Independence Day 2009

Independence Day 2009 was one of the best I have had in a while. While I did not shoot off any fireworks, I got to spend the day on a boat on Lake Erie and Cuyahoga River and view the fireworks from right above my head instead of in a car and far away. Usually, I am at home with my family bringing barbecue in and going out to Edgewater Park to enjoy the fireworks from afar. This year, I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to stay in Cleveland but instead of going to the same spot for the fireworks, I wanted to change the location and the experience. This year, I went with just my sister instead of my parents and my sister.


The plan: we "got away" from the house and stayed in a nearby hotel at a cheap rate for the night. I did not know how wild the night would get so to be safe, we stayed in a hotel. We had a light lunch (I had mussels and my sister had spicy garlic wings). We relaxed a bit in the hotel after eating before we headed to the pier at Voinovich Park to get our tickets for the elongated cruise. The day was nice and there was a nice breeze coming from the lake.


Around 6:00 pm, dinner was served. The dinner was a traditional one: ribs, chicken, cole slaw, beans, and cake. We sat at the table with two other couples to accommodate all incoming passengers. The name of the boat was the Goodtime III, the newest addition to the Goodtime family. The boat was at capacity around 800 passengers. At dinner, the boat was about halfway at capacity but the main deck was the area where everyone was seated for dinner so at felt more crowded at dinner. The boat started to cruise around 6:30 pm and made its way around once to the west and back and then to the east and back.


We left our dinner seat and headed up to our designated deck- the 3rd floor. There, people started to slowly move toward their decks and enjoyed the open air. I saw the daylight turn into dusk and around 8:30 pm, we approach the dock again to pick up the other passengers on the boat who bypassed dinner. This time, the boat was at capacity and it was rather hard to move from one area to the other. The third and fourth decks were at capacity and the lower two decks were packed. The true celebration started even before the fireworks as people were dancing in the aisles and having a good time.


The boat continued to make its cruise through downtown Cleveland and beyond as the darkness overtook the sky. There were many smaller cruises that blocked off certain parts of the lake; as a result, the Goodtime III looped around several times and parked itself in a neutral area where the fireworks could be seen clearly. The fireworks started around 10:00 pm and ended at 10:30 pm. I took pictures of the fireworks but the resolution was not great so I switched to my videocamera and that worked very well. The boat returned to its dock at 11:30 pm and we headed back to the hotel for the night. In the hotel, there was quite the crowd since there were many family reunions happening. There were no stairs (I found the stairs early morning next day) so we had to wait for a while to board the elevator. We left around noon that Sunday and arrived back home in the early afternoon.




























Wishing Everyone a Belated Happy Independence Day,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

Downtown Excursion

Hey everyone. I just got back from my downtown Cleveland excursion and I just gotta tell you about it. I left the house around 10:20 looking to handle some business. You see, I left my cozy house to go to downtown Cleveland to renew my scholarship with Cleveland Scholarship Programs. Yes, sir. More money for my education. I really need it this year because the loans are going to hurt me. I guess I will go one picture at a time because I have a considerable amount to show you. I don't want to leave any pictures out (even though I will and they will be on the top of the blog entry) and since I had a longer day out than expected, I might as well show you everything as you like it. It is all one big picture in the end.

Landed on the address as you can see. I had no expectations because money can be a big disappointer (I know it is not a word, I don't care) if you think more than you expect to get. Even though I am in my third year with the program, it is financial aid money than is coming from an individual donor- probably also with a limited supply of money but with enough generosity to give to a poor, broke college student aiming for his dreams. Anyway, there was a good 15 minutes before my interview so I decided to take pictures inside of the BP Building. (A bit of irony I caught- in the picture at the top of the blog entry where I captured the images of the Starbucks and the Cleveland Scholarship Programs, does it seem that it is advertising that coffee and college do go together like boyfriend and girlfriend?) The photos below show the inside of the building. Pretty luxurious, huh? When I first saw the building and how tall it was, I was impressed. When I saw the inside, I was more impressed. The first time was when I was a senior at JFK. I then got to see the wonderful view of downtown Cleveland from the 38th floor. It is one of the tallest buildings in Cleveland and seeing that beautiful sunset gave me a million right reasons why I am doing this (being an student assistant and pursuing my goals to college). Being in the heart of downtown Cleveland is bound to attract a lot of attention and Cleveland Scholarship Programs has managed to do that and continues to serve as an influential of college students today. Proud to be associated with the program. Some of the pictures I took seem a little off because I was trying to display the bigger picture of the beauty of the building as well as its size. The picture of the right with the inside of the building in the glass panes shows a little bit of the outside and how tall the building is. The building seems to be going into the sky. That caught my eye and I decided to capture it. I also capture pictures of the man-made waterfall. I knew that the waterfall would be running even before I got there earlier today so I took pictures of it at various angles. The building is nice and I am glad many businesses have utilized it over the years.










I was happy to be back in the same situation as last year where I knew there would be guaranteed money. I need it. The interview was short and sweet. The documentation was all with me and all I needed to do was receive the news and paperwork in person. I did a thank you card for the donor and a quick survey before I headed out of the building. Before the noon hour was over, I left the BP Building and was on my way to doing the next task.









I got my money from my bank earlier in the day so I could just go and do whatever without having to walk in a half-mile zone of construction down Euclid Ave after the interview. I went to Tower City and got myself a new weekly local bus pass in order to save money on myself for the next work week. No complications there. I realized how hungry I was and was in deep thought whether I should go to a sit-down restaurant or a regular fast food place. (I took the picture of the Carl B. Stokes Court House and the picture of the scenic backdrop of its park while in that deep thought.) After 20 minutes of walking along West St. Clair alongside many after 4 p.m. restaurant, I swung back around to Tower City area and stopped in a Corned Beef place on the corner. I heard the corned beef was good so I stopped and ordered a sandwich. All of a sudden, I see that it is raining outside. Just great. Rain to put a damper on my visit downtown. I ran back to Tower City across the street and sit down in the food court- where there was a lot more room than where I bought the corned beef. I ate the sandwich there and watch the rain let up. I was about to just go home but once I saw clear skies again, I decided to stay out a little longer. I walked to North Coast Harbor where I was about to take some pictures of the lake. Before I could reach the pier area, I was greeted with rain again. Seeing that I was nearby the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, I gladly entered the building to see if the rain was to let up again. This time, the rain persisted and I decided to enjoy the exhibits since I was already inside. My day was now become a lot longer due to the rain and my unwillingness to get soaked on the way to the bus terminal.
























The pictures are above of the Rock Hall. The first one is a program of the exhibits. Some of the exhbits that I attended are:

• Take Me Out: Baseball Rocks (even though the Indians right now except for Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore do not)- hearing about select players love for certain types of music. Interesting.
• Mike McCartney's Liverpool Life- real photos of musicians in the act on and off the stage. Includes Little Richard and of course, the Beatles. This is on display for a limited time- until September.
  
• A Jimi Hendrix dedication. The Star Spangled Banner that Jimi Hendrix played was surreal to me. Wow. What a talent. What a loss to Rock & Roll. The outfits he wore were definitely 60s and 70s. Go to the exhibit and find out if you don't believe me.
• Two films- Mystery Train- when Rock & Roll was still an unknown standards. Film goes into the roots and the foundations of rock and roll and how it borrowed for all other kinds of music- folk, jazz, swing, blues, bluegrass, etc. And Kick Out the Jams. More gritty. Shows the affects of a fully established rock and roll genre including sexuality and drugs. The films were not bad.
  
• The Big Beat- an older exhibit featuring the genius of Alan Freed. I glanced at the exhibit because I have already seen it a couple of times.
• The New Sound- an exhibit about the innovator Les Paul. An interesting story of his life and a nice exhibit. I believe Les Paul is underrated in terms of being one of the key innovator to the rock and roll movement especially since he did the innovating in the pre-rock & roll days (Pre-Elvis specifically). A nice touch to the more obvious.
  
• Video Killed the Radio Star- an oldie but always a goodie. Watching the film full of entertainers and how video stole the show from radio in later years. Always a huge crowd around the multiple TVs. Enjoyed it again for the 4th or 5th time.
  

• Pink Floyd The Wall- The quotes were very interesting. The quotes seemed to bring life to the true characters of the members and their perils and struggles especially on stage.

• 

I
took more pictures, this time of the lake in which I was delayed about two hours from my return back home. The skate park I saw on the horizon was a plus even though it is nothing new to me. I bought a glass that has the Rock Hall emblazoned on it. I hope to take it back to OWU with me and use it as my pimp glass. The glass adds a nice touch of Cleveland's best to my collection. Next time, I will buy a shirt, which I contemplated but thought against because of my extensive shirt collection in general (Do I really need another shirt even though the shirt is very different from the others? Yes.) Next time.

I left the Rock Hall and the downtown area close to 5 p.m. Quite naturally, I am resting after a long day. In two days, I will be back to figuring out how to fix the seemingly impossible especially if it consists of a product of Microsoft. For now, I am relish in the peaceful existence of night and readying myself for bed.














Recuperating with the influence of Rock & Roll,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10








P.S. If you have not been to the Rock Hall, you need to see it. There was a lot of tourists there today enjoying the exhibits. Since the Rock Hall changes its exhibits often, people need to come see it more than once a year. Exhibits are interesting just like a regular museum. Just more hip. Take it from a native Clevelander.

Enjoying Memorial Day at Edgewater Park by Lake Erie

Yesterday was the day I had to leave the comfort of my home and roam about. I chose to go to Edgewater Park near Lakewood, Ohio because I was familiar with the park and I knew that the scenery was very good with it being on the lake. I went with my family but I decided to venture off eventually. I like to be around people but I like to be alone enjoying that time as well.

Edgewater is pretty big. The park loops into Lakewood, has a marina nearby, and joins with other parks on the coastline. Edgewater brings many fond memories for me such as holiday outings and enjoying the time by skating along the many paths that it provides. Whenever there is a holiday in the summer (Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day), my family hops into the van, loads up some food, and goes to Edgewater.

Overall, it was a nice day outside. The forecast said the day was to be filled with a good chance of rain. The rain held off and I was able to enjoy a good day outside with a cool breeze from the lake. There was a lot of people out. I even saw one of the newscasters from local channel 5 out broadcasting on location. That was a first for me. I walked around the course of the park twice, surveying the beach and the marina areas. Usually, I walk up to the pavilion area; since it was not as hot as it usually is around this time, I stayed away from the area. I did not even attempt to buy anything from the concession stand- the prices are just too high (Ex. $4 for a sundae).

Hopefully, I am back out there on Independence Day where there is more people in the area and a spectacle for all of the fireworks. I enjoy being at Edgewater especially on Independence Day. There is a special feel to it I can't really explain. If you are a tourist, Edgewater Park near Lakewood is a must see. When you get a chance to stop by Ohio, swing on up to Lake Erie and see the beauty and the activity of the lake. For now, enjoy the pictures below!





TTYL,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10