Is there anything happening in Cleveland, Ohio?

[FJohnSharp]

http://www.murphyroche.com/Our_Sessions.htm

I haven't been here but Im planning on going some time when my regular Wed. band is off.

I'd hate to seem ungrateful, and I do appreciate the suggestion, but I do think the Kerry Piper is about 600 miles from my hotel in downtown Cleveland. Maybe I am just not used to the distances, coming from the East Coast.

Nah. Easy 30 minute drive. Okay, 40. Or so. I drive an hour each way for lessons.

[Daniel_Bingamon]

In Cincinnati, they refer to Cleveland as "The Mistake on the Lake". Never quite understood it.

[FJohnSharp]

There was a time (can anyone say Dennis Kucinich?) when Cleveland did one stupid or unfortunate thing after another. Things have gotten better..

Bloomfield. If you can't get to a session, go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's worth it.

[pthouron]

You will permit me to doubt that the Great Lakes Brewery produces the best beer in the world

Aww, Bloo, don't be such a New York beer snob and wait until you sample the GLB wares to form a judgment.

and that there is such a thing as a "wonderful" German sausage samplers (unless you mean that you, too, have always wondered what sausages are full of).

I'll give the beer a try if I can manage (but not the sausages).

I have to admit: I don't understand what you mean.

[pthouron]

In Cincinnati, they refer to Cleveland as "The Mistake on the Lake". Never quite understood it.

The "mistake BY the lake" referred to Cleveland Municipal Stadium where the Indians played for years (as well as the Browns, I believe) before moving to Jacobs Field. I think.

[pthouron]

I just like the topic, nyuk....Don't they film Jerry Springer there????

I can't tell you how hard I tried not to crack the jokes about Cleveland you'd expect from a New Yorker.

M...I was going to write most but I changed that to many Clevelanders are immune to the Cleveland jokes. There is even a micro brewery that calls itself Burning River Brewery. What really makes us feel better is that Toledo is only 100 miles away.
Mike

True. I've actually found Clevelanders have a great sense of humor about themselves. Since it's been cleaned up, I find Cleveland to be a great place to live. If I wasn't stuck in the NY area for all the wrong reasons, it would be among my top choices of places to move to.
My theory is this: people in Cleveland perpetuate those jokes just so they can keep East and West Coast snobs away.

[burnsbyrne]

In Cincinnati, they refer to Cleveland as "The Mistake on the Lake". Never quite understood it.

The "mistake BY the lake" referred to Cleveland Municipal Stadium where the Indians played for years (as well as the Browns, I believe) before moving to Jacobs Field. I think.

I have never heard it used specifically about the Municipal Stadium. I always thought it was just a reference to our dying industrial base compounded by boneheaded political infighting in the 1970s.
One of the reasons for all the Cleveland jokes is that many comedy writers in LA during that period were from Cleveland. They started riding their hometown and the Cleveland Joke was born. I don't know why but they're funny.
Mike

[The Weekenders]

I like people from Ohio, period.

When I was goin thru my genealogy obsession stage, I found all these ancestors and related families that left New Jersey and Pennsylvania and moved to southwest Ohio (Brown and Clermont counties) in the early 1800s. I ended up corresponding by email with some real characters, many related, but I enjoyed it immensely, because their replies and also Forum posts (county geno forums) were so funny.

It seems to be a culture full of self-deprecation and passive-aggressive humor. Many seem to know that they are perceived as corny to the rest of the US and milk it for all its worth.

And James Traficant???

[Kar]

I was born in Cleveland and raised outside of Akron until age 10, with frequent trips to the city to visit my grandparents.

Once I moved to California, I became quickly aware of what a joke Cleveland was in the rest of the country, and I, being a kid and liking Southern California MUCH better (no waiting for the schoolbus in the snow in my thin Catholic school uniform was enough for me to love SoCal), I joined in on the Cleveland "Armpit of the Nation" jokes.

But after visiting a few years ago when a grandparent died, I was suprised at how NICE the are was to my adult eyes. The city is much better than it used to be, and the surrounding area was downright lovely.

Now, living in San Fran, I still like to make jokes and support the

culture full of self-deprecation and passive-aggressive humor

but it's all in good fun. I'm not REALLY ashamed of my birthplace these days!

[burnsbyrne]

I like people from Ohio, period.

When I was goin thru my genealogy obsession stage, I found all these ancestors and related families that left New Jersey and Pennsylvania and moved to southwest Ohio (Brown and Clermont counties) in the early 1800s. I ended up corresponding by email with some real characters, many related, but I enjoyed it immensely, because their replies and also Forum posts (county geno forums) were so funny.

It seems to be a culture full of self-deprecation and passive-aggressive humor. Many seem to know that they are perceived as corny to the rest of the US and milk it for all its worth.

And James Traficant???

This all brings up the Cleveland-versus-the-rest-of-Ohio issue. Southern Ohio has a preponderance of German-descended residents. This includes Cincinnati. Northeast Ohio (Cleveland, Youngstown, Lorain) also has its share of Germans but includes exotic groups that are rare down south like Irish Catholics, Italian, Croatian (Dennis Kucinich), Serbian (Senator Voinovich) and every other eastern European country you can think of. Trafficant is in the Italian mob group of Youngstown. What a character!

I have had people who move to Cleveland from Columbus tell me that Cleveland seems to them like an east coast city with all the trimmings while Columbus seems like a laid back small town. I don't know if it's true but anyway, Ohio, like most US states is big enough to seem like different places from north to south, sorta like California.

Now you know more than you ever wanted about Cleveland. Sorry!
Mike

[feadogin]

As far as I know, I have never in my entire life met anyone from Ohio.

I guess I have been missing out all this time.

Justine

[Bloomfield]

You will permit me to doubt that the Great Lakes Brewery produces the best beer in the world

Aww, Bloo, don't be such a New York beer snob and wait until you sample the GLB wares to form a judgment.

I am not being a New York beer snob. I am being a German beer snob. You will have to admit that to a German the notion that the world's best beer is brewed in Cleveland, Ohio is a bit counterintuitive.

and that there is such a thing as a "wonderful" German sausage samplers (unless you mean that you, too, have always wondered what sausages are full of).

I'll give the beer a try if I can manage (but not the sausages).

I have to admit: I don't understand what you mean.

I don't eat meat (assuming for the sake of argument that there is meat in sausages).

But I am please to report that I had the opportunity to sample a couple of pints of Great Lakes Brewery Dortmunder beer. Being more of the southern German beer persuasion I cannot hold myself out as an expert on Dortmunder beer. That said, I liked it very much, as it had a rich and interesting flavor with an authentic fullness and duration to it. The only fault I could find with it was that it was slightly on the sweet side and didn't have much of a crown. Most American breweries will make their brews sweeter than the European orginals, to suit the American palate. Anyway, I look forward to visiting the GL Brewery. Thanks for the tip.

[pthouron]

You will permit me to doubt that the Great Lakes Brewery produces the best beer in the world

Aww, Bloo, don't be such a New York beer snob and wait until you sample the GLB wares to form a judgment.

I am not being a New York beer snob. I am being a German beer snob. You will have to admit that to a German the notion that the world's best beer is brewed in Cleveland, Ohio is a bit counterintuitive.

and that there is such a thing as a "wonderful" German sausage samplers (unless you mean that you, too, have always wondered what sausages are full of).

I'll give the beer a try if I can manage (but not the sausages).

I have to admit: I don't understand what you mean.

I don't eat meat (assuming for the sake of argument that there is meat in sausages).

But I am please to report that I had the opportunity to sample a couple of pints of Great Lakes Brewery Dortmunder beer. Being more of the southern German beer persuasion I cannot hold myself out as an expert on Dortmunder beer. That said, I liked it very much, as it had a rich and interesting flavor with an authentic fullness and duration to it. The only fault I could find with it was that it was slightly on the sweet side and didn't have much of a crown. Most American breweries will make their brews sweeter than the European orginals, to suit the American palate. Anyway, I look forward to visiting the GL Brewery. Thanks for the tip.

I get it now Didn't know you don't eat meat, sorry!...
I like the Dortmunder OK. My favorite is the Burning River Ale (like an IPA, but better) and the Commodore Perry. The CP is not bottled and can only be had on tap at the brewery...
Have a good time sampling!

[The Weekenders]

Last few exchanges reminds me that home-brew hobbyists and beer/ale gourmets are probably just as nuts as whistlers. I bet they have a robust Forum out there somewhere.

My health and metabolism will not allow me to be an expert on ales. But man, I would like to try!!! you just hafta at least drink a bottle or pint to REALLY know...My biggest beef is that unless you check the box label carefully, its easy to get ale or beer that has gotten skunky. I had delicious RedHook IPA last fall, but the dang store hasn't bought any new since, so I won't even buy more...

About Southern Ohio: Interesting, burnsy. Approximately 80,000 people moved from Ohio and Pennsylvania, mostly Quaker descent and Methodist folks, between 1800-1820. The whole Virginia Military Tract, comprising a southwest quadrant of the state, was purchased by New Jersey land speculators, including some of my kin, then resold by lots to NJ townsmen. It was a notable phenomenon reported in NY and NJ newspapers that whole Methodist congregations had "removed" to Ohio, leaving abandoned church buildings on the Jersey shore. Many, many towns there are named for NJ places and the surnames in the old county histories read like Quaker meetinghouse records from NJersey. Surely there were Germans amidst the Pennsylvanians but I was surprised to read your statement that they represent a majority. Perhaps the first group moved on to other states and there were later influxes. Only some of my kin stayed there in Ohio, most moving on to Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. I have corresponded with many of em. One reports that even 60 years ago, OYSTER sandwiches were still popular in Cincinatti because so many Jerseymen had moved there. I always understood that Northern Ohio had more NEngland folk who worked their way across...

[Fishie]

Go check out an Indians game! Probably pretty easy to get a tik these days.

;)[/quote]