Woodstock CT Café

 from Nary

These classic insults are from an era before the English language
got boiled down to 4-letter words.

The exchange between Churchill & Lady Astor:
She said, “If you were my husband I’d give you poison.”
He said, “If you were my wife, I’d drink it.”

A member of Parliament to Disraeli:
“Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease.”
“That depends, Sir,” said Disraeli, “whether I embrace your policies or your mistress.”

“He had delusions of adequacy.” – Walter Kerr

“He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.” – Winston Churchill

“I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.” Clarence Darrow

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.” – William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

“Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I’ll waste no time reading it.” – Moses Hadas

“I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” – Mark Twain

“He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends..” – Oscar Wilde

“I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend…. if you have one.” – George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
“Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second…. if there is one.” – Winston Churchill, in response. Read the rest of this entry »

 Steven Spielberg stunned by what he finds while touring Woodstock with Jennica Heifer, ace reporter for the Villager.

“Pathetic earthlings, who can save you now?” Emperor Ming

Why it’s our Boards of Finance & Education, of course!

The story of Woodstock’s epic struggle in pursuit of responsible financial management combined with investment in education for Woodstock’s children spread across the country like wildfire. Even Steven Spielberg commissioned a screen play to tell the story on the big screen. Spielberg came to Woodstock to scope out the setting for his new film in the making. As we strolled around Woodstock gingerly stepping over cow pies, listening to the croaking frogs, and admiring the flocks of turkeys in the fields, I asked Mr. Spielberg what the name of his new movie might be. He said he had thought of a few working titles like “War of the Wor.ds”, “Grapes of Woodstock’s Wrath”, etc. But no final decision has been made. I then asked Mr. Spielberg to tell me who would play the leading characters in this landmark film. He said that he had assembled a fine cast. He indicated that although he had not met any of the characters in the screenplay, he had sort of developed an impression of these people from their roles in the narrative of the screenplay. He also spent several hours at Java Jive to get a feel for what the town is really like.

Regarding the Board of Finance Spielberg said, “Obviously there is only one leading actor who exhibits the strength and fortitude of Glenn Converse. For Glenn, I have signed up Gerard Butler of “300″ fame. For stalwart George McCoy I have lined up Russell Crowe known for his “Perfect Mind” and his “Gladiator” approach to politics. For Richard Cass, I have signed up the very wise Pierce Bronson who has Bond like qualities but can sing like Abba. Finally for Mike Dougherty, me thinks George Clooney who played a fireman (putting out fires for his law firm) in “Michael Clayton”.

Regarding the Board of Education Spielberg said, “Obviously there is only one fine actress that could possibly play the heroine, Lindsay Paul. Yes, I have lined up Harvard-educated Laura Linney to play Ms. Paul. For the role of Kevin Ford I thought that I would snag Bill Nighy. As for other key members on the BOE, Kirsten Rigney, I thought because of her intellectual and professional persona she should be played by Charlize Theron and Carol Andrzeicik should be played, for obvious reasons, by Phoebe Cates. For Sara Harkness we thought Tilda Swinton might be a good choice because of her mission in “Michael Clayton” although the verdict is still out (this is a pun because “Michael Clayton” was all about a verdict). To round out the educated side of the Board of Education, we selected Prince of the City, Treat Williams , a Rowayton kid who lived near the Leavitts, to play Scott Sincerbeaux and Al Pacino to play Tony Walker. Finally, a well known acting duo will play Steven Rosendahl and Brian Musumeci.” Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t say that the strategy of the DTC was to lay low to suppress the vote to aid Richardson’s election … but I am convinced that this was the strategy of Jim Kaeding, Margaret Wholean, and Craig R. Powers (who publicly stated that he wouldn’t support Cass). As Chairman of the DTC, Kaeding apparently did nothing to promote their own Democratic candidates for the Board of Finance, the only contested race. His last attempt to persuade voters was a week or two before the June 9th referendum to repeal the BOE. So Dick Cass and Charles Super had to rely on outside forces since rhetoric by itself will not work.

By contrast, George McCoy openly stated his support for education and got elected by a significant margin (almost three times the number of votes that Richardson got). This stance taken by George displayed the courage and unprecedented honesty of his candidacy. Congratulations, George.

Outside forces recognized the importance of this race (its impact on the composition of the BOF) and had no choice but to choose between Cass and Super to defeat Richardson. These forces chose the experience and past performance of Dick Cass. During this campaign, I could not erase from my memory the fact that Cass had tried to help Glenn Converse pass the 2009 budget. Shortly after that effort there was an illegal reversal of the vote which should never have been allowed.

There must be members of the DTC who are revolted by their Committee’s lack of advocacy of its own candidates. For this reason, you need to rally your members and remove Kaeding from the Chair … and his ‘Secretary’ (Ms. Wholean who is actually Treasurer of the DTC) as well. But you’ll have to do this alone because there will be no crashing of the annual meeting by outsiders. Why would anyone want to associate themselves with such a shabby operation.