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Message |
    
Steve Hickson
Citizen
Username: Shickson
Post Number: 28
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 2:45 pm: | 
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You know, there is nothing more invigorating than my daily "power-walk" through SO Village---well, maybe there is one thing slightly more invigorating---and that's my daily power-walk with camera-phone in-hand---so if it's ok I would like to share my weekend travelogue with y'all!
Don't know if you've seen em' but how cool are the light fixtures outdside of the Beifus lot?---very, very cool---not sure if they really work to compliment our existing Gas Light motif but kudos to the construction firm for having the courgage to go with this bold, yellow plastic aesthetic!
I love this sign on Valley Road---ever get the feeling we live in a town where everything has to be qualified? I mean, "on or about 6/9/06 this road will be under construction"---here's a thought---why not just pick a date like 6/10, or 6/11 or 6/12 or whatever---why is it so hard to commit to a date around here about anything---this is road construction for crying out loud---maybe I just don't get it?
My heart breaks every time I walk past the Village Cellar Wine Bar and Restaurant---supposed to be under "renovation" but I guess it could be the end for these guys---hey, I liked the place, good food, nice service---anyway, I'm no restaurant expert but $24.95 per person seems a bit steep for Sunday Brunch---although, if you think about the alternative it might not be bad---I figure if you go to Whole Foods, get some groceries and cook at home your probably looking at $28.95 per person---for a family of four that's a savings of $16 per brunch---annualized over the course of a year that's almost $900---so if just 550 families or so in our town switch from Whole Foods to the Village Wine Bar for Sunday brunch we could put the savings toward Tau and cover the costs for installation---so support Tau and have brunch at the Village Wine Bar---that is if you can find parking and if it even opens again? Hmm.
Ya know, whenever I walk past SOPAC you just get a warm & fuzzy that things are progressing nicely---place looks great doesn't it? OK, memo to the construction firm---ever hear of "clean as you go?" Works great when your preparing Thanksgiving dinner---why not apply the same concept here? I mean this sexy urban landscape was shot just a few feet from our train station---why do we have to look at this crap every day? Help us please and clean up! Hello? Is anyone listening?
Speaking of cleaning up---how about the 9/11 Memorial that has been mentioned frequently on this board? Please do something soon, anyone, this is a mess.
So, you may have seen this sign outside the Beifus lot on The Avenue "construction area---keep out"...
But, I'm confused? I looked through the fence and did not see any construction? I think that's a dirt pile but I'm not sure?
Also, for those keeping score at home, no progress on River Walk.
Here's one of my personal favorites---this trash can sits outside the tennis courts off Mead Street---now how hard would it have been for this idiot to actually get his empty ice tea bottle in the trash can? FYI---I did my part to keep South Orange clean and threw it in the can.
Finally, its kinda weird that we live in a place where downtown redevelopment seems almost impossible, yet McMansions like this West Montrose behemoth go up in a jiffy---every time I walk past this place I get that "my house sux" feeling---oh well, hey here's an idea---how about we keep the gazebo at it's current location, move Tau to this lot in West Montrose, and ship this monster up to Newstead where it belongs! |
jayjay
Citizen
Username: Jayjayp
Post Number: 675
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 4:04 pm: |
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For whatever its worth, the McMansion doesn't belong in Newstead either. I look forward to more photo journalism. A picture is worth...oh, you know the rest! |
MHD
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 4160
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 7:50 pm: |
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Steve,
Didn't you hear? According to Calabrese, we are an "arts community". Those places you observed are simply "art" - not the shameful displays of incompetence that they appear to be. You obviously are just too much of a simpleton to understand.  |
red_alert
Citizen
Username: Red_alert
Post Number: 269
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 8:25 pm: |
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Never heard of a BS Artist?
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Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5269
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 9:34 pm: |
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Steve
Your phone takes GREAT pictures! And that house isn't in 'West Montrose.' He y, it isn't even west of Montrose! I think it's one smuggly looking house if you ask me! |
Soparents
Citizen
Username: Soparents
Post Number: 758
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 9:39 pm: |
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It's a real shame the only things that appear to be "working" at the Beifus site are those new lights.....
I was so happy to see work going on there some weeks back, and every day now I find myself looking and wondering what happened. It seems to have all been for show. I guess I fell for that one... |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 462
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 10:01 pm: |
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I don't know you guys. Are you all involved in South Orange? Cause if not then you are just people complaining about something. I have lived here for 20 years and I hate to tell you that the good old times weren't so good either. Alot has happened in this town that wasn't around back then. Nobody really used the basketball courts and the Baired in general was an empty shell and pretty much unused. We have concerts and galeries, a great park which is used constantly. We have some nice restaurants, some fun bars, a beautiful reservation, a great train connection to NY and some growing pains which are part of the deal. This community has had to adjust to a major influx in people and it's doing the best it can. If you have ideas to make this a better place then bring them to a town hall meeting instead of just trashing the town. I love South Orange and it annoys me when people are always negative about the place but don't really participate to make things better. This town has much more to offer and is more lively now then it has been in years. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9710
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 10:10 pm: |
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Steve has spoken at several meetings this year. MHD single-handedly exposed lies about use of public funds recently. All recorded in video, and in Star-Ledger stories.
Many good things about S. Orange are true, but the elected officials for the most part, are not part of what is positive about the village. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 465
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 10:25 pm: |
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You mean to tell me that politics is not honest around here......shocking...and that in NJ??? |
Soparents
Citizen
Username: Soparents
Post Number: 764
Registered: 5-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 10:46 pm: |
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Bajou
I love South Orange. I am happy that we live so close to somewhere like the reservation rather than a concrete jungle. I watch my kids staring out of the windows watching the deer, groundhogs, chipmunks, etc run through the garden which of course they would never see elsewhere. I adore the fact that we have open space all around us, playgrounds for the kids, the duck pond, Floods Hills where they can run and run until they are out of breathe. My Husband is very grateful for the midtown direct and has his morning journey timed to the second, I find the people in town to be in most instances very friendly. I love the fact that we are surrounded by other small towns all offering something different.
I can understand why people move here - I am sure for a lot of the same reasons we did. I do not regret for one nanosecond making that choice and I would do it again.
I knew that South Orange had gone through some awful times, or at least that is what I was reading in the books on towns in NJ when we were looking to move, but it said that it had taken an upturn. 4 years ago, our realtor drove us around pointing out areas of interest, including the old supermarket, and told us that a new one was coming soon. I don't apologise for using that phrase even though it has been used multiple times on this board, because that was the phrase she used.
If I could wave a magic wand and have all the work etc completed without further delay in this town I would do so. I personally find it a mix of frustrating and heartbreaking that so many projects are stalled/started/coming soon/etc etc. Yes, I know that pits have to be dug, and things knocked down to make way for something else, but it seems that so much has been kocked down and left.....I have only lived here for 4 years so I don't know anywhere near as much as some of the longer term residents. Until maybe 3 months ago, I had never heard the names Beifus or Saiyd, I often looked at the empty lots where buildings used to stand and wondered why they were left like that, and then one day I asked a friend, and they suggested I watch the BOT meetings or even go and sit through one. I hear excuses, then "information" then next time things have changed. I'm not asking to be told what they think I want to hear, but I would like to think I am being told the truth, but the truth keeps changing..
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MHD
Citizen
Username: Mayhewdrive
Post Number: 4161
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 11:00 pm: |
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One of my favorite pieces of literature, which was published in 2003: http://www.southorange.org/redevelopment/Redev.pdf
This shows exactly how much money we are LOSING each year due to the stalled "redevelopment".
Also note that there is no "tax impact" for SOPAC because it is expected to be in the hole by several hundred thousand dollars every year. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 470
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, June 4, 2006 - 11:46 pm: |
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Dear Steve and MHD thank you and I apologize. I am not involved but I am not complaining. It is nice to know that people like you (and Dave) are out there keeping an eye on things.
Dear SoParent: Once again .... in total agreement  |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11719
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 5:05 am: |
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Steve, no picture of the new Subway?  |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 5272
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 6:45 am: |
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I've been here more then 40 years and I miss the old South Orange!!! |
Steve Hickson
Citizen
Username: Shickson
Post Number: 29
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 8:30 am: |
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Hey Bajou,
Thanks and no problem---MHD has been very, very active in this town for quite some time---I am new and plan to get more involved in any way I can be of help and value---it is not my intention to simply bitch on MOL---but as citizens it is our duty to raise issues of concern of which there are several in SO---yes, this is a great town, that's why I moved here, but we all know we can do better.
Thanks for your note.
And to Bob K.---sorry I missed the new Subway---I'll post that in future editions of my Village travellogue. |
SOrising
Citizen
Username: Sorising
Post Number: 388
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 8:43 am: |
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MHD, losses projected in 2003 are probably significantly greater now, three years later |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 477
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 12:09 pm: |
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Hey Steve...nice to have you in town. |
SOrising
Citizen
Username: Sorising
Post Number: 392
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Monday, June 5, 2006 - 7:44 pm: |
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Steve Hickson, fastest camera phone in Essex, keep gunning for SO, wild burb west of the Hudson.
Whoever would say Matt Dillon had more to civilize than you? |
Jersey_Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 985
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 12:21 am: |
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Steve,
Time to start a blog. You now have a fan base and a theme.
I'll be checking, posting nonsense, lurking, and generally being creepy as is my usual.
Keep it up.
J.B.
If I could figure out how to get my phone onto MOL, I'd have a LEGO blog by now. |
Steve Hickson
Citizen
Username: Shickson
Post Number: 31
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 10:41 am: |
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Hey JB,
Blog is a possibility---but will have to see if I can fit it in from a time perspective---good thing that I have a day job or I would be filling up MOL with all sorts of nonsense as well---anyway, I really do love living in South Orange---it's a great community with lots of smart and passionate people---and I do sympathize with the local government/BOT as it must be hard if not impossible to please everyone in our town---yet, I think we all agree that we can do better---I hope I can find a way to help---simply bitching all the time on MOL will get old---again, appreciate your note and if my fan base wants to send monetary gifts directly to me that is always appreciated---I would be willing to donate 10% of all proceeds raised to the Tau project or perhaps as seed money for the next restaurant to take over the erstwhile Village Cellar Restaurant and Wine Bar---the remaining 90% of the proceeds will support my bar tab at Bunny's! |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23261
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 11:31 am: |
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I, personally, reserve the right to bitch without recourse - but only between 2-6 a.m. Otherwise I will bitch with recourse.
(Seriously, I think MHD and Steve are both credible and laudable gentlemen despite those that call them [or at least one] "hysterical" or "negative" for their criticisms of this town.) |
Steve Hickson
Citizen
Username: Shickson
Post Number: 32
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 2:19 pm: |
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Thanks Bets,
I won't speak for MHD---but I'll be the first to admit that I'm hysterical and negative---currently I'm looking up laudable in the dictionary (remember I'm a state school guy)---but I think I'm that too! |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23265
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 2:21 pm: |
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Quote:(remember I'm a state school guy)
 Does that mean you rode the short bus? |
Steve Hickson
Citizen
Username: Shickson
Post Number: 33
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 3:35 pm: |
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Exactly! You've seen me, I'm classic short bus material. In fact, friends still refer to me as "SB"----acronym for short bus---Steve "SB" Hickson---although one ex-girlfriend use to always get it mixed up and call me "SP"---I could never really figure out what she meant by that??? |
Lucy Smith
Citizen
Username: Lucy123
Post Number: 168
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 4:06 pm: |
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Hey steve-along with subway don't forget to get the lovely Vose Pit and all the rocks/pieces of boulders that are holding the fence in place! it's a beautiful subject for your great photography! thanks for the thread!
Bajou- For those of us who live on Mead and have to hear the relentless cursing and screaming from the athletes while playing basketball at the courts and then while walking up the middle of Mead (sidewalks? what are those???-which leads to the blaring of horns of cars that can't get by) on their way home this statement you made "Nobody really used the basketball courts and the Baired in general was an empty shell and pretty much unused." sounds like a south orange i could dream of-if only i could fall asleep before 11:30pm-but instead I lay in bed listening to the endless screaming and cursing....screaming and cursing...
it's GREAT they are using the basketball courts these days!!!!!!!!
 |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 505
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 4:27 pm: |
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I hear you ... why don't you go down to Andy (Mr. Baired) and tell him or even better go down to the court and tell them that it would be a shame to close the courts at 8 but unfortunatelty necessary if the noise level doesn't drop.
What I don't understand is that people complain about things that they should have been well aware of when they bought the house/rented the apartment.
Hey I live next to the station and frankly station noise does not bother me. I expected it (I do however hate the speakers that announce the late trains). If you knew your house was next to the basketball court you should have known that you will possibly hear it.
Most of the complaints I have seen on MOL are about kids. So lets all make a deal. Lets call em out on it. If you see a kid that does something that is inappropriate then correct him. Hey it takes a village right. I have made it a point to do just that. Most of the time children respond to a request to keep it down, some even apologize. I have been cursed at but I then I will walk right up to them and say "What did you just say"? That usually shuts them right up. If we all start doing it then first of all I am not the only crazy b*tch as I have been lovingly referred to plus it will bring the message home.
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SO Ref
Citizen
Username: So_refugee
Post Number: 1879
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 4:38 pm: |
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Weren't these the same kids that were chuckin' rocks at our esteemed Dave Ross??? Methinks they might not take to the gentle hand of correction. |
Lucy Smith
Citizen
Username: Lucy123
Post Number: 170
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 4:38 pm: |
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I (and others in my building) have complained to Baird, have called the kids out on it and have also, like you, been called every name under the sun-and never once been apologized to-been threatened but never apologized to. And have called the police on kids urinating in the bushes of the neighbors across the street/in the middle of the street multiple times as well as about the noise late at night and the kids hanging in our parking lot after leaving the basketball courts and casing the cars/throwing rocks at cars. I have lived in this building and in the building next door for a total of 5 years. Last summer was the first year ANY obnoxious noise came from that court (coinciding with the unveiling of the new and improved courts and all the new kids the shiny new court brought). I also have the train noise (my building is directly adjacent to the tracks) and the train noise does not bother me at all. Last summer the solution was to turn the lights off at a certain hour-now they just play in the dark. I am not one of those that complains on this board and that's it. I am not one of those that subscribes to "you live near a basketball court-get used to it" when it involves unsafe and illegal/damaging behavior on the part of the athletes. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9744
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 4:42 pm: |
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Are you sure it's not the platform tennis players? They tend to yell, as well, and the lights stay on until 1am for some reason, which would be interesting to find out. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 508
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 4:44 pm: |
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Well you put me right.
We should ask the SOPD to drive by and make sure it's closed. Lights off and post that if the rules are not adhered to then the court will be closed even earlier. I have to drive my kids home on a regular basis and will make a point of checking the place out. |
Lucy Smith
Citizen
Username: Lucy123
Post Number: 171
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 4:48 pm: |
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No-it's the basketball players. the ones described above urinating/rock throwing/cursing/middle of the street walkers have their very own basketballs that they dribble down the middle of the street on the way home. and the screaming and cursing from the area of the courts is the basketball court, not the tennis court. The first few times hubby and I thought there was something going on at the park and walked down to see what the commotion was (sounded like a riot/crazy out of control party to us) and found out it was just a "friendly" game of bball. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 510
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 5:01 pm: |
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hey Dave:
I have noticed that too why are the lights on so late. That must cost a pretty penny. |
Steve Hickson
Citizen
Username: Shickson
Post Number: 34
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 5:32 pm: |
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I'll tell ya, ever since Dave told me that story about those rock chucking hoodlums I've been carrying rocks with me on my trecks back from the train station and/or Bunny's---memo to the bad guys: when you throw rocks at Hickson, Hickson throws rocks back---although if you catch me after a good outing at Bunny's I'm not a very accurate shot (did I really bust a window at Baird center last week?)---memo to SOPD, just kidding.
P.S.---I've had a few requests for a more "positive" photo essay of lovely downtown South Orange and will do my best to oblige within the next week or so---in the meantime I'll continue to bitch and throw rocks in my own self-defense. Dave---continue to practice "duck & cover"---you are a great guy but let's face it you're just a bit of a rock magnet---it happens to the best of us. |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 514
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 5:39 pm: |
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Hey Steve..
If it becomes truly difficult to walk home from Bunnies I can rent you one of my dogs. Seeing-eye dogs they are not but they are highly experienced with drunkeness LOL |
Steve Hickson
Citizen
Username: Shickson
Post Number: 35
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 6:11 pm: |
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Thanks Bajou,
I may take you up on that---especially if your dog is trainable and can also walk me home from Cryans, Toro Loco and The Gaslight---game on!
Oh, one other question---can your dog drive me to Martini's on Thursday nights? |
Lucy Smith
Citizen
Username: Lucy123
Post Number: 173
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 9:19 pm: |
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I completely forgot about dave's "rocks thrown at me" incident!!!! such a shame that not much has changed since last summer.......we shall see...be well all and there are A LOT of really big rocks to protect yourself with at the Vose Ave Fence site Free for the taking (i think!) |
Bajou
Citizen
Username: Bajou
Post Number: 523
Registered: 2-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 9:53 pm: |
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AAAH Steve now you are talking.. do you drink in regular intervals as my dogs are creatures of habit? They have plenty of experience with the bars you mentioned and, for a price (in form of red wine preferably), can escort you home from all of them except for Martini's (my dogs wardrobe doesn't qualify for the swanky Martinis). However we can also offer the services for other locations like "The Gate" and the all time favorite Centanni's in Maplewood. Please supply a copy of your favorite drinking location schedules and I will see if we can fit you in. Trust me my dogs are working hard in this town |
bets
Supporter
Username: Bets
Post Number: 23280
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 11:57 pm: |
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Did Steve call Dave a "rock star"? Will the lights go out on Mead Steet? Who will write the song???
Tune in again next post, as the Turns Clock Akin.
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