Archive for the ‘local stuff’ Category

First Thoughts from the Twin City Tea Party meeting…

Posted: March 30, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, local stuff, opinion/news, special events
Tags: , ,

The room at the Border Grille and Bar was very full. I counted 86 heads in the place, I think a few more might have turned up after we started but then a few more might have left before things were done too.

Interviewed several people there before things got going (will be uploading them to YouTube in the morning) quite a few were first time people who had never attended an event and wanted to see what was going on. Most had never been involved in any kind of activism.

As always the food at the Boarder Grille & Bar was first rate.

Several candidates showed up, the most impressive of the batch was a fellow running for State auditor.

The fellow from the Worcester Tea Party’s presentation (which took place after the candidates) was too long and not well organized, he had a lot to say about what they had done and a few very good points (particularly about building a farm system via lower office) but he should have condensed and organized his presentation better. His hostility to Sarah Palin didn’t play well with several of us there and he really annoyed DaHospitalityGuy. Perhaps he is more of a doer than a talker. Not everyone has the same gifts.

Once he was off stage there was a series of suggestions and give and take with the crowd that was very effective, Fitchburg & Leominster has great potential for growth in this area.

When things were all over I had a pleasant conversation with Roxeanne of Haemet which lasted long after the room had emptied.

This was only the second meeting and they doubled their crowd. I think Justin did a really good job and will only continue to improve with time. With different groups in Gardner and Ayer I doubt this is going away anytime soon.

Update: Meanwhile Stacy reports on a larger Tea Party event out west.

Yeah I know I don’t usually take photos with people…

Posted: March 26, 2010 by datechguy in fun, local stuff, personal
Tags: , , , ,

but it was with family and he’s wearing the GQ fedora with the business card!

The Newest member of the Axis of Fedora!

The Axis of Fedora never sleeps!

But would you believe I forgot to tell him that the Border Grille & Bar has 100 different types of Tequila! If he came to the tea party event there on Monday night he’d know.

Meet some of the exhibitors at the Catholic Men’s conference

Posted: March 22, 2010 by datechguy in catholic, local stuff, short films/interviews
Tags: , , , , , , ,

In addition to the people there quite a few exhibitors attended the men’s conference.

Adopt a Student helps people pay for Catholic education.

I should make it plain you don’t have to be Catholic to get that aid

Lighthouse Catholic Media Offers CD’s from great Catholic speakers to help evangelize the faith.

I have a few of these CD’s myself, they are first rate and will tell you a lot more about the actual Catholic Faith as opposed to what people say it is.

If your interest is more political then you might want to check out Catholic Citizenship

Would that Bart Stupak did.

Thomas Moore liberal Arts College in Southern NH had a booth:

Magdalen College also attended but didn’t go on Camera with us. Strangely enough The College of the Holy Cross, Assumption College and Anna Maria college, all in Worcester had no presence at all. You would think colleges in Worcester that proclaim themselves Catholic would bother to show up. Feel free to contact them and ask why.

A Vatican representative from Rome attended promoting pilgrimages to holy places. Journey of the Spirit is the web site.

This is exactly the type of woman (a faithful Italian) that my mother urged each one of her sons to marry. Alas for mom none of us did.

As a member of the Knights of Columbus I would be derelict in my duty to not give my group a plug:

There were actually three Knights booth there. I actually joined the Knights at the Men’s conference last year.

Finally you likely have heard of ETWN but you might not have heard of Catholic TV. If you haven’t Bonnie Rogers solves that problem.

And beyond that there was a dizzying array of devotional books available from many different vendors.

If all democrats are like this then we’ve got the next election in the bag

Posted: March 20, 2010 by datechguy in internet/free speech, local stuff, oddities
Tags: , , , , , , ,

I was at a restaurant after the men’s conference and was telling the owner about my adventures during the Scott Brown campaign and CPAC when he introduced me to a reporter/democratic operative who had come to eat with his wife. It was a very interesting experience.

When I was asked to explain the reasons why I thought Martha Coakley lost I started out by reminding him of her abortion flip flop concerning the healthcare bill. The moment I brought that up the gentleman started filibustering saying I had no business voting for Scott Brown since he had flipped on abortion. He would not let me finish my point when he started making “tea bagger” references. I reminded him that this was a vulgar sexual reference, quite inappropriate as he was sitting with his wife in a public restaurant, but he continued to use the reference and then maintained that the Obama joker posters were beyond the pale and other than the odd union sign democrats never acted this way.

As I was in fact born after the invention of the internet and did live through the eight years of the Bush administration I wouldn’t let him get away with that either, saying he could tell that to the marines but not to me. (Even Charles Johnson wouldn’t fall for that). It was astounding, it was the same tone deafness that the Coakley campaign had combined with a touch of the bigotry of the Boston Berkshires and ‘Bama lady.

When the gentleman started to suggest that my mother who left the democratic party this year was “confused” it was definitely time to excuse myself. I game my respects to his embarrassed wife (I felt bad for her, she seemed a nice lady and her reaction to my respects suggested that she had to deal with her husband in this capacity before) and left them to their dinner.

His inability to listen, suggestions that I was not capable of learning or understanding, lack of basic decorum; particularly in front of lady were troubling. Combine this with his attempts to make assertions that were false on their face and frustration when I would not accept them leads me to believe that Coakley’s weaknesses are not unique among democratic circles. If that is the case then the Democratic party in Massachusetts may be in much worse trouble than they know or will acknowledge.

Older Entries
Newer Entries