Let’s chat, shall we?

.......Great, good, Let’s start with the news :

You know where the best news on T.V. is? BBC hands down. They even do more comprehensive coverage of our U.S. sports teams. This morning they had terrific coverage of the Flyers. But the BBC is different because it doesn’t dwell on the tabloidesque news our local newscasts can’t seem to avoid.

In the world of Tabloidesque - Is Mylie Cyrus news any more than her predecessors Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, or the ultimate pop tart, Britney Spears? Do we really care that Mylie posed for Vanity Fair? Like who hasn’t and can it be contemplated that she may have been wearing more then some parents let their daughters go to Prom in? And do we care that serial dater John Mayer has moved onto being "Friends" with Jennifer Aniston? Sheesh, you know what I care about? that ever since dude got mixed up with high maintenance women his music has really suffered...

The “Today Show” featured a couple of crazy polygamist sect couples from Texas today. Yes, they featured “Big Love” live on the air. These people look like they are sedated or something - their eyes were so strange and bright. Love the polygamist sect outfits? What’s up with Little House on the Prairie Wear? What is it they don’t get about people wondering what is up with them? That ranch is like a breeding factory, and how is that some kind of religious freedom?

(Thank goodness for Sex and The City The Movie or we would never see good clothes....but why does London get to see the movie first? )

Another burning question today: is the big house cat on amatuer video shown on T.V. near Landenburg, PA news? Ummmm, it looks like a BIG HOUSE CAT. So put Morris on a diet already and be done with it. Meow! Couger indeed...

Let’s dish the irony of the tree that came down near Bryn Mawr Hospital today, also on the news? The announcer on one of the local news stations announces that the woman nearly crunched in the Lexus (we’ll call it a “Wrexus” now) was taken to UPenn for treatment? Hello? How about them apples? Accident happens in front of Bryn Mawr Hospital and person goes to another hospital? (that is actually interesting if it is true - is it true?)

Now let’s chat about the Main Line and the ever loving misplaced sense of entitlement, shall we? Hi, yes, big important people on cell phones in luxury SUVs? Please don’t run over the little people, “K”? Pedestrians are people too....

And let’s have a nip at the ankle biters who came out for dog parks in Lower Merion last week. Dog parks aren’t a bad idea, but the demeanor of that dude who was practically spitting at the podium? The one who was foaming at the mouth, making people wonder if he needed a rabies shot?

Dude, where do you get off? No one has said “no” to dog parks, and it’s not a conspiracy that they don’t exist. It IS a conspiracy that led to an ordinance or whatever outlawing speed humps in Lower Merion, but dog parks? Dude chill...also, there are like 2 horses left in all of Gladwyne because McMansions have sprouted in their fields and Wobbley Heights gobbled the rest of it. You want a dog park? Me too, but I also wonder if in Lower Merion, will this just be so lazy people don’t actually have to walk their dogs?

The funny thing is that for years, it was sort of “don’t ask, don’t tell” over at Rolling Hill Park that got the ball rolling recently, pardon the pun. But that unspoken thing was abused. Not by dog owners who are responsible, but by those who are not. And yes, go ahead, snap at my heels and get the fur up on your backs, but you know you are out there.

Oh and back to that horse comment: did it poop on you? Or are you just anti-Equus? I would rather see ten ponies then listen to you again on Channel 7. And would that these dog people show as much interest in other things, like the issue of the proposed River Trail through Gladwyne for example?

Let’s chat trail. What will this trail cost? Can it safely be continuous? What does that guy Bob Thomas make on all these contracts anyway? He can’t be doing it all for altruistic reasons, can he? Is he the only expert? What about that Montgomery County Trail Plan that you can find by perusing the county website? Ever taken a good look at it? You all should.

If we have a trail, does it have to be all paved like Radnor’s trail? Radnor’s trail is nice, but it is like walking on a road, not a trail. A trail is what goes through Haverford College. It is not paved, it’s a surface that is like compacted pebbles for the most part. And what is even better about the Haverford College Nature Trail? No aggressive cyclists. You can’t say that on some other trails. If you are a walker or a pleasure cyclist, the hell-bent- for- leather -variety- cyclists can be a bit much.

Speaking of Radnor’s trail, did they really take money that could have gone towards something to do with that for artificial turf fields? So what happens if Lower Merion gets the River Trail and doesn’t maintain it? Is everyone happy with the way all the rest of Lower Merion’s parks are maintained? Will they need to exercise eminent domain to complete these trails? Will that happen around Bala?

And onto other things Lower Merion: do you think in any of our lifetimes we will ever see a comprehensive accounting of how much dollar for dollar all the “consultants” over the years have cost? No wait, never mind, naughty taxpayers are flogged with wet noodles for asking such impertinent questions.

But you know what, being impertinent is sooooo much fun, so let’s move to the May 14th hearing on the proposed Bryn Mawr Zoning, shall we? So who is this zoning for really? Is it really to benefit the businesses and the residents and the rest of us? Or is it all still to accessorize the hospital? And what about that hospital? Will the township really do something to help what is left of Central and Summit Grove Avenues?

Let’s chat development: the real estate market is in the proverbial toilet, yet every week in every township we are as citizens presented with more “build it and they will come” projects.

Who are we all waiting for to arrive? Crikey, don’t we have enough density issues already?

How many freakin’ stores do we need? How many condos? How many cars? How many people? How many new kids to add to the schools that all we ever do is fight about now?

And for everything being proposed it’s like cars do not exist. Like magic, we are all going to beam them up Scottie? Speaking of cars, what’s up with the placement for the Septa garage thing in the Bryn Ma-waa plan? The one to be built on the surface lot behind Harcum? The one worth your life getting in and out of now due to the underpass traffic rushing towards Montgomery and Morris?

Ok, must be new math....just like the new math Radnor Township’s engineer is contemplating with regard to the flood plain lines for the potential and utterly unnecessary development for 236 N. Aberdeen Ave in North Wayne, right? Unfortunately, it won’t be new math that will keep the HARB in South Wayne down...that Bloomingdale issue is going to test limits, and probably without breaking a sweat - the HARB needs to better define the area. Not just deem it “historic”. That’s not being mean, it’s merely a suggestion to avoid further Bloomingdale Avenue situations. Are those homes on Bloomingdale non livable? Doubtful. That’s like saying anyone believes a developer wants to live in a neighborhood they are entering for profit. North Aberdeen Avenue have you met Partridge Lane?

But back to Bryn Mawr.....has anyone seen the new monstrosity, err Gym at Baldwin? Ya know the one that the horrible family who donated the money that gave them license apparently to fire teachers over? (Hey what happened to that family, anyway? Did they move?) Take a jog past it on New Gulph or Fishers Road....it looks like it is a set for the Pennsylvania Renaissance Fair. What an absurd structure. (And yes, the First Amendment allows such an opinion, and the opinion is the taste for that thing is in someone’s mouth and that’s about it)

And while we are being scholastic, what about the Haverford School’s new building? It’s rather large and modern, but will it be considered handsome? And what’s up with the lack of parking spaces over there? How many spaces do they have for visitors to the middle and lower schools specifically? Heard it was kind of low.

And speaking of parking, what will the school do in the end to repay the neighborhood across the street for all of the inconvenience they have suffered? Will they get together with Baldwin and do a two-fer? As in two-fer nothing, thanks?

And in Ardmore. What will we do about Ardmore? How about a master plan kids? No wait, like updating a comprehensive plan more than every 30 years, that would make too much sense, wouldn’t it? Will we ever see that train station money used for, and here’s a novel idea, a train station? (And surely there is someone out there “consulting” on a study of this opinion as we speak?)

And then there are all you arm chair quarterbacks out there. You sure like to talk about what is wrong wherever the heck it is you live. Yet where are all of you at meetings from township to township, municipality to municipality? What are you afraid of?

People, government works for you. Why be afraid? Why be mute? We can’t keep complaining about what is wrong in our communities if we just sit by passive.

No, it doesn’t mean we have to be on a picket line (even if they can be fun), it means opening our mouths.....we can’t complain if we don’t try.

And finally? Speaking of trying? Do you appreciate your friends and family enough? Life is short...tell them you love them and spend time with them. Every day something can change. Yes, value your lives out there....celebrate the little things, the often disregarded simple things...stop and smell the roses (before they are all paved over).

Ok, enough talking..... if you have an opinion, come on down. The water’s fine (but after today, some basements may be flooded)....