Man Stops Traffic Because He Has to Fart
Having owned a busted clunker with no air conditioning and windows that didn’t roll down, we understand the problem of farting in the car during the summer, especially if there’s a passenger along for the ride, but never have we thought to stop the car and exit in the middle of traffic because of some…
Virtual Tour of National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is Completely Awesome
Never been to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force down in Dayton? It’s okay, now you can take the full tour sitting on your couch. Click here for a virtual sight seeing jaunt through the museum, from early airplanes to Presidential flight to current R&D, without the 3-hour drive. Well worth your time…
Audio: Hilarious Misuse of 911 in Ohio
Or, ya know, don’t. Dumb people call 911 for a whole truckload of dumb reasons. These stories pop up every once in awhile, but it really takes a full day on the interwebs to not only get a full picture of the insane reasons folks dial the emergency number, but also to discover that if…
ABC, XYZ Owners to Take Over Ponte Vecchio
The team behind ABC Tavern and XYZ Tavern is expanding once again. This Friday, Linda Syrek, Randy Kelly and Alan Glazen take possession of Ponte Vecchio, the seven-year-old Italian restaurant with million-dollar views. The restaurant is located on the Superior Viaduct, around the corner from the Detroit-Superior Bridge. “The building owners came to us to…
Asdrubal Cabrera’s Top Ten Plays of 2011
Tribe shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera starts and bats second in tonight’s MLB All Star Game. ‘Drubs has clearly been the best SS in the AL through the first half of the season, regularly flashing Omar-esque (or, better than Omar-esque) leather. The Tribe Daily compiled Cabrera’s top ten plays for everyone’s entertainment. Embedded below is their No.…
Parma, Southwest Hospitals Aim to Survive With New Partnership
Unlike most of its community-hospital brethren, Parma Community General and Southwest General hospitals have so far avoided being gobbled up by the ravenous maw of University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic. But now they are feeling the pinch — and so might area doctors who aren’t already part of the corporate machine. In an effort to…
Michael Symon Teams With Scene Food Critic for New Book
A picture of Michael Symon, because no one really has any interest in seeing our food writer. Back around Christmas, Iron Chef Michael Symon approached Scene restaurant critic Doug Trattner with a question: Can I get a little help with my new cookbook? “Of course I said yes,” says Trattner. “My secret plan of sucking…
The Quality of Cleveland Life Report
Your guide to thriving in fabulous Cleveland. All the Intangibles: Jamaal Harris, the former CSU basketball player who once robbed C.C. Sabathia, was arrested with $13,000 of weed in his car, finally proving he was undervalued as a recruit. That’s definitely an SEC-level score. Death of a Wild Man: Controversial wild-animal owner Sam Mazzola is…
Concert Review: Gang Gang Dance at the Grog Shop
Yeah, their music is a lot like that too It’s bewildering. What do you expect from a band that’s released two of the most dynamic, fusion dance albums over the past few years? Both of which —2008’s Saint Dymphna and this year’s Eye Contact — are top of the heap material in their respective years.…
Flick Filmed Here Will Highlight a Town Called…”Westbrae”
Folks around town have been observing all the hooplah surrounding Paramount Pictures’ filming of the teen comedy Fun Size and everybody says it’s great for Cleveland’s image. No it’s not. It’s great for the image of a place called Westbrae. Cleveland really couldn’t be any nicer to big Hollywood studios wanting to film here. We…
Flight Forced to Land in Cleveland After Passenger Wigs Out
This photo is awful. Alright, take your pick: Bath salt? Four Loko? K2? No, we’re not opening up the private stash. The media wheels are well-grooved with the above buzz words, and when some unexplainable piece of human behavior crops up, we’d be remiss if we didn’t truck them out for old times sake. So…
Browns Beat Writer Declares Himself a Great Beat Writer, Key Piece to Browns’ Winning Future
If you were to list the key elements to a possibly successful season for the Cleveland Browns, you would point out many areas where the team tallies strengths. It might be short, it might be lengthy, but it would undoubtedly involve things like players and coaches. Nowhere would the beat writer for The Plain Dealer…
Frank Russo Has Anxiety Problems, Maybe Celebrated Bridget McCafferty’s Conviction With Food
Of all the notable developments in the Cuyahoga County corruption escapades, no tidbit is simultaneously as inconsequential and hilarious as theseThe PD reports: Russo testified in federal court Monday that he occasionally had been taking the anti-anxiety medication Diazepam — also known as Valium — since 2006. But in March, as he prepared to testify…
Ohio, Rhode Island Hate LeBron James
ESPN ran a poll on the anniversary of “The Decision” to gauge the nation’s feelings toward the NBA Regular Season Superstar. The results were not entirely surprising: Ohio hates LeBron James. But Rhode Island does as well, which makes them the second best state in America and blood brothers with the Buckeye State. Kentucky, it…
‘Club Cuyahoga’ in Federal Prison Attracts Another Guest
As if browsing through resort brochures looking for the best possible location for a long (7-year) vacation (prison stay), Christopher Krause found just what he was looking for in a Plain Dealer article about the amenities of the federal prison in Morgantown, West Virginia. Krause, the former treasurer for Maple Heights Schools and Cuyahoga County…
Tribe TV Ratings Skyrocket
While the Cleveland Indians continue their surprising contention in what was supposed to be another lackluster season, Northeast Ohio has been paying attention. It’s too early to call it a full-blown case of Tribe fever (Bylaw 11.4c of Cleveland news blogging requires minimum one mention of Tribe fever per post), and fans have as of…
Concert Review: Sade at the Q
Watch out: she’s a soldier of love It was a scorching in Cleveland last night, but thankfully we had Sade in town to cool us off. Still, I’m pretty sure she managed to raise the temperature of many in the audience at her Quicken Loans Arena show. She and her band were on fire. She…
Ohio Woman Sues Kobe Bryant for Not Proposing to Her
“Bitches be crazy” Today in batshit crazy lawsuits… OC Weekly reports on a young lady named Selina Miller who lives in both Columbus and California (apparently), and has filed a lawsuit against Denver’s favorite visitor Kobe Bryant. Miller it seems wants cash from the NBA star because he didn’t propose to her. Yes, that’s correct.…
CMHA Head Charged in County Corruption Probe (Updated)
Update: Per the PD, the trial of suspended CMHA head George Phillips-Olivier will begin December 2. 5/1 odds that Frank Russo testifies about something, most likely that Phillips-Olivier never puts a penny, only takes a penny. — Grzegorek *** Cue the Queen; this is best read with “Another One Bites the Dust” piping through the…
Girl Talk Summer Shows Look Fun
We’re big fans of Girl Talk, former Case student Gregg Gillis, and have enjoyed a frenetic, sweaty, dancy, awesome Girl Talk show or three in our lives, but we’ve yet to catch him outdoors during the summer, which from the looks of this short film by Bon Iver documentarian Dan Huiting of Girl Talk at…
Rodriguez of WSM’s Orale Mexican Foods Stand to Open Restaurant
“When I closed Flower I said I’m never going back into the restaurant business — I’m done,” recalls chef Roberto Rodriguez, regarding the short-lived restaurant that replaced That Place on Bellflower. “I guess I couldn’t stay away from it.” Granted, the odds have only improved for Rodriguez, a chef whose resume goes clear back to…
July 8th Is an Important Day in Cleveland Sports History
July 8 will always be remembered as an important day in Cleveland sports history. We’re talking, of course, about the anniversary of Sandy Alomar’s all-star game homer in front of the hometown crowd at The Jake on July 8, 1997. He was named the All Star Game MVP, the first time a player’s been given…
Banana Attacks Gorilla, Currently on the Loose
“Come on!” Standing in a mascot outfit on the side of the road waving a sign for 1/2-off cellular phones in 90-degree heat is not an enviable job, even without pranksters preying on your vulnerable condition. You’re already suffering the slight indignity of standing in a mascot outfit for money, and your hindquarters are likely…
Tribe’s Walk-Off Grand Slam Winner
Video from the usual video sources, but audio from Tom Hamilton, because that’s the only way to hear a Wahoo walk-off winner, especially when it’s a 9th inning Travis Hafner grand slam. We were there last night, but we’re getting chills all over again watching it this morning. Travis Hafner Walk Off Grand Slam vs.…
Ohio Lands on List of Fattest States
Because you live in Cleveland, and because you’re stuck in this near-unendurable ranking culture that seems to always land the Forest City or Ohio with ignoble laurels, this week was probably nervously marked in your day planner: the week when the list of the fattest states hit newsstands. Well, you can rest easy. Kind of.…
Anonymous Man Declares Love of Lakewood Hotties
Are you hot? Were you out and about in Lakewood last weekend? Did you see some dude scoping you out, but before you could approach him to say hi — or more likely, slap him — did he turn his attention and his car to another young pretty thing? If that’s the case, this message…
Teens Rob Kids’ Lemonade Stand
St. Peter will not be smiling upon a group of teens who followed the lowest of low paths to financial gain recently by robbing a lemonade stand. Cops and neighbors don’t know who they are, but St. Peter surely does. The AP reports some children in Strongsville were pursuing that most novice and wholesome capitalistic…
No One Gets Tickets for Texting While Driving in Cleveland
Stats on Cleveland’s enforcement of the texting while driving ban from WOIO: In 2010, 40 tickets were given out with a total of $1,075 collected in fines. In 2011, up until June 29th, just 16 tickets were given out with a total of $115 collected in fines. Obviously, texting while driving is simply dangerous, and…
Video: Ohio Rep’s DUI on Dash Cam
You’ll remember that Mr. Family Values conservative Ohio state rep Bob Mecklenborg recently had a little run-in with the law in Indiana: he was arrested for a DUI, happened to be carting around a woman who was not his wife and likely was a stripper, and had Viagra in his system. Now, there’s video of…
Animal House
Zookeeper asks audiences to accept an outlandish premise: that pudgy Kevin James is irresistible to two gorgeous women. Oh, and less implausibly, that animals can talk. Directed by Adam Sandler’s pal Frank Coraci (Waterboy, The Wedding Singer), the movie takes an amusing kids’ movie premise – that animals can secretly speak and conspire to help…
Old Yankees Fan Sends Mean Letter to Indians Pitcher
Joe Smith tweeted out this letter Mitch Talbot received from a nice old lady named Doris, who is a lifelong Yankees fan. This was no fan letter. So many gems in here, from the beginning (Salutation: Hey, Talbot), to calling Fausto Carmona a “spic,” to telling Carmona to learn English, to railing against the DH…
Frank Russo Had People Paying His Restaurant Bills Over the Phone
Plain Dealer Frank Russo was pegged with 22 years in prison, and when the former auditor looked at that number, looked at his aging face in the mirror, and looked at his family, he promptly decided it was time to cooperate with the Feds in the hopes of shaving some years off that sentence. While…
Rays Player Pays Tribute to ‘Wild Thing’ Rick Vaughn
As The Big Lead notes, why in the hell it took 22 years for someone to carve Rick Vaughn’s electric edges into their hair is beyond us, but we’re glad it finally happened. Thank you, Evan Longoria.
Fountain in Moreland Hills Bubbles to Life Tomorrow
Iris and Steve Wheeler are immense fans of Europe, with Iris hailing from Germany and both having spent years living abroad. In an attempt to import some of that Old World charm to their corner of the globe in Moreland Hills, the two have labored to create the cafe of their dreams. That dream becomes…
Video: Welcome to My Hood, Cleveland
A parody of “Welcome to My Hood” with Cleveland neighborhoods. Funny? Sometimes. We’ll give it 3.25 stars out of 5. Westlake, Rocky River, Fleet Ave., Old Brooklyn, West Park, and Lakewood are portrayed in all their stereotyped glory. Once again, go in with low expectations. 3.25 stars. A less witty “Parma State of Mind” with…
The Phantasy Gets a Close-Up on New Megadeth Reissue
The 25th anniversary edition of Megadeth’s Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying? includes a bonus disc featuring a live show recorded at the Phantasy in 1987. Like most reissues these days, this one is available in a bunch of different configurations. Depending on your financial bracket (and level of Megadeth fandom), you can pick up…
Casey Anthony is an Ohio State Fan
And, well, to channel Forrest Gump, that’s about all we have to say about that. (Via everyone on Twitter)
Pic of the Day: Truck Gets Stuck Under Bridge
Via WOIO, here’s a pic of a semi-truck that got stuck under a bridge in Euclid. Perhaps the city should invest in one of those “17-foot Clearance” signs. Or not.
Northfield Braces for a Surge in Psych Patients
Government-run mental hos-pitals have come a long way since One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. For one thing, the sadistic bastards mostly work in the boardroom these days. And in addition to caring for patients, the hospitals are often bastions of research that attract the best doctors. Naturally, Cuyahoga County no longer has one. The…
Concert Review: Katy Perry at the Q
Teenage wet dream is more like it Katy Perry took the stage in front of a packed Quicken Loans Arena last night, delivering Technicolor wishes and cotton candy dreams. The audience was definitely up for a party, and Perry and her crew delivered, with a set swirling with peppermint lollipops and hot pink glitter. The…
Cleveland Buys American
Since we just blew out the candles on America’s birthday cake, it seems the right time to talk patriotism: Who’s got it, and who’s vaguely French. And what better way to tell your red, white, and blueblood Americans from your commies and subversives than to have a peek in the garage? Chevy pickup? Surely driven…
The Quality of Cleveland Life Report
Your guide to thriving in fabulous Cleveland. …And Yes, I Am Happy to See You: John Kasich signs guns-in-bars bill into law, simultaneously clearing the way for a new era of outrageously cheesy pickup lines along West Sixth Street. Step 2: Get a Billion Dollars: Cavs owner Dan Gilbert featured in panel on how to…
Rumor: Sports Time Ohio is For Sale
While Scene was tiptoeing through the halls of power and influence, we happened to hear chatter from a reliable source that the Dolan family is looking to unload one of its high-dollar assets. Don’t get too excited — we’re not talkin’ Tribe. Not yet anyway. The source says the team’s tight-fisted owners have slapped the…
Work It Out
In Horrible Bosses, Jasons Bateman and Sudeikis, along with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Charlie Day, play best friends with one thing in common: They hate their bosses. So when workplace misery reaches a fever pitch, they decide to kill their bosses. Jamie Foxx joins the mix as an unlikely hit man; Kevin Spacey, Colin…
On View This Week
Avenging Cleveland at the Pop Shop: Bang! Sock! Pow!In August, Lakewood’s anarchist Pop Shop will be rechristened Breakneck Gallery by new owners Sean and Kristen Burns, as current owner Rich Cihlar departs for extended paternity leave. In the meantime, the Pop Shop is going out with a Bang! Sock! Pow! in Avenging Cleveland, an exhibition…
All the World’s a Stage
Bluesmen love that old saying about rolling stones. They love to live that saying too, staying on the road for weeks at a time. It can be a great break for them, playing to new audiences and getting some much-needed time away from the hassles of writing and thinking back home. But it can be…
At the Arthouse
A Screaming Man This new movie from Chad (the country, not some dude) wrestles with lots of Big Questions, including the usual one about God’s existence. A sixtysomething man, and former champion swimmer, loses his job as a pool attendant at a swanky hotel. Making matters worse: The guy’s gig is handed over to his…
CD Review: Old 97’s
Old 97’s sounded like a rejuvenated band on last year’s first Grand Theatre, with frontman Rhett Miller channeling his inner bastard and the rest of the group responding with its most viscerally charged roots rock since the ’90s. For The Grand Theatre’s second act, they add a spit shine to the leftovers from their original…
CD Review: Beyoncé
As Beyoncé gets older, bigger, and more confident as a singer, she’s braver about revealing her ambitions. With Destiny’s Child she played the sassy ingenue willing, to a point, to be manipulated by the pop machine. As she became the voice of united womanhood on her solo albums, she stepped up her game. On her…
Pulling the Plug
It used to be that MetroHealth was the gem of county government, a place where marvelous medicine was practiced and the poor were served frequently and with dignity. Now the taint of a government that promoted corruption has stained the hospital’s reputation. First there was John Carroll, the Metro construction manager who accepted bribes and…
Tapas Time!
In mid-June, Detroit Shoreway’s Roseangel closed after a less-than-explosive year in business. The final nail in the coffin was chef-partner Marlin Kaplan’s exodus to Dragonfly in Ohio City. In the wake of Kaplan’s departure, owner Rosita Kutkut has decided to return to the Latin theme of her initial restaurant, La Boca. She’s enlisted consulting chef…
Neil Simon comedy comes to Porthouse
Neil Simon comedy comes to Porthouse Forecast: Sunshine Boys Not to be confused with those other Boys performing at Playhouse Square, Sunshine Boys tells the tale of two cantankerous old vaudevillians — Al Lewis and Willy Clark — who grew to detest each other during 40 years of working as a team. When they are…
Concert Calendar
R. Kelly R. Kelly wants you to know that he loves the ladies. Not in the sex-with-minors way you’d think, but in a sensitive, golden-age-of-R&B sorta way. Swoon-worthy records have always been his game, but on his latest album, Love Letter, Kelly stamps and seals one big apology to all his female fans, begging behind…
CD Review: Teddybears
Falling somewhere between Mark Ronson’s clubby cornucopia and LMFAO’s morning-after headache, the Swedish group Teddybears throw a whole mess of sounds onto their second album. Armed with synths and kinda-famous guest stars (including B.o.B. and Cee Lo Green), they zip around genres, noises, and styles, never settling into anything long enough on Devil’s Music to…
Call It Even
No one at the Barley House seems to notice the guy wearing jail-issued clothes on a Thursday night in late March. Not an orange jumpsuit — just denim blues, which from a distance look like something you might buy at the mall, and which easily blend in with the happy-hour crowd at the Warehouse District…
Home Movies
Das Boot (Sony) Wolfgang Petersen’s 1981 classic celebrates its 30th anniversary with this Blu-ray debut. And it looks stunning. Set in a German submarine during World War II, Das Boot is, unsurprisingly, one of the most claustrophobic movies ever made. The film’s climactic scenes — especially when the U-boat takes some hits — will have…
Table Tripping
When Coventry’s popular Mint Café abruptly closed at the end of 2010, it unwittingly seeded a fresh crop of Thai offshoots. One of them, High Thai’d, sprouted in the very same location. Another, Map of Thailand, took root a few miles to the west, in Asiatown. Located in a tidy little strip of stores alongside…
Film Capsules
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (PG-13) There aren’t too many movies as loud and obnoxious as 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Thankfully, the third outing in the hit series scales back a bit, even as it expands (it’s in 3-D and runs more than two and a half hours — yeesh!). This time there’s…
Fit to Print?
The fly-on-the-wall approach to documentary filmmaking has never been more fitting. Page One: Inside The New York Times offers a spectrum view of the venerable newspaper at its most vulnerable, and a look at one of the world’s most respected newsrooms in the middle of shifting media significance. Director Andrew Rossi was granted complete access…
Get Out!
Thursday | 07 Funny Stuff Working Blue at Hilarities Comedian Josh Blue doesn’t mince words: “I’ve been doing this for ten years, and I’d like to think I’m pretty fucking good at it,” he laughs. He’s earned that confidence: Following his 2006 win on Last Comic Standing, Blue went on to a regular guest slot…
We Get Mail
If Not Windmills, Then What? I just finished reading your article on LEEDCo and the Lake Erie wind project [“Tilting at Windmills,” June 15, 2011]. Naturally, I was a little dismayed by the “pin-cushion” image you portrayed, because that will never happen and it leaves a bad image in anyone’s mind. There will be a…
Local Band in Focus
Meet the Band: Jason Byrd (guitars), Nate Taddeo (guitars), Josh Mitchell (vocals), Chris Haggarty (drums), and Andrew Murphy (bass) Non-Hyphenated Metal Is for Losers: Nobody plays straight-up metal anymore, because where’s the fun in that? Taken by Talons work elements of jazz and prog into their sound. Are You Ready to Rock? The band is…
CD Review: The Flavor
(theflavorblues.com) Stuffy blues purists won’t find much compelling from the Flavor, who favor the sort of crossover material that was popular back in the ’80s, when artists like Robert Cray snagged radio play. The band announces its intentions on the album’s first cut, “Hot Sauce,” which features a terrific slide guitar riff and steady backbeat…
Stay In!
TOP PICK – DVD Harry Potter Ultimate Editions (Warner) Just in time for the final (and possibly most awesome) Harry Potter movie, two of the best – 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and 2009’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – get super-sized in these hefty new boxes. The Blu-ray sets…
Touch of Grey
Don’t believe the hype. Rapper Bravo knows this all too well. A decade ago, when his former hip-hop group GI Joez was named one of The Source’s Unsigned Hypes, the accolades went to some members’ heads. “We had no mentor, no guidance, no manager,” he says. “Once we got in the magazine, some of the…
Sex & Loneliness
I like experimenting with how audiences react with each other,” says William Busta, whose downtown gallery is offering a case study in exactly that. Through July 30, the Busta Gallery is simultaneously hosting shows by two strikingly different Cleveland artists: one by young yet accomplished painter Aaron Koehn, and another by established anti-establishmentarian poster artist…
Where There’s Smoke
Chemist and Mooke, who make up the rap duo Smoke Screen, have spent the past few years spicing up Cleveland’s hip-hop landscape by adding fresh new flavors to the hometown mix. You don’t have to listen too closely to hear that their love for the city and its people runs deep through their music. “Being…
