Pic of the Day: Peyton Hillis Needs a Better Tip Calculator
Brought to you by the folks at Deadspin, here’s what purports to be red hot evidence of Peyton Hillis pinching his hard-earned pennies in the worst possible way. That said, maybe Hillis is just consciously tapping the rich vein of history we have in these parts of cheap pro athletes. If you can’t read the…
Judge Sentences Bath Salt Robber
Come October, you’re going to have to go back to real cocaine. Bath salts — the head shop incense you’re not supposed to put up your nose according to the label, common sense and medical sources everywhere but should you do so will induce a wild hallucinatory brain scramble complete with mental light shows, violent…
Ed FitzGerald Is a Nerd
Pictured in a suit, instead of his Zelda costume, which he only wears on weekends. You look for many things in a leader — expertise, composure, intelligence, a sense of humor, a calming influence during troubling times. You want a well-rounded individual, and everyone brings his/her own specialty to the table. Jimmy Dimora, for instance,…
Small Town Mayor, High School Coach Caught in Hooker Sting
Dynamic Duo Every prostitution sting thrown together by the police has an eye on the Big Fish. Yeah, sure, if you’re a vice cop working the beat, you’re happy to cuff the truck drivers, conference attendees, congregation deacons and other small-caliber low lifes prowling the back corners of America for by-the-hour love and affection. But…
Burger Nation: Two New Burger Bars Open in Northeast Ohio
Mike Mariola, the chef and owner of two popular Wooster restaurants, South Market Bistro and City Square Steakhouse, recently opened his third concept. The Rail (3265 W. Market St., 330-864-RAIL), located in a new exterior section of Akron’s Summit Mall, is the latest burger bar to pop up in Northeast Ohio. “We sell a ton…
Foodbank Report: 1 in 4 Children Qualify for Assistance
New research reveals fresh bad news about kids going hungry in Cuyahoga County. According to a report from the Cleveland Foodbank, more than 1 in 4 children come from families too poor to buy enough food yet too rich to get food stamps or qualify for school breakfast and lunch programs — almost 18,000 kids…
Tuesday Morning Music Giveaway
It’s no secret we love Welsh trio the Joy Formidable around here. We write about them a lot. We have four copies of a cool five-song EP called Roarities, which includes remixes and live cuts by the Joy Formidable. Want one? All you have to do is leave a comment about what brings you joy…
The Quality of Cleveland Life Report
Your guide to thriving in fabulous Cleveland. Pennant Racism: Senator Sherrod Brown likens rooting for the Red Sox to rooting for pharmaceutical companies. In this analogy, rooting for the Tribe is like rooting for the guy who sells pills and ferrets out of a pickup truck in Lorain. Tinseltownies: Lost star Matthew Fox allegedly assaults…
Afternoon Brew: Weed in Rice Krispies, Sherrod Brown Opines on the Red Sox, Parking Tickets, and a Prop Gun is Real
Good afternoon, Cleveland. Here’s some stuff to read while you put safety first in your homemade movies tonight. How about ‘pumpernickel’ as a safe word? — Sherrod Brown says rooting for the Red Sox is like rooting for pharmaceutical companies. PolitiFact investigates whether it’s a true statement or not, leading us to wonder whether someone…
Pic of the Day: A Deserted Neighborhood
According to a photographer on Reddit, this deserted and razed neighborhood was once slated to be converted into a new runway for Hopkins. Expansion plans, it turns out, were premature. Back before 9/11, the City wanted to expand the Airport, so they bought all these nearby houses and tore them down with intents to build…
Kent State (Geauga) Ranked One of Most Unranked Colleges in America
College is starting which means its time for the rankings-mice in the rankings-basements to run really fast and power up some new rankings for all the most topical and timely websites out there. Gawker relays The Daily Beast’s contributions today, which include “Best International Schools, Best Party Schools, Most Beautiful, Happiest,” etc., etc., surely to…
Copley Police Identify Michael Hance as Gunman in Killing Spree (Updated)
Update VI: Two big updates to the Copley murder spree story this morning. 1) NewsNet5 reports that cops have met with the lone survivor, Rebecca Dieter, who was the girlfriend of the shooter, Michael Hance. No word yet on what she had to say except that Hance shot her twice in the back. The good…
White Sox Manager Says Indians Fans Are Hypocritical for Thome Treatment
Jim Thome just about sealed his post-Tribe fate when he once said somebody would have to rip the Wahoo jersey off his back. These are things you don’t say when you’re a free agent athlete, and these are things you definitely don’t say when you’re a free agent athlete in Cleveland unless you are 100%…
Monday Morning Music Giveaway
Here’s what we’re giving away, giving away, giving away now: tickets to the Red Hot Chili Peppers I’m With You event happening at 8 p.m. on Thursday, September 1. The band has a new album out today. On Thursday they’re going to perform the entire album live, and the show will be beamed out as…
Exposed Breast Leads to Fight in Lorain
Did Lorain make it through the weekend uneventfully and without handcuffs? No, no it did not. We know this surprises you. According to the Chronicle Telegram, in the wee AM hours of Saturday there was an incident involving a breast at Chrystal Rock Bar that led to a melee. Now, this is Lorain we’re talking…
Video: Hidden Terminal Tower
The Terminal Tower isn’t all offices and malls, parking spots and chicken-like bites on toothpicks slung at Sakkio Japan. Hidden inside and rarely seen is an eight-room complex that, as the PD writes, looks “more like the inside of an English country manor than a city skyscraper. A wood-beamed, peaked ceiling, and oak paneling made…
What to Do Tonight: Bomb the Music Industry!
New York punks Bomb the Music Industry! straddle the line between past and present. They’re firmly rooted in the old-school DIY ethos of bands that made a difference back in the ’80s. But there’s also a sense of forward-thinking rule-breaking to their music, especially on their new album Vacation. The play the Grog Shop tonight.
Afternoon Brew: Peeping Tom Targeted Women in Bathroom, Walmart Fight, Metro Makes Cuts, and the Urine Drinker
Good afternoon, Cleveland. Here’s some stuff to read while you wonder if the Tribe can bring back Carlos Baerga too. — Cops caught a man who used a camera in a pen to record women in the bathroom at his place of employment. Conveniently, his next home will give him 24/7 access to watching people…
Cleveland Slut Walk Tomorow
If some of you haven’t got a big X marked on the calendar for tomorrow, we’ll just go ahead and remind you that this Saturday is Cleveland’s inaugural Slut Walk. As we first reported at the beginning of the month, the walking-talking feminist exhibition is all about taking back the offending word and sending a…
Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi Reached Out to Dennis Kucinich
What does an embattled Libyan president do when he’s on the verge of being ousted from power and scolded by the international community? He calls the Son of Cleveland and staunch peace supporter Dennis! Kucinich, naturally. Dennis! has been vehemently opposed to U.S. intervention in Libya and NATO’s bombings, the latter of which Dennis! took…
Here’s the Mayor of Columbus Rapping About Literacy
Ladies and gentlemen, MC Mayor Michael B. Coleman of Columbus rapping about literacy. Mayor Jackson, where you at?
Jim Thome Returns to Cleveland Tonight; Here He Is Hitting a Ball Really Far
Future Hall-of-Famer Jim Thome puts on an Indians uniform again tonight. That should be welcome news to everyone, including the thousands who’ve already snatched up tickets to see the Thomenator’s first game back with the Tribe. In celebration, here’s Jim Thome (albeit a skinnier version) hitting a ball very, very far in the 1995 World…
Cops Tracking Social Media to Prevent Flash Mobs, Fail to Prevent Most-Publicized Flash Mob in Cleveland
Another day, another flash mob story. This one takes a look behind the closed doors and onto the computer screens that serve as the watchdog to those troublesome kids and their new-fangled flash mobs.WKYC reports that stationed in the Justice Center in Cleveland is the “Fusion Center,” an outpost where authorities from a wide-range of…
Maxwell Out at 98.5 WNCX
Maxwell is no more at 98.5. Benjamin “Maxwell” Bornstein, who left WMMS in November 2009 under strained relations and a contract impasse, and who joined WNCX in November 2010 in a curious move considering his recent history on Cleveland airwaves and the station’s audience’s preferences, was not on the air this morning in his usual…
Pic of the Day: Things Confiscated at Hopkins Airport
If you’ve flown out of or into Hopkins airport, you’ve probably seen this monument to stupidity. It’s a collection (amassed over only one year) of things people have tried to bring on a plane in Cleveland. We’ve never thought to take a picture of it before, but thankfully someone at Rachel Maddow’s blog did. Scary,…
Friday Morning Music Giveaway
We have a copy of Joss Stone’s new CD, LP1, for you today. Wait, it gets better. Joss signed it. So yep, we have an autographed copy of Joss Stone’s new CD. You can read our review of the album here. One of the songs on the album is called “Don’t Start Lying to Me…
Third Video of Everyone’s Favorite Canton Cop Threatening to Kill Someone; Officer Has Been Investigated 18 Times
Canton police officer Daniel Harless, who gained the wrong kind of internet fame earlier this year when two videos capturing him threatening to kill folks he’d pulled over made the rounds, is the star of — surprise, surprise — a third video featuring the same super-macho threats and regulation-breaking antics that he’s known for. In…
Afternoon Brew: Cops Catch Thieving Squirrel, Jim Thome Claimed by Tribe, Storm Damage, and Copley Returns to School
Good afternoon, Cleveland. Here’s some stuff to read while you pull those socks up nice and high. — The Tribe claimed Jim Thome off waivers and are now working on a trade with Minnesota. If the two sides can get a deal done by 1 p.m. Friday, Thome will once again be an Indian, meaning…
Video: Defendant Attacks a Judge and a Lawyer
June Carson was in court yesterday on charges of a simple trespassing misdemeanor. No problem? Right. Well, when Mr. Carson was told he would need a court-appointed lawyer the next time he appeared before the judge, he responded, “I don’t think I’m going to do that.” Oh, and then he threw his backpack at the…
Following Brief Closure, Bistro on Lincoln Park to Re-Open with New Look, Menu
It’s been two and a half years since chef Pete Joyce opened his ingredient-driven Mediterranean restaurant Bistro on Lincoln Park (2391 W. 11th St., 216-862-2969). The time has come, he says, to do a little retooling. “We’ve been wanting to make some changes for a while now, and August is historically a slow month,” Joyce…
Machine Gun Kelly Arrested After Flash Mob in Strongsville Mall (Updated)
Update: Machine Gun Kelly kept it real again by paying his $230 fine for disorderly conduct on-time, according to Strongsville Patch. He sent a rep to Strongsville to hand over the cash for him. This should conclude all updates on flash mobs and Machine Gun Kelly. *** Apparently, keeping it real these days for rappers…
Recap: Tour de Bruell (With Slideshow)
Nine hardcore foodies and fans of chef-restaurateur Zack Bruell’s cuisine got a treat Tuesday night: A four-course progressive dinner in all four of Bruell’s dining rooms, including Table 45, Chinato, Parallax, and L’Albatros. Also along for the (limo) ride was the chef himself, accompanied by event organizer Allison Kolodziej of Falls Communications and yours truly.…
‘Underwear Bandit’ Arrested
Does this look like the face of an 18-year-old who had 66 pairs of stolen underwear in a duffel bag? Earlier this week, Larry Moore’s father noticed that he had jewelry in his bedroom. Strange for an 18-year-old boy, so he asked his son who then confessed to having stolen the bling. Cops were called…
Thursday Morning Music Giveaway
Well, it’s not exactly music we’re giving away today. But it is CDs — comedy CDs. We have new CDs by Wyatt Cenac and Dan Levy. We’re not really sure who they are either, but if you head to Comedy Central, they can fill you in. If you want to win one set of these…
Judge Scolds Frank Dienes for Playin’ Crazy (Updated)
Update: Frank Dienes had already been ruled competent to stand trial by one doctor but his legal team had been considering asking the judge to allow a second independent doctor to rule on Dienes’ mental state. That was up until yesterday. Wednesday morning Dienes’ lawyers told the court Dienes would accept the first doctor’s ruling.…
Afternoon Brew: Report Cards Released, Dip in Travel, Tribe Stinks, and Traffic Cameras in South Euclid
Good afternoon, Cleveland. Here’s some stuff to read while you mourn the Tribe’s postseason chances. — Ohio released report cards for schools, all of which you can catch up on here. Scene, incidentally, got an A in “Aggregating.” (Cleveland.com) — AAA says fewer people will travel on Labor Day weekend this year. Probably because they’ll…
Joe the Plumber Mulling Over Congressional Run
Lesson: All you have to do is get a Dem to say “spread the wealth,” instant fame. Joe the shameless fameball Plumber (who signs his tax return as Joe Wurzelbacher) is thinking about switching up his MO. Instead of hanging on the sidelines lobbing insensible criticisms at politicians, everyone’s favorite ’08 campaign meme is actually…
Akron Mayor Calls JobsOhio ‘Horsesh*$t’
Ohio Governor John Kasich’s JobsOhio program hasn’t been the wildly popular or publicly successful applause-maker that he dreamed of and it has barely taken its first steps. The transition to the “privatized, nonprofit development agency,” which is supposed to create jobs, as the name indicates, initially cost Ohio 211 jobs, positions that were whacked at…
The Quality of Cleveland Life Report
Your guide to thriving in fabulous Cleveland. Thanks But No Thanks: Ohio decides not to take $176 million from federal government for added unemployment benefits. Which is totally cool, because everyone has a job here. No worries, thanks anyway, guys. Kids These Days: State issues press release asking incoming college students not to drink, follows…
Painesville Immigrants Protest in Downtown Cleveland
Painesville is home to a large and vibrant immigrant community, making the city one of the fastest growing cities in the region and one of the most diverse and unique locales in Northeast Ohio. Scene took a look at the immigrants and how they’ve shaped Painesville in a 2007 cover story [“The Superior Americans”]. Some…
Clevelanders Called 911 Because of That Minor Earthquake
Yesterday’s minor earthquake, which registered about a 3.2 in Cleveland, was news around Northeast Ohio and the East Coast. While the West Coast chortled at everyone’s fascination and overreaction in these parts to what is a common, non-newsworthy occurrence out there, Clevelanders felt the ground shake and couldn’t stop talking about it despite the fact…
Dirt From Anthony Sowell’s Imperial Avenue Home For Sale
The macabre underground “murderabilia” market peddles an array of physical remnants from the lives of serial killers. From notes and letters to household items, if it was part of a monster’s life, there’s someone who will buy it. Eric Gein (not his real name) recently dispatched a crony to Imperial Avenue and the house of…
Naked Woman Thrown Out of Van (Updated)
Update II: A couple of clarifying details this week: First, Walter L. Jackson, 63, was the suspect arrested in the attack. Second, he was in fact charged with rape, four counts to be exact, in addition to two counts of kidnapping and two counts of felonious assault. He pleaded not guilty. According to the PD,…
CD Review: Trevor Hall
Trevor Hall might look like a SoCal surf punk, but he’s a true acolyte of Bob Marley. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter’s self-titled 2009 album was a truly original hybrid of reggae, pop, folk, soul, and electronica. Everything Everytime Everywhere passionately continues down the same path. “Brand New Day” rings with anthemic power and an appropriate dash…
Local Band In Focus
Meet the Band: Andrew Kuhar (vocals, guitar), Nick Kuhar (percussion), Mark Kuhar (bass), and Patrick Burke (guitar, bass, trumpet, strings, and percussion) Houses of the Holy: The Commonwealth are crazy about Led Zeppelin and the National, bands with “driving rhythm sections” and “loads of melody.” “We feel as though we’re providing that sort of dynamic…
Different Drum
When the Kickdrums play the Grog Shop on Friday, it will be the hip-hop producers’ first show in their old hometown since their debut album was released a couple of months ago. Now based in the hipster hotspot of Brooklyn, Alex Fitts and Matt Penttila have temporarily shifted their interests from producing, remixing, and DJing…
Kid Stuff
The continuing revelations of our county government’s mismanagement are even more repulsive when you consider the way conditions here have prompted our own children to flee at the first opportunity. We tend to focus on theft in office as the crime, but what is clear amid these seemingly endless accounts of deceit is the total…
CD Review: Reverse the Curse
It’s taken this Hiram band more than 10 years to release its first album. Then again, they formed when the three members were still in the sixth grade. Since then, Reverse the Curse has tried on everything from sugary pop-punk to gruff Hot Water Music worship. They’ve settled on accomplished post-hardcore that would sound at…
Bubble Bursts
Will Pugh is ready for phase two of his career. His band Cartel, an Atlanta-based quartet that specializes in southern-style pop-punk, has already had an impressive first phase that’s included three albums, an MTV reality show, and a handful of radio hits. But now Cartel are starting over, this time without a record label and…
Birdpucky
Birds are fascinating to most people because of the freedoms they embody: soaring, diving, and taking a dump while airborne (no, visiting the restroom on a Boeing 727 isn’t the same thing). So it’s no surprise that playwright Adam Bock chose to use birds as his central fixation in Five Flights, now being produced by…
CD Review: Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
It’s been more than a decade since indie-rock heroes Pavement broke up and frontman Stephen Malkmus started experimenting with new sounds on his solo records. Fans will be happy to hear that Malkmus’ fifth post-Pavement album, once again made with his Portland-based band the Jicks, is his most Pavement-sounding album since Pavement. At 45, he’s…
Reaching Out
Following a series of chance sightings around town, the brand-new Touch Supper Truck will make its formal debut on Tuesday, August 30, at the restaurant’s upcoming Farm to Table dinner at the historic Stone Garden Farm in Richfield (see Get Out!). The truck will take to the mean streets of Cleveland for the first time…
Get Out!
Thursday | 25 On Tap at Hilarities: Marc Maron Don’t Call Him Moron Most comedians spend years on the road, slogging their way across stages while trying to build a rep. Marc Maron took more than his share of that medicine, but technology offered him an alternative. You can now join the 20 million fans…
Keepin’ It Wheel
Alex Nosse and Renato Pereira-Castillo had seen what regular bike shops do to people. Most cater to hardcore recreational riders looking to equip themselves for racing or long-distance treks — and they make sure customers pay for the performance. But what about those folks perhaps looking for a little exercise or a reliable commute, but…
Lovin’ From the Oven
If we’re going to be completely honest with one another (and we’ll take the lead in that department), it’s time to confess that we weren’t thrilled by the prospect of a visit to Wood & Wine. For starters, the drive to Avon for those who require a highway is about as fun as a crawl…
Concert Calendar
Def Leppard & Heart Don’t dismiss Heart as just another dinosaur act making the touring rounds. Although the band is closing in on its 40th year, it’s still vital. Ann Wilson hasn’t lost a bit of her vocal power, and her guitarist sister Nancy remains one of the most underrated players in rock & roll.…
Buzz Killers
For once I feel kind of normal,” Chris Amberger says today. He was an eager 17 when he joined the National Guard in 2002; his first tour of Iraq started early in 2005. Within five months he saw one of his leaders burn to death when his humvee was hit by a roadside bomb. Two…
Dont Be Afraid of the Dark, and More
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (R) The made-for-TV Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark had kids trembling in their pajamas back in 1973. For some reason, Guillermo del Toro decided to remake this cheap shocker as a glossy feature, co-writing and producing with comic book artist/writer Troy Nixey directing. The film’s moody Gothic style…
Stay In!
TOP PICK – CD Little Dragon: Ritual Union (Peacefrog) These Swedish beatmakers recently received a seal of approval from the Roots’ Questlove, which makes their third album officially cool. Ritual Union is worth a listen even without all the famous fans fawning over it. Little Dragon skirt the line between electropop and R&B, and they’re…
Home Movies
The Beaver (Summit) There’s a very thin line separating batshit-crazy actor Mel Gibson from Walter Black, the batshit-crazy character he plays in The Beaver, a film that isn’t quite sure if it’s a comedy, a black comedy, a family drama, or a serious exploration of one man’s descent into madness. Whatever it is, director Jodie…
On View This Week
At the Cleveland Museum of Art: What Price Progress? In an exhibit opening this weekend at the Cleveland Museum of Art, photographer Brian Ulrich hauntingly explores the psyche of the American consumer. Copia: Retail, Thrift, and Dark Stores, 2001-11 is divided into three sections, each crafted in response to a defining crisis: the September 11…
The Devil You Know
From its double-barreled, gold-plated, boner-boasting movie poster to its coke-snorting, trigger-happy, schoolgirl-stalking antagonist, The Devil’s Double is a Brian DePalma-style plunge into the excesses, crimes, and vainglorious pseudo-rock-star life of Uday Saddam Hussein, the hard-partying son of the late Iraqi dictator, as seen through the eyes of his “double,” a look-alike employed for the purpose…
At the Arthouse
Trigun: Badlands Rumble Honestly, we have a hard time following the plots of most anime movies. There’s way too much going on for us to connect the dots. Besides, most of them seem like they’re the 15th chapter of a 26-part saga, and too bad for you if you haven’t seen any of the other…
We Get Mail
Speaking Critically Nice review! [“Two’s Company,” August 10, 2011]. We’ve been waiting for Joe Clark: Cleveland needs a new art reviewer with fresh eyes and a real sense of what contemporary art can be. Good job. I’ve seen this fantastic show at Kenneth Paul Lesko Gallery, and Joe nails the imagery as well as revealing…
CD Review: Zee Avi
Malaysian singer-songwriter Zee Avi’s big break came via a YouTube video a few years ago. That cute intro pretty much serves as the cornerstone of her music, which at turns can be too precious, too fluffy, and too boring. On her second album, the 25-year-old sounds like a starry-eyed dreamer with no real footing in…
