Day: October 25, 2011

Good Night Gloucester from Ann Kennedy

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

On leaving Gloucester…

GMG is the daily dose of pleasure, news, sights and sounds that make Gloucester come alive for us all. It continues to remind us that true community is created through thoughtful engagement of time, energy, and care for one another, on-line and off. GMG informs and shares, and it opens a welcoming door for visitors and residents alike.

October is passing far too quickly for me, and now it’s time to return home to Missouri. I am not ready to leave. Thank you, Gloucester and all of Cape Ann, for what and who you are. Thank you for your infinite natural and industrial beauty, your citizenry, your hard work and kindness to those of us who visit.  Thank you blog contributors for the incredible content!  May the fish be plentiful, the art and music flow freely, the winter calm and hard work always rewarded!

Peace,

Ann

you must watch Ann’s video below-

Aurora – Pet of the Week

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Aurora – Pet of the Week

Aurora

Do you know where the Cape Ann Animal Aid (CAAA) is

at 260 Main Street in Gloucester?

Well, stop by and visit me.  I am a one-year-old calico who has just finished caring for a beautiful litter of kittens and I am looking for a forever home.

The CAAA is a non-profit shelter that cares for cats and dogs until they are adopted.  They appreciate friends visiting and if you are able to donate items such as extra large trash bags, postage stamps, gas cards for shelter van, they are so grateful for these items.

Oh, I nearly forgot; my name is Aurora.  I don’t have a last name yet, but I will if you adopt me!

Kim Smith Premiere’s Through The Garden Gate At Sawyer Free Library Nov 3rd

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Kim writes-

Dear Gardening Friends,

Come join us Thursday, November 3rd, at 7:00 pm at the Friend Room of the Sawyer Free Library for the premiere of my new series of video specials for Cape Ann TV, titled Through the Garden Gate, featuring "The Butterfly Garden at Willowdale Estate."  The event is free and open to the public and refreshments will be served. I hope you can come!

Premiere Sponsored by the Sawyer Free Library

Just a few of the many butterflies, and their nectar plants and native host plants, featured in The Butterfly Garden at Willowdale Estate:

Monarch Butterfly and Verbena bonariensisRed-spotted Purple and Annablelle Hydrangea_DSF14817. Eastern Redbud -1 (Cercis canadensis)

check out Kim’s Blog here-

Kim Smith Designs

The Latest Webcam To Go Live On www.gloucesterwebcam.com – Rocky Neck Accommodations

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

A Gorgeous View of Smith’s Cove-

rockyneckaccommodationswebcam

We now have 12 live cams and Tim Blakeley from www.gloucesterbytes is banging out more daily.  15 more cams due to go live within the next two weeks.

Coming up-

Schooner Lannon
Island Art & Hobby
Cape Ann Marina
Mile Marker 1
Atlantis Oceanfront Inn
Atlantis Oceanfront Breakfast Cafe
Ryan and Wood
Bass Rocks Ocean Inn
Vista Motel
Manny Simoes
Annisquam Village Realty
Harborview Inn
Bluefish Property’s Motif Number 1
Schooner Adventure
Gloucester Quilter
Cape Ann Healing Center
Gloucester Maritime

Check Out The Penthouse suite at The Rocky Neck Accommodations-

Did You Know? (Isinglass)

Posted on by God's Morning

LoGrasso’s Café & Bistro at Isinglass Place, 13 Railroad Ave. in Rockport is located upstairs in the building that once was home to the Rockport Twine & Rope Factory where my father worked in the 60’s and early 70’s.  Prior to that it was the Cape Ann Isinglass and Glue Company, formed in 1868 by the firm of J.J. Manning & Brother (William).  

Isinglass is a substance obtained from the dried swim bladders of fish, originally sturgeon, but now primarily cod and hake.  It is a form of collagen used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer.  It can also be cooked into a paste for specialized gluing purposes, such as repairing parchment.  The swim bladders or sounds of certain fish are largely composed of that variety of gelatin called isinglass.  The sounds are manufactured into isinglass by a mechanical operation which consists of passing the macerated sounds successively between several sets of rollers, the first set kneading the sounds into a homogeneous sheet, and the subsequent sets squeezing and elongating the sheets into the ribbons of isinglass known to commerce.

Isinglass is a protein-based clarifier that has been traditionally used by commercial wineries and is preferred by some winemakers because of the softer, gentler effect it has on the color and body of the wine. It is very effective in adding a high polish to white and blush wines.

Wouldn’t it be cool if LoGrasso’s served isinglass clarified wines.  Unfortunately it is a BYOB establishment, so you would have to find and bring your own.

E.J. Lefavour

Wednesdays at the Rhumb Line

Posted on by Joanne

Prime Rib Specials!
Wednesdays Only!

Hello everyone!
A SPECIAL NOTE:
From 10/23 thru 11/04, I’ll be on tour in Holland & Scotland
with the Orleans Trio. This week, John Rockwell has graciously
agreed to step in as host for the show. Thank you, John!
Wednesday, October 26th
Guest Host: JOHN ROCKWELL!

A wonderful musician, singer and entertainer. The guy is a
virtual musical encyclopedia. He seems to know every song
ever written and rattles ‘em off like a rapid-fire jukebox. Start
him up and… who knows when he’s gonna stop?!
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:
Nov. 2: JULIE DOUGHERTY (guest host)

Nov. 9: CHICK MARSTON

Sincerely…
I hope John sees you there! 🙂 ~ Fly

Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents at The Rhumb Line this Friday, October 28th

Posted on by Joanne

Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents have completed their summer hiatus, put out a new digital single which can be heard here (the B-side of which was penned by Graham Parker), and will be back at The Rhumb Line this Friday, October 28th.  Three sets start at 9:30pm

WHAT: Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents
WHEN: Friday, October 28th at 9:30pm

WHERE: The Rhumb Line

MORE: $3 cover / 21+

The Gloucester Health Department is now on Facebook!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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The City of Gloucester Health Department is now on Facebook!  The Health Department will be using this social media outlet as one more way to reach Cape Ann residents directly during public health events or emergencies such as disease outbreaks, food recalls, seasonal health alerts, boil water orders, etc..  Stay connected for instant updates on Health related topics.  "LIKE" us for a chance to win an Amazon Kindle Touch. See the attached flyer for details or find us by going to the City of Gloucester’s website.  On the Health Department page locate Keep Up on the News in the lower left hand corner of the page and click on Facebook.
A Drawing for the Kindle will be held on December 15, 2011.
Chassea Golden Robinson, RN, MPH
Public Health Nurse
Gloucester Health Department
3 Pond Rd
Gloucester, MA 01930
tel 978-281-9771
fax 978-281-9729
crobinson@gloucester-ma.gov

CAPE ANN COMMUNITY CINEMA GETS DOWN AND SCARY THIS WEEK

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

The Cape Ann Community Cinema at 21 Main Street in Gloucester celebrates Halloween in its own unique way this week with two very special events.
On Wednesday, October 26th at 7:30pm, film director Susan Marks presents her fascinating documentary, "Of Dolls And Murder" and hosts a Q&A after the film.

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SYNOPSIS ::: Before forensics, DNA and CSI, we had "dollhouses" – an unimaginable collection of miniature crime scenes, known as the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. Created in the 1930s and 1940s by a crime-fighting grandmother, Frances Glessner Lee created the Nutshells to help homicide detectives hone their investigative skills. These surreal dollhouses reveal a dystopic and disturbing slice of domestic life with doll corpses representing actual murder victims, or perhaps something that just looks like murder. Despite all the advances in forensics, the Nutshells are still used today to train detectives. Documentary film, Of Dolls and Murder, explores the dioramas, the woman who created them, and their relationship to modern day forensics. From the iconic CSI television show to the Body Farm and criminally minded college students, legendary filmmaker and true crime aficionado, John Waters narrates the tiny world of big time murder. Learn more about the film at www.OfDollsAndMurder.com.
As a special bonus, acclaimed cellist Kristen Miller will play her haunting live original score to vanguard Maya Deren’s 1943 silent film, "Meshes Of The Afternoon" before the film. The amusing animated short about CSI called "Something Left, Something Taken" will also be featured.
On Friday, October 28th, the eclectic quintet Cirkestra (www.cirkestra.com) will play a live original score to Tod Browning’s 1927 silent "The Unknown." The film is about the ghastly goings-on at a traveling circus, and stars "Man Of 1000 Faces" Lon Chaney and a young Joan Crawford. Browning is best known as the director of the classic "Dracula"(1931) and the icky chestnut "Freaks" (1932).
Tickets for "Of Dolls And Murder" are $9.50 adults, $8.00 students and seniors (60+) and $6.50 for Cinema Members (membership is free). Tickets for "The Unknown" are $15.00 all seats, $12.50 for Members.
As for film festivals, the 2nd Annual Cape Ann Film Festival runs November 3-20. The line-ups will be announced Friday, October 28th, as will the extensive list of special events and guests.

ATTENTION RESTAURANT OWNERS- SOGGY FRIES SUCK ASS

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

So mid morning I get a call from Ed (do I even have to say his last name any more) Collard

He asks about lunch and I tell him to swing by and we will discus our plan of attack. We settle on cheeseburger plates from a local joint and I call in the order.

Me on the phone-

I would like two bacon cheeseburgers with thousand island dressing and two orders of fries.  Oh and could you please be sure to leave the container open because I don’t want the fries to get all soggy on the drive back to the dock?

The woman assures me that they would put the fries in a separate container.

Ed heads out to pick up lunch.

One thing you can count on down the dock is that the very minute take-out arrives there will be two or three boats that hit the dock to be offloaded at that very moment.  It doesn’t matter if you haven’t had a boat pull up to offload for two hours- the precise moment when the delivery guy shows up and you hand him your money you can place all your money on the fact that there will be a boat to offload within your first bite of anything you order. That’s just the way it is and I’ve come to expect that.

So sure enough Ed returns with lunch in two large paper bags containing our burgers and fries and heads up to the office to eat and at the very same time two small boats hit the dock.  It takes only about 10 minutes to offload them and put the lobsters away and I bound up the stairs to the office where my burger and fries await.

Mr Wonderful Ed Collard hearing me on the phone asking the waitress to please leave the container open so my fries wouldn’t get soggy decides to pull a prank on me.

The rotten prick duct tapes the edges of the styrofoam container.DSC00562DSC00563

Now you might think that because they punched a few holes in the top of the container that that is enough to let the steam escape and to salvage the fries but let me assure you that that just isn’t the case.

ATTENTION RESTAURANT OWNERS

Fries to go should be in either cups or those white clam boxes in a separate bag.  I don’t care if you punched holes in the top to let the steam out, when you stack another box on top of it the steam still doesn’t have any where to go except into the moisture receptacles formerly known as french fries.

DSC00566

Limper than an eighty year old dude’s dick.

DSC00567

You might as well have poured some gravy over the goddamn things because they were like eating mashed potatoes.

I owe you one Ed.