508: A Show About Worcester

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican and Chris Warren.

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[0:45] Worcester Planning Board wants to restrict campaign lawn signs.

[5:19] Telegram & Gazette circulation falling fast.

[11:30] There’s a new newspaper called “CMP: Central Mass. Pride.” Also, there’s an interesting InCity Times article.

[13:20] Brendan received a creative Paul Franco mailing in a brown paper bag.

[14:39] The Northborough Tea Party sponsored a debate. We missed it.

[15:56] The Tea Party Express will be in Worcester Nov 1. Some locals will be having a counter-event to “Party Hard(er) Than The Tea Party.” Chris gives us the scoop.

[19:33] Bill “PIMCO” Gross writes: “Vote NO in November – no to both parties. Vote NO to a two-party system that trades promises for dollars and hope for power, and leaves the American people high and dry.” Mike tends to agree. Brendan wonders where on the ballot you will find this “No.”

[20:52] Still, there is an election coming up, and we have opinions of varying validity. You should look into the Jim Henderson vs. Bill Galvin race for Secretary of the Commonwealth.

[22:33] Mike likes Madnick for D13. He also wants to rename District 13 District 9. Brendan thinks Mahoney has put in the shoe leather to win this one.

[24:50] Brendan mentions the negativity of the Chandler/Higgins state senate race.

[26:00] Apparently Marty Lamb supporters have ran ads criticizing Jim McGovern’s activism against genocide in Darfur. If anyone has a YouTube link handy, please send it in.

[27:17] Brendan was on the Worcester marketing bus. Lots of good things coming along in the city!

What’s Mike wearing? Moiré-inducing patterns.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, some fat cats talk about banking reform.

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[0:00] Music.

[3:30] Three “fat cats” discuss banking reform and their support for US Rep candidate Marty Lamb. For a contrasting policy view, see A New Way Forward.

[11:55] More music.

[18:10] Mike feels bad about people piling on Marty Lamb, since the guy is going to get destroyed in the election.

[19:07] Why did Worcester Magazine say “This year, even McGovern’s in trouble”? Why should any but the most enthusiastically partisan work on campaigns when the results are predicted to be so lopsided?

[19:38] Brendan makes the case for working on these campaigns.

[21:50] Why does the T&G’s ElectionNet blog say that “Central Massachusetts is a key battleground in the 2010 election cycle”? Brendan makes the case for this claim.

[24:47] Music.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel includes Jen Burt, the Venerable Man Shing, and Brendan Melican.

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[0:00] The first few of more than 1000 Buddhist relics are installed at Worcester’s Linh Son Temple, 16 Ruthven Avenue. They will be on display this weekend only.

[6:25] We learn a little about the relics.

[11:28] Venerable Man Shing talks about the temple and Buddhism.

[20:14] Jen talks about the striking Clark University cafeteria workers.

[21:55] The temple’s Abbess blesses Jen with a relic.

[25:18] Mike notes there’s an interesting post at InCity Times this week.

We’ve received a shocking number of questions about Mike’s wardrobe. In the styleblogger tradition: jacket, Faconnable; shirt, Brooks Brothers; chinos, Patagonia; tie, Luciano Barbera for Louis Boston; pocket square, Hermes. Brendan is threatening to raise his game on this front….

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Jeff Barnard and Brendan Melican.[display_podcast]

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[0:10] Jeff has now battled cancer for six months.

[3:41] The animal circus is in town; some are protesting it.

[4:07] As expected, CitySquare has bought Notre Dame church.

[4:50] Aiden Duffy’s art show at FYC opens Saturday, Oct 9, 6pm, 420 Pleasant Street.

[5:02] There’s an energy barnraising Sunday as part of the international day of climate action.

[6:12] The Globe profiled Worcester’s Mandaeans.

[7:09] The PIP Shelter is still open; Paulie doesn’t like how Councilor Haller is handling the end game.

[8:32] The next Worcester Magazine on Tap is October 14 at Worcester Fitness.

[9:54] The next Blogger Coffee is October 17.

[11:20] It’s a good month to adopt a dog.

[11:24] We must, of course, complain about newspaper paywalls.

[13:13] There’s now a Worcester edition of the street newspaper Spare Change.

[15:05] We talk about the whole 4rilla/Kate Toomey/CSX trash thing because we can’t get Neil on the phone himself.

[23:50] Numerous small controversies whirling around the InCity Times this week. Tony Hmura demands PILOT credit, Tirella creeped out by Evangelidis, more police stops, Janice Harvey column dissing ICT “spiked.”

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panelist is Brendan Melican.[display_podcast]

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[0:29] There is an “earthy smell.”

[2:03] Mike reviews this year’s Mystery Band concert. Here’s a video from an older one.

[5:22] City Councilor Joff Smith accused of being soul-less, shorter than 5’10”.

[7:20] Two Worcester colleges are still holding out on making “payments in lieu of taxes” to the city, Assumption and Holy Cross. Mike wonders if this is because they really don’t need to make the sort of zoning/land deals with the city that were a part of previous PILOT arrangements. Brendan thinks they may be negotiating PILOT deals as we speak.

[11:00] The Telegram ran a hilarious story about people trying to ban K2, an incense laced with a marijuana analog. It’s funny to think that a year after marijuana possession was decriminalized in Massachusetts, any drug user would consider an alternative that is, by most accounts, inferior. Brendan: “Just because someone fills a bowl with something, doesn’t mean you should smoke it.”

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Peter Sulski, Tracy Kraus, Krista Buckland Reisner, David Russell, Ian Watson, and Brendan Melican.

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[0:00] Rachmaninoff’s Trio elegiaque No. 2.

[5:13] The Worcester Chamber Music Society is starting their fifth season tomorrow!

[19:10] stART on the Street was pretty great.

[20:40] The City Council has avoided filling in the details of their pit bull plan and passed that process on to the City Manager.

[22:41] Sometime-panelist Bruce Russell got his CD reviewed in this month’s metronome.

[23:36] Brendan provides a little analysis on the Clark PILOT deal, which seems part tax and part quid-pro-quo.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Nicole, Tina Zlody, and Brendan Melican.[display_podcast]

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[0:32] Demolition of the downtown mall began this Monday, with the jackhammering of a hole in the parking garage.

[1:38] We talk about the election results and a T&G article on Marty Lamb’s bankruptcy a decade back. (For more thoughts on financial elitism, see this Glenn Greenwald article.)

[6:40] stART on the Street is coming up Sunday, Sept 19, in Worcester. Park Ave, between Pleasant and Highland, 11am-5pm.

[9:45] Sal DiMasi was in town this week to talk about Worcester as a center of video game development.

[12:36] Mike reads from 2 flyers about a Main South anti-prostitution meeting.

But the real cry comes from the sense of hopelessness that is descending on us that says “This is how it is and how will be.”

[16:45] The Main South Farmer’s Market has a photo contest. Get down there and enter, people.

[19:10] Nicole encourages you to join city boards and commissions.

Also: Mike will be on the Left Ahead podcast next week. I think maybe you can call in and hassle him.

508 is a show about Worcester. Today’s panel is Ken Peterson and Brendan Melican.

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[0:30] The podchraoladh endorses wheredoivotema.com, your source of Massachusetts voting info.

[1:45] Ken is teaching Irish in Webster. A new class starts Thursday. There are also Irish classes in Worcester.

[5:56] The demolition of the downtown mall has begun unofficially, and will begin officially next week. (For some reason Mike keeps referring to the mall as CitySquare, the project slated to replace it.)

[7:38} The city passed some sort of pit bull-related ordinance. Or something. We may have to get back to you on this one.

[7:42] Mike thinks Worcester Magazine on Tap is cursed.

[9:51] The Canal Fests are this weekend. Pet Rock too. Also, Pride Week begins. Scott Schaeffer-Duffy might win the Canal Diggers race.

[10:50] If we have at least 508 Facebook friends by next week’s show, one of them will win a prize.

[11:28] The Worcester Blogger Coffee is this weekend.

[12:17] stART on the Street is next week.

[13:20] Worcester Magazine’s cover story is about sex in the city. Mike wonders about Womag’s lack of sex ads, even as Craigslist is being lambasted over these sorts of ads.

[15:54] Ken recommends a preschool.

[17:19] Wind.

[19:19] Mike notes that Don Sharry isn’t endorsed in a pro-life e-mail posted by Jay G. (Nor are the other D13 Dems.)

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Brendan Melican and Mike Benedetti.

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[0:17] The only drug paraphernalia this week is from alcohol.

[1:09] Disclaimers. Brendan is working for the Steve Grossman for Treasurer campaign; Mike is considering not voting at all.

[1:37] We are a bit disappointed in the campaigning of the Democratic candidates for the District 13 state rep seat.

[7:51] Mike is still mad that Spammin’ John Mahoney spammed him when running for City Council a few years back. Mike un-dorses Mahoney.

[18:03] We’ll talk more about the T&G paywall on another show. Thanks to Victor and everyone else for keeping the conversation interesting.

[19:24] We said we’d give out a prize if we had 500 Facebook fans by today. We have 499 (no fooling). Can we get to 750 by the end of September?

[20:05] Local bloggers have started a “Wormtown Fleet” photo project to make up for the lack of photos from the ailing Jeff Barnard. Below, the kid twirling the Don Sharry sign in Tatnuck Square. Oh, if only this was Gary Rosen instead…

[21:48] Mike missed some sort of scandal about politicians not paying taxes properly on the interest income from their campaign funds, and for some reason does not care.

[23:38] Louie made some nice National Recovery Act shirts.

[24:14] We talk about the Republicans hoping to take Jim McGovern’s US Rep seat. Marty Lamb put out a campaign barf bag and may or may not be an accomplished ultrarunner. Mike Stopa “is a raving lunatic.” I guess we could endorse Brian Herr here.

508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is David Druin, Melissa Smith, Kyle Moda, Bill Sontag, Tim Lowe, Paul Cotnoir, and Brendan Melican.

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[0:00] Worcester’s Becker College has the #4 undergrad video game design program in the country, according to Princeton Review. (And WPI is #7!) We talk with faculty, students, and graduates about the industry and hopes for a boom in Worcester.

[11:30] Which games do people love and admire?

[16:35] The T&G put up an online paywall this week. We think the T&G is important and hope it thrives. The competing CentralMassNews claimed a 20% increase in traffic over the first 2 days. Some website I can’t find reported the T&G had thousands of accounts registered the first day. Brendan thinks the # of article comments is way down. (See also Jeff Barnard’s incisive analysis.) If you’re looking for online games where you can win real money, you may explore these slot gacor games.

[18:36] We talk about the technical aspects. Brendan wishes their visitor tracking were stricter so the results of the paywall experiment could be conclusive. Mike likes that their paywall is not so strict as to inconvenience legitimate subscribers with configuration issues.

[21:46] Brendan has been e-mailing some of these problems to the T&G.

[23:26] Mike set up isthereanythinggoodintodaystandg.info as an excuse to see if the 10 free monthly articles are enough to keep someone informed about the civic basics.

The T&G’s Victor Infante has been writing about our reactions to the paywall, and having some discussions in the comments with Brendan. (See LiveJournal: 1, 2, 3.)

[26:15] Becker people get free copies of the T&G.

[27:30] College is starting soon.