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A Blogger Mini-Summit

by Bill Dusty

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[Springfield Intruder Field Report]

On a sunny and warm Thursday afternoon, I drove up to Northampton, MA, for lunch with blogger/local political pundit Tommy Devine.

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Arriving in town early, I parked my Jeep at a lot located nearby Cafe Lebanon and took a short stroll around the block. Along the way, I came across the WHMP building, below, home of the Chris Collins and [Valley Advocate editor] Tom Vannah radio show…

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I met up Tommy over at the Haymarket Cafe, first, where we discussed the local media, Springfield politics and the price of public school construction. Tommy was unaware at the time that I had just won the prestigious “Best Local Blog” award in the Valley Advocate’s annual Readers Poll. When I mentioned it to him, he immediately took off to fetch a copy of the Advocate to see for himself…

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After a brief stay at the Haymarket Cafe, we headed out to walk on over to Packard’s for lunch. While on our way there, we stumbled upon none other than the famous Jeff Tobis, whose artwork inspires both a sense of awe and, perhaps, a bit of confusion. Below are a couple of photos I took of Jeff’s car, which was painted about the same as his artwork. Jeff’s clothes were also splattered with paint, similar to his artwork, as was his artistic looking guitar.

If you’ve never heard of Jeff Tobis before (I hadn’t), you can check out his artwork here.

Jeff and I probably don’t share too much in common when it comes to global foreign policy matters, but I’m always willing to plug a guy who works hard for what he believes in. And if nothing else, Jeff appears to be honestly dedicated to his cause.

Jeff was also very happy to see Tommy and I, too, as he chatted it up with us pretty good before I finally had to interject – “we’re kind’s short on time, Jeff” – since Tom and I still had to have lunch before I headed off to work for the day.

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At Packard’s, I ordered up a plate of nachos while Tom ordered an ice cream for himself. He said he was still full from having dined with a little birdy, whom he had just left before meeting up with me.

While at Packard’s, I took the opportunity to snap this photo, above, of Tom walking up one of the many staircases inside the place.

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After we ate, we strolled around a bit before taking a short drive over to an old railroad bridge spanning the Connecticut River which runs parallel to the Calvin Coolidge Bridge. The railroad bridge is now part of a bike path that goes out as far as Amherst and beyond. Tom thought I hadn’t been there before, so he wanted me to check it out. But as it turns out, I remember the place from having gone there with my brother a few years back.

Still, the view was pretty cool. And I only almost got run over by a bicyclist twice. Above is a shot I took of the famous Calvin Coolidge Bridge. My first impression of this span was that the massive supporting girders underneath the road surface were huge overkill. “It looks like it could support an airliner,” I mentioned to Tom.

The Connecticut River was running quite high, with its banks overflowing on either side. Below is a shot I took of the west side.

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While nothing of any importance was settled that day – there is still conflict in the Middle East and there are still starving children in Equador – we at least had a chance to talk about some local issues facing the Valley and the possible near future of Springfield as that city’s ever-evolving political landscape continues to unfold.

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Finally, word got out to me of a short “test” video made by Masslive Senior Producer Kristen Beam, who was checking out her new “flip camera” (whatever that is). She gives me a mention as she strolls around downtown…

Flipping for Springfield – Part One

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Posted by Bill Dusty on Apr 18th, 2008 and filed under Latest Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.