Author: Joey Ciaramitaro

Dear Joey, I am asking you to send a message to our Gloucester people to inform them of our calamity with the gypsy moths. To some, the trees around them were not affected, but to many especially in the west Gloucester area our trees were decimated this year. They are now growing a second set of leaves, but for a while there it looked like fall came early. All those caterpillar munched and munched our trees. Then they layed cacoons and then they turned into male and female moths. Then they layed eggs on trees, rocks, car tires etc. I have been trying to help my trees in my yard by scraping off the eggs into a plastic zip top bag and putting soap in the bag to kill the eggs and disposing of the bag in the trash. I have been through 2 gallon sized bags so far and never left my property. I was wondering if you could spread the word to Gloucester tree lovers to do the same when they take walks in the forests of Gloucester. It doesn’t take much and kids can help. A spoon, a paintbrush and a plastic bag. By placing the bag under the egg masses, scraping the bark of the tree, and brushing tight areas with the brush, carefully getting all the eggs into the bag. Next year all these eggs may hatch and we will be attacked by millions of caterpillars and moths worse than this year. Yuck. never mind what our trees will look like. Please pass it on Joey, if we all help, there will be less next year. Thanks, Deb Gilbert Herrick of West Gloucester MA

Reblogged from the early days of the blog-

Thermos Stainless Vacuum Insulated 12 oz Can Insulator (Set of 4)

Click here to buy them on amazon $6 each to keep your beers cold are a no-brainer.

If you know me you know  that I’m an absolute numbskull with tools or doing any type of installation work that involves my hands.

After reading about bias lighting strips which throw light from the back of your TV or under cabinets or on top of cabinets or behind desks and reading the absolute ton of glowing (pardon the pun) reviews on Amazon, I figured for $9.99 what did I have to lose.

Let me tell you, this dummy (read me Joey Ciaramitaro) and my lovely wife (it’s kinda a forgone conclusion by now isn’t it?) installed it on our TV in less than a minute and the results are AWESOME!!!!!

You literally measure it out, peel the backing tape off and plug the usb into one of the usb ports on the back of your tv.  it goes on when your TV is on, it turns off when you power off the tv.  No need for another remote.  It makes the darks look darker.  it makes the lights lighter, it reduces eye strain and it just truly looks cool and not in a cheesy way at all.  The design-wise very fussy Kate loves it so you know it’s cool as shit.

I likes it so much I ordered 4 more for the other TVs and the back of Kate’s desk.

Here’s the link to purchase on Amazon

USB LED Lighting Strip for HDTV – Medium (78in / 2m) – Multi-Color RGB – USB LED Backlight Strip with Dimmer for Bias Lighting HDTV, Flat Screen TV LCD, Desktop Monitors, Kitchen Cabinets

• INCLUDES: 78-in, high quality LED strip light kit to provide bright accent lighting. USB bias lighting, 3M adhesive backing and USB for easy plug-in. For reference: TV in product image is 50”
• EASY TO USE: Just clean the back of your TV, secure your LED strip light, plug the TV backlight USB plug into the USB port, and you have a great TV light or monitor backlight. Cut the LED strip every 1 inches for the perfect fit. The TV light strip powers on and off with your TV’s USB port.
• CREATE A BEAUTIFUL VIEWING EXPERIENCE: With LED bias lighting, you create sharper images and color contrast while adding beautiful TV ambient lighting to your surroundings. The SPE Backlight for TV creates an environment that makes your friends and family want you to be the one to host viewing parties.
• REDUCE EYE STRAIN IN CHILDREN & ADULTS: With increasing screen time, eyestrain and headaches have become more and more common. Bias lights save your eyes and prevent unwanted headaches in both children and adults by reducing the contrast between the brightness of the TV and the surrounding room. This 78-inch TV backlight kit provides benefits with any TV size up to 60’’
• 12 Month Warranty – SPE products are all covered with an industry standard warranty on parts and replacements. Please reach out to our support email assistance.

This picture doesn’t do it a bit of justice- it’s truly awesome.

Hey Joey,

 I hope you are doing well and congrats on the continued success of the blog.

I was fishing at an undisclosed spot in Rockport a couple mornings ago and came across a truly cool sight! Only 50-75 yards away from me (I was on shore!), a Minke Whale was feeding on pods of adult Menhaden (Pogies). The baitfish were being blasted out of the water and pushed right at me at one point. I did get a short video of some of the action, share if you want to but I did say a few bad words so a warning may be needed for viewers. Video Link below.

 Paul Spinola