Settling In

After three weeks in WCLV's new office in the Idea Center at Playhouse Square, fewer boxes dot the workplace landscape. The three production studios are in near-constant use. From the hallway, you can see into all the studios, which have much more glass than those at Radio Ranch, which is why I call Master Control the "Radioquarium."

The CD library is neat and beautifully organized. All the music reference books are unpacked but in need of arranging. Pictures won't go up on the wall for a while. Restoring WCLV's audio stream has proved to be frustrating, but we are optimistic that it will be available again soon.

Hosting morning drive requires a certain avoidance of nightlife. As a result, your announcer attends only one party per year. It's tonight. Ooh-la-la: lock up your menfolk.

Chocolate Easter Weirdos

I'll never forget a joke Johnny Carson told on "The Tonight Show" about about a shipment of chocolate Easter bunnies that melted when it was stored too close to a furnace. The result, he said, was "chocolate Easter weirdos."

This morning at Cleveland's Edgewater Park, these translucent ice monsters brought that joke to mind. The frozen Lake Erie spray on vegetation, piers, and wrought iron balustrades has created a photographer magnet.

Bob Feller, 1918 - 2010

Cleveland remembers Bob Feller today. He was an Iowa whiz kid who joined the Cleveland Indians in 1936 to become such a strikeout king in his rookie year that by the start of the 1937 season, his picture was on the cover of Time magazine. Mr. Feller died yesterday at the age of 92.

The Bob Feller statue at Progressive Field stands along 9th Street between Carnegie and Prospect. Today a steady progression of TV crews have filed live reports at the statue, recalling Mr. Feller's spectacular career. A bereft Indians fan hung a yellow ribbon on the baseball in Rapid Robert's storied right hand.

The New York Times obituary notes that as a young man, Mr. Feller listened to Cubs games on WHO in Des Moines. The play-by-play announcer was Ronald Reagan, who later found a larger audience.

The "Radioquarium"

The workers are still working on wiring, but we're back in the saddle again at WCLV, broadcasting from the Idea Center at Playhouse Square. The changeover had its starts and stops, but we never looked back after the switch at 10:25 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8.

Packing finished up on Thursday, Dec. 9, and the movers arrived at 14th and Euclid Friday, Dec. 10.

Those of you in broadacasting know I'd be lying if I told you that everything went absolutely smoothly in the control room. A temporary CD player that had a carousel was chucked out as too slow and not-intuitive-to-operate. May it languish on the bottom of Lake Erie.

The other CD player was much better, but rickety. At one point in last Friday's show, neither CD player would play, so until I could change that result, I augmented the spoken word with my duck call and a whistle in the shape of a satyr. Who knew that one day I would channel Steve Allen?

Our full computer array is not up yet, but we're working with a notebook computer the size of a very large makeup compact on which I switch among tabs for news, weather, traffic, and show prep.

There is much more glass in Master Control here than at Radio Ranch. Thus, the "Radioquarium."

More details at facebook.com/WCLV's Queen of the Morn, and on twitter.com/queenofthemorn.

Craftsmanship

Another listener-made ornament from WCLV's collection features wood inlay to illustrate musical themes. The detail is stunning.

The available afternoon light at the time this photo was taken didn't illuminate the subject as I'd wished, but using a flash made the image garish.

But then, we'd ALL be gorgeous if we were properly lit.

Musical Ornamentation

Here's another entry created by a WCLV listener for a long-ago ornament contest. Not every bass clef gets this kind of polish.

WCLV's move to downtown Cleveland is planned for the week of December 6th. The announcers will begin broadcasting from there several days before the rest of the office follows, so we're packing a few reference books and boxes of CDs to tide us over. In the interest of keeping the chaos down to a dull roar, contests will take a hiatus until we get settled in.

I'm taking a few days off. I'll be back on the air December 6th, just in time to start moving.

A Theatrical Tribute

Reuben and Dorothy Silver at Radio Ranch for an interview Thursday, November 18th. Part of the interview was aired on WCLV's "First Program" yesterday. That and a "web extra" segment will be available soon on wclv.com. I'll let you know when they're posted.

Reuben and Dorothy are articulate commentators about theater, and you'll wish the interview was longer. I do.

Reuben and Dorothy are frequently referred to as the "First Couple of Cleveland Theater." They are the honorees tonight at a benefit for their endowed theater scholarship at Cleveland State University.

Don't Blame Aliens

Some might accuse aliens of picking up Hawaii and depositing it at the conference center at Elyria's Lorain County Community College. Yes, aliens do get bad press, but it's not warranted this time. Hawaii has been re-created with balloons at the Spitzer Conference Center for today's blood drive by Lifeshare Community Blood Services. The drive continues until 8 tonight; WCLV broadcasts live until 6.

If you've listened to our prior blood drives on 104.9, you know the drill: Live classical music, interesting on-air guests, great food, the WCLV Prize Wheel and the benefits of donating one pint of blood. This year's goal is 300 pints. I'll be there broadcasting live beginning at 1:30.

Wear that Hawaiian shirt your family will no longer tolerate. We will embrace your island-ness.

Huh?

Beautiful, isn't it? On the way from Cleveland's West Side Market, where there was no snow at noon today, to Radio Ranch, the streets became slushier. The tire tracks became more visible, and the sense of astonishment among Clevelanders became vocal. Despite predictions of a half inch, there is at least an inch on the ground here.

Wet snow will continue in eastern Cuyahoga County, east of Interstate 71, this afternoon. It will make like the Wicked Witch of the West and melt in tomorrow's 50-degree temperatures.

Concert Among the Cabbages

Cellist Alban Gerhardt at Dave's in Ohio City last night, playing Bach cello suites in the produce department. People came and went, shopped and stared. Many came just to hear the Bach because they'd heard about it on WCLV 104.9 FM. Alban is playing tonight with the Cleveland Orchestra at 8.

Bach in the Midst of --

I've always thought a poetry slam would be poetic justice if it took place in the Dawg Pound during a Browns game. But here comes German cellist Alban Gerhardt, whose cello case should read, "Have Bach & Cello, Will Travel."

He played Bach in the control room this morning after we challenged WCLV listeners to suggest where they'd like to see him play Bach. Our 5 winners of Cleveland Orchestra tickets suggested Tower City; Cleveland's Greyhound Station; Stinchcomb Hill's amphitheater in the Cleveland Metroparks; any or all of the three truck stops at the intersection of Hwy. 224 & I-76; and the Building A lounge at Lakeland Community College.

Gerhardt will be the soloist in Matthias Pintscher's "Reflections on Narcissus" at tomorrow night's Cleveland Orchestra concert. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" is also on the program. You can hear my three-minute "Quick Insight" into "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" at www.wclv.com.

Gerhardt will also play among the cabbages this afternoon at 5:30 at Dave's Supermarket in Ohio City, near W. 25th and Bridge. For those of you not from Cleveland, Ohio City is the area immediately west of downtown Cleveland. Take the Detroit-Superior or Carnegie-Lorain bridges to W. 25th from downtown.

El Rodento vs. The Voles

Multiple trenches in WCLV's back yard suggest that our corpulent groundhog, "El Rodento," or those pesky voles, the Voltaires, ran amok when no one was looking. But the yellow "caution" tape reveals this was done by humans. It's part of WCLV's office move to Playhouse Square later this year. The tech people are taking over, as the studios will be the first rooms to relocate.

How Social are Your Media?

Radio announcers are masters at multi-tasking, but updating social media while on the air means perpetual motion during morning drive from 6 to 10 a.m. I post often to keep you updated on cultural stories that don't make it on the air, oddball stories or videos that will make you laugh, or important stories that I only have time to summarize on the air.

Feel free to send a message or comment on a post. There are two Facebook choices:

www.facebook.com/WCLV's Queen of the Morn

www.facebook.com/Feature WCLV on "Hot in Cleveland" (WCLV has been in Cleveland almost as long as Betty White's character has)

On Twitter: www.twitter.com/queenofthemorn (I post the morning's Movie Quiz prizes prior to 9 am ET, and the answers after 9:25)

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: "Queen of the Morn" came about via our overnight announcer, Rob Grier, he of the basso voice. I call him "The Barry White of the Overnight." He calls me "Queen of the Morning," which was too long a user name for Twitter, so "Morn" it became.

The End of Barrel-ioz

Following up on an earlier post, WCLV's own orange barrel, "Hector Barrel-ioz," has left Renaissance Parkway. The barrels have been replaced by orange cones joined by yellow "Caution" tape, to protect the newly-poured concrete around the storm sewer grate that settled a few months ago.

Since I mention orange barrels frequently on WCLV's traffic reports, it was a point of pride to have our own. My only regret is that they took it away before I could write "Barrel-ioz" on it. But something tells me the road repair guys wouldn't have understood the pun.

Ready for Her Closeup

Among the dogs who benefit from listening to WCLV is Lizzy, owned by Fred, who sent this photo. Fred thinks Lizzy is photogenic enough to be on a dog-food package.

Thanks to all the WCLV Garage Sale shoppers who brought their dogs. One black cock-a-poo made friends easily and was a hit with the crowd. Later, I approached a couple of dogs being walked by a listener who warned me away, saying the dogs weren't very friendly in a group. So much for THAT social outing.

Another listener admitted that there were four dogs in her car. "Four?" I asked, nervous at the idea of dogs in a parked car on a sunny day. She said her daughter was out walking them.

One listener said his dog not only listens to WCLV, but when the dog dislikes what we're playing, it barks at the radio. Well, don't we all?

While You Were Waiting....

Thanks to all who took away bargains at the Great WCLV Garage Sale on Saturday. You were very patient during the waits, which ranged from 1 to 2 hours. CDs, furniture and posters flew out the door. So many of you left owning a little piece of Radio Ranch.

Bill O'Connell, Mark Satola, John Simna, Nancy Sinning and yours truly chatted you up while you were waiting. A number of you brought your dogs.

WCLV listener Roz Roberts answered my on-air "call for bongos." I now am practicing like an authentic beatnik.

One person asked after our former morning host, Albert Petrak, who is still around and kicking.

The same person asked how long WCLV's president, Robert Conrad, had been in that "great control room in the sky." She didn't realize that Robert was standing nearby, looking very healthy.

What a Crowd, What a Crowd!

I wasn't exactly channeling Rodney Dangerfield this morning, but we have had a fabulous turnout at the Great WCLV Garage Sale. Due to space considerations, we can only admit a few people at a time, which means lots of listeners have been patiently waiting in line for CDs, furniture, posters, and tons of WCLV memorabilia, including costumes left over from our "Blossom Broadway Baby" events. If you need a lobster hat or grass skirt for Halloween, get 'em while they last. The sale continues until 5
today. Mark Satola, our Midday host, and Nancy Sinning, Sunday's host, have arrived and are chatting up the shoppers.

WCLV's Great Garage Sale

Tomorrow, October 16th, from 9:30 to 5, rain or shine, WCLV will sell decades' worth of CDs, station promotional items, posters, furniture and accumulated stuff. This fancy pumpkin is NOT for sale, but 6,000 CDs are at $2 ea. You'll also find LPs. If you've always wanted a WCLV umbrella, or one of our blue-and-white car antenna toppers, you may find them. too. Cash or check only. All items sold "as is." All sales final.

Prepare to take your time and browse. I'll be your "shopping enabler" until about 1 tomorrow. If you start to doubt the wisdom of any purchase, I'll supply any justification you need. I live to serve.

I Could Watch All Day

The view in the East outside Radio Ranch this morning as storm clouds churned in the West. Cleveland has the most interesting clouds.

Teal Waters

Driving on the shoreway Saturday, Lake Erie seemed to be an unusually dark teal. It contrasted dramatically with all the white sails, the white waves and of course, the white gulls dive-bombing the fish. It was one of those glorious stretches of effortless weather. It does happen in Cleveland. You just have to wait for it.

Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen

It opens tomorrow at the Kent State Museum. Listen to my two-part interview with the museum's director, Jean Druesedow, on wclv.com. Jean explains how the museum acquired the clothes, including all those pairs of khaki trousers. She also details the clothing in the exhibit, especially that great black velvet dress from "Adam's Rib."

From wclv.com, click on "Arts Resources" and "Interviews." For information, go to www.kent.edu/museum.

Grab the Umbrella...

You'll need it beginning tonight through Sunday. It'll be a wet Browns game vs. the Bengals Sunday afternoon.

Did you hear Larry Keigwin describe "Bolero: Akron" on the "First Program" this morning? His dance company and non-dancing "Akronites" perform to Ravel's music tomorrow night at 8 at E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron. Go to www.dancecleveland.org for ticket information.

Or maybe I'll see you in the audience tomorrow night for the opening of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" at Great Lakes Theater Festival. Tickets at www.greatlakestheater.org

Attention, Organists

The real sadness in Chicago this weekend is not the end of the baseball season, even though the Infidel Chicago White Sox have our beloved Cleveland Indians to kick around Friday through Sunday. It's the imminent retirement of Nancy Faust, the organist at U. S. Cellular Field, and previously at the demised Comiskey Park. Nancy was the life of the party, as she chose songs to reflect action on the field. She's been there for 41 years, the last few playing only day games. Some Chicagoans say she's more popular than the team.

Organists give me a hard time because they claim I don't play enough organ music on WCLV. However, the team is taking applications for a new organist, so brush up your resumes.

How do YOU say "Slow?"

Clevelanders were "transportationally challenged" this morning with power outages knocking out traffic signals and obliging drivers to test their four-way stop manners. Fog obscured the view everywhere, particularly in the I-271 corridor on the east side.

It's an art form to deliver the traffic reports in a creative way. People want to hear the latest update quickly so they can decide what roads and exits to avoid. Synonyms for "slow" are helpful. This morning it was "Riding a geriatric yak would be faster than..."

Ann Rutherford Visits WCLV

Your announcer with actress Ann Rutherford, who visited WCLV Friday, September 24th in connection with the Kent State University Museum exhibit of "Katharine Hepburn: Dressed for Stage and Screen," opening October 2nd.

We chatted so much that both her 7-minute on-air interview and a special "web extra" interview will be posted on the WCLV website (wclv.com) shortly.

Miss Rutherford, smartly dressed in a David Hayes ensemble, told how she lied about her age to snag a radio job while she was in her teens. She appeared as Polly Benedict to Mickey Rooney's Andy Hardy in a dozen films beginning in the mid-1930s. She was an experienced film actress by the time David O. Selznick cast her as Carreen O'Hara, Scarlett's youngest sister in "Gone With the Wind," without a screen test. As she explained in the interview, she also tried to tell Mr. Selznick a thing or two about economizing on costumes.

She chatted with fans and signed autographs at the Kent State Museum on Saturday the 25th along with Robert Osborne from Turner Classic Movies.

In the "web extra," the 89-year-old actress explains her admiration for Katharine Hepburn, and how radio is her "first love."

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About "The Rite of Spring" But Were Afraid to Ask

Debuting today at 3 Eastern is "Quick Insights," a new feature on WCLV 104.9 designed to inform listeners about music the Cleveland Orchestra will perform each week. It's intended to be brief, informative and humorous, and it will include excerpts of Cleveland Orchestra performances. Today: Igor Stravinsky's ballet "The Rite of Spring."

The feature will be repeated several times before each week's concerts. The exact schedule has yet to be worked out, so stay tuned.

"Femming Up" the Men's Room

Early this morning, before the staff arrived, I placed a small vase of orange zinnias on the counter in the Radio Ranch men's room. I'm waiting for the guys to complain that I'm femming up their lavatory.

These zinnias were photographed this morning in the office kitchen. Earlier in the summer, the orange and magenta zinnias prevailed. Now the pink-hued flowers bloom in profusion. Faded sunflowers are forming seed heads, tomato plants are spent, and basil leaves are smaller and narrower as the herb sets seeds.

Since WCLV will be moving downtown to a plant-less office, this is the last summer I'll be tending the garden. I'll dig up the snowdrop and squill bulbs from under the trees and plant them at home. Ditto with lily-of-the-valley, chives and sea pinks. I may take some mint home, where I can keep it properly restrained in a pot.

I don't normally photograph with a flash or in the dark, but in this case, the colors were much truer than the result using available light.

El Rodento Strikes Again

Our corpulent groundhog, "El Rodento," helps himself to my tomatoes at the Radio Ranch garden. His Wideness has been spotted lumbering to the under-the-fence exit when the proprietor of the garden makes an appearance and shakes her fist at the varmint.

Last year, he chewed my radicchio plants to the ground. This year, vegetable larceny.

Sleeping in Until 5 a.m.

Darlings, what a divine residency I had in Slacker City until this morning, when the mattress ejector button propelled me back into morning drive reality. During my break, I endured 10 days of domestic archaeology, armed with a pith helmet and flame thrower.

You radio guys know that in the seconds it takes to walk from the car to the control room, you accelerate from 0 to 60 mph. It's hardly Mach 1, but I could swear the after effects are similar.

Summer Bounty

Some of the WCLV Garden's zinnias, blooming away in a pitcher. It's the closest to a Martha Stewart flower arrangement I'll ever get.

You radio guys know that when on-air people take a vacation, they mostly sleep. For you non-radio guys who wonder why, when you spend your working life condensing 8 hours of work into 4, forgetting the clock is heaven.

I'm vacating Radio Ranch for a few days. Check this blog while I'm gone for evidence of summer adventure. I'll be back in the saddle Thursday, September 9th.

The New Guy

The Cleveland Museum of Art's newly-named director, David Franklin, during an informal press session Friday afternoon. He'll be leaving his position as deputy director of the National Gallery of Canada to start at CMA September 20th.

In his casual remarks about taking the job, Mr. Franklin, a scholar in Italian Renaissance and baroque art, emphasized CMA's reputation for the quality of both its collection and its acquisitions. He's no stranger to Cleveland, which he has visited while traveling to cities along the Great Lakes. His wife will be happy to know that WCLV is 24-hour classical at 104.9 FM. His two boys, ages 8 and 12, who play guitar and drum, may feel more at home at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Happy-Faced Flora

There's an old saying, "Bloom where you're planted." If that's so, these sunflowers must love it at Radio Ranch. There are 4 varieties in WCLV's Sunflower Forest.

Guenveur Burnell of Kent was the Grand Prize Winner in WCLV's Pet Poetry Contest, for the verse about the aging cat Dupree. I'll read the poems again tomorrow morning between 6 & 10 a.m. At our website, wclv.com, you'll find the poems and photos of the WCLV-listening pets that inspired them.

Broadcasters-in-Progress

When your professional life is spent speaking in 30- to 60-second bursts, it feels like water over a dam to talk for an hour. Today I got that rare opportunity at the Ohio Center for Broadcasting. The students saw what a WCLV playlist looks like, and a few of the students were game enough to try some pronunciations. One fellow in the front row will never forget how to say "Dmitri Kabalevsky." I bet he'll use that skill to pick up girls at bars.

Listen to WCLV 104.9 & wclv.com tomorrow from 6 to 10 a.m. E.T. for the winning Pet Poems.

Pet Poetry Winners Selected

A thin spire of white smoke has appeared above the doghouse. That means the winners of the Pet Poetry contest have been chosen. Thursday and Friday during WCLV's "First Program" from 6 to 10 a.m. ET on 104.9 FM & wclv.com, I'll read the names of the top 10 finishers, including the grand prize winner.

Uh -- Are We On?

Radio is invisible. For anyone outside the studio, it's impossible to know that master control isn't at all leisurely. Like many of you in the morning as you prepare for work and school, DJs are doing many other things during Mozart and Beethoven, such as preparing news and traffic, working out the next break, and taking calls from listeners.

I describe morning drive as "holding a conversation while diapering triplets."

I've also described the difference between listening to morning drive radio and hosting it as "equivalent to the difference between attending a dinner party and giving one."

For those of you who have worn the headphones, how do you describe it?

Gov. Coiffure

On WCLV's "First Program," 6-10 a.m., I try to work current events in with the music, weather and traffic. One of my favorite features is "As the Coiffure Turns," the radio soap opera about the former governor of my home state, who was convicted yesterday on one count of lying to the FBI. A mistrial was granted on the other 23 counts, but they will be re-tried, with the first meeting to prepare the new trial scheduled for next week.

An internet listener from Chicago writes: "Well, excuse me, but if the White Sox lose to the Twins, they can't do the game over. Why should a new trial be allowed?"

Dear Chicago listener: Major League Baseball rules don't allow do-overs. Federal criminal procedure allows a new trial.

Who's to say, since MLB now allows limited instant replay, that Bud Selig and his moneyed cohorts could be persuaded to allow a finite number of do-overs, at the discretion of the losing team? It would be similar in procedure to the peremptory challenges lawyers have when choosing a jury.

This could extend the baseball season like snow days extend the school year. It would mean more revenue for the teams, more face-time for sports broadcasters, more dollar dog nights, and unending sports talk radio drivel about what might have been if only the re-played game could be played again and again until our nausea is complete.

Call for Zucchini

In 2003, when Robert Conrad first proposed that I could have a garden at WCLV, he had only one emphatic restriction: No zucchini.

I have faithfully held to that rule -- until now.

Here's the "Emma Lazarus" pitch: Give me your tired, your poor -- zucchini, your huddled masses of baseball bat- and kayak-size squash hiding under the sheltering leaves in the recesses of your vegetable patch.

Drop off point for your unwanted zucchini is WCLV, 26501 Renaissance Parkway, Warrensville Heights, just east of the intersection of Richmond and Emery Roads.

You may drop it off during regular business hours Monday through Friday, or you may leave it in a basket out front. All foundling zucchini will be taken in. Each squash will be wanted, especially in the form of zucchini bread.

Orange Tree

Not fruit as such, but a tree-like array of orange zinnias in profusion at Radio Ranch. The magenta flowers got in there somehow.

This time of year, I shamelessly imitate Martha Stewart by arranging loads of zinnias in my white ceramic pitcher. Exhibit A to come.

Your announcer has not been as communicative as she usually is, due to a case of "work inundation." Recovery is imminent. It does bring Martha Stewart to mind, however. Remember, dear Reader: Nothing is impossible as long as you have staff.

A New Radio Ranch

Yesterday it was announced that WCLV will be relocating its offices and studios to a currently unused part of the Idea Center in the Playhouse Square distict of downtown Cleveland. Construction has begun on the space, which is currently unfinished and unoccupied. Only our offices will move; our transmitter in Avon will remain firmly in the same place. The construction is expected to last until the end of this year, with occupancy thereafter.

WCLV has been in Warrensville Heights since 1986. Before that, at Terminal Tower downtown, and originally, in Eastgate Shopping Center at Mayfield and SOM Center Roads.

How do you move a radio station? Very gradually. Stay tuned.

"Music and the Spoken Word" in the Radio Hall of Fame

"Music and the Spoken Word," heard Sunday nights at 8:30 ET on WCLV 104.9 & wclv.com, has been selected for induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame. It's the longest-running radio broadcast in America, first airing July 15, 1929.

The program's commentator is Lloyd Newell, who has hosted all of WCLV's live broadcasts of the Jubilation Church Choir finals since the festival's inception.

When Lloyd Newell came to Cleveland for the first Jubilation in 2008, he revealed at lunch with the WCLV brass that the 360 choir members aren't paid. Then he revealed that he isn't paid either, and that it's the most rewarding job he's ever had.

The honor was announced yesterday by Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications, which administers the program. The national broadcast of the inducation ceremony will take place November 6 in Chicago. You can find more information at www.radiohof.org.

Last Night at the Cooper Competition

How many teenagers get to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra? Minutes after the winners' announcement at the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Piano Competition, the three finalists posed with their certificates in the Severance Hall Greenroom. George Li, 14, the first place winner, is in the middle. At left is second-place finisher John Chen, 16, and at right is Kate Liu, 16, who placed third.

The woman wearing the scarf is Evon Cooper, one of the evening's 11 judges. She and her husband, Thomas, an Oberlin alum, generously sponsored this competition, which made it possible for the finalists to perform with the Cleveland Orchestra. Until this year, the contest was known as the Oberlin International Piano Competition. It will alternate annually between piano and violin.

In performance order, George Li, who lives in Massachusetts, played the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1, and Kate Liu, from Chicago, played the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3. After intermission, John Chen, who lives in Virginia, gave the evening a big finish with the Tchaikovsky No. 1. Jahja Ling led the Cleveland Orchestra.

The Greenroom was mobbed with amateur and professional photographers, family and friends. Our broadcast on 104.9 & wclv.com was hosted by Robert Conrad in the booth backstage at Severance Hall. During the interval between the concert's end and the winners announcement on stage, Bob chatted on the air with Jahja Ling.

The winners posed together and with the panel of judges, some of whom can be clearly seen above. Between John and George is the British pianist and cellist Christopher Elton; between George and Evon Cooper is the Finnish pianist Matti Raekallio.

The Kitty-chen Sink?

This is our intern Steven's roommate's cat, Dionysus. In addition to sleeping in the sinks, in this case the one in the bathroom, Dionysus likes to hide in the bedroom, inside the box spring.

Live Broadcasts

These signs remind audience members that in an auditorium during a live broadcast, not only do the performers have audiences for their performances, but you have one for yours. Those microphones pick up sneezes, coughs, rustles and errant audience members coming in late.

On to the Finals

Three young pianists perform with the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall Friday night at 8. The finalists in the Cooper International Piano Competition are John Chen of Leesburg, Va., George Li of Lexington, Mass., and Kate Liu of Chicago. You can attend at Severance Hall; call 216/231-1111 for tickets. Or listen on WCLV 104.9 & wclv.com.

Broadcasting Live

Tonight's final solo round from the Cooper International Piano Competition features three 16-year-olds, two 14-year-olds, and a 13-year-old. You can attend in person at Oberlin's Warner Concert Hall, or listen to WCLV beginning at 8, on 104.9 FM or on the web at wclv.com. If you attend in person, you'll see WCLV's Robert Conrad announcing the competitors from the stage. You won't see the engineers, the backstage activity, or yours truly in the booth, back announcing the competitors and vamping until the next pianist comes out.

The Warner audience will be asked to vote for its favorites, to be announced at the evening's conclusion. For the first time, listeners to WCLV will be able to vote by e-mail for their favorites, to be counted in that tally.

I'll be lurking around Warner with the digital. Check this site for photos.

Clear Skies

Friday's and Saturday's storms and heat have migrated East. The WCLV garden is now refreshed and ready to have its weeds pulled.

Finally, Photographable Flora

Two obliging zinnias from the WCLV Garden in Thursday morning sunshine. Sunny today and 85 in Cleveland.

Broadcasting the Old-Fashioned Way

This genealogical ancestor of recording tape has nothing to do with this post, although the tableau was apparently arranged by someone harboring a degree of frustration.

All the music you hear on WCLV originates from compact discs. Some of it, for convenience, is also recorded to a computer cut and played by clicking a mouse. It's a labor-saving device that makes it easier for me to play the 30+ pieces of music for you every morning on WCLV's 6-10 a.m. "First Program."

Some overnight computer updating was still going on this morning, which required me to play today's music the "old-fashioned" way, from CD. It requires much more effort and planning to do so, but it makes you appreciate the modern conveniences.

As the 10:00 a.m. shift change neared, WCLV's midday host, Mark Satola, and I fondly recalled the romance of cueing up an LP. There was an art to turning on the cue monitor, hitting the "on" button, placing the stylus on the vinyl, waiting for the music, then stopping the turntable and backtracking, that is, positioning the LP back a half turn, so that when you started the piece, there was just enough silence to cushion the music.

What Rhymes with "Meow?"

Can a cat work as a bouncer? This feline heavy is Snickers, who belongs to our intern, Steven.

Cats inspired the Pet News which you hear every morning at 7:25 on WCLV. Years ago, at a Cain Park Arts Festival remote in Cleveland Heights, a visitor to the WCLV booth told us how long she'd listened to 104.9. She added, "Both of my cats listen, too. One likes Mozart. The other prefers Beethoven and the Late Romantics."

I was so stunned that I forgot to ask, "How do you know?"

Since then, WCLV listeners have contributed stories about an opera-loving canary named Caruso, cats who are mesmerized by Rossini's "Cat Duet," and a dog that was so spooked by the cannon fire at the end of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" that he upended the furniture.

Here's what to send: (1) the name, make and model of your pet, (2) how long you've listened to WCLV, and (3) how does the music affect your pet? Please include your name and mailing address. If I use your item on the air, you'll receive a prize from the WCLV Prize Closet.

Send your Pet news to "queenofthemorn@gmail.com," or by regular mail to "Queen of the Morn, WCLV, 26501 Renaissance Parkway, Cleveland, 44128." Feel free to include photos. They may end up in this blog. At the very least, we'll hold them up to the microphone so everyone can see them.

Details about the WCLV "Pet Poetry" contest for the "Dog Days of Summer" will be announced soon.

Sagacity

From the WCLV garden: Sage, Queen Anne's Lace and pineapple mint created a fragrant bouquet for the WCLV table at last night's Cleveland Orchestra concert at the Blossom Music Center.

I started the garden in 2003, when I turned shovelful after painful shovelful of earth in the yard behind WCLV, creating a bed for tomatoes, herbs and flowers. An experiment with peppermint has resulted in thick beds of mint. Now and then I throw a little down our disposal, which makes the drain smell like toothpaste. The mint is a real plus when I'm in the mood to make tabboule.

Why painful? The rock-to-soil ratio is very high. As one of my former colleagues used to say, "It's like gardening on Alcatraz."

The White Pines of Blossom

Last night at the Blossom Music Center. Those baskets on either side of the WCLV table contain white pine seedlings, complete with planting instructions. We gave away all 500 seedlings. I urged people to call their pines "Respighi," since the giveaway was inspired by "The Pines of Rome," which concluded last night's Cleveland Orchestra program.

The centerpiece, a close-up of which will be posted shortly, is an arrangement of sage, pineapple mint and Queen Anne's Lace, all from the WCLV garden.

This is Why We Stream Online

WCLV was the "classical pick" in The New Yorker's "Goings On" blog, posted yesterday.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/goingson/2010/07/quick-pick-15.html

Today's WCLV Pop Quiz

A "pop quiz" can be just the thing to rouse the waking brain. On WCLV, occasionally I spring a pop quiz on "First Program" listeners from 6-10 am. "Close your books, put your pencils down, no talking to your neighbor," is the routine introduction.

Today's was an elevation quiz: Which of these three Cleveland-area cities has the highest elevation -- Richmond Heights, Broadview Heights, or Bedford Heights?

Congratulations to the first three listeners to get it right: Dale Obran of Avon, Leslie Mason of Fairview Park, and Lily Petrila of Westlake. They correctly guessed that Broadview Heights was the highest. According to City-Data.com, the elevation of Broadview Heights is 1,150 ft. Bedford Heights comes in second at 1,040 ft, with Richmond Heights third at 880 ft.

I've given this quiz, using different area cities, for years. We always get a blizzard of calls. The first time I used this question, the WCLV switchboard was flooded with callers asking us to look up the elevation of their cities. I finally had to make an on-air announcement asking callers to stop calling us. I gently suggested that they call their public library reference departments.

After all, librarians know everything, and if they don't, they know where to look it up.

More Cain Park

Purple coneflower snapped behind the WCLV broadcast booth at the Cain Park Arts Festival last weekend in Cleveland Heights. Cain Park is landscaped in a rather comfy style. The City of Cleveland Heights maintains it.

Some years ago, in an on-air interview from Cain Park, I asked one of the arts festival administrators whether what I had heard was true: That Cleveland Heights was like the U.N. He said, "Yes."

It's Very "Cleveland Heights"

A snapshot of the bike rack at the entrance to the Cain Park Arts Festival in Cleveland Heights, last Friday through Sunday. WCLV broadcasts from the festival every year, but this year there seemed to be many more bikes out front. I noted this to a friend who replied knowingly, "That's very 'Cleveland Heights.'"

In my nine years of remotes at WCLV, Cain Park has always been one of my favorites because it's among the best-organized events. On Saturday, July 10, we had hot, dry and breezy weather. Many of you took us up on our offer of free WCLV "personal air conditioners," old-fashioned paddle fans, at the 104.9 broadcast booth.

The staff at Cain Park line up artist interviews for us. We always ask for samples so we can describe the art for you on the radio. During my afternoon shift, I chatted with a Pennsylvania man who carves spoons out of cherry wood, a Cleveland Heights photographer who loves shooting in black and white, and a couple of local brothers, a woodworker and a ceramacist, whose starkly different styles suggest yin and yang.

Blossom-ized

A tranquil night last night at the Blossom Music Center as the Cleveland Orchestra under Tito Munoz played a program featuring the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. Giora Schmidt, who went to high school with Mr. Munoz, was the soloist. Also on the program were the "West Side Story" Symphonic Dances, and Elgar's "Enigma" Variations.

Arriving early to Blossom concerts is always a good idea, but give yourself a few extra minutes to stroll the gardens.

We're Witnesses, All Right

If the Cleveland Cavaliers' owners, administration and players listened to WCLV 104.9, they'd have won their championship by now.

So what will happen to the building-sized wall portrait of LBJ downtown? Will they re-paint the arms so that they wave "Bye-bye?"

Harvey Araton in the New York Times says it well: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/09/sports/basketball/09araton.html?_r=1&ref=sports

You Gotta Have Art

Nature's art in the form of a lively magenta Monarda, also known as "Bee Balm" and "Oswego Tea."

This Saturay, July 10, WCLV 104.9, streaming on wclv.com, will broadcast live from the Cain Park Art Festival, located at the corner of Lee and Superior in Cleveland Heights. I'll be on the air live 1:30 to 4 interviewing artists at the WCLV tent. My WCLV Midday colleague, Mark Satola, our resident photography expert, will do the same from 11 to 1:30. Stop by -- I've always wanted to know what YOU look like.

Blue or Rose?

Some obliging hydrangeas found in my travels around Cleveland. If Picasso had painted these, would they have been considered part of the "blue" or "rose" periods? Of course, had Picasso painted them, would they be identifiable as hydrangeas in the first place?

Not a pressing question, but in this hot Cleveland weather, one's mind does wander.

Congratulations to the Winners

You are good! We had three correct answers long before the deadline. Sting and his wife, actress Trudie Styler, portrayed Robert and Clara Schumann in a concert and theater production entitled "Twin Spirits," last week in New York. The production also featured six musicians, including baritone Nathan Gunn and pianist Jeremy Denk, both of whom have performed in the Cleveland area in recent months.

Congratulations to our trio of winners: Calvin Hwang and Harold Wagner of Cleveland Heights, and Mike Kyner of Akron, all of whom have won CDs from the WCLV Prize Closet.

Watch this blog for more contests, and tune in to WCLV's "Queen of the Morn" Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m. on WCLV 104.9 & wclv.com

Fireworks "Snaps"

Tuesday morning at WCLV is like the day after a holiday at every other employer. People ask "What did you do on your day off?" This is what I did.

Why don't we use the term "snapshots" anymore?

More Fireworks

Another view of the Shaker Heights fireworks Sunday night.

Wait Until Dark

This was the view from the lawn at Shaker Middle School last night. We lugged lawn chairs, blankets, and snacks to the annual fireworks display, but got there far too early. So we talked until the sun exited stage right and and the show began.

Guess the Classical Couple

Recently in New York, Sting appeared in a dramatic concert in which he portrayed a well-known classical composer. His wife, Trudie Styler, played the composer's spouse. Identify the composer and the wife.

E-mail your answers to "queenofthemorn@gmail.com." Include your name and mailing address in addition to your e-mail address. You have until 12 noon Eastern Time Thursday, July 8. The first three people who get it right on or before the deadline will win a CD from the WCLV Prize Closet. One answer per person, please. Prizes are not exchangable.

The winners will be notified by e-mail and the CDs will be mailed to them. The answer and the winners will be posted on this blog.

Good luck!

A Puzzlement

In morning drive radio, not only do you condense eight hours of work into your four-hour shift, but after your shift, you've got four more hours of work to complete.

To avoid crashing and burning, you've got to take lots of breaks. So often, though, you default to surfing the Internet. That can numb your mind and your wrists.

Here's my old-fashioned, energy-efficient way of taking a break without compromising your carpal tunnels: Take a Jigsaw Puzzle to Work.

Find a vacant desk or table with plenty of light. Dump a jigsaw puzzle on the table. Voila! Instant focus.

How co-workers attack and solve a puzzle reveals a lot. Some people work on the edges first. Some match up colors and shapes.

WCLV's president, Robert Conrad, took this photo of your slacker morning announcer taking a break after a recent morning drive shift. The puzzle is a Charles Rennie Mackintosh painting reduced to 1,000 infuriatingly tiny puzzle pieces.

It's All in How You Look at It

Having grown up on the American Prairie, I'm fond of pretending, while driving on the flatland, that those banks of thunderclouds in the distance are actually mountains. Suddenly the harsh prairie seems cocooned, as though those mirage mountains up ahead constitute some sort of buffer against the elements.

Another different point-of-view comes via a comment from Chuck K. in Southern California, who chimes in now and then on your announcer's Facebook page. He suggested that "Barrel-ioz" in the photo below looks like "The Hat without the Cat."

Earthquake!

Cleveland's Public Square shook yesterday when a 5.0 earthquake hit about 1:45 EDT yesterday. It was centered in Canada, but no trembling occurred here at WCLV, which is located southeast of downtown in Warrensville Heights.

On the other hand, when you spend your workday in soundproof studios, who knows what is going on out there?

Sunlit Serenity

Looking skyward at a cemetery along Chagrin River Road north of Mayfield Road. Today's forecast predicts severe thunderstorms, with hail and damaging winds. Best not to take shelter under trees like this until the storms pass.

The Scenic View

Taken yesterday from the Chagrin River bridge in Gates Mills, looking north.

If you didn't know you were in Cleveland, and didn't know that it was laid out by folks from Connecticut, you might think you'd landed in New England. Towns have picturesque downtowns, gazebos, and traffic circles, aka "roundabouts." Many communities, like Gates Mills, look like Vermont villages. But aside from the layout scheme, nature itself gives this part of Ohio a New England-y look. Lots of hills, rivers, and trees. When the Chagrin River at Gates Mills is high, fishermen in waders stand in the river waiting for paydirt when the fish tumble over the falls.

"Kismet" at Ohio Light Opera

How many theater gift shops sell yarn? The gift shop in the lobby of the College of Wooster's Freedlander Theater sells yarn, theater posters, children's items and mugs. You can have ice cream at intermission (eat it outside, please) and on the season's opening day yesterday, the audience enjoyed an after-show reception of popcorn, lemonade, iced tea, and cheese and crackers.

What a treat to meet so many WCLV listeners who won tickets to "Kismet," the production that opened the season yesterday afternoon. "Kismet," which is based on music of Alexander Borodin, is set in Bagdad.

It was so hot yesterday that those loose, cotton costumes worn by the cast seemed like a good idea. Perhaps it's time to bring out that burnous.

Barrel-ioz

Finally, WCLV has its own orange barrel. We call it "Barrel-ioz."

It's Stormy Outside...

...Which is why I posted this view of sunny roses. The flowers in the Radio Ranch garden aren't quite this splendid -- yet. Sea pinks, daisies, zinnias and sunflowers haven't started blooming. The tomatoes, peppers and chives have. The basil, arugula and mesculun will be picked long before they flower and set seeds.

The plan is to hang the really big, heavy sunflower heads on the fence and trees this fall so the birds have plenty of food.

Surprises: English daisies have re-appeared this year after a being absent for several seasons. We've had "volunteer" strawberries for the last couple of years, but they've never produced fruit until this month.

The Winners Return

In the first row of Severance Hall's dress circle last night, I asked the young women seated next to me, "Do you think she'll change her dress for the second half?"

Pianist Martina Filjak, the sultry Croatian beauty who won last year's Cleveland International Piano Competition, wore a sparkly, sculptural, strapless gown in the first half of last night's "Winners Return" concert. From our vantage point, it was difficult to tell whether the dress was beaded or whether the sparkle was embedded in the fabric. The color from that distance was debatable: Was it grey or silver?

But the clothes discussion was gravy. It's the music that galvanized everyone. Along with 2007 winner Alexander Ghindin, the two presented the kind of relaxed virtuoso performances that are riveting and fun.

Ghindin played Chopin's "Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise" along with Busoni's reworking of Liszt's "Fantasia on Two Themes from Mozart's 'Le Nozze di Figaro.'" Filjak (pronounced FEEL-yak) performed Chopin's fourth ballade and Balakirev's "Islamey."

After intermission, Filjak changed gowns, and the performers together played selections from Rachmaninoff's first suite for two pianos, excerpts from William Bolcom's "Garden of Eden Ragtime Suite," and Gregory Stone's two-piano arrangement of Gershwin's "An American in Paris."

In contrast to Filjak's femme fatale, Ghindin (pronouned GEEN-deen), conceals a light sense of humor beneath his courtly, reserved manner. During a pause between movements, a cell phone went off, and after the second ring, Ghindin amusingly held his hand up to his ear, as if to signal that someone should get the phone. He also has a charmingly unassuming gait, as though he's a trench-coated detective in a Peter Sellers movie.

Filjak's second-half gown? A charmeuse v-neck sleveless number in a mysterious color: Navy? Eggplant? Smoke? We'll never know.

Social Gadfly

Table 12 was the raucous one at Saturday night's Cleveland Play House's annual benefit, held at the soon-to-be-transformed Allen Theater at Playhouse Square. Your announcer, released from the confinement of Master Control, regaled Table 12 with Tales from Morning Drive, including "The Nude Marchers of Silverlake" and "The Man who Didn't Think Marches were Music." All while wearing a simple plum crinkle rayon column gown and a white organdy wrap with appliqued and embroidered flowers.

The black-tie occasion featured a dinner of greens and berries, herb-stuffed chicken breast with potatoes and asparagus, and a dessert buffet.

Red-maned Maureen McGovern, wearing a beaded and fringed voided velvet coat over black, presented one of the best sets in recent CPH benefit memory. Beautifully accompanied by pianist Jeffrey Harris, McGovern chose her program largely from the Great American Songbook. She revealed that she recorded her big hit, "The Morning After," in Cleveland. She invited the audience to sing along in the evening's last song, the Gershwin Brothers' "Love Is Here to Stay."

And even better, the audience KNEW the words.

You Talkin' to ME?

If you woke up to this face, what would YOU think? Our summer intern, Steven, snapped this paparazzi shot of his beloved Snickers, who was lying on his napping owner's chest. Steven says that despite the cat's expression, Snickers is a very good-natured kitty.

Steven, a grad of Lakeland Community College, is now attending Kent State University. Snickers, we hear, has graduated from dry food to canned.

La Vie en Rose

This rose turned out to be a bit blurry, but some days, I am too.

Thunderstorms in Cleveland are turning gardens into rainforests. Tomatoes that were seedlings last week are now outgrowing their pots.

The Radio Ranch garden at WCLV teems with mint, grasses, wildflowers, and new this year, Sea Pinks. While driving near the radio station recently, I saw a yard in which masses of tiny, brilliant pink short-stemmed flowers were growing. I stopped and asked the owner what kind of flowers they were. She said they were "sea pinks," a perennial, and would I like some? She sent me off with a potful, which are now establishing themselves among the chives and pineapple mint.

For the Birds

Taken Sunday, May 30, 2010, at Willowick's Lakefront Park, where the Purple Martin houses dot the ridge above the shore. It's one of the loveliest Lake Erie views around Cleveland.

The park is maintained by the city, which has offices nearby. The city presumably has installed the camera trained on the west parking lot. Is it intended to ticket speeders or to observe un-parklike behavior? The birds don't care.

Memorial Day 2010

A rose garden has been planted around the Civil War Monument in Willoughby, Ohio, at the north end of Erie Street downtown. This side commemorates the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness, fought in Virginia.

Most towns have a monument to war fallen, with the names inscribed in stone. You'd be amazed how many surnames you'd recognize. They're the ancestors, direct and collateral, of people you know.

These memorials are frequently situated in such a way that you can't photograph them without the aesthetic carbuncles of street signs, traffic signals, utility lines and poles.

The roses do make up for it.

Kitchens and Feasts

Thursday morning Maria Cutler of the Cleveland Orchestra's Women's Committee dropped in to chat us about the Midsummer's "Feastival" and Kitchen Tour June 11 and 12, a benefit for the Cleveland Orchestra's educational programs.

The Chef's Feast on Friday, June 11 at the Union Club includes appetizers prepared by chefs from "Moxie," "fire, food and drink," "Flying Fig," "Three Birds" and "L'Albatros" plus a silent auction, dinner and live auction. On June 12, take a self-guided tour of eight kitchens in spectacular homes in Gates Mills, Hunting Valley, Moreland Hills, Pepper Pike and Shaker Heights.

Maria gave this phone number for info and tickets: 216/381-9120.

Chivin'

The Chive Forest blooms beautifully in May. Notice the pink centers in the lavender flowers.

Don't Try This at Home

The British ensemble Stringfever tackles Ravel and, apparently, each other.

There are Many Tales in the Creative City...

Kay Shames, director of Cleveland State's Center for Arts and Innovation, dropped by on WCLV's "First Program" today on 104.9 & wclv.com to chat about the June 7 "Arts Summit" and what it means to be creative in real life, inside and outside the arts world.

The day includes an audience-inclusive panel discussion plus a luncheon. The keynote speaker is actor LeVar Burton. The panel discussion is free; there is a fee for the luncheon. Reservations and information for both events: www.csuohio.edu/cai or 216-687-5018.

Tramping About

A flowery stalk from one of the Cleveland Metroparks. A woodsy end to a beautiful weekend.

Many of you called to say how much you enjoyed the Jubilation Church Choir Festival, held Thursday and Friday nights at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in downtown Cleveland and heard live on WCLV 104.9 & wclv.com. The capacity audience saw Lloyd Newell, radio voice of "Music and Spoken Word," host the WCLV broadcasts.

The winner of the $1,000 check and the Jubilation trophy was the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Choir of Akron. The results are posted on wclv.com. I'll update on this blog when the performances are posted.

One More Chance

The finale of the 2010 Jubilation Church Choir Festival is tonight. See it in person at 8 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in downtown Cleveland, or listen in person to WCLV at 104.9 FM or on our internet stream on wclv.com.

Tonight, as last night, three choirs will perform for a panel of distinguished judges. Host of the broadcast is Lloyd Newell, who hosts "Music and the Spoken Word," the Mormon Tabernacle Choir program that is heard on WCLV Sunday nights at 8:30.

In 2008, when Lloyd was in town for the first Jubliation festival, he revealed that of all the broadcasting jobs he's had, hosting "Music and the Spoken Word" is the most rewarding, and he does it for free.

The Chive Forest

The Radio Ranch garden's Chive Forest blooms beautifully every May. A mundane baked potato in the office microwave becomes a work of art when scattered with matchstick-sized cuttings and blossoms from our plentiful patch. When the flowers fade and dry I scatter the seeds over the existing plants and voila! More chives.