508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panelist is Brendan Melican.
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There was a big rally for (now-Senator) Brown at Mechanics Hall; the City’s considering banning plastic bags, though Mike has long advocated non-governmental action on this issue.
Vegetarian Renaissance: vegan mac’n’cheese cookoff coming up; veg fest coming up; creative Dunkin Donuts event. (Non-veg: Dr. Gonzo may have a roadkill barbeque.)
There are fancifully-dressed tax services advertisers on the sidewalks. Chain bar McFadden’s has closed.
Belmont Street Community School was massively vandalized. There was a Haiti fundraiser.
Mike talks about cargo cults. “Do different dumb things, Worcester. Do different dumb things.”
We’re planning something special for episode #100. Please share your ideas.
Man, I’d never heard of McFadden’s before… it appears that there are only two west of the Mississippi, one in Vegas and one in Glendale, AZ. I read an article a while back in which they described how a large number of supposedly authentic, independent “Irish pubs” one finds around the country are actually franchisees of some company that just customizes things a little bit in each place. I’ve been to several of these places (Cincinnati, San Diego, Long Beach, and Scottsdale) and I kind of liked the food, but it does seem a little weird that all the authenticity is faked.
There was a TV show a couple months ago called “Meet the Natives” about cargo cultists visiting England and then later visiting America. It was maybe 2 parts fascinating cross-cultural study to 1 part patronizing orientalism. The first group was fulfilling some sort of Prince Phillip cargo cultism (i.e., the Queen’s husband), and the second group worshiped (not quite sure if that’s the right word) “Tom Navy,” a U.S. navy man.
Good point about groups or cities having a cargo cult mentality.