Stamford Bits and Pieces...New Recycling Rules and The Dog Run Opens!!

Imagine my surprise when I started to plow through the paper this weekend and came across this little piece of great news: One Bin Recycling begins Today!!
According to the Stamford Advocate, Stamford is finally, finally, trying out a new and obviously better, sub-contractor for the recycling fiasco that has been in place here for years. I don't really care about what bin I put paper in, but I do want to be able to recycle paper every week...and I want to recycle all plastics, not just 1's and 2's. I can't figure why the city that works can't manage to invest in the infrastructure to run their own recycling, but I know that I don't know enough about the local unions and CT state cronyism to comment. All I can say is that I've felt really guilty for not keeping all plastics and dragging them up to the transfer station for recycling, but it's truly all I can do to keep things going here at the level that I have...which, is wild and overgrown with not enough outside help.

The plastic problem in the ocean is real, and no matter your political persuasion, you can't deny an actual continent as large as Texas of plastic that you can see with your eyes, much less the parts you can't see; like the liquefied plastic that the algae is eating, which is then eaten by tiny fish and down the chain to...us! Worried about Chinese plastic additives in your dog's food? Have you wondered what that wild caught fish that you're ponying up extra bucks for has been eating out there in the polluted seas? This is serious, folks, lets get on board with recycling plastics and letting the city government know that we appreciate it!

Of course, we were supposed to get a notice on this, but we haven't. That's par for the course around here. I'll take whatever I can get at this point; explaining the situation to people who don't live here is pretty funny: you cant put anything but ones or twos, metal and glass in the blue bins, and if they are in any sort of bag, forget it. All bags must be removed or they wont take it. Bins bust be by the road and if they are too far back, then forget it, cardboard must be flat and tied with a string. Tape might be suspect, so don't even chance it. Next thing you know, it rains and you're dealing with taped up pulp for another week. Mixed paper was only once a month, you you end up with bags and bags of it, and if it snows or rains, well, its heavy. They still come for it supposedly. I dunno...There is no way to fit the amount of mixed paper that comes to a normal household into the gray bin, and otherwise you have to use paper bags. If they are in plastic, it had better be puled down so it only covers the bottom of the bag, or they might not take it! The worst is that they toss the bins back wherever and if its raining, up here, the bins float down the street! Im sure that downtown has their own problems, but from up here, one wonders why the contractor that was awarded that contract was allowed to continue this long.
Here are the new guidelines that are supposed to be left in our bins this week. Of course, its supposed to rain on my recycling day, so I'm printing it out.

And if you haven't seen this, its worth 10 minutes of your time. It will spur you on to get more serious about recycling:




Here is something else that really made me happy this week. After wandering around on the outside of the fence with Lola for weeks waiting for the grass to "set," I'm happy to say that the new dog run has opened!
We will definitely be down there, as long as its kept clean. It's right on the Highway, in Courtland Park, right off of exit 9, I think, and it's not a terrible location, considering that it was good enough for the city to have us doing T-ball there when Will was 7 or so. There are fumes for sure and it would have been nice to not have a park there at all, but I would prefer to use that public space for dogs and an adult or two than kids playing sports. Also, every community fought having a dog park in their backyard so vehemently, that we never would have seen this day...believe me, it was a long process! Here is the scary Google map (because Google is watching you all the time!) and here is the site map. I hope that it works out OK...it depends on the crowd and the dogs. More on that as it happens....

There is much more locally but its a nice, non raining day and I may just pile Spike and Lola, and Puppy in the car and go and check out the new park....

Gore Team Assembles? Imus Lawyers Up! Skakel Tries For a New Trial With RFK Jr's Help. Movies Shooting in Stamford.

It was front page for 12 whole hours on Huffpo and Chris Matthews mentioned it, so it must be true....Apparently someone in the UK press, Washington Bureau, has gotten wind of some secret assemblage of Gore advisers and workers in advance of a probable run. Gore has reportedly not asked the to do this, but he, tellingly, has not told them NOT to either....and the sleuthing American press can only watch his weight!...hmmmm...
I am an Edwards gal myself, but I cant say that I wouldn't love to see an Gore-Edwards ticket for 8 years with a smooth transition to an Edwards-Obama ticket for another 8 years, segueing into another 8 years and so on and so forth....It seems to me that the first 4 years post Bush is gonna consist of environment, diplomacy, and bringing the security system home where it belongs. Its going to be so much cleanup that its hard to imagine that much else will get done. Gore is the right guy for the job, for sure, but I will remain hesitant about him until I hear what his hindsight feelings are on NAFTA, welfare reform of the Clinton era, and how much of a hawk he really is. Its easy to project alot onto him, but its a different world now than it was in 2000, and we have to be very careful who we throw in with.


Ok...maybe its not really as fun as I think it sounds...but CBS is apparently gonna have to do some negotiating with the old cowboy before this is all said and done....
Looks like a 50 mil payout is to be expected if the fine print wasn't fine enough...dont they call it "moral turpitude?" or something like that?
This should be interesting:

Imus Hires a Legal Heavyweight

The former CBS radio talk-show host has retained a high-powered lawyer. Is a lawsuit pending?

by Jon Fine

Don Imus, the most famous former radio DJ in America, has hired renowned attorney Martin Garbus.

Garbus, a partner in the Manhattan law firm Davis & Gilbert, confirmed to BusinessWeek on Apr. 20 that the deposed radio host has retained his services, but he declined to discuss why. Garbus also declined to discuss whether Imus was plotting any legal action against his former employers at CBS (CBS) and MSNBC (MSFT, GE). A brief sentence on Garbus' personal blog, late Friday afternoon, noted that Garbus "represents Don Imus in a dispute with CBS"—a sentence that was later removed from the blog.

A ferocious litigator who has received numerous media citations as one of America's leading trial lawyers, Garbus has represented clients as diverse as the comic Lenny Bruce, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Nancy Reagan, and pioneering rap group Public Enemy.

Imus, 66, could not be reached for comment.

A CBS spokeswoman declined to comment on the matter. But Imus recently signed a five-year deal with CBS, which was set to pay him just shy of $10 million annually. The company's abrupt dismissal of its high-profile star also has led to speculation in the press about what his departure will mean to the company. A spokesman for MSNBC also declined to comment.....

Imus' disgusting pig of a producer was finally fired and I sure hope that the rest of his vile crew go too. I actually think that Bernard and Charles are more disgusting than Imus.
Why does anyone care for Imus? My Mom was just going on about how she thinks that Imus should be reinstated....huh? This is my hippie, women's movement, bohemian Mom?
All I can say is that I was very happy to not have him on the air this week. It made my mornings so much better to be able to watch MSNBC, which is my news channel of choice for background noise, Here is a little article by a guy who actually likes Imus and says that the liking Imus thing involves desensitization. In that case, I'm even more glad that he is off the air. The disgusting things that these guys have been saying should be sensitive issues for anyone, anywhere. Im not saying that he doesnt have the right to say whatever he wants to, but I wouldn't watch him, and I expect that the slow awareness of the sponsors was bound to stop him sooner or later. There is a big difference between free speech that cuts to the quick of society and free speech that expresses real ideas that need to be talked about. These guys who think its OK to misuse their rights and then scream about their rights are doing the whole system a big disservice...because its beyond rights...its about feeling real empathy for other people and being aware of who is around you (kids with cancer, a national audience, his own friends and family...did I mention kids with cancer?)

In local goings on, Mt Kisco's own Bobby Kennedy Jr. has been testifying downtown at Stamford Superior Court, on behalf of his cousin Michael Skakel. For what its worth, Bobby doesn't feel like the evidence was strong enough beyond a reasonable doubt for conviction, and I agree...but also now there is the issue of new evidence from someone who came forward after the trial that sheds further doubt on the already shaky outcome. I find it chilling that someone can be sent to jail for life on the kind of indirect and very old evidence that they showed. I'm not a lawyer, but I trust Bobby's opinion of this because I know that he is a smart and stand up guy....and logically, even if Skakel did do it, the direct evidence just wasn't there beyond a reasonable doubt, as far as I've seen in following this thing.
So, we've had a line of news trucks and even a huge Court TV van parked outside. I think that Bobby is done, but it might be worth it to try to get a seat if they have any public seats available. Not so fantastic criminal attorney, Mickey Sherman, has also been testifying...and is apparently under investigation himself for tax evasion, (as his partner, and a great guy who happens to be a neighbor of mine, has already pled guilty to the same.) Mickey has lost so many cases lately that its almost like he is just stuck on a streak...Its hard not to be fond of these guys though because they are local boys who grew up together and they know everyone....The amount that Rechihi pled guilty on is 1.8 million, which is really chump change around here. Anyway, I hope that he does easy time because he is not a danger and actually is someone who cares alot about conservation of the land up here and the community. He has helped me out quite a bit...and I'm sorry that he made this mistake.

Spring also brings lotsa movie shoots to Stamford, and next week we're going to have Sean Penn, Bruce Willis, and Bobby Deniro shooting on Tresser Blvd, in an office building (closed set, I hear.) And also apparently Steven Segal (who I cant even believe can work anymore, he is so god-awful) shooting and action film called Marker, here and in Bridgeport. I guess that the film business is hopping here because there is some deal that the film companies get a 30% tax credits, and there are more and more SAG actors here. They've been working on it for a very long time and its paying off...Anette Benning has a movie in the works to be shot in Norwalk, and Hillary Swank has begun a movie that is scheduled to shoot here and Norwalk, I believe.

I like Sean Penn...he sure puts his money where his mouth is, though he can sometimes seem to take himself too seriously, and go overboard. He showed a little of his funnier side on Colbert this past week, which was very nice.....I've got to get some tickets and go to one of Colbert's tapings....he is still my hero.

Its a regular lil' Hollywood ....and traffic, traffic, traffic...But I like the smell of the equipment and prop trucks, just as surely as I'm oh so glad not to be in that business anymore....

Happy Earth Day everyone...dont forget the bees...