Atheists’ Holiday Message Thwarted
Friday officially marks the beginning of ‘Tis the Season merriment with super sales, twinkling lights, kids with sugar plum visions and—atheist recruitment billboards. But this year’s campaign to attract the godless is fraught with twists. The Mid Ohio Atheist group planned to put up three billboards in Mansfield next week, including one with a message…
Pic of the Day: This Is Not How to Store a Dog Outside of Starbucks
Seen outside the W. 6th Starbucks this afternoon.
The Quality of Cleveland Life Report
Your guide to living in fabulous Cleveland. Chillin’ With Tim: Rep Tim Ryan authors book on meditation called A Mindful Nation: How a Simple Practice Can Help Us Reduce Stress, Improve Performance and Recapture the American Spirit. If not for American Spirit, he’d have a book about premature ejaculation. He’s on the Money: Northeast Ohio’s…
1970’s Channel 5 Promos Were Predictably Trippy
It’s the day before Thanksgiving, which means it’s time for mindless video fun. Here’s a promo for Channel 5 from back in the 1970’s that was likely produced while under the influence of 17 different drugs. Enjoy. (Via Reddit)
Filmmakers Looking for Funding for Cleveland Sports Documentary
Tired of shelling out for local teams that perennially — sometimes daily — let you down? Here’s your chance to shell out for two guys who feel your pain. John Andosca and Qualin Harris have set out to chronicle a lifetime of Cleveland sporting woes in their tentatively titled documentary Cursed: The History of Cleveland…
The Station Vagrant
In Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, Asa Butterfield plays Hugo Cabret, a wide-eyed boy whose clockmaker father dies unexpectedly, leaving the kid to be raised by his drunken Uncle Claude, who keeps the clocks running at a Paris train station. Rather than be gathered up as just another orphan and given over to authorities by the arch-villainous…
Afternoon Brew: Harvey Pekar to Get Statue, Cleveland Heights Issues New Curfew, Fraudster Tries to Get Out of Conviction, and Rob Portman Talks Supercommittee
Good afternoon, here are some links to run an eye over while you [VERB] with the [NOUN] until your [NOUN] turns [ADJECTIVE]. — The campaign to kick together $30,000 for a monument for dearly-departed Cleveland writer Harvey Pekar was a success. The American Splendor author will get a bronze sculpture at the Cleveland Heights-University Heights…
Fake Bloody Ax Lands Akron Guy in Jail, Facing Criminal Charges (Updated)
Update: The Akron prosecutors must have read our original post and agreed with the impeccable logic — the charge against Bill Morrison has been dropped, so says the Akron Beacon Journal. Rest easy, friends, sanity reigns briefly again in the republic. ***** Hey hey, that’s a pretty nice ax you got there. At least .…
Concert Review: Mates of State at Beachland Ballroom
Lovin’ each other ain’t hard to do. Sometimes dating coworkers leads to disaster, sometimes it leads to tightly arranged and perfectly harmonized riffs. The Mates of State, a husband-wife duo from Lawrence, KS, land in the latter category. Backed by a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, the band performed Monday night at the Beachland Ballroom. The set…
Melange to Close, Retool Following Holidays
A liquor license snafu is prompting major changes at four-year-old Melange (2101 Richmond Rd., 216.378.9755, dinemelange.com), Andy Zelenkofske’s Beachwood bistro. The restaurant no longer is open for dinner and will most likely close following Christmas for a major overhaul, explains the owner. A lapsed license renewal means that the restaurant can no longer sell alcohol,…
Afternoon Brew: Flash Mobs are Back, Craigslist Killer’s Mom Gets Screen Time, Mom Steals To Pay for Son’s Wedding, and Corrupt, Kickback-Lovin’ Political Godfather Dimora Doesn’t Like it When You Say That About Him
“Excuse me, I’m here for the Flash Mob. Ah, yes. Thank you.” Good afternoon, enjoy these links while you burn a hole in your cubicle wall daydreaming about stuffing and cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie and sleeping in and college football and parades and Christmas Ale and family Monopoly and Uncle Antonio’s off-color jokes and…
PD Reports Loomis Out as Police Union Head
Steve Loomis The Plain Dealer is reporting that Cleveland’s top cop spokesman Steve Loomis was voted out of office after a close match-up over the weekend. Starting in January, the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association will be headed up by Jeffrey Follmer, a longtime vice detective. Loomis lost his seat by fewer than ten votes. Since…
Thieves Steal ‘Jesus Jar’ From Church
There aren’t exactly different levels of depravity when you’re talking about someone who broke into a church and stole something. Low is low, and that’s shitbag, scumbag low. But a couple of thieves who broke into the Victory Fellowship Church on W. 47th this week are lower than most — they nabbed just about anything…
President Garfield on New $1 Coin
President Garfield, who rests forever at Lake View Cemetery, will grace a new $1 coin. Unveiled at the Garfield historic site in Mentor this week, the change is the 20th in a series of Presidential coins. Would Garfield — born in what is now Moreland Hills and one of the Buckeye State’s numerous POTUS sons…
Former Browns Player on Eric Mangini
Nate Jackson played for the Browns for a hot second during Mangini’s last year in Cleveland. The former tight end played for years in the league before bowing out. Now he writes — for the New York Times, for Deadspin, for Slate, and others. Here’s a bit about Coach Mangini and some reductio ad absurdum…
Conservative Group Rates Ohio’s State Reps, Looks for ‘Defenders of Liberty’
Affinity for eagle posters= ten points. As part of the continuing battle for the moral ground in American politics, both sides like to churn the voting records of congressmen and senators through a partisan analysis and decide which of your representatives toe closest to the ideological line. The practice hasn’t been popular too much on…
East Side Suburb Ramps Up Efforts to Block Oakwood Development (Updated)
Update IV: The ballot issue failed; Oakwood will remain zoned for development and the project will go forward. No need for heated outlashes, gloating, or poor sportsmanship. Unless you’re South Euclid Council President David Miller, that is, who after the victory, spoke to opponents of the project when he told the Sun Messenger, “Thank you…
Ticket Giveway: Tinariwen at the Grog Shop
We have a pair of tickets to see the great Tinariwen at the Grog Shop on Tuesday. Robert Plant loves the world-music group from the Sahara Desert. So do TV on the Radio and some guy in Wilco. You can read more about them in our concert preview. If you want a chance to win…
Trailer: Jim Traficant, the Congressman of Crimetown
Eric Murphy is working on a documentary on batshit-crazy Jim Traficant, and we can think of no better subject for a film than the former Congressman-turned-inmate. Below is the five-minute extended trailer, which is excellent. Murphy has a Kickstarter campaign going to raise funds to finish the movie. You’ll want to pony up a dollar…
Like a Scene Out of a Horror Movie
How about coming home one day, hopping in the shower to unwind and relax, then noticing someone had left a threatening message for you on the shower door that revealed itself once the steam gathered? Scary shit, right? Only in horror movies? Nope, happened in lovely Solon. Via the Chagrin Solon Sun: SOLON BURGLARY, FOX…
Afternoon Brew: Ehlo on ‘The Shot,’ Judge on Cleveland vs. Wall Street, Pot in a Present, and Whore of Akron Review
Good afternoon, Cleveland. Here’s some stuff to read while you take the bow off that marijuana. — Craig Ehlo talked to a Chicago media outlet about his role in “The Shot.” He calls it his signature moment. And no, he doesn’t care that he looks like a schmuck in his signature moment. (Pro Basketball Talk)…
Lorain Avenue Targeted for Makeover, Fancy New Nickname
Time to move on up Lorain from here. The ever-blossoming West 25th Street corridor in Ohio City has become a magnet for yuppies, hipsters, and others who love beer and fresh vegetables. Now the neighborhood’s community development group is casting a hungry eye toward Lorain Avenue heading away from downtown. That’s where a German import…
Goodman’s Sandwich Inn Now Corky & Lenny’s Express
Goodman’s Sandwich Inn closed this summer after 62 years in the corned beef biz. In an ironic twist of fate, the shop is now being run by Corky & Lenny’s. “We took it over about a month ago,” says Kenny Kurland, owner of the legendary East Side deli. “We don’t even have our sign yet.”…
New Sounds, Old Brothers
For more than 50 years, Brothers Lounge on Cleveland’s western edge has been a bastion of local music — most notably the blues. But in recent months, Brothers has stepped up its game, reserving two nights a week for up-and-coming players of all stripes. Sunday’s New Music Showcase features local artists occasionally paired with national…
CD Review: R.E.M.
R.E.M.’s final release is, somewhat anticlimactically, a two-disc career retrospective featuring 40 songs. Diehards likely have all these cuts, and casual fans may already own the band’s other recent compilations. So while Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982–2011 makes a fine encapsulation of R.E.M., it isn’t essential. But the inclusion of lesser-known…
Cage Match Mishap
Attention, Browns coach Pat Shurmur: We’ve found a beefy guy who stands six foot two and looks like he could be a sweet addition to your running game. You can find him wearing heels and a feather boa at Playhouse Square in La Cage Aux Folles. Just ask for Zaza. Christopher Sieber, who minces daintily…
Local Band in Focus
Meet the Band: Attila Tomaschek (bass), Greg Wereb (drums and vocals), Wesley Porter (vocals and guitars), and Christian Turner (guitars) Miss Amanda Who? The band’s name — which comes from an obscure Rolling Stones song — is all about getting you in the door. “If someone sees the band name on a concert listing or…
CD Review: Smiley Baldazar
(smileybaldazar.com) Smiley Baldazar’s new album clocks in at more than 75 minutes, so there’s no shortage of content or ideas here. But it’s hard to classify the Lakewood band’s music, since they rarely stay in one genre long enough for anything to take shape. “Drink Blood” recalls Dookie-era Green Day, while the slow and sludgy…
CD Review: Sigur Rós
The first live album by the celestial Icelandic quartet is pretty much what you’d expect: gorgeous post-rock ballads slowly unspooling in front of a totally mesmerized and attentive audience. The two-disc set is heavy on cuts from Sigur Rós’ last album, 2008’s underwhelming Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust, but the concert setting manages…
At the Arthouse This Week
The Devil’s Cleavage You probably haven’t heard of a single person who took part in this little-seen 1975 indie. You probably haven’t even heard of the co-writer and director, George Kuchar, who recently passed away. But underground icons like John Waters and Guy Maddin worshiped the filmmaker, whose DIY movies ride the line between homage…
On Stage This Week
St. Nicholas at Ensemble Theatre: Vampires of London Who’s the worse monster: The vampire who sucks your blood or the theater critic who sucks your creative juices? That’s the central metaphor in St. Nicholas, a funny, poignant one-man monologue by Irish playwright Conor McPherson. Directed by the ever-in-demand Sarah May and starring Dana Hart, the…
On View This Week
William Rupnik Gallery: One Big Box of FunThe William Rupnik Gallery’s second exhibition in its new permanent home brings back a familiar face: Czech-born Ales BASK Hostomsky in the show Box of Fun. In keeping with Rupnik’s attention to street art, BASK commands traditional print and painting methodologies to address up-to-the-minute popular concerns and pop…
Savage Love
Dear Dan: I’m 21 years old and in a monogamous relationship. I lost my virginity to my boyfriend, and it was a really great experience. I was drawn to BDSM even before I began having sex, and he’s been happily fulfilling my needs. However, he revealed fairly early on that he also enjoys being submissive…
Gone Fishin’
For nearly two decades, Fat Fish Blue has been downtown’s place to be for Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve — heck, even a regular Tuesday-night happy hour. It was the habitual stomping ground for blues and jazz legends like Mr. Stress, Koko Taylor, and Robert Lockwood Jr. And it was one of the only places…
Concert Calendar
Owl City Nobody except the young and naive expect anything more than basic Hallmark sentiments from Adam Young, the 25-year-old mastermind behind Owl City. “Fireflies,” his breakthrough hit from two years ago, found an audience because it played to the most facile of emotions. It’s sweet, simple, and the kind of thing you’d expect a…
Drink of the Week
There’s a high bar set for joints that tout their “fresh and local” pedigree. Hospitality pro Nathan White knows that well: That’s why the food and beverage manager at the Cleveland Airport Marriott includes organic beers from Rockmill Brewery on the Amp 150 drink menu. A small-production operation in Lancaster, Ohio, Rockmill models its suds…
‘No Excuses’
In keeping with my promise of two weeks ago that there would be no need to write about the Browns again this season, this week the Browns tell the story of 2011 themselves: “We want to win here in Cleveland, and we did not win enough games this year … I think my expectations for…
We Get mail
Selective Forgiveness Felons are not forgiven in America, unless of course they are rich, famous, or politically connected [“Meet the Competition,” October 26, 2011]. This has to change — especially for men and women convicted of non-violent crimes. At this point, I’d prefer to meet the competition in an unemployment line than roaming downtown Cleveland,…
No Guts, No Glory
When you sign that piece of paper, you basically give them permission to kill you.” For Chris Schade, that’s the takeaway from the last 12 months, the sound bite the 60-year-old church secretary has mined from a medical ordeal that drove her to the brink of death. Sitting at the kitchen table while rain taps…
CD Review: Meshell Ndegeocello
Ever since her 2003 debut Plantation Lullabies, Meshell Ndegeocello has quietly turned out one album after another of syrupy, moody R&B. Her ninth doesn’t break from pattern, easing into semi-funky homegrown grooves with effortless informality. Producer Joe Henry keeps things simple, adding some atmospheric flourishes here and there, allowing Ndegeocello to glide across the songs…
The Hayseed Hustler
By now you’ve probably heard about Monroe Beachy. As if that given name isn’t catchy enough to stick with you, the Sugarcreek investor has earned a new moniker he’s not likely to shake any time soon: The Amish Bernie Madoff. Earlier this month, Beachy’s three-ring spectacle wheeled into federal court, where the 78-year-old refused on…
Home Movies
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume One (Warner) No doubt about it: The hundreds of Looney Tunes cartoons that were made in the 1940s and ’50s are the best animated shorts ever. The 50 included in this wonderful set all make their Blu-ray debuts, and they look marvelous in HD. The three discs are loaded with…
Film Capsules
The Twilight Saga Marathon We sure hope the Capitol Theatre and Chagrin Cinemas are hiring some muscle for the Twilight Saga Marathon happening Thursday. Starting at 4:45 p.m. with the first movie in the pouty-vampire series, the theaters will show all four Twilight movies, including the new Breaking Dawn Part 1, which premieres at midnight.…
C’mon to His Kitchen
Let’s face it: At plenty of Mexican restaurants, the promise of free chips and salsa is the highlight of the meal. Not so at Oralé Kitchen, the Ohio City restaurant recently opened by chef Roberto Rodriguez. And considering the quality of his chips and salsa, that’s saying a mouthful. For the past 12 years, Rodriguez…
Rock This, Amadeus
Leopold Mozart and his wife bred a prodigious talent — a beautiful child whom they nurtured into a gifted keyboardist, violinist, vocalist, and budding composer. And then they had another child: a boy named Wolfgang. Mozart’s Sister focuses on first-born Maria Anna, known to her family as Nannerl, five years older than Wolfgang and —…
Get Out!
Thursday | 17 Fun for Book Lovers The Making of Cleveland Inside Outside How does an iconic Cleveland photographer like Jennie Jones draw the interest of a bunch of book geeks? By publishing a compilation of her acclaimed architectural photography, of course. It didn’t hurt that chief book lover Brian Meggitt had a hand in…
Union of the State
The indie-rock world has no shortage of couples making music together. Yo La Tengo’s Georgia Hubley and Ira Kaplan. Matt & Kim. Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice. Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon (OK, maybe scrap that one …). But they don’t come much cuter than Mates of State’s Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel. From the…
Stay In!
TOP PICK – BOOK Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: Lost in the Andes (Fantagraphics) The first volume in this great new series focusing on Carl Barks, who was behind some of the best comic books of the ’40s and ’50s, includes his classic Peruvian adventure tale that inspired both George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. There are…
