By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Sunday, December 30, 2007 3:30 AM EDT

Not Skaneateles related. Hmm…. Ok, someone in Skaneateles is a supporter (weak link, I know). But I just read this, and it threw me for a sec.

The following is a quote (years ago) with Carl Rove speaking to Ron Suskind about the ‘state of the empire,’ otherwise known as the good ‘ol U-S-of-A.

Carl to Ron on ‘empire’:

“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that reality — judiciously, as you will — we’ll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that’s how things will sort out. We’re history’s actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.”

we? … you?… what ‘we’ and ‘you’ world does he live in?

By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Sunday, December 30, 2007 2:49 AM EDT

Another great winter image in Skaneateles! Don’t you just love it when the sky is blue in winter? This photo was also found on Flickr.com, uploaded by user Chewieez.

By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Sunday, December 30, 2007 2:23 AM EDT

Flickr user Champy1013 has posted this beautiful Skaneateles Christmas tree photo.

View the full sized version here.

By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Sunday, December 23, 2007 3:37 AM EDT

Found this great photo documentary of Jill and Steve’s wedding at a website named Teendrama.com. Though their wedding was in Auburn at the beautiful St. Mary’s Church, the reception happened at the Skaneateles Country Club (wiki). The Sherwood Inn (wiki), The Bird’s Nest Motel (wiki) and Morris’s Grill (wiki) are also mentioned incl. great photos. Check it out here.

By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Monday, December 10, 2007 11:55 AM EDT

New images of Lisa Leubner’s gingerbread model of the late 19th-century Skaneateles fire hall (along with other models and neat stuff) can be seen in the Skaneateles Wiki here, at the Skaneateles Historical Society images page. Lisa spent roughly 100 hours constructing this model, and the detail is just amazing. You can read about the model here at the Auburn Citizen website.

By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Saturday, December 8, 2007 1:55 PM EDT

Maybe you’ve seen it, maybe you haven’t? I’m talking about the recent article about the Skaneateles Wiki in the Skaneateles Journal (wiki). If you’re not familiar with the Skaneateles Wiki, it is a community project intending to catalog all things related to Skaneateles, NY free of charge. Anyone can add or edit content in the Skaneateles Wiki, including articles and photos. Be sure to check it out (here).

One of the best things about the article appearing in the Journal was that I had the opportunity to visit the Newspaper Nook in person and talk with Linda Ober right before the Thankgiving holiday.

If you haven’t yet chatted with Linda, you really should take a moment to stop in at her new office (2 Fennell, Suite 210) and say “hi.” But first, a word of advice. Be sure if you’re stopping in for just 5 minutes (if you really only have 5 minutes) that you hold off until you have more free time, because it will soon be obvious to you why Linda does so well in her position as Editor at the Skaneateles Journal, which is to say that her personality is as great (easy-going and friendly) as are her editing skills.

By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Monday, December 3, 2007 2:55 PM EDT

Do you remember all the talk from Partners Trust Bank concerning “local credit decisions” for its customers? The billboards, advertisements, etc? To quote John A. Zawadzki, President and CEO of Partners Trust Bank, from Oct 2006, “We’re that community bank that’s the right size. We can compete very effectively with those large regional banks. We can handle any middle-market business; we can do $20 million to $25 million loans. Simultaneously, Partners has strived to stay local, responsive, and committed to this community.” Well, I suppose all of that’s water under the bridge now, since Partners Trust Bank ($3.7 billion in assets) shareholders have approved acquisition of the bank by M&T Bank ($57.9 billion in assets), with all Partners Trust customers being forcibly converted to M&T. It is reported that Mr. Zawadzki will leave the company once the acquisition is complete. Besides the obvious ramifications of the all-important dollar ruling our lives, I wonder which building in Skaneateles will house the merged banking entity? Obviously the Partners Trust Bank building here is much nicer than the M&T Bank building here. Read about the beginning of the switchover for locals here at syracuse.com.

By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Monday, December 3, 2007 1:39 PM EDT

Stella Maris Retreat & Renewal Center (wiki) adds a new Ginger Bread House Contest to its annual Victorian Christmas Open House this year. Prizes were mainly merchandise and gift certificates donated by local merchants. The event is one of the center’s main annual fund raisers. “We always have a massive need for funds here, especially for maintenance,” said Stella Maris director Gerrie Kaluzny. The money raised Sunday will be go toward the center’s upkeep, particularly to renovation of its outlying buildings. “Any monies that come into the retreat house go directly back in to the retreat house,” she said. Read Auburn Citizen reporter John Turner’s article here.

By Cary Briel / Briel Computer & Network
Monday, December 3, 2007 12:26 PM EDT

In a sports article yesterday in the Post Standard, Mike Crawford, a fishing guide in CNY, writes about his disapproval for a feature article in the same paper on the previous Sunday, which touted Skaneateles Lake as a “great place to go to put delicious trout on your dinner plate.” Mike asks, “Would the paper have published a feature story about a fisherman who spends each morning sitting on the banks of one of our revered local trout streams, dunking worms and greasing fish after fish to give to his friends and neighbors to eat? I doubt it.” Read the full article here.