Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and all but one Cleveland City Council member (Mike Polensek) thoughtlessly voted to give $1 million cash to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for its induction dinner.

Now that’s what I call absolutely disgusting. The poor feed the rich.

From Mayor Frank Jackson!

Here's the letter:

Hello Friends,

The Fine Arts Department is pleased to present a recital of rare piano works by Franz Liszt and others given by pianist Jay Krasnow on October 18th, 2008 at 4PM. The recital will take place on the 3rd floor lobby of Main Library (Fine Arts and Special Collections) and will last approximately an hour. This recital is free and open to all ages!

In late 2006, Mr. Krasnow commenced a series of recitals of rare late-period piano works by Ferenc (Franz) Liszt and his Hungarian colleagues from the 1860's onward. Some of the pieces bear the influence of ‘gypsy' (Hungarian ‘cigany') folk songs and dances and/or may not have been recorded, published, or even performed until the early 1990s at earliest.  One such performance may well have been the US premiere of the complete cycle of ‘studies for the left hand alone' by count Géza Zichy, a friend of Liszt. 

Please join us on October 18th, 2008 for a wonderful afternoon of piano music!

I received the following from NEO's champion of immigration reform, Richard Herman, which sounds exciting. I am certainly for opening up national borders - I think any of us should be able to go and live wherever we want, whenever we want. I haven't read the policy recommendations, beyond what Richard provided, and I'm not sure a merit based point system and ""High-Skill" focus are right, but anything that opens up borders, rather than building walls, is a good thing.

http://www.realneo.org/system/files/44510003.jpg

Zoo is a funny word and an often sad place. Zoos let us look at the animals we compete against to live in this world. Somedays, it seems that we can all get along, afterall, and it can be a beautiful world for all of God's living things.

Help!

Cleveland State University, City Year, and BBC are seeking volunteers to participate in "Make a Difference Day" on Saturday, October 25, 2008. Students, faculty, and staff of Cleveland State, City Year corps members, and many others will be concentrating on the beautification of East 33rd & 35th Streets between Central and Cedar Avenues. The Central neighborhood, one of Cleveland's greatest comeback communities in recent years, has been selected as the focus area of the event.

Museum Exhibition Showcases Works of Nature Artist, Former Director

Cleveland – Cuyahoga County Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones will host a
fourth public forum to discuss the proposed Medical Mart/Convention Center
project.

The purpose of the forum is to share as much information as possible about
the Medical Mart and Convention Center projects with the public.

The forum will be:

MAMBO MUERTO!! SAVE THE DATE!

The Artists' Market SPARX 2008

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2 years ago, Norm asked, Tomorrow [Sept 15, 2006] is Software Freedom Day... what about Cleveland?

Cleveland will have an answer this year.

Cleveland Public Library announces its FREE and open to the public National Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration “Fiesta” kickoff to be held Friday September 12, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., Carnegie West Branch 1900 Fulton Road, (216) 623-2822. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Carlos Ramos, Executive Director of Hispanic UMADAOP.

If an apple a day keps the doctor away, what is the economic value to Northeast Ohio of bringing fresh, local fruits and vegetables to poor, unhealthy, underserved inner city places like The Star Neig

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Climbing PoeTree is the expression of a growing movement for radical social change. Poets,performers, print-makers, dancers, muralists, and designers, Alixa and Naima have sharpened their art as a tool for popular education, community organizing, and personal transformation. With roots in Haiti and Colombia, Alixa and Naima reside in Brooklyn and track footprints across the country and globe on a mission to overcome destruction with creativity.

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Huge props to the many artists, MCs, DJs, bboys-and-girls, organizers and 100s of real NEOans who turned out for the 7th annual City Xpressions Street Art Festival, August 23, 2008, at West 25th and Lorain, Cleveland. A perfect summer day - great happy crowd - creative vibe and entertainment - and some spectacular urban art. While there weren't as many artists as the last year I attended, what showed was diverse and often pure genius.

August 23, 2008, was the City Xpressions 2008 arts and culture festival, at W. 25th Street and Lorain... one of my favorite annual events in the region... more photos to come!

Harry Bell is a powerful urban artist, well appreciated in Cleveland and beyond. His most famous work I know is the Wall of Sorrows, recently dismantled, under controversy, and now in storage... scheduled for future re-installation. You may know his current work from cruising through Cedar and E.55th, where he is commissioned by a gas station and car dealership to create urban art on their walls, now including the work-in-progress shown above... a memorial tribute to "Houghs Angel", Fannie Lewis, rest in peace.

Did Fannie really whisper in their ears? Did she say, Stephanie Howse?

I find it hard to believe.

Boy, the “Cleveland – a Dying City” rating by Forbes Magazine really cranked up the city’s cheerleaders last Sunday, as seen in the editorial page of the Plain Dealer (which years ago for some reason dropped the name Cleveland from its name).

What was most amusing was that it was written by a trio – two of them – Joe Roman of Greater Cleveland Partnership and Dennis Roche, president of Positively Cleveland – draw salaries totaling $703,627 a year (2006 IRS figures). Roman gets $426,271 and Roche gets $303,627, both including benefits. The salary of the third, Thomas Waltermire, CEO of TeamNEO, wasn’t available.

Thanks to Sudhir, I had the opportunity to check out the Flobots at Peabody's, Sunday night. If I'd browsed the Cleveland Scene Magazine concert preview, beforehand, I probably wouldn't have bothered going. The 100s of fans who enjoyed the show agreed that would have been a mistake.