Author: Webmaster (Page 12 of 89)
HIKING
NORWALK RIVER VALLEY TRAIL
WILTON, CT
NOVEMBER 2, 2023
9:30 AM
The Norwalk River Valley Trail, when completed, will be a multi-use 30 mile trail stretching from Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk to Danbury. The NRVT is a 501(c(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Georgetown, CT funded by private contributions. Every $250 donated builds one more foot of trail!
A completed section that we will be hiking in Wilton runs from near the Orem Diner on US 7 for 2.4 miles through thick woods up to Skunk Road where the completed section ends. We will hike up the trail and then retrace our steps back to RT 7. The path is 10 feet wide and composed of compacted stone and there is little elevation change. We estimate the round trip will take about 2 hours after which we will adjourn to Orem diner for an optional lunch.
The parking lot for the trail is on the west side of RT 7 just past Orem but short of the corner where RT 106 ends at RT 7. It is marked as a lot for the trail as well as for carpooling.
Dogs, friends and family are welcome on this hike.
Dave McCollum
Robert Plunkett
On the coldest day of the fall, 26 hearty DMAers and guests hiked the 4.5 mile roundtrip of the new Wilton Loop of the NRVT. This was an out and back trek since the new trail is not finished past Skunk Road on the east side of Rt 7 in Wilton. As advertised, the trail is wide and made of crushed stone giving a smooth surface now covered by leaves.. There was some ice on the several bridges but all traversed safely. As is typical on our hikes, we saw little wildlife but many other hikers and a couple of bikes.
With such a large group, we got strung out quite a bit but all gathered at the Skunk Road terminus for a group photo by Marilyn Parker. The different speeds also meant we arrived back at the parking lot in small bunches. Many hikers stayed for lunch at Orem Diner nearby but we were prevented from having a group lunch because of a large college group which was already in the Diner. All does not go as planned all the time!
Dave McCollum
Robert Plunkett
“When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side? In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking readers into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride, Going Infinite is Michael Lewis at the top of his game, tracing the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own–until it all came undone”–
HIKING AND HAPPY WANDERERS
WALKWAY ACROSS THE HUDSON
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY
OCTOBER 26, 2023
The Walkway Across the Hudson is billed as “The Longest Elevated
Pedestrian Bridge in the World” as it spans the Hudson River between
Poughkeepsie NY and Highland NY. It provides magnificent panoramic views
of the Hudson, and at 212 feet above the river, this 1.28 mile linear park
boasts scenic views north to The Catskills and south to the Hudson Highlands.
The Walkway structure dates from 1889 when it was built as a railroad bridge
eventually carrying as many as 3000 train cars a day. A fire on May 8, 1974
halted train traffic forever but after 35 years the bridge was reopened as the
Walkway on October 3, 2009 as a part of the Hudson Valley Rail Trail
Network. For more information on the Walkway see Walkway.org
TRIP PLAN
We will gather at the DCA for an 8:30 AM departure for Poughkeepsie by car
pool. The drive takes about 1.5 hours to the parking lot at 61 Parker Avenue
which is at the east end of the Walkway. We will cross the entire span to the
west bank of the Hudson, taking our time to enjoy the views and then retrace
our steps back to the Poughkeepsie starting point. On the Poughkeepsie side
of the bridge is an elevator down to the riverbank. If it’s open, we have the
option of a ride down and back. Once back up on the Walkway we will
proceed to lunch at Lola’s, a very good sandwich shop right under the
Walkway. There are restrooms at either end of the Walkway. We should be
back at the DCA by 3:00 PM.
As always, spouses and guests are invited. There will be a sign up sheet at the
DMA meetings on October 11, 18 and 25.
Dave McCollum
Bob Plunkett
David Mace
Joe Spain
Trip report:
On a late October day with weather more like early September about 35 DMAers, spouses and friends crossed the Hudson River on the spectacular repurposed railroad bridge from the 1890s. At its peak, the bridge carried more than 3000 train cars a day. A fire in 1974 closed the bridge but it was reborn in 2009 as the “Walkway”.
Usually we can get an accurate headcount but here walkers came from different points and at slightly different times due to the distance from Darien. All of us traversed the 1.25 mile length to the west side of the river and then wandered back across, stopping often to admire the fantastic views of the river below and for miles up and down. The only boats visible today were an oil barge pushed by a tug and a sailboat moving slowly in the light wind.
Most enjoyed a sandwich lunch at Lola’s situated under the bridge on the Poughkeepsie side. Lola’s has really good food but seating is limited and it is popular so it took some patience for most to be fed. A smaller number opted for lunch at Tavern 23, a short walk from the bridge.
We think all would agree it was a day well spent despite the long trip. Thanks to all who participated!
Dave McCollum Robert Plunkett Joe Spain David Mace
CROOK MANIFESTO
It’s not just crime fiction at its craftiest, but shrewdly rendered social history.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Whitehead continues his boisterous, incisive saga of late-20th-century Harlem and of a furniture dealer barely keeping his criminal side at bay.
The adventures of entrepreneur, family man, and sometime fence Ray Carney, which began with Harlem Shuffle (2021), are carried from the Black Citadel’s harried-but-hopeful 1960s of that book to the dismal-and-divided ’70s shown here. In the first of three parts, it’s 1971, and Carney’s business is growing even amid the city’s Nixon-era doldrums and the rise of warring militant groups like the Black Panthers and the Black Liberation Army. Carney barely thinks about sliding back into his more illicit vocation until his teenage daughter, May, starts hankering to see the Jackson 5 perform at Madison Square Garden. And so he decides to look up an old contact named Munson, a seriously bent White NYPD officer and “accomplished fixer,” who agrees to get free “up close” seats for the concert if Carney will fence stolen jewelry stuffed in a paper bag. But the job carries far more physical peril than advertised, culminating in a long night’s journey into day with Carney getting beaten, robbed, and strong-armed into becoming Munson’s reluctant, mostly passive partner in the cop’s wanton rampage throughout the city. In the second part, it’s 1973, and Pepper, Carney’s strong, silent confidant and all-purpose tough guy, is recruited to work security on the set of a blaxploitation epic whose female lead inexplicably goes missing. The third and final part takes place in the bicentennial year of 1976, the nadir of the city’s fiscal crisis, marked by widespread fires in vacant buildings in Harlem and elsewhere in New York’s poorer neighborhoods. When an 11-year-old boy is seriously injured by a seemingly random firebombing, Carney is moved to ask himself, “What kind of man torches a building with people inside?” He resolves to find out with Pepper’s help. What recurs in each of these episodes are vivid depictions of hustlers of varied races and social strata, whether old-hand thieves, crass showbiz types, remorseless killers, or slick politicians on the make with the business elite. Whitehead’s gift for sudden, often grotesque eruptions of violence is omnipresent, so much so that you almost feel squeamish to recognize this book for the accomplished, streamlined, and darkly funny comedy of manners it is. If its spirits aren’t quite as buoyant as those of Harlem Shuffle, it’s because the era it chronicles was depressed in more ways than one. Assuming Whitehead continues chronicling Ray Carney’s life and times, things should perk up, or amp up, for the 1980s.
It’s not just crime fiction at its craftiest, but shrewdly rendered social history.
HIKE THE SAUGATUCK TRAIL
REDDING, CT
SEPTEMBER 7, 2023
9:30 AM
The Saugatuck Trail is a part of the Centennial Watershed State Forest which covers parts of Easton, Redding, Weston and Newtown and is a partnership between Aquarion Water Co, CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and The Nature Conservancy. Created in 2002, the property was developed to conserve 15,300 acres of land for water supply protection. It encloses the Saugatuck Reservoir and consists almost entirely of forested rugged terrain with rock outcroppings. While most of the trail is somewhat distant from the reservoir, it can be seen through the trees in several spots. The forest scenery is spectacular!
We will be hiking about 4 miles (2 hours+) on mostly well groomed trails with the usual roots and rocks. There are a few fairly steep places on the trail and walking sticks would be helpful but not at all necessary. We rate this hike as medium plus. NO DOGS are allowed in the Forest but, as always, bring friends and family!
There is limited parking so we will organize some car pooling from the DCA leaving at 8:45 AM. The Google address is “Saugatuck Universal Access Trail, Redding, CT”
No lunch is planned after this hike.
Dave McCollum or Robert Plunkett
“A major new biography of J Edgar Hoover that draws from never-before-seen sources to create a groundbreaking portrait of a colossus who dominated half a century of American history and planted the seeds for much of today’s conservative political landscape. We remember him as a bulldog–squat frame, bulging wide-set eyes, fearsome jowls–but in 1924, when he became director of the FBI, he had been the trim, dazzling wunderkind of the administrative state, buzzing with energy and big ideas for reform. He transformed a failing law-enforcement backwater, riddled with scandal, into a modern machine. He believed in the power of the federal government to do great things for the nation and its citizens. He also believed that certain people–many of them communists or racial minorities or both–did not deserve to be included in that American project. Hoover rose to power and then stayed there, decade after decade, using the tools of state to create a personal fiefdom unrivaled in U.S. history. Beverly Gage’s monumental work explores the full sweep of Hoover’s life and career, from his birth in 1895 to a modest Washington civil-service family through his death in 1972. In her nuanced and definitive portrait, Gage shows how Hoover was more than a one-dimensional tyrant and schemer who strong-armed the rest of the country into submission. As FBI director from 1924 through his death in 1972, he was a confidant, counselor, and adversary to eight U.S. presidents, four Republicans and four Democrats. Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson did the most to empower him, yet his closest friend among the eight was fellow anticommunist warrior Richard Nixon. Hoover was not above blackmail and intimidation, but he also embodied conservative values ranging from anticommunism to white supremacy to a crusading and politicized interpretation of Christianity. This garnered him the admiration of millions of Americans. He stayed in office for so long because many people, from the highest reaches of government down to the grassroots, wanted him there and supported what he was doing, thus creating the template that the political right has followed to transform its party. G-Man places Hoover back where he once stood in American political history–not at the fringes, but at the center–and uses his story to explain the trajectories of governance, policing, race, ideology, political culture, and federal power as they evolved over the course of the 20th century”–
A Life in Cartoons – Growing Up and Working in the Cartoon Business
Cartoonist and longtime Wilton resident Brian Walker will give a PowerPoint presentation about growing up and working in the cartoon business. He has written, edited or contributed to forty-five books on cartoon art, including the definitive history, The Comics, The Complete Collection, as well as numerous exhibition catalogues and magazine articles.
Brian is part of the creative team that produces the comic strips Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois. The setting for Hi and Loisresembles Wilton and often features familiar settings such as The Silvermine Market, Cobbs Mill Inn, Orem’s Diner, Scoops Ice Cream and the Silvermine Tavern.
Brian Walker has a diverse background in professional cartooning and cartoon scholarship. He is a founder and former director of the Museum of Cartoon Art, where he worked from 1974 to 1992. He taught a course in cartoon history at the School of Visual Arts from 1995 to 1996. He has served as curator for seventy-five cartoon exhibitions including three major retrospectives, The Sunday Funnies: 100 Years of Comics in American Life, at the Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, Connecticut, 100 Years of American Comics at the Belgian Center for Comic Art in Brussels and Masters of American Comics at the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He was Editor-in-Chief of Collectors Showcase magazine from 1997 to 2000 and is the founder and current chairman of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society.
Speaker suggested by Gehr Brown
Speaker Summary
Brian took us on an historical and often nostalgic journey through his, his famous father’s (Mort Walker), and his family’s lives as cartoonists focusing on the creation and sustained success of the Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois comic strips. Interestingly, these two strips are “related” since Lois’ character was created as Beetle’s sister. Mort created Hi and Lois after the Korean War when he wasn’t sure how an army-based strip would perform in a post-war world, so he conceived a family-based strip for the times. In the end, these two strips were the only two of the nine he created over his lifetime that had sustained success. Along with his brothers, Brian has carried on the work of creating these strips.
Brian discussed his involvement in the development of an ill-fated Cartoon Museum and its progression through three stand-alone locations before ultimately finding a long-term home as part of the larger art museum at Ohio State University. As it turns out, the Cartoon Museum was Brian’s entry into the cartoon business. He had no intention to follow in his father’s footsteps (in fact, his college degree was in East African Culture), but he was “recruited” by his father to help create, manage, and curate the museum. This evolved into a career creating cartoons and writing books and curating exhibits about cartoons.
Brian shared that his father’s interest in cartoons began as a young child in Kansas City and grew into one of the most successful cartoon careers in the industry. Beetle Bailey grew out of Mort’s experience in army boot camp and the Sarge character was based on his own drill sergeant. He talked about the critical nature of being “true” to the characters the readers come to know and how this impacts what is and isn’t acceptable in a “gag” (the cartoonist’s word for a strip’s storyline). He also noted that Beetle never left Camp Swampy/was deployed because his dad didn’t think there was anything funny about warfare and the real work of the military.
Hi and Lois is a strip about family situations everyone can relate to. It is heavily based on the Wilton, CT area and locales (restaurants, stores, etc.) from his own life as a resident there. Brian noted that Fairfield County has always been a hotbed of industry talent with many well-known cartoonists making their homes in the area and feeding off each other as a powerful creative community for the genre.
Brian ended his formal talk with a video created by his son that provided an interesting insight into the process of creating comic strips. It was an informative and heart-warming look at how Mort Walker and his sons created their strips, starting with “gag conferences” to review and select storylines and ending with the final “inked” strip. It was interesting to note that each branded strip has a very distinctive style – in the case of Beetle Bailey, right down to the shape of the word/thought balloons.
Brian’s talk was followed by an extended Q&A session in which topics like the economics of the cartoon industry, how changes in where we get our news have impacted how and which strips are distributed, and an interesting discussion of how the movie studios have tried to translate strips into longer form cartoons with mixed results. Brian closed with a touching reference to being lucky to have worked so closely with his dad for most of his life and that he greatly admired that his dad, despite his success and acclaim, was known and respected for being a normal, nice guy.