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Lincoln in Cleveland
Lincoln
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Mozart: Symphony No. 36 ("Haffner") in D major, K385
Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major, K622 (Franklin Cohen, clarinet)
Mozart: Overture to The Abduction from the Seraglio
Mozart: Symphony No. 41 ("Jupiter") in C major, K551
James Feddeck, conductor
at Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls.

There are a relatively few musicians who I follow passionately enough to influence my decision to attend a concert -- virtually all of them are members of The Cleveland Orchestra. Franklin Cohen, the Orchestra's long-time principal clarinet and tonight's soloist is one of those few. In all honesty single-composer programs tend to be much less appealing to me -- had Mr. Cohen not been on the program, I probably would have gone for Sunday's concert instead.

But had I skipped tonight's concert I would have missed a sublime summer sunset with the orchestra and  four wonderful pieces  from Mozart.

It was a pleasantly warm -- but not  hot -- evening, the lawn was  full and everything was in the right place when the orchestra started out with Mozart's Haffener symphony. The program note mentions that "...the symphony had originally been intended as a second 'Haffner' serenade to be performed outdoors."and it certainly glistened in Blossom's outdoors. The first movement was festive and energetic with a feeling of an refined outdoor party while the second movement was more subdued and had a more refined feeling of an elegant affair. The final two movements of the piece moved quickly and had an excited punctuation to them.

Second on the program but the star of the show, Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with Franklin Cohen playing the solo part. It was so beautifully and cohesively played that at some point I just let my eyes drift out of focus and listened to the beautiful notes coming off  the stage. Though the resident birds kept quiet through most of the concert they added quick cheeps as accents for color. The second movement was a particularly sweet embrace between orchestra and soloist and almost brought water to my eyes. During a long pause before the third movement there was an awkward, if enthusiastic, burst of applause from the back of the pavilion. The third movement reminded me of my weekly walks with no set route in mind -- confidently striding along for a while before reaching a possible fork in the road and pondering the options before surging forward again.

Following intermission, the Overture to The Abduction from the Seragilio may be the shortest piece by Mozart that the orchestra has played at just about five minutes in performance, but it was a pleasant palate cleanser.

The last piece on the program, Mozart's Jupiter symphony was beautifully played but I had a hard time really getting deep into the music. During the second movement, though, I fell in love with the grace of the orchestra's performance acoustically, while watching a moth gracefully fluttering above the strings.

Everything came together and this is what a Blossom concert can and should be.

Lincoln
10 months ago | |
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?
Members enjoying the Column and Stripe Lounge
? Youth and Beauty: Art of The American Twenties On view now through mid-September at the Cleveland  Museum of Art is an exciting survey of the art American artist produced during the 1920s. I'll freely admit that the first half  of  the 1900s  contains many of  my favorites both in classical music and art, so it should  come  as no surprise that I enjoy this exhibition's look at the decade.

Of course, in a decade best known for prohibition and sandwiched between the end of World War I and the beginning  of the Great Depression has some exciting inspiration. The Cleveland  Museum of  Art seized upon the inspiration of the decade to offer an exciting event tonight, the Youth and Beauty Speakeasy. Column and Stripe: The new friends of the Cleveland Museum of Art roared to life with its first official event, the Column and Stripe Lounge.

The event was a clear success had an energy of excitement -- a je ne sais qouis like the first Solstice, and enhanced by the beautiful atrium. Although the population was primarily in the "young professional" bracket, people of all ages could be seen mingling and comfortably enjoying themselves while the exhibition was open for casual perusal, bars were open, and a DJ was spinning tunes, though conversations were a plenty as attendees found old and new friends alike to chat with.  
Though costumes were not required -- or really even advertised as encouraged -- a number of people, including Rachel and yours truly, were decked out in period-appropriate clothing contributing to a special feeling for the event. ?
Rachel trying her hand at 1920s Tweeting
A major attraction was an appearance by Dr. Sketchy Cleveland (Anti-Art Studio: Where Drinking and Drawing is the Norm) allowing attendees to try their talents sketching models with slightly risque takes on pieces form the exhibitions.
Outside the exhibition in the Key Bank Lobby attendees could experiment with a classic typewriter and paper scroll in "1920s Tweeting"
All-in-all it was a great social event at the museum and it was fantastic to see so many younger Clevelanders enjoying a Friday evening at the Cleveland Museum of Art -- and although the crowd had started to thin slightly as the clock ticked away the evening, there was still a good sized assortment of attendees when the museum closed at 9 PM. ?
Column and Stripe Members enjoying L'Albatros

But for Column and Stripe members the party didn't end -- The nice folks at L'Albatros hosted us for drinks and a late-night happy hour menu.
As members filtered in we took any available corner of the main bar and outdoor patio bar; as we reached critical mass a lovely back room became our speakeasy and rounded out the evening.
Due to impending travel tomorrow morning I had to excuse myself after finishing off a glass of wine but the event was still going strong.
Join us for the next Column and Stripe event -- for more information see http://www.columnandstripe.org/.
Lincoln
10 months ago | |
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Gershwin: Cuban Overture
Bernstein: Glitter and Be Gayfrom Candide (Tracy Dahl, soprano)
Gershwin:  Catfish Row: Symphonic Suite from Porgy and Bess (Bramwell Tovey, piano; Tracy Dahl, soprano)
Greshwin: Songs (Arranged by Bramwell Tovey: The Man I Love; They Can't Take That Away from Me, A Foggy Day (in London Town); Fascinating Rhythm) (Tracy Dahl, soprano)
Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Bramwell Tovey, conductor.

My adventure with classical music in general and The Cleveland Orchestra in particular began with hearing the Orchestra perform Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah) in Severance Hall not that many years ago. Largely for that reason,  I chose tonight's concert over Saturdays more "classical" programming. By Intermission I was beginning to think that I chose poorly. That feeling didn't subside before the concert came to an end.

The concert started with Cuban Overture, a musical postcard of sorts from a pre-revolution Cuba and had an immediate energy and a Latin flair that was right at home on a warm Cleveland night, but generally felt a little unfocused -- as if the orchestra wasn't fully buying what Mr. Tovey was laying down. The unfocused feeling persisted throughout the piece -- even the more slow and delicate places, and to an extent through the entire concert, though never as acutely as in Cuban Overture.

The saving grace  of  the evening was  Mr. Tovey's banter, including poking good-natured fun at the latecomers ("the piece most of you just heard") and apologizing for not having either of the composers with us ("they're now specializing in decomposing")

For the next three pieces on the program, Soprano Tracy Dahl joined the orchestra and I desperately want to find a positive, but I had a very hard time imagining her as the character whose role she was singing. Each piece she sung seemed to need a certain spunk or youthfullness, and I really didn't get a sense of that in any of them. In Glitter and Be Gay, Ms. Dahl sung the part of a "lady of the night" but I didn't get that feeling, and over-the-top vibrato was both distracting and rendered many of the lyrics almost unintelligible.

With the first two pieces behind us, Gershwin's Catfish Row suite from Porgy and Bess -- not the better known suite arranged by Robert Russell Bennett was great and full of texture. Having heard members of the orchestra, as a quartet, along with Soprano Jung Oh, preform Summertime in a recent Heights Arts House Concert, it was interesting to hear the piece with full orchestra as part of this suite, though the Heights Arts version was more compelling.

After intermission, the concert -- I almost wrote agony -- continued with four Gershwin songs with varying highlights:  A punctuated deep piano (played by Mr. Tovey)  for The Man I Love; a jazzy mood in They Can't Take That Away from Me; Ms. Dahl's best piece of the evening, and a beautiful violin solo in A Foggy Day (in London Town) and when the Orchestra overcame initial lethargy and accoustically overpowered Ms. Dahl in Fasscinating Rythm.

The concert ended with Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story which was the one I liked most from the evening: Full of a variety of textures and reasonably focused it had mystery, danger, excitement, and love intermingled and ending on a questioning note.

Linccoln
10 months ago | |
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Von Suppe: Overture to Poet and Peasant
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 22 in E-flat major, K482 (Emaunel Ax, piano)
Nicolai: Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor
Chopin: Andante splanto et Grand Polonaise brillante in E-flat major, Op. 22 (for piano and orchestra) (Emanuel Ax, piano)
Brahms: Three Hungarian Dances (Nos. 1, 5, and 6)
Encore: Dvorak _______ Dances
Jahja Ling, conductor.

To call tonight sweltering would seem to be a bit of an understatement: I think it may be the warmest and most generally uncomfortable climate-wise I can remember. The good news is that for the 2012 season, bottled water is allowed in the pavilion regardless of temperature. Though water is a steal* at $5 for a small bottle, it would have been ugly without it.

The concert began with Franz von Suppe's Overture to the Poet and the Peasant with the first part featuring a lush cello solo mentally taking me to a relaxing verdant green field with clear blue skies; the second part contrasted with the full orchestra giving a stormy feel -- much, as it may seem, for the rain interrupting the clear skies for the 4th of July concerts -- before returning to a calm feeling with both.

Somewhat rare, tonight's guest artist was actually featured in two pieces. Emanuel Ax first joined the orchestra for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22. For the first two movements there were individual moments that sparkled, but neither of the movements as a whole did anything for me. The off-beet cheeping of the sparrows in the pavilion certainly didn't help. The third movement, though, seemed to enjoy a much stronger bond between piano and orchestra and was generally more nimble.

Following intermission, Otto Nicolai's Overture to The Merry Wives of Windsor, my favorite from the evening, began with fantastic drama in the low strings, dispersing amongst the full orchestra with hints of a waltz sprinkled throughout.

Emanuel Ax rejoined the orchestra for Chopin's Andanted splanto et Grand Polonaise brillante where the piano and pianist clearly sparkled. The orchestra's role in the work was almost entirely confined to providing punctuation and spotligthing for Mr. Ax's statements.

Last on the published program were three of Brahms's Hungarian Dances. All three of the pieces had a distinct sound that I associate as being Eastern European, though my brain was occupied through much of the piece trying to put my finger on what, precisely, I thought of as Eastern European, I think it was generally a duller, deeper--slightly depressed--sound. Dance Number 5 was particularly interesting in that there were moments where it seemed almost like the orchestra was being played in slow motion, and towards the end a bit of brightness came out in something that could almost be described as a jig. Dance number 6 was the least affected with the "Eastern European" sound but was the most festive and brightest of the three, and to my ear, my favorite selection.

Mr. Ling announced the encore from the podium, but without benefit of a microphone, the middle part of the title was lost to the crowd: I can only assume that it was one of  Dvorak's Slavonic Dances. In any event, it was quite enjoyable -- lively and colorful, and a great way to end a warm evening.

Lincoln
*- That would be the orchestra's concessionaire, Aramark, stealing from the patrons lest there be any confusion.
11 months ago | |
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Barber: String Quartet Op. 11 (Composed 1938)
Riley: Half Wolf Dances Mad In Moonlight from Salome Dances for Peace for String Quartet
Gershwin: Summertime from Porgy and Bess  (Jung Oh, Soprano)
Dvorak: "American" Quartet in F major, Op. 96
Katherine Bormann, Isabel Trautwein, violins; Tanya Ell, cello; Eleisha Nelson, viola.
At the Dunham Tavern Museum Barn, Cleveland.

There are concerts where I struggle to find a piece I liked; then there are concerts where I like just about everything but I have a clear favorite. Rarely -- very rarely -- there is a concert where I love everything and to attempt to name a favorite is as pointless as trying to name a favorite finger. This was one of those concerts.

All of the instrumentalists on tonight's program are members of The Cleveland Orchestra: Familiar faces in Isabel Trautwein and Tanya Ell, and new to the Heights Arts stage, Katherine Bormann and Eleisha Nelson, viola.

The concert opened with Samuel Barber's String Quartet, opus 11 -- with its second movement being perhaps best known as the basis for the orchestral Adagio for Strings. Though the second movement, with the feeling of a tender caress of a loved one, upstages the neighboring movements, all four of the movements in this piece were gripping. After the deeply touching second movement, the third had a bit of an emotional struggle between Ms. Trautwein's violin and Ms. Nelson's beautiful viola. The fourth and final moment, seemed a bit animated and flighty by contrast.

Ms. Nelson introduced the second piece on the program, as eight minutes from Terry Riley's two and a half hour quartet, Salome Dances for Peace for String Quartet in five movements. Tonight we were treated to the last part of the first movement Haalf Wolf Dances Mad in Moonlight which Ms. Nelson promised would have some "crazy rhythms" but, she added, would be all together. And together they were. And crazy they were. Though the piece was full of repeating patterns the evolution of the sounds in the piece gave an air of suspense and mystery that became more and less imperative as if a passing shadow. It's worth noting that I think this may be the first piece from a living composer has appeared on a Heights Arts program.

Following intermission, Soprano and Heights Arts Board Member Jung Oh joined the Cleveland Orchestra members to voice Gershwin's Summertime from Porgy and Bess. From "Summertime and the living is easy..." the Ms. Oh's songbird-like rendition had me spellbound.

The program wrapped to a close with Dvorak's "American" Quartet which was positively delightful. Dvorak's Symphony 9 ("From the New World") is unquestionably one of my favorite works for full orchestra, so I had high expectations. Those expectations were met with the American Quartet, composed at roughly the same time and in Spillville, Iowa. Like From the New World there's something about the quartet that gives a distinctly American feel to the piece, but I can't quite put my finger on what gives it that sound, unlike, perhaps what may be expected from "big city" America, the American Quartet seems more introspective and thoughtful than its sibling symphony.

There was absolutely nothing not to love about this concert; it was clear that the chemistry between musicians was at full strength.

Lincoln
11 months ago | |
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[The complete program for this evening's concert is at the end of this post]
Loras John Schissel, conductor.

For each of the now eight years I've lived in Cleveland, I spent my fourth of July with Loras John Schissel and the Blossom Festival Band at Blossom Music Center -- also marking the beginning of the  Cleveland Orchestra's season at Blossom. As with last year, Rachel and I met up with her parents and brother for a picnic on the lawn before the concert started. I'm pretty sure that this was the hottest of the eight years, and from the time we started picnicking just after 5:30 until we excused ourselves to find seats in the pavilion, at about 7:30, if anything I think the temperature went up.

The program, as always, started with The Star Spangled Banner and ended with Tchaikovsky's Overture to The Year 1812 and Sousa's Stars and Stripes. The gooey filling in this musical sandwich was pleasantly varied and a lovely if sweltering evening of music.

No doubt my favorite of this evening's selections was John Williams's The Cowboys' Overture which was full of energy, well paced, and  delightfully textured. The piece conjured images of the excitement on the range, a quiet almost tender (within the confines of tender for a cowboy) evening scene, a sunrise, and even more action.

Sousa's Liberty Bell was more restrained than Williams's Overture and brought about a distinctly naval feeling, most clearly through a somewhat irregular bell clanging making me think of a ship at sea. Later in the program, Grainger's Shepherd's Hey was light and frothy, with hints of a jig. The quick-moving second part seemed almost Disney-cartoon-esque.

The sixth and seventh pieces on the program a march by Victor Herbert and Sousa's March: Nobles of the Mystic Shrine was an interesting contrast. The first seemed a clear march, and more than adequate for music you might encounter in a small town's parade, while the later had quite a bit of pomp and would have likely felt much out of place in the same parade.

The Symphonic Synthesis from Victory at Sea was an impressive piece of music and Rachel leaned over and noted that it makes her want to join a band again. (No word on when she will actually do this, however)
During intermission we checked in with Rachel's parents and a group of our friends out on the lawn -- eyeing the dark skies with lightning on the horizon we suggested that our friends avail themselves of the General Admission seating in the pavilion. As Intermission ended, Mr. Schissel returned to the stage with two announcements -- one encouraging those on the lawn to feel free to migrate to the pavilion, and the other was never made because at that moment the skies opened and the lawn disappeared from behind an impenetrable fog of rain and a mass of people streamed into the pavilion.

Once the human element was settled back down, the concert picked up with Mancini Magic which was interesting, but largely drowned out by the sounds of the downpour.

A tremendous thunderclap punctuated Mr. Schissel's introduction of narrator's Robert Conrad and Harold Walters, Duty, Honor, Country, and smaller thunderclaps followed -- almost as if the heavens were announcing the approval of tonight's concerts.

Lincoln
The program (as performed):
Key/Smith/Sousa: The Star Spangled Banner
Williams: Overture: The Cowboys
Sousa: Liberty Bell
Grainger: Colonial Song
Grainger: Shepherd's Hey
Herbert: Gold Bug
Sousa: March: Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
Rodgers: Victory at Sea, Symphonic Synthesis
Van Alston: In the Dark
Anderson: Sleigh Ride
Sousa: Semper Fidelis
Mancini: Mancini Magic
Walters: Duty, Honor, Country, Robert Conrad, narrator
Traditional: March-Past of the United States Armed Forces
Tchiakovsky: Overture: The Year 1812 
11 months ago | |
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The Cleveland Museum of Art's  Summer Solstice is the hottest party of the year. Now in the fouth year it is perhaps the most inclusive as well with people ranging in age from late teens to earily centenarians and clothing ranging from T-shirts and jeans to the height of formal wear.

Unfourtunately, this year didn't have the same level of excitement and verve as the last three, and almost had the freeling that the event had gone coroprate. The first two Solstices were clear celebrations: The first celebrating the opening of the East Wing galleries,  the second celebrating the opening of gelleries in the lower level 1916 Building. The 2011 Solstice didn't have a clear celebratory focus but was nontheless a fun celebration of art with artists performing and working the crowd creating a cool energy, and light food scattered around. I didn't get that fun vibe from tonight's solstice -- the only food was by way of food trucks, I don't recall seeing any artists on the museum's grounds. Nor were there other activities, such as the variations on a "scavenger hunt" theme that provided a interesting way to occupy time for Solstices 2 and 3.

For the first time my expectations were not met, and not met by a large margin. It seems like the singular focus of this solstice was music, and that just doesn't captivate me without some visual connection.

That's not to say that it wasn't enjoyable, it just wasn't as enjoyable as the first three. Rachel and I scoped out the grounds and chateed with coworkers and friends spanning a good 40 years in age. The highlight, for me, of the evening was seeing the atrium now that the "shed" enclosing the escalators in the East Wing and protecting visitors from the atrium construction has been removed, for the first time allowing a view of the full atrium.

The Youth and Beauty exhibition, which officially opens tomorrow and celebrates art of the 1920s was also quite attractive, and a period I particularly like. It was interesting -- if slightly irreverant -- to tour the exhibition with a group of four friends all in varying degrees of "slightly buzed" and attempting to interpert both artists motives and models expressions. I know this is an exhibition that I'll be visiting frequently through it's run.

And of course, tonight's Solstice was the long-awaited official launch of Column and Stripe, the new friends of the Cleveland Museum of Art. At about 11:30 we took over the walls of the 1916 for a short but very cool video piece (I'm told it will be posted on the http://www.columnandstripe.org/ website on Monday

The party contined late into the morning, but with Rachel's feet killing her and mine threatening suicide, after 5 hours we bid adieu to our friends and headed for home.

It seems that Solstice has unfourtunately evolved from a multi-dimensional art-and-museum celebration into an event with a singular focus on music and a side of "see and be seen", which is sad and particularly baffling in the context of the Cleveland Museum of Art. While in previous years the event has tied into the museum's collections and galleries and provided inspiration for the kind of excitement art can foster, this year's Solstice seemingly had no tie-ins whatsoever; it might as well have been at an annonymous fairgrounds; I'm not sure anyone would have noticed the difference. And they probably would have served Red wines.

Lincoln
11 months ago | |
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I realized it's been a while since I've posted on my progress with the violin. For those just joining us (or joining us in the roughly year since the last time I posted on the subject: I've been attempting to play the violin for about two and a half years now.

Inspired by the artistic mastery of the members of the Cleveland Orchestra and feeling the need for a hobby to take me away from what occasionally feels like an all-encompassing career: My criteria was "something that doesn't require electricity" and long calling the violin my favorite instrument [actually, I'm a fan of all of the string instruments...and a cello in the right hands can be amazingly therapeutic] I figured that was the place to start.

I wound up buying a violin kit off of eBay for $0.99 (plus $40 in shipping an handling) and it is not the best instrument -- I'm embarrassed to admit that I own it,  much less actually show it to my violinist friends -- but through several modifications, a new bow, a few sets of strings it has served me well enough, and it seems like each time I consider purchasing a real instrument some unexpected large-ticket purchase suddenly becomes necessary. C'est la vie. Or maybe it's a sign from the universe. Anyway.

Once I had the instrument came the task of learning how to play (Professional musicians make it look so effortless. Be not fooled: It is not easy.). And how to read music. And how to stay in tune. And how to maintain something resembling a steady tempo.

Oh, did I mention I haven't played anything before. I was starting from scratch. And as a fretless instrument, the violin family doesn't worry easily. It also makes it difficult to find the correct note consistently until you develop both the ear and muscle memory.

I've been fortunate to have an awesome teacher -- who in an interesting twist of fate, despite neither of us originally being from Cleveland, is a friend of the family and was pen pals with my mother as a child -- to keep me on the right track over the past few years. With her help my ear has slowly gained accuracy and we've attacked music and technique (currently working on Suzuki Book 3, third position and a few other things as time allows) -- I just wish I had more time to commit to practicing. But I am making progress (and recently I've noticed that my ear will really tell me when certain notes just aren't quite right.

But why am I posting about this today (aside from the fact that I'm taking a brief early-summer vacation from scheduled commitments)? I was walking back from my violin lesson and a quick lunch with Rachel with my violin on my back and my bag with music by my side.

Just past Coventry there was a gentleman walking his dog. I prepared, with the customary "pardon me"... and as I walked past, with my iPod ear buds firmly in place I hear "Is that a violin?". That caught me off guard. I pulled the ear buds out and said "yes" -- while the dog pulled. Turns out the gentleman is a drummer, and we discussed the technical side of music and the challenges of learning for a couple blocks, until he and his dog, Blu, had made it back home and I was continuing on to mine.

It's awfully easy today to be paranoid and antisocial -- but most people on the street aren't out to get you (just like you aren't out to get them) -- and it you can have some really interesting encounters and conversations if you're just open to it.

Lincoln
11 months ago | |
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I wasn't even thinking about it but last night marked the 8th anniversary of my arrival in Cleveland (and tomorrow marks the 8th anniversary of starting the job that brought me to Cleveland)

The Terminal Tower spire from the Ritz-Carlton valet
Instead, Rachel and I met a friend to see Men In Black III on  bargain night at Tower City Cinemas.

The evening, didn't however, end when the credits rolled. It seems the friend had, through details which are unimportant, wound up with a room at the Ritz-Carlton which would otherwise go to waste. And she offered it to Rachel and I.

"Eeeeeee!" basically sums up my reaction to the offer, and Rachel followed closely. I love spontaneous adventure, but my schedule lately hasn't had much room for spontaneity. I've often flirted with the idea of checking  into one of Cleveland's hotels for a night for no particular reason -- but I've not been able to justify it to myself*

As a Hilton HHonors loyalist I've long assumed that when I finally got around to it, my first local hotel stay would be in one of the Hilton family properties in Cleveland -- I've particularly had my eye on the recently converted/renovated/opened DoubleTree Tudor Arms hotel on the edge of University Circle.

But we found ourselves at the spectacular Cleveland Ritz-Carlton, attached to Tower City Center. I've often wondered about the hotel, but never thought I'd have a reason to step foot inside, let alone spend the night. I've become somewhat jaded as far as hotels go, and I was particularly curious about how the stay would compare with my stay at New York's Waldorf-Astoria.

In short: I'd go back to the Cleveland Ritz; I wouldn't go back to the Waldorf. The room was spacious and quite nicely appointed with a view sideways to the Cuyahoga and down through Tower City's glass roof. Since we were only there for one night -- and a late one at that -- we didn't really partake in the hotel's facilities or food and beverage but the thing that made the stay awesome was the unobtrusive attentiveness of the staff -- it seemed there was always someone around every corner ready and willing to help, answer questions, what have you quite professionally -- and anticipatory.

For example, this morning to check out I found myself in the lobby slightly disoriented -- "Excuse me, check out?" I grogilly asked a staffer who happened to be walking by. After politely telling me that it was right around the corner and my "thanks, not quite here yet" response she also pointed me in the direction of coffee. Similar anticipatory offers happened at the registration desk, in the fitness center -- wherever we looked

That's a very stark contrast to my stay at the Waldorf where not only were staff difficult to find and slow they always put off the air that my presence in their hotel was an inconvenience that was to be tolerated, if just barely. Quite the opposite was true here in Cleveland, I don't think I've ever felt more welcomed by a property.

Anyway, after settling in to the room and helping ourselves to a glass of wine, Rachel and I walked outside where I saw the stunning spire of the Terminal Tower, pictured above as taken with my belated birthday present from Rachel -- my first Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera (I'm still learning my way around it, but I love the control it gives over the outcome) and then we meandered through Cleveland's new casino.

I was in the casino briefly for work while it was under construction, but I hadn't been back since it opened, and this was Rachel's first time. I lost $5 on penny slots after starting up $0.40 (big spender, right?) -- enough to remind me why I only gamble once every three or four years.

After that we enjoyed a night of luxary in the plush comfort of the room before drifting to sleep and returning to the daily grind this morning: I dropped Rachel off at work and I headed in to work.

And now that I think of it, it was an awesome way to spend my 8th Cleveland Anniversary.

Lincoln
*- Particularly since I just got at $2k property tax bill (yeah, I've been expecting that one) and a $300 bill to fix my air conditioning (wasn't quite expecting that one)
11 months ago | |
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Later this month -- June 18th, to be specific -- marks the beginning of my eighth year of calling Northeast Ohio home.

While I was born in Madera, California, in the center of California's agrarian Central Valley, just before my fifth birthday my family moved to Temecula--where I grew up, explored, learned and lived until I jumped ship, moved out, and moved to Ohio to start my adult life.

[Incidentally, until I moved to Ohio, I had quite a hard time telling the difference between Ohio and Idaho. When you live in Southern California essentially everything, sans Hawaii, is North or East, if not both. Thus, both Ohio and Idaho were Northeast and for my daily life that's all I needed to know]

But while I love urban Northeast Ohio -- Manhattan is perhaps the only other place I could imagine myself living at this point in my life, andI couldn't afford to live in Manhattan -- I still consider Temecula to be my hometown.

[When people ask where I'm from, I'm conflicted and usually barf something along the lines of "Originally, Southern California; currently Cleveland"]

Temecula's population has exploded from about 25,000 when we arrived in 1989 to over 100,000 in 2010. My parents, long divorced, sold the home I grew up in not long after I moved to Cleveland (and seemingly days before the housing market imploded). The one concrete thread tying me back "Home" has been my mother.

I've always assumed that I'd make it back to Temecula from time to time, if for no other reason to visit her and in the process running my wheels through the same main drags (now with twice as many lanes) and back roads (now with six times as many traffic signals) that I learned through my youth -- passing memories on the sidewalks, sitting in the same In-N-Out Drive where I learned the wonder of a great burger.

[The same drive through, on Jefferson Avenue, that used to know my dad and his car well enough that he'd get Christmas Cards from the staff]

Occasionally, even seeing a movie in the theaters where I spent several years with technical reign for a week at a time during the local film festival. It was great fun trying to piece a top-notch event together with a box of random bits and no budget, developing a voting system for the audience choice categories that I still think is pretty darn cool (though I'd probably do it differently). I learned how platter-based 35 millimeter projection works, and how to deal with difficult people.

[Independent filmmakers can be very difficult people. I think those memories, combined with the number of times I had to threaten to have the police remove a belligerent filmmaker from the projection booth -- somewhere they knew they weren't supposed to be in the first place --  may be the main reason why I haven't brought myself to visit the Cleveland International Film Festival]

With the boom in population things may have changed but the Temecula I remember was far from perfect. A suburb without an urb, being at least hour (or up to three, depending on traffic) from San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County, it was a city of commuters but no permanent culture within easy reach. Sure there's the Film Festival  and the Balloon and  Wine Festival and my high school produced some amazing shows (including The Who's Tommy, a rock opera -- where my true love of technical theater blossomed, and Chess, from Tim Anderson and the male half of ABBA) it was nothing like Cleveland.

[Truthfully, though how many other places, can an average guy live within walking distance of a both a world class art museum and one of the world's great orchestra halls, inhabited by some of the finest musicians, while having dozens of other venues within a 20 minute drive]

But anyway, on Wednesday, that last tangible thread snaps. My mother is embarking on her own new adventure. She's moving to the Portland area. And I have to admit that that there's the small sense of loss, and part of me thinks it's highly unlikely I'll find my way to Temecula again; another part thinks Rachel and I will find ourselves visiting Wine Country, but if we do we'll be doing it as outsider tourists rather than insiders.

Sometimes pointless nostalgia feels good.

And I'll leave you with the rock band New Years Day's Temecula Sunrise.
Lincoln
1 year ago | |
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