SWINE FLU (hysteria) COMES TO STAMFORD!!

Seriously? "Swine flu supplies"?? Thanks, fear-mongering mass media.

Update your bookmarks! Streetsofstamford.com is online

Even though I still think this whole internet thing is a fad that'll blow over soon, I decided to lighten everybody's key-typing load by "registering" a "domain" with GoDaddy. I'll be migrating my Geocities site soon, complete with midi files.

You can now direct your Netscape Navigator browser to www.streetsofstamford.com to receive your daily peek into the dark heart of Stamford. I've got some pretty cool stuff coming up, so stay tuned!

Music on the streets

I just got an invitation on Facebook to audition for Stamford Downtown Street Beat. My musical ability consists of cowbell and more cowbell, but maybe one of you folks would be interested in rocking out. Here's the lowdown:

Stamford Downtown is seeking Pop, Classical, or Jazz; Acoustic, Non Amplified, Self Contained Acts (no electricity/generators) to perform in Stamford Downtown on Wednesday, July 29 and Wednesday, August 5, 2009 from 6:30pm-9:00pm.
PLEASE audition only if you are available to perform on both of these dates.

Performers are not paid, but are allowed to accept donations from the public.

Auditions will be held Monday, May 11, 2009. Sign in from 4:00pm-6:00pm.
Ferguson Library, Corner of Broad & Bedford Streets, Stamford, CT,
3rd Floor Auditorium.

Please bring your acoustic equipment and prepare one song to perform and provide a song list for our review.

I want my Stinky Stmfrd!

After enjoying some delicious fondue a few weeks ago at The Blue Pearl in New Haven, I had the pleasure the following weekend of visiting Stinky Bklyn, the famous cheese shop in Brooklyn. This, of course, got me to thinking, "Stamford is a pretty affluent place. Why don't we have a cheese shop?"


Why don't we have a cheese shop? Is it because Stamforders are not across-the-board wealthy like Greenwichites? Does the lower-income end of our population deter gourmet eateries and stores? This also feeds into my Blandford argument. Are we too jaded for gourmet food and unique stores? Too urban? Too white-bread?

Sigh...it seems like every time I go somewhere cool or see something unique, I wistfully imagine having that same experience here at home. That said, if any venture capitalists would like to hire a food lover with no business management experience to run a cheese shop in Stamford, drop me a line!

Prepare for laughter

Stamford's local improv group, World Class Indifference, is putting on a show at Monster B's this Saturday. Here's their flier:

I've seen these guys, and they are funnnny! Check it out!

Fairfield County rents high. In other news, sky blue.

The Advocate has an interesting but not surprising article about the price of rentals here in the FC. Basically, no one making less than $45 billion can afford an apartment in this area.

I'm a firm believer in a free-market system, but how did it get so out of hand that it precludes vast swaths of people from renting? FROM RENTING?? I'm not talking about the working poor; I'm talking about middle-class professionals, maybe with a kid, who simply can't afford to pay $2300 a month for a 2-bedroom apartment in Glenbrook.

For example, take Glenview House, which I've blogged about in the past. Their smallest two-bedroom apartment is 1139 square feet and costs $2299 a month! Let's see...$2299 times 12 times 30 equals $827,640. If you have the choice between buying an $800,000 home or renting an admittedly fancy apartment across from Taco Bell, what would you do?? I understand that renting works better than buying for some people (temporary transfers, etc.), but I always thought that renting was generally supposed to be the less-expensive alternative to buying. On a similar note, I always thought that townhouses were sort of like "starter homes" for people who can't afford or don't want a house with a yard, but not when townhouses start at $600,000!!

That said, if I'm going to pay $2300 a month, I'll live in NYC, where I can do many, many more cool things and enjoy more than two types of food (Italian and "other").

Stamford vs. New Haven Part 2

After visiting New Haven again recently, here's a short follow-up to my original post comparing the City That Works and the Elm City.

While we all love (or at least like) our fair city, New Haven wins on two more counts:

Secret Societies


They've got Skull & Bones; all we have is the Illuminati that the trolls on Topix believe control everything in Stamford.

Fondue


This is The Blue Pearl, a fondue place on Court Street in New Haven. As a fondue newbie, I didn't know what to expect when my wife and I went there with friends. Wow. Not only is their $35 four-course fondue-for-two a great value, everything was de-friggin'-licious. Fondue is also a lot of fun; it's more a social event than a meal. We were there for a good two hours talking and dipping (and occasionally dropping).

I know there's a Melting Pot location in Darien, but I would like to see fondue (as well as some other non-Italian options) here in town.

****************

So to update the score from the original post, it's now New Haven 8 - Stamford 2 (3 if you count Jobs).

We still win, thanks to being #4 on Forbes.com's list of livable cities! Woo!!

Zody's replacement

Saw this on Atlantic Street in the former Zody:


Wait, that's not an Italian restaurant! What's going on here?? The Stamford restaurant mafia will not be happy, nor will Fiesta, another Peruvian place just on the other side of the Palace Theater. We might have a good old-fashioned Inca battle brewing. Stay tuned.

We're number 4! We're number 4!

Forbes.com has ranked the Stamford-Norwalk-Bridgeport area the fourth most livable "city" in the country. Take that, Topix morons!

Here's the article, and here's the slideshow.

Let's all do our part to overtake Des Moines for the number three spot!

Metro-North to Yankee Stadium - sweet!

The long-fabled Metro-North train direct to the Cathedral of Baseball most people know as Yankee Stadium has finally arrived! Here's the Advocate article. Shockingly, the Topix trolls haven't come out yet to bash it as another facet of the President's liberal socialist agenda.

I think they should paint each train in Yankee pinstripes like this hideous Bradford Exchange collectible.