Blog Master G

I’m sick and tired of deleting oodles of trackback spam on a daily basis, so I’ve finally had enough of these rogue characters who earn seven figures by trying to exploit blogs like mine. No more. I’ve deactivated all trackback links and functionality throughout my site.

Surprisingly, it’s no easy task. First, I had to turn off the Weblog Config option to “‘Allow TrackBack Pings’ On by Default.” Next, I had to do a SQL query on the database (I used phpMyAdmin for its ease of use) to deactivate the allow ping status for all my archives:

update `mt_entry` set `entry_allow_pings` = 0;

Finally, I had to update my individual and category archive templates to ensure the “Trackback URL” for each entry did not display anywhere on my site.

Before this morning, I had forgotten that final step, so despite the database changes, the trackback spam had somehow snuck through anyway as of this morning. But hopefully that will be the last of it.

I’m all for entrepreneurship, but not when someone else benefits by trying to leverage my Web site as a billboard.

[ Really disabling Trackback ]

I’ve long been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. Today the world (and Google) celebrates his birthday.

There’s something invigorating about living in the Northeast — be it the foot-deep snowstorms, the 20 below-chill, or the severe thunderstorms with tornado warnings amidst 90-degree early summer weather, as was the case yesterday afternoon. Mother Nature doesn’t hesitate to remind us who’s boss.

Yesterday’s afternoon storm brought flooding, power outages, downed power lines, fallen tree branches, and at least one case of which I learned of a tree branch going through a roof and smashing a truck. It was ominous. The skies blackened, the thunder boomed, and the lightning flashed every few seconds. Saratoga Springs was right in the eye of the storm. Winds blew at 50 to 80 miles per hour and trees swayed violently.

Aside from a few lost tree branches, our 80-year-old house and almost as old trees weathered this storm just fine.

Thanks to Niki for sharing the below photos.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

NYC091-061830-

/O.NEW.KALY.SV.W.0014.050606T1802Z-050606T1830Z/

BULLETIN – EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
202 PM EDT MON JUN 6 2005

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR…
SARATOGA COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEW YORK

* UNTIL 230 PM EDT

* AT 158 PM EDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING NICKEL SIZE HAIL…AND
DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR
SARATOGA SPRINGS…AND MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR…
COVEVILLE…VICTORY MILLS…VICTORY AND SCHUYLERVILLE BY 210 PM EDT
THOMSON BY 215 PM EDT

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. IF A TORNADO
IS SPOTTED… ACT QUICKLY AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IN A STURDY
STRUCTURE…SUCH AS A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM.

LAT…LON 4297 7362 4296 7364 4295 7377 4305 7379
4313 7381 4317 7360 4313 7358 4309 7358
4309 7359 4308 7358

$$

WRS

Jane and Sarah spent the weekend with us in Saratoga as part of their East Coast tour. The trip started off right when Jen, Jane, and Sarah hit the brewery and found the place unattended, so Sarah played bartender. Later that night, a few more friends joined us for a little impromptu BBQ and bocce ball in the yard. We took full advantage of the summer warmth, sipping margaritas and pina coladas, and chillin’ out on the porch a good portion of the evening.

Much of the remainder of the weekend brought with it more porch sitting. When we weren’t basking in the 80-degree-plus sunshine, we were doing a walking tour of Saratoga, enjoying the houses, Congress Park, the spring water, the bars. We had drinks Saturday afternoon at Gaffney’s patio and the Olde Bryan Inn before heading for dinner at Haweli and an evening at the Racino to watch the horse races. Jen won about five dollars and I lost about the same, as usual. I tend to have much better luck at the Flat Track.

After Jane and Sarah left on Sunday, Jen and I got the car washed and picked up some new flowers to plant in our yard. We briefly walked through the Blues and Art Festival on Caroline Street. We capped off the weekend with drinks on the porch with Justin. All in all, a banner weekend. Time to sleep?

View all party weekend photos

Sometimes it’s exhausting owning a house. Our house and property aren’t even all that big, relatively speaking, but they’re enough to keep two of us plenty busy maintaining them.

Yesterday we first leveraged the daylight hours to mow the lawn, whack the weeds with our new weed whacker (I had a lot of fun with it), finish trimming the hedges (Jen’s multi-day project), and replace four of our 16 storm windows with their warm-weather counterparts (starting with most of the upstairs windows since it’s starting to get hot up there).

When night fell, we moved the cleaning party inside and powered through a major cleaning of the whole house. Jen’s better at the detail cleaning than I am (naturally), so she gave a stellar shine to our kitchen sink and bathroom, while I tackled the other rooms and the vacuuming.

In all, it was probably at least a five-hour (or more) non-stop cleaning marathon. I can’t imagine doing all that were there not two of us, or were there a little one in our lives. I understand why people do things like hire gardeners and cleaning services. It’s tiring work, but well worth the effort since the house and outside look and feel great.

California friends Jane and Sarah are coming to town today as part of their East Coast tour, and we’re really psyched to see them! Now we’ll have a clean house to show them, too.

Memorial Day weekend marks the traditional beginning of summer, and it’s really starting to feel like it. The days are warming up, the grass we planted last week is peeking out, the shorts are in full force.

My mother-in-law came over last night, minivan chock-full of hanging impatiens, geraniums, and potting soil for our front porch flower boxes and garage flower box. In a whirlwind effort, we planted five flower boxes and hung three hanging flower pots in just over an hour. It really brings the house to life.

A Chat With Glendora is a pretty amazing site, considering that it’s the effort of my mother-in-law’s 80-year-old neighbor, who, for all intents and purposes, has been vlogging for what seems to be a really long time (she has more than 4,000 random videos).

Saratogian / Madame Jumel in spotlight / The Spa City received a jolt of national recognition this week for one of its most notorious residents with the publication of an article in The New York Times.

Washington Post / FBI’s No. 2 Was ‘Deep Throat’ / Mark Felt Ends 30-Year Mystery of The Post’s Watergate Source:

Deep Throat, the secret source whose insider guidance was vital to The Washington Post’s groundbreaking coverage of the Watergate scandal, was a pillar of the FBI named W. Mark Felt, The Post confirmed yesterday.

As the bureau’s second- and third-ranking official during a period when the FBI was battling for its independence against the administration of President Richard M. Nixon, Felt had the means and the motive to help uncover the web of internal spies, secret surveillance, dirty tricks and coverups that led to Nixon’s unprecedented resignation on Aug. 9, 1974, and to prison sentences for some of Nixon’s highest-ranking aides.

Felt’s identity as Washington’s most celebrated secret source had been an object of speculation for more than 30 years until yesterday, when his role was revealed by his family in a Vanity Fair magazine article. Even Nixon was caught on tape speculating that Felt was “an informer” as early as February 1973, at a time when Deep Throat was supplying confirmation and context for some of The Post’s most explosive Watergate stories.

Two years ago today we had picked out our Antique Wedding Rings.

The fourth “H” in the official Saratoga Springs tagline should be “homes” — as in “health, history, horses, and homes.” Some of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever seen are here in Saratoga, and I’m not just saying that to put a meme out there that will increase my own property value (though I wouldn’t complain). If you’ve ever been here, you’ve no doubt strolled down the city’s famous streets — Union Ave., 5th Ave., Caroline Street, North Broadway, Circular — and seen some of the gorgeous old homes, once (and, in many cases, still) the summer “cottages” to the New York City elite.

One such home is the 1832 “Greek Revival mansion, summer home of the 19th-century social climber Madame Eliza Jumel, who married and divorced Vice President Aaron Burr. Asking price: $750,000.” A definite bargain if you’re used to Manhattan prices and are lucky to find a 2-bedroom apartment for that, but a pretty penny if you’re an average Saratoga resident. But where else can you find an old mansion with so much history and maybe even your own ghosts?

New York Times / Storied Mansion for Sale in Saratoga Springs, Rumors and All:

Built around 1832, the white-columned house was put up for sale after its most recent owner, Richard Speers, a popular mathematics professor at Skidmore College, died of a heart attack in February.

It was clear that Mr. Speers had a sense of humor about the home occupied by one of Saratoga’s most notorious residents. He named his two standard poodles “Madame” and “Eliza.”

“He had that same spirit of life that she did – in terms of parties,” said a friend of Mr. Speers’s, Claire Olds, a former dean of students at Skidmore. “She had a wild life.”

Mr. Speers, who raised his twin sons in the house by himself, was known for his gourmet cooking and dinner parties. He had done some restoration, including extensive work on the carriage house, the replacement of a slate roof and a renovated master bathroom.

Now that the house is on the market, the city’s historian, Mary Ann Fitzgerald, said she had fielded a number of calls about it – including whether it is haunted – as well as questions about Madame Jumel’s reputation.

“People are charmed by her – the stories about Madame Jumel,” the historian said. “I think it’s delightful. She loved Saratoga Springs. She spent time here. And she went out and about in her carriages.” As for the ghost stories, Ms. Fitzgerald said, “I cannot document hauntings, but Saratoga Springs loves hauntings.”

Many of the stories of Madame Jumel are composites of fact and fiction, some of which she promulgated herself. She is said to have been acquainted with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte. Many of those accounts probably came from her own mind in later years, said Ken Moss, the executive director of the Morris-Jumel Mansion in Harlem. She lived there until her death in 1865.

More….

With a rich history dating back hundreds of years to King Louis XIV, New Orleans feels real, evoking a distinct sensation of being in Venice or elsewhere in Europe. I had to remind myself time and again over the past few days that I was deeper in the South than I had previously been — that I was in Louisiana. It’s not the manufactured adult Disneyland that is Vegas and, as Jen aptly put it, “New Orleans is everything that Vegas over-compensates to be.” (Right down to the casinos.) It is an experience. It’s about being there.

Jen, Ben, Kat, and I descended from around the country upon the Big Easy for three full days of non-stop weekend fun. We even hung out a couple times with Heather and Lisbeth, who also happened to be in town.

We got our fill of the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, for which New Orleans is probably most famous. We spent our share of time strolling up and down block after block of the drunken street party that is Bourbon Street (I finally understand why Caroline Street is known as the Bourbon Street of Saratoga). We experienced the potent drinks — the Jester (strange and wheatgrass green), the Hurricane (red and sweet), and the Hand Grenade (pineappley and my favorite) — along with the bead-hungry, flashing women (and men) and more than one bride who’d had one too many Hand Grenades. There were the classic rock bands belting out Jon Bovi, the sex clubs with the enticing shadow dancers in the windows, the female impersonator clubs, and even the Evangelical Christians with their L.E.D. crosses reminding us that Jesus died for our sins (but that he supports the death penalty… seriously, it said that).

We took the railcar to the Garden District and saw Cemetery #1, though only from the outside since we didn’t expect it to close at noon on a Saturday. We enjoyed a stroll to the beautiful Columns Hotel (“Built 1883 | Listed in the National Registry of Historic Places”), where we spent the afternoon sipping cocktails on the porch, watching the streetcars go by and soaking in Southern living at its best. That night we had dinner at an oyster shack on Bourbon, where we ate lots of greasy seafood, before taking to the streets again. We partied the night away, capping it off with 2 AM beignets at Cafe du Monde.

Sunday began with brunch at Annette’s Cafe, a little Greek establishment where omlettes were our only option because they were “too busy” to make anything else (we were one of three tables). The proprietress told Jen she looked like spinach and feta after she had ordered the same. We chilled in the humid afternoon sun at Pat O’Brien’s, located in what was originally a 1791 Spanish villa, after hanging out for a bit and losing some money (but gaining free drinks) at the Harrah’s slots.

Dinner at Mona Lisa hit the spot — a welcome and relaxing break from all the greasy food and loud crowds — and we capped off the evening listening to jazz at the Apple Barrel on Frenchman Street outside the touristy part of the French Quarter. It was a most refreshing finale to a perfect vacation to get a taste of the local New Orleans flavor.

Jen and I ran back toward the hotel through the pouring rain — with a final stop at Cafe du Monde for more beignets — and clocked in a handful of hours of sleep before catching our flight back home.

This is awesome news for the Capital Region. I contacted JetBlue myself with the same request some months ago, and I’m glad to see that I’ve now got Chuck Schumer looking out for me. Time to write letters of encouragement to Schumer, JetBlue, and Albany International Airport.

Schumer reaches out to JetBlue:

Albany International Airport should be on the list of destinations for low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways Inc., U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday.

“Albany is the perfect place for JetBlue’s newest jets,” he said. “The aircraft would mean new destinations and expanded service, both of which would drive down airfares throughout the Capital Region.”

JetBlue, headquartered at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, is evaluating where to deploy up to 200 new Embraer 190 aircraft, purchased in 2003.

The company now offers service to 29 U.S. cities, including Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse.

Officials at Albany International Airport said Wednesday they would welcome JetBlue, but finding space for the discount carrier’s planes could be a problem.

JetBlue officials said they had an open mind on Schumer’s suggestion.

…

“We are excited to be the world’s first airline for the new Embraer E190 … and look forward to introducing it to new and existing markets alike as we spread the reach of our low fares,” spokesman Bryan Baldwin said in a written statement.

“Senator Schumer has been a long-standing and strong supporter of ours, and a frequent customer, and we are grateful for his friendship and will carefully look at his suggestions,” Baldwin said.

This will be huge for the region because Southwest isn’t the discount carrier it used to be, and getting from Saratoga Springs to New York or Syracuse (JetBlue’s closest airports) isn’t exactly a walk in the park.

Case in point: Jen and I are spending several hundred dollars more than we otherwise would have for the convenience of flying out of Albany for our upcoming trip to New Orleans.

Go Chuck go!