Saturday the kids and I picked our own apples at the Patterson Fruit Farm in Chesterland. It was a beautiful day and a really fun experience. Apple picking is a great way to enjoy Fall. Apparently it is a very popular Fall activity too because Patterson's was packed. Waiting in the line of cars turning into the parking lot reminded me of going to Cedar Point.

My name is Griet. I am a South African Boerboel. You say you have never heard of a South African Boerboel? Few people have. I am a rare breed of dog, a very old breed that was revived in South Africa in the 1980s, in fact I was born in Africa. Boerboels are a type of mastiff. My coat is fawn, I have a dramatic black mask and black ears, and my tail is docked. I have a very athletic build and weigh about 140 lbs.

As a young dog I was brought to East Cleveland by Jordan Pittman of Ohio Boerboels to be a breeder. I have now born over 60 puppies. For over a year now I have lived with Evelyn and Norm Roulet. Last summer Jordan gave me to them with the intention of retiring me. I looked really haggard at the time, having just weaned another litter. Although I am a very  healthy and fertile dog, I didn’t like being a breeder. I hate taking care of my puppies. I always kill off the most annoying ones from each of my litters.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.
He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it" - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dear Leaders of University Circle Institutions,

Did you or a representative of your institution attend the EPA public hearing on the Medical Center Company's request to renew their steam plant operating permit Tuesday evening August 10th at the MLK branch of the Cleveland Public Library?

If not, please view this video. You will want to hear the powerful testimony given by citizens who attended this meeting.

How did you spend these past few scorching days? Like Agricultural Scientist Stan Cox and his wife I spent them without air-conditioning, not necessarily comfortable but accepting of the weather. Stan Cox was interviewed recently in the New York Times about his views on reducing our dependence upon air-conditioning. I was surprised to learn that Mr. Cox has received death threats for these views! See  No Air-Conditioning, and Happy by Susan Saulny

An old brick garage, the roof long ago collapsed, shards of glass remain in the broken widows. Trees over grown, the remains of a cultivated flower bed by the side door of a house. Plants grow in cracks in the driveway. A slow return to nature.

I noticed a few days ago that the City of East Cleveland website is now a Drupal site. It is a big improvement from the most recent previous website, which looked more like the website for an Eric Brewer fan club than a city website. It is a good start to improving IT in East Cleveland -- now lets get more citizens online!

 Eggs a sign of the resurection and new life, but just a days work for my hens.  (A view inside my hen house.)

Coincidence or global warming? The rhubarb I planted last year has justed started to come up and already I have had to water it. Look at the soil and you might think we are experiencing a late summer draught.

Would any Realneo members like to participate in a seed and plant swap? I would be happy to host. Please post your thoughts on possible dates and times. We could also include garden tools and other gardeing related items if people are interested.

 This sculpture, LIGHT YEAR, 1979 painted aluminum, 80" x 156" x 19," was acquired Fall 2009 and installed near Kelvin Smith Library on the Campus of Case Western Reserve University. It is best viewed on foot, but you can catch a glimpse of it from East Boulevard over the entrance to the parking garage by Severance Hall. Ronald Bladen (Canadian born American 1918-1988) was long considered one of the most important Minimalist artists but his oeuvre has since been reassessed. In this site LIGHT YEAR seems to be about more than form. See for youself.

Pablo Picasso

Still Life with Death's Head,

Paris, autumn 1907
Oil on canvas
115 x 88 cm
Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg

One scholar has suggested that this painting was inspired by the death of Alfred Jarry on November 1, 1907.Alfred Jarry was the author of the play Ubu Roi (1896) considered an important work of literature as the forerunner of Surrealist writing.

In honor of dbra's new chicks ...

Melchoir d' Hondecoeter is one of the best painters of chicks and chickens in all of art history.

Condé Nast Publications announced yesterday that they would cease monthly publication of Gourmet Magazine.  Gourmet began in 1941, though Conde Nast only owned it since the 80s. A friend of mine called it the fall of the Western world a few years ago when he heard that University School planned to stop offering French -- for me, the death of Gourmet Magazine is a similarly bleak omen for America.

How an artist sees the world ...

There is plenty of opera in Cleveland, though not all of it is live. Now technology allows us see and hear MET performances, almost as if we were there. Severance Town Center is no Lincoln Center, but the tickets are a lot cheaper.

I would like to give someone in NEO Two Free Tickets to a Metropolitan Opera performance of La Sonnabula (The sleepwalker) music by Vicenzo Bellini, Italian libretto by Felice Romani.
Pre-recorded and screening Wednesday April 1, 7 pm at

I thought I'd post this since we have had some very interesting dialog in the past on graffiti and art. This tag appear recently on the steps of the Mildred Putnam Sculpture Garden on East 118th Street near Euclid Avenue.

SHALL WE KISS directed by Emmanuel Mouret

Once a year, during the brief run of the Cleveland International Film Festival, Cleveland feels like one of the great cities of the world. For a little more than a week the grand space of Tower City is filled with life; diverse crowds of art lovers flow in and out, steadily buzzing with excitement for what they are experiencing. Because it only happens once a year, it is easy to overlook The Cleveland International Film Festival as one of Cleveland's greatest assets.
 

I prefer to write about the arts, but my experience the other night has me inspired to blog about online tax programs.

This year I decided to try Turbo Tax for my Federal and State tax returns -- it was such a waste of time. I ended up starting over and filing with Free Tax USA.

You may have noticed a group of golden brown rectangular stones swelling out of the ground in the Euclid Avenue median across from Severance Hall. I don't have a good photo yet, but I will post one soon. The work is by Murase Associates http://www.murase.com/flash/index.html founded by Robert Murase (1938-2005) a Japanese American landscape architect.

Maybe you were there at Gray's Auctioneers Inaugural Auction on Sunday June 17th? Doors opened at 10:30 am for one last opportunity to preview the over 200 lots of fine art, furniture and decorative items, and by noon, auction time, the room was packed with excited bidders.  Some of the people in the audience were old pros and others were new to the auction world.  This first auction had something to suit  everyone's taste and price range. Those who attended were glad they did!

Community gardens play an important role in our city and its neighborhoods.  They are a source of fresh produce for those who don't have the space at their own residence.  Gardening is a great form of exercise.  Being in contact with nature and the soil relieves stress.  A strong sense on community grows quickly in a shared gardening space.  Crime levels drop around community gardens. These are just a few of the reasons to support community gardening.