Ned Donovan - Ithaca ‘12

Hey everyone,

My Father, the City Council Vice President

So I am currently in Allentown Pennsylvania, spending my last few days with my dad before I head back up to Ithaca.  My father, an Allentown City Councilman (see accompanying picture) wanted to show me some sights that I hadn’t seen yet, so he brought me to America on Wheels.  It’s a museum, documenting America’s car history, but also the way the automobile industry shaped the Lehigh Valley, and brought about Pennsylvania’s first major economic boom.  As I learned the other night, Allentown is the third largest city in the fifth largest state in the country.  The Pennsylvania Turnpike was the first major interstate highway, and it shaped the way our country’s roads and highways were formed.  I learned all of these things while in Allentown, with a lot of help from America on Wheels.

Below is a gallery of all the photos, you can also find them in the photo section of my site. 

The museum was a good blend of written history and visual stimulus.  From the section entitled “The Legends of Speed” featuring various race cars of all different shapes, sizes, and eras; to the section entitled “Deja zoom” which handled the new resurgence of the electric car, and the possibility of a hydrogen cell car.

Hey everyone,

Last night I discovered a new (well new in the sense that I’d never been there before, it’s been there for a while now) venue in Portland, that I think everyone should know about.  It’s called Blue, and it’s at 650A Congress St, just a little bit up the road from Joe’s Smoke Shop and across the street.  I went in there to support my buddy Oliver Watkinson, who is an upright bass player from the New England Conservatory, and was fully expecting to be in and out in about half an hour.  Chase and I got there a little before 9, when the concert was supposed to start.  We left again at 11.  This place had us hooked.  It’s a small venue, really just a bar, with beer, wine, coffee, and tea, and very minimal appetizers.  This is a place all about the atmosphere.  It’s dimly lit, with a candle at every table, and some string lights behind the bar.  The whole room is this dark color that creates a very quiet feeling, so it is not overly loud, which meant Chase and I were able to talk at a normal volume, and keep a conversation going, while still listening to Neil and Oliver jam out the jazz.

Hey everyone,

I’m not going to do this every time my brother has an article, but this is freaking exciting!  Therefore I’m just going to post this one as well.  Check it out.  Again you can follow Will’s work on his website, and the original article can be found here.

 

BEIRUT: Agreements, not controversy, dominated a discussion at the American University of Beirut (AUB) on Tuesday between Rami Khouri and Michael Young, the former a regular contributor to The Daily Star’s Opinion section and the latter its editor. The debate was sponsored by AUB’s Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR), and entitled, “The Middle East Policies of the Bush and Obama Administrations.”

Khouri and Young agreed in principal on a majority of subjects. The event largely focused on the realities of a post-Saddam Middle East, the persistence of Arab dictatorial regimes and their de facto support by America both militarily and politically, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Basic disagreement, which remained cordial and often unspecific, came in the form of Khouri’s optimism for the future Obama administration’s ability to achieve success in the Middle East, versus Young’s pessimism that the incoming president-elect will lack the means and the leverage to achieve much in the way of progress.

Regarding Iraq, Young’s perspective was that the removal of Saddam Hussein and the Baathist regime in Baghdad was ultimately a positive event, both for Arabs and for the West.

Hey everyone,

This is a shoutout for my brother.  I’d like to offer him a warm congratulations by myself (and hopefully by extension, all of you) for his first article published by The Daily Star.  So congratulations Will, you have somehow managed to successfully begin your hopefully long and prosperous career in Lebanon, and may you have innumerable publications from now until when (if) you decide to come back to the states.  Keep kicking ass and taking names, and we will all follow with close and rapt attention.
Here is the article for you all to read, you can find it here on the Daily Star website.   Will’s website can be accessed here, where you can keep track of all that he is doing.

BEIRUT: Amid rave reviews and the glow of high-definition television screens as far as the eye could see, the 13th edition of the Levant’s Information Technology Exhibition at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure center is a look into Lebanon’s potential as a future technology hot spot for the Middle East.

Representing a mix of local, regional, and international companies and organizations, the conference is highlighting Lebanon’s growing market for high-end consumer electronics, high-speed Internet connectivity, and information technology services and software.

Hey everyone,

So in Ithaca, we have phenomenal restaurants, all of whom deliver to the campus’ within about 30-40 minutes for not too much money.  My personal favorite is The Connection…but D.P. Dough’s calzones, and Insomnia Cookies’ cookies are pretty damn good.  The reason I tell you this, is because there is a website set up for all the restaurants in Ithaca so that you can order uniformly online, and have it delivered right to your door.

This is not an Ithaca College site though, it’s set up for colleges and universities around the nation.  It’s such a great website that I love dearly that I’ve decided I just need to share it with y’all.  It’s called campusfood.com and it is the college student’s best friend.  So this is a short post, but I’m doing it so that people will look for their college on this site, and use it as well.  If you do use it, then go to facebook and add the “Food Friend-zy” application.  This is a match game which gives you money and coupons to use on campusfood.  Awesome?  awesome.