Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Kardiac Kids


Landerhaven was transformed into Browns Town on August 18 as the 1980 Kardiac Kids took the stage. Coach Sam Rutigliano and players Greg Pruitt, Mike Pruitt and Don Cockroft were led in discussion by Chanel 3's Dave Chudowsky.

They talked in depth about the 1980 season - including, of course, Red Right 88.

It's interesting to hear their opinions after so many years and their thoughts on Art Modell.

Check out the Kardiac Kids at Landerhaven

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Hurricane Irene and Internet

As Hurricane Irene prepares to batter the East Coast, federal disaster officials have warned that Internet outages could force people to interact with other people for the first time in years. Residents are bracing themselves for the horror of awkward silences and unwanted eye contact.

FEMA has advised: “Be prepared. Write down possible topics to talk about in advance. Sports...the weather.

Remember, a conversation is basically a series of Facebook updates strung together.

(Just a joke of course)

Friday, August 26, 2011

Dan Coughlin Profile


Even if you haven't run into Dan Coughlin at a bar or read the hilarious stories in his book, you can tell just by looking at him that he is a fun-loving character.

The official ClevelandSeniors.Com profile of Dan Coughlin is now up.

There is also a page of photos of Dan Coughlin with people like Don King (in photo above), Lou Holtz, Mario Andretti and Clevelanders like Nev Chandler and Casey Coleman.

He has some intersting comment about Art Modell, Lebron James and modern sports in general.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

One World Day


If you have never been to One World Day (this is the 64th) you have to go. Here are the details:

Enjoy the Cultural Gardens, the majestic Parade of Flags and more.

12 noon - 1:00 PM Free, Narrated tours of the Gardens

1:00-2:00 Re-dedication of the statue of Lesya Ukrainka in the Ukrainian Garden.

2:00-3:00 Entertainment in the Ukrainian Garden (Dancers, singers, etc)

2:00-3:30 Parade of Flags starting at the Syrian Garden

3:30 - 5:00 Posting of Flags, One World Day Opening Ceremony, Naturalization of new US citizens, Ethnic Kitchen

Free transportation around the Gardens by Lolley the Trolley all afternoon

Free parking along MLK Blvd.

One World Day 2010 Photos and Videos

Friday, August 19, 2011

Google Error

Error messages have always been cryptic and often useless for trouble-shooting.

I ran into an interesting Google error message the other day. A search results page did not come up. Instead a page with the Google logo came up with the following message:


502. That’s an error.
The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.
Please try again in 30 seconds.
That’s all we know.


"That's all we know"? It's almost refreshing in it's honesty. Still not helpful but ...

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Shared Birthday

Lots of people share their birthday (though not the year) with someone famous.

In my case, I share my birthday with the IBM PC. The IBM PC is younger though - it was introduced in 1981.

The blessing of IBM transformed the PC from a hobbyist's machine into a business machine. Soon offices all over the country would have IBM PCs on their desk, often with a screen burn in of the rows and columns of a Lotus 123 spreadsheet on the green or amber monitor.

The Great Lakes Geek reflects back in this One Minute Podcast.

Asha for Education

At the Indian Independence Day event I learned about a non-profit group called Asha for Education. Basically they collect money and volunteers work on projects to help the underprivileged in India.

It was started at UC Berkeley in 1991 and now has 12 chapters in India and 48 in US. Asha Cleveland started in 1996 and dispersed about $20,000 in 2010. It's based at CWRU. Learn more in this short video.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Glenville Parade


The annual Glenville Parade was on Saturday. It goes down East 105th from Superior to St Clair then hangs a left till 88th where the Festival begins (Sam Miller Park).

There were the usual politicians (mostly candidates for judge) but you can tell it's not a major election year because the bigwigs weren't there. They will be there next year.

Wayne Dawson was the Grand Marshall. The Shaw High School Marching Band was a highlight.

The Parade the Circle creatures (like the one in the photo) were a big hit too.

Pics and video from the Glenville Parade.

Monday, August 08, 2011

Cleveland Asian Festival


I finally posted the photos and videos from the 2011 Cleveland Asian Festival. It was a great 2 day event and over 30,000 people attended!

Great performances, food and people.

7 pages of Photos and videos from the Cleveland Asian Festival

Sunday, August 07, 2011

MS-DOS turns 30


Last week MS-DOS turned 30 years old. On July 27, 1981 Microsoft bought Q-DOS from Tim Patterson for $50,000. The onetime fee, as opposed to ongoing royalties, was a brilliant business move for Microsoft

Remember the rumors about Gary Kildall flying his plane when IBM came calling for CP/M? The Geek does.

Listen to the latest Minute with the Great Lakes Geek for a trip down memory lane.

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

Opera in the Italian Garden


I have never really acquired the taste for Opera. Some of the popular songs are terrific (Pagliacci, Carmen, Nessun Dorma, the Three Tenors, etc.) but I can't always get into the more difficult selections.

Last Sunday at the Italian Cultural Garden over 1100 of us saw a terrific performance of about 20 opera "hits" by the artists of Opera per Tutti (opera for all). That's Mezzo-soprano Paulette Penzvalto in the photo above.

It's a perfect setting for opera and people brought wine and cheese and picnics for the event.

TV personality Jan Jones was the surprise Narrator and she did a great job with some difficult Italian pronunciations.

Here are 5 pages of photos and videos of the people and performances from the Opera in the Italian Garden