The world from a different perspective

We don't always have an opportunity to view the world from different angles, but Cleveland will have an opportunity to view the river and the Ohio City/downtown connection from down under. The lower lever of the Detroit-Superior Bridge will be hosting a free event Sept. 25-26 all in the name of art.

According to their site:
The Cleveland Festival of Art and Technology, “Ingenuity” will expand beyond its weekend summer festival and transform one of the most fascinating under-used urban spaces in the City into a center of art and performance on September 25 and 26, 2009. The streetcar level spans approximately one mile and includes, at the west end, a series of archways and rooms that will be animated by art installations, exhibits and performances. Key personnel include Director James Levin, KSU Urban Design Planner and Pop-Up City Director Terry Schwarz.

Ingenuity will venture out of its Public Square – PlayhouseSquare district and explore an urban space that lies central to Cleveland with spectacular views of downtown, the Cuyahoga River, the Flats, Lake Erie: the streetcar level of the Detroit Superior Bridge, immediately below and parallel to the vehicular level. Ingenuity will transform this span, about 50 feet wide in most sections, almost a mile long, with fabulous nooks, crannies, tunnels and cisterns at both the east and west ends, with art installations, exhibits and performances, many involving technology.

This experience will take place Friday September 25, opening at 4 pm, closing at midnight and continue Saturday September 26, from noon to midnight. It will be free to the public and include arts and crafts vendors, food and beverage vendors (including beer and wine), buskers and solo performers positioned across the great span of the bridge with the more complex installations and performances taking place at either end. The event will include, as at all Ingenuity events, most exhibits and performances are family friendly and each night closes with a musical event.

If you want to see Cleveland in a perspective that is often limited to city workers or bold urban explorers, this event should prove both fun and informative!

Unique wares through local artists - Made in the 216

Are you looking for unique house items, clothing or gifts? This weekend marks the third 'Made in the 216 event hosted by Room Service's Danielle DuBoe. This event takes place in and around Room Service on W. 65th and Detroit.

You will be surrounded by local artists, 41 to be exact, along with local bakeries, restaurants and bands all vying to show you what is unique and special about the 216.

I attended the November event and it was fantastic. Many locally themed gifts to be had including t-shirts, cards and coasters...just a small spattering of unique finds to be had.

Details:

A Shopping Celebration
When: 4-9 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Shopping in and around Room Service, 6505 Detroit Ave., Cleveland, with musical acts, food and drink. Afterward, three bands per night will perform and raffles will be held beginning at 9 p.m. at the Happy Dog bar, 5801 Detroit Ave., Cleveland.
Details: 216-281-4221 orroomservicecleveland.com.

when your sweet tooth calls, answer

m not a huge sweets person, but do enjoy an occassional indulgence. Today was one of those days. At the suggestion of Carly Litwiler, we headed to A Cookie and a Cupcake in Tremont. This was my first time inside the cute, pink storefront I have often driven past. As you walk in, your eyes are presented with a display case chock full of different cupcakes and other delectable treats. Carly stuck with chocolate and I chose Lemon, just two of many choices.

Owners Wendy Thompson and Syndee Klingenberg make a mean cupcake. The cupcake is moist and fresh with homemade, well paired ingredients. They use real fruit as filling and the cupcakes look as good as they taste. The cupcakes are a little steep at $2.50 each, but the indulgence is worth the price.

If you are looking for homemade sweets that look as unique as they taste, A Cookie and a Cupcake is just the place. Stop in the next time you are in the neighborhood!

2173 Professor Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
216.344.9433
Contact@acookieandacupcake.com
11am - 7pm Tues. - Sat.
11am - 5pm Sun.

Cleveland 20/30 Club - A way for young professionals to connect

The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club is a non-profit organization created to retain Young Professionals in Greater Cleveland by providing events focused on both personal and professional development.

The Club offers Educational events including speakers and presentations, Networking events, Philanthropic opportunities and Social events.

The club puts on a variety of events to help young professionals network, explore their city and become involved in the community.

Their recruitment event is quickly approaching. This year it is at the Market Cafe and Wine Bar, located just a couple blocks from the Penton Bldg. The Market Cafe and Wine Bar is a newer addition to Cleveland and is focused on serving local, sustainable food.

If you are interested in breaking the rut of only knowing PR Newswire employees, wanting to meet other like minded professionals or hanging out with people at a super sweet wine bar, this may be the event for you!

Event Details
What: Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club recruitment event
When: Thursday, March 12 5:30-8:00 p.m.
Where: Market Cafe and Wine Bar - AmTrust Bldg. 1801 E. 9th St. Cleveland 44114

First Ever Cleveland Twestival Feb. 12 to benefit Charity: Water

Are you looking for a fun, unique experience that also happens to benefit charity?

This Thursday, Harry Buffalo is sponsoring the first ever Twestival (Twitter Festival) to benefit Charity: Water. According to the Charity: Water site, 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water. That's one in six of us. Many communities in developing nations often have a plentiful supply of clean drinking water just below the ground, but no way to get to it. This is where charity: water and their partner organizations come in. Drilling a well can cost from $4,000 - $12,000 USD and many living on less than $1 a day cannot afford one in their community, even if the money is combined.

On 12 February 2009, 100+ international cities will be hosting a Twestival to bring Twitter communities together in an effort to raise money for charity: water. Twestival is organized 100% by volunteers around the world and 100% of the money raised from these events will go directly to support charity: water projects. By rallying together globally, under short timescales, for a single aim on the same day, the Twestival hopes to bring awareness to this global crisis.

The Cleveland Twestival will be held at Harry Buffalo, Thursday, February 12 at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are just $15 and can be purchased at the door or ahead of time here. There will be a lot of interesting people, a raffle and an opportunity to enjoy a unique event while benefiting those who do not have the fortune of clean water on a daily basis (can you even imagine?!?)

If you are interested in this event please purchase tickets to attend or make a donation. Every little bit helps.

Please contact me with any questions at 612-308-0759 or via email.

Thank you!

-Kate

Spreading 'joy' and a little bit of fame throughout the land

While this is not directly a Cleveland related posting, it does have at least some representations While listening to NPR (what else do I listen to) this past weekend, I heard a fantastic story about a man and an idea. He had a friend who was sick and eventually yielded to his sickness. As a memorial, Jeff Woodrow, Founder of Joy t-shirt, decided to sketch out his friend'sface and wear it on a t-shirt. As he wore his shirt around town, people starting inquiring about his shirt, wondering who the person was...an idea formed. What is Jeff was able to take people's photos, sketch them out and put them onto t-shirts? Well, it has worked. Currently, you can purchase a t-shirt on his site. Once you have purchased a shirt you can send him your photo to sketch and your face will likely end up on someone else's body..er...I mean shirt.

You can pick from different continents, or do a keyword search for specific people, places and passions. While the shirts are not the cheapest thing you will ever buy ($29.95 for a t-shirt and $31.95 for a bamboo tank - Canadian dollars), they are different, certified organic and probably the most unique thing you will ever own...that is until this amazing venture takes off and random faces are adorned throughout the land.

For more information you can visit the store at: http://www.joytshirt.com/

Enjoy!

Cleveland International Film Festival and Film Feasts

Remember that little film festival called Sundance? Yeah, it came and went with a little less fan fare this year due to...oh, I dunno...the inaguration! Well, anyway, Cleveland has their own special film festival. The 33rd Annual International Film Festival runs March 19-29 at the Tower City Theatres in downtown Cleveland.

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the Cleveland Film Fest's, Film Feast titled Food for Thought. It is one of many Feasts hosted prior to the festival opening. The event kicked off in the studio of Barney Taxel of Taxel Image Group. My comrade (Erika) and I were a bit late due to a tire blowout on the way (another story another day) and unsure what to expect. We walked in to a vivacious crowd, of all ages, chatting it up and enjoying both food and drink.

Around 8, the meat of the program began. As everyone got situated, Laura Taxel, food critic for Cleveland Magazine (and blog) began to MC. The Feast, and it definitely was a feast, featured three of the Cleveland area's top chefs: Jonathan Sawyer of Bar Cento (and soon to be Greenhouse Tavern on E. 4th St.), Rocco Whalen of Fahrenheit and Jill Vedaa of The Wine Bar at Rocky River. The program began with a brief introduction of each chef and then the mike was turned over to them to discuss favorite movies and whatever else they fancied.

Jonathan kicked it off with his Top 5 movie choices as follows:
5. Big Night
4. Scotland P.A.
3. Babette's Feast
2. Mostly Martha
1. Spanglish

Rocco followed with a much more robust, meandering list of his top picks (in no particular order):
Out for Justice
Fargo
L.A. Confidential
Drugstore Cowboy
National Lampoon's Vacation
Silence of the Lambs
Pulp Fiction (the $5 milkshake)
The Shawshank Redemption
Sex, Lies & Videotape
Two Days in the Valley
Raising Arizona
Stand By Me
The Big Lebowski
The Shining
Platoon
The 10 Commandments

Jill rounded out things with adding her three favorite food related movies:
Ratatoulle
The Cook, The Thief, The Wife and Her Lover
The Wizard of Oz

And lastly, as Laura took back the mic, she added a few of her own:
Vital
Waitress

The Q&A portion was lively with some great questions (themes of the Film Festival) and some more obscure ones (comparisons of CL to Ontario). A nice, unexpected highlight was Bill Guentzler coming up to talk about his recent excursion to Sundance. He said it was interesting, this year, while all the tickets were sold out, there were not as many people there, specificially it seemed, celebrity spotters. His guesstimation was that it's due to the economy and, of course, the inaguration. He gave us a great tidbit, in this year's film fest, be sure to check out Dean Spanley...while I did not see it on the film fest list, if you see something like it, be sure to check it out!

Lastly, before they set up free to more fantastic conversation and great food we were left with this: To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time. -Leonard Bernstein

'Ice' skating at the Wade Oval

Ice skating takes most everyone back to their childhood days, and you can do it for free in the heart of Cleveland.

The Rink at Wade Oval is highlighted as the only free rink in the region. What makes this rink really spectacular is that it is not acutally made with real ice, but instead a composite. Cool, right?

If you don't own your own skates, you can rent them for only $3.

The rink is only open through February 16 so get your skate on while you can!


Rink Hours of Operation
January 9-February 16Fri & Sat, Noon-7:00 pmSun, Noon-5:00 pm

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Noon-5:00 p.m.
President's Day, Noon-5:00 p.m.

Rink hours are subject to change. Call 216-707-5033 for daily information.

http://www.universitycircle.org/uci.aspx?page=112