About The Applefest Thing

Applefest 2009Every year my hometown of Warwick, NY holds Applefest on the first Sunday of October and this year was its twenty first anniversary. Applefest is a traditional community fair and festival to celebrate the fall harvest. Warwick’s main harvest crop is apples. Hence the name Applefest. This year rolled in the biggest crowd I can remember in five years. I have to admit, I thought that Applefest had jumped the shark and was doomed to be forgotten, but for whatever reason the crowd turn out was at least 30,000 people. One economist theory is that a bad economy makes for people doing less foreign/long distance vacation travel meaning they do more local spending in a 30 mile radius  and it certainly seems feasible given what I saw at Applefest a week ago. This meant for one day the Town of Warwick, NY’s population (~35k people) was doubled and shoved into the tiny Village of Warwick. The Village is at the town’s center and where most of the festival takes place. Cars were lined up down Route 94 into New Jersey and over the mountain down Route 17 to NYC. Admittedly traffic going into Northern and Western Orange County was light so clearly the metro crowd was in full effect.

The unfortunate downside is the festival at that level of attendance in such a small village results in it being very hard to enjoy with two young children. It’s hard to move around with a stroller and my eight year old daughter doesn’t have the patience to wait in line twenty minutes for a ride or forty minutes for a bag of popcorn. So our trip through the festival was very brief in the form of two vital favorite family stops.

First we got gyros down on Church Street. Every year this great gyro stand setups and make the best lamb gyros ever. They are simply amazing. The price is forty dollars though (not exactly priceless). Pretty steep for three gyros. Then we went over to Stanley Deming Park on the other side of the Village so my older daughter could ride the carnival rides. Twenty five dollars later, three hours, and some six rides (yes I said only six rides in three hours– absolutely packed) everybody was cranky, hot, and tired. So we called it quits.

I like Applefest, don’t get me wrong. I think it’s a great way to support local community organizations, raise funds for volunteer emergency services and non-profits, draw crowds to the local agri-entertainment venues (orchards, farms, etc…), and expose people to the cheeky preppy Village shops that is Warwick (a God to honest amazing feat in a world filled with horrid big boxes and corporate owned chains). It is hard though to really enjoy it like in the lower volume years of the last part of the decade. I guess if sacrificing one day in Warwick for the masses to support the community is the sacrifice I have to make– then so be it, but I won’t lie that I miss being able to get through the carnival and get gyros in two hours.

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DF Pirate Radio – “2007 Beat Feast”

Title: Vol. 3 Episode 1 (Click Link to Play) Rel: 11/21/07
Description: 2007 Beat Feast – Cut Like Crack [kuht lahyk krak] – noun : Style of disc jockeying where multiple samples are mixed with distorted, erratic, and appregated music. The style is distinct for for its very noticedable use of juxtaposition between silence and over driven bursts of noise, as well as, liberal tempo changes. Cut Like Crack was developed in Upstate New York and has become a popular form of re-working existing music pieces into one semi-unified long play composition. It is primarily used by locally popular disc jockeys who prefer to steal music from online file sharing services and release their compositions illegally via the Internet. Thus Cut Like Crack is considered less of an art form and more of illicit uses of other artists’ works. Cut Like Crack was developed as a way to represent the audible feeling of driving while under the influence of alcohol at over 100 MPH at night in search of a Chickenette or other fried poultry products. A practice, that stems from the underground youth culture of night life common to the metropolitan suburbs of New York and New Jersey.
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Classic DF – 10/20/01

October 20, 2001: [•] The Taliban claim to have shot down a US helicopter, but the US military says no one was hurt during military operations. Officials did say however that 2 soldiers were killed in a non-combat accident. War is Hell, people. [•] Germany has issued a warrant for Moroccan Zakariya Essabar who they believe helped create a terrorist ring related to the September 11th attacks. [•] Palestinians clashed with Israeli troops leaving 4 people dead. [•] The UK is mulling over whether or not to resume direct rule over Northern Ireland again. [•] An unidentified person left a bomb in a Pakistan airport, but a bomb squad managed to place the device in an area where it could safely explode. [•] An Omaha, Nebraska student died from injuries incurred during a bus crash. [•] A New York Times reporter in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil received a letter tainted with anthrax. [•] Robert Durst, a wealthy real estate owner, has been arrested and charged with murdering a neighbor. [•] A suitcase full of explosives is found after no one claimed the suitcase it was stored from a bus station locker. [•] Would-be anthrax jokesters find out what is really funny– watching their facial expressions when they are sentenced to life in prison for being asswipes! [•] Do you really think that children of people killed by an airplane ramming into a building want to fly? I don’t think so. [•] Halloween is on the way… oh joy. [•] Oakland International Airport in California will begin scanning faces in crowds and using a database to match them up with known criminals. [•] Who let the lemurs out? [•] A second New Jersey US Postal worker tests positive for anthrax exposure. [•] Apple joins that latest trend of MP3 devices that stream data to stereos without wires. [•] IBM wants to make computers take care of themselves. [•] It is really unlikely that anyone in Smalltown Anywhere, USA will be targeted with anthrax. These nutjobs are after the big dogs, if you know what I mean. [•] A woman is stabbed and strangled in Port Jervis, NY. [•] Highland Falls will hold its Fall Foliage Festival today, the City of Kingston celebrates 350 years of existence, Republican Orange County Executive nominee Edward Diana will not be able to attend an environmental forum since he was never formally invited, Laura Fox gets sentenced to 32 days-23 months in Pike County Jail for being caught DWI 3 times in 3 hours, and West Point hosts a display on historic military pieces. [•] Ozzie and Zombie talk to MTV’s Curly want-to-be. [•] Macromedia is suing Adobe for patent infringement. [•] UK police close off an area for a serious situation. [•] A UK soldier is killed in Sierra Leone. [•] Pocket rocket shoot out. [•] The Lexus IS300 Sport Cross rules. [•] A Mazda Miata on Slim Fast. [•] Microsoft’s Digital Rights Management software has been hacked. Microsoft claims it’s no big deal and that they can correct the issue. [•] MP3.com has split into 2 companies. [•] Once copper runs hit their maximum potential speed in PCs fiber may be the only hope to increase computing speeds. [•] Li’l Pooh has gotten her first tooth! [•] Mervernation.com’s server is getting a new case. [•] Bored? Well, it isn’t going to get any better. In fact, it gets worse: Check out “bizarre pictures”. I personally like the baby flipping me off. It reminds me of my own sweet Li’l Pooh 🙂

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Classic DF – 10/19/01

October 19, 2001: [•] Justice: Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, Mohamed al-‘Owhali, Mohamed Odeh, and Wadih el Hage have all been sentenced to life in prison without parole for bombing 2 US embassies in Africa on August 7, 1998. [•] Justice: US ground troops are helping the Northern Alliance plan an offensive against the Taliban. [•] Justice: The US Senate returns to work despite anthrax concerns. [•] Justice: An anthrax infected US Postal Worker may help the FBI pinpoint where bio-terrorists are located in New Jersey. [•] Justice has many facades, but it has one result: Those who have wronged us to further their own agenda will only receive back the negative karma they distributed. In short, what comes around– goes around. 😛

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Classic DF – 8/9/00

Aug 9, 2000: [•] Firestone is recalling P235/75R15 Wilderness AT tires, radial ATX tires, and radial ATXII tires in response to safety concerns. [•] There are currently 70 large wildfires burning. [•] 10 people died when two planes collided over New Jersey. [•] Russian President Vladimir Putin is asking all citizens to remain calm after two bombings. [•] The recipients of the Medal of Freedom have been announced. [•] The US Surgeon General claims that if anti-smoking campaigns were implemented 1/2 of smokers would stop (Sure, right). [•] Women now outnumber men on the Net and are expanding rapidly in every age group except 18-24 years old. They are too busy trying to avoid men (just kidding). [•] The ETA have been blamed for a shooting in Spain. [•] A minor earthquake shook Mexico. [•] 200 troops are going to Sierra Leone to train troops to fight rebels. [•] Li Ping, the mistress of a high ranking official in China, has been sentenced to life for bribery. [•] A woman in Brazil found a finger in her bag of popcorn. [•] A court has awarded a pension pay of 150 liters of free beer a year to ex-workers in Germany. [•] A beach in South Florida has been closed due to an oil slick. [•] Ex-President Ford has been released from the hospital. [•] But Liz Taylor has been put in the hospital. [•] Bell Labs have successfully constructed an engine out of DNA. Weird. [•] Duh Study of The Day: The Pentagon is still being hacked. Well, duh… ummm… it is the number target of all hackers in the world. Sheesh. [•] The government has started using online bidding systems and contractors are pissed because their profits are going down (tough). [•] By using triangle compression scientists are hoping to lower download times. [•] On August 24th Nintendo will reveal details about Dolphin (the new 128-bit game console) and a new 32-bit Gameboy. [•] The top ten budget PCs are. [•] The FDA has approved a new inhaler for asthmatic children under 1 year old. [•] 11 million children have health insurance available to them, but aren’t covered. [•] Teen pregnancy is down 60%. [•] Pediatricians want to end spanking in schools. [•] Medium sized carnivores are making a comeback. [•] Hack your crop. [•] Companies are benefiting from cutting back pollution emissions. [•] The spotted owl faces a new threat to its existence, the barred owl. [•] Online comparison shopping may drive down CD prices and has sparked a lawsuit against the major labels (oh how does it feel bitch?). [•] Visa is implementing 10 new protocols for all vendors who wish to participate in online credit card transactions with Visa. [•] Xtrem, a small Swedish startup, is overclocking Macs to 1.2 GHz. [•] Raise your very own mermaid. [•] Aimster will allow users to share files using AIM. Oh joy. [•] Intel is going to start working on a peer-to-peer networking system thanks to interest in Napster. [•] DirecTV is cracking down of people stealing satellite TV (uh-oh). [•] Harold Mabee has been found guilty of murdering a woman he strangled during sex. [•] A teacher has been suspended for helping students just a little too much. [•] The Village of Warwick is finally going to clear rubble to build a parking lot, a carjacker indicted, a driver indicted for a car crash, a man falls to his death when he tries to climb out of a window using his bedsheets, and arsonist indicted. [•] Brian Marshall has left Creed. [•] Rage Against The Machine has shot their next single (Testify) music video with Michael Moore and is preparing for their live album concert. [•] Check out Kevin Clouser’s video for Closer (Precursor) from the movie Se7en. It is completely home made. It’s very cool. [•] Check out SeemsLikeSalvation News for information about the hidden Marilyn Manson web sites. [•] An Anti-paedophile protest is going on in the UK (very cool). [•] Thanks to the Artists’ Coalition music will be the property of their creator and not the RIAA. [•] If you want to make a hit and you’re a rapper just die then release a single. It’s true, it’s true. [•] Go real fast and not even get one speeding ticket. [•] Which 3D modeller is for you? [•] Logitech now has an optical mouse. Did I mention it is better then the Microsoft mouse? [•] VIA’s new motherboard will support both Intel and AMD chips. [•] Is it time to update your OS? [•] Stabilize your overclocked AGP slot. [•] Lamborghini Diablo 6.0 vs. Ferrari 550 Maranello. ‘Nuff said. [•] The automakers and insurance companies have sent a proposal to the NHTSA for side impact airbags and Ford is making a 2001 Harley-Davidson F-150 SuperCrew four door pickup. [•] Michael Moore is on tonight. [•] Azazel is still wonderful and I love her. [•] Daemon Immortalis give props to Captain Immy (no relation). [•] Glitch hacks Jeph.net. [•] Red Raven has seen 140 hits within 42 hours. Nice. [•] Mermaid is worried I’m going to exile him… but this time I engaged brain before mouth 🙂 [•] Now on to business: There are individuals that I am disappointed in for their actions. Yes, I am very concerned with the way people act. Maybe because I care too much or maybe as I was once told– I stand on a high horse looking down on everyone else. Either way, I’m glad that web pages are up and that once again Rock had the courage to let things go. A lot of people said a lot of nasty stuff. Half the server hates the other half. I really don’t think any of us are friends anymore. No one has the right to slander anyone… except for me because you know I rule like that 🙂 Seriously, I think that no matter who did what we have all done some pretty shitty stuff to each other. I’m seriously thinking about going elsewhere. I have the means now. I have the knowledge. Hell, I’ve been at this stupid Net stuff for over 6 years now. Everyone is so angry. What is everyone angry at? I’m not sure. I know this though: My life is good. I have a really silly job that haggles me, but at least I have enough cash to get by. I have an incredible wife that I love more than anyone else in the world. My family is great and totally cares about both of us. I have some nice friends who help out from time to time when they aren’t fighting with us. Digitalflood.com started out about unity, but I guess the crew just isn’t there anymore. I feel like I’m on my own now with the exception of my wife. The only person I really can count on is Azazel. Everyone else is busy pointing out who is doing what and meantime no one is doing anything worthwhile. There is so much out there that needs to be fixed and we resort ourselves to wasting our time arguing or doing stupid immature shit. There are people starving, being downsized, pushed around, and babies dying. No one seems to care. The RIAA is about to close down our shop and clamp down on our world, but no one cares. So go ahead do whatever you want… I’ll be on my horse on the hilltop waiting for the next crusade. I hope one day you’ll join me.

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