I've lived in two such cities with big inferiority complexes- Cleveland, and Indianapolis. They suffer from a self-consciousness that says, "We're too small!" or, "We need to be more Big Time!" Or, to grab a great line from a Minutemen song: "How will others see me? I'm worried. Worried but I feel guilty."
In many ways, having the Super Bowl is a real coup. Certainly, all the businesses in the downtown area near the Stadium and Super Bowl Village had to be real excited going into this week, ready to make sales on a scale never before seen.
The Red Lion Grog House in Fountain Square was bustling with customers Saturday night when owner Walter Bolinger saw someone walking off with his sidewalk menu board.
He ran outside and chased the culprit down. It was a city code enforcement inspector, who said Bolinger was the culprit for an illegal sidewalk sign displayed in violation of Chapter 635 of the municipal code.
"They still have it," Bolinger said Tuesday of the 3-foot sign, which had been outside his restaurant's front door on Virginia Avenue. "They refuse to relinquish it until February 6th, after the Super Bowl."
This smacks of a certain desperation by the city to be liked by the NFL. Why was this sign not a problem prior to Saturday? Why will the sign be given back after the Super Bowl, when we can surmise it not to be a problem any longer?
I don't believe in this kind of code enforcement generally. But this is silly. What a rotten way to treat the business owners- you know, the people who live here.
This action just screams a message into my ears, that the event is about the tourists, and the locals can go to hell. Not a very pleasant message. Way to go, Indy. Hardly Big League behavior.
I had the great pleasure of seeing Death Of Samantha play one last time, at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland, over the holidays. I really never expected to have the chance, as they broke up in the early 90's, so it was a great unexpected treat.
D.O.S. did not disappoint. It might have been one of the better shows I had seen them do on multiple counts: 2-hour+ set, songs spanned their entire catalog, campy skit with drummer Steve-O emerging from a coffin to start the show, big appreciative crowd, band appreciative of the moment and very into the event, adequately rehearsed prior to show yielding well executed songs. Back in the day, some of these elements would be present, but never all.
Like any 'last show' (I don't know if they'll do this again), there were things that were missing for me. Hard to complain of course, but there were a couple songs they didn't play that would have been on my personal dream set list. There were a few friends that didn't turn up that I associated with the band. Not everyone who ever played in the band got to participate. But, on its' face, the night was a great success, and a hell of a lot of fun. So, here are some video clips I shot, for your enjoyment:
If it seems like the guitar is too loud in the mix, understand that I went out of my way to position myself opposite Doug Gillard's amp, and right against the stage so that I would not directly pick up the blare from the P.A. speakers. I wanted Doug's guitar up front, but also, I knew that the P.A. sound would be so loud that it would badly distort within my camcorder. Overall, I was pretty happy with the sound.
I loaded all 21 songs to my YouTube channel, so if you want to see them all- or music by other Cleveland bands like My Dad Is Dead, Children's Crusade, or Oral Authority- follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikekole?feature=mhee
I've been looking forward to this holiday visit to Cleveland, of course to visit with family and friends there, but also to see another Punk Rock Old Farts Reunion, as Death of Samantha plays the Beachland Ballroom on Friday night. Beachland's bio.
DoS were one of my favorites in the mid-80s. They played around town frequently and always had something interesting to add beyond the songs. DoS reveled in kitchy Americana, and the antics on stage immediately before the rocking were usually hilarious. Drummer Steve-O (waaaaay before the Jackass 'star') wore a coat made of yarn and ineptly bounced on, and fell from, a pogo stick. He did ridiculous send-ups of Joe Cocker and Roy Orbison with lip synchs. He once even emerged from a coffin on stage to say, "Hi folks!" in his cheesy way.
I've been enjoying this run of nostalgia. In the past year and a half, I've seen the following Cle Punk bands, all getting together to do one last hurrah: Children's Crusade, My Dad Is Dead, Numbskull, Oral Authority, Pink Holes, The Plague, and Starvation Army. I never thought I'd see many of these again. I hope I never see the Pink Holes again, as they lost whatever magic they had over time, alas.
I really never expected to see Death of Samantha play. I had the honor of putting together a 'reunion' of theirs that I thought would be the last, back in 1998. My best friend Steve Wainstead was leaving Cleveland for New York City, and I threw a going away party for him. Since I had a club for the event, Pat's In The Flats, I asked if he would like to see any bands play. "Death of Samantha!" was his immediate response... followed by, "Well, if you can get them to do it". It wasn't easy. The band had moved on to become Cobra Verde, but having left Steve-O behind. And, if memory serves, Doug Gillard and Dave Swanson were then also out of Cobra Verde. In any case, there were some old feelings to be dealt with, but gratefully, they were willing to do five songs, really only because it was for Steve. He went all the way back with those guys, having served as driver and roadie for them on tours, and taking the photographs for their album covers. Even then, I really didn't expect to pull it off, because singer John Petkovic has always had a looking forward, never back approach. It didn't surprise me when he struggled to remember words to his own songs, like "Yellow Fever" back in '98, because that stuff was so yesterday.
So, I'm thrilled that all differences are put aside, original bass player Dave James will play, and the band has actually been looking forward to doing this show. I've had a ticket for months. I don't care if it is 'just nostalgia'. The chance to hear these great, fun songs one more time because they want to do it is a great opportunity for me.
So, here are some DoS clips my good friend and old Blows Against The Empire radio co-host Matt Dudas posted this week. Seems he shot them in 1990 at the Babylon A-Go-Go, recently rediscovered the tape, and had it converted to digital so that he could post in advance of the reunion he couldn't attend. I'll keep the chain intact, and will shoot the show so that he and Steve Wainstead, who also can't attend, can see. Well, and you also, dear reader.
And, if you want a whole lot more, check out my podcasts, #12 & #13, which feature a sound board recording of DoS from the Phantasy Night Club in Lakewood OH, and a very chaotic appearance on my radio show, with a live set using improvised instruments in the WCSB record library- both form 1989. Here is the linkage.
On Friday, I will head back to my old stomping grounds in Cleveland to make a donation to the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame. The Hall has asked me for my archive of my old radio shows! I am wholly honored.
My radio 'career' in Cleveland was primarily at WCSB, 89.3-FM at Cleveland State University, and my longest-running show was called 'propaganda', airing from September 1989 through August 1995. It began as a music show, and later evolved into a program covering odd phenomena, conspiracy theory, and bizarre music. The 1989-90 music shows were the most valuable, as I look back at it, having interviewed Cleveland bands and played their music. I moved away from the long-from interviews at that point, and the sounds I pursued moved from punk and hardcore to grunge and then noise and math rock- bands like Halo of Flies, Helmet, Craw, Pavement, Jesus Lizard, etc.
I recorded most of the shows on cassette tapes. My big project over the last two years has been to convert the tapes to digital files, on CD, then backing up as m4a files on my hard drive. I'm giving the RnR Hall of Fame the cassettes and my original playlists for their archive, and lending them the CDs for easy transfer. The cassettes often needed pitch correction, and the cassette-to-CD unit I used has Pitch Control on it. It will be much easier for their archivists just to transfer the digital files.
I'm giving them the 'propaganda' shows on Friday. The conversions aren't finished, so the next time I visit, I will provide them with the remainder of my shows. Here's the list of my shows at WCSB:
1987-89: Blows Against The Empire, with Matt Dudas 1988-89: The B-Sides, my first solo show, graveyard shift 1989: The Grunge Match, out of the graveyard, playing Nirvana before they made it 1989-95: propaganda 1995: Laissez-Faire! Libertarian news & comment 1998: Blood & Shaving Cream, AM drive playing the 'punk & alt hits' 2000-02: Rock N Roll Radio, with Shelly Gould-Burgess 2001-02: Laissez-Faire! Libertarian news & comment
Here's a breakdown of the evolution of 'propaganda':
Sept 1989-Oct 1991: 5-hour show with long form interviews with Cle bands Jun 1991: Added the Church of the SubGenius' "Hour of Slack". WCSB still runs it. Oct 1991-Jan 1992: 3-hour show, no interviews, music becoming more experimental Feb 1992-Mar 1993: Moved to Sunday nights Apr 1993-June 1993: Burned out on music, looking to make show more adventurous July 1993-April 1994: co-hosted with Rev. John X. Piche, hilarious freeform shows May 1994-Feb 1995: co-hosted with Steve Wainstead, moving towards politics Mar 1995-Aug 1995: politics had taken over, the show would be re-named Laissez-Faire! and air in the same time slot.
I really want to go to the Rock Hall with Matt Dudas to present those show tapes together. Matt was instrumental in getting me involved at WCSB. If he hadn't reached out to me, I may never have found my way.
Those were some fun days. Too bad we didn't have digital cameras then. The pics are very few and far between, and while the audio archives are fun and in some few cases valuable, to see the mayhem of those days again would be priceless.
I've generally enjoyed the experience of producing the LPIN's podcasts, but have been thinking of doing something more creative, probably in place of the LPIN one. The last thing I really need is another project. I'm looking to reduce projects, not take on more.
So, there have been two ideas I've been tossing around. One involves interviews with members of the Cleveland punk/underground/indie rock scene. The other is some kind of, dare I say, variety show?
The punk show is pretty straightforward. It occurred to me that the scene is getting elderly in a hurry. The bands I have in mind are generally not current ones, having played from the mid-70s to early 90s. There are a lot of fascinating characters in that scene, and a lot of stories to document. I know that many of these folks aren't going to be writing these things down. That's too much like work. Talking for interviews is easy and fun besides. Now, it has also occurred to me that I don't live in Cleveland. No big deal. I wouldn't want to be the only one doing the interviews. There are better connected people who have interviewing skills that can also do them.
The variety thing... Well, that's not straightforward. I have a lot of interests, and also am not a fan of regimenting or formating a show in a rigid fashion. Why not talk about hockey, root beer, politics, music, and have an interview with a friend all in one show?
The punk thing would be for posterity. The stories are invaluable, and I would work as a sort of archivist. The variety thing would be my favorite kind of 'radio'- totally idiosyncratic, where the process is the fun, and bonus if anyone listens. I'm sure my Libertarian / political friends would push me to continue the LPIN podcasts. Preferences?
Great quote in the first minute: "It's easier to move out than it is to move in". This, and the idea that people have choices, seems utterly lost of Cleveland's elected officials. It was true when I left nearly eight years ago, and seems unchanged. A telling stat at 3:15 is that Cleveland's tax burden was 45th heaviest in 1977, but 7th worst in 2007. And they wonder why population is flowing out. Well, duh.
"Cleveland seems to be more focused on tax revenue than it is on the overall business climate". Unfortunately, this seems also true of the Fishers Town Council. One of the phrases I use when talking local politics is "Let's not reinvent Marion County". Yes, that's Indianapolis, but the same thing applies anywhere, and that's the point. Policy matters, more than weather or cultural attractions.
Great series!
Oh, did you get a load of Joe Cimperman? He's certain that Cleveland offers a great business climate, but when told that some business owners disagree, his reaction wasn't, "What policy offends them?" but "Who are they?" I'll never forget first seeing this attention hound at a rally surrounding St. Michael's Hospital, which was going to be closed because it was losing money hand over fist. Cimperman wanted to force them to remain open. Yes, force.
Cimperman is a big help though! He took one poor business owner and reduced his red tape hell from 10 years to 1.5 years!
Hey Joe. Psst. Nobody wants to wait 1.5 years to expand a parking lot. They're going to leave. 1.5 weeks should be the maximum time on that.
One of the mistakes Cleveland makes is to do a great many things that private industry could, and shoud, do. For example, Cleveland's city employees collect the trash from residences within the corporate limits. If I wanted a private company to do that, I couldn't. It was forbidden by municipal ordinance. Here in Fishers, we have four different companies competing to collect trash, and none of the things I was told would happen in Cleveland have come to pass. My streets are not strewn with trash. I do not have an endless parade of trucks creating traffic, noise, and smell nuisances. We do not have people stocking trash in the backyard in order to avoid to bill. I get a bill for $70 every three months. My property taxes are about a half of what they would be for comparable property in Cleveland. To save $2,000/year as opposed to pay $280? I'll do that trade all day long, every day of the year.
Reason suggests that Cleveland should inspect its services while applying the 'Yellow Pages Test'. That is, if there are commercial enterprises offering services provided by the City, the City should privatize. The gain would be a decrease in the public payroll and legacy costs into the future.
I really loved seeing the solutions that are working in places like Oakland. Look at these kids, who are excited about learning and success, and are thinking ahead to college!
Cleveland needs this. Heck- Fishers great school system and all could use this kind of overt pro-college thinking. I love it!
I'm really excited to see the Reason.tv series 'Reason Saves Cleveland', just five days from launch. As posted earlier, I am one of most of my friends who left Cleveland. Of my close friends, I was the last to leave. I moved to Indiana and gave myself an immediate, large raise, just because the taxes were so much less here- and Indiana isn't even my idea of a low-tax state!
Cleveland has been more or less controlled by Democrats and Democratic, liberal, progressive ideas for more than 100 years, starting with Mayor Tom L. Johnson. Those ideas have done nothing to save the shedding of more than half the city's population since 1950. I tried to build interest in libertarian ideas, but who am I, right? So, it's exciting that Drew Carey, one of Cleveland's most prominent favorite sons, who also left town for better opportunities, is the face of this Reason documentary. I don't think Cleveland would give it a serious look if it weren't Drew Carey.
On Monday, the Cleveland Plain Dealer put the series on the front page, above the fold. Here's an online version's highlights:
Cleveland's woes -- population loss, failing schools, lack of economic spark -- are no joke to comedian and native son Drew Carey, who advocates for less government, more competition and lower taxes to bring the city back.
Carey took time off from his gig as host of TV's "The Price Is Right" to help produce and star in a series of Web reports detailing Cleveland's woes and a number of proposed fixes that will be launched next week on reason.tv, the Internet arm of the nonpartisan, libertarian-leaning Reason Foundation, on whose board Carey serves.
Carey established reason.tv three years ago and has developed a number of short Web documentaries to highlight government's heavy-handedness. Now, the lens turns to his hometown with a six-part series called "Reason Saves Cleveland." It comes on the heels of Cleveland's "most miserable city" ranking by Forbes.com.
and
The series, reported and produced by reason.tv's editor Nick Gillespie, explores problems in Cleveland and other rust belt cities and offers solutions using examples from other cities -- such as Houston -- that are enjoying success and population growth.
Bottom line? As the Web site's motto reads, "Free minds and free markets." In other words, move out of the way, government. In a town like Cleveland, with big government bureaucracies, cumbersome regulations and old-school unions, the series argues, it's no wonder times are so tough.
Now, will Cleveland listen? Hard to say, especially in light of repeating failing policy for 100+ years. When I lived there, I always found myself muttering, "What will it take?" Maybe this is the thing. I hope so.
As one who grew up and lived in Cleveland for some 34 years, I will be very interested to see the results of Drew Carey's project with the Reason Foundation, called 'Reason Saves Cleveland'.
My opinion of Cleveland was that it was a city that had an iron grip clutching to the past that left- the days of exceptionally high-paying jobs that required workers to show up and bring a marginal skill set with them. Virtually all public policy I ever reviewed could predictably lead to brain and wealth drain. Truly, you have to be a fool to live in the City of Cleveland, in my opinion.
I will follow with interest. Alas, my opinion of the City is that it is rather the logical conclusion of the old adage, "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink". In Cleveland's case, "You can hold the horse's head under water, and it wouldn't drink to save it's life. The only water it will take in will drown it."
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
We Vote With Our Feet
This is a theme I have returned to many times over the years, because I myself have done it a few times.
I once lived in Cleveland and worked in suburban Parma, OH. Each city had a municipal income tax of 2%. When I finally gave up on my rough, decaying Cleveland neighborhood and moved to Parma, I gave myself a 2% raise. I got to thinking that I had to be an idiot to stay where the schools sucked, the crime rate was high, my auto and homeowners insurance rates were higher, and my commute was longer besides.
Later, I moved to Indianapolis. The Indiana tate income tax was lower than Ohio's, 3.1% to 7%; the sales tax was lower, then 6% to 8%; the property taxes were then about a third of what Ohio's were. Again, I thought what an idiot I would have to be choose Ohio.
Then we moved to Fishers. Again, the schools are better, the crime lower, the property taxes lower, the county income taxes lower, the insurance rates lower. Yet again, the thought of what kind of idiot I would have to be to choose Indy over Fishers came to mind, and continues to every time I learn of a violent crime in our previous neighborhood.
I expect to see a lot of migration in the next few years, as high tax jurisdictions are exposed for their empty rewards. From an AP report:
The number of people leaving California for another state outstripped the number moving in from another state during the year ending on July 1, 2008. California lost a net total of 144,000 people during that period — more than any other state, according to census estimates. That is about equal to the population of Syracuse, N.Y.
The state with the next-highest net loss through migration between states was New York, which lost just over 126,000 residents.
Two high-tax states lose population- before the economy really began to tank! It isn't news to me. We're going to see a lot more of it. Just wait until the legacy costs of those states and their cities do to them what they've done to GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
Among other things: California's unemployment rate hit 8.4 percent in November, the third-highest in the nation, and it is expected to get worse. A record 236,000 foreclosures are projected for 2008, more than the prior nine years combined, according to research firm MDA DataQuick. Personal income was about flat last year.
With state government facing a $41.6 billion budget hole over 18 months, residents are bracing for higher taxes, cuts in education and postponed tax rebates. A multibillion-dollar plan to remake downtown Los Angeles has stalled, and office vacancy rates there and in San Diego and San Jose surpass the 10.2 percent national average.
What I observed first-hand about Cleveland seems to hold true anywhere: The combination of high taxes and lousy schools is lethal. People of means and high values flee. Cities become magnets for the poor and the stupid.
In 1950, Cleveland's population was a shade under 915,000. By 2006, Cleveland had lost more than half its population. Chart.
Cities don't learn. Rather than lowering the taxes so as to attract people of means, they are wed to the glories that are their 'services', so they raise taxes evermore in order to keep revenues up, thereby chasing evermore people from their jurisdiction. The population gets poorer and dumber.
There are exceptions. Places like New York can get away with it because of the incredible cultural offerings. But, Detroit? Cleveland? Indianapolis? I think when the legacy costs come home to roost, you will see an exodus from NYC as well.
Blame the highways. Blame 'white flight'- although blacks with means flee all the same. Blame anything, but unless you start looking at tax policy and ask people of means just how much they value the 'services' provided by government, you're going to miss the mark. Notice that people of means leave the places with the most services, and taxes. They prefer to leave what they built behind for others, starting completely new in another area, just to be left alone, away from the greedy hands that gobble taxes.
I will probably vote with my feet again, if Fishers continues to grow, and add services, and employees, and legacy costs. I don't want any of that stuff, but the Bigger Brains create it and fatten it, so I'll eventually flee it.
It should become an environmental cause to lower taxes. Hey- it would prevent sprawl!
(h/t: Duncan Adams, for the California article)
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Weekend Agenda
It's off to Cleveland for me, along with Isabel, for extended family visits. Cousins are coming in for my Uncle's 70th birthday party, and there will be general grandparent time for Isabel.
One non-family fun thing will be a trip up to ol' WCSB at Cleveland State. After being in the Rhodes Tower building for many years, the station is leaving the space it outgrew 15 years ago. This will be my last look at the place where I learned radio and management (some to greater extent than the other!), slept many nights in my old office and in the Listening Room, and otherwise have countless fond memories.
Keith Newman is good enough to suffer me the indulgence of having me up during his talk show. Check it out, Sunday at Midnight via live stream at www.wcsb.org.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Foreclosure and Attendant Intellectual Bankruptcy
Another thing Steve forwarded to me was a link to a recent item by Bill Moyers on PBS, regarding foreclosures and sub-prime lending. It was of interest to him and to me, because we both once lived in Cleveland in the St. Hyacinthe neighborhood, which sits adjacent to Slavic Village. Friends always mistakenly referred to our home as Slavic Village. Turns out that Slavic Village has been hit harder by foreclosures than any other place in the US. The item infuriated me.
The bias shown by Moyers and so many others is astonishing. The rush to blame capitalists is profound. I understand they are blinded by their anti-capitalism ideology, but how can you miss that there are two parties in any given loan agreement?
Moyers refers to 'predatory lending'. I'm not sure exactly what this is supposed to mean, although it is clearly an attempt to paint a picture of the savagery by a powerful agent of a feckless innocent.
I call bullshit.
The person obtaining the loan knows his situation. He knows if he can afford to make payments or not. So, if someone knows the chances are good that they cannot make payments, and they take the money anyway, isn't that at the very least an act of fraud? Nobody forces the borrower to sign the documents. Certainly, nobody forces them to spend the money. They do this happily.
Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis gives two illuminating passages.
You'd tell them, "I don't have any money." "No problem, we don't, you don't require a down payment." Or, "I have a horrible credit score." "No problem, we're not gonna let that get in the way." "But I don't even have job." "No problem. We're not gonna document your income."
A couple of things come to mind. Collusion. Fraud. Two guilty parties who should go to jail. More Rokakis:
And the real victim here is the person that lives on that block, that person who pays their taxes, plays by the rules, has done nothing to deserve what they're facing today, which is a devastated neighborhood, with their most valuable asset, their home, now worth virtually nothing. That's the victim.
Government does have a legitimate role to play here- protecting the innocent homeowners Rokakis describes. I believe in the free market, but I no more support this savagery than I support warlordism on the basis of a 2nd Amendment defense.
Let those who took bad loans suffer the consequences fully. Let those lenders who issued bad loans also suffer the consequences fully. No bailouts for these bad actors. If the lenders have any assets left, that's where you turn to restore the properties, to the extent it can be done, in the name of protect the innocent neighboring property owners who did nothing wrong.
So, let's not merely call it 'predatory lending'. Let's also call it 'fraudulent borrowing', or even 'predatory borrowing'. It takes two to tango on this one.
Here's the piece. Try to stay with it, through all of the BS rhetoric. It ain't easy.
The item treats this area as though it was doing great, and then the sub-prime lending started, and suddenly the neighborhood began to ring the bowl. Nothing could be further from the truth. Slavic Village began it's decline immediately after WW2, when the Ferro Motor Company shuttered and moved out to suburban Brookpark, as did much of the increasingly affluent population. Slavic Village became an area of 'starter homes'- a place you bought your first home, but also a place you left as soon as you could trade up.
I left St. Hyacinthe in 2000- long before the sub-prime phenomenon was in anyone's awareness. I was offered the opportunity to buy the house across the street from me in 1998, as I was interested in working to build the neighborhood up. I declined. The asking price? $11,000. The problem was the horribly sunken foundation.
There was another house down the street I looked at. It was a double. I was told I couldn't go upstairs. Why? There was a family squatting there. I also couldn't go into the basement. I was told this right as I nearly fell down to the basement floor- because the staircase had collapsed, and silly me, I expected it to be in place. The living room floor was hard wood, but it had a hole in it about 3' in diameter. It looked like a cannon ball had been shot through it. But this wasn't the HMS Indomitable. What in the world caused that?
The asking price was $5,000. I laughed at the realtor and told her, "You can pay me $5,000 and I'll take it."
That realty check might have been nice, you know, to make the piece seem like it was dwelling in the real world, just a bit. In infuriated me to watch, knowing that millions of American views would be sitting and watching, going, "wow, look how the lenders wrecked that place". It just isn't true. It was largely wrecked already. that's why I gave up and left in 2000 for the suburbs myself.
Shoddy, shoddy journalism. Yet still of interest.
On a more positive final note, good to see my old college radio buddy Brian Davis. He's long had a passion for helping the homeless that I respect greatly.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Up Yours, Cleveland
Ame and I are originally from Cleveland, and we return there to visit relatives. One thing I will be sure we don't do is spend money in Cleveland for several years to come.
Cleveland is one of those cities that uses traffic enforcement cameras as a revenue generator. Ame passed the cameras on Chester & E 71st, an unsavory area if there ever was one, going 52mph in a 35-zone. The pictures were provided on the "Notice of Liability", and they show that nobody was in the area, and nobody was in harms way due to Ame's rate of speed.
Where is everybody? Oh yeah- they've fled the authoritarian nanny hell that is Cleveland.
This may rankle some of my absolutist pro-rule of law friends, but this is bullshit. The purpose for traffic law is to ensure the public safety. If nobody is made unsafe by the passage of traffic, what is the point of enforcing the law? Cameras are blind to circumstance. Police officers use discretion, and it's highly unlikely that an officer on the street would have pulled her over for this infraction. Obviously, this is mere revenue generation.
So, OK Cleveland. You get your $100 fine. What you won't get from me is a visit to the West Side Market for a few years. Nor will I eat in any restaurant in the city for a few years. You got $100 out of us now, but will not get $1,000 or so, thanks to the ill-will generated by this crap. Enjoy.
It will be a happy day when someone gives the camera's poles the 'Cool Hand Luke' treatment.
