Benefit Concert for Vets

Although a few of my friends beat me to it, this is still a cause worth plugging.

The Stamford Unitarian Universalist Society in Stamford is hosting an upcoming benefit concert supporting No Vet Left Behind, a local organization dedicated to finding transitional housing for homeless veterans in our area. Info is below.

On Friday April 9 at 7PM, the Unitarian Universalist Society in Stamford will be hosting a concert to benefit No Vet Left Behind! Tickets for the concert are $30 each, and are 100% tax deductible.

The concert will have two acts. The opening act will be Superband, a local group who plays regularly in the Stamford / Bridgeport area. They have a monthly gig at Tracks on Hope Street. They play a wide range of music, from Pink Floyd to the Beatles to the Allman Brothers!

The main event will be recording artist Grayson Hugh. Grayson had two successful albums released in the early 1990's. His album "Road to Freedom" was named one of Billboard Magazine's Top 10 Albums of 1992. His hits "Talk it Over", "Bring It All Back" and "How 'Bout Us" can be viewed on YouTube. After a long hiatus from the recording industry, he is releasing his first album in 15 years this March. Grayson will play some old hits, new music, and several songs he wrote and never released during his break. He will be available after the concert for a meet and greet and autographs, and we will be selling his new CD as well! Grayson will be performing with his wife and long time backup singer Polly Messer.

Advance ticket purchase requested! Email Joe Gonzalez at trustees@uusis.org or call 203-348-0708 for information on reserving tickets and receiving payment instructions!

NVLB is a CT-based organization dedicated to providing transitional housing to homeless veterans. They will be taking over occupancy of the housing unit on UUSIS' property most likely in the late spring or early summer. See www.thenovetleftbehind.org for more info.

Internet Distracts, Super Fast Internet Distracts Super Fast

Google is looking for a pilot city to install and test super high speed fiber optic internet lines that are 100 times faster than most current services. In order to draw attention to themselves, many cities are engaging in all manner of zaniness including mayors jumping into icy waters and swimming in a shark tanks. Don’t think that the CTW is on the sidelines just because you haven’t seen Pavia don a Google emblazoned Speedo and swim laps down the newly undammed Rippowam River. When I emailed Reinventing Stamford about the project they assured me they are already on the case in submitting a proposal.

According to NPR, the merits by which a city is judged in the competition are extremely loose.

Google has been a little vague about exactly what does have merit in this competition. But Ingersoll points to a couple criteria: Google wants to be able to install its fiber lines quickly, so infrastructure is important; and Google is looking for a place that can actually use ridiculously fast Internet — and not just for lightning-quick downloads of the latest episode of Lost.

How we plan to use that speed, is Google’s keen interest. Development of next gen apps is one of their suggestions.

We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it's creating new bandwidth-intensive "killer apps" and services, or other uses we can't yet imagine.

Tomorrow is the deadline response date. If you care to help make a case for Stamford follow this link.

Waterside (Although Not Really Anymore) School

Waterside School #1 Education Lab LLC 20090717 from Walter Patrick Smith, AIA LEED A on Vimeo.

Here's a look at the Waterside charter school ready to break ground in the South End as part of their expansion and relocation from, where else, Waterside. I dig the use of the roof for playing fields.

New South End Buildings

The Advocate unveiled earlier in the week a look at the new proposal for Harbor Point's train station adjacent Gateway property. Gateway started at two towers, dropped to one, and is now back to two, albeit shorter glass box towers. Back is the train platform extension/ connection to the development. The parking garage that once towered over the river now looks to have gone underground, one marked improvement in my opinion. Somewhere on the footprint is proposed 200 units of housing, 25 of which are in the first phase. The extension of the greenway along the river seems intact. Hopefully they have some thoughts on how to activate the plaza between the buildings, which can often end up as dead zones.

New Gateway:





Previous Designs:





Gateways neighbor to the east is rising as their South End doppelganger. Another station adjacent, mixed use office/ residential development, Metro Green is different in that they are leading off with the residential portion of the plan, with a heavy emphasis on affordable housing. Here's a first look at their phase 2 affordable housing building that will go somewhere along Atlantic:

I’m All Lost In The Dharma Station

Any Lost fans out there in Stamford? I’m thinking we need to get a bar in town to show the finale and host a party.

It would be great to be with a group of fans when the one of two possible outcomes occur.

#1. A disappointing ending to the continuity dense series with lots of questions left unanswered leading to a group bitch session about how much all us Lost fans hate Lost.

#2. A hugely disappointing ending to the continuity dense series that raises even more new questions without answering the many of the existing questions. A readymade mob with then be on hand to riot – flipping cars, smashing in store fronts, starting fires in dumpsters, throwing rocks at those large plastic police shields, choking on tear gas, the works!

Anyone game for a public showing? Any willing establishments?

Register for Reinventing Stamford Pivot Point

The Reinvetning Stamford project which has been underway by the Urban Redevelopment Commission for the past year has reached their pivot point and is ready to look to the public to help start implementing projects. From their site:

The eighth Reinventing Stamford Town Meeting will take place Wednesday, March 10th, from 6pm to 9pm at Ferguson Library. This event will be the launch pad for four action teams to implement the projects proposed in

Pivot Point: The First Year of Reinventing Stamford. A PDF of the report can be donwloaded from the Resources section of this website. Pivot Point shapes the ideas generated by the seven 2009 Reinventing Stamford town meetings into a coherent strategy for Stamford that lays a foundation for long-term economic growth, energy efficiency, environmental quality and reduced economic disparity.

- Finding Opportunity in Emerging Conditions
- Creating an Innovation-Capable Workforce
- Building a Creative Habitat
- Expanding Regional Networks

As the name of the report suggests, we are pivoting from a focus on research and information gathering to strategy-in-action. The small group discussion at the March 10th event will be organized by the themes of the four teams:

Finding Opportunity in Emerging Conditions
Creating an Innovation-Capable Workforce
Building a Creative Habitat
Expanding Regional Networks

Each small group will identify "goldmines" and "landmines" for the work of the action team...the key conditions, people, institutions and projects that are likely to help or hinder the work of the team. To stimulate the small group discussion, Duane Hill will moderate a set-up panel of a convener or representative of each of the four teams, who will have a similar discussion of goldmines and landmines.

In effect, this event will enable the participants to try on the work of an action team to see it is of further interest. There will be a range of ways to be involved in the work of a team, from serving on the core group that drives the team, to serving as an occasional resource to the team, to just following the progress of the team on this website, which will be reconfigured to serve as a communications platform for each action team.

I'll be on vacation unfortunately, and looking to be involved at a later date. Go forth as my acolytes! I think they are particularly interested in getting more 20 and 30 somethings involved. Registration info is available on their site.