Hail to the Chief

OK, it was the Chief of Serbia but it was still exciting.

Before his trip to speak at the United Nations last week, Serbian president Boris Tadic made a side trip to Cleveland.

A reception and private dinner were held in his honor Sunday evening at the Marriott at Key Tower. Sen Voinovich, Congressman Kucinich, ambassadors and other dignitaries attended.

Thanks to Alex Strmac for getting me in to the exclusive private dinner afterwards.

On Monday, president Tadic visited the Serbian Cultural Garden. Check out the pictures and video from his visit.

Talk like a Pirate Day

Has it been a year already? Saturday September 19th is the annual Talk like a Pirate Day.

Which means that Walk like a Pirate Day will be on Sunday

More info and some word and action suggestions

Mickey Mantle or Dr. Phil?

Let's face it. Men, in general, are less apt to talk about our health and feelings than women. And we often pay the price for ignoring health and lifestyle issues.

Maybe if a sports star discussed it with us, we would do better.

That's the gist of the book - What Would Mickey Mantle Say:
Coaching Men to Health and Happiness By Michael Samuelson.



Six men from a company softball team are described in detail and we follow them through the season via post-game get togethers. The men are of various ages and situations so they cover most of the issues that men face today.

Each chapter focuses on a particular issue, such as stress, rage, depression and suicide and after the guys "discuss" a problem we get feedback from a "virtual" Professor Edwards and Mickey Mantle.

There is some voyeuristic fun in reading about the guys problems and having #7 weigh in adds to it.

Check out my review and read more about the book (and Mickey)

Big Ben?

It hasn't been easy being a Cleveland Brown's fan for the last 15 years or so. Especially when our arch-rivals in Pittsburgh and Baltimore have had such success.

But at least we don't dress like this!



Thanks (I think) to Gary Baney for sending it

Strange Buildings

I saw the Basket Building in one of Neil Zurcher's One Tank Trip books and I'm pretty sure I saw the Ripley Museum when I was in Niagra Falls years ago.

But the rest of these strange buildings were new to me.

I love the House Attack from Austria and the Kansas City library.

Here's "The Crooked House" from Poland

Never Forget

We get so busy sometimes with our daily lives that we don't have time to reflect on things. None of us will ever forget the events of September 11, 2001 but it takes a jolt from the calendar to remind us.

Greatest Ohio State Buckeye Football Player

The latest vote at ClevelandSeniors.Com is to identify the greatest football player ever to wear the Scarlet and Gray.

Listed are Archie Griffin, Hopalong Cassady, Rex Kern and Randy Gradishar but we expect votes for Jim Houston, Jack Tatum, Paul Warfield, Chris Spielman, Tom Matte, John Brockington and others.

Note we say football player so coach Woody Hayes doesn't qualify.

You don't have to be a senior to vote. It's easy and anonympous. Vote early and often.

Otto Graham and Jim Brown

When ClevelandSeniors.com (for the 50 and over crowd) asked its visitors who should be immortalized with a statue outside the Brown’s Stadium (a la Bob Feller at the Pro) Hall of Famer Jim Brown led in the voting from the beginning.

In the last few days of voting a surge was made for Otto Graham and in the final tally, the QB beat the RB.

With almost 1000 votes, Otto Graham got 50% of the vote while Jim Brown came in 2nd with 42%. Paul Brown received 5% and Lou Groza got 3%.

Also receiving votes were Bernie Kosar, Dante Lavelli, Clay Matthews, Leroy Kelly and Gene Hickerson.

Umberto Fedeli at Corporate Club

Today's Corporate Club at Landerhaven topic was 'A conversation with Umberto Fedeli.'

It was moderated by Inside Business and Cleveland Magazine Editor Steve Gleydura.

Fedeli is the President and CEO of The Fedeli Group, one of the largest privately held insurance brokerage firms in Ohio. Of course if Fedeli was just an insurance firm officer, the room would not have been packed with a dozen or so local mayors, State Senator Tom Patten and former US Senator Mike DeWine.

Gleydura, and later the audience, asked questions on a variety of topic but when the topic of healthcare came up, the room came to life. Fedeli has strong opinions about healthcare and other issues and the business audience was supportive.

Read more about the event.

Squires's Castle

When is the last time you visited Squire's Castle?

It's one of those things where if we were visiting another city we'd make sure we went to see it but since it's close to home, we forget about it.

It's a great place to picnic and hang out. The Federation of India Community Associations(FICA) recently had their annual picnic there and it was a blast.

Squire's Castle has a lot of history and of course legends have spring up around it. Especially about the ghost of Rebecca Squire haunting the Castle.

There is more info and some pictures here on ClevelandSeniors.Com.

But if you are local, take the short drive and visit it in person. It's worth it.

New Slovenian Consul

It may not seem like big news but it is a big deal.

Did you know that Cleveland has the largest population of Slovenians outside of Slovenia?

Because of that, we get a Consul General of the Republic of Slovenia hosted here in Cleveland, with consular jurisdiction over the states of Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

On August 22, 2009, The Republic of Slovenia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs relieved Consul General Dr. Zvone Žigon from his official duties in Cleveland, OH. Dr. Žigon completed his four-year diplomatic term. Dr. Žigon was a great guy and will be missed.

Taking over is Mr. Jure Žmauc. Get more details in the Slovenian section of ClevelandPeople.Com

What heritage are you?

I am always surprised when I do the monthly web statistics for ClevelandPeople.Com

From the population of Cleveland, I would expect the most visited groups would be German, Irish, African-American, Italian, Jewish, Hungarian, Polish, etc.

But it often is completely different.

In August the most visited groups were

#1 Filipino
#2 Irish
#3 Korean
#4 Indian (Asian)
#5 Bavarian

I guess I can understand why. We have some great videos of dancers at the Filipino Festival, pics and video from the Indian Picnic at Squire's Castle and it's almost Oktoberfest for the Bavarians.

Not eating properly?

I may not always eat the right things but I have no problem eating a lot of things. (grin)

But many older people do. If you have older relatives or are a caretaker for someone, you may be interested in the 10 Signs That Older Adults are Not Eating Properly

As the study says, "When it comes to healthy aging, good nutrition is the first line of defense in keeping seniors strong and independent, according to the results of a recent study about the effect of nutrition on older adults."