Ralph Walters was once a normal guy.  But then something bizarre happened. A retired elementary school Spanish teacher bit him on the arm, giving him the simple power of speaking really bad introductory Spanish. He also gained a new name: “El Derango.”   

  Walters is actually the manager of the Artist’s Wrestling League (AWL). It is a painting match taking place this month at the Vanderelli Room in Franklinton, during Columbus’ June Arts Festival. He is also a wrestler in the match. The wrestlers do not really wrestle; they are local painters who publicly paint against one another.

  Each wrestler has a pseudonym, complete with a self-created back story, such as “Machete Page.” She is a lush and the bastard granddaughter of Betty Page. “KatTaztrophy” is a drummer, who thinks she is a cat and only paints with her paw prints. “Jimmy ‘Wildman’ Folk” paints with an axe, and “Sister Sangre” is a nun, who only paints Jesus.

  “Most of the wrestlers are really into their characters,” Walters said. “We have a lot of fun together.”

  And that is why the whole thing started – just for fun.

At a recent gathering some homosexual men were discussing the salary one spends on an engagement ring. “Someone told me four months, but I think it’s only two. Yeah, but she wants a ring from Tiffany’s.”

  Sound familiar? Gays discuss the same things about marriage as heterosexuals, but in Ohio without the hope of actually getting married. Bret Richards (a.k.a. Hellin Bedd) and her partner David Cullison, both of Columbus, have been dating for 16 years and engaged for a year and a half. Richards said they might get married if it is ever legal, but it is not critical.
  “For us, it’s not the desperation to get married,” Richards said. “A segment of the gay population romanticizes it. We have friends in their second and third marriages and we see a lot of couples break up young. I could care less if we get married or not – our relationship won’t change. The main thing is having the ability like everyone else.”

  “We could stand up, have a have a party and profess our love for each other, but we do that every night,” Cullison said.

Elder Michael Reeves, Pastor of Corinthian Baptist Church, led off a January mayoral candidates debate co-sponsored by the Coalition of Concerned Black Citizens and elder stateswoman Ann B. Walker by saying “we did this forum because we have not seen a political agenda for Black Columbus, and wanted all the candidates to know that we expect them to address issues of interest to the Columbus black community.” The most surprising thing about this statement coming as the city’s first Black Mayor is preparing to retire, is that it was not a controversial statement whatsoever to the audience.

Attend the Day of Action opposing the FirstEnergy bailout

Monday, June 15 at 11 am in front of PUCO offices, 180 East Broad Street in Columbus

Following the rally, the Sierra Club will host a lunch

with overview and opportunities to contact the PUCO and Governor John Kasich.

    Since December of 2010, FirstEnergy has been attempting to get a 20-year license extension for its Davis-Besse nuclear reactor (power plant) located on Lake Erie in Oak Harbor, OH, 20 miles east of Toledo.

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has stacked the deck in numerous ways to shut out citizen organizations seeking to prevent relicensing of the nation’s fleet of aging, embrittled reactors.  

Geeks are taking over the Greater Columbus Convention Center once again this weekend for the 2015 Origins Game Fair. Origins is one of the biggest gaming conventions in the country, and it has a long history right here in Columbus. Run by the non-profit Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the convention highlights independent and small-press tabletop games, miniatures wargames, card games, and role-playing games alongside offerings from big names like Wizards of the Coast (publishers of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering) and WizKids (makers of HeroClix).

Though the exhibitor hall doesn’t open until Thursday and the big events don’t get started until Friday, the convention itself officially starts on Wednesday, June 3rd, and scheduled events run well into the night every day from then until the convention’s end on Sunday, June 7th. The official book of scheduled events is nearly 250 black-and-white, text-only pages. There’s never a question of whether there’s anything to do at any given moment at Origins, there’s only the matter of choosing what out of all the abundance of options sounds best — and how to fit eating and sleeping into that schedule.