OompaLoompa

Meijer was huge when I lived in South Bend, IN (Mishawaka, actually). This was almost 10 years ago though, and I had never even heard of Walmart at the time, Meijer was IT in that area. I don't know if I can compare accurately, but I thought it was a lot nicer than the (admittedly few) WalMarts I've been in since, but maybe they have gotten crappier these days.

Okay, my Toyota Corolla is on its last legs these days. It's been a good vehicle to me, I've driven it for ten years and put 175,000 miles on it and hardly had to do any maintenance on it, but even with that, it's expensive of course. And looking at the cost of buying another car as broke as I am right now, I am seriously considering going car free. I am at least going to try it for a while to see how well I can do without a car. I luckily am within walking distance of my day job, so that's not an issue. But I have some questions for you folks who have more experience in this area. First of all, so that I understand how to read the bus schedules properly, I was planning out a trip to Tremont Saturday as part of the Trolley Hop thing. I'm sure will have a ride to Tremont. We are probably eating at Ty Fun afterwards (on Professor). I have to be on E. 4th by about 11:15. When I enter my starting point and destination into the Trip Planner it tells me to get on the 81 at Professor and College Av. But if I look on the 81 timetable, that stop is not listed. If you don't have access to the internet and only have a printed route map, do you just assume there will be a stop every couple of blocks along the route and start walking until you find one? And will the bus automatically stop anytime it sees someone there, or do they sometimes do an "express" thing where they only stop at the main listed stops? Also, if I go car free one of my main obstacles is that every Friday and Saturday night I do that show at Pickwick and don't get out until after 1:00 am. Which seems to only leave me with the option of bumming rides, which I can only do so often before my fellow castmates will start to get annoyed, or take a cab. Anyone know how much the fare would be from E. 4th to about 117th and Clifton? I will have more questions and be looking for further suggestions, but that should do for now.

Anyone heard any updates on this? Marous has almost reached the 1 year deadline...

Happened to see this posted on the Detroit Shoreway CDO site: As part of its Widening The Circle Forum series, Franklin Circle Christian Church presents the compelling PBS video "Flag Wars." The event will take place on Thursday, September 28 at 7 p.m. Everyone in the community is invited to watch this 90-minute video, followed by refreshments and a moderated discussion at Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 1688 Fulton Rd. (near W. 28th). Ample parking is available. There is no charge for this event. Interested persons are invited to call Pastor Allen Harris at 216-272-0622 or e-mail him at [email protected] for more details, and to receive copies of background readings (which are strongly encouraged). For background readings and extensive interactive resources, go to: http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2003/flagwars/index.html For more information on Franklin Circle Christian Church, go to the church's website at www.FranklinCircleChurch.org. From the PBS website: “Flag Wars” is a poignant account of the politics and pain of gentrification. Working-class black residents in Columbus, Ohio fight to hold on to their homes. Realtors and gay home-buyers see fixer-uppers. The clashes expose prejudice and self-interest on both sides, as well as the common dream to have a home to call your own. Shot over four years, "Flag Wars" is a poignant 90-minute account of economic competition between two historically oppressed groups, seen through the politics and pain of gentrification. The setting could be any city with a once stable working and middle class black community, now aging and economically depressed, in danger of losing control of their neighborhoods as wealthier home buyers gentrify block by block. In this case, the neighborhood is in Columbus, Ohio and the home buyers are largely white and gay. The resulting conflicts are a case study of differences in perception. Where realtors and buyers see run-down homes, black residents see evidence of institutional racism that steered resources away from this community. What newer residents see as a beneficial effort to renovate and restore value, veteran residents see as an assault on their heritage and a threat to their ability to hold on to their homes. The events in "Flag Wars" unfold against a backdrop of racism, homophobia, and tensions between privilege and poverty. Mix in government zoning boards, the court system, lending institutions, and civic leaders, and you've got a film that literally hits people "where they live." "Flag Wars" explores the complexity of gentrification, and the contradictions between intention and result, belief and action. It goes beyond merely assigning blame or labeling people as "good guys" or "bad guys" to examine the relationship between housing, heritage, and public policy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rev. Allen V. Harris Pastor Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 1688 Fulton Rd. (near W. 28th St. just west of Lutheran Hospital) Cleveland, OH 44113-3096 Phone: 216-781-8232 ~ Fax: 216-781-0013 www.FranklinCircleChurch.org or visit: www.Disciples.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Widening The Circle For All God's Children! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah, that's definitely not happening until next year. I think they are happy to at least be finally getting the permit though, it looked like it wasn't going to happen at all. I just saw plans this weekend for an as-yet unnamed dance club that is going to be built next to P&F. The renderings looked pretty sweet. It's being developed by one of the investors of P&F, don't know his name, sorry. He plans to open in March.

The news I heard at Pickwick last night was that the Corner Alley is supposed to open in December. I'll be impressed if they can do it, it's such a huge project. Look at Lola, they are a year late, with a much smaller project. But it probably all depends on the determination, money and power of the client I guess. HOB was a huge project and went up very fast and opened on schedule.

Alright, here I am, this is our new promotional shot for the Midnight Martini Show at Pickwick and Frolic (might as well slip in a shameless plug while I'm here...). I'm the one in red. As you can see, I don't actually have green hair. Maybe someday though...

That's like asking "Why do you like chocolate?" Dunno...I just do.

I think they should emphasize that what makes Cleveland great is that it has all the diversity, arts and cultural amenities you'd want in a big city, plus great natural assets like the lake, river and parks, but what sets it apart is that it doesn't have the pretentiousness, expense and hectic pace of other large cities. "Cleveland - World class urban living for REAL people."

We get taxed extra for performing at Pickwick & Frolic. The city levies some kind of "entertainment tax" which I think was created to get revenue from big entertainers who come and perform here and make a lot of money from the local residents. I sure hope they are doing something worthwhile with the $1.50 they get out of me every show...

We used to rent a cabin at Hocking Hills every summer when I was a kid. We crammed 2 parents and 6 kids into one of those 2 bedroom cabins! And we all piled into a station wagon to get there. We were so broke...but we loved it. I remember swimming in the Devil's Bathtub, it was awesome, but don't do it when the rangers are around...

When I saw this blurb in Cool Cleveland, I was very excited: "Finally, sidewalk cafes After spending some time recently in Europe, it's obvious: this town has to loosen up and put diners on the sidewalks. The city's zoning appeals board wisely voted to override concerns about having 20' clearance on East 4th Street, a street that was recently designed to be pedestrian-friendly. An idea we saw overseas: plastic bollards that easily break away, allowing safety vehicles through, while still controlling everyday traffic. Let's use a little creativity, Cleveland. " But I come to find out that the mayor and Fire Department are appealing it, so it it's on hold again. Hey JDD, can you pull some strings over there with the FD?

I prefer "charmingly eccentric." Anyway, it doesn't surprise me there aren't many women on here. Urban planning and architecture tend to be fairly male-dominated fields, so it would stand to reason that this subject would attract mostly men. And I've been told more than once, "Eileen, you are such a GUY." So that maybe explains my presence here... If ya'll want to chat with some women in a forum, you could head over to the Dr. Phil message boards and find a veritable smorgasbord...

I hope that's true! I was thinking that would be a perfect spot for a whole foods store. Or maybe I'm biased because I live right near there....

Well, I definitely wasn't doing any heavy petting...

Was that the guy who hands out the yellow smiley face stickers that have been all over the place in the neighborhood lately? He tried to do that to me a couple days ago, I said "no thanks" and kept walkin'...he didn't chase me down luckily.

I wasn't at the performance, but I went to the Tribe game and Flannery's afterward. The combination of those two events had downtown going crazy. My friends and I sat outside to eat and there were just people and cars everywhere. I think it's one of the naturally busiest times I've ever seen downtown Cleveland. Amazing! Hey, I was sitting outside at Flannery's after the fireworks too. Downtown Friday night was very cool.

That's actually more than I had thought though. I walk by this site all the time and the same "For Sale" signs have been in the windows of the loft condos on Detroit for months. Which surprises me, because they are very nice-looking condos. Maybe no one wants to be facing the crappy Drug Mart. I didn't realize so many of the units on Newman had been sold, that's good to hear. Am I blind though? I don't even think these have been started yet, have they? Is this the spot where the old Doc Hebens was? Cuz I saw excavation work going on there yesterday.

Is there anywhere you can actually buy E85 around Cleveland?

I say close down the streets once in a while on a trial basis. Try some daytimes, some evenings, some weekends. Do minor events maybe during lunch hour - stick a few vendors out there, maybe a band or some entertainment - and observe what happens. Then the planners will have a better idea of where people do or don't gravitate, whether traffic is an issue, etc.

Yeah, I dated a guy a few years back who lived on W. 6th. It was BAD. Screaming, honking, loud thumping music, cop sirens, you name it. For hours. Every night between about 11pm and 3:30 am. I found it extremely obnoxious. If I lived downtown I definitely wouldn't want to live over a bar district. << I would imagine that if they made East 4th two way from the Windsor building garage to Euclid, then the rest of the street could be closed. Then only two retail spaces wouldn't have patio space- The corner bar, and the vacant space at the other corner. >> I think the plan presented was to keep it open to that alley that they are using for valet, and close the rest. There is concern that if there was a fire, the truck wouldn't be able to get through. But my understanding was that they took that into consideration by designing the partitions to be easily removable and so on.

I don't know about Flannery's, but Pickwick, Lola and HOB have been in negotiations with the city for months to get them to be allowed to close the street to nothing but foot traffic during the warmer months to allow for more patio dining on the street. The street was designed specifically to allow for this. You'll notice how in places the sidewalk gradates right into the street and there is no curb. The original vision was to have no barriers at all between Lola's patio, HOB's patio, Pickwick's patio and so on. Nick Kostis had visions of a street fair atmosphere all summer, with entertainment. This was to all be ready to go by May 1. But the city has been dragging its feet. I believe it's the fire department that doesn't want to okay it. Whatever happens, no barriers demarcating each restaurant's patio is definitely not going to happen because of alcohol being served. If they catch someone underage drinking or whatever, they want to be able to know where they obtained it (even though vendors somehow get away with this at a lot of fairs and festivals...). But they are still negotiating to close the street. It hasn't really been an issue for HOB, but Pickwick doesn't have much sidewalk room on its side of the street and is therefore pushing hard for this so it can have a real patio area. Hopefully they will get this going before the warm weather is gone. It will affect Lola and any other future establishments on E. 4th too.

From a performing arts mailing list that I'm on: Last Call for First Call 2007 Ingenuity Festival Hosts Showcase to Unite Northeast Ohio’s Technology Organizations and Arts Enthusiasts WHAT: In an effort to unite two of Northeast Ohio’s most vibrant business communities -- technology and art – the Ingenuity Festival presents the Ingenuity Technology Showcase. The Showcase is the first in a series of events designed to foster collaborative efforts between the two groups. Artists are invited to join local companies and organizations, including BrainMaster Technologies, NASA Glenn, Hyland Software, the Cleveland Functional Electronic Stimulation Center, Kent State University’s Liquid Crystal Institute and the Cleveland Advanced Platform Technology Center, for an evening of presentations focusing on the dynamic works taking place in the region’s technology sector. Following the presentations, artists will have the opportunity to speak with the technology organizations’ representatives to discuss how their art form could intersect with these technologies to create an art/tech installation to be featured at future Ingenuity Festivals. Co-hosted by NorTech, the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, Council of Small Enterprises’ Arts Network, Convention and Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland, and Ingenuity Festival, attending artists will also learn about efforts being made to increase the power of their organization’s mailing list; provide health insurance and other benefits to artists; employ artists to help develop a technology economy and present to the world a unified image of the arts of Northeast Ohio. WHEN: Thursday, May 11 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. WHERE: Cleveland State University Classroom UC 1 University Center 2121 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44115 REGISTRATION: Reservations are required. To register contact Mark Liang, technology showcase coordinator, at (216) 589-9444 or [email protected]. BACKGROUND: The Ingenuity Festival of Art and Technology, a 501©(3) non-profit organization, showcases the talents of Northeast Ohio’s art and technology communities through unique collaborations, as well as vibrant single elements and exhibits. The Festival director is James Levin. For more information visit www.IngenuityCleveland.com. CONTACT: Mark Liang, technology showcase coordinator, at (216) 589-9444 or [email protected]. Becky Cummings Community Outreach Coordinator & Girl Friday Ingenuity: Cleveland's Festival of Art, Culture & Technology office. 216.589.9444 Central Arts Medical Building. Suite 103 2475 East 22nd Street Cleveland, Ohio. 44115 www.ingenuitycleveland.com

There are a few, but it's really tough to make a go of it down there right now. I work part-time at Star, which is a good restaurant, but no one knows it's there, anytime I tell people I work there I just get a blank stare. No one goes there unless they are going to or coming from a show. If there aren't any shows, half the time the restaurants just close. The restaurants do a decent business lunch crowd though, and if there was some residential in that area, it would help round out the uses and activity.

I think due to the fact that it's one-way one lane traffic on E. 4th, they needed to get the valet out of the way do to the traffic backing up on the street. I don't know if that lot will stay available forever though.