a surprising collection of Maxfield Parrish illustrations

Golden Age Comic Book Stories -- Somehow, this "Golden Age" illustrator, Maxfield Parrish, turned up in my Google Alerts this morning. He's always been one of my favorites; we have Parrish calendars, Parrish books, and a nicely preserved, larger "Daybreak" (1922) on the wall in the front room, situated away from the light. The latter comes from the dining room of my Uncle Jack and Aunt Francie's (Tante's) place over in Cleveland Heights, where it hung until the early '80s.

At the link is a collection that is largely new to me, of Parrish and a few of his contemporaries. Enjoy.

barely 3 hours' notice

Blogger--

Hey, I know that this is going out with barely three hours notice, but we act and react as best we can. As that great ad campaign stresses: "Life comes at you fast."

I got this notice this afternoon from Gloria at 1:15. If you can take advantage of it, you should be well rewarded for your time. I saw an two earlier iterations of these, and they're awesome. I'd market them now for more than we paid for our house back in 1983, and they might hold value better as well.

Check 'em out.

Anyway, here's Gloria's note:

Sorry for the late notice but I just heard that Dennis Althar will be "sounding off" with his awesome Copernicus speakers at 5:30 p.m. today.

http://www.atssounds.com/page1.aspx

If you have the time to take a short detour for a great experience, stop off at 5432 Broadway, call 429-3000 to enter through the rolling gates, and be ready to hear some great sounds.

Recently, when asked if the speakers are good as Bose, Mr. Althar in turn queried, "Is a Rolls Royce as good as a Chevy?"

These speakers were recently showcased as part of an exhibit at the Whitney Museum of Art.

http://www.atssounds.com/Blog/news/2008/03/21/dd54e1b8-f0eb-4a68-920f-f6a610a0422c.aspx

If you can spare the time, you will be rewarded.

--Gloria Ferris

P.S. This is Tim again. I might add that this address is easily accessible from downtown, either off Broadway or off I-77, off I-490 at East 55th, or off East 55th itself. Also, we hear that this section of Broadway is nearly as well built out as Playhouse Square when it comes to those "pipes" for fiber optics or cable or whatever.

B movie of the week: The Boondock Saints

Netflix downloads are becoming a staple of our weekend. B movies have taken the place of drinking through the wee hours. Earlier this morning, The Boondock Saints graced our screen. Gloria thinks it may set some sort of record for the most gratuitous use of the F-word, but I think it may have been surpassed by another early-morning Netflix download about a post-nuclear Elvis impersonator and samurai on his way across the wasteland to Las Vegas, Six String Samurai.

Such comparisons aside, The Boondock Saints is some good entertainment. I guess there's an active argument going on as to whether it qualifies as a cult classic, but that misses the point: The film's a hoot. The two brothers McManus, Billy Connolly as Il Duce, who turns out the be their long-lost dad, Willem Dafoe camping and then in drag, it's all just too incredible. The film walks a thin line and bounces between horror and humor. The Wikipedia write-up covers a lot of ground.

Download it tonight, out of earshot of the little ones.

In Memoriam: Robert C. Gaede

I just noticed this email from Kerri Broome over at the CRS. Bob was a friend of all of us. My family has worked with him since at least the late 1950s. He is a classy, elegant, articulate, gentle man, the kind they don't make too many of any more, or perhaps ever. We interviewed him at his offices in the 820 Building in a Meet.The.Bloggers session a little over 2 years ago.

I'm grateful to have known him, and to have been fortunate enough to subscribe to the early FACADE Newsletters.

Here's the CRS email:

Robert C. Gaede, FAIA
November 6, 1920 - April 16, 2008

Cleveland has lost it's "senior statesman" for historic preservation with the death of Bob Gaede on Wednesday, April 16. Bob dedicated his life to architecture. He was a founding member and an Honorary Life Trustee of the Cleveland Restoration Society and served as editor of its publication, Facade, for nearly three decades. Bob saved many endangered landmarks through his engaging prose and kind demeanor, always backed by solid architectural ideas and hand-drawn illustrations. He built a successful practice in architecture, both new design and historic rehabilitation. He volunteered extensively over his lifetime for nonprofit organizations and under-funded preservation causes.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 3 at Church of the Western Reserve, 30500 Fairmount Blvd., Pepper Pike. A celebration of life will follow at the Sarah Benedict House, 3751 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland from 12:00 - 3:00 p.m.

Cleveland Restoration Society

Kerri Broome
Development & Communications
Manager
kbroome@clevelandrestoration.org

(going back through The Ferris Construction Company's records, I see that the Church of the Western Reserve at Lander Circle & Fairmount Boulevard in Pepper Pike, Ohio, was our job #624)

another Dennis hits the bright lights

One of our MeetTheBloggers Salon edition alumni, Dennis Althar, has sent us this press release. His new invention (they look like twin cobras!) got included in an artwork at The Whitney Museum. Our local talent goes to New York to get discovered. Does anybody else think this is ironic, or just plain wrong?

ALLTRONICS TECHNICAL SYSTEMS
CLEVELAND, OHIO
800.255.8766
http://www.atssounds.com/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 6, 2008
CONTACT: Dennis Althar
Cleveland
Audiophile Speaker System Selected for Whitney Biennial Show
Cleveland, Ohio

All-tronics Technical Systems announced that its Copernicus II speaker system has been selected for use in the prestigious Whitney Biennial Show in New York, March 6-23, 2008. The Whitney Biennial showcases 81 of the most innovative contemporary artists from around the world and is expecting 40,000 people to attend.

Noted visual and sonic artist Marina Rosenfeld has chosen the Copernicus II for use in her installation “Teenage Lotano,” a realization of noted Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti’s modernist masterpiece “Lotano” (1967). Ms. Rosenfeld’s performance uses a choir of 20 teenagers, thereby juxtaposing a high modern composition with a teen-vocal sound reminiscent of pop music. The individually recorded tracks are then melded into a sonic mix, sometimes with moments of choral harmony, then dissipating into abstract isolated sounds. Fragments appear with cello, percussion, bass and electronics.The challenge for Ms. Rosenfeld is in transferring the specific placement of sounds which she has created to an open performance space. The imaging, or source of each sound, is critical to her artistic vision of the piece. In previous settings, a series of headphones (binaural sound systems) were set up for use by the audience. In this so-called “perfect environment” the producer can control the elements of the recording, especially the imaging. But at the Whitney installation, a large, cavernous assembly room, with heavy wooden walls and floor will be used, and an open speaker system was required. Most high-quality audiophile speakers seek to “fill” the room, resulting in levels, balance, and sound placement entirely dependent on the room’s acoustics. The detailed elements and imaging of Marina Rosenfeld’s “Teenage Lotano” would be lost. Ms. Rosenfeld selected the Copernicus II speaker system because of its focused imaging and accurate reproduction of sound. The system employs a novel, 16-speaker array in each of two slim, curving towers, each paired with a powerful subwoofer, to focus the sound in a “sweet spot,” placing the listener in a three-dimensional sound stage, with absolute imaging, depth and presence. Utilizing precise time-alignment technology, the speakers allow the listener to visualize the vocalists and instrumentalists at their exact positioning on the stage. Vocal quality is perfectly reproduced, with the soloist seeming to come forward into the room. Sounds emanate, not from the speaker drivers in front of the listener, but from the musicians, wherever they are located on the stage. In “Teenage Lotano,” the listener is beckoned by lighting to approach that location in the room where they will experience Marina’s sonic creation. They will be able to pinpoint the various spots in the room from which the sounds seem to emanate. Standing anywhere else in the room, listeners can experience the unique mix of sounds which she has assembled, but in the “sweet spot’ the sonic experience is unique – and as intended and designed by the artist.

"I have found working with All-tronics' Copernicus II speakers to be an extraordinary experience,” the artist noted. “The tremendous focus of the speakers allows the listener to encounter sound in a truly sculptural fashion, and is the reason I selected these speakers to present my vocal and electronic composition in the Whitney Biennial 2008 exhibition. I don't know of another system that is as realistic, elegant looking and sonically refined as these speakers. A truly wondrous sound system!"

The Copernicus II speaker system is designed and manufactured by All-tronics Technical Systems, located in the historic Slavic Village neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. The All-tronics staff and advisory panel have extensive experience in audio speaker development and sound reproduction; as well as knowledge and expertise in medical sonography, where time alignment is critical to accurate sound generation. “Techniques developed for Doppler phase array technology,” general manager Dennis Althar noted, “have, for the first time been applied to the field of music reproduction.” It is the precise placement and timing of the speaker output which produces such accurate imaging for the listener.

Additional information on the Copernicus II speaker system may be found at http://www.atssounds.com/

-30-

"Where's all the white women?"

Cleveland - News - Pragmatic Racism -- I really got a kick out of Pete Kotz' line "the pursuit of white women." It reminded me of an old friend of mine, Felton Page, and I know if he's still out there (odds were back then he'd be shot by somebody's husband), he'd give me permission to put down this anecdote.

Back in 1973, I rotated back to the states from Korea and was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, where all the officers with attitudes were sent on a semi-punitive basis. One of my friends from Korea, Felton Page, was there, and Felton introduced me to some subversive new humor albums coming from an outrageous new young comic called Richard Pryor. Richard spoke to all of us who were tired of the same old stuffy stuff, especially at command performances at the officers' club and at the lieutenant colonel's house. Felton channeled for Richard, bringing the taboo lines up close and personal, exposing Kansas to the talk and free-wheeling ways of the ghetto.

In an heroic effort to save all of us younger officers with attitudes from being invited to the "command performances" too often, Felton, to announce our presence, would stand at the door, rub his hands together, give a big belly laugh, and boom out, with a big smile and flashing eyes, "Hey, where's all the white women?!?!" Oops, I almost forgot to tell you, Felton was quite black; the Fort Riley establishment wasn't.

We did have some fun. This was better back then than a weekend in Topeka.

and I never got to argue with him sober. . .

Norman Mailer, Outspoken Novelist, Dies at 84 - New York Times -- One of my best imaginary friends died over the weekend. Mailer and I hadn't actually spoken since the fall of 1968. I was just out of college and dangling between going to Canada, wearing a dress, commissioning obscene tattoos, and succumbing to the draft. Just to set the record straight, I got tired of the suspense and enlisted just before Woodstock, and I gave my concert tickets to a friend from Cornell.

Anyway, back to Mailer. My friend Dan Cody from Wrentham, Massachusetts, had been hanging around Provincetown for a while, being introduced around to the arts colony there initially when he was hooked up with Ken Kesey, Neal Cassady, and the Merry Pranksters with the Magic Bus, so he knew Mailer well enough to get drunk with him, which everybody did back then. We were there to gawk at a new phenomenon of the late '60s, the Drag Queen's Ball (and Parade), and we spent the late morning and all afternoon getting fortified. This was not the sort of thing we felt we could view straight or sober. Somehow, as the day wore on, Mailer and I engaged and squared off across a small table. We proceeded to argue, speaking in tongues, it seems, like weird twins inventing their own language. Nobody else knew what we were talking about, but it was heated, from what I was told. I suppose it was about American literature, and the novel; I was still passionate about those things back then.

Over the years, I've followed his career; I first felt a kinship with him when I devoured The Naked and the Dead early in my college readings. I really liked his subsequent alpha-male idea about being in training to become "a sexual athlete." His later feuds-in-full with Tom Wolfe were hilarious, as in this piece from a Guardian article stemming from Wolfe's essay about The Three Stooges:

The Wolfe-Mailer feud is by far the oldest and cattiest of the three. As far back as 1989, Mailer remarked: "In my mind, there is something silly about a man who wears a white suit all the time, especially in New York."

Wolfe brushed off the sartorial attack, simply pointing out that "the lead dog is the one they always try to bite in the ass". To which Mailer quickly responded: "It doesn't mean you're the top dog just because your ass is bleeding."

Deep below the multiple layers of bitchiness, it is possible to pick out a substantive battle over the future of American novel.

Also over the years, it's been comforting to know he was around, still pugnacious, fighting the good fight, keeping things stirred up to the best of his ability, making his transitions just ahead of me, hanging out around Provincetown. Looking back on it all, he was one of his own better creations.

art at the cathedral

This past November 1st, I found myself at the end of the day needing to find a Mass, so I bused on over to the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, where I found this printed program awaiting me. These past few years, it seems that the rich pageantry and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church are undergoing a revival in Cleveland; the music programs have been excellent, and the supporting graphics enhance the effort. I'm beginning to understand what my dad said attracted him to become a convert in the first place: the elegance and the ceremony. If you want to see art at work in the world, look no further than 1007 Superior Avenue East.

George. See George. See George play. Today.

George Foley at Cleveland Public Library Special Collections & Fine Arts Blog -- I've known George Foley for a good many years, but never knew about the albums. When he's not performing, he's quiet and unassuming, at least when I've been around him. His dad, Joe, talked with the MeetTheBloggers crew in May of 2006. We'll be be making a special point of going to see George this afternoon at 2. Here's the info from the http://www.cpl.org/ site.

George Foley at Cleveland Public Library

Cleveland Public Library Fine Arts & Special Collections Department presents George Foley, pianist and singer, performing ragtime and popular songs by Charles L. Johnson, Scott Joplin, Zez Confrey, Fats Waller, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Frank Loesser, and others on Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 2 p.m. Foley is a dexterous pianist and entertaining singer. His singing might remind you of Fats Waller, Jack Teagarden or Mildred Bailey.

Foley has recorded four albums including Cleveland Rag (1977), I Love It (1984), Smiles and Kisses (1989), and ‘S Wonderful (2003). He has played on the Mississippi Queen steamboat and at many ragtime festivals. He performs regularly at many clubs around Cleveland including NightTown, The Barking Spider, and The Tavern Co. He also works with the Mercuries and the Night Owls.

This musical program will be on Saturday, October 27, 2007 at 2 p.m. in the 3rd floor lobby of the Fine Arts & Special Collections Department at the Main Library, 325 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44114. For information call (216) 623-2848.

This program is presented in conjunction with Sentimental Journey: Selections from the Cleveland Public Library Sheet Music Collection, a display located on the third floor of the Main Library. The display features highlights from the library's sheet music collection of over 20,000 titles.

#4

Task Lamps in the Spotlight - New York Times -- I'm fascinated with lamps and light. Without good lighting, you have trouble living in the world of books, art, and ideas. With good lighting, the world opens up.

I also think that paying attention to having good lighting is important for maintaining our full functionality for as long as possible.

I think I really want #4, Richard Sapper’s Halley Compact lamp.

Denison timeline

Talking about our heritage with d.a. levy and the upcoming show at Art House reminds me there's a good amount of activity swirling around 3117-3119 Denison lately.

Last Friday, August 10th, Steven Litt, the PD art & architecture critic, helped Art House executive director Sheryl Hoffman announce her move to SPACES Gallery. We're grateful to Sheryl for all she's done locally to promote the arts and the neighborhood, and for being a good neighbor over on Mack since she arrived here in the late '90s.

Then, this coming Monday, there's the section 106 review about the proposed treatment of the historic Wirth House, from which Art House originally derived its name and its mission. This second meeting of the consulting parties for the section 106 review will be held at the Cleveland Public Library's Brooklyn Branch at 3706 Pearl Road at 6 PM. The date this coming Monday is August 20th.

Then, on August 21st, Art House hosts a gala d. a. levy reprise, featuring the recently reprinted "UKANHAVYRFUCKINCITIBAK", which I was talking about in my prior post--So much happening--So little time.

james o. and the shebbels of superior

Jamie Janos Photography -- James O. Janos, one of Brooklyn Centre's native sons, emailed us a heads up on the installation last Friday of some new public art. In our construction company years ago, somebody used to call these things "shebbels," and somehow this artwork made that word surface again:

Public Art Update: Excavation Bucket Installation Date: Friday August 3rd, 2007 After a strenuous Friday installation the "Excavation Buckets" where hoisted, leveled into placed and bolted down. Possibly the most complicated of the three Urban Lanterns for the Superior Avenue streetscape, the Excavation Buckets lead the ways for the unfolding of the next two installations. The second Urban Lantern in the series, "The Woven Dome", is targeted for a Wednesday-Friday of this week. And finally, the "Watering Tower" aimed for the following Wed-Fri. Once successfully installed the three Urban Lanterns will be lit simultanteously at a ceremony to be announced. For now, please review the beautiful photography by Jamie Janos of the days work.

http://jamiejanos.phanfare.com/album/369120#imageID=23044143

Stephen Manka
Urban Design + Public Art
216.212.5900
http://www.mankadesignstudio.com/

Jamie Janos Photography
2400 Superior Ave. E. Suite 206
Cleveland, OH 44114-4258
BEST# 216.965-7678 216.357-2947 917.553-3189
http://www.jamiejanos.com/ jamie@jamiejanos.com

Kerouac's tracks 50 years later

The beat goes on - The Boston Globe--The Boston GLOBE has a retrospective here on Jack Kerouac, who was from Lowell. Reading him, and later Ken Kesey, gave a lot of us the ideas that led to the road to San Francisco and the cultural upheaval of the '60s. And now, here is the romance of the beats cropping up again, getting aired out, helping us fall in love with America again, the real America, where "FREE" is something more than what you see on an ironic/iconic big stamp outside a neoclassical shrine to government.

Here are a few quotes from the article I wanted to spotlight, but take some time to read the whole thing. It's a trip:

"Sal, we've got to go and never stop 'til we get there."
"Where are we going to go?"
"I don't know, but we can't stop 'til we get there."

We battled traffic through Oakland and went over the bridge into San Francisco's Chinatown , where we rolled down the windows and took in the smells and sounds that drifted in the long shadows of the late afternoon.
We had arrived at the promised land of the beat generation.
This was where in the 1950s the seeds of a hip, new culture planted by Kerouac and the poets Allen Ginsberg , Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Gregory Corso formed the buds of the beat generation that would flower into the counterculture of the 1960s.

a rolling moss gathers no stone, or words to that effect

Here's some good news from the CIA's FUTUREcommunicate, June 2007:

Moss Takes "Entrepreneurship by Design" to Heart

After two years managing a startup with CIA, FUTURE's Founding Director is leaving to launch his own design firm, in the soon-to-be-established District of Design, Midtown, Cleveland.

Moss will be joining forces with existing partners of Nead Brand Partners and Newbomb. The combined firm will offer a progressive approach to Brand Communications, Strategy, and Experience Design and will launch under a new name in the months ahead.

The change will also allow David to further his Regional advocacy for Design and Technology, dialing up his contributions to IngenuityFest, Friends for the School of the Arts, CPAC, GameHub, Defrag, Tuesdays, and others.

Likewise, he looks forward to supporting the Cleveland Institute of Art in their efforts to integrate FUTURE programming into the strategic buildout of their new combined campus in University Circle's emerging Arts District. Best wishes, David!

Gloria Ferris on the Breuer Tower: nailing down the dialogue

Gloria Ferris begins to nail the smarmy dynamics of the Breuer Tower deal and throws some light on self-serving motives, and our recourse. What's important here is that she touches on the perilous tactical position in which the City Planning Commission finds itself.

historic, art deco building available for third-wave business & owner

art deco historic Jednota office building for lease -- Our friend Dennis just let us know that he is ready to lease out his office building on East 55th at Broadway. This is an incredibly attractive property for someone who wants to live luxuriantly above his or her business -- Dennis and Georgia did for years with their medical electronics company. Now, they're in a renovated loft down the street. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity in an unbelievable property. Near I-490, Broadway, Hyacinth Lofts, & I-77, and a short hop to two airports.

33

Touring Warhol’s Space, and 32 Other Art-History Sites - New York Times -- Of the 33 NYC places where artsy and hip started, bloomed, and flourished, the "33 spots around the city where art history was made", I wonder how many had tax-abatement, got county dollars by harnessing smokers, or were intentionally located in preexisting, institutionally ordained art districts. What do you think? Which is the tail, which is the dog? What's wagging around here? If I recall, back in the day it used to be enough for a place just to be cheap, cool, and relatively hassle-free.

Jonathan Sheffer: a red couch floating in Lake Erie

I heard new sounds tonight. I didn't know you could do all those things with an orchestra. Jonathan Sheffer does.

You can still see That Red Guy tomorrow at 3. It was really quite good, and we bought the book, Cleveland in Prose and Poetry, on which the second part of the concert (a red couch floating in Lake Erie) is based.

As we left the Masonic Auditorium, one line from the concert continued to resonate: "Only when you leave, will you know where you were."

Great show.

prosumers and the nonmonetary wealth system

Alvin Toffler: The Thought Leader Interview--I stumbled across this Toffler interview from this past winter and thought I ought to share it. In it, he's described as "a brilliant synthesist." It's a fairly long interview, but it gives a fairly good synopsis of where the Tofflers' thought is right now. It's worth your investment of a few minutes.

By the way, we just this afternoon completed a conversation with another brilliant synthesist, Red {an orchestra}'s Jonathan Sheffer, and George should have this posted soon to MTB. There is another Red concert series offering, That Red Guy, this coming Saturday and Sunday, and I believe that tickets are still available. We'll be there Saturday.

I understand there's another interview with Jonathan just put up today on Cool Cleveland.

"Love words, agonize over sentences. And pay attention to the world."

Susan Sontag: Pay attention to the world Review Guardian Unlimited Books -- here's a good preview of a book on Susan coming out in April. I'm not suggesting these are practices to which bloggers should subscribe, but this certainly does throw some light on how some of us find fun and fulfillment in working with words. Note the "unconventional proposition" from Doctor (not Doc) Johnson : "The chief glory of every people arises from its authors." Blog on.