Last Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 8:55:40 PM
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I know I talk a lot about this community’s sense of togetherness, but I often just can’t help myself. I have to revel in it, as I’m lucky to be in a position where I’m immersed in it every day, with every event I cover.
It’s nice to live in a place where people have your back.
It upsets me when people throw shade at this area, especially people who were raised here. I understand the need to leave home and explore. I just don’t u ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Respect and love to all the mothers out there. And not just on Mother’s Day, but every day. I’ve heard people say “every day is mother’s day,” but I never really understood what that meant until I was old enough to realize that my mother isn’t just the person that raised me. She’s undeniably imbedded in every action I take and every word I speak.
My friend just had a baby about one week ago. Watching this as an adult, I was ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
The library is an incredibly important part of the community. It’s also an important part of my history. While I’m sure that many have made memories at their local library, and consider it an integral part of their history and growth, it also needs to remain in the view of the community as an important part of our future.
As I grew up, the library was a haven. I’ve found that it still is, even though the capacity at which I visit it has changed. T ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I’ve heard a countless number of people, throughout my entire life, lamenting these modern times. Everybody has heard somebody wish for a return to “the good ol’ days” or a time when things were “simple”.
More than ever in my life — partially because of my job and partially just because my interest in the world grows as I do — I’ve been reading about current events, and also historical events, making connection ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Well, I guess it had to happen sometime. After years of speculation regarding whether his death was a put-on or a carefully orchestrated plan, Tupac Shakur has officially risen from the dead. Or, so thought about 100,000 festivalgoers attending a late Saturday performance by famed West Coast rappers Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at California’s Coachella festival this weekend. The crowd, I’ve read, was alternately thrilled and horrified to see slain rapper Tup ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Well, I think I’ve finally done it. I’ve exhausted my list of things to talk about in editorials. I’ve spoken at length about numerous topics, or ideals, through the continually shifting perspective that aging, and just genuinely living life, provides, and here I am now — older, and maybe wiser — but with a blank slate nonetheless.
A blank slate, I think, can actually be an incredibly positive thing. It can be wildly frustrating too, b ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
It’s only in the past few years that I’ve really started to examine the origins of American holidays. Everybody knows that the rabbit is synonymous with Easter, because there are bunnies literally everywhere for months leading up to the holiday. We pull the little candy eyes from the faces of cute chocolate bunnies before devouring their bodies (I eat them ears first). The mascot for the holiday is a giant bunny, sometimes even larger than us, with a he ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
As we speak, it’s estimated that 20,000 members of a doomsday cult are gathered, with more coming every moment, at the base of a mountain, Pic de Bugarach in France, with the hopes that when the earth supposedly ends this year, they will be saved by the alien race that inhabits the mountain.
How does one gain such knowledge about the plans of a mountain-dwelling alien race? Is there an alien message board I’m unaware of, or a frequency I’ve neglec ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
So, did we just skip right through spring like a piece of shale on a melting pond and jump straight to summer? Just a couple weeks ago I was out taking pictures of the freshly snow-covered trees and parks of the local area, trudging through tundra just to take advantage of my one shot at photographing the cold, untouched majesty of the season that never was, and now I’m wearing a short sleeved shirt and sweating at board meetings.
What’s up, Mother Natu ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Another holiday approaches. And not just any ol’ holiday, but one I’m pretty sure a significant portion of people don’t understand the origin or meaning of. But hey, we celebrate anyway. Not that I’m one to talk or judge, because it wasn’t until a couple years ago when I took it upon myself to research St. Patrick’s Day that I found out why it exists.
If you asked me as a teenager, I could tell you that St. Patrick’s Day fa ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I recently read an article about celebrities who are notoriously rude interview subjects. It outlined some horrible interviews down to the last excruciating detail. It was quite a fascinating read, and while I suppose some of it was most likely biased, as everybody has a bad day and that probably tainted some of the interview experiences, it still got me thinking that I must be the luckiest interviewer in the world.
In all the years I’ve worked for this newsp ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
The price of gas — the price of everything, really — is rising. I assume you’ve noticed. It’s expensive to do just about anything right now, especially during these winter months when outdoor destinations are out of the question for many. Going to the movies, purchasing snacks at the concession stand, can easily set a family back $100 today, not including gas. Considering that these options are expensive even for one person now, I started thi ...
By Joshua Thomas
C-S-E Editor
Hydrofracking has been on everybody’s minds lately. It’s been on my radar for quite some time, but I didn’t understand that this was something that could impact my life or my community. I do wish that I took my mother’s advice and wrote about this issue a year or two ago when she repeatedly requested a hydro-fracking focused editorial, and told me it was an upcoming hot button issue.
I told her I didn’t think it was something we&rsquo ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Who was it that found it acceptable to give Chris Brown money to perform at the Grammy Awards Sunday? And not once, but twice. And I use the word “perform” loosely in this instance.
I know that a big part of show business is earning money, and creating buzz at any cost, but who would, in their right mind, support (and even promote) such a negligible human being? He’s had years to prove that he’s not the terrible person he made himself out to ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Recently, I had the honor of creating the promotional material, album and single art for an extraordinarily talented, Utica-based musician/singer/songwriter, Anthony Bianco. The art I created was for his solo musical project, Waails. The most recent Waails album, Paradise I — the cover for which I shot locally — was released Tuesday, so I thought it was an appropriate time to talk about the album cover and its creation.
If you’re from the area, yo ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Super Bowl Sunday approaches, and I grow increasingly excited. I anticipate this event every single year, counting down the days, planning everything out from the sauce on the wings to the company, every last snack in place. That I look forward to it so much every year is a testament to what an exciting day it is, since I know not one little thing about football.
I admit it — I don’t get football. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, because I do ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Even though it’s hardly felt like winter yet, we’re officially in the midst of it. I talk about winter a lot, complaining about how I’m done with snow, and how I could live without ever seeing it again, but really, I bet I’d miss it were it to disappear completely (not considering the fact that should snow never fall again, the reason would likely mean we had bigger problems to consider).
I talk sometimes with a friend from Florida, and unti ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I’m sure that if you’ve been anywhere near the internet in the past few days, you’ve heard of SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act), a proposed bill that’s causing controversy across the globe. On Wednesday, there was an internet blackout, (with sites shutting themselves down as an example of what would happen should SOPA pass) to draw attention to the proposal, which claims it aims to put an end to internet piracy. That sounds like a simple eno ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
There are so many animals in the area that need love. We’re lucky to live in a place where people are generous and donate money, goods and time to local shelters, which are kind enough to house these animals until they find permanent homes, but there’s unfortunately always more that must be done.
Animals are all about unconditional love, and for that reason, they’ve been used to bring stimulation to the elderly residents of nursing homes. Love sti ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
Sometimes all it takes to really get the mind moving, or ball rolling, is for somebody to state something in a way that makes you think, “wow, I’ve never heard it put like that.” It’s astounding to realize that one single line from a song can inspire real positive movement that can ultimately provoke change. It’s all so clear why there’ve been, and still are, sections of people in this world who see art, music and literature as d ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I don’t usually make new year’s resolutions, and that’s partially because I don’t like the pressure of feeling like a loser if I break new years resolutions. If you don’t make them, you can’t break them, right? I do think though, that at the end of each year, it doesn’t hurt to do a bit of assessing — looking back over the year’s triumphs and failures — to find ways, however small, where improvements can b ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
It’s a bit disorienting to celebrate the holidays after longstanding traditions have ended. I’m lucky that I was able to observe the same traditions with primarily the same people for almost 30 years. Some people don’t have that luxury, and for that I’m extremely grateful, and while my holidays are still joyous occasions, there’s a melancholy undercurrent that’s impossible to avoid, even while cultivating new traditions.
There&rs ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I’m disappointed that the proposed merger between the St. Johnsville and Oppenheim-Ephratah Central School Districts was voted down, as I’m sure many people are. Instead of these local districts existing on the cusp of the future - as it’s been stated repeatedly that the state is planning to push mergers as much as possible - they may get left behind.
I know that it’s hard to accept change, especially for people who went to school during a v ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I’m thrilled to live in a community that supports its local businesses and artisans. I recently spent a couple days in New York City, and browsed numerous vendors in a variety of small plaza-style outdoor shops set up just for the holidays. One thing I noticed is that a lot of the shops in these seasonal plazas were just small versions of chain stores that exist throughout the city.
Locally, there have been holiday craft fairs and merchant bazaars for the pa ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I really do love this time of year. In terms of weather, I could do without ever having to trudge through snow or skid on ice ever again, but I love that as each year winds down, we’re provided with numerous holidays that promote not only spending time with friends and family, but thinking about what makes them tick.
There’s so many positive things about this season, from the food to the fact that many houses are dressed to the nines in their best neon. ...
By JOSHUA THOMAS
C-S-E Editor
I feel like I consistently write my Thanksgiving editorials about the fact that I’m thankful for my family and friends. Or I write about the horrors of Black Friday, which I think I’ve (hopefully entertainingly) yammered on about enough. As much as am incredibly thankful for my family and friends, moreso every day, my obsessive compulsive tendencies basically force me to live in a never-ending state of simultaneous panic and appreciation, so I thi ...
