February 15, 2015 was the coldest day I can ever remember!! What a winter.

In other news, Rosie was under the weather for about a week. I was afraid it was serious, as she is quite old (exact age is unknown) and while her appetite remained good, and there was no real indication of what could be wrong -- her behavior change was worrisome and extreme. But -- it turns out it was a very bad molar! Dr. Tina said her reaction was more indicative of back pain, and that she's never seen a dog carry on so over a toothache, but that's what it was! She had it extracted on Wednesday and is now back to her adorable self.

Finally...this one draws blood.

We've watched a bunch of movies lately, some in the theatre, some at home on roku (amazon & netflix). I'll mention only the notable ones. First, Gone Girl -- can't believe I had not read the book (although it's been a long time since I've read anything like it). It was excellent, and I think a contender for best actress. Next, The Imitation Game -- it was interesting and I liked it, but I don't believe it will or should win any awards. Like all biopics, it served its own agenda, and had many inaccuracies. Plus, if I had realized the guy from Sherlock (a show I can't stand) was playing the lead...I would not have gone to see it (so I'm glad I didn't know).  Then, the very best of the bunch -- Boyhood. I had heard an interview with the star on NPR, and disliked the gimmick so expected to not like it, and almost vetoed seeing it, but it was awesome! I hope Patricia Arquette wins best supporting actress. Finally, It Happened One Night, a 1934 Clark Gable movie that was great. Romantic comedies are a genre that I dislike, but this movie was clearly the standard that others have copied ever since. And, during a scene where the main characters are riding on a bus, the passengers sing The Flying Trapeze. I immediately remembered the song - -could sing every word:

Once I was happy, but now I'm forlorn

Like an old coat that is tattered and torn

Left in this wide world to fret and to mourn

Betrayed by a girl in her teens.

Now this girl that I loved she was handsome

And I tried all I knew her to please

But I never could please her one-quarter as well

As the man on the flying trapeze!

Oh! He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease

That daring young man on the flying trapeze

His movements were graceful

All girls he did please

And my love he has stolen away

And my love he has stolen away!

Afterwards, I was curious about the origins of the song (and the lyrics, as the bus passengers sang "his actions were graceful" rather than "his movements were graceful" so I googled it.  I learned that it  was published in 1867, and is about a real circus performer, Jules Leotard. Also there were several verses, and a few alternate versions (which explains the minor differences in wording). In the 1930s it resurfaced in popular culture and was used in some movies, including the one I saw.

I am going to call this the winter of the never ending cold! I have had two in a row, and Bob is on what must be his third, which I will surely catch.

First week on campus was pretty good. The classes seem fine, anyway. And that's all I'm going to say about that for the moment.

I've made some really good Stewart's satire graphics lately. Not that they have budged, but I will never, ever give up. Here's today's (actually yesterday's as it is after midnight):

Just a little over a week before my classes start. Thins are moving along in terms of being ready, which means I'm not good to go yet, but I will be.

We have our third economic development meeting for the village tomorrow night. The focus will be on the work Bob and I did so far.

Another very cold day today.

I don't get into fights on facebook, and I rarely post or comment on political subjects there. But it is interesting what you learn by reading it. Today I have learned that it's wrong to publish satire because it's disrespectful and might "attract" terror, and it's right for the state to force a 17 year old to have medical treatments. You might say I'm a bit alarmed since this  is exactly backwards in my POV.

I am finally getting over my two colds in a row (!) [what a way to spend winter break] and so with a box of tissues nearby, I've made progress on winter session, next semester, advisement, and even the village comprehensive plan.

It is cold -- zero etc.

Bob turned a milestone age (55) on January 5 & we celebrated Elwyn style -- Ommegang & Oneonta (stolled Main Street & felt sad once again over Bresee's, stopped at campus and the Autumn Cafe, went to Brooks) on Friday, Yono on Monday. So not a month. but a long weekend.

I felt pretty bad about the French cartoonists being murdered by terrorists. I don't mean "as usual" over these type of sick events. In this case I have always loved drawing satire cartoons, and for a brief period (until a more mature sensibility set in at about age 16) I flirted with the idea of being a cartoonist "when I grew up." I know satire, whether as an illustration or in writing, often pushes people's buttons, and they may react with hostility. But to think they'd machine gun down a whole office. The world can be a scary place, but that's all the more reason to be vigilant about free speech.

I submitted grades a few hours before the deadline on 12/22, and almost immediately came down with a bad cold. I didn't get enough rest due to the holidays, so have had some trouble completely shaking it :-(. Having a cold is so much worse now that the Main Street Stewart's is gone! Tissues...juice...ginger ale...ice cream. All things I wanted and had to do without recently, and felt a pang at the reminder that the store is gone.

The last two panels of A Castleton Christmas Carol.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Panels 6 and 7 of A Castleton Christmas Carol. 

A response to Stewart's facebook post about their premium candy bars as stocking stuffers. I loved their chocolate bars, even though the Castleton store usually only had caramel and raspberry. (Why? Selling all the varieties would have been profitable enough with me as the only customer, since I thought so many! Yeah right -- they tried to save the store. I call B.S.)

Panels 4 and 5 of A Castleton Christmas Carol 

And the latest doctored image, original taken rom the Stewart's facebook page

The daily Boycott Stewart's image

And panel 3 from A Castleton Christmas Carol.

A commenter on the original video post on the Stewart's FB page (appears to be an employee) labeled it "creepy." Well, yeah. I may never be able to eat sherbet again, regardless of the boycott.

This semester's evaluations are coming along. (Enoigh said.) We have an economic development meeting tonight, so grading will have to keep.

And...stay tuned. Another panel of "A Castleton Christmas Carol" is coming.

I thought dollar bills were the only thing Stewart's listened to, but apparently, it's a scoop of ice cream with eyeballs! And I'm the one who was called crazy?

Last week, in my post about the Stewart's song, I wrote that I felt a Nileston News brewing. Well, here it is: the first two panels of A Castleton Christmas Carol.

The shill activity continues. A new one surfaced yesterday. He alleges to be a 90+ year old WWII vet who said he is praying for me and will ask his congregation to do the same because I am mentally unstable and remind him of his daughter who is also mentally ill. LOL! My mother was furious when she read this bully's post on our FOCSS page. She said, if he os really a WWII vet, it's a wonder we won the war. And, if the FB picture is really him, it was taken 40 year ago. LOL again. I think I know who he may be, as the writing style is telling. Let me put it this way, it is someone very important over at Stewart's. At the same time the new social media person is busily threatening commenters and hiding comments. Hopefully, they are being paid adequately for this job! Ya think maybe the boycott and advocacy are working?

Today's images. Stewart's is now selectively hiding negative comments from others on their facebook page. 1,000 wasp stings hurt pretty bad, evidently.

Take away message: Boycott is working.

Take away message #2: Stewart's is a mean company. Give your business to ShopRite and Dairy Direct instead -- they appreciate Castleton!

PS Welcome new visitors.

Apparently, I have offended Gary Dake with my satire. I stood with Castleton, and Stewart's said I was unethical!

Today's fun.

 The new social media hire at Stewart's has been pumping out posts. The original post was a slap in the face, so I doctored it to be more truthful.

  But not to worry, Santa and the Spokescow are Standing With Castleton and Boycotting Stewart's.

Today as a "TBT" post on facebook, Stewart's put up the following sheet music:

This was almost too good to be true! I made some revisions, as follows:

I think that's a bit more honest for the 21st Century -- don't you?

PS I feel a Nileston News brewing

So many Stewart's images, so little time.

I plan to conduct more Stewart's advocacy efforts here, now that I can't occupy their facebook page any longer. That was always the plan, but I didn't expect it to take this long to get blocked so I had sort of forgotten about it.

It will be good to chronicle the effort in more detail here. I know it's basically all I have been writing about here, aside from a brief mention or two about the looming end of semester. But I have not been doing much writing here lately in general, as my time has been absorbed elsewhere. There is all the Castleton advocacy, from facebook and the boycott, to conversations with ShopRite, to economic development research.

I got a Kindle Fire tablet. (It's awesome.) I've been doing some reading on my regular Kindle, one pleasure book (TR & Taft, The Bully Pulpit) and one teaching-related (College Girls). And of course there is always what seems to be endless grading to do.

Wow, what a nasty day!

I'm not sure whether this is unrelated...

Last night I tweeted the boycott numbers to Gary Dake and Stewart's Shops, and I also tweeted yesterday's picture. Shortly afterwards I had the following exchange:

 Today I tweeted the Banned picture & this one from a few weeks ago.

...but, I meant the weather, of course.

Stewart's must have finally hired a social media person, because today they blocked me from being able to comment on their facebook posts. I thought it would happen much sooner! The boycott and other advocacy must be having an impact. Remember...100 people who spent $1,000 annually but now boycott = $100,000. 500 people X $2,500 annually = 1.25 million. 1,000 people X $6,000 annually = 6 million. These are not crazy or unrealistic numbers. Gas customers spend much more. It's 1,000 wasp stings.

Here's today's picture. The SpokesCow wants to Stand With Castleton.

Grand opening of the Stewart's East Greenbush mega-store today.

Great thanksgiving and now...one week left on campus! Grades due 12/22. How can this be?

ShopRite meeting was great. I think delivery to Castleton will work out really well.

Completely unrelated to all things advocacy: I got a Kindle Fire. It is perfect. I got a keyboard for it too, and plan to use it next semester in a technology classroom I have for my graduate class...which does not have a computer for the instructor.

Some things happening in our advocacy. The first meeting of the village economic development committee is set for early December. I am meeting with ShopRite about home delivery on Tuesday. And we saw boycott signs all over a house right next to the new megastore in Troy. I wonder what the spark was? It said "Stewart's isn't a good neighbor" and some stuff about greed.

On a personal mote, the semester is rapidly approaching the end, hard to believe. And our first snow was last night -- a little dusting.

 I love my recent creation:

We have boycott tee-shirts!

Although fighting a big company that is indifferent to your community's plight, and that everyone loves (as I did) is a big lift with daunting odds -- somehow I am doing it. The "Friends" are fired up, and that helps. There are other volunteers, and I'm most appreciative. Still, much falls on me, at the busiest time of the semester. But I'm not caving.

That's not to say that I think Stewart's will cave. Sometimes I think they will, and other times I think there's no chance. The Channel 13 reporter asked me on the day they locked our beloved store's door forever whether I thought our boycott would do anything to hurt Stewart's, and I said yes, that it would be like 1,000 wasp stings to the 1.5 billion dollar company. This particular sentence was the one I hoped would make the news, but it ended up on the cutting room floor.

That was OK, as the most important thing about our story is the devastating impact on Main Street -- both in terms of people and economics. I have been working on several fronts, trying to remedy all the catastrophes that the loss of our store has caused. It's not easy -- but I will keep at it.

I believe the boycott and associated negative publicity are indeed doing something! First, because they have hired shills to counter our constant presence on social media, to alternatively taunt us and pretend to be supporters, and second because I notice the East Greenbush store (boycott target # 1) is not busy! A lot of people -- more than I hoped -- are boycotting all stores, and I think maybe everyone is avoiding the new store!

I get no pleasure from this except in my darkest times, I never wanted it to get to this. I wish they would just concede, renovate our tiny store and reopen it. All would be forgiven. But until then...Stand with Castleton. Boycott Stewart's.

Our Stewart's closed on Sunday. It was a very sad day. Four unknown employees of corporate came who seemed to have little purpose aside from counting inventory and standing around blocking the aisles with plastic containers, making it difficult to shop. No free cone promotionals were to be seen.

They have now removed the sign and thrown most of the interior into a dumpster in the parking lot. The store is already listed on the real estate section of the Stewart's website with a deed restriction -- no convenience stores. We also have leaned the three to get the axe: Camden, Castleton, Saugerties.

Friends of Castleton Stewart's are in full swing, however. The company's stonewalling has only strengthened our resolve. We continue to attract media attention. The "Stand With Castleton. Boycott Stewart's" campaign is moving along. Much more to come, so stay tuned.

Our media attention continues to grow, and the FB friends site is adding members. But Stewart's continues to stonewall, parroting the same tired statement over and over again. They should fire their PR person, because seriously? They suck. They may be good at thinking up new ice cream names and promotionals, but they are in way over their head when it comes to crisis.

I wrote the paragraph several days ago and saved it as a draft.I have not gotten back to finishing it until now, and surprisingly, the sentiment is fine. We have had television and newspaper coverage galore, and now we even have the support of some elected officials. No matter -- Stewart's refuses to budge. The shop is scheduled to close tomorrow.  I am not giving up -- and will go into boycott mode if they lock the door.

This 2014 documentary, “Save Our Stewart’s,” chronicles the struggle of the Friends of Castleton Stewart’s to prevent a popular village grocery store from closing. The store is one of the few remaining businesses on Main Street, and its loss is devastating socially and economically for the tiny Hudson River town in upstate New York. It is a powerful film about the people of Castleton-on-Hudson and their protest to save their Main Street store, and ultimately, their community. It starts with a news story and then continues with a rally and finishes with Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’” (1964). 

I have written little here about this or anything else lately, because "this" + work + personal matters are all-consuming. "This" is the fight to save our local Stewart's shop. I learned on October 8 that the company planned to shutter store #138 forever at the end of October (later discovered the actual date to be 10/26). Apparently they associates were informed 10/1 or so. It wasn't a very public announcement, the way opening a new or remodeled store is. I suppose someone at the Saratoga headquarters is aware that closing a 40 year old store will be unpopular. A resourceful volunteer started a petition, which is how I found out. 

This is a devastating loss to the village, and as a loyal customer, it it heart-breaking personally as well. So I switched into high gear, making this effort my #1 priority. I've been sending facebook messages and then writing letters to the company, targeting politicians in person and electronically, making phone calls, preparing packets for the media, sending tweets #saveourcastletonstewarts , creating fliers that have been handed out by foot patrol, and establishing a facebook group called Friends of Castleton Stewart's. The story has now been picked up by the Times Union and YNN. We are having our second rally at the store tomorrow.

So far the response from everyone except Stewart's has been enthusiastic. The company has relied on boilerplate (with the same typo, lol -- sloppy, sloppy, sloppy). If these efforts don't work, we will switch into chain-wide boycott mode. It will be hard, but I know I can get it going. But we are not there yet, and won't be for eight days. Wish us luck!

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