Will Griggs and Adam Bulger have new blogs to chronicle those precious moments spent sitting next to each other at the Hartford Advocate.
Sitting Behind Adam
Sitting Behind Will
I guess no one wants to sit next to Spikey Joe Dinunzio because he has his own blog, The Salty Slug.
The above picture was taken by yours truly at the Hartford Cares rally last night. Adam and Will take those kittens everywhere.
Unlike Dan McKinley, I don’t fight crime all the time. But I did last night.
Usually on Tuesday recycling nights, the only noises on my otherwise very quiet West End block are sounds of people clinking glasses and dropping aluminum cans as they scavenge through the bins. But last night there was a repeated beeping sound and since I’m a crazy old lady who’s always looking out the window anyway, I peered out and saw a guy get out of a white car parked on the street. He looked up at me and waved back at the car before going around the side of a nearby house. I knew he didn’t live there and he came back in about 30 seconds and got back into the car.
Someone else jumped out of the passenger seat and hid next to a tree in the house’s front yard while the first guy tried to start the car. Then the tree-hiding guy took off running down the street. The first guy ran down the block too after trying to turn the car over a few more times.
My boyfriend told me to call 911, then promptly fell asleep. Seriously, it took it him 3 minutes while I was on the phone reporting the incident.
Two cop cars showed up with lights and radios blaring so I went down to talk to them before they woke the whole block up. They stayed on my block for another 30 minutes investigating the scene and running plates, etc.–I watched them out of a darkened window after I came back inside. And then I watched the empty street for another 1/2 hour waiting for the two car thieves who I described in detail to the cops to come back and drive-by shoot up my window. It wasn’t my most thought-out fear.
My friend Jordan told me I shouldn’t have worried:
Don’t worry - you did a good deed and the people who break into a car and run away are not the same people who come back and shoot you. Unless you happened to have stolen their drugs or joined a rival gang while they were breaking into your neighbor’s car. Besides, once they fence the GPS, they won’t be able to find your house again.
The Hartford Courant Reader’s Rep, Karen Hunter, used last Sunday’s column to further clarify the Elissa Altman/Prime Seafood and Steak Restaurant controversy. As earlier noted, the Courant parted ways with freelance food critic Altman after an investigation into her negative review of Prime in Torrington.
Spurred by reader’s complaints that the Courant was pandering to advertising dollars and not sticking by Altman such as, “As it appears to have been settled, the truth is fuzzy and appears less important than simply pleasing the offended restaurant,” Hunter responds:
Nothing is ever simple, however. As with any news story, editors take questions about accuracy and fairness seriously, regardless of the source of those questions. The facts on which an opinion is based have to be unimpeachable and verifiable, from the first paragraph down to expense reports.
Naedine Hazell, assistant managing editor for features and business, would only say, “There were standards that we thought were explicit but apparently were not.”
The Courant also gave Altman a chance to address claims that she misrepresented her number of dining companions, commented on food she didn’t order, and to defend the amount of food she actually tried.
Old news, I suppose. Case closed. The one thing that I liked about the article was that it stated that going forward, the Courant would expect critics to adhere strictly to the Association of Food Journalist guidelines for food reviews.
It’s a good read, especially with regards to how many times a critic should eat at an establishment before writing about it (at least twice, preferably visiting on both a weekday and weekend); how long to wait to review a newly opened restaurant (a month, or else note that it’s a first impression and be descriptive, not critical); and what the 4-Star Rating System really means.
I’ve been interested in the star system ever since I spoke to Michael Gannon, the former “Fork on the Left” food critic for the Courant’s now defunct Northeast Magazine section, about it a few years ago. Gannon was a very strict disciple of the guidelines. Ruth Reichl’s “Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Live of a Critic in Disguise” is great read too if you’re interested.
As far as I know, the Courant hasn’t given out stars since they discontinued Northeast. The Hartford Advocate uses a star system to rate restaurants, although more than a few reviews that I’ve read on their site indicates that they visit only once and usually for lunch. There is no explanation as to how they award their stars. I really think they need to explain their rating system, especially since the public most likely looks at all “stars” the same and once a restaurant is branded, it has to live with it.
From Scary Bunny #14:
Yeah, sorry. We haven’t been updating much. Plus we’ve heard:
● Our new “design” looks terrible and we should not attempt web design since we obviously have no idea what we’re doing.
● Our new “design” is much easier to read.
● Our new “design” is okay, but the old one looked more retarded and fun. Or something like that.
Send us images for the banner and help us make it better.
And to anonymous who commented on the
More SB updates! Did you see the “Newswracked” piece in the Advocate this week, where the Tribune lawyer said that not having as many Advocate newsracks downtown “will hurt poor people”? Is this true, Scary Bunnies?
We promise to update more, but we can’t promise you that we’re going to start reading the
Kidding–
“How remarkable to find a Hollywood studio backing a venture like this.”
“Incredibly, it works, right down to the stunning sex act that prompts the following hilarious exclamation: ‘I hope that donkey doesn´t have a heinie troll!’”
We were kind of looking forward to discovering all the billboards in the near area for the
And then Hartford Courant television critic
“As a lover of the surreal and the absurd in the everyday, it’s been a pleasure to see those weird red billboards here and there, saying nothing more than oddball things such as, ….
[We won't spoil it for you--click the link if you want all the fun immediately sucked out of the whole thing.]
Hartford Courant television commentator Roger Catlin continues last week’s
We actually received a shout-out about two weeks ago in the Hartford Advocate for Scary Bunny #403’s rant on the I-84 billboard slogan–
And today, the Hartford Courant gives us an
“Mr. Kintner says the sign will come down in a week or two - to be replaced by one touting celebrity entertainers coming to Hartford and saying, “Get Out More.”
So… the new strategy to help change the bad attitudes about Hartford is to advise people to leave town. Well, actually–that works.
While it’s not entirely bad advice, it’s obvious they’re really implying “get-out-on-the-town-more.” But after the fuss about the first slogan–wouldn’t you think they’d be more careful in choosing a new one?
Whatever, it’s all pretty funny how the wheels do spin around (and around and around) in this town.
Send your slogan ideas and we’ll do a few mock billboards with the best ideas (or send us your mocked-up billboards, that works too.)
Winners receive original spray paintings by Scary Bunny #77, who gets artistic at the end of the night after he gets his freak on.
The Hartford Courant’s television critic, Roger Catlin, bashed this week’s “
“Far be it for me to poke fun at the weekly alternative, The Hartford Advocate.It is, after all, The Courant’s own sister publication under the Tribune banner. We make money from their sex ads! And give them some respect – at least they employ a movie reviewer, unlike your local daily.
But the publication of what seems a semi-annual list gives us a chance to consider their ad-fat Best of Hartford issue.
I mean, just the other day, we were engaged in a spirited argument over the Best Mobile Phone/Wireless Store, and had almost come to blows over Best Moving Company.
Soldiers are dying for the kind of democracy found in the annual voting to determine the Best Lamps/Lighting Store, and no doubt much deliberation was done to arrive at Best.
But if Hartford is the kind of place where the best coffee is found at Dunkin’ Donuts, and the best sandwiches at Subway and the second best Italian restaurant – in an area practically famous for them – is the Olive Garden, then it is an indication for visitors to hotfoot it to the more cosmopolitan lights of Springfield, Groton or
Worcester.” …
We’re guessing he’s not going to win “Best American Idol Countdown” in part two of the Advocate’s awards, due out next week.
Okay, we feel bad for Cate’s. We really do. We watched the space being put together on the corner of Capitol Avenue and Main Streets last summer in gleeful anticipation of having a new restaurant and bar option in SODO (”south of downtown”–roughly the five block radius south of City Hall).
And it opened sometime in the early fall, and the Scary Bunnies went… and were disappointed with the high prices and the rather bland food. And we were the only one there besides a waitstaff that repeatedly interrupted our conversation to ask how we liked things, to the point where one person in our party had to tell them to buzz off just so that we could get a word in edgewise.
But still, we hoped for the best and kept watching…
The Courant gave it one star in late October, seemed to have pretty much the same impressions we did, and remarked:
“That corner is cursed,” said a friend one evening as we drove by Cate’s Corner Bistro, newly opened and ripe with promise. “I want the place to do well, but I can’t stop fate.” … Throwing superstition to the wind, I made a visit to Cate’s, hoping that this would be a downtown restaurant with staying power. Alas, it seems not to be so.
The Hartford Advocate, for some reason, just got around to noticing it last week:
Lisa and I think the folks at Cate’s Corner Bistro should be given a ribbon by the city of Hartford. Cate’s is in a challenging spot on Main Street near the South Green, but it’s one that naturally pulls people from downtown toward Park Street. … Cate’s is pretty new, and the management and staff seem sufficiently tuned in to the details so that any little kinks can easily be ironed out.
We’re still trying to figure out who they think is walking down Main Street regularly at night towards Park Street… people waivering between dining options at either Peppercorns or the methadone clinic?
We were particularly puzzled (or maybe amused) of the Advocate’s mention of the introduction of Blackberry technology at Cate’s for use by the waitstaff. It’s probably best not to theorize…but we’re guessing someone there is making use of it to send off resumes.
Let’s hope for the best, we’d actually like to see it pick up some momentum and survive. Someone recently told us a rumor that Cate was on her way out and the other owners were taking over and re-tooling it. The Scary Bunnies will be watching.
Fork on the Left review in the Courant:
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