What a weekend...

Farmers Market WILL be open tomorrow, Easter Sunday. I suppose if your going over the river and through the woods to gramma's house, you should stop and pick something up. Baked goods are always appreciated, as are lovely (and easy to care for) flowers. Ask any vendor whats a good choice for those disinclined to give life to small green things.

Monday and Tuesday will be big days here at Forgotten-Roanoke.com

A delayed podcast, a delayed site update, and anything else I've been delayed upon finishing will be done then.

Once again, I direct your attention to the messageboard link to the top right of this post. Above the bio.

Registration is free and easy, and it's good for all sorts of stuff, so why not sign up? Even if you never intend to use it, sign up anyway. It will make me feel better, and don't you want me to be happy?

Of course you do.

Happy Passover to my Judaic brethren, Happy Easter to my God-fellas.

Although, anyone ever wonder why the Easter Bunny leaves chocolate versions of himself to be devoured cannibal-style? That bunny has me wonderin.

You want a reason to fight? To not lay down and just take it?

You dont need a reason. You just need to remember. This nation was built on the backs of people like this, Roanoke was built the same way.

Courtesy of the NY Daily News, the transcript of the audio recordings from Flight 93, September 11th, 2001.

Excerpts from the cockpit tapes of Flight 93. The Arabic has been translated into English:

9:31

Hijacker: Ladies and gentlemen, here the captain, please sit down keep remaining seating. We have a bomb on board. So sit.

9:34

Hijacker: Down!

Passenger: Please, please don’t hurt me.

Hijacker: Down. No more.

Passenger: Oh, God.

9:35

Passenger: I don’t want to die

Hijacker: No, no. Down, down

Passenger: I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.

9:52

Hijacker: The best thing: the guys will go in, lift up the ... unintelligible... and they put the ax into it. So everyone will be scared.

9:57

Hijacker: A fight?

Hijacker: Let’s go guys.

Hijacker: Allah is greatest. Allah is greatest. Oh guys. Allah is greatest.

Sounds of struggle

Hijacker: They want to get in here. Hold, hold from the inside.

9:59

Hijacker: There are some guys. All those guys.

Passenger: Let’s get them

10:00

Hijacker: Is that it? Shall we finish it off?

Hijacker: No, not yet.

Hijacker: When they all come, we finish it off.

Someone cries out

Passenger: I’m injured.

More shouts

Hijacker: Oh Allah. Oh Allah. Oh Gracious

Passenger: In the cockpit. If we don’t, we’ll die.

Passenger: Roll it

10:02

Passenger: Move. Move.

Passenger: Turn it up.

Hijacker: Pull it down. Pull it down.

Planes starts to flip over

Passenger: Push, push, push, push, push, push.

Hijacker: Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.

Passenger: No!

Hijacker: Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.

with the realization that the whole plane was going belly-up, they still fought.
Would you?

I feel the need to say something.

The Roanoke Times has an article up today. Im not going to post the name of it, but you'll know it when you see it.
My issue is not that they publish the article, its how Reed Williams (who Im sure will be getting alot of mail soon) and the Higher-ups at the Times allow details which have nothing to do with the simple reporting of the story to get in the way.

I could have edited this article down to about 3 lines, informative but not rife with details.

Personally, this speaks to me of some low-class work. Poorly written, poorly structured, and oh, the headline. Thats going to stick in the minds of many for a while.

#1 Daily Newspaper (in areas with newspapers, readers, and competition among newspapers - 2 out of 3 the times does not have) in the USA? Not like this.

To those about to Rock

A question for you

Ampitheatre on the grounds of the former Victory Stadium?

Good idea, but what about parking? and why build from scratch...

You have 2 halves of a whole stadium allready. Pick the better one, keep it - tear down the other one. Add a second half at an angle to the first, connect with a stage area and youre done.

And look, you've kept the spirit of VS alive by keeping a large section of it. And, if you leave the grounds natural (ie. don't asphalt everything over) you can continue sports there. Amphitheatre, or baseball stadium?

Concert setup:
Left side, bleacher-style seating. Center, field level seating (bring your own seat). Right, bleacher-style seating.


Game setup:
Left, bleachers. Center, game field. Right, bleachers.

Not so different than it is now, just more flexible. And a ton cheaper than full demo and full construction.

But thats just me, and no one ever listens to me.

Political stories from The Roanoke Times-'For the City' wants Fleming stadium in '08

Political stories from The Roanoke Times-'For the City' wants Fleming stadium in '08: "With the money on the school side of the ledger, any future council attempting to quickly reassemble money for a Victory Stadium renovation would have to ask the school board to return all or part of the $8.2 million school stadium money."

Um.. No.

No they would not. Short answer as to why, private donations and private money combined with public funds could revamp Victory Stadium, build the Amphitheatre, and do whatever else the city feels is warranted to benefit the population.

Shall we think a touch more short-sighted?

Sheesh.

I am not going to launch the page just yet

As I still have some minimal work to do on it. Photos need to be sourced, html needs to be cleaned up. I can give you an idea though.

If it were a radio show; it would be "All Things Fizz..."
T'were a TV show; "All My Bubbles"
T'were a movie; "Taps to the Future"

Helping any?

I am continually suprised by the little things about this city. The number of candy factories which existed back nearly 80 years ago, the bakeries and bars, the restaurants and grocers. To duplicate the choices available to Roanokers 80 years ago, one would need to double the size of downtown easily. So someone explain to me why we have sank to a reliance on supermarkets for our baked goods, a sad amount of community watering-holes (CB does not count as a community bar), and can anyone point out to me the local confectionary factory?

Even the choices in restaurants is limited these days. I should not say that, the scope of the restaurants we do have is limited. Billy's Ritz is Frankie Rowland's is Trio is Metro is Dolce. Why do I have to go halfway to the airport on Williamson to get decent REAL mexican/spanish food?

Bah.. thats what I get for talking to Chef K. Hungry.

Where's the butchers that used to inhabit the Market building? There's one now, on the Farmer's Market, with prices far less than what you would pay at Kroger, and a better quality of meat. But where's his competition?

It's nice to see news that the Hotel Roanoke is going to get some competition in the upscale hotel business, Cambria Suites. Upscale, yet affordable.

But Roanoke needs more competition, more options, more choices.

I think so anyway, I don't like having to go to Kroger or Wal-Mart for stuff that I know could be done better by a locally owned business. I'd spend the extra buck to get quality rather than save it and sacrifice quality.

Word of warning, Kroger does not bake cakes. They come in frozen. Wal-Mart does not bake them either. Food Lion has Carvel Ice Cream Cakes, and they are better than just about any frozen "baked" cake out there. Have yet to see a shop here do that either.

Ok, Im off to enjoy a lovely day and continue finishing the new page. Go do the same.

How to get a landlord motivated.

Interesting article on how to get a slumlord landlord to move and actually fulfill his end of the lease agreement.

40 families lived in this for years. 3 apartments burned, 2 people died. And when the tennants were allowed to move back in, there was no heat. In winter.

Theres really only one way to deal with these type landlords. It takes community effort, and the will to stand up for your neighbors.

*Click headline for link*

Confessions of a Serial Dreamer

" Sleep, my friend, and you will see
That dream is my reality" - Metallica "Sanitarium"

I have an admission to make. I walk around looking just like any of you. I might be on the Market, wandering around and checking out the wares for sale. But what you see are fruits, vegetables and crafts. Sometimes I see that. But there are times when suddenly, my vision swings and shifts into a cine-scope, Panavision production. At times, in black and white, and other times in full color.

I see as the camera would see, capturing the plot lines and built-in emotions one would expect from a large-scale, big budget hollywood production.

Sometimes its a film-noir piece about man's struggle to reconcile the past with the future. Other times it's a "feel good" hit, full of soft-focus moments and sweeping orchestral hits.

I cannot control when the cinematic vision takes hold. Sometimes it might be a single shadow on a wall, others it might be a full on flashback moment to a historical piece about Roanoke circa 1899 caused by a faded image on a wall.

If anyone is ever looking to make a movie about Roanoke, or in Roanoke - I'd be more than happy to offer my services laying out shots, camera angles, and backdrops.

At times it is a curse, preventing me from focusing on the here and now. Other times it is my greatest asset. It's what allows me to deliver the pages to you with a rich context. (I hope anyway.)

But if you should see me on the street, and I seem dazed or dreaming, just ignore it. It's a moment, and will pass in time.

Forgotten NY

Forgotten NY

In light of the new page awaiting finishing touches, which will come tomorrow when I have the day off, I'd like to share with you my personal inspiration for Forgotten-Roanoke.

Forgotten-NY has been exposing the past of New York City in minute details (guy has a thing for streetlights) since 1999. He has an ability to not only showcase the lost history of NYC, but make it relevant to today. Especially when it comes to preservation and recognition.

And he has finally recieved some recognition of his own. Coming this fall to a bookstore near you: The Forgotten-NY book.

They say the internet is immortal, the information is never lost - just fallen to the wayside. But the printed word is still considered king, and the highest honor for a someone who had a simple idea, a hobby, is to have that turned into something tangible.

Congrats, Kevin Walsh. May you have many more books to come.

(new page tomorrow, early AM Im guessing)

What?

No seriously, what?

Looking for something?

Did I say tonight? Oh..

I did, didn't I?

Well - I meant tomorrow, AM, as in - not tonight.

I would have been tonight, but it's not.

Sorry.

Gripe? Hit the messageboard. (link to the top right)

Otherwise, see you then.

Political stories from The Roanoke Times-Grandstand 2006: Roanoke City Council

As your potential Overlord, I must say that I am somewhat dismayed by the fact that the Roanoke Times did not see fit to include me in its Grandstand 2006 section, nor did it contact me to ask my views on any of the issues.

Is it fear that motivates them to keep your Overlord down? Are they on someones payroll?

Although, judging by the photos they used for each canidate - Its safe to say they aren't helping any of them image-wise.

Rest assured, your Overlord does not take such matters lightly.

Now enjoy your Sunday... as I am about to enjoy mine.