Paulie's Point of View

1963 Cadillac

2009-07-18T08:20:00.004-04:00

I spent a good chunk of yesterday chatting it up with my mechanic in Cambridge, MA.....the reconstruction of my 1963 Cadillac is well under way and it is hopefull that I will be able to drive it around sometime in August 2009.

Being able to drive the ole dame will make it easier to get replacement parts for it also..I can drive it to Gately's in Roxbury where I have been getting all of my needed replacement parts.

WooTown's Summah Nationals - 2009

2009-07-06T06:48:00.004-04:00

If there is any economic spin-off what-so-ever from this event it has most definitely got to be for the WooTown health care industry...how many of these burn-outs can one survive as a spectator and what effect is this having on all the wee lungs in the crowd which BTW looked again very small at this burn-out.

Let It Grow........funny spring

2009-06-10T17:35:00.008-04:00

How are the flowahs bloomin' in your backyard?

I have some wild Hudson Valley wildflowahs coming up from last years August 2008 planting and the rose bush I planted in the summah of 1993, in celebration of my new real estate purchase in 1992 is a bloomin'.....the two Lilac bushes above are a new planting in the fall of 2008, so I do not expect any flowahs this year but they have been growing fairly well. The Lilac on the left was actually almost a foot smallah than the one on the right when I planted them but it has now evened out in size and may over take the one on the right. It just seems to be the Lefties moment in time right now ovah the Righties:>)

I have no gutters on the house so you can see the damage that the run-off water from the roof creates around the Lilacs..I hope to have new gutters up later this summah. This will be a nice cornah in years to come if the flowers bloom like I expect them to.

Reggae Ramble & Caribbean Music Festival

2009-06-05T13:26:00.005-04:00

The most happening Reggae Festival is in two weeks on the Charles River in Cambridge, MA at the Reggae Ramble & Caribbean Music Festival.

A little bit of exercise to warm everyone up for the....Paulie's Special Jerk Chicken, peas & carrots, meat & veggie pies, cold Harpoon beer and live music performed by Danny Tucker & The Jibe Tribe of Kingston, Jamaica.

Kaaterskill Falls in the Catskill Mountains

2009-06-03T21:23:00.004-04:00

I took this video of the Kaaterskill Falls on Sunday with my new "Blueberry"......one of the more picturesque hikes within the Catskill Mountain Preserve. It is also one of the more dangerous if you are not careful. Me, Buddy the Beagle and my friend Jenny hiked it from the top and the bottom..took this video at the halfway point coming down. I had to have Buddy the Beagle on a leash for this hike as he is very inquisitive and I was worried he may fall off the ledge:>)

The Kaaterskill Falls was a favorite of the Hudson River School of Painters.

My Side of the Mountain

2009-05-27T23:18:00.008-04:00

I am heading to the Catskill Mountains this weekend with a nuevo amigo & Buddy the Beagle to do some camping, hiking, fishing, a little investigating by car and a music festival up on Hunter Mountain that features the Allman Brothers, The Derek Trucks Band & Susan Tedeschi.

Some R&R is in order after back to back events last Sunday in Hyannis, MA and tomorrow night in Cambridge, MA.......I'm knackered and I plan to rest up in the Catskill Mountains for a wee bit.

The Catskill Mountains is a special spot for me going back to my "yout" and my endless reading of the book "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean George.....Gonna be hard to beat these days off -no stress, no sad faces...just good times in the mountains!

You can't do this if you live in Somerville, MA

2009-05-17T20:30:00.006-04:00

I pretty much was in the office all day today catching up on some paperwork and getting ready for the move to Cape Cod for the next 8 days - have a Memorial Day weekend event in Hyannis........the itch came over me for a hermit cookie and some chocolate milk so I jumped in the Chevy Blazer with Buddy and we headed to Coopers Hilltop Farm in Leicester, MA!

In 15 minutes from mi su casa en WooTown, I was on an active farm with cows abound picking up fresh milk and some local homemade hermit cookies:>) In 15 minutes, I would barely get from one side of Somerville to the other side of Somerville at the same time of day on a Sunday:>)

It has to be one hellava job, cause few evah want to give it up or think we can do with out em'!

2009-04-28T12:28:00.003-04:00

Sources Say Specter Switching Parties By DAVID ESPO, AP

WASHINGTON (April 28) -- Several officials say veteran Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania intends to switch parties, advancing his own hopes of winning a new term next year while pushing Democrats one step closer to a 60-vote filibuster-resistant majority.
The sources said an announcement could come later in the day — or Wednesday. The officials who provided the information did so on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss his plans.
Specter is a 79-year-old veteran of five Senate terms, and one of only a handful of moderate Republicans left in Congress in a party made up largely of conservatives .

"Ramble On":>)

2009-03-13T10:27:00.014-04:00

I have a "Whole Lotta Love" for my favorite Irish band, Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones that is playing Monday night in Somerville, MA at one of mi favorite theatres..the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square!

I am hosting this concert for family & friends as well as for a few others who throw me a few quid.....the Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km & this concert each year are my St Paddy's Day:>)

On the actual day, March 17th, I will most likely walk across the lot to EVO at Dewey & Chandler, WooTown for a nice dinnah a few Guinness and think about mi own family that left a very poor Ireland for the United States in the late 19th & early 20th Century searching for a bettah life that they achieved and to just think about mi own life and where it is going:>)

Bloggahs aka Informed Citizens are Teaming Up!

2009-03-12T21:17:00.022-04:00

Worcester businessman Wild Will Randell continues to educate folks via his blog about the abundance of no-lo income housing that has been built ovah the last few years within the urban core of Worcester and also what seems to endlessly be on the development planning blocks within the urban core of Worcester.

His recent thread on the no-lo project planned for 95 Grand Street in Main South has brought out more folks than usual within the bloggahshere railing against the proliferation of no-lo income housing that has been built over the last few years and what is in the pipeline for the urban core.....perhaps this is a sign that many of us who have invested within the urban core and have faithfully listened to our leadahs speak of a urban "City on the Move" are starting to speak up abour OUR neighborhoods that are being directed by those who do not live within them have no plans to live wihin them & have no earned money of their own invested within them!

Revolution happens ovah time...it begins at a low level by a few rabble rousers who eventually hit a cord with the masses....we are still aways away from the masses being involved but the crowd of rabble rousers is getting biggah and eventuallly our leadahs may be forced to address important issues that are effecting the remaining middle class living and investing with the urban core of the City of Worcester!

In my opinion, one of the most telling comments made over at the WWR blog was from a bloggah commenting on how at one time Main South-Worcester was being primed to be the nuevo Worcester Arts District and now within a wee period of time it has become even more so, the No-Lo Income District that most consider it to be and it is no longer being primed to be the nuevo Worcester Arts District!

There is no question that WooTowners need to care for it's needy and if it has to take care of Holden & Paxton's also...okay! But it has enough affordable housing within the urban core and after you factor in all the public housing estates it has, all the recent no-lo income developments completed and on the books and then the enormous supply of state and federal housing subsidies allotted for WooTown it is hard to argue against this statement.

If WooTown continues to be a magnet for the tired, poor and those yearning to live off of anothers dime then my argument can be argued about whether urban WooTown has enough free housing....in the past year the house next door to me - 224 Chandler Street has been occupied by New Yorkahs....all of their free housing, free medical, free school transportation, free food, free legal information and I might as well mention also all of their information regarding the grief they are causing the city regarding illegal dumping in my yard and their own also comes to my house...I asked em' why they would want to leave beautiful New York City and they old me that it was because they were told by other Yorkahs who have moved to WooTown how nice we were in WooTown!

Far to many folks are looking at urban WooTown as a safety net like retirees look to Cape Cod & Juniper, Florida as a nice place to retire or young professionals and young stable families are looking at Georgia & North Carolina as places to move to for quality of life issues that effect them...urban WooTown needs more looking at it as a place to live and work and less as a place where they can lounge on another person's dime.

This past real estate boom brought a few positive changes to the WooTown landscape..but not nearly enough to get it out of it's 30 year slump and but a mere blip on the screen when you put it up alongside all the new no-lo income housing that has been developed in the the city....WooTown can not survive economically if this trend continues and the puddin' proof is affirmed from downtown to Main South..from Main South to Chandler Street..from Chandler Street to Pleasant Street....from Pleasant Street to Belmont Hill..from Belmont Hill to Grafton Hill....Grafton Hill to Vernon Hill and from Vernon Hill to Kelley Square!

New Pubs, Restaurants, Theatres and Hookah Bars are not enough within the urban core..it needs more folks with jobs, educations, creative juices and a desire to see Urban WooTown be more than a place where folks come to be entertained and then go home but a place where folks can safetly and comfortably live, work and raise a family!

U2 - Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km - Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones

2009-03-11T21:39:00.005-04:00

It is pretty amazing what is happening over the next few days in Somerville....U2 is playing at the Somerville Theatre tonight..it has 5-8000 runners, walkers, family & friends in on Saturday & Sunday for the 7th Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km road race...then Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfe Tones also playing at the Somerville Theatre on Monday night and then the creme de la creme of holidays - St. Padraigs Day on Tuesday:>)

While many towns and cities are talking about how they can curtail drunkeness & fights over the next few days...Somerville is rolling along with nothing but talk about culture, music, sport & good ole Irish craic without the chicanery!

Climb Worcester

2009-03-10T08:24:00.015-04:00

Muchas Gracias to all who donated to this years "Climb of Your Life" race at the Sovereign Tower in downtown WooTown last weekend.

The Goal was $2,000.00 and the amount raised was $2029.00! Not bad considering most folks are tighter than two June Bugs mating in the spring time right now.

Carol ran the 48 steps and I did the fundraising..... #1 money raising team for the Climb WooTown portion of the American Lung Association's drive to cure lung disease.

My Grandfather, John Collyer passed away from Emphysema and Carol's sis, Peggy passed away from Lung Cancer in 2008, so it is an issue important for both!

Again, many thanks to everyone who donated including the bloggahs that no one reads or are representative:>)...it means a lot to these agencies that do good work for others when one donates during the tougher times!

Whatever Happened to Worcester Love??

2009-03-09T08:12:00.007-04:00

Whatever Happened to WooTown LOVE????? Whatever Happened to Ali Bombz and all the great history of Kelley Square??? Whatever Happened to the movie being made here???

Just seems to me that the heart monitor blips high in the city ovah something for brief moment and then............................................................................................................................................................................................................for the longest of periods

A City That Isn't Reading!

2009-03-08T11:49:00.010-04:00

I have been amused lately by WooTown School Committee Membah, John Monfredo's "A City That Read's" program because I rarely see a urban kid going to school in the morning with books in tow.....we are repeatedly being told that this major mortgage crisis within the urban core of Worcester is because minority home buyers did not read the fine print in their mortgage documents AND now the City of WooTown has ordered a cease & desist order on the Asian Longhorn Beetle tree removal program within the nice parts of the city because again....WooTown folks did not read the fine print on papahs they signed with the Feds that gave the Feds permission to remove trees.

And now just in..our lovely Mayor Konnie Lukes & Councilor At Large Rick Rushton stated yesterday at the WCC Summit in W. Boylston that they do not read the blogs and they even go as far to say that we are not representative of the masses - oh boy, what a revelation:>)

I am no longah amazed at why the city I have planted some roots down in has so few book & magazine stores any longah.....it is not because it has a poor population that is hovering around 50% and can not afford books it is because all segments of the population including the elderly and supposed bright (well it is assumed so, if they do not live where I live:>) do not read!

The End of an Era..Oldest Spa in Somerville Closes for Good!

2009-03-07T23:24:00.007-05:00

I'll get to this once I get back from Rutland State Park and a run in the muck with Buddy the Beagle this morning! And after giving Buddy the Beagle a bath:>)

Vocero Hispano Offices on West Side????

2009-03-07T18:47:00.014-05:00

We have all this available office space in the urban core of WooTown which is also home to the majority of the Hispanic-American population within WooTown and yet one of the major media outlets for the local Hispanic-American population picks as it's heaqdquarters - the ole Tatnuck Book Store building on Chandler West......is there really a wondah as to why we have so few minorities in a leadership position within the urban core of the city??

Worcester Magazine's issue this week has it's yearly "who is running in the next City Council elections" and yet again it includes a piece on the lack of minorities on the Council and the usual quotes from folks stating how important it is to have folks who look like them be on the Council representing them but that it is hard for minorities to get a foothold in whitey WooTown.

Perhaps it is just me folks...but if our local Hispanic-Americans with evident leadership qualities are not willing to stay within the neighborhoods like the ole Italian-American, Irish-American & French-American leadahs did and for decades to lead and to help lift up their peeps then the chances of a strong Hispanic-American leadahship bloc in the City of Worcester is DOA and the chances of the urban core of the City of Worcester being lifted up equally DOA - that's "Dead on Arrival"!

http://pauliespointofview.blogspot.com/2009/02/jose-riviera-for-wootown-city-council.html

Bloggah Brunch on May 9th - It's in WooTown NOT West Boylston:>)

2009-03-07T09:31:00.013-05:00

There will be a complimentary Bloggah Brunch on May 9th at my adobe on Chandler Sreet in WooTown - 3rd floor from 10:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.

If you are a bloggah with a lot to say...or one with very little on yer mind you are welcome!

I'm doing all the cooking and my own assistant Tatoo aka Dave Rigney will be yer hosts! There will be plenty of different types of food and Mimosa's:>).

BTW....it's going to be held in the belly of the beast also....Urban WooTown where fantasies do come true!

**change in date..10th to the 9th - Thanks Sprout!

Talking about Guinness

2009-03-07T07:46:00.007-05:00

More to Come..I'm off on a jog up to this weeks WooTown fire on Pleasant Street

I am going for the Guinness Book of World Record next Sunday in Somerville, Massachusetts!

There will be 4000+ runnahs & walkahs all singing the song "Danny Boy" at the same time just prior to the start of the 7th annual Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km.

I have Ronan Quinn of Co. Tipperary & Paddy Carroll of Co. Louth leading the song at 11:00 A.M. in Davis Square!

Besides geting the GBOWR title...it will be a fun memorial to my recently passed away uncle Jack who loved the song:>)

Going Home to Mom's

2009-03-06T10:08:00.004-05:00

I'm heading down to the Cape for the afternoon to clean-up some Hyannis Marathon post race issues and then I am heading ovah to my Mom's house for a spahgetti & meatball dinnah and some post dinner "Andrew Fudgies" with my brothah and sistah's....something I have not done in 20 years:>) I am looking forward to this!

Mi Madre is a great cook...fish excluded! I still have a deep dislike for most fish and I attribute this to mi madre...she always cooked fish on Friday's for herself and the house always stank of it....I would stay away as a kid like it was the plague:>)

But boy can she cook everything else..Thanksgiving Day was always the best around my house..both sides of the family loved each other so we were always togeher...no pre-day planning as to where we were going..everyone came to our house! I miss those days tremendously..tonight will be nice:>)

I hope everyone has a great weekend..I'm back late tonight and then working around the house all weekend - looks to be a good weekend and will allow work outside on the house....stop by! If it's in the morning..you can join me on the 3rd floor deck for a cup of coffee..if it's after Noon..beers on me on the 3rd floor deck!

Gentrification in WooTown

2009-03-06T07:38:00.025-05:00

Wild Will Randell over at the Worcester ORH has been hitting it hard lately on the issues that are really effecting urban WooTown and this is not a new thing with Wild Will Randell because he is always addressing very relevent issues that are strangling the city.

The abundance of no-income housing that is being built in the City of Worcester and already in place has been his main gripe lately and once you really examine this issue you will see how staggering it is and how destructive it is to any hope of even a little bit of gentrification taking place within the urban core of the city!

After a few pints of Guinness at EVO last night...Bitterman my private chaffeur drove me around the urban core of WooTown and to my amazement it seemed like every building of distinction in the urban core was being inhabited by folks who just do not seem to care or have a job!

Bitterman drove me up Chandler Street and at the Chandler/Main traffic light he pointed out to me all of the frazzled shades and windows decorated with sheets for curtains at the Sky Tower on Main Street- I thoughts this was luxury housing, because it is what they are advertising on the banner at the front door? Bitterman then drove me to the White Hen Pantry downtown for a cherry flavored Gatorade before parking in front of the Hanover Theatre where he again pointed out above to the right and left all the urban housing that had windows adourned with sheets, flags & towels for curtains..not to mention the holes in the shades for a head to poke in and out of:>)

After downing my cherry flavored Gatorade, we headed back down Main towards Main South and the first thing one notices is the Historic Burwick-Hadley Bldg that has undergone a complete renovation and it is adourned not yet with sheets for curtains but a banner seeking folks with Sexy 8 cerificates...and then as Bitterman drove up Main South we both noticed to the right the tastefully renovated Odd Fellow Bldg as seen above and that had numerous bums out front sucking down a few 40oz.....further down to the left was the old and beautifully restored Standish Hotel that is also no to low income housing...management seems to have the bldg under control so we viewed nothing unusual except a lack of foot traffic coming in and out of the building - it looks dead like the renovated historic building at the cornah of Piedmont & Chandler!

Our final perusal before stopping into Breen's for a pint was the new renovation of a yet another urban WooTown historic building at May & Main South..a project that looks beautiful but again another tax funded project for no-low incomers and it's :>) not for profit developers all making 100K+.

I guess my inner demons were saying to me & Bitterman.... "where else do you see, these types of beautiful buildings all being turned over to no-lo developers"....am I the only one out there who is noticing that we are little by little giving away cornah stones of prosperity within the urban core and are making it even more difficult for the city to attract baby boomahs, young professionals & young families that have a nucleus including jobs????

Not to long ago.. Worcester's American Antiquarian Society proposed a change to their building and they were vehemetly engaged by the Montvale Historical Society and our city leadahs.....can you imagine the increased outrage that would have ensued if a no-lo income project had been proposed instead of a haven for scholars:>)

New Orleans Queen of Soul coming to Cambridge

2009-03-05T17:49:00.012-05:00

Irma Thomas - legendary New Orleans Queen of Soul is coming to the Regatta Bar in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 10, 11 & 12, 2009.

Irma is one of those artists that you have to see LIVE to really appreciate her talent...I have seen her perform the past two years at Jazz Fest in New Orleans and I look forward to seeing her again this year at Jazz Fest.

The graphic to the left is the 2008 NOLA Jazz Fest postah....it looks great on my wall in my WooTown office:>)

This is a great date night time and I fully endorse..Irma and the dating:>)

Many of the bands from the British Invasion got their inspiration from Afro-American artists from the South.

A personal favorite of mine...luckily Irma is playing the 2nd weekend of Jazz Fest this year....I'm in that weekend with my best buddy Jim and oher great friends

A Blog About Nothing:>) Year 1

2009-03-05T10:48:00.015-05:00

In another couple of weeks it will be my 1 year anniversary for blogging at this location:>)

I have a few other locations where I post my horseshite....myspace, facebook, a prior blog and of course my endless e-mails, but this location is where I have been doing the brunt of it on a regular basis!

It has been a pretty good year for me..many interesting things have happened...many great times...loads of successes, a few failures and wee bit of sadness.

I have noticed that folks love to chime in when there is a post that is regarded as negative to some....most particular when I am banging away at a WooTown issue and this is something I have noticed on a regular basis on my fellow bloggahs blogs.

I had made comment to my amigo "Young Cooney" not to long ago that it was easy to fall into the trap about blogging on issues that may be regarded as negative to some and also be a platform for others to chime in on forcefully rather easily...it seems if you want a lot of comments then one needs to bang!

I agree with ORH Poobah, Wild Will that blogging can be a powerful tool....personally, I just prefer to use the space allowed to do what I have aways done and that is to communicate:>) I love to talk and talk and talk and it is usually about nothing:>)

Mi Madre has on more than one occasion commented that I came out of her womb "having a conversation with myself" ...I do get my fair share of "do you evah shut up"!

I'm looking forward to another year of this..it has been fun, hopefully some more interesting things will happen to me that are worth jabbering about and of interest to a few..if you can get even a few to listen to you...then in my opinion you are way ahead of the game!

I'm off to Boston for a few horas and then I am back later this afernoon for an easy jog around the block and then an easy night ovah at EVO having a bite to eat and a few pints of Guinness....stop by if you feel like jabbering:>) I always have plenty to say!

My first post at this location:

http://pauliespointofview.blogspot.com/2008_03_23_archive.html

Elite Athletes Coming To The Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km

2009-03-01T18:26:00.020-05:00

Mark Carroll, 37, of Ireland...... 2:10:54 (sixth place) at 2002 New York City Marathon, his marathon debut; Irish Olympian and record-holder at multiple distances will be running at this years Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km (5,000 meters) in Somerville, Massachusetts on March 15, 2009..

5,000 meters at 2000 Sydney Olympics; · 5,000 meters at 2004 Athens Olympics.

Four-time IAAF world track & field championship team member:· 1995 IAAF, 5000 meters;· 1997 IAAF, 5000 meters;· 1999 IAAF, 5000 meters;· 2001 IAAF, 5000 meters.

Irish National record-holder at:· 3,000 meters (7:30.36; 1999);· 5,000 meters (13:03.93; 1998);· 10,000 meters (27:46.82; 2000).

2000 European Indoor Athletics Championships - 3000 meter winner

Mark is the runner wearing #1 to your left at the top!

Ras na hEireann International Cross Country interview

*******************************************************************
Keith Kelly, 30, Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland will be returning to the Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km in 2009! This will be Keith's 3rd appearance at the Ras in Somerville:>)

Keith is a bloggah:>)

* 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships winner
* 2005 Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km winner - 14:24
* 2003 B.A.A. Mayors Cup winner
* 2009 Ireand National Cross Country Champion

***************************************************************

Paddy Moulton,27, Providence, Rhode Island will be racing at the Ras

* 2008 Hartford Marathon winner -2:21:48
* 5Km Personal best 14:24

*****************************************************************

Great race in Ireland yesterday.....the Woodie's DIY Inter Club Cross Country was won by past Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km winners Keith Kelly of Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland & Maria McCambridge of Dublin, Ireland..also competing yesterday and also past winner of the Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km was Irishman Mark Kenneally placing 2nd.

Past Ras results http://baevents.com/rasnaheireann/past.php

Great report on yesterdays race in Ireland below

http://www.rte.ie/sport/athletics/2009/0301/athletics.html

The 2009 Ras na hEireann International X-Country Race in Co. Meath

The Obama Stimulus Package

2009-03-01T09:50:00.003-05:00

The Republicans were days away from bankrupting the country and the Democrats are going to finish the job!

Street Survivors

2009-02-28T01:13:00.021-05:00

"Whiskey bottles, and brand new cars, Oak tree you're in my way. Theres too much coke and too much smoke. Look whats going on inside you. Ooooh that smell. Can't you smell that smell. Ooooh that smell. The smell of death surrounds you"

My first rock n' roll album was "Get Your Wings" by Aerosmith back in 1976..but the album that really blew me away back then was the new Lynryd Skynrd abum called "Street Survivors" in 1977........hard core rock n roll with no fucking pretense....rock n' roll stars but they dressed like me...they wore tee shirts, ripped dungarees, leather jackets and funky hats ....no bullshit dancing on stage like Mick Jaggah..just lots of guitar, heavy drums and tunes that made your feet tap non-stop-American Rock N' Roll!

I used to listen to the album at the Malden Catholic High School library during my lunch break every day.....for me it was like a cat listening to the Beatles for the first time back in the late 50's and early 60's......a new World opened up as a teenager!

I was finally able to buy the album at a record store I used to hang out at in Malden Center..the original album cover which I bought was of the above pic of the band in flames but after the fateful plane crash the original album cover was discontinued and and the re issue featured just the band on the album cover minus the flames...the originals are a real collectors item today.

Tonight, I was hanging out at Hub Stacey's in downtown Pensacola, Florida listenin' to the Mike Diamond Band play a lot of Skynrd....there is something to be said for listenin' to Skynyrd music in Florida - used to a lot back in 1980 when I lived down in St. Pete ....and especially in the Panhandle, so close to where the band was from in Jacksonville, FLA!

Good Night tonight...lots of memories relived over a few beers, good music on a cool Florida evening.

RIP-Billy Powell

RIP Allen Collins

American Rock N' Roll

The Redneck Riviera

2009-02-27T08:56:00.008-05:00

Doesn't that beach look nice New Englandahs??

I hear a storm is a brewin' for Sunday & Monday!

As my amigo from North Cambridge, Jack Curtin would say..I have been getting the lay of the land down here during this trip and the last one to Pensacola, FLA at the end of January 2009.

All of the ocean beaches down here have this incredible white sand that really stands out from a distance.....Pensacola Beach is the place to be around here in the spring, summah & fall if one digs the ocean. I'll take Wellfleet, MA any day..and The Beachcombah is still my favorite beach hangout but I can see me getting used to popping down here for a respite from the cold!

There is something to be said for Southern Hospitality....it is rare not to be called Sir and it is just like Ireland in that everyone waves to each other and with a smile!

Another busy work related trip..most of the family including me will be back in a few weeks-after my next event and they do not know it yet but I am planning a boat cruise out in the Gulf of Mexico..long time coming for my entire family spending quality time together.

Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km ..sells out three weeks in advance at 5004+....Life Is Good!

2009-02-25T12:31:00.019-05:00

My business continues to thrive with my upcoming event registrations all ahead of last years registrations at this same time in 2008, so hopefully I will make it thru this economy and times that are difficult for many, intact:>)

The Ras na hEireann (Race of Ireland) U.S.A. 5Km is the sistah race to the Ras na hEireann International Cross Country Race that took place this past weekend at the Battle of the Boyne in Co. Meath, Ireland...the Ras in Ireland is one of the oldest running races in the country.

I closed out my Ras this morning at a little ovah 5000 runners and walkers...a huge milestone for me as a promtoter and race director.....being a wee bit less than 3 weeks before the event is even more thrilling!

2008 was a great year for me all around....home & office became more comfortable, business was the best ever....traveled with friends a lot and to many fun places and the memories will remain with me forever......here is to 2009, I refuse to be anything but positive and look for good things to happen and for all!!

I'm off for Pensacola, Florida tomorrow on La Famalia business.....may get in one more thread on a recent WooTown loss if I get the chance before flying out!

29th Hyannis Marathon, Half Marathon, 10Km & Marathon Team Relay - 1 Day Old!

2009-02-23T08:35:00.011-05:00

Thank God, "there has got to be a morning aftah" .....cause I am mentally & physically beat up aftah this one:>)

All seems to have gone well....we didn't get the heavy rains until about 2:00P.M. yesterday, so most of the race got off under great running conditions.

I'm happy with what my crew did this year at Hyannis....there has been a wee bit of personal stress in mi life the past few months and then coupled with mi uncle Jack passing away and my added family duties......it all came together at the same time causing me to focus less than is necessary to put on such an intensive event as the Hyannis races in February....this all being said..I have been in the game a long time so I had a wealth of reserve in the tank to pull it off! I'd say 5 years ago, I may not have been able to pull it off...but it is not 5 years ago so I pulled it off:>)

It was pretty cool watching the caravan of U-Haul trucks driving down Sea Street at 5:10AM yesterday with my buddy Jim leading the caravan..I was coming at the trucks in a U-Haul Van from the opposite end of Sea Street coming in from Hyannisport ....we stopped the vehicles side by side and both chuckled about how we had done this same event out of my green Dodge Van just 8 years ago and with many less guys to help out!

I am very impressed as to how so many organizations and individuals have bonded together to put on such a nice event..even in terrible weather, so many come off the mat to do such a nice job..lots of devotion by so many!

The most inspirational moment of the day was waiting for the last marathoner to come in around 6:10.....thats 6 hours and 10 minutes!

I have been in the sport a fair amount of time and from many angles..I have run a lot of races, directed a lot of races and have volunteered at a lot of races....many of my friends are runners:>) Anyway, every so often I hear some nitwit use the term "real runnah" to describe someone....my opinion is if you put one foot in front of another and you do it fastah than a walk then you are a runnah....but this is a conversation for another day:>)....the cat who ran 6:10 yesterday and 2 hours of it in very heavy rain had only 2 years ago been hit by a drunk driver and the past 2 years he had spent most of his time learning how to walk again and then be able to run...I felt very good as this cat crossed the Finish Line, knowing that he had enough faith in me and my crew to make this work for him...real satisfaction:>) He was a real runnah as far as I was concerned.

Next year is the 30th anniversary of the race and my 10th year as Race Director....I'm already planning a gala event that is going to include more registered runnahs....special awards....cash prizes to bring is some more quality talent...invitations to many past winnahs as my Special Guests and a concert or two....my friend Chris Fitz of The Chris Fitz Band ran yesterday...we discussed at one of yesterdays post parties having his band in-house next year as part of the gala event!

30-10 doesn't happen often....next year is gonna be big in Hyannis!

2009 Hyannis Marathon, Half Marathon, 10Km & Marathon Team Relay Results

Cape Cod Times post 2009 race story

Ali-Frazier........Rodgers-Shorter

2009-02-21T07:23:00.014-05:00

There seems to be less mano-to mano's aka rivalries in sports anymore...the Celtics versus the Lakers...Ali & Frazier....Rodgers vs. Shorter come to mind and in my opinion is has taken away a wee bit from sports with the seemingly lack of such rivalries...or perhaps, I am just less in tune with sports today..who knows!

Anyway, last night about 40 or so were treated to the company of 4-Time Boston & New York Marathon winner, Bill Rodgers and 1972 Olympic Marathon Gold Medalist (Munich), Frank Shorter..to a 3 Mile moonlight run along the Hyannis seacoast and then pizza and beer at Palio Pizzeria in downtown Hyannis, Massachusetts.

Bill & Frank engaged in many running battles during the 70's, including the Falmouth Road Race up above & during the Boston Marathon and in Bill's own word's to me has stated that he believes that Frank Shorter is the greatest American Runner evah!

Last night was a great treat to be around these two sports superstars and within such a nice setting as Hyannis during the quiet wintah....Bill & Frank as usual made everyone feel at home...the Hyannis Marathon picked up the tab for the beer and pizza and it was just a great night with many friends as well as new comers to the Hyannis Marathon scene:>)

The First Scene of the Hyannis Marathon was a success last night..today is the Second Scene of the Hyannis Marathon and it is the Race Exposition & Pasta Dinner at the Hyannis Resort & Conference Center and then the Third and Final Scene being the Big Race on Sunday!

Don't wish me good luck if you only have one wish available....wish me good weatha:>) I'll take both if you got two wishes available for me

Cape Cod Times Friday Nights Fun Run Story-

CHIPS House in Centerville, MA

2009-02-19T15:51:00.011-05:00

There is a non-profit that's one of those real non-profit's were the only profit that one recieves is the knowledge that one is doing something good for others and that non-profit is the CHIPS House ovah in Centerville, Massachusetts!

The CHIPS House is a residential facility within a beautiful Cape Cod neighborhood that provides support and assistance to those with head injuries. The idea behind the CHIPS House is for folks with head injuries to be enjoying their lives like most of us do and on a day to day basis as well as provide the extra care that is needed for this to happen.

I have been involved with the CHIPS House in a small way over the past two years as a financial sponsor but I have rarely ever gotten my hands dirty by really helping out - other than getting ink on em' when writing a check......and it is hard for me to not want to be more involved after watching in action the dedicated folks who give up so much to be involved with the less fortunate folks residing at the CHIPS House.

It is very easy for me to look at Steven above and see myself in a wheelchair alongside Buddy, my Beagle and wonder if I would be as fortunate to have someone, anyone help me....it's truly a humbling experience to be around folks who give up so much of themselves to help others who can not help themselves and ask so little back in return!

All this blogging can really wear one down if it is always geared toward stuff that is less than cheery and the battles one has with others and I have my share often can really seem trivial once you sit alongside someone who can't even say hello or lift their hand to shake your hand but you can still feel their heart beating inside of them when you do something nice for them.....so I'm calling for a WWP (World Wide Peace) for 15 minutes...starting whenever you decide you want to say Peace to someone else!

How Sweet It Is

2009-02-17T22:37:00.018-05:00

I have got to start blogging about something positive and noteworthy real soon because there are just so many good things happenin' in the Big Fellah's life....I'll start off with this weekend's Hyannis Marathon, Half Marathon, 10Km & Marathon Team Relay..another sell out and mi biggest registration field evah....a personal and business milestone that is soon to be exclipsed by the Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km which is gonna hit the 5000+ registration total in a few days:>)

I have sold just under 4300 bibs for this oldie but goodie that is taking place on Cape Cod this weekend and during a very cold wintah and uncertain economic climate.... I dare say that this may have been my most difficult achievement and something more noteworthy than getting a date with Gisele Bunchin or a like kind manequin of many a man's dreams- this cat still dig's the real chicks!

Anyway, I am starting to really dig Hyannis again...Hyannis is a village within Barnstable on Cape Cod that for to long was considered the armpit of Cape Cod, an opinion not shared by me or Senor Jahn....the forefathers of Hyannis and some new off Cape blood in my most humble opinion have really gotten it together down here and one can just smell & feel the changes every where one goes!

Tonight me and my bud Rick who owns Cape Cod Restaurants dot com enjoyed a great burgah and many beers at a new place called the STK House on North Street in Hyannis... tomorrow night I am taking mi muddah out along with a number of Hyannis Marathon volunteer groups to a new joint on Main Street called Columbo's....stop by Senor Jahn if you are in the area:>)

It should be a great weekend..I'll be on centah stage and in front of thousands waiting for me to say "on yer mark, get set, go"...I have a great team of family, friends, employees and locals to support me and a whole lot of nice folks who have entrusted me with their time and money..I welcome the challenge and opportunity:>)

February 20, 2009 - Cape Cod Times pre-race write-up

It's Time The Lads From Boston Show Us How It Can Be Done! It's Okay

2009-02-15T22:45:00.017-05:00

I think it's time Congressman Lynch from Southie (first on left) & Congressman Capuano (second on left) from Somerville put their arms around Congressman McGovern and go have a beer!

Southie & Somerville are former middle class bordering on poor Democratic blue collar enclaves ...Southie and Somerville have experienced dramatic changes ovah the past 20 years and each Congressman was in the thick of it as both cities were re-shaped.

Congressman Capuano still lives on the top of Winter Hill, which is smack dab in the middle of the City of Somerville and Congressman Lynch still lives deep within the bowels of Southie-both tough city guys and having reputations for coming home from Washington D.C. each weekend to be with family, friends and their respective constituents.

Congressman Lynch and Congressman Capuano have each come up thru the ranks of tough city politics within their respective districts...Congressman Capuano a formah Somerville Alderman and strong Mayor....Congressman Lynch being a popular formah State Representative.

Each Congressmen has been heavily involved in the gentrification of Southie and Somerville, two communities today that are attracting young professionals, young families, holding onto their own native sons and daughters as well as being huge attractions to the baby boomahs who are now downsizing and moving from the burbs back to these urban enclaves and from all over the country. BOTH cities are classic examples of modern day urban living environments....Urban Worcester needs some of this gentrification and it's leaders most particular Congressman McGovern in my opinion need some good advice on how to lead WooTown in this direction!

WooTown has now missed everything over the past 20 years that the last two up real estate cycles (1980's & late 1990's to mid 2000's ) have brought except the foreclosures.....it's time for a new direction before it'sto late.

José Antonio Rivera for WooTown City Council!

2009-02-15T21:41:00.019-05:00

José Antonio Rivera..... Worcester, MA could be bettah served by your charisma, hard scabble talent and the respect you have earned from so many for starting at the bottom and working your way to the top by moving back to the urban core of WooTown and either challenging District 4 City Councilor Barbara Haller, who needs a wake up call or one of our At-Largers on the City Council!

The urban core of WooTown, if it is to move forward really needs more than one leader speaking up for it and more than one living within it!

Jose Antonio Riviera would be a great choice to represent the urban core of Wootown on the City Council and the only waiver he will need is for the voters of this city to vote for him! I am casting the first "yea vote"!

WooTown needs city folk running it's affairs....to many suburbanites on the Council and city payroll who only venture to the urban core for a Saturday night at the Hanover Theatre and then they dart home to catch Desperate Housewives on TV or for a paycheck!

Come home Jose and run for the Worcester City Council....you would have an immediate impact on a large swath of the city that needs a total re-direction....you would have a huge impact on many of it's citizen's who are in dire need of a leader who sleeps on pillows like they do but seem to have little respect for themselves...Come home Jose, urban WooTown needs you back home along with the many others who have made it but left for greenah pastures or Cleveland!

Trash City

2009-02-13T11:03:00.015-05:00

The below was a e-mail sent by me to WooTown's Director of Neighborhood & Housing,Dennis Henessey & WooTown's District 4 City Councilor Barbara Haler regarding the former V.I.P. Lounge site at the cornah of Chandler & Murray Street.

I am not really surprised that this is allowed because it is continually allowed at 8-10 Winfield Street (behind me) and at 224 Chandler Street (next to me:>)...take a drive down Chandler towards Park Avenue and take a peek at what has been allowed at the formah V.I.P. Lounge site and then take a peek at 224 Chandler Street.

It is my understanding that the city is expecting to sell this small lot to an adjacent property owner who plans to use it for the above and possibly parking. As of February 13, 2009, the property is still owned by the city (the taxpayah..there are still a few in the city) but that the city has been allowing this prospective purchaser to use the property and in the above manner.

I can't begin to tell all reading this blog how difficult it has been to continue on in this neighborhood as a resident, property owner and business owner-every time those of us working to change the image of this part of the city take back an inch of it from the grime and crime we lose a foot to the above nonsense....would this be allowed in Tatnuck Square or next to O'Connors??

If this is the way the city does business, should there be any wonder as to why it's finances are so screwed up?

One of these days our city leadahs will have some serious discussion about the trash within this city...and one of these days and hopefully before it is to late our leadahs will have a serious discussion about who the city is attracting and who is being scared off!

The WooTown City Council can work on issues like vendor carts, 2" knives & additional pot laws ad nauseum but it can not start a serious debate on why so many in WooTown live the way they do at 224 Chandler Street and why WooTown is attracting so many that do live like they do at 224 Chandler Street.....but is unable to retain many of the bright minds that come here to become brighter or it's own home grown crop that is moving out!

It is going to take some leadahs who spend less time worrying about getting re-elected and more time on issues that are driving more and more away from this city

Photograph Courtesy of WormTown Taxi

**********************************************************************

Dennis Henessey & City Councilor Barbara Haller;

The Chandler Business Association along with many others have worked very hard to improve the image of Chandler Street-the former VIP Lounge site has been an issue of mucho discussion at our monthly meetings that you have both attended and via other modes of communication for many, many,many months now!

The above picture was taken yesterday and it shows what is now taking place on this site!

This would not be considered acceptable in Tatnuck Square or within many other nice parts of this city as well as many other cities that are on the move.We aka the CBA have repeatedly asked about this property and the allowances that have been taking place on the site and we have repeatedly been snowballed yet we have remained patient....the city can not expect it's citizens to be involved as long as it continues to keep it's citizens in the dark or has so little regard for those who are going above and beyond what many in the urban core of this city are doing and many times on their own dime.

Please let us know what is happening on this site-if it is still city owned and if so, WHY is the city allowing OUR property to be used in this manner and WHY it is being allowed to remain in this current condition?

Sincerely,

Paul W. Collyer

Where is the Justice, City of Worcester, MA

2009-02-11T09:36:00.037-05:00

The document to the left is something I recently received from the City of Worcester Historical Commission regarding a house I have owned in the city for sometime. I have been landbanking like many of the non-profits in this do:>)

I received this document after having a roofah from Brighton, MA apply for a building permit on my request to install a new roof on the house.

To my amazement, I have been informed that my house on Austin Street is on the Massachusetts Historical Commissions register and because of this I am forced to follow certain guidelines when it comes to any exterior renovations - cha-ching!

I'm actually not bothered by this - my house on Chandler Street , that I live in was brought back ovah the years to it's original 1896 splendore and I am expecting to do the same with the property on Austin and Dewey Street.

My hope is that more folks with an urban streak up and down their back (maybe Gabe the Bloggah) will see what I am doing-renovating old houses and bringing them back to their original splendore and want to also be involved down here in the "Village of Piedmont" with all the new stuff that is happening!

1. Evo
2. Baba Sushi
3. Paulie's NOLA Blues & Jazz Festival
4. Living Earth
5. Ed Hyders Mediterranean Foods
6. Bahans Specialty Foods
7. Haiku
8. Walk to Foley Stadium, Elm Park & Newton Hill
9. El Basha
10. The Pet Barn
11. walk to Big Y Supermarket
12. Walgreens
13. two banks, CVS, many convenience stores & a Dunkin Donuts
14. C.C. Lowells:>)
15. Thai Cha Da :>)

I could go on about the urban conveniences that are slowly developing within the "Village of Piedmont" but are seldom mentioned by the powers to be in WooTown...but I will sit tight with the above for now:>)

So what is the beef, Paulie? I will tell you:>)

Back in August of 2008, I had a small dumpster at my house that I was using to clean out years of junk in the basement...one day I came home to find 25-30 bags of trash in the dumpster that were not put in there by me....so me and little Dave Rigney got into the dumpster to pull them out and see if we could find some evidence as to who thought it was okay to get rid of their rancid trash on my dime - doing things on another cats dime is a birth right in WooTown!

Anyway, after finding numerous bills, orders for payment, Mass Health paperwork, free clinic paperwork and Mass. Dept. of Welfare envelopes all addressed to residents of 224 Chandler Street #1 -my next door neighbors:>) I promptly called the Worcester Police Department so that I could present the evidence and to file a complaint.

The Police Officer was understanding but not sure of what he could do..he attempted to speak with the folks who live at 224 Chandler Street #1 but they refused to open the door even tho it was quite evident they were home-the PO was very unhappy over this so he wrote up a report stating that he had witnessed the evidence and then he instructed me to call Worcester Code the next day.

I did what I was insructed to do and called Worcester Code..WC promptly came down and wrote up a report and took away the trash - yea, more tax payah handouts for folks contribuing nothing to his city!

Long story short-not an easy task for me....I was informed by WC that a civil complaint in Worcester District Court would be filed and that I would be notified...I never was and after repeated e-mails and personal appearances down on Mead Street, one time being asked if I really wanted to pursue this cause I was only wasting my time..I have been told that the offenders never appeared in court and that this will be on their record. Since I was never asked to appear in court and I had to follow up on this issue so many times with city officials I really question whether this actually is the case.

The wasted time was dealing with this issue in a professional mannah with WooTown officials

I had offered to testify in court on numerous occasions but to no avail....I do not consider this a waste of my time but WooTown officials let this one slip thru the cracks as I am sure it is doing with many of these complaints!

We have a City Council spending exorbitant amounts of time on nonsense issues when it should be working tirelessly on real issues that are driving good folks out of the urban core and making good folks deciding to live elsewhere like Boston, Providence, Haverhill, Lowell, Somerville & other vibrant urban communities!

So in summation..I am excited about this historical designation-this city needs to start developing pockets of prosperity within the urban core and quickly before the non-profit buildahs and no-incomers completely engulf it!

This designation is going to cost me some money, but I already had every intention of making this project one that makes folks go "WOW,what is that house doing in this neighborhood"...but it just amazes me how quickly and effectively the city could jump on top of this issue but is completely inept at dealing with issues that are destroying it!

It's Time Worcester Votahs Start Chiming In On This Continued Nonsense

2009-02-08T12:31:00.025-05:00

I have never been much of a "pile on" person nor consider myself a follower but this continued nonsense from the Worcester City Council has me on the verge of moving out of the city and moving to a city that has leaders and residents who get it.

I'm in full agreement with FOX 25, Worcester T&G and every other person out there that this recent "ass fart" from City Councilor Mike Germain is just that...an "ass fart" - how could it even be confused with a "brain fart"!

We have far to many unqualified folks in positions of power within WooTown....every political structure is going to have it's share of ineptness...WooTown's bow is now below water and going down like the Titanic!

Rookie's used to sit back and learn the system and then wait out their time before expressing bold inititives that included thought (you are no Barry Obama, Councilor Germain) ....and hopefully learn from others mishaps! Did you not learn anything from City Councilor Rosen's prior "ass fart" on charging students at WooTown college's $99.00, Councilor Germaine???

When Mayor Murray was leading this city - the repeated nonsense we are hearing from this city council was almost non-existent...was it perfect? no Senor Jahn, but more often than not good ideas, positive vibes and baby steps forward were the mantra and we were finally starting to hear of folks speaking positive of WooTown outside our borders and folks actually talking about doing business here and living here (and not just on Flagg Street)!

It should no longer be acceptable that "just wanting the job" is reason enough to have folks holding important positions that effect so many. This continued assault by Councilor's Germaine, Palmieri & Rosen on one of WooTown's few remaining industries and wiff of culture - it's colleges is bordering on criminal!

We repeatedly hear in this city that the home owner shouldn't have to shoulder the costs of this city....well, who the hell else should then?

We have done everything we can to push out the business we had that employed either via our tax rate or lack of support and lets not kid ourselves as to who is moving into the urban core of WooTown. The City of Worcester may be the 2nd biggest city in New England population wise after Boston, Massachusetts and just ahead of Providence, Rhode Island but it is not anywhere near close to having the quality of urban living that folks are enjoying in Boston & Providence!

Councilor's Germaine, Palmieri & Rosen..if you really want to be effective and represent the entire city..how about dealing with 224 Chandler Street and the so many other problem properties that we have in this city! Please expend as much energy on this issue as you have done so on the colleges, vendors, pot smokahs and knife throwahs and then WooTown may actually begin to attract folks who have jobs, educations and children who after 6PM are doing homework, working part-time or involved in youth sports and other activities that make them better human beings!

Once these types of folks start looking at WooTown favorably, perhaps even imagining some of these students buying up some of these urban foreclosures after graduation and living in the urban core of WooTown instead of the urban core of Boston.....Legal Seafood may want to come back...business may want to be downtown.....and instead of circle masterbating ovah the news prints that a business like UNUM is moving from one cornah to the other cornah instead of leaving the city, we may be able to all feel good ovah news prints that Fidelity or a like kind business is MOVING to Worcester NOT Providence or Greater Boston.

I recently spoke to a longtime Main South Worcester resident who moved to the West Side of Worcester...I jokingly told him that he left me behind..his response was "I gave it my best Paulie, now I have real neighbors"...well Councilors, I feel the same way...I'm ready for some real neighbors..not the non-contributors that keep inhabiting 224 Chandler Street and many of the three deckahs on Winfield Street as well as all ovah the city!

Councilors Germaine, Palmieri & Rosen....this is the core group of folks we have to start demanding more from or else they have to go elsewhere...it is going to take some balls & require you to be banged about by In-City Times, Kevin Ksen, Cha-Cha, the Stone Soupahs and every other feel goodie who receives a check for their activism or delights in having a stage to espouse their beliefs on and on another cats dime..but this is okay, because WooTown may actually get some balance from yer efforts and just maybe it's mortgage defaults will decline, job creators may seek it out and even the great minds educated here may decide to stay local..a novel idea and one Councilor's Germaine, Palmieri & Rosen that I have thought about for 18 long years and not just ovah a cup of coffee at Starbucks, one Monday mornin' on Shrewsbury Street!

Part Two - The Worcester Search for the Perfect Pint of Guinness

2009-02-06T22:34:00.018-05:00

"The Real" Johnny MAC of Co. Galway and Ole Paulie resumed the search for the perfect pint of Guinness in WooTown last night at EVO!

Aftah 5 or 6 pints poured by Christine, a wee lass of 23 years old, it was decided that the pints at EVO are as good as at any pub in WooTown!

The Pints were poured right by Christine with all having a great creamy head and in a proper Guinness glass.....the interior of EVO is upscale but welcoming to all - they let me and "The Real" Johnny MAC in so this should be an indicator as to how welcoming EVO at Dewey & Chandler Street is!

If you are looking for a great pint of Guinness and a quality bite to eat (pizza being a specialty) then I would look no further within the urban core of WooTown than EVO...the aura of Ireland can not be matched up to O'Connors but the service, affordability and staff friendliness are on the same level and if you are lonely and need a mate to down a pint with..I am only one block away and always up for a great pint of Guinness:>)

"The Real" Johnny MAC & Paulie
Top 3 Places to get a pint of Guinness in WooTown:

1. O'Connors: Melissa - pourer
2. EVO: Christine - pourer
3. The Hibo: Terry - pourer

Rumour Has It....that Antoine Domino may be at Jazz Fest this year

2009-02-04T16:26:00.010-05:00

A rumour is floating down south that Fats Domino may be making a rare appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Hertitage Festival this year....I'm spreading the rumour up north:>)

The pic above is of Fats recording studio in New Orleans "Lower 9th Ward" ...it was the first thing I wanted to check out on my own after all of my friends headed back home after Jazz Fest last year!

My ole man was a huge teen collector of 45's back in the 1950's and it was a collection he passed onto me in the 70's that I promptly sold for peanuts at the weekly flea markets that I used to promote wihin my neighborhood as a wee lad.

I can vividly remember selling primo 45's of "Blueberry Hill" and "Aint that a Shame" to folks who stopped by to look at whatever junk (latter day goodies) I was hawking:>)

I have always been a huge fan of Fats and right now I am trying to purchase a vintage NOLA Jazz Fest poster of Fats ....news that he may be at Jazz Fest is very exciting for me:>)

Fats has his obvious hits that so many love like "Blueberry Hill" & "Aint that a Shame" ..but mine has always been "Every Night About This Time" ... Lisa Marie & All Shook will be playing at Paulie's NOLA Blues & Jazz Fest in July

Joss Stone & Buddy Guy tribute to Fats

The above version of "Every Night About This Time" is great...the Fats version can be found at his website along with some great MP3's of other great songs.

Pensacola Airport

2009-02-04T14:15:00.011-05:00
I am going to steal some airport thundah from the Wild Will - Worcester ORH blog and just make a wee comment about our own airport in WooTown.

SELL IT!

I have been in the air quite a bit lately flying to Europe and up and down the East Coast and I have found getting to both Logan and TF Green from WooTown to be an easy chore- most recently flying in and out of Pensacola, Florida via Continental Express and US Airways Express. The thing that impressed me most about Pensacola was the easy in and out like Logan and TF Green but also for a small city - 53,000 folks and a surrounding area population of around 440,000, the amount of quality carriers operating out of the airport (see above)!

My observation about Pensacola and it's small airport was that it had a dual use - folks coming to Pensacola and folks leaving Pensacola to go elsewhere....in Worcester we only seem to have folks who want to get the hell out of here and very few wanting to come here for business or pleasure!

This in my oh so humble opinion and I have many makes this a real problem for an airport seeking an identity and an ability to attract carriers who can make a profit.

Smart business women and men sell when times are good....bad business women and men sell when times are bad...the recent calls to sell the airport by our representatives is an example of bad business! The City of Worcester should have been getting it's house in order with the airport a long time ago. Mo Gallagher of Allegient Airlines decision to move on before the hole got to big is an example of a good business man making a smart decision.

I understand the want for an active & vibrant airport locally - I personally would like to see the Charles River and all that goes with it in Boston & Cambridge out here but this is not going to happen so I am trying to create my own vibe down here in the Village of Piedmont - and the same goes for this city...it needs to start creating it's own vibe...a vibe that can make this city a sustainable one going forward into the 21st Century.

Recession...Yes, We Do Need A Stinkin' Recession!

2009-02-04T10:24:00.023-05:00

No economic genius in this su casa....and "Paulie don't surf ".... but one does not have to be an economic genius or a surfah to realize that like any situation "what goes up must come down" and most times in a crashing way!

Our federal, state and local governments are bloated and have lost the ability to govern, the well off have forgotten that even tho they are at the top of the financial food chain that it takes all on the chain for the chain to stay linked, the Middle Class no longah live like the Middle Class did in years past and our less off seem to be doing pretty well due to others hard work and they are not required to do anything to improve their lot in life!

I am starting to be of the opinion that this recession aka economic wave crash might be just what is needed to correct the gimmee cancer that has been growing within our society locally, nationally & globally for the past 25+ years.

How is it that so many folks are losing everything so quickly or that so many companies are going out of business within such a short period of economic uncertainty and after so many years of supposed prosperity like we are seeing today? Did anyone tuck a few bucks under the mattress? Has anyone put a few bucks into their castles instead of pulling out make believe equity for a Lexus and a ski trip to Katmandu?

GREED is the only conclusion that I can arrive at and the only way we can change this morass in my opinion is by hitting rock bottom like we may be seeing now for many including our government!

My company has been doing very well the past 5 years and 2009 is looking to be it's best ever ... I live a fairly modest lifestyle within the urban core of the City of Worcester...I think I do so due to the worry that business may not always be so good and the modest lifestyle my mother and father brought me and my brothers and sisters up within (I may be a wee ecentric also:>). The Homes we lived in were always bought right and they both drove used cars - my father an ole Cadillac and my mother an ole Ford Falcon...our vacations were local in Hull, MA (Nantasket Beach) at my uncle Jack's house and my father and mother always believed in cheap labor - ME on the weekends:>)

I hope that those who are finding themselves in trouble right now including our goverment and mostly due to their/it's own excesses are able to right the ship..but I really believe that most including our goverment really have to start looking in the mirror and decide what is reasonable and what is sustainable.

The Planet Has A Fevah!

2009-02-03T12:26:00.010-05:00

The Planet has more than a fevah..it has a population of whinahs! I saw a great bumpah stickah on a Ford F250 the other day that stated "Stop Global Whining"

Am I the only one lovin' that we are having a real wintah? We have all been hearing non-stop from former VP Al Gore that the World has a fevah....now we get two real wintahs in a row and everyone wants to tilt the World and all move to one warm spot on it cause everyone is to cold:>)

I'm heading to Lake Morey this weekend in Vermont to snow shoe and ice skate.... was just in Pensacola, Florida and the weather was purrrfect so I am looking forward to returning at the end of February for family business..but I am a New Englandah who digs all of the seasons and life is just to damn short to be whining all the time! So get out and enjoy the great outdoors..light up the BBQ this weekend and have some friends ovah for a Barby and some cocktails out in the snow. If it's the following weekend..feel free to invite me!

Derek Warfield & the Young Wolfe Tones @ the Somerville Theatre

2009-02-02T21:59:00.016-05:00

I will be hosting and promoting my second annual St. Padraigs Day music festival at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, Somerville on March 16th.

For the 2nd year, I am bringing back Derek Warfield & the Young Wolfe Tones and this years concert will be in memory of my uncle Jack Leahy.

Last years show was as majical as they come...the Irish music flowed for hours and it included many long time loved Wolfetones songs as well as many new ones from Derek and his new band "The Young Wolfe Tones".

It was a real coming home for me in 2008...I spent many a Saturday afternoon at the Somerville Theatre as a wee lad watching movies and now I am back for the 2nd year in a row as a music promoter:>)

Derek Warfield & the Young Wolfe Tones

Derek is the former leader of the "Wolfe Tones" ...a band that also featured Brian Warfield, Noel Nagy & Tomy Byrne..this trio still performs as "The Wolfe Tones".

"The Wolfe Tones" in 1986

Derek is a real historian of Irish history and you can feel it in every word he sings during a concert. The below clips are of Derek Warfield and his new band "The Young Wolfe Tones"

song for 1981 Hunger Striker "Joe McDonnell"

"A Nation Once Again"

"Sean South from Garryowen"

For tickets to the March 16th Derek Warfield & The Young Wolfetones concert please see TicketMaster

Paulie's NOLA Jazz & Blues Festival - 2009

2009-02-02T13:53:00.018-05:00

The Music Line-Up has been chosen & scheduled for the
2009 Paulie's NOLA Blues & Jazz Fesival:>)

There will be two stages to accommodate the bands...Gabe the Bloggah will be our stage manager, Wild Will Randle of the ORH Blog is handeling the sponsorship, Harry T who has something to say on everyone's blog and his lovely wife Gina are representing our beneficiary -the National Autism Association .....& I will be the one crawling into everyone's head attempting to convince all to pony up some money to attend!

12:00-2:00 P.M.
River City Slim & The Zydeco Hogs

River City Slim & The Zydeco Hogs

2:00-4:00 P.M.
The Hurricane Horns

4:00-6:00 P.M.
The Chris Fitz Band

6:00-8:00 P.M.
Henri Smith New Orleans Friends & Flavors

Henri Smith & New Orleans Friends & Flavors

8:00-11:00 P.M.
Lisa Marie & All Shook Up

What Long........ Strange Trip It's Been

2009-02-02T13:02:00.021-05:00

My blogging time got put on hold due to the death of my uncle Jack in North Carolina two weeks back.

I had to fly down to Charlotte, N.C. to identify him and be with him, as well as make preparations to get him back to my grieving family. Many thanks to so many great folks, who made this process as comforting as could be, considering the circumstances.

After this, I worked with my mother to arrange a wonderful wake for his many friends and family and the funeral that Jack loved, I am sure..Gaelic pipers, a U.S.A. Air Force salute as well as a rendition of "Danny Boy" by my friend Ronan Quinn of Co. Clare, Ireland that was wonderful...my uncle's favorite song and one he loved to sing.

Rendition of Danny Boy

We had a lovely family and friends get together after the funeral at the Olde Magoun Saloon in Somerville that included food, refreshments and more Irish music by Ronan...it lasted into the evening...my friend who owns the OMS had prepared for 25..but over 100 showed up:>)

The days following included traveling to Tampa & Pensacola, Florida to deal with his business and personal matters....matter's that will be bringing me to Pensacola, FLA many times over the next few years.

This was a difficult time for my family and so many came out to support us all....me and portions of my family really bonded over the past two weeks and I was able to lead some of them thru this difficult time ....many of us were very close to Jack...I being one of them.

Jack recieved the Andrew Carnegie Hero award in 1968 for rescueing a wee lad from the icey Mystic River...the above Medford Mercury article speaks of the resuce and the below can be found on the Andrew Carnegie Hero Award web site.

******************************************************************************
JOHN W. LEAHY
Medford, Massachusetts

John W. Leahy, 28, realtor, helped to save James A. Lawson, 7, from drowning, Medford, Massachusetts, January 28, 1968. James, who could not swim, was walking on ice on the Mystic River and broke through into water 10 feet deep 30 feet from the bank. He clung to a large piece of ice floating in the hole and called for help. Among those attracted to the river bank was Leahy. He and others formed a chain and moved toward the hole but returned to the bank when the ice began breaking. Seeing James go under briefly twice, Leahy then ran toward him, taking a different path. He jumped into the hole and held James at the surface. As Leahy tried to obtain a hold on the ice, others formed another chain and moved toward the hole. Several broke through and returned to the bank. A life preserver with a rope was supplied to the remaining men. The preserver was thrown to Leahy, who meanwhile had been submerged briefly. He put his arm through the preserver and continued supporting James. The men began pulling on the rope. When he lost hold of James, who went under, Leahy quickly drew him back to the surface. The men pulled them out of the hole; and all returned safely to the bank.
*******************************************************************

Save a seat at the bar Jack, there will be time for one more!

Henri Smith & "New Orleans Friends & Flavours"

2009-01-17T13:34:00.013-05:00

Yo bloggahs!! I am heading to the Colonial Inn located in Concord, MA tonight to check out Henri Smith & "New Orleans Friends & Flavours".

I have Henri penciled in for the 6-8PM slot on July 11th at Paulie's "New Orleans Blues & Jazz Festival....Henri is from New Orleans but has been living in Massachusetts since his house was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.

Ever since Katrina, New Orleans natives Dr. John & Allen Toussaint have also been living in the north as is Buckwheat Zydeco who is also from Louisiana.

Henri Smith & "New Orleans Friends & Flavours" playing the Earl King hit "Big Chief"

Congratulations to Hall of Famer Jim Rice of the Boston Red Sox

2009-01-12T22:37:00.010-05:00

A Boston Red Sox player who received a great recognition today by being voted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

I was a wee lad of 13 in 1975 when Jimmy Rice came up to take over left field for my baseball hero Yaz who then moved to 1st base....Rice in left field, Freddie Lynn in centerfield & Dwight Evans in right field!

The 1975 World Series between the Sox & Reds was arguably the greatest World Series evah..just a great year to be a Boston Red Sox fan:>)

A classic power hittah and a real class guy who made Boston Proud!

I think a trip to Cooperstown in July 2009, is in the making:>)

Jim Rice's 200th home run in Fenway Park off of the New York Yankees in 1988!

***************************************************************

All this sports talk and Long Trails got me feelin' nostalgia...my ole man was not much for sports and being a wee lad who loved sports and still does this was tough..I remember having to beg him to let me stay up to watch the Bruins games in the late 60's and 70's while Orr played..those years were the best for Boston hockey & hockey period!

Hyannis Marathon, Half Marathon, 10Km & Marathon Team Relay

2009-01-12T14:02:00.017-05:00

Things are good for this years race on Cape Cod as of today - registration is running over 900+ ahead of last years race at this same time before it took place...and considering all the doom and gloom regarding the economy & the crappy weather lately, I have been pleasantly surprised!

Not only is this good for the runners & my business:>) it is also great news for the many non-profits & high school teams that are involved and it also gives the Cape Cod economy a wee bit of a boost on race weekend and during a period in the year when things are pretty dormant on Cape Cod!

Getting 6000+ to the Cape in the middle of the wintah takes more effort than just putting lipstick on a pig:>)

It was estimated in 2008 that over 1000+ hotel rooms were rented and the business that the restaurants, pubs and cafes did was very telling as all were packed on Saturday & Sunday of race weekend as well as some on Friday night of race weekend. This does not factor in the folks who bought bottled water, filled up the gas tank and other like kind purchases....one gal even told me how she and her family bought a Chocolate Labrador at the local pet store for a family pet!

The above video clip was from the 2008 race and it shows the runnahs running through Hyannisport and one block from the Kennedy Compound! There were 3000+ runners and another 3000+ spectators that included participants family and friends.

Folks are always amazed when I inform them that organizing these events is my sole line of work....in 2008 alone, my company was able to contribute 100K to regional non-profits & high school boostah clubs as well as contribute it's knowledge and energy to two other organizations that used organized running events as a fundraising vehicle and in 2009 this should not change as business right now is 20% ahead of 2008, it's best year!

The sport of running/physical fitness has become a multi-billion dollar business World Wide with many cities and towns throughout the World embracing these running events for their huge economic value to the local business and non-profit communities as well as the enormous social benefits it brings to the entire community.

Random Acts of Kindness

2009-01-11T15:32:00.025-05:00

One often hears "it aint like it used to be" or "I remember when you used to be able to leave your doors open" and I agree there are many times when I am muttering to myself about someone cutting me off while driving or someone just showing a real disregard for me ...but today for me was one of those days when I was reminded that people today are still the same as yesteryear and that in general MOST - not all - are really good people!

The Budmeister (my beagle, Buddy:>) & I had a great mid-day snow shoe hike on the Blue Trail which is part of the Cascading Waters trail system off of Olean Street in WooTown today....the wee bit of running that I have been doing the past 2 months really helped today.... the steep incline off of the bike path which is parallel with Olean Street, in a foot of snow was not a "snowshoe in the park" for this 250lber!

Once Buddy & I made it to the top and meandered along the trail it became increasingly harder as one got to experience the destruction caused by the recent ice storm (really just nature culling the forest of old & weak growth and to the benefit of new growth below) ...anyway after the snowshoe hike Buddy & I headed down to the Cornah Grille on Pleasant Street for a healthy chicken wrap sandwich and to pick-up a Shepards Pie for dinnah before heading out latah for a few pints of Guinness with a friend:>)

So, I left The Beast in the running car with the heat on and I went inside the Cornah Grille to pick up the order...a few moments latah I come out to find that The Beast had managed to lock himself inside and me outside:>) For the next hour, I did everything I could to cajole The Beast to step back up on the armrest to unlock the doors or release a window but he just sat in the seat barking at me!

During this stressful hour, I had numerous folks asking if I wanted to use their Triple A cards , if I wanted to use a phone to make a phone call..some just hollering across the street asking if everything was okay...a real outpouring of offers to help from folks I did not know.

Now if you know me....I am about as stubborn as anyone's ole man....I'd stand out in the cold for hours before asking or accepting help....so as I am walking around the car begging for The Beast to cooperate, I see this huge man (I'm 250 and this cat was two of me and shortah:>) walking across the street with a wire in his hand and a carrying case that looked like it held either a rifle or a trumpet and he say's to me.. "I used to own a tow truck, but I kept some tools" and in about 2 minutes he had freed me from the cold!

The Big Man was Big Bob of Big Bob's Liquors located at the cornah of Pleasant & Richmond and the same cat who only weeks ago defended he and his brother from armed robbers, killing one of the armed robbers who put a gun in his brothers belly . The Big Man had a new customah!

After calming down The Beast which required 15 minutes of my arms wrapped around him and some soothing talk .. "I'm gonna kill ya when we get home":>) I headed ovah to Big Bob's Liquors to thank him and I picked up a case of Budweiser & a couple of racks of Long Trail Hibernator.

Once in awhile, we all run into a dead end on something we are involved with or with someone in our lives, so it is refreshing to know that there are still a lot of great folks out there who "practice random acts of kindess"......thank's Big Man!

Greendale Pub in Worcester Tomorrow

2009-01-10T21:11:00.013-05:00

Paulie's "New Orlean's Blues & Jazz Festival is scheduled for July 11, 2009 - Noon - 11:00 P.M.

The Journey to pick the musical line-up begins tomorrow when I head down to Greendale's Pub in WooTown to check out Lisa Marie & All Shook Up from 4:30-8:30 P.M.

Lisa Marie along with the Cat Sass Blues Band has played at a few other shows I have put on ovah the years..this will be the first time I will be seeing her perform with her band All Shook Up.

Lisa Marie & All Shook Up will be playing on July 11th from 8-11pm....next Saturday night I will be at the Concord Colonial Theatre checking out the Henri Smith & The Workingman Jazz Band I expect to sign up Henri for the 6-8pm music slot.

Feel free to pop into Greendale's Pub tomorrow-Sunday for a pint..I'll be in-house by 5:30pm..maybe a wee bit earlier.

I love my job - life's good:>)

Wintah Time Blues!!

2009-01-09T15:00:00.017-05:00

I am always saying that this is the year that I am going to get back into physical shape but I rarely make New Years resolutions because I can not even follow a day schedule let alone a list of resolutuions.....this year, I did decide that I was going to enjoy the New England wintah as best as I could and to not become one of those folks who are always complaining about how cold it is outside or how they long to move to a warmer climate:>)

So, I went out and bought a pair of Tubbs snow shoes, two weeks back and I have gotten out into the woods to try em' out..have recently met a new friend who also enjoy's this exercise and I even got an offah from BuckPaxton to tackle the trails around Cascading Waters....so it won't be long before I am out somewhere on the Long Trail in Vermont for a full weekend with Buddy the Beagle snow shoeing and wintah camping!

Another wintah sport on the schedule is heading up to Mt. Wachusett this weekend or next week to do some night skiing and then hang out afterwards eating, drinking and listening to some music. Has anyone skied at Mt. Wachusett and have any trail recommendations for a guy who has only skied once before, 28 years ago, at Loon Mountain in New Hampshire.

**I have yet to take BuckPaxton up on his offah to go snowshoeing in the woods because I keep thinking about the demise of Nicky Santoro and his brother in the movie Casino:>)

Another Business leaving the City of Worcester

2009-01-09T13:37:00.012-05:00

Wild Will Randell has not posted a "business lost list" on his blog in a wee bit so I thought I would pick up the slack on this subject and leave the hopefully soon to be announced news that UNUM is going to be the new trigger tenant for City Square to Wild Will!

Worcester Winnelson Company, a plumbing wholesale company chain is leaving Worcester, MA for Auburn, MA this coming March 2009 and they are taking their employees with them!

Yet another Worcester, MA commercial property owner losing a quality tenant, local foodies losing breakfast & lunch customers, local stores losing customers who may buy a rack on the way home or fill up the gas tank, pubs that may miss employees who might pop in for a bite to eat and a few after work, residential landlords who may lose tenants that may want to live closer to work & local plumbers losing an affordable wholesaler.

More earned money leaving the city....not good mates!

Assumption College's "New Urban Campus Open House" January 13, 2009

2009-01-06T12:23:00.023-05:00

PRESENTS

A PUBLIC EVENT ON JANUARY 13, 2009 - 6:00 P.M.

Please join Assumption College, the Martin Luther King Jr. Business Empowerment Center, and the Chandler Business Association on January 13, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. for Assumption College's "New Worcester Urban Campus - Open House"

All Are Welcome, even if you just want to see what this great new opportunity in Worcester, MA is all about!!This is a great opportunity to further your education as well as be part of the continued resurgence of "Worcester's Urban Core"

Some great "exclusive" news for residents of the Chandler Street, Worcester, MA neighborhood! Up to 50% scholarships available now for Assumption College Urban Campus courses at the Martin Luther King Jr. Business Empowerment Center.

OPEN HOUSE
Hosted by Assumption College Continuing & Career Education, Martin Luther King Jr. Business Empowerment Center, and Chandler Business Association

January 13, 2009 6:00 p.m.

Martin Luther King Jr. Business Empowerment Center
237 Chandler St. (corner of ParkAvenue/Dewey Street and Chandler Street)
Worcester, Massachusetts 01609

This is an exciting opportunity to take real college courses taught by Assumption faculty -- in aconvenient Worcester urban location. Each course is three credits, and can be used atAssumption or transferred into colleges anywhere.Take one or more of the following courses, leading to a Management Certificate and Degree:

*Principles of Management and Organizational Behavior - How businesses operate. What it takes to succeed. How to manage effectively in any kind of business.

*Leadership - How to get workers to do what you want them to do, and be content and productivewhile doing it.

*Small Business Management - Coming up with great ideas, then planning for businesses that will letyou compete successfully with the "big" guys. Finding the money you need to start and run yoursmall business.

*Effective Business Writing - Learn the keys to communicating effectively in any job.

Contact directly the Martin Luther King Jr. Business Empowerment Center regarding financial aid, at 508-756-6330.

For more information

Phone: Continuing & Career Educationat Assumption College, 508-767-7364

Email: cce@assumption.edu

Visit:http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0018jP6BtcPbFI3zX4U624kmj4DiU6sp0FX-ARRSTmAdouSVleKqptoE5irRzswgIbZ-1VnFsY2nhrrl-cjEcbbiwdhIEN3wGZ8huHAWLfUX09bKqfkb8iN0w==

Classes start January 20, 2009!

Call today and start working towards your degree and a brighter future!

Ask about our REFERRAL PROGRAM DISCOUNT, which could save you more!

Lady at the beauty shop, you make my heart go bippity bop!

2009-01-05T17:33:00.025-05:00

Any Cambridge Homies out there remember "Lil Joe Cook" who used to sing a few nights a week at the ole Cantab in Central Square??

Joe had two big hits that he always sang each night.... "Lady at the Beauty Shop" & "Peanut" .....I have been reminded lately of all his great shows I used to see down at the Cantab Lounge in the late 70's, 80's and 90's, as I drive down Chandler Street from Main Street to Park Avenue while looking at the proliferation of barbershops and hair salons on Chandler Street!

The grand daddy of em' all is the barbershop within the Keystone Plaza that used to also house Standard Electric ...this barbershop has been there since I have been here and I have been here a long time folks....so long that my moustache is starting to show some gray hair:>)

Then we have the hair salon inside the Living Earth Bldg and then a whole bunch of braiding, womens hair shops and men's barbershops livening up the commercial strip from Main to Park!

There is about 7-8 hair related business's on Chandler Street at this time..once a street that's commercial zone consisted mostly of car related business's has shifted a wee bit...most particular is the new restaurant within the Living Earth Bldg....EVO opened up last week and so far it has been a huge success and a business that is creating some buzz!

I feel like Marty played by Ernie Borgnine in the 1955 movie titled "Marty" ....I'm finally falling in love after years of loneliness down here:>)

My house on Chandler Street is the first house I ever bought-so it has a special spot in mi heart:<)....I looked at the success of Living Earth back in 1991 and I said to myself "all this street needed was the next progressive property owner and then the next cat would move in and the progress would continue" ....well my very wealthy uncle said to me back then "the path of progress always ends just before yer front door, Wee Will" and he was right!

My take now is that the addition of another mid to upscale restaurant is hopefully gonna bring in a broader group of nice folks to the hood and that they are also gonna stay in the hood for a longer period of time..not to mention it is a nice place for urban souls like myself who live in an urban environment because of the amenities that an urban environment can provide:>)

It was interesting this weekend to watch the hood rats walk by and wondah what was going on with the valet parking set-up in front of EVO. Let's hope the hood rats do no ruin it for us by vandalizing the cars in the valet lot on Dewey Street!

Little Joe Cook & The Thrilers on the Charles River

Qoute of the Year in 1995!

2009-01-05T15:31:00.002-05:00

My Way For Making It

2009-01-05T15:21:00.007-05:00

I cut this out of a Vermont Life magazine maybe 10 years ago and it has been tacked to a bulletin board, I had stored in the basement of a property, I own in Woo-Town.

The treasures one can find in ones own basement:>)

PRESS ON MATES!

Please sir, can I have some more

2009-01-05T14:26:00.013-05:00

Do you think I am kidding when I state that I am a fan of WOMAG (Worcester Magazine) ...the "Letter to the Editor" or whatever they call it has always been one of may faves....the clipping to the left goes back to the mid 90's and just another one that I have saved over the years.

I was just ovah at a property of mine that I am in the process of renovating and I found two mattresses on the side lawn..yup two mattresses:>) I spoke to a gentleman on the porch next to my property and he told me that the tenant on the 2nd floor of the house next door to mine left em' there last week:>)

This type of illegal dumping takes place on a large scale in this city and it is the 2nd time it has happened to me in less than 3 months.

About a year ago, I was on Mass. Avenue in Cambridge, MA and I ran into a former City of Worcester - Code Enforcement employee who was now working in the same capacity for the City of Cambridge...I was surprised to hear of this but not shocked to hear him "off the record" tell me how much more enjoyable working for the City of Cambridge was opposed to working in the City of Worcester and not because of the city itself because he is a homie but because of the difference in the folks he dealt with every day in Worcester regarding code enforcement opposed to a once in-a-while situation in the City of Cambridge!

Snow Shoeing w/in Worcester City Limits

2009-01-04T17:17:00.009-05:00

Me and Buddy the Beagle got out today for some local snow shoeing...the original plan was to tackle some trails within the Greater Worcester Land Trust's "Cascading Waters" trail system ..but we passed on this cause I was a wee bit confused on the parking at the trail head off of Olean Street thinking that I would be parking in some guys yard and would get my Blazer towed!

So we headed further up Olean Street and into Holden, MA to snowshoe along a cascading stream within the City of Worcester Reservoir Division - don't tell anyone!

I can see why the peeps of Holden, MA dislike us so much in Worcester, MA! It is because we own most of their water:>) One really has to commend the leaders of past who had the foresight to ensure the supply of water for Worcester....it would be nice today to have some of these evidently shrewd people who had the future in mind when making decisions around to guide this city back to it's original slendor.

We snow shoed for an hour along the cascading stream, feeling like Jeremiah Johnson and then we headed out to seek another trail as I was worried about all the "NO TRESSPASSING" signs that were posted on trees:>)

Never found another place to snow shoe as we headed in the direction of Spencer, MA...loads & loads of "NO TRESSPASSING" signs every where but we did manage to stumble onto a nice antique store in Spencer that we stopped off at and I bought a new "old oak dressah with mirror" for my bedroom and a new smallah "old oak dressah" for my office for $400.00:>)

Am off to Big Y now to pick-up a few steaks, potatoes and salad ingredients....plan to BBQ on the charcoal grille, burn a few peat blocks direct from Ireland for the ambiance tonight and also enjoy a few Harpoon Wintah Warmers.....so if you are in the area....feel free to stop by after 6:45PM...I always cook extra and you might even be able to take some home!

Ran into a rainstorm, I ducked back into a bar door.It's all night pourin', pourin', pourin',Lord but not a drop on me.

2009-01-04T01:32:00.018-05:00

All the chattah on the WOMAG blog and BuckPaxton's blog about the decrimilization of spliffahs got me to thinking about all the great "Dead Shows" I caught around the country over a 13 year period before ole Jerry passed on in 1995!

My first show was in 1982 at the Compton Terrace Ampitheater in Pheonix, Arizona (see pic to the left)...and probably my best one even tho I caught many great shows in Giants Stadium & Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey, RFK Stadium, Schaefer Stadium in Foxboro, the ole Boston Garden...Oxford Speedway in Poland Springs, Maine...the ole Knickerbocker in Albany, NY and a few other choice venues that I will remember once the buzz wears off from the Guinness I have been drinking tonight ovah at EVO...yes two nights in a row at the bar in EVO:>)

The 1982 Phoenix show was probably the most exciting cause, I had thumbed from St. Petersburg, Florida where I was living at the time to Phoenix, Arizona to see em' and I was only a wee lad of 19 years old trying to find out what everything was all about and also be able to stay 8 steps away from the law back then!

All the shows back in the 80's at Shaefer Stadium in Foxboro, MA were grand especially the 1987 July 4th show with Bob Dylan....I turned my best buddy Jim onto the "Dead" at these show's....Jim being one of the least likely to be turned on to the Dead:>) Back in the 80's, way before the Kraft Family bought the stadium and land around it..one could camp out on the parking lots for days..and this was primo for when the "Dead" came to town for multiple shows..all the parties, chicks & vendors selling food & funky tees converging in one area for days was the best..toss in the "Dead Show's" and one was as close to Nirvana as one could get back then:>)

The 90's Knickerbocker shows were always great..I loved Albany, NY and back then I just really dug all the dilapidated brownstones and brick buildings that surrounded the ole Knick..back then it was in a poor neighborhood and may still be today! I always envisioned going back to Albany to buy one, renovate it and move in....I came to Worcester instead - sorry folks:>)

Who doesn't remember the 4-5 night runs at the ole Boston Garden in the early 90's......always primo shows! I think the "Dead" fell for Boston towards the end of the 80's...they started coming back more often around then for as best as I can recall....more seasoned DeadHeads may question this opinion???

Which brings me to the ole Worcester Centrum shows.....I remember one show back in 1987 that I missed the first few songs because me and my gal pal back then couldn't get into the place...folks were pushing each other around and pressing up against the doors...could have been a real ugly situation like Cincinatti and the Who show but things got worked out okay except that many missed the opening songs! I clearly remember getting in on the last of "Sugaree" which really pissed me off at the time cause I had never heard it live before!

The "Day the Music Died" for some was when Buddy Holly & John Lennon left us.....for me it was when Jerry passed on!

I've done my best locally to keep Jerry's spirit alive each summah with a running and music festival on the Charles River that attracts folks from all ovah the country!! The Jerry Garcia Memorial River Run & Walk is in it's 9th year in 2009 and it features a 4.2m run and 2.6m walk followed by a kick ass BBQ and live music provided by a local cover band called "Playin' Dead"

Peace, Love Dove & Hippie Beads.....Paulie

Say it aint so, Moe!

2009-01-04T00:49:00.014-05:00

I've been banging away on the local blogs including one in Turkistan since getting back from Northampton, MA this week...been checking out what everyone has to say about local & not so local issues - yup I like listening to and reading about what folks have on their mind even if I do not agree with it! ......and it seems that the most important thing's in Worcester for many right now are what kind of hot sauces you can get down at the Armsby Abbey on North Main Street, a local pub that that is getting grand reviews, so I'll have to get down to check it out soon-maybe buy BuckPaxton a beer or three...... or if Phil Palmieri and Gary Rosen have been shoveling their walkways after a snow storm like they expect at least all the productive people in the city to be doing.... no-incomers & their enablers, the non-profiters excluded.. but for me it has been the below posting on a Wild Will Randell thread a day or two ago that has really got my boxah shorts in a bunch and I don't care if Claudia Snell thinks it's a bore or silly - stay in the closet Claudia, it is safer in there:>)

I really do not know Gabe...I follow his blog a wee bit when he is up to posting an opinion and I sometimes offer up one countah to it since it is still allowed in the lower 48 and parts of Tatnuck Square....I had hoped to meet him at my NOLA Fest in Sepember 2008, but the opportunity did not present itself... but what I have gleaned from his blogging opinions is that he has a real love for the City of Worcester and like my grandfather who had hoped to see the Red Sox win a World Series someday before he dropped dead.. Gabe hopes to experience something that hasn't happened in a very long time and that is a vibrant urban Worcester!

The blog post below should be bothering alot of folks who have invested time and money working to bring back the urban core of the city.....Gabe, like myself has made the urban core of Worcester home and he is the kind of cat that Worcester, Massachusetts needs...a cat who has a job & education, contributes to the urban community and possibly after Charlie Monahan the biggest boostah for urban Worcester that there is and without sugarcoating it like many in this city have a huge tendency to do - see "Jordan Levy" in Websters Dictionary...Worcester has been losing for a very long time these kind of folks and the drain continues contrary to what many are telling us folks!

I do not agree with what you have to say,
but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire

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Gabe said:
I know that for me I am pretty fed up about it. The reason I have been so quiet on my own blog the past couple months is because I am so angry and frustrated that I can't really write what I have to say in an objective manner that isn't going to be more of a problem than it is a solution.Like Paulie I am not just here temporarily. I am living where I live because I want to make it my home. My apartment isn't somewhere I am living until I can come up with enough scratch to buy in Holden or Fauxlden. When I get enough money I will buy here, and I will buy in Urban Worcester. At least I hope so.Lately I have been getting so frustrated at the entire way the majority of Central Mass looks at urban living, from politicians and their constituency, to developers and property managers, to law enforcement, to the people that live in the core themselves. The majority of Central Mass sees the whole idea of urban core residency as a temporary stopover to an eventual other finality and not the destination itself. I mean where is the synergy?Is there one desirable place to live in urban Worcester where commercial and residential coexist?Why the hell is this? Why do people that live here and just take for granted that if a money transaction is going to take place a vehicle of some sort is going to have to be involved?I was driving down Belmont between Plantation and Lake on my way to work today and looking at the strip of commercial there. How many of those businesses are there as a direct tie in to UMASS? The entire world in a half mile radius of UMASS should revolve around that place. One of the biggest teaching hospitals in the country if not the world no? And we can't get any visable economic spin off from that? No visable pedestrian vibrancy?I am about fed up folks. My urban Worcester experiment might almost be over.

Another Israeli War!

2009-01-03T23:13:00.018-05:00

Yet another attack on Israel's sovereignty by Hamas and from the Palenstinian Gaza Strip - and the Israeli's are taking care of business forcefully as they did against Hezbollah when it attacked Israel from Lebanon two years ago!

I'll make no blazing statements on the Middle East as I am not an expert on it and I understand the overall Middle East problems go back centuries and that the Israeli - Arab issues since the early 20th cenury....but am I alone in thinking that when enough is enough one punches the bully back in the nose or else one gets beat up themsleves?

Some may consider the Israeli's the bully... but I do not! I look at that map above and I see enemies all around it or potential ones that in one quick moment could become antagonists, so I have no beef with Israel being as tough as it has been in the past or are currently being against an insurgence into their country during a supposed cease-fire with Hamas!

One of the major complaints seems to be that Israel is using a far superior force against an inferior Hamas force and innocent Palestinian citizens within the Gaza Strip. I do not buy this and I think it is ludicrous thinking that because one country is superior - military wise that it should use less force when protecting it's own citizen's! Lastly, it was the Palestinian people themselves who two years ago voted in over a more moderate leadership the Hamas government which has continued the graft and corruption it campaigned against as well as brought continued terror to it's people.

Peace is only going to come to the Middle East most particular between the Israeli's & Palenstinians once the Palestinians citizen's start pulling away from the likes of Hamas & Hezbollah and they start enbracing moderate polititions and leaders who undersand that Peace will only be achieved by sitting down across the table from the Israeli's .....talking instead of lobbing bombs!

If the Path to Peace can be achieved in Northern Ireland then it can happen in the Middle East!

New Years Eve..whadaya doing???

2008-12-30T12:31:00.022-05:00

Carol & I are getting out Dodge City for a couple of days......was undecided as to where to go cause there really are so many funky towns and cities within a short drive of Worcester, MA to hang out at such as....

Hyannis, MA, Haverhill, MA, Providence, R.I., Cambridge, MA, Somerville, MA, Northampton, MA, Burlingon, VT, Brattleboro, VT, Greenfield, MA, Portland, ME, Nashua, N.H., Albany, N.Y....and of course Boston, MA!!

So, we decided on Northampton, MA....got a okay last minute deal on a really nice hotel room with two balconies at the Hotel Northampton in downtown Northampton, MA as seen up above in the 1930's....picked up some tickets for the 10PM "Big Al Anderson concert" formerly of NRBQ taking place at the Iron Horse only 8 minutes down the street...maybe run a mile or two on New Years Day...nice brunch after the run downtown - perhaps some window shopping and then head on out into the countryside for some hiking and maybe snowshoeing if I can find a cheap pair locally-anyone know where I can pick-up a pair of cheap snowshoes??

Big Al with NRBQ

My All-Time favorite WOMAG "Letter to the Editor" was in a issue from the 90's and it was from a Worcester investor like I was back in the 90's..the letter read along the lines of:

"Thank God the Gay & Lesbian Community didn't settle on downtown Worcester,MA look what they did to downtown Northampton, MA":>)

The town of Northampton, MA has a website that Gabe the Bloggah would drool ovah..so start drooling Gabe the Bloggah cause it is both eye catching and a very informative on-line tool that I am using to plan the next couple of days for myself!

signs, signs everywhere there's signs,blocking up the scenery, breaking up my mind

2008-12-30T10:55:00.020-05:00

Okay, I am like a bad boozah - the sobriety can only last so long!

Those green signs up on Rt 190 & Rt 290 that state the exits for "Worcester's Cultural District" really make me chuckle every time I drive by em' on my way home from elsewhere, cause I just do not look at Shrewsbury Street as this cultural mecca that so many do in this city of so many different ethnic and religious backrounds does!

On Chandler Street alone - we have Irish & Brazilian owned - butcher shops ...a number of Vietnamese owned business's including - nail salon's, restaurants, an embroidery shop & a car repair shop.....a number of Dominican owned restaurants....a new African owned - restaurant.......a Chinese restaurant owned by a Chinese family that also lives on Chandler Street and is managed by the entire la famalia including the grandmother and young kids...a Jamaican restaurant...the St. Paddy's Day Parade crosses Chandler Street and close by is "Start on the Street" .... even a few business's owned by some home grown talent like the new EVO inside Living Earth a organic food market and my own funky sports and music event business that hosted a New Orleans style festival this year!

How many music festivals took place on Shrewsbury Street in 2008???????

Paulie's NOLA Blues & Jazz Festival in 2008

The idea that Shrewsbury Street is a cultural disrict in my mind is absurd....a very nice place within the city to eat and have a few drinks most certainly but a cultural district...a wee bit of a stretch!

Chandler Street encompassing Park Avenue to Elm Park has a real chance to become such a cultural district....the many different cultural seeds have been planted and are slowly being sowed...we need more private property investment to compliment what is already taking place by individual property owners..more good folks taking a chance within the urban core by moving into it and planting their own seeds of success as well as being involved and being part of the forward movement...it is a real place of opportunity with the two colleges - Becker & Clark both huge draws as bookends...major in-city connecting roadways like Pleasant & Chandler and a diverse population made up of many hardworking & caring folks:>)

The 2009 Paulie's NOLA Blues & Jazz Festival is being planned out now..after Friday nights committee meeting at EVO, I hope to make a major announcement that will begin the promotion!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

2008-12-25T17:46:00.007-05:00

Hola Amigoes, Followers of this Blog & Folks who wish I would move somewhere else:>)

I plan to take the week off from blogging to relax, catch up on my reading, work on my basement, visit family & friends...buy a stranger a beer...run a little in the woods if I can find a clear path & lastly, spend a little more time trying to make folks smile instead of pissing them off:>)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all!!

Buddy the Beagle & Paulie

Ford Motor Company - Detroit Lions, Where is Henry Ford When Detroit Needs Him?

2008-12-22T15:30:00.005-05:00

Where Are All the Urban Worcester Kid's!

2008-12-20T10:11:00.010-05:00

I smiled while watching this weeks Worcester City Council meeting... after City Councilor At-Larger Rick Rushton recalled playing in the snow back in 1978 during the blizzard!

I also fondly recall spending the week with my grandmother in Somerville....and being treated like a King by my grandmother, Helen Leahy after spending almost every day outside banging on doors in Medford & Somerville asking folks if they needed to be shoveled out for a fee!

My zest for entrepenuership started much earlier in life going back to about 7 years old when I used to organize the local circus carnival for a fee in my back yard over looking Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield...and I still have it today being the owner of a business that few are involved with and something that has become quite profitable as well as enjoyable for me!

I have now lived in the urban core of Worcester for six years and from a social perspective I have learned even more than I did the prior 11 years when I just owned housing and commercial real estate in the city.

My question for the day is..... "where are all the young Urban Worcester entrepenuers"

I have three properties in the city and I have never been asked by a young lad or lass if they could shovel my properties for a fee..not one knock on my primary residence door today and I have been up since 7am!

What a great chance to make a buck before Christmas.....if I had a young boy, what a great way to teach him how to work for a buck?

I am greatly dismayed by how few within the urban core from what I am experiencing are taking advantage of opportunities available....the house next door to me is full of adult men not working and young lads not getting out and learning what I learned early in life...it bothers me that so many young lads & lasses are within households today within the urban core who are not getting the push I got to be the best I could be (even tho I did not always take this push as constructively as I should have)...and they see the men & women in their lives not taking advantage of the opportunities available to them and thus the circle of failure continues on.

My First 18lber.!

2008-12-20T08:39:00.013-05:00

It is Saturday mornin' and I am in the early stages of prepping my first 18lb. roast beef that I picked up at Emerald Meats on Chandler Street in Woostah yesterday!

I am cooking for a huge crowd today and the pressure is on!

The first chore was to cut up mucho garlic for insertion into the meat...then a good rub down with olive oil that I purchased at Ed Hyders on Pleasant Street and then another rub down with salt & peppah:>) The plan is for a traditional holiday roast beef so there are no Emeril specialties learned on on the Food Channel being practiced today!

It is not even 9:00 A.M., and I have already received phone calls from three loved ones trying to give me last minute tips and pep talks! Why do so many doubt my abililities??

Mr. 18lb. Roast Beef has hit the oven....2.5 hours to go:>) Now time for a cup of Cafe du Monde java and then sit out on the rear deck and look at all the new falllen snow..the City of Worcester has never looked so virgin:>)

Dorchester Eagles - Three Year Sanction

2008-12-16T22:28:00.024-05:00

The Dorchester Eagles Pop Warner Program has been barred from participating in Pop Warner play-off ball for the next three years due to repeated behaviorial problems off the field and from all the stories I have been reading it is about time!

To many of these youth athletic programs are being run by crazed adults living out their own granduer fantasies instead of actually teaching these young kid's lessons that they can carry further on into into their lives.

This is not the first time we have heard about "youth athletics gone wild"....parents yelling and screaming at each other at games, parents physically hitting each other at games..one dad only a few years back killing another dad at a pee wee hockey game...and now a local Pop Warner football team terrorizing other teams while particpating at a prestigious tournament in Florida, what a disgrace!

High Praise from this bloggah to the National Pop Warner Office for barring the entire Dorchester Pop Warner League from participating in play-off games for three years! This is going to be a punishment that hopefully sends a strong message to the younger kid's in the Dorchester program that their inappropriate actions can have severe consequences for them and others. As well as send a message to the Dorcheser community that the kind of behavior shown by their kid's is not acceptable in the Big Wide World where these kid's will have to enter someday:>)

The Coach has commented to reporters that this sanction is unfair to the many city kid's not involved and that the Dorchester Eagles were razzed by another team also called the "Eagles" as not being the real "Eagles" prompting the response from the Dorchester lads!

This Coach along with the rest of the coaching staff have to go and it is just to bad that these city kid's who most likely have few adult men to look up to in their lives have the cycle continue with more men in their lives who are not leading them. This was a real opportunity for these Dorchester kid's to shine and to show that they were above foolish taunting and that not only were they good football players but that they were maturing into intelligent, respectful & appreciative young men and not just mere thugs!

Back in the mid 70's, I played on a few Wakefield, MA Pop Warner football teams..I was a pretty good player for two years playing on both sides of the ball...I can remember how hard I had to push my brother John to sign up to play..he was not athletic and to this day he isn't..but back then most played ball and if you didn't you were considered a pansy (those pansies are today's CEO's:>) ....so he buckled under my pressure and signed up for the "D" League ....this was the division for the real little guys!

Anyway, he went to every practice every night with me down at Vet's Field on Lake Quannapowitt even tho he hated it...and then on game day he would never play....I was so bullshit with his coaches that one day after one of my games against Reading, MA, I went over to his game only to see him sitting at the end of the bench again not involved in the game - back then the A, B, C & D Teams played on the same day....and I started yelling at his coaches telling them that they had their heads up their collective arses about not playing all the kid's on the team and that they were not the coaches of the Pittsburgh Steelers who were huge back then:>) Even in 8th grade, I rambled on like BuckPaxton accuses me of doing on his blog...but I was right!

My brother never went to another practice or game after that incident...athletics wasn't his bag back then nor is it today....but I always personally revisit that time in our lives and I still wonder today why it was so hard for his coaches back then and today's youth coaches to understand what I understood back in the mid 70's as a punky 8th grader who could hike the football on key to the quarterback when playing on offense and who could also plug the hole as a defensive tackle!

2009 New Orleans Jazz & Hertitage Festival announces musical line-up

2008-12-16T16:38:00.012-05:00

The musical line-up for 2009 has been announced:>) This festival has become a must for me!

This will be an extra special trip in 2009 as my best buddy Jimmy & his gal will be coming down with us.

If you are looking for something different in 2009 and you dig music....then the NOLA JazzFest should be on yer schedule:>)

While in NOLA, there are two entertainers that you will want to see and both play regularly at saloons on Bourbon Street.

BIG AL CARSON at the Funky Pirate

Big Al reminds me of Little Joe Cook who used to play regularly at the Cantab Lounge in Central Square - Cambridge...a real entertainer!

JAMIL SHARIF at at the Maison Bourbon Jazz Club

Jamil Sharif drips cool....classy dresser with a voice to go along with his trumpet playing....a great weekday night is heading down to the Maisson Bourbon Jazz Club to listen to some good music and sip on some tasty mint julips:>)

Marathon Sports "Somerville Jingle Bell Run"..wrap up!

2008-12-15T11:56:00.018-05:00

Just a great day yesterday with thousands running and walking through out the urban streets and squares of Somerville, Massachusetts..I am so happy to have been part of the event yesterday. It was stated to me awhile back on another local blog about how one could toil for years being a pioneer in the urban core of a city (city will go nameless:>) and getting no where..well I did toil for many years as an event director within the urban core of Somerville - a one time very tough urban core that has changed due to many pioneers with some sweat, guts and balls & less mouth..and yesterday was my reward folks:>)

It was great festive day in Somerville with many if not all of the pubs, restaurants and cafes packed to the brim with Somerville Jingle Bell runnahs and walkahs!

The pic at the very top of this page is of me and Irish Cultural Center of New England "Event Director" Louise O'Shea chatting it up with her boyfriend & twin sistah post race yesterday inside The Burren

Somebody Up There Likes Me!

2008-12-13T20:05:00.009-05:00

It has been a pretty crappy week for most hasn't it?

This has been one moment in time when the crap did not totally hit the fan within the urban core of Worcester because we received little loss of power or experienced any property damage during this most recent ice storm:>)

I have been bouncing in and out of my airy van all week long doing pre-Somerville Jingle Bell Run pick-ups at the various Marathon Sports within Greater Boston and it has sucked! It has stressed me out and made me about as cranky as a man can be..today was a huge relief to not have to work in the rain and tomorrow, the day of the event is looking good weather wise for possibly my biggest event evah in 17+ years- so perhaps "somebody up there likes me".

My sympathies to those who have experienced a lot of property damage and have been without heat and electricity - my buddy Vinnie had to stay with me Friday night due to power losses in Barre.

The above pic as seen on the front page of yesterday's Worcester Telegram & Gazette is of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick hugging a elderly woman inside the Leominster Elderly Housing Complex yesterday, during his inspection of the storm damage in Central Massachusetts.

Catholic Charities in Somerville having a tough time this year

2008-12-11T14:55:00.004-05:00

A good buddy of mine sent me this WBZ story today about the difficulties that the Somerville Catholic Charities is having getting folks to help them out this Christmas Season with their toy drive so I would like to encourage all to do what you can with any and all non-profits this year and next year. I work with a few myself and all have been telling me how difficult it has been this year so far.

Worcester picks a new School Superintendent kudos to the Worcester School Committee

2008-12-11T14:07:00.008-05:00

It does seem that for once, politics was put on the back burnah in Worcester and a decision was based on merit and through hard work on the part of our elected officials instead of due to cronyism and favoritism with the selection of Ms. Melinda Boone as Worcester's next School Superintendent!

Most progressive cities in the country all seem to be looking outside their communities today for new professional blood when it comes to hiring police chiefs, fire chiefs, city managers and school superintendents, so I applaud our own school committee and mayor for doing the same by invigorating our own system with new professional blood from outside our own community.

This statement is not meant to belittle our own professional community but only to commend our leaders for understanding that beyond Lilliput there is a Big Wide World out there and that we should be part of it!

My only disappointment is that I am hearing that Superintendent Boone is already house hunting on the west side and not within the urban core of the city. I am preaching to the choir for some who read this blog..but for what it is worth I am 101% in my thinking that this city is not going to experience the turn around it needs until our leaders start living within the urban core or the urban core starts developing smart thinking leaders who have power in the city!

What a positive & powerful message it would send to our local minority community that primarily resides within the urban core if such a high level city leader lived amoungst them (me included) and how it would assist in attracting more professionals to the urban core of the city?

Tree Lined Streets

2008-12-11T11:22:00.015-05:00

We always seem to be in crisis after crisis in Worcester..this Asian Longhorn Beetle issue certainly has to have City Manager Mick O'Brien scratching his head and saying to himself "why me"?

I'm personally at the moment not affected by this bug and I have real empathy for those who are being affected as I am a lover of trees and have planted quite a few in my own yard on Chandler Street Urban over the past 17+ years as well as recently some nice lilac bushes that Ms. Carol bought me for my birthday-some guys can be had below the belt or in the belly on their birthday......Ms. Carol found out early that I can be tantalized by sweet smelling trees and bushes that bloom in the spring:>)

All of the above being said..it seems to me, from the little amount of information I have read about this bug and from folks who have had a lot of experience with this situation in other states that have been invaded by this bug, is that complete eradication of infected hosts aka trees and possible hosts is necessary and not a piece meal approach that is being suggested by a few of our esteemed City Councilors... and with his being said:>) I would not wish to be in any of our etseemed City Councilors shoes or our esteemed City Manager's when making the correct decision to axe em'.

It would have been nice, if back in the 60's & 70's, we had our current City Manager in place fighting like he is today to lessen the de-forestation of the city..it is always amazing to me to be driving down Chandler Street from Main Street and see nothing but a concrete jungle until one get's across Park Avenue and then all of a sudden the East Berlinesque look turns to a lush green look and feel:>)

Why was the urban core of Chandler Street allowed to be totally de-forested but the more suburban core of Chandler Street kept in tact? Was there a similiar Asian Longhorn Beetle infestation in the 60's & 70's that required this de-forestation or was it he beginning of the downfall of the urban core of the city?

This is not something I wish to find out about and there is an ole saying, "don't ask for something that you may not want to receive", but it would be an interesting situation if this Asian Longhorn Beetle crisis was effecting the urban core of the city and to see, if we as a city would be fighting back as hard as we are now?? Would we be debating back and forth with the USDA about whether all the remaining trees on Winfield Street, Benefit Street, Hollywood Street or even the trees in Castle Park needed to be removed if they proposed a threat to the other more lush areas of the city??

I'd like to thank the Chandler Street Business Association for partially funding and being the primary voice behind getting the City of Worcester to plant all of the new trees on Chandler Street from Park Avenue to Main Street!

Somerville, Massachusetts - A City that takes physical fitness serious

2008-12-10T08:18:00.016-05:00

Recently there was a nice write-up on Boston.com about how serious the City of Somerville and it's residents and business are about health - it is not only a personal mindset in the city by it's residents but something that has a strong committment from the city government most particular Mayor Curtatone who is a runner and the Board of Aldermen AND city business.

A good example of how serious city business takes this in Somerville, Massachusetts is by checking out the Somerville Chamber of Commerce website to see how they have assisted in promoting this Sunday's - Marathon Sports "Somerville Jingle Bell Run"

This Sunday's - Marathon Sports "Somerville Jingle Bell Run" is sold out and has been for the past 4 weeks with 4200+ runners and walkers registered...only three weeks ago the Thanksgiving Day "Gobble, Gobble, Gobble Run" which I created 12 years back but is now run by another organization drew 2000 runners and walkers....these are huge numbers for two events so close to each other and during colder temp times in the year...and so indicitive of how people view Somerville and the events that it's many great organizations hosts!

This Sunday's - Marathon Sports "Somerville Jingle Bell Run" is not only a great event for local residents and many from outside the city to enjoy..it is also a HUGE pump to the local economy! The La Quinta Inn & Holiday Inn have rooms rented for my staff and folks traveling for this event (yes we have many), the local tee shirt company that employs has a great end of year order, the local medal company that employs locally has a great end of year order.... local non-profits like "Toys for Local Tots" are getting funded, many local high school booster programs such as Somerville High Football, Somerville High Track, Wakefield High Track & Medford High Track are geting funded for end of year banquets and college scholarships for kid's..the Somerville Police Department and Somerville Auxiliary Police Departments get to fill details....and after the run & walk all of these folks including all the added family and friends totally close to 7,000+ head to the local pubs, restaurants, coffee shops and cafes to celebrate!!!

Not a bad situation, end of year and during a gloomy economy for many!!

My 12th or abouts Trip To Hibernia

2008-11-22T20:27:00.071-05:00

I am off to Ireland tomorrow night at 6:20 P.M. via Aer Lingus flight EI 136.

I'll have to leave the "Worcester Issue's" blogging up to my fellow Worcester bloggahs.....however hile I am away I'll post on my journeys around the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland.

It's lookin' like my trip is going to veer off from what I posted in the below thread due to leaving on a later date than originally planned and the Saw Doctors concert now being in the middle of the trip opposed to the end..so I'll be landing in Dublin and then heading out for a few days and then heading back to Dublin for the concert....and then heading back out!

Feel free to keep me updated on any news back home via this blog thread...getting news about home while over there is tough:>)

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DAY 1:

Landed in Dublin at 5:00 A.M. --12:00 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

Good flight, wee bit bumpy! Aer Lingus seats are either getting smallah or else I am continuing to get biggah:>) Good thing I am not traveling with Harry T.

If you have always wanted to know where Dublin is then click on the above map and look to the right within the Province of Leinster.

I am enjoying my first cup of tea before I head north to Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland to see my former employee and friend Emma and her husband Conor. I'll be traveling thru County Meath, Republic of Ireland, home of my great grandfather Patrick John Walsh.

Seems the first thing I always notice ovah here is the dedication to keeping the streets and sidewalks clean and the amount of trash barrels as well as staff employed keeping the streets and sidewalks clean. The population is just so much more involved also.

Another thing I always seem to notice is how much better the children look going to school in uniforms opposed to what I see on a daily basis at Doherty High in Worcester, MA (and something I notice at many other schools outside Worcester). The Irish lads are wearing dress pants and shirts with a tie, the Irish lass'es are wearing nice uniform dresses....outside Doherty High last week, I saw two gals with their tit's hanging out and a young man with his pants around his knees and his fat arse hanging out....personal identity is great and I remember my dress when I wasn't attending St. Joseph's in Wakefield or Malden Catolic in Malden..but today's lack of school dress standards has just gone to far and I think it is time that we start doing something about this back in the states.

I headed nor't out of Dublin this morning and decided to stay ovah night in Droheda, Co. Louth before heading to Strabane tomorrow..needed some rest and I like Drogheda so why not? I got 10 more days and no one but myself to look aftah so it's a plan that fits me:>)

I'll be having a few pints at the Westcourt Hotel tonight..no Jameson - to early in the week for Jameson and to be quite honest, I am a Midleton Irish Whiskey Man!

Slan go foill for now
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DAY 2:

Started early..I got in early last night to hit the hay and I hit it for about 5 hours and then I could not sleep so I decided to head out of Drogheda early - 3:00 A.M. to Strabane, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland!

Along the way I stopped off at the site of the Battle of the Boyne and Newgrange, both in Co. Meath and two places any visitor of Ireland should have on their travel itinerary. There is not much to be seen in the dark and both sites are fenced off well, as they are National Historic Monuments but it was great to be outside of them under a crystal clear sky illuminated by many stars. I have been to both sites before.

It was nice to be driving along the countryside with no traffic behind me and few cars careening towards me also....driving in Ireland can be about as much fun as a colonoscopy..they drive fast and erratically!

I made it as far as Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Northern Ireland when I realized I had not converted any dollars into pounds so I pulled into Omagh to take a nap, wait for the banks to open and a chance to have my first Irish breakfast...also to pick up some toothpaste:>) The first two banks that I went into did not accept $100.00 bills and finally the Ulster Bank did..toothpaste was an easy find and I had mi first Irish breakfast:>)

I am now off to Strabane, Co. Tyrone to see some friends.

Got into Strabane, Co. Tyrone about mid-day, had a bite to eat and a few pints and then headed to Derry, Co. Derry, Northern Ireland (way up there on the above map) and I plan to stay here until Thursday morning. There is loads of history in Derry not to mention one of the best traditional Irish Pubs in the country - Peadar O'Donnells.

I spent a few hours in the Derry Bogside today at the Bogside Artist Gallery chatting it up with Kevin Hasson & Tom Kelly both respopnsible for the great murals on the housing estates within the Bogside.

The Battle of the Bogside is a historic moment in Northern Irish history that moved the Civil Rights movement into the armed struggle better known as The Troubles - Bloody Sunday took place in The Bogside.

Going to bed early tonight so that I can get in a full day of sightseeing around Derry tomorrow as well as a full night of traditional Irish music at Peadar O'Donnell's Pub tomorrow night-report back later!
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DAY 3-4:
Pretty much did not happen! After posting my final DAY 2....I went up to my flat in the Tower Hotel and pretty much hugged the toilet for the next 6+ hours and then stayed in bed up until about 1 hour ago (a total of 28+ hours in bed):>) Fer those of you who love too hear of displeasure in mi life - you would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for this one!!

Food Poisoning has to rank up there with about every other nasty thing that can happen to a human being....it is brutal and this from a man who has been in two nasty car crashes-one that landed me in the hospital for 3 days.

The only funny thing about this all is that I had eaten at O'Brien's American Steakhouse...a place I had eaten at before when they first opened up in 2003.

So, I'm off to Dublin now to see the Saw Doctors tonight at the Olympia Theatre....staying downtown in a posh hotel near the Temple Bar..hopefully the 3 hour meandering drive will pick me up,

I hope everyone has a great holiday back in the states including Buddy the Beagle! My regards to you all even the flies.

Wandered on down thru Northern Ireland today through Co. Derry, Co. Tyrone and into Co. Armagh on my way to Dooblin! Stopped into Armagh City to say a few prayers at St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sandy Hill..it was recently pointed out to me by an honest man that I had flaws so I figured I should say a few prayers for myself as well as for those I care about in the most holiest of Catolic houses in all of Ireland........ St. Patrick's Cathedral sits high atop a hill overlooking Armagh and it is the ecclesiastic center for all of Christian Ireland (I said more than a few for myself:>).

We should all say some prayers for those folks in India..this is the 2nd time that I have traveled abroad and there has been a terrorist act..I was in Cork City to see Van Morrison when London got bombed a few years back and now this one in India. God Bless to all!

After my pilgrimage to Armagh City, I hightailed it into Dooblin...my posh digs turned out to be less than posh..convenient yes, posh no! I am staying at the Jury's Inn close to the Temple Bar, Rivah Liffey and almost across the street from the Olympia Theatre where I saw the Saw Doctors!

The Saw Doctors were great tonight..they opened up with "Oh God will it ever stop raining" ..I chuckled while they played this song cause in all the times I have been to Ireland it has rained for about 5 minutes each time..I kid you not...may be 4 minutes - it rarely if ever rains when I am here and I have been here at every time of the year going back a number of years now!

The Olympia Theatre seemed like one big mosh pit tonight..I have seen the Saw Doctors a number of times and the crowd has always been in the 35-50 year old range..but tonight there didn't seem to be anyone over 21 and I was the chaperone! Still a great show...so good that I decided to follow along with some young folks to an American style diner for burgahs,fries with garlic sauce & chocolate milkshakes...hopefully things do not happen in twos ovah here to often..I can't handle anymore toilet huggin' no matter how many pins in the Paulie voodoo doll the flies lay in it!

Well, thats it for DAY 4..I'm off for a walk along the Liffey and then back to the hotel for a nightcap and then up early so that I can get in a good day of Dooblin sightseeing as well as look for a new Donegal Cap!! Again, I hope everyone had a great holiday back in the states....it's all Christmas talk ovah here!
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DAY 5:

Good day of sightseeing today. The effects of Derry have worn off and I seem to be myself again..albeit less desire for food and more need than anything..so you are lucky you are not traveling with me Harry T cause you like to eat Harryyyyy... I have eaten minimal the past three days, so the Aer Lingus seat heading back home will most likely feel more comfortable.

Toured historic Four Courts today and sat in on a murder trial for one hour...very interesting stuff..the confession was videotaped and we got to see on videotape which was being used as evidence by the Prosecutor...the murder took place last year in Blanchardstown. The Judge and Prosecutors looked pretty silly with the wigs on!

The Four Courts overlooks the Liffey River and is most historic in Irish history - IRA Commander Rory O'Connor and the men under his command overtook the Four Courts during the Irish Civil War of 1922, wherehence, Irish Free State General Mick Collins ordered the Four Courts retaken by force by the Irish Free State troops under his command - the Four Courts was bombed heavily causing much damage but finally retaken, Rory O'Connor was executed.

After the tour of Four Courts, I went over to the new Dublin Multicultural Market and tried some homemade Irish bread before going into the Old John Jameson Brewery on Bow Street...I have been on every brewery tour there is in Ireland: Bushmills tour in the North, Guinness Brewery tour in Dublin, Midleton Whiskey Tour in Cork, Murphy's Stout tour in Cork and now the John Jameson tour in Dublin! There may have been (2) within my tour group of 40 that had ever even sipped whiskey-I am sure Johnny Mac and I have put more down in a night of heavy drinking at The Hibo in Worcester than the combined in the group had ever drank in their lives.

But,I enjoyed the educational tour, had the shot of whiskey they offered at the end of the tour but was a wee bit pissed off when they showed us at the bar how the Ruskies drink it with applejuice, the New Yorkaws drink it with Coke and how the Spaniards drink it with cranberry juice...so when the tour guide asked how I liked it I bellowed out.."like it is supposed to be drunk and is in Ireland and Somerville, Massachusetts - straight up"

I'm up on Grafton Street right now doing a wee bit of shopping, blog posting and then I am off for a wee bit of dinner and to listen to some traditional Irish music...the food poisoning has really gotten me into thinking about my excessive eating and drinking and how off-the-wall it is..I am very diciplined in certain parts of mi life and less in others..so I'm gonna start being more consciece(sp) of what I eat - I started running again, I can do this!

Anyway, I must have dropped 30 Euro into papah cups today while walking about Dublin...the poor that you see in the streets over here really makes one think..almost weep that someone can be in such sad shape..many of them are from Eastern European countries and they must not be covered under Irish social policy...kinda like, if me and Bill Randal lost our jobs tomorrow we could not get Mass Health:>)jokes aside, they just lean over in a stoop like one see's the Vietnamese do at the Dunkin Donuts on Chandler Street in Worcester while drinking coffee and shooting the breeze with others except these folks have nothing but dispair in their eyes if you can even see their eyes...it's really sad and a side of life many do not see or want to see.

Okay, good news..got over the food intake fear tonight and I treated myself to some good food at my very first French Restaurant...Les Freres Jacques on Dame Street! It was a real couples place, so at first I felt a wee bit uncomfortable and another reminder that I was traveling alone - the first time I had so this year without Carol and another reminder that I have to remedy that:>) Anyway, the French took good care of me tonight, making this Irish-American feel right at home. They sat me by the window instead of like a leper in the cornah by the kitchen door and the service was impeccable (I tip well, so they must have heard)...no waiting and the waiter was pretty cool conversation wise stopping by to chat as time allowed....13 years I lived down the street from Julia Childs, Cambridge, MA house and I always watched her on TV with mi muddah and the first cat to say Bon Apetit to me is a Frenchie in Dooblin, Ireland on a Friday night when I am by myself-go figure??

I have always laughed at the small portions associated with French food but tonight it was just right..everything was just perfect foodwise and I am happy to say the best dinnah I have ever had in Ireland! Bon Apetit!

Off for a pint and then to bed..getting up early for a jaunt on the Liffey, a trip to buy a rainbow colored Irish wool scarf and hat for Carol on Grafton Street, a trip to Merrion Square to see the Oscar Wilde statue and then I am heading back to Drogheda, Co. Louth for the Drogheda Traditional Irish Music Festival and to spend two days with my friend Paddy Carrol.

Slan go foill aka for "bye for now" in Gaelic
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DAY 6 & 7:

I spent Saturday moseying around Dublin via the rental car..made it over to the National Museum aka Collins Baracks to see the 1916 Easter Rising Exposition as well as the 1922 Irish Civil War Exposition and then I headed to Drogheda to see mi amigo Paddy Carroll (always a nice way to save some money-free room and board:>)

Steve Cooney

After some catching up ovah a cup of tea..I head downtown to the Drogheda Arts Center to see traditional accordion player Tony McMahon team up with traditional guitarist Steve Cooney...also saw Cyril O'Donoghue teaminjg up with Siobhan Peoples who is the daughter of legendary musician Tommy Peoples....great craic tonight!

Tony McMahon in earlier years:>)

Cryril O'Donoghue

Siobhan Peoples

I really dig traditional Irish music and I credit the owner, Tommy McCarthy of The Burren in Davis Squsare for this....back in 2003, he directed me to Westport, Co. Mayo and a pub called Matt Molloy's....unknown to me was that this was thee Matt Molloy who plays flute for The Chieftains...well I got to sit in on a famous session with Matt as the lead one afternoon and from them on I got hooked! If you are going to Ireland then it will not be complete unless you have had a pint in the back room during a Sunday night special at Matt Molloy's Pub...it's a great place to take the gal-Westport and the poob:>)

Today, Sunday, I got up early and went to the 8:30 A.M. Mass at the Church of the Assumption - Mellifont Parish in Tullyallen, Co. Louth....I wish I went more often than I do..my faith is important to me, just not something I work at, as hard as I should!

One thing I have noticed around many of the churches in Ireland and it is the sounds of children playing...many of the churches have the primary schools next to them like this used to be back in the states..many over here still go to Catolic or Protestant schools so you just hear and see so much life around the churches - it reminds me of an earlier time in our own country..much more simpler time - yah know you are getting oldag when you start talking about simpler times:>)!

After church we went back for some more Special K cereal, and then, we went off to the famous Battle of the Boyne Memorial.....it is just incredible, the rath that the two Brits, King William of Orange and King James brought on poor Ireland for 300+ years!! Another great take if you are a history buff and want to experience something new in Ireland...the Battle of the Boyne Memorial has been in the works the past 10 years and it just opened up at the Oldbridge House. I was there back in 2003, when it was just a shack at the beginning of the driveway in and now it is this magnificant place! Albeit, a sad place if you are Irish Catolic:>(

I'm back in Dooblin now for the night after driving thru the Co. Meath countryside the rest of the day enjoying the scent of fresh cow dung and burning peat used for heating in many homes still...my great grandfather Patrick Walsh was a Meathman so it felt good to drive around a place, a wee piece of me came from!

Okay, a man can only enjoy the smells of cow dung for so long before the smells of a Guinness are beckoning..I got my taste for Guinness back and headed down to the Temple Bar..stopped in at The Oliver St. John Gogarty for a great Irish Lamb Stew that had the entire lamb leg bone in it as well as a few Guinness...some great musical craic at "The Oliver" tonight..anyone that has spent any time at "The Oliver" knows what I mean..as tourist as they come but still just an incredible place to hang out at..then I headed across the street to the Auld Dubliner....my favorite Dooblin pub and then finally ended the night at Farringtons...the house band ended the evenin' with Dirty Olde Town made famous by Luke Kelly of the Dubliners and also by The Pogues who I saw last year with my buddy Jack Connolly at the Orpheum Theatre in 2007...perfect theme song for Worcester, whadaya think Harry & Bill???

The Pogues
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DAY 8:

Last full day in Eire was today...Moonday, December 1, 2008! Got up at 7AM and wnet for a 31:00 run and walk around the Temple Bar & Liffey River then headed to the Jury Inn for more Special K! Here since last Moonday and I only had (1)Irish Breakfast..a record for me folks!

Pretty much just walked around all day...finally found me a new cap at The Hat Store on Grafton Street and got some nice things for a few gal pals and Carol at the House of Ireland on Dawson Street..gotta take care of the gals around you...and a few baseball hats for some of the lads around me! After this I headed over to St. Stephen's Green for a nice walk around - so many folks just reading, making out..feeding the birds and a few doing nefarious things in the bushes! I then bopped over to Merrion Square again to walk and then to the federal offices across the street just to see if I could bang into Brian Cowen the President:>) No Luck!

Grafton Street today is such a hub of high fashion..walking up and down it, all one see's is beautiful stores, street musicians, foodies-no vendor carts,people hanging about enjoying all the buzz none in their pajamas...and just 80 short years ago it was being patroled & secured during the War of Independence by the I.R.A. (Irish Republican Army).

Remainder of the day and night is going to be spent packing and then eating and drinking...full eating and drinking powers are back....and I will not waste these powers while I am here less than 24 hours!!

I fly out tomorrow at 11:30 A.M....hope to be back in Boston at 3:30 p.M....pick up the pooch in Cambridge and then head to Leominster for a warm welcome from the ole lady:>) Gifts always bring a smile to a woman..the man himself not always but gifts always do!

I'll recap my trip and post all the wonderful "things Dublin has over Worcester" & "why can't we be like Dublin" comments as I put em' together in mi head ovah the chilly Atlantic, when I get back:>)

All We Have Done For The City Of Worcester!

2008-11-18T09:30:00.032-05:00

I'm down on the Cape for some business meetings today but I still needed to get my daily Woostah news fix so I jumped on to my laptop and went to http://www.telegram.com/ to see if anything had happened while I have been down here...and I am happy to read that "Rome is not burning" but I am reading more lettah bellyaching from former Worcester "city employees" who have felt so betrayed by the City of Worcester because the city is finally demanding that they, like most of us today, except for our political leaders who always seem to make sure they are taken care of, pay for a higher percentage of their health insurance.

"The People's Forum" in today's Worcester T&G is again loaded with letters from former city employees recently forced to pay a higher percentage of their health insurance accusing the City of Worcester of betraying & treating them second rate! The thing that struck me the most was that three of the four bellyachers were from folks who lived outside the city (Holden, North Oxford & Grafton) - one of the out of towners making a derogatory statement about our downtown and one from a Worcester resident and retired fire fighter out on disability and who is known to do "side work"!!

It is safe to say that most taxpayers today are finally saying enough of this nonsense from folks who are repeatedly telling taxpayers how much they did for us, sacrificed for us and how betrayed they feel!!

There are few of us out there today who not been asked to come back to the bargaining table to renegotiate a deal due to circumstances that were not present at the time of a prior deal negotiated and our holier than thou formah city employees are no different!

Business & Government can no longah afford to pay out the employee benefits that they have been offering for decades and this is a reality that government aka city employees including retirees are going to have to grasp...retirees who in past years did not recieve a yearly pay raise did not do so for the taxpayers, they did not receive because pay raises were not available in a particular year or years like in many if not all industries and that is the breaks! It is nonsense to suggest that government aka city employees sacrificed anymore than any other employee in any other industry over the past 25 years! It is a privilage to hold down a government aka city job and it is about time government aka city employees as well as retirees acknowledge this!!

Kudo's to Worcester City Manager Mick O'Brien for sticking to his guns on this issue with retirees and for working hard to bring fiscal sanity to the City of Worcester and for it's taxpayahs... shame on our City Councilors who have been keeping this issue alive in the face of so many middle class tax payahs who today are forced to make similiar sacrifices but do not have the benefit of elected officials personally banging away for them!

Disclaimah: The opinion opined here is from a cat who's beloved granny worked for the City of Somerville for 30+ years, fadah worked for the State of Massachusetts for 10 years, uncle who worked for the State of Massachusetts for 30+ years including a longime stint as a top aide for formah Speakah of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Geo. Keverian of Everett, MA and as a aide to Massachusetts State Senator Kennedy of Brockton, MA and who himself worked at various jobs within the State of Massachusetts during the late 70's and early 80's.

PERCEPTION - DOES IT REALLY MATTAH?

2008-11-07T11:22:00.045-05:00

There was a very interesting story in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette yesterday about the opined limits of Worcester's Downtown and from my own perspective it was right on about the downtown!

Most of those offering up their opinion were students and administrators from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy which is located downtown and it's new presence has become a huge economic & social engine for downtown. The opinions were not positive and most particular they were from folks who are not from Worcester or Central Massachusetts so branding them the usual Worcester suspects of doom and gloom will not stick this time..these are highly educated adults, many who are living downtown all whom are being educated downtown!

Our local media radio star Jordan Levy on 580 AM WTAG in Paxton really laid into the opinions yesterday on his daily radio show with Jordan pretty much telling those offering up their opinion that their opines of downtown were hossheet...he made numerous statements about how safe downtown is and that the amount of thugs and bums is proportionate to other city downtowns, made numerous statements about how much there was to do downtown -most times only using the Hanover Theatre and the DCU Center as examples..and rarely if evah putting a name on all the places of interest downtown that he stated were present and in general flipped a bird at the mere suggestion that these folks who are LIVING & being EDUCATED downtown had any idea about what they were talking about! His most telling statement that I gleaned from the show was that we could not as a city put our entire dozen of eggs into one basket (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy students) when talking about downtown.

The inside windows of my office really steamed up while listening to Jordan Levy speak poorly of these opines in the T&G article because only months ago on his radio show he very loudly commented about how he would no longer patronize the "new" Dunkin Donuts downtown because of the amount of "bums" as he called them, hanging around the location - who could blame him, definietly not the students from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy!!

I had to call in to the show and I did..when I made mention of his prior statement a few months back (he didn't deny making the statement), he told me and radioland that he was speaking only about being hassled inside the Double D and that this did not reflect on his opinion of downtown, I then asked him if he and his wife would walk downtown after 9PM on a regular basis and he stated most likely not, I have no real beef with Jordan Levy but his statements on yesterday's show as far as I am concerned is a real reflection about how WFM (Worcester Folks of Means) look at urban living...Jordan asked me if I had any knowledge about college's and I stated I do...I lived on the periphery of Harvard Square & Harvard University for 13 years and I managed family residential and commercial real estate on the Medford Hillside which borders Tufts University for years, so I have a good idea about what these Massachusetts College of Pharmacy students are talking about!

Modern urban living, few in Worcester are experts on...the beauty of modern urban living today is that many of ones needs: groceries, clothing, entertainment, transportation modes & day to day needs are within blocks of one's living accomodations...everyone is aware that Shrewsbury Street is now happening and that the Canal District is on the cusp of prosperity but they are not downtown and this is what the article was addressing!

Urban Living in Worcester is about as convenient as living in Hubbardston, MA and about as is stimulating as being on the Moon alone...and it is this lack of urban convenience & stimulation that these kids from the MCP are really talking about and something that is going to make it prohibitive for others if the city does not start addressing this!

Jordan made comment that we could not put all of our dozen in one basket with the college students but why not? We have already done so with City Square which has been on the drawing board for 5+ years now and it has provided no change to downtown....but all this being said what these kid's were really saying was that there are no comfortable cafes like Starbucks after 5Pm where they can all gather with their laptops..no pubs that cater to educated kid's like the Miracle of Science Bar in Central Square, Cambridge close to MIT does, no 18 hour pizza shops like Pinochio's in Harvard Square, no grocery stores where one can buy an eclectic array of foods, no bookstores, few places to buy newspapers other than the T&G....what we have is a bland downtown that is very attractive to thugs and bums, but pretty much only offers up basic chow, saloons that pretty much cater to teeny boppahs (Armsby excluded) a few very nice entertainment venues like the Hanover Theatre that most would visit once or twice a year if ever but little else in the way of making 24-7 urban living a great experience and this is the perception shared by those who have lived here for years, those of us living here for a few years and for that matter by most living all over the damn state:>)

"The Perception" of our city by others is a real issue and one we aka Worcester needs to tackle...not bellyache that it is just doom and gloom from the backbenchers! The City of Worcester has conducted survey after survey, done report after report,hired consultant after consultant trying to find out why our bright minds & young kid's are leaving the city in droves and I am sure that these survey's, reports and consultants go back to when Jordan Levy was our Mayor..well a few of our new kid's tried to tell us yesterday and yesterday one of our leadahs pretty much made it known that their opinions are not welcome!

Following my call, the next caller chimed in using me as an example of folks who need to get involved and to stop complaining:>) Jordan chimed in reiterating this callahs opinion:>)..the caller suggested that folks like myself should get on the many city board positions that are currently unfilled..this again is very typical of Worcester..speak up and you are a complainer!

I am not going to get into any of my own civic contributions because it is not important but we need to start listening to folks and not be putting them off as complainers. Most do not complain publically because they are concerned about being branded but the noise from the WED (Worcester Exit Door) swinging back en forth is loud and clear at least to me that we have a major problem in this city and that we had better start listening to and engaging our most brightest & productive before it is to late.

We need to address the population that is living downtown and within the other parts of the urban core - we can not expect to have such a high number of folks living below the poverty level and expect a vibrant urban city, we need to develop an economic master plan for the city and we have to stop saying that we are not going to be Boston, New York, Providence or Gotham City and start telling folks what kind of city we are going to be and we need to start pretty damn soon!

Up, Up & Away to Northern Ireland

2008-10-31T13:49:00.111-04:00

It is that time of the year to head out for some vacation time a week from Sunday and before the Marathon Sports "Somerville Jingle Bell Run" in December and then the Hyannis Marathon in February and my favorite event of the year the Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km "The Race of Ireland & U.S.A." in March . All Events my business B.A. Event Promotions promote and direct.

The Plan is to fly out of Boston overnight via Aer Lingus and into Dublin, Ireland for a few pints of Guinness followed by a walk along the River Liffey before heading to Drogheda, Co. Louth, Ireland to see my good friend Paddy Carroll and his family....Paddy comes over every year to run in the Ras na hEireann U.S.A. 5Km and because of this we have become great friends over the years so I always make it a point to spend a night at his place in Drogheda! Paddy is one of the few Irishman I know that does not take a drink, but his lovely wife sure does know how to make a great full Irish breakfast:>)

Being in the Republic of Ireland & Northern Ireland aftah this Presidential Election will be alot of fun especially as a supportah of Senator John McCain:>)

After my visit to see Paddy and his family I'll be heading north to Crois Mhic Lionnáin , Co. Ard Mhacha in Northern Ireland for a few days and many a pint at the Cartwheel Bar where there is no better place to get in on a discussion about the current status of the Good Friday Agreement and the Troubles that have plagued Northern Irleand since partition took place in 1921.

I had an interesting moment in the Cartwheel Bar back in 2006 when I popped in for the first time for a pint..I was sitting at the front bar by the door chatting it up with the new owner for a wee bit all the while listening to some lads in the back bar miserably playing the tin whistle..being an American there was some interest as to what I was up to so I was invited into the back bar for a pint...already had a few and feelin' good, I said "sure"...well the time turned into an hour + of political talk with a lot of back and forth about President Bush...suddenly a question was thrown out to me about who I thought was the U.S.A.'s best ally and with little thought on my part and mucho pints flowin' I said "The Brits"...well if you know even the basics of "The Troubles" and Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh involvement you will know that this was not the brightest thing to be saying in the back of a bar in Crossmaglen:>)

Quickly sensing that this was not the smartest thing to say regardless of my opinion...one of the lad's said "Ireland is" and then another said "Paulie is right, the Brits are the U.S.A.'s greatest ally".....I then firmed up my statement all the time getting ready for a beef with one or all of the lad's by saying I was an American first and foremost and that "The Brits" where the U.S.A.'s greatest ally today... another lad turns to me and say's "you could get killed in these parts for saying something like that" ...and then he went on to speak to me like a "fireside story teller" about "The Troubles" and how it effected him and everyone else in the vilage during the 70's right up till then in 2006!

Since then, I have put the Cartwheel Bar logo on the back of the 300 limited edition Ras tees I do every year with the 1981 Hunger Strikers on them

This was as good as it get's when being in another country and one wants to really get the pulse of a country and the folks who live in it.

After visiting Crois Mhic Lionnáin , Co. Ard Mhacha, I will be traveling to Belfast for a couple of days..I really love Belfast...haven't been there since 2006 when I caught Van Morrison at the Waterfront Hall so I am excited about this!

Béal Feirste is an incredible city full of history and it finally has some restaurants with good food:>) I like to stay downtown at the Europa Hotel and at Kate's B&B which is close to the University and a lot of different shops, cafes and restaurants. The Europa Hotel at one times was called the "most bombed hotel in Europe"!

I'll be making a visit to Stormont which is the seat of government in Northern Ireland..this is a historic moment in Northern Ireland with Nationalist Catholics sharing power with Unionist Protestants ... a step closer to a UNITED Ireland.

There really is only one way to get the pulse of Belfast and that is to go into the neighborhoods for a pint or a cup of tea...this is where you have to be carefull!

There is the Belfast City Center that is has a mixed population and then there are the Catholic neighborhoods: the Lower Falls, Andersonstown, Short Strand, Springfield Road, Ballymurphy Estates & Ardoyne and the Protestant neighborhoods: Shankill, Sandy Row, East Belfast & Donegal Road.....I've been in them all and like any city neighborhood if you mind your P's & Q's and watch what you say you will be fine.

My support lies with the Catolic population in Northern Ireland however I have taken the time to speak with the workingman "Joe the Protestant" to understand or at minimum hear their words and thoughts on The Troubles that have plagued the North for years.

The picture at the top of this piece is of me and President of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams a legendary figure in Northern Ireland politics and the fight for Catholic equality, on the Falls Road in West Belfast in 2006. I have a lot of respect for Gerry Adams and the peace path he has been part of in Northern Ireland.

I always like to take a drive over to the Milltown Cemetary on the Lower Falls Road to say a prayer at the grave of Bobby Sands and all the other 1981 Hunger Strikers graves..this is the Catholic cemetary of Belfast and it is steeped in Nationalist/Republican history.

A pint in a pub on the Springfield Road during a Celtic - Rangers football match is the ulimate sports experience!

Once I have had my full of Belfast I plan to head even further North to my favorite village on the entire island - Baile an Chaistil, Co. Antrim .....the picture at the top of this blog is a pic of me coming out of the North Channel at Ballycastle in 2003...the coldest water I have evah been in and the look on mi face can attest to this!!

My first visit to Ballycastle in 2003 was the best..my buddy Brian and I drove along the entire Antrim Coast from Belfast on our way to Derry and we decided to stay in Ballycastle for two days to rest from alot of driving...the Antrim Coast is one of the greatest sea coasts to drive along..the Antrim Glens, Giant Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Dunluce Castle, Bushmills Distillery and so much more - a trip worth taking folks if you are thinking about a new travel experience!

Ballycastle is predominitely a Catolic village so there are a few local pubs that feature great traditional Irish music at night...I wish I could remember the pub I was in but the Saturday night we were there we made it into an after hours pub that had some incredible music being played..there was this kid on the fiddle who was incredible and I was making comment of this at the bar when a lad say's to me "that is my kid, where in Boston are you from"...he could tell from my accent which was incredible cause Ballycastle is on the tipity top of the World..I said "Somerville" and say's "mi wife is from Meffa" and then we both erupted into some late night laughter..the lad was from Andersonstown, Belfast, Northern Irleand but emigrated to the U.S.A. years ago and had met a local lass from Medford, MA (for those who don't know we call it Meffa locally)and got married..once a year he took his family back to Andersonstown to see his mum and to Ballycastle to see his brother..it was a great night meeting new friends and just a typical Irish experience:>)

On a clear day from the shore of Ballycastle one can see Rathlin Island and Scotland's "Mull of Kintyre".

The plan is to take the Rathlin Ferry across the North Channel to do some hiking on Rathlin Island..this will be a new experience for me cause I have never been to Rathlin Island - I have taken a ferry across the Irish Sea from Belfast to Troom, Scotland in 2005 and it was pretty wild & rough ....the Rathlin Island population is very small,hardy & hardheaded....I will fit in well - perhaps become a monk and stay there:>)

Doubtful I will become a monk, since I have a ticket to see the Saw Doctors at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin a few nights before heading back home to Worcester...I can't think of a better way to end a trip to Ireland - "travelin' with jus' my thoughts and dreams"

I have the Somerville Theatre reserved for March 16th - the day before St. Padraigs Day in 2009 and I have made an offer to the Saw Doctors to play..they have two other offers but have made no deal! Maybe we will see the Saw Doctors in Somerville in 2009:>)

CitySquare, Colleges, UNUM & the Urban Core of the City

2008-10-26T22:51:00.019-04:00

It is not a very comfortable feeling being a resident and property owner in the City of Worcester right now. The apparent disconnect that the Worcester City Council has as a group with many of the major players in the City of Worcester is amazing and very concerning. The Rhetoric that we are hearing from the City Council in regards to CitySquare & PILOT is eerily the same rhetoric that we heard at the beginning of 2008, in 2007 and in 2006.

The City has had no new major employers move to the city in quite some time, it has little if any development to speak of taking place - except for no/low income housing being built, the urban neighborhoods are only attracting "no/low income" residents and our brightest and most productive are leaving, we may be facing a huge sewer & water hike due to the Blackstone River pollution the city is responsible for and all we are hearing from our local City Councilors is how pissed off they are at major players in the city for not asking them over for tea and crumpets to discuss their business.

How did our City Council get itself so far out of the loop with these big players in the city?

Our City Council really needs to get behind closed doors with City Manager Mike O'Brien to hash out their issues and then they have to come out with a comprehensive vision for this City.

A surefire way to pump up downtown would be to convince Brendan O'Connor to open up a 2nd "O'Connor's" there..one incredible place on West Boylston Street and by the looks of the menu most if not all of our leaders have a connect with Brendan:>)

A "Good Example" of why so many have left the Democratic Party

2008-10-25T14:11:00.029-04:00

I was bouncing around some blogs today...banging away at a few bloggahs..agreeing with some and then I came upon this thread on a Worcester blog about John McCain and it really hit home how nasty folks are today under the guise of "Straight Talk" and how some are willing to write or say just about anything to get an audience as viewed below.

Papamoka Straight Talk

Agree or Disagree about Senator John McCain and his politics, thats politics, but to post innnuendos like Michael Boh contributing writer at Papamoka Straight Talk has about his Vietnam War tortue based on very limited if any source at all is just one more example of the dumbing down of American politics today - and a good example of why so many blue collar Democrats have left the party and enrolled as Independents, Libertarians & Republicans!

Michael Boh contributing writer at Papamoka Straight Talk....you have more than a few Repubs who would find your innuendos repulsive!

We are talking about a cat who stayed in that hell hole called the Hanoi Hilton years longah than he had to. A man who is well respected in Congress and on both sides..a man who has worked closely with the most liberal of Senators and been praised by one numerous times as a great American - Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, a man who was recently praised by possibly our next Vice President, Senator Joe Biden as a man whom he would gladly run on the same presidential ticket with, a man who has won numerous military honors and support from millions of American Veterans and now aftah all this, John McCain has been exposed by Michael Boh contributing writer at Papamoka Straight Talk of Worcester, MA as a possible fraud:>)

Liberal Lion, Ted Kennedy & VP possible, Joe Biden praise this guy endlessly outside of this election process and two cats that Michael Boh and Papamoka Straight Talk most assumably support BUT the Viet Cong Jailer of the infamous Hanoi Hilton who was interviewed by the London Times has put doubts in their minds...the real question is who are the phonies?

This nonsense was at one time on the frindge side of Democratic politics but unfortunately today is mainstream Democratic politics and is a huge reason why folks have left the party or hold their noses when voting Democrat today! This election in 2008 is close because so many former Democrats now Independents are voting for Senator John McCain and because so many Democrats refuse to hold their noses any longah!

As for the 100% disability check versus a 50% disability check issue commented on by contributing writer Michael Boh at Papamoka Straight Talk - again with no fact back up....I would rather give it to a man shot down out of the sky in a time of war and a man who remained imprisoned in Vietnam for years longah than he had to have than to all the freeloadahs living around me in WormTown that I'm sure ole Papamoka Straight Talk & contributing writer Michael Boh support!!

What's "Straight Talk" got to do with unsubstantiated horsesheet ????

benefit for "Autism Awareness" in memory of Elias Tembenis

2008-10-23T12:38:00.013-04:00

The Benefit for Autism Awareness in memory of Elias Tembenis is this Sunday October 26, 2008 from 12:00 - 5:00 P.M. at the Kasbar - 234 Southwest Cutoff (Rt 20), Worcester, MA

Suggested donation is $20.00 per person - food, raffles, dancing & music - CASH BAR!

Raffle Prizes to include:autographed Doug Flutie football, an autographed die-cast car by Kyle Petty, Bruins tickets & Patriots tickets.

Everyone who shows up and lay's $20.00 down as a donation can then hit me up for a free refreshment of your choosing from the bar:>) Just hollah out "Paulie, I want my free shootah" aftah you have ponied up yer $20 to Elias's dad "Big Harry T".

I'll even go one bettah..if you pony up a $100.00 donation then... B.A. Event Promotions (my offshore business) will donate a full year of free races to you:>) See the above links for my 2009 events!! If you do this, I wanna hear you hollah out "Paulie, it's you & me the whole year"

Laughs aside, I hope everyone can join us on Sunday it is a great cause!

Go Philadelphia Phillies

2008-10-22T22:15:00.012-04:00

I've decided that I am going to watch every World Series Game this year and root for the Philadelphia Phillies versus the Tampa Rays!! It is to bad the Red Sox are not going to be in the Series this year but they got beat by one hellava fun team to watch-Tampa Rays!!

Carol & I were lucky to catch a Phillies game his summer while down in Philly to see Van Morrison ..the Phillies game was one of those things ya do on the spur of the moment while on vacation and I had a blast - Carol slept:>) It was the first pro baseball game that I had seen in years and I really enjoyed myself....the above pic was taken by Carol from our seats in left field seats:>)

Greg "The Bull" Luzinski has a BBQ pit inside the stadium and he attends most games..I was lucky to get my ticket autographed by him for my buddy Bob the Barkeep down at the American Legion Marsh Post in Cambridge, MA..to go along with a Phillies tee I go him and I am sure he is wearing right now...one of the last real baseball fans out there:>)

After New Orleans, Philadelphia has my heart..I really had a great time there this summer and think about the trip all the time. I hope to get back in 2009 for an extended vacation:>)

Great restaurants, great bars, great museums such as the Rodin Museum - ask for Adam, great history & really nice folks!

Let's all remember, don't be a litterbug

2008-10-22T21:11:00.008-04:00

This will be a short thread..but an issue that really peeves me - TRASH in Worcester!!

Jose Cruz of Worcester has a letter today in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette "The People's Forum" that has really riled me up:>) "Why Paulie" you ask?

Well inquiring bloggahs...I do believe that landlords are first and foremost responsible for their properties and landlords should have checks and balances in place to make sure that their tenants have the proper containers to place their trash in but why should a landlord be responsible for a lazy tenant who puts their trash out early and why should a landlord be responsible for tenants who litter the curb??

At some point Jose Cruz our neighbors need to be held responsible for their behavior and yes this from a wee lad who just the other day was told in not so many words that I am flawed and I should not be speaking out but I say "I nevah said, I was flawless":>)

You mean well Jose and I understand this - the stench and ugliness of it all is getting to me also but we are nevah going to solve this problem in this city until we start holding equally responsible the folks who use our streets, sidewalks and parks as their toilet and we also start equally holding accountable the folks who make being a landlord in this city an extremely difficult position to hold!!

Somerville, Massachusetts - A Tale of Two Cities

2008-10-20T14:49:00.039-04:00

Somerville, Massachusetts!

I can remeber back to the early 80's, during a time when I had sort of come back home to the city my family had been a part of for many years that if you had met a gal at let's say Clarkes in Fanueil Hall and you told her you lived in Somerville or were from there, she would most likely wince and say "Slummerville" or "Scummerville" ......and how today if you were to meet the same gal and at the same location (is Clarkes still open?) and you told her that you lived in Somerville or were from Somerville, how she would probably get on her cell phone to Mom to tell her she had met a nice guy from the "Ville":>)

Well, the day's of Somerville, Massachusetts being called "Slummerville" or "Scummerville" have long been retired..... and now 20+ years later when I meet a gal and I tell her I am living in Worcester, Massachusetts it is like going back in time:>)

Man can only endure so many gentrifications in one lifetime!!!

I have very fond memories of Somerville past just like many folks have of Worcester past... a past when the squares were all bustling beehives of blue collar life...I spent many a day in Somerville as a wee lad visiting my grandmother up at the ole Somerville Trade where she worked as a secretary for the principal of the Trade, down in Davis Square visiting my other grandmother who worked at the ole Fannie Farmer's candy store and often visiting my mother over in Ball Square where she worked for now retired optometrist Sydney Sorrell - the best part of visiting mi mudah was going across the street to Lyndell's Bakery to get a few hermit cookies which to this day are my favorite cookies. Anyone know where you can get good hermit's in Woostah? Any gal's out there wanna drop a fresh batch off at my house on Chandler Street? I could use the company-don't ferget the hermits:>)

Those years during the early 70's to mid 70's were good years for me and my memories of Somerville...it was a blue collar city like all cities in Massachusetts and a good place to hang out in when I was a wee lad:>)

I opened up my real estate management office around 1987-88 after working for Brendan Noonan R.E. in Cambridge for a few years...my new office was right next door to the original Steve's Ice Cream just outside Davis Square on Elm Street..and next to Steve's Ice Cream was the original Bertucci's:>) The original Bertucci's was a small place with two levels..they had a bocci court on the lower level where you could play bocci and eat your pizza..was a great place to take a gal:>) My office was one room in a small building and my landlord eventually went belly up during this period.

Davis Square during this time was in a real bad way..many stores boarded up due to the terrible late 80's economy that lasted into the early 90's, the Somerville Theatre was in terrible physical shape and few tenants but the pidgeons that hung out on the window sill's of the third floor windows! It's interesting to look back and remember that the McDonald's in Davis Square closed down and I remember thinking to myself back then that it couldn't get any worse-who evah heard of a McDonald's going out of business???

Redbones, also in Davis Square only occupied part of the building it still resides in today on Chester Street with the other half of the building called Barnaby's - a pub owned by a father & son team from Ireland...eventually this pair sold the building to Robert & Karen but in the early years..your waitress if you wanted a drink had to walk next door to the bar and order, pay and then bring your drink. No different today in how you get your drink, but back then the money went into the till of the Barnaby's owner not Redbones:>)

It was an interesting time back then, the MBTA Red Line was extended to Alewife going thru Davis Square earlier in the decade and the thought was that there would be an immediate renaissance but this did not happen immediately. It was a very slow process for Davis Square even with the Red Line stopping right at it!

The loss of McDonald's was short lived cause a young couple named Tommy & Louise McCarthy from County Clare, Ireland and who often attended music sessions in Worcester leased the space to bring us "The Burren"..one of the more popular Irish Pubs on the East Coast..yes folks the East Coast:>) The Burren was the beginning in my opinion of Davis Square getting an identity...it was the real start of nice folks traveling to Somerville to be enertained.

The above pic is of the Somerville Theatre in it's hey day in the early part of the 20th Century

More to come...writing about The Burren got me so thirsty that I am gonna head ovah to O'Connors in West Boylston for a pint of Guinness

Be Nice To Yer Local Bloggah!

2008-10-15T22:46:00.019-04:00

Lately, there has been a rash of complaints out there about the quality of the bloggah content on many blog's including mine, the perceived lack of creativity with some of the new local web sites and a general malaise about the city that has been ratcheted up a wee bit as the current economic environment gets worse or they tell us is getting worse:>)

I have really started to look at this entire gentrification issue which I think is at the root of some of this and from two lenses..one when I was a wee lad in my 20's and being part of the Somerville/Cambridge gentrification and not really thinking about it then but being part of it and now in mi late 40's and thinking about it every day since I moved to Worcester and being part of.

The Presidential Debate did not really wear me out but it did lure me away from the computer...not very much is learned at these debates as far as I am concerned..I am always weary & leary of folks telling me who they thought won..won what??

Anyway, back to the malaise that I am seeing out there...folks are real antsy for change in the urban core of Worcester..there has been a flood of new pubs, cafes & restaurants, a few new business that make folks who live in the urban core more comfortable like Kinko's, the Hanover Theatre downtown & Tush on Water Street and this is great stuff but we still are seeing a real slow down when it comes to projects like City Square which many have high hopes for re-shaping downtown, all the unsold condo's in the Canal District, few business'es looking at Worcester as a place to open up shop thus providing jobs for our bright minds and an urban core that just does not make one say "wow, stuff is happening here".

So when folks travel to place's like Providence, Boston, Somerville, Cambridge, Manchester & Haverhill and they see all the really vibrant urban neighborhoods taking shape and they meet all these creative folks and then come back home to Worcester and we have no vibrant urban neighborhoods and many of our creative folks & bright minds have left they get in the dumps and then take it out on us bloggahs who only wanna be their friends:>)

Change aka Gentrification takes time folks...and bringing back to Worcester, the creative and bright minds which is an essential part of this does also..so until then, you will have to put up with those of us who are lacking on the Mark Twain style proses:>)

I have lived in Cambridge & Somerville when they were but mere blue collar cities, Cambridge only having a small pocket of it's urban core - Harvard Square and some surrounding neighborhoods considered upscale...either never as poor as Worcester but both still very blue collar with pockets of extreme poverty within each of them.

Somerville is an interesting study on gentrification-it has been a 20 year process so far....Former Mayor of Somerville, Mike Capuano represents the 8th Congressional District which Somerville is part of with Cambridge & parts of Boston, a seat formerly held by John F. Kennedy, Tip O'Neil & Joe Kennedy Jr. , Congressman Capuano being a Somerville scrapper from way back. The current Mayor, Joe Curtatone also home grown and 10 of the 11 aldermem on the Board of Aldermen home grown .....point being that gentrification did not happen overnight nor via a total over haul of residents but it did require long time residents and it's home grown leaders having the the ability to be able to adapt to changes and to be able to listen to new folks who have made Somerville home or a place to do business.

I've said it many times before and I'll say it again..the City of Worcester for it to move forward and for it to be an attractive place for folks to live in and do business in is going to need more of it's leaders and not just the political ones,who are willing to live & do business within the urban core! This is the part of the city that needs it and this is the part of the city that causes so much of all this anger that is being aimed at us mere bloggahs who are only holding the fort up unil the real calvary get here!!

Assumption College "New Worcester Urban Campus Pilot Program"

2008-10-15T21:02:00.009-04:00

A few months ago I had asked quite a few folks via e-mail if they would respond to a survey that Assumption College was doing to see if there were folks out there looking for business classes to attend within the urban core of Worcester and overwhelmingly folks responded positively.

So an update on this is in order folks and BTW - thanks for the posiive responses:>)

Starting in January 2009 there will be four college credited (3 credits) business classes held at the Martin Luther Jr. Business Empowerment Center located at the cornah of Chandler Street & Dewey Street taught by Assumption College professors. Each class will cost $800.00.

The Chandler Business Association has been actively involved with this inituative along with the Martin Luther King Jr. Empowerment Center & Assumption College and via the Neighborhood Strategy Revitalization Area (NRSA) funds awarded to it by the federal goverment, it will be offering $15,000.00 in scholarship's to area residents and business owners. It is also hoped that the three other NSRA programs within the city will also award scholarship's to their area residents and business owners (discussions soon to commence on the subject).

This is a great opportunity for the urban core of Worcester and it is hoped that it is supported by Worcester residents, business owners and those who live outside Worcester! I will be posting a new thread on this once the full details are available - if there is interest from you then please feel free to drop me a note at QPHome@aol.com . I am planning to take a class myself and I have had conversations with many others interested...we need 10 per class to make this happen:>)

Private & Public Investment in Worcester - where is it getting us?

2008-10-13T21:38:00.052-04:00

I spent some time today driving around my neighborhood and what I am still continuing to see in large numbers are groups of folks just lounging about on front porches, stoops and on the sidewalks in front of houses one after another like the Buffalo at the Alta Vista Farm in Rutland, Massachusetts and it is not restricted to my neighborhood either!

Drive out of Kelley Square towards the ole St. Vincents Hospital and you will see it on both sides..go left at St. Vincents and it is everywhere...Main South the same and if you go up Belmont Street, it is on both sides and down all the side streets and Chandler Street which I live and work on is still loaded with property that has seen little capital improvemens over the years nor are the porches, stoops and sidewalks any less littered with folks just moping around aimlessly!

I am talking about a huge % of urban Worcester here folks!

There has been a ton of public investment via the various CDC's also known as "Community Development Corporations" in the City of Worcester..the local CDC's being the most prolific developers ,rehabbers & land bankers of residential real estate in the City of Worcester the past 15+ years and almost all if not all of it being low income housing!

The local CDC project's are everywhere..a big one being done right now on May Street and close to Main Street...50+ units of low income housing, another one being done at the cornah of Madison & Main Street, the ole market at Piedmont & Chandler Street - many at cornahs that can be the building blocks for a new neighborhood and where in my opinion something more substantial should be built by the way...perhaps some of the local bloggahs will chime in with others:>)

These projects recieve Federal and State funds and they are always built for low income folks with some inclusion for moderate low income folks..rarely if ever have we heard of a developer receiving Federal or State funds to build middle class housing or high end housing - something that the urban core of Worcester deparately needs and so does the Middle Class!

"The Word" out on the street is that the City of Worcester reached it's Federal & State required level of low income housing years ago yet it is continuing to be built at warp speed in this city and even when some projects remain vacant? It is essential that the City of Worcester have adequate housing for it's needy but when the needy start outnumbering the providers within the city, huge problem's arise and we see it today....vacant downtown, neighborhoods in deplorable conditions, housing stock that borders on a status below tree huts, business leaving the city, new business not looking at the city, creative and bright minds leaving & urban schools that have become holding pen's instead of places where minds are enlightened!

I keep hearing from both presidential candidates how much they care about the Middle Class..is has become the mantra of both lately:>) A tax break here, a tax break there..everywhere a tax break yet the country is broke???

How about starting to allow some of these projects to be inhabited by the Middle Class and at the affordable rate that the low income folks are getting - here is a real tax break for a young couple that may want to live in urban core of Worcester ....the Middle Class which still gets up and goes to work and pretty much every day now for most....instead of only allowing low income to live at that gorgeous building "paid for" by the taxpayers aka Middle Class at the corner of Piedmont & Chandler Street, how about allowing some folks with jobs who when they get home at night might decide to walk down to Living Earth to shop, maybe stop off at Suney's for a beer or better yet will eat at One Love Cafe on Main South and then go next door to Gilreins for some great Blues Music:>)

If the City of Worcester does not get a handle on the level of low income housing being built in this city it will never be able to recover! Call me what you want folks-the last few days I've heard it all:>(.....but there are few out there that are going to buy/invest their life savings, rehab and live in one of these dilapidated three deckahs if all they are going to have around them are more dilapidated three deckahs that are loaded with folks who live on another gal/guy's dime and who have no inclination to join society in a manner that is most recognized by society....you work, take care of your family and you contribute to society-basic stuff!

The same goes for business when it goes looking for cities to invest in..a city full of mummy dummies is going to be last on the list and if one takes a ride around our urban core on a daily basis one see's to many folks walking around in their pajama's, hanging en masse in front of houses and business and few looking like they are doing anything productive! I spent a good portion of yesterday in Boston, Cambridge & Somerville for meetings and I also spent a great deal of time just sitting on benches watching folks and it just amazed me how so many were bouncing around doing productive things..you knew folks were going places and making things happen!!

8-10 Winfield Street has been one of the most infamous houses in the city the past 5 years..made Worcester Magazines "Top 10 Worst Houses" in the city 2 years in a row....I could fill your ear for weeks as both houses abut mine:>) Anyway, they got foreclosed on and sat for a wee spell (the quietness was music to many ears:>)..finally bought for $150,000 (6 units total). The new owner has sunk some money into them..word is about $50,000.00 and the new tenants moved in and like one of my favorite bands sang "meet the new tenants, same as the ole tenants"...kid's running around everyones property screaming and yelling (the obsenities from 5 years olds that make you want to gag) and at all hours with no parental control, trash everywhere, adults hanging out front - and all in less than a week....as depressing as can be right now for me to be quite honest with you.

Why wasn't this property attractive to a young couple, small developer who builds quality housing...a single gal or guy moving out on their own and wanting to live in an urban environment, perhaps picking up a good deal ??

From this house, the urban amenities that folks die for in Boston, Providence, New York, Somerville, Cambridge, Hyannis, Nashua & Manchester and all cities that many of us want Worcester to emulate are only minutes away - the amenities NOT the cities, folks:>):

Living Earth
Baba Sushi
El Basha
Biaggio's
CC. Lowell's
Jelly Discs
Haiku
CVS
Walgreens
Big Y
Ed Hyders Meditteranean Foods
The Pet Barn
Bahnans
Suney's
Dunkin Donuts
(2) Laundromats
Ming Toy Chinese Restaurant
John & Son's
Foley Stadium
Beaver Brook Field
Newton Hill
Elm Park
ton of jewelers, decorating stores, Oriental Rug store on Park between Chandler & Pleasant
Events that are neighbors - Start on the Street & the St. Patrick's Day Parade:>)

Easy access to West Side delights like:

Emerald Meats
Nancy Chang
U.S. Post Office
Copy Store
Chandler Street Plants

But this is not how many are thinking out here when it comes to rejuvenating the urban core of the city and it is a real problem for this city..a huge problem that seems to be getting worse and the recent Census Report indicates this folks!

When I run for President, I will not just propose but sign into law major tax relief for those Middle Class that invest their own hard earned money and live within the urban core of Worcester....we have reached our low income housing requirement, percentages ago, and we are doing our valuable duty to society in Worcester to take care of the needy-more than we can afford....now it is time to start actively bringing back or introducing the Middle Class to the urban core of Worcester and for Worcester to start taking care of itself and I suggest we start with affordable housing programs like we currently do for other segments of society!!