Overall Service:
We had a new waitress and she tried very hard.

General Wait Time:
We got a table right away and our order was taken right after we sat down.  No waiting at all except for our bill.  Maybe because she was new it seemed like she forgot to bring the bills.

Portion size:
The portion size was great and the quality was wonderful.

Taste:
We all loved our food and the order was correct.

Cleanliness:
BWW is very clean.

Overall Rating:
The dining experience at BWW would have to be 4 Gems.

Restaurant:
Gem City Pizzeria

Overall Service:
Excellent the waitress was friendly and on top of her tables.

General Wait Time:
We got there early and were seated right away.  Our order was taken promptly and our food came in record time.

Portion size:
At Gem City you always get what you pay for, high quality and great quantity.

Taste:
Our table had Pizzas and Mexican and all of our food was served hot and tasted wonderful.

Cleanliness:
For the most part Gem City is a very clean restaurant, however they could check their restrooms more often.

Overall Rating:
I would say that for this trip Gem City Pizzeria would get 5 out of 5 Gems.

Overall Service:
Pretty good the waitress seemed much more interested in making sure the table full of young guys were happy.

General Wait Time:
We found a table right away and once we ordered our food came quickly.

Portion size:
I believe everyone at our table left food on their plate as there was plenty.  The quality of the food was excellent.

Taste:
Everyone commented on how good their food was and that it all came to the table hot.  All of our orders were correct and I would highly recommend it.

Cleanliness:
Kutters is very clean and the staff seem to also take pride in their appearance.

Overall Rating:
I would say that for this trip Kutters would get 4 out of 5 Gems.

Boy bitten by rattlesnake. Robert Fullman was being treated at Blessing Hospital after being bit by the snake. His hand and arm were badly swolen, but he was expected to recover. The boy was working on the farm picking cucumbers. When he moved a vine he uncovered the snake which bit him on the middle finger of the left hand between the knuckle and the joint.

As Robert screamed in pain, additonal workers rushed to his assistance. They killed the snake, and took action to count the poison, by killing a chicken, and having robert place his hand within the chicken’s carcass. He was then transported to Blessing Hospital where through the use of ligature around the arm, the swelling and spread of the venom.

Did you catch the part of that story that made me go wha?  I’m talking about the part where after the snake bit the kid, the people killed a chicken and stuck the bitten boy’s hand in the carcass.WTF? According to website Article Alley, “One primitive culture´s answer to snakebite was to immediately rip a live chicken in half and place one side of the carcass against the wound. As the chicken meat turned green this was taken as a sign the poison was being drawn out. No one has bothered to test this for any possible real solution.”

I can’t help but think it’s a miracle anybody survived any minor affliction in 1897 with that kind of “advanced medicinal common knowledge” Who knows though, perhaps in the future looking back at what we consider cutting edge medical attention will be considered as rudimentary and bizarre as sticking a snakebite victim’s hand inside a chicken carcass. I suppose it’s all about perspective.

This story comes from the Quincy Daily Journal, and tells of  a suspicious band of gypsies…a term often referring to those “shady” people who were just passing through town. More or less strangers who may or may not be of any ethnic background. The term Gypsy carried with it the connotation that, the individual or party had ill intentions when entering a community. This particular group was being held in prison on the suspicion that they possibly stole a car. Apparently, no supporting evidence could be found, and the suspicion turned to “another party of gypsies” who passed through town in the same time range.

The story is rather said when you think about the kind of public attitude that exists against strangers in a town, as well as the derogatory terminology that is used to refer to a group of people who in all reality are merely strangers in a small town. I’d like to think that today we are not as quick to classify strangers as potentially dangerous, but I think there still exists a bit of human nature that leads us to fear what’s strange to us.

Mr. Lubrring seemed to be someone unlucky as other work related injuries also made their way into the paper over time. One such incident occurred when Mr. Lubbring was on another delivery. He took a tumble down some cellar step badly lacerating a finger on the broken soda bottles which also resulted in the fall. I can confidently say he DID NOT lose any digits in that incident as the report mentions only several stitches were needed to remedy that situation. In another incident Mr. Lubbring narrowly escaped injury when his soda wagon was involved in a crash with a switch engine (I’m led to believe that a switch engine is a train locomotive, either a proper railroad train or perhaps a streetcar). Not sure how a soda delivery wagon ended up on some form of railroad tracks for a prolonged amount of time…perhaps that is another mystery best left to history.

Up to three pieces per artist will be accepted Wednesday, August 18 – Friday, August 20 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. as well as Saturday, August 21 and Sunday, August 22 between the hours of 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. All entries must be submitted no later than August 22 at 4 p.m.; no work submitted at a later date will be accepted. Only one piece from each submitting artist will be accepted. There is no entry fee for this particular exhibit. All non-accepted work may be picked Wednesday August 25 – Friday August 27 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Executive Director and Curator Julie D. Nelson will choose the works for inclusion in the exhibit. A reception is planned for Friday September 3, 2010 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. with food, fun and art. Generous sponsorship has been provided by Tournear Roofing Company, Inc. The exhibit is also funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council and the business and individual members of the Quincy Society of Fine Arts. The Quincy Art Center’s mission is to educate the public by promoting the growth and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions and programs.

Hausgeist returns to the Underground Stage to break down a mix of  Tech House, Techno, Electro House and Breaks for your “listening pleasure”.   Kix Club will provide the libations and you provide the moves. That’s a threesome that  just can’t lose.

Hausgeist - ”saw this as an opportunity to share and to expose the music that he loves to a new group of people. Since then, it has become his personal crusade to develop and cultivate a House movement in his new home by hosting and promoting dance” – Faderwave Radio

Kix Club – “Driving up to Kix Club Saturday was like driving up to a small music club in a much bigger town. People were out in the parking lot and spilling out of the front door, and all seemed to be having a good time” – Jessica Martin, Quincy Herald Whig

Kix Club

509 South 9th

Quincy, IL

Saturday July 17

9:00 pm to 1:00 am

18 and over

$3.00 Cover

The point I’m getting at here is that for the most part, rather than falling into the “uncool” category, Facebook has managed to remain relevant and almost a part of daily life to those who use it. The technology allows you to connect, or even reconnect with people who ordinarily you would never keep up with regularly. Facebook has a power to suck you in, where you can keep up but not really HAVE to participate, in other words you can be a creepy stalker person without those pesky restraining orders.

As Facebook continues to grow, it’s creators have seen it’s share of growing pains, many coming in form of privacy issues while allowing ads/marketing of companies to use your personal data to help target and help with ad placement. It pisses people off, but Facebook is and never was a democracy, you choose to participate and use it’s service, it’s free, it’s easy, it’s a pretty attractive deal. In the midsts of these growing pains Facebook’s image was compromised greatly by recently shifting it’s terms and conditions by automatically opting people into information sharing they once might have selected to opt out from. This act cast the dark shadow of “corporate, sneaky, moneymaker” persona upon Facebook. They’re pushing hard to make money with Facebook, and why not, they’ve put a lot of time and effort into it. The problem is Facebook users are losing their ability to trust the intent of the site holding onto their personal information, they have created suspicion among it’s user base, and that’s a dangerous thing. think many people would abandon Facebook tomorrow if a comparable social networking site with perhaps a stronger sense user trust was represented.

Twitter isn’t really a Facebook killer, it’s almost a abridged version of Facebook, all status updates, no advanced user profile, a valuable tool, but not something I see as a realistic “Facebook like” competitor. LinkedIn is close, but focusses more on a business context, a whole different mentality. Updates like “I’m drinking a beer at the concert” are few and far between on LinkedIn. Google has thrown it’s hat in the ring several times with it’s offerings such as Wave and Buzz have proven to be a flop, all while Facebook continues to hold onto it’s user base. I’m familiar with sites like Namyz and Diaspora, however realistically they don’t have enough name recognition or draw to do much damage to Facebook, at lest not yet. Aren’t there any well positioned candidates to overthrow Facebook?…

…Maybe.

Recently, it was leaked online from a reliable source that Google yet again is looking to tackle the social media scene offering a direct Facebook competitor called “Google Me” There isn’t a lot of info about it yet, however my curiosity is peaked. Google has a HUGE distribution base already with the many users already using one of it’s services like Gmail, Google Documents, Google Buzz, Google Wave, and Google Voice just to name a few. They have already had great success with their highly successful Google ads program. As far as positioning goes, you don’t get much better than Google. People tend to love Google like fat kids like cake. Think about, when’s the last time you said; “I’m going to do a web search for something”…yeah…right. “I’m going to Google that” is probably what you said. That’s right people it’s not just a company name but it’s now a VERB. I’m not assuring “Google Me” is the next big thing, especially since the recently released Wave and Buzz applications have proved to be less than mind blowing in functionality and overall adoption, then again Google never said any of these releases was supposed to be a Facebook competitor, the media were the ones asking that question. Though some techno bellyflops have occurred for Google recently, utilizing various elements of the current Google offerings (quite impressive) and integrating them with a Facebook type social media community presents a potential game changer. Unlike Facebook where you can direct message someone or write on their wall, imagine having options like “send a Google document” , sending a “voice message to Google voice”, as well as a number of many other Google applications. if the user experience of “Google Me” is beautiful, well designed and super easy to use, Facebook might very well rightfully be shaking in their boots. It’s really too early to tell at this point, but one things for sure, things are going to get interesting very soon in the ever evolving world of social media.