By the Numbers

57=number of Hudson Quadricentennial cat figures that, thanks to $500 sponsorships by local enterprisers, will ornament the sidewalks of downtown Catskill this summer. Among names assigned by submitting artists for designs exhibited at BRIK gallery: Half Moon Cat, Cat Van Winkle, CemenTom, Hyde Park Purr, H.A.L., Clearwater Cat, Cathexis, Hudson Hornet, Purr-lesque Dancer, Old Kaatskillian, Thomas Cole Copy Cat, Timeless Hudson Cat, Main Coon, Tiffany Tom,Bannerman CAsTle, Catue of Liberty. 61=Mexican dinners sold last night at the MOD Cafe in Catskill, on the occasion of the sixth trial of Thiusday night service. That's a new record. Average turnout, according to Dana and Mary, had been about 40 customers. We happily attest to the quality of the arroz con pollo and the Grande Mama burrito. In the same spirit, we heartily recommend the recently instituted Wednesday night fare at Bell's Cafe and the week night specials (chicken, veal, pasta...) at Tatiana's. 16=number of days, plus 7 hours, since Heart(of Catskill)throb Linda Overbaugh has smoked a cigarette. Citing a $225 laser therapy treatment (www.smokefreetimes.com) she reports "pretty comfortable progress so far, and no weight gain" in battle against a 43-year addiction. 5=number of days per week that The Daily Mail will be published henceforth. Instead of an issue a day there will be a weekend edition, delivered on Saturday, and then weekday editions on Tuesday through Friday. That change may bring about a reduction in memorable images generated by GreeneLand's foremost news organ: residents gathering "to satiate their interest in...drainage system contamination"; "decadent" fiberglass cats "unleashed" on Main Street; a "pinch" that is being felt "on many fronts"; a judge who "sentenced Maceo Jones to...prison after being convicted of...grand larceny"; an "ordinance that will lift burden off" a subject's shoulders; an "amendment to village traffic" that "eliminates vagueness out of a law"; a "grimalkin quandary" that "has only been exasperated." 13=anticipated number of days before the inventory of DVDs at the new Wayne's World Video (65 West Btidge St, Catskill) grows from moderate to big. In the meantime, proprietor Wayne Murphy's new store is open daily from noon to 9pm, offers a few snacks, and does have a stock of new movie releases ($2.75 per night), regular movies ($1.49 for two nights), games ($1.99 for two nights) and naughty stuff behind the curtain. http://waynesworld77.parks.officelive.com. 39=number of days left until voters in the 20th Congressional District of New York (GreeneLand included) decide who shall succeed Kirsten Gillibrand as United States Representative. Activites and backgrounds of the main candidates, Scott Murphy and Jim Tedisco, are chronicled, less or more, on their campaign web sites: www.scottmurphy09.com and www.jimtedisco.com. They evidently agree in assigning paramount importance to jobs. They also evince special solicitude for "the middle class," to the point of implying that its membership encludes the whole population. They have accepted invitations to engage in "debates" but they have accepted different invitations. Mr Tedisco alone has said Yes, so far, to pospective encounters on March 3 (Saratoga Springs; AARP), March 9 (Poughkeepsie; P. Journal) and March 24 (WROW AM from a motel in Colonie). Mr Murphy alone has said Yes, so far, to a proposed match-up on March 19 (sponsored by The TimesUnion; broadcast on WMHT). UPDATE: According to a message from the Columbia County Democratic Committee, Mr Murphy, Mr Tedisco and Libertarian Erik Lundwal have agreed to take part in a "town hall" encounter on March 26th, sponsored by the League of Women Voters, broadcast on WROW (590 on AM dial) from a motel in Latham starting at 7pm. ----- On substantive issues, one difference has emerged so far: Mr Murphy endorses the $787 billion Recovery and Reinvestment law that the Congress adopted (over heavy Republican opposition) and President Obama signed; Mr Tedisco, according to a TimesUnion editorial (2/19), delivered a "filibuster-length non-answer" (whose full text was memorialized in a 2/18 New York Observer story). Meanwhile, Mr Tedisco touts unidentified "values we share" and his record, as chief of the State Assembly's Republican minority, of leadership in "the fight for tax relief, a real property tax cap, a stronger economy, more jobs and a better quality of life." -----In recent years, candidates for national office were subject to evaluation by reference to their stands or evasions on all sorts of issues or problems: climate change, embryonic stem cell research, foreign wars, Roe v. Wade, same-sex marriage, Affirmative Action, school vouchers, guns, illegal immgrants.... What happened? COMING EVENTS ---Tomorrow in downtown Catskill. Scott Murphy visits Democratic headquarters (Main Street at William) at about 2pm. Later, the Catskill Gallery Association's 'Saturday Studios' promotion animates Main Street. ---Tomorrow in Windham. "re," a new show of art objects made by re-cycling, re-conditioning, re-designing, re-integrating and re-interpreting opens at the Arts Council's Mountaintop Gallery, from 2pm. ---Tomorrow and Sunday in Hudson (but we choose to mention it here): clown workshop for women. Led by Laura Geilen (North American Nose to Nose Clown Facilitator Team) and Benedicta Bertau (outreach director, Walking the Dog Theater). it promises help that "lets your challenges become opportunities, your mistakes celebrations, and your confusions states of enlightenment." So: "...live haplessly ever after." 518 929 5392. ---Tomorrow night: dinner dance with silent auction at the Elks Lodge in Catskill, to raise funds for needy and deserving Community Action of Greene & Columbia Counties. www.cagcny.org ---Early March. Opening of custom furniture business (indoor and outdoor; original designs) at 396 Main St, Catskill (former home of Imagine That!) by international veteran (with Diane von Furstenberg) Kurt Andernach. His new shop (518 943-WOOD) adds more than a mite to downtown Catskill's appeal as a home improvement Mecca, what with furniture restoration, antiques, custom tiles and kitchen cabinets, carpets, original textiles, upholstery, Indonesian furniture, appliances, plumbing supplies, homewares and art. ---July 1. "Merger" of Immaculate Conception Church (Haines Falls) with Sacred Heart (Palenville) "with both to stay open." That elusive change is part of a comprehensive plan (see www.rcda.org and then Called to BE Church) announced by Howard Hubbard, archbishop of the sprawling Roman Catholic diocese of Albany. Also in prospect is a "merger" of "parish facilities" of St Patrick's Church of Catskill with its namesake in Athens). But consolidating the congregations could be difficult. The Athens church is too small. The Catskill church, though capacious, has been unusable since the collapse of the interior ceiling. Worshippers meet in the annex's basement. Cost of restoring the church, we understand, would exceed one million dollars.