Off the record, on the QT in WHB, and very hush-hush…
...Father's Day with lotsa cards, including one each from Gracie and Rosco, a nice chatty 'phone call from the son-in-heir in Vancouver, a snappy shirt from Down Under from two of my step-children, and a c*a*r*e package from Whistler of my daughter's special cordial syrups.
(OtBB previewed Peggy's and Martyn's "Frost Bytes" enterprise last month.) More...
Anyone been to the laundromat section of Strebel's Laundry in the past several months?
It still carries the name of the Strebel family, and the More...
...in eager anticipation awaiting Season 4 of HBO's superb Sunday evening series, "A Game of Thrones."
*** Here be Spoilers! *** Here be Spoilers! ***
After the shocking carnage of the previous week's finale, the current episode:
...as stupid can get!
States look to tax hybrid and electric car owners to recoup road funding
"North Carolina is joining a growing number of states exploring new fees for hybrid and electric car owners to help make up for revenue those drivers aren't paying in gas taxes on their fuel-efficient vehicles." More...
The following was forwarded to me by an OtBB irregular after reading Saturday's entry about the Maryland second-grader who was suspended for nibbling a breakfast pastry into what seemed to the elementary school administration was the shape of a gun.
Kindergartener interrogated over cap gun until he pees his pants, then suspended 10 days
"Dowell Elementary principal Jennifer L. Young told the kindergartener's mother that things would have been even worse had the toy gun been loaded with caps. In that case, the school would have regarded the plaything as an explosive and called the police." More...
...Canadian Health Care, but is less than enthusiastic about her adopted country's gas pump prices:
For thems what require equivalents, one Canadian Dollar ($1.00) equals 97¢ American, and 71.994 liters is 19.019 U.S. gallons.
Her purchase of just under 20 gallons came to $97.00.
It was 20 years ago this Fall that my friend Jeffrey Snyder caused quite a stir, flogged primarily by George Will in Newsweek, with his essay "A Nation of Cowards."
Initially published in the Fall 1993 issue of The Public Interest, Jeff's monograph later evolved into an eponymous book of essays, and it is the thesis of the most celebrated one which tends to stay with the reader. More...
It was a substantive meeting this evening and one remarkably free of political posturing considering that the 2013 Village Board election is just 15 days away... and yes, all three candidates were in attendance.
First up was what amounted to Local Law "housekeeping," as Chapters 123 and 178 of the Village Code were amended to, respectively, make it illegal to switch Beach stickers between vehicles, and to allow ticketing of sloppily parked vehicles... i.e., taking up more than one space! More...
...as 286 voters of the Westhampton Beach Fire District turned out to approve a $15.7 million bond issue which will allow the current structure to be razed and a modern facility to be built in the same location on Sunset Avenue.
"No" votes were cast by 156 of the 442 district residents who marked their ballots the old-fashioned way, with a pen on a plain sheet of white paper. More...
Updated 06/11/2013 – 12:19 pm
In the case of New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg, who died yesterday at age 89, however, it's difficult not to.
Never mind discovered trying to take, at public expense, his mistress on a junket to Israel, in 1997 he sponsored legislation, subsequently enacted as the "Lautenberg Law" (18 USC § 922) making anyone who "has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence," a prohibited person in respect to possession of a firearm. More...
...another in OtBB's on-going "Used and Useful" series of commercial establishments in the Westhampton Beach area which have been pulled back from the brink of demised premises status.
(See also Like to see this happen... and Another step in the right direction...) More...
(I write "we" in the general sense.)
It's very difficult to write about this woman without coming off as a misogynist and/or an anti-Semite, but her public display of stupidity has me on the edge of both, simmering for the past ten weeks. More...
I hadn't seen Connie Cyrta in over half-a-century, and I didn't really know her... she was several years behind me and I hadn't attended any school here after 5th Grade... but I just came across her obit notice on 27East and uttered a spontaneous "Damn!"
I used to see her, a trim pretty little thing with a mildly olive complexion, walking... always with great purpose... along Oak Street, and if she noticed my Larkspur Blue '57 Chevy convertible and looked up, she smiled the type of smile that made boys my age drive off the road and narrowly miss a tree.
I doubt that she ever turned her head to signal any sort of invitation, but O that smile!
...a week late and one or more testicles short. And very neatly confirms my original point, that the garden variety local, no matter how exercised about a subject, is pathologically fearful of standing up and speaking out.
This morning's (uncorrected) E-missive from "ann omminus" ("annyomminus@hotmail.com") reads: More...
...today, May 30, is the real Memorial Day, and the one I've observed my entire life. Three day weekends are nice, but how 'bout tradition?
And in honor of that tradition, OtBB will share an image and a relevant bit of recent history: More...
They were an "old" team this year, and had to scramble to win the final four games of the abbreviated regular season just to make it into the Stanley Cup playoffs.
The Red Wings came back from down 3-2 in the opening round against the Anaheim Ducks who had the third best record in the NHL, and had Chicago fans walking about for the past six days with that white rictus of fear around their mouths, but couldn't put the Blackhawks away. More...
Wish I'd seen this headline before being dragged off to Six Corners earlier this month to see this damned thing:
'Twilight,' 'Iron Man 3' Lead First Wave of Teen Choice Awards Nominations
And I'm not talking about the "Twilight" entry... I haven't seen a single one in the series, which claim I'll still be able to make with my dying breath! More...
...move over Elyse, you have company in the ranks of scofflaws as Deputy Mayor Hank Tucker joins you among those Village Board members and candidates for same, who never studied the section of Plutarch which contained the dictum...
"Caesar's wife must be above suspicion."
(Pssst! Hank... that goes for Caesar as well! You act like Jim Kametler was your role model.) More...
...when it comes to obeying the law or even following directions, witness yet another willful ignoring of a clearly marked "No Parking or Standing" sign on the North side of Hulse Court.
(Between Moniebogue Lane and the South Main Street parking lot, it's at the very rear of the building housing Shock Kids and Shock Ice Cream.) More...
...and no, I'm not referring to Hank Tucker's refusal to participate in a pre-election debate as he's done both times I've (unsuccessfully) run against him for the Village Board.
(Though it will be interesting to see if he and Patricia DiBenedetto, who also flaked in 2011, are willing to face Toni Jo Birk in a debate this time around.) More...
That's the question hanging over the head of Congressman resigned-in-disgrace Anthony Weiner as he prepares to announce his candidacy for Mayor of New York City.
He has one big thing going for him... and, no!, it's not that!
He's a New York City Democrat! More...
Unusually well-attended meeting for a Work Session... almost an overflow crowd, and the reason became apparent when, following Village Planner Kyle Collins' recitation of the history of the current Master Plan in respect to the B1, B2 and B3 Districts, and a 4¾ minute argument by Andrew Mendelson's attorney Frank Isler, over half of the attendees tromped out of the room.
(The time is cited because Mayor Conrad Teller had granted him "one minute" in which to speak.) More...
At 7:00 pm this evening, opposite the regularly scheduled Westhampton Beach Trustees Work Session, the Westhampton Beach Fire District is holding its final informational meeting prior to the June 4th Special Vote on the proposed $15,700,000 bond to construct a new Fire House.
This is the second time in the past year that such a conflict has occurred.
...who's keeping Kosher this year?
From last October 17th's OtBB entry, "Simon Sez," quoting a release from Hampton Synagogue after the proprietor of Beach Bakery had pulled the plug on them:
"We are pleased to inform you that in light of this development, several well known kosher establishments have now expressed their desire to open in the village. Our commitment is to have a new kosher establishment in place by Spring 2013." More...
Updated Tuesday, May 21, 2013 – 09:32 pm
| Semi-official results of the 2013 Westhampton Beach School District Election | ||||
| Candidate | Votes | Budget Results | ||
| Claire Bean | ✔459 | School | ✔493-200 | |
| Joyce Donneson | 344 | Library | ✔477-209 | |
| Halsey Stevens | ✔395 | |||
A total of 663 voters went to the polls and another 30 absentee ballots were tabulated. More...
...being the second1 in what is furiously hoped will be a lengthy series of entries in the "Used and Useful" series.
During the "economic downturn" which none of the past three Presidents have been able to turn around, with more and more commercial properties in the Village lying fallow, it's grand to see signs of life in demised premises. More...
The New York Knickerbockers made official this evening what I had forecast on Wednesday, bowing
106-99 to the Indiana Pacers
losing their NBA semi-final conference series in six games.
Not that the Knicks didn't have help... there was More...
...to April 8, 1973 and a modest dinner party we were hosting for a pair of playoff games with the NHL New York Rangers and the NBA New York Knicks taking on, respectively, the Boston Bruins and the Baltimore Bullets.
Both pairings were between arch rivals, and as both were being televised I carefully set up the house's two 17-inch black & white TVs in the dining room so that we and our guests could follow the action while we ate. More...
...her enterprise and the father bursts with pride!
Conceived, created and a reality! Go Pegs, go!
Knew it a week ago last night right after their sole win (so far) in the second round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, the one in which the Knicks went on a 36-4 2nd half run to win, 105-79.
My buddy Marty called when the game ended... we'll speak four or five times during the game... and talk about how the team we've been following since they played some of their games in the 69th Regiment Armory had finally awoken from their lethargy. More...
This is a subject I probably shouldn't be writing about, but it is a compelling one on so many different levels.
Angelina Jolie reveals she had preventive double mastectomy after discovering cancer gene
News of the 37-year old Oscar-winning actress' personal decision after learning that she was carrying the brac1 gene, suggests a variety of sub-head addenda, from the snappy... More...
