Real Hartford

Cinema, Cocktails, and Creative Cuisine

In November, the Capitol Cinema Collective will be bringing independent short and feature-length films to the city in its Hartford International Film Festival. This Wednesday (10/22) there will be a fundraiser for the Hartford International Film Festival at Barça Restaurant and Tapas Bar in Parkville at 7pm.

I have had the chance to preview some of the films to be shown in November and will be going on Wednesday to support this. Barça is in the Design Center at 1429 Park Street.

Busy Week at the HPL

On Thursday night:

Civil Liberties
and the
Presidential Election
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Light Refreshments 5:30 p.m.
Program 6:00 p.m.
Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street

When the next president takes the oath of office in January, he will pledge to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” But once in office he will also be called upon to restore provisions of the Constitution that have been stripped away in recent years in favor of greatly expanded executive power. American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut Executive Director Andrew Schneider will talk about many of the civil liberties challenges the next president will face such as racial profiling, gender discrimination, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) discrimination, the restoration of habeas corpus, reform of the state secrets privilege, the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, the use of torture as an interrogation technique, the warrentless spying program, and more.

Connecticut State Senators & Representatives Candidate Forum

Tonight the Hartford Public Library will host a forum that’ll likely be more informative than either of the major presidential debates have been. The meet & greet begins at 5:30, and the forum will start a half hour later.

The candidates who have been confirmed as participating are:

State Senator, 1st District
Senator John W. Fonfara (D)
S. Michael DeRosa (Green Party)
Barbara J. Ruhe (R)

State Representative, 1st District
Representative Kenneth P. Green (D)
Mark A. Friedman (CT for Lieberman Party)

State Senator, 2nd District
Senator Eric D. Coleman (D)
Veronica Airey-Wilson (R)

State Representative, 5th District
Representative Marie Lopez Kirkley-Bey (D)
Larry Charles (Petitioning Candidate)
Craig T. Stallings (Petitioning Candidate)

This will be moderated by Tom Condon.

Parking is available in the lot directly behind the library. You may also get to use the new solar-powered pay stations for on-street parking which are replacing some of the old-fashioned meters downtown.

Reopening of Mall Downtown

Not that kind of mall, the other kind.

There is a great lunchtime event coming up at the Burr Mall in downtown Hartford (home of the huge, red ‘Stegosaurus’ sculpture between City Hall and the Atheneum) this Wednesday, October 15th. The Ella Burr McManus Trust is hosting a celebration to officially reopen the newly refurbished space. There will be a 7-piece Latin jazz band ‘Esteban’, an African stiltwalker, ice cream, lunch tastes by six Hartford restaurants, and a brief ceremony at 12:30 p.m. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. and will occur rain or shine (if bad weather will be inside City Hall Atrium just off Mall).

WFSB/Channel 3’s Dennis House will be the Master of Ceremonies for the event and Tom Condon of The Hartford Courant will also speak.

The Mall is a lovely spot for downtown residents, workers and visitors to enjoy. All are invited to come out and see the new and improved space!

Nothing to Do, Nowhere to Go

Continue reading Nothing to Do, Nowhere to Go…

Connecticut Moves into 21st Century

For the record, ladies, I’m single, my housekeeping leaves a lot to be desired and I’m ambiguous about having children. But I’m young and can bake pies.

Inquire within.

Protest Waste Facility

Heritage-Crystal Clean–a company which touts its “environmental services”–is being protested this Tuesday at Constitution Plaza by the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice. The Illinois-based company transports and disposes hazardous and non-hazardous waste. It is seeking to establish a hazardous waste transfer station on Murphy Road in Hartford. CCEJ’s website notes that Hartford already has eight multi-town waste facilities, putting an unfair burden on the city. Tuesday’s rally begins on the corner of Market and State at 4pm on Tuesday. For more on this issue, see the CCEJ website.

Opportunity for 15 Minutes of Fame

CPTV is looking for people from specific minority groups to discuss the presidential campaign.

Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) is looking for people who would like to be panelists on “Front & Center” with Ray Hardman, a weekly, half-hour public affairs program.

Each panel will be made up of 6-8 people and will focus on a different group of voters: women, young voters, and African Americans. Panelists will discuss what issues are important to them as they consider the candidates.

To take part in one of these discussions, you must be available to be at CPTV’s Hartford studios at 1049 Asylum Ave. as follows:

* Women’s Panel Discussion - Friday, 10/10 at 10:30 am
* Young Voters Discussion - Friday, 10/17 at 10:30 am
* African Americans Discussion - Thursday, 10/23 at 10:30 am

Each taping will last about 30 minutes.
Contact Jane Moreno (Education Coordinator for CPTV) directly, to discuss details. Phone: (860) 275-7345; E-mail: jmoreno@cptv.org

Americans Deserve Nothing but the Best…

and we know our worth by the presidential candidates. I’ll leave Obama alone for now, but I think he looks better than he is because McCain is his true character foil.

In front of an extremely white audience, McCain bumbled in both speech and movement. His slouch, creepy grin, and awkward gait all indicated a man lacking the confidence and drive necessary for a president to be successful. When he wasn’t staggering around the floor while Obama spoke, he was hurling bizarre phrases which ranged from the flagrantly and grammatically wrong, to the misplaced metaphor. Some gems:

…beneficially affect the situation…
…exacerbates our reputation…
…abridge their behavior…
…nailing Jello to the wall…
…government mandates–I’m always a little nervous about…

The real turn-off–aside from his issue positions and inability to convey cohesive thoughts–was his repeated condescending statements to the audience. Early on, he remarked that many people may not have heard of Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac before the current economic crisis. Later, in the segment about foreign policy, he commented on how there are countries we might not be able to find on a map. While some viewers and audience members may be ignorant, I found both counts to be offensive and personally not accurate.

Additionally, his admiration of T. Roosevelt might be something better kept in the closet. It makes McCain seem capable of whitewashing history.

Missed Chance

Bistro 942–formerly EuroCafe–is closed after being open under the new name for less than a year.