My View of Life on the Dock
Greetings! Fall begins here in the Northern Hemisphere on September 23, 2011, at 5:05 A.M. (EDT). The word ‘equinox’ comes from the Latin words for "equal night" — the time of year when the hours of day and night are approximately equal. Wishing you all the very best during this crisp and colorful season!
Tom Philbrook
www.thomasphilbrook.com
Jim Dowd writes-
Attention Alert Citizens!
Upon my return to our beloved island from my work deep down in the cubicle mines of Boston, I discovered my faithful mountain bike "Madeline" missing from the T station in downtown Gloucester. She was locked with a Kryptonite cable through the frame and front tire. As I am the only one with a key and she does not tend to wander off by herself, it is obvious that she has been stolen.
The picture enclosed is her when she was much younger. Today she sports handlebar extensions, black cabling, some stickers (Continental and Powerbar) wire water bottle holders and at the time she was wearing a removeable rear fender, which could easily have been discarded. Her toe-basket clip-straps are red.
I know not what hard use her new master put her to, he who undoubtedly tried to trade her for a few pills of oxycontin only to discover her 1988 vintage not making her worth much more than a TylenolPM, but in my care she was the sole means of solo transportation from my home to the station, hard economic times having reduced our family to a single auto. She was cared for and loved, had a dry place to sleep and plenty of green grease.
Won’t you be on the lookout for her? The dastardly deed has been reported to the GPD and no doubt they are working extra shifts to assure her safe recovery, but nothing supports our finest like watchful eyes. Her stickers and aftermarket handle extensions make her easy to spot. If you do see her you may take one of three actions, depending on your comfortability with confrontation:
A. Stop the rider, tell him/her the bike is stolen and summon the police.
B. Summon the police without alerting the rider, perhaps follow him/her to their destination.
C. Bring me their warm, still pulsating heart in an ornately carved, locked wooden box. (Police involvement not necessary)
Madeline and I thank you enormously. I know she is out there, close by. I can feel her.
Jim.
That Tom Wilson, Sr., writer/creator of the Ziggy cartoon died of pneumonia at a hospital in Cincinnati on Friday. He was 80.
Wilson got his start as an artist at American Greetings card company in Cleveland, working there for more than 35 years before debuting the character of Ziggy in a 1969 cartoon collection titled “When You’re Not Around.” In 1971, the Ziggy comic strip was launched in 15 newspapers.
Today, Ziggy appears in more than 500 daily and Sunday papers, with the character also featured in books, calendars and greeting cards – not to mention the rubber version one belonging to Violet Gray pictured here in our window box on Rocky Neck.
Wilson’s son, Tom Wilson Jr., took over the strip in 1987, so Ziggy will go on in spite of his creator’s passing.
E.J. Lefavour
Kiddo – Pet of the Week
Good day! My name is Kiddo and I am a two-year-old girl cat residing at the Cape Ann Animal Aid in Gloucester ( www.CapeAnnAnimalAid.com ). My area here is very nice, but I hear word of a new shelter opening this year; how exciting! I am a sweet and easy going girl who enjoys a quiet environment. I am a little shy, but love attention. I am not chunky; just big boned; what you call pleasantly plump.
I am hoping that you might stop by 260 Main Street in Gloucester and visit me! The big dog near to me just said I look more like a rabbit than a cat! I just gave him one of my looks as I think he is jealous of my beautiful black-and-white coat! Dogs! Just no manners!!
FILM + improvisation = FiLmprov!
Add live musical improvisation by world class jazz musicians to the animated film work of Kate Matson and enter the wonderful world of FiLmprov!
Choreographed found objects will dance, swim, ebb, and flow with the sound waves of the salty, sensitive, jazzy FiLmprov ensemble at the Cape Ann (The Annie) Wednesday, September 21st!
FiLmprov at The Annie!
The SEAWARD INN, Rockport, is delighted to bring back Sunday Morning Live’s Lori Diamond and Fred Abatelli for our Season Finale, September 25th., 9:00 am to Noon during a Breakfast Buffet by the Sea. This phenomenal duo has opened and closed this popular music series for the third year in a row. Well known on New England’s music scene, Lori and Fred will be releasing yet another CD , “TRUE” in October. Visit blog.seawardinn.com or call 978-546-3471.
Wednesday, September 21st
Special
Guest: HENRI SMITH!
This week, the wildly
popular Henri Smith will bring his oh-so
smooooth and sassy N’orleans vibe to
the Wednesday Rhumb
Line stage. I’ve never before had the pleasure of
working
with this wonderfully talented individual, so this marks
another
“first” you should surely NOT want to miss!
Dinner with Fly Amero:
8 – 11pm
*Each week features a special, invited musical
guest
Dave Trooper’s Kitchen…
Prime Rib Dinner
–
$9.95 (while they last)
Prepared fresh weekly by “Troop”…
always good!
Upcoming:
Sept. 28: RIC ST.
GERMAIN
Oct. 5: KATRIN
Oct. 12: INGE
BERGE
Oct. 19: ROCKY &
KERI
Sincerely…
I hope to see you there! 🙂 ~ Fly
Thought you would appreciate these pictures from Salzburg and Munich from the weekend. Tomorrow comes Rome. I’ll try to get the Pope to say a few good words about GMG. So long for now, as always Dwight Hebert.
Kathleen Powers Erickson and Robert A. Morgan write-
Hello everyone,
Many of you now know of the fire at Savour last Thursday night. The cause was a misplaced lit cigarette in an upstairs apartment. Both Beach Gourmet and Savour Wine and Cheese lost everything. Because the adjacent building went up in flames, 5 families are now homeless. So, this has been quite traumatic for many of us. However, no one was injured. We are doing well and WE WILL REBUILD as soon as possible (not in this location)!
Just to let you know, Matt, John, Bob Morgan, my partner, and I are discussing a full business partnership, in which the concept of Savour might be expanded to include catering, cooking demonstrations and classes, as well as prepared foods. We have also looked at several properties and expect to sign a deal for a new location in Gloucester some time this week. Of course, we cannot get going again until we settle with the insurance company, so that may take some time. BUT – it is our hope to reopen before Thanksgiving, so say a prayer for that, please.
Many of you have asked how you can help. First, as I have no income, I am still going ahead with the wine classes. The 5-part series will begin on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at Alchemy (3 Duncan St.) at 7:30 pm. I still have a few places available and would like a full class. (In fact, if we have more than 12 signed up, I will hold another session on a different day, Monday or Thursday evenings). Call my cell at 312 286-1924 to sign up, or just send an email – kathleenperickson@gmail.com Being able to teach, to go on, and to earn a little income would be a tremendous help right now. If you would like a flyer on the class, which you can pass along, just email me, and I will send it.
Also – as I mentioned, we are looking for new space, so contact me if you see something that might work for our new location.
Finally, some of Matt and John’s personal chef clients have contacted them to suggest a fundraiser, so as I learn more details, I will let you know. Matt will cook, and I can provide wine and give a presentation. I will write again soon, and will keep everyone posted. We don’t want you to forget about us!
So, thank you once again for all your wonderful support. We will rise again out of the rubble to be bigger, better, and stronger!
Sincerely,
Kathleen Powers Erickson and Robert A. Morgan
The Paint Factory from 2007
I finally linked up with Don to talk about newly opened Island Art and Hobby in the heart of beautiful downtown Gloucester.
You can like Island Art and Hobby on Facebook Here
Click on Photo to view the Slode_show
I have been a huge fan of the Canon Powershot s95 and have not hesitated to recommend it to our readers time and time again for it’s compact size and oversized sensor. The Powershot s95 is easy to recommend to people but I should let people know that it isn’t necessarily the best camera for those who want big time zoom range and before I go any further I should tell you that just recently they announced the successor to that camera the Canon Powershot s100.
The powershot s100 was recently announced and you can read about what they added to the specs from the s95 here at one of my favorite tech gadget blogs, Engadget
For the condensed version of the article in Engadget, –
The S100 features improved low-light performance thanks to its f/2.0 lens and new, larger 12.1 megapixel CMOS censor (gone is the CCD of yore). It also has a GPS receiver for embedding location data in your photos.
Both cameras will cost $430, with the S100 set to ship in early November
Right now you can buy the Powershot s95 for $359 which I still would do because I don’t consider the bump up to 1080p video and a slight increase to the sensor worth the extra $70. Either camera will be the best performing camera you can own that you can still comfortably keep in your pocket and take great pictures indoors in low light. Basically this is the perfect carry around camera for 80% of the picture taking population. The only negative with the Powershot s95 or upcoming powershot S100 is that they are limited in zoom range. To date, and believe me when I tell you that I’ve done the research, there is NO camera that will give you that large sensor with a long zoom range so the trade off you are making with the Powershots are if you plan on trying to zoom in across a harbor and want that type of ability you can’t get that far but they excel in dimlit lit situations. It excels indoors and around town.
You can get the Powershot s95 on sale here for $359
and preorder the Powershot S100 if you want the slight bump up in specs here
Now I’d like to offer some suggestions for alternatives for folks that want a great camera that still has the ability to be pocketed but offers a great zoom range. Many of you know that I’m a huge fan of Sony Cameras and have bought every two years or so the latest in the same line of Sony zooms. When I started the blog I used the Sony DSC-H3, then bought the updated Sony DSC-H20 and just recently have upgraded to the Sony DSC- HX9v which I paid $359 but just this past week they dropped the price to $319 on Amazon Now I will tell you that in very poor lighting the Canon Powershot s95 or S100 will outperform my Sony HX9V but for the type of shooting and for lots of the subjects that I need to be able to capture, the 5 times zoom just isn’t enough for me. It’s plenty for the soccer mom but not someone that is trying to capture a seagull from 50 yards away. So I am willing to sacrifice some low light performance in the name of being able to just about always get that shot of that thing that happens to be just out of photographic reach of the Powershot. If they made a camera that had a ten times zoom, a sensor the size that the Powershot’s have and the size that is still being able to comfortably carry in your front pocket I’d buy it in a second, for three times the price but they don’t, trust me I research cameras every single day. If they made one I’d own it.
The Sony HX9V, my current walkaround camera-
The HX9v specs are fantastic. The ones that matter to me most –
Full HD 1080/60p with dual record of stills and movies
Sony G lens with 16x optical zoom in a compact camera body
3D stills and 3D Sweep Panorama mode: change the way you view your world.
So if you like my photos and want to buy what I would buy if you want to be able to zoom in on subjects it’s the Sony HX9V, if you do mostly indoor shooting and family pictures it is the Powershot S95 or preorder the Powershot S100
Here is a Flickr group with photos from users that own the Sony HX9V-
click pic for slideshow-
Here is a link to all my top picks fro camera gear. Anything on this list is what I use or want to use and represents what I consider the best intersection of price/performance/portability.
as always if you have specific camera questions, email me at goodmorninggloucester@yahoo.com and I can help you make a decision on which camera to buy for your budget and needs.
Hey Joey,
Augmenting the lobster catch: Oyster aquaculture in modified lobster traps
I stumbled upon this in at the Cat Cove Marine Lab website and thought you might find it interesting. Apparently the oysters did pretty poorly on the North Shore due to water temp, but my little foray into oyster harvesting was quite different, and completely by accident.
A few years back, we had a party at the house and I bought a bushel of Blue Point oysters that were supposedly being farmed off of Martha’s Vineyard. I prepared half the bushel for the party and the other half I left in the mesh bag, which I hung off our mooring to keep them alive long enough to eat them. Well I eventually forgot them out there and the mooring ball disappeared that winter, so we dropped a new mooring in its place the following Spring.
A couple of years later I was snorkeling out in the cove beyond the mean low tide mark and came across the lost mooring ball suspended underwater on a column of oysters! Apparently there was enough in the mesh bag to reproduce and they just grew down the mooring chain. They literally reproduced themselves out of the bag somehow. The weight of the oysters pulled the ball under the surface eventually. I would see the oyster column occasionally when servicing our moorings over the years, and it eventually just fell over underwater. I still see oysters out in the cove though!
Anyway, I thought you might find this study informative.
Thanks,~Bill www.northshorekid.com
You can also check out their live streaming tide pool touch tank webcam by clicking on the pic below-
All Dressed up
Julie from K Nuts trimming nails and donating the proceeds. Good Egg!
Hi Joey,
Thank you for your excellent coverage of the Lanesville Music Festival last week. We appreciate it! We had a great day, with beautiful weather, fabulous music, great food and fine people (and dogs!). Our day included initiating our beloved mayor as an official "Lanesvillain." I’m attaching pics of some of the highlights.
-Laurie Ure, LCC board member
Joey
We thought GMG would get a kick out of this photo of the "hockey heroes" who were here this weekend at the Blue Shutters. The Stanley Cup Champion Bruins have yet to take the ice for the coming season, but at the Blue Shutters Beachside Inn we already have hockey fever. Our resident Bruins legend, Matt Ravlich, was back again for a week with his wife Geri and her cousin Barbara. But what made the Shutters a real hockey town for the weekend of Sept 16-18: the arrival of the "Here for the Beer" women’s hockey team. The girls — who come from all parts of eastern Massachusetts — were here for a hockey tournament in Gloucester, and fortunately this overlapped with the Ravlich’s stay here. We couldn’t resist snapping this photo of Matt with some of the team — you’ll notice Matt holding the Blue Shutters version of the Stanley Cup, which we presented to him earlier this summer. We’re looking forward to having all these folks back again next September for more hockey fever at the Blue Shutters.
Tony, Patty, Ed and Annmarie
_____________________________________________
Blue Shutters Beachside Inn
One Nautilus Road, Gloucester, MA 01930
www.blueshuttersbeachside.com
Good Morning Gloucester 