Second To None

11.7-11.14.07
Second To None

In this week’s issue:
* Party Groove + Great Food/Drink = Next CC Gig 11/14
* Interview Ray Petro of Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park
* Youngstown Buzz Jim Cossler, Youngstown Business Incubator
* Eats Michael Ruhlman, Food writer, Great cook
* Eats/Reads The Elements of Cooking by Michael Ruhlman
* Straight Outta Mansfield Turn That Camera Off!
* Sounds The Element from Grupo Fuego
* Interview Susan Schwartz, Cleveland Institute of Music
* Ingenious A Conversation with Actor/Teacher Tom Fulton
* Previews Not One but Four Upcoming Events
* BFD Open and Shut
* RoldoLINK A Blogger Treated as a Reporter by Pee Dee
* Reads Chuck Heaton’s Browns Scrapbook
* Cool Cleveland Kids podcast click here, CC podcast click here, Brewed Fresh Daily here

While a few of us bleeding-edge onliners head to Las Vegas to showcase our leadership and speak at the world’s largest blog convention, we know we leave behind a region that is second to none. CIM’s new Mixon Hall may be the finest small recital hall in the country — see our video to find out why. Michael Ruhlman may be the best food writer anywhere; you’ll enjoy his charming interview. Tom Fulton, who we profile this week, may be one of the best all time actors, and acting teachers. And check out the Jim Cossler vodcast to hear how the fastest growing software company in the country is at his Youngstown Business Incubator. There simply is no place like the 96,000 sf of indoor trails at Ray’s Mountain Bike Park, too big and awesome to capture on video. Our Cool Cleveland parties take a back seat to no one — you’re invited on 11/14 at a huge discount here. Roldo points out censorship in our MSM, but Mansfield Frazier knows that a world class town like ours can’t stick it’s collective head in the sand and yell, “Turn that camera (or blog) off!” In fact, at Cool Cleveland, we’re rolling video 24/7, and our blog Brewed Fresh Daily cooks up the critical issues unremittingly. We hardly have enough hours each week to capture it all. There’s so much in this town that’s second to none. —Thomas Mulready

Folk Fest headlines next Cool Cleveland party
Food, drink, culture showcases & Tiny Alice concert
Super low $12.99 price until Thu 11/8 midnight here!

When John Bassette died, Cleveland, and the world, lost a great folksinger. Now on Wed 11/14, Lake Erie College is presenting a memorial folk festival, John Bassette & The Spirit of Individuality, and Cool Cleveland is hosting the the pre-party. And you know what that means: Open Bar, hors d’oeuvres from area restaurants, showcases of art and dance, plus a comp ticket to the folk fest. Tix here!

Don’t hesitate! Order online here before midnight on Thu 11/8 and tix are a very reasonable $12.99. That’s much better than the regular cost of $25 at the door. More info & map can be found on the Party Page here. See photos and video of past parties here.

You Get All This for $12.99:

Snag Your Discount Tix here by Midnight Thu 11/8: https://CoolCleveland.net/tickets/111407/index.php

Ray Petro
Ray’s Mountain Bike Park

Ray Petro has built something that you really have to see to believe. Even this video by Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready can’t portray the vastness of the 97,000 square feet of bike ramps, jumps and indoor trails at Ray’s Mountain Bike Park. On a day when the park was filled with some of the top pro riders celebrating the opening weekend of Ray’s fourth season, the cars in his parking lot sported license plates from seven states. Riders from all over the world find his park on the Internet, and last year over 500 visitors took advantage of a weekend deal he has with the local Holiday Inn. That’s serious economic development. In all, over 5000 riders last year rolled their bikes up the ramp and into Ray’s MTB for hours of clean indoor fun when the weather outside was less than welcoming. Mountain bikers come for the elevated XC loop affording the long runs and fast speeds they can maintain indoors to get their regular endorphin fix. BMXers come for the banked ramps, the foam pit for practicing back flips, and the expert course with a wicked teeter-totter, bike elevator and jumps to satisfy any extreme sport enthusiast. But the real improvements this year came with the addition of a new beginner area with easy tracks for kids, learners and weekend warriors. Ray talks with Mulready about his success with corporate sponsorship from some of the biggest names in the business (Moen mongoose, Fisher, Subaru…), how he built his entire bike park with his bare hands (and a lot of help), and the benefits he’s gained from his affiliation with the Civic Innovation Lab. http://www.RaysMTB.com

SPONSORED: Planning Your Event :: a sing-along with thunder::tech:: The logo’s connected to the brochure / the brochure’s connected to the website / the website’s connected to the user editing tools that power the email blasts that contribute to the event promotion and overarching PR campaign that mirror the invitations, signage and video presentation, followed up by thank you cards, blog postings, press releases, as well as future planning for next year…including a revamp of the logo. Don’t be overwhelmed—we’ll take care of it for you. Stop by the site, give us a call:: www.thundertech.com • 216.391.2255

A hot selection of tech and business news & events from around the region. Got business news? Send it to: EVENTS@CoolCleveland.com

Join the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club as they take a closer look at the economic impact of sports on Cle Thu 11/8 at 5:30PM at the Terrace Club at Jacobs Field. Details
N. Ohio Minority Business Council 2007 Awards Gala drops Fri 11/9 at 5:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Cle Hotel Register
Sales for Entrepreneurs Conference feat. Keynote Speakers Bill Caskey, Hal Becker, and Marvin Montgomery Fri 11/9 Register
Enterprise Community Partners national conference hits in Cle Wed 11/14 – Fri 11/16 Details
AARP Editor in Chief to Speak at November AAF-Cle Luncheon Wed 11/14 at Windows on the River. Networking starts at 11:30AM. Register
Crain’s 2007 40 Under 40 Reception hits Mon 11/19 at 6PM at Landerhaven in Mayfield Hts. Register
John M. Stropki Chairman, President and CEO of Lincoln Electric is Leadership B’fast spkr Fri 11/30. Visit http://www.cesnet.org to register or call 361-3100

Vegas, Baby

Four Cleveland-based bloggers and social networking gurus have been invited to present featured sessions at the world’s largest blog convention, BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas on 11/8-9/07. To warm up for this week’s main event, Thomas Mulready of Cool Cleveland, Eric Olsen of Blog Critics, George Nemeth of Brewed Fresh Daily, and Jim Kukral of Ask The Blogger got together last week at CSU with other bloggers and interested parties, to run thru their presentations here in CLE+. First up, Thomas talked about CoolCleveland.com (mp3). Following that, George talked about BFD (mp3). Jim Kukral gets the award for the shortest presentation (mp3). Eric Olsen wrapped up the presentations talking about BlogCritics.org (mp3). Finally, the quartet did Q&A with the audience (mp3). Check out photos by Jay Levan here.

Jim Cossler
Youngstown Business Incubator

Jim Cossler calls himself “chief Evangelist,” according to his business card, but he does more than evangelize. He’s a one-man economic development machine, as Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready found out when he interviewed Jim at the Youngstown Business Incubator. At first, the incubator didn’t have a focus; they hosted mixed-use businesses in an effort to get something started. Then in 2001, the decision was made to focus on technology, which was a challenge due to the lack of a research university, a research hospital, or venture funding in the Mahoning Valley. Now they work only with businesses writing software for other businesses, due to the lower capitalization costs for B2B. Businesses get free office space, furniture, utilities, or the hefty bandwidth, and many other expenses, such as long distance, courier and postage charges are deferred until they become profitable. The YBI is bursting at the seams with 230 people in their current facility, so they’re constructing an adjacent $9 million tech center, adding 55K sf, and in 2009 they will renovate three more buildings and essentially take over the entire block, building bocce courts, basketball, BBQ Pits and a beer keg chiller to stimulate cross-pollination between tech entrepreneurs, engineers and creative thinkers. Their model seems to be working. One of their resident companies, Turning Technologies, was named the fastest growing software company in the country by Inc. magazine. http://www.YBI.org

SPONSORED: Orchestra Triumphs Abroad This past weekend Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra concluded their sixth international tour. The tour was an unequivocal success, with Franz Welser-Möst and the Orchestra performing truly exceptional concerts for fervently enthusiastic audiences. The 9-city, 15-concert tour began with performances in Washington D.C., continued to New York City, and included performances in Birmingham, Cardiff, Brussels, Luxembourg, Cologne and Friedrichshafen before the tour culminated in the Orchestra’s return appearances at the world’s incomparable concert hall in Vienna, the Musikverien. The tour programs demonstrated the range of the Orchestra’s virtuosity and Franz’s extraordinary breadth of repertoire, including works by Adams, Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler, Mozart, Pintscher, Ligeti and Tchaikovsky. Read the rave reviews of the tour performances here, and visit the Cleveland Orchestra’s photo gallery here.

Lorain County sez to NOACA “Fix the vote or we’re outta here.” Read
Best of Cle Hts announced at recent Nighttown ceremony. Check out the list. Read
NYT does a wistful bit on the Rock Hall that will have you singing “Break On Through.” Read
Cool Cleveland Podcast You know how to do it. Click here to listen: Link. iTunes or other.
To ensure you receive Cool Cleveland every week, take a moment now and add CoolCleveland@CoolCleveland.com to your address book, trusted sender list, or corporate white list.
Even the Painter’s Loft project on Franklin is on a foreclosure list. Read
CityWheels targets University Circle to become next official hub for smarter driving. Reserve
Can two local guys get casino gambling lined up in a solitary southern OH location? Read

You’ll Be Rewarded‘ in Heaven We need volunteers for the next CC party at Lake Erie College on 11/14 from 5:30 to 7:30 in Painesville. Please contact tlATcoolcleveland.com if you’re interested. You will be awarded with admittance to the party and concert, a CC t-shirt, a chance to make some cool, new friends and, quite possibly, a friendly nod at the pearly gates (ya know, when your time comes). Won’t you be an angel and help us out?

The Holiday Season Approaches and your friends at Cool Cleveland will again be your source for links to buying local, supporting NEO’s artisans and neighborhood Mom & Pop shops and keeping your Big Box shopping minimal. If you are a local artist, crafty/creative type or store owner with some thrillingly cool and unique loot for holiday shoppers, we want to hear from you. Send us a link with some background on you and your gift offerings to PeterATCoolCleveland.com (replace the “AT” appropriately). We hope to feature as many of you as possible in the coming issues of your Cool Cleveland newsletter. It’s hard to believe, but if you look outside, ‘Tis nearly the season once again!

SPONSORED: “Cleveland Is, Like, Trendy . . . ” according to the NY Times with an article featuring the renovation and distinct “flavor” of the E. 4th Neighborhood. Other recent pro-Clev national news from prestigious sources like The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and USA Today have this to say: “Blueprints/Cleveland” documents the increased interest in Cleveland and surrounding areas in terms of commercial real estate; “A Right Turn” discusses how baseball itself has moved into Tribe Time — a period when Cleveland’s cutting-edge best practices epitomize the healthiest trends in the sport; and “Smaller Airports Have Big Appeal” states that the Akron-Canton Airport is one of travelers favorite smaller airports because there’s less traffic and shorter security lines. To read these great stories go to www.clevelandplus.com/indexcz.asp.

All About Benjamin A 22-minute long film documentary Benjamin by local filmmaker Traci D. Nickerson, a former Cleveland Police detective, will be shown at the African American Women in Cinema’s film festival, held in NYC, Thu 11/9 through Sat 11/11. Nickerson’s film is one of 10 chosen to be shown at the festival. http://www.aawic.org.

Public Artist Carl Pope is working on a fascinating project called “The Mind of Cleveland” — a poster/billboard public art project exhibiting the thoughts Clevelanders have about the place they call home. He is collecting quotes through his website and wants your contributions. Visit http://www.themindofcleveland.com for more info.

Green Corps Salsa Now on Sale This past summer, students from Cleveland Botanical Garden’s Green Corps program had the unique opportunity to work with a top local chef in developing a new Ripe From Downtown salsa that is now available for purchase at all Heinen’s locations, CBG’s Garden Store, Sergio’s in University Circle, and SARAVA in Shaker Square. And it’s spectacular. http://www.cbgarden.org.

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

HOT Little Box As part of Cleveland Public Theatre’s commitment to local playwrights and producers, CPT presents Little Box, a series of staged readings. Little Box is modeled after CPT’s successful Big [BOX] Series but on much a smaller scale — designed to foster works at an earlier stage of development. Nine plays by local writers will presented as staged readings over two weekends starting Wed 11/7 at CPT’s James Levin Theatre. Get tickets here and see the full schedule at http://www.cptonline.org.

Local News, Next Steps “Backpack” and “Citizen” journalism, the pressure on “old media” to become “new media” and the impact of all of these trends on news will be on the table for discussion by a panel of Cleveland news professionals Wed 11/7 from 6 – 7:30PM at The Little Bar, 614 Frankfort Court, in the Warehouse District. “Happy Hour” pizza, snacks and a cash bar will be available. RSVP by 5PM on Mon 11/5 to Tom Moore at 440-333-7382 or sending an e-mail message to tmoore56@msn.com.

Salsa Wednesdays at Sunset Lounge Be a part of the Latin excitement while enjoying the chic style of Sunset Lounge’s atmosphere every Wednesday night, including this Wed 11/7 at 8PM. Salsa lessons start promptly, with beginner, intermediate and advanced levels led by instructor Steven Martinez. Sunset Lounge, 1382 W. 9th St., next to Mallorca Restaurant. Experience the sounds and dance of Latin America and the Caribbean and take advantage of Sunset’s martini lounge and sushi bar. http://www.sunsetloungecleveland.com. http://tropicalcleveland.com.

Opera Rules It’s exactly 400 years since opera composers began creating the longest-running musical hits of all time. Cleveland Institute of Music’s Opera Theater celebrates with fully staged and costumed scenes from some of opera’s greatest triumphs, including Lucia di Lammermoor, The Tales of Hoffmann, Der Rosenkavalier and more, performed with the CIM Orchestra starting Wed 11/7 at 8PM, with performances running through Sat 11/10. Tickets can be obtained by calling 791-5000, ext. 411 or purchased online at http://www.cim.edu.

Steven B. Smith & Kathy Ireland Smith The once locally-based poet/artist duo will read poetry selections at Visible Voice Bookstore in Wed 11/7 at 7PM. 1023 Kenilworth Ave., between W. 10th and W. 11th, Tremont. Afterwards, you might get them to talk about their massive, year-plus travel experience in England, Netherlands, Poland, Croatia, Italy, France, Spain and Morocco — all detailed on their blog, http://www.walkingthinice.com. For more info, call 961-0084. http://www.myspace.com/visiblevoicebooks.

SPONSORED: MUSIC, ART & FILM: A Surreal Experience at CIM Don’t miss an extraordinary evening as the Cleveland Institute of Music brings art, music and film together for the Ohio orchestral premiere of “Pictures at an Exhibition” on Fri 11/16 at 8PM. Be there for the multimedia exploration of Mussorgy’s masterpiece featuring surrealist paintings by Natasha Turovsky. These paintings have been animated into an award-winning short film that will be shown as the CIM Orchestra performs under the direction of guest conductor Yuli Turovsky. The orchestra will also perform Beethoven’s Triple Concerto featuring Eleonora and Yuli Turovsky and Sergei Babayan. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind event! Tickets: $25; Patron tickets: $50, including an artist reception. For tickets or more information contact 216.791.5000 or www.cim.edu.

Brave New World: Confronting the Unpredictable is an exhibition of visual art produced by nine students from the Cleveland Institute of Art. It will be shown at the Cleveland Foundation offices in the Hanna Building beginning Thu 11/8 from 5-7PM with an Opening Reception. The show runs through mid February and is a collaborative project curated by Genny Boccardo-Dubey. The paintings, drawings and mixed-media works being shown incorporate elements of daily life in an exploration of modern culture and society’s reaction to its uncertain future. The artists use a variety of media, including charcoal, graphite powder, pen, colored pencils, oil and acrylic paint, and video. More information at http://www.clevelandfoundation.org.

Luca Mundaca It’s Brazilian Jazz at its finest this Thu 11/8 at 8PM. Luca’s the new soul of bossa nova with a voice has been compared to the likes of Maria Rita, Adriana Calcanhoto and Marisa Monte by critics and music industry insiders alike. Check out what Luca and her backing band have to offer. Nighttown, 12387 Cedar Rd., Cle Hts. http://www.nighttowncleveland.com

University of Akron Dance Company presents its Fall 2007 Dance Concerts Thu 11/8 – Sat 11/10 at 8PM with a special matinee Sun 11/11 at 2PM in the Paul A. Daum Theatre in Kolbe Hall. The UADC Dance Concert will feature works choreographed by UA Dance Faculty, as well as a piece originally made for the Lines Ballet by founder Alonzo King, and set on UA student dancers during a recent residency by Arturo Fernandez, dance master of Lines Ballet. For additional information or reservations call 330-972-7895. http://www.uakron.edu.

Herbert Blomstedt The former music director of both the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig and the San Francisco Symphony, will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in concerts featuring Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 34, K. 338, at Severance Hall on Thu 11/8 at 8PM, Fri 11/9 at 11AM, Sat 11/10 at 8PM and Sun 11/11 at 3PM. The program begins with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 34 in C major, K. 338, which The Cleveland Orchestra first performed at a pair of subscription concerts in December 1950. Since then, the work has been performed by the Orchestra over 20 times, most recently in May 2003, Franz Welser-Möst conducting. http://www.clevelandorchestra.com.

As John Lennon Said, “All You Need is Love” (and Internet access) to get the good stuff we deliver each week. Spread the feelin’ and share it with a friend, colleague or marital counselor by encouraging them to sign up and you’ll both be eligible to win an iPhone or video iPod! Add your personal message in the subject line and sign up here. Winners announced in future issue.

The Fabulous Food Show is a three-day celebration of food in the middle of “Cleveland Food Week.” Foodies are welcome to peruse and sample foods from all over, satisfy a craving at the Chocolate Bar and join chefs like The Food Network’s “Mr. Wizard of Gastronomy” Alton Brown, the sultry food maven Giada DiLaurentis and Duff Goldman (that supercool “Ace of Cakes” guy) for cooking demos. This feast for the senses starting Fri 11/9 and runs through the weekend. The I-X Center, near Cleveland Hopkins Airport. Visit http://www.fabulousfoodshow.com for details.

So Percussion Called “astonishing and entrancing” by Billboard, So Percussion gives fresh voice to contemporary music and performs here Fri 11/9 at 7:30PM. Devoted to the conceptual dreamscapes of Reich, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, and others, So has created a disciplined work ethic, learning pieces whole-memorized and absorbed-instead of simply read. Cleveland Museum of Natural History. http://www.clevelandart.org.

Foreclosure Crisis: Shaping the Consumer Response Learn more about one of this region’s hottest topics at this informative conference, held Fri 11/9 starting at 8:30AM at Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave. The conference will feature national and regional experts, presenting strategies to combat predatory lending and payday lending. Among the speakers will include Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann. An overview of Governor Strickland’s Foreclosure Task Force will be also presented. Free parking is available off the E. 22nd St and Prospect Ave. entrance to the church. The conference agenda and registration form can be found at http://www.organizeohio.org. For more information call 431-6070.

Bickford Visiting Artist Peter Halley For 25 years, the artist’s geometric paintings have engaged in a play of relationships between what he calls “prisons” and “cells” — icons that reflect the rapidly increasing geometricization of social space in the world. Halley has exhibited internationally; his works are in collections around the world including the Tate Modern, Guggenheim, Stedlijk Museum, the Whitney and the Broad Foundation. He is the director of Graduate Studies in Painting and Printmaking at the Yale University School of Art at lectures at the Cleveland Institute of Art this Fri 11/9 at 12:30PM. Contact jlangsam@cia.edu for more info. Aiken Auditorium, CIA, 11141 East Blvd. http://www.cia.edu.

Get Deep, Cleveland Share your poems with others. Meet local poets. Buy books from local poets. Sell your books to local poets. Meet the local poets participating afterwards at the Brew Kettle. Meet the guy in the purple bathrobe! Woo-whoo! It all happens at Border’s in Strongsville with the Deep Cleveland Poetry Hour this Fri 11/9 at 8:30PM. 17200 Royalton Rd., Strongsville. Call 440-846-1144 or visit http://www.deepcleveland.com/borders.html for details.

Celebrate in Style Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens completes its 2007 Wine Tasting Series on Fri 11/9 at 7PM with a “Holiday Show: Celebrate in Style.” Twelve wines including champagne, port and dessert wines will be featured at this final tasting of the 2007 season. In addition to wine, live entertainment by the Mickey Eritano Trio and appetizers, there will be samples of selected brews from Hoppin’ Frog Brewery and Thirsty Dog Brewing. Wine from this tasting as well as previous 2007 tastings will be available for purchase. Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, 714 N. Portage Path, Akron. Advanced ticketing is recommended by phone (330-315-3287) or online at http://www.stanhywet.org.

Torque Full Throttle Comedy Cleveland’s Improvisational Comedy Machine is back and ready to invade the newest comedy venue in Cleveland… The Powerhouse Pub! Improvisational comedy theater that is new, powerful and always evolving is what Torque is all about. Check out their act Fri 11/9 at 8PM and see how these folks take improv comedy farther and reach levels that change the way people look at comedy. Call 479-3353 or visit http://www.clevelandimprovinstitute.com for tickets and info.

Second Largest After Work Party Looking for a great way to start the weekend? Well, plan on attending this cool event Fri 11/9 at 5:30PM at the Cleveland Marriott Downtown at Key Center. This fun filled evening includes a DJ, dancing, appetizers, a cash bar, specialty champagne cocktails, a bloody mary bar, silent auction and door prizes — not even to mention some cool networking opportunities. All proceeds for this event benefit Children’s Miracle Network and Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. For further info, call 902-4044.

Flashes of Hope Did you know cancer is the leading cause of disease-related deaths in children? Every year about 20% of children with cancer will die. Andrea Kerzner, Wendy Poltorek, Dean Ducato and Marcus “The Goldfather” Sims will helm the Blind Pig as celebrity bartenders Fri 11/9 from 5 – 9PM to raise money for Flashes of Hope (http://www.flashesofhope.org), a non-profit organization that dedicates itself to making terminally ill children smile by “creating powerful, uplifting portraits of children fighting cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.” Award-winning photographers put on photo shoots in children’s hospitals across the country where ill children get to feel beautiful, laugh, smile and remember the experience for a lifetime. 1228 W. 6th St. http://www.theblindpig.com.

SPONSORED: WCLVnotes Beginning Sun 11/11 at 10AM, WCLV 104.9 and The Oberlin Conservatory of Music will provide radio and Internet listeners with a ringside seat to the musical arts with an exciting new radio program “Oberlin Presents.” Hosted by Fadel Fulkerson, the hour-long weekly broadcast will present many of the influential personalities who shape our artistic world. Fadel’s guest for the program premiere is legendary mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne. Listeners will hear samplings of some of the most memorable operas of the genre during “The Bel Canto Revival with Marilyn Horne.” Complete program listings at www.wclv.com.

HOT Funky Diva Purse Auction The Cleveland Rape Crisis Center celebrates their 3rd annual auction to raise support and awareness for survivors of sexual assault. Guests will experience the unprecedented quality and variety of handbags that NEO artisans created specifically for the event; a panel of local leaders, artists, celebrities and “fashionistas” will be on hand seeking out the best designed bags in the following categories: Funkiest, Go Green, Holiday Diva, Breaking the Glass Ceiling and Namasté. Supporting the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center on Sat 11/10 starting at 6PM. Josaphat Arts Hall, 1433 E. 33rd St. Valet parking provided. http://www.josaphatartshall.com. http://clevelandrcc.org.

HOT A Primer on Breuer and the Bauhaus Check out this slide show by Tony Hiti, Chair of the Historic Resources Committee of the AIA, Cleveland Chapter on the history of Marcel Breuer and the Cleveland Trust Building Sat 11/10 at 4PM. At Sculpture Center (free parking available). Details here

Arts Collinwood’s Community Arts Center work is underway. Want to help them with their progress? Join the work party Sat 11/10 and Sun 11/11 from 12 – 5PM. AC will provide the pizza and refreshments if you bring the will to work. All efforts benefit the community arts programs of Arts Collinwood. For information, call 692-9500. Work takes place at the Arts Collinwood Building, 15605 Waterloo Rd (just one block north of I-90 at the corner of Waterloo and E. 156th St.) Interested in seeing their progress? http://www.artscollinwood.org.

HOT Whole Lotta Shakin’ for Jerry Lee Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee and Ohio native Chrissie Hynde leads an all-star lineup in tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis as a part of their American Masters Series Sat 11/10 at 8PM at the State Theatre in Playhouse Square. The Del McCoury Band, Sleepy LaBeef, George Thorogood, Shelby Lynne, Kris Kristofferson, Terry Adams from NRBQ, Wanda Jackson, Narvel Felts, Billy Lee Riley, Cowboy Jack Clement and Jason D. Williams will round out the lineup. The program will also feature appearances by Jerry Lee Lewis’s cousin the Reverend Jimmy Swaggart, who will perform on the piano, and by Lewis’ sister Linda Gail Lewis. Don’t miss this once in a lifetime gig! Tickets at http://www.playhousesquare.com. http://www.rockhall.com.

Susan Petrone & Jonathan Messinger The authors will read and sign books at Mac’s Backs Books on Coventry, 1820 Coventry Rd. in Cleveland Hts. on Sat 11/10 at 7PM. Petrone’s short story This Is How It Happened has been published in the Fall 2007 issue of Glimmer Train, a journal which has published quality short fiction for over 15 years. The writer, editor and research analyst is the Communications Coordinator for the Levin College of Urban Affairs at CSU. Messinger is an author, editor and performer. His first book, Hiding Out has been described as a short story collection “about nervous manhood in a good, non-Zach Braff kind of way.” He’s the book review editor for the weekly arts and entertainment magazine Time Out Chicago. No-cost, open to the public. http://www.macsbacks.com.

American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell As the United States’ premier illustrator for six decades, Norman Rockwell created images that both reflected and shaped American popular culture in the twentieth century. Featuring rarely circulated original masterpieces from the Norman Rockwell Museum, this Akron Art Museum exhibition launches Sat 11/10, tracing the range of Rockwell’s art from appealing scenes of everyday life to powerful images documenting the American Civil Rights Movement. Included in the presentation are 41 original oil paintings, as well as tear sheets for more than 320 covers Rockwell created for the The Saturday Evening Post during his forty-seven year career with the magazine. Original war bond posters, personal correspondence and archival photographs are also included. http://www.akronartmuseum.org.

East Shore UU Fine Art Show and Sale Now in its 28th year, this venue for artists from all over NEO is a great showcase for art. This juried show is a community favorite, is no cost and open to the public. This year there will be over 60 artists displaying art work in oils, watercolors, pen and ink, fine glass, wood turnings, jewelry, knit wear and woven garments. Many of the artists have donated a piece of their art work for a raffle, which contains a representative offering of the art work in the show. Check it out Sat 11/10 from 10AM-5PM and Sun 11/11 from 1-5PM. 10848 Chillicothe Rd. (Route 306) in Kirtland, 10 minutes south of the I-90 Interchange, ½ mile south of Route 6. http://www.eastshore.org.

Life is a Mystery Remember the old saying: “I know that 50% of my advertising dollars are wasted, I just wish I knew which 50% it was.” Clear out the cobwebs and consider an online approach that will give you an integrated mix, drive traffic to your site and deliver the audience you’re looking for. For more info about advertising contact us at Info@CoolCleveland.com.

Bug The Bang and The Clatter Theatre Company winds down an interesting production called Bug with a Sun 11/11 at 3PM performance. Written by Tracy Letts, Bug is a bizarre love story that features Kelly McIvor, Justin Tatum, Jen Klika, Mark Mayo, and Andrew Nartan. Two “Blackout Monday” performances will be held on Mon 11/12 and Mon 11/19 at 8PM. “Dinner and a Show” packages are also available through Crave Restaurant. 140 E. Market Street, Akron. http://www.bnctheatre.com.

HOT CIM Mixon Hall Celebration Open House On Sun 11/11 at 1:30PM, visit the Cleveland Institute of Music (CIM) in University Circle for a celebration of the CIM’s $40M campus expansion. Events include the an official Dedication of CIM’s Campus Expansion, the Grand Opening of Mixon Hall and a Gala Open House. Throughout the day, enjoy recitals in Mixon Hall, a presentation by the architect and acoustician, tours of both new additions to CIM and refreshments. http://www.cim.edu.

A Browns Steelers CSA Kickoff Cleveland School of the Arts’ CONNECT Young Leadership Program is hosting the “Browns vs. Steelers Kickoff Classic” at the Blind Pig Sun 11/11 at 11AM, with all proceeds supporting the students of CSA. Local blues artist Kristine Jackson performs, followed by the game broadcast. The fundraiser includes a raffle, entertainment, food/drinks and a little bit of “frenzy.” Details at 233-7033 or visit http://www.clevelandschoolofthearts.org.

Greater Cleveland Flute Society offers a Flute Recital & Masterclass featuring Michael Debost & Kathleen Chastain (flutists) and Monique Duphil (piano) Sun 11/11 at 1:30PM. The performers will play works by Debussy, Bizet & Ravel for two flutes & piano. They will present information on intonation, technique and breathing. Flute Specialists, Inc., Wm. S. Haynes Co. & Royalton Music Center will also have flutes on display. Cleveland Music School Settlement, 11125 Magnolia Dr. http://www.gcfs.org.

Joe Augustine The jazz pianist performs with The University of Akron Faculty Jazz Ensemble as a part of the Kulas Concert Series, presented by The University of Akron School of Music Sun 11/11 at 3PM. Guzzetta Recital Hall, 157 University Ave. Call 330-972-8301 or visit http://www.uakron.edu/music for details. http://www.joeaugustine.com.

Commemoration of 40th Anniversary of the Stokes Election Cleveland City Council invites the public to join them in honoring Congressman Louis Stokes on the 40th Anniversary of his election as the first African-American of major US city on Mon 11/12 at 7PM. Cleveland City Council Chambers, 601 Lakeside Ave. http://www.clevelandcitycouncil.org.

HOT John Waters: Between Heaven & Hell During the past 40 years, the celebrated and always controversial film director John Waters – known for his original, provocative, and subversive style and hailed as the genius behind Broadway’s smash-hit musical Hairspray and cult favorites Pink Flamingos, Polyester and Cry Baby – has moved from the margins of culture to the mainstream. Waters’ style has also helped to liberate society from social restrictions and norms. Hear the man in his own words Tue 11/13 at 7:30PM at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron as a part of their Forum Speaker Series. A large-scale student multimedia installation piece will be onstage during John Waters’ lecture, which most certainly will contain adult themes. http://www.ejthomashall.com.

Akron Art Museum Brunchtime Concert Enjoy a free musical performance in the Akron Art Museum auditorium Tue 11/13 at 12:15PM. A pre-performance brunch will be available with advance reservations at 11:15AM in the Beatrice McDowell Grand Lobby. Special highlight tours of the museum’s galleries will wrap up program activities. No cost, open to the public (concert only — advance reservations and payment are required for brunch). For more info, call 330-376-9186 x229. http://www.akronartmuseum.org.

Chris Franke The author of Select Routines will read and sign books at Barking Spider Tavern, 11310 Juniper Rd. in University Circle on Tue 11/8 at 7PM. Franke’s Select Routines is a beautifully designed poetry collection put out by the local press Print 2B. The poems are sometimes political, often sincere and always worth a smirk. He has been writing and performing poetry in Cle for decades, having designed and edited several chapbooks and anthologies. No cost, open to the public. http://www.macsbacks.com.

SPONSORED: Bugs Bunny on Broadway Join us with family and friends as that ‘cwazy wabbit’ takes center stage at Severance Hall on December 7 and 8, accompanied by his Looney Tunes friends Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. Featuring Warner Bros. cartoon originals projected on a giant screen above the stage and live synchronized music by The Cleveland Orchestra! Special Offer for Cool Cleveland readers: Order tickets by 6 p.m. on Nov. 16 and receive a $5 discount on each ticket! To order, visit www.ClevelandOrchestra.com and use promo code 4287.

Michael Wolff Trio Wolff was recently described by JazzTimes Magazine as “one of the most innovative and dynamic pianists of his generation.” His new trio CD jazz, JAZZ, jazz is a nine-song collection of standards, including “My Funny Valentine,” “Cry Me A River’,” “Autumn Leaves” and more. The album has received rave reviews, with All About Jazz-NY calling it “A percussive tour-de-force.” Check him out at Nighttown in Cleveland Hts. for two shows, Wed 11/14 and Thu 11/15 at 8PM and 10PM. 12387 Cedar Rd., Cle Hts. http://www.nighttowncleveland.com.

Send your cool events to: Events@CoolCleveland.com

Michael Ruhlman
Food writer, good cook

Michael Ruhlman has worked for over a decade with the best chefs in the country. From his first best-selling food book, The Making of a Chef, and his next one, The Soul of a Chef, which focused on Cleveland’s Michael Symon among others, Ruhlman’s groundbreaking work has exposed, celebrated and delineated the shadowy backstage world of America’s greatest kitchens and the chefs who run them. His previous book, The Reach of a Chef, zeroed in on the increasing popularity of food culture and celebrity chefs, tracing the lives of master chefs and showing what happens when they leave the kitchen for the TV studio and best sellers lists. His new book The Elements of Cooking, is an opinionated food glossary patterned after Strunk & White’s Elements of Style, jam-packed not only with key cooking terms, but definitions towards an understanding of how good cooks become great. The book is designed for anyone from the beginner to the experienced chef. Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready spent time in Michael’s own Cleveland Heights kitchen as he prepared a meal of roasted chicken, fingerling potatoes fresh from the local farmer’s market, green beans with toasted almonds, all topped off with a nice jus made from the scrapings on the bottom of the pan. He talks with Mulready about how America has become the center of the food universe, the secret code of the kitchen, and the eight indispensable fundamentals of cooking.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743299787/ref=nosim/ruhlmancom

The Elements of Cooking
Michael Ruhlman
Scribner

Watching Michael Ruhlman cook is less like an episode on The Food Network than a conversation with a zen master chef. A true Clevelander, Ruhlman’s first book, Boys Themselves, chronicled life at single-gender University School, which he attended. But he caught the imagination of the public and the attention of some of the world’s greatest chefs when he attended the Culinary Institute of America and decided to write about it in The Making of a Chef, which was optioned by Universal. Other popular books followed: The Soul of a Chef, focusing on three young master chefs, including Cleveland’s Michael Symon of Lola & Lolita restaurants; The Reach of a Chef, on celebrity culture, the third of his trilogy on professional cooking; Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing, belying his NEO roots; the coffee-table sized, The French Laundry Cookbook, and Bouchon, written almost like novels, with recipes from Thomas Keller’s famous restaurant; and A Return to Cooking, with recipes from Eric Ripert, a cook who became a chef and wanted to become a cook again. What was missing was an examination of the basics of cooking, a focus on the craft of creating the basics in everyone’s kitchen, from those just understanding the art of applying heat to meat, to the chef on the journey from good to great.

Worth the price of the book are the eight quirky and essential essays on concepts vital to cooking: Stock (at the same time more complicated and more simple than it seems); Sauce (not just what you pour over food, but also the mayonnaise in tuna salad, so important that a French saucier is “often the most talented cook in the kitchen…”); Salt (“the most important thing for a cook to know is how to salt food…”); The Egg (“My reverence for the egg borders on religious devotion…”); Heat (understanding of heat “defines the excellence of the cook…”); Tools (the five essential tools that allow you to cook almost anything); Sources (15 great books on cooking); and Finesse (going from superb to superlative).

The remainder of Elements of Cooking is arranged from A to Z as a glossary with entries that the aspiring cook will find useful: the book should be kept handy in the kitchen, next to The Joy of Cooking, On Food and Cooking, and any other essential references you use daily. Convenient for spilling the secrets of kitchen slang, or offering the necessary definition of carmelize or macerate, the book is probably more unique in that it can be read cover to cover, or from middle to front, or skipping around, educating the reader on the correct approaches to food preparation, the importance of specific ingredients and seasoning, and the spirit with which one should engage themselves in the kitchen.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743299787/ref=nosim/ruhlmancom
http://www.Ruhlman.com

SPONSORED: Marketing Mat::ters :: a haiku from thunder::tech:: Marketing mat::ters / From small ads to large billboards / Get your name out there. Okay, so it’s not the most poetic haiku. It’s a little more…utilitarian, but it’s true. Marketing mat::ters. From your email template to your website, from your press release to your event planning…it’s all around you, and it’s all important. We know it can be overwhelming, and we’re here to help. Stop by the site, give us a call: www.thundertech.com • 216.391.2255

The Family Series Purchase three or more seats in section Orchestra L-W for the 11AM Family Series Cleveland Orchestra shows at Severance Hall by Fri 11/9, and save an additional 15% off already-reduced subscription prices. Some cool gigs hitting there shortly… some of them “otherworldly.” See next week’s CC for details on one of them. http://www.clevelandorchestra.com.

Skeletons in the Closet The dead tell no tales. Or do they? In this lecture Thu 11/8 at 4:30PM, Clark Larsen lectures on bioarcheology and shows that the dead do speak — especially about their lives and lifestyles, through the study of ancient human skeletons and the science of bioarchaeology. The human skeleton is a storehouse of information, recording the circumstances of growth and development deriving from factors such as disease, stress, diet, nutrition, activity, and violence. Case Western Reserve University, DeGrace Hall, Rm. 312, 2080 Adelbert Rd. No cost, open to the public. Call 368-3703 for more info.

The Gales of November Gordon Lightfoot isn’t the only one who knows that the month of November is a time of danger on the Great Lakes — the recorded span where the most disasters, deaths and destruction take place throughout history. Come hear the about the Gales of November in this sorytelling program Fri 11/9 at 2:30PM, which will include the tales of such famous disasters as the sinking of the Morrel and the Fitzgerald. Family friendly. For details and directions, call the Westlake Community Services Center at 440-899-3544. http://www.edenvalleyenterprises.org.

SPONSORED: What is the Winter Lights Lantern Festival? The Cleveland Museum of Art presents the 14th annual Winter Light Lantern Festival, Fri 11/30 – Sun 12/9 . See lantern displays throughout the museum and the Environment of Lights artist installation on Wade Oval, inspired by the centuries-old, cross-cultural tradition of ceremonial lighting displays. On Sun 12/2 from 1:00-5:30 the museum joins more than a dozen neighboring institutions for University Circle’s Holiday CircleFest, a day-long, no-charge, annual community open house. Lantern making, celebrity story-telling, music, curator’s gallery tour, and more. Highlighed at 5:30 by a Lantern Procession of dancers, giant puppets and handmade lanterns. Batik lantern making workshops November 2-18, Fridays 6:00-8:30 and Sundays 2:00-4:30. For more info contact 216-707-2483 or www.clevelandart.org.

Flat Stanley Stanley Lambchop is your everyday run-of-the-mill kid until a bulletin board above his bed comes loose and falls – right on top of him! When he wakes up, Stanley is flat! After sliding under locked doors and being flown around like a kite, Stanley decides he is going to take advantage of being two dimensional and explore the world! Presented by IntraMusic, and based on the children’s books by Jeff Brown, The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley is part of the 2007-2008 Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital Discovery Theatre Series at Playhouse Square. It hits for three performances — “Family Night” Fri 11/9 at 7PM, Sat 11/10 at 11AM and 2PM. http://www.playhousesquare.org.

High School Musical It’s the Disney sensation that has been likened to Grease and it debuts live on the Palace Theatre stage Tue 11/13 – Sun 11/18. Originally a Disney Channel movie and soundtrack, this new cast of talented theatrical performers reprises the roles of all those favorite characters. You’ll hear songs from the movie, plus two new songs written especially for the stage! So “getcha head in the game!” http://www.disneyonbroadway.com. http://www.playhousesquare.org.

Simple & Easy Ways to Feed Your Family Healthier Enjoy healthy food demos by Stephanie Richards, registered Dietitian and author of Holistic Living: A Guide & Journal on Mon 11/12 at 7PM. With 20 years experience in the nutrition and preventive health fields, Stephanie has no nonsense, practical and entertaining approach. She has worked with the Cleveland Clinic, was a recipient of the General Mills Champions for Healthy Kids grant and works with students teaching about living a healthy lifestyle. Emery Place, Suite 112, 25901 Emery Rd. Call 765-4470 for details. http://www.insightwellness.org.

You don’t want to miss what 11-year-old Max has for you and your family this week. Listen here: http://www.coolcleveland.com/files/audio/CoolClevelandKids11.09.07.mp3. Click here to subscribe: iTunes or other.

Turn that camera off!

Most people — indeed virtually everyone except those caught in the white heat of embarrassment as they are being arrested or making an appearance in court — just love TV or film crew cameras. Usually when the cameras start rolling normally reserved folks can sometimes be seen mugging, waving, or making damn fools of themselves. The minute a city is selected by a Hollywood production company as a movie locale, some group of local wild-eyed film buffs begin touting the city as the next hot location for Hollywood-type of moviemaking. They are always wrong, of course.

But this type of welcoming is not quite the case with the filming being done by a production company working for A & E Television. Base Productions obtained permission to film in Cleveland for a year for the new reality show “Crime 360.” One of the first crime scenes they captured was the killing of a petty drug dealer on W. 25th Street, outside a church. A number of acquaintances have asked me how I feel about city officials essentially allowing our city’s dirty linen to be aired on national TV for the whole world to see…

Read more from Mansfield Frazier here

If You’re Interested in writing for Cool Cleveland, drop us a line. We’d love to hear from you. Letters@CoolCleveland.com.

The Element
Grupo Fuego
MQ Productions

Grupo Fuego, which translates to “The Fire Group,” formed in the fall of 1999 as a six-piece Latin band with Afro-Cuban leanings and urban flair. Latin bands for the past ten years and have a rich repertoire of Latin grooves. They describe their music as “tropical music full of hot rhythms combined with cool melodies to the sounds of merengue, reggaeton, bachata, salsa, and balada.”

It’s hot stuff. With a wide range of styles, GF appeals to a broad range of music fans, with an energy filled approach to style and rhythm and a sound that’s ultimately inspiring of dance. Though whittled down to a core threesome, the group has a mass of shifting musicians in the line-up (in the Parliament-Funkadelic tradition) and continues to grow in popularity and they’re helping put Cleveland on the map as a bastion of Latin music.

The group’s bilingual sophomore effort is titled The Element, produced by three-time Grammy Award winner, Freddy Mendez. He seems to understand their chemistry and ability and plays to the group’s penchant for melody. With a spicy set list that ranges from slow-burning (“Decidete,” “Pa Que Lo Bailes Tu”) to crowd-pleasing dance numbers like “Chica De Fuego,” these guys have taken local Latin music to an all new level. Time to get your groove on, Cleveland.

On Friday, November 9 at 9PM, Grupo Fuego films their new music video from The Element at the View Nightclub, 618 Prospect Ave. They will also be debuting all their new music material live on that evening. Visit the band at http://www.grupofuego.com. For more details on the evening of live music and filming, visit http://www.tropicalcleveland.com.

Check out the hot track “Chica De Fuego” by clicking here. Buy the disc at http://cdbaby.com/cd/grupofuegomusic.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com

Wanna get reviewed? Send your band’s CD (less than 1 year old) to: Cool Cleveland, 14837 Detroit Avenue, #105, Lakewood, OH 44107

Susan Schwartz
Cleveland Institute of Music

Susan Schwartz has the enviable job of promoting one of the gems of University Circle that’s shining even brighter because of a $40M campus expansion. The centerpiece is the new acoustically and architecturally superior 250-seat Mixon Hall, built to accommodate everything from soloists to ensembles up to 27 strong. Cool Cleveland’s Thomas Mulready talked with Schwartz in the new hall, only 36 feet wide and 45 feet tall, designed by architect Charles Young and acoustician Paul Scarbrough, who did the acoustics for the celebrated Severance Hall renovation. The radical 43-foot wall of glass behind the performance stage (actually two panes of glass separated by four feet of air), not only allows for a striking view of a sunken outdoor garden which will be lit at night, but also offers a superb acoustic response. They celebrate the new hall this Sun 11/11 from 1:30-5PM with Fanfare for a New Era, featuring an open house complete with music and tours. http://www.CIM.edu

A Conversation with Actor/Teacher Tom Fulton

If ever you are privileged to sit and chat a bit with Thomas Fulton, it would be easy to think that among his next door neighbors or best friends you would find King Lear, Lady Macbeth, Uncle Vanya or even Arkadina and Trigorin. Or any of the other characters who inhabit the plays of Shakespeare or Chekhov. You might even encounter Stanislavski, who brought many of these characters to the forefront of modern theater.

Once… upon a time, theater was all about the people. “There were no sets, no special lights, few costumes in Shakespeare’s day,” Fulton says in his matter-of-fact way. “It was just a small space, because of course, there was no amplification, so people stood in a circle around the stage area. The Globe is an exact replica of that earlier space, where they performed in the daylight.” And, of course, all the parts were played by men. Or boys, dressed as women. Theater has come a long way since then!

You may recall having seen Fulton on-stage in our area during the last 30 or so years; he’s appeared on nearly all of them, some more than others. He’s also directed a good many productions and taught acting classes, as well, for which he’s won the Best Acting Teacher award from a local weekly several times…

Read more from Kelly Ferjutz here

Kent State Folk Festival

A few years ago, I told a woman who was in her 20s that I had just come back from the Newport Folk Festival. She said, “Is that where, you, like, get in a circle and do those dances?”

I said, “Not exactly – It was a concert where 20,000 people heard Lyle Lovett, the Indigo Girls, the Violet Femmes and Wilco.”

She said, “Then why do they call it ‘folk’?” And, though the festival began in the early 1960s with more traditional roots musicians, her question was and still is valid. That word – “folk” – sounds, to many people, like sitting in your 3rd grade classroom being forced to sing “On Top of Old Smokey,” or going to gym class and being forced to do square dancing

But “folk” is a big word; it holds a lot. The poster for the 41st Kent State Folk Festival – which begins Thursday, November 8 – features a black squirrel playing something like a clarinet or soprano sax, and also holding a guitar. It’s a black squirrel because Kent, Ohio, is famous for two things: Kent State University and black squirrels. But why is it playing a wind instrument and not a guitar, banjo or mandolin?

“Folk is an expression beyond everyday emotions, and it’s always been the other instruments, not just the normal ones,” says Jim Blum, the host of WKSU FM 89.7’s three-night-a-week folk music show and one of the folk festival’s producers. “The way Plato said that there’s Truth with a capital ‘T’ and truth with a small ‘t’; well, Folk with a big ‘F’ is jazz and rock and world and reggae and polka and all of that. So that’s what the festival is.”

You can see that in this year’s lineup, which includes Dr. John, the legendary New Orleans jazz-rock-R&B-Cajun-influenced pianist and singer, whose hit records include “Right Place, Wrong Time” (and whose 1968 album Gris-Gris remains one of the coolest, spookiest records ever made); Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, the San Francisco band whose blend of early-20th Century jazz, folk and swing made them popular beginning in the early ‘70s; Melanie, who scored hit singles, including “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” “Brand New Key,” and “What Have They Done to My Song, Ma?,” after appearing at the Woodstock Festival in 1969; Steve Forbert, best known for his 1980 folk-pop hit single “Romeo’s Tune”; David Bromberg, a guitarist and singer who has long been associated with some of the folk world’s upper echelons; the acoustic bluegrass band Mountain Heart joined by bluegrass star Tim O’Brien; Wayne “The Train” Hancock, who mixes genres, including honky-tonk, western swing, blues, big band and country; and other artists.

The festival also includes a full day of workshops, 25 in all – five sessions, each offering five workshops (of which you can choose one each) – including storytelling, clog dancing, and music-teaching sessions in such genres as Calypso, Zydeco/Cajun, swing, electric blues, Celtic, and Australian bush band.

So it’s not exactly sitting in your 3rd grade classroom singing “On Top of Old Smokey.”

But Blum still wishes they could do a bit more.

“We wish we were subsidized to the point where we could do music from Africa and Brazil and other countries. Years ago, the festival could do that, because it was subsidized by the university. But seven years ago, students who were then on the Student Senate voted to stop the festival. Of course those students have all graduated and gone on. But the festival is now in the situation where the radio station oversees it and we don’t have those subsidies.

“But it’s still great; we’ve had Doc Watson, Donovan, Judy Collins, Odetta, and this year Dr. John and Melanie and everybody. There are some artists we can’t get – you know, there are acts who want $50,000, but we don’t have a venue with 5,000 seats, so the tickets would have to be too expensive.”

The festival’s main venues are the 1,000-seat Kent State Ballroom and the 600-seat Kent Stage in downtown Kent. Friday, November 16, is the festival’s annual Folk Alley Around Town, with shows in more than 30 bars, restaurants, coffee shops and university sites.

So, despite the KSU Student Senate’s short-sightedness in 2000, the Folk Festival lives. Now if someone could just come up with a new word for “folk”… For the complete schedule, go to www.kentstatefolkfestival.org.

From Cool Cleveland contributor David Budin popcyclesATsbcglobal.net

CRCC’s 3rd Annual Funky Diva Purse Auction

With a slate of magnificent purses, an elegant venue, live entertainment, local celebrity “judges”, and some of Cleveland’s most talented artists, the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center’s Funky Diva Purse Auction makes for a wonderful evening for a great cause. Select local artists created stylish, one-of-a-kind handbags unique to this year’s event. As in years past, these custom-made, wearable works of art will be on view and auctioned off, with proceeds supporting the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, and the services it provides to survivors of sexual assault.

The CRCC’s 3rd annual run features judges Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William D. Mason, Kenny Crumpton and Stacey Frey (Fox 8), Barbara Daniel (Cleveland Women’s Journal), Judge Eileen T. Gallagher (Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court), Angela Marusic, (KSU Fashion School), Justice Maureen O’Connor (Ohio Supreme Court), Debra Adams Simmons (Plain Dealer), Cristin Slesh (Foundation Management Services), Jacque Smith (WKYC Channel 3), Hector Vega (local artist) and Dawn Zidonis (boutique owner) – who will be choosing the best of bags in categories including: Funkiest, Go Green, Holiday Diva, Breaking the Glass Ceiling and Namaste. And for the guys? Fear not, hand tailored ties from Joseph Scafidi will be available as well.

You can purchase tickets at http://www.clevelandrapecrisis.org for the Saturday November 10 event, which starts at 6PM at Josaphat Arts Hall, 1433 E. 33rd St. Valet parking will be provided.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com

An electrifying CWRU Faculty Recital

CWRU dance program’s faculty concert gives us the opportunity to take a look at the current crop of student dancers as well as interesting choreography by faculty. While they often restage some masterwork, this year nearly everything is new to us – either a Cleveland premiere or a world premiere. Google searches and the dance program’s artistic director, Gary Galbraith, have informed us about what to expect.

The featured Cleveland premiere this year is by Pascal Rioult, whose “Bolero” we remember from the 2003 faculty concert. Rioult and his wife, Joyce Herring, both formerly dancers in the Martha Graham Dance Company, have been running the NYC based Pascal Rioult Dance Theater since 1991. They’ve consistently staged an annual season at the Joyce Theater – a measure of their success – and toured nationally and internationally, receiving positive critical notice, especially for attracting, training, and presenting beautiful dancers. Rioult and Galbraith’s connections go back to their years performing with the Graham Company.

This year Case is performing Rioult’s “Wien.” Research alerted us to the possibility that this may prove an interesting and ambitious choice, involving not only more partnering than Bolero, but a foray into complex historical meaning. “Wien” is set to Maurice Ravel’s “La Valse,” which was originally titled “Wien” (“Vienna”); Ravel, who saw the Viennese waltz as a metaphor for the “fantastic whirl of destiny” began work on the piece in 1906 as a tribute to Johann Strauss Jr. By the time the piece was finished in 1920 – one of the composer’s many commissions for Diaghilev’s Ballet Russe – post-WWI connotations of “destiny” had become bitter indeed, particularly in Vienna, where famine and epidemic reigned.

It is Ravel’s orchestral realization of a sinister and grotesque undertone (described in Chicago Symphony Orchestra program notes as “a masterful evocation of the evasions and collisions between a brilliant surface and dangerous undercurrents”) that Rioult apparently capitalizes on in his dance “Wien.” On his company web site Rioult declares that “faithful to Ravel’s intentions, “Wien” is a fantastic and fatal swirling of tragic dimensions. The Viennese waltz, the very image of social refinement, becomes the symbol of a disintegrating society taken into a whirlpool of violence and humiliation. The piece has the poisoned atmosphere of despair and fatalism. It is the trail of failed humanity. It is a premonition of triumphant evil.”

Not pretty stuff, but an ambitious project that many critics have recognized as a success. Jack Anderson in New York Times, Jack Mitchell in Dance Magazine, and Deborah Jowitt in Village Voice, have all singled “Wien” out for special praise among Rioult’s works. We are definitely looking forward to seeing this work.

Galbraith presents his own choreography, “MDC,” another of his series of technology-based dances, continuing to work toward what he describes as “a seamless integration of dance and technology.” The large cast work marks the upcoming centennial of Mather Dance Center with what Galbraith describes as “a choreographic journey using virtual realities / panoramas” through the studios of the much-refurbished 100 year old Danish gymnasium. Galbraith’s collaborator on “MDC,” Jared Bendis, is Director of the Freedman Center and the New Media Center at Case.

Karen Potter, Director of Dance at Case, has restaged her “The Pleiades,” a dance inspired by the myth of the 7 sisters. “The Pleiades” was last seen at Case in 1999; it premiered in NYC earlier that same year.

Faculty member Richard Dickinson contributes two new works, a duet and a quartet, exploring the dynamics of human relationships.

Kelli Sanford, a recent graduate of Case’s MFA program and a part-time lecturer in the dance program, performs her solo “Blank Canvas,” inspired by “Convergence #10,” the 1952 drip painting by Jackson Pollock, and by a visit to the painter’s Long Island home and studio.

For tickets and information, call the theater and dance department box office at 368-6262. Tickets can also be purchased at the door of Mather Dance Center the evening of the performance.

From Cool Cleveland contributors Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas vicnelsaATearthlink.net

Import-Expat: Singer/songwriter Jann Klose

If you ever frequented Truffles on Clifton over the years, you might recognize Jann Klose. The singer-songwriter used to work at the Cleveland pastry shop and got his musical start in Cleveland while sequestered here as a foreign exchange student. The German-born musician may live in New York City now, but he has long considered Cleveland “my second hometown” and he has played at his former employer Truffles “at least twice this year… and last year,” he says, checking in with Cool Cleveland from his New York home. “Quite a bit over the years, actually.”

From 1996 and 2000, Klose worked at Truffles while he was studying voice with local vocal coach/guru David Gooding. Then he got his first record deal and spent much of the time following that refining his Jeff Buckley-meets-Sting musical oeuvre. His latest effort Reverie is due to be released at the end of the month, with a huge buzz preceding it. Klose, who still visits the family who hosted him as an exchange student, will perform some of those new songs live, when he takes the stage with fellow former Clevelander Joe Deninzon and Stratospheerius tonight, Wednesday November 7, at the Beachland Ballroom. He’s looking forward to the gig: “We have a decent following there and do well when we play. Cleveland is a good market for us to be playing. I can’t wait to be home and I love coming back.”

Details at http://www.beachlandballroom.com. Visit Jann (pronounced “Yann”) at http://www.jannklose.com.

From Cool Cleveland Managing Editor Peter Chakerian peterATcoolcleveland.com

This week’s most active post on BrewedFreshDaily.com, run by Cool Cleveland’s George Nemeth,

After only six weeks the Plain Dealer pulls the plug on an “experimental” blog comprised of 2 liberal Dems and 2 conservative Republicans. BFD readers weigh in:

Get up to speed and add your opinion here

Links to interesting NEO blogs

That a mere contribution of $100 was enough to shutter Wide Open shows that for all their forethought the Plain Dealer was unprepared for that simplest of political blogger characteristics: partisanship.
Remember A $200 computer is no bargain.
The Plain Dealer is nothing if not predictable.
Plain Dealer fires Wide Open blogger to appease LaTourette or, why reporters have a union.
PD’s Reader Rep Ted Diadiun, gives print readers inaccurate version of Wide Open demise.
Bass Pro Shop spokesman Larry Whiteley said that Akron didn’t meet the company’s needs.
Springsteen not the “Boss” anymore… or shouldn’t be after Cle gig this week.

A Blogger Treated as a Reporter by Pee Dee

Censorship is alive and well at the Pee Dee.

Thank you, Susan Goldberg, for continuing the fine tradition that warns all readers that its Cleveland paper doesn’t carry all the news that fits but all the news the paper sees as fit for viewing.

That’s the meaning of the quick demise of blogger Jeff Coryell – hired to blog, apparently to show the morning newspaper is innovative and exciting. He was one of four bloggers chosen to write for Wide Open on the PD site Cleveland.com.

Well, Wide Open became Selectively Closed rather quickly, after some six weeks.

What’s important about Coryell’s dismissal is that it reveals that Goldberg carries on a tradition of censorship well fashioned at the Pee Dee. The story goes that Coryell to continue blogging for the paper’s website was asked not to write about Rep. Steve LaTourette. The issue was that Coryell had supported and contributed financially to LaTourette’s opponent in the last election. LaTourette apparently discussed this fact with Pee Dee editorial uber-boss Brent Larkin. The hammer then fell…

Read more from Roldo Bartimole here

Browns Scrapbook
Chuck Heaton
Gray & Company, Publishers

The subtitle tells it all: A Fond Look Back at Five Decades of Football, from a Legendary Cleveland Sportswriter. Shortly into the book, you’ll find this line: “It was different back then.” Indeed, it was. I’m probably not alone in thinking it was better back then, as well.

Chuck Heaton joined the Plain Dealer as a sportswriter in 1946. His first beat was baseball, and his timing was excellent. The Indians won it all in 1948 and challenged again in 1954. Just before the end of that season, he was switched over to football, and from then until another switch 24 years later, he was the main writer of and about the Browns. It was a few more years before he retired (almost) completely, giving him 51 years of writing about sports…

Read more from Kelly Ferjutz here

Quick reviews of recent events

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Martha Graham Dance Company @ Ohio Theatre 11/3 Martha Graham is considered by most dance aficionados to be the queen of concert dance. Along with George Balanchine and Merce Cunningham, she laid the foundations for non-balletic dance in this country. Years after her death, her works still glow and inspire.

Her company recently performed in Cleveland under the sponsorship of Dance Cleveland, Cuyahoga Community College and Playhouse Square Center. The two concerts each had a different set of offerings. Opening night consisted of Errand into the Maze, Arden Song (Redux), Diversion of Angels, and Acts of Light. With the exception of Ardent Song, each segment was well conceived and performed.

Using Graham’s powerful, athletic, gymnastic forms, which utilizes the floor as well as the space above it, Errand into the Maze complete with robotic moves, created a power illusion in which every movement was in perfect sync with the musical notes of Gian Carlo Menotti. It was masterfully danced by Miki Orihara and Tadej Brdnik.

The actual choreography of Graham’s Ardent Song has been lost, so Susan McLain reconceived the movements. While using many of Graham’s tools (powerful and sensual movements, gymnastic leaps and writhing on the floor), the piece missed the expected power of the original conceiver. The conclusion was met with courteous applause by the sold out audience.

Diversions of Angels, using geometric patterns of movements, successfully explored mature, erotic and adolescent love. Acts of Light, based on the Emily Dickinson poem which states, “Thank you for all the acts of Light which beautified a summer now past to its reward,” was a three-part creation which creatively examined a conversation of lovers, a lament, and a ritual to the sun.

”Capsule judgment: Martha Graham Dance Company lived up to its world class reputation and advanced billing. DanceCleveland and CCC are to be commended for bringing major dance companies to the area. It must have been gratifying for the sponsors to see a sold out house for the opening of the season.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Roy Berko royberkoATyahoo.com

Roy Berko’s blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2002 through 2007, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info.

West Side Story at 50 @ Severance Hall 11/3 Dr. Richard Kogan took posthumous psychoanalysis (a universal sport of historians, literary and musical scholars) to new levels Saturday in”West Side Story at 50,” an engrossing lecture/recital subtitled: The Mind and Music of Leonard Bernstein). An appreciative audience that included quite a few shrinks (the event benefited the Cleveland Psychoanalytic Center) listened to Kogan assert that Bernstein is (so far) the greatest American composer and then listened some more as the Juilliard-trained pianists proved his point on the Steinway grand in a nearly sold-out Reinberger Chamber Hall when he played arrangements of the “Symphonic Dances” from West Side Story and of Bernstein’s Symphony #2, “The Age of Anxiety” with insight and feeling. Kogan (a Harvard-trained psychiatrist with a private practice in New York City) described the charismatic Bernstein as a quasi-tragic figure torn between his drive to write immortal music (something best done in solitude) and his drive to be the center of attention and beloved by everyone (and, in Bernstein’s case that included his wife of many years plus the young man he temporarily left her for). The event turned into a giant party afterwards as patrons chatted with the multi-talented Kogan and enjoyed drinks and desserts in the Smith Lobby.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Laura Kennelly lkennellyATgmail.com

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On cool nanotech (See interview with Alexis Abramson here) I was so delighted to watch your interview with Ali Abramson because she is great. Ali worked at Cain Park on the operations staff while doing her undergraduate degree and we all knew she was mature beyond her years, vastly talented and would do great things. How wonderful she moved back to Cleveland to do them!
from Cool Cleveland reader Ksenia Roshchakovsky kseniaATclvhts.com

On Meet The Bloggers event on 11/1 (See details here) It was great to meet you last night and hear everyone’s story and options. It is interesting how the traditional media outlets seem to look at sites like yours with so much confusion. It seems so obvious! I am not sure if you are familiar with TED.com, but Jan Chipchase’s talk on human interface with technology is quite interesting. According to him, in a world of 5.3 billion people, there are almost 3 billion connected mobile phones. That whole concept of “early adapters” seems to have sped up quite a bit. Most of our clients seemed to have “figured it out”, our challenge is the corporate world has the “deer in the headlights” look when you try to talk about “blogging” as an option in their communications package. So thanks for the opportunity to listen and learn.
from Cool Cleveland reader Dave Watkins dwatkinsATimpactcommunications.com

I enjoyed your Meet the Bloggers presentation last night! You guys are to be commended for being great cheerleaders for Cleveland! We have a national music publication that is produced right here in Cleveland (our headquarters is in Streetsboro). We celebrated our 10th year last year. The web site is www.hearsay.cc. It is distributed at college bookstores and independent music stores across the country, or you might find one at the Tri-C metro campus bookstore.
from Cool Cleveland reader Jenni Hamilton jlhATarrdis.com

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Most clicked

Here are the Top 5 most clicked links from last week’s issue, with one more chance for you to click.

1) The latest on the Breuer Tower and the preservation thereto.
www.GCBL.org

2) Cle gets Some SPIN This month’s SPIN magazine features Cleveland in its monthly feature on an American city’s music scene.
The I Rock Cleveland blog

3) For the ladies If you’re looking for the hot locale that has a special running just for you, check out this local gal’s new website.
www.LadiesNightCleveland.com

4) Youngstown Buzz Interview with Hunter Morrison.
www.Youngstown2010.org

5) World Series… of Wine Northeast Ohio’s premier wine-tasting experience.
www.WVIZ.org

We’re rolling 24/7 with the always snappy Hard Corps, who keep you appraised on why the region won’t play second fiddle to anyone. Kudos to Peter Chakerian, T.L. Champion, George Nemeth, Laura Kennelly, Mansfield B. Frazier, Roy Berko, Roldo Bartimole, Kelly Ferjutz and David Budin. This issue has been brought to you by the incomparable BQ. And tomorrow, we represent in Vegas, baby! And lastly, though certainly not least, thanks to our readers and everyone who partners with us. Want to volunteer and contribute your writing to Cool Cleveland? Send your reviews, articles, or story ideas to: Events@CoolCleveland.com.

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