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 ...

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.

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.

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

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.

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

Too hot to be an Irish Wolfhound

I felt sorry for this poor Irish Wolfhound at the Cleveland Irish Cultural Festival

It's been a hot and muggy summer and all that fur didn't help.

So he did the smart thing and found a fan.

Good boy!

President Garfield Monument

I was at a function at Lake View Cemetery and a friend, from the West Side, asked me a question. He said that since he had travelled all the way over to the East Side, he wanted to visit some other areas he had heard of.

He wanted to know where Little Italy and Coventry were.

I told him to go right about 1/4 mile for Little Italy and left 1/4 mile for Coventry. He was amazed.

Often we take things for granted that we are familiar with just because we see them all the time. If you have never seen the President Garfield monument at Lake View Cemetery, it's really worth a visit. The monument is huge - 180' and the statue inside is larger than life and kind of spooky.

You can visit the actual casket of the President and his wife in the basement or go to the roof and see the Cleveland skyline.

See a video and photos of the Garfield Monument until you can get there yourself.

Ask me for directions if you need to.

A couple of kids

Happy Birthday to Cleveland Jewish News columnist Violet Spevack who was honored on her 95th birthday last week by over 800 friends and family.

Vi's husband turned 99 this past June but the couple puts other much younger couples to shame with their vitality and love of life.

Many more to both Vi and David.

See photos from Vi Spevack's 95th birthday party with special guest Rona Barrett.

Blaskapelle (Brass Band) Concert in the German Cultural Garden

Last Sunday was the annual Blaskapelle (Brass Band) Concert in the German Cultural Garden.

The Conrad Mizer/Karl Wolfram Memorial Garden Concert is an annual event. Conrad Mizer, a German emigre, promoted summer band concerts in Cleveland public parks. Karl Wolfram was one of the founders of the Cleveland's Cultural Gardens and was the first president of the Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation.

There is something really cool about hearing the oom-pah-pah of the German bands in the idyllic setting of the German Cultural Garden under the watchful eyes of the huge Goethe and Schiller monument.

See photos and videos of the German Music Concert in the German Cultural Garden.

As the profile begins...

There was a time, before the Internet, when reporters actually went looking for a story; talked to sources; did research and met deadlines. It wasn't even that long ago.

One such reporter was Cleveland's own Doris O'Donnell. She is an amazing woman with an even more amazing story to tell. It is the story of trips to Moscow, crime scenes and suspense. It is the story of her venture into a male dominated world of smoke filled rooms and back room deals.

This is one of the most interesting profiles we have done on ClevelandWomen.Com or ClevelandSeniors.com

Check out Doris O'Donnell.

Sweet Jane

Sad to hear that Jane Scott, Cleveland's Oldest Teenager, passed away on July 4, 2011 at age 92. She started working at the Plain Dealer in 1952 and continued until she retired in 2002.

Read the official profile of Jane Scott.

I remember once when she asked us about reggae at a Peter Tosh show at the old Front Row. Tosh came out smoking a spliff the size of a banana. At the intermission, Jane asked us all kinds of questions about reggae and it made her column the next day.

I ran into her at a lot of concerts and media events and she was always so eager to be part of the action. A great trait!

She was one of a kind.

I am sure she is interviewing Hendrix, Morrison, Joplin and others right now.

Kill the Irishman - the Danny Greene story

Over the summer of 1976, thirty-six bombs detonate in the heart of Cleveland while a turf war raged between Irish mobster Danny Greene and the Italian mafia.

Like many other Clevelanders, I have my own memories of Danny Greene. He was always very nice to my grandmother and other family members. I remember the green pens he would hand out and the Irish flag flying over his Collinwood home.

Lots of other memories too that I am not going to post in the blog (for now at least)

Lyndhurst Police Chief Rick Porrello wrote the book that became the movie Kill the Irishman.

Read the Rick Porrello interview

Enter the contest to win a free DVD of Kill the Irishman

Hot in Cleveland

My sister Debbie was down at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for the big red carpet event when the cast of Hot in Cleveland visited.

She has a write-up and some terrific pictures at Hot in Cleveland on ClevelandWomen.Com

The ladies - Betty White, Valerie Bertineli, Jane Leeves and Wendy Malick (in photo above)- were greeted by enthusiastic fans and a horde of media.

I am not really the intended demographic for the TV show but when I have watched it was funny and Cleveland came out looking good.

Army Birthday

I guess I never really associated Flag Day with the birthday of the US Army but I learned better last Tuesday.

The Joint Veterans Commission of Cuyahoga County presented a special event at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

Along with a Flag Day celebration they honored the US Army on its 236th birthday and also held a Naturalization Ceremony for new US citizens.

It was an inspiring event and the pride in the faces of the new citizens (from about 20 different countries) was evident.

Check out the Flag Day celebration and Happy Birthday Army!

I'm Baaaack - from the Hall of Fame

OK, it's been too long since I last posted. Thanks for those who checked in to see what was up.

The main reason is that we have been swamped with the 2nd induction of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame.

On May 11, 2011 we had almost 450 people in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott at Key Center for the induction dinner ceremony.

As much as we enjoyed Sterle's last year for the inaugural induction, this event was really something.

The class was amazing. 9 diverse people who have made substantial and lasting contributions to our region.

The inductors were special and some of the pairings (Rock Hall CEO Terry Stewart inducting Polka King Tony Petkovsek, Congressman Louis Stokes inducting Rev Dr Otis Moss Jr and Sam Miller inducting Albert Ratner, for example) were described as 'delicious.'

The keynote was by Forest City Co-chairman Sam Miller. Wow.

So finally the photos and video from the Cleveland International Hall of Fame are posted on ClevelandPeople.Com.

About 12 pages so check them out when you get a chance.

And expect to see more regular postings from yours truly. Thanks for your patience.

Jellybeanville and Eggshell Land

There are two really excellent Easter displays within about 10 minutes of my house. Eggshell Land is in Lyndhurst and Jellybeanville is in Euclid.

Both displays cost a lot to create and maintain but the creators say they love to bring smiles to the faces of children and their families.

You can donate to the Bellflower Center to prevent child abuse at Jellybeanville.

Kudos to Steve Kaselak at Jellybeanville and Ron and Betty Manolio of Eggshell Land.

Both are worth a visit

Interfaith Seder

The 8th Annual AJC (American Jewish Committee) inter-faith Diplomatic Seder was held at Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple.

Rabbi Joshua Caruso led the ceremony with enthusiasm and passion. He told how the feast of Passover was both a celebration of freedom and a memory of slavery.

Along with the readings, music and other traditions and festivities there was a time for personal stories.

Peggy Zone Fisher told of her mixed marriage - she is Catholic and her husband Lee Fisher is a Jew. She also told of how her west side family supported Carl Stokes in the 1960's and paid the price for it.

The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. gave a powerful (as always) 5 minutes on some of his experiences in the South. What an orator!

Check out the pictures and videos from the Seder.

New Tri-C Scholarship

Margaret Wong, Jerry Sue Thornton and Judy Wong


Margaret W. Wong knows first hand how important a scholarship can be to an immigrant (or child of immigrant) student. She was in that position herself when she came to the United States. Margaret used scholarships to complete her education which led to the establishment of her world-renown Margaret W. Wong & Associates law firm.

The Cuyahoga Community College Foundation announced the Margaret W. Wong Scholarship Fund at a special reception at Ms Wong's building. "The Cuyahoga Community College Foundation is pleased to announce the establishment of the Margaret W. Wong Scholarship Fund for support of immigrant students and their children. This scholarship will provide access to education for both immigrant students and students who are children of immigrants who may not be able to begin or continue their educations without additional financial assistance."

Ms Wong donated $100,000 to set up the scholarship.

Pictures and video from the event