Thursday, April 30, 2009

The way things work


The current economic conditions are forcing companies to make hard decisions. There is a risk we may have to lay off Andre.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Employee Happiness Kit

Due to the hard economic times and otherwise depressing state of the world today, all personnel will now be required to at least look happy while working.
Company-approved supplies will be provided to each employee at little or no cost.


Check out the Employee Happiness Kit

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Cleveland Cavaliers spoof Heineken commercial

The Cavs are sure having fun this season. Just don't let it interfere with the One Goal (like in the 4th Q of Game 2!)


Monday, April 20, 2009

Mike Brown - NBA Coach of the Year

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown has been named the winner of the Red Auerbach Trophy as the NBA Coach of the Year for the 2008-09 season, the NBA announced today.

Brown received a total of 355 points, including 55 first-place votes out of a possible 122, from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.

Brown directed the Cavaliers to an NBA and franchise-best 66-16 (.805) record. With the 66 victories, Cleveland became just the 12th team in NBA history to win 66 or more games in a season. The Cavaliers also posted a 39-2 (.951) record at The Q, which tied for the second-best home record in league history. Their 27-14 (.659) road record tied for the second-best road record in the league this season.

“Mike Brown is one of these rare people that has nearly every tool in his tool box. He is smart, hard working, and selfless. He is curious and hungry to learn. He is philosophically driven and derives his decision making from his strong philosophy. Mike is a man of character and integrity. He is a natural leader and has a ‘magnetic charisma’ which automatically attracts people to him and his message. He has stuck to his ‘defense first’ strategy when it would have been much easier not to. As a human being, Mike treats everyone with respect no matter who they are or where they come from,” Cavaliers Majority Owner Dan Gilbert said.

“Mike Brown is a critical element as to why our franchise is growing into the kind of success we all envisioned and hoped to achieve. I believe I speak for the entire Cleveland Cavaliers organization from players, to Mike’s staff, to our front office, from the business side and the people that work the games themselves, in conveying how excited and thrilled we are for Mike Brown and his family that he has been awarded ‘Coach of the Year’. There is no man more deserving and it proves to the world that, yes, nice guys CAN indeed, finish first.”

Cleveland improved its win total by 21 games from 2007-08 (45-37), tying the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers in NBA history for the second-largest improvement in wins of all teams that won at least 45 games in the previous season. Brown also oversaw NBA bests in terms of improvements in field goal percentage (from .439 to .468), three-point percentage (.358 to .393) and defensive field goal percentage (.455 to .431). The Cavs upped their points per game average from 96.4 to 100.3, the fifth-largest improvement, and lowered their points allowed from 96.7 to 91.4, the fourth best, in 2008-09.

For the first time in franchise history, Cleveland led the NBA in points per game differential (+8.9). The Cavs defense also allowed the fewest points per game in the league (91.4), the lowest opponent three-point percentage (.333) and the second-lowest opponent field goal percentage (.431). The Cleveland defense held opponents under 100 points an NBA-high 63 times (the Cavs were 56-7 in those games).
On the offensive end, Cleveland’s three-point field goal percentage (.393) ranked second, their field goal percentage of .468 ranked sixth and their 12.7 turnovers per game were the sixth-fewest in the NBA and lowest in franchise history. The Cavs won an NBA-best 41 games by 10 or more points.

Brown earned Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honors on three different occasions this season: in Dec. 2008, in Feb. 2009 and in March 2009, when he led Cleveland to 16 victories, tying the NBA all-time record for most victories in any month. At 39 years, 24 days old, he became the fourth-youngest coach to lead a team to 60 wins in a season. He joins Bill Fitch (1975-76) as the only head coaches in franchise history to receive the coach of the year award.

In four seasons as the head coach of the Cavaliers, Brown has a .643 regular season winning percentage (211-117), the best in franchise history and third among active coaches (Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich). The Cavs are one of just four teams (Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio) to have won at least 45 games in each of the last four seasons. Brown has led the Cavs to the postseason in each of his four seasons in Cleveland and reached at least the second round of the playoffs in each of the previous three seasons (one of just three teams to accomplish the feat along with Detroit and San Antonio). With a 27-20 (.574) record in the playoffs, Brown has the highest winning percentage and most wins of any head coach in Cavaliers history.

Wearing High Heels

I have never understood how women are able to walk around in high heels. I know we all do things to conform to societal standards but high heels seem incredibly uncomfortable and unstable.

Yet I continue to see women running (!) through downtown to make an appointment or catch a bus in these long pointy contraptions.

Women get it. Guys don't.

That may be the selling point of the book The Chic Entrepreneur: Put Your Business in Higher Heels by Elizabeth W. Gordon

The tagline ‘Learn how to take your business from flats to stilettos’ is a good summary but the book is not all girly-girl fluff. The author says you have to “combine style with industriousness.”

Read a review of the book from ClevelandWomen.Com

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Healthy Food at an Indians game?



Hot dogs, nachos, popcorn and other such foods are common at the ballpark. But they aren't the most healthy food choices you can make.

Until now you didn't have a lot of options if you wanted healthier snacks while watching the Cleveland Indians.

In 2009, you are able to choose healthy, and delicious, food items at Progressive Field as the Tribe teams up with Cleveland Clinic.

Go Tribe and pass the Baba ghanoush!

See more & Listen to Cleveland Clinic Chef Jim Perko

LeBron James and the Cavs - this is the year


First time in my long suffering Cleveland sports lifetime that we have the best team in the league as we go into the playoffs. OK, a case could be made that the 1995 Indians were the best but this is clear cut.

Lots of good banners/murals at the Q. Take a look.

Go Cavs!

Friday, April 17, 2009

Hidden Cleveland Treasure

As a born and bred Clevelander (still have the 'Cleveland - you've got to be tough' T-shirt) I am always surprised when I discover some place I've never been or even heard about.

That's what happened when I found the very cool Ukrainian Museum-Archives in Tremont.

The Pysanky (beautiful, intricate Ukrainian Easter Eggs) are cool of course but there is so much more than that at the Museum.



And it's free!

Check it out at ClevelandPeople.Com

How does it stay in tune?

The bandura is a Ukrainian stringed instrument. I came across a bandura at the Ukrainian Museum in Tremont while doing a story for ClevelandPeople.Com.



As a (garage-band) guitar player, I know it can be difficult to keep 6 strings in tune. This bandura has 52 strings!

Look for more from the Ukrainian Museum (a hidden Cleveland treasure) coming up next week at ClevelandPeople.Com where we celebrate the numerous ethnic groups that make Cleveland special.

Look for the ClevelandPeople.Com photo of the week too.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Kiss of Death for Zydrunas?

Oh no! Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas is the recipient of the fourth annual Austin Carr Good Guy Award, presented by the local chapter of the Pro Basketball Writers Association (PBWA).

Z is a great guy and deserves the award but the previous winners were:

2007-08 – Damon Jones
2006-07 – Drew Gooden
2005-06 – Larry Hughes


None of those guys are with the Cavs (or doing very well)

Gulp!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Conficker still a threat - easy way to test your PC


Mark Minasi sent this on. Joe Stewart, a fellow who's part of a group of concerned souls called the "Conficker Working Group" -- mostly big-name security and Internet infrastructure folks -- realized that because one of Conficker's side-effects is to block your access to certain security sites (Conficker's creators didn't want you down- loading anti-Conficker tools from those sites), he could build a non-blockable way of testing for infection.

How? It's a great idea: he put together a Web page containing links to several images from those blocked-if-you're-infected sites. See it and test your system

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Funny Easter Pictures


See more funny Easter pictures

No more secret ballot?

No matter what your politics, the secret ballot should be held sacrosanct in the US. The secret ballot lets people vote how they want without fear of intimidation or retribution. It’s the American way.

As Steve Forbes says in this podcast, removing secret ballots is “more of a Soviet style way of doing a union election.”

In this snippet from a conference call, Steve Forbes focuses on the two most glaring problems with the Employee Free Choice Act which he calls the Employee Forced Choice Act, the removal of the secret ballot and the binding arbitration clause.

Small business owners constantly make changes and adapt – they have to. They are independent thinkers who move and react quickly to compete with larger companies and in a global economy. How many can survive two years of government mandated orders dictating the wages, salaries, benefits, vacations, etc in their workplace? Two years can be an eternity to a small business. Learn more about the EFCA.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

I don't understand

According to ClevelandWomen.Com, these are the Top Ten things only Women understand:

10. Cats' facial expressions.
9. The need for the same style of shoes in different colors.
8. Why bean sprouts aren't just weeds.
7. Fat clothes.
6. Taking a car trip without trying to beat your best time.
5. The difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white, and eggshell.
4. Cutting your hair to make it grow.
3. Eyelash curlers.
2. The inaccuracy of every bathroom scale ever made.

AND, the Number One thing only women understand:

1. Other Women

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Bruce Springsteen exhibit at Rock Hall

I don't listen to any Boss but... Bruuuuce. Those were common t-shirts at the preview party for the Bruce Springsteen exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland on Tuesday March 31, 2009.

The exhibit is now open to the public and takes up floors 4 and 5 of the Rock Hall. From Bruce Springsteen's motorcycle to the guitar he used on (as featured on the cover of)Born to Run, the exhibit is a must-see for fans of the Boss.



See more photos from the Bruce Sprinsgteen preview party at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Wine & Gold make Green

The Cleveland Cavaliers will participate in the inaugural “NBA Green Week 2009” April 2nd through April 10th to highlight the league’s increasing involvement in environmental initiatives.

Fast Facts About How The Q and Cleveland Clinic Courts are Going Green:

Talkin’ Trash. The Q collected over four tons of recyclable materials in 2007-08 and is on track to exceed that tonnage during the 2008-09 season. In cooperation with Allied Waste Management and an assist from Cavs fans, we will continue to be progressive in our greening recycling efforts.

Drink responsibly! Beverages at The Q are served in corn plastic cups that biodegrade in one to five years. Concessionaire ARAMARK, transitioned its beverage serviceware throughout the arena from traditional plastic to corn plastic.


See the rest of the Green Cavs news