Major Taylor & George Street Bike Challenge Video

1:20 piece from the Boston Globe about Major Taylor's legacy in Worcester and a bit of video from the George St bicycle challenge.

SLEEP ALIVE - Video shot in Downtown Worcester

Just found this video thru my Worcester search on Tweetdeck. A must see for the Worcester area people. Be sure to stay with the video until at least 2:45 for the Union Station interior shots. A great video that captures a desolate Worcester nighttime landscape. Slickly done, Destination Worcester should hire the film crew!

The band's name is Sleep Alive and it looks like they are playing their debut show at Ralph's on August 22nd.


Sleep Alive

17 Minutes of Mediocrity

17 lousy minutes of 4th of July fireworks... On the 5th! And a "grand finale" that probably clocked in at all of 60 seconds. Lame. Maybe the fireworks money could have went towards the pools!

The view from the Quabbin earlier today was much better.

NECN on Standard Foundry Demolition

The Standard Foundry Building and the supposed future site of the "South Worcester Industrial Park" is located just 4 short blocks from the lofts. In a strange way I'll miss passing by the bizarro graveyard that made up a couple of the back streets separating this parcel and the railroad tracks. Sort of a bombed out scene from 21 Days later.

Pretty much sums up Jim McGovern's quote of "...In this area, it looks blighted, and its falling apart, because it is, but it reminds you of what once was here..." With the way things move in this city and even moreso this neighborhood I'm sure this project will play out over a long timeline. But I will cross my fingers for real business, with real buildings and a real workforce... But I won't hold my breath.

LA's Kogi Korean BBQ...OMG A Food Truck

Check out LA's Kogi Korean BBQ Taco trucks which have stormed the LA nighclub and foodie scene since launching back in November. Armed with the power of the internet and twitter Kogi is spawning imitators and drawing diverse crowds who wait in line for up to 2 hours for some cheap but delicious street food.

I'm going to do a little internet poking around and see what LA requires for street food certification as opposed to Worcester. When you see videos like this I can see why brick and mortar businesses want to shut out street food. Goes to show that a superior product can be made on the street and with a little leverage of technology the power can tip pretty easily especially when you are serving great tasting tacos for $2 a piece. But just because a business model exsists with low start up costs and overhead does not mean their viability should be stifled or limited by the government.

Bill Clinton at The Boys And Girls Club

So I knew Bill Clinton was coming to town today to fund raise for McGovern, but today's T&G indicated a stop at The Boys & Girls Club as well. The Boys & Girls club is a block and a half away from the lofts, and after work I hit up KJ Barrons for some Friday night nourishment and on the way home passed The Boys & Girls Club.

The barricades were up, ambulances and motorcycles cops in place and it looked like Clinton was on site, so I did what any decent Worcester blogger would. O went upstairs and grabbed my camera and jumped on my bike back over there.

Looking at the setup and police presence it was easy to tell that Clinton would be coming out the back of the building so I took up a spot at the end of the driveway next to a bunch of motorcycle cops and 5 Main South 13ish year old boys. They excitedly told me that they had witnessed the caravan pass them near Family Dollar on Main St. and Clinton waved to them so they followed the parade down to The Boys & Girls Club. Every so often they would scream out "Bill Mothafuckin Clinton" they were generally excited to see and ex president. I'm sure Bill's extracurricular affairs upped his wow factor in their eyes. I don't think they would have been as fascinated by Jimmy Carter.

They saw that I had a camera and wanted pictures of Clinton, so I gave them my phone and had them all enter their email addresses so I could send them the pictures. After some of the foolishness I see going on in the neighborhood streets below it was cool to see these kids realize that seeing an ex president is sort of cool and getting caught up in the moment and enjoying themselves rather than being punks on a Friday afternoon.

Phish In Worcester? Secret Show? or just pratice?

A couple hours ago some murmurs about a Phish secret show came across my tweetdeck "worcester" search. Phish take their musical stylings and rabid fanbase inside Fenway Park this Sunday night for one show, and it seems that Phish might be getting loose at The DCU Center in preparation.

Carlspackler chimed in with this on a Phish fansite around 10:30 tonight:

I went to Worcester at about 930, drove by Tammany a couple times, the only thing I saw there were about 5 people standing outside and a few others driving by slowly.

Then went to DCU and walked around. TOO FUCKING FUNNY seeing about 10 obvious phanners walking around also. Everybody peering in windows and doors. The stage is definitely set up, and a drumset is visible as reported earlier in the thread. As I walked around the building I saw a DCU employee on his phone outside and here was our exact exchange:

I asked him, "Hey is there a band in there?"
her replied, "nope"
me- "you sure"
him-"Yeah, it's just a stage setup, they'll be here tomorrow"

so, looks like I'll stop by tomorrow also and stick my ear to the door. Also, red 'upstaging' moving trucks were in full effect outside the venue.
------------------------

Another poster weighed in with:

It was a fun night but I too left Tammany in defeat with tboy1976 (it was great hanging with you, M, & L!). First time I ever met anyone from PT.

Tomorrow I'll just stick to listening outside down at the DCU -I live within walking distance of the DCU, so for me it's simple.

The band is expected to practice tomorrow (don't have a confirmed time) and possibly Saturday. Don't rush to Woosta -I can't say it's really worth it for anyone to come down here tomorrow. The real blowup is Sunday for sure (get there early!! -someone confirmed that it can be VERY slow getting inside Fenway).

Was my night worth it? Absolutely! It was a hoot to wander around the DCU with phish playing inside, I met some wonderful phans, and now I'm even more psyched for the tour.
-----------

Tammany Hall was also mentioned as a spot where Phish might take the stage tonight. tboy1976 reported from Tammany with the following around 11pm:

Alright still reporting from deep inside tammany - hip hop hip hop some dude passed out cold on a table to the left - lots of phans in here good atmosphere but starting to feel defeated.

Talked to tje owner of the club asked "where's the phish" he said "I wish I knew". He said he has been getting calls all day about this, I asked "if they were coming would you know" and he said if they were coming to play yes he would know if just to hang out he said most likely he would have no clue.

I am stayin till midnight and if nothing happens I am out!
-------------


I'm going to guess that they will be practicing at The DCU tomorrow (obviously) and possibly Saturday. I'll hold out hope for an interesting weekend with the possibility an undercover Phish show going off somewhere that I can get to within 7 minutes.


Phantasy Tour Discussion Board

The Free Art Season Has Begun!

Keep your eyes peeled.

Although I have yet to see a piece "in the wild" the Free Art Worcester experiment that began last summer has returned for another go round. As a lover of graffiti and street art I do nothing but give props to the person(s) behind Free Art Worcester for adding some color, funk and DIY sensibilities to the streets.

FREE ART DECLARATION (from their blog):

FreeArtWorcester creates original works of FreeArt from recycled and reclaimed materials to distribute the power of art which includes but is not limited to: smiles, chuckles, warm fuzzy feelings, euphoria, dancing, inquisitiveness , exchanging ideas etc.

FreeArtWorcester will do everything in its power to distribute, display and mount all of its FreeArt in a way that will not permanently deface or destroy public or private property or the natural environment.

FreeArtWorcester will photograph all its FreeArt creations and these photos will then be displayed here on this blog to allow comments to be made about the artwork. All comments, encouragement and constructive criticism is welcome. FreeArtWorcester is not responsible for its FreeArtwork once it is found/removed by a member of the public from its location.

FreeArtWorcester is an anonymous entity who enjoys making art and sharing it with others FOR FREE, none of the FreeArtwork is for sale and should never be exchanged for money.


Free Art Worcester

Post Graduation Exodus

More Worcester Politics As Usual

I came home from work today to find a letter from Barbara Haller taped to the front door in our lobby announcing a "Emergency Meeting on University/Crystal Park" There is one big problem with the announcement... The meeting is tomorrow, at 10am.

That's right, here in the urban core our city councilwoman and the Main South CDC think that 10am on a Wednesday morning is the perfect time to have a neighborhood meeting. As sure as the day is long this neck of the woods is filled with plenty of degenerates who could attend a 10am meeting. The problem is these same people are probably the ones causing problems at the park! I am just baffled that an "Emergency" meeting is held on a Wednesday morning with less than 24 hours notice. Makes me think some people might like hearing the sound of their own voice rather than anything else.

Here are some of the talking points on the letter, "It's no secret. University/Crystal Park is sliding backwards...vandalism of the new Petty Playground, uncontrolled Canada Geese, unruly groups of people causing harm and fear, too much trash, untrimmed trees...

I did notice about a dozen trees or so planted on the Main St. side of the park today, so that is a nice positive. The geese aren't going anywhere, they are happy and well fed. In this neighborhood it is unfortunately no surprise that a playground gets vandalized and tagged, i don't see many ways around that. The basketball hoops and backboards should be fixed. A fair amount of ball is played up there and they are playing on some 4th rate hoops. The fencing should be fixed around the tennis turned volleyball court as well. Again I think the only way trash can be addressed is with community cleanups every week or two, because people aren't going to take responsibility for themselves and will be pigs just for the sake of it. And should police increase their patrols of the area... Of course.


Anyway, sorry I can't attend the meeting tomorrow Barbara. But perhaps I will shoot off an email with my thoughts.

Today's Train Pics

Just a little visual stimulation. I caught all these (and more) on one train after work this afternoon. One cool thing about the summer is I am more apt to be outside and/or ready to pounce when I hear the trains a comin in the warm weather, which translates into more freight pictures!

And how perfect is it that today of all days one of the tags that went on by was a writer by the name of SWINE! Perfect.

Worcester Home Price Forcast From Money Magazine

Money Magazine released a list of their estimates for housing prices over the next 12 months for the 100 largest US Metro areas.

Their prognostication for Worcester is a 5.9% drop in price over the next year with a bottom of Q2 in 2010.

The report predicts Providence to fall by an additional 13.2% with a bottom in Q1, 2011.

Other notables:

Cambridge -3.3% Q1 2010
Boston -6.8% Q3 2010
Springfield -7.5% Q3 2010
Hartford -7.6% Q2 2010

Apropos of nothing this report expects Worcester recover faster than and with less severe price drops than all but Cambridge.


Full List Here

Superman Dat Hanover Theatre

I just caught wind of a new booking at The Hanover Theatre, and it appears that they have added Soulja Boy to their April lineup with a show on April 29th. This is so out of left field I am scratching my chin in befuddlement.

When it comes to music The Hanover has booked shows more along the lines of BB King, Aretha Franklin and 50's doo wop shows so this Souja Boy date is very confusing. I think the "wildest" musical performance in the past year was when Foreigner stopped for a night of 80's rock. I think I might want to usher this one just for some laughs. Some of the senior ushers get flustered when Lisa Lampanelli or George Carlin said the word "fuck". I don't know how some of these ushers will cope seeing their first live "rap show" at the age of 65!

I hope this signals The Hanover to be a bit more bold in their musical bookings and bring in some up and coming rock bands touring 2,000 seat venues.

Konnie Lukes = EPIC FAIL

Thanks to the Daily Worcesteria crew who are running a live blog on this fine saturday morning from the City Council "retreat" at Tower Hill Botanical Gardens. The gem of the day is this comment from our esteemed mayor:

"blogs aren't worth paying attention to"

According to The Daily Wuss the council's thoughts on us "silly bloggahs" amounts to:

"a small group of people who aren't necessarily representative"

And if that is the way the sitting city council wants to think that is fine with me, it certainly makes it easier to decide where to cast my votes. The "silly bloggahs" should pull papers to run for council even if we don't return them with signatures. I would do it just to see them sweat a bit.

The bloggers aren't representative? Anyone with a computer and internet access can start a blog my friends, there is a pretty low barrier to entry.... You want to know what is not representative of this city? The faces sitting on the city council. That is what.

If they want to discredit the concerns of blogs and bloggers why should I believe they would want to follow thru on the concerns of any single resident who calls or emails their councilor with a concern? They are just one person right? If we are not worth paying attention to why are we brought up at almost every meeting as of late Ms. Lukes?


Konnie's Comment

Dramatic before and after shot of ALB Tree Removal Impact

The Massachusetts Introduced Pests Outreach Blog has two telling photos taken from the same spot on Granville St. One prior to Asian Longhorn Beetle and ice storm damage and one after tree removal.

All I can say is wow.

The Asian Longhorned Beetle is also now communicating with us Worcesterites via Twitter! Follow his path of destruction!!!


PHOTOS HERE
ALB Twitter

Cirque Dreams, Cupcakes & Beer

So this afternoon Crystal and I were ushering at the matinee of Cirque Dreams" Jungle Fantasy at The Hanover Theater. We have both been feeling a bit under the weather with Crystal feeling the brunt of it. She tried to talk me into not going to usher, and was going to stay home and boycott bit at the last minute she decided to tough it out and go.

Full house of 2,200 for the Saturday matinee, I know Friday night was sold out and I and guessing that the Saturday night show was sold out as well. The show was pretty decent. Certainly a cut below Cirque Du Soleil overall, but that was to be expected. The acrobats, contortionists and other performers were adequate but the show certainly lacked a cohesive soundtrack. There was a tree who played the violin and Mother Nature singing some eye glazing lyrics to a second rate new age techno beat and they were supposed to guide the audience thru this jungle filled with fantasical creatures. Not so much.

The skills of the performers and the day glo and sequins on their getups made it easy to forget about the sub par soundtrack and focus on their superb tumbling, balancing, contorting and aerial abilities. Plus there were some cheeky bits of fun mixed in including these emu's with human legs and a human arm for a neck and head that would spontaneously hump each other! Good clean fun!

After leaving The Hanover we went to Sweet Bakery on Shrewsbury St, to pick up some cupcakes. I had a peanut butter and chocolate one earlier this afternoon and about 20 minutes ago devoured a peanut butter and jelly.

We then went and had two early quick ones at The Dive Bar's Anti-Valentine's Day party before calling it a night.

AHL All Star Hangover

I posted a more formal AHL All Star wrapup over on Real Worcester, but I thought I would at least take a moment to post up some pictures and thoughts about the weekend's festivities here.

I attended the skills competition on Sunday evening and stopped in to check out the after party at Mechanic's Hall for a little while as well as going to the actual All Star game on Monday night.

The DCU Center was stocked with rabid hockey fans wearing minor league hockey team jerseys of every color of the rainbow. Even in this down economy it was easy to see that many out of towners took the trip to Worcester and were spending their money on all things AHL All Star related.

Both events we considered sellouts with 7,245 tickets sold for each day, and from what I could see both the city of Worcester and the Sharks organization came off well. I didn't hear anyone bellyache or complain about anything at all.

And as someone who lives just a couple miles away and parked on side streets for free I certainly have no gripes about the $35.00 I shelled out to attend the two days worth of events.


My Real Worcester Post

Main South CDC Houses In Violation Again

Let's see. It has not snowed in 5 or 6 days at this point but the unsold Main south CDC houses still do not have their sidewalks shoveled at all. This is complete and utter bullshit, plain and simple. What is good for the goose should be good for the gander.

Main South CDC gets sweetheart deals from the city regarding land, financing and the like but they refuse to even shovel their sidewalks to city standards. To make matters worse this property is one block from the new Boys and Girls Club. You would think that an entity like the Main South CDc would really be about the "neighborhood" and "safety". Apparently it is nothing but a facade.

Shame on you!!!!

Stanley Cup on Display @ St. Vincents Hospital Monday 2pm-4pm

With the AHL All Star game rolling into town this weekend I see it has just been announced that The Stanley Cup will be on display in the atrium of St. Vincent's hospital from 2pm to 4pm before going on display in the lobby of the DCU Center for the All Star game that evening.

The viewing and photo opportunity is free and open to the public, so grab the kids and head on down to get some face time with Lord Stanley's Cup!


Press Release Here

Whole Foods Has No Plans To Enter Worcester

Just found this on Twitter and thought that it would be of note for Worcesterites.

Whole Foods responded to a question via twitter if they have any plans to open up a store in Worcester. Unfortunately you can see their response which is that they have no plans to open a store in Worcester in the next two years. Which basically means we are not on their radar, which is a shame being the 2nd largest city in New England and all.

If you want your fix of grain fed bison it looks like you will still have to trek out to the suburbs. I will commend Whole Foods for having a very active twitter account that they use daily to answer customer questions on though!