Pop Clips » 16 July 11 - *HP Slideshow from a recent New York Magazine!* *Pottter shatters records...* * * The eighth film in the Harry Potter series broke single-day box office records..
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#ssm Gay Marriage Albany Wedding Album
Congrats to all of you couples! Scroll down to the bottom for my musical gift to you!Six gay and lesbian couples from around the Capital Region were among the first in the state to legally wed under New York’s same-sex marriage law. Mayor Jerry Jennings and Judge Joseph Teresi officiated in Albany. This is what it looked outside City Hall around 11pm, an hour before things got underway...

Lights, cameras... ACTION!
When I first arrived at City Hall, I jokingly mentioned to Dori Marlin that it's been about three years since I last saw her out covering a story. "You're the third person who's told me that tonight," said she... No, she and Dan Levy weren't tying the knot... they were witnessing
Judge Teresi officiating the wedding of an African-American couple who had children with them. I wasn't able to find out who the kids were. Everyone was smiling most of the time, except during those "serious, solemn" moments! Here's the Times Union account of the evening... I mentioned in my radio report that gay rights and human rights activists hope the Empire State's same-sex marriage law will have nationwide impact - that it will impress lawmakers throughout the land, all the way to President Barack Obama. Gay marriage advocates now say they will push for Federal legislation that would require ALL states to recognize same-sex unions.
Mayor Jenning's longtime friends ("Super Secret Couple") Dale Getto and Barbara Laven were married by hizzoner. After the City Hall proceedings, they jumped in a stretch limo and headed up to Saratoga for celebration at Vapor! Congratulations, ladies!
Old chum Dan Levy from NewsChannel 13 takes a seat to jot down a few notes...
Albany City Councilman Anton Konev was on the scene to "witness history." This fellow attends more local events than Brian Scavo!
I love people! Comrades-in-arms Fox23 reporter and cameraman mugged for my smartphone as the crowd began leaving City Hall. Good job, guys!
And here's a musical gift for you Gay Couples! Ronnette's Ronnie Spector with substitute 'nettes Belinda Carlisle (Go-Gos) and Grace Slick (Jefferson Airplane) with the late great Clarence Clemmons on sax!
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Photographs are the property of Dave Lucas and may not be used without permission. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
Sum-Sum-Summertime!
So how was YOUR day? Here are a few HOT links for a Heat Wave!
What is Prometheus? Ridley Scott Unveils Footage at Comic-Con
The Comic-Con Diaries
Paul Scheer heads to Comic-Con to document the oddest sights he encounters at the geek mecca!
Facebook Statistics: Quantitative Impact of Facebook on People
Retro-posts ::: (via Facebook Share)




#Lunch was awesome!

The Central Ave. restaurant is more 3rd world than 3rd world McDonald's I've visited along the years... a cool stop on a hot day, totally charming, a cacaphony of voices speaking in many different languages permeates the french-fried atmosphere... the workers are friendly and polite...

This was my first time tasting this Mango/pineapple concoction: it was delightful. (I'm still working on my idea for a high-fiber lo-cal milkshake) Really hit the spot! (But I still prefer the Southeast Asian McD Mango Pies w/Fried Chicken!)

Thank-you, McD's! ♥♥♥
Albany Public Library Bookmobile SOLD
Your tax dollars at work, Smallbanians!
Attention Shoppers
A week ago today I mentioned the vast difference in prices on grocery items when comparing Price Chopper vs. Hannaford [read that here] ...now, with Shop-Rite breathing down it's neck, Price Chopper is loading up those "loss leader" items.
The other day my neighbor got out of his SUV with some Price Chopper bags and proclaimed (as we exchanged 'hello's'') "Look at this! I got two GIANT bottles of Hawaiian Punch for just $2.19!" I replied "up - I got the same at Hannaford for $1.49 each." He looked back at me incredulously.
Here's how it works, people: For most of june and early July, Price Chopper was selling HP for $2 a bottle. It was $1.99 at Hannaford and Sav-A-Lot.

Price Chopper has a new "Double Coupon" deal where they double any manufacturer's coupon up to a dollar. It seems that when a manufacturer's coupon comes out in one of the weekly fliers, they "adjust" the price.
Hawaiian Punch (when the mfg 50cents off coupon began circulating) went up to $3.19 at PC but stayed the same $1.99 at HFD and SAL.
So, when you buy the product and present the coupon, you're still paying more for the item! What I did was take my 50cents off coupon to Hannaford, and bought the item for $1.49.
MORAL ::: when couponing, watch your prices carefully. You may have similar differences between supermarkets in your onw area. DO NOT BASE YOUR SHOPPING LIST ON YOUR LAST TRIP TO THE STORE (especially if a new 50c or less coupon is out!) And be especially vigilant at the Price Chopper checkout. On more than one occasion the electronic scanner has rung up a price more expensive than the marked price. DO NOT BUY ANY ITEM THAT DOES NOT HAVE THE PRICE ON IT. If you do, you have "no proof" at the register.
NetActive 17 July 2011
| Joely Schwenk auditioning for NBC's "The Voice" |
| A local singer with a large following in the Capital Region hopes to extend her fan club as she prepares to audition for the hit NBC Show "The Voice." |
El Punto Es [es] publishes an interesting interview with the Puerto Rican DJ Marcos Flores, who lives in Madrid, Spain.
In case you missed these ::: Harry Potter #8 posts:
Pop Clips » 16 July 11 - *HP Slideshow from a recent New York Magazine!* *Pottter shatters records...* * * The eighth film in the Harry Potter series broke single-day box office records..
Tags: Joely Schwenk, The Voice
Watch Your Ride
The bus driver is likely the highest-paid annual wage earner aboard the vehicle. He should be thanking US for giving him a cush job where he can sit all day long as he tools around town.

Pictured: a "600 series" GM motor coach, used by CDTA's private sector predecessor, United Traction Company. These small-diesel powered workhorses were so efficient and economical, they remained in daily use through the 1970s!
Let's see how many people are thankful come this fall when CDTA "revises" bus routes. Based on previous performance, here's what they'll possibly do:
(1) eliminate more bus stops like they've done in the past, especially where a disabled person or a small child may have been getting on, forcing them to walk a long distance under sometimes treacherous conditions to get to an "official" stop - especially in a suburban area - or smaller town
(2) extend some routes to enable busses to pollute more and damage roadways - like the Second Avenue line. It was extended over Whitehall Road to St. Peter's Hospital. The noisy vehicles whiz by with a single passenger (most of the time they're empty) and badly damaged a portion of Hackett Boulevard, where a cement slab had to be put down to accomodate them. (The buses draw traffic from the #9 Whitehall Road bus, and I'll betcha the CDTA is going to announce #9 is shutting down because "fares are down" because about ten people a day hop aboard the Second Ave. line, because they travel about a minute in front of #9)
A more LOGICAL thing to do: KEEP #9 because it's the only way one might travel from Whitehall Road to near Central Avenue (get off at Partridge, Quail or Lake) without having to pay more $$$ for another bus, since the transfer system was abolished. And why not EXTEND #9 at the Morton Avenue area to run all the way down Morton and over South Pearl instead of crossing Eagle?
NOW I "get it" ::: CDTA just doesn't get it.
Let's hope they don't raise bus fare again.
You "thank-you" folks would be smarter to run out and hug and thank the guys who take your garbage out on trash day.
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
Sunday's Newspapers 10 July 2011
Without Anthony Weiner to poke (fun at)and with the Casey Anthony trial "resolved," the Sunday news is a little tamer this weekend: the sensational stories (except maybe for what's happening with Rupert Murdoch) take a back seat today.
It's great when a newspaper takes an original story and keeps readers "in the loop." There's nothing worse than wondering "what happened" - the Albany Times Union has done a marvelous job following the life and times of "Poppy" - and the timing here was just right for a page-one follow-up to the transient's seemingly never-ending story! Poppy has settled for now in Ravena. (For those wishing to read the storyonline, don't fret - the "print exclusives" eventually show up at the TU's website.)
Right below the Poppy article there's a story very timely for seafood lovers: a warning that imported fish containing banned chemicals are being sold in the U.S.
"Death Arrives in the Neighborhood" is a story out of Lake George with a very unhappy ending, like so many stories of "relationship violence" turn out. Just as I wonder about suicides, I wonder how bad life has to be, how low one must sink, how severe heartbreak must be, for things like these to happen. Your prayers for all of the people involved in this and the Massachusetts story that follows below are needed!
THE BOSTON GLOBE has the bigger story (a sensational one in the Greater Boston area)::: that of Nathaniel Fujita, the son of Berklee College of Music assistant prof. Tomohisa Fujita, charged with the July 3rd murder of Lauren Astley.
Deep inside the Sunday Times Union there's an ad where Hannaford vs. Price Chopper over the cost of cereal. REALLY? Hannaford, why the kid gloves? Why not go after them on the cost of MEAT. I'll give you an example. Roughly a pound of hamburger at the Delmar Hannaford cost me $3 and change on Saturday. The same day, roughly a pound of hamburger at the Madison Avenue Price Chopper ran around $7. I picked up a steak at HFD for $2.14. A nice steak, big enough for three (four with samller portions). I couldn't find a steak at the Madison PC for less than $8.Now, Price Chopper may be advertsing lower prices for meat, but everytime I've gone to the meat section I CANNOT FIND a single package steak or hamburger being sold for less than $4 or $5, where at Hannaford, I can ALWAYS find a $2.50 steak and a $2.89 package of hamburger - and if it expires that day they'll even have a markdown slip on it anywhere from 75c to $1.50 off!
THE SARATOGIAN is running stories about economic uncertainty and the decline of fine arts possibly threatening the New York City Ballet's future with SPAC and the preponderance of "invasive species" making Saratoga Lake a "travel destination."
THE NY POST homepage showcases Derek jeter's 3000th hit. And so it goes. Another newspaper Sunday is in the books.
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
Andrew Cuomo For Vice President
Fast Forward to July 3, 2011. Talk of Andrew Cuomo running as the Vice Presidential candidate along with Barack Obama. Really? At this moment in time, President Barack Obama seems to have a rough road ahead in 2012. (Or maybe not - a lot depends on the quality of his Republican opponent).
This is not the first instance of chatter about Andrew as VP material. Political observers were making predictions about this back in April.Since Marriage Equality passed in New York, the name "Andrew Cuomo" is vocalized with much excitement. Democrats, let's not get carried away. Keep in mind, Cuomo is the guy who drove the bus on gay marriage in New York. The question is: how will this set with voters throughout the Southern states?
Before we go teaming Andrew up with Barack, we need to poll the South. While it may be true that national attitudes regarding gay marriage have changed significantly, and much of the opposition comes from people over age 60, there's a LARGE concentration of elderly folks down from the Carolinas through Florida. Georgia, especially Atlanta, would probably have no problem with Cuomo. Over in Miss. and Alabama may be a different story. Then there's Texas (and New Mexico). The land of "real men" or "he men" - a land where gay pride perhaps has a softer voice.
Weekend Headlines You May Have Missed
HACKERS FIND NEW TARGET IN ANDROID no doubt will concern those using the 'droid smartphone. It boils down to the subheadline "Open design of Google's operating system makes smartphones vulnerable." MAJOR WARNING BELLS HERE! Last thing anybody wants these days is to have their personal telephone compromised or screwed up by a virus. This could become for Google what viruses have meant to Windows users. My advice: get a smartphone with any other OS until you can be 100% damn sure your phone can't get infected!
THIS ELECTRICITY HOG LIVES IN A LITTLE BOX Makes me happy because I abhor cable TV, with the crappy picture and sporadic service that can simultaneously disable your TV, internet and home phone in one single line failure! Turns out that your cable box drains more power tha your refrigerator - 446 kilowatt hours a year - that's 12% more than the ref here at the apartment in NYC!
Particularly of interest to Capital Region peeps:
This isn't really a "headline" - just a half-page ad in the Sunday paper: "Hey Capital District Chopper Shoppers, Celebrate a NEW way to save! We now DOUBLE manufacturer's coupons with a face value of up to 99 cents... EVERY DAY"
My advice: gather up your coupons and shop at PC on a "coupon only" basis. (Make sure you wouldn't save more by using the coupon UNdoubled someplace else!) Most of their stuff is priced way over Hannaford and Walmart. Hannaford totally wins when it comes to meat. A steak at PC runs you around $7 - the same cut at Hfd I just paid $2.41!
Here's a genuine headline:
JENNINGS: FIRST IN LINE TO WED GAYS If you really want hold politcial office, you have to be "one with the people." Check out Jerry Jenning's career as Mayor of the city of Albany. Time after time, facts prove he has "the pulse of the people" beating through his brain!
Last but not least, the following tale actually made Page One of the "Capital Region" section of Sunday's times Union: "Visa denials keep son from dad in U.S." ::: As much as the newspaper might like to make this a human interest story, perhaps Carlos Galvan would have been much better off taking the Jose Antonio Vargas route!
Tags: Virus Google Android, Hannaford, time-warner cable, smartphone virus, DVR, Hack Android

Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.
Inquiring Minds Want To Know...
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE?
If passed into law here in New York, it will open the door for the legalization of polygamy, I guesstimate within 40 years.
DEAN SKELOS?
The buzz around Albany is that the NYS Senate Majority Leader is falling out of favour due to failure to act on Rent Control and Same-sex marriage. Could just be rumours, but as I see it, whether you stand FOR or AGAINST something, people respect you for having "the courage of your convictions." . People do not respect wishy-washy or indecisive people. I'm not really sure how the general public or GOP insiders view Skelos, but any doubt could be fueled by another faction trying to get their guy in as ML. We'll just have to wait and see on this one!
THE GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS?
If the election were held today, I don't think any of the declared candidates could beat President Barack Obama. But the election will NOT be held today, so all bets are off. (Aside: A Mitt Romney victory may slice a few years off legalized polygamy, an issue which is attractive to Mormons and some Muslims. There are a few loosely-knit fringe women's rights groups that believe polygamy would solve those "mistress" issues we hear so much about.)
ANTHONY WEINER?
Contrary to what you're hearing, he's not done yet! His "farewell address" was more like an acceptance speech. The man has a plan even if we (and possibly he) haven't got a clue as to what it may be.
THE DECLINE OF THE BLOG?
People have been saying blogs are "going out of favour" since 2005! Poppycock!
NetActive 14 June 2011
With just 17 months to go before the US Presidential election, none of the emerging Republican candidates impress me more than Michele Bachmann. I kinda like "the businessman" Herman Cain. Everybody else favors Mitt Romney, but I can't imagine him defeating Barack Obama. And we still aren't exactly sure what Sarah Palin will do. Out with you, damned Newt! The great thing about a democracy is that you can have a pack of candidates like this to pick and choose from. We just have to wait and see where it all goes.
The GoodYear Blimp burns and crashes...When a tour bus operator found he had more passengers than seats, he put six people in the luggage compartment with mattresses and pillows.
Puerto Rican ladyblogger YuYu was dissed in D.C. and fired back by dropping an internet bomb.
The Electric's "Toot Toot" is HUCK Magazine's Video of the week! Electric Fans note: Pugz Aromz is on tumblr.
I ran across a really neat art blog today: In Stillness - Artworks by Rebecca Ladds... when I look at blogs like this one, I get inspired... my brain gets stimulated! Great art = great thinking!
Of interest to upstate NY readers ::: It was just a year ago that John Mulrooney joined Cumulus rocker WPDH (101.5 Poughkeepsie) as part of the "Coop & Mulrooney Show," but now the station says "the time is right to move on from having a four-person show," leaving Mark Cooper and sidekicks Kricket and Deuce in place - and Mulrooney as the odd man out. Mulrooney was probably better known to Albany listeners for his long stint as part of the "Wolf and Mulrooney" morning show on PYX-106. Also via fybush, of interest to NYC readers: He's best known for his big hit "Someday, Someway," but now Marshall Crenshaw is trying his hand at radio. Crenshaw will join the staff of WFUV (90.7) beginning next Saturday for a one-hour weekly show called "The Bottomless Pit," which will air at 10 PM, following Vin Scelsa's venerable "Idiot's Delight."
How do you know you're getting 20 gallons?
All gas pumps bear stickers which declare they've been checked for accurate delivery. But exactly HOW accurate is that?
Look what happened to a motorist in China:
A Sinopec gas station in Anhui city of Suzhou province pumped 45 liters of gas into a 35 liter gas tank
Real person real story, yellow plate-less [Chery] QQ, 0.8 L displacement, dealer and manufacturer confirm gas tank is indeed 35 liters.
May 4th, filling up gas. The car still had a little fuel, but the pump kept going until it reached 335 kuai[RMB]. Surprised, thought gas prices have increased to 10 kuai [per liter], because in the past it was always a 200-some kuai.
This car owner is from Suzhou, and hasn’t driven the car out of the gas station after filling up, and instead has been seeking an explanation from the gas station, but there hasn’t been a reasonable explanation up to today. On the afternoon of May 5th, Sinopec brought the people from Bureau of Quality Inspection, as well as from television news. The Bureau of Quality Inspection checked that gas pump and then surprising said there was nothing wrong with it! So a gas tank can suddenly become 10 liters larger out of thin air?
Asked the gas station to drain the gas on the spot [to measure it], but no one from Sinopec accepted [the challenge], all of them hiding.
Still have the receipts, and some replies to what some friends have asked.
No [separate] gas canister.
I pumped gas directly into the [car's] gas tank.
Everyone can check for themselves the gas tank capacity of the 0.8L QQ.
How did it add up to 335 yuan?
The Little Squirrel

The squirrel hid under the front steps of the house next door, until growing confident that no harm would come its way.

Although the rodent was friendly, I didn't want it to lose its fear of humans. After taking a few snapshots, I stepped away.

Later on when it was gone from the immediate area, I sprinkled a few peanuts on the ground, in hopes if the creature was hungry this would sustain it for the time being.
Chairs and Agendas...
Now, onto the two agendas (agendi?):::
Talk about head-scratcher: the weekend Albany Times Union ran a 3-pager that started as the front page headline "Reformer or corrupt mayor? - all about the late Thomas Whalen - he's been gone about 10 years - hasn't been mayor for a lot longer than thatt, and yet the newspaper elects to write a story (by one of its top reporters) about a failed FBI probe?
Makes no sense... UNLESS... the paper is setting up the framework for a more current tale involving Albany County micropolitics... that's my "gut guess"
Ok, one agenda down...
Next, via Michelle Malkin, a really "out there" tale - if this wasn't Michelle, I'd write it off as a parody / fantasy. It is REAL as REAL can be! Hover and click on the image below!
Alas, her Islamofascist-boosting journeys are far from over."
Searching For A Local Ghost
ANYONE witnessing or bearing any ghostly tales regarding the lake plese leave your remarks in "comments" below (you may identify yourself or remain anonymous at your own discretion.)
Tags: Buckingham Lake, Raft's Pond
Permission to reprint this blog post in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided that the author (or authors) and Dave Lucas are properly cited. Permission to reprint any comments below is granted only for those comments written by Dave Lucas and staff.WTF? I thought the price of gas was supposed to be going down, not up...
~Photo by Saki Tumi

