Hi,

I’m scared.  It’s five o’clock and it’s totally dark here.  It’s pouring rain, the wind is gusting and the hail is coming down again and it’s larger than the last wave, it this the end of the world?

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the grounding of Exxon Valdez in 1989, Harry Houdini’s birth anniversary (1874) and being from Pittsburgh, we can’t forget Andrew Mellon’s birth anniversary (1855).  Today is the anniversary of the first attack with “Big Bertha” the German big gun that terrified the European countryside during the first World War (Laon, France, 1918).

Also, tomorrow is Burton Morris‘ birthday.  He’s that very cool Pittsburgh pop artist that got his big break on Friends, they had his art work hanging on their walls.  Visit Pittsburgh is giving him a birthday party at 5th Avenue Place Arcade Shops from 10 – 11:30 a.m. with cake.  If you get a chance, stop by and wish him happy b’day.

The Farm to Table Conference is at the David Lawrence Convention Center again this weekend.  Lots of local and sustainable ideas.  The hours are Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.  Isidore Foods , a local food supply company will be there as will my good friend Lisa Ferguson, from Fabled Table, she will be speaking on Cooking with Seasonal Foods.

With cigarette smoking decreasing, the Northwestern Pennsylvania company Zippo is looking for options.  From their high of 18 million lighters sold in mid 1990’s, Zippo’s 550 employees will produce about 12 million this year (still pretty impressive).  So they are looking to add new items to their logo’d offerings.  They are currently considering things like Zippo jeans, back packs, watches even cologne.  If I can make a suggestion to Zippo, the thing I love about them (besides being based here in Pennsylvania) is their lighters are made here.  I don’t know if they will have the skills to manufacture watches and cologne.  I wish them well, they’re one of the companies I keep my eye on like Mag-lite flash lights and Yuengling beer.

Any of my regulars may remember me talking about that dishonest plumbing company, Gillece back in January.  They got caught using the URL www.fagnelliplumbing.com and redirecting you to Gillece’s site (Fagnelli owns www.fagnelli.com, but not fagnelliplumbing.com).  Fagnelli sued Gillece to cease and desist from using their name and when I read the article, the law suit was still in the courts.  I was down my friend’s flower shop KS Kennedy and we we talking about it.  Kerry Googled it and the courts ruled in Fagnelli’s favor. The good and bad part is that scum bag Gillece had over 200 URL’s that implied another plumbing company and used these to re-direct to his site.  How can anyone ever trust them to do reputable work when they pull stunts like this?  I sent them an e-mail to that effect back then and of course they never replied.  The judge ruled that Gillece had to surrender all URL’s that weren’t directly related to him.  The courts do work well sometimes.  (Actually, even when I disagree with the courts, I generally hold them in pretty high esteem.)

Have a great evening,

ed