Cure for election blues
In the wake of this week’s exercise in democracy, members of the belt and shoelaces crowd have been consoling each other on social media by sharing ways to cope with their overwhelming stress by working to make our planet a better place before they give up and move to Canada.
Of course, none of these meaningful activities involve supporting veterans or law enforcement. So I’ve decided to rectify that. (I’m nothing if not helpful.)
If you’ve been through the downtown or Greenwood in the last few weeks, you’ve seen them, but you may not have known what they were all about – those big blue ribbons and bows hanging from signposts, utility poles and trees.
A few Saturdays ago, several dozen wives, family members, friends and supporters of local and state police went around and hung the blue ribbons as a show of support for the men and women in blue.
Such gestures never used to be necessary. It was an article of faith, a given, that people respected and appreciated the police.
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Tags: Age of Aquarius, Altamont, blue ribbon, democracy, Devo, Donald Trump, election, Hillary Clinton, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, millennials, police, pot, President, protests, Reisa Clardy, Rollining Stones, State Police, Thomas Clardy, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Police Department, weed, Woodstock
Surly voting
Call me old fashioned. Call me a slave to tradition.
But I’ll be voting on Tuesday, Nov. 8, on what used to be known as Election Day.
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Tags: apathy, ballot, candidate, drivers license, early voting, election, Election Day, fraud, ID, identification, MA, Mark Sardella, polling place, Sudafed, turnout, vote, Voter ID, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Massachusetts
Halloween, 2016 style
Halloween is Monday, and that means this would be a good weekend to stay home and avoid the throngs of giddy Deadpool and Wonder Woman wannabes clogging the roads and liquor stores as they head out to party with dozens of Donalds, hordes of Hillarys and assorted other creepy clowns.
Gone are the days when a bed sheet with a couple of eye holes sufficed as an acceptable ghost costume. The coolest people today are dressing up as figures from politics, pop culture and entertainment – especially as superheroes.
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Tags: adults, American, children, clowns, column, costume, cowboy, Deadpool, Donald Trump, edibles, Halloween, Hillary Clinton, Human Rights Commission, Humor, Indian, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Opinion, Politics, Question 4, sombrero, THC, trick-or-treat, USA Today, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wonder Woman
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — They are on a mission – and that mission is to show support for police officers and law enforcement everywhere.
On Sunday, that effort came to Wakefield. Dozens of people, including Wakefield Police officers, State Police officers, their spouses, family members and friends joined forces to “cover the town in blue” by placing blue ribbons on poles and trees in the downtown area and in Greenwood as a show of support for police.
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Tags: blue ribbon campaign, Chief Rick Smith, Courtney Peledge, Lt Scott Reboulet, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts State Police, Michelle Reboulet, Officer David Morales, police, Trooper Justin Peledge, Trooper Thomas Clardy, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield Police
Last chance for Mary Jane
A lot of people who plan to vote “Yes” on Question 4 will be in for a big surprise after it passes.
They think the ballot question to legalize marijuana for recreational use is about making it so that people won’t go to jail for smoking a joint. But what it’s really about is allowing the profit-driven, billion-dollar marijuana industry to set up shop all over the state, including right here in Wakefield.
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Tags: 2016, adolescents, alcohol, ballot question, brain, cocaine, Dr. Alan Woolf, drugs, election, George Washington, hemp, herb, heroin, jail, law, law enforcement, marijuana, Massachusetts, meth, money, November 8, police, possession, pot, prison, prohibition, Question 4, Sen. Jason Lewis, stoners, teens, weed
By MARK SARDELLA
On the surface, Uncanny Valley is about a neuroscientist at a life-extension laboratory in the mid-21st century and her relationship with a non-biological human named Julian that she played a major role in creating.
But beneath the surface, Thomas Gibbons’ play, currently at Stoneham Theatre, is about much, much more. The term “uncanny valley” is well-known in the field of robotics. It is the idea that people are fascinated by an artificial being that is almost human-like. But the closer it becomes to being truly human-like, the creepier it becomes.
Continue reading ‘Travel to Uncanny Valley at Stoneham Theatre’
Filed under: Art, Opinion, Reviews, theater, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: artificial intelligence, DNA, future, human, Lewis D. Wheeler, life-extension, Mark Sardella, Nancy E. Carroll, play, playwright, robots, science, stage, Stoneham Theatre, theater, Thomas Gibbons, Uncanny Valley, Wakefield Daily Item, Weylin Symes
Gone to pot
How things have changed.
Not so long ago, it was a given that drugs were bad, the police were good and American soldiers protected freedom and liberty at home and around the world.
These were universal values that served us well for generation after generation. Nowadays, expressing ideas that wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow a few years ago could land you in front of the Human Rights Commission.
The legalization of marijuana was nothing but a hippie pipe dream a few decades ago. Now we’re about to see pot shops in every town.
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Tags: Colorado, COPS, crime, drugs, high, Human Rights Commission, legalization, marijuana, Mark Sardella, medicine, money, music, News, opiates, Opinion, opioids, painkiller, paranoia, pharmaceutical industry, police, Politics, pot, Question 4, recreational, stoned, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, weed
By MARK SARDELLA
Israel Horovitz’s new play is something of a departure for the prolific playwright and Wakefield native. Man in Snow, at Gloucester Stage Company through Oct. 23, is a long way from the gritty, working class atmosphere of a Gloucester fish-packing plant or the romantic neighborhoods of Paris – and not just geographically.
Continue reading ‘Horovitz hits new heights with ‘Man in Snow’’
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Tags: Alaska, Ashley Risteen, avalanche, Denali, drama, Francisco Solorzano, Gary Ng, Gloucester Stage, Israel Horovitz, Japanese, Mark Sardella, mountain, Mt. McKinley, Northern Lights, Paul O'Brien, play, Ron Nakahara Man in Snow, Sandra Shipley, snow, stage, theater, theatre, Wakefield Daily Item, white, Will Lyman
Primitive Social Media
Wakefield is getting good at hosting really big parties: Festival Italia, the Holiday Stroll and Independence Day are prime examples. Soon to take its place alongside those is the upcoming Halloween spectacular, “Haunted Happenings.”
But what if you can’t make it for some reason? What’s the next best thing to being there?
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Tags: books, Climate Change, comedians, Cyrus Wakefield, Facebook, Festival Italia, Fourth of July, History, Holiday Stroll, Humor, Inaugural Exercises in Wakefield Mass., Instagram, Internet, John S. Eaton, Mark Sardella, media, newspaper, Opinion, Paul D'Angelo, phones, poetry, Politics, press, social media, South Reading, Tritter, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, weather
The 8.8 percent solution
It’s even worse than I thought.
A couple of weeks ago, we discussed Voter Fatigue and the steps that our state and local governments are taking to aid us in performing that onerous civic duty known as voting.
But until Thursday, September 8, I had no idea that for more than 90 percent of us, voting is not just a heavy burden. It’s damn near impossible!
Remember all the crap Phyllis Hull took earlier this year for requesting the July 19 Special Election to fill a vacancy on the Board of Selectmen?
“It will be a waste of money!” the born-again fiscal conservatives fulminated. “The turnout will be abysmal!” they railed. “Nobody will show up to vote in mid-July!” they howled. “It should be held at the same time as the State Primary in September when there are more people around to vote!” they demanded.
Well, that “wasteful” and “unnecessary” July 19 Special Election drew 50 percent more voters than the recent State Primary. That July 19 Special Election brought 2,247 voters to the polls, a turnout of 12.37 percent.
In the September 8 State Primary Election, 1,613 of Wakefield’s 18,372 registered voters made it to the polls. That’s 8.8 percent.
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Tags: elections, Fenway Park, flyers, Humor, lawn signs, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, Phyllis Hull, Politics, primary election, selectmen, voter, voting, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item
Mark Sardella 