October 2008

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

Standard Podcast [ 44:38 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Our in-depth discussion of Question Three is pushed off a week; instead, we talk about the Q 1-3 advertising we’ve seen. (Related: Seth Godin on undecided voters, the T&G editorial board on marijuana decriminalization.)

Mike has spent the past week shopping only at locally-owned businesses.

We discuss “Payment In Lieu of Taxes,” also known as “Taxes.” (Guidestar info on the Art Museum.)

Brendan mourns the WANT ADvertiser.

Bruce joins us for a “Bruce Is Incorruptible” segment on the Armsby Abbey.

We unwisely discuss the T&G website; this topic always turns out to be a quagmire of negativity. Related: ShrewsBuried, Worcesterite, Real Worcester.

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Just watched live the recently-freed Íngrid Betancourt addressing the European Parliament. (Earlier prayers: 2007-07-04, 2007-12-07, 2008-01-17.) She seemed to have got the chamber full of tearful, sympathetic eyes; and a standing ovation at the end. At the subsequent press conference, she said she did not like how politics was conducted all over the world – I suppose this meant she will not run for the Colombian presidency again anytime soon.
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Recently the Archbishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia, Malkhaz Songulashvili, came to Oxford for a study-leave. By Georgia, I mean the one with Saakashvili and Stalin (alas), rather than the one with Jimmy Carter and CNN. That might answer your obvious question…. Further, as to why there is an Archbishop in a Baptist church, please read the church’s website. As to how to address a Baptist Archbishop in the correct style: pass. In any case: sadly, it was during his visit that the Russia–Georgia conflict broke out.
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Gentle readers will recall that about half a year ago, Barack Obama got into some trouble because of his pastor from a congregation of the United Church of Christ. (Around the same time I also visited a United Church of Christ congregation which was “more liberal than I”.)

Since then, I have attended the United Reformed Church’s General Assembly in which the Reverend Roberta Rominger was inducted as General Secretary of the Britain-wide denomination. I have also attended two induction services (on neighbouring Saturdays): of the Reverend Tanya Stormo Rasmussen to the chaplaincy of Mansfield College, Oxford, a college historically related to the United Reformed Church; and of the Reverend Carla Grosch-Miller to my own church Saint Columba’s. A pattern emerged: all three of them are from the United Church of Christ!

So, gentle readers west of the Atlantic: if in a month’s time you feel an eerie urge to move hitherward, you know where you are sure to find a welcome. But for now, work hard to make yourself comfortable at home for the next few years!

Yesterday, the two most prominent presbyterians in these Isles (neither of them English) spoke out:

Ian Paisley: ‘We must all, in our own way, do what we can to help one another to get some way through this very dark hour for our nation. I know that there are many beliefs in this House; my belief in God is well known and my religious convictions are known. I trust that our whole nation will turn in repentance and cry to God for an intervention so that the calamity will not come on our children and on the babes in their cots.’

Gordon Brown: ‘And that is why we back the work ethic; we support effort and enterprise and responsible risk-taking. These are the morals markets need.’

It is well known that ‘presbyterians’ is an anagram for ‘Britney Spears’. By the way, sorry for the long hiatus from me. Let me know if you want to hear about my recent adventures – things like encountering a Georgian (as in Tbilisi, not as in Atlanta) baptist archbishop, and entryism into Britain from Barack Obama’s church – please let me know.

By Joe DeGeorge for HBML:

Hermes
Barnum
Monkey
Legba

508 is a show about Worcester. Due to technical limitations, this week’s show consists of various subsets of Kevin Ksen, “Diamond Dave” Maciewski, Brendan “Buck Paxton” Melican, and Bruce “Snow Ghost” Russell.

Standard Podcast [ 36:36 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week in Worcester, the authorities shot a moose.

Image by Duncan A.

Kevin talks about protesting the “Spirit of America” pageant (though not the spirit of America) in 2004 and 2008. Mike critiques the new Worcester Magazine feature “Two minutes with …” and skims the InCity Times. Dave and Mike are saddened by Daniel Yarnie’s arrest. Brendan considers the City Council’s proposed anti-party ordinance. Mike goes negative on the library.

Mike is shopping only at local businesses for the next week. Brendan mentions Polar Classic Sodas.

Bruce is both unintelligible and entertaining.

Finally: tasers.

mp3 link, other formats, feed, low-fi versions

To leave a voice message to be played on the show, call 508-471-3897.

To get an e-mail each week alerting you of the new episode of 508, join the e-mail list:

We won’t share this list with others.