All the fuss in New York City about car alarms reminded me of the usual problem we experience here in downtown Charlottetown on July 1 when the fireworks go off over Charlottetown Harbour. Inevitably the sonic booms created by the fireworks set off a good collection of car alarms. I gather it’s those with motion sensors so finely tuned as to detect break-in attempts from mice. Either that or there are cars designed to detect and warn against attempted break-in by cruise missle.

In any case, if you own an alarmed car, and would like to relieve the downtown of annoying July 1 noise, leave your car at home and take the bus, or leave your car alarm turned off that night. (Note to criminals: please do not use this as an invitation to holiday burglary).

Thanks to Steven and his Merry Band, there’s a good collection of photos of last night’s seminar over at silverorange.

If you are, or plan to be a candidate in the upcoming municipal elections in Charlottetown, Summerside, Cornwall or Stratford, there is a certain part of the electorate that will expect you to have a weblog. If you don’t know what a weblog is, this summer is the time to find out, and the best way to do this is to read other weblogs. The technical part is easy; learning how to write for this audience has a learning curve.

This isn’t thousands of electors I’m talking about. But if you do this right, and your ideas are compelling, you might pick up 25 or 30 votes in a polling division. And in a close race, that might be all it takes.

Tim Bray reports from the frontiers of hugging How to Hug. My family came to the hugging game late. Not to say we “weren’t hugged as children” or anything, but at some point in the last decade, there was a shift in airport greetings from a bat of the eyes and “hey there” to a festival of all-round hugging. I think my brother Steve, the most tactile of us all, might have brought this on. It stuck.

We had a nice session at “Weblog Night in Charlottetown” tonight, with perhaps just under twenty people out. Of course once you subtract people related to Steven Garrity and various Burkas (and their handlers), the total of “we had no obligation to come” attendees goes down somewhat. But we had a good turnout nonetheless.

There are photos online elsewhere: panel, panel again, Burka entourage. There’s also a nice photo of Rob and Steven I took before we began.

Thanks to Catherine, Steven and Rob for insightful reporting and commentary (and to Steven for thinking about bringing water for the panelists). Thanks to the ever-helpful Dave Cairns, Director of Computer Services at UPEI for hosting the event (including providing WiFi, which was a nice touch).

Dave mentioned his willingness to host similar events in future, and our gears are already starting to turn in this direction.

For those of you that attended, and are curious: this is the weblog we created in about 4 minutes while you watched.

And in case you missed it, here’s the Mainstreet interview [3MB OGG file] that Catherine and I did earlier today by way of promoting the event. Audio is Copyright CBC 2003 and is provided here because they say (to their credit) “The materials available via this CBC/SRC Website may be copied in whole or in part for private and/or non-commercial use, provided that copyright ownership is acknowledged.”

There’s a new Chinese restaurant opening next door to the Formosa Tea House. Chien-Ming, owner of the Formsa, says that the owners of the new place have 20 years of experience in the restaurant business, and he predicts good things.

The Reading Well Bookstore is now the Reading Well Bookstore and Bohemian Cafe in a new location on Water Street (their fourth location since they originally opened on Great George Street). I dropped in for a croissant and a cup of tea a couple of weeks ago. Tea was excellent; croissant was, well, just a croissant. When visiting, be sure to drop into Moonsnail Soapworks in a newly expanded location right next door; even if you can’t afford their (excellent) expensive soaps, it’s a textbook case of local independent retail design done right.

All reports I’ve heard about the new place that’s opened in the space formerly known as The Honest Lawyer (then The Jolly Lawyer, then…) are negative. Conversely, all reports about the former Harp and Thistle, now Churchill’s, are very, very positive (this is Catherine’s favourite refuge from Oliver and I, and of course it always goes over well with the vocal “beer and chips” loving set; Dan James says the place is still in business because its rabid fan base and dedicated staff kept it afloat between incarnations).

I’ve only had one report in about Manhattans, the new place occupying the old Anne of Green Gables Tea Room space on Queen Street near the liquor store and it was “expensive food that’s not very good.”

The Lobster Claw is open again for the season (drive out the Brackley Point Road, past the Brackley Drive-in, turn left at Rte. 6 and it’s just up a bit on your right). The food is never bad, never excellent, but the service is always friendlier than most. They have an autographed picture of Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker (both stars of L.A. Law and pitch-couple for Shoppers Drug Mart) on the wall beside the cash register. A good place to go before the Drive-in or on the way to or from the beach.

The “Where to Eat in Summerside?” problem is still a big one. Summerside was the first place I ate out on PEI eleven years ago — we ate at the former Little Mermaid, and had one of the worst meals of my life. The place on the water run by Stan Rogers’ daughter (I think) is nice, but small, limited and seasonal (and more focused on the music than the food). Everything else seems to be a bar, a chain, a family restaurant, or fast food. I’d be happy to be disabused of this notion.

And, finally, we are about to start into our second summer without Fiddle and Vittles in Cavendish. This used to be the best place on the Island, bar none, to take kids, and the best place to go for a hot bowl of chowder after a brisk walk on the beach. Former celebrity host Dave Coffin is pinch hitting as the Mayor of Avonlea Village this summer, which can only mean good things for the people of the village and their guests.

Self-serving disclaimers: I maintain the website for City Cinema, which is run by Derek Martin. Derek’s mother Pam was one of the founders of The Reading Well. I do not drink beer, as a rule. My brother Steve used to work for Shoppers Drug Mart. I maintain the website for the Brackley Drive-in. Living in Charlottetown, I have adopted the natural rivalry with Summerside, so am prone to seeing that city in a poor light. I once worked for a company part-controlled by Scott Linkletter who was, in turn, part-owner of Fiddles and Vittles; in that capacity I provided feedback to Scott on the ever evolving dinner rolls at the restaurant.

Apparently, “Having a baby changes everything” is a service mark of Johnson & Johnson. They have an advertising campaign built around the phrase. Here’s what they say, in part, about the campaign:

When you look at the advertising, you’ll feel Johnson & Johnson understands your life has changed and we are there to enhance the bond between you and your baby.

I suppose they must be credited for being honest about how they’re trying to manipulate us. Somehow the notion of a company like Johnson & Johnson (or any company, for that matter) claiming to “understand” anything, least of all the “bond between you and your baby” seems far-fetched and, well, creepy.

Here’s a link to 1620 trademarks owned by Johnson & Johnson.

As first reported by Jevon, the Formosa Tea House has raised its prices (a little — mostly just by 50 cents) and has a new menu. I dropped in this morning: gone is the sweet bean bun (thank goodness!), replaced the a new disk called Cooler Noodles, which is savory noodles served cold with carrots and cucumbers. Mmmm.

Can someone please tell me the provenance of the phrase “suss it out,” and, more specifically, of the word “suss.” I used this word last week at Yankee and my American colleagues looked at me like I was crazy. Thank you.

I’m here in the Apple Store in Cambridge, updating my website on a Palm Tungsten C handheld. This little thing fits, literally, in the palm of my hand. It’s got WiFi built in and a thumb-operated keyboard that is surprisingly easy to use. Off to explore the store…

Later… just overheard a meeting of all the employees in the store discussing a new “Apple Camp” for kids. If you buy a new Apple computer here in the store, you’re eligible to send up to three of your kids to the store for Apple Camp — computer training for kids. There was some discussion of what is considered a “kid,” and this led to a discussion of how the core of the Apple demographic, right now, is 40 year olds, and they need to start bringing a new generation into the fold.

Later… just watched an employee call his Portuguese-speaking friend to translate for him with a Portuguese-speaking customer. That’s good customer service.