A little of this 'n' that from weekend parties full of railroads, tennis and Monkee news ...
The Maisonette's new look: Can't imagine how that many people have already been in to see designer Patrick Korb's spiffy redesign, but a steady stream came to congratulate him.
As dentist Jack Hahn told him, “we went Tuesday (the day it debuted) with doubts, but it took two seconds to get rid of them. Never looked better.”
• About restaurant closings on Jazz Fest weekend: More debate than chatter, with most, such as arts volunteer Sylvia Benjamin, calling it inexcusable, and a handful claiming weekend street closings destroy business.
Oh, and why the 500-watt smile on Dr. Leon Boothe, Northern Kentucky University president emeritus and Underground Railroad senior adviser? A new fiancee he was introducing. He was widowed in '97.
Tennis talk: Tennis Masters 2000 (formerly, the ATP) Saturday had parties for the Greater Cincinnati Tennis Association and local alums of Ivy League and Seven Sisters schools. Topics ...
• Bill Cosby sneaking in to town last week: “He did a private show, but wouldn't (say) what,” said Montgomery Inn exec Evan Andrews. “He came in twice for ribs and took an order with him. Said he was going to some French restaurant in New York and wanted to show them real food.”
Cosby also has them shipped backstage for all his shows.
• Judge Norbert “Nick” Nadel's skill at tennis: “I'm a volunteer here this year,” he said, admitting: “The last time I used my tennis racquet was on a bat in my house. See, you isolate it in a room and swing. It doesn't even ruin the racquet.”
Not that he's used it since.
• Osha-fest: That would be the party thrown by Cincinnati Bell exec Tom Osha, where he invites clients to square off against pro seniors in a round robin, followed by a dinner do.
“I had more fun doing that than anything else,” pro Marty Riessen told Cincinnatian Rick Vogel in the Ivy League tent.
Like watching pro Dick Stockton's behind the back forehand smoke past opponents.
Dream on: Is this for real? A monkey? Leading a kazoo band?
Sort of. It's Monkee Davy Jones leading a Kazoo Band and Chicken Dance at Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati Sept. 16. He joins a small club of former leaders that includes Al Hirt, Weird Al Yankovic and Bavarian Prince Ludwig.
Goal is to get Oktoberfest in the Guinness Book of Records. It was there in the early '90s for 40,000 Chicken Dancers but got bumped by Canfield, Ohio's, 70,000 dancers.
Now it's kazoos. The problem, says Downtown Council's Buz Buse, is that with no paid admission, it's difficult to get a count. Guinness people like ticket stubs.
So DTC is distributing 30,000 kazoos, hoping an invoice, TV footage and crowd estimates satisfy them.
Knip's Eye View appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
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