Get Ready for Drinks at Halloween Block Party in Athens?

Athens, Ohio, has been called one of the most haunted places on earth. Being famous for its annual Halloween Block Party, this year the city is expected to welcome thousands of people from all walks of life on Saturday, Oct 29, starting from 7pm in uptown city of Court Street.

Besides music, costume competitions, dance...attendants can't miss having beers in one of many local bars in Athens throughout the night. How do Red Brick Sports Pub, Casa Nueva, Tony's Tavern, The Pigskin, Jackie O's Pub&Brewery...to name a few prepare for upcoming Halloween night?

Below is a map with location of each bar and their preparation for the exciting event.


View How Bars in Athens Prepare for Halloween? in a larger map

In contrast with my initial thought, among 11 researched bars, only Casa Nueva has Halloween Bash on the same day and Red Brick Sports Pub has promotion and dressed up staff; the remainders are only concerned about security (Pigskin) and serving capacity of the staff given the huge amount of customers (Buffalo Wild Wings, Cat's Eyes, Jackie O's). Many of them will close as usual with no extended hour.



Bartender of Jackie O's is concerned about available food and drink to serve its maximum capacity of 299 people.



Anyway, Halloween is still in the air at Jackie O's and Casa Nueva with decorations of pumpkins.

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(Casa Nueva)

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(Jackie O's)

Homecoming Parade in the Street of Athens

Homecoming week started off on Oct 10 but its peak was the parade on Oct 15 in the main street of downtown in Athens: Court St.

Having people waken up on Saturday morning is not easy; however, if you happened to stop by Court St. last Sat, you would see hundreds of people gathered on the two sides of the street. It seems that they have been there for long. The reason was known and confirmed: people longed for the parade, one of the most exciting events in the small town of Athens.

The opening of the parade was the march of about a hundred students with trumpets.

Followed by were marching groups of student organizations such as African Students Union or International Students Union and local organizations.

Athens News, a local newspaper, have consolidated comments of students via social media such as Twitter with the mostly used hashtag: #OUHC 2011.

Below is one of the videos shot at the event:

Athens in the fall

Athens, the small city (it is actually the college town with the presence of Ohio University) located in Southeastern Ohio, is most beautiful in the fall.

The scenery turned yellow and red just over a night. Leaves falling down from the tress that made a marvelous carpet on the surface of roads. It tells us the fall is coming with mild wind, sunlight and a little bit chill. It is actually the most pleasant season of the year, not too cold and gloomy but yet sweaty like summer.

Here are some pictures randomly taken at OU campus and Stroud Run State park in Athens.

From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy OhioU

Occupy Wall Street protest has headed to Ohio University campus under the name of Occupy OhioU on the occasion of Homecoming week (Oct 10-16).

The first event took place on Sunday, Oct 16 at the lawn nearby Alden library. There was about 20 participants including OU students and local people. The students set up tents with an attempt to "occupy" the area 24/7 the upcoming week. Participants formed as a circle and took turn to share their concerns over the protest at Wall Street and its spread to the entire country.

One student brought an article from a blog which indicated JPMorgan Chase bank donated $4.6 million, the biggest donation in its history, to New York Policy Department to strengthen security in the city.

OU President, Roderick McDavis, said the demonstration didn't bother him and he thought it was great to have students and faculty to express their thoughts and feelings on the issues of American time.

Can Political Issue Affect Students?

Followed up with the previous post about Senate Bill 5; a recent poll on The Post, OU student-run newspaper revealed that 26% of the total 57 responses think that Student Senate should not waste time on partisan politics.

Frankly speaking, many OU students do not really care about SB5 because they think it is purely political and there is no evidence showing quantified loss caused by SB5 on students. Students might protest against something intangible like tuition increase but "collective bargaining rights" is sort of a vague perception. If OU disseminates information about SB5 to students and its possible impact to the school, the level of understanding can be reached, even neutrally.

We will wait to see final decision of OU Student Senate to take a stance on SB5 or not. It will be hard for Student Senate to survive over criticism if they disappoint many students who keep demanding to add this issue to their agenda.

A tribute to Steve Jobs

Co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc., Steve Jobs died on October 5 after eight years struggling with cancer. A screenshot of Apple.com today paid a tribute to Jobs with his portray picture and a simple line: Steve Jobs 1955-2011.

Apple's statement about Jobs's death:

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

Social media today is flooded with news about Jobs's death that comes across all sorts of media. Significant among them include FOX News, CNN, ABC...CNN iReport dedicated its section for people to share their stories, videos and photos with Jobs and how Jobs or Apple's products has changed their lives.

Jobs's speech at Stanford University commencement in 2005 was once again hit by mass audience. His words from the speech "Stay hungry, stay foolish" is a motto of a great person whose innovations, inspiration and courage will forever remain with us.