Friday, November 16 2017

You cannot miss the Ohio Chinese Lantern Festival this year. 😍

You made it. Welcome to Friday. It's James.

There are certain events in Columbus that manage to fly under the radar a bit, even when they shell out for advertising and get covered heavily by local media, and I think that's true of the Chinese Lantern Festival.

You might think this holds no interest to you. And who knows, you could be right, but make me a deal here: click through and look at the pictures before deciding. This is something awe inspiring right here in Columbus. The festival is open nightly all the way through January 7th, and everyone should check it out at least once.

Friday Weather 🌡51 - Partly sunny. 🌥

Navigator Originals ✏️Navigator Weekender: The 20 Best Things To Do This Weekend Including Jen Kirkman, Buckeye Comic Con, and The Ohio Chinese Lantern FestivalEven apart from the Ohio Chinese Lantern Festival, there's lots of other cool things happening this weekend, including boxing, an Ohio State home game, Jen Kirkman, a sweet plant sale at Franklin Park Conservatory and more.15 Columbus Holiday Bazaars, Markets, and Craft ShowsDo you like shopping local for holiday gifts? Supporting good causes? If that's you these 15 bazaars, markets, and holiday craft shows will be up your alley. I'm circling this CCAD art fair on my calendar.McMansion Hell Visits Ohio And Takes On A Powell McMansionI say this with love for whoever owns this house, but you really have to see the sunroom. Also tub carpet. (You'll see.) McMansion Hell really delivered with their Ohio selection.

Around Town 🏘The Columbus Crew are in the conference finals next week, and their home game is a sellout. In the past, the Crew have added additional seating in sell out situations, but I don't know if Precourt wants the team to look any more successful than it absolutely needs to. [Massive Report]Ohio State has suspended all fraternity activities. 11 fraternities have been under investigation this semester which is more than a quarter of fraternities governed by the Interfraternity Council. The IFC says suspending activities will allow investigations to conclude, and will provide time for making plans on how to create actionable strategies on how to move forward. [Dispatch/Smola, Woods]All ramps in the north side's I-270 "mega fix" will be open starting this weekend. The project took four years and $148 million. Parts of this engineering project have been incredible, like the trench that carries northbound US-23 traffic. ODOT's focus will now turn fully to the 70/71 downtown corridor, which will be under construction for the next seven(!) years. [Dispatch/Perry, Ferenchik]Today is the first day of Wildlights, and you can get in for free with a canned food donation. You may have to deal with a fairly crowded zoo, but free right? [NBC4]

Picture of the DayHow about this view? Juniper rooftop bar and event space recently opened, and even with the cold weather it's at the top of our to do list. Columbus needs more of this. (📷: juniperrooftop)

Longread 🚀Inside the inventor's world-changing plans to inhabit outer space, revolutionize high-speed transportation, reinvent cars – and hopefully find love along the way.Rolling Stone: Elon Musk: The Architect of Tomorrow

I have tickets to Jen Kirkman tonight, and I'm wondering if there will be any Louis CK discussion (if you don't know, Kirkman talked about CK's behavior on a podcast years ago, way before this broke though as a national story.) I am guessing not, which sounds fine to me. Forgetting about the news for a couple of hours feels like a real luxury. On a completely separate note, I'm looking forward to checking out Woodlands Tavern for the first time. Anyone have Woodlands tips?Have a great weekend.- James

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