Last The rise and fall and rise of Cleveland’s aggressive rollerblading scene
MUSIC / ENTERTAINMENT / ARTS & CULTURE / LIFE / INDEPENDENT / PRESSURELIFE.COM
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CONTENTS OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2017
06 Pressure Plays: Axioma
14
Heavy, dark, and French.
08 Xinji Noodle Bar
Dine with the PressureLife team.
10 Halloween Horror Film Reviews
It leads a trio of horror films that are full of good scares and uncanny characters.
12 Cross Country Pt. 2
12
26
06
James and the Whale Shark
Matt and Dave learn about big fish and ancient truck drivers.
24
14 PoCLEmon Go
Cleveland Pokemon masters still work to catch them all.
16 Last Inline
The rise and fall and rise of Cleveland’s aggressive rollerblading scene.
22 The Secret In These Trees
22
The facts, legend, and dark rumors that haunt our local woods to this day…
24 Summer of Soundsystem
Explore Caribbean music culture in Cleveland.
26 Coloring Outside the Lines
People of Color is much more than a brand, it’s a reflection of the world we live in.
28 Different Strokes
An Ohio artist spotlight: Anthony Zart.
30 Tricky Treats!
Five things NOT to slip into trick or treat bags this Halloween.
FOLLOW US Facebook // Twitter // YouTube // Instagram @thepressurelife
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Rx: FOMOOPL
Check out what you're missing at PressureLife.com. Do you or someone you know suffer from FOMOOPL, fear of missing out on PressureLife? Symptoms include a thirst for independent arts, a compulsion toward unique and fascinating articles, and an allergic reaction to lesser placebos you may have encountered elsewhere.
FOMOOPL is curable only at one place, Pressurelife.com, where you’ll get a daily dose of all the awesome content you’re enjoying now. Visit us on the web and catch up on everything you didn’t even know you were missing.
Being There Whether it’s red carpet awards, pro wrestling speakeasies, or even cat conventions, the PressureLife crew will be there, offering up skewered perspectives into the region’s most entertaining and enigmatic events.
"Actually.. " From the latest buzz to time-tested classics, Adam sets the record straight in a new web-exclusive series that takes everything you thought you knew about pop culture and entertainment, but actually…
Pressure Plays Tag along with Dave Sebille as he hangs with the area’s latest up-and-coming bands and gets exclusive insight into their new releases and upcoming shows around town.
Web Exclusives Be sure to visit Pressurelife.com regularly for webexclusive articles that cannot be found anywhere else. From the mystery of the Toynbee Tiles to what is going on with Jimmy Hanlin’s pants, we’ve got it covered.
Album WAR! Jay-Z vs. Public Enemy! Guided by Voices vs. Queens of the Stone Age! When the week’s new releases in music drop there can be only one champion. High stakes? Sure. But what else can you expect from the Album WAR! review?
The Deep Cut Think this scintillating cover story ends within the pages of this issue? Think again! Delve even deeper into this and every issue’s main features with bonus footage and behind-thescenes material found only on at Pressurelife.com.
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Pressure Plays
Axioma
Heavy, dark, and French.
Dave Sebille // Photography: Aaron Salo
I
hate being late. Especially when I have asked someone to carve out a couple of hours during their day to sit down and talk to me. Sitting in standstill traffic on I-90 was not my ideal way to start off this interview with Axioma. But, it did give me a chance to listen to their 2015 EP Opia twice through.
Since then Cougar and the other three members of Axioma have been in a slew of bands in the city including Forged in Flame and Keelhaul. Such is Cleveland, everyone’s in two or three bands at a time and that’s how we like it. Justin is a graphic designer and illustrator by day which explains the striking imagery associated with the band. His art alone helps Axioma’s fully self-promoted style of marketing. Justin explains, “It’s not like how it used to be. You don’t need a label to be known anymore. We are selling shirts and albums in South Korea.”
Opia is amazingly dark and beautifully intelligent. The 25-minute album flows from track to track seamlessly while also playing as a single cohesive piece with a long, winding dip in tempo and aggression about ten minutes in. Later, exploding into a hyperactive and truly frustrated closing movement which is both There’s so many vocal heavy and rhythmically mechanical. Listening to this album while imagining these guys sitting there wondering where the fuck I was made me slightly nervous.
musicians here that are eager to play.
If there is one constant in life, it is that people in metal bands are the nicest people on Earth. Despite my being almost an hour late, Justin Meyers and Cyril "Cougar" Blandino were all smiles and super excited to talk to some kid they’ve never met before. We sat down at a pizza-parlor style table that provided the option of playing Donkey Kong or Centipede, but in reality all it did was distract me the whole time. Despite Cougar’s heavy French accent I led with my go-to question, “Are you guys originally from Cleveland?” Immediately regretting how unprofessional I looked, we all laughed and decided the accent was just an Eastside one with which I was not familiar. The majority of Opia was written by Cougar who has had to deal with some last minute member changes recently. “The reason I decided to stay in Cleveland instead of returning to France was because there are so many talented musicians here that are eager to play,” Cougar tells me. That decision was made in 2001 when Cougar’s band Credit: Steve Thrasher Morgue decided it was time to return to their nativePhoto France.
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Cougar’s plan for the band is to “record the full length that is already written.” After that the band will hopefully take the show on the road across the U.S. and hopefully abroad in 2018.
The full length will be a little different due to the addition of bassist/singer Aaron Dallison. “The band meshed perfectly after Aaron joined,” says Cougar. Oddly at that moment Aaron walked in the door just to grab a beer before his other band played a show at the Beachland later that night.
“Some of the songs are longer and slower, which is nice that we don’t have to abide by any silly pop standards,” Justin tells me. If you agree with the concept of forgetting pop sensibility and losing yourself in a world of spacious and evil instrumental breaks coupled with gut wrenchingly honest vocals that are always welcome and never boring or forced, turn off all the lights sit cross legged on the floor and blast Axioma’s Opia. It also works well while sitting on I-90 at 5:30 p.m. on a Tuesday.
To listen to Axioma's Opia and more, check out axioma.bandcamp.com/releases
Pressure Picks Upcoming Events to See
Gwar
Oct. 11 // Agora Theatre
Toadies with Local H
Oct. 14 // Grog Shop
Ghostface Killah
Oct. 22 // Grog Shop
Glassjaw
Nov. 4 // House of Blues
Styx
Nov. 9 // Hard Rock Rocksino
Parquet Courts
Nov. 11 // Grog Shop
CKY
Nov. 14 // Agora Ballroom
Yelawolf
Nov. 28 // House of Blues
Circa Survive & Thrice
Dec. 2 // Agora Theatre
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What We Ate
XINJI
The group's menu item ratings Kimchi Ball + Mozzarella Cheese: 4.5 Chicken + Peach Rice Ball: 4
Noodle Bar
Korean Pork + Corn Rice Ball: 4 Korean Fried Chicken: 4 Pork Bao: 5 Crispy Veggie Dumplings: 4.5 Tonkatsu Rice Bowl: 3.5 Shoyu Noodle Bowl: 3.5 Miso Noodle Bowl: 3.5 Spicy Miso Noodle Bowl: 4.5 The Soy Egg 4
Dine with the PressureLife Team
Sho Chiku Extra Dry Sake: 2 Hana Lychee Sake: 1.5
H
ate onions? Put ketchup on your ketchup? We all have unique likes and dislikes, so when you hear about a new restaurant, whether it be from a foodie or someone who lives off of toaster pastries, you don’t know if their tastes align with your own. So, instead of reading a review from one source, take it from four members of our team. Even though we are woefully underqualified to review a restaurant, at least one of us will likely share some of your distinct tastes.
Disliked: Not much, to be honest. I'm personally not a big fan of sake, but if you like it, you'll be pleased. You also have to be careful not to accidentally splash ramen on yourself like I did. I really need to up my slurp game.
For this issue, the PressureLife crew visited Xinji Noodle Bar, a new purveyor of ramen, steam buns, and other Pan-Asian staples, located at 4211 Lorain Ave.
JIM:
ALEX:
Liked: There wasn't much that I didn't like at Xinji. The pork baos are a beautiful pile of tender, delicious, porky goodness on an edible cloud/steam bun. The fried chicken had a lovely crunch before you hit that sweet meat. The kimchi balls are the tasty love child of arancini and fermented cabbage. Oh yeah, the ramen is wonderful as well, especially if you decide to add a soy egg. Always add a soy egg.
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Alex: Mango is death; thinks garlic is a beautiful ingredient; can be seduced with a good meat and /or cheese board but hates blue cheese; loves meat in pretty much all forms. Jim: Prefers a salad over a burger but a steak over anything else; loves spicy
Rating: 5/5 Liked: This was my first time to a noodle joint and I really enjoyed it. The crispy veggie dumplings were on point, and to be honest all our appetizers were good. The spicy miso ramen with a soy egg was a home run. I would definitely recommend Xinji to anyone. Disliked: Regarding the food there isn’t anything I would change. I wasn’t a fan of the two sake’s we tried, but they were also the two cheapest ones on the menu. Rating: 4.5 /5
and sour flavors; despises donuts and dry bakery; will try anything once. Aaron: Likes spicy; hates Thanksgiving stuffing or whatever that spice is; favorite food is anything from the sea; will try eating anything for the experience of it.
Hannah: Enjoys foods that are savory and slightly over-salted; meals are typically a collection of small snacks; hates funky cheeses and properly cooked red meat; generally not a picky eater.
AARON:
Liked: I was born to eat soup. Not that I was born eating soup but pretty damn close. It wouldn’t matter if it was 90 degrees outside and I was in a full sweat before I took my first sip or - 10 and I needed to use the soup to get my frozen car window down for a morning smoke, I cannot get enough SOUP. Now, take this never-ending love for soup and add fresh cut pork, perfectly cooked noodles, and a soy egg? That's exactly what Xinji did and it worked! The broth itself (Spicy Miso Ramen) was rich and spicy, and the creaminess of the yolk cut it masterfully. Basically, I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed this dish, and can confidently say that you cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. Soup lovers, can I get a heeyaaa?! Disliked: Although I loved pretty much everything that ran across my tongue, I still am not 100% on how to say “Xinji.” Rating: 4.5 /5
HANNAH:
Liked: I’ll start by saying, this is not my kind of food. However, I really did enjoy about 75% of the menu items we tried. The pork bao and kimchi and rice balls were by far the highlight for me, as was the sauce on the Korean fried chicken—I could find a lot of foods to put that on. Xinji’s location is great and the presentation of the food was beautiful, especially the noodle bowls.
Disliked: I didn’t love my Shoyu bowl, but it wasn’t the bowl’s fault. While the noodles, broth and chicken were delicious, there were a lot of unrecognizable ingredients in it: a soy egg, naruto (boiled fish paste?), and wood ear mushrooms. I’m sure these are a delicious delicacy to some, but for me, I couldn’t get past the names and appearance of the ingredients. Rating: 3.5 /5
Xinji Noodle Bar 4211 Lorain Ave, Cleveland, OH 44113 // 216.465.2439 xinjinoodle.com
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“losers” decide to pursue this mystery. The farther they go, the more they’re all haunted by their biggest fears and an uncanny clown named Pennywise, who is brilliantly portrayed by Bill Skarsgard. The film is everything you could ask for in a horror film. Plenty of dark lit rooms, loud and abrupt noises, scary monsters, and a villain who isn’t shown frequently until halfway through the movie. Though we’re used to all these horror tropes, It succeeds in creating a great film by not muddling it down with bad acting or dialogue, and no unnecessary sex scenes, which plagued the ‘80s horror genre or gruesome torture-filled horror films of the early 2000s.
Film Review
Halloween Horror It leads a trio of horror films that are full of good scares and uncanny characters. Mike Suglio Mike Suglio is a part-time faculty member at Cleveland State University’s School of Film & Media Arts. He is the creator and director of the Short. Sweet. Film Fest. and has produced and directed several music videos and both short and feature films.
C
levelanders know autumn is upon us when we see crisp, red leaves and smell pumpkin spice lattes at our local coffee destination. But movie lovers know it’s fall when we hear blood-curdling screams from a horror film at our local theater.
But what makes a good horror flick? Lighting? Sounds? Hidden monsters? It’s all of those factors, driven by the use of the uncanny, which is anything strange or mysterious, yet unsettling. As children, we have seen countless clowns at circuses or on commercials selling us greasy burgers with a side of toys made in Taiwan. But to many, myself included, they are off-putting. A grownup with weird makeup trying to make kids smile is just plain odd, hence the fear of Pennywise in the film It.
A few weeks prior to It, a prequel to a prequel hit cinemas. Annabelle: Creation is the prequel to the 2014 film, Annabelle, which explores the history of the infamous doll named Annabelle from the 2013 film The Conjuring. Prequels tend to be terrible, but Annabelle: Creation is an excellent addition to producer/director James Wan’s Conjuring cinematic universe, showing us how the doll first became a haunted, satanic possession. Even though Annabelle: Creation may not be remembered as the best horror film of 2017, it certainly is one of the best horror films of the past few years, favoring actual scares and utilizing that sense of the uncanny like It. Life-size baby dolls are rather creepy to begin with. They’re like small, fake little children that are being taken care of by actual children. This leads us to another uncanny horror film trope: children. Clowns, dolls, and children are known to be kind, fun, and just plain good. If they are haunted or evil, we’re terrified and unsettled by them. Little Evil, which stars Adam Scott and Evangeline Lilly and premiered on Netflix Sept. 1, is well aware of this trope. Filmed entirely in the greater Cleveland area and including some Cleveland actors, this film is a satire of the 1976 and 2006 films The Omen. Scott’s character, Gary, marries Lilly’s character, Samantha, and tries to be a good stepdad to her son Lucas, played by the talented Owen Atlas.
This star-studded cast learns through a few mishaps that Lucas is It is the second cinematic rendition of Stephen King’s offbeat, the son of Satan and they must save his soul from being sacrificed. coming-of-age story, following the three-hour Little Evil is filled with a few good scares, but 1990 ABC miniseries featuring Rocky Horror if you are looking for a lighter horror film that Picture Show star Tim Curry as the infamous is intentionally funny and not campy, this film Pennywise the dancing clown. The film is set is for you. It’s a well-shot, written, and acted in the small town of Derry, where not much horror satire that is above and beyond most of We’re used to all happens, except for some sort of catastrophe the movies that have hit the theaters in 2017, these horror tropes, every 27 years. When children begin to go rounding out a solid trio of scary films to come It succeeds in creating missing, a ragtag group of kids known as the out before Halloween.
a great film by not muddling it down with bad acting or dialogue.
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Cleveland’s Newest Underground Publication Aubrey O'Brien Working a steady 9-to-5 job by day,
Cleveland artist Kat Cade orchestrates artistic mayhem by night. Booking shows at venues like Now That’s Class, Pat’s in the Flats, and the Homestead Tavern as well as DIY operations in the “ask a punk” realm, Cade is a deeply ingrained member of the local punk community who wants to expose the scene’s best kept secret: its art. Album artwork has always played an influential role in the aesthetics of punk, and Cade wants these images to speak for themselves. With the release of FUZZ vol. 1 in early September, she began highlighting the artwork of the scene’s musician-artists. “I want FUZZ to be a platform for people in the scene to share their art in the context that it is art, and not as just a vehicle for promoting their music,” she explains. Community Collaboration. Although she has always considered herself an artist, Cade began going to local shows when she was a teenager. “I was going to all these awesome punk shows and saw my friends doing really cool things and I wanted to document it,” Cade says. When Cade caught a show with local “demented cowgirl punk” band Cotton Ponys she knew immediately that she wanted to collaborate. Inspired by the unique style of the all-female act, Cade’s photographs of Cotton Ponys serve as the creative anchor of FUZZ vol. 1, and three of the four members have artwork featured in the zine. Cade considers female collaboration to be especially crucial. “I think it's very important for women to come together and be close and work with each other instead of against each other,” she says. Intersectional Practices in Punk. FUZZ vol. 1 features Cade’s photographs alongside the artwork of local artist-musicians. The artists of FUZZ demonstrate a broad range of mediums and artistic practices—from Nat Cherry’s Polaroid snapshots to Kiah Roger’s fiber works to 4NR’s linocut and woodblock prints, there are no limits on the content in FUZZ. The zine will focus on the creative endeavors of its LGBTQ+ and members of color. “Historically there have been far fewer women, LGBTQ+ people, and people of color represented in both the punk and art community,” says Cade. “FUZZ will definitely highlight these people.” With intersectional solidarity guiding the process, the concept behind the zine will continue to morph and expand. “It's very much a living thing,” Cade muses. But, the focus will chiefly remain on the art. “I can't be the only one who skips over album reviews in favor of margin art can I?” she jokes. You can grip the inaugural issue of FUZZ at printsbykat.storenvy.com
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Cross Country Voyage Pt. 2
James and the Whale Shark Part 2 finds our heroes seeking water mammals and a good time in Atlanta, Georgia.
Matthew McLaughlin + Dave Sebille Illustrations: Aaron Gelston For readability, Matt will speak in italics and Dave will speak in standard text.
MATT:
The drive to Atlanta, although it was only three hours, was rough. Between my hangover and Dave rubbing dry rub in his cornea, we were feeling pretty beat up. But we put down some 5-hours and smokies, found the trucker blood within us, and survived I-85 to get into ATL. Dave’s Travel Tip No. 2: “Never go to an establishment rated No. 1 in the world on a holiday weekend.” The Georgia Aquarium is a truly beautiful place. Unless, of course, it’s the Sunday before Memorial Day and there are 40,000 people jammed into what seems like a disaster relief center.
DAVE:
As we walked around, I started seeing things in the exhibits. A penguin, for the entire time we could see it, remained motionless staring intently into a corner, clearly pleading with some sort of arctic fowl god to flood the whole damn building. Then, sandwiched between two vast men in basketball shorts, I made eye contact with a free floating Beluga whale in a 6.2 million gallon tank. She seemed to look at me with pity. And there was the otter. This poor son of a bitch had an open habitat and could hear all the babbling adults and screaming children. He was curled in the fetal position with his paws pressed firmly into his eyes. I think he and I felt the same. I pride myself on my patience and tolerance of people of all walks of life, but being thrust into a sea of ignorant, loud, and rude people from all over the world was a true test. And I wanted to murder everyone. Every one of these bastards was living through a screen. Completely distant from the experience and
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getting pissed off the puppy filter wouldn’t work on a fucking porpoise. I was getting indignant and I could see Dave was too. But then it hit me: I was just one face in that crowd. One grumpy, holier than thou face. A wave of calm pumped through my veins as we approached whale sharks and manta rays bigger than anything you could imagine peacefully swimming through the water, unaffected by their surroundings. Be the whale, Dave. Be a goddamn whale shark. So we went to Hooters. The Hooters thing started as a joke, but once I realized Dave had never been before, it became mandatory, and I’m glad it did because that’s where we met James. James, a toothless 75 year old lugging a battered guitar case, sat next to me at the bar. I bought him a beer, so we became fast friends. James demanded that we cheers after every sentence, which was cute the first 20 times.
But then it hit me: I was just one face in that crowd. One grumpy, holier than thou face.
We talked with James and he asked us if we were gangsters, which was also cute. We told him about our trip and he said he did Atlanta to Vegas and back
I made eye contact with a free floating Beluga whale in a 6.2 million gallon tank. She seemed to look at me with pity.
in 48 hours with his older brother who was still a truck driver. With that unsettling image in our heads, we cheers three more times before moving on. One nearly fatal Uber ride later, we arrived at a bar in Five Points, the happenin’ neighborhood in the ATL for a couple of tattooed, bearded white dudes. After we got there, I realized I’d taught an impromptu cocktail class here last summer. Lo and behold the same dude was working. Hell Yes! This is going to be our ATL guy! We’re going to party all night and see the Atlanta that Outkast talks about! It became clear quickly that this would not be the night Dave envisioned. Our guy was on his phone outside the whole time clearly upset about something. The bar was dead so Dave and I ended up sitting on the street corner outside chain-smoking, drinking Pabst, and talking extensively about our lives. I realized that this was the first time we’d really talked in months. I felt like I had let Matt down. Atlanta was a bust. We should've gone straight to New Orleans as planned. But in retrospect, that conversation, those $2 tequilas, and that moment with my friend made for one of my favorite nights of our trip. It’s easy to forget how important small moments can be. We booked a hotel room, ordered some pizza, and spent the rest of the night watching episodes of Jail and drinking High Life. We’d realize later it was good we took it easy in Atlanta. New Orleans was gonna be a mess.
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PoCLEmon Go Mike Suglio
It’s
Cleveland area Pokémon masters are still going strong over a year after the game’s release
8 a.m. on a Sunday morning and my phone is blowing up with messages about a Pokémon Go raid. A year after the release of this “free” mobile game, game developer Niantic and Pokemon creator Nintendo allowed players to catch “legendary” Pokémon through the use of gym “raids,” which involves cooperative play with several players. I’m rarely awake before 10 a.m. on Sundays, but here I am hopping in my car in hopes of catching an Articuno or a Lugia.
You may be asking yourself, “People still play Pokémon Go?” They absolutely do. The augmented reality game still sees an average of 5 million players each day and 65 million each month since the summer of 2016. In that time, the game has been downloaded 750 million times and generated a whopping $1.2 billion dollars and counting. If you still doubt that people play Pokémon Go, go to Voinovich Park on a Friday night, a Pokemon hotspot where you can find several people with phones in hand cheering “gotcha!” after catching a rare monster.
The introduction of raids allowed players to finally come together to achieve the common goal of fighting and catching hard-to-find or “legendary” Pokémon. One might think that just kids or nerdy dudes play Pokemon Go, but I learned of the diverse group of Pokémon masters out there at one of these raids. Marjorie Preston, 45, a swim instructor and mom, often goes “raiding” with her daughter Emma, age 9. Preston enjoys the game because she is “competitive” and likes battling with and against friends, whereas her daughter simply likes to “just catch Pokémon.”
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All players can agree that the game has forced them to go outside and walk more. “It gives me some motivation to go outside and walk around. I also get to see a lot of things that I might not otherwise have seen,” says Rachel Zimmerman, 24. “You can’t get the full experience of the game by sitting on the couch,” adds B.J. Halsall, a 37-year-old professional actor. The game may be a free-to-download game but many spend money on in-game coins to advance in the game quicker. When asked how much she has spent, Preston states, “Hundreds, sadly. If you include data plan, gas, power pack and cords, parking, and other expenses, it adds up.”
You may be asking yourself, ‘People still play Pokémon Go?' They absolutely do.
Like many other players, I downloaded the game last summer in search of nostalgia. I loved the original Pokémon games in the ‘90s and dreamt what it would be like if the game was actually “real.” Pokémon Go was mainly a solo activity that I played while running, which I found myself doing more often with the game.
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Preston prides herself as a “Poke Mom.” Pokémon Go raids often happen in odd locations or at businesses that may be bombarded with several people standing in a circle with their eyes on their phones. Preston reminds other players that life still occurs outside of Pokémon Go.
Alex Jordan, the highest-level player I have encountered in Cleveland, said he spent $2,500 so far on the game. Pokémon Go can “give” and “take away” in the sense that all players can share great stories of catching a rare or strong monster and the Pokémon “that got away.”
If the game were to end tomorrow, Preston says, “My house would be cleaner. I'd sleep more. I would really miss it. The virtual world superimposed makes the real world more interesting.” As we head into the fall, all players are excited for the big release of well known legendary Pokémon, Mewtwo. But will this game be replaced with another trendy fad? “Yes, but it's more than that,” Halsall shares. “It's not like the slap bracelet I got in sixth grade, which I slapped to my wrist once and never used again. It's a game that keeps giving, albeit too slowly for a majority of players, which is probably why it keeps dying and resurrecting.” If you’ve never played Pokémon Go or any Pokémon game, treat yourself and ignore what others think. You don’t know what you’ll catch and which interesting people you’ll meet.
Local Somebodies Here are some Clevelanders with the talent to become real somebodies. James Earl Brassfield Cleveland has produced legends in every bailiwick, perpetual people who’ve turned their work or hobby into fame. All over town, you hear stories about a close call with fame. Someone's aunt knew a guy who told Drew Carey to do a show. Another, went to see Trent Reznor’s ‘80s band? Let’s give you a chance at a brush with notoriety. It’s time to learn about some locals on the rise to the top of their field, as well as some others who are already quietly sitting atop their profession. Here are some of Cleveland’s future somebodies that you should know.
Nikki Lundberg
Owner, Odyssey & Oddities If you’ve managed to piss off your girlfriend we have advice for you: find Nikki Lundberg. Her elegant handmade jewelry is all one of one. Lundberg's grandpa tumbles the stones for her work, but Lundberg does everything else herself. She handles all stages of design, manufacturing, and delivery from her living room to the market. Lundberg takes pride in creating unique pieces that are made to last. Her style gives the jewelry a look of lost treasure that’s been preserved perfectly. You definitely see the influence of the bold Roaring ‘20s in her work. Earthy and engaging colors spark feelings of the ‘70s and make her pieces intergenerational. Lundberg is growing her business and working closely with Stephanie Sheldon, founder of the Cleveland Flea. Check out Nikki’s other scheduled events and super affordable jewelry ($15-$50 on average) online at odysseyandoddities.com and on Instagram @odysseyandoddities.
Nathan Dreimiller
Photographer, Gris Studio
Do you believe photography is art? It’s absolutely not; it’s more like science. However, what Nathan Dreimiller does is best described as making a one-act play for still motion. Dreimiller is a photographer and member of the collective Gris Studio. The collective includes Dreimiller, Matthew Fehrmann, and Dana and Paul Sobota. When you’re an international food photographer, it’s paramount that you’re a safe and efficient circular saw operator, because you’ll need to make more than a few sets. Planning the shoot is like creating the whole image before you take the picture. Nathan literally produces a detailed atmosphere based on the requests of his clients, which is why he needs the aforementioned saw skills. “Planning is what makes people quit being photographers,” says Nathan. He loves planning. Those lucky enough can check out nathandreimiller.com through an invitation. Can someone who leaves such an impression with their work not call themselves an artist? Nathan loves the planning, it’s just too bad the photo only takes 1/800th of a second.
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t s La The rise and fall and rise of Cleveland’s aggressive rollerblading scene
Kevin Naughton Photography // Anthony Franchino + Colin Batu ention “Aggressive Rollerblading” to the average person and you’re likely to hear something like “What’s that?” or “That’s still a thing?” You might even hear a derogatory joke, if the person you ask is a fan of skateboarding. That’s not the case, however, with the organizers of the King of Cleveland rollerblade contest. Having witnessed both rollerblading’s rise to mainstream popularity and its subsequent fall to obscurity, they fight to keep a dying artform alive as part of a nationwide effort to preserve the sport that they love.
Aggressive Beginnings The four primary organizers of the contest—Brent Hopkins, Travis Rhodes, Jimmy Spetz, and Brandon Thompson—all began blading as kids growing up in the ‘90s.
While they grew up in different parts of the state, they all had similar experiences. “We were a bunch of hellions,” Thompson grins mischievously. “I wore rollerblades more than I wore shoes.” Hopkins recalls begging his mother to buy him a pair of $120 skates. “If you don’t skate on these things, I’m going to kill you,” she threatened after finally relenting. Spetz blew his entire first paycheck from his first job on a pair, much to the consternation of his father. “Needless to say, my dad was pissed,” he laughs. Even as teenagers, they showed an impressive dedication to the sport. Thompson was frustrated that his small town of Madison lacked a skatepark, so he decided to do something about it. “In sixth grade, I went to a city council meet-
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ing and did a whole thing where I read some kind of prepared statement, and I was actually able to get that skatepark built,” he explains. Afterwards, he and his friends were constantly enjoying the spoils of his lobbying efforts. “In the wintertime, we used to go shovel the park out.”
“I thought I was going to have to cut my jeans off because they were so dried with blood.”
“If I didn’t have to work, if I didn’t have anything going on, I’d be at the [Eastlake] skatepark,” Spetz says of his own dedication to the sport as a teenager. “From the time I got out of school while it was light outside till nighttime—and then even at night—[I was] still trying to get one or two more tricks in underneath the lights.” While they grew up in different parts of the state, the tight-knit rollerblading community of the late ‘90s brought them together in. At the time, the sport was still immensely popular, and it was easy to meet others who shared an enthusiasm for it. “It was in the X Games,” Hopkins points out, explaining, “It was huge, you know? It was really easy to get into at that age because [we] came up in the end of the golden era and the beginning of the new era of rollerblading. [We were] lucky enough to watch all the guys who were the pioneers that invented the tricks that we still do now.”
The Birth of the ‘King Of Cleveland’ The first year that the X Games decided not to include rollerblading, participants took matters into their own hands. “One of the old school gods of blading, Jon Julio, started a thing called IMYTA [the I Match Your Trick Association], and it was a rollerblading street contest,” explains Thompson, “and they held it outside of the California X Games that year.” It was a calculated stab at the corporate sponsors that decided to pass them
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over. “That was their retaliation,” Spetz explains. “Oh, you’re going to kick us out of the X Games? That’s fine, we’ll have our own competition. We don’t need you. We’re going to hold the first ever international street skating competition.” Professionals from all over the world participated. “The IMYTA was huge,” Spetz continues. “We’re talking thousands of people skating, spectating.”
It was a grand display of the sports resilience, but most importantly, the IMYTA set the standard for how rollerblading contests were to be held in a world without corporate sponsors. Skater-held contests modeled after the IMYTA began popping up across the country, and the trend eventually made its way to Cleveland. “We’d go to competitions in different parts of the country throughout the course of the whole year,” says Spetz, rattling off competitions in Detroit, Kentucky, Florida, Colorado, and California. “We realized, you know, we need something of our own.” He continues, “We’ve been to enough competitions, we’ve seen the structure, we’ve seen how to do this, we’ve seen when they go very bad, and we’ve seen when they’ve gone really well.” The structure of the contests vary from place to place, but Cleveland’s King of Cleveland event takes place at spots across the city, where riders try to outdo each other on stair sets, rails, ramps, and ledges picked out by the organizers throughout the year. The process of selecting spots for the contest, which takes place every September, is painstaking and organizers begin searching as early as January. “You’ve got to find a spot where you can fit 100 people, where people can park, people can get to it easily, and it’s not a bust,” explains Hopkins.
Brandon Thompson's
Rollerblading Adventures Abroad Brandon Thompson served in the U.S. Air Force for seven years, from 2005 to 2012. One would expect this to put a stop to his passion for rollerblading, but that was far from what happened. Thompson took his hobby with him and came back to civilian life with some pretty wild stories.
“For your first two weeks of tech school, you’re not allowed to wear civilian clothes at all,” he explains. “So, I went to the store and I bought Air Force PT gear, like sweatpants and a shirt. They had a skatepark on base, so I ordered rollerblades. In basic training, when I found out what my address was going to be, I called my mom and told her, ‘Hey, order these rollerblades and ship them to this address.’ And the day that I showed up to tech school, I had rollerblades.” Thompson was deployed to a base in South Korea next. Surely active duty would curtail his skating, right? Wrong. “You want to be there for at least 20 minutes, tops.” The planning is stressful, wearing out the organizers’ patience. “We stop talking to each other for a month after King of Cleveland,” Hopkins laughs. After the allotted time for the spot is up, the organizers announce that it’s time to move on to the next location. Occasionally, the spots are broken up by the police, so the organizers use code words to signal when it’s time for the crowd to disperse. Other times, more covert means are used to avoid the interference of law enforcement. One year, in order to skate a stair set outside of the Browns stadium, Thompson donned a hi-visibility vest, put out traffic cones, and directed traffic around the crowd. Three police cars drove by, and not one of them stopped. In addition to rollerbladers and blading enthusiasts, the contests draw surprised and impressed spectators from the area around each spot. “We’re trying to get people who don’t know that rollerblading is still a thing to get reinterested in it and to see what we’re doing,” says Hopkins, “because we’re doing better stuff now than we ever were, you know?” The guys just held their fourth King of Cleveland contest, the biggest and most well-attended yet. They even raised enough funds to be able to pay out prize money all the way through tenth place. The additional prize money is nice for the participants, but there’s a bigger, more altruistic goal behind the contest: “The whole point is to turn it into a non-profit so you can buy rollerblades and then give them out to kids in the hood,” Thompson explains. The charity is modeled after Chicago’s Windy City Riot, one of the longest-running
“I’d look up skateparks online and I’d take the trains. Sometimes I’d take the trains for three or four hours, and I’d get out and be like, ‘Now what the fuck do I do?’” he laughs. “So, I’d just walk around for a little bit and talk to people on the street. I spoke very little Korean, and they spoke no English in a lot of these places. I’d just say, ‘Skatepark? Skatepark?’ You know? And someone would say, ‘Yeah, I know where the skatepark is!’ And I’d put my skates on and skate to the park.” Rollerblading proved to be a pastime that crosses language barriers. “After a while, I started meeting other rollerbladers,” he recalls. “They got my number and I’d send them texts, and they’d put it in Google translate and pick me up at the gates when I had a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. And I’d disappear into the Korean wilderness for three days and they’d drop me back off. "First night, they took me and I’m with four dudes in a car, and I’m like, ‘Sick. Everybody blades?’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, rollerblading!’ But none of them spoke any English. So we go and we skate—like a spot like an hour away—and we drive another hour and we’re out at some farmhouse, and we’re just chilling, and I’m like, ‘Okay, I guess this is where we’re staying tonight.’ And his mom’s like bringing me food and nobody speaks any English of any kind. And this was like one month of being in Korea. I still have rollerblading friends in Korea.” __________________________________________ After Korea, Thompson took his blades with him to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. If you want to see videos of him riding overseas, check out the extended version of this article at pressurelife.com.
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grassroots contests, whose organizers successfully founded a similar program for underprivileged kids.
The whole point is to turn it into a non-profit so you can buy rollerblades and then give them out to kids in the hood.
The Future of Rollerblading
An unsettling possibility arises, though. Rollerblading, like any action sport, is dangerous. “I thought I was going to have to cut my jeans off because they were so dried with blood,” Hopkins recalls of one injury. Concussions and broken bones prevent worrisome parents from supporting their child’s involvement in action sports. Paradoxically, rollerblading is by necessity a young person’s game, and many of the current riders are passing their prime. On top of that, with little mainstream exposure, new riders can be few and far between. It raises the question, therefore, as to whether or not rollerblading will ever disappear completely.
Spetz scoffs at the premise: “I mean, how close do we have to get? We’re there,” he laughs, but is quick to add, “It’s alive. It’s there.
The Fall of
Rollerblading So what happened? How did rollerblading go from a financially lucrative sport with tens of millions of participants to a distant memory regarded by most people today as a ‘90s fad? The answer is complex, with many different elements contributing to its sudden fall from the limelight. Partying took its toll, the skateboarding and BMX communities saw rollerblading as a fad that didn’t deserve to share their spotlight, and recreational
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rollerbladers, clad in workout clothes and spandex, undermined the gritty punk-rock image of the aggressive street scene, manifesting itself in the homophobic ‘fruitbooter’ stigma. The sport’s popularity melted in the spotlight, culminating in its removal from the X Games in 2005. The rollerblading scene in Northeast Ohio was going strong in the early 2000s. Locals competed in professional caliber contests, earned sponsorships,
People are still making skates, you’ve got new wheels, you’ve got new innovation happening all the time. Honestly, I feel like all of the things that have in the last 5 to 10 years are all positive.” Hopkins shares Spetz’s optimism, citing the underground nature of the sport as a catalyst for creativity. “The sport’s in a weird transition right now,” he explains. “You don’t know if you’re an athlete, you don’t know if you’re an artist, but I think rollerblading is going to come out on top because now we’ve got a little bit of a fire.”
The negative stigma surrounding rollerblading seems to be dissipating as well now that it’s no longer the new kid on the block. “A few years back, I’d tell people that I rollerbladed and I’d get made fun of up and down the street,” says Spetz. That's no longer the case, he says, adding, “You’ll always have the kind of knuckleheads that are like, ‘Oh, that’s not cool.’ Then you show them a video and they’re like, ‘Okay, yeah. That’s crazy.’”
and traveled to skate spots around the country. Rollerblading was more than just a hobby to them—it was a way of life. It was something they saw themselves doing forever. Little did they know, however, that behind the scenes, aggressive rollerblading was in for some major changes.
injury prevented him from participating in the contest. The next year, the ASA dropped rollerblading from its annual event, marking the end of mainstream rollerblading. “Even if I would’ve been a professional, it would’ve ended the next year,” he shrugs. The “Golden Age” of rollerblading had come to a close.
The history of rollerblading is fraught with bitter ironies: it was rollerblading’s massive popularity that gave ESPN confidence to risk spending the millions of dollars it cost to put on the X Games in 1995 to begin with. “The X Games started because of rollerblading,” Thompson points out. “Rollerblading was at like 20 million, unbelievable numbers.” Without those sorts of reassuring numbers, a financially driven company like ESPN would probably have never given action sports a chance in the first place.
Without corporate financing, what constitutes a professional rollerblader has been forced to change. Once upon a time, a sponsorship could get you free gear, a nice paycheck, and the opportunity to travel and compete around the world. Now, it usually just means a free pair of skates from a company that’s struggling to stay afloat themselves. “You’re lucky to get a few hundred dollars a month,” says Spetz. “If you’re in the thousand dollar range, you’re a blade god. You’re like one of four dudes.” _____________________
Spetz actually came within a hair’s breadth of becoming a professional rollerblader. Spetz made it to the final qualifying round of an Action Sports Association (ASA) event in 2006, but an
Want to hear more about the history of rollerblading? Check out the extended version of this article at pressurelife.com.
Regardless, the rollerbladers couldn’t care less whether the sport is popular or not. While they remember the so-called “golden age of rollerblading” with fondness, at the and of the day, they just want to skate. “That’s why I like rollerblading now, because it’s underground,” says Thompson. “I get to go to Chicago and travel, and party, and have fun while I go to their rollerblading contests or assist them with other things. And I know that they’re all going to come here and go to my contests and assist with anything I need.” In reality, the skating is all that ever mattered in the first place. “Pure, unadulterated fun,” Hopkins describes. “Whether it’s landing a big trick or just getting out and rolling around, it’s a complete break from everything. It’s the one time that everybody puts their phone in their bags.” Spetz agrees, echoing, “As corny and cliche as this sounds, it’s an artform. It’s a form of expression. It’s a way for me to escape reality. I can go to a skatepark and put my cell phone down.” “It’s my last remaining rebellion,” Hopkins declares, “Maybe I’ll fall next week and never skate again for the rest of my life. But I still strap up.” “Will I ever stop skating? No,” Spetz asserts. To illustrate his point, he adds, “As soon as we’re done with this interview, I’m going to go meet the dudes and we’re going to go skate.” As long as the organizers of the King of Cleveland skate contest have a say, saying rollerblading is dead is a bit premature.
Like this article? It’s not over.
____________________ For the extended article and pictures and video content check out pressurelife.com
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The Secret in These Trees Adam Dodd Illustrations // Aaron Gelston “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them.” -Genesis, 6:3
The facts, legend, and dark rumors that haunt our local woods to this day…
W
hispered to skulk the woods just off Wisner Road in Kirtland and Chardon, the enlarged heads, inhuman behavior, and bizarre experimentations that surround the urban legend of the Melonheads have been the fodder of campfire stories since the mid ‘60s. Taken literally, these creatures, as well as the mysterious Dr. Crowe, who is said to have initially abducted them from asylums or orphanages, reads like a rejected X-Files script. Reinterpreted as regional folklore, an attempt to process an inconceivable past and a dire warning for the coming generation emerges.
To understand this warning, our story begins in 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico. An even greater urban legend in its own right, the 1947 UFO sighting and its subsequent crash landing onto a Roswell farm served as the genesis for America’s speculation over the existence of alien life. Military personnel later claimed the UFO was a downed weather balloon, but there are those that, to this day, believe this to be the first incursion of alien life into our world. Whatever really happened that day, it prompted President Truman to commission the Majestic 12, a group alleged to have been tasked to explore the potential for alien life and its implications toward national security. Some, including the FBI, refute the existence of the Majestic 12, while others, like ufologist Stanton Friedman, consider the group authentic and the progenitors to the “men in black” motif ascribed to clandestine federal agents. The findings of the Majestic 12 were allegedly enough to encourage incoming President Eisenhower to arrange a shocking de tante. On
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Feb. 20, 1954, Eisenhower infamously went missing for an entire day, with the Associated Press going so far as to mistakenly report that the President had died before issuing a swift retraction. It was during this absence the President allegedly brokered an agreement: alien technology in exchange for permission to continue abducting humans for experimentation. While this reads like an impossible flight of fancy, Eisenhower’s own granddaughter publicly attests to the encounter as does geologist and government contractor Philip Schneider who alleges to have been there.
The abductions and experimentation that Eisenhower agreed to turn a blind eye to are theorized by many in the UFO community to facilitate alien/human hybridization attempts. At first blush this may appear ludicrous, but these archetypal themes are prevalent across time and many cultures including the Sumerian origin stories of Enki and Enlil, the Gnostic interpretation of the Torah which sees Adam as a relevant analogue, and numerous pop cultural fixtures like Green Lantern, Anakin Skywalker, White Walkers, etc. Whether the meeting actually occurred, the government’s own declassified Project Blue Book records chronicle an immediate spike in UFO sightings immediately following the alleged date. The sightings culminate in 1957 and see many Ohio residents having their own experiences. One such sighting occurred to Geauga County resident Olden Moore. On Nov. 6, 1957, Moore is reported to have seen a glowing disc hover and land near the roadside. The Lake county Civil Defense Director, Kenneth Locke, was dispatched to the scene and was quoted in the Geauga Record claiming that “there were prints in the field” and that they “were coming from nowhere and going nowhere.” Moore would claim in a later edition of the same paper that he was then interrogated by the CIA and sworn to secrecy
claiming, “I guess they can’t do anymore than throw me in jail for telling you that.” He added of the meeting, “Most of the people I talked to seemed to think these objects are not made by man.” The next day, William Fluhr, of Chardon, reported his own sighting, corroborated by local law enforcement, as did E.A. Markell of Thompson County. Three days later, Letia Kuhn reported a similar glowing disc hovering above her home in Madison. Another two days would pass before Worthington Police Chief, James Lewis, would reveal an unsettlingly familiar experience with the Wooster Ohio Record. Within ten years this region would become synonymous with Melonhead sightings. It’s important, at this point, to highlight just what people describe when encountering a Melonhead. Take the eyewitness account featured in Weird U.S. that alleges, “Its head was a very light brown tint with two holes on the sides I think were its ears. Its head was swelled up, and its eyes were very big.” Compare that account given by PFC Elias Benjamin, an MP in the 390th Air Service Squadron who claims to have been put in charge of a security detail handling the extraterrestrials that crashed at Roswell. Benjamin describes the beings in Witness to Roswell as bearing a "grayish face and swollen, hairless head of a species that I realized was not human." He added that it was "a very small person with an egg-shaped head that was oversized for its body.” If there is precedence of extraterrestrials visiting the area as evidenced in the numerous 1957 UFO sightings, and if we entertain the given history of the Majestic 12 and the basis of potential alien experimentation, it raises the question whether the creatures witnessed in these woods are somehow related. The theory that Melonheads are actually the discarded abductees of failed alien hybridization attempts would explain the shocking similarities they appear to share with extraterrestrials. This connection is made all the more clear when one views the legend through the lens of regional folklore; larger-than-life tales we pass down that serves as cautionary allegory for much deeper truths, either too uncomfortable or unfathomable to be comprehended on their own. Whether the being(s) of advanced intellect who abducted others for experimentation were gray aliens or a deranged scientist, we may never conclusively know. Whether the discarded test subjects, abandoned to the woods of Kirtland and left horribly disfigured, both mentally and physically, are the tragic results of Earthbound abuse or something far beyond is arguable. One thing as conclusive today as it was in 1947: whatever its form or origin, there are dark truths lurking in the woods of Kirtland, waiting to this day to be uncovered.
If you’ve witnessed unexplained phenomenon or sightings and would like to share your story, let us know at adam@pressurelife.com
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Summer of
Gennifer Harding-Gosnell
The
Scene: An old, red brick warehouse on W. 65th St. that wouldn’t look like anything if not for the Cycle Werks shop sign on its front. This is the home of Steelyard Soundsystem, a collective of Cleveland artists bringing the Caribbean vibes to the North Coast.
Soundsystem Steelyard Soundsystem literally raises the roof on Caribbean music culture in Cleveland.
The Setting: A Bratenahl Kitchen food truck and seating area in the building’s courtyard. Take the stairs where strangers say hello as you pass to the open rooftop of the Cycle Werks building, laid out in hardwood flooring and sectional-style bench seating that wraps around two sides of the rooftop deck. A young chap in a short-sleeve button-down shirt and fedora smiles at new arrivals. Two women with their bodies covered more by tattoos than their sundresses talk over drinks as two little girls with hula hoops take over the dance floor.
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The Sun: It’s setting from behind the enormous rooftop speaker system placed in the northwest corner of the rooftop deck. The sun leaves a soft, orange glow from behind the speaker set that gradually gets eerie as night rolls in and I wonder—well, hope—that this was intentional.
The System: Steelyard Soundsystem founder Tim Smith explains, “We are using subwoofer cabinets known as scoops. They are a traditional style of speaker design that uses an internal wave path inside the box that extends lower frequencies and gives a nice low bass that is perfect for dub music.” The Sound: Reggae and its offshoots, dub and dancehall. As Steelyard Soundsystem co-founder Tim Smith spins “Calling For Roots” by London reggae artist Danny Red, you can feel
each sound by its frequency of vibration into your feet through the wood floor. The Story: “Soundsystem� culture was developed in the 1950s, when poor people collected turntables and stacked speakers to create sound systems, playing American R&B music for street parties in the slums of Kingston, Jamaica. Local music would later take precedence in soundsystem culture. Jamaican migration to the U.K. brought reggae and soundsystem to Europe, where it is now among the most popular musical genres. Even decades after its creation, the style is still the music of peaceful revolution, having promoted social and political changes in late 1970s Jamaica.
The basis for a soundsystem collective remains the same today: DJs, audiophiles, emcees, and a massive stacked speaker system.
The basis for a soundsystem collective remains the same today: DJs, audiophiles, emcees, and a massive stacked speaker system. Steelyard Soundsystem celebrates the culture through regular events include the rooftop parties, dub sessions, Caribbean food and drinks, and artists from across the world.
The Experience: Whether you're a soundsystem junkie or new to the scene, Steelyard Soundsystem offers the community a chance to soak in Caribbean vibes in Cleveland. A sense of community and the strength of a people united has always been a major theme of reggae music but is specifically prominent in soundsystem culture, which arose from areas of such high poverty and struggle where, for some, the street parties were the only release they had. The music is both the catalyst and the reflection of the energy Steelyard Soundsystem wants to bring to Cleveland.
For more info on Steelyard Soundsystem including upcoming events moving into fall, visit steelyardsound.com
Asian-American on issues like Ferguson and the shooting of Tamir Rice. The messages on the garments also touch on topics like depression and the readiness for society to abandon those with mental illness when it’s not convenient for them. My wardrobe doesn’t consist of too much color and I only create things I’d personally wear so that’s why everything’s in black and white. I stuck with very basic designs like faces and quotes that can say a lot by not saying much at all.
Coloring Outside the Lines People of Color is much more than a brand, it’s a reflection of the world we live in. Darrick Tahir Rutledge
At
How did you come up with the name People of Color? Do you think that people will be hesitant to wear something with a name like that attached to it? The name, People of Color, came naturally. The clothes came first and the name last, so it just made sense to name the brand that. POC rolled off the tongue nicely and fit the image I wanted to portray. If somebody finds the name offensive or if makes them uncomfortable enough to be hesitant to wear it, then it’s just not for them. It’s as simple as that. Nobody’s being forced to like my work. I made all of this for myself. If somebody sees value in my art and purchases it, then I’m grateful that someone could interpret it into something meaningful to them. How important is timing and making sure things are executed the right way when it comes to building a brand? Timing and patience are essential. Making sure everything is packaged and presented correctly is very important. When I first started creating—whenever I finished something—I immediately wanted it to be put out in the world. There was no fine tuning or tweaking. I just threw it out there and hoped for the best. After lots of trial and error, I learned that success doesn’t come immediately like you see on social media. I think that’s the problem with a lot of people, including me. They see so many people being successful at such a young age on the internet and they freak out when it doesn’t happen the same way for them. It takes years to blow up overnight.
20 years old, Carlo Francisco is defining the perfect balance of hard work and doing what you love. When he’s not attending Columbia College of Chicago for Music Business during the school year, he’s back home in Cleveland making societal and political statements with his art. His clothing brand, People of Color, doesn’t consist of much color, but it does send a message that there are in fact issues that are plaguing the They see so many environment around us. Tell me about the vision you had when creating and designing this collection.
The brand started as a reaction to American race issues that I would see on the news. The clothes are an expression of my social commentary as an
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people being successful at such a young age on the internet and they freak out when it doesn’t happen the same way for them. It takes years to blow up overnight.
Was there any advice or gems of knowledge that you were told or that you read that really keeps you motivated and focused? I can’t think of any specific advice that really stuck with me, but one of the things that keeps me motivated and focused is surrounding
myself with like-minded people. When I first started doing clothes, I had this mentality of “It’s going to be me and only me. I’m going to do everything by myself and make it to the top with no help.” After meeting up with other people in the same field, I found out it’s okay to ask for help. I actually enjoy asking my peers for their different opinions and ideas. I think it’s very important to have multiple perspectives. Seeing other people being passionate and work towards something they really want is infectious. Surround yourself with determined people that possess positive energy and it will help you tremendously. It’s fine to work by yourself sometimes, but collaboration is where the big ideas come together. More and more brands are popping up in Cleveland with the intent to profit off the city’s sport success, and yet, People of Color isn’t. Are you trying to restore a sense of originality back into Cleveland? I love Cleveland and I love Cleveland sports. I’m a huge Cavs fan, but I could never make anything off the back off the city’s success
Why My Dad Doesn't Want Net Neutrality to Go Away. by Wesley A. Gregory, age 8, for his third grade English class My dad says the government is going to take away something called Net Neutrality. He says that is what
keeps the internet fair for everybody who uses it. He says "President Trumphole" doesn't even understand the internet and that he only wants to give big companies a “handjob.” I think he means “handout.” He gets very angry about it. I asked him why he was so angry and he told me that the cable company will be able to charge us more for a fast lane. I guess this is like the part of the highway that my dad is always driving
in and yelling at other drivers to "Move the F over!" and "Get the F out of my way!" I am not sure what this means for the internet. I guess it means more slow people we can't pass. Either way, we don't have a lot of money and can't afford to use the fast lane internet thing. Plus, there is nobody else to get internet from where we live, so he says we're "Up Schitt’s Creek without a paddle." I asked him who “Schitt” was and what he did to get his own creek, but dad told me not to worry about it. He also says that without Net Neutrality it will be harder for people with new
regarding sports. It’s just not me. It works for some people, but it’s a trend I don’t plan on following. I want to be timeless. I want my stuff to be wearable 10-20 years from now. In my opinion, being timeless is real value. Being able to leave your stamp on this earth when you go shows your true worth. Again, I love Cleveland, but I don’t do this for the city. I do this for myself. What’s the next step for you and your brand? Is there anything you want the readers to know about where and when to be expecting this collection? I released my new collection in late August before I relocated to Chicago for school. It’s smaller, but 100 times better than the first one. I also plan on expanding POC into other forms of art as well. I’ll probably make some furniture or canvas prints in the near future.
Find People of Color online at people-of-color.com or on Instagram @peopleofcolorohio.
ideas to be successful if they can't afford to pay for the fast lane. Not just that, but the big companies can stop new little companies from being able to compete! My dad is upset about this because he's got a big idea that's going to make us rich one day. He's going to invent a website for people who want to marry some kind of special “grown-up” dolls. I don't like dolls, I like video games. Dad says not to tell anyone about his doll website so they don't steal his idea.
“President Trumphole” on the internet. Sometimes after he argues with people, he watches naked people on the computer. It kinda looks like the naked people are fighting, but not exactly. Usually people who are fighting punch more, like in boxing. I guess Dad likes all different kinds of fighting and doesn't want the government to tell him who he can fight with on the computer.
Dad says that without Net Neutrality, the internet companies and government can read what he is doing and block his traffic if they don't like it. Dad likes to argue with people about
In conclusion, Net Neutrality is really important and dad says everyone needs to write the FCC and tell them not to change the rule but that people are lazy and probably won't do anything and the internet is going to be terrible soon.
Save the Internet Learn more about Net Neutrality from people with more than a third grade education at savetheinternet.com
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Different Strokes Dan Bernardi
As
Anthony Zart
Grobin is a fun-loving toon styled straight out of the 1920s. He embarks on a series of adventures in Anthony's previous books, Home Sweet Home and Evergreen Meanie. Each tale pleasantly pops with a host of rubbery retro characters and imagery.
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This style isn't just eye candy for the kids. It's a blast of nostalgia for adults who grew up watching classic animation. And now, just in time for the season, Anthony is releasing his newest tale in the Grobin Universe, Halloween Hijinx. This homage to the days of Halloween past follows three mischievous hobo ghosts, the Boo Bums, on their search for candy.
An Ohio Artist Spotlight
author and illustrator of several children’s books, Anthony Zart knows that in Cleveland, artists can’t just kid around with hopes to succeed. As a lifelong resident of the city and proud member of its ever-growing creative community, Anthony attests that nothing is a “gimme” in this town, but he’s proven that if you put in the work you'll find that opportunities do exist here. In Anthony's inspirational case, he's created a few opportunities of his own, as a freelancer, co-founder of a local print and design shop, and creator of the lovable mascot, Grobin the Dog.
In celebration of the new book release, Anthony and his partner Hannah Manocchio are hosting a pop-up event at Snakes + Acey's, their studio on Murray Hill Road in Cleveland. With Snakes + Acey's, Anthony and Hannah have created a go-to for unique in house designs. Stocked with rad hand-printed and screened Cleveland apparel, including a line themed after the Weapons of Mass Creation Fest, the shop also offers custom creative services to suit any illustrated occasion. For the pop-up, they're decking
the studio with decorations, costumes, and treats, bringing the spirit of Halloween Hijinx to life. Between all of his work, Snakes + Acey's, freelance jobs, and pet projects, Anthony displays an exceptional flair for design. Whether crafting fine line sketches or retro cartoony illustrations, Anthony’s adaptability no matter the project has led him down many artistic paths. Posters. Packaging. Clothing. Concept art. In any form, Anthony's artwork is sleek and skillful. As he describes, Anthony’s ideas are seeded by the random “whatever” in life. It’s clear Whether crafting fine that his nostalgic sensibility, sharp illustrative talents, line sketches or retro and keen eye for detail are cartoony illustrations, a perfect brew for eye catchAnthony’s adaptability ing design.
no matter the project has led him down many artistic paths.
Although Anthony Zart balks at the thought of the future, it does appear bright for him. As he continues to balance his work with personal projects and sleep, he's got more books planned, a short animated anthology on paper, and a completed draft of an actual book he hopes to finish, eventually.
To take a look at some of Anthony's art, head to anthonyzart. com for sporadic updates. For screen printing and apparel, check out snakesandaceys.com.
For a journey into the Grobin Universe, dig into grobinthedog.com Follow Anthony on instagram @grobinthedog
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TRICKY TREATS! Five things NOT to slip into trick or treat bags this Halloween Dan Bernardi Illustrations: Aaron Gelston It's Halloween time, and that means you've got to pony up for another fat bag of candy or five and GIVE IT ALL AWAY to those entitled neighborhood brats again.
HELLO THERE FELLOW PSYCHOS!
While many of us let these feral, costumed little punks push us around with threats of trickery, some of you may be thinking about hitting them right in the pillowcase with some tricks of your own. While these may sound enticing, unless you want to spend Christmas in prison, here are the top five things NOT to slip into a kid's trick or treat bag this Halloween.
05.
IILAXATIVE INFUSED KING SIZED CANDY BARS Every kid worth his weight in sugar knows that you have to hit up the rich neighborhoods to score the big bars. You may be thinking that the best deterrent of such behavior is a healthy dose of Ex-Lax on a Snickers. After the kid noshes on this candy bar, she'll be using her candy bag as a diaper before she makes it to the next block. Please help us avoid excess mess this Halloween and do not surprise children with Ex-Lax. And no, we don't recommend syrup of ipecac as an alternative.
04.
IIHUNDREDS OF LIVING INSECTS For those who fondly remember the good
03.
IIMYSTERY PILLS It's a devilishly simple idea really, emptying a box of
old days of Halloween, when the neighbor down the street would chase you with a chainsaw, you may be looking to bring back some of those nostalgic scares. That's why stuffing tiny boxes of bugs on timed release in their goodie bags sounds like a fun and scary idea. Unfortunately, you're guaranteeing a degree of mental scarring, and honestly you have no idea if that child is deathly allergic to bees, bedbugs, or any insect you insert, which is why this one is a big buzzing no-no. Skittles or other bite sized candies, and replacing them with any old pills
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you have around. But sending these kids to the moon is an incredibly dangerous idea because, for a young unsuspecting trick or treater, nothing good can come from a cocktail of your stimulants, anti-depressants, pain killers, and boner meds. Even if your Ritalin helps them calm the fuck down for a change, please remember that your prescription is your own. If you don't share your drugs with others, you have more drugs for yourself.
02.
IISURPRISE DYE PACK To punish the audacious runts who reach in for a massive handful from your candy bowl instead of taking just one like a respectable human, you've probably considered treating them like the little chocolate bandits they are and dropping a dye pack in their loot bag. It's true that being sprayed in the face with a sudden burst of paint will make any kid think twice about galavanting for candy next year. The only downside is that these children are now stained with the markings of a candy whore, and have to resort to home schooling to avoid social persecution. Please, don't support home schooling and refrain from using dye packs this Halloween.
01.
IIGOOD OLD FASHIONED RAZOR BLADESI In a recent poll of maniacs aged 18-80, it was found that ranging from glass to needles, razor blades ranked No. 1 in the category of sharpest objects to stick in kids' candy bags. If that statistic doesn't make any sense, neither does slipping deadly shaving utensils to minors as a prank. Whether you drop the blades in loose or bake them directly into the treats, this is a surefire way to quickly make these children cry and bleed. Please be aware that it is not acceptable to make children bleed, even on Halloween.
Note that PressureLife does not condone any of this ghastly behavior and suggests you stick to classic Halloween torture treats like rice cakes, a toothbrush, a single penny, or any candy that can easily be confused as stale. Happy Halloween!
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