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A Dream Within A Dream
Friday, October 31, 2008 10:30AM
Improbably, Edgar Allen Poe is the hottest man in Harrisburg this Halloween season. No complaints here; he was a genius. Few published authors ended their careers (granted, he “retired” young) with a higher batting average, and at least five of his short stories and two of his poems are completely iconic.
Still, he did die 159 years ago (and yes, the rabies story may well be true). Somehow, it hasn’t stopped him from appearing at not one, not two, but three events in Central Pennsylvania this fall.
On October 17, he partied with the guests of Fort Hunter at Under the Hunter's Moon: An Evening with Edgar Allen Poe, this weekend he will take tea and a nightcap with guests at the Hotel Hershey and he has a recurring role in Poe Evermore at Mount Hope Estate and Winery.
Fun events all, but I wonder how many people are still familiar with the work of a man who was one of this country's greatest writers. Since it's Halloween, what better day than today to get reacquainted or become acquainted for the first time? Here's this English major's brief Guide to Poe, complete with full-text links (isn't public domain great?). Happy reading: Full Article » -
This Weekend: Costume Creativity
Thursday, October 30, 2008 2:00PM
I don't really have a Halloween Costume per se, so when I saw a link to the National Retail Federation's list of the 10 most popular costumes this fall, I clicked. Here's the list: 10: Angel, 9: Ghost, 8: Obama or McCain, 7: Batman, 6: Nurse, 5: Fairy, 4: Cat, 3: Vampire, 2: Pirate, 1: Witch.
Really people? That's the best we could come up with? These are trying economic times and costumes are expensive. Let's be a bit more creative. Seriously, get a bunch of friends together, get t-shirts printed with a huge "J" on the front, and—voila!—you're J. Crew. Okay, that's awful, but please, please, please don't dress up as Joe the Plumber or Sarah Palin. You'll be one of 1,000,000. Anyway, no matter what your costume is (if you have good ideas you're not using, feel free to share), here are some places to wear it this weekend:
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Restaurant Round-Up: Hummelstown House, T. Brendan O’Reilly’s & Texas Roadhouse
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 1:30PM
I love introducing people to new things. I get a huge kick out of a friend digging a band he first heard through me or frequenting a restaurant or bar that I turned him or her on to. Well, Spotobe contributor Fran gets that pleasure this week. He went to the Hummelstown House for brunch on Sunday and was so impressed by it, that his description literally made me toss my Subway turkey sub in the trash in disgust. Read his description and tell me you don't feel the same way. Also this week on the Round-Up, Katie gets corned beef and cabbage (really?) at T. Brendan O'Reilly's and Lily enjoys a stuffed sweet potato and some line dancing at Texas Roadhouse. Comments? Full Article » -
Art & Illusion: Go!
Monday, October 27, 2008 11:13AMIt’s a funny thing about art; people always say they want to live in an area with world-class cultural offerings, but that doesn’t mean they want to go. They like to know that their city matters enough to house great art or a top-notch symphony, but they don’t really want to commit any time to it.
Believe me, I’m guiltier than most; I love art, and know I should do a better job supporting local fine arts institutions. With that in mind, I sincerely hope the Susquehanna Art Museum is getting a great turnout for Art and Illusion: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation. Trust me, if they aren’t, they should be. Full Article » -
Indie Film Fridays
Friday, October 24, 2008 2:56PM
If you are looking to chill out after the rather ludicrous afternoon those of us in the Harrisburg area have experienced (Bank Robbers! High Speed Chases! Bags of Money!), there’s a pretty low-key event at the Cleve J. Fredrickson Library in Camp Hill tonight. They have a weekly indie film series on Friday nights and tonight they are showing the critically acclaimed movie Lars and the Real Girl. Full Article » -
This Weekend: Feeling Halloweenish
Thursday, October 23, 2008 2:33PM
People love Halloween. When I was in college, I always thought that Halloween was way overrated. It was kind of like Saint Patties Day except it was cold and you had to spend money on a costume. I could go off on a philosophical bent about the implications of the escapism inherent in the concept of Halloween, but that would be boring and this is not the place. I should start a blog.
Anyway, no one thing—with the possible exception of fireworks—has monopolized Spotobe's calendar in its relatively short life like Halloween has recently. This weekend is full of Halloweenie stuff, but actually plenty of fake-bat-free things as well. Full Article » -
Restaurant Round-Up: Golden Gate 2, Bangkok 56 & Chili’s
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 1:00PM
I love Asian food, and the lack of a viable Asian lunch option in downtown Harrisburg is a source of constant annoyance. The Chinese place in Strawberry Square gets the job done, but I'm through with giving New 2nd Wok chances. This week in the Restaurant Round-Up, we cover two different types of Asian cuisine. Jason reports back after a trip to the new West Shore location of Vietnamese/Korean restaurant The Golden Gate and Evan gives us another opinion on one of my favorites, Korean joint Bangkok 56. Also, Jim writes about a trip to Chili's which isn't even vaguely Asian, but does serve southwestern Egg Rolls. As always, feedback, comments, you know the drill. Full Article » -
Danny Cepero Makes History
Monday, October 20, 2008 4:41PMI'm not normally one for posting video clips, but someone that spent the summer in Harrisburg just made sports history. Danny Cepero, who tended the net for the City Islanders this summer, became the first goaltender to score a goal in an MLS game last weekend playing for the New York Red Bulls. Oh, it was his MLS debut.
Wow. Full Article » -
Your Opinion Counts (We’re Not Just Saying That)
Monday, October 20, 2008 1:47PMAs you may have noticed, Spotobe has added a feedback tab to every page on the site (except for the blog. If you need to leave feedback here, that's what the comment section is for). If you hadn't noticed, head to another section of the site and look left. We are constantly trying to make the site a better resource for all Central Pennsylvanians, and we honestly want your input. If there is a feature that you think would be helpful or a tweak that you would like to see made, please take the time to let us know.
To further clarify the point of this tab, I've graciously provided some examples of good and bad feedback: Full Article » -
Getting Smashed
Friday, October 17, 2008 2:29PM
Friday morning. Old computer that we were about to throw out. Heavy machinery... Completely awesome. Full Article » -
This Weekend: Columbus Day Doesn’t Count
Thursday, October 16, 2008 1:11PM
I feel like we're about due for a holiday. Doesn't it seem like we haven't had a weekday off in a long, long time? I know some of you got off for Columbus Day just this week, but if you did, you probably work in government at some level. If that's the case, you're not hard-up for days off anyway. What? Don't even try to tell me it isn't true.
I was thinking about this because, growing up, my father—a teacher in the Northern York School District—always had off on the Friday of Dillsburg Farmer's Fair which is this weekend. Lame. My fiancé went to high school around York, and they always got York Fair Friday off too. Why can't we have something like that in Harrisburg? C'mon people, lets get together and come up with some event that will get us a day off. Any suggestions? Full Article » -
Restaurant Round-Up: Bube’s Brewery, Hershey Grill and Texas Roadhouse
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 9:11AM
In this edition of our Tuesday feature, we review a favorite brunch spot, a biergarten and a popular chain. For the most part, everyone was satisfied with their meals this past week, it seems. If you have been to any of these spots, be sure to add your review and commentary in the comments section. We love to hear from you! Full Article » -
Pumpkin Pi
Monday, October 13, 2008 3:13PM
For those of you who asked me how to find the volume of a cylinder this weekend, now I don't mind telling you that the formula is V=π r^2 h. Lot of good it does you now, right? Spotobe had great weather and a great time at the Pennsboro Pumpkin Fest, and we are so grateful to everyone who came out and kept us company throughout the two days. The guessing contest seemed to be a hit, and we got well over 1,000 entries. We're in the process of figuring out just how many balls were really inside Perry the Pumpkin, and I promise we'll let you know soon. I can assure you that it is somewhere between our high guess of 50,023,000 and our low guess of 68. Full Article » -
This Weekend: Smashing Pumpkins
Thursday, October 9, 2008 12:53PM
For me, this weekend is all about pumpkins. Hopefully you know by now that Spotobe will be at the Pennsboro Pumpkin Fest all weekend, and hopefully you are all planning to stop by and say hello. Putting together the contest has been fun, but last night I didn't even realize how absurd I looked pushing a shopping cart of 13 pumpkins around Giant until I noticed all of the funny looks that I was getting. I think I need a little bit of a break from pumpkins. Full Article » -
It’s Long Overdue But Now Philly is Slammin’
Wednesday, October 8, 2008 10:51AM
After years of phutility, the Phillies open play in the National League Championship Series on Thursday. As a huge fan, I'm thrilled. I'm also a nervous wreck. Whether you are a fan of the Phillies or not, their victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series has earned all Pennsylvania music lovers an hour of airtime on RadioMilwaukee this evening at 6:00pm.
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Restaurant Round-Up: Visaggio’s, Miyako Sushi & Houlihan’s
Tuesday, October 7, 2008 12:25PM
There are certain times that you really need a restaurant to step up, none more than when you're going out to eat for a special occasion. Like it or not, even the most carefully planned evening can be derailed by an expensive dinner that fails to meet expectations. Last weekend, Restaurant Round-Up contributor Winton celebrated his 5-Year Anniversary with his girlfriend, Ann, at Visaggio's (congrats, guys!), and happily, they had a fantastic meal. Visaggio's website features glowing recommendations from the pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer and from George Will, so it's not a surprise that the meal was good. I mean, if George Will says so...
This week, in addition to Winton's report on Visaggio's, Fran gives the pros and cons of Miyako Sushi and Dave talks about his favorite chain restaurant, Houlihan's. As always, let us know what you think in the comments section. Full Article » -
Where Do You Vote?
Monday, October 6, 2008 1:36PMYesterday was the deadline to register to vote if you planned on doing so in the upcoming Presidential Election. That's right, believe it or not, there's an election coming up. You might have heard something about it.
If you didn't get registered in time, that's okay, you'll be part of the vast majority of American's who don't vote. If one of the many roving volunteers did convince you though, you might not be sure where your new polling place is. I just moved, and I had no idea where I needed to go to cast my ballot on Nov. 4, but I found this page on the Department of State's Website that pointed me in the right direction. The form is a little bit balky, but all you have to do is type in your address and it will tell you where to go.
Also, if you just can't get enough politics, we have some election-related events coming up on the calendar. I've listed them after the jump. Full Article » -
Found on Craigslist Harrisburg
Friday, October 3, 2008 12:58PM
If you've never experienced the wonder of Craigslist, you are seriously missing out. I assume that by now most people have at least heard of the world's largest collection of community classifieds (say that three times fast), but I'm not sure how many people in Central Pennyslvania even know that Harrisburg has a site. It actually launched in June of 2005, so it's not like it's a new phenomenon, but it doesn't seem to have caught on in Harrisburg like it has in other places I am familiar with.
We were talking about it in the office this afternoon, because Dori recently found both a childcare solution and a bedroom set for her son on the List. Pretty cool. When I was looking for apartments, I also found a bunch of leads there. In addition to having tons of valuable information, Craigslist also has some absurd, creepy and downright filthy stuff. Their "best-of-craigslist" section has become legendary, so while I was surfing around today, I decided to collect some of the, er, more interesting posts from the Harrisburg area (completely dirty ones aside) below. I have not edited any of these at all, so for the sake of my credibility, I'd like to put a preemptive [sic] out there for the rest of this post. Full Article » -
This Weekend: Thinking of Winter
Thursday, October 2, 2008 11:13AM
Ever noticed that some bands just sound better in the summer than they do in the winter? I'd say most jam bands fall into this category. Also Tom Petty. Listening to American Girl or Running Down a Dream just isn't as fun if you aren't driving down the highway with all four windows in the car the whole way down.
This isn't only true of summer. There are certain acts that just sound better when it's cold outside. Two of them, Missy Higgins and Joshua Radin will be playing a show at the Whitaker Center on Saturday night. Maybe not everybody thinks this way. Does anyone else get the urge to listen to Keane every time it rains? Anyway, the pair is coming to town at the perfect time, because walking across the Walnut Street Bridge this morning would have been much more comfortable if I had been wearing a jacket. Full Article »
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