Summer in Saratoga DMB
Saratoga stays loyal to a bar band that wrote the shittiest part of the soundtrack of the 1990s
‘Crash Into You’ means that he puts his hand down your pants on the SPAC lawn
It’s not the Grateful Dead, but at least they jam
My hometown of Saratoga Springs has two main passions — horse racing and jam bands. These hobbies converge in the summer, when the town’s famous racetrack opens and Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the historic concert venue better known as SPAC, kicks off four months of shows. SPAC is a leafy, sprawling venue in the middle of a state park that has hosted performances by everyone from Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles to Eric Clapton and Pink Floyd. The mellow, bucolic atmosphere lends itself to a stable of regulars, with the most beloved returning act being the Dave Matthews Band, which has now performed in Saratoga 49 times.
Attending your first Dave Matthews Band concert is a rite of passage for upstate New York teenagers, myself included, characterized by the solemn rituals of determining with your friends whether you should attend “Fridave” or “Saturdave,” securing cheap lawn tickets and a chauffeur …
Shorts and Stops From Wilson County (Texas) and Beyond
“I expected to come home to my house,” Olivia Leal said.
But there was no house to come home to.
Still, the Leal family finds hope after discovering several priceless family mementos buried in the ashes and debris of their former home on H Street in Floresville. Among those items is a cherished family photo, taken of Olivia and her late husband, Joe Leal Sr., when their children, Joe Jr. and Melinda, were young.
It was July 16 when Mrs. Leal said her friend had just invited her to breakfast. As she was leaving, she noticed several white trucks outside her home of 49 years — the home that she shared with her late husband, who passed away last year.
The street was crawling with activity from police, firemen, EMS, and CenterPoint Energy personnel.
Olivia went outside and one of the guys had a gas reader. He said it was increasing from 3, to 4 — and when she opened the door for him …
Where Eagles Dare
Imagine standing on a wooden dock beside a coastal Alaska inlet. Around you are fishing boats tied up their moorings, gently bobbing on the sparkling water. The picturesque craft have just returned to harbor, their bounteous catches transferred from their holds to nearby processing plants and canneries. Salty breezes surround you, you fill your lungs with them, when suddenly, out of nowhere, WHOMP! The impact against your neck and head is like that of a two-by-four or a thick branch. Your legs sag, your vision swims. And then you spot it, a most unlikely nemesis, rising back into the sky from whence it came: a majestic bald eagle, our noble national bird.
When three attacks on unsuspecting humans by the avian emblems of our freedom occurred a few weeks ago on Kodiak Island near the harbor at Dog Bay, residents of the area were mystified. In Alaska, assaults by eagles and other raptors are not uncommon …
