Forecasting the Weather with WKYC's Mark Nolan

I admit, I always thought that the weather forecasters in Cleveland used satellite imagery, Doppler radar, barometer readings, and their education in meteorology in order to forecast the weather. This little video below shows WKYC Channel 3’s Mark Nolan’s little secret that helped him arrive at his forecast (this could be why he's now on the anchor desk). All kidding aside, this video from 2006

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A Christmas Story House Lights Up For Christmas

Everybody loves the movie “A Christmas Story” about Ralphie’s Christmas wish for a Red Ryder BB Gun (“You’ll shoot your eye out!), triple dog dares, “meatloaf, smeatloaf, double-beatloaf,” a tongue stuck to a metal pole, and of course a "major award" leg lamp. This film had many scenes filmed in the city of Cleveland, and the house used for the exterior shots was in Cleveland’s Tremont

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Cleveland Ohio – New Aerial Video

Here’s a new video prepared by aboveallphoto.com Of some aerial photography of the Cleveland, Ohio and surrounding areas (including Akron and Canton). Enjoy!Check out my blog home page for the latest Cleveland information,All Things Cleveland Ohio, here.

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The West Side Market, Revisited

In May of 2008, I did a feature on Cleveland’s West Side Market, located on the corner of West 25th and Lorain. Positively Cleveland. has prepared a video tour of the West Side Market (below) which is sure to make you hungry. Enjoy!All Original Text Content and photographs© allthingsclevelandohio.blogspot.com unless otherwise notedCheck out my blog home page for the latest Cleveland information,

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GuitarMania – A Study in Photographs

The winter gray skies are fast approaching and before we know it we will be buried in snow. So I thought it was a good time to dig out some of my photos that show the colorful side of Cleveland. I landed on a group of pictures that I’ve taken over the years from GuitarMania, where the city is dotted with giant Fender-style guitars that are decorated by various artists. The problem is that the

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Cleveland’s Chef Michael Symon Opens 2 In the”Q”

The Quicken Loans Arena is already going to be rocking this season, now that Shaquille O’Neal has joined the Cleveland Cavaliers to play alongside “King” Lebron James. But now Cavs fans can add a great eating experience along with their enjoyment of the basketball game. Cleveland's best known chef and Food Network "Iron Chef" star Michael Symon has opened two new eateries in the “Q”: The B Spot,

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Update: Cleveland’s Lakefront Howard Johnson's Being Demolished

In July 2008, I wrote here about “Cleveland’s Shameful Eyesore: Lakefront Howard Johnson’s". The old Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge building has been vacant for years, and despite promises of the property being renovated or re-imagined for other use, nothing had happened. After a few legal battles with property owners and the city, the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court recently removed a

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New WKYC Weather Promo A Bright Forecast for Betsy and Hollie

It’s such a shame that NBC’s airing of Jay Leno at 10:00 PM may be ruining the lead in to WKYC Channel 3 News. Possibly to combat the Leno effect, WKYC is putting out some great promos for its news shows.One promo that started airing recently deserves special attention. First, it features two of the Cleveland’s favorite meteorologists, Betsy Kling and Hollie Strano. (This is the “we prepare you,

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Cleveland’s Capitol Theatre Grand Re-Opening

On Friday October 2, Cleveland’s Capitol Theatre, located in the new Gordon Square Arts District, will be re-opening. The Capitol is the city’s oldest movie theatre, constructed in 1921. The restored and updated theatre is now an all-digital movie house with three screens, and will feature major Hollywood films, plus art and independent productions. The Capitol Theatre is located at 1390 W. 65th

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The Cleveland Browns Stink: An Editorial

As I watch, painfully, the Cleveland Browns vs. the Baltimore Ravens today, I realized how hard it is to be a Cleveland Browns Fan. We’ve had many years of some great football, our fair share of making the playoffs, and some years of getting close to the playoffs.But the mismanagement of the team over the last few seasons is taking a toll. There was limited optimism when Eric Mangini took over

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The New York Times Spends “36 Hours in Cleveland”

The NYT said the slag piles by the river are "oddly beautiful." Here is a photo I took in that area a few years ago - they really are rather interesting looking.The New York Times ran a nice feature in their travel section on a 36-hour visit that they made to Cleveland. They cover some of the city’s sights, attractions, its great food and drink, art, and much more.An excerpt:“YOU Gotta Be

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Cleveland Metroparks Zoo African Elephant Crossing Construction Update

Construction continues on the The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's new 5-acre, $25 million dollar elephant habitat and education center, called the “African Elephant Crossing,” scheduled to open in the spring of 2011. Clevelanders will recall that the last big expansion at the Zoo was the RainForest habitat building that was opened 1992.The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s web site says about the area under

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200 Public Square: Cleveland's Third Tallest Skyscraper

On the east side of Cleveland’s Public Square is 200 Public Square, overlooking the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, The Terminal Tower, and Old Stone Church, to name a few landmarks.It was originally known as the Standard Oil or Sohio Building, then as the BP Tower, after British Petroleum acquired Standard Oil. The building was completed in 1985 and is 45 stories tall. In a move which shows that

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Cleveland: A Stressful City? Or Just Cloudy?

Forbes Magazine has listed Cleveland Ohio as one of the top 5 stressful cities in the United States. The list shows Cleveland as #4, tied with Providence, RI. Most specifically, the list groups the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Ohio area as a whole, which is a five county area defined by the Metropolitan Statistical Area as Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Geauga County, Lake County (Mentor), Lorain County

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Cleveland Beer Week

Cleveland Beer Week Logo, a Play on Cleveland’s “Free Stamp” True Clevelanders need no special reason to drink beer. But, because Clevelanders can never have enough excuses, the first annual Cleveland Beer Week has been established, and will run from October 16 through October 24, 2009.The Clevelandbeerweek.org website describes the event as a “not-for-profit, collaborative celebration to raise

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Settler’s Landing On Cleveland's Cuyahoga River

I was in an artistic mood today while I was going through some pictures of Cleveland that I look this past July. Some pictures looked rather boring, I admit. But I found one that I took in the Settler’s Landing area that had promise. Settler's Landing is on the shore of the Cuyahoga River where Moses Cleaveland arrived on July 22, 1796. There is a small park at this location, along with an RTA (

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“Kill The Irishman” A Movie About Cleveland Mobster Danny Greene

I’ve lived in the Cleveland area all my life, and one thing that long time Clevelanders know is that this city used to be a hotbed of crime. (It may still seem that way, with all the corruption in county government these days.) I went to school (Catholic school, by the way) with some of the grandchildren of some of the most notorious criminal Italian family names in the city. One student in high

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Cuyahoga County Courthouse Murals

As a continuation of my blog from last week about ”Justice”, the stained glass window in the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in downtown Cleveland, I thought I would feature the large murals that are on the second floor flanking each side of the large center hall of the Courthouse.The mural on the north side of the second floor is “The Constitutional Convention, September 17, 1787” and was painted by

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Cuyahoga County Courthouse “Justice” Stained Glass Window

"Justice" Stained Glass WindowCleveland's Cuyahoga County Courthouse One of the most stunning sights in the Cuyahoga County Courthouse in downtown Cleveland is the large stained glass window titled “Justice” which is at the landing of the large marble staircase at the east side of the main lobby. The window was designed by Frederick Wilson of Tiffany Studios and Cleveland architect Charles F.

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Free Stamp, Revisted

I am still going through the digital equivalent of a ton of photographs I took while I was strolling around downtown Cleveland last week. It was in February of 2008 when I last wrote about Free Stamp, the huge rubber stamp sculpture that sits in Willard Park, right next to Cleveland City Hall. I thought it was time I went back and updated my photos of this sculpture. This time I decided to have a

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Cleveland’s “Fountain of Eternal Life”

Located in Cleveland’s Mall A , which is officially known as Veterans' Memorial Plaza, stands the “Fountain of Eternal Life”. It is also known as the “War Memorial Fountain” or “Peace Arising from the Flames of War”. It is a statue and fountain that serves as Cleveland’s memorial to those citizens who served in World War II and the Korean War. It was designed by Cleveland Institute of Art

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The Great Lakes Science Center

On the Cleveland lakefront, and flanked by Cleveland Browns Stadium, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and the The William G. Mather Maritime Museum, is Cleveland’s Great Lakes Science Center. The GLSC opened in the summer of 1996, and focuses on science, technology, and the Great Lakes environment. It is highly interactive, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the science and be

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Cleveland Museum of Natural History

One of my favorite places to visit in Cleveland is the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Located in the University Circle area – a hotbed of museums and culture – this museum offers a look into the natural history of the earth and the stars.The Cleveland Museum of Natural History opened in 1920. The driving force behind it was Harold T. Clark, a Cleveland lawyer and philanthropist. The

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The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum

The Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, a part of the Western Reserve Historical Society and located in University Circle, is a showcase of the history of air and land transport vehicles. It includes airplanes, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, and spacecraft. It was founded by Frederick Coolidge Crawford, president of Thompson Products (later named TRW). Crawford collected vintage automobiles, and also

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Cleveland's Museums: New Tourism Videos

After getting a bit motion sick from the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism video contest winners from a few weeks ago, someone was kind enough to give me a heads up about some more professionally done videos highlighting some of the great things to see and do here in Cleveland. In fact, I learned something new from watching these videos prepared by InsiderPerks.com - I never knew that we had an

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Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video Winners

Positively Cleveland has announced the winners of the “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video Contest.” The two winners and the runners up are below. In all honesty, the videos for the winners made me a little motion sick (too much camera movement).The contest was held in response to an unfunny YouTube video posted by local comedian Mike Polk titled “Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video” which I

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LeBron James and Kobe Commercials

As the Cleveland Cavaliers continue their way through the NBA playoffs, Nike Basketball has continued their very creative ads that portray Cleveland’s LeBron James and “some other basketball player” as puppets. There was a new commercial just recently released, so I thought I would include the new commercial, plus the other two already out there for the enjoyment of Cleveland Cavs fans. Here they

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Cleveland Metroparks Zoo 2009 Dinosaur Exhibit

”Positively Cleveland” recently visited the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo to provide a “behind the scenes” look at the construction of the 2009 Dinosaurs! exhibit. This exhibit will feature species of dinosaurs never before displayed at the Zoo, such as the Edmontosaurus, the Compsognathus and the Cryolophosaurus. The latter is often referred to as the "Elvisaurus" because its large crest resembles

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Cleveland Tourism Video

The other day, a local Cleveland TV station highlighted a video on YouTube that was billed as a “hastily made Cleveland tourism video” for the city of Cleveland. Well, unlike that TV station, I won’t be promoting anything that is a put down of the city, whether it was supposed to be humorous or not. I would rather focus on the good things about the city. Sure, it is not perfect – no big city is.

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The Cleveland International Piano Competition

The 2009 Cleveland International Piano Competition is only a few months away, beginning on Tuesday July 28 and running through Sunday August 9, 2009. The competition is held in Cleveland every two years, and contestants from all around the world come to here to complete for the top honor. The competition began in 1975, and in 1994, as its global recognition had grown, it became the Cleveland

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Cleveland Cavaliers Spoof Heineken Commercial

Anyone who watches any sports on television has seen the recent Heineken commercial where a bunch of women scream about seeing huge closet full of clothes, and the guys scream louder seeing a huge refrigerator stocked with Heineken. The Cleveland Cavaliers had a little fun with that commercial in this great spoof. Enjoy! And – GO CAVS!Check out my blog home page for the latest Cleveland

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The Tri-C JazzFest Cleveland

30th Anniversary Artwork created by Cleveland's Hector VegaJazz fans, the time is here. The annual Tri-C JazzFest is upon us, running from April 23 to May 3, 2009. This year, the JazzFest celebrates 30 years of jazz in northeast Ohio. (For those of you not from the area, Tri-C is the “nickname” given to Cuyahoga Community College.)The festival got its start in May of 1980, and over the years has

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Cleveland: A Study in Black & White Photographs

Cleveland is a beautiful city in normal “living” color, but it gets its own special look when viewed in black and white photographs. Here is a video of some photos of my favorite Cleveland places – all in black & white – most of which I’ve taken over the last 2+ years.Cleveland - A Study in Black & White PhotographsCheck out my blog home page for the latest Cleveland information,All Things

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2009 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction - Videos

Cleveland had its big rock & roll party last night as the city hosted the induction ceremonies for the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees. Cleveland’s Plain Dealer has made available some videos of the event. Here are a few for your enjoyment. Many more videos of the inductees in the pressroom and some of their performances can be found on the Plain Dealer’ web site. Rock and Roll Hall of

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The Freeways of Cleveland

Clevelanders sure love their freeways, well, until they get into a traffic jam. And I have a special, not-so-nice place in my heart for I-7I, considering that our family had to be relocated in 1964 so they could put the freeway right through our house.Despite those days when something causes a horrific backup on the freeway, the city is lucky to have such an extensive freeway system. Here is a

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Cleveland's Submarine, The USS Cod (SS-224)

The USS Cod in Action Photo by US NavyWhen I was in high school in the 1970s, our class took a trip to see the USS Cod (SS-224), a submarine which is docked on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, between Burke Lakefront Airport and the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame . I was hesitant to go inside the sub for a two reasons: one, I was claustrophobic and I was terrified of going down into a

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RIP Cleveland Catholic Diocese – An Editorial

Yesterday, the parishoners of the Cleveland Catholic Diocese learned if their churches were staying open or closing. It is a very sad day for Cleveland Catholics, and even non-Catholics who benefited from the support of local church support programs, such as caring for the homeless, feeding the hungry, helping those with chemical dependencies, etc. Many of the poor and the inner city people will

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The Cleveland Ohio Skyline

For those of us who live in or near Cleveland Ohio, we sometimes take the city's beautiful skyline for granted. Here is a short video that I created which highlights some of my favorite views of the city. Hopefully it will not only remind Cleveland metropolitan area residents of how great this city looks, but will also serve to help "out of towners" see what they are missing. Enjoy!The Cleveland

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Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Promotional Video

To keep everyone charged up about the upcoming Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame and Museum’s Cleveland induction ceremonies coming up on April 4, 2009. Here is a promotional video created by Glazen Creative Studios It was produced for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s New York Annex experience. Check out my blog home page for the latest Cleveland information, All Things Cleveland, here.

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Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame: Cleveland Induction Ceremony

In December 2007 I did a feature here on the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. At the time of that writing, I bemoaned the lack of respect that the R&RHOF received, complaining that the induction ceremonies are held in New York City. Just four days after I aired my complaint, it was announced that the induction ceremonies would be held in Cleveland in 2009. Of course I had nothing to do with

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Playhouse Square – Cleveland’s Theatre District

The Palace Theatre LobbyClevelanders – along with most other people in the country – may not be aware that Cleveland’s Playhouse Square is the second largest theatre complex in the United States (only New York City’s Lincoln Center is larger in size) and it is second largest in the country in the number of productions (only Broadway in New York City has more).The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

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Cleveland – An Aerial Perspective

A short video is below, which provides views of Cleveland and the surrounding area (to the Lake Erie Islands) that are usually reserved for birds and passengers of aircraft. It is provided by Positively Cleveland, and was created by Glazen Creative Studios. No seatbelt is required. Enjoy your flight!Full Screen VersionCheck out my blog home page for the latest Cleveland information, here.

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A Cleveland Treat - Malley’s Chocolates

Many of my favorite things associated with Cleveland have to do with food. And what better time than the day before Valentine’s Day than to feature one of Cleveland’s best guilty pleasures – Malley’s Chocolates. Many people who grew up in Cleveland may have first become familiar with Malley's as children, by selling their chocolate bars for fundraising. I have many memories of bringing home the

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Touring Cleveland With Lolly The Trolley

San Francisco has steep hills and their famous cable cars. Cleveland’s terrain is much flatter, and we have our own unique sightseeing transportation. If you’re visiting Cleveland, or even if you live in the area, you may see the bright red trolleys driving through the downtown area. That’s Lolly The Trolley, a City Sightseeing Tour. Each Lolly The Trolley vehicle holds less than 40 passengers,

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“Brooklyn Goes To Cleveland” – A Short Film

Every now and then, some kind person uploads a gem to YouTube. Here’s one for long time Cleveland residents: a short film, shown below, called “Brooklyn Goes To Cleveland.” It is part of a series of short films done by Arthur Cohen, who may be better known under his stage name, Phil Foster. His character, named “Brooklyn”, was featured in many short films or travelogues to cities such as San

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CityProwl Cleveland - Listen, Walk, Enjoy!

If you live in or around the city of Cleveland, or if you are just visiting, the web site CityProwl will help enrich your visit. CityProwl provides walking tours of many of the key points of interest in downtown Cleveland, including interactive and downloadable maps, and MP3 downloads of the tours to guide you through your walk. While you can access all this information on your computer, you can

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You Know You’re A Clevelander When…

Every now and then, someone circulates an email that starts with, “You know you’re from Cleveland when…” It lists a lot of questions involving snow, cold, winter, lake effect, polkas, kielbasa, beer, pop, sports, rock & roll, the Cuyahoga River, East side vs. West side, potholes, and orange barrels. I think those categories cover just about all the key points of which any self-respecting

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Cleveland’s Best News Anchors

In the past, I’ve rated Cleveland’s morning news shows, weather forecasters, and the stations’ web sites. But it’s time to get down to business and talk about the best news anchors in town. It’s a short list, divided mostly between two stations, WKYC Channel 3, and WJW Fox 8. Viewers may think that news anchors are only as good as the copy they are given and their ability to read a teleprompter,

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Cleveland Area Former Nike Missile Sites

Nike Ajax, Hercules, and Zeus MissilesPhotographer and Location UnknownSomewhat by accident I found that only a few hundred feet from a company where I used to work in Eastlake Ohio, there was a Nike Missile site. No, I’m not talking about a type of shoe, but real honest-to-god missiles that are used for war and blow things up. I became curious about the subject and with a little digging, I

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