The King Of Coventry

3.24-3.31
The King Of Coventry

Cool Cleveland Interview with Tommy Fello

Tommy Fello started Tommy’s Restaurant on Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights 30 years ago, and despite the ups and downs of the street, the place has remained as popular as ever. On a recent Monday night visit to the local fave, the hopping shop, which is famous for its inexpensive, healthy and original food, was half-packed. The impressive assortment of patrons included funky teens sporting piercings, soccer moms munching on hummus, gay couples sipping tea and Grog Shop devotees hanging out before the show. With its tasty falafels, spinach pies and milkshakes, speedy service, and the people-watching from its street-level windows, Tommy’s is a recipe for a successful, independent café. Tommy himself has relentlessly volunteered his time for Coventry as President of the Coventry Special Improvement District, a merchants group whose owners pay a tax to finance district-wide improvements, he spearheaded a successful effort to turn Cleveland Heights’ plan to re-surface the street into a more ambitious effort to re-develop Coventry itself. The involvement of the SID added handsome new planters, lampposts and other amenities to the mix, as well as the merchants plan to celebrate with a re-opening party this summer. We asked Tommy Fello about the funny names for his sandwiches, the redevelopment of the street, whether Coventry is still cool, and this summer’s return of the Street Fair.

Cool Cleveland: Tommy’s restaurant has been on Coventry for 30 years, so you’ve seen a lot of history here. With the opening of Legacy Village and other shopping centers, there must be a lot of challenges facing independent retail districts. What are you and other merchants doing about this?
Tom Fello:
“We’ve been working on the redevelopment of Coventry Road; this recent influx of dollars and dreams has been two years of work. The overall goal is to make Coventry more competitive. We have a quarter mile business district with 300 employees, and we need different kinds of retail to complement the restaurants that are already here. We made a list of things that we need to keep the district viable. The population in Northeast Ohio has only increased two percent in recent years and there’s been a downturn in the economy, so people are going out less. Despite this, there are more restaurants than ever. To compensate for it, we have to make our business district the best we can; our businesses should feed off each other to make the district better. We’d like to add soft goods; this is a need that has been identified.”

Cool Cleveland: So the corporate chains have moved in, but there are still a lot of smaller, local businesses. Do you think the “feel” of Coventry as a funky, local district is still here?
Tom Fello:
“I think so. But we need to support local businesses – people don’t realize that small, independent businesses are the backbone of our nation’s economy. They shop at chain stores to save money. But you can have all the Walmarts that you want, and they’ll never do what local businesses do for our neighborhoods…”
Read the interview with Tom Fello by Lee Chilcote

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Buying Shaker Square The Coral Co., a Beachwood-based real estate development, construction and management firm, signed a purchase agreement late Friday to acquire the historic East Side retail district from KeyCorp, the Cleveland-based financial services company that has been managing the complex since December. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Key had sought repayment of a $14.9 million loan it made toward the square’s $20 million redevelopment. Read more

WiFi at Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art has announced free wireless public Internet access http://www.clevelandart.org/whatsnew/. The Cleveland Museum of Art is one of the leading comprehensive art museums, and its permanent collection is world renowned for its quality and breadth spanning 6,000 years. The Museum is a key international player in exhibitions, scholarship, and art acquisitions, now they’re a leader in the use of technology and art. Bring your laptop and log on at the museum’s Still Life cafe. http://www.clevelandart.org/whatsnew/mediakit/index.asp?refid=320

More online, less old media A recent study on the state of the U.S. news media by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, affiliated with Columbia University’s graduate journalism school, found that U.S. news media outlets are experiencing a steady decline in their audiences and are significantly cutting their investment in staff and resources. Only ethnic, alternative and online media are flourishing. Read more online

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Live at the Pointe Cleveland’s newest downtown neighborhood just got better! The Pointe at Gateway offers affordable, 1 and 2 bedroom condominiums that place you at the center of this lively, bustling neighborhood. Take your pick of light-filled one-bedroom units and spacious two-bedroom units with two full baths. Units feature historic details, plush carpets with available upgrades to hardwood floors. Plus: lofty ceilings, modern appliances, ceramic kitchen tile and large windows, some with urban views! Pointe buyers can walk to the Jake and the Gund, dine on sumptuous soul food at Phil the Fire’s new downtown venue and catch a show in Cleveland’s theater district. One bedrooms start at $77,900 and two bedrooms start at $129,900, plus tax abatement and special financing. Open this Sun 3/28 2-4 PM, 750 Prospect Ave.
http://www.progressiveurban.com
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Regional churn Look at what’s happened recently, says PD’s Joe Frolik, lead writer on the Quiet Crisis series (which probably needs a new name since it’s anything but “quiet” anymore). Area foundations have thrown some of their $6 billion towards the Fund for Our Economic Future. The NAACP and the Urban League have voiced support for regionalism. Greater Cleveland Tomorrow formed from the merger of three business groups. The suburban Mayors and Managers Assoction is exploring a “no poaching” rule to stop cannibalizing business from each other. All this churn appears to be moving our community towards a more regional approach. But so far, it’s just talk and posturing. Read more

Coventry Fair returns this summer Now that Coventry’s facelift is complete, it’s time to enjoy one of our quirkiest and favorite neighborhoods. Three monthly Fair dates have been set for Thu 7/15, Thu 8/12, and Thu 9/9 from 6-9PM. Coventry Road will be closed to traffic from 5:30PM till 9PM while restaurants, artists, farmers, ethnic purveyors and visitors transform the Village into a festive environment. This event will be alcohol-free and family-safe with music, art, entertainment and street performers circulating throughout the evening. Plans are currently being considered to add family movies at P.E.A.C.E Park at the close of the evening. For info email coventryroad@earthlink.net

Regionalism is not county reform Or is it? In this PD op-ed, Cuyahoga County commissioner and Democratic party chairman Jimmy Dimora opines, wanting “the record to reflect that the county commissioners are not against regionalism, reform, or change.” But they will put a proposal on the Fall ballot that may very well confuse voters who want reform. Read more

Mutual respect Mark Rosentraub, Dean of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at CSU, says “Northeast Ohio has more live theater than New York (that is, more tickets are sold here to residents; New York sells more tickets to tourists).” Everyone is talking about regionalism, but “turning this talk into cooperation requires that city and suburbs recognize how important the other is for success.” Read more

Bicyclists can ride RTA now that 425 buses already have bike racks and plan to install more,so that in a couple of months, all buses will be able to carry 2 bikes. Now you can plan to bike one way and ride RTA the other. Or vice versa. Read more.

The death of urban planning Cincinnati has fired their planning department and merged it with their economic development function, meaning the public agenda is being privatized, with the only city planning now being done by corporations like P&G, the hospitals and universities. It just goes to show how different Cleveland really is, with planning director Chris Ronayne and Mayor Campbell’s very visible plans for the Lakefront & other initiatives. See Free Times here.

Land fill shopping mall The new City View regional shopping center will be built atop a landfill on the east rim of the valley, south of the I- 480 exit at Transportation Boulevard. It may solve a civic headache but most likely is causing another. Read more

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Robotic Cockroaches REI@Weatherhead is the “Think-and-Do Tank”, bringing professional consultancy and research to Cleveland’s collaborative approach to economic development. Coming up, the second annual Research ShowCASE is a day-long event highlighting the breadth of research done at Case and its collaborating institutions. REI’s Ed Morrison leads Global Issues, a panel that will go beyond the headlines to explore the dynamic economic relationship between China and the United States. Other Show CASE? topics: nanotechnology, bioethics, biodefense, active demonstrations such as robotic cockroaches capable of search and rescue, and insertable electrical devices that enable movement after paralysis. Fri 4/2 from 7:30AM-5PM at the University’s Veale Convocation and Recreation Center. Event is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is recommended. For information visit
http://www.case.edu/menu/showcase
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National City purchase may cut jobs According to Forbes, National City Bank’s purchase of Provident Financial Group Inc. may result in the net loss of 400-800 jobs. “Some duplicate positions will be eliminated,” Provident chief executive Robert Hoverson stated in a letter to their 3200 employees, while NCC chief David Daberko said he expected cost savings of about 25% of two years, which would probably include job cuts. No one is saying if those cuts will come in Cincy or Cleve, but either way Ohio loses key new economy jobs. See Forbes www.Forbes.com

Wal-Mart tops F500 Cleveland is no longer a big Fortune 500 town. Among Ohio companies in the 500 were: Goodyear Tire, No, 137; First Energy, No. 158; Progressive Insurance, No. 165; National City Corp., No. 206; Eaton Corp., No. 253; Parker Hannifin, No. 291; KeyCorp, No. 319; Sherwin-Williams, No. 333; chemicals company OM Group Inc., No. 405, and International Steel Group, No. 426. See Fortune http://www.fortune.com

The Wal-Marting of downloads As if Wal-Mart wasn’t causing enough trouble for mom-and-pop shops and other specialty stores, the mammoth chain retailer opened its own cut rate online music store, where customers can download music at 88 cents per song. That’s 11 cents less than Apple Computer charges at its iTunes music store, which has been the pacesetter. See ZDNet www.ZDNet.com.

PD editorial deputy opposes same-sex marriage stating there’s no reason to “overturn a social, legal and religious institution” that’s been in place for a significant amount of time. How enlightened. Or maybe, given the upcoming summer campaign season, opportunistic. Read more.

Anti-gay council hopeful Patrick Corrigan is open about his opposition to gay rights and is against extentending employee benefits for same sex couples in Lakewood. Read more.

“Ohio is ground zero for creationsim” says Patricia Princehouse, an evolutionary biologist at Case Western Reserve University. If the Ohio Board of Education collectively agreed months ago to not endorse intelligent design, and the US Supreme Court has already said it’s illegal to teach because its religion, how then could they adopt a lesson plan that challenges darwinsm? Read more.

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Junebug Jabbo Jones A very special visitor arrives at Cleveland Public Theatre for four nights of magical storytelling, bringing an entertaining collection of tales and anecdotes entitled Don’t Start Me to Talking or I’ll Tell You Everything I Know: Sayings from the Life and Writings of Junebug Jabbo Jones for four performances only, beginning Thu 4/1. Then look for The Tale of the Emerald Bird, the latest production from CPT’s STEP program, running 4/9 and 4/10. Playing now in both theatres you can see Danceworks ’04, a festival of dance featuring seven contemporary companies that have been called “spectacular,” “evocative,” and “invigorating.” CPT, 6415 Detroit Avenue,
http://www.cptonline.org
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Big downtown condo project Willoughby-based Marous Brothers Construction is set to begin construction on 350+ condo units squeezed between the Bingham and National Buildings in the Warehouse District on July 1. The development has been approved by both the District and the city’s Landmarks Commission, but Marous is still negotiating financing with four banks, which typically require 30 percent presale before work starts. No city money is being lent for this project, although Cleveland Tomorrow is lending an undisclosed amount. Read more

Local resource for finding property ClevelandRents.com is a locally owned (remember those?) website dedicated to greatly improving the search-and-find process for both prospective tenants and property managers in the area. www.ClevelandRents.com

Fifth International Edible Book Festival will occur throughout the world on any day from Thu 4/1 – 4/5. This year is Cleveland’s first. Book enthusiasts, bookbinders, cooks, and craftspeople of all ages are invited to view the Edible Book entries, cast their votes, and eat the edible books. All entries are welcome but must be entirely edible and have something to do with books; there is no fee for contest participants, deadline is Sat 3/27, to register e-mail harriett@logan.com or call 795-9800. http://colophon.com/ediblebooks

Two public art calls Cleveland Public Art is currently hosting competitions for local artists. Looking for designs for The Cleveland Foodbank’s 2-story interior feature wall and donor wall; there’s a tour on Tues 3/30 at 9:30AM for interested artists. Plus, looking for designs for the wall seen through the rear pedestrian walkway entrance to the Playhouse Square Theater Complex. For info and questions visit http://www.clevelandpublicart.org

Help us spread the word about CoolCleveland.com by visiting our shop and buying cool merchandise, like the Cool Cleveland camisole pictured here. Great for those shopping trips to the neighborhood market, or hanging out in the soon-to-be warm weather. http://www.CoolCleveland.com and click on “Gear.”

Angle 12 Has it been a year already? The 12th(!) issue of everyone’s favorite art mag Angle focuses on the ongoing Cleveland International Film Festival (Henry Darger’s In The Realms of the Unreal is on the cover and can be seen at CIFF Wed 3/24 at 7:15PM, with an after-party at SPACES, now exhibiting A Wonderful Life: Psychodrama in Contemporary Painting, which features Darger, and again on Fri 3/26 at 9:30PM http://www.ClevelandFilm.org ). But there’s more in this month’s issue: don’t miss the profile of Karamu House’s new artistic director Terrence Spivey, Doing theatre is like being on a tightrope without a net. Pick it up at a gallery or coffeeshop, or better yet, subscribe and enjoy every delicious issue delivered hot. ‘a Cool Cleveland partner. http://www.AngleMagazine.org

Cool Cleveland This Week
03.24-03.31

Send your cool events to EventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom

Cleveland Film Festival Don’t make us choose for you. Use the spiffy website at http://www.ClevelandFilm.org, do your own investigating, and buy online quickly before the dreaded “Standby” tag shows up next to the film you’re dying to see. It’s the one winter sport that all Clevelanders love: hanging out at the Film Festival. Now thru Sun 3/28. CU there? http://www.ClevelandFilm.org

The Affairs of Race in America: A Conversation in Black and White. Two women share a common heritage as descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings, yet grew up on different sides of the race barrier. They’ll carry on an “honest, new dialogue” in their presentation. DNA tests strongly suggests that their grandfathers, Eston and Madison, were sons of Jefferson and Hemmings. After meeting on Oprah Winfrey’s show, the two “new” cousins began visiting college campuses to discuss being raised in different cultures in America where their opportunities were not the same. They’ve advanced projects such as the creation of a monument to the slaves of Monticello, and an African American Museum that celebrates the sacrifices and the contributions made by African Americans. Wed 3/24 at 12:30PM. Call 800-954-8742. North Galleria at Tri-C, 700 Carnegie Ave. http://www.tri-c.cc.oh.us/news/docs/20040324.htm

Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio Make it down to the State capitol for this notable awards ceremony honoring winners from around the state and the Ohio legislature Wed 3/24 at 4:30PM. Event is free, no reservations are required. If you go, write up your review and send it to Cool Cleveland. Capitol Theatre, Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts. http://www.oac.state.oh.us

The Delgados It’s how bands make it today – now that they’ve started up their own record label, Chemikal Underground, the Delgados are supporting alternative underground bands like Scotland’s Arab Strap (a Cool Cleveland fave). Listen in on the Delgados dreamily skewed folk-pop Thu 3/25 at 9PM. Call 321-5588. Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Hts Blvd in Cleveland Hts. http://www.grogshop.gs

EveryWoman Campaign helps transform lives and raise the hopes of women and girls in the Greater Cleveland area. The Women’s Community Foundation asks that every woman and man donate one hour’s pay or more to help women of all ages grow to their fullest potential. 100% of your donation to the goes directly to WCF grants. Keynote speaker is Former U.S. Attorney General, Janet Reno Thu 3/25 at 11AM. Women’s Community Foundation funds programs to optimize women’s and girls potential in the Greater Cleveland Community. Call 622-0920. Wyndham Cleveland at Playhouse Square, 1260 Euclid Ave http://www.wcfcleveland.org

Room to write This course will help you write creatively or boost your existing skills if you are ready to develop and discover more about yourself as a writer. Writing is part of a lineage that embraces events, circumstances, landscapes and people in ways that connect you to your spirit. Each class will be a “door” into one of the places from which creative writing emerges: the imagination, emotion, intellect or soul. Presented by Cleveland Youth Theatre director Gail Johnson Thu 3/25 from 8-9PM. Call 651-5428. At 6600 Detroit Ave. http://wsem.org

Startup.com The movie that documented the creation of the pioneering e-commerce site govWorks.com by childhood-friends-turned-business-partners Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman. Free & open to the public, pizza & beverages will be served – stop by for dinner and a movie at Case Thu 3/25 from 6-8PM. See the listing below for a lunch meeting with Tom Herman, who co-founded Gov Works?. Case School of Law, 11075 East Blvd. Call 368-3304 or visit http://lawwww.cwru.edu/centers/business_law/events.asp

govWorks.com a NY-based company e-commerce site that helped create the global “e-government” marketplace, govWorks does transaction processing, middleware products that web-enable state and local government transactions, like tax payments and government records retrieval. Stop in for discussions with Tom Herman, its co-founder and CEO on Fri 3/26, noon-1PM. Free and open to the public, lunch is available. To register call 368-3304. Case School of Law, Room 157. http://lawwww.cwru.edu/centers/business_law/events.asp

New planet trampoline cd release party Celebrate the debut of this Cleveland area band along with The Waxwings. The forthcoming full-length The Curse of The New Planet Trampoline on Elephant Stone Records should elevate NPT to the status of like-minded acts such as The Sights and Outrageous Cherry. The band includes the guys from Cleveland’s The Dreadful Yawns, check them out Fri 3/26 at 9PM. The Beachland Tavern. 17511 Waterloo Rd. Call 383-1124. http://www.elephantstonerecords.com

Venuu Off Coventry: Ruby a brand new musical incarnation made up of three of the Rocky Mountain Front Range’s top female singer/songwriters. Their music has been described as eclectic, original, passionate, sultry, spine chilling, and unforgettable. They’ve appeared before wildly enthusiastic audiences at festivals, theaters, clubs, universities, and coffeehouses. From the lush blend of their voices and range of musical styles, to the fun, irreverent, and natural chemistry they have together on stage. Hear them Fri 3/26 at 8PM, doors open 7:30PM. Unitarian-Universalist Society of Cleveland Unitarian-Universalist Society of Cleveland 321.1119 or visit http://venuu1.tripod.com

International Relations in Information Products ­at Case Western Reserve University will bring together international leaders in the field in a day long symposium, offering perspectives ranging from how IP impacts global health crises to struggles over the digital environment. Topics include: politics of international knowledge, knowledge regulation in the context of globalization and the international relations of intellectual property Fri 3/26 from 8:30AM-4:30PM. Reservations are required, call 368-3308. Case School of Law, 11075 East Boulevard. http://law.case.edu

Marriage Project Cleveland Fight the FMA, show solidarity, and take action to make a visible, vocal stand for same sex couple rights. Couples who are willing to apply for a marriage license can bring valid ID, social security number, place of birth, current address, father’s name and mother’s maiden name, as well as any divorce or name change documentation to apply for marriage licenses. Bring your friends and family members Fri 3/26 at 3PM with rally to follow. For info 651-LGBT. Cuyahoga County Courthouse, 1 Lakeside Avenue, Room 146 (1st Floor) in Cleveland. Meet on the front steps – everyone is welcome. http://www.lgcsc.org

Odyssey performed by the stilt-walking and ass-kicking collaboration of SAFMOD and Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatere as part of Dance Works stretches the mind and imagination Fri 3/26 & Sat 3/27 at 8PM and Sun 3/28 at 3PM. Call 631-2727. Cleveland Public Theatre’s Gordon Square, 6415 Detroit Ave. http://www.cptonline.org

When Women Gather is the new soulful dance piece by SAFMOD’s Young Park and choreographer Linda Kahn in an Asian-American/Jewish-American collaboration, along with Cleveland Contemporary Dance Theatere artistic director Michael Medcalf’s Insurrection about masculinity from a feminine perspective. It’s part of Dance Works ’04. Get exposed to performance art that stretches the mind and imagination Fri 3/26 and Sat 3/27 at 8PM Sun 3/28 at 3PM. Call 631-2727. Cleveland Public Theatre’s Upstairs Theatre, 6415 Detroit Ave. http://www.cptonline.org

WCLVnotes One of the most popular items on Robert Conrad’s Weekend Radio over WCLV 104.9FM is David Gunson’s What Goes Up Might Come Down. This extended and very funny monologue about air traffic controllers and how to fly a 747 from England to New York will be heard over two shows this coming weekend and next. Other items on these upcoming programs shows include the further adventures of Mary Backstayge, Noble Wife with Bob and Ray, and Gracie Fields singing What Can You give a Nudist on His Birthday? Weekend Radio, in addition to airing on some 120 stations nationwide, can be caught on WCLV Saturdays at 10PM and Sundays at 7PM. It also takes up an hour on WRMR 1420 AM, Sundays at 8PM. a Cool Cleveland partner http://www.wclv.com

George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic funking up Cleveland good and proper, they’ll be taking over the Phantasy – a killer venue to get the best views of the band. Head out to hear them Sat 3/27, doors open 9PM. For tickets call ticketmaster at 241-5555. 11802 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood. http://www.ticketmaster.com and http://www.phantasyconcertclub.com

Honoring Women of Color in Science, Technology & Education The Cleveland chapter of the National Technical Association (NTA) will recognize five local women of color whose scientific, technological, and educational accomplishments warrant special honor – The Nsoroma Award Sat 3/27 from 10AM-2PM. Sponsored by: National Technical Association. Cleveland State University Convocation Center Pavilion, 2000 Prospect Ave. Call 289-2981 or visit http://www.ntaonline.org/chapters/cleveland/cleveland.html

Visual Horror: Local Artists and their Innards Get over to Rain Nightclub and see what the horror is all about, we guarantee this won’t be the type of art you’ll see at the CMA, but we know it’ll be provoking. Featured artists Staci McNasty, Jesse McGuiness and others are on view, music provided by DJ Sean Jaundice Sat 3/27 starting 8PM. Rain, 4142 Lorain Ave. Call 651-4100.

Black Out? Unlimited Poetry Slam Style meets substance in this open mic competition with serious cash prizes up for grabs for readers, slammers and performers. Food will be available at the buffet, plus cash bar and socializing with the spoken word culture Sat 3/27. Doors open 6-9PM. Poets must register in advance, call 937-2268 ext. 10. Robin’s Nest, 4059 St. Clair Ave.

Round@The Winchester with performances by hosts Anne E. Dechant, winner of the 2004 Best Female Singer/Songwriter, and special local guests Kate Voegele, Tracy Marie and Brent Kirby for the Free Times 2004 Music Awards nominee show Sat 3/27 at 9PM. Call 226-5681. 12112 Madison Ave in Lakewood. http://www.thewinchester.net

Tale of the Emerald Bird performed by members of CPT’s Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP), this tour visits various sites throughout Greater Cleveland, including libraries, community centers, nursing homes, and CPT’s own Upstairs Theatre. Experience a princesses journey who must risk everything when the Empress turns ill and the land falls sick. She begins a search for the healing song of the Emerald Bird, and on her journey she encounters old friends in impossible guises Sat 3/27 at 2PM. STEP offers low-income, Cleveland high school youth opportunities to explore the art of theatre. Mount Pleasant Library, 14000 Kinsman Rd. Call 623-7032 http://cpl.org/Locations.asp?FormMode=Branch&ID=20

Motor City Madman more blues, jive and funk from Andre “Mr Rhythm” Williams, famed in the ’50s with hits like Jail Bait and The Greasy Chicken – get into down-to-earth tunes that are like comfort food for your ears Sat 3/27 starting 9PM. Beachland Ballroom, 15711 Waterloo Rd. 383-11124. http://www.beachlandballroom.com

Bright Young Things Drugged-up royals and beautiful people drinking themselves into stupors and waking up in strange situations! No, this is not gossip column news, it’s England’s jazz scene of the ’30s with Stephen Fry’s adaptation of the classic satire Vile Bodies, a deconstruction of the British glitterati. Get out to see the Cleveland Film Festival’s closing night show Sun 3/28 starting 7:30PM. Purchase tickets at 1-888-865-FILM or get them at the CIFF store in the lobby of Tower City Cinemas. At Tower City Center, Downtown http://www.clevelandfilm.org

African American Faith Communities an exhibition of photographs by Michael S. Levy, “I have great respect for these communities and their role in adding to the quality of life of those involved. I hope to document the events and practices of these communities including prayer, baptisms, weddings and funerals in creating a collection of photos that will portray a community of strength and hope. It’s on view Mon 3/29 thru 7/31. Thomas F. Campbell, Ph.D., Exhibition Gallery, located in the College at 1717 Euclid Ave. Call 523-7495 or visit http://urban.csuohio.edu/forum/gallery

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My Brain is Crying
Dueling dialogue that’s unsafe at any speed

A response to My Brain Is Crying “Ladies, what we need is a feast, and not in some crappy church basement, either. I’m thinking a monthly potluck rotating through galleries, stages and other life- and creativity-affirming spaces. I make garlic blast hummus that puts everyone on the same reeking conversational level, my husband makes truffles that are better than sex, what do you make? Maybe if we break bread together we can do less hurting about what is wrong and start hoping and working with what is right.” from Cool Cleveland MBIC reader Martha Senerchia
Deb Remington:
To initiate the process of change, first we must identify the problems, then speak truthfully about them and strategize for change. Can breaking bread together alleviate the pressing issues addressed in MBIC? It is a great idea to form groups of social activists to discuss and implement change. As a child of the sixties, I was honored to be with a group of people who stood up for what was just, people who gathered together and took risks for what they believed in. Sadly, there are too many people today who are afraid of what other people might think of their ideas or actions if they are not mainstream.
Tisha Nemeth: What hurts is speaking the truth when few want to hear it. What hurts is that we need more individuals making daily efforts to positively change our city’s artistic and cultural climate. I love the idea of a monthly feast – activism geared around food…
Read My Brain Is Crying here

Instant Karma
Reviews of recent events

San Francisco Symphony @ Severance Hall 3/19 Last week Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony came to Severance Hall as part of a two-year exchange project with the Cleveland Orchestra. Getting an opportunity to hear another orchestra in Severance Hall is a treat. The program began with Alban Berg’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, To the memory of an angel featuring Gil Shaham on violin. The piece is dark, complex and oppressive. A musical reference to a Bach Cantata was the only light of hope in the entire piece. Mr. Shaham performed this difficult piece in a devilish theatrical manner, wearing an odd smirkish grin and playing off the conductor, Mr. Thomas like a rock musician; a little bit of Richards and Jagger if you can stretch your imagination that far. The second half of the program brought Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor. Mr. Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony have been getting a lot of critical acclaim for their recordings of the Mahler Symphonies, so there was a bit of excitement in the air. Mr. Thomas attacked the first movement with a fierce and fearless pace. It was exhilarating beyond belief, it reminded me of bicycle ride I once took down a very long hill in Tuscany where I choose not to look around and take in the beauty, but just pedaled as hard as I could, and it was a thrill. Well, once we were at the bottom of the hill we had two movements to go. Some of the great Mahler performances can be attributed to the fact that the conductor finds a way to bring forward some nuance and keep a continuous line in the faster paced movements of the symphony. It’s these continuous lines and nuances that later hold the symphony together as a whole. Since Thomas passed on nuance and line for thrill we were all left a bit out of breath while he slugged through the final two movements. Even the Adagietto in the final movement, which is filled with emotion, came off flat and lifeless. The crowd gave a friendly standing ovation but one could only think of some of the great Mahler performances at Severance Hall conducted by Boulez, Dohnanyi and Ling. from Cool Cleveland contributor Brian E. Schriefer briancpa@msn.com

San Francisco Symphony @ Severance Hall 3/18 This season, the San Francisco Symphony and music director Michael Tilson Thomas came to Cleveland for three days featuring three-and-a-half concerts while next season, the Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst will return the favor. It’s a terrific notion on every level: the musicians have time to relax a bit, see some of our city, meet up with far-flung family and friends, and the natives get to hear familiar (and some not-so-familiar, to be sure) music as interpreted by another musical entity. In addition to these concerts, Mr. Tilson Thomas ventured down the street to the Cleveland Institute of Music for a rehearsal of the CIM Orchestra, and also spent some time at Severance Hall for a rehearsal with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, which, in fact, owes its very existence to San Francisco. (Jahja Ling, former resident conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, came to us from San Francisco, where he had founded the first such youth orchestra.)

 Read Kelly Ferjutz's review 

Kassaba @ Beachland Ballroom 3/13 I recently witnessed a great new sound to hit the streets of Cleveland. Their name? Kassaba. Their genre? Progessive jazz. The result? A unique fusion of primitive sounding drums, with an eclectic mix of bass, sax and percussion that produces a newly provocative flavor. The group’s unparalleled sound originates from a man inspired by moments in everyday life. And he names his works after those moments, which explains some of the titles that include Should I use My Shirt? A Risky Operation, and my favorite, The Zones of Mystery. Greg Slawson, the group’s artistic director and composer, works the piano and several of the unique percussion instruments that all members share. And because they share, a great deal of the entertainment in experiencing Kassaba is watching the delicate choreography necessary to get to different instruments on stage without missing a beat. Literally. Slawson often acquires unique percussion instruments – that later define his work – on a lark. They are rare finds that become rare treasures as their collection of unique percussion instruments continues to grow. But the real treasure is how Kassaba pulls it all together: Progressive jazz that boasts both a classical and occasional hip-hop edge. Classically trained from the Cleveland Institute of Music, Slawson, along with fellow group members Candice Lee (piano) and Eric Hosemann (bassist), joins arms with Mark Boich (saxophonist), from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. This foursome uses the bongos, base, saxophone and piano with a unique line up of instruments that includes the udu, talking drum, ocean drum (which sounds like the ocean), djembe, claves, tabla, vibratone, frame drum, agogo and much more. Their next scheduled gig is June 24th at Cain Park at 7:30 p.m. Take a break from the ordinary and experience their unique brand of jazz. from Cool Cleveland contributor TL Champion Champion38@aol.com

Cleveland Shakespeare Fest at Phoenix 3/4 The Cedar-Lee area in Cleveland Hts. is slowly morphing into theatrical row. A 99-seat musical theater (Kalliope Stage) just opened its doors near the movie theater. And the curtain will soon go up at the new home for Dobama Theater in a converted YMCA down the street and, for one evening in early March, Phoenix Coffeehouse served up a taste of Shakespeare along with its locally-roasted beans. Phoenix was host to a special preview for the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival (www.cleveshakes.org), where a small cast, working in an even smaller space, squeezed a large dose of laughter from an abridged version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The festival cast is a roving band of thespians that for the past six summers have wandered from University Circle, Tri-C West and Coventry, performing outdoor plays in settings that are anything but traditional. With seven-foot high folding screens, a quartet of actors, dozens of rapid costume changes, and ample use of imagination from the overflow audience, the group pulled it off. Midsummer Night’s Dream is the play in which Shakespeare veers closest to slapstick, and this troupe worked every gesture and comical confusion to the fullest. I kept asking myself, is Shakespeare is supposed to be this funny? Maybe the reason for the troupe choosing Phoenix for its performance was that good theater and good coffee have at least one thing in common – perfect timing. And this group had it. It did not seem like the actors were simply delivering lines; rather it flowed like unrehearsed speech, genuine and in the moment. This was broad comedy served up with a nimble touch. from Cool Cleveland reader Doug Mazanec InfoMan@ameritech.net

Yr Turn
Cool Cleveland readers write

On 31 hours for Issue 31 “Congrats to Margaret Lynch for her testimonial blog on all the artists who contributed to the 31 For 31 marathon. Reading that really brought home just how much talent and energy and commitment resides in this town. Perhaps few people saw this impressive assemblage of creativity and spirit, but the fact that they all came together so quickly (no small thanks to Ms. Lynch!) speaks volumes…even if few are listening. It truly is this community’s loss if it fails to show up and support such amazing efforts.” from Cool Cleveland reader Tom Kerr kerrcomm@aol.com

On Cool Cleveland’s schedule “I just started receiving your emails, and already I have a comment—since your listings start the same day the list comes out, there’s a good chance that by the time a subscriber reads the email it’s too late to take advantage of some of those events on that day, particularly the ones that happen to take place during the daytime. There is a similar site in New York, sponsored by Time Out New York (which I believe comes out on Tuesdays), that lists events from Wednesday to the following Tuesday. That way, you can always plan ahead at least one day. Come to think of it, they may actually list eight days of events, from Wednesday to Wednesday, but I’m not really positive about that. Either way, you never have to find out you missed something great like a lunchtime lecture or concert that started an hour ago. Just thought you’d want to know. Thanks for a great site, and have a fun day!” from Cool Cleveland reader Claudia Lynch shoes@claudialynch.com
from Cool Cleveland: Generally, we list events from Thursday to the following Wednesday. We will list events for the current Wednesday only if we received info too late to be included in last week’s issue. Generally.

From Quiet Crisis to Quiet Revolution I have some thoughts on the Quiet Crisis, which I have shared with the PD and ideastream, but I would like to share it with the pro-active Clevelanders who read Cool Cleveland. I would like to see us start to take action, replacing the Quiet Crisis with a Quiet Revolution. Thanks to the hard and effective work of ideastream and the PD, we know our problems now. You can’t offer a solution until you understand the problem. Arguably our worst problem is putting ourselves down as a community. I am afraid if we keep the conversations about our problems, we will be adding to our worst fault. So Cleveland, let’s get going. Let’s have the courage to spread the good nows about the city of Cleveland. Lets tackle the problems identified from the Quiet Crisis and transform our community to the city we all know it can be. When this happens it will be a Revolution. When we once told people from out of town that Cleveland is not so bad, we won’t think there is a better city on the planet. But more than that, we will transform the dynamic of the city. The Old Cleveland was a heavy manufacturing steel town that was blessed with waterways for cheap transportation of goods, the New Cleveland is a hub for biomedical, banking, and manufacturing that is blessed with parks and recreation areas along our extensive waterways. The Old Cleveland had such a strong economy it could afford the luxury of supporting the arts with large endowments, the New Cleveland arts community is an incubator for new ideas that’s the engine of our new economy. The Old Cleveland had a very well intentioned few who made the decisions that affected the entire community, the New Cleveland has grass roots communities that shape the discussion and ultimately make the decisions. There are hundreds of examples that can distinguish the Cleveland of Dick Fegler from the one our children will live in, but we need to take action. Clevelanders will always rally if we know the score – lets call the movement the Quiet Revolution, and use our media to keep us updated on our progress. Thanks for listening, I know that Cool Cleveland has been working towards everything I have written about above, but I wanted to add my voice to the chorus. from Cool Cleveland reader Patrick Staunton patricksta@yahoo.com

Top Five Links

We use IdeaStar.com 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) Writer says goodbye to Cleveland In relocating to Knoxville, Crain Tech? writer Shasta Clark responds to “How do y’all like living in Cleveland?”
http://neohio.craintech.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=3634

2) Cool Cleveland interview with Issue 31 organizers They discuss its failure and what might have been done to prevent it.
Interview With Issue Thirty One Organizers

3) Suburban suffering Upscale suburbs are no longer immune to poverty.
http://www.clevelandmagazine.com

4) The real quiet crisis Conveniently bypassing and ignoring big issues of controversy relating to Cleveland by the media.
http://www.freetimes.com

5) Midtown Makeover The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority approved $3.2M in tax-exempt bonds for a makeover including new sidewalks, trees, grassy tree lawns and public art. Read more

Cool Cleveland is expanding because you’re hooking up those you know onto CC. If you know folks who need it and don’t receive it, tell them to hit http://www.CoolCleveland.com (and check out the new site) or have them send an e-mail to SignupAtCoolClevelandDotCom

Firing up your marketing plans? Cool Cleveland is a proven way to reach tens of thousands of influential people in the area. Find out more by dropping us a line, then check the packages we’ve put together with Cleveland Magazine, WCLV radio and Cool Cleveland. Drop us a note to InfoAtCoolClevelandDotCom and let the cool Clevelanders hear from you.

Hard Corps take it to the next level continuously networking and finding content that makes a difference in Cleveland. Kudos to Lee Chilcote, Tisha Nemeth, Deb Remington, Kelly Ferjutz, TL Champion, Brain Schriefer, Doug Mazanec, and George Nemeth and all our contributors collaborating to bring you quality content. Want to volunteer and contribute your writing to Cool Cleveland? Send your reviews, articles, or story ideas to: EventsAtCoolClevelandDotCom

See the Cool Cleveland column each month in Cleveland Magazine. Listen to Cool Cleveland on WCLV-FM 104.9 twice each Friday during drive time. Read Thomas Mulready’s column Up Front in The Free Times. Send your cool events to: Events At Cool Cleveland Dot Com? For your copy of the free weekly Cool Cleveland e-mail newsletter, go to http://www.coolcleveland.com

Do something sucka! (:divend:)

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