Month: February 2008

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Bruce Russell and Brendan Melican.

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Brendan talks about the impending layoffs at Worcester’s daily paper, the Telegram & Gazette. City census forms are out; for people who haven’t changed their address there will soon be a web-based form on the city’s website. You can save a stamp by dropping your form off in the yellow mailbox in front of the library.

Bruce talks about the bus.

Brendan continues his critique of the coverage of a local college promo video.

Mike praises the Toxic Soil Busters, part of the Worcester Roots Project that can help you with toxins in your yard.

Mike talks to Kevin Ksen about a project to stop unwanted T&G sales circulars from accumulating on the city’s sidewalks.

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508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Jesse Pack, Cha-Cha Connor, and Brendan Melican.

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City Councilor Kate Toomey sent Mike birthday greetings on Facebook!

Jesse is starting a “support fund” for area transsexuals facing homelessness and other difficulties. The homelessness rate among transsexuals is very high.

Cha-Cha talks about her performance in the US premiere of “A Journey to Kreisau,” a dramatic presentation about Nazi resister Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, written by Worcester theater icon Marc P. Smith. She connects the performance to both immigration issues and Worcester’s “Canal District.”

Brendan mentions a police harassment settlement involving “disturbingly graphic photographs showing severe facial swelling and bruising.”

Dan Kelley calls in complaining about Mike’s use of the word “complicit.” (Anthony Hmura complains, at greater length, here.)

Brendan comments on this photo of Bruce:

Mike criticizes Worcester Magazine for publishing Kate Toomey’s Facebook updates; he defends them against the InCity Times‘ claim that they got this story “wrong.”

Jesse talks about a press event he held with Cha-Cha to ask the CDC to release some HIV stats.

Mike briefly dropped by the Worcester Local First kickoff event. Mike mentions a Boston Globe article about how the number of 25-34 year-old residents of Massachusetts is in decline.

The New York Times reported on a former Worcester resident living in a box on the Lower East Side.

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Last night was the US premiere of “A Journey to Kreisau,” a dramatic presentation about Nazi resister Helmuth James Graf von Moltke, written by Worcester theater icon Marc P. Smith.

There are 2 more local shows, Feb 19 & 20, 8pm, at the Hibernian Center/Fiddler’s Green (19 Temple St).

I am amazed I’d not heard much about von Moltke before, given that his estate was a center of anti-Nazi activity. In my circle, if you bring up resistance to the Nazis, you are going to hear about the White Rose, Bonhoffer, and of course Jagerstatter, but not von Moltke.

I’m a bit humbled by my ignorance, but mostly eager to read more about him, and excited to realize that there are still so many great men and women of history for me to discover.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panelists are Brendan Melican and Bruce Russell.

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The train schedule has changed; there will soon be a Worcester Green-Rainbow Party City Committee; the “connections exceeded” error on the City’s website is caused by turning off cookies in your browser; Brendan responds to Clive McFarlane’s column about strip club zoning; Mike invites you to add to How To Attend A City Council Meeting; Anthony Hmura has an amazing blog post about running into Cha-Cha at an ATM; Mike contrasts hunger strikes with Gandhian fasts; Mike connects his thoughts on the Telegram & Gazette with Bruce Sterling’s thoughts on broadcast TV.

Brendan: “Little cities like Worcester that are so homogenous, and so closeted, in its activities, that we are able to do things that are essentially illegal just a hair below the surface and nobody minds–this is the stripper factory. This is where all the broken souls come from. So for all the politicians that really think they’re on some sort of moral crusade, look at your peers . . . .”

Vaguely related: Vegan strip club perpetuates objectifying mindset

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