Some Of It Was True…

of the readers selected to receive the upgraded version of Cool Cleveland this week. Is it cleaner, easier to read, more organized… or just too slick and professional for your taste? Let us know what you think of the new design by dropping us a line. Check it out. 
Thomas@Mulready.com

We need more bright ideas such as CWRU’s new SEED (Student Educational Entrepreneurial Development) program, which encourages students with a business plan to compete for start-up funding, two of which will be launched as businesses in the new year. Another round from March will be launched in the Fall. All businesses are owned by SEED, and the profits split 50/50 until the start-up loan is paid off, then the students get 80%. The SEED program is funded by the Weatherhead School & private donations, and run by artist and graduate student Edward Caner, who plays the violin semi-professionally and studies in the Physics Entrepreneurship Program. Maybe some of these students will have a reason to stay in Cleveland after they graduate. 
See story here

you know that this e-letter has concerned itself with, among other priorities, the challenges of redevelopment in the Cleveland area. This week there are a number of development stories, both encouraging and cringe-worthy, that you may be interested in:

The amazing 2-year, $10 million Trinity Cathedral renovation turns this landmark church into a downtown destination with a coffee shop, art gallery and outdoor garden court. And the remarkable geothermal heating and cooling system (the largest green construction project in Cleveland) works year-round, paying for itself in less than nine years. Checkwww.trinitycleveland.org 
See story here

On the other hand, the Flats just can’t seem to get it together. First they ignore the underage drinking and alcohol-induced drownings for too long, now a new plan comes out from the Flats Oxbow Association, which, while admirably calling for a more diversified mix of housing, office and retail to blend with the already interesting confluence of industry and entertainment, and includes plans for a public boardwalk on the East Bank of the Flats, somehow isn’t convincing to some Flats stakeholders: “Most East Bank business owners would be reluctant to give up valuable private patio space for a public boardwalk,” is how Watermark’s general manager Curtis Gray put it, according to the PD. See the Revitalization Plan here:www.voiceoftheflats.org
See story here

Any change in an historic neighborhood will be contentious and should be approached with care, diligence and a lot of love. Unfortunately, the proponents of Lakewood’s proposed high-end $151 million The Shops at West End development are unfamiliar with those qualities. While a more attractive and functional ingress to this inner-ring neighborhood should be developed at Detroit along the Rocky River valley (rather than the existing unsightly apartments), the constant threat of eminent domain and the labeling of homes as “blighted” (because they only have one bathroom?), is unnecessarily heavy-handed, and more details should be forthcoming about the planned project. And shouldn’t they be taking more than one bid? Recall that the Lakewood City Center project in the heart of town at Detroit & Warren was also sold as an upscale shopping center, and what store did they settle on for an anchor? Marc’s. See PD story here.
See Lakewood Sun Post story here

The minor league Canal Park project opened in ’97, and now that the wonderful Akron Civic Theatre has been restored and is under management by the University of Akron’s EJ Thomas Hall, the city plans to pump another $40 million in to the neighborhood to add condos, restaurants, stores, offices and a movie theatre, possibly an IMAX. The focus is a $1 million outdoor amphitheatre right next to the Civic to open next May. Developers The Ferchill Group are involved in Cleveland’s Midtown Technology Center, and have done larger projects in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Detroit. Akron is getting’ it done. 
See story here

Boy, Dick Jacobs really knew when to sell, didn’t he? First, he timed the Indians just right. Now, the Galleria, which he’s already sold, is teetering on the brink. But wait, a new buyer, Minshall Stewart Properties of Bethesda, are ready to swoop in and give it another try. They don’t have much retail experience, but they have something that is probably more important: president Werner Minshall is the son of Rep. William Minshall, who was elected from Cleveland’s west suburbs to the US House of Representatives from 1955 to 1975. They always come back, don’t they? And maybe that will be Cleveland’s salvation. 
See story here

and it needs it bad and it needs it soon. One hope is the proposed Euclid Corridor Project, a slick new (green low-sulphur diesel/electric) hybrid bus called the ECV (Euclid Corridor Vehicle) that will run from Public Square to East Cleveland. See www.euclidtransit.org. Some in the community think this is putting the horse before the cart, since there are few people living and shopping downtown to ride the vehicle, no matter how cool it is (see Steve Kurdziel’s cynical PD op-ed here.) Not on the table is the design of the bus, which requires entering from bus stops precariously situated on the median strip in the center of Euclid Avenue, rather than from curbside stops next to retail shops. And the process for local artists to submit design ideas for the $1 million in “percent for art” public art projects, has not been articulated. At least Cleveland Public Art is hosting meetings up and down the Avenue and taking input. Let them know what you think:
Cleveland Public Art

may be in the arts and the non-profit realm. With local institutions such as the Cleveland Foundation (the country’s largest community foundation), the George Gund Foundation, Business Volunteers Unlimited, the HQ of the United Church of Christ, The Jewish Community Federation, The Foundation Center Library, and with CWRU, CSU and Kent offering degrees in nonprofit management, along with Cleveland’s traditionally strong support of philanthropic institutions such as the United Way, could Cleveland become a center for the study of philanthropy and non-profits? Someone thinks so, since the Nonprofit Academic Council is moving their HQ to the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at CWRU next month. 
See story here

The Clash popularized punk, changed the course of music, and set the standard, not only for integrating politics and music, but for infusing music with meaning. Although MTVers will remember Rock The Casbah and Should I Stay or Should I Go, I suggest you pick up their third album, London Calling, (called the best album of the 80’s by Rolling Stone even though it was released in 1979) with versatile drummer Topper Headon allowing them to broaden their palette to include reggae, rockabilly, pop, ska, swing, dub, anthems, shuffles, New Orleans R&B, even a radio hit (Train In Vain). Unlike the Sex Pistols who imploded or Blondie who sold out or The Ramones who stayed underground or Pere Ubu who went over the mainstream’s head, The Clash spoke loud and clear to everyone. At the Akron Civic Theatre in ’82, they even introduced NEOhio to rap and hip-hop by bringing along opening act Grandmaster Flash. Too bad Strummer, who wrote, sang and served as the band’s conscience, won’t be around to premiere his tribute to Nelson Mandela, co-written with Bono, for AIDS Awareness in Africa in Feb., or to be inducted into the Rock Hall with his band this coming March. If anyone deserves to be there, he does. The message boards at www.RollingStone.com have more anecdotes, and a nice series of remembrances can be found at The Times of London. 
The Times of London

of a number of recent awards and honors for Cleveland and Ohio artists, filmmakers and organizers. Robin VanLear, known for organizing Parade the Circle Celebration, The Chalk Festival and the Winter Lights Lantern Festival, was recently honored with the first Joseph D. Pigott University Circle Leadership Award. And now we hear that three area filmmakers have had their films accepted at the Sundance Film Festival January 16-26 in Park City, Utah. Vanessa, dealing with the death of filmmaker Kevin Everson’s childhood sweetheart, was filmed in Cleveland and Mansfield. American Splendor, directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer, is based on local writer Harvey Pekar and was partially shot in Cleveland. And Steven Bognar’s Gravel was shot in Southern Ohio. And new Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Most has been named Musical America’s 2003 Conductor of the Year. Congrats all around! 
www.Sundance.org

12.25.02 – 1.1.03

is still at it, pushing his edgy, operatic, pop-rock anthems out into the mainstream. The last time we caught his latest band, Prick was opening for old bandmate Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nailsand David Bowie at Blossom Music Center in 1995, but that time around, distorted industrial volume dulled any appreciation of the intelligence and quirkiness of his music. This time out, Prickhas picked up Clevelanders Tom Lash on bass and Andy Kubiszewski, formerly of The Exotic Birds who went on to tour with The The, on drums. Catch Prick performing songs from their new record The Wreckard, at the Odeon on Fri 12/27 9PM 1295 Old River Road 241-5555. Or, join Kevin and his old pals Denis DeVito and Rick Christyson, both from Cats on Holiday, in an unplugged Lucky Pierre reunion, with Pepper McGowan opening, on Sun 12/29 at the Symposium, 11794 Detroit 521-9696. 
www.prickmusic.com

www.sultansofbing.com are reuniting (temporarily) with departed member Tim Askin (who left Cleve in disgust a few months ago) on Fri 12/27 at Peabody’s 2083 E. 21st St, 776-9999, along with River Junction and Aranka Fabian. 
More info here

interactive multimedia kitchen, delicious music, local fine arts, good food and spirits, and two stages featuring Bonk, Overstand, Funch, Afkar Project, Xela, DJ Fu, DJSeven, plus… Sat 12/28dinner at 6PM reservations 621-7339, Happy Dog 5801 Detroit, info: 598-1146

has honored Cleveland since he left to become one of the premiere percussionists in the world. Besides the Ohio Arts Council, he has earned multiple awards from the NEA, a Fulbright Scholarship, and he teaches world music at the Berklee College of Music in Boston and at the New School in NYC. He has invented musical instruments such as the Kohabata Drums, he gigs regularly with the Paul Winter Consort, Joe Lovano and Carly Simon, and recently toured the Middle East with oud and violinist Simon Shaheen, and performed at the World Percussion Conference in Mexico City. Give him some hometown props when he appears here with a trio of friends at Night Town, 12387 Cedar Road, 795-0550 Sun 12/29 & Mon 12/30. 
www.jameyhaddad.com

Kids 7-12 are invited to join naturalist Debra Shankland making animal masks and playing nature games, capped off with a ginger toast at noon for the new year. Thu 12/31 10:30AM to noon. Register at 440-734-6660, Rocky River Nature Center, 24000 Valley Pkwy. 
www.clemetparks.com

will be reviewed by Dee Perry on Around Noon on WCPN 90.3FM at noon on Tues 12/31 with Plain Dealer arts critic Steven Litt (www.plaindealer.com) and Community Partnership for Arts & Culture President Tom Shorgl (www.cultureplan.org). 
More info here

is always one of the top party nights of the year, along with Halloween. We always recommend staying close to home so you don’t become a target for those who are PWD (partying while driving), plus most of the “special New Year’s packages” are lame and overpriced (hint: avoid any place with a “live feed” from Times Square). Here are some highlights for Tues 12/31: Try something different at the free Kuumba Cultural Arts Festival at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame+Museum with live gospel, hip-hop and R&B, Urban Dance Collective by Cleveland School of the Arts, and African Soul Dance Troupe, plus a cultural marketplace, 11AM to 3PM 800-349-ROCK www.rockhall.com; The Phantasy and The Chamber are open together with DJs Cable, Oey, Android, & Edit, The Oracle, Creep, and a masquerade ball, 11802 Detroit, 228-6300 www.phantasyconcertclub.com; Winner of the Best New Year’s Party Name: Fuk The Tux at theFunky Buddha, 1360 W. 9th St, 776-7777 www.funkybuddhabar.com; The Beachland Ballroom has garage bands The Dirt Bombs, The New Bomb Turks and The Bassholes, 15711 Waterloo, 383-1124, www.beachlandballroom.com; The Boys From County Hell, covering only songs by The Pogues, will ring it in at The Harp, 4408 Detroit, 939-0200 www.the-harp.com; First Night Akron is a new tradition that many enlightened cities have adopted: art, rituals, festivities, all in a alcohol-free, family-oriented scene covering 30 downtown locations, including Anne E. DeChant at the Akron Civic 330-762-8568 www.downtownakron.com/firstnight.html; Give in to temptation and spend the night with Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Robert Ocasio’s Latin Project, plus DJs Jugoe, Misterbradleyp, Douglas Black & Mazi, at Cleveland Public Theatre 6415 Detroit, 631-2727 www.cptonline.org. And you might want to keep this link handy: 
www.all-about-hangovers.com

quik reviews of last week’s events

@ NewCAT 12/19 A stimulating confluence of over 400 of the city’s technology mavens and digital artists rubbed shoulders and hips and enjoyed the city’s finest digital films, animations and clips on huge floor-to-ceiling video screens while slinking to music and checking out NewCAT’s International Digital Hall of Fame exhibition. Since the event was hosted by Cool Clevelandand Association of Internet Professionals, and I was a bit “involved” shall we say, I’ll let our readers give you their reactions: “I wanted to add my congratulations on the success of last night’s event. I saw that you were busy during the festivities and am sorry our paths didn’t cross, but I much enjoyed the art, music, crowd, vibe, etc., as did just about everyone else, from what I could tell. Well done!” +++ “the party at newcat today was great, thanks for stepping up and making it happen! hanging there, i was most struck by how many people simply want to plug in, be a part of something happening, discover experiences. like i said, this isn’t an infrastructure result, it’s a ‘doing something’ result we’re looking for. right on for leading the way.” +++ “You and the music made it happen. I really had fun… Thanks again and let’s do it again.” +++ “I enjoyed your music at the NewCat party and the opportunity to meet interesting folks at the event. Not being from the area, these types of gatherings are important to reduce the feelings of isolation and “nothing’s happening” in Cleveland. I’m quite happy to see there is a push to integrate arts and technology networking. I look forward to future events you’ll be promoting. You mentioned your AIP group – I’d like to learn more, and possibly join.” +++ “thanks for the tip..i went to the digital art event last night….what a blast…i almost missed it, sure glad i didn’t……pure HEAVEN…. 🙂 Thanks!”

@ CPT 12/20 & 21 Presenting an unbelievable 29 (count ’em) acts, including a belly dancer (Melissa Bann) and a fire eater (Leather), all loosely tracing an anti-war theme. Highlights included Cuyahoga County poet laureate Daniel Thompson, Ray McNeice’s powerful tear-jerking poetry, The Ancestors, a Ukranian orchestra with dancers, Irish singer Jeanne Ulrich singing songs from the trenches of WWI, and comedian Mike Cheselka. Robert Ritchie’s appearance as Dick Head and the Viagra Girls was horrendously entertaining. Best rapper was SnubNose Jerrell Anderson. Jinni Fontana, who happened to be in the audience, made a special trip to the bandstand for her song, I Remain James, with lyrics based on her great-uncle’s WWI letters. 
Cleveland Public Theatre

feedback, quik surveys & attitude

On Athersys’ possibly bolting from Cleveland to follow co-founder Huntington Willard from University Hospitals to Duke University, and the company’s need for serious local financing if it is to stay: “Since when is a great business plan bound by geography? Although it would certainly be convenient for local financing to be available, a solid plan with the requisite ROI ought to be capable of attracting financing. Longer term though, NEOH must recognize that Biotech is a high-risk cash-intensive industry. If the local investment climate continues to be risk adverse then Cleveland may not have a critical infrastructure component required to support the vision. Sorry.”

“cleveland’s biggest problem is that folks in the region can’t see the forest for the trees. i don’t blame them; it’s tough to look at “the big picture” when you’re focused and working hard on your own (small) piece of that picture. cleveland’s assets — that is, the region’s assets — are not centrally located. the clinic and cwru are on the near east side; manco’s in lorain county; the warehouse district’s downtown; lakewood’s, well, in lakewood; huntington beach is in bay; markko, debonne, old firehouse and ferrante are in madison and points east (but their wine is DAMN good); and need i add the centrum, coventry, university circle, the rock hall (although that’s debateable at this point), rockside road and the jake and browns stadium to the mix? the problem lies in the fact that when a perfectly normal person looks out her window, she sees what’s in front and on the sides, which in hudson or lakewood or avon or euclid or lorain or medina sometimes isn’t all that much. psychologically, that can be an agent of depression or despair. and heretofor, few have had the vision to add up our assets and articulate them in such a way that clevelanders — whether they hail from bath or twinsburg or lyndhurst — can understand, internalize and finally utilize them. “cleveland the city” is a product of suburban sprawl, and suburban sprawl is the cause of “cleveland the region’s” disparate assets. but suburban sprawl is not an evil per se. it is a redirection and reconfiguration of (for lack of a better term) stuff. the failure of the media, growth organizations, and, most importantly, individuals to realize this fundamental fact stunts our pursuit of a better life. of course, this song is as old as the river is crooked to this forum’s readers.”

“I have the following comment about developing Cleveland’s lakefront: Comment true enough. Also this…… When we have visitors from out of town one of the things they see as they near downtown, either from land or lake or air is this large gaping area of empty abandondedment along the west bank of the river between the Veterans Memorial Bridge and the Hope Memorial Bridge. What’s with that? Coming in by Train from the airport it looks like a war zone in that area. I believe, through rumor, that the empty space is owned by Forest City Enterpises. Can’t we have a nice park there, or maybe a convention center??? Keep building up-river!”

“As a middle-aged white guy who usually wears a suit, I want to applaud the commentary from one of your readers who complained that our community has a tendency to recycle people like me in positions from which supposedly will come the solutions to our problems. The writer correctly noted that vibrant cities emerge from the ground up. Not only is it stupid and wrong to look for solutions solely from traditional leadership positions, it also is a cop out. Every one one of us shares responsibility for both our ills and their remedies. Every one of us can make a difference. We should all be out on the streets and get out of the suburban malls. Patronize a concert or gallery one night instead of Blockbuster. Live in the city. Shop at the West Side Market. Walk. Ride a bike. Yell at people who complain but don’t do anything about it!”

“I’d like to thank you for your energy and efforts in providing a newsletter that connects us with what’s going on in Cleveland – “The good, the bad, the ugly” 🙂 As for the newsletter – it’s a welcomed lifeline to events and news that are of interest to me. The new version is simple, maintaining some of its earlier qualities, coupled with good use of color to segment articles (promotes ease of scanning articles) and including link to articles with more than a paragraph is helpful in not being overwhelmed with text. If the newsletter grows in length, then my only suggestion is prefacing the articles with hyperlinked table of contents (which you would probably do anyway)so folks can click or scroll to areas of specific interest.”

“JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW I REALLY ENJOYED READING “COOL CLEVELAND.” YOU ARE DOING A WONDERFUL PUBLIC SERVICE. THANK YOU” +++ “Just want to let you know that I really appreciate all of the work you put into compiling this electronic news. Thanks and have a great holiday season. Peace.” +++ “just received/read Cool Cleveland for the first time… quite informative and entertaining. thanks a lot…glad to know yer still doin kewl stuff…” +++ “Having just moved back to Cleveland from NYC and have been struggling to unearth the art scene here. I know it is somewhere… it is just a bit illusive. So to the guy who is thermometering all these exciting little balls of mercury in this town, thanks and good luck!” +++ “I am proud of your good work–you are making a big difference and it makes living in Cleveland that much more fun.” +++ “Wow Thomas you are doing something for our region that is sooo needed.” +++ “What–no ragging on Scene this week? I’m disappointed in you.” 

What themes do you like? What locations would be cool? Who should be invited? Who shouldn’t be invited? Reply to Thomas@Mulready.com and make your suggestions.

before this e-letter starts to cost money, but for now, it’s free. So forward it to your friends, and send their e-mail addresses to Thomas@Mulready.com while the livin’ is easy. 

Cleveland calling, yes, I was there too. And you know what they said? Well, some of it was true. Cleveland calling at the top of the dial. And after all this, won’t you give me a smile? I never felt so much alive…

–Thomas Mulready