Joe was also very popular with the ladies and went out with a string of very attractive women who were decidedly younger than he was. In his obituary it was noted that Joe "was a hairdresser [who] owned and operated Snippers." His clientele was thick with Providence café society types and, as Phillipe will attest, talcum was not the only powder in use when getting a trim from Joe.
Jorge remembers going to the Avon Theater for a screening of Bruce Weber's Let's Get Lost, a documentary on the life of jazz singer and trumpeter Chet Baker. After the film, he spotted Joe sitting in a back row, tears in his eyes. Yes, he used to run with Chet Baker, too.
Here's to Joe, a gentle and kind man who definitely lived a life.
A DOG'S DAY
With the negotiating for Twin Rivers' financial future taking a new turn every day, look for the greyhound owners and trainers to possibly get a helping hand during August, even as racing is suspended and workers are being laid off.
If the General Assembly runs the numbers on the three elements of the Twin Rivers take — simulcast racing from around the country, slots, and greyhound racing — there is a chance it will show a significant drop in revenue from the lack of live racing. Why? Because the ponies will still be running at high-draw places such as Saratoga, and the slots will slow down as always in beach weather. Without greyhound racing, there obviously will be no money coming from that arena.
If the state is relying upon Twin Rivers to be a cash cow, the shortfall could be attributed to discontinuing the dog racing as a revenue stream. Keep an eye on this one, folks — the numbers-juggling could make the conscienceless greed merchants at Goldman Sachs green with envy.
Heeeerrre comes Rusty!
TITANIC STUPIDITY
P+J have nothing but admiration for the rank-and-file men and women of the Coast Guard who put their lives on the line for seafarers who find themselves in distress on the water. But when you walk it up to their leadership, you enter a much different world — top brass become the most tight-assed bureaucrats in the world, and common sense gets washed ashore in favor of the almighty rules and regulations. A good analogy for their inability to think on their own can be borrowed from Johnny Carson's description of Chevy Chase's comedic talents: "He couldn't ad lib a fart after a baked bean supper."
Now the geniuses at the Coast Guard, notably southeastern New England Port Captain Raymond Perry, have given their blessing to the unsuitable liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Mt. Hope Bay proposed by the corporate buccaneers at Weaver's Cove Energy.
Without getting into how much fun it would be living next to a ticking bomb the size of Fenway Park, here is one of the considerations the Coast Guard thought wouldn't be much of a problem — shutting down the Newport and Mt. Hope bridges every time they escort an LNG supertanker up Narragansett Bay, ostensibly to ward off terrorism.
