Beautiful wildflowers dot the dried out Delaware Canal bed in New Hope PA.

Cracks and bulges continue to appear in a wall of the Delaware Canal adjacent to unfilled foundations at the struggling New Hope PA Canal Street housing development.

Fancy Wheels All Around Town

A Gorgeous Weekend in New Hope PA

Wow, as if the great weather wasn't enough, this weekend is packed with special events and fun, lead by the Fuzzstock Music and Arts Festival today at Union Square in New Hope PA, and the renowned and long running New Hope Automobile Show at the New Hope-Solebury High School all weekend long.

Add in the terrific dining, wining, shopping and gallery hopping, and it's not a bad weekend to visit before the summer begins to wind down!

2:30 p.m.: Car Accident at Entrance to Village 2

A single car accident occurred in New Hope PA today as a four door blue car struck the guardrail at the bottom of Oscar Hammerstein Way where it meets W. Mechanic Street. Some smoke emerged from the engine, so the Fire Department was called out. The female victim was the driver of the vehicle with no passengers present. She was 36, breathing, initially unconscious (author provided first aid and assessment at scene to EMS operator via mobile phone), no air bag was deployed, and the car had impacted frontally.

The driver regained consciousness after about two minutes, complaining of pain in her chest, shoulder, and sternum area, probably from the impact with the steering wheel. The police came and took over, the mustached officer in charge looking nervous. He wouldn't let me help get the driver's door open ("that's another department" he has to call) and kept asking me to step away from his glocky aura, although I was providing first aid at the time. Much more concerned with controlling the scene than comforting or attending to the victim. The Chief arrived, stoic and uncommunicative.

The local neighbors were great in directing traffic and keeping the victim calm. The Fire Department was terrific as always. Oh well, two out of three...

Local Color: Ha

Amiable and efficient USPS worker Ha delivers the mail on Main Street near Heart of the Home, a top New Hope PA craft store.

Gratz Gallery says Goodbye

Gratz Gallery at 30 W. Bridge St., New Hope PA is moving to Doylestown. The gallery had an impressive array of Bucks County impressionist paintings from the early 20th Century, and an active restoration business. It's disappointing to see them go now after surviving the canal bridge repair fiasco, but Union Square area businesses appear to be under some pressure of late with the departure of a several key players.

Local Color: Greg Conocchioli

Well known New Hope PA resident and renaissance man Greg Conocchioli is seen above taking a break to answer questions on a hot day last week while stripping, painting, and renovating the exterior of a lovely row house on Ferry Street.

Seems his talent for design and getting things done doesn't stop there. This man about town succeeds at landscape design, retail display and merchandising, and is renowned as a cook, gourmand and product creator.

Greg is also available as an "extra pair of hands" for getting one's home or office straightened up and organized. I know him personally, and find him to be trustworthy, perfectionistic, funny, and easy to communicate with.

So, if you want a reasonable stripper, painter, cook, designer or organizer, call Greg at (215) 862-4887 or write to variete34@verizon.net.

Ingham Creek Overflows Banks

As rainy weather persisted in the area, the Ingham or "Aquetong" Creek in New Hope, PA overflowed its banks today as local eyes began to turn toward the rising Delaware River. The perennially flooding and empty Historical Society retail space looked ready to go all squishy, but the mighty Bucks County Playhouse was holding its own. Unfinished foundations at the struggling Canal Street development appeared perilously close to the rushing currents.

Weekend Movies

Judd Apatow Continues to Bring Faith to Grown-Up Comedy with ‘Funny People’

By Michael Zema

‘Funny People’ is the latest from Judd Apatow, writer/director of ‘The 40-Year Old Virgin’ and ‘Knocked Up’ – two movies that others have tried hard to match the heart and humor of, but rarely come close.

Adam Sandler is George Simmons, a famous stand-up comedian who has just found out he has a blood disorder with little chance to make it through. Not having many people in his life, he makes a young comedian, Ira (Seth Rogen) his personal assistant and opening act, eventually letting him in on his secret. George begins to reevaluate what’s important to him, getting back in touch with the one who got away, Laura (Leslie Mann), who now has a life and family of her own.

‘Funny People’ walks the fine line of drama and comedy – no doubt due to Apatow’s witty writing style - never offering too much melodrama to bring the audience down, but enough to allow them to connect to the characters. The humor is definitely there, and makes this one of the most adult dirty-mouthed movies I’ve seen in recent memory.

Sandler does quite a good job and has several scenes where he can demonstrate that he has a good deal of range. Rogen does a fine job as well, and I found him to be more likeable in this movie than his past films -- maybe because I found his character relatable.

However, the standout to me was Leslie Mann, who was the leading lady here after many supporting roles in the past. She was funny, beautiful, and torn between the life she has now and the life she may have had with George.

Not everything about this movie was perfect. The second half of the movie feels much different than the first, making it seem like you’ve almost been dropped into a different film. However, because you care about the characters, you go with it, wondering where things might head.

Also, the movie is long, especially for a comedy, clocking in at approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes. This normally wouldn’t be a problem if the movie tied everything up, but I felt George didn’t quite come full circle at the end while other characters did.

If you are a fan of Apatow, I would certainly suggest ‘Funny People’. It’s by far Apatow’s most mature film to date and has a lot of heart and humor. What more can you ask for in an adult comedy?