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2010 'to do' list, so far

A few months have passed since I posted here, Bloggee, so here's the latest:

#1- Karmadale After Blog is still a work-in-progress; the chore of sorting thru thousands of photos to find a hundred or so to included in the digital copy of the blook.

#2- I've been working on Forever Jung, a book of selected essays by late local naturalist Jim Jung to be published this year, on March 15, printed @ Lulu.com

#3- This month, I will debut as "world's oldest white rapper" or "whitest old rapper" (take your pick) at the Spotlight Grill , mostly likely the day after MLK Day, on open mic night. ... doing excerpts from The Marliad, and some fresher raps about current events.

#4- My video doc "The Angina Monologue" is still in prog. Parts 1 & 2 are up on YouTube. Additional scenes have been shot -- and will be incorporated w/1 & 2, along with some still to be shot interviews w/ local medical professionals.

Enough to keep me busy for a few more weeks.

Fall Classic

If you read this between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7, you may have noticed problems w/the Shawnee Net home page. As I write this, the news feeds have disappeared, replaced by a series of error messages. The reason for this is two-fold 1) I've moved my websites to a new, improved server. and 2) I'm travelling to Philadelphia today, to bask in Phillies phever w/ my homeboys and family. I appreciate Karmadale more if I get out of town for a few days every few months.

Which means I'll miss a week of peak colors on leaves of local trees, and yet I must be leaving to be in Philly for games 3, 4 and 5 of Major League Baseball's "Fall Classic" ... the World Series, where my "Fightin' Phils" attempt to prove that last year's championship was no fluke -- by beating the storied New York Yankees in a best-of-seven series.... The teams just split two games in New York. If I'm lucky (and I am) the Phils will wrap it up in game 5... winning 3 straight games at home.

But here in Southern Illusionois, it hasn't been a classic Fall at all. It's rained so much this month, it feels like the Pacific Northwest. ... A steady downpour continues as I write to iPage tech people about the MySQL problem w/ Shawnee Net. Supposed to be cleared up by tomorrow.

Okay, I've got to finish packing.... Will try to add some links en route.

Riding Springer Ridge

... rode my bicycle to Vulture Fest in Makanda yesterday. Besides the scenery, the highlight was seeing two MySpace friends at the old Bluelocks building, pictured here.

A 9 mile ride from my house to the Makanda Boardwalk... I had forgotten how narrow and hilly Springer Ridge Road is.

Angina Monologues

A few days ago I checked myself into the Emergency Room at Memorial Hospital with chest pain that turned out to be angina. My visit included an overnight bed in room 343, where a video was shot of me explaining what I was doing there -- and how I planned to pay the bill. ... Part two will be shot next week.

From 2009 1013 Hospital

postcard from the edgy

it's been a busy summer, and more fun since leaving greyhound, though i'll miss some of my colleagues from those days. ... the pics at right offer a random depiction of some of highlights so far, still focusing on local people and events.

some pix are personal, some are public, such as the ribbon cutting at the Stadium Grille. ... Let me tell you, after eating there... they should tape the ribbon back together, and put the building up for lease!

at last the folks at Southern Bank will have a nice building to look at.... But everyday when I drive by it seems like fewer cars are in the parking lot. overpriced, small portion, poor beer selection... Nice ambience though.

the other pics are of friends in various states of work or relaxation.

i myself and leaving town tomorrow, for a few weeks, by bus to the NW and points beyond for a few weeks. Where i stop nobody knows, but I'll be tweeting as I go. I'll send you a postcard from Vancouver.

tonight is the final Sunset Concert of the summer... some funky music from the steps of Shryock auditorium.

See ya there, Bloggee.

How I partially spent my summer vacation

Enjoying my rediscovered freedom to spend mornings doing "whatever" -- not having to open the Greyhound ticket office at 9:30 anymore.

For instance, I could attend yesterday's ribbon cutting at the new Stadium Grille, across lot from First Southern Bank. In the multiple exposure collage pictured here, Chamber of Commerce director Kristin Gregory spools ribbon to Bonnie Brackett, CCoC Board Pres, as Aur Beck and a couple dozen others look on.

The collage was created with Picasa, uploaded to Twitpics and Facebook.

Although out of the bus biz, I am still driving for Blue Star Lines, picking up the Amtrak crew from the station, and driving them to the motel. Although it is an easy gig, I often have to wait for the conductor or engineer as they take care of business in the station. The other day, I snapped some photos of my work environment, including this one, which shows the vehicle I drive.

From All Aboard Amtrak

I also shot some video of Great American Taxi at last Thursday's Sunset Concert, which you can view on YouTube

Let's see what else? It looks like former employer Art Lovers Trading Company has hung its last painting on the walls. However, owner Sue Mills will continue to promote local art on the internet and elsewhere. The painting on the wall is a print of the sand painting of the old Carbondale Bank bldg by Vic DeGraff.

From Artistic expression

A couple weekends ago ...I attended the benefit for Cayenne Boyd at Orlandini Vineyard. The photos are uploaded at the link below. Gotta go.

From Benefit for Cayenne @ Olandini Vineyard

sight for poor eyes

Somone asks what I'll be doing when my run with Greyhound is done. Simple: continue what I've been doing -- morning drives for Blue Star Lines, finishing my blook, selling my own books, promoting the sand paintings of Vic DeGraff, occasional blipping, tweeting, etc.

Of course Ill be keeping up w/ goings on in C'dale, scanning ShawneeNet for the latest local news feeds, including the "Dazette" And since I now have Mediacom I can watch City Council meetings on TV. (Eurma Hayes Child Care should have been allowed to fail 5 years ago, when Council agreed to underwrite its operation.)

The ShawneeNet site needs upgrading too ... with more photos and links to businesses.

All of this requires clear vision -- which I got a couple of days ago.

Had my eyes examined by Louisana's own Mia Guillory, the Opthamologist at Doctor's ValuVision in the Mall, where I got tested and fitted with new eyeglasses this week.

I bought a couple of pair.

Now everything has come into better focus.

counting the days

Only 18 days until my Greyhound adventure ends: June 30 will be my last day. Not that I'm counting the days, or anything.

I plan to train the staff at the BP gas station (905 E. Main, across from Sonic & Midas) to take over in July.

After that, I'll have mornings free for the first time in five years. ... Time to process photos and write chapters for my blook -- and tweet on local stuff ... and play deejay on blip.fm.

Haven't you heard?

In a letter to supporters, reprinted on the Team Brad website, Mayor Brad Cole announces his intention to seek statewide office on the Republican ticket. Which office, he doesn't say. Whatever one he can get, I guess. At this summer's State Fair in Springfield, Cole's fellow party members will convene to compare notes on a strategy to retake control of State government. ... Seems like Cole is staking his territory.

Most of comments in the local press are negative; not much has changed in that regard since the mayoral election.

There are actually two sets of comments on the story: several on the "breaking news" version.... and several more on the "front page" version.

Tweet from Pickles Alley

Bicycling to work yesterday ... down Main St. on the south sidewalk ... three fire engines passed by at an alarming rate, so I stopped and sent a "tweet" from my Blackberry -- at the entrance to the alley called "Pickle's" in Scott Thorne's "Dazette" blog.

That's the south entrance to Carbondale City Hall / Civic Center at the end of the alley.

If you don't care to click on the link to that tweet, here's what it stated:

Tweet from pickles alley: 3 fire engines just went haul-assin down Main St.

Today I'll try to find out where the fire trucks were headed in such a hurry.

Tweet from Woodlawn Cemetery

Along with a couple hundred other folks in C'dale, I attended the annual Memorial Day service at Woodlawn Cemetery, where the first-ever such observance was held in 1866 according to a tweet posted that morning. ;-)

I had intended to videotape the entire service, but the memory card ran out before Mayor Cole's speech was done. ... The photo above shows him gesturing toward the curious unnamed sarcophagus (pictured above) he thought might have been knocked to the ground and opened during the sudden Derecho (aka Hurricane Lucille) that blew through town earlier this month.

During the event I shot off a couple of tweets -- one about the Illinois State grant the City got for to begin restoration of the old Attucks H.S bulding, across the street from that very cemetery. WSIL TV3 was there, and reported on the story: Carbondale Gets Grant for Renovating Attucks School

The other tweet concerned Mayor Cole retelling the story of "The Giving Tree" a children's story by Shel Silverstein. Since my Twitter Updates also go to Facebook, one of my Friends there was incredulous that Cole would tell this story since the City would incinerate the destroyed trees and branches instead of recycling.

More photos of the storm damage and aftermath on my Picasa web albums. The album is called If a Tree Falls in Carbondale.

Tweet ya later, Bloggee.!

beesy beesy

Experimenting with a new look for summer... Will be adding more photos to the mix, too.

City: No time for twitter just yet

Back from visit to City Hall re: the City's communications response. Picked up paper copies of #12 & #13 Mayoral updates on recovery. The city's tech guy, Mark Jones, told me he was too busy to tweet the info - or have someone else do it. ... I pointed out that the several items on the piece of paper I was holding could be cut-and-pasted from the word processor into Twitter. ... Mark stated that he understood how twitter worked, but he was too busy to deal w/ it. ...

I think the Mayor will have to approve whatever goes out. Cole sends and receives text messages daily, so he should "get it." Not sure why he just didn't do it. Guess he preferred the on-air radio updates. A friend said he was boasting on-air about what a great job the City was doing. The great leadership he has shown is another sentence for his political biography when he runs for governor.

When I saw hizzoner on the Monday after Hurricane Lucille, I asked what name the hurricane had been given. "Hurricane Obama' he joked "like Katrina was Bush's fault." A bit of Republican humor by the Mayor on a dark day for Carbondale. But he's probably right, the hurricane created a lot of extra work for folks.

I also stopped by Castle Perilous to ask Scott Thorne of the meaning of "Pickles' Alley" ... Seems Scott was taking a bit o liberty with the name, but I won't make a big dill about it.

Actually, Pickle's alley was between Walnut and the PK's Parking lot. The big brown Christian Baril law office used to be called "Charley Pickles" - a hangout back in the day. But Scott liked the name, and "Notes from Pickles' Alley" was born.

Just checked the @CarbondaleIL twitter site... No updates, following 2, 7 followers.

Storm damage on Springer St.

Civics 3G

so i went to city yesterday and it was busy with food stamp recipients because the M'boro office was w/out power, and people needed to take care of business, so Mayor Cole offered the use of the Cdale Civic Center.. ... Mark Jones, the city geek, was working on something in another city bldg. Deborah .... wouldn't say much... seemed anxious to see me on my way... Wouldn't say anything for fear I'd quote her. 

also stopped into the Main Street / Chamber of Commerce office, where I spoke to Sandy at Main Street and Barb at Main Street about the value of Twitter.... Barb got it and signed up @cdalemainstreet before I left the office. And she used it to post important information, which I didn't get on time because I didn't have the feeds set to go to my cell phone. For twitter feeds to have max use, they should be forwarded to your cell phone.

@ericmittan Channel 3's production editor tipped me off to Jim Raser's @forecaster feed, which I'm getting.... Think I'll add it to the feeds at left, along w/ my own Twitter feed.

And some comedian started a mock "@explorecarbonda" twitter feed.  Funny stuff. Can s/he keep it up?

And the Dazette's Scott Thorne is twittering @castleperilous for his Castle Perilous game venture. And Scott's been busy dropping links and tidbits at a good clip. I had to laugh, though, at his first post-Hurrican Lucille

Since the city apparently does not have "explorecarbondale" ... how about @cdalecity or @carbondale_il 

Today, I'll try agintoget holda Mark Jones or Mayor Cole to find out what's up w/ the City's twitter and other stuff, like the future Bike 2 Work Day.

all thumbs

Looking out my window see no Ameren truck, They knocked off at 8 or so last night, and so Day 5 without power begins. One good thing: as a result, I'm becoming more profish w/Blackberry keypad thumbing.

Wanted to comment on the City of Carbondales disaster preparedness and performance, after a visit to City Hall to find out about the City's use of twitter and other electronic media.

I've already been told by Mayor Cole and Mark Jones that twitter account exists, but the name I was given "@ExploreCarbondale" doesn't exist.

I'll go there after my morning Greyhound stint and speak to Mark Jones, the City's top geek.

note: this post was originally typed w/ Blackberry keypad, and edited after power was restored. The original had more errors due to my misthumbing.

If a tree falls on Springer St and nobody hears it. . . .

Reading in the Dazette that there was a storm here on Friday--which explains the 100 mph wind and heavy rain a little after 1:00 pm! I captured some of it on video from my upstairs porch door and bicycling thru neighborhoods until the camera's memory card ran out.

Ironically, I was about to buy a new video camera when the power went out.The freakish storm is being called an "inland Hurricane" by experts:"Hurricane Lucille"?

Naturally, I tweeted the event on my Blackberry - sending out 140 character updates of "the situation". Unfortunately no one in Carbondale actually READ them at the time, but at least I shared the event w/ out-of-towners

On Saturday I tuned into C'dale radio 1620-AM and only heard a Boil Water order. A little more info would have been appreciated, so I text-messaged Mayor Cole about the lack of info, and he texted back they were "working on it"

Later he texted that the radio message was changed and an email had been sent. EMAIL? Who could read it w/ the power down? He texted back for me to get a printed copy at City Hall. I went there, but the door was locked and the email was taped to the door.

Later, at an emergency meeting for City staff and Council at 1pm, I posted a quick tweet, but I gave it a rest, since Codell Rodriguez was writing down the details for The Southern Illinoisan. (Although they didn't make it into the SI's Twitter account)

After the meeting I drove to Duquoin w/ another C'dale refugee and got the last room in town at the Budget Inn, watched the Denver Nuggets beat Dallas, and said hi to Councilman Haynes at Krogers.

That's my report so far.
It's Monday morning and I'm thumbing out this text on the Blackberry..

I plan to question Mayor Cole about the City's emergency communications response.

And the tweets just keep on coming.

Who's your cabbie?

Met two Ace Taxi cab drivers today at the Bus Place, Dave (pictured) and Pat, who filled me in on prices... $4 anywhere in town....plus $4 extra per extra stop, and $2 per 5 minuetes if driver must wait. Also, passengers don't have to double up.

These prices are "introductory" through Summer.

What really impressed me about the 4 Green fleet vehicles is how clean they are ... and the drivers have all their teeth! ;-)

Go Green!

Giving it the old collage try

Yesterday, I went to Marberry Arboretum and snapped a few photos. There will be chapter on the Arboretum and other local green spots in my blook, Karmadale After Blog. Does anyone know who Douglas N. McEwen is? The bench where i was sitting when the tree-sky photo was taken is dedicated to him. I'll be uploading more collages and slideshows to this blog as the blook progresses, using my "SuperSlip 257" and Picasa. Peace out.