Do you like beer almost as much as self-righteous AA Bible-thumpers? Does the thought of 800 beers from 200 breweries make you weaker in the knees than a West 6th bartender? Is your name something other than "Chuck Galeti"? Then look no further than your back yard, fellow Clevelander. The International Beer Fest is coming to town.

Taking place May 13-14 at the IX Center, the Festival will feature the largest world beer competition in the Midwest. That's right, the whole Midwest. Suck it, Sioux Falls. What.

Well, it's that time of year again. You know, sunset before 6:00 PM, the neighbors' leaves piling up in your front yard, atrocious Cleveland football... And how much is there really to look forward to when just over the horizon lies crowded shopping malls and snowfall? The thought of the latter gives me the same chills I get when I see a picture of Anthony Sowell. Is that an exaggerated statement? Not if you've lived in Cleveland all your life. But this cold, bleak city does, however, have at least one good thing to offer this time of year: the heavenly splendor that is Great Lakes Brewing Company's Christmas Ale.

Whether you're Irish by heritage or "Irish for the day", this St. Patrick's Day you'll want to head down to downtown Cleveland for the 141st annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Even with the construction on Euclid, the giant sinkhole on Superior, and piles of snow lining the sides of the streets - the show will go on!

The parade will kick off at just a few minutes after 1:00pm on Monday, March 17th. This year's parade route has changed, and will begin at the intersection of Superior Ave. and East 18th St. The parade will travel southwest on Superior to East Roadway, up East Roadway for one block, and then northeast on Rockwell Ave. where it will end at the intersection with East 6th.

The weather promises to be a typical spring day in Cleveland - around 42 degrees and cloudy. Fortunately, rain isn't on the radar, but you'll still likely want to bundle up in case any of those infamous lake winds kick up.

With all of the construction going on downtown on Euclid, Superior, and East 9th, your best bet for getting there would be to take the RTA Rapid Transit to Tower City, buses, or carpooling. Parking downtown is already at a premium, and that will be especially true on Monday, a work day, with all of the St. Patrick's Day festivities going on.

If you're feeling bitter about your relationship, instead of giving your significant other a mushy card and something sweet, why not instead give them something BitterSweet? Introducing BitterSweets candies, which are available in three different colletions: "Dejected", "Dysfunctional", and "Dumped".

Unless you two have got a dark sense of humor, don't expect these candies to go over well. But if getting dumped, or breaking-up is what you're aiming for these should do the trick just fine.

Saudi sweethearts hoping to give their loved one a beautiful bouquet of red roses for Valentine's Day will have to think outside of the box, due to a government-imposed ban on red roses ahead of the holiday. Saudi Arabia's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has ordered florists and gift shop owners in the country's capital of Riyadh to remove any items that are scarlet in color.

Such a clamp-down before Valentine's Day is not uncommon in the religiously conservative country. In the eyes of the Saudi vice squad, Valentine's Day encourages relations between men and women outside of wedlock.

In Saudi Arabia, unrelated men and women are forbidden from mixing, women cannot drive, and women must wear a headscarf and cloak. Relations outside the bounds of marriage are strictly prohibited and punishable by law.

Ben Eckerson, a 24-year-old production coordinator at McKinney advertising agency in Durham, N.C., has been spending much of the past several days sitting inside a giant inflatable snow globe. As of Friday morning, Eckerson had been in the globe for nearly three full days.

Eckerson's snow globe adventure is being shown live, 24-hours per day, 7 days peer week through a webcam at snowglobeboy.mckinney.com. According to the site, he is hoping to set a world record for time spent in such a spot, and hopes to spread some holiday cheer.

He has been spending all but 51 minutes per day inside the snow globe, and utilizes those minutes away to take care of personal needs. All of his meals are delivered to him inside the snow globe, which is located inside the McKinney headquarters building.

Eckerson also has a number of items in the snowglobe to keep himself entertained, including a Playstation, exercise equipment, games, and paper towels.

The idea initially behind the snow globe was to send out a different, creative, yet green holiday card this year, and so the agency came up with the snow globe idea - sending out digital cards through the website. The idea quickly snowballed, and "Snow Globe Boy" became an internet phenomenon.

President George W. Bush's dog, Barney, strapped on the "Barney Cam" for his annual dog's eye view of the White House Christmas decorations. It's not a live, streaming video camera - afterall if it involves the President and the White House, there's sure to be lots of editing.

Barney is a Scottish Terrier, born September 20, 2000 in New Jersey. According to his official biography, he loves to play with his soccer ball, golf ball, and recently became a fan of playing horseshoes. Barney has starred in several White House films, including: Barney Cam I (2002), Barney and Spot's Winter Wonderland (2003), Barney Cam II (2003), Where in the White House is Miss Beazley? (Barney Cam III, 2004), Barney has found Miss Beazley (2005), Barney and Miss Beazley's Spring Garden Tour (2005), A Very Beazley Christmas (Barney Cam IV, 2005), and Barney's Holiday Extravaganza (Barney Cam V, 2006), and My Barney Valentine (2007).

Another Presidential pooch - Miss Beazley - also makes appearances in the films. She is also a Scottish Terrier, and was born October 28, 2004. Barney apparently likes to go for the younger girls. Miss Beazley likes to play with the Bush family's cat, Willie, and her favorite treat is a cheeseburger. She also enjoys spending her time in the Oval Office.

A survey conducted by Barchester Healthcare homes showed that gadgets are number three in the top five gifts elderly relatives and friends would like to receive this holiday season. Ahead of gadgets at number two were luxury food hampers, and in the number one spots were experiences such as yoga sessions, hot air balloon rides, and makeovers.

In the gadget category, the survey found that digital cameras and gaming consoles like the Wii were particularly popular amongst elderly home care residents. I bet you didn't expect that!

So this year, when you're out shopping for grandma and gramps, don't pass over the gadgets because you think they're too old to appreciate them. Instead of the slippers and socks, what they really might be hoping for is a shiny new Nintendo Wii. It's all the rage amongst that age group these days. The Wii knows no age limits, and neither do digital cameras.

The day after Thanksgiving, known as "Black Friday", has long been the official first shopping day of the Christmas season. Stores open before the sun rises, and shoppers line up in droves hoping to snag one of those hard-to-get, deep discounted deals. But what about those of us who'd love to save money, but haven't got the willpower or lack of sanity to deal with the "Black Friday" madness? What if you just want to sleep in? That's when Cyber Monday comes in, the online equivalent of "Black Friday."

Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday. The term was coined in 2005 by shop.com, and according to shop.com, in 2006 nearly 64% of retailers saw significant grown on Cyber Monday, and 1/3 of online retailers said their Cyber Monday sales were up more than 30% over 2005.

As online shopping continues to become more widespread and accepted, Cyber Monday is only likely to continue to grow in popularity for those shoppers looking to score the best deals.

For Cyber Monday 2007, shoppers can expect to find a number of specials offers, just like they had in the stores on Friday. Free shipping is one of the most popular offerings, and there will also be several early shopper discounts and some first time buyer discounts.

Public Square is the destination for thousands of Clevelanders as they start getting ready for the holiday season. Cleveland's WinterFest 2007 will be an all day event which will be family fun at its finest. It is not just about the lighting up of the town square as there are many more events lined up.

This is the 24th year of the annual event and will feature a parade of 50 horse-drawn carriages(ex-Cleveland Indians hurler of perfect game fame Len Barker will be grand marshal), ice carving and a choir singing at Old Stone Church.