Cleveland. You might have heard of us. We’re known for hemorraghing talent* and that whole river-catching-on-fire thing.
But there are good aspects of living here, too. Sadly, we lost one of those aspects a couple of weeks ago when one of my personal idols, Harvey Pekar, died. If you’ve seen the film American Splendor, you know a bit of Harvey’s story. He was best-known for his American Splendor comic books, which are addictive, funny, inspiring… you should read them.
Here’s a snippet from the time Anthony Bourdain brought his show No Reservations to the CLE and met Harvey. (Tony baby loved Cleveland, by the way.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J38mp_ON64Y]
Another good aspect is that we have a sense of humor. We kind of have to.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM]
Additionally, aside from all the good music that comes through Cleveland (you can see a show every night of the week at the Beachland Ballroom alone, and there’s also the Grog Shop, Now That’s Class, the Thirsty Dog… we’ve got a few venues – and when I say “a few”, I mean “a lot of”), some great music comes from Cleveland. Here’s Kid Cudi talking about home.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm-Bz-8ecjs]
*We also like to claim anything good that’s ever come out of Akron.
