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July 27, 2008
Pardon the Dust…….We’ve Renovated
Posted by muley under Lorain, music, stuffComments Off on Pardon the Dust…….We’ve Renovated
July 8, 2008
Dear readers;
You have probably been wondering…..What happened to Muley’s Cafe?. Well, it’s still here, but I’ve been very busy lately with some issues of late and just haven’t the time to post anything new.
I started this blog to stay away from all things political, but have come to the conclusion that having an entertainment blog does not generate the conversation that usually accompanies those other blogs and forums. As Mr. Jeff Hess at Have Coffee Will Write says so frequently, “it’s all about the conversation”. I love the conversation, getting peoples ideas, thoughts and such.
So, here we are today trying to figure out, “what is Muley up to?” Well, I’ll tell ya’s, I’m going to do some changes here at Muley’s Cafe. Not exactly sure, but just the same, changes are on the way. It may take a couple of weeks to do this, for I am a very busy man of late, but changes are coming.
In the mean time, for your listening pleasure, I give you:
King Crimson
May 25, 2008
May 10, 2008
it’s that time of year, backyard barbeques, visiting our parks, festivals and in general, getting outdoors. Shake those wintertime blues with a Lighthouse tour sponsored by The Lorain Port Authority
Lorain’s Lighthouse was constructed in 1916-1917, and serves as a beacon for mariners from many parts of the world. Electricity was added in 1932, and was operated by the U.S. Coast Guard from 1939 until 1965 when it was decommisioned after the installation of the automated light. In 1990 it was purchased by The Port of Lorain Foundation, which took on an immense renovation project that continues today.
The Lorain Port Authority will be sponsoring tours of Lorain’s masterpiece starting this month, with tentative dates as such:
May 24th
June 14th, 28th and 29th
July 5th, 19th and 20th
August 2nd, 16th and 30th
So, if you have friends or family visiting in the coming months, won’t you consider a tour of the port’s jewel for their pleasure?. It’s an experience we all can share in.
And if you want to be a volunteer for any of the above mentioned tours, please fill out the volunteer form linked here and submit it to The Lorain Lighthouse Foundation.
May 4, 2008
The events of May 4, 1970 can be viewed here
William K Schroeder
July 20, 1950 – May 4, 1070
Sandra Lee Scheuer
August 11, 1949 – May 4, 1970
Jeffrey G Miller
March 28, 1950 – May 4, 1970
Allison Krause
April 21, 1951 – May 4, 1970
Who Killed Allison? Why? What has she done? Read by Barry Levine in honor of Allison Krause during the 30th Commemoration ceremonies. Not us says the KENT TOWNSFOLK Those stinkin’ kids-don’t appreciate what they’ve got You can say what you want, and say what you must WHO KILLED ALLISON, WHY, WHAT HAD SHE DONE Not us says the UNIVERSITY It wasn’t her place to demonstrate – against the State And no one can hear, and no one can hear. Sure she was an honor student, but she should have known better There is a time and a place for freedom of speech WHO KILLED ALLISON, WHY, WHAT HAD SHE DONE Not me says the MAYOR OF KENT I feel bad, I do, but I didn’t pull that trigger WHO KILLED ALLISON, WHY, WHAT HAD SHE DONE Not me says TRICKY DICK It wasn’t’ me that made her fall WHO KILLED ALLISON, WHY, WHAT HAD SHE DONE Not me says GOVERNOR RHODES But that was my job, to incite the Guard, and I did it OK There will be no riots in the State of Ohio, not on my watch, not on this date Its a shame it had to be that way, but who’s to know and who’s to say So what are you going to do? Sue me? I’m not the one that made the call WHO KILLED ALLISON, WHY, WHAT HAD SHE DONE Not us says the NATIONAL GUARD We had no choice, we had to act – it was her life or ours WHO KILLED ALLISON, WHY, WHAT HAD SHE DONE? |
April 29, 2008
I’ve been a fan of Nascar since my days in North Carolina back in the late 70’s, about the same time a young, reckless Dale Earnhardt started making a name for himself, starting with capturing the “Rookie of the Year” award at the conclusion of the 1979 Winston Cup season, and culminating in 7 Winston Cup championships, equalling the King, Richard Petty for the most ever in Nascar history. As a brash, young driver back in the 70’s, young Dale idolized his father, Ralph Dale Earnhardt, also a former champion driver in Nascar.
……But I’m not going to tell you all the history and feel good stories of Dale’s life and career. No, I want to tell you about the “phenomenon” of Dale Earnhardt after his death, how the legend grows from year to year.
I’ve attended many Nascar races, most were at Darlington, South Carolina, for The Southern 500. As Dale was always, and forever, my favorite driver, I was amazed at the long lines of fans that were at his souvenir trailers to buy anything “Earnhardt”. These lines would be 5 or 6 rows deep, compared to other trailers, where you might see 5 or 6 fans mingling around.
Year after year, these lines at Earnhardt’s trailers would continue to grow, to the point now, there are 2 or 3 Earnhardt trailers at just about every race on the Nascar schedule. Before his death, Earnhardt garnered 40 to 50% of all Nascar souvenir sales. One driver…..amongst 42 others. Even today, 8 years after his death, Earnhardt is still in the top 5 in souvenir sales.
Another thing that amazes me, and sorry it doesn’t continue, is this fact. Without any promotion, encouragement whats so ever, at the beginning of every race following Earnhardts tragic death at Daytona International Speedway Feb. 18th, 2001, on the third lap, most fans would hold up three fingers in a salute to their hero. Again, nobody came out with an announcement, “hey, this is what we want to do”. They just did it. And if you didn’t get to go to races, and just stayed home and watched on T.V., the broadcast announcers would remain silent during the 3rd lap, week after week, race after race for the whole season. I was honored by partaking in this activity, at home and the race track.
Well, today would’ve been Dale’s 57th birthday, and for the 7th year in a row, “Dale Earnhadt” day will be celebrated from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. at Dale Earnhadt headquarters in Mooresville, N.C. and the thousands of folks that will trek to that little hamlet, otherwise known as Race City, U.S.A. is simply amazing.
Happy Birthday, Dale
You left us way too soon.
April 26, 2008
Had this passed on to me the other day and wanted to bring it to your attention. (ht to http://thatwoman.wordpress.com/).
In accordance with federal guidelines, the RTA Board of Trustees developed the Arts in Transit program in 1991. The first committee members were appointed later that year. By board policy, 1% of the projects constuction cost must be set aside for public art.
Since 1991, more than 20 works of art have been placed on permanent display in various media at:
Rail Stations
Transit Centers
Walkway to Gateway
The Arts In Transit Committee, chaired by Marybeth Feke, includes representatives from:
Schools
Museums
Private Businesses
Universities/Community Colleges
Non-Profit Organizations
Theatre Groups and Organizations
This is a great opportunity for any local artist that wants some recognition. For contract information, look here
To view some of the artwork already placed in other rail stations, look here
April 19, 2008
Tuesday…..April 15th…….Tax day, started off pretty smooth for me. I started this blog, Muley’s Cafe that morning. Got my first post up about some real cool jazz and was kinda giddy. Then, I got a call around noon from the Mrs. about a hurriedly called meeting at National Gypsum, her employer since November 29th, 1979.
Now, let’s go back to February 24th. Barack Obama decide to pay a visit to Lorain to talk about jobs, as noted in The Chronicle the following day. One of the topics discussed was the loss of jobs in the U.S., the state of Ohio and the city of Lorain.
“I’ve seen what happens to a community when a factory closes and jobs move overseas,” he said before pledging to never “sign any trade agreement as president that does not have protections for our environment and protections for American workers.”
Now, let’s go forward again to April 15th, and that phone call. When I hung up the phone, after assuring my wife there wasn’t anything to worry about, a very tight knot started to form in the pit of my stomach. after arriving at work in downtown Cleveland, and doing a few chores, I decided to call my wife and see what happened at the meeting. The news was not good as you all know by now. National Gypsum will close on or about June 16th, 2008 according to the letter my wife brought home that day (with a few dried tear stains on it). That tight knot in my stomach is now about to explode.
Take note of these dates:
April 15th
June 16th
Have any of you readers ever heard of Worker Adjustment and Retaining Notification Act (WARN) ? I never have, so I searched google for it, and this it what I found:
The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide notification 60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs.
Employee entitled to notice under WARN include managers and supervisors, as well as hourly and salaried workers. WARN requires that notice also be given to employees’ representatives, the local chief elected official, and the state dislocated worker unit.
Advance notice gives workers and their families some transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain other jobs, and, if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining that will allow these workers to compete successfully in the job market.
- Generally, WARN covers employers with 100 or more employees, not counting those who have worked less than six months in the last 12 months and those who work an average of less than 20 hours a week.
- Employees entitled to advance notice under WARN include managers and supervisors as well as hourly and salaried workers.
- Regular federal, state, and local government entities that provide public services are not covered by WARN.
You can view the entire document from the U.S. Dept. of Labor here.
Who’s really being protected here?
Do you see what I see? This Federal Law, that is to protect the workers and their families, requires that employers with 100 or more employees are required, by law, to notify the workers within 60 days of any plant closings or mass lay-offs.
Again, those dates:
April 15th
June 16th
61 days
“Advance notice gives workers and their families some transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and obtain other jobs, and, if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining that will allow these workers to compete successfully in the job market.”
61 stinkin’ days
You gotta be kidding me, my wife, and the rest of her soon-to-be unemployed co-workers have 6o days to adjust? To enter skill training or retraining that will allow workers to compete in the job market? Here in Lorain? This was the only full-time job my wife had since graduating from high school. Just how is she going to compete?
Now here is the questions I have about this whole post:
In my sick mind, I believe that when Barack Obama visited National Gypsum that cold day in February, the wheels were in motion already to shut down the Lorain plant. Was Barack aware of this and just promoting his job bull-shit initiative? Or was National Gypsum using a presidential candidate to promote their corp. ass name? You tell me.
And before I close this post, I want to leave you with this little snippet from our newly elected mayor, Tony Krasienko:
”We want to find out if there is any opportunity to retain these jobs at that plant in Lorain,” Krasienko said. ”Many families are devastated today. The city needs every dollar we can get, but this is an even bigger impact to the workers and their families.” morning journal 4/16/2008
Sorry Tony, you missed the boat on this one. While you were wooing Hillary, NGC was devastating the lives of 58 families in Lorain.
(Editors Note)
To those other 57 workers who got that letter, My heart goes out to you, and my wife Dimitra and I would like to wish you the best of luck in the future and she sends her love to you.
April 18, 2008
Grande Dame………80 years at The Palace Theatre
Posted by muley under Lorain, music, stuff, the arts, Uncategorized[3] Comments
In celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Palace Theatre, there will be a free concert tonite featuring the music of David Syme, a classically trained pianist. David is considered one of the best pianist in the world who has played in many competitions world wide with full orchestra and sometimes with his own band. David has played to thousands of people at such places as Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center, as well as many major European, Canadian and Mexican concert halls.
So, if you haven’t any plans for tonite, stop downtown, take in a dinner at one of our local restaurants, and catch David as he performs some very nice music.
The show will be starting at 8:00 p.m. If you would like to pick-up ticket’s before the show, the Palace Theatre box office is open today from 10:00 a.m. untill 4:00 p.m.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc57wpIfhJI
April 15, 2008
Welcome
I want to thank all of you for visiting my very first blog. A new adventure for me, for sure and I’m real excited about getting it going. Some of you may know me from Thewomblog and others are being introduced to me for the first time. I appreciate you sharing your time and thoughts. So let’s get started.
Back about 1992 or so, I visited Denver, Colo. to visit some friends from Lorain who relocated to “the front range”. One of the scenes we took in during my visit to downtown Denver was the annual “Taste of Colorado” where we enjoyed some really, really good food, and lot’s of it. Labor Day week-end in Colorado is really a beautiful site to behold as you can see here and here. Towards the end of a long day of walking, talking and eating, we were treated to a free jazz concert. Loving jazz like I do, and seeing a free gig, I was really happy to sit down for an hour or two of some decent music.
Well, the artist performing that night, Richard Elliot was someone I wasn’t familiar with at all. Well, needless to say, I was impressed with this little guy with the big horn. Richard made a name for himself as a member of the “Tower of Power” horn section. Richard also did stints as a youngster with Smokey Robinson, the Temptations and Melisa Manchester. And in recent years has toured with a group of musicians in what has been billed Jazz Attack.
Now, since that memoriable visit to Denver, I have seen Richard at several local venues, including Playhouse Square and Tangiers Cabaret in Akron. Well, come Saturday, April 26th, you can see Richard, along with another fine horn player, trumpeter Rick Braun at the Ohio Theatre in Playhouse Square for an evening of smooth jazz, and i mean Smooth.
You can get your tickets online here, or at Playhouse Square box office. Want to hear some really good music, then spend a night on the town on April 26th for a wonderful evening of smooth jazz. Hope to see you there.