It’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and whatever (GLBTQW) month, and hard-earned taxpayer dollars continue to be devoted to glorifying the “walk on the wild side.” The latest is National Coming Out Day (NCOD), Friday, Oct. 8. The city of Pittsfield, at the risk of lawsuits if it refused, funded NCOD as part of its […]
From the Secret Squadron, high atop a mountainside overlooking the great metropolis of Pittsfield, The Planet moves sometimes undercover in the shades of night and other times, as here, within full view under the McDonald’s french fry lights of television. The Planet dutifully takes notes as John Barrett presents to the city council. Most of […]
Rigged politics being what they are (What, you think the one-party totalitarian system we have in The Great Commonwealth isn’t rigged?), The office of The Ancient Congressman, John Olver, delivered its perfunctory “endorsement” of another Democratic state rep candidate. The latest irrelevancy comes with Rep. Older’s (my new spelling) nod to 2nd Berkshire District candidate […]
— the exit of Randy Moss worry anyone? From day 1 of camp this year, the New England Patriots have made it clear that with their three-tight-end capabilities+, they are moving to a spread-it-around offense. Moss has not been a big factor in the team’s 3-1 start. The Patriots lead the NFL in offense. True, […]
You can read the gory details in my print column PLANET VALENTI in this week’s Pittsfield Gazette. I shall reveal my conversation with a “well-placed source” who spells out the seven-part plan which, if it can be believed, gives career public-trougher Chris Speranzo a lifetime sinecure as clerk-magistrate of Central Berkshire District Court at $110,ooo […]
The Planet made media rounds this morning with a TV/radio appearance on John Krol’s “Good Morning, Pittsfield” (WTBR, PCTV) and a radio gig on Larry Kratka’s “Up Front” (WBEC). Gotta make this quick because of pressing deadlines elsewhere, but we did get the word out on this website. With Krol, we talked about the Pittsfield […]
Say this for the appropriately named Katherine Gundelfinger: She’s determined. Gundelfinger has been trying since the C-cup was invented to bring topless sunbathing to Pittsfield. The boobs on the Parks Commission turned down an earlier request, and my right honorable good friends on the Pittsfield city council never got the chance to weigh in on […]
Often, someone thinking to issue an insult will label me a “cynic.” I accept the designation but not the definition. The word is like “God,” one become so imprecise in meaning as to be meaningless and so overapplied in use as to be useless. By default, every thinking, self-aware person wishes to use his or […]
In a recent Berkshire Eagle column, my long-time friend and colleague, raconteur extraordinaire Brian Sullivan, offered a suggestion of drinks to properly celebrate Pittsfield’s 250th anniversary next year. Among them were a “Ruberto’s Revenge” (you have one “every two years”) and a “Bowler You Over” (“One’s the limit”). He also had this brew: “Vicious Valenti […]
In this week’s print version of PLANET VALENTI, published by the Pittsfield Gazette, spell out the End As We Know It, courtesy of technology and the young zombies known as “digital natives.” Next week, we peer deep into the future. We tell you who is in and who is out in the 2011 Pittsfield city elections. […]
Kindly caustic, a friend to the afflicted, a foe to those that afflict PLANET VALENTI is the umbrella home of writer, broadcaster, professor, provocateur, cynic, optimist, and pedestrian Dan Valenti. Valenti has built a brand name out of himself for his achievements in a number of creative areas. To read the new online PLANET VALENTI, […]
