1.17-1.24.07
The Future

In this week's issue:
* Party Get tix for Get Lost here
* BizTech Profile Howard Gudell, Ohio Israel Medical IT Mission
* Interview Hall of Famer Roldo Bartimole
* Signs of Life David Budin breaks down Robin Swoboda’s new show That’s Life
* Sounds Magick Museum from Nick Riff
* Preview Cleveland Chamber Symphony pushes the envelope
* Cool Cleveland Kids podcast click here, CC podcast click here, CC Blog click here

The future never comes. But we spend a lot of time planning for it. More and more, it seems, in a region that is increasingly focused on its future rather than its past. A future based in intellectual capital, technology and advanced materials and manufacturing. This week, I interview Howard Gudell about the upcoming Ohio Israel Medical IT Mission, connecting Israeli tech companies with NEO, and I speak with columnist Roldo Bartimole in advance of his City Club visit on The Future of News. Catch The Future of the Funk at CPT, and our tips for your future, or at least the upcoming week. Plus we announce an exciting Cool Cleveland party in Oberlin, featuring the US premiere of the stage version of David Lynch's Lost Highway, complete with open bar, yummy snacks and a self-guided tour of the historic neighborhood around Finney Chapel. So Get Lost in Oberlin, but keep your eye on our future. —Thomas Mulready

Get Lost in Oberlin party Thu 2/8
Super low price until Thu 1/18 midnight here!

Party with Cool Cleveland and Get Lost in Oberlin, and join hundreds of CC-ers for the U.S. premiere of Lost Highway, at Oberlin's Finney Chapel, before its NYC debut later in the month. Get the Cool Cleveland package, and you'll have a comp ticket to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on Thu 2/8. A haunting music theater work adapted from David Lynch’s cult film of the same name, Lost Highway is at once a mystery and a thriller. Lynch’s screenwriting partner for Lost Highway, Barry Gifford, will be in Oberlin for the premiere. Lost Highway is presented by the Contemporary Music Division of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a co-production with Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Get tix here

Get Lost and you get all this:

  • A CC mega party on Thu 2/8 from 5:30 – 7:30 in historic Downtown Oberlin (hosted by The Oberlin Conservatory of Music) at the local hang, the Feve (pronounced “fev”), but just for tonight, we've renamed it the Lost Highway Diner
  • CC's legendary open bar with unlimited beer and wine. (A little red? A little white? Or a little bubbly?), plus drink specials
  • Mini pulled pork sandwiches, pizza, enchiladas, quesadillas, hummus and other delectable eatables
  • Live jazz at the Lost Highway Diner/CC Party, performed by a trio of accomplished Oberlin Conservatory jazz students
  • Desserts and independent, self-guided tours of FAVA (visual arts gallery across the street from the Feve), and other local haunts not to be missed like the Ginko Gallery (serving chocolate desserts and chocolate liqueurs) and Ben Franklin’s Five and Dime (time warp!) and purchase a signed copy of a Barry Gifford novel on the way to Finney Chapel.
  • A comp ticket to the U.S. premiere of The Lost Highway, based on the David Lynch film, in Finney Chapel at 8PM

All is not Lost If you order your party tix today, you will save mucho dinero, because each week the price goes up. Get your discount tix by midnight Thu 1/18 here. Meet us 5:30 - 7:30 at the Feve in DT Oberlin (see map here).

Get your tix here: https://CoolCleveland.net/tickets/020807/index.php


A sensational and sizzling selection of hot tech and business news & events from around Cleveland and around the region. Send your business news and events to: EVENTS@CoolCleveland.com


Howard Gudell
Ohio Israel Medical IT Mission

Howard Gudell is a one-man economic development machine. After serving as President of the statewide Ohio Israel Chamber of Commerce, his firm, SGI Global Business Advisors has put together the Ohio Israel Medical IT Mission to bring 20 Israeli medical IT firms to NEO for 1-on-1 meetings and public events with area tech firms, VCs and suppliers. Some of these international firms may need supplies, venture capital, business partners or a place to locate their North American HQ. Cool Cleveland's Thomas Mulready met Gudell on the campus of University Hospitals and discussed how the Mission could help stimulate NEO's economy, build global partnerships, and help put Cleveland in the center of the lucrative medical IT world. Ohio Israel Medical IT Mission starts with a keynote by Lt. Gov Lee Fisher Mon 1/22 at 9AM at Embassy Suites, Independence, with other events in Akron & throughout the region, thru Thu 1/25. Register


WATCH THE MOVIE Howard Gudell

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Foreclosures decimate Cle Abandoned homes become blight & sink property values. Predatory loans targeted with new law Read
3-1-1 system for Cle would allow non-emergency complaints to be tracked, routed. 1 of 135 recommendations Read
If home prices and property values are dropping nationwide, esp. in NEO, how do our property taxes go up? Read
AT&T's refrigerator-sized boxes on tree lawns Residents are pissed: "It looks like an outhouse..." Read
ODOT Innerbelt Plan affects Cle business, but they refuse to consider alternatives Read
Lakewood Schools partners with FBI on Internet safety program for 5th-8th graders Read
Lt. Governor Lee Fisher keynotes Ohio-Israel Medical IT Mission Embassy Suites, Ind Mon 1/22 9AM Info
AT&T launches biggest ad campaign ever when they take over Cingular & BellSouth Read
IMG's new owners shoring up bottom line, as if to sell again Read
University Circle gets public design review for the first time, thanks to City Council legislation mandating public meetings Read
Windmills on Lake Erie World's only fresh-water turbines, 3 mi. from shore, with blades as long as football fields Read
Axentis moves Downtown from Warrensville Hts. Downtown office space market "is on fire'' Read
Scripps may spin off its newspapers to focus on higher-growth web & TV properties which drive 64% of earnings Read
Dream It! Do It! campaign for young workers to fill mfg job vacancies, dreamed up by MAGNET Read



State of Tech in Cle by City's Tech Czar Michael DeAloia on Mon 1/22 noon at Windows Register
TechNote forum for musicians & techies at 4walls on Thu 1/25 from 6-9PM. RSVP to: MDeAloia@city.cleveland.oh.us
Selling Skills Wksp @ Corp College East Wed 1/17 thru 2/28. Register: 987-3075
Ad Club lunch on Wed 1/17 at Windows features CEO Panel, scholarship awards Register
NEOSA and COSE: "To Blog or Not To Blog" on Thu 1/18. Is blogging sensible/viable for small businesses and corporations as a promotional tool? Find out here. Info
A New Energy Future at CSU Levin College Thu 1/18 feat. Ronald B. Richard, Pres. and CEO of the Cle Fndtn. No-cost event begins at 4PM. Info or call 523-7330.
Throughput Press presents Purple Curve Effect wkshp Fri 1/19 @ 7:45 AM. Conf Ctr, KSU Stark Campus, Canton. Info.
HOT Ohio Israel Medical IT Mission keynote by Lt. Gov Lee Fisher on Mon 1/22 at 9AM at Embassy Suites, Independence, with other events in Akron & throughout the region, thru Thu 1/25. See interview with SGI's Howard Gudell below. Register JumpStart's Annual Public Mtg documents progress of org, celebrates NEO entrepreneurship and economic dev. Carl Schramm (Pres. of EM Kauffman Foundation) and Lee Fisher (OH Lt. Gov) are scheduled to speak Thu 1/25 @ LaCentre, 25777 Detroit Road, Westlake. Info
Open House for Insivia "harmonizing marketing & tech" at Tower Press #105 on Fri 1/26 4-9PM RSVP

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Cool: CIA Recently Named “One of the 25 Best Design Schools in the Country” by BusinessWeek Magazine. And to prove it, get this -- the Institute’s Industrial Design graduates, 95% of whom have jobs upon graduation, work in the world’s top product-development studios, designing a host of consumer and industrial products including medical devices, technology products, furniture, toys, housewares and automobiles. How does it work? The Institute’s Industrial Design program facilitates partnerships with international companies so students gain exposure to real-world challenges, learning how to refine their skills while providing valuable experience in design. An independent college of art and design, the Institute makes enduring contributions to education and extends its programs to the public through gallery exhibits, lectures and continuing education. The Cleveland Institute of Art . . . Making Art Work. For more info about the Institute visit www.cia.edu.
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Cle-based T-shirt Museum has 5000+ t-shirt designs digitized, 10% are for sale Visit
Case School of Engineering names new dean Norman Tien is from Case's electrical eng & comp sci dept Read
Tri-C offers classic film courses Cinema Dystopias, Bad Film Directors from the 50's, Horrid Musicals Info
Cle comic takes bus to Chicago every weekend to write & produce Home Is Where The Hurt Is in Chi-town Read
Jackson pushes changes at City Hall Mayor's Operations Efficiency Task Force points out 135 improvements Read
Ohio legislators push term limits back to 12 years, from 8, because of "shortsightedness and partisan discord" Read
Why is the Cle Orch playing 2 "groundbreaking" weeks in Miami? And how does it help finances in Cle? Read
4 Cle films in Sundance Light Work, Nanking, Scaredycat and Teeth in Park City, UT ,1/18-28 Info
Cle Mag looks at the PD and thinks editors Clifton & Larkin will leave after '08 election Read

Strickland fires ODOT It's been a busy first week for new Governor Ted Strickland. First, moments after taking the oath, he passed sweeping ethics reforms (Read). Then he promptly replaced all key staff at the Ohio Department of Transportation, who have made a debacle of the Innerbelt Project by threatening to close exit ramps, build a boondoggle of a bridge, and ignore economic development arguments for highway planning. Good thing, because Cle City Council are at wit's end in their ongoing battle with ODOT (Read). Even the PD editors agree: ODOT can ask to lower Innerbelt speed limits, and look into the Opportunity Corridor to link 490 with the Eastern suburbs (Read). Your thoughts on the Innerbelt and Governor Strickland's agenda: Letters@CoolCleveland.com

Ohio education in the spotlight as Ohio teachers rank 5th in the US for number of certifications from the National Board of Professional Training Standards, bucking a westward trend (Read). Meanwhile, Governor Ted Strickland wastes no time in working with the Ohio legislature to change the law to make the Chancellor of Education a cabinet level post, and looking to appoint Cle-area former State Senator Eric Fingerhut, term-limited out of office (Read). Most importantly, Strickland plans to unveil a plan to fix how Ohio funds public education by tying school funding to property taxes, a system which has been declared unconstitutional four times by the Ohio Supreme Court. Next: a drive to collect 400K sigs to put the issue on the Nov 07 ballot. Read Your thoughts on education in Ohio? Letters@CoolCleveland.com

Veto odyssey Follow the fascinating path that Senate Bill 117 took from its unethical passage during a late-night lame duck session closed to public debate in December, to former Gov. Taft's typical hands-off inaction, to incoming Gov. Ted Strickland's quick-thinking veto immediately after he was sworn in on 1/8, an Ohio first. The bill was amended at the last minute to include language that would limit consumer damages & protect Sherwin-Williams from city lawsuits. Read the story here, then write to Governor Strickland with your thoughts: Governor.Strickland@governor.ohio.gov, and copy us at Cool Cleveland: Letters@CoolCleveland.com

Arts Prize Nominations accepted for 2007 in visual arts, music, dance, literature, design, due 2/28 Info

Cool Cleveland Podcast You know how to do it. Click here to listen: http://www.coolcleveland.com/files/audio/CoolCleveland01.19.07.mp3. Click here to subscribe: iTunes or other.

Cool Cleveland Kids You don't want to miss what 11-year-old Max has for you and your family this week. Listen here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/files/audio/CoolClevelandKids01.19.07.mp3. Click here to subscribe: iTunes or other.

To ensure you receive Cool Cleveland every week, take a moment now and add CoolCleveland@CoolCleveland.com to your address book, trusted sender list, or corporate white list.

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World-renowned Conductor Robert Spano, Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) and Professor of Conducting at Oberlin, will lead the Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra in a concert that has no admission fee (open to the public) in Oberlin’s Finney Chapel on Wed 1/24 at 8PM. The concert will feature guest soloist Pedja Muzijevic performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K.503, Jennifer Higdon’s blue cathedral, and Bartók’s masterpiece, Concerto for Orchestra. This is your only chance to hear the program in Oberlin before its performance in New York’s Carnegie Hall on Fri 1/26. Spano, a 1983 graduate of the Conservatory, is recognized internationally as one of the brightest and most imaginative conductors of his generation. For more information on the Conservatory and this event, visit www.Oberlin.edu/con or call the 24-hour concert hotline at 440.775.6933.
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Every week, all of us here at Cool Cleveland pour through gads of fantastic things happening in CLE and NEO, all in an effort to answer that ever-nagging question: "What's cool to do this week?" Submitted for your approval, here's a snapshot of what we found. Got a unique event coming up? Know of something that is a totally Cool Cleveland worthy event? We want to hear from you about it; our tens of thousands of readers do, too. Be a civic and cultural activist and turn on your fellow readers.

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com


HOT Digital Convergence Lunch Cool Cleveland's Thomas Mulready talks about how podcasting, videocasting, blogging and e-mail are transforming our business world on Wed 1/17 at noon at the Marriott Cleveland East, Harvard @ 271, 454-0199 Info Silk Road Ensemble Members of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble perform an evening of music by the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, the Armenian composer Komitas, and by two Iranian composers Kayhan Kalhor and Hossein Alizadeh on Wed 1/17 at 7:30PM. Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Hall. www.ClevelandArt.org.

Tartar Lamb & Bill Weita experimental, alternative, classical music Wed 1/17 at Bela Dubby, 13321 Detroit, Lakewood 221-4479

My Life in Globes by Kirk Mangus, on Wed 1/17 and through the end of March. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association-sponsored exhibit of functional pottery and travel drawings is housed at CVNPA’s Seiberling Gallery, 1403 West Hines Hill Road, Peninsula. Hours and info here.


HOT To Blog or Not to Blog - That is the Question Join Cool Cleveland's CIO George Nemeth, along with Rob Felber of Felber and Felber, and Chris Thompson of Edward Howard to discuss the pros and cons of a blog for your business. Thu 1/18 at 8AM. Corp College East, Warrensville Hts. Register.

HRCC Biz Breakfast covers "Who Pays, How Much and What For?" Everyone wants healthcare but no one wants to pay. Our society wants more and more every year. J.B. Silvers Ph.D. of Case Weatherhead is featured at this 8AM seminar on Thu 1/18 at Dively Hall, at Ford and Bellflower on the CWRU campus. Visit http://www.hrcc.org for info.

CC KIDS Twinkle Tots See what's new in space, watch lights dance, and see some magic. Show designed for toddlers, fun for the whole family. Thursdays and Saturdays including Thu 1/18 and Sat 1/20 at 11AM. Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, 28728 Wolf Rd., Bay Village. http://www.lensc.org.

HOT The Future of News Three notable journalists, including Cool Cleveland's resident muckraker, Roldo Bartimole; Jen Angel, co-editor & publisher of Clamor magazine; and Chas Rich, independent journalist-blogger of Sardonic Views, NEO Babble and AOL discuss the good, bad and ugly on the state of news reporting in Ohio. Thu 1/18 at 12 Noon. City Club of Cleveland.

HOT New Energy Future for Northeast Ohio Energy, Oil & National Security, on Thu 1/18 from 4 - 6PM. Forum will explore how The Cleveland Foundation is working with local companies to develop an advanced energy strategy and how this can create jobs and improve Ohio's economy while contributing to national security and environmental quality. Register here.

Sheila Levrant de Bretteville Graphic designer, artist and educator whose work reflects her belief in the importance of feminist principles, user participation in graphic design, and diverse local community issues. The Director of the Yale University Graduate Program in Graphic Design since 1990 will speak on Thu 1/18 at 6PM at Heights Arts at the Library, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Hts.

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Zappa REDiscovered? Let’s get one thing straight: This is not the "Mother of Invention’s" Frank Zappa. In fact, Red {an orchestra}’s performance, "The Importance of Being Zappa," Fri 2/16 and Sat 2/17, at 8PM in the Masonic Auditorium, will put an entirely different spin on the Zappa you think you know. Although famous as a rock 'n' roll guitarist and bandleader, Zappa considered himself, first and foremost, a composer of orchestral music. You RED that right -- orchestral music! Joining Red for this extraordinary concert will be Cleveland born Spencer Myer as piano soloist, and several young musicians from the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony. Concert tickets start at $15. For more information call Red {an orchestra} at 216.361.1733 or visit www.redanorchestra.org.
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The Cleveland Selling Advantage Seminar hosted by Convention & Visitors Bureau on selling Cleveland, with guest speaker Jeanne Hauer 8:30AM-5PM Fri 1/19 at the Convention Center, with a special panel at 4PM moderated by Cool Cleveland's Thomas Mulready on getting outside your box. Info RSVP to MProkay@TravelCleveland.com

Permanent Collection Winner of Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play, Permanent Collection, explores racial politics within the art world. This thought provoking drama was inspired by the true controversies surrounding Philadelphia’s acclaimed Barnes Foundation. Show runs Fri 1/19 thru Sun 2/11. http://www.Karamu.com.

Beyond the Printed Page The Fri 1/19 opening reception will showcase original works of art from Great Lakes Publishing employees. Artefino Art Gallery Cafe.

HOT The Great Grid features recent large-scale works by Cleveland artist Patricia Zinsmeister Parker - one of CLE’s most celebrated post-mod painters. Curated by artist/author/critic Dan Tranberg, "Grid" opens Fri 1/19 w/no-cost gallery talk. Runs thru Sat 3/3. Visit http://www.csuohio.edu/art/gallery for info.

Legal Aliens International artists explore relationship between identity and immigration in new exhibit. Show opens on Fri 1/19 from 6 - 9PM. http://www.SPACESgallery.org.

Motown! A great record store is going broke, so the owners throw a fundraiser, featuring over 30 great Motown songs, at the Cleveland Play House Fri 1/19 thru 2/23, 795-7000 http://www.ClevelandPlayhouse.com

SlamU Info Night highlights poetry slam series and workshops for NEO teens ages 14-19. Westfield Studio Theatre @ Ideacenter, 1375 Euclid. Fri 1/19 at 6:30 PM.

CC KIDS Rock Your World Acclaimed innovator Lieberman has sent her life at Julliard, NYU & The New School "contemporarizing string music pedagogy," and conducts clinics with Lakewood Project musicians on playing healthy, "Planet Music," and rehearsing them on one of her original compositions, which they will perform (with Lieberman soloing) at the concert Lakewood Civic Auditorium on Fri 1/19 at 7:30PM, 529-4368 http://www.LakewoodProject.org

The Future of the Funk An exploration of the former, current and future state of hip hop and its place in pop culture. Artist Najaa Young presents a multimedia performance utilizing poetry, spoken work, dance, rap, MCs, DJs and video documentary. Show runs from Fri 1/19 at 7:30PM thru 1/21 at 3PM. www.cptonline.org.

Laugh-In hosted by Cleveland 20/30 Club, Fri 1/19 at 5:45PM at Pickwick & Frolic http://www.Cleveland2030.com

Sublime Frequencies Films The two newest films by the Sublime Frequencies label: Musical Brotherhoods from the Trans-Saharan Highway and Sumatran Folk Cinema kick off Parish Hall's new monthly film showcase on Fri 1/19 at 8:30PM. Parish Hall. http://www.SublimeFrequencies.com.

Heights Youth Theatre’s Little Shop of Horrors enjoys weekends-only run Fri 1/19 – Sat 2/3 @ Wiley Middle School Aud., 2181 Miramar Blvd., University Hts. Shaker Hts grad/NYC native Lauren Geber returns as guest artistic director. Schedules, times and info: http://www.heightsyouththeatre.com.

Tomorrow’s Art Museum featuring Timothy Rub, Dir/CEO of the Cleveland Museum of Art, at the City Club Fri 1/19 @ Noon. http://www.cityclub.org.

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WCLVnotes This week The Cleveland Orchestra travels to Miami to present the first concerts in its new residency at the Knight Concert Hall and WCLV 104.9 FM will be there to bring you these concerts live. On Sat 1/20 “The Best Band in the Land” repeats its blockbuster Severance Hall program of last weekend, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Choral” and Leonard Bernstein’s “Jeremiah” Symphony, beginning at 8PM. On Tue 3/27 at 7PM, WCLV will broadcast live the Orchestra concert that features Mahler’s Symphony No.1. In addition, WCLV’s broadcast will be shared with Miami’s WLRN and other stations around the country. Complete details on all of WCLV’s classical music programming can be found online at www.wclv.com.
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T'ai Chi in the Garden Saturdays beginning on Sat 1/20 at 8:15AM. Call 216-721-1600 ext. 143 to register. Cleveland Botanical Garden.

The Women's Retreat A day-long, renewing opportunity to reflect on self-care and life balance on Sat 1/20 from 8:30AM to 4:30PM. The symposium will offer many practical tips for busy women to refresh, renew, revive and rejoice, as well as to enjoy meaningful connections with other women. Lunch is provided. Call 721-1600. www.cbgarden.org.

North Union Farmers Market Healthy, delicious fare so fresh it'll smack you back. Poultry, apples, maple syrup, pork, honey, root vegetables, potatoes, lettuces, organic lettuce, cheese, jam, beef, pecans, European baked goods, farm eggs, organic grains, mushrooms, milk and more on Sat 1/20 and every Saturday from 9AM to Noon through 3/24. 13209 Shaker Square. http://www.lkwdpl.org/farmersmarket/.

Four American Songwriting Legends Gigs like this are rare: see Guy Clark, John Hiatt, Joe Ely and Lyle Lovett offer picturesque views of Americana as they perform together on Sat 1/20. http://www.playhousesquare.org.

CC KIDS Hurricane on the Bayou offers a dramatic portrait of Hurricane Katrina's powerful effects and the vital importance of Louisiana's vanishing wetlands. Narrated by Meryl Streep. Opens on Sat 1/20. http://www.GreatScience.com. http://www.HurricaneOnTheBayou.com.

CC KIDS Searching for Life Beyond Learn about NASA's exploration of the galaxy in the search for life beyond our solar system on Sat 1/20 from 10AM to 3PM. Dr. Bruce will present "Life in Space" at 11AM. Michael Blair (NASA Aerospace Lecturer) will present "Planet Quest" at 1PM. NASA Glenn Visitor Center.

Drawing from Nature Coax your inner artist to come out and play this winter. Spend the morning waking up to the sounds and colors of the Smith Glasshouse and strengthen your drawing skills, regardless of your level of experience, on Sat 1/20 thru Sat 2/17, from 10AM to 12:30PM. www.cbgarden.org.

Sight Unseen Exhibition features recent works on paper by 29 year-old Los Angeles based painter Faris McReynolds. Exhibition runs Sat 1/20 through 3/16. Shaheen Modern & Contemporary Art.

Sleep Deprivation Chamber Benefit for a Literature award to be presented to a Cleveland Public Schools student in the name of Adrienne Kennedy, on Sat 1/20 at 3PM. The show also continues evenings thru 1/27 http://www.CPTonline.org

Whodunit Mystery Dinner at Cafe Sausalito at Galleria on Sat 1/20 at 6PM http://www.CafeSausalito.com

Chicken Paprikash The Studio of 5 Rings will host its first Chicken Paprikash Cook-Off on Sat 1/20 at 7PM. Wine will be available exclusively from the Studio of 5 Rings and the art gallery will feature abstract artworks from Don Cox. Studio of 5 Rings.

Akron Symphony Hear Debussy's La Mer; Elgar's Enigma Variations; Puts River's Rush and Vaughan Williams' English Folk Suite Song on Sat 1/20 at 8PM. http://www.AkronSymphony.org.

HOT Big Leg Emma & The Fulbrights The hard-gigging country-bluegrass sounds of Big Leg Emma, plus the debut of the refashioned Fulbrights, the smartest band from Cleveland, on Sat 1/20 at Wilbert's. Mention The Fulbrights for comp admission.

HOT Bobby McFerrin performs with the CIM Orchestra at Severance Hall on Sat 1/20 at 8:30PM for a benefit for the Cleveland Institute of Music. Don't miss an opportunity to hear the vocal explorer who has combined jazz, folk and world music influences as he now extends his gifts to orchestral music. Call 231-1111. www.ClevelandOrchestra.com.


HOT Cleveland Chamber Symphony Steven Smith directs work by Tan Dun, Charles Ives, Gerald Plain and new work by David Taddie on Sun 1/21 at 4PM. Gamble Auditorium, Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea. http://www.ClevelandChamberSymphony.org.


HOT Ohio Israel Medical IT Mission connects 20 Israeli medical IT companies with NEO through 1-on-1 meetings, plus public events, including keynote by new Lt. Governor, Clevelander Lee Fisher, on Mon 1/22 at 9AM at Embassy Suites, Independence, with other events at National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron & throughout the region, thru Thu 1/25. See interview with SGI's Howard Gudell above. Register

SlamU Spoken Word Classes feat. focus on performance poetry. Begins Mon 1/22 and runs through Mon 2/12. http://www.playhousesquare.org/arts-education.



Oberlin Conservatory Symphony Orchestra Robert Spano conducts the Oberlin Orchestra with guest soloist, Pedja Muzijevic on piano during a no-cost performance on Wed 1/24 at 8PM at Finney Chapel before heading off to perform at Carnegie Hall on Fri 1/26 at 8PM. www.Oberlin.edu.

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com



Roldo Bartimole
Hall of Fame Journalist

Roldo Bartimole has covered Cleveland City Hall for over 40 years, attending City Council meetings every Monday evening, then writing scathing commentary and reportage taking to task the city's political leaders, business interests and corporate-controlled mainstream media. His typewritten newsletter Point of View was a forerunner of today's blogs and, in many important ways, a template for Cool Cleveland. Having written for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Wall Street Journal, Roldo was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame in 2004. Under the cover of the Free Stamp, in the shadow of City Hall, Cool Cleveland's Thomas Mulready talks with Roldo about Cleveland's lack of media criticism, his assessment of the PD, City Hall and Mayor Frank Jackson, and his outlook for 2007. http://www.readroldo.com http://www.clevelandmemory.org/roldo. Roldo speaks at The Future of News the City Club on Thu 1/18 at noon Register


WATCH THE MOVIE Journalist Roldo Bartimole

Watch The Movie:  Windows movie  Mac movie

Robin, If ‘That’s Life,’ I’m Not Sure Where To Turn

I’m not a TV critic – I mean, outside of my home – but I was in a room where there was a TV at the time of day when Robin Swoboda’s new show, That’s Life, was on, so I decided to check it out. Even if I were a TV critic, I would never criticize a show based on watching only 10 minutes of it; that would be extremely unfair. Luckily, for me, I am not a TV critic.

I know that Robin used to be really popular as the anchor for WJW’s news. I rarely saw her in that capacity, though, because I rarely watched that station’s news when she was on. At the time I found it a little “lite,” if you know what I mean; it didn’t exactly seem like a newscast. Of course, that was before Channels 19 and 43 changed the direction of their “news” programs. Now, after seeing 19 & 43’s news, practically everyone else’s newscasts look like Pulitzer Prize winners to me...

Read more from David Budin here



Links to interesting NEO blogs

Jill spreads the word about a new blog that will address the technical divide in education. Link
Janko reports on the first community meeting re: Youngstown's State Theater renovation. Link
Scott Bakalar tries in vain for seven months to email and phone the City of Lorain's Utilities Director. Link
Roselle raves about Hungry Howie's pizza. Link
Mike wonders if more troops will bring success in Iraq. Link
Marc weighs the costs of the Innerbelt plan. Link

Check the Cool Cleveland weblog here, where Peter Chakerian plows through this week in news and fits in some other observations between diaper changes. When you're through, add your own comments, questions and attitude. Letters@CoolCleveland.com.


Magick Museum
Nick Riff
Riff Disc

About 15 years ago, I did an interview with a local act called the 14th Floor Elevators, who told me they were getting major airplay in Sweden and the Czech Republic, although they couldn't get arrested in Cleveland and were lucky they were getting radio exposure on the local college stations. I wasn't surprised.

There has always been this quirk for bands from America breaking out in odd spots in Europe and the U.S. fans embrace many bands that would probably wind up cleaning toilets on a full time basis if they didn't get their music across the big pond to the right people's ears. That's the way the music business has been for a long time...

Read the review by Peanuts here

Wanna get reviewed? Send your band's CD (less than 1 year old) to: Cool Cleveland, 14837 Detroit Avenue, #105, Lakewood, OH 44107

Hey Writers! Wanna write about Cleveland music? We've got a slew of recently-released CDs and DVDs by Cleveland-area musicians that could use your critical commentary for Cool Cleveland Sounds. If you're interested, send us a note at Letters@CoolCleveland.com.


Cleveland Chamber Symphony

There are those folks who put down classical music as being old-fashioned, or just another form of museum. And sometimes it is, but other times it isn’t. Not really. But even so, if you don’t pay attention to the past, how will you ever recognize the future?

A good many years ago, Edwin London, then a professor of music at Cleveland State University, decided to emulate "Star Trek," taking music to new levels here and elsewhere, as well. In fact, the motto for this new entity – the Cleveland Chamber Symphony – is Music That Dares to Explore. Dr. London did this so well that he – and the orchestra he founded – has collected awards by the bushel in the intervening years.

If you’re a person who likes to explore beyond the known boundaries of classical music, then take yourself to Gamble Auditorium on the campus of Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music this coming Sunday, January 21, 2007, at 4 PM and air out your ears!

While you’re there, you can also pick up any number of remarkable CDs, the most recent of which, known as Vol. 6 of the series devoted to ‘new’ European music, has received a nomination for a Grammy award. This accomplishment belongs to CSU professor of piano Angelin Chang, for her marvelous imitation of an aviary full of exotic birds, in Olivier Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques. (More on this later.)

Sunday’s concert will feature the traditional sort of mixed musical bag usually offered by the orchestra, under its music director Stephen Smith.

There’s a World Premiere—Amazonia II by David Taddie, for Piano, Percussion, Harp & Orchestra, featuring Mark George - piano, Andrew Pongracz – percussion and Jocelyn Chang, harp. (Taddie’s Concertato Amazonia was premiered by the group in 1987.) There’s a really recent concerto for a somewhat ancient instrument – the recorder. Gerald Plain’s Concerto for Recorder & Chamber Orchestra was written in 2002, and will showcase the talent of the internationally acclaimed Eva Legêne, currently on the faculty at Indiana University's School of Music, Early Music Institute.

Another fairly recent work is the Concerto for Orchestra: Yi◦ (2002) by Tan Dun, whose opera The First Emperor, was recently premiered by the Metropolitan Opera in New York with the composer as conductor. It was also part of their Saturday filmed series, The Metropolitan Opera Goes To The Movies, seen locally in theaters on January 14. Mixing musical traditions of East and West has won the composer a number of prestigious awards: a Grammy and an Oscar, both for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Musical America’s 'Composer of The Year' designation.

To get your ears opened up for these newer works is one from nearly a century ago, Symphony No. 3 by the noted iconoclast Charles Ives. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for the work in 1947, just a few years before his death in 1954 at the age of 79. His Third Symphony "The Camp Meeting" was written in 1904 and revised in 1909, although not premiered until 1946.

Now, then. About that CD and the Grammy nomination? Actually, there are four works on the disk, two of whom were living at the time their music was recorded. Hungarian György Ligeti died in June, 2006, however, the Romanian Liviu Danceanu has recently been in Cleveland for performances of his music. On this CD his Chinonic Op. 67 is conducted with lavish care by the dedicatee, Dr. London. Ligeti’s Concerto for 13 Instruments is conducted by Alexander Mickelthwaite in a balanced and nuanced reading.

The other two works feature the remarkable Ms. Chang. The category in which she was nominated is Category 100--Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra) for her performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Oiseaux Exotiques (Exotic Birds) and it’s easy to hear why. Ms. Chang plays with all the brisk clarity, sensitivity, and emotion needed for this portrayal of the winged creatures the composer referred to as the "greatest musicians of the planet." Also on the disk is a cheeky, fun version of the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich, with splendid trumpet playing from John Brndiar. The Cleveland Chamber Symphony, which specializes in contemporary music, is conducted in these two pieces by our own John McLaughlin Williams.

The Cleveland Chamber Symphony Concert at Gamble Auditorium of Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music on Sunday, January 21, is free and open to the public. Following the 4 PM performance, there will be a reception sponsored by MindCrafted Systems of Westlake.

For additional information, visit their website http://www.clevelandchambersymphony.org.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATadelphia.net



Quick reviews of recent events
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Cleveland Orchestra rehearsal @ Severance Hall 1/10 Seeing a crowd wearing jeans and hoodies rush to their general admission seats was the first indication that this was a rare moment. You gotta pity the musician who came in 1 minute late to the first public rehearsal of the Cleveland Orchestra in years. Over 2000 people, and conductor Franz Welser-Möst, waiting patiently for what turned out to be a most satisfying and educational evening. With a simple, "Good evening..." Welser- Möst kicked into the entire 1st and most of the 2nd movements before he stopped the band. Then he proceeded to cover more than 20 notes: "keep the pulse" here; "too light" there; "drier" everywhere. My favorite: "Play it even softer with the utmost intensity..." He stopped them once again during the 4th movement with encyclopedic precision. Watching how Welser-Möst manages to keep dozens of notes in his head about the subtlest musical tweaks was simply fascinating. Whatever you were doing last Wednesday evening, it wasn't as cool as hearing Franz take the best Orchestra in the world, along with their Chorus and soloists, thru their paces. http://www.ClevelandOrchestra.com

IABC: Selling NEO @ Forum Conference Center 1/11

Start with a stellar panel of economic development experts: Marketing guy Rick Batyko of GCP (branding Cle), developer Ari Maron of MRN Ltd (E. 4th Street & Triangle), Chris Mather of NorTech (pushing bio- nano- and other tech), and ED guru Brad Whitehead of Cle Foundation (Fund for Our Economic Future, Civic Innovation Lab, pictured). Add one spunky moderator (yours truly), and blend in a generous serving of audience Q&A. From tax abatement for DT residential units (is it necessary?) to Cle's perception outside the region (neutral), to the best ways to sell the region (have them talk with a recent transplant), this was one panel that actually said something. Let's hope the International Association of Business Communicators does more of these. http://www.IABCcleveland.com

Cleveland Orchestra Beethoven #9 @ Severance Hall 1/12

Having attended the rehearsal, we were prepared for some of the highlights: Rene Pape's profound vocal bass solo in the 4th movement, the well-balanced dynamics, the sheer heavy metal decibels resonating in the shimmering Severance Hall. And all of it recorded for international CD release. What can be said about the 9th? If you believe in heaven, this is probably what they have piped in as you approach the pearly gates. But there were some surprises: an intense and uplifting Molto vivace 2nd movement, the relaxed grandeur of the Adagio molto e cantabile 3rd movement, and how startling and fluid the Orchestra feels at every turn under Welser-Möst. And catching a contact buzz off the dude in the leather jacket and the Rolling Stones t-shirt after he visited the smoker's porch during intermission was an unexpected bonus. Not that anyone needed it. We were all high anyway. http://www.ClevelandOrchestra.com

Of Mice and Men @ CPH Drury Theater, 1/10 When one of our area’s live theater companies does a performance of a theatrical or literary classic, especially one which has had a long stage or film life, there has become a tendency in the local media to compare the local stage efforts with previously done stage and film landmark performances. For example, last spring the Cleveland Play House did a more than admirable job with Tennessee Williams’ classic A Street Car Named Desire. The production featured good casting, simple but dynamic staging, and good use of music and lighting. I saw the performance twice, once at night with an audience of traditional theatergoers, and once at a student matinee filled with middle school and high school students. Both audiences for the most part enjoyed the performance and left the theater knowing that they saw something good.

However, when reviewed in the local media too many comparisons where made to the film version featuring Marlon Brando. It was totally unfair to compare the job done by up and coming regional actors with one of the great film performances by one of the greatest and talented actors of all time. Not to forget that it is also totally unfair to compare film versions of theatrical successes to stage performances. In film each scene is done over and over until it is done right; in live theater you have no choice but to get it right the first time.

And it has happened again with another Play House production, their current offering of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. No, Lon Chaney Jr. and Burgess Meredith aren’t in the production as they were in the classic 1939 film version. But one major newspaper’s review spent most of its content on the failure of the Play House’s current performance compared to the 1939 film. It’s too bad, because the production is pretty good and a negative review in a major newspaper will probably keep some people away. To compare the current production to a classic film version of the same story takes it away from what it is: a fine live production of a literary classic performed by a talented cast and crew.

Directed by Seth Gordon, the production stays very close to the source material, Steinbeck’s short 1937 novel about two drifting friends working on a range in California during the Great Depression. Harry Carnahan plays George, an uneducated and not too smart man who looks out for the only friend or family he has, the man/child giant Lennie, played by Jeffrey Evan Thomas. Thomas has both the physical size and emotional vulnerability to make his performance work. Vayu O’Donnell plays the cocky undersized Boss’s son Curly, and Amanda Cowen delivers just enough sexiness as his wife. Wiley Moore gives the play’s best performance as Crooks, the black ranch hand. Local regulars Rhon Thomas as the range’s boss and John Woodson as one of the range hands both give good performances.

The play works because it is a lot like the novel, a series of 2-3 character scenes building to unexpected climax. There are several short violent scenes that arrive suddenly and are not overdone. The staging and lighting are simple and not overstated, and do not get in the way of the story.

Of Mice and Men will be playing at the Cleveland Play House’s Drury Theater until January 28. I recommend it to not only fans of live theater or of John Steinbeck, but it is also another Play House performance that would be a good introduction to live theater for the young people in your family or circle of friends. It would be a good opportunity to show the middle and high school students in your life a little culture away from their computer or television screens, and to get the ipods unplugged out of their ears for a couple of hours.

Several well done added bonuses are background pieces in the playbill, one by the Play House’s Kristoffer Diaz about the novel’s themes and characters, and another about Steinbeck’s feelings about the novel being performed on the stage for the first time in 1937 from Nelson Valjean’s 1975 biography John Steinbeck: Errant Knight.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Greg Cielec cielecAThotmail.com

MLK Jr. Celebration Concert @ Severance Hall, 1/14 Celebration is certainly the right word to describe these concerts by the Cleveland Orchestra that commemorate the life and beliefs of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. The joy generated by the combined musicians on stage (and sometimes in the boxes, too, where the overflow from the chorus is seated) and the enthusiastic audience is roof-rattling, to put it mildly. It is nearly impossible to just sit. Indeed, when one of the conductors admonishes the listeners to show ‘they get it’ and not be one of the ‘frozen chosen’, it behooves one to respond or be severely frowned upon!

This was the 27th such celebration—the longest such tradition in the country, and the Cleveland Orchestra only adds to its lustre with every passing year. Resident conductor of the Toledo Symphony, Chelsea Tipton II was the main conductor for the evening, but he had a short break in the second half when Dr. William Henry Caldwell came to the podium to conduct his marvelous Central State University Chorus. It was Dr. Caldwell who urged the audience to ‘get with it’.

Before the music began, however, there was another, younger tradition honored: awards for Community Service were presented to the Consortium of African American Organizations and Charles Modlin, M.D. by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell. Mr. Conwell also announced the purchase of the Cozad-Bates House by University Circle, Inc., which secures the continued existence of the historical house as a teaching center about the underground railway.

In her acceptance remarks, Connie Atkins, the Executive Director of the Consortium recalled that she had once been a “homeless teenager who marched with Dr. King” while Dr. Modlin brought along a mouthpiece for the instrument he studied in school. All he needed was the trumpet to go with it!

The musical portion of the program began with a rousing version of Lift Every Voice and Sing. No matter how many times one hears this anthem performed by the orchestra and the combined choral forces, plus the audience, it still creates chills up the spine. If only the energy and joy it produces could somehow be packaged. What a force for good it would be!

Three orchestral selections followed. Antonín Dvořák’s Carnival Overture was indeed festive in this bright and brisk performance produced by broad sweeping gestures from the conductor. There were beautiful solos from Robert Walters on english horn and William Preucil, violin. Mr. Tipton was slightly out of breath at the conclusion, and appropriately so! He went on to explain that the next work on the program—the world premiere of Jeffrey Mumford's the comfort of his voice, which was commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra—used dissonance as colors. This seemed appropriate as Dr. Mumford, a professor at Oberlin, had once enjoyed painting. There were bits of melody here and there among the fragments, which modulated into a more harmonic language by the end of the fairly short work, and received a grand ovation.

The first movement from William Dawson’s Negro Folk Symphony, dating from 1934 used a much older, romantic musical structure, incorporating spirituals and original music into a pleasing and vibrant whole. Beginning with a gorgeous horn solo by Richard King, the piece allowed all of the wind players to demonstrate their marvelous clarity and articulation in the speedier passages.

After intermission, we were treated to a slightly jazzy arrangement for full orchestra of the traditional spiritual Ride On, King Jesus. Next was an extraordinary display of youthful virtuosity in the person of 14-year-old cellist Gabriel Cabezas, making his Cleveland Orchestra debut in the last two movements of Saint-Säens' Cello Concerto No. 1. Mr. Cabezas was the 2006 winner of the Sphinx Competition, held yearly in Michigan to encourage and increase youth and minority involvement in classical music. Playing from memory with brilliant technique, appropriate emotion, and a gorgeous, though not large sound, the young soloist was applauded vigorously by members of the orchestra as well as the capacity audience. He’ll be back, soon, without question.

The traditional Same Train as performed by The Central State University Chorus led by its director, Dr. Caldwell, was an incredible a capella demonstration of breath control, pitch and attention to detail. For John Carter's I Have Been to the Mountain, two of the chorus—Dominique Squires and Michael Williams—came to the front to speak the words of Dr. King, accompanied by their chorus mates, brass players from the Orchestra, and their own rhythm section: Chris Brenham, piano; Clarence Williams, organ; Professor Brian Cashwell, piano; Lacretia Bolden, drums and Branden Kern, bass guitar. (Not all of these musicians played each time, but specific information was sketchy.) Dr. Caldwell might be said to conduct by dancing, but his results are entirely spectacular.

Total Praise featured the entire Martin Luther King Celebration Chorus, consisting of singers from 51 area churches, clothed in their own colorful choir robes. Soloists were Phyllis Powell of Cleveland and Kacey Edwards of Central State. Anthem of Praise, which followed featured local soloist Sabrena Robinson and three students: Charity Grant, James McCreary and Donald King, while the rollicking finale—under the baton of Mr. Tipton—was I'm So Glad I'm Free, with the wonderful local singers Phyllis Oliver and Eva Blount, full orchestra and both choruses. Magnificent.

The Cleveland Orchestra is now in Miami for the first of its annual residencies there. It will return for concerts on February 1-3 featuring Iván Fischer as conductor and Hilary Hahn as violin soloist. For tickets or information, call (216) 231-1111, or visit the website at %newwinhttp://www.clevelandorchestra.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATadelphia.net

Greater Cleveland PC Users Group @ CSU, 1/13 Have you ever thought, "I wonder how to [fill in the blank] with this computer?", or "I heard of this really cool program that would [fill in the blank], but I'm not sure how to do it." All of these questions and more can be answered by attending a PC users group, and we have a great one here in Cleveland called the "Greater Cleveland PC Users Group," their website is at http://www.gcpcug.org.

I attended the general meeting this past Saturday morning at Cleveland State University. The meeting started off with a question and answer session to allow attendees to pose questions to other members of the group. Then there was a presentation about the annual Consumers Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. At the end of the meeting several books and other useful computer items were raffled off, the proceeds going to charity.

There are some neat items coming out this year, among a few of the ones shown at CES were; a cell phone that will show full length TV shows over a dedicated UHF channel, an MP3 player from SanDisk that allows users to connect to others over WiFi to share songs and play lists, and of course, from Microsoft, a home server to help backup and share files among the systems in your home.

User groups are a great way to learn more about the technology that we are using today, or the technology that is coming, and the Greater Cleveland PC Users Group is a good place to start.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Doug Morris dougjm.morrisATgmail.com

Sleep Deprivation Chamber @ CPT 1/14
What: The haunting reality-based story of a prominent African-American family's struggle when their son is beaten by police and then charged with assault; co-written by avant garde playwright Adrienne Kennedy and her son Adam.
Reasons to go: The play shuttles between realistic scenes of police, lawyers and court, and the surreal dreams, nightmares, and letter-writing by the anguished mother, superbly played by Lisa Langford. Though the writing is sometimes uneven, the 90-minute piece is beautifully directed and has many strong performances -- and it's a sobering commentary that couldn't be more topical.
Backstory: Oberlin College director Caroline Jackson Smith is an Adrienne Kennedy scholar, and recently directed her classic Funnyhouse of a Negro Off-Broadway in the all-Kennedy season at NYC's Signature Theatre.
Details: Thru 1/28 @ Cleveland Public Theatre. 216-631-2727. http://www.cptonline.org.
from Cool Cleveland contributor Linda Eisenstein LindaATcoolcleveland.com

Fat Pig @ The Bang & the Clatter 1/13
What: Neil LaBute's dark romantic comedy about the social pressures on a guy who starts dating an overweight woman.
Reasons to go: Though Jenna Messina is adorable as Helen and Sean Derry turns in another reliably angst-filled performance as Tom, it's Tony Weaver as his devil-on-the-shoulder work chum Carter who runs away with the show, with Alanna Romansky properly bitchy as the former girlfriend.
Caveats: The play runs out of gas in the 2nd act, but the actors give it a good ride.
Party-hearty: BNC has an unadvertised perk: free wine and beer for patrons, with Artistic Director Sean McConaha topping off glasses during his curtain speech.
Details: Thru 2/11 @ Summit Arts Space, Akron. http://www.bnctheatre.com/
from Cool Cleveland contributor Linda Eisenstein LindaATcoolcleveland.com

Emotional Steinbeck: Of Mice and Men @ CPH Drury Theater, 1/10 John Steinbeck’s play, which is now on stage at the Cleveland Play House, was the author’s attempt at writing in a format which he entitled a play novelette. Steinbeck envisioned that the novel and the play would have the same format and be interchangeable. For example, each chapter is arranged as a scene, and each scene is confined to a single place.

In spite of the fact that the book is a classic which is read by most high school and college students, and sold over 120,000 before it was even published in 1937, Steinbeck considered the work a failure in the sense that it did not accomplish his goal since the play version was rewritten by George Kaufman, who directed its first production.

The novel/play which was transformed into five films, an opera and numerous stage productions, is not without controversy. In the 1990s several school libraries banned the book for “promoting euthanasia.” In fact, the book is number six on the list of the American Library Association’s "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books."

The play, which is set on a ranch in the Salinas Valley in California during the Great Depression of the 1930s, centers on George Milton and Lennie Small, two migrant workers who dream of owning their own farm. Unfortunately, like the line in Robert Burns’ poem, “To a Mouse,” which laid the foundation for the title and the script’s theme, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” the dream is not achieved.

George, is large, strong, unintelligent and innocent at heart. He lives to touch soft and furry things (rabbits, mice, soft materials), but often acts out physically when the animal nips or someone pulls away from him. George is his caretaker, friend and conscience. George and Lennie are like mice in the maze of life. Their extraordinary friendship distinguishes them from other lonely migrant workers who are individualists, afraid to show their softer feelings or bond with another person.

The CPH production, under the direction of Seth Gordon, is generally effective. The cast, with a few exceptions is excellent. Jeffrey Evan Thomas is outstanding as Lennie. This is a difficult role. There is a temptation to overdo the character and make him pathetic or comic. Thomas walks the fine line with perfection. This is an amazing performance.

Harry Carnahan is believable as George. His affection and desire to protect Lenny from hurt, including his making a startling decision at the play’s final curtain, is clear. Even his oft repeated “If I was alone I could live so easy,” is clearly developed as a ploy to cover his need for the bonding.

Chet Carlin is convincing as Candy, the old man who has little for which to live. Jeremy Holm develops the role of Slim well, as does Wiley Moore as the “nigra.”

Amanda Rowan weakly stays close to the surface as the daughter-in-law of the ranch’s owner. Vayu O’Donnell is not believable as her husband. Caleb Sekeres (Whit) who uses a flat, no-affect delivery, fails to develop any characterization.

Hugh Landwehr’s multi-set design works well and James C. Swonger’s sound design helps develop the mood.

The first act is well-paced, but the second act lagged.

The power of the conclusion was disrupted by Gordon’s decision to bring up the lights too quickly, startling the audience back to reality, thus breaking their emotional envelopment.

CAPSULE JUDGMENT: CPH's Of Mice And Men is a generally effective presentation with two strong performances by Jeffrey Evan Thomas and Harry Carnahan. It is a production that should be attended not only by the many students who study the show, but by those who like a good script which gets a good production.

For tickets to Of Mice And Men, which runs through January 28 in the Drury Theatre of the Cleveland Play House call 795-7000 or go online to http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Roy Berko royberkoATyahoo.com

Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2006, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info.

Journey to Recovery @ Doubting Thomas Gallery, 1/12

Is this the basis for a good time at an art gallery? Artist, writer and former licensed social worker, Andrea R. Taylor, is bipolar, was sexually abused through much of her youth, and suffers from post-traumatic stress syndrome, boarder-line personality disorder and depression. The stigma of mental illness is so passé.

“I didn’t believe that recovery was possible,” said Ms. Taylor who has a bachelor degree majoring in psychology from Cleveland State University. “This belief was irrational,” she said. Fortunately Cleveland can be a pretty friendly place for people with “issues” if you go looking. Much expertise in mental health is here.

"You need to believe in the irrational optimist. If you don’t you won’t see opportunity," said artist Colin Park of the West Side who a year-and-a-half ago encouraged Ms. Taylor to keep painting after her son, Jonathan who was bipolar killed himself in 2002. This was while mother and son lived in Florida. She then painted the colorful and captivating "Irrational Optimist."

Taylor, who grew up in Cleveland and lives in Euclid, is reading from her book "It's a Child's Fault, Too?" at 8pm Friday 1/19 at the Doubting Thomas Gallery during her road show presentation, "Friday, the 13th, no one heard me killing myself!!"

"I have to keep producing or I probably would cease to exist," said Taylor. And she produces. The show leads off with a short introductory plaque letting the viewer know what they are in for. Hung on the walls are mostly wildly colorful paintings with names such as: Dysfunctional Family, Cosmic Orphan, Non-Linear Process of Recovery, Wisps of World Peace, The Storm Within, Colorful Consumers, Life’s Crazy Maze, Bipolar Blues, Soaring Out of Darkness Into Splendid Light, Just for Fun, and Here I Stand With a World of Possibilities Awaiting Me!

Bertha Williams, who lives in Midtown looked over the collection and said, “I understand it but I don’t know why.”

“Take this painting, ‘Multi-facetted Recovery,’” said Kristen Weisman, a clinical psychologist from Ohio City who met Taylor three weeks before the opening. “It is wonderful! So different! So spectacular! In the painting ‘Rage’ the light force is equal to the rage. Beautiful!”

“I’ve experienced these things, family eruptions and family violence,” Ms. Weisman continued. “In ‘Mayhem’ (which is about Taylor’s late son), it is bleeding but magnificent! In ‘Healthier Family,’ she takes us there. She shows we can go there sometime but we can’t hold onto it very long before it falls away.”

Taylor, who calls herself a mental health services consumer, read from her book and spoke to a crowd of about twenty. “Move beyond surviving. I want to thrive!” she said. “There is a state of being too afraid to trust. Remember, we are lovable people.”

“Keep going and we shall overcome!” announced someone in the audience who gave his name as Adolf.

Taylor described a bit what it is like to be on the down side of bipolar. “I’ve had to lock myself in my house and use all my energy to stay in. If I went out and someone looked at me funny, I’ll erupt in rage.”

“This show is an inspiration to anyone who can’t express themselves like this. Holding it in does no good,” said Adolf.

“Even though I live every day on the edge because of my dark struggle I see and ardently rely on the light of divine intervention!” said Taylor. During her presentation she also thanked the Cuyahoga County Mental Health Board. “In the midst of my abyss I always hear the words, ‘Let there be light!’ My goal is to thrive through the power of light and love!”

This show runs through January 27, at the Doubting Thomas Art Gallery, 856 Jefferson Ave. in Tremont. Hours: Friday & Saturday 6-10pm, 216-241-7800, Gallery Web address: http://www.geocities.com/doubtingthomas2005.

Taylor’s email address is Andrear474 AT aol.com.

Story by Cool Cleveland contributor Lee Batdorff, batATadva.com




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On ODOT's schemes " ODOT’s scheme for replacing the innerbelt bridge makes no sense. Building a new five lane westbound bridge while reducing the existing Inner Belt bridge from eight to five traffic lanes adds only two new lanes for $393 million dollars. This scheme also consigns all eastbound traffic to the 50 year old innerbelt bridge which ODOT claims requires immediate temporary repairs, and eventual replacement. ODOT’s refusal to convert one of the abandoned lanes into a pedestrian/ bicycle lane, and their disastrous plans for the “Trench” show how they continue to ignore our communities needs despite going through the motions of collecting public comment. ODOT needs to step up and become good steward of its properties, and a good neighbor to the impacted communities. We cannot let ODOT forget that the underside of these bridges often end up being the side that we residents experience, as opposed the the interstate traveller blowing through town at 65 mph. For example, the area under the existing west side of the innerbelt bridge next to Sokoliski's University Inn has become an dangerous wasteland, rife with gang grafitti, illegal dumping, vagrants, and litter. Cleveland needs to push ODOT to help us reclaim these no-man's lands under the bridges and re-invent them as vibrant, contributing additions to the community. The Cleveland arts community needs to be vocal, and proactive in devising programs for these "lost lands". I hope the new administration in Columbus can reign in ODOT and create a culture concerned with the long term health of northern Ohio, instead of just laying highway without considering the consequences.
from Cool Cleveland reader Glenn Murray lgmurrayATnetzero.com

On cool Cleveland I just wanted to comment on the resourcefulness of the weekly Cool Cleveland newsletter. I enjoy living in Cleveland because there are many things going on around town weekly, such as the monthly Tremont Art Walks, the "Working Dress Rehearsal" Severance Hall performance tomorrow, January 10 which I will not be able to attend. I just wanted to comment on the wonderful exhibit, the Cleveland Museum's "Barcelona" exhibit. I attended the exhibit when it first opened.

on October 15 and Sunday, January 7, on the last day. I have never seen the Cleveland Museum so crowded with art enthusiasts. Everyone in the Museum lobby patiently awaited their turn into the exhibit. Refreshments were also provided for purchase by the Cleveland Museum of Art while everyone waited without pushing or shoving. I waited for over one hour just to see it one last time before it left our fair city. I am a graphic designer by trade and I especially loved the graphic posters which are timeless. The balance and color clarity was brilliant. Probably my favorite pieces were Picasso's tiny colored drawings of his fellow artist friends during that period in Barcelona. I look forward to the Cleveland Museum's Grand Opening. Thank you for providing valuable information for us Clevelanders. p.s. Other ideas for articles, I am a movie buff, so Movie Review would be great as well.
from Cool Cleveland reader Toni J. Chanakas tchanakasAThotmail.com

Send your letters to: Letters@CoolCleveland.com


Most clicked
Here are the Top 5 from last week's issue, with one more chance for you to click.

1) Ohio Design Centre Sale The region's premier resource for interior design professionals.
http://www.OhioDesignCentre.com

2) Interview Brandon Stevens of Exit Stencil Records.
www.CoolCleveland.com

3) Emissions from the Blogosphere Matt votes with his feet, preferring to go to a coffeeshop without bigotry.
www.Bakaitis.com

4) Downtown for-sale housing boom 1000's of units in Avenue Dist, Stonebridge, Pinnacle, others.
www.Cleveland.com

5) Tremont ArtWalk The title pretty much says it all.
http://www.TremontArtwalk.org



Bright The future is illuminated for you every week here at Cool Cleveland. Cheers and sunglasses to Peter Chakerian, T.L. Champion, George Nemeth, Kelly Ferjutz, Linda Eisenstein, Doug Morris, Peanuts and to our readers and everyone who partners with us. Want to volunteer and contribute your writing to Cool Cleveland? Send your reviews, articles, or story ideas to: Events@CoolCleveland.com.

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