4/18/2010

The Daily Times Needs YOU!

As I sit here on a half decent Sunday morning, I checked out the Daily Times web site as I usually do every day. I see that Phil Heron, editor of the times is pushing his recruting drive to have local people (like me) to join the ranks of "Community Journalists ". People like Lou Mahlman, Buck Fleming, KatieRose Keenan, Eric Koehler, and Jennifer Hoff have answered the call. My question is: Will the Daily Times staff feel threatened by them? Am I crazy here? Nope, you see the days of print (as in newspapers) journalism are slowly dying, replaced by facebook, myspace, twitter and other online mediums.

Journalist like Alex Rose (Who interviewed me several years ago about our website) have great talent in reporting and commenting on a story. To read it online just isn't the same as sitting in my van in the morning, drinking a Wawa coffee, and reading it on paper. I am afraid (some beg to differ) that the newspaper business is going to the wayside of the typewriter and shoe repairman. Only time will tell.

Oh yeah, and if anyone from Delaware County wants to contribute here? By all means you can contact me at frannyward@yahoo.com . You MUST have a blogger or gmail account because Google bought Blogger and now Google is demanding it. Oh how I miss the typewriter.

Cheers:)


Politics in America (8th Edition)

4/06/2010

The Dodgers

I'm a Dodger. Not a draft Dodger, or a fan of the Dodgers, but a Dodger. It's spring time here in Delaware County and myself like thousands of other drivers are Dodging all the potholes. Do you think upper Darby and Clifton Heights will ever fix the potholes? Maybe by late fall, they"ll get a round to it.

Cheers.

4/01/2010

Getting with the Times?

Well well, I see now that the Daily Times is finally doing what I have been doing now since June of 2004. Blogging about Delaware County, what's on my mind, what I think about this area, the Upper Darby School District, etc. On this blog (I had to recently move it here to blogger because they are canceling FTP to my web site and others in May) we have only two contributors at the moment, Paula Brown and my Wife Elizabeth, who's father "Ace" incidentally worked for the Daily Times for forty years, both are MIA. I don't blame either, as Paula and I may beg to differ on Politicial issues, and Liz just isn't really interested at the moment.

along the way, we have had several bloggers as contributors, ranging from Casey Roncagilone, to Don Roberts, and briefly, Peter Porcupine. But in this day of Facebook and twitter, many people seem to go for the shorter posts, not the blathering like I'm doing right now. I will say that I will be blogging much more this year, voicing my opinions about Upper Darby, Clifton Heights, and in general, Eastern Delaware County. If you would like to join here as a contributor, just shoot me an e mail telling me why you want to blog here and what section of Delco you live in. Just think of it this way. your own little venting ground, where at least 5000 people will read your rants and raves each month.

Cheers.

P.s. Gil? Phil? Your also welcome as well as Alex.

3/30/2010

inspiring poems - About Me

Inspiring poems - About Me Robbie MacNeal

The Bazaar of All Nations in Clifton Heights Documentary

Glad to see this finally came online. I've been following it on Facebook now for a few months.

By Matt Hasson

Town Talk Correspondent


For three decades, the Bazaar of All Nations was a sprawling retail and entertainment mecca, a familiar place to shop, eat, attend a movie or play miniature golf. The landmark, prototypical shopping mall on Baltimore Pike in Clifton Heights closed in 1993 and was later replaced by a Home Depot and sporting goods store.

  But every Delaware Countian remembers The Bazaar. It opened on Nov. 8, 1960, and closed at the end of 1993.

  The Bazaar’s long tenure was not well documented until three young film-makers embarked on a documentary. Co-producers, Delco natives Patrick Manley and Brendan O’Riordan, joined forces with cinematographer/director Melissa Whiteley, of White Lyte Productions in Trenton, N.J.

  The idea was conceived when Manley reflected that there was no real documentation of the Bazaar. He and O’Riordan, members of Monsignor Bonner High School’s Class of 1995, embarked on the project and enlisted Whitley to direct, shoot and edit film footage.

  “The general theme is that if you can’t find it at the Bazaar, you’re not going to find it,” O’Riordan said.

   O’Riordan, a resident of Media, is doing much of the research to drive the documentary.

   “My expertise is being able to retain and recall information,” O’Riordan said. “We’d like this to be the definitive source of information about the Bazaar, all in one place.”

   Gathering facts, photos and first-hand recollections of the Bazaar is a daunting but rewarding task.

  “There are certain touchstone events that occurred in the Bazaar’s 33-year existence,” O’Riordan said. “It’s taking pieces of the interviews and dropping them into place.”

  Manley spoke of the challenge of including a wealth of material in the documentary.
 Read more:

My wife and I lived at 5309 Delmar Rd directly across from the Bazaar for a few years and watched it being torn down. i videotaped some of the demolition, but have yet to find it. If your on Facebook, you can become a fan of the Bazaar of all Nations and view the video here. I remember the soft pretzels (Bernies), the haircuts as a kid, the sporting goods store (Herman's)? Hell the army/Navy store where I was bought my first parka, and the list goes on and on.

I miss the place, now occupied by The Home Depot and the "new" Acme.

Search Amazon.com for make up

The Haverford Blog Revisited

Recently I visited the Haverfordblog, a website I used to visit and post since it's creation. I noticed that it has new owners, BlueHorseradish LLc, out of Haverford, PA. The thing that gets me is now they dumped the link to my website, Totally Delco. If you want a link, you have to pay now? From their site:

Advertising on the Haverford Blog

As of January, 2010, the Haverford Blog accepts paid advertising. Ads are in the form of graphic images in the right column of the Haverford Blog bulletin board area. Images can be hyperlinked to the advertiser's website.

Advertising Rates

Graphic image ad rate: $50 per month for 1 month, $100 for 3 months. Ads will be rotated regularly so that the position of individual ads varies from time to time.

Images should be provided in a standard web image format (.jpg, .gif, .png) with a width of 200 pixels or less and a height of 200 pixels or less. If an ad image is not available or needs to be created, contact admin@haverfordblog.com for assistance; graphics and logos can be created on a fee basis.

Advertising is only accepted on a prepaid basis. Payment can be made via check or a PayPal invoice can be issued to pay via PayPal or credit card.

The Haverford Blog reserves the right to accept or reject any ad or advertiser.

The Haverford Blog also displays paid advertising supplied by a third party search engine. The Haverford Blog does not directly control the content of such ads.


Well now, seeing this makes me a bit pissed off, being that the front page links have I believe free links, and I see that My Havertown.com is on there, as well as others that were when this site was linked. So here's the deal. While our main site is being upgraded, send me your business link to your website and if you have a small banner, the link to it. I'll gladly put it up for free.
My e mail is admin@totallydelco.com

Cheers.





Tina Fey and Sarah Palin

This video still cracks me up. Here we have Upper Darby's own Tina Fey, doing a skit about Palin, when the real Sarah Palin walks in.




Get the Hottest Swimwear of the Season at the Bunny Shop! -Shop Now!

3/29/2010

Spring has almost spung

I am looking forward to this Easter weekend, where the weather is expected to be in the low to mid 80's. Springtime has it's pluses, for starters, no more snow (at least here in Delco), and when the trees start to show their leaves, and the bees come back, and the BBQ is being cleaned off, well, you just feel better. The downside is a lot of rain forecast, but hell, i'll take that over the white stuff any day.

Save A Dog

Wish I could help out these dogs.

Cheers!

I remember this dump of a bar many years ago when I believe it was called G.I.Joe's or something to that effect. Chitwood should shut the joint down, but it seems to me that certain new people in Upper Darby are thwarting his efforts. Murder, Rape, and other serious crimes are rampant in this extension of west Philadelphia.

If I were a betting man, I'll give Upper Darby 8 more years before it is annexed into the city of Philadelphia like Roxbourough, Andorra, and the greater Northeast were years ago. The Democrats would just love it! Imagine, No more UDPD, or Upper Darby Public works, Sanitation, Electricial Dept, etc. The ONLY reason Upper Darby is not an official section of Philly is because of Republician control.

Let's keep it that way..

Cheers.