Community Caroling

On Saturday, the Katonah Chamber of Commerce sponsored a "Community Caroling" event. You can buy print, buy card or send e-card of the eight photos taken here.

Katonah Top Ten Twitters

In June of this year, I posted a link to Twello.com. This is an on-line directory that enables one to search by location, people on Twitter who have a following.

According to Twello, in June 25 people with a Katonah location had a following. In five months, that number has more than double to 60.


Here are Katonah's Top Ten Twitters by number of followers:

1. Martha Stewart - 1,711,991 followers
   
2. W.R. Tish - 3,092 followers
   
3. Ginger Foo - 1,227 followers
   
4. Christopher Roberts - 978 followers
   
5. Alexis - 227 followers
   
6. Awakening Katonah - 172 followers
   
7. Dan Haugh - 135 followers
   
8. Noka Joes - 129 followers
   
9. Arthureinstein - 115 followers
   
10. Mitch Bernstein - 108 followers
    

Note: Twitters are now able to monetize their tweets. If you have a passion for
something and can acquire a following, Twitter could become an income stream for you.

Maintenance of Meters For Commuters In Katonah Need Attention

There appears to be a need for maintaining all parking meters in working order for the Katonah commuters as some commuters may be receiving unwarranted parking tickets as a result of faulty parking meters not accepting cash and the commuter in a rush to catch a train.

This commuter posted this complaint on her blog on November 12th and would like to get her ticket dismissed.

I commute to New York three times a week, parking in the metered section of the lot around the corner from the Katonah station. As I hope you know, one of the machines there doesn’t accept cash, leading to a line of ill-tempered and borderline volatile commuters every morning in front of the one machine that works. This strikes me as outrageous. Surely it should not be the case that it is easier and more efficient to park in the remotest regions of Romania than here, in Westchester County! The metered spots are great, a veritable godsend for those of us who commute on an as need basis, but their maintenance desires closer attention.

Katonah Civil War Memorial Listed on Historical Marker Data Base

Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut submitted on November 15, 2009 a detail page of the Katonah Civil War Memorial to the Historical Marker Data Base(hmdb.org) listing men from Katonah, NY who served during The Civil War of 1861 – 1865.

Here is the link.

In addition there are links to other historical markers that are within 9 miles of Katonah.

2009 Leaf Pickup Schedule

Here is the link to the 2009 Leaf Pickup Schedule for The Town of Bedford.

Directory of Taxi Cabs - Katonah NY

Here is a link to the Katonah Taxi Cab Directory.

Try & Buy Toy Store

Try & Buy Toy Store located at 196 Katonah Ave. Katonah, New York is a unique
toy store with unique toys.

Goby A Simple Event Search Engine

Goby is an event search engine that explores things to do locally, create a unique vacation,create a weekend getaway or adventure.

For example you can find activities in the Katonah area ( or any place). Select the type of activity you are interested in, enter in your location or zip code, and select a time and Goby comes back with your options.

For things like music or performing arts, you can choose sub-categories, like music genre or dance. Goby’s events results come up in an easy to read manner and specific event information and provide links to the specific listing.

Katonah Runs & Walks Fall 2009

Fall is a great time for walks and runs in the Katonah area.
Here is a walk and run route that includes Lake Katonah.

If you have a favorite walk/run route that you would like to
share using mapmyfitness.com post a comment to this post.

A Yard Sale Near You

Image via Wikipedia

Looking for weekend yard sales near you? Here is a tool that can help you plan for such trips without wasting time and gas roaming the streets for signs.

You enter your:

• starting address
  
• maximum number of miles you are willing to drive
  
• day of your trip (Thursday through Sunday)
  
• Click on "Search"
  

Results, you get a Google map of area yard sales posted on Craigslist, recommended driving route for FREE!.
Click on red ballon for each listing and you'll find time, address and details of what's for sale.

Here is the link to YardSaleTreasureMap.

Katonah Chamber of Commerce Is Using Twitter

Image via CrunchBase

The Katonah Chamber of Commerce is now using Twitter. A great tool for real time local business information.

Here is the link.

Trulia - Katonah Home Sales Decrease 89.5% Over A Year Ago

According to trulia.com it would appear that the housing market in Katonah is in intensive care.

"The median sales price for homes in Katonah NY for Jun 09 to Aug 09 was $666,700 based on 2 home sales. Compared to the same period one year ago, the median home sales price decreased 16.4%, or $131,048, and the number of home sales decreased 89.5%. There are currently 131 resale and new homes in Katonah on Trulia, including 3 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process.

The average listing price for homes for sale in Katonah NY was $1,300,606 for the week ending Sep 16, which represents a decrease of 0.4%, or $5,614, compared to the prior week."

ATM For Books @ A Location Near You

Here is a neat idea. In a matter of minutes - The ability to print out any public domain book on the google data base anywhere the Espresso Book machine (ATM for Books) is located. Cost $100,000 (not yet available through out the US).

Local libraries and bookstores come to mind as an added service they could offer their patrons. Also, local schools/colleges could benefit from adding this machine to their bookstore.

Katonah Library Now On Facebook

Katonah Library has joined Facebook.

Here is the link.

Little Cookie Company in Katonah NY

The Cookie Blog has posted a story of a little cookie company here in Katonah that is owned and operated by Rebecca Weinstein, a one woman operation.

Rebecca started her company in 2005, and bakes an average of 2000 cookies per year.

Here is the link.

Katonah PotLuck "Eat In" Labor Day

Slow Food Westchester and Katonah Green are coordinating a publicly staged potluck on the lawn of the First Presbyterian Church to gather support for improved school lunches nationwide on Labor Day from 2 to 4.

Here is the link

The Katonah Art Center Wants Everyone to be an Artist.. At Least for a Day

Art Day will be held on September 12, from 1-4 at the Katonah Art Center, Participants can draw, paint, do pottery, sculpture, animation, cartooning, crafts, music...all for FREE!

Artdaily.org - The First Art Newspaper on the Net

Shared via AddThis

Basement funk with John Scofield and friends in the Katonah Village Library

On July 30th, a rain out John Scofield Shade of Jazz event at the Katonah Museum of Art was held in the basement of the Katonah Library. 200 folks were there and it was special.


Basement funk with John Scofield and friends in the Katonah Village Library

Posted using ShareThis

John Scofield will be appearing on August 12th at the last Summer 09 Shades of Jazz event at the Katonah Museum of Art with pianist Dena DeRose’s trio.

Here is a link to event details.

Katonah Spezify - A Photo Collage of Katonah

I came across this site today.

Stockholm-based startup Spezify is a visual search engine that impresses with relevant results displayed in a visual but still functional way.

I punched in Katonah, and got for want of a better word a collage of images relevant
to Katonah.

Katonah Spezify

What do you think of the site?

Let's go Sale-ing: A Web-Savvy Yardsale Resource

In this down economy, we need all the help we can get. Here is a a great resource for ideas on yard sales that may give you some ideas to generate extra money.

Let's go Sale-ing: A Web-Savvy Yardsale Resource

Shared via AddThis

A Tool To Find Your Neighbors That Tweet

The number of people visiting and using Twitter has grown rapidly in the last few months. As more people sign up for Twitter it becomes more useful.

Twitter is enabling everything from better customer service to easier job searches, and is being employed for some extraordinary home uses.

Here is a cool Tweet tool that enable you to connect with people in Katonah.

Twello.com is a local directory of Twitter users. Using this service, I found 23 local twitter user.
Update: Now 50 Local twitter users August 20, 2009
Update: Now 40 Local twitter users July 20. 2009
Update: Now 25 Local twitter Users June 15, 2009

The second most followed local twitter after Martha Stewart (she has 763,902 followers) is W.R. Tish (1,567 followers) a recovering wine critic.


Twitter is great for networking, but also for getting relevant, real-time, local information about things like jobs, news, politics, weather, food, and more.

Happy Tweeting

Related articles by Zemanta

• Software That Makes Twitter So Much Tweeter (solution.allthingsd.com)

The Eclectic Collector - Nominated For Niche Top Retailer Award 2009

There are many unique shops in Katonah. One is The Eclectic Collector(EC)that has been nominated for Niche Top Retailer Award for 2009.

The EC has a dual mission:

• Seeks out and supports artists
  
• Provides the local community with a resource for unique original works
  

Karen Benvin Ransom, an associate broker with the Katonah Office of Houlihan Lawrence recently wrote a piece on her EC experience.

<-- Link to Eclectic Collector Site

Katonah Farmers Market 2009

Looking for fresh food grown locally?

The place to go: Every Saturday @ Katonah-Lewisboro -John Jay High School (60 N. Salem, Cross River) 5/20/2009-12/19/2009 8:30a-2pm Saturdays

Spring Fling 2009 Black & White Photos

Bill Schere shot B&W photos of yesterdays Spring Fling in Katonah.

Here is the link.

24th Lasdon Memorial Day Antiques Fair - May 25th

The 24th annual Lasdon Memorial Day Antiques Fair at Lasdon Park, Arboretum and Veterans Memorial Katonah, NY on May 25th, MONDAY, (Memorial Day), between the hours of 10 AM and 5 PM
link

Spring Fling A Day of Family Fun May 16

The Katonah Chamber of Commerce is celebrating Spring by hosting its first ever Spring Fling — a day of family fun, live entertainment, crafts, rides, great shopping, demonstrations, discounts, and more — on Saturday, May 16, from 10 to 2 (a rain date is planned for Sunday, May 17).

Katonah Green - DIY Green Living

Are you thinking DIY green living? Here is a great resource for everything green on a local level. Also, Katonah Green has initiated meetups where you join up and meet with others interested in DIY natural health, organic lifestyle, and sustainable living.

John Jay Homestead News

You can now keep up on current activities at John Jay Homestead @ the recently created blog John Jay Homestead News.

Michael Skolnik - Independent Film Maker

It is always a joy to have kids you have known to grown up and really take off as young adults.

Such one kid (or rather young man) is Michale Skolnik. The son of Martha and Simon Skolnik, who are neighbors of mine.


As my kids, who are now adults and good friends of Michale since they were young kids, would say Mike is kicking it.

But what makes Mike especially unique is his approached to film making.

As he states in his Facebook profile -

"I am a filmmaker who is trying to tell the stories of those that normally do not have a chance to tell their own."

His latest film project is producing a feature this year, called Entre Nos, (the trailer is below).

Mike is a gifted person and he sums it up quite nicely in his facebook profile:

"I am only 30, and I know I have been very lucky to have success very young. This is not about me. This is about us."

His latest film project will have it's World Premier at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Here are the details:

We have three screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival

Saturday, April 25 @ 6pm
Wednesday, April 29 @ 4:45pm
Saturday, May 2 @ 3:45pm

For AMERICAN EXPRESS Card Holders tickets go on sale April 14th.

For the general public tickets go on sale April 20th.

Tickets will sell out fast, so hurry and click on the link below on those dates!!!

http://www.tribecafilm.com/festival/tickets/

We can't wait to see you there!

The Entre Nos Family

Bedford Town-Wide Clean Up Days/Tag & Rummage Sales

Spring activity in the Katonah area really get’s under way starting April 26.

• The Presbyterian Women of the First Presbyterian Church of Katonah will be having its 2009 Rummage Sale starting April 26 with donations accepted.
  

  
  PRESBYTERIAN WOMEN
  2009 RUMMAGE SCHEDULE
  
  
  April 26 Sunday NOON - 5:00pm Donations accepted
  
  April 27 Monday NO DONATIONS ACCEPTED
  8:30am - 6:00pm OUTSIDE SALE
  
  April 28 Tuesday 8:30am - 6:00pm OUTSIDE SALE
  
  April 29 Wednesday 8:30am - 6:00pm OUTSIDE SALE
  
  April 30 Thursday 8:30am - 6:00pm OUTSIDE SALE 9:00am - 6:00pm INSIDE SALE AND BAKE SALE
  
  May 1 Friday 8:30am - 6:00pm OUTSIDE SALE
  9:00am - 6:00pm INSIDE SALE AND BAKE SALE
  
  MAY 2 Saturday 9:00am - NOON OUTSIDE SALE
  9:00am - NOON INSIDE SALE AND BAKE SALE
  
  
  

• Katonah will have its SPRING CLEAN UP DAY – Saturday May 2, 2009--RAIN OR SHINE. Meet in front of the Katonah Library at 9 AM organized by the Katonah Improvement Society.
  
  
• The Town’s Department of Public Works Town-Wide Clean-Up Days will be held at the Crusher Road Highway Facility off Route 22, just North of Route 172, in Bedford Village.
  
  Here are the details as quoted from the Town of Bedford DPW's web page:
  
  "Town residents can bring household debris and metal waste to the Crusher Road Yard during the following periods:
  
  Friday, May 1, 2009 7:30 AM-3:00 PM
  Saturday, May 2, 2009 7:30 AM-4:30 PM
  Monday, May 4, 2009 7:30 AM-3:00 PM
  
  Residents can also take brush and tree debris to the Beaver Dam Highway facility on Beaver Dam road off Harris Road during the same days and hours listed above.
  
  The Highway Department will not accept any of the following items: tires, batteries, computers, refrigerators, freezers, pressure treated lumber, air conditioners, propane tanks, paint, varnish, chemicals, medical waste, or other toxic materials.
  
  Proof of Bedford residency is required, and fees are as follows:
  $20 per carload
  $50 per pickup truck load
  $100 for small dump trucks (<6 yd)
  $200 and up for large dump trucks (>6 yd)
  Bedford Village Chowder & Marching Club will hold their Tag Sale on Friday May 1 st and Saturday, May 2nd at the Crusher Road Highway Facility.
  

  
  In addition a Mobile Shredder will be available on Friday May 1st and Monday May 4 th at the Crusher Road Highway Yard. This free Westchester County public service is intended for residents to shred their personal documents. Papers from businesses or commercial enterprises will not be accepted. Residents may bring a maximum of two file boxes. To speed up shredding and reduce waiting time, residents must remove all metal clips, fasteners, binders, folders and hard covers and place the papers loosely in a box. Hard covers – cardboard or plastic covers on items such as ledger books, marble composition books and hard-cover books – are not acceptable. Residents may rip away pages from these hard cover books for shredding and throw the covers in their household trash."
  

A New Way to View Your Desktop In 3D

This is a major shift in the way you can view and experience your computer desktop.

The demo is quite impressive and you can download a free version of this application.

Martha Stewart's Katonah Shopping Photo Tour

Or her blog, Martha Stewart. a resident of Katonah recently posted her photo tour of shopping in Katonah.

Here is the link.

Comments on your Katonah shopping shopping experience welcome - including photos and videos.

Building The Amazing Steam Candle

I came across this video today, and thought what a neat project and educational eye opener re: steam. The heart of the industrial age.

Share this with family & friend.


Building The Amazing Steam Candle - More bloopers are a click away

Katonah Library Reopen March 9, 2009

Last night I returned some books to the Katonah library on it's reopening day.

What a joy! The big take away for me was the carpet,lighting and ceiling makeover. A real visual treat.

Highly recommended. Take your family and enjoy this reading/lounging oasis in Katonah.

A Tool For Sellers - The Real Estate Marketing Report Card

There are numerous real estate sites and portals designed to help buyers find the perfect property. There have been few service offered with sellers in mind.

Withe the current trend in the Katonah Real Estate Market:

Katonah Homes For Sale

Katonah Recently Sold Homes

Katonah Recently Sold Homes

Katonah Homes For Sale

... sellers need all the help they can get.

The Real Estate Marketing Report Card

Today, the Real Estate Marketing Report Card (REMRC) is being launched in an effort to help sellers monitor their online reach. Rather than having to rely on an agents word that the property information has been placed on the Web, sellers can now easily check for themselves and make sure they're getting the best bang for their buck.





How it Works

Once you've entered the property details, street, city, state, zip code, and price, the
REMRC searches across the Web and looks a a variety of real estate portals including Trulia, Google Base, Vast, Zillow and FrontDoor for details on where the property is listed.

The results appear as a grade; getting an A means your property has decent exposure on the Web; a D means you need to take some action. In addition to the grade, the site will provide a link to your listing on the various sites so you can see how well or how poorly your property is represented.

USA Service - Obama's Initiative To Bring Service To Neighborhoods

USA Service - This is a recently announced follow up on Obama’s promise to bring change to the neighborhood level across the nation. From the website: “It’s a tool that will allow you to organize a service event in your community and recruit others to join you. Or, if you’d prefer to join an existing event, the site will direct you to what others have organized in your neighborhood.”

Essentially, if you want to organize to help others in your community, USA Service.org will be the place to go for people interested in working on Obama’s goal of “Renewing America Together.”

As this site was just launched, there should be local service events posted soon.
Share this site with others to get the word out and get involved in service to the neighborhood.

Scariest Suspension Bridge In Japan

For a YouTube IMAX experience. Click on this video.
This is walk through on an old (1950s) wooden suspension bridge in a remote area of Japan. - deep Southern Japanese Alps. The bridge is very narrow and is believe to be Japanese oldest remaining suspension bridge. Oh being remote means if you got stuck on the bridge you are very far from help.

You are walking on two planks and 3/4 through the walk through (around the 4:30 min mark of the video)you are walking on one plank and at times it appears to me there are no planks there. The utterance from the Japanese walker makes me think "Oh My God What Was I Thinking". Hearing the wind constantly adds to the drama.


99.99% of us would say no way no how would I ever do this. The .01% that would try this would definitely IMHO need a check up from the neck up.

P.S. You can view also this video in High Definition.

From Ice Storm To Beautiful Landscapes

With the weather the way it is today, ice storm, with the forecast of more snow and cold weather to come -



Here is a visual respite.


Today, I came across a link to this beautiful site of Ralph Cooksey-Talbott a landscape photographer who studied under Ansel Adams in Yosemite in the 1970's.
Cooksey is currently doing vertical panoramic photography.
He calls them Vertoramas. They are works of beauty.
Should help to brighten up your day.
Here are a few of them below:






Cooksey is offering these vertoroma as free downloads at his site, which one can add to their site or social web page. He also is also offering prints of these beautiful photos for sale.