The Underground Entrepreneur
Dear Friend,
In this week's issue:
* Cool Cleveland People with alternative entrepreneur Jim Lanza
* Cool Cleveland Writer and Ohio Arts Council award winner Katie Daley
* Skirting the Issue women's issues from Lyz Bly
* RoldoLINK tweaks regionalism, Sam Miller and Doug Clifton
* Kucinich Beat listens to the candidate as he captures up to 30% in recent primaries
* A Moveable Feast Cool Cleveland party on 6/17 in Cleveland Heights: discount online registration available here.
Cool Cleveland People: Jim Lanza
Underground entrepreneur Jim Lanza encapsulates the essence of Cleveland's alternative entrepreneurs, combining underground culture, music, fashion and community in Ohio City where he fronts The Modern World, an alternative/vintage/skate/punk merchandise business. He also collaborates with Pride of Cleveland Scooters, located below his store on West 25th. He talked with Cool Cleveland about making money from your passions, fire breathing and contemporary rock/punk music's state of crisis. This weekend, Lanza hosts the 2nd Annual Scooter and Vintage Motorcycle Show at Scene Pavilion this Sat 5/29 from 11AM-8PM. See listing below in Cool Cleveland This Week, and visit www.hellbomb.com.
Cool Cleveland: At heart, you are an entrepreneur. While some people start businesses solely to make money, your enterprises seem to be driven by other factors. Do you have a philosophy about your businesses? Jim Lanza: My businesses reflect my personal interests; my friend has a bar in Chicago called Delilah’s, and it's like walking into his house. It’s a punk rock bar but you can listen to Black Flag on the jukebox or buy a $20 bottle of beer. I'm also doing everything I like and bringing it into my work. It’s not just about making money, it’s about what I love to do.Talk about the avant-garde in Cleveland. Is it hard to find?
It’s a lot harder to find these days than say, 20 years ago, for sure. I come from a time when we would go to punk shows in 1981; people back then were a handful. Now, it’s so over-the-top commercialized that it’s hard to know what’s avant-garde and what's not...
Read Cool Cleveland People on Jim Lanza here.
Cool Cleveland party We're becoming almost as well known for our fun and engaging after-work networking parties as we are for our fun-to-read e-letter. For the first time, we move our party to the Heights, on Thu 6/17, with A Moveable Feast starting at 4PM at the Lemon Grass restaurant and the outdoor mini-park at the corner of Cedar & Lee Roads. Grab a cold beer or smooth glass of wine from the open bar (can you believe we got permission to actually drink outside?), nibble hors d'oeuvres from a dozen neighborhood restaurants (beet cake from Jimmy O'Neill's, short ribs from Brennan's Colony), and enjoy the East Side vibe on one of the Cleveland area's coolest corners. Move over to the Cedar-Lee Theatre for a loop of Cleveland filmmakers, and you can stroll along the block visiting art galleries, restaurants and shops. Then, catch the special preview of Grease at Cain Park at 8PM, free with your admission. Don't be sold out. Register online now and save: http://www.corpmeetings.com/register/thomas/atd8/index.htmlFunding for the Arts month at the Foundation Center in June. Did you know that Cleveland is lucky to be one of five cities in the US to have a Foundation Center Library where you can receive technical assistance and research materials to help you raise money for your non-profit cause? And if you're in the arts, the news gets even better: June is "Funding for the Arts" month, which means you can network with fellow artists, discover online fundraising strategies, and find out what's happening locally. The Foundation Center Library offers the following events in June: 6/7 A Day for Artists: The Artist as Grantseeker and Community Asset, click here; 6/8 Grantseeking Basics for Poets and Writers, click here; 6/23 Brown Bag Lunch: Supporting Arts at the Board Level, click here; 6/30 Dialogue with Donors: Focus on the Arts, click here; 6/30 Philanthropy Forum: Arts Grantmaking in Ohio, click here. While you've got your browser pointed in the right direction, check the Center's site for a special guide to arts-related resources, Funding for the Arts; a Youth in Philanthropy area; a new downloadable research report, entitled Foundation Funding for the Humanities; and more. Stay tuned to http://www.fdncenter.org/focus/arts/.
Developing women leaders in Cleveland Cleveland Jewish News editor Cynthia Dettelbach isn't the only one bemoaning the lack of women leaders in Cleveland's Jewish community. At a recent Advancing Women To Leadership seminar, she heard of the problems that Cleveland's Jewish women have in rising to the top of Cleveland area Jewish groups, but their problems could be a blueprint for all women in the region: no women at the very top, almost all women at entry level, women in the 35-50 year-old range are "missing in action," lack of "financial clout" (until their husbands die, of course), the old boy's network, men's insensitivity to womens' familial obligations, and the cultural anthropology that teaches women to wait in line as children. What to do? Fortunately, the editorial makes suggestions: mentoring programs, identifying leaders in the 35-50 range, shortening board or term limits to encourage turnover, publicizing opportunities to women, sensitivity training for men. Cleveland, listen up; the above applies to the rest of the community, too. See Cleveland Jewish News here.
Campbell sells global Cleveland Although the results won't be evident for two or more years, and she'll get scant credit for her efforts here at home, Mayor Jane Campbell has been trotting the globe putting a good face on Cleveland. She's been in Jerusalem for an International Conference of Mayors, in Washington D.C. for meetings with international ambassadors, and in Las Vegas for the world's largest shopping center convention, where planning director Chris Ronayne and the rest of the entourage are meeting with over 20 retailers. The travel is paid for by foundations and the Growth Associaion, not the shrinking city budget. The goal is to sell Cleveland's 100 unique ethnic cultures to international businesses, and "to improve bi-lateral trade relations and attract global investment." You go, girl. See press release here.
Smoking kills Clevelanders Cleveland ranks fourth of the top 100 metro areas in adult smoking rates. A city advisory panel put together by Mayor Jane Campbell's health department came out this week with a strong proposal to ban smoking in all indoor public areas of Cleveland - including workplaces. In light of the fact that smoking kills thousands of our citizens every year, and increasing evidence (recently it was reported that even smoking outside the home has a negative effect on children inside the home) of the social and personal harm of smoking - it's about time. But in Cleveland, where City Council president Frank Jackson seems oblivious of the harm to his own constituents, he dismissed the panel's recommendations and insisted that there would be no action on the proposals this year, citing other priorities. Read the Center for Disease Study here.
Hyland Software going public It's just one part of our Cleveland dreams coming true. A locally grown high-tech software development company (they created the phenomenally successful enterprise content management software called OnBase) have filed with the SEC to go public. While an IPO has as many downsides as upsides for our region (less local control, less concern for employees and more for shareholders), going public has always been symbolic of success. Especially in this era of few IPOs, and even fewer high-tech IPOs from this region, it's an encouraging sign for Cleveland. See CrainTech here.
Cleve tech companies hiring Besides Hyland, which expects to add 75 employees in 2004, Strongville's Mirifex has recently added 10 and plans to add 30 more in the next few months, and Brulant is up to 90 employees (they were down to 26 in 2002, and expect to hire another 20 to 50 over the next several months). See CrainTech here.
Not enough venture capital $ in Cleveland? A few Cleveland area entrepreneurs have created notable successes: Michael Feuer's OfficeMax, Malachi Mixon's Invacare, and others: Steris Corporation, Hyland Software, Picker International. And the area universities, Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals continue to churn out visionaries ready to start new companies, but when it comes time to raise money to grow a new business, "there are just not enough doors to knock on" in Cleveland, says BioEnterprise SVP Baiju Shah. An abundance of green space and cultural amenities are good for attracting young creatives, but Cleveland still needs more Downtown housing and a more developed lakefront. Stephen Haynes of Glengary Ventures thinks it will take "a huge cultural shift in the community mindset," to change our risk-averse attitude. See Cleveland Jewish News here.
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Contemporary Living in a Historic Location Kenilworth Mews features 17 Arts and Crafts style homes in the Cedar-Fairmount neighborhood of Cleveland Heights. The homes feature stone, brick and cedar shingle exteriors, a private street, gourmet kitchens with granite counters, two-story living rooms, first-floor master bedrooms, master baths with Jacuzzi tubs, full basements, and a patio or deck. Numerous upgrades are available; buyers can customize a home to their personal tastes! If you’re not sold already, the superb location is less than 10 minutes from downtown, and within walking distance of Nighttown’s top-notch food and jazz, Murray Hill’s old-world charm and contemporary art galleries, and the cultural mecca that is University Circle. Prices start in the mid 400's. For a list of properties and open houses this weekend, please visit http://www.progressiveurban.com.
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TeamNEO, wherefore art thou? Six very quiet months and only two press releases after taking the top job at TeamNEO, Bob Farley spoke at the Akron Roundtable last week and reiterated our region's advantages: overbuilt highway infrastructure, affordable housing, excellent health care, and cultural institutions that "compare favorably" with other regions. The head of the 13-county economic development agency which expects to raise $7 million over 3 years, has figured out that Northeast Ohio needs an image and attitude makeover. "Right or wrong, the take-away message is that we are not competitive, that somehow our best days are behind us. There is a lot of dynamism in this economy, although we don't spend a lot of time celebrating it." See http://www.teamneo.org. Read more.
St. Luke's Pointe breaks ground A new $60 million housing and office development is underway in the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood on the former site of the Saint Luke's Medical Center, thanks to the partnership between Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI), the Buckeye Area Development Corp., University Hospitals Health System and The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine Health System. The project includes 84 new single-family homes, 100 affordable condos and rental apartments, a medical office building and an urgent care center. Eric Hodderson, president of NPI, whose mission it is to provide high-quality housing to the community, says this project is "one of major significance." See press release here.
Towpath closer to completion Only six miles remain to connect the Towpath Trail from New Philadelphia on the Ohio River to Downtown Cleveland, and now, due to a deal with back-from-the-dead steel maker International Steel Group Inc., two of those miles can now become part of the Trail. The same deal may allow the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad to use CSX Corp's rail lines to connect to the Terminal Tower, instead of stopping outside of town as it does now. Read more.
Lakefront, anyone? The Mayor has staked her legacy on it. Smart-ass commentators joke about it. Most of the folks in the know in Cleveland (including Cool Cleveland readers) talk about it all the time. Cleveland's lakefront will define our region for posterity, but we've done precious little to make it accessible, to show it to our children, or to think about enjoying it ourselves. We can rejoice that the current administration is getting fully behind the effort to organize a very public discussion about some provocative ideas: replacing the abysmal West Shoreway with a wide boulevard, allowing cross streets access to the lake from the city, new beaches and an overlook at an Edgewater Park doubled in size, a man-made island North of the breakwall, a relocated Port of Cleveland, a park on Whiskey Island, housing and parks instead of industry on the Old River Channel. Old Lake Erie will be here long after we're gone (despite our attempts at homicidal neglect), but this 50-year plan being developed may be our last chance. For those worried about losing precious travel time on the new 3-mile Boulevard: do the math. The new 35 mph drive will take about 45 seconds more than the current 50 mph Shoreway ride. If you catch a red light at one of the five new intersections, add another 30 seconds. So chill with the convenience argument. Read more.
Fahrenheit 9/11 wins Palme D'Or at Cannes Michael Moore's new film, which points out in excrutiating detail the connections between the royal family of Saudi Arabia and the Bush Administration, was awarded the top prize at the world's most prestigious film festival last weekend, the first documentary to win since Jacques Cousteau's The Silent World in 1956. It's scheduled to come to Cleveland at the Cedar-Lee Theatre soon, meanwhile, check out three scenes at www.MichaelMoore.com. Moore, who claims that Disney is blocking the distribution of his new film, is also offering a copy of the DVD of either Dude, Where's My Country, or Bowling For Columbine to any soldier serving in Iraq free for the asking. Disney subsidiary Miramax is trying to buy the film back to get it released by a consortium of theatre operators in the US by 7/4.
Springer top Ohio Democrat Maybe Ohio Dems know better than the embarrassed pundits. Or maybe his TV show is just such an easy target. When Jerry Springer won the Ohio Democrat's award, the talking heads started laughing (see PD commentary here) but they're not the ones who will be voting, and that's something the party is very aware of. Springer, former Mayor of Cincinnati and Robert Kennedy aide who may go for the Governor's seat in '06, would wait until his show's contract runs out and is off the air, then start spending his pile of money, which he has bestowed upon Democrats in 50 of Ohio's 88 counties last year.
Pittsburgh considers regionalism Cleveland isn't the only one pondering how to reverse the self-destructive policies of mature communities to duplicate services and compete against each other for business, as was pointed out in a recent and highly regarded Brookings Institution report (read it here). Last week, Pittsburgh-area government and community leaders met to find ways to work together to share resources and create "a lively night scene," and (surprise!) they found that "some leaders were critical of their own municipalities for their reluctance to cooperate because of historical feuds, old grudges and fear of change." Sound familiar? See The Morning Call here.
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Mohawk Combover Cleveland definitely rocked back in the mid- to late-70's, when the Flats was, well, the Flats, populated by a crew of struggling rock bands trying to bring something to life in post-default Cleveland. Some made it, most didn’t, but several, like Rocket from the Tombs and the Rubber City Rebels, have recently found a second life. Cleveland’s notorious Backdoor Men have accepted the challenge and recorded a new release, Mohawk Combover, a paean to the edgy, psychedelic punk/pop that used to flow from Midwest transistor radios and garages circa 1965. If you thrill to hear the Seeds’ Pushin’ Too Hard, you’ll love Mohawk Combover, featuring 16 brand-new cuts plus a live Eve of Destruction from 1977 – in the Flats. See & buy it at http://www.handsomeproductions.com.
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Ohio = Urban vs. Rural? Last week we heard from Mark Rosentraub, head of the College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, in an exclusive Cool Cleveland interview here. Now read the eye-opening op-ed by CSU Urban Affairs colleague Tom Bier, who's done the research: Ohio's two largest urban counties (Cuyahoga and Columbus' Franklin) are losing population to their surrounding rural and suburban counties, and Cincinnati's Franklin County isn't far behind. The numbers are stunning: between 2000 and 2003, Cuyahoga lost 30K residents (and twice as many jobs), while the six counties that surround it gained 28K. Hamilton County lost 22K, while the three around it grew by almost 42K. Franklin County grew by 20K (all attributed to a high birth rate of their younger population), while the four adjacent counties gained over 40K. These developments are premeditated, and "are very much the result of our state government's dedication to turning farms into housing developments, shopping malls and industrial parks, while washing its hands, for all practical purposes, of the enormous burden (urban) communities carry when they are stuck with run-down or obsolete real estate." Bier points out that the Ohio state legislature is generous to rural and suburban development, while they tell the cities that their issues "are your problems, not the state's. Good luck." He suggests a summit meeting with urban officials to "declare that enough is enough, and do something about it." Read more.
Faux Downtown in Westlake Architecture critic Steve Litt is uncharacteristically wowed by the efforts of self-styled "poet-developer" Robert Stark, who has forced worthwhile zoning changes in Westlake ("there's no there there," admits Stark's VP) allowing his 75-acre Crocker Park mixed-use retail/housing/office park-cum urban style development to break the rules (shouldn't a poet have come up with a more inspiring name than Crocker Park?). Raising the ante from the abysmal Legacy Village (which Litt calls "oxymoronic... a caricature of a downtown... surrounded by a vast parking lot that turns the entire thing into a kind of visual joke"), the success or failure of Crocker Park, with its broad intersecting public streets, 1.6 million square feet of retail, housing and office buildings, 18-foot wide sidewalks, and landscaped public areas where "creative loafing will be encouraged," (this I've got to see) will be instructive to urban centers (the ones with real Downtowns) and other communities thinking of using the principles of New Urbanism to ameliorate sprawl. Or is it already too late? Crocker Park opens 10/29. Read more.
Steel mill becomes big-box retail? First Interstate Properties, who operate the Avon Commons shopping center in Avon, are proposing a $90 million deal to purchase the huge idle 127-acre steel mill by the Jennings Freeway (Rt. 127) from International Steel Group and convert it into "Cleveland Steelyard Commons," with as many as 15 big-box retailers ranging in size from 20K to 150K square feet for stores like Staples and Home Depot. Mayor Campbell is meeting with the developer this week in Las Vegas at the International Council of Shopping Centers convention.
Hackers are artists, too A new book, Hackers and Painters, features a collection of essays on everything from "aesthetics to high school hazing, spam to startups, Microsoft to money" and author Paul Graham has cred on both sides of the street. He studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy, created one of the first Bayesian spam filter that inspired current versions, and his book is valuable for explaining how general rules of good design apply to painting, programming, or any creative endeavor: keep it simple, retain your sense of humor, look for the elegant solution, use early versions or "sketches" to flesh out your ideas. He also predicts that applications soon will run off the Internet from browsers, dooming Microsoft. We can only hope. See Wired Magazine here.
Winners of the 2004 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards The Cleveland Foundation announced its winners for outstanding works that contribute to an understanding of racism or appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures. Winners are Edward P. Jones for The Known World (Amistad Press/HarperCollins); Ira Berlin, Generations of Captivity, A History of African-American Slaves (Harvard University Press) and Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble and Coming of Age in the Bronx (Scribner). Derek Walcott received the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award. They will be honored in Cleveland on September 23 at a ceremony hosted by The Cleveland Foundation. http://www.anisfield-wolf.org.
Enhance artistic skills at the Brecksville Center for the Arts offering unexpected classes such as sushi preparation, Congolese dance, bellydancing, self-empowerment, cartooning and aromatherapy. Discover new interests and learn about yourself with these hands-on instructional workshops. To register call 440-526-6232. Brecksville Center for the Arts, 8997 Highland Dr. in Brecksville. http://www.brecksvillearts.org
Coit Road Farmers' Market Keep in touch with local Ohio farms and farm products with homegrown broccoli, rhubarb, vine-ripened hydroponic tomatoes, organic goat cheese, chevre, and shiitake mushrooms that are great on the grill. Available by special order will be grass-fed Angus beef. Skip the grocery store this week and shop the Farmers' Market for organic maple syrup, eggs, all-natural cheeses, garlic, jams and spices. While you're there, sip a cup of fairly traded, locally roasted Crooked River coffee and do well while doing good. Hours are Wednesdays 10AM-3PM, Saturdays 8AM-1PM. Call 216-249-5455. At the corner of Woodworth and Coit Roads near the E. 152 St./ Noble Rd. intersection. http://www.coitmarket.org
Cool Cleveland This Week
5.26-5.26
Send your cool events to: eventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom
Supreme Decisions Three cases before the United States Supreme Court are challenging the power of the president during times of war. Can the president decide who is an enemy combatant? Can Guantánamo detainees be denied access to American courts? Can US citizens be held under the same policy? This program will screen a recent C-SPAN program on these topics featuring Steven Shapiro, national ACLU legal director. Following the video, join in a discussion with Christine Link, Executive Director of the ACLU of Ohio Wed 5/26 12:30PM and Wed 6/2 at 7PM at the Max Wohl Civil Liberties Center, 4506 Chester Ave., rsvp to: contact@acluohio.org and visit http://www.acluohio.org
Art & Culture Economic Development workshops The Board of County Commissioners and the Department of Development invite you to attend one of the four workshops for the new Art & Culture (ACE) grants. It's a new approach that will supply grants to non-profit organizations for the support of new or expanded projects or events that provide a measurable economic impact to Cuyahoga County Wed 5/26 from 6:30-8:30PM. Lakewood Library, Main Branch, 15425 Detroit Ave. http://www.cuyahoga.oh.us/development
J. Scott & imagining red As leader of this four piece group, J Scott musically crafts his writings into audial translations. His past and current experiences include performing at New York's Luna Lounge, Nashville's Boardwalk Café, Beachland Ballroom, plus venues in Chicago and Pittsburgh. Check out Cleveland's most outstanding and experimental jazz trumpet Wed 5/26 at 8:30PM. Call 421-2863. Barking Spider, 11310 Juniper Rd. http://www.chainofwords.com
Glass blowing instruction As a student, you'll be accomodated at all levels of learning and experienced instructors will work with you to meet your individual needs and artistic expectations. Day, night, and weekend classes are available, stop in Thu 5/27 to familiarize yourself with the techniques of this classic art. Experienced glassblowers have the option of renting studio time with or without assistance, call for info 431-2569. Superior Studio, 3615 Superior Ave. 4801-Suite A
Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso UFO is Nagoya Japan's self-described "freak-out group for the 21st century"; their latest and most curious release New Geocentric World on the Japanese label P.S.F. delivers sounds bordering on electrical blitzkrieg and gentle psychedelia. Their recent double LP Live in Occident documents their 1999 world tour, and their La Novia LP is an example of Japanese folk music. If you miss the '60s, their music is reminiscent of communal hippie collisions with an acid kick, and now you can get some Thu 5/27 at 9PM. Call 321-5588. The Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd. in Cleveland Hts. http://www.geocities.com/acidmothers
Punk vs. Psychos pairs up hardcore and hard thrash with sonic assualt from The Business, Horrorpops, and Nekromantix, whose sinister sound has crept into the collective nightmares of psychobilly fans everywhere. Their newest release Return Of the Loving Dead has got the attention of power rockers, alternatives and goths; this underground battle of the alt bands happens Thu 5/27 at 7:30PM. Call 881-6911. The Agora, 5001 Prospect Ave. http://www.clevelandagora.com
Phase 216 Incision and Spawntaneous Productions present a futuristic music collaboration with Kenneth Graham of Immigrant Recordings and Macintosh Records, DJ Jeff Storm from DC, and cool beats from Cleveland's DJ Gank and Funk Dectective will get the the place lit up Fri 5/28 at 10PM. Call 321-4073. Rhythm Room, 2140 S. Taylor in Cleveland Hts. For info visit http://www.controlteam.com and http://www.telemason.com
7th Annual Midwest African Dance Conference sets out rythmic and rousing performances with SeneGambian workshops, informational discussions and hands-on learning with internationally acclaimed dancers and choreographers who will lead dance and master classes. With instructors from Guinea and Senegal, participants receive professional development skills and performance experience bringing to life African culture Fri 5/28 Noon-9:15PM thru Sun 5/30 culminating in a master performance at the Allen Theatre at Playhouse Square, 7:30PM. For conference tickets and info call 451-SOUL. Workshops located at Masonic Temple, 3615 Euclid Ave. sistajewel@msn.com
Greek Heritage Festival Get your Greek vibe on and try out Greek heritage with traditional dance, celebratory music and quality arts. Taste old world pastries and varied selections of old world food to get you in an ethnic mood Fri 5/28 from 4PM-midnight, Sat and Sun from noon-midnight. Entry is free, call 861-0116. Church of the Annunciation, 2178 W. 14th St. in Tremont.
WCLVnotes WCLV 104.9 FM distributes through out the nation the concerts of the San Francisco Symphony – remember them from their spectacular Severance Hall visit in March? The Cleveland broadcasts of the 2004 season begin this coming Friday at 10:00 PM. Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingale, Barber’s Violin Concerto with Josuha Bell as the soloist, Evocations by musical bad boy Charles Ruggles, and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. The San Francisco Symphony is not generally thought of as one of the Top Five Orchestras in the country, but it may very well knock out one of the Five some day soon – Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, but certainly not Cleveland. a Cool Cleveland partner www.wclv.com
2nd Annual Scooter and Vintage Motorcycle Show An entire weekend of off the charts activity with a mix of music and bikes; it's a great way to see some inexpensive forms of cool transportation. Spend a day diggin' rockabilly music and 60's garage punk setting the background for an array of classic scooters and hot vintage motorcycles Sat 5/29 from 11AM-8PM at the Scene Pavillion. Stay on later and hit the afterparty at Harbor Inn - wear a grass skirt or surfware and bypass the admission price. On Sun 5/30 at 1PM meet up at Pride of Cleveland Scooters for a ride around Cleveland, at 2078 West 25th St. Call 623-1226 for info. Scene Pavillion is located on the West bank of the Flats. Stop by the Cool Cleveland booth, say high and register to win a Modern World gift certificate. http://www.hellbomb.com
Marky Ramone He's a recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee, and as drummer in the Ramones, he packed a punch on the punk movement in the '70s. Get back into the grit and grunge as he plays an all-Ramones set Sat 5/29, doors open 6PM. Call 776-9999. Peabody's Down Under, 2083 East 21st St http://www.peabodysclub.com and visit http://www.markyramonegroup.com
Battery +/- Want to hear sounds fresh from the streets? Get the hook up with 9 Volt and BPM Mondays, where you'll see and hear the elite of the most aspiring musicians prove they've got it going on Sat 5/29 from 9PM-2:30AM. Wish, 621 Johnson. For info email Djpilco@aol.com
Classic Cleveland Poetry Slam citywide finals Our city's slam finalists engage in head-on poetic collisions for a chance to represent Cleveland at this year's National Poetry Slam. Find out who'll represent Cleveland with an evening of electric spoken word and hyped up crowd participation Sun 5/30. Doors open at 7PM with buffet, show starts 8PM with slam performer, poet, and journalist Nick Fox from Chicago. The top four winning competitors will represent the Classic Cleveland Poetry Slam when they head to the national slam happening later this summer in St. Louis. For info call 383-1124. Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Rd in Collinwood. http://www.clevelandpoetryslam.com or visit http://www.beachlandballroom.com
Cleveland Feis Irish Dance The 47th annual competition starts up with energetic team dances, followed by expressive solo dancers and Gaelic recitation. Stay on afterwards to hear music sessions beginning Sun 5/30 at 9AM. Call 687-5555. CSU Convocation Center, 2000 Prospect Ave. http://www.clevelandfeis.com
Tunes & Tales from the British Isles Take the car and drive out to hear countryside concerts at the Baroque Music Barn in Hunting Valley, where you'll take in the sights and sounds from the new world. The CD release of Scarborough Fayre coincides with the concert and a late spring party on the lawn Sun 5/30 at 3PM. Call 320-0012. At the south-west corner of Chagrin River Rd and Shaker Blvd.
Kickboxing with an intense workout that involves jabs, hooks, roundhouse, front and side kicks; now you can work up a satisfying sweat as you learn self-defense techniques while giving yourself a killer cardio workout Sun 5/30 at 6-7PM. Drop in any class and call 281-9558. Morrison Dance, 4201 Lorain Ave., Suite A. http://www.MorrisonDance.com
Positive Education Program Student Art Show Witness first hand the effect art has on troubled youth, as students learn and grow through a combination of quality educational and mental health services in partnership with families, schools, and communities. The K-12 students taking part in PEP worked all year to prepare for this exhibition, which includes drawings, paintings, ceramics and sculpture. Stop in for the closing night Sun 5/30. The exhibition is free and open to the public; free parking is available on the Superior Viaduct. Call 621-2314. SPACES,2220 Superior Viaduct.
60's Garage Sale Stop in and see different vendors selling vintage wares, clothing, art and lots of underground gear set up in the headquarters of The Modern World. There'll be a DJ spinning '60s garage and surf music, and a special showing of the Who classic Quadrophenia. Shop and hang out while you mix it up in an unconventional community atmosphere Sun 5/30 from Noon-5PM. Call 623-1226. The Modern World, 2078 West 25th (upstairs from the scooter store).
Send your cool events to: eventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom
Skirting The Issue
by Lyz Bly
Cool Cleveland contributing writer Lyz Bly examines politics, current events, art, and popular culture with an unabashedly feminist lens in her Skirting the Issue column, thereby "skirting" contemporary issues. Her initial installment below, White Man's Reign, examines feminism in Cleveland. You'll find that things have gotten better, thanks to the efforts of women who fought for equal rights in the 1960s and 70s. However, women's life today is not equal to men's by any stretch of the imagination.
Over the past few decades, our country has had a penchant for giving years, decades, and eras grand monikers; the '70s was the ambiguous "we" decade, and the 1980s was peculiarly dubbed the "me" generation. By the 1990s, as the burgeoning phenomenon of postmodernism adulterated our collective attention span and seemingly escalated the very conception of time, years were individually and more specifically labeled: the "year of the child" and the "year of the woman," but it is not clear what purpose these hollow monikers served. It is doubtful, for instance, that in the "year of the woman" women's rights were raised to the forefront of the political arena, or that corporations began to offer women equal pay for performing the same jobs as men. However, it was an attempt by politicians, the media, and marketing executives to recognize (and, no doubt, capitalize on) difference and sexual or cultural disparities...
Read Lyz Bly's Skirting the Issue here
RoldoLINK
The always-inimitable commentator Roldo Bartimole weighs in this week on regionalism (he suggests passing a progressive regional income tax); Forest City exec Sam Miller (his money and influence are "ubiquitous"); and PD editor Doug Clifton's blogged "warning" to Doonesbury creator Gary Tredeau. Read RoldoLINK here.
Kucinich Beat
Cool Cleveland covers the Presidential candidate
This week, in an exclusive Cool Cleveland interview, Cleveland-area Representative and Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich talks about how the major media have perked up their ears after he grabbed 17% of the Democratic primary vote in Oregon, 25% in Maine, and 30% in Colorado. He also offers his opinion of President George Bush's administration, "I wouldn't buy a used car from this administration, let alone a used war..." Read Kucinich Gets Attention here
Instant Karma
Quik reviews of recent events
Reefer Madness @ Beck Center 5/22 Love theatre? Then follow this rule: go to everything they put on in the Beck Center's little Studio Theatre, where risks are taken, rules are broken, and everyone walks away with a smile. This stage adaptation of the notorious 1936 cult classic anti-drug film gleefully skewers conservative hypocrisy in a highly stylized and entertaining fashion. If you liked The Rocky Horror Picture Show, you'll love the similarities: the cautioning narrator, the nerdy couple, the inevitable debauchery. High energy choreography by Martin Cespedes and standout performances by leads Benji Reid and Betsy Kahl were goosed by a wonderful Halle Morse, while Matthew Wright's solid performance as the Narrator tied it all together. The live band was great (and powerful in the intimate 86-seat Studio), but some of the wireless mics on the performers dropped out too often. Allyson Rosen was delightful as a Bette Midler-esque Sally, and Curtis Young as Jesus was, well, you'll have to see it to believe it. Let's just say this is probably the only musical that attempts to rhyme "Shroud of Turin," with "test your urine," and leave it at that. Catch it through June 30. http://www.lkwdpl.org/beck/
Dojoji @ Cleveland Public Theatre 05/21
What: A woman pursues a lover who has betrayed her, and passion transforms her into a fire-breathing chimera. Music/theatre adaptation of an 11th century Japanese legend.
Reasons to go: A feast for the eyes. Looking like she stepped off a Shoji screen, the fiery Kristine Kuroiwa gives a Noh-inspired performance as the spurned woman. Sublime Kabuki clowning by a trio of locals (David Loy, Robert J. Williams, & Jazmin Corona) as peasant types out of a Kurosawa film. Rika Iino’s lyrical, Debussy-like piano score, punctuated by Japanese percussion. Designs of Zen-like elegance by Takeshi Kata (set), Trad A. Burns (lights), & Junghyun Georgia Lee (costumes).
Caveats: Parts of Andrew Grusetskie’s text are stiffly elevated, like hearing operatic arias spoken. Tom Weaver’s wimpy Monk is an unlikely object of such burning obsession.
Backstory: Cleveland’s first look at the directorial work of CPT’s new Associate Artistic Director Jyana S. Gregory, here on a 2-year New Generations grant from Theatre Communications Group. She’s successfully blended Cleveland talent with her collaborators from Active Eye, a NYC-based ensemble that specializes in a fusion of East Asian and Western performance traditions.
Target audience: Aficionados of dance/theatre, Asian art, and beautiful but unusual performance.
Details: Cleveland Public Theatre, 6415 Detroit Ave., Cleveland. 216-631-2727. Through June 5. http://www.cptonline.org. from Cool Cleveland contributor Linda Eisenstein LindaAtCoolClevelandDotCom
Marina Abramovic @ CIM Kulas Hall 5/20 Is this a great city or what? We should all be grateful that a group like the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland can bring in one of the world's most important living performance artists for a lecture. Her videotalk on The Performing Body, delivered in her dry, deadpan, matter-of-fact style, offered short clips of a breathtakingly wide range of performers, famous and obscure, who have used the most important and potent material available to the contemporary artist: their own body. Somewhat light on highlights of her own oeuvre, the program was fascinating nonetheless for the 50 or so Clevelanders who pulled themselves away from Thursday night television. Postmodern dancer Pina Bausch's feet, performance artist Chris Burden having himself shot in the arm with a .22 rifle, Maria Callas accepting applause after an aria, Elvis forgetting the lines during his last concert, Marina herself carving a star into her stomach with a razor. And if you listened closely, you heard how performance has affected the course of modern art: Yves Klein calling his paintings the "ashes" of his art, Pollock speaking of his canvases as "aerial paintings," her own 1989 relationship-ending performance with Ulay, her partner & collaborator of 15 years, when each of them walked 2000 kilometers from either end of the Great Wall of China, meeting in the middle to formally break up. The Q&A was illuminating. "In the future, there will be fewer objects and more transmission between humans. Objects are too heavy & slow...I hate technology, people are becoming like mushrooms..." On how her entire life is a public performance, "I don't have any energy to do anything in private. It's like how many people exercise at home, no one does it-- you go to the gym." Thankfully, her 90-minute talk ran long; her usual lectures are twice that length, which may have inspired the performance joke she told as she departed: How many performance artists does it take to change a light bulb? I don't know, I was there only four hours. www.mocacleveland.org
Cleveland Orchestra Elektra @ Severance Hall 5/20
‘Dysfunctional’ may be a 20th century word, but the concept has been around since the beginning of time, especially when combined with ‘family’. The ancient Greeks knew all about it, with Oedipus and Medea and Elektra, along with numerous others of that ilk. Elektra comes to mind because of The Cleveland Orchestra's stunning performances last weekend of the opera by Richard Strauss...
Read Kelly Ferjutz' review of Elektra here
Murder! Murder! It was a blood bath! Oh relax it was just a performance of Elektra. But relaxing was hard to do last Thursday as the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Franz Welser-Most gave an electrifying performance of Richard Strauss’s opera Elektra...
Read Brian Schriefer's review of Elektra here
Yr Turn
Cool Cleveland readers write
On the regionalism debate I recently attended the "Regionalism...What's the Point?" forum at the City Club [on 5/17]. While I was surprised by the number of organizations that already exist which take a regional approach, I was also discouraged because the conversation revolved mainly around those who are very informed on the issue. I was hoping for more of a breakdown on the issue, what it is, how will it be carried out? Who is leading the charge? How soon could this happen? Will there be a place for young professionals to have a voice in the plan since this is ultimately our future? I need a Regionalism 101 explanation! from Cool Cleveland reader Katie Hauer Hauer@PalmerCay.com
On mixed-income housing I could not believe my eyes upon reading "Radical mixed-income housing project in Ohio City" [in the 5/19 Cool Cleveland] (see article here.) Let me get this straight: in 1997 they tore down the crime ridden eyesore that was Riverview Estates to clear the land for upscale housing worthy of the desirable downtown location. Now, the plan is to put those people from Riverview back in the very same spot in brand new, tax-exempt housing right next door to proposed housing that runs $400k per unit. With this sort of urban planning going on, is it any wonder why people are fleeing this city...?
Read the Yr Turn by Cool Cleveland reader Kenn Louis here
On innovation in Cleveland Local media recently has been writing articles on the importance of education in stimulating innovation. While I agree that going to school (college) is very important in creating a foundation for broad and sustained economic development, it does not necessarily have anything to do with innovation. If you look at three of the world's most important industrialists/innovators of the last 1/4 century, Steve Jobs - Apple, Bill Gates - Microsoft, Larry Ellison - Oracle, none of them have college degrees. If any of them stayed in college long enough to graduate, they would have missed the window of opportunity to create their respective empires. These people are creative, risks takers and incredibly persistent, which are equally, if not more important than education in terms of "being innovative." While knowledge and the skill of learning are important in the process of innovation, they themselves are not mindsets or ways of being that provide people with the will, curiosity and courage to innovate. The latter are more intuitive (right brain) than skill/knowledge based (left brain) and, in my humble opinion, are not given enough consideration in our educational systems...
Read the Yr Turn by Cool Cleveland reader Jeasung Jay Yoo here
Top 5
We use Opticast tools to track which articles were clicked the most. Here are the Top 5 from last week's issue, with one more chance for you to click.
1. Urban Village by Lee Chilcote. Mark Rosentraub, the Dean of the College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, likes to say he’s helping to create “a Greenwich Village between Cleveland State and Case Western. Click here.
2. County launches new arts grants Finally, our region is offering public support for the arts. Although the recent Issue 31 didn't pass, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners created ACE (Arts and Culture as Economic Development). Click here.
3. Cleveland gays in FLA A growing gay mecca is taking over Florida, inspiring a group of friends from Cleveland to move there, looking for a place where their lifestyle "was a more comfortable aspect of life." Click here.
4. Moveable Feast You are invited to join Cool Cleveland for our first foray into the inner ring. Join Cleveland's creative and business elite to enjoy A Moveable Feast, the after-work networking party that takes you to the hottest spots in town. Click here.
5. Radical mixed-income housing project in Ohio City Say what? Public housing right next door to for-sale properties selling for up to $400k? Click here.
Cleveland affirmation Our readers' loyalty is our priority, and they're the main reason we're still doing what we're doing. Huge thanks to everyone for referring people at home and at work to CC.com. Now you can send them to register for our e-zine at http://www.coolcleveland.com (and check out the new site) or have 'em send an e-mail to signupAtCoolClevelandDotCom
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Hard Corps enthusiasm They're putting themselves out on the town, catching the events and content in Cleveland that our readers look forward to every week. Lots of CC love goes out to Lyz Bly, Tisha Nemeth, Deb Remington, Brian Schreifer, Kelly Ferjutz, Bill Nagode, Roldo Bartimole, George Nemeth and all our contributors who help make Cool Cleveland absolutely killer without the filler. Want to volunteer and contribute your writing to Cool Cleveland? Send your reviews, articles, or story ideas to: eventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom
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Cool Cleveland Writer: Katie Daley
Katie Daley has performed her poetry across America and Europe in theaters, bistros, ballrooms and junkyards. She's produced two chapbooks, Red Hot Mangoes and Voodoo Juice and Coyote at the Wheel, and a CD of her monologues, Full Blast Alive: Voices from the Ruby Side. From 1999 to 2002, she performed at the National Poetry Slam and was a member of the 2002 Cleveland slam team. In 2003, Katie was delighted and honored to receive an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artists Fellowship, and this summer, she will be a 2004 Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Two of her plays, Secrets from Guantanamo and Red Hot Tales from an Amtrak Train, will be featured this June at the Byrdcliffe Theater Works Festival in Woodstock, New York
Longing for Morocco
by Katie Daley
Now that summer solstice has passed
and the days are losing their traction
on muddy hillsides in the dusky rain,
it'll be a little easier for me
to get up at dawn
and sit on the front porch
with my bare feet in a bowl of tears.
A little easier to put my face in my hands
and inhale the skunky pungence of fear
and regret and downright loneliness
while radio towers beam call-in talk shows
along dirt roads
and fashion models pout in their sleep
down in New York City. It's good
that they're sleeping, that Times Square
is deserted with no one to talk to, that for a moment
or two the bent nail in the corner will be left alone
and the eggs uncracked on the counter.
Let me breathe deep this heartbreak of mine,
my queen at the guillotine,
my millionaire begging in the square.
For once in my life
let me not hope that by the time Orion
swaggers in the sky
I will have retrieved the lone sock from the gutter
and begun again. Let me just sit in a cafe at Gibraltar
and long for Morocco, knowing there is no boat,
no passage, no entry.
Listen to me. I will no longer grow orchids in my dreams
or follow you through nighttime
looking for cairns by the light of a comet
and stumbling among redrock hoodoos.
The stars will continue to be ancient,
the sweet water trapped in the stones,
but you and I will no longer milk them
in the same place and time.
So, like I said, I'm just going to sit here for a while
in an old, cracked raincoat
and watch the cello strings of rain
glimmer to the ground
while I hold one smooth pebble in my hand.
Keepin' it underground
--Thomas Mulready
lettersAtCoolClevelandDotCom (:divend:)