BSO: In the Park

Sometimes while waiting for the bus I like to chill with the bums in Pulaski Park. Here's one named Bill Dwight.

Bill is a photographer, former radio host and retired Northampton City Councilor. We chatted a bit about politics (he is not surprised that RFK Jr. became the first Kennedy to turn Republican) but we also reminisced about the local radio days of yore, conjuring up names like Tom Vannah and Chris Collins.

Of course I used to do a lot of radio myself, mostly in the south Valley market (WNNZ, WHYN) as both guest and host, but that was before cancel culture made me He Whose Name Must Never Be Mentioned.

I think they're afraid to let me on the airwaves for fear that I will say something outrageous, which I probably would.

And even more concerning, it would be true.

Anyway, speaking of politicians, there was a pathetic lack of them on the ballot in this week's primary, with nearly all races in the Valley going uncontested, except for a couple of Tweedledee vs. Tweedledum races down in Springfield between rival factions of the local Democrat machine. But I'm such a stubborn good citizen that I walked over to my quaint New England polling place anyway. Can a person who has been arrested as many times as me ever be considered a good citizen? Donald Trump was arrested four times. Martin Luther King was arrested 29 times.

I cast a ballot in the only real contest there was for north Valley voters to decide - the race to determine which Republican will make the suicide run against the wicked witch of Massachusetts politics - Elizabeth Warren.

There were three contenders for the thankless task, Atty. John Deaton, a Charlie Baker type with a lot of money from the crypto currency scene, Robert Antonellis, a devout Trump follower and Ian Cain, running on a libertarian platform. I cast my vote for Cain, and as usual the candidate I supported came in last.

So it goes.

Meanwhile, they're baaack!

2028? To me that sounds like a date in a science fiction book.

Dino-weezer! The pride of Amherst this week with Rivers Cuomo.

Florence is very proud of its homegrown Olympian.

This Florence pizza joint is no more.

They had great grinders. Actually, they were supposed to close several years ago and be turned into a badly needed pot shop located outside the downtown area. Sadly, a bunch of killjoys blocked it. Now we are left with nothing but a vacant storefront.

A downpour in Florence.