincinnati, and even longtime residents, have a hard time believing this art-deco icon is located in the middle of the Midwest.

Perhaps that’s why people have instinctively accepted it as the Hall of Justice. The building seems to combine the best elements of superhero mythology: the power of Superman’s fortress, the vastness of Batman’s cave, the magnificence of Aquaman’s palace.

“It seems like a place superheroes would live,” said John Hitchcock, writer and comic-book historian.

That connection is not lost to those who grew up with the show.

Rick Brooks, owner of Rockin’ Rooster Comics in Covedale, said he’ll have months where no one will bring it up, and then a week where he’ll talk about it day after day.

“Sometimes, people will even come in from out of town and they’ll say something,” he said.

Of course, it all goes back to the cartoon.

“Super Friends” clearly holds a place in people’s hearts, but by no means should it be called a quality show, Thompson said. The animation is almost as bad as its cheesy storylines and dialogue.

Still, there’s a relationship with audiences. Either a person is overwhelmed with childhood nostalgia, or there’s a retro-appeal later generations appreciate.

“The show’s message and storyline, well, it’s a little corny, but it is very ’70s great,” said Ruben Procopio, head of Masked Avenger Studios, a superhero-focused film studio in Los Angeles.

It’s that heartfelt attachment that still sells merchandise today. The original cartoon was released on DVD in 2005. Only months ago, in January, the second volume of “The All-New Super Friends Hour: Season One” was put out. This was a 1977 rebirth of the original ‘73 show.

The first shot of its opening credits? The Hall of Justice.

“Everyone in the world knows Union Terminal,” said Bob Justice, manager of Queen City Comics in Fairfield. “They just think of it as the Hall of Justice.”