The Lehigh Valley's Real Main Street - Its Blogosphere

A business coalition has hired two political consultants to tell you why you need a wider Route 22. They call it the Lehigh Valley's Main Street. Some Main Street. Unless you barrel along near the speed of light, someone will run you off the road.

There's another Main Street in the Lehigh Valley, a place where people can say Hi as they tool by, exchanging both ideas and insults. It's the Lehigh Valley blogosphere. And since my last report, it has grown. Time to fill you in, from the politically oriented to one containing some pretty good poetry.

The new local political blogs

Green Dog Dem: What the hell is a green dog Democrat? A green-dog Democrat is a cross between a yellow-dog Democrat and a blue-dog Democrat -- a moderately progressive, thinking Democrat who is liberal on some issues, moderate on some, a little conservative on some, ambivalent on some. What the hell does that mean? Beats me. I heard the Lehigh Valley Greens are suing for copyright infringement. The only thing I know for sure about this Green Dog Dem is he turns red whenever he sees anything that ends with cc, whether it's DCCC or HDCC. This dog should focus his anger on the SPCA and get a distemper shot. He knows a lot about the state house and its Machiavellian ways.

True Democrats of the Lehigh Valley: Right after losing a race for a state house seat against a well-financed Doug Reichley, Chris "Blue Collar" Casey took no time off to lick his wounds. Instead, he started a new blog. It was originally called True Democrats of Lehigh County, but there aren't any. So he renamed the blog, and invited a core of eight bloggers to participate. He even invited me, although I change parties more often undies. In a matter of days, there have already been twelve posts from very different people. This blog has potential and Casey would probably add you to his team of bloggers if you'd like to do an occasional post without having to go through the hassle of setting up a blog and preparing regular posts.

Lehigh Valley Crack Addict: But he's not addicted to crack. He craves blogs, and has passionately blogged topics ranging from the U.S. Congressional races to The Morning Call, which he's convinced is being run by pod people. His latest entry, Allentown Love Feast, is his best effort to date. He's proposing that Mayor Ed "Ironpig" Powlowski and Allentown city councilman Lou "I only sprechen zie English" Hershman duke it out in a charity boxing match to reduce city debt. Although I doubt this would bring in a dime, we all like to see pols beat each other up.

Naked Lehigh County Blogger: This isn't really a new blog but it gives me an excuse to say naked. Actually, Lehigh County Redneck is downsizing, and has decided she will only blog as Naked Lehigh County Blogger. In the interest of citizen journalism, we need someone who can find out if she really blogs au naturel. I want pictures!

J. Spike Rogan at Large: Sixteen posts on election day. In addition, this Easton blogger was broadcasting on internet radio and posting comments on all the locals. Need I say more? I wonder if he sleeps.

Some Local Blogs that Don't Give a Rat's Ass About Politics

Retro Riot: Were you looking for vintage Halloween gear? Stuck in the 60's? Vanessa Williams has answers.

Fab Finds: This is yet another Vanessa Williams production - a virtual guide to local antiques in this area.

Zen Dinosaurs: Anyone who can devote a post to a discussion of Spongebob Squarepants is OK in my book.

breathe.
evolve.
laugh.

He says things like that a lot.

What's Better than This?: This is an uplifting and iconoclastic photo blog.

Revelation Park: Poetry with a hint of zen.

My father sat up in his hospital bed surprised
and dropped dead light as a feather.

Already in his youth before his head
hit the pillow.

Update: I missed a political blog. It's Lehigh Valley Common Sense, a collection of timely posts by a semi-normal white guy who likes to work out and go to the beach. He may be a Democratic committeeman but welcomes conservative voices. His blog is oriented mostly to national issues. His latest, however, deals with our new Democratic leaders. Like the rest of us, he just loves Bill DeWeese.