DFRESH.NET

BLOGGED AND DANGEROUS

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:26:55 GMT

Who said blogging wasn't a dangerous pasttime. Here's a story in the L.A. Times about a blogger from L.A. who was arrested for suspicion of violating copyright laws. The guy posted 8 previously unreleased songs by the rock group, Guns and Roses. Supposedly, the site received so many hits, the site crashed. The F.B.I. arrested him. That got me to thinking, wouldn't you think the F.B.I. had more important things to do rather than arresting bloggers for copyright infringement? Maybe like protecting average citizens against terrorists, instead of protecting rich rock stars money? Unbelievable!

HAND OUTS?

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:34:02 GMT

Did you happen to see this story in the Sunday Journal? Dude, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The basis of the story was about a single mom in Westerly and her struggles as she tries to survive with two children and no means of support. To make matters worse, her youngest child has a life threatening heart condition. The thing is, I think this story essentially illustrates what is wrong with the country today. On the one hand, you have to feel badly for the children. Life is hard enough without having to try to tackle it at such a disadvantage. I even feel bad for the mom. The cycle of poverty is evident. Her Mother had emotional issues that forced her into a foster home at 14. She was married at 21, had two daughters and when her marriage failed, her husband took off to Missouri with the kids. At 28 she married again, had another kid, who is bipolar. That marriage fell apart early last year. She met another man last year and had another baby. See a trend here? The story goes on to explain how her son is sitting on the couch playing "Grand Theft Auto" on his X-Box 360. (as a side note, I don't own an X-Box 360 because they cost about $350.00) She said she knows it's a violent game and probably for older kids, but she knows people who had strict parents and they turned out bad. She said she had no guidance and she doesn't drink or do drugs. I guess she's hoping to pass on all her good life coping skills. The story ended before it explained why a girl who is from Connecticut, living and working in Danbury and Norwich, ended up in Rhode Island. I wonder if it has anything to do with Rhode Island being more conducive to collecting welfare benefits, food stamps, and the availability of RIteCare.

MYSTIC AQUARIUM

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:00:32 GMT

I took my wife and daughter to Mystic Aquarium today. OK, first off let me say that I bet under the right circumstances, the $24 admission for adults and $18 admission for kids would be worth it. Under the circumstances that I visited was definitely NOT worth it. The reason is, the place was MAD crowded! I mean, you really couldn't view the exhibits without people pushing, kids crying, mothers pushing their strollers into you, it was just overcrowded. The picture above must have been taken in December because the amount of people pictured were just the one's who were standing on my feet at any particular time. The other thing is, I was under the impression that the Sea World Show was similar to the one that they have in the Sea World in Florida. Dude, this show was one step ahead of pathetic. Three sea lions that they made swim around in a pool that was similar in size to my pool (40x20) and posing a few times. The indoor exhibits were pretty cool but you really had to wait around for an opening to get a look. There was even a small pool with Rays that swam around and they let you touch. My wife even reunited a missing child with her mother. The mother was asking a worker, who was selling water, where the security office was. It seemed that in the large crowd, she lost her daughter. The person gave her directions. Not 2 minutes later we saw a little girl crying and my wife ran to her and whisked her away in the direction of where the mother was headed. My wife went through the door and the little girls mother was frantic. She turned and saw my wife ushering her daughter in and, needless to say, was grateful. I guess if I was going to go back, it would not be at the peak season.

2008 SHEA FOOTBALL

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:20:01 GMT

I can't help feeling that this is going to be a long year for the Shea High School Football Raiders. According to the story in today's Times, Shea is only returning three starters from last year. That means Coach Campopiano and his staff have their work cut out for them. Of course, the difference between Shea now and Shea of the early seventies, when I attended the school (actually West High Rangers back then) is the amount of kids trying out to make the team. Let me correct myself. Back when I attended West High School there were no try-outs because not enough kids wanted to play football. This year 65 kids attended the first work-out. I remember Coach Margarita, Coach Pastore, and Coach Caswell screaming at players from the sixties through the eighties. Then I remember Coach Alves bringing the program back to respectability, followed by Coach Campopiano, for the last dozen years. If I've missed a few, please drop me a line and I'll include them in a future Shea post. In any case, Shea will open up in a few weeks with a non-league game against LaSalle. That should be a good barometer as to where this program is and how far we need to go to be in the playoffs again.

THE BEST OF DOUGEFRESH

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:31:48 GMT

Here's what I think

You can probably guess that something is different because of the fact that I have made three posts in a 24 hour period. When is the last time that happened. Well, I'm on vacation this week and it has afforded me time to think. Scary thought, eh!

Have you noticed that on the bottom of the Pawtucket Times front page they have an inquiring photographer who stops people on the street to ask a question and snap a picture? Today was the first time I knew someone in that section. Jim Provencher. After seeing hundreds of pictures of people from Pawtucket, I finally saw someone I know. So much for "small world".

I saw a commercial on television advertising Mews Tavern in Wakefield RI. It looks like a place I wouldn't mind trying out. But, being a typical Rhode Islander I have to say that Wakefield is too far to drive to go out for dinner. The other thing I was thinking is that a major part of the attraction is that they say they have three bars, a million different kinds of hard liquor and something like 69 varieties of beer on tap. I mean, how are you going to go there and not try out a few different beers. What happens if your driving? See what I mean. I know in my case, my wife doesn't drink so she would be the designated driver. I would assume that not everyone is that lucky. There's almost like a wink, wink attitude by these establishments. Come and have a few, don't drink and drive, but is you do you better hope you don't get in an accident.

The political season in Pawtucket is heating up and I must say that I was surprised when I saw that Al Vitali threw his hat into the ring for a Council-At-Large seat rather than challenge incumbent Henry Kinch for his District 3 council seat, which Vitali lost to Kinch 2 years ago. You may remember I backed Kinch because I thought the majority of Wildenhaim, Vitali, Moran, and Carr, who supported Council President Don Grebien needed to be broken up. Now, I would have supported Vitali because the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction with John Barry and Tom Hodge pretty much pulling the strings of puppet president Mary Bray. I had an opportunity to talk with Vitali about his choice and he said he thought he had a better chance against Spooner and Tetreault for the two available Council-At-Large seats than against Kinch for the District 3 seat. I say there are two available seats because Tom Hodge is a cinch to keep his seat in the upcoming elections. I told Vitali that I thought he had an excellent chance of winning back his district seat because I felt that many people, like me have "buyers remorse" for voting Kinch in. He said he thought that he only had a 50-50 chance against Kinch but thought his chances to win an At-Large seat was much higher. Said Vitali, "If I get the At-Large seat, I'll be able to keep Henry in check." We shall see, although Vitali will get my vote, I don't think his chances are quite as good as he thinks.

JURY DUTY

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:25:46 GMT

How bad is your day going when you check the mail and see a notice informing you that you have been summoned to serve on Jury Duty? Dude, what's up with that? This is the first time I have to report for Jury Duty. I lived in Connecticut for a short period of time and I received a summons to report. Although, in Connecticut and Massachusetts you have the ability to call a phone number the night before and if you're not selected, you need not report. Your all set for, I think seven years. That's what happened to me. Not in Rhode Island. When you receive a summons, your guaranteed at least two days. If you're selected to serve on a trial, your stuck for the duration. In any event, I plan on recording every moment right here beginning on September 4, 2008. I don't know if they'll let me keep my lap top with me for the whole day. If not, I'll update on a daily basis the same night.

2008 OLYMPICS

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:13:00 GMT

I don't know what it is, but I really can't get into this years Olympics. Don't get me wrong, watching Michael Phelps winning all those medals was pretty cool. That dude didn't just beat people, he destroyed them. Other than that, I really couldn't put my finger on anything that made me want to tune in, I mean like set some specific time aside to watch an event that I thought was "can"t miss". The thing I do like is being able to tune in on all the NBC cable stations and watch some obscure crap like badminton or team hand ball. I kind of enjoyed the gymnastic stuff as well as the diving. I wish I could have caught some of the track and field events. On the other side of the coin, what's up with beach volleyball? Beach volleyball is an Olympic sport? How can the IOC throw out baseball and think that beach volleyball is OK? Also, couldn't NBC find anyone better that Cris Collinsworth to co-host the Olympic Show? What happened? Was Pee-wee Herman too busy to go to China?

BOOTLEGGER

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:54:46 GMT

When I read this story, I didn't give it a lot of thought. After all, these people who sell alcohol after hours were common in Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls while I was growing up. Of course, back then liquor stores closed at 9:00pm and were also closed on Sundays. That made a ready made market for people looking for booze at the last minute. I remember the old Vet's Club on Newell ave. in Pawtucket doing a brisk Sunday morning business out the side door. Then there were people just like the one described in the ProJo story who took care of the afterhours clientele. There were plenty of times that we were sitting out on the corner at 11:00pm and ran out of beer, a quick trip to the bootlegger would take care of that problem. I remember buying a six pack of Heineken for $10.00. So the prices were inflated, but we didn't care. What made me think of all this was the Dan Yorke Show. He had a hard time trying to figure out why people would go to these types of people instead of planning ahead and hitting the liquor store before it closed. One lady speculated that maybe this guy made his money selling alcohol to underage drinkers. Which I guess could make up part of their business. Then she said something really stupid. Maybe people who got caught driving while intoxicated could not somehow purchase alcohol in a liquor store so they go to the bootlegger. WHAT? Then my buddy Bob Venturini, of Bob's Big Adventure and An Hour with Bob fame, called and said that maybe the bootleggers go to New Hampshire to buy their inventory to increase their profit. One thing about Bob. I've known him for about 40 years and if there is a way to make money doing anything, legal or illegal, Bob would probably have tried it. Anyway, the story referred to the place as a "Sip Joint". I like Bootlegger better.

SENSELESS MURDER

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:23:12 GMT

A Central Falls man was murdered earlier this week when he was mercilessly beaten by two men while he was walking home from work. Here's the story in the Providence Journal. The senselessness of the act is almost beyond comprehension. The man just finished his shift at a Central Falls manufacturing plant when he was approached by two individuals who attempted to take his money. When the man resisted, he was beaten to death. The Fox television program, "America's Most Wanted" is planning to run a segment on this brutal murder on Saturday. According to my sources, who wish to remain anonymous, Central Falls Police have identified a suspect in the case. From what I have learned, the two assailants walked into a neighborhood liquor store after the murder and were heard bragging to one another how "bad they beat the guy". The victim's ex-son-in-law went to the same liquor store later and told the owner what had happened and the owner of the business relayed what he had heard earlier in the evening. The police showed the owner mug shots and he was able to identify one of the attackers. Police are now looking for that individual.

THE MORNING AFTER

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:14:32 GMT

I find this story almost unbelievable. The State Police pulled over this guy for drunk driving. When they gave him a breathalyzer test, he blew a .491. Dude, HE BLEW A .491! When you record a .08, you're considered over the limit. Now, I'm not sure, I know it's dependent on your body weight, fat content and probably a number of other things. All in all, I'd say that .08 probably equals 3 or 4 beers. I wonder how many beers .491 equals? A couple of cases? I guess the real question is, this guy must have had the mother of all hangovers. Imagine that? How bad do you feel when you wake up? At what point do you drink so much alcohol that you get "alcohol poisoning"? I don't know. I guess the crazy thing was that guy was driving. That in itself immediately make it not funny.