Saturday, December 30, 2006

if you're not doing anything new year's eve

check out:

Big Al’s Big New Year

featuring Big Al Anderson with his Allstar Band
CD Release Party
Live at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA Sunday, December 31, 2006 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM
Legendary guitarist and songwriter Al Anderson is probably still best known for his 22-year stint with roots rock renegades NRBQ, although he's also distinguished himself as a gifted songwriter and solo artist since striking out on his own. His all-star band is back for a very rare concert appearance on New Year’s Eve at the Horse!

the first show is sold out. there are still tickets for the second show. if you've never seen him and are in the area, i encourage you to go see him. WONDERFUL.


iron horse

me, i'm staying home. i don't 'do' new year's eve.

while i'm on the subject, the iron horse is a gem. it's a showcase for some incredible talent. i've seen so many kick ass people there over the years (my favorite being
dan hicks (sometimes with his hot licks)

i also see
enter the haggis is coming to the iron horse soon. they'll be the half door in hartford on january 6th. if you've not seen them either DO SO (it's an order)

town of the day

colebrook

and is it true, or is it just a story? we may never know..........

and the town of the day's legend of the day the colebrook cave

.................When I arrived on Monday evening, there were some twenty persons around the cavern and others in it. I borrowed a lantern and joined the ones inside. The mouth of the cavern is towards the southeast. If all the loose stones in and around it which seem to have fallen from the cliff above were removed, the cave at the mouth would be as near as I can judge, about 50 feet wide and 30 feet high. The air on entering has a peculiar smell which I can compare to nothing. I imagine the candle burnt less brilliantly than in the open air. For the first three or four rods the way is a good deal obstructed by sharp rocks, then comes a smooth gravelled floor as hard as macadamized road. Ten rods from the entrance we measured and found the width to be 83 feet and again at 30 rods we found it 67 feet. The sides are quite even, especially the east side which is as smooth as if it had been chiseled. The roof is broken and craggy. In some parts rising very high at others descending to within 10 feet of the floor. The flooring for the most part is level and smooth, consisting of stone and hard gravel.
We met with several deep pits into one of which we were near fallling. Two of them resembled wells. We sounded one of them to the depth of nine fathoms and another to the depth of five and one-half fathoms. In the first well we found water but the latter well was dry or appeared so. The main part of the cave is remarkably straight and uniform in width for the most part. It runs in a north and northeast direction for a quarter of a mile where it ends abruptly. We met with numerous openings at the right and left. Some large enough to admit a horse and carriage and others scarcely a man. We only marked them with chalk and passed on to the end of what seemed to be the main part of the cavern.
Here we stopped for a few moments. All stood without speaking gazing about with amazement and wonder. The silence was painful. No dropping of water or creaking of insects, not a sound could be heard, but the low suppresssed breathing of the company. It seemed as if I could hear their hearts beat - it had risen several degrees. The thermometer stood at 60 1/2 degrees.
As we prepared to retrace our steps, we discovered an opening on the west side a few rods from the termination of the part of the cavern we were in. We drew near and listened. There was a low murmuring sound as of a distant waterfall and the air which issued from it seemed colder and damper. This led up to suppose it must be of very great extent but we were too cold and weary to prosecute our researches farther at this time."
...............

a secret santa in bridgeport

i love stories like this!!!

Mystery man makes holiday happy

AARON LEO aleo@ctpost.com

Secret or not, this Santa was the real deal.
The Father Christmas at the center of this urban Yuletide tale remains a mystery, even to the Bridgeport police officers he deputized to help make city children's holiday a little brighter.
But his last-minute gesture can be identified as the true spirit of Christmas.
The miracle on State Street began to unfold last Sunday afternoon when the motorist flagged down police Lt. Tom Lula.
The man told Lula he didn't know where to donate 40 to 50 wrapped gifts, collected at his company's holiday party, which he was carrying in the back of his car. The gifts were even labeled with the appropriate genders and ages for recipients.
The man and Lula loaded the gifts into the cruiser, but before the officer could ask the man's name, he drove away.
So Lula and Sgt. Giselle Doszpoj got their chance to play Santa's helpers, with more than the usual authority: They activated their patrol cruiser's overhead lights to attract attention.
"We just rolled up on people we saw with children," Doszpoj said.
Then they handed out the gifts, which all went quickly, she said.
"What a night. It was the best night I've worked in years," she said.
It was a first for the two officers, who have almost 50 years' experience in law enforcement between them.
Lula said gifts were given to one woman with two babies living in a basement apartment with nearly no furniture..............

Friday, December 29, 2006

if i didn't know better

i'd say he was high on acid. he sure is hallucinating - that's fo sho. he's seeing things that aren't there. he's hearing things that aren't being said. he's ignoring things that ARE there and that ARE being said. he's living in a fantasy world that has NOTHING to do with what is GOOD and MORALLY RIGHT for the people of not only his state, connecticut, but for the people of ALL of the united states. he has an agenda. he always had an agenda. this is AMERICA and we all must do what is good for AMERICA.

we invaded a land that never touched us. they never flew planes into the world trade center. they never attacked us NEVER (i mean PRIOR to us illegally invading their land to bring them 'democracy' and 'freedom').

i am sick and tired of this ugly war. it's not even touching me a zillionth as much as it is touching those serving, their family members and friends and ALL of the people in the middle east.

when will we rise up and say ENOUGH. ENOUGH killing, ENOUGH war, ENOUGH bombing, ENOUGH ENOUGH ENOUGH

when will someone stop these madmen (and women)? lieberman, the king and ALL of his court.

i myself would pick up arms to defend my country. we are NOT defending our country here. we've invaded a country for goddess only knows why. one of the reasons is to line the pockets of the good ol' white boy network. another reason is sheer insanity. another reason is payback (for insulting the kings father so many years ago).
STOP
STOP
STOP

oh and one more thing, I CANNOT BELIVE YOU PEOPLE RE-ELECTED THIS A**HOLE. I JUST CANNOT
(can you tell i'm foaming at the mouth right about now)?



Why We Need More Troops in Iraq


By Joseph Lieberman Friday, December 29, 2006; Page A27
I've just spent 10 days traveling in the Middle East and speaking to leaders there, all of which has made one thing clearer to me than ever: While we are naturally focused on Iraq, a larger war is emerging. On one side are extremists and terrorists led and sponsored by Iran, on the other moderates and democrats supported by the United States. Iraq is the most deadly battlefield on which that conflict is being fought. How we end the struggle there will affect not only the region but the worldwide war against the extremists who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001.
Because of the bravery of many Iraqi and coalition military personnel and the recent coming together of moderate political forces in Baghdad, the war is winnable. We and our Iraqi allies must do what is necessary to win it.
The American people are justifiably frustrated by the lack of progress, and the price paid by our heroic troops and their families has been heavy. But what is needed now, especially in Washington and Baghdad, is not despair but decisive action -- and soon........


i don't usually get preachy


BUT i just saw this ad and thought it was wonderful!

friends of animals

this is NOT a good thing

if you're in this neighborhood be careful!!! (there are a couple of grocery stores in this area. i frequent them as do many people i know. so as i said, BE CAREFUL)

Man Stabbed In West Hartford1:02 PM EST, December 28, 2006

By DANIEL P. JONES The Hartford Courant December 28 2006, 1:02 PM EST WEST HARTFORD -- A 32-year-old West Hartford man was stabbed Wednesday night on Prospect Avenue near the Hartford city line in what police say was a robbery attempt by two men wearing ski masks.The victim, who was not identified by police, was stabbed numerous times in the back, according to police. He was taken to Hartford Hospital by ambulance and was in stable condition, police said.The stabbing occurred shortly before 10:30 p.m., police said, near the corner of Prospect Avenue and Boulanger Avenue, which is two blocks north of the busy Prospect intersection with New Park Avenue.........

my sister and i saw this on the news last night


and we are aghast. this is un effing believable

Grandmother, mother charged in home alone fire


(Waterford-WTNH, Dec. 28, 2006 3:45 PM) _ A Waterford grandmother and her daughter have been charged with leaving three children home alone where a fire broke out.
by News Channel 8's Tina Detelj
Neighbors still cannot believe what went on inside a Waterford home the night it went up in flames.
"I would say if they had not have gotten out who knows? Within another five or six minutes they wouldn't be alive today," said neighbor Bill Meyer.
According to court papers, an eleven year old boy who was home alone with his younger sister and cousin, called his grandmother at work to tell her there was a fire in her bedroom.
The boy said, "I'm scared, I'm really scared."
The grandmother, 51-year old Edwina Naholnik then asked, "How much smoke is in the house?"
He answered, "The whole house. Are you going to come home?"
Naholnik responded, "I'm not, but I'm going to get Mommy to."
Police say nearly 18 minutes passed before Naholnik called 911 to get firefighters to the scene.........

............Naholnik's daughter, 29-year old Brandi Naholnik, the mother of two of the children, made it to the house just in time to get them out. Apparently the grandmother did not want anyone to know the kids were left home alone while she worked the nightshift at Pfizer's emergency dispatch center.
According to the center's tapes, Edwina Naholnik told her daughter, "You have to tell them that you were sleeping and that the kids woke you up." ...............

Thursday, December 28, 2006

i enjoyed your work mr sperber

you drove me CRAZY at times, but you did keep my mind occupied!

thank you mr sperber for 27 years of fun AND frustration

Such Fun He Supplied; A Puzzler Has Died

By JOEL LANG Courant Staff Writer December 27 2006
Elliott Sperber, the shameless punster and rhymester whose cryptogram puzzles appeared in the Sunday Courant for 27 years until last month, died Saturday at the Connecticut Hospice in Branford.Sperber was 79. Aileen Sperber, his wife of 55 years, said that the cause of death was recently diagnosed lung cancer.In private conversation, Sperber displayed the same kind of humor he injected into his word puzzles. He spoke in a deep baritone that rumbled with a permanent chuckle."When he was dying in the hospice, he had the social workers hysterical. He had the doctors laughing. That's who he was - he saw humor in every part of life, dark and not dark. He was mostly sardonic, I guess," his widow recalled Tuesday at their home in West Hartford.Sperber's first cryptogram appeared in The Courant on July 22, 1979, during a gas shortage crisis. Its four-line answer read: "Gas lines are sure a shame/We don't know who to blame/No matter what your views/Please mind your peace and queues."At the time, Sperber was still in his 37-year career as a federal court reporter, working most regularly in the courtroom of Judge T. Emmet Clarie. "He would come home from a day at the court with these hysterical stories. I'm sure the other people there didn't see it," Aileen Sperber said.Sperber got the ideas for his puzzle from the periodicals he read, including The Courant, The New York Times, The New Yorker magazine, Time magazine and the nightly news on PBS. "It was a challenge for him, and he really liked to do it," she said. ............

i haven't picked up a yankee magazine in YEARS

i enjoyed it whenever i DID read it though. i liked the ads the best. new england 'stuff'.

i don't know how the change is going to go over though. we ARE indeed new englanders and we are not necessarily open to change.

i'll pick up a copy next week (or whenever the new format takes place) and give it the a rose is a rose once over

Yankee Magazine' Gets A Dandy Makeover, Bigger Size

Associated PressDecember 27 2006, 9:53 AM EST DUBLIN, N.H. -- The dowager of New England magazines is getting botox and collagen.Yankee Magazine will start the new year with a dandy new look, growing from digest size to full-size in hopes of attracting new readers and advertisers. It also will cut circulation and reduce the number of issues from 10 to six annually.The changes reflect industry trends and the soft advertising market for magazines. But change is a particularly delicate balancing act at Yankee, which has used New England humor, yarns, recipes and travel tips since 1935 to become something of an institution. The regional magazine needs to retain its base while attracting new readers in its target demographic: women age 35 to 65 with household incomes of $75,000 and up.To do that, it must persuade younger women it's not their grandmother's Yankee, while reassuring the grandmothers that behind the facelift is their trusted old friend.For many younger women, "Their perception of Yankee is frozen in time," said Jamie Trowbridge, president of Yankee Publishing Inc., the privately held company that publishes Yankee, the Old Farmer's Almanac, and the newsstand-only Yankee Magazine Travel Guide to New England."Fifteen years ago when they were 30, they looked at Yankee and said, 'That's not for me.' We want them to take another look," he said.Yankee saw a 10 percent drop in the number of pages of advertising from 2005 to 2006, according to the Magazine Publishers of America. But industry analyst Dan Capell said the larger format should attract more national and high-end ads."Everyone's doing it now," said Capell, editor of Capell's Circulation Report, an industry newsletter. "Advertising's off, (so) let's cut the frequency, let's cut the circulation."Some long-time subscribers are worried about the changes, but editor Mel Allen said it's reassuring to know readers care.......

Tech Tags:

congratulations to kevin o'connor!!!

(i think our local authorities MUST concentrate on the violence HERE too. yet ANOTHER death in new haven this weekend. a young kid, 16 i believe was shot in the face and just taken off of life support yesterday. someone in downtown hartford in front of the trumbell kitchen was robbed AND SHOT a few days ago. this MUST stop. it's getting so you don't want to go into hartford or new haven). but i am still pleased for mr o'connor and i do wish him very much luck!

Top federal prosecutor in Conn. named to national position

By John Christoffersen, Associated Press Writer December 27, 2006
NEW HAVEN, Conn. --Connecticut's top federal prosecutor has been appointed to a national position focused on combatting violence amid signs that a three-year lull in crime is ending, officials said Wednesday.
U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor has been named associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Justice Department, where he will lead a team focused on violent crime and initiatives to crack down on gangs and illegal guns. He also plans to remain U.S. attorney for Connecticut for at least six months.
"I'm honored that they asked me to do it," O'Connor said. "To me this is a great opportunity to be involved on the national level on the same issues I've been involved in on a local level."
Preliminary FBI data released last week showed that murders and robberies continued to rise across the country during the first six months of 2006. Violent crime figures are on pace for a second straight annual increase. Violent crime rose 2.2 percent nationally last year -- the first increase since 2001.
Authorities around the country also are worried about a resurgence in gangs. O'Connor held the state's first gang summit in September, and his office has been stepping up prosecutions.
O'Connor, who was appointed U.S. attorney in 2002 and starts his new position next week, also has been active in Project Safe Neighborhoods, which targets gun-carrying felons and has recovered about 4,000 guns over the past five years, he said............


Wednesday, December 27, 2006

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: when i grow up i'm going to be.......#links

ravings of a semi-sane madwoman: when i grow up i'm going to be.......#links

please read this nyt article. please - it's worth it
JUMP BACK!!!

hmmmmm, now THIS is very interesting

da liebs, mr morally better than you or i, mr music and games and tv should be censored is taking donations from people who make VIOLENT video games........hmmmmmmmmm

i've been known to call people who say one thing and do another thing a hypocrite

Lieberman Defends Video-Game Money

By DAVID LIGHTMAN Washington Bureau Chief December 26 2006 WASHINGTON -- It has become a holiday ritual: Joe Lieberman and family-research officials hold a well-attended press conference to decry the impact on children of excessive video game sex and violence.And, again in 2006, Lieberman indulged in another yearly ritual: taking campaign money from the entertainment industry.An analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group, found that the Connecticut Democrat, who won re-election last month as an independent, received about $73,000 from a variety of industry sources over the past two years.Among the donors were Linda McMahon, chief executive officer of Stamford-based WWE Entertainment. McMahon said in an e-mail that she gave money to Lieberman because "I make contributions to a variety of candidates whom I respect."WWE is well known for its video games and television shows. Its games are usually rated "T," meaning the content is considered appropriate for ages 13 and up. TV programs carry different ratings, depending on content.WWE warns parents on its website that, during its more violent shows, "Characters may `hit' opponents with objects, such as metal chairs, sledgehammers, shiny new trashcans, baking sheets, metal stop signs or kendo sticks," or may slam opponents "through folding tables, announcer booths, ring barricades and turnbuckles."............

...........The senator also took money recently from gaming-related interests. John Farahi, chief executive officer of Reno's Atlantis Casino Resort Hotel, was among them, and there was a surge of last-minute contributions from 14 Foxwoods Casino employees and 11 officials of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns and runs the casino. Farahi could not be reached for comment................

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

i've written about the hill-stead before

it's worth it. it's lovely and it's close (to the greater hartford area). it holds so many treasures. if you are ever in the area, DO stop by. i believe in the summer, they have poetry readings on the lawn. perhaps a little concert to two as well

Hill-Stead's Grounds Receive Needed Attention

By GREGORY SEAY Courant Staff Writer December 25 2006 FARMINGTON -- Indoors, the Hill-Stead Museum's fine works of art and period furnishings and documents are impressive. Keeping them in good condition is a constant job.The museum works just as hard conserving its outdoor treasures - 10 historic buildings, pastureland and woodlands hugging the undulating 152-acre landscape of what was once the early 20th-century country estate of renowned architect Theodate Pope Riddle and her family. Along with its gardens, a centerpiece of Hill-Stead's scenery is a ¾-acre pond, once a water hazard for a private golf course.But the race to keep the pond free of invasive plants and algae has long posed its own special challenge, one that until a few years ago Hill-Stead admits it was losing.Now, with the help of a $15,000 donation from the Connecticut Valley Garden Club and pro bono advice from natural-resource specialists, the pond landscape is getting an environmental face-lift that will restore a living classroom for plants, wildlife and people.The Hill-Stead's grounds and pond serve as a habitat for wildflowers and a menagerie of animals, among them birds, frogs, turtles, snakes, deer, beaver, and an occasional moose, officials say."It's a wonderful, living natural resource that is gentle and quiet," said Linda Steigleder, Hill-Stead's director and chief executive officer...........

malachi is wicked cute!!!


there is NO doubt in my mind malachi IS indeed a therapy companion. NONE. i am so very happy the people around mr slight fought to get BOTH he AND malachi into an apartment. a story WITH a happy ending (yes, it's about time)

A Long Road Home As a vet and his dog wandered Middletown streets, officials struggled to find them shelter — together.

By ALAINE GRIFFIN Courant Staff Writer December 25 2006 MIDDLETOWN -- It's been a while since Roger Slight had a home.Back in April, the 54-year-old Navy veteran was told that he qualified for federally funded public housing. Problem was, Slight's dog, Malachi, a 125-pound American bulldog, didn't.So Slight held out on a home to be with his buddy - even if it meant shivering through the nights and waking up in his tent recently with a dusting of frost covering his scraggly beard.Slight's devotion to his docile dog became the talk of the town at the local soup kitchen. Some thought he was crazy. Word soon spread to a band of social workers, who joined Slight in his quest for a home. The 8-month push reached the mayor's desk and the offices of doctors, who told housing authority officials Slight needed Malachi for emotional support.But Slight, a shy but personable man with a smoker's-hack laugh, had struggled with homelessness before. He prepared for the worst."My doctor told me she had a new tent for me if this didn't work out. And there's always him," Slight said pointing to Malachi. "He keeps me warm. He's like a horse, you know."The old tent, worn and stuffed with sleeping bags, was pitched among brush along the Connecticut River just steps from Route 9 traffic. A rusted baby carriage parked next to a suitcase there held cans of food and served as Slight's clothesline. A tattered soccer ball, chewed-up stuffed animals and empty ALPO cans marked Malachi's spot at their riverfront home................

...........Malachi showed Vasiliou what outreach workers, locals at the soup kitchen and downtown merchants already knew - he wasn't just any dog.Like good medicine, Malachi's name was on the prescription slips of doctors who advocated for Slight to be allowed to keep Malachi in public housing. The dog is Slight's emotional support, they said, a service dog in a sense who, like a guide dog leads the blind, serves as the antidote to Slight's depression and antisocial ways.............




ROGER SLIGHT returns to his campsite on the Connecticut River with Malachi, his 125-pound bulldog, after lunch at the St. Vincent de Paul soup kitchen in Middletown.
(CLOE POISSON)

A HAND-ROLLED CIGARETTE gives Slight some comfort in the cramped tent he once shared with Malachi. Slight often spent his evenings with a flashlight propped on his shoulder, reading science fiction.
(CLOE POISSON)

Monday, December 25, 2006

get up ... get on upppppppppppppppp

my friend beth and i were mulling it over

going to see him later this week. for some reason, we both decided NOT to go, even though we BOTH wanted to so very badly i am sorry to say, the godfather of soul, the hardest workin' man in show-bidnez has passed

James Brown, 73, Dies; ‘Godfather of Soul’ By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 6:01 a.m. ET ATLANTA (AP) -- James Brown, the dynamic, pompadoured ''Godfather of Soul,'' whose rasping vocals and revolutionary rhythms made him a founder of rap, funk and disco as well, died early Monday, his agent said. He was 73. Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died around 1:45 a.m. Monday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas of Intrigue Music. Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by his side, he said. Copsidas said the cause of death was uncertain. ''We really don't know at this point what he died of,'' he said. Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years. At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him. His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others. Songs such as David Bowie's ''Fame,'' Prince's ''Kiss,'' George Clinton's ''Atomic Dog'' and Sly and the Family Stone's ''Sing a Simple Song'' were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style. If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question. He was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator. ''James presented obviously the best grooves,'' rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press. ''To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close.''.......

i'm eatin' popcorn, with my hotpants, on my goodfoot with my brand new bag, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE (don't go)

it's no longer the night before, but do stop by

make it stop! make it stop

to read (the rest):

Twas the night before Christmas
And all through [White] HouseThe creatures were stirring
Including head louse
The neo-cons sat one by one with great air
And looked at their mess with nary a care
They laughed with glee at where they had led
As visions of "victory" floated in their heads
And Cheney at his desk with W in his lap,
Who had just settled down for his afternoon nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
They jumped from their desks to see what was the matter
And "whish" past their eyes what was that mad flash?
Was it, could it, have been making a dash?
Past the secret service and with something in tow
It looked like a sleigh to eyes watching below.............................

Sunday, December 24, 2006

joyous yule

a very happy healthy joyous holiday season to all

may peace find us in the upcoming new year