Woodstock CT Café

77 …..www.remindernews.com/
69 …..www.norwichbulletin.com/news/
39 …..karenmcfarlin.blogspot.com/ (updated Thursday)
47 ……www.woodstockrepublicans.com/
51 ……www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bzcDDtLQiY (updated Thursday)
42 ……www.bowensgarageinc.com/history.html
51 (new) www.thepomfrettimes.org/ (updated Friday)
29 ……www.woodstockctdems.org/ (updated Thursday)
26 ……www.woodstockschools.net/boardmeetings.htm
21 ……www.killinglyschools.org/20532072318737387/lib/20532072318737387/april_2010.pdf
17 ……www.townofwoodstock.com/
15 ……www.jenranrealty.com/
14 ……www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/opinion/25friedman.html?ref=thomaslfriedman
12 ……www.taylorsbb.com/
7 ………www.peets.com/
7 ………www.taylorbrookewinery.com/index.html

These red dots represent the last 3815 visits from different locations of which 2808 are from the USA. The size of the red dot reflects larger clusters of visitors. As one might suspect a fair percentage of visits come from the Connecticut area.

Higher resolution clusters:

Two years ago after snow was on the ground we started to see Tricycle and Gray on the bench just outside our back door. We often placed food out there for our other cats and these two, independent of each other, were hungry and wanted to participate.

Tricycle was notable because he was missing the lower part of his right hind leg and left fresh blood prints in the snow. Gray was more mysterious and strickingly beautiful in color. Neither cat would let us approach him and would move away down the stone wall behind the bench into the brush if we came near. If we left food and returned inside the back door, they would reappear to eat.

We suspected that tricycle lived in a crawlspace under the floor of a storage area in our garage. It was bitter cold that winter so Becki put a cat carrier (with door open) lined with a blanket in the crawl space. We don’t know where Gray goes most nights but I leave the door to the storage room over our garage open enough so a cat can slip in. I have often found Gray hanging out in that spacious room protected from the elements.

After many months rolled by Tricycle allowed us to pat him while he ate. When warm weather came, we would leave the kitchen door open so he could sneak in and eat where our other cats ate, but he would always leave quickly if we entered the room. Tricycle then found that he could escape the house by leaving through the cat door in the laundry room through the pantry next to the kitchen. By last winter, Gray also had found the cat door for entry into the laundry room so we left food on the floor there. Soon he was sleeping in laundry baskets some nights but he would never venture further into the kitchen.

It was last winter that we started keeping Tricycle in the house by closing all the exit routes. We started giving him hugs and he showed his appreciation by purring like a lion. Now he rolls on the counter where we feed him or on the rug to expose his belly for a belly rub. For the last four months, off and on, he has been sleeping at the head of our bed above Becki’s pillow. If I awake in the middle of the night, I make sure to reach over for a few satisfying touches.

Gray, although skitish, eats in the kitchen with the rest of the cats and they all seem to like him. If he is outside on the bench, he will greet me with a pathetic meow and lets me pick him up for transport into the kitchen. I imagine that Gray will bed down in the laundry room this coming winter and be available at feeding times in the morning and evening. 

Click to enlarge

“Memory - all alone in the moonlight.
I can smile at the old days,
I was beautiful then.
I remember the time I knew what happiness was.
Let the memory live again.”
…
“Daylight, I must wait for the sunrise.
I must think of a new life,
And I mustn’t give in.
When the dawn comes tonight will be a memory too,
And a new day will begin.”
…
“Touch me, it’s so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun.
If you touch me, you’ll understand what happiness is.
Look, a new day has begun.”

This is for the last 1100 visitors.

Woodstock RTC - 35 click throughs

Woodstock DTC - 20 click throughs

Click throughs to other local sites by the last 1100 Cafe visitors from the Cafe:
68 www.norwichbulletin.com/
44 www.remindernews.com/
42 www.bowensgarageinc.com/  
39 www.karenmcfarlin.blogspot.com/  
35 www.woodstockrepublicans.com/
25 www.woodstockschools.net/boardmeetings.htm
21 www.killinglyschools.org/
20 www.woodstockctdems.org/
17 www.townofwoodstock.com/
14 www.jenranrealty.com/
11 www.taylorsbb.com/
7 www.taylorbrookewinery.com/

Below are three thumbnail Cafe visitor maps. Many are coming to the Cafe to read articles like my article on Gene Doping published two years ago. The map of Finland shows the location of a group of visitors from Finland all of which came to read the full article. The refering link suggests that the URL for the article was posted on Facebook … in Finland. In fact the Gene Doping article is the most read article at the Cafe followed by A Student’s article on speeding in Woodstock. Watch out for this problem at the next Olympics in London. I drove through all of these Finnish cities in 1985 and felt like I was driving through upper New England in the 1950s on the wrong side of the road. And going above the Arctic Circle was an interesting experience. In Turku at the southern tip of Finland there’s a great castle to tour through.

The global map on the right shows that most of the very recent visitors are from the US. I found out that I could expand the map in regions so the third map in the center shows the concentration of visitors in the Connecticut area. The fact is that most of our visitors come in from Woodstock which would be represented by only one balloon. We have many visitors from surrounding towns as well.

Click each map to expand and get the full picture.

This is the last film in the Zflix film festival.  It’s also the best one in my opinion.

Be there or be square!  No excuses – drag yourself there, like Doug dragged me to so many things!

BONUS!  MOVIE IS PRECEDED BY A LIVE RAPTOR SHOW!

No Kenny, raptors are not dinosaurs  (like Velociraptor.)  They are birds.  There will be a half hour educational program with live raptors, courtesy of Horizon Wings wildlife rehabilitators of Ashford, CT. They will probably bring a Kestrel, Red-Tailed Hawk and an owl. See sample of shows they do here. The raptor show is GREAT for kids.

• LOCATION: Palmer Hall, 523 Route 169, Woodstock CT 06281 (yellow brick building, past the Woodstock Fairgrounds, near the “hill”)
• TIME: 7:30 p.m.  Raptor show from 7:30 – 8, movie begins at 8.  There will be a brief intermission.
• Each film will have a brief introduction by the Woodstock Historical Society, and Larry or Bet Zimmerman. Discussion follows for those who want to stick around.

Friday July 30, 2010, 7:30 p.m.

TOUCHING THE VOID

Read the rest of this entry »

This quote was in the Norwich Bull on Friday at the bottom of an article on improvements being made to the Salt Barn and Highway Facility in Woodstock.

Alberts said, “What we’re doing to improve the facility is long overdue.”

Sure Mike  Thanks for making it happen

SUNDAY July 18, 2 p.m.., at Palmer Hall 523 Route 169, Woodstock CT:   on the hill (past the Woodstock Fairgrounds)– for directions see mapquest
•    WINGED MIGRATION
•    Presented with minimal narration and filmed primarily from a bird’s perspective.  An enthralling study of the lives and habits of migrating birds. Breathtaking cinematography and gorgeous music drive this Academy Award-nominated documentary, a thrilling visual adventure created by French filmmakers.  Understated (not preachy) and inspiring.  2001.  89 minutes.  Preceded by a Looney Tunes cartoon. Watch Trailer

Next Friday July 23, 7:30 p.m. : Never Cry Wolf.

Z FLIX:  Summer film festival sponsored by the Woodstock Historical Society, in honor of Doug Zimmerman.  Movies with outdoors and nature themes will be shown on the big screen at Palmer Hall, 523 Route 169 in Woodstock on Friday July 23  and July 30th at 7:30 p.m.  The film on July 30th will be proceeded by a  LIVE RAPTOR SHOW, courtesy of Horizon Wings (of Ashford – www.horizonwings.org.)  Family matinee Sunday July 25 at 2 p.m.  Bring a cushion for the antique wooden seats.  Admission is FREE.   Refreshments will be offered for sale. Donations are welcome. The Woodstock Historical Society is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization.  See schedule and more info at www.cragman.com/zflix.htm

The best fireworks display we ever saw. Becki is in the Bay Area for the week.

One of our favorite activities in San Francisco was, and still is, walking the Golden Gate Bridge (Becki is there this week). Whenever my kids who lived in Odessa TX would visit, we would make a point of spending a day in San Francisco and having a date with the Bridge.
(click to enlarge the small pictures)

In May of 1987, I noticed that the 50th anniversary of the bridge was going to be celebrated in the evening with a spectacular fireworks display and a concert at Chrissey Field (near the Presidio) with the bridge lit up in full view for the ocassion. So Becki and I reserved a room at the Stanford Court on Nob Hill (our favorite hotel in SF) for the nights before and after the event. Six months earlier we had spent 5 days at the Court as the guest of Ryoichi Sasakawa, a billionaire Japanese industrialist who was visiting Linus Pauling.

We heard there was going to be a bridge walk starting at 6 AM on Sunday when the bridge would be blocked off to cars. So we got up early to take a cab over to the bridge because of our uncertainty about parking. Becki stood at one block corner and I went to the next corner to hail a cab; but there were no cabs to be found. Then another fellow showed up at my corner and we discussed the surprising fact that there were no cabs. I said to him that I have a car but I’m not sure where I would park. He responded that he was a VIP and had parking tickets for the ocassion. So his family of four and Becki and I piled into my 4-cylinder Mustang, which barely made it up to the top of Nob Hill, to head over to the bridge.

When we got to the parking area next to the bridge, we realized why there were no cabs. Everyone in San Francisco was taking a cab to the bridge. The organizers of the bridge walk had grossly under-estimated the appeal of the ocassion. Several hundred thousand showed up. Becki took the picture below of shadowy figures at about 6AM entering onto the bridge at sunrise.

We were two of the first to make it to the center of the bridge. That’s me on the left making some wisecrack to Becki. Standing next to me is the son of my VIP friend who was representing Bethlehem Steel which provided the steel for construction of the bridge. That family had never been to San Francisco or seen homosexuals before and were concerned about what they might catch. So they kept close to us thinking that we would offer them some protection. That’s Becki below with the hills of Marin County in the background before the crush. As you can see we weren’t crowded at the center at the beginning. We were oblivious of the happening that was developing. Little did we kow that we would be at the center of the bridge until mid-afternoon. A huge crowd was marching toward the center from behind us and in front of us from the Sausalito side. Read the rest of this entry »

The Café strongly urges our readers to support this recycling drive. The following is taken directly from the town website - Admin

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Judy Walberg, Woodstock Town Clerk (860) 928-6595 x320 townclerk@woodstockCT.gov

 Town of Woodstock and Pomfret CT

Hold Electronics Recycling Drive

—Residents invited to recycle unwanted electronics

Woodstock, CT (April 22, 2010) – The Town of Woodstock & the Woodstock CT Green Energy Committee in partnership with the Town of Pomfret, & the Pomfret Green Team and Smart Technology Management, will hold an electronic recycling drive on Saturday, June 19, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Woodstock Town Hall, 415 Route 169 in Woodstock.  

Residents are encouraged to recycle the following items: CPU/computers, monitors, servers, keyboards, mice, inkjet or laser printers, VCRs, DVD players, stereo equipment, spare computer parts, laptops, network equipment, scanners, fax machines, cables and wires, aluminum, copper, rechargeable nickel cadmium batteries, cell phones or telephones. No alkaline batteries will be accepted.

 ”We also want to encourage households to bring their current CL&P statements with them to sign-up and start saving on their utility costs.  Our team will be there to show you how you can purchase 100% clean renewable energy and SAVE MONEY every month at the same time. It doesn’t cost your more – we SAVE you more money.  Join Woodstock in providing a cleaner, healthier environment for our future generations,” explains Jim Stratos, chairman of the Green Energy Team in Woodstock.

The following items are assigned a disposal fee: TVs, Vacuum Cleaners and intact air conditioners machines. Donations benefit Four Corners Community Chapel.  For more information, call 860-928-6595 x 320.

Smart Technology Management, a Lincoln-based company, recycles the electronic items. Their zero-waste policy means that everything is reused, resold, reclaimed or recycled.

from Jeff

As to anonymous posting, it allows people to speak freely without fear of exposing their personal beliefs and opinions to the entire internet. Once you make a statement on a web site, thanks to Google, it’s going to be available for people to view for a long time to come. Google the name of your neighbor, your co-workers, your brother-in-law, your prospective employee, your current employees, and if they’ve attached their name to a post, you can find it.

On the other hand, anonymous posting can encourage posters to make some rather incendiary statements without concern for facts, and without concern that they will have to answer to the people they attack.

Anyone care to discuss term limits? Shawn Johnston called it quits because of partisan politics, and, according to him (not that I would argue against his assertion) there are too many elected officials more concerned with the next election than actually making decisions that will benefit the people who elected them in the first place. I couldn’t agree more.

I’ll take it a step further. The Tea Party movement has been embraced by some, and perhaps many members of the Republican party. While this is a logical event given the conservative nature of the Tea Party and what Republicans purport to represent, I’d be surprised if Republican elected officials at the State and Federal level truly seek to make an effort to bring Conservative values to government, or just continue on with pseudo-Conservatism and opposing whatever their Democratic counterparts propose.

Anyone else out there?

from John

This was on April 1st 1987. Becki and I had moved into our first house in central Palo Alto. We had only a few pieces of furniture but the winter was warm and we were joined by Becki’s beloved German Shepherd Chewbacka and cockatiel JD. Becki for some reason had concluded that JD was a boy, so we were quite surprised to find a small egg in ‘his’ cage a few days before April. JD’s cage was mounted high on the wall so you had to stand on a stool to see the bottom of the cage. So while Becki was not around on the morning of April 1st, I took a chicken egg out of the fridge and placed it in the bottom of the cage. When Becki came into the living room, I got up on the stool, peered into the cage, and reacted like an academy award winning actor … “my God, JD laid another egg!” Becki rushed over and stood up on the stool to see this new wonder. For a second or two the expression on her face was most gratifying. While I was across the room revelling in laughter, Becki reached into the cage, grabbed the egg, and started chasing me around the house… only then, in the frenzy that ensued, did I learn how successful the prank was. Thinking that the egg was raw, I did my best to avoid the curveball that was thrown which I was able to deflect with a flat hand. Read the rest of this entry »

Dear Friend,

Last night I had the honor of voting for universal health care – a historic step forward for our nation. After a year of deliberation and decades of waiting, Congress passed historic health care reform legislation for the first time. What the late Senator Kennedy once referred to as “the great unfinished business of our society”, has finally become more than a dream.

This bill comes at a time when we urgently need reform. Over 47 million American are uninsured, often shut out of the system due to so-called “pre-existing health conditions” such as high blood pressure, heart disease, or even a cesarean section. Over the past decade, health care costs have increased four times faster than an average worker’s wages and since 2000, small business premiums have risen over 129%.  Every day, I hear stories of small businesses closing their doors due to sky rocketing premiums, people who were denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition and families unable to pay their soaring medical bills. The status quo is simply unacceptable.

Opponents of the bill would like you to think that the costs of this reform will bankrupt our country. However, this past Thursday the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the health care bill would in reality reduce the deficit by $138 billion over ten years. In fact, not only will this bill reduce the deficit, it does so while offering the largest expansion of federal health care guarantees since Medicare and Medicaid were enacted over 40 years ago. This bill ultimately will ensure that Americans have access to affordable and quality coverage. 

• Extends coverage to 32 million uninsured Americans.
• Provides a 35% small business tax credit to help businesses make coverage for their employees more affordable.
• Ends the “Donut Hole” in Medicare Part D to provide seniors with real savings on their prescription drug benefits.
• Enacts insurance reforms to protect consumers from insurance company worst-practices – like denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, capping total coverage, and dropping or watering down coverage when you get sick and need it most.
• Creates a health insurance exchange that pools small businesses and their employees with millions of other Americans to increase purchasing power and competition in the insurance market.
• Ends the practice of “rescission” of claims or benefits after the fact.

This bill does not solve every problem in our health care system, but it’s a solid foundation that we can continue to build upon. Read the rest of this entry »

from Proud Liberal

Independent did say some good things. He is a very intelligent man. If only John had heeded the suggestion for greater regulation of cafe comments you would have been eliminated long ago and we could have avoided all this confrontation.

As far insulting however, I disagree with Independent. As the saying goes, “if the shoe fits wear it”–and in my criticism of you, the shoe fits perfectly so why mince words? For political correctedness sake?? I don’t think so. Your comments have been rude, dishonest, manipulative, child-like, and bizarre in nature and style, so I have said so. Call it an insult, I call it the truth.

You have wrongly gone after every contributor here including administator who does his best to run a decent website (another area in which I disagree with Indie). The cafe may not be perfect and we may not all agree all the time, but the level discourse you have brought here has sunk it to a new low. Your comments are destructive and they contribute nothing of substance. I think that Independent would agree with this. Again, you may call it an insult, I call it as it is.

Obviously you have some knowledge of the political process and if you weren’t so angry and child-like you could be a huge resource, but instead you come to the cafe for your own self-aggrandizement. It’s as if by degrading other people, you feel better about yourself. My advice to you is to not stoop to such a level. First, no one buys it and second, you deserve better. Read the rest of this entry »