Other than the military personnel who are armed to the teeth with coffee and junkfood from Dunkin Donuts, I rarely see significant foot traffic near the Legislative Office Building. Mostly, people drive to the parking garage and enter the building through the pedestrian entrance, never needing to come into contact with sunlight. Yet, there are large, well-marked warnings painted on the driveway, warning motorists to slow down. There are stop signs posted in places that make them more noticeable. There are even neon yellow signs telling motorists to stop for pedestrians — the signs are posted right in the crosswalks. I do appreciate this, as I use the area as a safer passage to downtown, given that the alternative of continuing along Capitol Avenue means having to cross the I-84 on/off ramp. Even with the stoplights all working and with the pedestrian walk signal on, the cars do not stop. Last week I saw a noticeably pregnant woman pushing a stroller across and the cars were not even obeying the law for her. It seems strange that few such safety features exist along a major street, but within a parking lot, traffic is managed quite well.
Sunday morning, when I read about the volunteer crossing guard who was threatened with arrest for keeping children safe, my heart sank. I read the article a few more times, trying to find a hidden clue that would make this story make sense. In a nutshell, a grandfather, who happens to be a disabled Vietnam Vet, decided to contribute to society by helping children safely get across the street to the Achievement First Academy in the Blue Hills neighborhood. He began this back in September. He had been honored by the school in the school newsletter and by being given a vest and stop sign. That sounds like his actions had been more than merely approved of by those he was interacting with directly.
Why threaten a man with arrest for helping society? Continue reading 'Whose Interests Are We Guarding?'»
Blue Hills, Crime & Justice, Education, Hartford, commentary, gutless officials, hpd, political b.s., quality of life, system, tax money in action, transportation
Between working and trying to unpack dozens of boxes, I have been a little preoccupied. This past weekend, I was lucky to get out for a few hours to enjoy the warm sunshine.
Continue reading 'Cedar Hill Cemetery'»
After the Red Carpet segment, I have always just shut the television off because the award portion of the Oscars felt pointless. The types of films I see in the theatre tend not to be the blockbusters that everyone talks about or nominates for awards. This year, I could have reason to pay attention to at least one category.
On Saturday I got to see the animated short films that have been either nominated or given praise. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen the Real Art Ways theatre this full. Having kids in the audience (quite the change from the typical demographic there) was fun. During Matter of Loaf and Death there is a reference to Ghost, which everyone was laughing at, but the child behind me blurted out, loudly, ‘What is so funny? Why’s everyone laughin’?” which provoked more laughter, since there were amazingly people on the planet whose brains were not wired to associate a pottery wheel and “Unchained Melody” with anything. Only one of the films, the last, was dubbed to be not child-friendly, and I feel for the loss of the parents who missed out on the experience due to having to shuffle their innocent progeny out the door before obscenity could rain upon the little ones’ ears. Continue reading 'Animated Shorts at Real Art Ways'»
The final community listening session for the Planning & Zoning Commission will be Tuesday evening at Rawson School. So far, there have been sessions at the Pope Park Rec Center, United Methodist Church, and Metzner Rec Center. Each session has focused on proposed land use for nearby neighborhoods.
Continue reading 'Proposed Land Use for Hartford’s Neighborhoods'»
Asylum Hill, Barry Square, Behind the Rocks, Blue Hills, Clay Arsenal, Economics, Environment, Frog Hollow, Hartford, POCD, Parkville, South End, Urban Renewal, West End, architecture/design, blight, class, commentary, community, downtown, housing, library, neighborhoods, north end, parks, photos, quality of life, south green, tax money in action, transportation
Yesterday was a spectacular let down in terms of the lack of snow, but I went for a walk anyway.
Continue reading 'Day Off Downtown'»
Culturally, I am cupcake malnourished. I have yet to visit Magnolia, the famous cupcakery in NYC. Last year, when the Cupcake Truck came to Bushnell Park, I missed it entirely. But that does not mean that I try. My kitchen has several cupcake trays and I own one cupcake-specific cookbook. When it comes to baking, I have not learned the patience necessary to properly frost and decorate baked goods. By default, I’ve been on the mission to find the perfect cupcake. Much like my mission to find the perfect sangria and mojito, the process is more important than the actual outcome. Continue reading 'Cupcakes'»
With Valentine’s Day approaching, and with a close friend going on a top secret date which led to discussion about what makes for a great or horrible date, and with an acquaintance asking me last night what I like about Hartford, I write this report on what I think makes for a (nearly) perfect night out.
Before riding my bicycle to the Wadsworth Atheneum, I began by having an impromptu conversation with my neighbor and was then joined by another resident on the block. There was a fire in a nearby house early Thursday morning, so we were all updating each other and feeling grateful that nobody was injured.
Upon arriving at the museum, I had my choice of parking spots: an entirely empty bike rack that meant my walk from parking spot-to-front door was under thirty seconds. After stashing my helmet and jacket inside one of the museum’s lockers, I grazed from the snack table and listened to the dj. When he was there a few months ago, I did not care much for his musical choices, but he had selections from an entirely different genre this time. Friends and friends-of-friends trickled in; among them included Jude, who writes about the MATRIX exhibit far better than I could. When I first began visiting the museum in the 1990s, the MATRIX was among my favorite sections of the Wadsworth. Continue reading 'On Any Thursday'»
Recently, the Courant reported that both Mad Dawg’s and Room 960 have been shut down for liquor license violations (i.e. serving minors and not having a license, respectively), but it seems they have stripped their website of all evidence that this article was ever published. It’s enough to make one wonder if this story was real, or just some shady, splotchy pseudo memory accompanying a bad hangover. Neither of the two bars have any mention of an hour change or temporary closing on their websites.
This demands the question of why.
Was the story incorrect or inaccurate? If so, providing corrections would have been more helpful and professional than simply removing the information from the newspaper’s online presence, as if pretending like it never happened would resolve the situation. I understand the practice of removing older publications, but when something is still fresh news, it seems more logical to update the information. Having just checked, I do not see any reference to the article in the Corrections section of the site.
Certain stories on the newspaper’s site allow comments and others do not. Sometimes, an article begins one way and is later changed. Do articles disappear for the same reason — pressure?
If anyone at the Courant has an answer regarding why entire stories disappear from their site, I would love to hear from them.
Breaking a long drought of not dining out, I decided to satisfy my curiosity about Tamarind Grill during Taste of Hartford Restaurant Week, an event I would find more enjoyable if there were more vegetarian options and/or if the $20.10 price felt worthwhile for the existing veggie options. Since meat-free meals are generally less expensive, restaurant week usually means getting less of a bargain. It’s not that these restaurants have nothing vegetarian on their menus — they do. But if the goal is to get new customers via the restaurant week, they should have no problem catering to what is a sizable portion of the population. If a self-described steakhouse does not want to do this, there’s no love lost, but most restaurants do not fall into this category. A small salad, pasta, and dessert cost far less than $20 to prepare. If most of the participating restaurants added a glass or wine or a hearty appetizer to the vegetarian option, I would call it fair. Continue reading 'Tamarind Grill vs. Restaurant Week'»
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