Blogs List
Cultural Arts and Entertainment
 Ryan Beardsley |
Horse racing -- inhumane?Fri, May 9, 2008 @ 4:55PM Once again an innocent horse has been put to death because of a tragic accident it suffered following a race. Eight Belles was euthanized Saturday after breaking both its front ankles after finishing the Kentucky Derby second. Jockey Gabriel Saez has been criticized for not pulling up on the only filly to run this year's Kentucky Derby halfway through the race. Animal Rights Activists claim that the rider pushed Eight Belles too hard -- it seems they are correct. This sits wrong with me. I first started to believe that horse racing might be a bit inhumane when Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby, shattered his leg while racing two weeks later in the Preakness Stakes. After numerous surgeries, the horse was finally euthanized after developing laminitis. And these are just two of the many horse tragedies that occurr all the time due to horse racing.
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 Cheryl Clarke |
Still looks like a horse raceMon, May 5, 2008 @ 10:18AM Wow, did you all see the Kentucky Derby Saturday? Big Brown, what a horse, but so sad for the only filly in the race, Eight Belles, being put down after breaking both ankles and after she had come in second. Though this horse race was never really a "horse race" with the dominance of the apparent front runner in the stretch to the finish line, as we enter the last six months before the general election in November, it is looking more and more like it will indeed be another "horse race." The two Democrat rivals, Clinton and Obama, are neck and neck, and if you believe the polls, either one will be neck and neck with McCain in most areas of the country come November. Looks like we will have to wait for the "photo finish" to see who wins by a "nose." Or maybe we will be surprised and a "Big Brown" will emerge as the frontrunner as we get closer to November.
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Newspaper Notions
 Sunny Day |
On Being ObjectiveTue, April 22, 2008 @ 10:59AM Spigotz - Does the term newspapers extend to magazines? The distinction between newspapers and magazines has never been complete. Therefore, the distinction must depend upon binding and cover which distinguishes magazines from newspapers. Logically both have evolved from the news sheets of which we spoke in an earlier blog. However, newspapers did come first. More content, sometimes of a less political nature, the size, the style of writing all play a part in defining magazines as a different piece. Of course, we do not want to err on the side of bias, so we must mention that there are some truly polical magazines such as Newsweek and Time Magazine that subscribe to the same (or greater) in-depth reporting as newspapers.
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First Fantasy - Blog Edition
 Christian Ingram |
First Fantasy - Baseball Breakdown (Part Six)Mon, March 3, 2008 @ 2:08PM First Fantasy: Baseball Breakdown by: Christian Ingram Due to the absolutely ridiculous response generated by the announcement of First Fantasy’s Williamsport Sun-Gazette League, we have decided to create a second league to accommodate all who might be interested! The original league, which will now be drafted live at a local venue on a Saturday afternoon in late March, is almost full. There are only one or two spots available at the moment, and if you wish to be involved in this live local draft, e-mail me (cingram@sungazette.com) and I’ll hook you up with all the pertinent details so you can come on down and test your mettle against First Fantasy and the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.
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Empty Nest/Full House
 LLee Janssen |
Gone fishing ...Fri, May 9, 2008 @ 3:01PM Don't try to reach me for a week ... while I'm not exactly fishing, I'll still be just as absent, vacationing it up in sunny Williamsport. Yes, things will be looking up next week ... there's a ceiling to paint, a few porches to scrub and trees to trim. The list is building, the nearer we get to having young male muscles around. Not that I need them for everything ... I did manage to get the propane refill myself, so I'm ready to marshal the grill. Anticipation over this vacation's had my nerves on edge much of the week ... C's flight is coming in earlier than previously thought, and the other young one will make his way west on Monday. The neighbors will be thrilled to see vehicles that have been parked out front too long finally move. Hell, I'll be thrilled to see them move ... perhaps I can haul in groceries from the ease of a convenient parking space. Gassed up last night in anticipation of the trip to Baltimore ahead. At $3.
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Mixed nuts and stale beer
 Jessica Lamey |
More pop culture than you can handle, I am sure you canFri, April 11, 2008 @ 12:22PM NKOB is back baby! I barely contain my excitement, should I really be saying this as you read the next sentence. I guess its kind of embarrassing. The New Kids on the Block are getting back together!!!! Ahhh, I remember hearing Hangin’ Tough for the first time. It brings back so many memories. So they are getting back together, in the studio for an album and a tour. The reunion coincides with the 20th anniversary of the first album, “Hangin’ Tough” released on 1988. I promise this, I won’t be buying any NKOTB sheets, shoes, pillows or posters this time. NO SERIOUSLY!!! Read more about the 90s sensation’s reunion at blog links.
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The Intersection
 Mike Maneval |
More regulation is preferable to fewer jobsMon, May 12, 2008 @ 6:55PM Investment companies borrowed $16.5 billion from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program this past week, while $18.6 billion was borrowed the prior week, according to Jeannine Aversa of the Associated Press. As the firms grapple with how to cope with the souring markets, Dean Baker of the American Prospect, as an aside to a point about the gas-tax holiday has a proposal May 6: Impose transparency requirements, leverage limitations and caps on CEO pay for investment banks benefitting from taxpayer aid at the behest of the Federal Reserve Board. Greater transparency and tougher regulations are preferable to an option Morgan Stanley and Swiss banking giant UBS are taking. The Associated Press and International Herald Tribune reported on May 6 plans by Morgan Stanley to cut 1,500 U.S. jobs. The DealBook blog of the New York Times, also on May 6, said UBS is cutting 5,500 jobs, including 2,600 in investment banking.
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The Doctor's Prescriptions
 Chris Masse |
Incorrect letter to the editorSun, May 11, 2008 @ 9:30PM A letter to the editor was written in Sunday’s paper concerning a perceived lack of coverage for the Jersey Shore baseball team and I wanted to address that issue head-on. The writer titled her letter “Unequal treatment,” drawing a parallel between Jersey Shore and Montoursville baseball coverage and implying that Montoursville receives more “big headlines.” I’m sure the writer will point a finger to Monday’s upcoming column that leads with a Montoursville story as proof of this. However those comments are off base and here is why. Both Jersey Shore and Montoursville baseball have had game stories written about them five times this season. Montoursville has had one more game than Jersey Shore in which photographs were used but Jersey Shore also has been mentioned one more time than Montoursville in the weekly Dr. Masse columns so the coverage has been equal.
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Stoppage time
 Ian Quillen |
kings or criminals?Thu, May 8, 2008 @ 5:50PM I spend a lot of time on route 54 in May, cutting the corner between Montgomery and Danville on the way to district tennis in Bloomsburg. Yesterday, though, I found myself a little startled by the Amish horse buggies, even though this Maryland transplant had seen it all before. As I watched four coffee-brown horses trot toward me, i glanced at their legs, overgrown with hair and as thick in the shins as most men are in the thighs. Then, I put the mental picture next to the thoroughbreads I've seen, both in person hanging along the rail at tracks in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, and on television, like at last Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Images of Eight Belles' shattered ankles, which I conjured in imagination, and of Barbaro's break, one everyone on the planet could see. Horse racing has always been a dangerous sport. But until I put the three slides together, I never fully grasped how dangerous it's made by the breeding that drives it.
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Family matters
 Adrienne Wertz |
A Mother's LoveMon, May 12, 2008 @ 1:52PM I had sort of a weird realization this Sunday. Although I feel like I've been hauling diaper bags and bottles and pumps and screaming, feisty toddlers around with me for centuries, I've only truly celebrated two Mother's Days. My husband pointed that out to me in the morning, as we fought with time to get to church by 10:40, a 20-minute drive for us. And it was 10:20. And my hair was sopping wet. And my son was screaming bloody murder for no apparent reason. And my daughter was into my makeup bag, attempting to put on mascara. After loading everyone into the car, I thought, aren't I supposed to be relaxing today? I was in such a mood that I didn't even want to share my M&M cookie breakfast with Boo. But, of course, I did. (A teeny, teeny little piece).
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Cookin' with Wood
 Bob Woodley |
Cookin' with Wood by Bob WoodleyTue, May 13, 2008 @ 3:29AM Fried Rice a la Wood Where I got the recipe: Made it up Tools you'll need: Large, deep frying pan, medium saucepan with lid, cutting tool, spatula, paper towel, measuring cup. Ingredients: 4 servings of cooked white rice 4 large white mushrooms 1 medium Vedalia onion 1 green bell pepper 1 red bell pepper 3 or 4 strips of thick-cut bacon 3 hot Italian sausages MSG (Accent) When I made it: Sunday I had some new neighbors move in, and they didn't have their stove hooked up yet, so I took the liberty of making a lasagna for them and their friends who helped them move.
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