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Category: holiday

12/19/10 11:47 - 24.ºF - ID#53304

Light Up the Holidays!

I drove home today to judge Blossburg V.I.B.E.'s annual Light Up the Holidays contest. My pix didn't turn out as nice as last years (e:heidi,50622) - I haven't been practicing :-( Jill, Kelly & I were very attracted to the white lights & greens theme this year, so there's not quite as much diversity of style as there usually is. We almost always go for houses that are fully done - if you've got something on the roof, oh yeah, you're a contender.

First, the five winners:

Victorian
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Best business
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Best overall/whimsical
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Modern
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Most Christmas Spirit
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Other ones I took pix of that we were considering
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I love this house and how it's decorated - very simple and elegant. I used to live across the street.
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The Arctic Cat dealer almost won best business display with this awesome light tree.
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I think these folks won two years ago - they have a full style but if they'd just trace that top roofline, I'd think it was excellent for "most Christmas spirit" or "whimsical".
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I'm sooo proud that our historic theater is now open!!!! The owner is president of VIBE and thus not eligible to win. But isn't it gorgeous??
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The antique popcorn machine is popping popcorn like it's new!
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Inside. It seats around 200. Tom & Tonya have been having concerts and second run movies - right now it's Tangled, a new Disney movie based on the Rapunzel story. They're having a free Christmas Eve matinee showing. Movies are cheap, concessions are cheap... You gotta check it out!
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The bathroom signs are just classics. I don't know if they're original (~1913?) or from the 1965 rehab.
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One of the old time movie signs
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Tom & Tonya in the ticketbooth/concession stand.
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Last year's best business display winner the Window Box Flower Shop, wasn't eligible this year, but they have another beautiful display.
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Jill & Kelly eating popcorn from the movie theater. The bag reads, "This bag is manufactured using environmentally friendly EcoSelect paper." We're just that green in Blossburg. :-)
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Permalink: Light_Up_the_Holidays_.html
Words: 380
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/19/10 11:48


Category: food

12/18/10 07:19 - 25.ºF - ID#53299 pmobl

Dinner for 5 at betty's

Yum!
Vegetarian lasagna special, winter squash tart, coq au vin, black bean burrito, and maple roasted salmon

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Permalink: Dinner_for_5_at_betty_s.html
Words: 22
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/18/10 07:19


Category: weather

12/16/10 02:00 - 25.ºF - ID#53285 pmobl

Happy flamingos!

Cute!

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Permalink: Happy_flamingos_.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/16/10 02:00


Category: contrast

12/15/10 02:03 - 20.ºF - ID#53278

Census data

The NYT has published interactive maps by census tract of race, income, educational achievement, home values, same-sex couples...



The census tract that includes Blossburg, 9907, is really big and covers one of the more wealthy areas of the county - a little distorting. I can't get it to just show me by zip code - Census tracts are much bigger than zip codes in Tioga County, while they're only a couple blocks tall/wide in Buffalo.

Same-sex couple households
Census tract 68 (my apt): 2%
Census tract 6702 (including the 24) 5%
Blossburg's census tract: 0%
But the neighboring one where I know my old friends Vince & Jeff live - 1%! :-)

Median household income
Census tract 68: $34K
but the tract behind me, 7101: $16K, and the one next to that $11K.
Blossburg tract: $43.9K

Race & ethnicity
Census tract 68: 67% white, 16% black, 14% hispanic
Census tract 7101: 16% white, 36% black, 45% hispanic
Blossburg tract: 98% white

Education
Census tract 68: 93% high school diploma, 50% bachelors degrees
Census tract 687101: 49% high school diploma, 6% bachelors degrees
Blossburg: 88% HS 21% bachelors (distorted by including the Wellsboro area)
Morris Run: 89%, 13% (more typical of Tioga County)

How do areas in your life compare?

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Permalink: Census_data.html
Words: 187
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/15/10 02:03


Category: weather

12/14/10 06:21 - 19.ºF - ID#53273

Ornament inspiration?

I took these shots from my bedroom window this afternoon. Were Christmas tree ornaments inspired by such little gems as this? Matthew's fantasy Victorian tree with its vintage ornaments (e:matthew,53209) made me think of a big bag of shiny red fat teardrop ornaments with snow caps that I used to have, which I loved and hung on the chandeliers. The tree also reminded me of those. I left them, along with nearly every other holiday item I owned, with my brother when I left for school and sold him my house. I can't find an image of those exact ornaments, but these red ones are kinda close and at least show the style. My dad used to work for Corning Glass Works, which was a supplier of classic "Shiny Brite" ornaments, so I think that's where they were from. He'd bring home ornaments every year.
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(same shot, different cropping)

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Permalink: Ornament_inspiration_.html
Words: 158
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/14/10 06:32


Category: weather

12/13/10 10:00 - 12.ºF - ID#53268 pmobl

If ya didn't know...

It's snowing.

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Permalink: If_ya_didn_t_know_.html
Words: 3
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/13/10 10:00


Category: school

12/13/10 12:48 - 13.ºF - ID#53259 pmobl

Final tally

Three empty waterman pen refills for 58 handwritten pages of notes.

I couldn't find replacement nibs for it that (e:tinypliny) suggested are fun to trade. I'd love a fine point. The medium point is quite broad and doesn't give the nice thick-thin strokes that I like. I might not have been as picky about fine point pens when I bought it about 12 years ago. I still like the purple ink :-)

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Permalink: Final_tally.html
Words: 72
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/13/10 12:49


Category: school

12/12/10 04:48 - 35.ºF - ID#53249 pmobl

Fountain pen refills

I broke out my waterman fountain pen to work on studying for my local government law final tomorrow. I'm on my third refill.

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Permalink: Fountain_pen_refills.html
Words: 24
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/12/10 04:48


Category: school

12/08/10 07:54 - 20.ºF - ID#53222 pmobl

Random photos

I have my first of three finals this morning... Wish me luck! Here are some pix from the last few days. Sunshine!

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Permalink: Random_photos.html
Words: 26
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/08/10 07:54


Category: home

12/01/10 05:30 - 33.ºF - ID#53188

Excellent summary video

... of issues with natural gas drilling. It was shot mostly in Bradford County, Pa., the county east of Tioga and does a nice job of capturing how beautiful it is there. 14 minutes.



Oh, and the guy who sold his natural gas drilling company, East Resources to Shell for $4.7B wants to buy the Sabres, after he gave Penn State $88M to build an arena for their to-be-developed Div.I hockey team. East/Shell owns most of the gas rights in Tioga County.

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Permalink: Excellent_summary_video.html
Words: 100
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/01/10 05:34


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