Thursday, August 26, 1999
Pilfered lawn duck at-large
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
On a sad note this morning: The duck is still a hostage.
Referring here to Joe and Mildred Burton's Donald Duck lawn ornament, ducknapped or something in early July. Seems they had a garage sale at their Lockland home and someone went slinking off with the 30-pound concrete duck right under their noses.
A few days later they started getting pictures of Mr. Duck from Tennessee, Georgia, Florida — on the beach, buried to his beak in sand, in golf carts, at rest stops.
“I thought he'd be back by now,” Joe Burton says. “I know he's heading north because we're getting pictures from outside Florida.
“We have more than 20 pictures. I just got one of him by a dumpster with the caption "Plain white trash.' And another in front a big house and the caption "Home sweet home.'
“I'm still laughing, but Mildred sees no more humor in it.”
Uh, one more thing: The day after Eye wrote about the Duck heist (July 27), we got an anonymous fax: “We have the duck and we asked him if he wants to go home. He refused. Said he never had it so good.”
Finicky duck, we guess.
KEEPING WATCH: Up for a little celeb hunting this morning? Here are a few maybes ...
Most of the artists coming in to sing at Taste of Blue Ash this weekend — Ray Charles, Three Dog Night, Coasters, Lesley Gore, Rare Earth — are staying out near Blue Ash.
But not Ray Charles. He let booking agent Omar Farag know he stays only in 4-star hotels and that the Cincinnatian is one of his favorites. So he'll be downtown.
But that's not all. After he gets off stage about 10:30 or 11 Saturday, Cincinnati ad execs Rob and Jamie Riggsbee and WGRR general manager Jim Richards are taking him to the Cricket (the Cincinnatian's bar) for nightcaps. You need to know that 'cause there's a piano there and Charles loves to play. No one can say for sure that he'll do the impromptu thing Saturday, but he's been known to belt a tune or 20 to unwind after a concert.
Three Dog Night (they're 9:30 Friday) went to Willie's last year after their show and loved the place. Liked the cold beer and burgers. Don't be surprised if they turn up there again. Probably not singing, but partying waaaaaay heartily.
SPEAK OUT: Whoever would have thought it? Yet another restaurant/bar throwing poetry night and actually filling the house.
That would be downtown Thursdays at Cafe Cin-Cin for Love Jones Thursday, a poetry reading with jazz soundtrack.
Orchestrated by Wayne “Box” Miller, a local author who also markets jocks — mostly Bengals — Love Jones has been going since early July “and we haven't had one dead night,” Miller says.
“What I didn't know before this is there's a ton of talent out there. Really good work. We have readings (with breaks for jazz) from 7 to 11 and we never scramble to fill the stage. Not even the first night.”
Miller, author of Soul of a Man (Pen-Soul Publications, $14), reads his own stuff almost every week and speculates: “It's going to go on forever.”
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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