Higgs Boson

Yeah, it really is a big deal.


Even the mainstream press has been reporting that Scientists at CERN announced that they are 99.99% sure that they've found a new sub-atomic particle, and that it is likely to be the elusive Higgs boson. Layman have referred to it as the "God Particle" but scientists generally don't like that name.

Here is a good video explaining the theoretical particle.

Cleveland and Marines Rock

Every day during Marine Week Cleveland the Quantico Marine Band performed at Public Square.

They also performed some of their rock repertoire at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. It was surreal to see the very clean cut guys jamming on rock classics in front of the Grateful Dead sign at the Rock Hall.

Quantico Marine Band at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

More from Marine Week Cleveland

Besides the Vietnam Memorial Wall and the 400+ flags at Voinovich Park, Marine Week had a lot of other cool stuff.

For example, there was a mini-exhibit from the National Museum of the Marine Corps

There was also all kinds of vehicles, equipment and technology on display - some hands-on.   Marine technology in Cleveland.

We posted 7 pages of pictures and videos from Marine Week Cleveland  in the Veterans section of ClevelandSeniors.Com

TRS80 Model 100 Portable Computer

Way back in 1983 the Great Lakes Geek got his first portable computer. It had a great form factor, nice keyboard and useful ports.

The LCD screen was only 8 lines and 40 characters across but that seemed plenty for the text-based BASIC programs you ran on the unit.

Maybe the best part of the ahead-of-its-time unit was the built-in 300 bps (yes 300 bps) modem. It made the Model 100 a favorite of journalists who could type about 10 pages of text into the unit and then plug into a phone line and upload their columns to the main office. 300 bps sounds excrutiatingly slow but when you just transferred ASCII character and plain text, it was surprisingly useful. The Geek spent a lot of time on the old Cleveland Freenet with that device.

The Great Lakes Geek recently uncovered his old Model 100 and shot this video of it. Ah, memories.

Hungarian meat

Ever wonder about some of the strange sounding meats in the ethnic butcher shop? Blood Sausage, Head Cheese, Klobasa - what exactly are they? And what makes Hungarian pigs, Mangalitsa Pigs, so unique? 


Tom Ratoni-Nagy was one of the judges in the annual Hungarian Goulash (Gulyas) Cook-Off and he explained some of the meats in this video.

Bratislava Mayor in Cleveland

Cleveland Ohio and Bratislava Slovakia are sister cities.  Bratislava Mayor Milan Ftacnik visited Cleveland last week and besides seeing the statue of General Milan R. Stefanik, he toured the Slovak Cultural Garden and spoke at a CCWA event.

 He was accompanied by the U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia Theodore Sedgwick.

 Cleveland Slovak George Terbrack showed the Slovak Cultural Garden in Cleveland Ohio to Bratislava Mayor Milan Ftacnik.  The Garden has busts of Slovak poet Ján Kollár and Stefan Furdek.  Mayor Milan Ftacnik helped plant a larch tree in the Garden.

Mayor Ftacnik in Slovak Garden

US Ambassador to Slovakia Theodore Sedgwick and Bratislava Mayor Milan Ftacnik spoke about some of the highlights of the relationship between the US and Slovakia at a Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA) meeting. 

Mayor and Ambassador at CCWA

General Milan R. Stefanik

If you take a wrong turn on MLK behind the Art and Natural History Museums, you will see a little island in all the traffic at MLK and Jeptha.  The island is small and barely has room to host the large statue of General Milan R. Stefanik.

General Milan R. Stefanik is a Slovak hero who died young and was memorialized with the statue in Cleveland in 1922.

As the surrounding real estate gets more crowded (and valuable) plans are to move the statue, hopefully to the Slovak Cultural Garden.

Bratislava, Slovakia  Mayor Milan Ftacnik visited the statue on June 16, 2012.  He had some interesting words to say in this short video we shot in front of the statue of the General.

Photos, video and more from the General Milan R. Stefanik statue

Juneteenth in Cleveland

Juneteenth was celebrated in the African American Cultural Garden in Cleveland on Sunday June 17, 2012.

President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863 but in parts of the South, slavery continued. Juneteenth commemorates June 18 and 19, 1865. June 18 is the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves.

Juneteenth has been mostly a Southern event but it has been spreading in recent years.

 Juneteenth in Cleveland - photos and videos

400+ Flags at Marine Week

It is also very inspiring to walk through the 400+ US Flags at Marine Week in Cleveland.  In the front there are a few special flags - POW/MIA, etc.

With the wind coming off Lake Erie, the flags are all flying, not hanging, so it's very powerful.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall

The largest replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall is on display at the Marine Week celebration in Cleveland's Voinovich Park.  It is an emotional experience to walk past name after name after name after name... of young people who lost their lives.


It was especially moving to see a memento left in front of one name of a West Tech high school graduate who lost his life.  So many and so young.

Drumline!

Terrific drumline drum competition between Glenville and CMSD HS students at last week's African-American Festival in Cleveland.

Turn your speakers up, click the icon to make it full screen and have a blast!

Drum competition pics and video.

These kids are great!

Over 450 people attended the Cleveland International Hall of Fame inductions.  There are 6 pages of photos of attendees here. 

Who do you recognize?

Mother Teresa - bringing people together

Long after death, Mother Teresa is still bringing people together.

An intercultural group of people came together on May 30th to raise funds for the Mother Teresa statue in the Albanian Cultural Garden as well as to meet new friends and have some fun.

The event was created by immigration attorney and author Richard Herman, City Councilwoman Dona Brady and Federation Of India Community Associations of NE Ohio (FICA) president Asim Datta.

Over $70,000 has already been raised. The group joined forces to raise some additional funds to finalize the bronzing of the statute of Mother Teresa -- the most famous Albanian to touch the hearts of so many around the world.

 Pictures and videos

Great Lakes Geek Contest

The 10' guitars were back at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum - at least for a few days.

As you watch the following two videos that show all the guitars at Guitarmania, pay close attention for a mispronunciation error by the Great Lakes Geek. For an average person, the mistake would be no big deal but for the Geek it stands out. Be the first to identify the mistake and win a cool prize.
 



Did you catch the non-Geeky mistake? The first one to let us know wins.

Senior Softball

Did you know that Senior softball is currently the fastest growing senior activity in the world?

Two huge tournaments are coming this June to Barberton Ohio. 

Eighty-two senior softball teams ranging in age from 50 years to 75 plus will be visiting Barberton, Ohio in June to participate in a pair of Softball Players Association (SPA) national senior softball tournaments.

More details on the Senior Softball Tournaments

Asian Festival this weekend

This weekend May 19-20 is the 3rd annual Asian Festival. This has become a must-do event with activities, fun, entertainment, food and more for all ages. Bring the entire family (except the dog or other pets). The event is free and open to the public.

Visit the Cleveland Asian Festival website for more details and to get more information. Download the 80 page Program Booklet now and make your plans for the weekend in advance. There is something for everyone.

Don’t miss the Cleveland debut of Instant Noodles Dance Crew from MTV's America's Best Dance Crew who will be performing both days.

Parking is easy (around the event or at the CSU lot at East 24th street.) The weather is supposed to be beautiful so come be a part of Cleveland history as 50,000 people are expected over the 2 days.

ClevelandPeople.Com is a proud media sponsor of the Asian Festival.

See you there!

Free Laplink Software today

Tuesday May 15th Laplink Software is celebrating its 29th year of creating quality software. For 29 years, Laplink has proudly led the charge in developing new migration and syncing software. But we wouldn’t be where we are now without the help and support of our loyal customers and fans, some of whom have been with us since 1983.


We’re not just commemorating our 29th birthday as a company, but also the people that have made Laplink what it is. That’s why we are giving away PCmover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant for FREE.


And Laplink’s birthday celebration doesn’t end there. Throughout the month of May, Laplink is offering special daily deals, weekly prize giveaways – and one lucky winner will bring home a Lenovo laptop on June 1. Entering to win is easy; check out our Laplink Turns 29 page for more details.

Diversity Center 10th Annual Walk, Rock & Run!

The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio held its 10th Annual Walk, Rock and Run on Saturday May 5, 2012.

Walk, Rock & Run unifies communities across Northeast Ohio while raising awareness of diversity issues.

The event started and ended at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Participants chose either a 3 mile walk or a 5k run. Then they enjoyed a big party with music, prizes and food at the Rock Hall.  Check out photos. 

Lithuanian Scouts

The Catholic Lithuanian community welcomed Bishop Rimantas Norvila of Lithuania to their parish, St. Casimir during their annual Scouts Festival.

Booths at the craft fair sold everything from beautiful hand carved crucifixes to baravykai (mushroom cookies).

The riestainiai (roughly translated to "little bagels") were very popular and worn around the neck.

More from the Lithuanian Scouts Festival and Bishop Rimantas Norvila visit

Cleveland International Hall of Fame

Last chance to get tickets for the induction dinner for the 2012 Cleveland International Hall of Fame.

The induction dinner ceremony will be held Wednesday May 9, 2012 in the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott at Key Center.  More info.

 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum President and CEO Terry Stewart will give the keynote address.

 Learn more about the inductors and inductees

 Almost 90 people were nominated for this honor. Congratulations to the Class of 2012! (alphabetical order)

•  Jose Feliciano Inducted by Alex Machaskee 
•  Ken Kovach Inducted by Dick Russ
•  Milton Maltz Inducted by Sam Miller
•  Mary Rose Oakar Inducted by Dr. Wael Khoury 
•  Fr. Jim O'Donnell Inducted by Jack Kahl 
•  Vlad Rus Inducted by Councilman Joe Cimperman
•  Dr. Jaya Shah Inducted by Ratanjit Sondhe 
•  Anthony Yen Inducted by Margaret Wong