Rollins 2011

My 5 Senses has been silent for close to a year now. The main reason being is some of my readers got very vocal about me putting up or shutting up and shut up I have done since last August. In that time I have done a lot of thinking about how I feel about Worcester Massachusetts, if I want to stay or go, and if I do stay what I want to do to make it the kind of place that I and everyone that lives here can feel proud to call home.

I am hereby announcing my candidacy for an at large seat on the Worcester City Council. For too long people who do not work, live, and play in our urban center have controlled the destiny of our urban center and for the most part have ignored it's quality of life issues.

Join us this Thursday at Jak's Pub at 536 Main Street between 7pm and 9pm for a campaign kick off party/fundraiser. Entertainment will be provided by two of Worcester's finest singer/songwriters, Scott Ricciuti and Michael Thibodeau. We have a great deal of work to do and need your help to do it. This is something that has a serious reality of happening and I am excited at the possibilities. A donation to the campaign of $20 is suggested however any donation is appreciated up to and including your time and presence.

Thanks for reading this blog over the years folks! Your comments both on line and in person are what make me have the energy and confidence to make this happen.

Hope to see you on Thursday.

Crystal Ball

If Worcester ever truly gentrifies, future urban settlers will fall in love with Worcester not for what it has become, but for whatever white trash roots remain. Mark my words.

55 Pearl

(Image ganked from Bill Randell over at his blog. He probably ganked it from someone else anyways)

This may very well be the best outdoor dining spot in the whole city. Not a very wordy review here except to say that I had a ridiculously good burger topped with cheese (don't remember the kind of cheese) applewood smoked bacon, and tempura leeks and a Sierra Nevada for $12 and sat outside underneath a big tree and watched downtown go by. I will go back to 55 Pearl many times over.

Worcester's Online Media Explosion

For as long as I can remember Worcester has been a black hole as far as media is concerned. The Telegram and Worcester Magazine definitely do their fair share but aside from the work of Scott Zoback neither of the papers have really ever had that ear to the ground journalism that defines what it means to live work and play in the city of Woo. Television is a total wasteland aside from WCTR Channel 3 news on the cable (which seems to have zero web presence) and WCCA public access television. Radio has always been a little better with WXLO, WSRS and The Pike on the FM and WCRN (who still hjave no real website at all), and WTAG on the AM giving exposure to many things Worcester. Even Boston heavy weight WAAF hasn't forgotten their Worcester roots and probably pays the most attention to the city out of any of the Boston media outlets. WICN, WCUW, and WCHC are nice alternatives on the lower end of the dial as well.

I think that 2008 will be remembered as the year internet based media exploded in the city. Between all the blogs, the web video magazine Worcester Love and Mike Benedetti's informative 508 podcasts you really don't need to look much further then your computer anymore to figure out what is going on in Worcester at any given time.

The culmination of all this though and also a result of the fallout of Womag being sold seems to be the emergence of several online Worcester based news and magazine websites. Here is a quick rundown of some of them.

Worcester Wired is a site that seems to have just sprung up over the past month and looks like it may be the only one out of all of these sites so far that looks as though it may be positioning itself as an online challenger to Womag's alt weekly throne. It's a great looking site that appears easy to navigate and is probably worth at least a once a day stop.

Just like it's discontinued print version, Blank Canvas Magazine's new online version will be one to check in on every once in a while. The content that is here is great but I have a feeling that new content will be added quite sporadically. Still, when something is put up on the site it will certainly be worth your time.

No site is more a result of this online media explosion then Real Worcester. Launched just last week Real Worcester's goal is to be a one stop shopping location for all online Worcester news and info. All your favorite blogs and all your Telegram and Womag headlines are linked off of this site. Add to that that they are also going to have original content and this should be a fun site to watch develop. (Full disclosure: I have been tapped to do a weekly music column on the site as well as contribute other writing as I see fit).

I am not sure just how long ago it started but the grandaddy of sites like these has to Worcesterite.com. Worcesterite was formerly called Volcano Boy but changed it's name this year to reflect it's hometown and make it more inviting for people of all walks of life to peruse the information there. Almost more of a discussion board then anything else it is a great place to go to get some publicity for an event or to rant about the latest city council vote. As the elder statesman of Worcester's online community I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Worcesterite make a move in 2009 to put itself squarely at the front of this online media explosion.

2009 should prove to be a very fun year to watch the interwebs in Worcester. See you there.

Sky Mark Tower

Wow!

If you know what I am talking about then you know exactly what I am talking about. If not you need yo get yourself into Downtown at night at some point over the next couple days. I really hope this is a permanent part of the landscape of the Worcester skyline.

Montreal very much has a signature thing with it's skyline with the rotating spotlight on it's tallest building. Worcester now has something like that. Go and check it out. It is very cool.

You Can Blame It On The Rain But Don't Blame It On Worcester

It really is too bad about the storm that is going to wreak havoc all over New England tomorrow. I was looking forward to a day of leaving my house on foot around 10am and not returning until about 2:30 am and experiencing an outdoor/indoor music and fun filled day. Not an 18 hour day but it could be stretched to about 17 if I chose to get some breakfast after the bars close.

Starting at 10 in the morning we would have had the Main South Farmers Market happening at the corner of Main and Benefit featuring locally grown produce, live music, and awesome happenings.

Then I would have walked back over to the Canal District for Canal Fest at the corner of Harding and Winter featuring great food, great music, canal replication silliness and more awesome happenings.

At 6:00 over on Green St Ukestock is starting up in the White Eagle ballroom which should be a good time and something you don't get to see everyday, which is a whole slew of people playing ukeleles. An added bonus is that it happens in the Arcadia Ballroom in the White Eagle which is one of more fantastic rooms in the city.

And then to end the night we have three of the cities best getting together right across the street at the Lucky Dog in Huck, Thinner, and Little Big Wheel. By the way I want to just put it out there that if I endorse a band as good they actually are and it's no hyperbole. You hear me say a band is good and in my opinion they are as good as anything you would see at one of the bigger regional music venues. They ain't no Probable Cause.

Can we have a moment of silence to contemplate just how god awful Worcester's self proclaimed best band is? I mean they really really suck. They aren't even any good at playing other people's songs and it makes me a little sad that they draw the numbers that they do.


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So I have a feeling the Farmer's Market is still happening. Canal Fest has been officially postponed until November 1st so that throws a wrench into things, but Ukestock and the phenomenal show at the Lucky Dog are still going on so tomorrow is a great time to get yourself out of the house and make some memories in the the Woo. If you see me say please say hello.

Threepenny Opera at WPI

Also via the Go List:

The Music Division of the Humanities and Arts and VOX are pleased to present the "The Threepenny Opera" with book by Bertolt Brecht and music by Kurt Weill. Originally set in the impoverished back alleys of Victorian London, this production of The Threepenny Opera finds underworld antihero Mackie Messer(a.k.a. Mack the Knife) in prohibition Chicago as he tries to woo PollyPeachum and elude the authorities. Tickets are $15 general admission and$10 for students (with ID). Doors open 30 minutes prior to the show. Advising the production will be Professor David Dollenmayer, whose students will be providing German and English translations. Returning to direct her fourth production at WPI will be Kristy Chambrelli. Her past direction at WPI includes "The Mikado", "Sweeney Todd", and John Delorey's"Witchwife" The show will be performed Friday, September 19, 2008 at 7:30, and Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm. The production will be fully staged and costumed, with a cabaret-style pit band, conducted byProfessor Douglas Weeks. This year the musical is part of the Parent's weekend festivities and in partnership with Student Activities we are able to provide online pre-orders with credit card through Saturday, September 6. The website is: http://www.wpi.edu/Admin/SL/Parents/Weekend/form.html

If you'd like to reserve tickets for purchase at the door you can email vox-info@wpi.edu or call 508.831.5051.
WHERE: Alden Memorial, Great Hall
WHEN: Friday - 9/19 - 7:30 pmSaturday - 9/20 - 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm
TICKETS: $15 General/$10 Students (with ID)
NOTE: Doors open 30 minutes prior to curtain.
Thank you and we hope to see you at the show!
Thomas Collins
Professor John Delorey
The Three Penny Opera, Executive Producers

Main South Farmer's Market Launches This Saturday

From the Go List:

Please help spread the word for the new Main South Farmers Market launching THIS Saturday from 10am-2pm at 807 Main St. (corner of Benefit and Main). The market will feature booths from local farmers (including the YouthGROW Farm), Coffee/Tea and Breakfasty treats, soap and incense, kids art projects and live music. Come on down! Call Casey 508-799-9139 or email education@recworcester.org if you have questions or would like to volunteer! Thanks!

Latin American Festival 2008

Living in Main South for almost 8 years there was nothing I wanted to go to less than the Latin American Festival. Mostly because of years of encountering things like this:



I have to say though that all those years I was really missing out. What a good time this is!

Really this is all I have to say about it. Very very very good music and very very very good food being enjoyed by very very very good people having a very very very good time.

Musical highlights for me were Murga La de Todos (Uraguay), Franroy Figuero & Carlos Boys Band (Cuba), Grupo Boriken (Puerto Rico), Gregorio Uribe Big Band (Columbia) and Yomo Toro and the Frankie Morales Orchestra.

Just incredible. I am already looking forward to next year. Take advanage in 2009 folks. This is world class pro music that could be commanding quite a heavy admission charge and it is totally free and happening right here in your city. Do not sleep on this next year.

Worcester Block by Block #1 in Pictures

Reasons To Love Worcester That Would Make Most People Hate Worcester: Post #1

Today I am moving some stuff into my new apartment downtown (more about that in another post) and after going up and down a few times I buy a drink out of one of the machines in the building and I go outside and start to drink it while enjoying the nice weather we are having. I have my head kicked back in classic drinking posture when all the sudden this voice is right up in my ear.

"YOU KNOW WHO'S PLAYING AT THE CENTRUM TONIGHT???!!!", the voice says.

I tell the dude he shouldn't just come up on people and yell in their ear like that.

He just gives me a funny laugh and yells again, "OZZY OZBOURNE!!!!"

Now when he first yelled in my ear my reaction in my head was like, "WTF, who is this annoying Worcester street person and what the hell does he want." Then I realized hey, this guy is probably in his early 40's. He has probably had a much rougher life then I can ever dream of having and today his favorite rock n roll dude is in town and that makes him so happy he just wants to tell everyone he sees on the street. I can actually relate to that. He even had some old Ozzy concert T shirt on.

Is his wierdo look and smushed mouth and missing teeth making my city a less attractive place? Sure. Not his problem though. A little public art and cleaner streets and buildings would help the city much more than this guy showering, getting some new clothes, and having some dental work done.

I am thrilled actually that this little guy is walking around my city today spreading the good word about his favorite rocker. I am a little dissapointed however in my initial reaction and what I am sure are going to be more reactions like this to this guy throughout the day. Even more dissapointing is the thought that someone might have a conversation with him today and go home to Holden or Sterling and tell their family how "run down" the city is becoming over chicken pot pie.