So has Old Man Winter. After a premature start with a mammoth storm around Halloween the winter has been pretty much snowless except for the hilltowns, leaving even the usually super scenic woodland way into Northampton looking dreary and drab.
Now this is more like it!
Hard to believe that right around this bend is downtown Northampton!
The ancient church juxtaposed with Saturn.
Rudolph on Amber Lane.
By the time I got to work the weather was just exactly perfect.
Unfortunately, it was soon followed by a bitter arctic blast. Happily all was snug and cozy in the Haymarket Cafe last night.
This week the first presidential primary of Campaign 2012 was held next door in New Hampshire. Lots of political junkies in our Valley scoot over there every presidential season and this year was no exception, as shown in this photo of local GOP rising stars Joe Flebotte, Alexander Sherman and Josh Carpenter arriving at former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's victory party.
Who says Romney doesn't inspire a devoted electorate?
Meanwhile over at Ron Paul headquarters, adding a little Western Mass madness to the scene was Valley libertarian leader Terry Franklin and friends engaging in some satirical surrealism with prankster candidate Vermin Supreme, who wears a boot on his head because people are always saying they want to give politicians "the boot" but there's never one handy: Aleksandra Valiunas of Amherst in white suit on far left at 1:10; Terry Franklin in red jacket and black hat, taking photo at 1:40; Barbara McGovern (UMass grad) hair in foreground at 2:14.
Once again I forgot about the bus schedule changes on account of the students on break, so I had some time to wander a bit around downtown. That's why I always carry a camera with me, you can always see things to photograph when you put your mind in the right place.
The gay pride flag outside the Unitarian Church.
Bumperstickers are big sellers around here. Every car has got at least one.
Paintings in a window of Northampton's most favorite subject - itself.
A mysterious gold painted brick on a wall.
The Northampton parking garage was built in 1989.
I remember what that space was like before the garage. It was a big gravelly, cracked asphalt parking lot that had a little white wooden shack in the middle of it that served as the Peter Pan bus stop.
My main memory of the Blizzard of '78 involves that shack. Despite the terrible weather, I was determined to go to Springfield that day for a big fun party. I waited and waited inside the shack with a few other people for the bus to come until finally we were told the bus was cancelled.
I was really bummed, as were my friends in Springfield, because I was bringing some of the party supplies in my knapsack, in particular some blotter acid with Mr. Natural on it (a legendary brand) and a brick of hashish so fine it would crumble at the first lick of the flame.
But I had no choice but to go back to the apartment I was renting on Dryads Green, stopping at the King Street Packy before they too closed for the storm. Thus armed against whatever unpleasant realities might arise in the midst of the worst storm of the century, I really don't remember what happened next. But I feel I can reasonably guess that I faced the furies of nature with better humor than most.
One of the coolest things in Hamp is the Drive By Poets, who distribute their poetry out of boxes like newspapers.
Here is their latest by Denise Fontaine-Pincince:
To the Woman Who Was Upset With Me For Using the Word "Miracle" In Telling Her Seven-Year-Old Son How A Single, Pink Impatien Had Just Bloomed Out of the Crack Where My Sidewalk and Foundation Meet, A Few Feet Away From the Window Box where I'd Planted Last Year's Annuals,
I'm not sorry.
Northampton, ya gotta love it, where even the graffiti is uplifting.
Romney Ahead
The first major poll to look at the Republican field for 2012 has our own former Governor Mitt Romney leading the field. According to Public Policy Polling:
Mitt Romney and Scott Brown
Our first national look at who Republicans would prefer as their 2012 Presidential nominee confirms the wide open nature of the field. The leading candidates are all within the margin of error of each other, with Mitt Romney leading at 28% followed by Mike Huckabee at 24% and Sarah Palin at 23%. Ron Paul pulls 11%, 9% say they're undecided, and 6% say their preference would be someone else.
Romney's lead speaks to the fact that moderates could actually pick the GOP nominee in 2012. That's because there's gridlock among conservatives about who their preferred candidate is. Huckabee leads with 28% to 27% for Palin and 25% for Romney. But the former Massachusetts Governor has a large advantage with moderates, getting 35% to 17% for Palin and 16% for Huckabee. That significant edge with them gives him the overall lead.
I like Romney, but he's a little too establishment for me and showed poor judgement in his failed Massachusetts healthcare plan. Huckabee is too religious, and Palin needs to find her true calling as a talk show host. Ron Paul is simply too old. So as far as I'm concerned, no major player now on the field strikes me as a suitable challenger for Obama. I strongly suspect that the actual GOP nominee in 2012 will be someone whose name we are not even considering today.
The Music Section
Surrealistic imagary of a concert in the basement of Thornes in downtown Northampton.
Valley rockstars Thurston Moore of Northampton and J. Mascis of Amherst teamed up to form an avant-garde punk band called Demolished Thoughts which performed the other day at the trendsetting SXSW conference in Austin. A video has surfaced of the madness:
When former Governor Mitt Romney presented his universal health plan to the people of Massachusetts about four years ago, there were many who predicted it would fail because it had many of the features of the much reviled plan put forward by former First Lady Hillary Clinton, as seen in this cartoon from those times:
Today the Massachusetts plan is often pointed to as the model for the national healthcare plan currently being pushed by President Obama and the Democrats in congress. But before we adopt it for the nation as a whole, shouldn't we consider how it is faring in Massachusetts first? Unfortunately, the early returns on the Massachusetts plan are far from encouraging, as reported by Michael Graham in the Boston Herald:
It’s exploding the budget: Our “universal” health insurance scheme is already $47 million over budget for 2010. Romneycare will cost taxpayers more than $900 million next year alone.
It’s killing us on costs: Average Massachusetts premiums are the highest in the nation and rising. We also spend 27 percent more on health care services, per capita, than the national average. Those costs, contrary to what we were promised, have been going up faster here than nearly everywhere else.
It’s creating bizarre marketplace mutations: In Massachusetts, ObamaCare 1.0 is such a mess our governor is talking about imposing draconian price controls. He’s even suggested going to “capitation,” a system where doctors get a fixed amount of money per patient - and then that’s it. Which means it would become in your doctor’s financial interest never to see you again.
All this damage to the taxpayers, the insured and the responsible business owners . . . and for what?
The percentage of uninsured Bay State residents has gone from around 6 percent to around 3 percent.
In other words, it’s a dud.
And now Obama is preparing to drop the Big One on bipartisanship and turn Congress into a political hot zone for the remainder of his presidency, in order to pass a similar plan.
After the election of Scott Brown, we sometimes heard critics complaining that while Massachusetts already has a universal care plan like Obama wants, through electing Brown we voted to deny it to the rest of the nation. Now we know that our plan is not only not universal, but that costs are going through the roof. Therefore the rest of country should thank Massachusetts for electing Brown and thereby stopping the imposition of our failing system on everybody else.
At least for the time being.
Valley Freedom Fighter
Northampton Attorney Richard Evans was among those testifying in Boston this week for the legalization of marijuana. Of course the bill won't pass, but that doesn't take anything away from the cogent arguments of this tireless advocate, who first spoke before the legislature on this issue in 1981. Here is a video of his appearance the other day.
The Contender
I'm pleased to hear that Tom McCarthy (above) of Pine Point's Gateway Hardware is gathering signatures to run against entrenched incumbent State Senator Gale Candaras. McCarthy ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature in 1996, and I'm happy to see him returning to the arena.
Bar Scene
Ace photographer Tony Mateus took a couple of shots recently of bars I once had more than a casual relationship with. (Actually there were quite a number of such places!) The Regal Beagle in Indian Orchard was one such hangout, which I never seemed capable of visiting without leaving shitfaced. I went there alot in the 1980's because Jay Libardi loved the joint.
Another place we used to visit was this dive down by the arch in downtown Springfield. Despite the bad neighborhood it was a surprisingly friendly place, and drew a wonderfully weird crowd of street eccentrics.
But my drinking days are behind me now, thank God, and I stick to the coffeeshops. Here's a picture I took at the Haymarket Cafe about seven this morning, an hour I could never wake up for in my alcoholic past.
In a stunning upset, libertarian Republican Congressman Ron Paul won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this weekend, defeating previous three time winner former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. As the establishment favorite, Romney's defeat left observers wondering about the significance of the results, as reported in the Christian Science Monitor:
Despite Paul's significant victory, boos rang out from the convention hall when the poll results were announced. And many in the blogosphere quickly discounted the results.
"We can thank Ron Paul for showing just how worthless straw polls are," wrote RedState blogger Erick Erickson.
"There’s never been a poll Ron Paul couldn’t win, unless you count a presidential primary race," adds the guys over at Little Green Footballs.
Hang on, writes the National Review's Robert Costa. Paul knew what he was doing. There may have been some boos, but Paul was by far one of the more popular speakers at CPAC this year," Costa writes. "While Paul mingled with his acolytes, the big guns — Pawlenty, Romney — were often shrouded by aides or mingling backstage," he adds. "Believe me: CPAC folks noticed. And now, thanks to the straw poll, for a moment, Paul’s opening line from his address is true: His 'revolution is alive and well,' at least this weekend."
In case you thought that today's event meant that Paul had actually won the presidency, FOX News offered this helpful reminder: "The straw poll is not binding."
So what do I think? Here are the official straw poll results and my take on each contender:
Texas Rep. Ron Paul - 31 percent Now 74 years old, Ron Paul is not going to run for president in 2012. However, his victory over more credible contenders is a powerful ideological statement that the Republican Party ignores at its peril. It is time for the libertarian wing of the party to take over from the Bush social conservatives.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- 22 percent If John McCain had the sense to make Romney his running mate in 2008, he'd be president now. Today Romney is clearly the current front-runner for 2012, but he still carries the baggage of his authorship of the failed Massachusetts universal health law and his unattractive socially conservative Mormon background. Still, if he moves in a more libertarian direction, Romney may yet redeem himself.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- 7 percent A fascinating media personality, but not a credible presidential candidate.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty - 6 percent He's actually running for Vice-President, and would be a good pick.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich - 4 percent The leader of the revolution of '94 is getting too old.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- 4 percent Wears his religion on his sleeve too much to be electable.
Indiana Rep. Mike Pence - 5 percent Mike who? First he needs to get known outside of Indiana.
South Dakota Sen. John Thune -- 2 percent Talented enough that with the right moves he could break into the big time. Definitely prime veep material.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels -- 2 percent Another unknown dude from Indiana.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- 2 percent Despicable gay-basher is completely unacceptable.
Mississippi Gov. Hailey Barbour - 1 percent Likeable and smart but no one from Mississippi is electable to the presidency.
Other - 5 percent Sometimes the "other" category can produce some real surprises.
Undecided - 6 percent Considering that 2012 is two long years away, those who marked their ballot undecided were probably the most sensible folks in the room.
Meanwhile, Springfield political rising star Joe Flebotte was at CPAC and took this picture of Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.
He also took this pic of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Two Pics
View out the bus window crossing the Calvin Coolidge bridge this morning.
Wise words in a Hamp window.
The Music Section
No one would be surprised if I said that my favorite Pine Point guitarist is Karl Mayfield of Martian Highway legend, and of course I have a fondness for Destiny's Defeat, the first true Pine Point rock band. But no musician from Springfield's Pine Point section has had greater commerical success than Tony MacAlpine. I remember him best as a piano player and violinist. But it was as a fiery fingered guitarist that MacAlpine rose to the status of an internationally acclaimed musician, with an especially strong following in Europe and Japan.
This is a picture of MacAlpine (center) at my house in 1985, getting friendly with my genuine human skull Elvira.
Here's the Pride of Pine Point in action:
Easthampton guitar wizard and Valley Advocate dude Tom Sturm is in Miami, where apparently the manniquins are extra large.
Inevitably more video has surfaced from the concert Friday at UMass featuring Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead. This sorta captures what it was like near the front of the stage.
One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
