COMMUNITY MEDIA MEDFORD, the only Public Access TV available in Medford in 2014. Charter Review story follows an editorial on Community Media.
Edited and Published by Joe Viglione
joeviglione{@}yahoo.com
Please note: the music, film and book reviews are here on a temporary basis and will be on a separate site linked here in the next few weeks..
Community Media Medford on YouTube CommunityMediaMedfor (without the “d” at the end
https://www.youtube.com/user/communitymediamedfor
MADE IN MEDFORD
http://madeinmedford.com/channel/visual-radio/
BREAKING NEWS:Is the Office of District Attorney Marian Ryan appealing the dismissal of the false bomb threat charge against the former webmaster of Medford Community Cablevision, Inc? We brought you this story first! See original story below.
WHY COMMUNITY MEDIA MEDFORD?
An Editorial at 3:24 AM Friday, June 27, 2014
Corporations like Gatehouse Media and AOL / Hale Global have the wrong approach to serving specific communities. They use a broad brush in an attempt to monetize the community media goldmine that is out there, but that idea is about as honest as promises from the lips of a politician. Their main concern is money, not serving the community. They put the cart before the horse and the residents don’t find the information that they need.
WEEKLY PAPER GRABS MY IDEA for ELECTION 2014
The Medford Transcript is now promoting an election site, and it is most likely because of the page views my blog received putting a pure politician directory together. The Transcript’s “directory” went to the Transcript’s stories on politicians rather than the actual websites of each individual running for elected office. I got te hits, the weekly paper did not. I obtained information from the Registrars of Voters office, information you didn’t see on the Medford Transcript.
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WHAT DOES MEDFORD HAVE FOR COMMUNITY MEDIA?
1)The Medford Transcript – weekly newspaper
Committee finalizes report for new Medford public access station
http://medford.wickedlocal.com/article/20140523/NEWS/140528239
Editor Nell Escobar Coakley works out of the Beverly or another North Shore office; she lives in Malden or Everett. How is this good for Medford? Coakley has personally complained to me about allegations that the editor of Inside Medford is conflicted. If anyone should know about conflict of interest it is my old editor Nell Escobar Coakley. Inside Medford is upfront about the conflict; Medford Transcript is not. There’s a certain honesty in admitting you are prostituting your services. Inside Medford is legal prostitution; The Medford Transcript is more like street walking after hours and keeping an eye out for the local constabulary.
The Boston Globe’s Marcia Dick is a different kettle of fish. There is a woman in desperate need of a copy of Andrew Carnegie’s “How To Win Friends and Influence People.” She’s another person up on the North Shore trying to get Medford residents to pay attention. It’s a joke. Look, we’re happy that the college and high school students get published in the Globe, but it isn’t because Dick wants to help the kids out: it is allegedly to cut down on paying for reporters
2)YourTown Boston.com Medford
http://yourtown.boston.com/medford
Medford Transcript – check out this story.
ELECTION 2014: 34th Middlesex District candidate forum set for June 29
http://medford.wickedlocal.com/article/20140626/NEWS/140628892
You want to talk about a conflict of interest? Tufts University having a forum where two of the candidates for Sciortino’s seat are allegedly in the pocket of the university! Sciortino was the alleged “Tufts Boy” as well, so there you have it.
3)INSIDE MEDFORD
Allison, we love you. And you’re pretty good looking …for a woman, that is. But, really, the Mayor cutting THREE RIBBONS on your website? This isn’t legal prostitution as I first surmised; it’s more like being part of his harem!
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4)The infamous Medford Patch
Why even post a link. Gives a new definition to the word “clueless.”
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5)New England Informer
Medford activist Doreen Wade’s title says it all. It’s a New England publication originating in Medford
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6)The Medford Mercury
This daily newspaper is chock full of news…Malden news. The office is in Malden. Do you see a pattern? Merc in Malden, Transcript on the North Shore except for when Nell Coakley needs a sundae fix over at Colleen’s, Marcia Dick is too busy reading Herman Melville and Inside Medford appears to be a wholly owned subsidiary of McGlynn & McGlynn Law Offices up in Salem. Sheesh. All hail Hale Global! NOT!
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While we’ve been in the trenches getting the real stories, the other media is hijacking
7, 8 one of the two Tufts newspapers
9 The Mustang, the High School newspaper
That’s what Medford has for community media. No public access TV station, no real news that tells you about River’s Edge, Medford Housing Authority, Charter Review etc. etc.
Well, that is now changing. Welcome to Community Media Medford. This editor removed the inefficient no-access TV station, the clown of a City Council president (not to be confused with the buffoon of a council president, his nephew, who is the next on our list to bounce out of there,) helped keep them honest over at Medford Housing Authority (and God knows what a task THAT was) and now is informing you why you don’t have access to any information in the city of Medford. Because the 27 year incumbent Mayor wants it that way, and has designed it that way. I mean, seriously, when you put a priest, someone from the MWRA and a high school teacher on a public access panel you are BEGGING for them to not give you the nuts and bolts on what public access television truly is. McGlynn’s body language says it all. It is up to YOU, dear reader, to make the difference. Not “a” difference but THE difference.
3:52 AM June 27, 2014
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All articles are Copyright (C)2014 Joe Viglione All Rights Reserved. No unauthorized use without permission.
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BREAKING NEWS:
MEDFORD BAND EXTREME TO APPEAR AT HAMPTON BEACH CASINO, JULY 17, THE NIGHT AFTER AEROSMITH AT THE MANSFIELD X-FINITY CENTER. IT’S A CLASSIC BOSTON ROCK TWO-FER Gary Cherone – Vocals Nuno Bettencourt – Guitars, Vocals Pat Badger – Bass, Vocals
Kevin Figueiredo – Drums http://extreme-band.com/site/
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BREAKING NEWS:
MAYORAL CANDIDATE ANTHONY D’ANTONIO HITS GRAND SLAM WITH CHARTER REVIEW PUBLIC MEETING 6/26/14
“The charter is, therefore, the most important legal document of any city.” http://www.nlc.org/build-skills-and-networks/resources/cities-101/city-structures/municipal-charters
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Charter Review was the subject at a 7 PM meeting at the Medford Public Library that Mayoral candidate Anthony D’Antonio (courtesy photo below) has had in the works for the past few months.
This is a developing story with more content to post in the next hour or so. It is 12:09 AM 6-27-14.
There are two important links below, one explaining the six forms of government in Massachusetts – government plans A – F, and another important link on the charter.
Please read and re-read those links to get a handle on the importance of the charter review. 2:33 AM 6-27-14
The turnout was fantastic and included a who’s who of Medford politics – City Councilor Michael Marks, City Councilor Robert M. Penta, council candidates Robert Cappucci (currently running for Pat Jehlen’s seat,) Jeanne Martin – who kept the minutes to the meeting, Mystic Valley NAACP branch president Neil Osborne, former Mayoral candidate John Byers, Wicked Local/Medford reporter Alex Ruppenthal, Charter review advocate Dr. John Storella, George “Rick” Sacco and many other concerned citizens.
Coming two days after the spectacular defeat of Michael J. McGlynn at the City Council during the vote on the city budget, McGlynn – said to be at State Rep Paul J. Donato’s house for a Martha Coakley fundraiser – has to be concerned that citizens of this community are actually looking at the charter and getting information on Plan A government, Plan B government, Plan E government, and also looking at their options on how they want to be governed. How they choose to be governed in a Democracy. So what is “Plan A Government” which Medford is currently under? I’ve provided a link below which goes through the plans and explains how each one is designed. Here’s the link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Massachusetts but scroll down after you read this article and get familiar with how your city should be build; what kind of “constitution” (or City Charter) will best serve the people. And remember something that Mike McGlynn and Councilor Paul A. Camuso have forgotten: they work for us.
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Petition for Amending the Charter of the City of Medford, Massachusetts
“The City Charter is comparable to the Constitution of the United States or a state’s constitution. The charter is, therefore, the most important legal document of any city” according to the National League of Cities. There are six types of city governments in Massachusetts, Plan A, B, C, D, E and F. Medford is currently under Plan A with a 27-year incumbent going into his 28th year in office. Too much power for one man over too long a period of time.
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George “Rick” Sacco, who had a television show with Fred Laskey, Medford Goes Green, cautioned people not to get caught up in politics, but to take a broader approach and look at the whole – the school committee, salaries, term limits, etc. D’Antonio did an excellent job of presenting his case and moderating the input from the attendees – some who show up at city council meetings, others new faces that have not been seen at city events and at the council or school committee meetings. It was good to see some “new blood” and the positive approach the entire group has on what is certainly an uphill battle.
Dr. John Storella is unarguably the most knowledgeable person on the subject, and his mantra was simple: get the signatures.
Despite attempts to keep the focus on Charter Review, the elephant in the room was Mayor McGlynn with former Mayoral candidate John Byers pounding away at the incumbent’s positions. One woman noted that City Hall appears to be “rejecting what the citizens want” while at 7:42 PM, 3/4s through the one hour meeting, Dr. Storella made it clear, the Mayor “does not want to give up the power.” That means the people need to generate the interest, the signatures and the information as this Mayor has lived in a bubble, a comfort zone, for the better part of three decades.
Councilor Michael Marks and Councilor Bob Penta were very reasoned and appeared to be optimistic while taking a measured approach. It was noted that Malden has a Plan B government where the Mayor is weaker and meets with the City Council. What is very clear is that residents are so busy with their daily lives that many are not aware of even what the charter is, what form of government we have and how to implement (or at least initiate) change. What D’Antonio, Dr. Storella, Councilor Marks, Councilor Penta, Attorney Neil Osborne, Jeanne Martin, Robert Cappucci and other attendees did tonight was the hardest part: the start of the process. The fact that many, if not all who attended, were in agreement and that the meetng was harmonious and informative means that it was more successful than some might have thought it could be.
The meeting in the Magoun Room of the Medford Public Library was spirited, but polite. Only at one point towards the end did a variety of conversations start happening all at once and secretary Jeanne Martin called for order so that the person speaking could get her point across. It was very well organized, well attended, very informative and an excellent first step in something long overdue for the residents, taxpayers, ratepayers, businesses, civic groups and other people and entities that make up life in Medford, Massachusetts.
Massachusetts State law defines six possible options for city governments:[17]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Massachusetts
- Plan A – “Strong mayor” – Mayor and a city council, the councilors being elected at large. Party primaries prohibited.
- Plan B – “Weak mayor” – Mayor and city council, the councilors being elected partly at large and partly from districts or wards of the city. Party primaries prohibited.
- Plan C – “Commission” – Mayor and commissioners. Party primaries prohibited.
- Plan D – “Council-manager”- City council of seven or nine (one of whom is the mayor), and a city manager. Party primaries prohibited.
- Plan E – “Council-manager”- City council of seven or nine (one of whom is the mayor), a city manager; members of the council and the school committee elected at large by plurality.
- Plan F – “Partisan mayor-council” – Mayor and city council, the councilors being elected partly at large and partly from wards of the city, with political party primaries.[18]
There are also certain operational differences between cities and towns. A “city” has a clearly structured annual budget process, set out in statute, and the legislative body is prohibited from increasing any appropriation above the amount recommended by the mayor or other chief executive.[citation needed] Changes to town by-laws require approval by the Massachusetts Attorney General, but changes to city ordinances do not.[11]
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And what about Municipal Charters?
Municipal Charters
http://www.nlc.org/build-skills-and-networks/resources/cities-101/city-structures/municipal-charters
A municipal charter is the basic document that defines the organization, powers, functions and essential procedures of the city government. It is comparable to the Constitution of the United States or a state’s constitution. The charter is, therefore, the most important legal document of any city. Charters are granted either directly by a state legislature by way of local legislation, or indirectly under a general municipal corporation law following a referendum vote of the proposal by the affected population. The state municipal leagues can provide information about the form of charter provided in each of the state constitutions.
PUBLIC ACCESS IN THE CITY OF MEDFORD MASSACHUSETTS
LINK TO CITY HALL’S THIN PUBLIC ACCESS PAGE
http://www.medfordma.org/category/community-access-tv/
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Community Media Medford – a place for Medford to have a voice
Welcome to Community Media Medford tm
Medford residents need an online news outlet that will deliver content unfiltered by politics. Community Media Medford will bring you information about the community first. We scooped ALL the local press on Council President Robert A. Maiocco’s retirement, we were the ONLY media outlet taping the April 18, 2012 Medford Housing Authority board meeting and it was our videotape that led DIRECTLY to Governor Deval Patrick removing Michael J. McGlynn’s uncle, Eugene McGillicuddy from that board and replacing him with Sean Caron. (August 18, 2013)
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Saturday, March 15, 2014, two members of the Mayor’s Cable TV Committee, Frederick Laskey and Father “Chip” Hines, along with City Councilor Bob Penta and this writer, went to Reading Community TV
http://www.rctv.org/
The station, built inside a former movie theater, was bustling with activity, a regular Saturday morning with more people jammed than we ever saw at a Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. Christmas party. And this was just another day. Politicians and regular folk and board members and volunteers meeting people and having coffee, orange juice, cake, breakfast… it was quite a refreshing change and the Medford residents visiting were impressed.
At RCTV there is no question about meeting minutes or financial records. The 501c3 non-profit makes all that information public.
When speaking at the city council over the years I have often stated that we in Medford need to look beyond the city borders. Finally, we are doing just that. But imagine if people had taken that solid advice during what Adam Knight called the “FIASCO’ that was MCC TV 3?
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Community Media Medford, the aspect of my show, Visual Radio, that gives back to the Medford Community, has had many, many Medford guests, some of those guests intimidated and bullied by MCC TV3.
http://newprogramsforyou.blogspot.com/
Jimmy Morse, Chris Donovan, Joanne Coadi, and other Medford residents have contributed to Visual Radio along with our extensive guest list: State Rep Paul Donato, City Councilor Robert M. Penta, candidates Anthony D’Antonio, John Byers, Jeanne Martin, Nicholas Tomaszczuk Jr., and Mayor McGlynn and Councilors in the Committee of the Whole, Paul Camuso and many more!
WATCH OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
THIS DEMONSTRATES THAT WE HAVE VIABLE
MEDFORD COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING
http://www.youtube.com/user/communitymediamedfor
MEDFORD’S FRANK IMBERGAMO
ON VISUAL RADIO LIVE
MARCH 13, 2014, THURSDAY NIGHT
Part 1
Visual Radio Frank Imbergamo, Chris Palermo March 13
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AliqsrODp8w
Part 2
Valerie Venet on Visual Radio Live with Joe Viglione 3/13/14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXUmoj9A3cQ
Part 3
Frank Imbergamo & Chris Palermo on Visual Radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJeGEhPLoDM
Part 4
Frank Dello Stritto reviews WAR OF THE ROBOTS (1978) with Chris Palermo, Frank Imbergamo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reZqtCZcu74
MEDFORD MEMORIAL DAY 2013
Jeanne Martin’s speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZMcqZ7iT2Y
Jeanne Martin on Visual Radio
http://madeinmedford.com/video/jeanne-martin-frequent-speaker-at-medford-school-committee-meetings-visual-radio-11713/
Johnny “The Kid” Byers on Visual Radio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rodtwy8FqoY
John From Medford station I.D.
http://madeinmedford.com/video/john-from-medford-station-id-on-visual-radio/
City Councilor Bob Penta
http://madeinmedford.com/video/city-councilor-bob-penta-talks-about-public-access-governmental-access-tv/
Senator Pat Jehlen, State Rep Carl Sciortino and Ken Krause
Directed by Jeff Dearman
http://madeinmedford.com/video/pat-jehlen-show-1-transportation-issues-with-ken-krause-and-state-rep-carl-sciortino/
Senator Pat Jehlen
Directed by Visual Radio’s Jeff Dearman
http://madeinmedford.com/video/first-tv-show-by-pat-jehlen-as-a-senator-for-medfordwinchester/
State Rep Paul Donato
http://madeinmedford.com/video/medfordmalden-state-rep-paul-donato-visits-visual-radio-april-19-2012/
Kitty Connection
http://madeinmedford.com/video/kitty-connection-rascal-needs-a-home/
Mayor Michael J. McGlynn
January 29, 2013 Committee of the Whole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGXE2m_-X_I
Medford resident Nicholas Tomaszczuk Jr. on Visual Radio Live Jan 31, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F7td4glGxA
Joe Viglione interviews Medford band
AWAIT RESCUE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4Rcz9k1iGs
Dennis Lehane at Medford’s Best Sellers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbsSazAl_iw
Rex Trailer on Visual Radio
http://madeinmedford.com/video/boomtown-host-rex-trailer-talks-on-visual-radio-with-joe-viglione/
Miscellaneous Medford Videos
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Medford%20Visual%20Radio&sm=3
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CMM reopened on Google as
http://newprogramsforyou.blogspot.com/
We are also opening a new webpage
http://www.communitymediamedford.com/
Medford deserves better. We care about Community Media and we know how to build an access station that will benefit the community.
This Tuesday night at the City Council of Medford, this writer will be rolling out a new plan to facilitate access TV to our community. We are creating a new access TV with a fresh start, one free from the old cronies who kept you out of access TV in Medford.
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Medford Mayor Mike McGlynn Comments on Community Access Report.
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October 3, 2013 Mayor announces he will form 3 person Committee
May, 2014 Committee issues report
June 6, 2014 Mayor now says he will assess things July 1, after the
FY 2015 budget. More stalling tactics to push the goal posts back to
April 2015 when he gets to negotiate with Comcast again
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June 10, 2014 This writer to speak at City Council – Suspension of the Rules, where the overpaid joke of a “Council President’ can’t interrupt me.
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JERSEY BOYS FILM REVIEW
Review: ‘Jersey Boys’ – Despite Flaws, it Gets Enough Right
by Joe Viglione on June 20, 2014
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2014/61971/review-jersey-boys-despite-flaws-gets-enough-right
The Four Seasons story is an amazing chunk of pop music culture, Top 40 success overshadowing such greats and chart runs as experienced by Chubby Checker, Connie Francis and others who ruled the Top 40 back at the time of its rock & roll inception. “Vacation” by Connie Francis, though an immense pop moment, and the immortal “The Twist” do not have as much recognition today – with this generation – that a “Sherry” or a “Rag Doll” or “Walk Like A Man” enjoy – due, of course, to the Broadway and worldwide success of Jersey Boys, a streak sure to continue with the release of this film.
The choice of one of my favorite directors, Clint Eastwood, to be involved in the transformation of the stage play to the silver screen may not have been the best choice. The same film textures he used in 2008’s Changeling, starring Angelina Jolie, are found in this period piece and work well, but the liberties taken are to see the group’s emergence through a lens that the general public was not privy to, and as with Oliver Stone’s The Doors, alters the perception of the public to an institution that is the soundtrack to many of our lives.
Jarring is the portrayed flamboyance of record producer Bob Crewe – the name Liberace tossed into the mix so that there’s nothing left to the imagination. Yes, it was a different time, but the caricature of such an important figure for the audience to laugh at, not with, is overdone.
While the iconic music mogul resides in a nursing home in Maine after a fall, this projection is hardly politically correct.
Eastwood’s cinematic adventures include such Soprano’s-tinged fare as Play Misty For Me (made long before The Sopranos ever existed,) Bloodwork, Absolute Power, the aforementioned Changeling and many more in body of work that is sometimes as uneven as it is superb. The writers and Eastwood focus on the mob aspect of the group’s history rather than Frankie Valli’s other notable moments – the song “Grease” a good case in point. The huge hit from a monster film, and a convergence of two top harmony groups – the singer of the Four Seasons working with the Bee Gees, is totally ignored for this motion picture as we leap-frog right to the 1990 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Even the latter-day success of this writer’s least-favorite 4 Seasons number, “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” – played at the beginning and end of the movie – is not even touched upon as part of the group’s history and success. In a biopic it is too important to not be an integral part of the story. Here, it is performed for audience appreciation.
Tony-winner John Lloyd Young who played Nelson Hirsch in 2009’s Oy Vey! My Son Is Gay!! – and who performed as Valli on the stage version of Jersey Boys – is recruited for the film. He’s got the chops and does a good job, and the movie itself got a great audience response at the June 17, 2014 screening in Boston.
So it is what it is. A very popular stage play gets the cinematic treatment and is very entertaining. It isn’t as cheesy as The Doors, which is a plus, Oliver Stone hurting himself and music history with that display. But it also is not as riveting as Bloodwork or Absolute Power, two films where Eastwood knocked it out of the park.
Is enough history preserved here to give Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio, Frankie Valli and the Four Season their due? Sure, the Royal Teens “Shorts Shorts” is as important to the foundation as is the nod to musician/actor Joe Pesci is to this vital episode of 1950s/1960s/1970s Americana.
More of the Jersey Boys review after the trailer…
Jersey Boys Official Trailer:
It’s good to note the Wikipedia information that Pesci’s Oscar-winning performance as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas was a nod to the founding member of the Four Seasons. And there, moviegoer, you have the line that is crossed where art takes a snapshot from real life.
In 1990, he reunited with Scorsese and De Niro for Goodfellas, where he played mobster Tommy DeVito, based on real-life mobster Thomas DeSimone. Pesci received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role, which he accepted with the shortest speech in Oscar history, saying simply, “It’s my privilege. Thank you,” before leaving the stage. (Coincidentally, or perhaps as an homage, Tommy DeVito is also the actual name of Pesci’s old acquaintance from Belleville, NJ—the real-life Four Seasons band founder Tommy DeVito, noted below).
Jersey Boys will entertain you, it was put in the hands of a master craftsman, Clint Eastwood, and despite its flaws, it gets enough of the story right.
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COMMUNITY MEDIA MEDFORD
Edited and Published by Joe Viglione
P.O. Box 2392
Woburn, MA 01888
write: JoeViglione {@} yahoo.com
All content Copyright (C)2014 Joe Viglione All Rights Reserved. No unauthorized use permitted; no use of any content without WRITTEN permission.
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Joe Viglione started publishing at the age of 15 with his Varulven, a science-fiction film review magazine. The Ilona Massey interview conducted by one of his reporters (now a lifelong friend) is of great value to horror movie buffs, quoted in the book It’s Alive and referenced on the DVD Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein. Varulven evolved into a record label which has had interactions with Motown Records, New Rose/RCA, New Rose/Musidisc, Sony Music (the band Spirit’s Time Circle) and an exclusive partnership with legendary Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller. In 2008 he completed filming the first and so far only documentary on a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame artist, a founding member of the Jefferson Airplane, the 2/12 hour movie out in worldwide release.
Viglione was quoted in the Boston Globe and New York Times in June of 2014, is published in many music books and quoted in many more. He recently completed the editing of the fourth novel by a respected local author and is currently completing the boxed set for a Grammy-award winning recording artist.
As of 12:23 AM on June 27, 2014, there are 2,292 of his music reviews on eBay
More information can be found on http://joeviglione.com
On, and he’s also a Rock & Roll singer with four albums out in Europe and over a thousand concerts under his belt, almost as many concerts as speeches at the Medford City Council
There’s Nothing Like A Hit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pYe27dUVjY
MUSIC REVIEW MIKEY WAX
Mikey Wax’s eponymous sixth CD (by my estimate, from Wikipedia and mikeywax.com ) is the work of a seasoned writer/vocalist/keyboardist, issuing a dozen perfectly crafted songs – both musically and lyrically – embellished by top notch production from Scott Cash and Ed Cash. With all the music invading my P.O. box this particular disc has remained in the players at home and in the car for a good week now, which is an indicator of its potential staying power. The effervescent production and performance on the opener, “You Lift Me Up” – pave the way for an in the pocket collection of memorable pop songs, all unique with a separate personality to each. Cher could easily duet with Mikey on “You Lift Me Up,” a throwback to her 1998 “Believe” phase that saturated the dance clubs, superb guitars closing it out at around the 3:20 mark. Things shift immediately sound-wise, from the dance hall of the opener to 70s-friendly pop radio on “Bottle Of Jack.” This is quite an amazing moment on the disc and worthy of attention. Everything about it gets five stars, from his superb voice on the chorus to the distinctive words. It is most clever lyrically as well as in its musical design. Very, very nice. In a perfect world it’s a big hit. “Only One,” written by Mikey and Jonny Wax, is powerfully direct in its delivery. Wax’s definite vocal has punctuation marks from the producers as found in The Supremes’ “Reflections” and “Love Child” (not comparing the songs, just noting the solid production.) It reminds this reviewer of the days of Paul Young – the voice of the early Paul Young recording in the new millennium, that is. Scott and Ed Cash’s production is as dynamic as anything on Top 40 in the days of yore and its crisp voicing of each instrument complementing, not overpowering the singer, is a plus. These compositions, all drenched in heavy romantic themes, offer something different musically cut after cut. The aim is definitely the market James Blunt conquered and with the strong hooks from “Hang On” to “Alive in New York City” and throughout, this new disc from Mikey has a very good chance of reaching that wider audience. “Baby Don’t You Let Me Down” engages a bit of country pop, back when Olivia Newton John, Anne Murray and Kenny Rogers ruled the airwaves while “Let You Run” comes in with a driving groove and an accompaniment that resembles a modern-day “wall of sound,” a powerful ensemble that gets even bigger as it rolls on into “Alive in New York City.” His voice is terrific here – “Alive in NYC” written solely by Wax, the lingering guitar under the chorus adding textures to this key element of the dozen songs that comprise the CD, material that is chock full of romantic promise that every lover wants to hear.
The piano on “The Calm” is taken straight out of Elton John’s “Grey Seal” from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a trick Elton (lifting influences from here and there) employed most frequently. Wax even appears to sing “no, I ain’t no Elton John” in the final track, “Last Great Song,” unless it’s a Lady Mondegreen – misheard lyric, though malapropisms don’t appear to be part of the formula at play here. The tune is blanketed by a warm, lush production surrounding the singer’s attractive vocal with the huge chorus reaching a crescendo.
“Take Me Home” is another powerful melody that will stay in your head after you leave the car or wherever else you play CDs. It evokes the ardent emotional attachment found in Paul Davis’ classic hit, “Cool Night” where he beckons “come on over….” Following the concept up with “Walking on Air” is a smart segue, bringing into the new millennium the serious style that Davis, Stephen Bishop and Gino Vanelli added to Top 40. “Walking on Air” may be my favorite track here, tight and exciting production gives Wax the opportunity to deliver the spot-on vocal which shimmers with exuberance. An irresistible hook and excellent break that tugs you right back into the chorus.
“With the rooftop down/and the stars shining bright” gives the punch to what started out as Mikey Wax the balladeer on the opening to “Fall Back in Love.” It’s another song that seems to consciously be different structurally and melodically from all the other selections, though the theme remains undeniably romantic. For those of us who couldn’t stand the insufferable Rick Astley and/or Michael McDonald’s ‘swallow your tongue while singing” routine, this artist’s delivery entertains and adds to the music, never getting in the way. If only Mikey Wax was around back then to sing on what became annoying radio; annoying due to the lack of a sincere voice, where the sensitivity of a Richard Marx was needed. When Mikey wants to “take you on a date and start all over” you really believe him.
Of the twelve tracks only one breaks the four minute mark, the finale “Last Great Song.” Co-written by Scott; Ed Cash and Mikey Wax, the piano ballad is driving me crazy in trying to place the 70s male vocalist who set a similar mood. There’s a lot to absorb, and appreciate, on Mikey Wax the record, and it is hardly cliché to say there’s not a bad track here, because everything works together as a cohesive unit. It’s a bouquet of, as stated at the outset of this review, perfectly crafted pop music delivered with honesty and delivered in an entertaining and very appealing way.
Mikey Wax will appear on Visual Radio at 8 PM on Thursday, June 5, 2014 WinCAM – Winchester Community Television and at The Middle East nightclub 1 PM on Sunday afternoon June 8th.
Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com, Gatehouse Media, Al Aronowitz’s The Blacklisted Journal, and a variety of other media outlets. Joe also produces and hosts Visual Radio, a seventeen year old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed Jodie Foster, director/screenwriter David Koepp, Michael Moore, John Cena, comics/actors Margaret Cho, Gilbert Gottfried, Gallagher, musicians Mark Farner and Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad, Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals, political commentator Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.
CD Review – The Couper Brothers: Gold Dust – 29th Aniversery Deluxe Edition
by Joe Viglione on June 16, 2014
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2014/61878/cd-review-couper-brothers-gold-dust-29th-aniversery-deluxe-edition
The Couper Brothers / Gold Dust have renewed interest with their original Gold Dust vinyl going for megabucks on the web. Scott Couper and his brother Jay Couper are putting the finishing touches on their new CD – “Gold Dust – 29th Aniversery Deluxe Edition” which features their first critically acclaimed 1986 album “Gold Dust” in its entirety, bonus studio tracks, rare live tracks and a bonus DVD with live performances, rehearsals and other fun stuff.
Three of those bonus tracks not on the original release are “Fear of the Unknown,” “Try Again,” and “You’ve Got A Lot To Learn.” Here are reviews of those three “lost” songs re-mastered and ready to be unleashed upon the planet.
Fear of the Unknown
The Couper brothers, also known as Gold Dust, create simple songs with complex arrangements and straight-ahead themes. “Fear of the Unknown” is a different direction where the riff borders on Rush-like attitude with a Leslie West’s Mountain undercurrent on the drums, Jay Couper doing a couple of nice Corky Laing-ish runs. The two minutes and sixteen seconds don’t have keyboards of heavy production, as the duo has employed on some of its other material. This is no-nonsense in your face, snarling guitar taking the listener down a dark path, the rabbit hole that takes one to the world where the sentinels crawled through the Matrix. A nice song if the Wachowski brothers ever resurrect the series and do a Matrix IV.
Try Again
Guitarist Scott Couper is on vocals here on four minutes and two seconds of crunch rock. Scott uses the Richard Nolan lecture lyric (with, perhaps, some Nolan influence on the singing style) as the guitars build a framework, a rhythm buzzing while the lead notes blitz like red hot meteors showering down. Should help bring more attention to the earlier titles that were initially issued on the vinyl release.
You’ve Got a Lot To Learn
The three minutes and seven seconds of “You’ve Got A Lot To Learn” is about disagreement, circular guitars and a constant rhythm bolster the harmonies on this admonition not looking for a response. The intentional low-fi production from these two excellent musicians is what is back in vogue in 2014, so the timing is perfect as vinyl collectors to go wild on this classic material. Can’t wait to hear all the bonus stuff.
Scott Couper writes out the sheet music to their compositions, and the guys spend countless hours honing the material. Which is why there’s such a run on the first pressing making this impending reissue all the more exciting.
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IAN ANDERSON
CD Review: Ian Anderson – Homo Erraticus
by Joe Viglione on June 19, 2014
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2014/61953/cd-review-ian-anderson-homo-erraticus
Ian Anderson’s 3 part Homo Erraticus could easily be a Jethro Tull album, the vibes, the instrumentation and musical alliteration all displaying the “Tull” appeal.
The 22 page booklet on this release – from the high end KScope Music company – contains the written-word wisdom and wit we expect – that we crave – from Ian Anderson. He explains that it is as much an Ian Anderson disc as a new release from Tull, something this writer did not read until I composed the above opening paragraph noting that.
The musicians provide Anderson exactly what he needs to express himself. John O’Hara (keys including accordion) and bassist David Goodier http://jethrotull.com/musicians/ are from the 2007-2011 Tull; guitarist Florian Ophale along with drummer Scott Hammond and Ryan O’Donnell – performing on vocals, mime and “general stage tomfoolery” – form as formidable a crew as John Evan, Clive Bunker, Glen Cornick, Mick Abrahams and those others who came before.
With words/lyrics all allegedly by Gerald Bostock – based on the writings of Ernest T. Parritt (c.1927) – one can decide on their own if these aren’t all the concoctions of the playful Anderson. The jovial writing of Ian Tull are always compelling, so we asked Jethro Anderson in a Visual Radio interview about any thoughts of going on the lecture circuit; he said he would “leave that to Tony Blair” – the essay in the booklet as inviting as the music on the CD itself.
Pink Floyd had fun with the notion of a businessman thinking Pink Floyd was a person, an actual musician in the group, Lou Reed weeding out the non-believers with his Metal Machine Music onslaught, and other major artists playing practical jokes which become insider fun, is something not foreign to Tull. Ian Anderson keeps his followers on their toes with the invention of fictional characters and with a body of work as extensive as Tull’s / Anderson’s it makes for good copy, and some additional adventure along with the entertainment.
The story of lyricist Bostock finding the only surviving copy of Teddy Parritt’s book – “Homo Erraticus” (the St. Cleve Chronicles) puts this Anderson work into perspective. Here Tull is paying attention to the alleged unknown British colonel from “the very early 20th century” – perhaps as the 20th century rock group gave new literary life to the 1701 inventor of the seed drill.
Referring to the work as “Parritt’s frazzled fantasies” and endorsing his “songwriting partner” as a certified loon, lovely man and evangelical – gives new meaning to the question “IS Shakespeare in his character or is the character in Shakespeare?” Anderson/Mr. Tull blllllurrrrrrsss the line of history with the amusing digression.
Though the fan base may desire a new-fangled “Cross Eyed Mary” or “Hymn 43″ – this excursion, including track four, the 7 minute 11 second epic “”Puer Ferox Adventus” – is more styled toward Thick As A Brick (which this collection is the 2nd sequel to) than Stand Up. The flute, heavy organ and progressive sounds remain, it matters not who provides the accompaniment for Jethro. Opening track “Doggerland” reminds us of Star Trek: The Next Generation characters Data, Captain Jean Luc Picard and Whorf singing “A British Tar” from HMS Pinafore at the opening of the film Star Trek: Insurrection – performing the classics – no Portsmouth Sinfonia here.
As fond of the tongue-in-cheek music of I.A. as we are of his literary scribblings, it is the songs of the maestro which drew us in, and the performance of this Pied Piper that has kept us all intrigued by the progression of sound he continues to issue.
Track 6, “The Turnpike Inn,” has subtle nods to “Locomotive Breath” and those elements make it the more commercial of these short stories. The one minute and thirty three second “Per Errationes Ad Astra” features Anderson’s voice only and – had a similar vocal intervention been placed in between tracks – had every other selection had these meandering digressions leap-frogging over the music, Homo Erraticus could have enjoyed the additional notoriety that :the LP David Bowie narrates, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf , garnered, not that that is really necessary for the worldwide Tull fanatics; it’s just that it would have been a nice, extra special touch. What NASA spacecraft have to do with “loony” Colonel Parritt’s essays is anybody’s guess, but as stated, the narration is a big plus inside the 3-part drama.
Of course, for those of you who did want a variety of spoken word tracks like ” “Per Errationes Ad Astra” and feel that you have the need to hear additional Ian Anderson-speak, you can listen to this writer’s conversation with him here:
Hear Ian Anderson on VISUAL RADIO with Joe Vig and read my review of Bowie’s classic reading of Peter & The Wolf.
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http://www.tmrzoo.com/2013/43520/music-review-genya-ravan-cheesecake-girl
This biographical CD is a companion to Genya Ravan’s book, Lollipop Lounge, and it is a departure from her previous solo discs – Undercover(2011), For Fans Only(2002), And I Mean It(1979), Urban Desire (1978), Goldie Zelkowitz (1974), They Love Me, They Love Me Not (1973), and her CBS debut, Genya Ravan with Baby (1972), Ravan’s work after leaving Ten Wheel Drive.
In commanding form the singer/songwriter goes through her career in music and words, her relentless band at the top of their game as Ravan covers Lou Reed’s classic “Coney Island Baby” giving his semi-autobiographical underground pop masterpiece not only a female perspective but a Genya Ravan perspective and, of course, gives nods to the Yardbirds and her days in the original all-female rock band, Goldie & The Gingerbreads. This was the time before Fanny and The Runaways …Goldie/Genya paved the way with her brash and sometimes audacious style…interesting that she’s referenced in the original Clive Davis book – 1975’s CLIVE: Inside The Record Business (Clive Davis, with James Willwerth), but conspicuous in her absence in the 2013 Clive Davis: The Soundtrack to My Life, which the LA Times says “is more about music stars than music business.”
When Billboard Books originally released Lollipop Lounge they also shipped the two 20th Century Fox LPs in their CD form thanks to UMG’s Hip-0 Select. That stroke of genius was constructed by yours truly and I will take the credit, as I will in this full disclosure for flying Genya to Warren Rhode Island in 1986 to sing with Buddy Guy and the late Jimmy Miller on the Buddy Guy sessions (and treat of all treats, with Buddy and Jimmy in some Rhode Island nightclub that evening. Wish we had it on videotape…what a stunning performance!). That’s where “Do You Know What I Mean” came from, the re-make of the Lee Michaels tune we had planned for Buddy’s album (the one before his Grammy-winning Damn Right I Got the Blues). You can see the review of Genya’s solo rendition of “Do You Know What I Mean” here on TMR Zoo, the initial single from this new disc released prior to the full album.
Typically Genya embraces a song and gives it her own thumbprint, as do all the greats, from Etta James to Billie Holiday, but Cheesecake Girl differs in that Ravan takes on the role of storyteller – not reading the book over instrumentals but constructing new melodies and new words that are a companion to her autobiography, a re-telling more than reciting.
The band doesn’t skip a beat, in fact, they stretch out more than they might be able to in the confines of a pop song. Ravan has always been, at her core, a pop artist…from her first hit, “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat” (the British release reportedly came before Herman’s Hermits conquered America with it; both artists working out of the same artist, Genya with Jimi Hendrix’s manager, Michael Jeffrey, while producer Mickey Most worked with Peter Noone and Herman’s Hermits.)
So for the loyal Genya Ravan crowd, don’t expect the mind-blowing primal screams on the Vanilla Fudge classic “Take Me For A Little While” from For Fans Only, or the FM classic “Junkman” where Ravan duets with Ian Hunter…this is not that kind of record. It is yet another pioneering deviation, descending into the world of deviates, junkies, artists and creatures stranger than those found in the “wretched hive of scum and villainy” that is the Chalmun’s Cantina at the Mos Eisley Spaceport in the original Star Wars. That pirate city had nothing on the places that Genya Ravan has travelled…surviving those travels and living to tell about it here in Cheesecake Girl. Enter at your own peril.
Clive Davis may have forgotten this fantastic talent in his new book, but through our writings on TMR Zoo and the many reviews on Rovi/AllMusic.com we hope to keep the magic Genya Ravan makes alive and in the public eye.
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FALSE BOMB THREAT CASE WAS DISMISSED
WE HEAR THAT THE OFFICE OF THE D.A. IS APPEALING THAT DISMISSAL. YOU WILL GET THE INFORMATION HERE FIRST!
District Attorney’s Office Should Appeal Zappelli Dismissal
Amanda J Rowan
Assistant District Attorney
c/o D A Marian T Ryan
Office of the Middlesex District Attorney
15 Commonwealth Avenue
Woburn, MA 01801
http://middlesexda.com/about/meet-the-DA.php
Dear Marian T. Ryan and ADA Amanda Rowan:
There was always the suspicion that Issuing Authority, Michael J. McGlynn, with his powerful connections across the Commonwealth, and with his good friend Gary Zappelli on trial for “causing serious public alarm” and a “false bomb threat,” – there was always the chance that Zappelli would walk between the raindrops.
Your office can and should re-file the charges. As the judges are changing a new judge, a woman, can view the long-time threat posed to public safety and accept newly filed charges.
Medford Community Cablevision, Inc.’s Gary Zappelli was arrested on September 4, 2013 under a charge of a false bomb threat. A Grand Jury indicted Zappelli, a close friend of Mayor Michael J. McGlynn’s of Medford.
Zappelli had a very good lawyer, which we noted in one of our original articles, paid for by the citizens of the Commonwealth. Zappelli told the judge he is on “food stamps” and asked to be labeled “indigent.” For years we had to hear how “successful” Zappelli was as a businessman, only to find out the public subsidized his alleged “G Spot” episode of Zapp TV (where a special needs person was abused,) the lewd and lascivious attack on a female ex-marine by a woman on Zapp TV, and the “video services” Zappelli charged politicians allegedly while he was on the board of directors, allegedly in violation of the Internal Revenue Code prohibiting such alleged mischief.
We fully expected this case to be “dismissed” which is why we monitored it so closely. Now we are demanding the Medford Police Department and the Office of the District Attorney do the right thing.
It is time to re-file the charges and let the new judge have an opportunity to view the case with fresh eyes.
Will Zappelli turn a new leaf and start behaving? Or will he feel empowered to engage in his wrongful conduct again? Know this – the Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. scandal is still looming out there, and Zappelli was so entrenched in that nonsense that it could come back to bite him. Was the arrest and the grand jury indictment a good lesson that put a scare into Gary Zappelli? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure – Gary Zappelli and Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. board members and staff members are on the radar of the authorities. That’s a good thing. They have 16 days before they are out of compliance, and are “technically” out of compliance as of this writing, according to the Attorney General’s office. Frank Pilleri promised City Hall to “dissolve quickly.” Waiting until the end of the fiscal year is hardly a “quick” dissolution. It’s another untruth, another piece of “self-crafted fiction” from Pilleri handed to the cable tv subscribers. Stay tuned to the City Council meetings for updates on all this.
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August 15, 2014 False Bomb Threat Trial Scheduled
Back in September the Medford Patch had the World Exclusive on the arrest of the webmaster for Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. After that individual’s arrest and arraignment on or about September 4, 2013 in Somerville District Court, he was indicted by a grand jury and the trial was moved to Woburn Superior Court.
Medford Patch is the first publication with the information on the upcoming trial of a Medford public figure. Being on the board of directors of a non-profit and webmaster for the station could be construed by the courts as a person being a “limited public figure”.
TRIAL BY JURY
9 AM August 15, 2014
Case MICR 2013-01473
Alleged violation of law C269S14(c) causing public alarm
False Bomb Threat
1/07 Pre trial 9 am
2/27/14 Hearing for a Motion to Dismiss filing 2 PM
3/13/14 Non Evidentiary 2 PM
4/6/14 Hearing Pretrial 2 PM
5/3/14 DISCOVER motion 2 PM
5/28/14 Evidentiary Suppression Hearing 2 PM
6/11/14 Evidentiary Suppression Hearing 2 PM
7/24/14 Pretrial Conference 2 PM
8/15/14 Trial By Jury the People vs. Gary Zappelli 9 AM
We will be asking the court to be able to videotape the event on a former board member of Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. for the new access TV station in Medford.
The secrecy at MCC TV3 went on for too long while being funded by the public. The public has a right to know all the facts in this case.
We also intend to videotape the dissolution of MCC TV3. It is an historic moment in Medford Public Access TV and it needs to be available in the Medford Library as well as on Made In Medford.com
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GREEDY New Bedford City Councilors Keep Their OUTRAGEOUS Pay Hike!
On Tuesday night this Medford resident will be speaking on my petition to have the Medford City Council rescind its outrageous vote for a pay hike. I’m also planning to give an outline for an expedited roll-out of a new Channel 3.
#14-298 a motion by a councilor on TV3 14-300-
Petition by Joseph Viglione, Medford, MA to address the Council on pay raises.
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Last night the New Bedford City Council behaved as expected…badly.
Check this out to see greed at work:
NEW BEDFORD — The City Council voted 9-2 Thursday night to kill a motion that would have been a step toward rescinding a 44 percent pay raise the council voted itself in 2012.
The councilors voted not to send the motion to the Finance Committee, effectively leaving it dead on arrival.
– See more at: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140314/NEWS/403140318#sthash.HKGta9rq.dp…
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JV Point #1. ON March 4th, when it was noted e to the Council that the Mayor does not need a pay raise, one of the councilors had the audacity to say “You don’t know that.”
Do NOT insult the intelligence of the people footing the bill. Unlike Paul Camuso’s good pal, not every resident is on food stamps, SSI and filing papers that he’s indigent for an attorney, as with Mike McGlynn’s good friend arrested and indicted by a grand jury for a false bomb threat. Mike McGlynn praised that individual during a taxpayer-funded school committee meeting. Shame on Mike.
The rest of us either pay rent or own homes in Medford, and that funds the city council’s ridiculously high paycheck.
At $3700 PLUS per council meeting and having NO MEETING for 3 inches of snow, it is an absolute travesty when a paltry number of voters put in four individuals who put their own lust for cash ahead of the needs of this community.
Let’s be more specific. Didn’t PauL Camuso say in 2011 that he wanted his pay raise to “give it to charity.” Hey, Mr. Camuso, charity starts at home: give the money BACK to the people struggling in this economy because, unlike your good friend that was on a non-profit board and violated the Internal Revenue Code to put YOU, Paul Camuso, on TV on a Friday night while harassing everyone else, unlike your pal, Mr. Camuso, some people have never taken food stamps or a free lawyer.
Those of us who are footing the bill have a First Amendment right to complain. The Food Stamp/Free Lawyer fellow, Paul Camuso’s friend, liked to talk a good game, but lacked the integrity to back it up.
LET’s GO BACK TO NEW BEDFORD AND SEE WHAT HAPPENED:
The meeting was tense at times after Ward 4 Councilor Dana Rebeiro and Councilor-at-large Naomi Carney proposed rescinding the raise — something Rebeiro had vowed to do during her 2013 campaign. She and Carney were the only ones voting to send it to committee.
Rebeiro said in introducing the motion that New Bedford has “one of the highest if not the highest unemployment rates in the entire state” at 11 percent. She said the councilors work hard and she did not necessarily disagree with a pay raise, but that the raise should be “based more equitably” on how long the councilors have been there.
Councilor-at-large Brian Gomes spoke passionately against the motion and said the pay raise was a non-issue, and that the motion “doesn’t belong on the agenda.”
– See more at: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140314/NEWS/403140318#sthash.HKGta9rq.dp…
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It is called BLOOD FROM A STONE.
The citizens of Medford work hard for every dollar. Yes, some of the potholes on Garfield Ave have finally been filled, but does every citizen with the Grand Canyon in front of their home have to come up to this city council to get the job done?
A Pay Raise? Yet the council will sometimes pass the buck to the Mayor when it comes to things the council doesn’t want to handle, like access TV.
They pass the buck to the Mayor, and in return, the Mayor wants them to pass lots of bucks to the Mayor.
If you love handing your hard-earned money over to City Hall so that Rick Caraviello and Adam Knight allegedly make their council job a huge part of their income rather than serving the public without wanting money in return, then don’t read the rest of this. If you think Freddy Dello Russo’s hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in the private sector (what does that dude make? Half a million dollars on people’s grief?) along with Paul Camuso’s 70K at the Sheriff’s office deserve another 30K of our hard-earned cash, well, you must be made out of money.
Just give it away.
Perhaps Mark Crowley, Jeanne Martin, Neil Osborne and Bob Fitzpatrick should join the city council and replace Camuso, Dello Russo, McGknight-0 and Caraviello, because if your name ends in “o” you are Santa Claus for Michael J. McGlynn handing him a nice fat pay raise that he absolutely doesn’t need, money from the citizens that the citizens DO need.
Blood from a stone. Watch the board member of TV3 who is on SSI (the regular Patch comment troublemaker) complain about this under his aliases. He can afford to, because he’s on SSI and decided to be a “write-in candidate” for Mayor. Why not? The Mayor’s on SSI as well, Selfish, Sick, Ignominy. That’s what McGlynn’s fraudulent pay raise is.
His own personal SSI granted by the fat cat City Councilors.
Citizens need to storm the castle and demand the Councilors rescind the Pay Raise.
Each councilor should get $15,000.00
Mayor McGlynn $75,000.00
That would show honesty and integrity.
Hey, Paul Camuso? You still going to give your “raise” to charity? Or was that just a line?
Rescind the Pay Raise. Show up at City Hall and tell the council they did a very bad thing in calling it a “rule of necessity” to pay themselves more of our money without any oversight whatsoever.
Watch the rock throwing begin because – once again – this writer is putting a spotlight on city officials who should know better. Or is it “NO” better?
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BETTER CALL IN THE MARINES TO PROTECT ME FROM CITY COUNCIL FAUX PRESIDENT PAUL A CAMUSO ON JULY 15 WHEN I DEMAND THE COUNCIL REFUND ITS OBSCENE PAY RAISE
Photo of U.S. Marine recruits doing push-ups. Public domain photo by Charlie Chavez.
RE: The Paul Camuso Agenda vs the U.S. Marines
Better call in the marines. Some good-looking ones!
While Medford residents want some relief from the extreme paycheck councilors Camuso, Caraviello, Knight and Dello Russo handed themselves and the Mayor, anyone going up to the council to debate Camuso on his crooked and underhanded “rule of necessity” to steal your money without your consent, will get attacked online by untrustworthy individuals who use aliases, two of those individuals former board members of two separate access TV stations.
Wjy the word untrustworthy? You see, it is the job of a board member of an access station to facilitate free speech for others. One reprehensible individual from Malden thinks Free Speech is for herself and no one else, much like the board members of the now defunct and disgraced TV3 Medford.
Why they aren’t out doing charity work at the dog pound or helping the elderly is obvious. They are sadly lacking in compassion.
Now on to Paul A. Camuso. A few years ago when a friend of mine was dying of Alzheimer’s, Paul Camuso referenced me as having the same mental capacity as my friend that was dying. It was said at the City Council prior to the cameras going on and it was the flower of Camuso’s abuse. You’ve seen him attack Dr. Storella and Rob Cappucci in similar fashion, so I’m not the only victim of the Camuso bullying. With a recent, June 23, 2014 ruling by a judge in New Mexico about free speech at Council meetings, well, we have a tool to fight the “mental moron” with. And “mental moron” is what Camuso called himself at a council meeting, so don’t get mad at the messenger for quoting the politician.
That one of my dearest aunties passed away from the same affliction (God love her. A terrifying story happened when she was in her 90s she was missing; they found her at Sullivan Station looking for her mother; you want to know heartbreak? It’s having a family member missing like the Reverse 911 Medford got yesterday. And for a Councilor to paint me with that broad brush knowing my friend was suffering from it is all you need to know about Paul A. Cmauso). This is, of course, lost on Mr. Camuso. I loved that woman and would visit her on Winter Hill often back in the 1970s and 1980s. To have a City Councilor, who is supposed to be held to a higher standard, abuse elder people AND reference a citizen in the same fashion as he abuses elders – painting the individual Camuso wanted to bully, in this case me, as a person with Alzheimer’s, well, it is beyond disgraceful.
That’s why Paul Camuso had to engage in a very suspicious “rule of necessity” for something that was not necessary. Granting himself more money that he doesn’t deserve.
Go back and watch the tape where Camuso accuses me of going after a family member of his at the council. It never happened. Camuso took what was written in a letter and started pounding his fist and making a spectacle when, had he kept it private, no one except for the council would have known how I worded a fumble Camuso made and how it reflected on his family.
I never said it at the podium. It was said privately to the council, but Mr. Camuso had to use a family member on microphone, on television, to put me down. That’s what you have as a council president.
In October of 2006 Camuso left the City Council to chase after me DURING a council meeting while I was going to my car. Think about it. At $3700.00 a council meeting Camuso wants to say things, like a bully, off camera so the public can’t hear it.
He’s a sneaky, deceptive and cruel person, and he is now the City Council President of Medford.
Why is he Council president? Because last year Robert A. Maiocco seemed to have forgotten to tell his fellow councilors, and the public, about a 1.8 million dollar complaint (along with others) filed on him at Wells Fargo or his other companies prior to Wells Fargo in his day job as a financial adviser. Kind of important for the public to know when someone is handling millions of dollars in city monies as Council President, don’t you think?
When I filed a public records request on Camuso he retaliated and came at me behind City Hall one night. Cmauso, your Council president, went flying through the DO NOT ENTER sign pointing at me and blasting his horn. This was in 2013, seven years after he came running down the hall after me in 2006. That’s a long time for a citizen to have to wonder if he’s going to be assaulted by a younger man who weighs more than me and is probably stronger than me.
Citizens have thanked me for my efforts to shine a light on politics in Medford. I appreciate them.
We will continue to fight for our rights to get the streets paved and the crosswalks painted. Our work to help Medford is just that. Volunteerism.
Paul Camuso is just a petty, ignorant person in a position of power by riding on a long-time incumbent’s coattails. He and the unbalanced, psychotic Malden woman who attacks everyone and anyone on the Medford Patch do have something in common – low self-image.
This city has a lot of needs. They throw slings and arrows and scare many Medford residents.
Some of us aren’t afraid. We will continue to fight the good fight to improve Medford. To make Medford attractive. That’s our mission
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EMBATTLED MEDFORD PATCH APPEARS TO BE LOSING READERS AND STORIES
They are going to need a bit more than some thread to fix the Medford Patch after a Malden woman took a wrecking ball to it and the editors abandoned proper moderation of the site for months.
When the Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. fractured board of directors fell apart on or about September 30, 2013, absolutely getting hammered at the City Council of Medford week after week after week, an initiative launched by the editor of this news magazine on or about May 21, 2013, the last remnants of the disgraced private access station migrated its invective to the online site Medford Patch, whose parent company, AOL, was having a myriad of problems to begin with. In a phone conversation with editor Danielle Masterson, whose dog was barking at a serious volume while we were having an important discussion, the regional editor said she has “900 Patch sites” to moderate. It’s important for readers, advertisers and the competition to know that while a woman claims she is moderating “900” Patch sites she is on the phone with the dog howling and all hell breaking loose on the Medford city site. The knee-jerk reaction of the editors, to delete good content, is hardly responsible.
Luke 3:17 King James Bible
Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
In a highly questionable move the Medford Patch allowed the individual who did the most damage to post mocking comments on a site publicizing the Charter Review meeting, to the point where the organizer felt it prudent to take the entire site down. Then, the agitator who was attempting to thwart the citizen initiative found the post missing, she started complaining on the Patch that the Open Meeting was not Open because she realized that she would not be allowed in to the Open Meeting. One can’t yell “Fire” in a movie theater and then expect to be allowed to stay for the rest of the movie. That the Patch editors left the troubled individual to rant on the Medford Patch with little or no response is actually quite telling. Will the editorial board of Patch apologize to the victims of that Malden individual who took a wrecking ball to yet another community media site? We’ll keep you updated on this developing story. 11:49 PM 6/26/14.
You can read more about the gruesome story on a delusional blog site that is styled after the National Enquirer for the city of Medford Massachusetts …the popular – and humorously “infamous” (being facetious there) – oh, neveryoumind…. 🙂
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