Fun in Saratoga

Listen to 91.1 WSPN Skidmore radio Saturdays from 8-9am to listen to Talk Saratoga

Listen to my friend Rick Thompson on Talk Saratoga WSPN 91.1 FM Skidmore Radio Saturday mornings from 8-9am.  The guest this Saturday (May 26th) will be Pat Kane, Co-Founder of Saratoga Citizen.  Phone in your questions for Pat at 580-5783 or email to saratogabroadcasting@gmail.com

Rumor Mill: A movie theater will be built on the old Railroad Ave Price Chopper location

If you want a blog spreading rumors with at least an 80% record of that rumor actually being a fact, then check out the You Idiot blog.  So with that being said, this blogger heard on the street that there will be a movie theater, possibly an IMAX, built at the location of the old Price Chopper on Railroad Avenue next to the new Market Center Building.  I don't have the impressive rumor-to-fact ratio as the You Idiot blog, who incidentally is reporting a rumor of a new cajun restaurant coming to town possibly at the aforementioned Price Chopper site, but my source has his ear to the ground here in the Spa City.  So it's only a rumor, but one that I would think most of us would like to see come true. 

Divinyl Revolution closing. Bummer.

I just read on the You Idiot blog that Divinyl Revolution was closing.  I was just there a few weeks ago.  Brittany Nasser should be commended for giving it a good go - what a shame she couldn't continue through the summer at least. 

Saratoga thoughts February 20, 2012

Here we go....

• I see the third annual Saratoga County Restaurant Week goes this year from March 16-25. For $20.12 you will get a three-course dinner at more than 40 participating Saratoga County restaurants, many right here in the Spa City. When this first started in 2010, there were very few Saratoga Springs restaurants that participated, but that changed starting last year.
• I pointed out last week that Mayor Scott Johnson made the right call on the South Side Rec center, and I was happy to see the Mayor mention South Broadway's problems in his recent state-of-the-city address.  The only problem is that I was pointing out these same problems over a year ago.  The city Democratic Committee recently wrote an opinion piece in The Saratogian accusing His Honor of having no vision, being slow to react, and certainly not being proactive.  With the aforementioned Rec Center being the lone exception, I couldn't agree more. 
• Speaking of failing to be proactive and lacking foresight, I haven't heard much lately about the dangerous traffic situation on South Broadway.  Did NY State DOT go back to sleep?  I certainly hope I'm wrong, but I just have a feeling there is another awful accident pending on that deadly stretch of highway. 
• I don't know if I'm a subscriber, member, customer or what of Groupon, but I've recently signed on and have noticed there are not too many offerings for places here in the Spa City.  Most offerings seem to be centered around Albany. 
• There seems to be quite a buzz about the Brad Pitt movie about Solomon Northrup.  That's great that this historical figure, who certainly had an amazing life, will be getting his due on the big screen.  I just am not expecting a shot in the arm for the local economy from it - there are no indications that any of the filming will be done here.  In fact, why would they film here?  It would be very costly and there isn't a whole lot left, as far as buildings and such, from Northrup's time in this region.  I'm not saying this won't have some positive effects for our region; I'm just not expecting those effects to be significant. 
• Well, Van-Halen is coming to the north, south, east, and west of Saratoga on this spring's tour - namely Montreal, NYC, Boston, and Buffalo - but no SPAC.  Well a SPAC show could have been a mess, with all sorts of crazies, but I would still like to see it.

 

• I'm hearing word that the Oklahoma Track may open early this year.  Well that would be a good thing - and would be something that could give the local economy a shot with horse owners and trainers moving here that much earlier.  If this is true I'm assuming it means 2 or 3 weeks early, meaning a very late March/early April opening.  The buildings there aren't winterized, so I couldn't imagine how they could open up any earlier. 
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• How sad that Saratoga's own Tuskegee Airman Clarence Dart died a few days ago.  At least he was able to see the movie Red Tails, and he even received a standing ovation when introduced at the Wilton Cinemas' debut of the movie last month.  His death is sad, but I'm very happy that he at least lived long enough to receive honors from the President, Congress, and Hollywood, and knew before he died that neither he nor his fellow Tuskegee Airmen would ever be forgotten. 
• February is almost done and Saratoga Springs organizations are talking summer.  SPAC recently announced the lineup for the 35th annual Freihofer's Jazz Fesival on June 30 & July 1.  The Oklahoma Track is opening soon and we're talking about summer concerts.  Life is looking good in Saratoga Springs! 

• I'll end with this link of a reporter writing about a chance meeting with Whitney Houston here in Saratoga Springs in the late 1980s.  Perhaps it was the same time she was performing at SPAC in 1987 that this Youtube video below shows. The late singer sure gave an energetic performance of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" that night, and the crowd was jumping and the place was rocking.  They sure got their money's worth from Ms. Houston that night. 

 

That's it for now folks.  Have a great week!

Go for some "Luck" on HBO this weekend

There are so many reasons that I love Saratoga Springs, but the number one reason is Saratoga Race Course.  That's why I am eagerly anticipating the official HBO series premier of "Luck" Sunday night at 9pm.  I say "official" premier because HBO did a low-profile showing back in December, but unfortunately I missed it.  If anyone caught that, please give your thoughts on here. 

 

Season 1 Trailer 

I've never seen an HBO series that I didn't appreciate for being extremely so well done, even if it wasn't for me.  I was a diehard fan of Entourage, and had an appreciation for Deadwood and The Sopranos.  HBO's Inside The NFL was the best sports program I ever saw, and I used to enjoy watching that, at least a few decades ago when the Bills were relevant.

Anyway, I digress.  Luck is an intense series about Horse Racing which vividly focuses on, to steal an old line from ABC's Wide World of Sports, the thrill of victory and (especially) the agony of defeat.  It has an all-star cast (Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Farina, Nick Nolte), especially for a TV series, and it just looks really, really good. I hope I'm not disappointed.  An HBO series about horse racing and all sorts of related drama thrown in - what's not to love?  Especially with no new Entourage episodes available.  My only complaint so far is that it wasn't set in Saratoga.  You can read a review about Luck here.  Don't call me Sunday night, I'll be busy. 

The Saratogian responded to me via Twitter regarding their latest editorial

I appreciated The Saratogian's positive reply to my post from last week encouraging them to write more editorials.  Last night the Saratogian tweeted "@dmdefed Thanks for the praise (and the push) on our editorials this week, here's the latest:  http://saratogian.com/articles/2012/01/21/opinion/doc4f1b632704ccc412802811.txt."

This was a link to the Saratogian's Sunday editorial about the mess at the Saratoga Housing Authority.  It was not only well written - but appropriately hard hitting too!  I like to see the Saratogian taking a lead in the community, and this editorial was a great example of that. 

Saratoga thoughts January 17, 2012

Here's what I'm thinking as I count down the days to the Saratoga Chowderfest on February 4th:

• Let's start if off with food, namely Esperanto food. You Idiot reported that the Caroline Street casual eatery is offering free dough cousins with - get this - no strings attached.  The T-U's On the Edge blog reported that they are offering cold doughboys for you to cook at home.  So much for that "lose weight and get in shape" New Year's resolution.

Photo from the T-U's On the Edge Blog

• You likely heard that David and Roslyn Zecchini, owners of Chianti, Forno Bistro, and Pasta Pane, are about to purchase 384 Broadway and that Pizza on Broadway and Raina's have already moved out.  Word has it that the Zecchinis will open a Tapas bar and restaurant at that location, which would be the fourth establishment under the DZ Restaurants corporation name.  Let's hope they make things happen quickly -the stretch of Broadway from the former Zola Kids location down to Brindisi's is presently either vacant or closed, and that's not good.
• Speaking of closed Broadway locations, It was almost a year ago that a Saratogian Headline declared "Saratoga Springs Mayor:  Borders' Broadway spot should be filled soon".  Uhhhh Scott, it's nearly February 2012 and we're still waiting.
• One business that is open in that general area is Char-Koon.  Margarita was out of town last week so since I was a bachelor for a few days it only seemed right to get some Chinese Take-out.  The staff at Char-Koon doesn't have their act together - I ordered at 6pm but they charged me lunch prices for my General Tso's Chicken, which had absolutely no spice to it whatsoever.  Those little peppers on the menu are supposed to mean the dish is hot, not nearly as sweet as grape jelly.
• Print out the below coupon and use it at Chianti on January 23rd, and they will donate 30% of your bill to the Saratoga Regional YMCA's scholarship program. 

• I like dealing with that big burly guy Randy at the Broadway Post Office.  He's efficient, knowlegeable, and he always seems to have that "Hey how ya doin'?" kind of infectious good mood thing going.
• One piece of economic development "progress" I do not want to see is the once-planned Rite-Aid location on the site of the current Springs Motel.  I don't know if this project is simply delayed or completely scrapped, but I hope the latter because I don't want to see another national chain retail location at the southern entrance to downtown.  We've already got Mobil, McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, and Boston Market nearby, and that's plenty of representation from Anytown, U.S.A. The Springs Motel may not be a five star resort, but it is a well kept location that adds a little bit of character to that stretch of South Broadway and I hope it stays there.
• Speaking of that stretch of South Broadway, and in fact that very same intersection with Lincoln Avenue, I wrote last week that I saw signs of work at the former Kimberly Inn.  Sunday's Saratogian had an in-depth article about the new owner's plans for the place, which includes a sizable addition and turning it into a winery and bistro. The architectural sketches in the Saratogian's print edition looked great.  The developer runs the Thirsty Owl Winery and Bistro in the Finger Lakes, and plans on selling his wine here in The Spa City.  This is very interesting and positive stuff for a beautiful old building that needs some TLC.
• I think the Saratogian is a much improved newspaper over the last few years, but I would like to see more editorials printed.  There are too many important happenings in and around the Spa City, not to mention the rest of the world, to not hear more opinion from our daily newspaper. By my count the paper printed just one editorial in November (not counting endorsements) and five in December.  I hope this is an uptick I am detecting with three editorials written in the first half of January.   When the Saratogian does print one of their somewhat rare editorials, they are well written, on point, and even have a folksy and unpretentious style about them that makes them very readable.  It's not the New York Times, and I don't want it to be.  Sunday's editorial about the commencement of production at the new Global Foundries plant was very good, and I liked the clever title "Chip, chip, Hooray!"  I hope to see more of those - two a week seems like a reasonable goal.
• Continuing with the topic of my desire for more news commentary, I wrote last week about the dearth of news analysis on how Governor Cuomo's Aqueduct proposal will affect horse racing at the Queens track, as well as at NYRA in general and Saratoga in particular. Since I wrote that there have been a few things written on point, namely this Daily Racing Form piece, which noted sources indicated that Genting, the company running the Racino there, would like to see racing go bye-bye so they can use the land for bigger casinos, the country's largest convention center, and an equally ginormous hotel.  Although there are many legal and political hurdles, the general consensus is that it's just a matter of time before racing ends at Aqueduct.  Mike Veitch will focus his commentary on this issue in tomorrow's (Wednesday) Saratogian (ADDED - can be found here) and I'll be looking forward to reading what that respected writer has to say.   
• Back to editorials, the T-U had a good one yesterday about the pedestrian death on Route 9.
• The T-U's Saratoga reporter Leigh Hornbeck has taken over the Places and Spaces real estate blog.  Don't worry, she's still covering Saratoga Springs as well.  Well Leigh, more work should mean more money....
• Stewarts has plenty of its own private label products, such as soda and dairy products, and the Saratoga Springs based convenience store now has its own private label energy drink called Impact.  12 ounces of sugary caffeine for 99 cents - is this a great country or what? You can see their Youtube pitch below.
• The Wishing Well has started a new Sunday "Date Night" promotion.  $25 gets you a 3-course meal with a $15 wine add-on option.
• The Saratoga Film Forum has a new blog, which you can link here.

Whew, that was a lot of thoughts!  I didn't expect to write so much but I've been working on this post since Sunday.  Have a great week. 

Great new Saratoga Springs book for sale

From the "How did I miss this" files, there is a terrific new Saratoga Springs picture book for sale that Dan DelGaudio from the Batcheller Mansion showed me this past weekend.  It is simply called "Saratoga - Health, History, Horses, Hi-Tech".  It was produced by Peter and Marjorie Olsen, and distributed by North Country Press. I absolutely love it!

There are two reasons that I love this book, which you can read more about on the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation web site here. The first reason is that the photographs are so vivid and exciting, and the second reason I love this book so much is that it captures the true Saratoga Springs I know and love.   The vision of this book apparently was to capture not just what physically is in Saratoga Springs, but to show the whole region as it affects Saratoga Springs.  So not only are there pictures of Saratoga favorites such as the Race Course, Saratoga Spa State Park, Yaddo, Victorian mansions (including of course the aforementioned Batcheller Mansion), and historic downtown buildings, but the book also covers Saratoga area assets like Lake George (including The Sagamore Resort), The Adirondack Mountains, The Hudson River, Saratoga Battlefield, Luther Forest, as well as Global Foundries and Albany's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, The Saratogian, Espey Manufacturing, several local restaurants from PJ's Barbecue to Longfellows, and dozens of other entities that haven't been included in other "traditional" Saratoga Springs books and promotional pieces but nonetheless are part of making Saratoga Springs what it is and, perhaps most importantly, what it will become. 

There is a lot about this book that I am not giving justice to, so you'll have to go out and buy one or at least see if the Saratoga Springs Public Library has a copy. I also liked the lighthearted approach taken by Peter Olsen, who took the pictures and wrote the text accompanying them.  On the page entitled "Modern Architecture with Victorian DNA" Olsen wrote the following accompanying the picture of the new Broadway McDonalds:

"The world's only Victorian McDonald's! Some may say that a Queene Anne Style McDonald's pushes the Victorian theme too far, but it is good fun."

The Chamber of Commerce and the Convention and Tourism Bureau need to order about 1,000 of these each to give out, and I'm very serious when I say that. The pictures are so great and the categorical selection so effectively represents our region that I think it could be a great Economic Development tool for years to come.   Good for you Peter Olsen - you had a brilliant idea and created an awe-inspiring book! 

Saratoga Thoughts December 7, 2011

It's the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor Attack, so take a moment of silence to remember those brave fighters that were lost on that day.

Here are my thoughts this week:

• The Aqueduct Casino is going gangbusters, and it's only at about half capacity.  The full opening will be later this month.  That is good news for Saratoga Springs.
• I'm still going to tell my out-of-town guests that Don McClean wrote "American Pie" at the Tin and Lint.  And Elvis performed at Universal Preservation Hall.  Last year.
• I've been trying to support Sabina's Restaurant, and even described them as "The Little Engine That Could" in a recent post.  No more.  I spent $50 on takeout there the other night, they screwed my order up royally and worse yet tried blaming it on me.  They have no clue about customer service.  Perhaps I'll give the East Side Pizza a try, which took over the former Giacone's location on Lake Avenue.  I was glad to see they will sell some basic food and paper items - perhaps similar to 5 Points Grocery.  I like the old-style neighborhood stores.  Suzanna Lourie at the Saratogian had an article about East Side Pizza here.
• Ms. Lourie also wrote about the Union Grille changing names to "The Springs".  Is there some conspiracy that I don't know about in town to give restaurants the most unimaginitive names possible?
• Got kids?  Check out Saratogamama.com - a great local web site for families and parents.

• Back to Restaurants, you gotta love Maestro's.  My wife and I had an appetizer and drinks at the bar the other day and we were treated like Royalty.  Are you reading this Sabina's?
• I see a dough cousin in my future at Esperanto.  With flavors like spinach and feta, bacon and spinach, chicken cordon blue, and sausage and peppers, can you blame me?

• The Times Union's Table Hopping blog had an entry about the Polar Express a week or two ago, and it seems like a majority of commenters that went on it were disappointed or felt it wasn't worth the cost. 
• It looks like the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau has a new web site, and it is quite the improvement.  I am happy the new site will have a prominent wedding section, albeit one still under construction.  I feel that there are so many weddings here, but there is limited regional promotion of them, so let's hope the new web site is a harbinger of good things. 

Check out my Reader's View piece in today's Saratogian

I submitted a Reader's View piece to The Saratogian and they printed it in today's edition.  Check it out here.