Sinterklaas in Rhinebeck

Sinterklaas 2013 , a set by douglasbaz on Flickr.

Google Maps now acknowledges the existence of Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge

Remember the Before Time, when Google didn't map anything using the Kingston-Rhinecliff bridge?
After contacting them, the services has update their mapping. Now it's like this:


View Larger Map

But the memories, they will live on:

Yay!

Let's celebrate by watching a 1980s Pepsi commercial shot in Kingston!

Rhinebeck native Joseph Mazzello will poke you in 'The Social Network'

Actor Joseph Mazzello (the III), who plays Dustin Moskovitz in "The Social Network," was born in Rhinebeck and raised in Hyde Park.

He is the son of Ginnie and Joseph Mazzello, Jr., who own JG Dance in Hyde Park.

Mazzello also played Tim Murphy in "Jurassic Park," and most recently played "Sledgehammer" Eugene Sledge in the HBO miniseries "The Pacific."

He made his directorial debut with "Matters of Life and Death," in which he also stars.

That film also includes David Strathairn, the Oscar-nominated Dutchess County resident who will be in Ellenville on Saturday.

Report: Astor Courts back on the market, wants more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Astor Courts, where something happened over the weekend, is back on the market, now for $13.5 million, up from the original $12.

Pocket change, I know. The Journal reports:

They are also using Harry Hill, principal of H.H. Hill Realty Services in Rhinebeck, as co-broker. Mr. Hill said he's already organized a couple of showings of the property.

"There hasn't been any offers yet," he says, "but I am seeing interest."

Clinton Vineyard's Phyllis Feder spills the beans

The blog Hudson Valley Wine Goddess sat on this for weeks.



The video's time stamp is July 18.
Go figure.

Wedding of the Decade of the Century of the Millennium on 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Wedding of the Decade of the Century of the Millennium
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Rhinebeck, the Live-tweet session

I'm going to be live-tweeting and tweet-pic-ing from #Rhinebeck to show off the bucolic, quaint, antique (insert other cliche here) town

http://twitpic.com/2af9ww - Waiting for something at the #Delamter Inn in #Rhinebeck. Hope is not The Renegades' Rascal

http://twitpic.com/2afedg - Inside Edition announcing that Ted Danson was staying at the Delamanter... After missing him

Korrcshun. It was the Insider

@thecanarycrayon And talking to people, but Ted Danson would not say what he bought for Chelsea, residents say in reply to thecanarycrayon

Vera Wang just came out of Gigis in Rhinebeck and after getting mugged be media went back in

http://twitpic.com/2afsa7 - Lobbying against hydrofracking!!(?) in #Rhinebeck

Vera Wang getting mobbed by media in Rhinebeck, the video http://bit.ly/doU5Uy

RT @oblongirl: Madeline Albright was just outside the bookstore. Ate at Gigi, then whisked into a town car. #Rhinebeck

http://twitpic.com/2afwq1 - Oblong books in #Rhinebeck has best wishes ... and books!

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in #Rhinebeck, video http://bit.ly/du7sNM

http://twitpic.com/2agcgq - Trying to take an unflattering pic of the Extra reporter. Did it work?

http://twitpic.com/2agdcd - Doggie plays Chelsea in Rhinebeck. Compliment? Insult?

http://twitpic.com/2agf15 - A normal day in Rhinebeck... People putting bridal makeup on. Riiiiiiiight

http://twitpic.com/2aggwb - There is actually a road underneath all this. But the wedding party might want to run everyone over

Get ready Kingston! Tons of media heading over to the other side of the river to get pics of fireworks

http://twitpic.com/2agjdg - Coxsackie Transports' 15 minutes in Rhinebeck

http://twitpic.com/2aglj4 There needs to be more media in Rhinebeck, right?

RT @tomhoffay: Glad to see today's front page of the Daily Freeman made the Huffington Post slide show!

http://twitpic.com/2agm79 - Sheeple in #Rhinebeck

@DailyFreeman on the #HuffingtonPost. META! http://yfrog.com/jxxp7xj

http://twitpic.com/2agwk4 - This corner needs 3 officers because there is an attractive TV lady reporter behind them

http://twitpic.com/2ah1u2 - Two Corvettes and a Jaguar back to back, because that's what you see in #Rhinebeck the time.

All the time

http://twitpic.com/2ah4pq - This is what happens when you leave bread crumbs on the floor in #Rhinebeck

http://twitpic.com/2ah6k3 - This is the only Oprah you'll see in #Rhinebeck

http://twitpic.com/2ahcdr - Just married sticker on back of limo.

That's all folks. Hope to see #Rhinebeck back to normal soon

RT @tomhoffay: @ivanlajara do you realize, do they realize Kingston has a scheduled fireworks display at dusk at the Point?

RT @DailyFreeman: Done deal: #Chelsea Clinton, #MarcMezvinsky tie the knot http://bit.ly/bdeaN8

Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky at their wedding Saturday evening in Rhinebeck -- http://bit.ly/9Y5QiK

And the wedding pics are in! - http://bit.ly/bdeaN8

RT @tcmassie: Guess you have to be a "yokel" to know. @HuffingtonPost confuses @HVRenegades Rascal for mice: http://huff.to/aC95uP

Madeleine Albright in Rhinebeck, the mini-video

Vera Wang in Rhinebeck

Rhinebeck, ala New Yorker

Rhinebeck resident and New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly has something to share:

Bill Clinton, in Rhinebeck, re-encacts Phil Hartman doing Bill Clinton on SNL

TV reporter vs. Rhinebeck bugs

Cutline contest, Rhinebeck madness edition

1.


"WELCOME! Now, GET OUT!"

---

2.


"LOOK! A PHOTO! TAKE A PHOTO!!!"

---

3.

"If I wear a Mexican hat, nobody will notice my dirty sneakers"

---

4.

"Would you talk to me about being a reporter with nothing to report on?"

---

5.

"Looking for attention? Us? According to whom?"

---

Feel free to add your own.

(All photos via the Associated Press, because I'm in the office right now, with air conditioner)

Rhinebeck Gigi's Trattoria catering Chelsea Clinton's wedding

Laura Pensiero of Gigi's Trattoria in Rhinebeck told the New York "Let's call them 'local yokels'" Daily News about being a caterer for Chelsea's Clinton wedding at Astor Courts in Rhinebeck.

"I can't talk about it," Pensiero told the Daily News yesterday. "How did you find out?"

Answer: The Daily News found out when Pensiero said "How did you find out?"

Rascal wants to marry Chelsea

Rascal, the Hudson Valley Renegades baseball team mascot, holds a sign on East Market Street in this ABC photo.

That's right. ABC "News."

FAA: Rhinebeck a no-fly-zone

The Federal Aviation Administration has declared Rhinebeck a no-fly-zone Saturday from 3 p.m. to Sunday at 3:30 a.m.

The reason?

"Temporary flight restrictions for VIP (Very Important Person) Movement"

In case you don't know where Rhinebeck is, here's the agency's map:

UPDATE: Nobody is coming to Chelsea Clinton wedding, report says

Emily Miller of Human Affairs - Leading Conservative Media Since 1944! - reports on the issue of most importance for conservatives - the reported wedding of Chelsea Clinton in Rhinebeck on July 31.

Miller points out that all the reports about the star-studded guest list originated from the Hudson Valley News (where have I heard that?). Furthermore:

HUMAN EVENTS called the published guest list and discovered that none of these luminaries is attending, and, many were not even invited to the wedding.

This raises an important question: How do you call a published guest list?

The Hudson Valley News used unnamed sources to publish its list. So Human Events proceeds to debunk the report, with unnamed sources, to establish that two celebrities, Oprah Winfrey and Ted Turner, are not coming. And the other "Powerful Democrats"? They either didn't respond or didn't get back to the reporter. So, in conclusion, Human Events doesn't know how to write headlines, or count (two equals "none"?), or the difference between Democrats and celebrities. (I'm not blaming Miller. Reporters don't write headlines. If she did, that's why reporters don't write headlines). I used the same logic to write my headline.

Also, an anonymous source debunks an anonymous source. Anonymous source wins.

Extra!: Gawker's Maureen O'Connor "reports" that, "Everything you heard about the location might be a lie." O'Connor uses a Wall Street Journal story, which I also used previously in a different context, to reach that conclusion.

But that story partially reports (with names!):

Earlier this week, a local (Wappingers Falls) helicopter company, Associated Aircraft Group, inquired about the availability during the weekend of July 31 of the helipad located at Rhinebeck's Dutchess County Fair, according to fairground general manager Bob Grems. The helicopter company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, and "Sikorskys helicopters are used for Marine One, the Presidential helicopter," according to the company's website. The inquiry "was clearly in the context of the wedding," Mr. Grems said. Associated's director of sales and marketing, Carolyn Marino, declined to comment.

In conclusion: Is it August already?

Update: Obama may or may not attend Chelsea Clinton wedding in Rhinebeck. Maybe.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was asked on Wednesday if President Barack Obama attending Chelsea Clinton's wedding, which has been reported to take place in Rhinebeck on July 31.

His response?

"Not that I'm aware of."

Translation?

"Keep guessing, suckers!"

...

Also, a little lesson about how news spread on the Internets: Even though there are multiple reports about the Obama attending the wedding, all of them - from CBS to Radar to NBC, etc - quote the Hudson Valley News. All others quote Radar or NBC or CBS. Rinse and repeat.

Gibbs' statement is public record.

Regardless, Rhinebeck's going to be a madhouse on July 31. We'll be there.

Report: Obama, Oprah expected at Clinton wedding in Rhinebeck

Jim Langan of the Hudson Valley News has reported that President Barack Obama and not president Oprah Winfrey will be among 500 guests expected at the July 31 wedding of Chelsea Clinton and some dude who is not famous.

The President is expected to land at Stewart Airport in Newburgh and take Marine One across the Hudson to Astor Court in Rhinebeck. ... Among those invited to the wedding are singer Barbra Streisand, Kate Capshaw and Steven Speilberg (sic), former Clinton advisor Harold Ickes, Clinton money man Terry McAuliffe, former British Prime Minister John Major, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, media mogul Ted Turner and long time Clinton friend Denise Rich.

Lincoln's got an ax to grind

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man who has written "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" will follow up with an equally absurd book.

Enter Seth Grahame-Smith's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," which arrived at our offices last week in the hopes of getting reviewed. It is the ultimate biography of the 16th president, which you may recall is best known for his ax and his vampire-killing abilities.

Alas, although we are going to start publishing book reviews very soon (the first one at the end of the month), we are only going to review books by local authors, authors who make local appearances, or books that profile our beautiful valley.

Here's the back cover of the book, available March 2 ($21.99):

KILLER UPDATE!: I'm told by Grand Central Publishing that the New York Times best-selling author is "from the Rhinebeck area." Thus, using the criteria above, I'm please to tell you that we'll be talking about vampires and presidents in the near future.