September 19th was “Talk Like a Pirate Day.”
Pirates were encouraged to say things like “aargh” and “matey”, “keelhaul, walk the plank” and “Polly wants an illegal download.”
Saturday, September 22, 2012
all things being equal
The Autumnal Equinox
Today is the first day of Autumn, beginning in the Northern Hemisphere at 10:49 A.M. EDT.
The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night.”
Today both day and night are exactly 12 hours long; after this the days grow shorter.
Today the Sun rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west.
See you in Winter. :-)
Friday, September 21, 2012
comings-up @ the CLOCK
This just in from Michael Brady,
general manager of the Clock.
Dear Friends,
Thank you for being a patron of The Clock Bar! Your support and feedback over the past month have allowed The Clock Bar to take root as a community establishment focused on bringing you the freshest food and drink possible. Thank you for being part of our growth.
I wanted to let you know of some exciting things happening this weekend!
Tonight we have Teacher Appreciation--our teachers work hard educating our youth so we offer drink specials and discounts. Come on by! It's a lot of fun!
To keep the party going, we have ELI and ACOUSTIC ROMANCE, a ridiculously good acoustic and vocal trio that we snagged from the beaches of Miami. Eli and the group will be performing Spanish inspired classics, as well as some pop--later in the evening we will even get some spicy salsa to get your hips going! Eli comes on at 8:30pm and the reservations are coming in--so if you'd like give me a call to book a prime seat--718.684.2338
Then tomorrow, my BIRTHDAY WEEK culminates with a huge PRIDE party at The Clock Bar. Complete with the musical stylings of NYC's infamous DJ Kriv, bottle service, great drink specials, and sexy bartenders and cocktail servers. It would be an honor to have you join me for my birthday and also for what has become one of the BEST Gay Pride Parties in the Bronx. So whether you are LGBT or just a friend, come on out and join me! OPEN GIN BAR starts at 9:00pm. Show this email to a bartender and get a free house-shot.
[editors note: how they got a photo of my old roommate I'll never know.]
Lastly, back by popular demand! MIXOLOGY 201 by Master Alchemist, Moses Laboy. Moses will be talking a lot about farm to beverage, and how to ensure that you get the best and freshest drinks possible. Topics of conversation will also include infusions. Tickets are 2 for $80 or $50 each. This is a very popular event so book your ticket today by calling, 718.684.2338. Again, thank you for coming by the bar--I hope to see you all very soon.
finally sinking
I’ve been listening carefully to Mitt Romney for awhile now and he’s not making sense to me.
This morning Kevin Drum on MOTHER JONES offers a brief but clear eyed assessment of the presidential campaign so far.
The polls have shifted in the past week.
Is it finally sinking in?
delawareliberal.net
and drink and carry on
a new place to sing and dance!
With much better than average facade detailing;
expensive, this. I wonder why.
Let’s go see the interior...
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
still, good luck in the rain
In 2007, NYC launched its “Taxi of Tomorrow” project.
A request for proposal went out in 2009 to designers and manufacturers for the first ever purpose-built NYC cab.
Ford, Nissan and Karson, a Turkish manufacturer, were named as finalists.
wiki
Nissan, a Japanese company, was selected in May 2011 to produce NYC’s Taxi of Tomorrow. This car will roll out for the next 10 years.
The all new Nissan NV200 will feature room for four passengers with luggage, a sunroof, passenger controlled heating and cooling, germ fighting-anti-microbial seat upholstery and a USB charging port for your phone.
Unfortunately, it is not an electric or solar vehicle.
It burns a gallon of gas for every 25 miles it travels.
It burns a gallon of gas for every 25 miles it travels.
More disappointing, the jobs assembling it will go to Mexico and the profits will rerout back to Japan.
This is not your Father’s taxi.
That cab, the Checker Marathon was a TANK.
It had a huge interior, a mechanical meter and the famous flip down jumpseats. It carried 6 passengers plus driver in a pinch.
It had a huge interior, a mechanical meter and the famous flip down jumpseats. It carried 6 passengers plus driver in a pinch.
It was awesome.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
on a bus to Ellenville
Probably the prettiest song
Trisha Yearwood’s
ever recorded.
#59 Billboard Country Chart in 1996
On a bus to St. Cloud, Minnesota
I thought I saw you there
With the snow falling down around you
Like a silent prayer.
And once on a street in New York City
With the jazz and the sin in the air
And once on a cold L.A. freeway
Going nowhere.
And it's strange, but it's true
I was sure it was you
Just a face in the crowd
On a bus to St. Cloud.
In a church in downtown New Orleans
I got down on my knees and prayed
And I wept in the arms of Jesus
For the choice you made.
We were just gettin' to the good part
Just gettin' past the mystery
Oh, and it's just like you, it's just like you
To disagree.
And it's strange but it's true
You just slipped out of view
Like a face in the crowd
On a bus to St. Cloud.
And you chase me like a shadow
And you haunt me like a ghost
And I hate you some, and I love you some
I miss you most.
On a bus to St. Cloud, Minnesota
I thought I saw you there
With the snow falling down around you
Like a silent prayer.
foursquare
when I’m stuck with a day that grey and lonely
“Motown” is a contraction of Motor Town...
Detroit, for the Detroit auto industry.
Motown staff writer Roger Penzabene wrote painfully distraught lyrics to “I wish it would Rain” for the Temptations in 1967.
He had just learned his wife had been cheating on him with another man, and his suffering was horribly public and unbearable.
According to Wikipedia, “Unable to deal with the pain and unable to stop loving his wife, Penzabene expressed his pain in the lyrics of this song...”
But the distraught Penzabene could not face a new year and ended his life on New Year’s Eve, 1967, a week after this single’s release.
#1 on the Billboard Rhythm & Blues Chart in 1968
Monday, September 17, 2012
it ain't just London Bridge that's falling down
The WhiteStone Bridge has an interesting
and contentious history.
Designed in haste and opened to traffic on April 29, 1939, it was designed a bit too quickly, it turned out.
Deficiencies required a renovation within the first year, costing tax payers more.
Three years after that in 1943 engineering mistakes had to be addressed again, this time adding 14 foot support trusses to reduce flex and oscillation.
Then it was discovered in 1988 that the extra weight of the added support trusses was causing fatigue cracks that had to be fixed while the bridge remained in service.
But the cracks kept on coming.
So in 2003 the MTA removed the heavy trusses and replaced them with fibreglass fairings to effect the same stiffening at much lighter loads.
This reduced the overall weight of the roadbed by some 6,000 tons, roughly 25% of the entire weight borne by the suspension cables. But the bridge kept on flexing under load. No wonder there were cracks.
In 2008 hydraulic dampers were installed to further reduce flex, plus new paint and lighting.
Overall, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in this bridge over the years, keeping it on the cutting edge of technology. Some taxpayers have complained about the neverending expense.
But a near exact design called the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State opened at the same time in 1940 and collapsed in high winds just four months later.
wiki
I’ll take the renovated Whitestone, thank you.
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