Christmas In The CLE

Since I just revisited Christmas in Detroit, I figure it's time to revisit Christmas in Cleveland.  So here's a great little album put together from various Cleveland-area high school choral groups.  Not sure of a date on the vinyl, but I first shared it back in 2006 and heard from a couple of people that attended the high schools in question, though never from anybody who might actually be on the record.  Maybe this time the record will find it's way to the right person who can tell us all about this recording.  Without further ado, here is Christmas In Cleveland (Delta Records Of Ohio, Processed and Pressed by Columbia XCTV-84680/1). I never typed in all the relevant details about tracks and artists, so have a look-see at the back cover below if you're curious.

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Cleveland Christmas

While I'm sharing out Christmas music from various cities, I should throw up this collection I first shared back in 2006 from Cleveland.  Lots and lots of local color here.  I've been in the spot where that cover photo was taken, too, but there was no cross on Terminal Tower at the time.  Take a trip back in time and download  Christmas In Cleveland (Delta Records Of Ohio, Processed and Pressed by Columbia, XCTV-84680/1, Mono).

1. Bay High School Choir-Joyous Christmas Song
2. Bedford High School A Cappella Choir-Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
3. Berea High School Choir-Hallelujah (The Mount Of Olives)
4. Cathedral Latin High School Glee Club-Carol Of The Drum
5. Cleveland Heights High School Choir-O Holy Night
6. East High School Choral Club-Traditional Medley-The First Noel-Silent Night
7. Glenville High School Choral Club-16th Century Church Music-Gloria Parti-Palestrina
8. Holy Name High School Choir-Ring Christmas Bells
9. John Marshall High School Choir-Christmas Was Meant For Children
10. Lakewood High School Choir-Now Is The Carolling Season
11. Lutheran High School West Choir-Jesous Ahatonhia
12. Magnificat High School Senior Choir-Adeste Fidelis
13. Notre Dame Academy Choral Club-To The Manger
14. Our Lady Of Lourdes High School A Cappella Choir-The Sleigh (a la Russe)
15. Parma Senior High School Concert Choir-Away In A Manger
16. West High School Choral Club-Heavenly Light

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The Other 2010 Calendar

I almost forgot that I didn't tell you when my second calendar came in. This one is for the shop we have in Cleveland, Ohio, so it's a montage of sights in downtown Cleveland. I only visited Cleveland once last year, so that didn't give me much time to get many really good pictures. We settled on these 5 and I collaged them together. Let me see, what's in the picture... Starting from the left, that's the lighthouse in Lake Erie that marks the opening to the Cuyahoga River. Next up is the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, designed by I.M. Pei. Then there's a long jetty sticking out into Lake Erie behind the Science Center. Then we have the Key Tower and some skyscraper that I don't know the name of in downtown near sunset. And last is one of the many historic railroad bridges in The Flats district. I could look up the name of it, but it would take forever. All of the shots below were pictures we considered but wound up not using.

This is the view of downtown Cleveland from Wendy Park. This is my new favorite place to go when I'm in Cleveland.

This is the view of downtown from a marina in Ohio City, just the other side of the Cuyahoga River.

This is the full shot of that lighthouse that made the calendar.

The Cleveland Browns stadium.

And, of course, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

Something Different

You want something a little different? I don't think I've brought you a locally produced and distributed record in a while. So here's a little something from Cleveland. First shared out back in 2006, here's Christmas In Cleveland (Delta Records Of Ohio, Processed and Pressed by Columbia, XCTV-84680/1, Mono).

1. Bay High School Choir-Joyous Christmas Song
2. Bedford High School A Cappella Choir-Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
3. Berea High School Choir-Hallelujah (The Mount Of Olives)
4. Cathedral Latin High School Glee Club-Carol Of The Drum
5. Cleveland Heights High School Choir-O Holy Night
6. East High School Choral Club-Traditional Medley-The First Noel-Silent Night
7. Glenville High School Choral Club-16th Century Church Music-Gloria Parti-Palestrina
8. Holy Name High School Choir-Ring Christmas Bells
9. John Marshall High School Choir-Christmas Was Meant For Children
10. Lakewood High School Choir-Now Is The Carolling Season
11. Lutheran High School West Choir-Jesous Ahatonhia
12. Magnificat High School Senior Choir-Adeste Fidelis
13. Notre Dame Academy Choral Club-To The Manger
14. Our Lady Of Lourdes High School A Cappella Choir-The Sleigh (a la Russe)
15. Parma Senior High School Concert Choir-Away In A Manger
16. West High School Choral Club-Heavenly Light

The Little Lighthouse

This is a view of the little lighthouse that stands at the spot where the Cuyahoga River empties into Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. I've taken plenty of pictures of it, but this was the closest I've ever gotten to it without being on a boat.

More Edgewater

Also in Edgewater Park (which I didn't even know was there until this last trip to Ohio), I spotted quite a few cool flowers growing among the rocks on the banks of Lake Erie. I don't know the names of any of them, but they sure were impressive to me. I guess the people fishing down there see them all the time and thus don't pay any attention, but I thought some of these were spectacular.


The orchid-like flowers above were actually on a large tree, and it was covered in them. That was probably the coolest of the flowers there. Not at all what I expected to be growing alongside one of the great lakes in a windswept and often wave-overtopped spot.

Stone Tower

I was walking along a breakwater in Edgewater Park near downtown Cleveland (Ohio City, actually) recently when I saw something carved on one of the massive stones that front Lake Erie. Looking closer, I realized it was a fairly decent likeness of Terminal Tower, one of the tallest and oldest buildings in Cleveland. After taking the picture above, I pointed the camera towards the real Terminal Tower across the Cuyahoga River and took the picture below. I'm sure you'll have no trouble telling which building it is in the skyline.

Tiny Sunset

Here's a shot of the sunset over Lake Erie when I was in Ohio a couple of weeks ago. This is actually a very tiny crop of a much larger picture, but I wanted to show you the mirage effect that occurred out over the lake. That's not a cloud in front of the sun creating that line, it's layers of different air temperature over the water, creating odd reflections and refractions (same things that cause the not-mythical Green Flash!). I wish I'd been able to get better pictures of it, but there was a train going by behind me, and I wanted to get pictures of that, too. So this was about the best I got of the sunset. This was shot with that fancy lens I rented, and it's cropped to well within an inch of it's life and it still doesn't look too bad.

RIP MJ

OK, I'm no big Michael Jackson fan, but when he died on my birthday and I was in Cleveland, the home of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, I had to go see the fuss. Sure enough, they've got a big guitar dedicated to Michael right in the lobby (where it's always been, by the way), and it was surrounded by all sorts of small, home-made, heartfelt tributes. But, for every fan who was there to remember his legacy, there was a TV camera there to exploit it. I wasn't carrying a vinyl copy of Thriller or wearing one white glove, so they didn't want to interview me. I guess I should have gotten some pictures of the many TV crews while I was there, but I didn't think about it. Michael Jackson made some good music in his lifetime, but he certainly went off the rails at some point later on. Shame.

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Brass Monkey

OK, so they aren't really live, but they are at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo. And there's more than just a brass monkey. You get a brass baby elephant and a brass timber wolf, so I think you come out ahead on the deal. I think they had more of these statues around the park, but these are the only ones I got pictures of. You can see they all have bright spots where the patina is rubbed off by people touching them. Maybe it's like rubbing the belly of the Buddha, you're supposed to touch the nose of the timber wolf. I double-dog dare you to do that to a real timber wolf. Good luck getting your hand back...

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Pachyderms

From my trip to the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo last year, here're some elephants. Elephants are cool, but they always look sad to me. Is it there big eyes, their wrinkled skin, the floppy ears? I don't know. Don't they look like they'd rather be somewhere else? Well, of course these guys would rather be somewhere else. Any wild animal would rather be anyplace than a zoo. And these guys seemed to be in a cramped area that was way too small for three or four elephants. I think they were raising money for a new elephant enclosure when I was there, and boy, did they need it. Maybe they'll look happier when I make it back there.

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Real Life Drama

Here's a bit of unintended wild adventure I spotted at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo last year. This little finch had found a snake, or perhaps the snake found him, I don't know. I came across the events already in progress, but I stuck around for a bit.

These two seemed to be in a knock-down drag-out for dear life. The bird didn't seem to know that he should try to grab the snake right behind the head, so he wound up getting nipped a couple of times.

But the bird had the advantage of flight. When things got a little hairy, he'd take off into the air! Unfortunately, it didn't go on for too long. A group of tween girls showed up, and they broke up the action. I couldn't tell if they felt sorry for the bird or the snake, or if they just didn't like true-life adventures very much. But there wasn't anything to shoot after they arrived.

I don't know what kind of snake this was, but he sure does have some nice markings. If he were a little darker and maybe a little bigger I'd think rattlesnake, but his head's not shaped right, either. I'm sure someone out there will let me know what this is exactly.

Hoppy Easter!!!

Took me some doing, but I found a picture I took of a rabbit. Here he is, just searching for a little something to eat. I spotted this guy on the wild savanna inside the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo last year. He was surrounded by zebras and giraffes, and some weird vultures, too. But I think if any of those other creatures had been very close, this bunny rabbit wouldn't have been out in the open like he is. Have a Happy Easter Sunday, and I hope you're enjoying the burst of posts today and all this week.

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Chipmunks

Last June, I spent a day at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo, and then in July I shared pictures of many of the animals with you. But there were some I missed for whatever reason, so I'm back to those guys. One of the critters on unintentional display at the zoo is the chipmunk. Much like squirrels here in Florida, chipmunks are every where up there. However, they are much more skittish. I think these shots are of two different animals, but I managed to get pictures of them only because there was something keeping them from getting away and hiding when they saw me approaching. One of the them jumped two feet in the air to get on top of a wall and scurry away when he thought I was too close. Not bad for something that's under six inches long, not counting the tail. Anyhow, I really thought these rats with racing stripes were cool. I wish we had them in Florida. But then I wish we had lots of things in Florida. All we get are eagles and alligators and snakes and such. Nothing really cool.

Cleveland For Christmas

This is a rerun from back in 2006 (and I reshared it last year, so you might have seen it then, too). I got all excited when I found this on a trip to Ohio in 2006, but oddly enough, I found a copy in my collection this year, hidden away in an area that's remained fairly well untouched since I moved in to my condo in 2004, so I evidently had a copy of this record for years and didn't know it. I've probably got an awful lot of records that I don't know I have, and that's a real shame. Anyhow, this is a record of Christmas music as performed by various schools in the Cleveland area. I've gotten plenty of comments over the past two years from people who attended the schools represented, or knew people who did. Don't think I've heard from anyone who's on the actual album yet, but I'm still hoping. Why don't you download and have a listen to Christmas In Cleveland (Delta Records Of Ohio, Processed and Pressed by Columbia, Mono, XCTV-84680/1)?

1. Bay High School Choir-Joyous Christmas Song
2. Bedford High School A Cappella Choir-Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming
3. Berea High School Choir-Hallelujah (The Mount Of Olives)
4. Cathedral Latin High School Glee Club-Carol Of The Drum
5. Cleveland Heights High School Choir-O Holy Night
6. East High School Choral Club-Traditional Medley-The First Noel-Silent Night
7. Glenville High School Choral Club-16th Century Church Music-Gloria Parti-Palestrina
8. Holy Name High School Choir-Ring Christmas Bells
9. John Marshall High School Choir-Christmas Was Meant For Children
10. Lakewood High School Choir-Now Is The Carolling Season
11. Lutheran High School West Choir-Jesous Ahatonhia
12. Magnificat High School Senior Choir-Adeste Fidelis
13. Notre Dame Academy Choral Club-To The Manger
14. Our Lady Of Lourdes High School A Cappella Choir-The Sleigh (a la Russe)
15. Parma Senior High School Concert Choir-Away In A Manger
16. West High School Choral Club-Heavenly Light

And I've thrown up the back cover in case you want to look close and see there's any sign of you or your parents on there before you download it. Enjoy!

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Deer

Since I am celebrating Christmas in July around here, maybe it's time I bring you a picture of a deer from the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo. I didn't get any really good pictures because this guy was busy trying to get into his shelter out of the rain, but the door was closed and locked. Poor thing. I originally thought this was a reindeer, but I think I was mistaken. Looking at their website closely, I think this is a Thorold's Deer. I really should have paid more attention to the signs at the zoo...

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Leopard

No great pictures of this leopard for you, I'm afraid. These shots are all I got of him as he paced back and forth way at the back of his enclosure at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo last month. I think he was trying to wear a groove in the floor deep enough to allow him to escape. That's just my guess...

If you had your heart set on leopard pictures, you can check out the snow leopard pictures from the same trip to the zoo, and I bet if I look hard enough, I could find some leopard pictures from Big Cat Rescue.

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Lemurs

Talk about your cute and cuddly animals! These guys have cats beat hands down. These are ring-tailed lemurs, and I shot these pictures during my visit to the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo last month. None of these pictures convey the way these fellows look at you. Their eyes look like they are emitting light instead of collecting it. They look at you and you feel like they're emitting some sort of radiation at you. It's weird.


Oh, and how about that striped tail? My cat has a striped tail, but it's nothing as spectacular as this thing. I suspect they could use it to signal incoming planes if they needed to.

Live At The Cleveland Zoo-Seals

Things move quickly around here. Tonight I go from grizzly bears to harbor seals in the blink of an eye. These guys were nearly impossible to get a good picture of. Back and forth they swam in their little pool, surfacing only briefly for a breath, and always at the far end of the pool. So you'll have to make do with these few shots. I'm pretty sure these pictures are all of harbor seals, but I won't guarantee I didn't get a picture of a sea lion by mistake. It's hard for me to tell the difference, since none of these really look like the pictures at the Cleveland MetroParks Zoo website. Someday I'll learn to pay more attention to the signs at the place I'm visiting. And maybe take a picture of it, too.