Hot Stuff

Hot Stuff #1: Mommy’s Time Out white wine at Roger’s Liquor Store, 595 Prospect Avenue, Hartford, $9.99

I ventured back to Roger’s Liquor Store on Prospect and Farmington Avenues last night. I kind of hate going there because NO ONE is friendly or even says “hello” when you walk in and they make you feel like an idiot for saying it in the first place to them.

Anyway, “Mommy’s Time Out” Pinot Grigio for $9.99 was worth the trip. Love the illustration on the label:

Hot Stuff #2: Champagne fountain at CVS, 1044 Boulevard Avenue, West Hartford, $11.00 (see below)

I had been eyeing this plastic, multi-tiered beverage fountain in the “weird appliance” section of CVS for weeks, but couldn’t bring myself to buy it because it was $19.99.

Yesterday, it had a sticker on the shelf next to it marked $9.99, so I triumphantly took it to the cashier who promptly informed me that the sticker was misplaced. It was still $19.99.

I whined. I pleaded. I asked her about her employee discount.

In the end, I bought other necessities like coffee, snore gargle and cigarettes and the cashier told me that my receipt coupon had $9.50 CVS bucks on it which meant I got the fountain, after all of that, for $11.00. I think I got the big CVS bonus because I always donate $1 to ALS every time CVS asks me to do it. You should too.

Of course, I didn’t buy any liquor that could actually go through the fountain, but at some point in the night, Billy and Sam thought it would be funny to dump a bottle of red wine into it. It was funny, but I had bad flashbacks to The Golden Voyage of Sinbad when the fountain water turns into blood. That killed me when I was a kid.

And, yes, everyone takes off clothing when they party at my house.

Godzilla Visits Hartford

I know Stiles would disagree with me, but I really am getting much better at Photoshop.

Compare Mecha Godzilla in Hartford two years ago:

With today’s masterpiece:

See what I mean?

Bushnell Plaza Reinvention Needed

Stephen Persing, who is about to leave the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art at the end of the week after years of service as both a curatorial aide and assistant in the director’s office, wrote an op-ed piece, A Space Just Waiting to Be Shared, in the Hartford Courant questioning the future plans for Bushnell Plaza.

Bushnell Plaza (on Main Street at the Bushnell Towers apartments) has long laid dormant, encased in an unfriendly track of concrete. The area was recently dug up to repair structural leaks that effected the parking lot underneath.

Persing, rightly, asks developers to think about future usage of the space and its impact on city life before putting it back together:

Let’s imagine the tower ringed in green, from Bushnell Park to the west to the sliver of land with Carl Andre’s Stone Field Sculpture to the north, with the plaza to match. A formal garden of potted shrubs and plants, drawing inspiration from Pei’s tower, could bring sophistication to emptiness.

As Stone Field Sculpture draws on the geologic history of the area, planters could showcase native plants. Perhaps there could be a maze, with a modern gazebo in the middle. A sculpture garden was suggested years ago, in collaboration with the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, which is right across the street. Other ideas include a farmers market, an outdoor cafe or a place for street theater, like Harvard Square in Cambridge. Small tables and chairs for sitting out and reading the newspaper on a summer evening would help bring the tower dwellers down to earth.

It’s the kind of simple, positive future one would hope the owners had envisioned, but thanks to Persing for pointing it out. And for coining my new favorite sentiment: “There is no excuse for urban nothingness.”

Photo courtesy Urban Compass

Hartford on Google Street View

Google is finally starting to add Hartford to their “street view” section in the maps. There’s only a few sections of the city up right now, but scrolling through the streets, panning from left to right, is a great way to kill a few hours in the office.

Go to Google Maps, then punch up Hartford and start navigating. Street views already uploaded are marked in blue for easy zooming.

Side view on Trumbull, looking up Pratt Street:

Main Street circa Peppercorns:

If you spot anyone you know or see anything devious going down, let me know.

CT Pride

Excerpt from The Onion’s Controversial Court Ruling Upholds Homosexual’s Right To Prance Around Demanding Attention And Being A Drama Queen, “filed” from Hartford:

HARTFORD, CT—The Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday upheld the right of individuals, regardless of sexual orientation, to engage in any number of “grandiose behaviors,” including, but not limited to, sashaying across the room “like a hussy, yelling ‘Oh my God!’ at the top of their lungs while hopping up and down, and generally acting like Miss Thing.”

The court ruled 5-2 in favor of the plaintiff in Carmichael v. State of Connecticut, a landmark case overturning a lower court’s decision against homosexual Michael Carmichael’s right to excessive theatrics. 

Did anyone go to CT Pride in Elizabeth Park last weekend? I hit the Polo Club late Saturday night and there was no momentum in the crowd from the day. No one seemed to have gone and everyone just milled about, waiting for something to happen that never did. 

The Party’s Over

The “party people” silhouettes are coming down from Asylum Avenue. I think artist Tao Labossiere did them, but I could be wrong about that.

Sally’s Fish Camp: Gone Fishing

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

It’s Not Us, It’s Hartford

The big news of the day is Hartford Police Chief Daryl K. Roberts shirking police responsibility and basically blaming the citizens of Hartford for the never-ending wave of crime we seem to be wading under in the city.

Some of the more sensational incidents among the dozens piling up is the savage beating of former Deputy Mayor Nick Carbone at Capitol Avenue on his way to breakfast on Monday, and the hit and run of Angel Arce Torres last Friday on Park Street while witnesses stood around, gawking and pointing without actually helping the man. No one called 911, and the man is paralyzed. Roberts stated:

“There was a time they would have helped that man across the street. Now they mug and assault him,” he said. “That’s not a police problem. We no longer have a moral compass. Anything goes.”

Colin McEnroe has two excellent pieces expounding the outrage over Roberts’ comments, as well as the ad nauseous “miserable, ass-covering, loutish approach to law enforcement” and politicking of Mayor Eddie Perez.

Update [6/6/08]: Apparently, the first report by the Courant was wrong–people did call 911 and the website has audio clips.

Update [6/8/08]: Link to the video: “Hartford Police Release Video of Hit and Run“

Piss House

I just got back from a trip to Dallas and have a bunch to post.

Here’s a great shot I snapped a week ago from my window of two guys stopping on my street in Hartford’s West End one shiny spring afternoon. One guy kept watch while the other urinated against the side of my neighbor’s house.

Hartford Blight: It’s Official

As first discussed (with pictures!) in Hartford Blight, Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez took his plans to combat the “blanks” on our urban landscape beyond conversation with Dennis House on WFSB to an editorial in the Hartford Courant today. 

I don’t have anything snarky to add beyond humming a few bars of Naked Eyes’ “You made me… promises, promises (bah bah bum buh buh), you knew you couldn’t keep…”