Hot In Hartford: Segarra v. Terzi

The second match up of the first round of "Hot In Hartford" features legendary and ageless news anchor Al Terzi pitted against Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra.

While Terzi has been on the Hartford scene seemingly forever, the Mayor only recently become a higher profile figure when he ascended to the Mayor's Office after the Eddie Perez scandal.

Party With Sad City and HPSU Saturday

When it comes to Hartford and partying the conversation has to start with the Hartford Party Starters Union. These guys always have something going on in town. This Saturday the HPSU boys are bringing the party to the Arch Street Tavern on 85 Arch St with Samo Sound Boy headlining the show.

Show is from 9PM to 2AM. We always have a good time partying with these guys so come down and check it out. To learn more about Samo, check out the HPSU blog here.

"Hot In Hartford'" McEnroe v. McCauley

The first round of voting in the "Hot In Hartford" contest is now open. Our first match up pits two local stars and Sad City friends whose last names have the always confusing "capital letter-lowercase letter-capital letter" thing going on.

Introducing Who Is "Hot In Hartford?"

Sad City would like to introduce the first ever  "Hot In Hartford" poll. We have selected 16 of the most visible Hartford personalities and the winner will be selected from the readers vote. The candidates will match up bracket style with the winners advancing until only one is left standing. The winner will gain automatic entry into our upcoming Hartford's All-Time Most Famous resident tournament. We will start the voting with our first battle later this week, first let's meet the contenders.

Also don't forget to vote Sad City Hartford for Best Local Blog, Best Twitterer and Best Hyperlocal News Site in The Hartford Advocate's 2011 Best Of Poll

Reminder: Heaven in Hartford Dinner and Show

A reminder that tomorrow is the Pasta Dinner and Bluegrass show to raise funds for the skatepark in Hartford. Awesome food will be courtesy of soup and noodle artist Brendan Mahoney, as well as Food Not Bombs.

SKATEPARK PASTA DINNER & BLUEGRASS CONCERT

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2011, 6:00 PM

CHARTER OAK CULTURAL CENTER

21 Charter Oak Ave, Hartford CT

www.heaveninhartford.org

Suggested donation is $15

Just Be Glad You Don't Live in Brooklyn

A friend of ours living in Brooklyn knows how much we here at Sad City Hartford love disagreements related to civic issues. With that in mind, our friend forwarded us an amusing exchange from the Boerum Hill listserv. For those who are unfamiliar with listservs, they are a god awful 1990s technology that serve as a bastion of ultra-self-righteousness.

The battle between bikes and cars has since the invention of the automobile. In fact, the first recorded dispute between a motorist and bicyclists was in 1901, when Henry Ford cut off the Wright Brothers, who were riding a bicycle-built-for-two.

Park River Legend Grows

Much has been written here about the Park River and Sad City's various attempts to urban kayak the length of Hartford's lost river. Still nothing could have prepared us for what Mark Spencer reported today in the Hartford Courant;

Brian Morelli was standing on a ridge above the narrow river, about 75 yards below, when he heard a loud splash. He turned and saw a foot-high wave roll across water. But what happened next left him staring in a trance.


"This big seal came out of the water with a fish and proceeded to eat it," he said.

Hakaan and Craig The Porn Star Discuss Hartford Athletes

Hakaan spoke with Craig The Porn Star on WCCC about Hartford's athletic heroes. The discussion hit on former Whalers, University of Hartford Hawks, and Weaver Beavers. We learned about potential Hall of Famers, too much drinking, and a notorious run in with an undercover officer. The full audio after the jump.

The Best Bathroom Sign Ever

Vegas Blvd is a very cool bar on Sisson Ave. While lacking in swanky amenities, Vegas is a great place to get a value priced beer and shoot some pool. You might see some novel pacts performing like the night we saw a one man band that even included a harmonica. Occasionally they will run a little short on beer supply and you will get a chance to try a beer you might not know still existed. It is a great place to go when the Half Door has a way too loud act playing horrible Irish music.

Hartford's Park River During A Blizzard

The Park River has long vexed Sad City Hartford. From an initial attempt to Urban Kayak the length of the river falling short, to further attempts being thwarted by low water levels and men defecating in the woods,  the Hog River has become a Moby Dick to the Sad City vessel.

With winter here, there is nothing us to do except wait. We visited a couple months ago to photograph a portion we hadn't reach by kayak. Having to see the river nearly everyday is particularly vexing and occasionally we take pictures. After the jump are some from last weeks blizzard.

Where Are They Now? Hartford Athletic Heroes

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Mayoral Candidate J.Stan McCauley Chats with Sad City Hartford

J.Stan McCauley is a familiar face in Hartford. He ran for Mayor in 2007 and has recently announced his candidacy for the Mayor's Office in the 2011 election. McCauley can also be seen on a regular basis on Public Television on Channel 5. We feel like we usually catch him on late Sunday nights, and his shows can be watched online here. McCauley was nice enough to give Sad City a few moments of his time and answer some of our questions this weekend. The unedited interview after the jump. 

Vote Sad City Hartford!

For the two years that The Hartford Advocate has had a "Local Blog" category in their "Best Of" poll, Sad City friend Colin McEnroe has won with his excellent blog "To Wit." We now think it is time for someone new in the winner's circle. Support real grass roots local blogging and vote Sad City Hartford for the "Best Of 2011" in the local blog category. If you enjoy the blog (or even if you don't) take a minute and cast your vote, it will take a herculean effort to defeat the two-time champion "To Wit" and it's massive media reach.

Also consider Sad City Hartford for Best Twitterer and Best Hyper Local News Site!

Hakaan and Craig The Porn Star Discuss Mayor Segarra

Hakaan spoke with WCCC's Craig The Porn Star to discuss the Sad City interview with Mayor Segarra. Also discussed in Sad City's desire to join WCCC as winners of The Hartford Advocate "Best Of" Poll, Craig's predictions about future Hartford Mayors, Craig and Hakaan likening themselves to Oprah and Gayle King.

Support Heaven

You thought Hartford was already heaven? Not quite, but we're working on it. If you spend time in downtown on the weekends you'll know that the area is a popular place for skateboarders. While we have never even been able to figure out how to get those things to move forward while standing on them, we think it's a kewl idea to have a skate park in downtown. You can support the park and have a great time a January 27 Pasta Dinner and Bluegrass Concert to benefit the park for only $15. Details after the jump.

Tacky Home Decorating

Entering one's home is always an interesting experience. While one may present themselves to society in one manner, a trip inside gives a real glimpse into the inner workings of the individuals mind. One thing we love is seeing what people are up to.

One somewhat popular, yet almost always disastrous decoration theme is the bottles and/or cans theme. Usually these collections consist of alcohol containers but we have heard reports of a Jewett City trailer decorated with full Jeff Gordon Pepsi cans. (The full part is amazing given the known affinity for trailer park residents and soda.)

Support The Sad City Ordinance

Sad City Hartford brought you the story of a local Sunoco station profiting off the drug trade this summer. We then followed up with more gas stations selling products used for narcotic trafficking. From these stories Councilman Luis Cotto is now trying to amend an existing ordinance to ban gas stations from selling these products.

Show your support for this amendment and that you won't stand for this type behavior in our community by signing our petition here. 

If citizens want to get further involved, there will be an opportunity for public comment on the amendment at the City Council Meeting to be held Monday, January 10 at 6PM. The meeting will be held in the Council Chambers at 550 Main Street. Here is a great chance to get involved and do something that we all can agree is positive for the community.

Ed Sawyer: The Most Fascinating Man on Facebook

Without question, Ed Sawyer is our favorite Facebook friend. Jumper and Hakaan text/email each other roughly three times per day about Ed’s various status updates and adventures.

Hartford Crime Rates Drop

Reverand Brown at an Anti-Violence Rally this summer.

Earlier this week Hartford Police Chief Daryl Roberts and Mayor Pedro Segarra announced a 6.9% decrease in "serious crime" from 2009 to 2010. Hilda Munoz of the Hartford Courant, informs us that "serious crime is defined as murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and auto theft." All sound pretty serious to us. This is obviously a good thing right? Nobody could be upset about a drop in crime right?

Hartford Business: El Mercado Grocery

El Mercado grocer was not on the Sad City Supermarket Guide, but the Mexican restaurant Cuchilandia has been the subject of fawning both on this blog and on the radio. Yesterday we finally tore ourselves away from Cuchilandia and tried the Dominican restaurant right next to it, El Gran Dominicano. We also figured while we were exploring we might as well do a mini review of the supermarket since we are there at least once a week.



(Ed. Note: El Mercado is on the corner of Park and Babcock)

Mayor Pedro Segarra Chats With Sad City Hartford

Pedro Segarra famously became Mayor of Hartford after the resignation of the disgraced Eddie Perez. Taking office in late June, (around the same time Sad City debuted) the former City Council President has been a visible presence and a breath of fresh air to local politics. The Mayor was recently kind enough to take some time and answer a few of Sad City's questions.
 

Chuckles on Eric Clapton and Sneaking Into Bars

Sad City's favorite Hartford resident Chuckles returns to tell us about seeing Eric Clapton and Jethro Tull play live in the 1970's. Towards the end of the clip we learn about a tactic that 16 year olds could use to get into bars when the drinking age was 18. Do any Sad City readers remember using a similar tactic?