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!

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

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.

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

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

What were you doing at age 14?

I certainly didn't have the accomplishments of young Arianna Korting.

She's already played Carnegie Hall!



Read more about this amazing young Cleveland Woman

Where is this briefcase?

Where in downtown Cleveland would you find this briefcase?


Give up?

The Ten Cannots

This has been making the rounds in e-mail lately.

William J. H. Boetcker (1873 – 1962) was an American religious leader and influential public speaker.

The Ten ‘Cannots’
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage by destroying men's initiative and independence.
And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

Oh say can you seeeeeeeee

Nobody sings the National Anthem like Rocco Scotti. It seems Rocco was always doing the anthem when I went to Tribe games back at Municipal Stadium. I haven't seen much of him since the Indians moved over to Jacobs Field, now Progressive Field.

So it was great to catch up with him in this profile on ClevelandSeniors.Com

Even better was the short audio message posted that includes Rocco belting out the first couple lines of the Anthem. He's 89 now but he still has the pipes!

March Math Madness

How many games in the NCAA tourney? Assuming we don’t count the play-in game for the 64th spot you can count up 32+ 16+ 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 and get 63.

It’s easy to determine the number of games played to determine a champion in a single elimination tournament. Say there are 64 teams in the tournament. When a team loses they are out so 63 teams must lose to determine the champ. That means 63 games are needed.

In general, if there are N teams in a single elimination tournament, you need to play N-1 games to get a champ.

If you want to make sure you have a perfect bracket you’d need to do every possible combination. With the play-in game, there are 64 games played. There are two possible outcomes for each game so the possible outcomes are 2 to the 64th power or about 18 quintillion.
GreatLakesGeek.com

You say Pirohi, I say Pierogi

So what do you call them?

The good people at St. Stephen's Byzantine Church call them pirohi and they've been making them each Lent for over 20 years. We always called them Pierogi but it's all good.

See some of the people making these treats and where you can get some.

Hats Off!

I'm not much of a hat person. Even when it's cold.

I know some guys who always have a baseball cap on. Why have something on your head when you don't need to?

Women have always been more into hats. I was reminded of this at the Virginia Marti Millinery Show this week. They must be fashionable because they sure aren't practical!

Check out some more hat pics from the event.

Rock on Cleveland!

I have a long history with live music in this town. Nothing says Cleveland or rock and roll to me as much as a live band in a neighborhood bar that has character, not cookie-cutter predictability.

I'm a charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and am thrilled that the 2009 induction ceremonies are back in Cleveland. I'm also thrilled that there will be an entire week of festivities that we can all partake in.

I got excited about the week listening to Rock Hall bigwigs Terry Stewart and Joel Peresman at Landerhaven last week.

Check out the audio and pictures at GreatLakesGeek.com
But the most fun has been the reminiscing. As I was writing, I started recalling bands and clubs I used to hang out at - and some I still do. A great trip down the proverbial memory lane.

But I know my list (curse you brain cells!) is limited and I'd really like my memory to be jogged so please look at the clubs and bands I mentioned here and then tell me the bands and clubs that were your favorites (either on this blog or at the Geek article)

Rock On!

PS I just know that Joe Perry and Steven Tyler will be there to induct and jam with Run DMC!

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

First the February thaw. Then the Swimsuit issue. Forget about that groundhog in PA - spring is not too far.

It's no surprise that the issue David Letterman reveals tonight on Late Night at the stroke of midnight will be nearly 33% advertising pages "thinner" because of the economy. Still, Swimsuit 2009 fared better than at its 20th anniversary in 1984 and its 30th in 1994.

It was a powerful franchise then (thank you, Christie Brinkley and Elle Macpherson) and a mega-franchise now. Over the 45 years since Swimsuit's "modest" debut in 1964, it has put an estimated $1 billion into Time Inc.'s coffers.

See the SI swimsuit covers

Hitler and the Browns

Not for the faint of heart



In case the embedding doesn't work for you

2009 Economic Forecast

I am always a little skeptical of economic forecasts. It seems that most economists, by their own admission, are what they call two-handed economists.

This means that they make a prediction and then say “on the other hand…” and make a different prediction.

Not a lot of help.

But when an economist with the reputation of Richard DeKaser, Senior VP & Chief Economist, National City Bank, speaks you should listen.

What was perhaps the best part for Cleveland and our region were the few short comments made by Paul Clark, Regional President of National City Bank now part of PNC. (Yes, that mouthful is what they call the bank now)

So many in Cleveland are/were worried about the loss of NCB’s charitable dollars to the community. Clark tried to assuage that fear.

Give Clark a listen and see what DeKaser predicts for 2009.

One interesting note stood out. DeKaser said we need to give a stimulus check to those who don’t pay taxes because they will spend it! The tax payers who got checks were more likely to save it or apply to bills but the non-taxpaying would spend it.

Remind me of this next time I complain

This has been around for a while I guess, but it was new to me. A short video of a guy with no arms or legs speaking to a bunch of students.

It's well worth the 2 and 1/2 minutes it takes to view the video.

Check it out

A Grammar Book for You and I (...Oops, Me!)

The good sisters at St. Margaret Mary gave me a very good start in grammar but with relaxed societal expectations, built-in spelling and grammar checkers and eagle-eyed editors at Inside Business Magazine I felt that I had lost some of my grammar chops.

In this day of short message services, texting to BFFs and a preference for speed rather than grammar in e-mail, proper grammar can make you stand out.

So I decided to be less lazy with my writing and speaking and used this book as a refresher for some of my difficult areas.

Some of the rules I learned way back when still apply - as in Effect is (usually) a noun and Affect (usually) a verb.

I was bummed that my old trick of Principal being a Pal and hence a person didn't apply but most of the other stuff either was still in the old noggin or came back pretty fast.

I posted the book review on GreatLakesGeek so check it out if your grammar ain't (grin) quite what it used to be.