My Internet Service is Down

My Time Warner Cable service-- phone, cable TV, and Internet service -- has been down since last night. Will advise when it is back.

Won't be much blogging until service is restored.

Bay Ridge Tornado: Who Helped the Most?

Bay Ridge Tornado Aftermath, originally uploaded by martine266.

Well we conducted a poll on the above subject, and the polls ended last night. So who won?

Who helped the most in dealing with the Bay Ridge Tornado?

• Phantom 17
• Fire Department 12
• NY Sanitation Dept 11
• NY Police Dept 5
• Sen. Marty Golden 3
• Mayor Mike 2
• Red Cross 2
• FEMA 2

Well, I hereby disqualify myself due to friendly ballot stuffing in various quarters. And I was away on that fateful day, so I cannot possibly qualify.

The winner is the NY Fire Department, with a total of 12 votes. But a huge tip of the hat goes to the Sanitation Department. My neighbor advises that their efforts to clean up 68th Street on August 8th were unbelievable. "There aren't enough words in the language to praise them for the way they worked. It was boiling hot, it was humid, but they did not leave until 68th Street was in broom-swept condition at the end of August 8th.

So the FDNY wins, deservedly so, but a big tip of the hat to DSNY. Good job, lads.

Sunday Music: Gigliola Cinquetti "Quelli erano giorni"

Linda Hopkin set the world on fire with "Those Were the Days". Its origin was as a Russian song, lamenting the passing of the golden folk music days of Dylan, Paxton, Ochs, and The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. The song was the final recording by the Clancys.

Mary Hopkin did a version of this song in Italian. But here's a great version by an actual Italian singer, Gigliola Cinquetti.

R Train is the Party Train

This is how we commute from Bay Ridge every day. The R train. The party train.

When the R train comes into the station, its like New Years Eve. It never gets old.

How Kenny gets to the back of the car.

Tornado: Aunt Maude's Tree Cut Down

This tree, which had graced the south side of 68th Street, near Fourth Avenue, for many decades, was cut down on Tuesday. It had been sick for some years. A huge chunk of it spontaneously fell in July 2006. The tornado gave it a mortal blow. Still, its sad to see it chopped down. Hope new trees are planted soon.

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From Steve Baldwin's great Brooklyn Parrots, an article on how the feisty Brooklyn parrots survived the tornado.

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As I write this, I'm keeping an eye on CNN's "Holy Warriors" program, hosted by Christine Amanpour. I have my quarrels with this show --it gives equal weight to Christian, Jewish and Muslim "Holy Warriors", which is laughable moral equivalence. Yet, there is a lot of depth to this show. Amanpour here travels through Europe and the Middle East, speaking with knowledge to politicians and (literally) ayatollahs.

CBS totally missed the boat when they gave the "first female anchor" job to the perky airhead Katie Couric. This has only led to a complete collapse of CBS's ratings. Had they gone the more serious route, had they given an actual journalist such as Christine Amanpour a shot, they would have been so much better off.

Thriftee's : Going, Going....

This photo was taken on Monday. Which probably means that that it closes this coming weekend. So if you want a hairbrush for 59 cents or a similar bargain, you'd better get over there! After you emerge with your trinkets, you can stop across the street at Killarney Pub for a fine pint of Guinness. Or three.

Bay Ridge Tornado: Need Wood?

If you need some wood for the fireplace, head on up to Fifth Avenue, between Senator and 67th Street. Big pile of it there.













This big hunk of metal was blown into my next door neighbor's backyard by the tornado. He's not allowed to enter the yard until its gone. But the City has made no move to remove the thing, and my neighbor can't remove it without entering the yard!