Letters From Thomas

Five years of NYC music that changed history

2012-01-23T18:45:00.005-05:00

The rancid stench of garbage hovered above the city's sidewalks in the wake of a summertime strike by sanitation workers. Stores were looted overnight after a blackout plunged rioting neighborhoods into darkness. And a financial crisis pushed the city to the brink of bankruptcy in an era that gave birth to both Travis Bickle and the Son of Sam. "It's very refreshing being in the 21st century,"

Bye, Bye Miss American Pie: The story behind the legend

2011-11-28T13:37:00.004-05:00

"IF I can't stop little things about a song I wrote that are incorrect, how can anyone believe history in general?" said singer-songwriter Don McLean, on the eve of the 40th anniversary when “American Pie” first hit the pop charts.On Nov. 27, 1971, Don McLean's eight-minute, 27-second anthem about the day the music died first broke through the Billboard top 100.Six weeks later, "American Pie"

9.11

2011-09-11T09:54:00.005-04:00

Sept. 11: Ten Years after.How do I begin again: It was 8:46 on a Tuesday in September when an urgent rattle jarred the blue-sky morning above Lawrence White's head.A season in hell: Ken Grey lost a lot that summer.Video: Starting over again after 9.11.-- Thomas Dimopoulos, 9.11.11 The Post-Star

Springsteen drummer on the E Street Band: We're like a mist that coalesces into liquid

2010-10-15T22:18:00.003-04:00

Max Weinberg visits Saratoga Springs and talks about Bruce Springsteen, the "Darkness on the Edge of Town" sessions. the wonders of heart surgery and about being The Boss of his own Big Band. CLICK HERE FOR STORY

"Give me all your money and God will love you"

2010-10-15T22:10:00.004-04:00

These are the words scrawled across a note that a would-be bank robber handed to a teller Wednesday morning. Click HERE for story.

George Kalinsky: The Camera Eye

2010-09-21T15:38:00.007-04:00

George Kalinsky raised his camera and took aim at Mick Jagger as the 26-year-old performer rooster-stepped across the stage."That was the first major concert in The Garden, late November, 1969. It was totally sold out, and everybody was pushing from behind. My chest was pushed against the stage," Kalinsky recalled.In a decisive moment born out of a need for personal safety as well as a

Sept. 11: The Music that broke the silence

2010-09-09T19:28:00.002-04:00

There was that week, several years ago, that history will remember for the panic and the sweat of fear. It will recall the smell of death, the sorrow, and the pounding drums that sounded the noise of war. Here, there was silence. Quiet, but not calm. The kind of silence that fills an empty room after the party has ended and everyone has gone home; when all that remains are the lipstick traces on

Caffe Lena celebrates 50th birthday

2010-05-20T18:40:00.001-04:00

Fifty years of memoriesBy THOMAS DIMOPOULOSSARATOGA SPRINGS -- Sarah Craig sat with her back to the stage on a quiet, weekday morning inside the cafe, the room bathed in a natural light that poured in through the Phila Street windows.She looked out at the small room and its 85 seats, and pointed to the table with the low-hanging lip where Bob Dylan was famously photographed when he visited the

Caffe Lena: redux

2010-05-20T17:53:00.000-04:00

Fifty years of memories IIBy THOMAS DIMOPOULOS John F. Kennedy was basking in the afterglow of a primary campaign victory in West Virginia that would help to eventually propel him to The White House.Lois Hellman, who graduated from South Glens Falls High School a year earlier, was celebrating the completion of her freshman college year with some friends in downtown Saratoga Springs."One of my

Hope atop the lonely hill

2010-03-06T16:40:00.006-05:00

CAMBRIDGE - A dusty beam of light shook loose from the winter sun and crept down the long, lonely hallway.It is here that the cries of newborns once echoed along the halls, now chipped and peeling in a silence that has lasted for seven years."I was probably one of the last people out of the building," she said. story: Thomas Dimopoulosimages: Jeffrey Fehder

One in 133 has it

2010-03-05T16:32:00.003-05:00

" I was expecting maybe my head was going to fall off or something," she said looking out the window at the bare February tree line leading to the Adirondacks.

Pictures of 2009

2009-12-31T15:49:00.010-05:00

I am not a photographer, I only play one, at times, when on assignment and a real one is not available.Going back over a year's worth of stories and pictures that was 2009, these images strike a resonance with me because they help in reliving a certain moment in time. 1. If you wait around long enough, something is bound to happen. I learned this listening to photojournalists: find an interesting

At the end of the line

2009-08-17T20:54:00.001-04:00

Bud Lacey sipped coffee from a cup that he cradled in a pair of rugged hands creased with the telling lines of a man who has spent a lifetime working."A lot of the people I knew starting out, they’re all dead now," he said, the brim of a green John Deere baseball cap casting a shadow from the top of his forehead to the bottom of his salt-and-pepper mustache.He was born in 1940 and raised in the

Woodstock:pictures and a thousand words

2009-08-14T10:33:00.000-04:00

The images photographer Elliott Landy came away with from a three-day weekend in upstate New York in 1969 captured 500,000 souls and the essence of an entire generation.The official photographer of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival however, says covering music wasn't his top priority during the culturally explosive 1960s. Nonetheless, he found himself with camera in hand at the forefront of a

Melanie: An Interview

2009-08-14T07:22:00.000-04:00

Melanie Safka was rifling through more than 30 years of musical memories and plucking out some of her favorite moments.There was her performance at Woodstock in 1969, her appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 and one particluarly memorable slot on the fabled Ed Sullivan Show.During Melanie's appearance, Sullivan allowed fans to gather around her while she played. What the seemingly

Beat Generation: 10 years later

2009-08-03T13:42:00.001-04:00

BEAT GENERATION'S LEGACY LIVES ON IN CAPITAL REGIONSpecial to the Times UnionSunday, October 25, 1998Cultural icon Jack Kerouac referred to the month of October as the time of year when everything returns to the earth. It's also the month in 1969 that the celebrated literary figure died. Since his passing, his work, along with the contributions of contemporaries William Burroughs and poet Allen

She Remembers

2009-08-02T13:56:00.002-04:00

When Dorothy McChesney remembers that October morning, the images come flooding back in a fractured jumble of colors.The 4-year-old girl who lives inside the 86-year-old Moriah woman recalls the excitement, the pageantry and that there were thousands and thousands of people around her."It was beautiful, very colorful. Something of that size, it certainly was an important event," said McChesney,

Tale of Two Sisters

2009-08-01T13:45:00.002-04:00

Splintered but unbroken and bearing the scars of where the vehicle came to rest, the tree stands on Main Street in the village of Greenwich, a half-mile from the Church Street home the two sisters who were killed in last month’s crash shared for the past 24 years."My grandmother was the type of person who would do anything for anybody," Lori Perillo said."Whether it was money, or groceries, or

Hey Joe

2009-07-13T11:41:00.003-04:00

There they sat, sprawled across a simple table, all the necessities and the weighty burdens of the human condition in the 21st century.Three BlackBerrys and a Bluetooth. A small tape recorder and a pair of extra batteries. A laptop computer, a ring of keys, and a fistful of coins bearing the faces of U.S. presidents.Each was scrutinized by a security force charged with protecting the vice

These are the things that you can't talk about

2009-06-01T18:06:00.001-04:00

The man was about 50 and wore an easy smile that betrayed the intensity of the things he has seen."Nobody knows my face. Nobody knows where I live," said the man, Shahed "Malik" Hussain, as he sat on an easy chair in his living room while the world passed by his window.Hussain lives and works in Saratoga County, where he operates a motel that is close enough to Saratoga Springs that the trappings

It was only a matter of time

2009-05-16T09:24:00.002-04:00

Every day, the reporter makes his round of calls to police stations across the region to learn what damage its citizens have inflicted upon one another overnight.Since the discovery of the mysterious influenza that is creeping across the planet and infecting humans like an invisible ghost, the daily calls of the reporter have been amended to include public health officials in Saratoga and Warren

Broadway Eric and the number 5 tattoo

2009-05-09T10:33:00.001-04:00

As this was the first full week in which the weather did not threaten to return to the city with a chill, he thought it would be a good time to retake his favorite bench on Broadway."I like it here," said Eric, 32, who returned this week to his seat beneath a flag that flies the nation's colors. "It's a good place to people-watch."Soon, he will bring out the congas upon which he will accompany

Battling the Bullies

2009-05-09T10:26:00.002-04:00

By Thomas Dimopoulospublished in The Post-Star, 5.06.2009SCHUYLERVILLE, NY - It was 2003, and life was going pretty well for John Halligan.The husband and father had a loving family, a home in Vermont and a long and stable career at IBM.He was away from home, on a business trip in Rochester, when the phone rang in his hotel room that early October 2003 morning -- a call that shattered his world."

Lights go dark on Broadway

2009-04-10T20:06:00.003-04:00

The lights have gone dark inside 487 Broadway, the photographs removed from their frames on the walls, packed into boxes and taken away.A pair of flags, one of the country, one of the state, are visible through the storefront window, their cloth shoulders slumping behind a sign that reads: Closed.The only sign of life comes from a banner that hangs down from a business on the second floor that

The long and winding road: a compendium of quotes from NY-20

2009-04-10T19:32:00.003-04:00

Wednesday afternoon, April 8.More than a week has passed since Election Night and there is no end in sight.Long, tedious and mired in the minutiae of political challenges, the counting of paper ballots has begun in a process to decide the next representative of the 20th Congressional District.The counting could take as long as two to three weeks, said Diane Wade, the Republican Board of Election

Muddied along the campaign trail

2009-04-10T19:24:00.004-04:00

On the campaign trail and during the election cycle, the politician will search for the perfect symbol to stand next to that will best convey his message of the day.On Wednesday, James Tedisco, the Republican candidate in the 20th Congressional District race, decided it would be a good idea to lead a caravan of reporters through the Luther Forest Technology Park to talk about the jobs the park

Gimme that Fish

2009-03-14T18:18:00.002-04:00

By Thomas Dimopoulos Josh Peck is evil. OK, evil may be a little harsh to direct at him personally, so let's call his work wicked, his creativity nefarious and his musical ability to worm into your brain downright sinister:"Gimme back that filet-o-fish,Gimme that fish.Gimme back that filet-o-fish,Gimme that fish."That is Josh Peck, and his 26-second earworm has moved across the country like a

After the Fire

2009-03-08T18:19:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA - Shortly before the sun rose above her home in the town of Saratoga on Thursday, 82-year-old Marty Fink sat down on a snowbank in her backyard and watched everything she owned go up in flames.A call came in to the Quaker Springs Fire Department shortly after 5 a.m.When Fire Chief Sean Dooley arrived on the scene, Fink's two-story colonial home at 966 county Route 70 was engulfed in

Unfinished Symphony

2009-02-21T20:25:00.003-05:00

In eighty-two we got our phones, Just to communicate,In eighty-four the Hayner House,That still stands up to date-- The 154th verse of a 190-verse poem, "Rime of the Ancient Traveler," by Jean H. Higley, dedicated to the history of Ballston Spa.Wednesday morning. Hud Armstrong walked out of his apartment in Saratoga Springs and hopped on bus No. 472.He carried with him a black satchel to protect

Growing up with the Ponzi King

2009-02-14T20:27:00.003-05:00

by Thomas DimopoulosSARATOGA SPRINGS -- Jay Portnoy was enjoying his retirement in the city where he has made his home for the past 40 years, when he picked up a newspaper and saw a name staring back that shook loose a torrent of memories.The name was Bernie Madoff, and the story was about how Madoff has been accused of perpetrating the largest Ponzi scheme in Wall Street history, bilking

Woody's song makes it to the Obama White House

2009-02-04T20:17:00.002-05:00

by Thomas DimopoulosHe sat in a room in a Manhattan boarding house on a cold February day in 1940, irritated by the relentless wail of Kate Smith singing "God Bless America."The monotony of the song being played over and over again on the radio drove him to put his own words to paper -- in protest of the song that he heard that day.Two weeks ago, and more than 40 years after the man's death, his

After the bombs, a fragile hope for peace

2009-01-30T08:59:00.000-05:00

The bombs stopped falling after 23 days.When the last of Israel's troops left the Gaza Strip Wednesday, more than 1,000 people lay dead, most of them civilians.Forty-five minutes away, 31-year-old Megan Coss hears the chugging of helicopters and the rumble of fighter jets roaring across the western sky.Home is a cooperative agricultural community that sits in between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,

The man who watches helium balloons

2009-01-28T08:55:00.000-05:00

Ice fell from the sky and clung to the fragile trees and vines of Saratoga. Snow pelted the roadways in Glens Falls. The winds blew through Poughkeepsie at gusts of more than 30 miles per hour, and Bob Kilpatrick knew all of it was going to happen in advance."Here, there is no such thing as a normal day," says Kilpatrick, one of approximately 15 meteorologists providing forecasts at the National

Waiting for Mr. Obama

2009-01-25T08:41:00.002-05:00

The white blizzard blew through the region last week.It forced area schools to close their doors for the day. It beat out a rhythm as it passed across the windows of Jodi Leight's home.Tucked safely inside, the Schuylerville school music teacher spent the day with her equally snowbound husband, Bill, a seventh-grade teacher at Troy's Doyle Middle School.The couple was watching TV when a message

Kirsten Gillibrand and Grape-Nuts

2009-01-23T20:57:00.007-05:00

During her first political race in the days leading up to the 2006 election, I had an opportunity to conduct a sit-down interview with the then-relatively unknown, long shot congressional candidate Kirsten Gillibrand.We talked about Springsteen, Saratoga, and cereal."My father liked Grape-Nuts and we used to share the cereal in my house when I was growing up,' she said.'What I really liked

Did the luck of the Irish pull friends through police chase?

2009-01-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

The dark-red SUV exited the Northway and swung onto Ballard Road, a police car in pursuit.After being forced to come to a halt at a railroad crossing to allow a speeding train to pass, the man inside the SUV kept an eye on the passing train that was blocking his escape route.Another eye followed the pair of officers who exited their squad car and were fast approaching the van on foot.A few miles

Loss, redemption, hope - and the end of 2008

2009-01-03T20:50:00.002-05:00

It is not possible today to know whether history will look back upon 2008 as the dark year that everything fell apart, or as the first sign of rebuilding from the ashes.Perhaps the most appropriate ending for this final column of the calendar year is to wave goodbye with a remembrance of three events that marked the passing of time, an acknowledgement of a lifetime's worth of demons and the hope

Motley Crue: Fear and Loathing in the Garden of Ether

2008-09-01T18:24:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Motley Crue didn't appear on the musical stage of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Friday night as much as they attempted to blow it to hell in a bombastic ferocity of sound and vision that thrilled an adoring crowd of more than 12,000 followers.The four-man band performed a 90-minute set that trampled through the group's quarter-century long songbook, from the early

David Cassidy : True Confessions

2008-08-14T08:55:00.002-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- His face has graced everything from magazines and lunch boxes to the covers of millions of record albums sold around the world.At the Hall of Springs on Monday night, David Cassidy made what may have been the most courageous on-stage appearance of his life."

In a parking lot, she stopped to help out a stranger in need

2008-08-06T22:18:00.001-04:00

Missy Whalen stepped outside of the auto parts store where she has worked for the past year shortly before 9 on Saturday night. She lit up her cigarette, then watched the sheets of rain careen off the awning.A little while earlier and a short distance to the east, a horse named Commentator stood in the winner's circle at the Saratoga Race Course on a day that produced a handle of more than $25

Man dressed as penis arrested after interrupting graduation

2008-08-06T20:04:00.002-04:00

By THOMAS DIMOPOULOSpublished in The Post-Star, Thursday, June 26, 2008.Photo by Erin Coker SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The Saratoga Springs High School graduation ceremony was suddenly interrupted Thursday morning when a 19-year-old man dressed as a set of male genitals streaked across the

At park entrance, all questions answered

2008-08-06T13:49:00.002-04:00

The booth sits at the entry to Congress Park. It is fronted by a pair of neatly-chalked blackboards that list a series of ongoing events in the region and frame the panels of the building outside. Inside of the booth, which stands approximately 15 feet long by 10 feet wide, is a microwave oven, a small refrigerator and more than 100 different brochures, maps and flyers that showcase the

Melting Away

2008-08-03T21:56:00.001-04:00

The building stands vacant on Division Street, sealed tight in its red brick frame and dwarfed by the 21st-century skyline of million-dollar condominiums nearby.A silver bowl that once caught the cigarettes of all who entered clings to a wall near the entry door as a reminder of the layers of lives that passed through.Kathy LeRoux was 7 years old when she moved to the city’s West Side, across the

In a faraway place, a tear is shed for fallen racer

2008-06-01T11:10:00.001-04:00

Dennis Houk stood 18,000 feet above sea level and waited for a good wind."It just blew my mind being up there. The scenery is crystal clear and the only noise you hear is the cracking of the Khumbu Glacier," says Houk, who left his home in Alabama on April 28 to fulfill a lifetime dream.For his 61st birthday, his wife bought him a ticket on an airplane that took him west, over the Pacific Ocean,

Working on the Backstretch: video

2008-05-31T19:00:00.002-04:00

Saratoga Springs - Video Four : Working on the Backstretch at Saratoga Race Course

Automobile Museum: video

2008-05-30T11:37:00.000-04:00

Saratoga Springs - Video Three: Saratoga Automobile Museum

First Night Saratoga: video

2008-05-29T11:41:00.002-04:00

Saratoga Springs - Video Two : First Night Saratoga

Police Station: video

2008-05-28T11:44:00.002-04:00

Saratoga Springs - Video One : Women officers

Where the Eagle Soars: John Ashcroft visits Saratoga Springs

2008-04-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

John Ashcroft came to Skidmore College on Wednesday night, where he delivered a dramatic, 75-minute reading of the new apocalypse.When it was over, he collected his $25,000 speaking fee and walked out into the Saratoga night.In the university setting, the former attorney general quoted scientist Albert Einstein's prose and the poetry of Emma Lazarus, whose words are engraved on the base of the

Tuskegee Airman gets his due after 60 years

2007-04-06T20:14:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The trolley cars rattled by Clarence Dart's childhood, carrying the residents of the 1920s through Elmira.The young boy busied himself with his own dreams however, building model airplanes and a yearning to fly.During the wartime of the 1940s, Dart realized his dream.He volunteered for the Air Force and was accepted into flight training at the Tuskegee Army air field in Alabama

Regarding that NY Post story on taking a bath...

2007-04-06T19:23:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - The Spa City woke up Monday morning to find itself on the front cover of The New York Post in a Fred Dicker-penned article, "Hot Water."After a recent visit to the Roosevelt Baths in the Saratoga Spa State Park, Dicker discovered the baths he thought to contain pure mineral water were being mixed with Saratoga tap water."I am deeply disturbed by the report in today's New York

The night Broadway burned down

2007-04-05T20:05:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS -It was 5 o'clock on a chilly Sunday morning and Sgt.John Cummings was patrolling Broadway during the second half of hisovernight shift.All was quiet along the city's main business district that January dayin 1957 when Sgt. Cummings was suddenly alerted by the smell of smokecoming from the stretch of architecture that runs across the east sideof the avenue. He called for the fire

The Bare Minimum

2007-03-28T21:10:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - It's lunch hour on Broadway and 22-year-old Helen Van Auken is making sandwiches behind the counter of the Subway shop where she works 30 hours a week.Twice a week, three hours a night, she attends classes working toward her GED. The rest of the time she tends to her children: Jonathan, who is 6, 3-year-old Matthew and the twins - Logan and Isabel - who are 2 1/2."I know I've

A Rare Collection

2007-01-05T21:05:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - It has been a secret kept for more than 60 years andeveryone who was involved has either quietly moved on, or taken thestory with them to the grave.Today, they gather at the marble columned Hall of Springs much as theydid then, toasting life beneath Belgian crystal chandeliers that hangfrom vaulted ceilings 40 feet high. Few, if any know that thelabyrinth-like basement directly

The New Year Rises in Saratoga

2006-12-31T19:25:00.000-05:00

New Year's Eve 2006/2007. Fireworks over City Hall.The exploding sparkle of lights draped long shadows across the Victorian porches of Union Avenue.Along Broadway, a group of tourists stopped in front of the architecture with their digital cameras and smokers forced outside of Caroline Street taverns wore t-shirts as they huddled in the doorways with their cigarettes.The announcement came that

Gillibrand's path to victory: The People Have the Power

2006-11-09T22:04:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - In the banquet room filled with glimmering smiles and the glaring white beams of TV lights, the biggest and brightest smile was etched on the face of her husband, Jonathan Gillibrand, exalted, exhausted, and filled with complete joy.Kirsten Gillibrand's path to Washington, D.C., began quietly, taking a leave from her day job as a partner in a law firm to try to fill what she

The GOP: Stumpin' before The Thumpin'

2006-11-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

New York Governor George Pataki picking the ponies in the Winner's circle, Saratoga Race Course, summer 2006. (left)Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stumpin' for Sweeney before the Republican thumpin' on Broadway in Saratoga, 2006. (right)

The Politics of Grape-Nuts

2006-11-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS -A few weeks ago, J. Christopher Callaghan sat on a bar stool inside The Parting Glass where he was hosting a fundraiser for his campaign. A few miles north, up in Lake George, Comptroller Alan Hevesi was at a different event where he was apologizing for not reimbursing the state for using a staffer to drive his wife around. It was a week that marked the first time many outside

Black Horses take Warriors

2006-10-02T20:14:00.000-04:00

Baseball, Hot Dogs and the guy from KISS

2006-10-01T20:22:00.000-04:00

The hot dog guy stood under his red and white striped canopy next to thecarousel. He was talking a mile a minute to the lunchtime crowd that waspassing by that gave him an aura of being the wizard of Congress Park.The thing that first brought him to Saratoga was the horses, “trainingthoroughbreds since 1983,” he says. It is something he continues to doto this day. This year he got himself a

Woman has hallowed memories of Saratoga

2006-08-31T21:22:00.000-04:00

by Thomas DimopoulosThe Saratogian, Aug. 13, 2006The woman was standing by the side of the track, her eyes wet with tears.She had spoken to a track attendant and solemnly watched him walking away. He strolled back onto the dirt of the racecourse as the machines soothed the aching sod to get it ready for the next race.A few minutes earlier, the horses had all crossed the finish line, cheered on by

Jerry Bailey Rides Again

2006-08-30T21:17:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Seven months after calling it quits, Jerry Bailey was back in the saddle again.The jockey legend surprised a group of onlookers Friday morning at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, when he showed up to take a crack at the latest thoroughbred to call the Spa City home.This one, as yet un-named, is of the electronic variety. They call it a racing simulator, and as

Dark Course

2006-08-28T22:56:00.000-04:00

"The Dark Years at Saratoga Race Course,"by: THOMAS DIMOPOULOS, The Saratogian08/20/2006SARATOGA SPRINGS - "NO."The two letters that killed the summer of 1943 came on May 26 with the official announcement there would be no racing in the Spa City that year. The ban would eventually be extended to include the summers of '44 and '45, leaving many residents in fear that racing in Saratoga was gone

Cops and Jockeys: Play Ball

2006-08-24T23:11:00.000-04:00

Words & pictures by Thomas Dimopoulospublished in The Saratogian, 2006.The lineup: The Jockeys. Javier Castellano (2B), Kent Desormeaux (RF), Mike Luzzi (1B),Eibar Coa (SS), Garrett Gomez (Short CF), Rudy Rodriguez (catcher), Herberto Castillo (3B),Channing Hill (CF), John Velazquez (P), Angel Cordero (P), Richard Migliore.SARATOGA SPRINGS – The Saratoga Jockeys and the New York State Police went

What's in a name? If it's famous, everything

2006-08-24T23:00:00.000-04:00

The City of Troy has its Elizabeth Taylor, and Utica, its Jane Fonda.There is a Katie Holmes residing in South Glens Falls, a Michael Jackson in Fort Ann, and Schenectady has gone the way of Hogwarts and wizards with Harry Potter, living somewhere among its citizens."It's definitely more amusing to other people than it is to me," says Megan Ryan, who makes her home in Clifton Park, and is among

Paul Newman takes a chair

2006-08-23T22:52:00.000-04:00

"Newman boosts Camp for Kids," The Saratogian, June 16, 2006. Words and Pictures by Thomas DimopoulosSARATOGA SPRINGS - He's played a pool hall hustler, a con artist and the western outlaw Butch Cassidy, last seen riding alongside the Sundance Kid. When the popular blue-eyed actor came to town Thursday, he showed up wearing a pair of canvas tennis shoes in his appearance as Paul Newman,

Saratoga Race Course: Is that a Famous Face...or are you just wearing a Mod Mask?

2006-08-21T23:59:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Just like she does every year, Sue Quintal roused a group of girlfriends from their early morning slumber and hit the road for Saratoga. 'I've been coming to this racecourse since I was a kid,' said the North Troy woman, recalling the opening days she attended at Saratoga Race Course with her father.Now she comes with a group of friends who descend upon the track grounds just

The Return of Marylou Whitney

2006-08-20T23:38:00.000-04:00

By Thomas DimopoulosPublished in The SaratogianSARATOGA SPRINGS – Marylou Whitney has been known to make grand entrances in the past, but when the popular socialite and philanthropist made an appearance in the Winner’s Circle at the Saratoga Race Course Saturday, she was greeted with a standing ovation from the large crowd who were happy to see her appear simply as herself.Whitney, who is a

CSN&Y: Protest Songs Relevant Again

2006-08-19T23:18:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - We have all been here before.We have all been here before.We have all been here before.What began as a show of hands topped by two fingers raised in the classic peace salute, ended more than three hours later in carnage of white noise with fists of defiance thrusting into the air.The combined frustrations of an unpopular war, dissatisfaction with the government and solemn

John Fogerty: Bad Moon Rises on a Late Summer Eve

2006-08-08T23:09:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - John Fogerty may have written the songs of your father's generation of rock 'n' roll, but from the opening volley of 'Travelin' Band' to the slash-and-burn encores 'Bad Moon Rising' and 'Proud Mary,' the 61-year-old rocker performed with a jubilant intensity at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Sunday night that would shame performers one-third his age. Most of the tunes in

Bernardini at Saratoga: Go Jim Dandy, Go

2006-07-29T23:41:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Bernardini escorted into the paddock.Javier Castellano awaits his arrival.A crowd of 25,000 also waited for the arrival of the preakness winner on a sweltering afternoon interrupted by a summer thunderstorm.All images by Thomas Dimopoulos

Bernardini at the finish line

2006-07-29T23:36:00.000-04:00

The horses are called to the post.They're in the starting gate."And..." bellows the voice of announcer Tom Durkin, "they're off..."Approaching the finish line, with an obvious lead, Durkin remarks: “He didn’t even break a sweat, and it’s 90 degrees.”Bernardini by a mile.All images by Thomas Dimopoulos

Springsteen: Righteous Train Pulls into Town

2006-06-25T10:58:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Bruce Springsteen came to town for his first Spa City concert in 22 years, bringing rock 'n' roll road warriors from across the Northeast to Saratoga Spa State Park. Click Springsteen HERE

Vietnam Vet Recalls Threat of Nuclear War

2006-06-12T21:40:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Lee Nicholls stood on a patch of earth decorated with military stars and pointed his way around Congress Park to some of the projects he created for this city. 'That fountain over there,' he said, gesturing at a trickling waterfall. 'This planter at the top of the hill,' he said, nodding his head in the direction. 'The sign over there at the spring,' he offered, before

The Promise

2006-06-11T10:59:00.000-04:00

Lloyd Henry Kent. Grenada, Miss. Casualty Date: 1/12/68, South Vietnam. Age: 21. Gregory Ellis Cox. Pleasant Hill, Calif. Casualty Date: 1/4/68, South Vietnam. Age: 20.Francis Paul Rybak. Syracuse, N.Y. Casualty Date: 1/5/68, South Vietnam. Age: 25.'I made a vow that I'd never forget those guys,' said Terry Neilen, who lives in Saratoga Springs and was a member of the 1-27

Vietnam Vet recalls Barcs at Qui Nhon

2006-06-11T10:55:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Hud Armstrong sat at his favorite Caroline Street table, where a tapestry of his drawings cover the restaurant walls, and remembered his time in Vietnam 40 years ago. 'My tour of duty wouldn't rate a movie,' he said, 'but yeah, I went. I was there. It wasn't being patriotic. I was just paying my dues.'A military draft has been used on and off in the United States since the

From Tibet: A Fortune

2006-06-07T00:28:00.000-04:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Lobsang Choephel looked out the glass windows of the shop on Broadway,out at the cars whizzing down the avenue, at the pedestrians walking by in their summer clothes, andhe thought about how lucky he was to be standing there.“Fortunate,” he said, looking at Tenzin Norgay, a friend who he has known since childhood.“We are very fortunate to have made it here.”When the two men

A Couple Remembers Son killed in War

2006-05-28T01:46:00.000-04:00

Denton Crocker recalled the first time he laid eyes on Jean-Marie. It was in a small seaside town 15 miles north of Boston."We were both living in Swampscott, Mass., a street apart from one another," remembered Crocker, as the couple sat on the green porch of a house with a pretty garden that the family has called home for more than 40 years. The house sits on a tree-lined street a few blocks

It's all in the HEAD-line

2006-05-17T21:11:00.000-04:00

Someone will die today. Somebody else will be married, and inside thepolice station, where the desk sergeant runs down the call log of allwhat has gone on during the previous 24 hours, all the drama of the citywill be boiled down into short, concise sentences.There was an attempted burglary, and a mistakenly dialed 911 call. Therewere complaints of loud music, an attempted suicide, and a couple

Popular radio host airs anger over gas prices

2006-04-30T10:42:00.000-04:00

In 2006, the revolution will be broadcast over the airwaves. 'Oh yeah, I know all about it,' said a truck driver named Tom, who spends his early morning hours maneuvering his 14-wheeler through the narrow streets of the city read more here

A Community Mourns Its Loss

2006-04-16T16:27:00.000-04:00

April 16, 2006This introduces a new weekly column by staff writer Thomas Dimopoulos. They came to try to understand. The reverend came to speak.'There are no real answers that we can understand,' said the Rev. Joyce deVelder, pastor of The Old Saratoga Reformed Church. 'We have to find a way to be able to live with our unanswerable questions.' She told them God was nearby to tend to the

On Bruce Springsteen: Secret Meetings

2006-04-07T08:36:00.000-04:00

The date was set.I had a meeting across the river with The Magic Rat. The Boss was making his summer plans and The Rat was going to tell all.It has been 22 years since Bruce Springsteen visited Saratoga Springs, on a rain-soaked Friday night in the summer of 1984. Now word on the street is that he will be coming back to town for the summer solstice.There were 30,000 witnesses that night in '

On Baseball, Blondie, and the end of the world as we know it

2006-04-01T11:32:00.000-05:00

Recent columns by Thomas DimopoulosBLONDIE is a Group. An Interview with Deborah Harry, Chris Stein and Clem Burke, as they prepare to hit the road in 2006. 'You look good in blue. It matches your skin, your eyes dripping with pain,' the voice cooed. 'If it's alright with you - I could give you some head and shoulders to lie on.'This was New York, 1977, on the Bowery, where a view from the curb

Springtime in Italy

2006-03-04T07:58:00.000-05:00

by Thomas Dimopoulos In the city of Gaeta, Italy, the morning begins with a shot of espresso and ends, as it sometimes does, beneath a double rainbow arcing over the bay.The seaside town is year-round home to the 20,000 Gaetani who live on the historic peninsula, which juts out from the eastern coast of Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea.

2006-03-03T08:03:00.000-05:00

Monte Orlando looms high above the shoreline and features a natural split of the mountain, crowned by the first century mausoleum of a Roman general and featuring a split mountain - La Montagna Spaccata - which local legend says was created as the earth violently shook when Christ died.From the top of the mountain split, there is a steep view straight down to a sea level grotto and the sprawling

2006-03-02T08:08:00.000-05:00

On the long, thin cobblestone roads lined by palm trees, the architecture rises on marble, brick and a mixture of stones - the mortar of many civilizations.Beneath a sky dotted with ancient spires, bell towers and crucifixes whose churches date from the 10th century, the restaurants feature distinctive local delicacies of fresh seafood, Gaeta olives and tiella - a pizza-calzone type combo filled

2006-03-01T08:13:00.000-05:00

The city of Sperlonga sits nearby, on the coastline drive along the Via Flacca. The labyrinth-like village of white-washed buildings and hidden, winding stone roads is painted in red-brick doorways and touches of Mediterranean blue. At its center, a café serves cappuccino, espresso and Long Island Iced Tea.A few miles away, through narrow winding mountainous roads of the city of Terracina, is the

2006-02-28T08:20:00.000-05:00

Driving south, the road to Naples is lined with local specialties like Buffalo Mozzarella - too watery to cook with but served sliced with fresh tomatoes and olive oil - and really Real Neapolitan Pizza. The road leads to the city of Pompeii, sitting in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.Pompeii was built in 7 B.C. and lasted until the early light of a late August morning in 79 A.D. Overcome by

Oscar Night: Hollywood meets Saratoga Springs

2006-02-25T14:07:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - With all eyes focused on Hollywood, and the movie world gathered tosalute the best of the year, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, director Bennett Miller and writer Dan Futterman closely watched the ceremonies to see it all play out.The trio collaborated on the multi-nominated film 'Capote.' The fuse that sparked the trio's collaboration was lit in a Saratoga Springs theater group

Laura Hillenbrand likes The Smiths

2006-02-23T17:37:00.000-05:00

by Thomas DimopoulosRight from the start, like a fury of thoroughbreds storming out of the gate, the box office numbers were staggering.“Seabiscuit” was in more than 2,400 theaters, brought in nearly $50 million and sat perched at the No. 4 spot in the entire country - all in just the first two weeks of its release.And Laura Hillenbrand, the author of the book "Seabiscuit," is exhausted.On

Man O' War on the heels of Seabiscuit

2006-02-21T17:32:00.000-05:00

by Thomas DimopoulosSARATOGA SPRINGS - When 'Seabiscuit' was topping the bestseller charts and drawing millions of moviegoers to theaters across the nation, author Laura Hillenbrand was asked if she had any interest in applying her lyrical magic to the great horse Man O' War.'I'll need to look elsewhere,' Hillenbrand responded. 'A wonderful writer named Dorothy Ours is now completing 'Chained

Murder, Madness and Abraham Lincoln

2006-02-19T19:16:00.000-05:00

LOUDONVILLE - The noises had been heard for decades, floating into the bedroom from a spot behind the wall. At first, there was the eerie sound of giggling. Then, a woman's anguished cry would follow the startling cannon of a single gun shot, ripping into the darkness of night. Over the course of a half-century, and precisely at the stroke of midnight on April 14, residents

That's Hockey For Ya

2006-02-18T20:23:00.000-05:00

It's 4:30 Sunday morning when the alarm clock buzzes with enough arrogance to wake the dead.It's dark. It's cold. And it's Sunday. The reasons to stay in bed seriously outnumber the motivation to get up. But it's tournament time for Saratoga Youth Hockey Pee Wees, and there's a lot to get done.Children need to be roused from their sleep, meals need to be prepared and sleepy pre-teen players need

Fight Night

2006-02-17T20:52:00.000-05:00

A series of images whiz across the tabletop of the local café, courtesy of Zachary Lynch's portable laptop computer.Along with the slideshow presentation is a short video of barefoot warriors in training, accompanied by the rhythmic pop-pop-pop of closed-fist hitting open glove. In Lynch's arms are dozens of more colorful images that come tumbling onto the table, depicting the fighters in

Going the Distance

2006-02-16T20:48:00.000-05:00

Their instructions were: Show up 4 o'clock at building 5 and wear black, according to Mike Zimmerman, who was celebrating his nuptials on that day.'We said 'We're not telling anybody there. We're just going to do it.'''It's just the most stunning place,' Zimmerman said of the massive building 5 gallery at Mass MoCA, which features an installation created by artist Ann Hamilton.'The artist made

Betting on the Bunny

2006-02-15T20:36:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - David Breeze is standing in his bedroom on the top floor of an apartment overlooking Broadway. Posters of Arnold Schwarzenegger as a young bodybuilder hang one side of the wall. Just below the posters is a corkboard where push pins hold up snapshots of Shania Twain.Breeze points to the photos of the singer and lets out a sigh.‘Shania Twain. I’m going to go see her on Saturday.

The Beat Goes On

2006-02-14T19:33:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Talk show host and comedienne Rosie O’Donnell calls her the funniest women she’s ever met, and Ray Romano - from “Everyone Loves Raymond” - thinks she's "fantastic."On thi day, the object of so much affection is seated at a sidewalk café that overlooks Broadway. She sips carbonated water from a tall bottle; its blue glass matches her outfit nicely.The table where she sits is

Dasboard Confessional from inside the taxicab

2006-02-13T19:56:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - His days are long. The nights even longer. And this time of year, it can get downright strange.For the men and women behind the wheel of local taxis, the activity heats up with the weather.Dale Van Arenem works the day shift during the week and every other Saturday as a cab driver in Saratoga Springs.“There’s a big difference between the earlier part of the year, and what

Trash to Treasure

2006-02-12T20:17:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Eight steps down the concrete stairwell, Stuart Armstrong stands behind a waist-high glass counter.Displayed inside the case is an assortment of silver and gold-covered trinkets. A large framed picture depicting an oil-painted Jesus leans crooked against the counter, framed by a large pair of red stenciled placards that warn “Keep OFF The Grass.”Immediately above, the image of

TANG goes BANG inside The Head

2006-02-11T18:50:00.000-05:00

SARATOGA SPRINGS - John Weber knew he was taking a risk. "To me, one of the great things about having a 'teaching museum' at the Tang is that you can experiment with things like this," he said. Still, the Tang's Dayton Director had no idea what to expect. Deliveries had been arriving by the truckload for weeks in preparation of the museum's mammoth new seven-month exhibition "And Therefore I Am."