SARATOGA REPORT

Column As I See ’em – Saratoga Report Publisher Dan De Federicis has thoughts, opinions, a joke or two and more about everything Saratoga

 

 

OK folks, sorry for what amounted to a multiple-month hiatus of the Column as I see ’em.  Thank you to all of you that inquired about it.  Without further ado, heeeeeere we go!

 

  • Good Lord, that new Honey Farms Market/Gas Station on Rt 9 Just off Northway Exit 13N looks like it’s going to be huge.  Perhaps it won’t be much bigger than the Stewart’s on the other corner, but it sure won’t be your father’s tiny Mobil Station anymore.
  • CDTA Drive is an all-electric, zero-emission car-sharing service operated by the authority.  According to the CDTA website, “You can book a DRIVE vehicle for just $5 per hour plus a one-time $20 application fee. Insurance, vehicle maintenance, charging, and roadside assistance are all included in DRIVE rates”.  Sounds great.  One catch:  It’s apparently only available in Albany, Rensselaer and Schenectady Counties.  I emailed CDTA and they promptly responded with the following:  “….Thank you for inquiring about CDTA DRIVE.   We do have plans to bring our car sharing service to Saratoga County as our overall goal for the program is to have vehicles in all the counties that CDTA serves.    We do not have an exact timeline yet, but are working diligently to continue growing the program and meeting the demand of our customer base.   Keep an eye out for updates!”
  • I search the word “Saratoga” every single day of my life to find news to post on Saratoga Report.  Probably every couple of weeks I see an article about George Crum inventing the potato chip out at Saratoga Lake.  A couple times a year I find articles claiming the club sandwich was also invented in Saratoga.  Not sure the validity of that last one but….OK.  And Don McClean wrote American Pie at the Exit 15 McDonald’s.
  • Someone suggested to me via email that I allow comments on this ol’ column – kind of like a blog I guess.  Hmmmm.  Maybe.  Stay tuned.
  • Let this one sink in for a minute.  Governor Hochul Issued a  “Proclamation Highlighting Collaborative Measures to Prevent Problem Gambling and Encouraging New Yorkers to Gamble Responsibly”.  Ooh, that’s rich.
  • Jelly Roll is coming to SPAC this summer.  I know he’s a guy, who I think was once really big but lost weight, with a ton of tattoos including all over his face.  I have no idea if he’s a comedian, singer or what.  I could of course look it up but I’m a busy man.   I’ll ask one of my daughters.  Suffice to say I won’t be going to Mr. Roll’s Saratoga gig.
  • What I might go to is the triple billing of Toto, Christopher Cross and the Romantics at SPAC on July 16.  Christopher Cross was a hit machine during my high school years.   Remember “Sailing”, “Ride Like the Wind” and “Think of Laura?  , and Toto certainly had some big hits with “Hold the Line”, “Rosanna” and “Africa”, to name a few.  My favorite Toto hit is a lesser-known song – and incidentally their last top-40 hit – which was released in 1989. “Pamela” had a catchy beat and energetic vocals that I really liked; alas, it didn’t even crack the Billboard top 20.  The Romantics only had two hits, at least that I recall, but both “Talking in your Sleep” and “What I like About You” garnered a ton of airplay both then and even today.
  • Two days before that concert, Canadian rockers The Guess Who will appear at SPAC.  Their appearance will be a refreshing change from the seemingly-perennial SPAC classic-rock appearances from the likes of Chicago, Def Leppard, The Doobie Brothers et al.  Needless to say, I would like to go to The Guess Who’s show as well.  Just like with Toto, my favorite song by the Guess Who is lesser known and was released even before I was born – which is saying something because I turned 60 last month.  “Shakin All Over” was released by The Guess Who in 1965 under the band’s previous name “Chad Allan & The Expressions”.  The term “Guess Who” was used as a marketing ploy to get the song more air play and the name stuck.  And as Paul Harvey used to say: Now you know the rest of the story.
  • I have to say,  dumping “Chad Allen and the Expressions” as a rock band name was undeniably a smart move.  Yessiree.
  • What makes The Guess Who’s show significant to me is that the two key original band members, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman, are leading the tour.  So many of these geezer bands that tour are completely or nearly devoid of original members, which is quite apparent when you look at the drummer and he looks like he’s 24 years old.
  • How cool would that be if Randy Bachman sings a song from his Bachman Turner Overdrive days?  Some “You ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” or “Takin’ Care of Business” would be well received in the Spa City.
  • Speaking of “Takin’ care of business”, Saratoga Springs City Council Meetings so far this year are professional, streamlined, functional, and mostly devoid of drama, discord and profanity.  After careful analysis, the Column as I see ’em asks:   Where’s the fun in that?  Booooo City Council!  Boooooo!
  • If Christopher Cross was a hit machine in the 80s, then Lionel Richie was a hit factory.   I believe he still tours.  How is it that he hasn’t appeared here in recent memory?  I’ll blame Live Nation…just because it’s easy.  Does Boston tour anymore?  That’s another act I’d like to see. Talking Heads?  David Bryne performed in a solo act at Proctors in September, so that’s the closest we’ll get I guess. The B-52s did a co-headlining “Cosmic De-Evolution” tour with Devo in 2025.  That would have been fun.
  • Hannaford’s bathrooms are relatively clean. Market 32’s are often on the dirty side in my opinion.  I’ve probably mentioned this before, but if food service workers are touching the door handle of the bathroom upon exiting, doesn’t that negate the hygienic effects of washing hands?   A few establishments have hands-free foot door openers – that makes a lot of sense.  Tell me why more restaurants and stores don’t have these?  Tell me why these aren’t mandatory requirements in our health laws?

Photo from Amazon.com

  • Quiz Time!  Which road/interestion around greater Saratoga Springs has the most annoying waits for traffic signals, West Avenue or the Exit 15 area?  Sorry, it was a trick question.   THE most annoying street is Lake Avenue approaching Broadway – sorry but this is not my first time complaining about this.  You get stopped at the light at Maple, then you finally get the green only to go 60 feet before you’re stopped by the light at Broadway, often because the truck in front of you had so much trouble getting up the hill.  How hard would it be to sync those two lights?
  • I was at Healthy Living a while back and they had some great 70s album rock and early 80s alternative rock playing in the store.  It wasn’t the same regurgitated stuff you’ve heard on 80s stations.  It was good to listen to one-time MTV staples that have been somewhat lost to time.
  • Speaking of music piped into a store, how much will Stewart’s charge me for the chain to stop playing Gordon Lightfoot?  Oh here it comes, a bunch of Gordon Lightfoot fans are going to send me hate mail.
  • Continuing with Stewart’s, how much do I spend there in a year?  I don’t want to know.
  • I have a group of friends in town and we have a text thread we are active on solving the problems of Saratoga, NYRA, and the rest of the world.  Sometimes we complain to each other about things in Saratoga.  My friend Pat recently wrote “….Went to the movies yesterday at AMC in town. 2:45 pm movie started at 3:15. Thirty minutes of obnoxious previews.”  Yep.
  • While I’m sharing first-world complaints, someone recently referred to a list “as long as a CVS receipt”.  Ha!  I knew exactly what he meant and if you’ve been to CVS lately,  you do too.
  • That hubbub between Compton’s owners and its landlord has apparently quieted somewhat.  If I ever hit the Powerball I will offer one of our local diner owners a bunch of money to do a few things:  (1) I want it open 24 hours, (2) they will offer breakfast anytime (Pancakes in the Age of Enlightenment will have an upcharge), (3) The menu will have several Greek options, and (4) they will offer a $14.95 Prime Rib special.  Take that Hungry Heifer!
  • This is not an exhaustive list and apologies for the many worthy options I fail to mention, but good egg sandwiches in and around The Spa City include offerings from Spring Street Deli, Walt Cafe (Whitman Brewing), 9 Miles East and a new one for me:  The Counter at 5 Points.
  • Is that former Hibachi Restaurant location on South Broadway every going to have an occupant again?
  • One night after her Volleyball practice  I took my hungry daughter to the relatively-new Herbie’s Burgers location in (or is it next to?) Pint Sized Bar.  She took a couple of bites of her food and said “This place is a better McDonald’s”.  There you go – laconic restaurant reviews from a 12-year old!  Yet another benefit of reading the Column as I See ‘Em!
  • At some point when I wasn’t looking, the front page of Saratoga Today evolved from containing standard newspaper headlines to blaring announcements reminiscent of the NY Post in its heyday.  Chad Beatty’s publication hasn’t quite reached the “Headless Body in Topless Bar” level, but these eye-catching headlines sure are a change.
  • And finally, how bad was this winter?  My Saratogian Box wants to weigh in.
OK folks, thanks for reading!  Have a great week!

 

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