Darien Morning Briefing: 2.24.12, Friday

***

***

***

Today is Friday, Feb. 24, 2012.

***

HEADLINES:

• (You Said It column)

EVENTS & REMINDERS

Adults:

• Play: "Same Time Next Year": 8 p.m. Powerhouse Performing Arts Center in Waveny Park, New Canaan. $20. Ends March 10. "Doris and George are faithful spouses--for 51 weeks a year--but they rendez-vous one weekend each year in pursuit of guilty pleasures."—from the Patch events listing.
• Movie: "Contagion": 7:30 p.m. at Darien Library. (2011)—IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes—with Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, and Gwyneth Paltrow. "As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart."—from the library announcement. 
• Friday Night Winedown: 5 p.m., Nicholas Roberts Fine Wines, 1053 Post Rd. "Every Friday we feature items that we feel are worth sharing. Stop in and grab a taste.  We usually pick three of four wines, but sometimes we change things up ... tequila, rum, bourbon. It's always a good time."—from the Darien Patch events listing.
• One Book, One Community 2012: "Visit us now to check out your copy of 97 Orchard [for adult] or The Inquisitor's Apprentice [for young readers]. Then, join us in March and April as we host a slew of discussions, workshops, lectures, film screenings, and events that support the books’ themes. There will be programs for adults, teens, and children. Help build a better community!"
• START READING IT NOW: March 6: Spring Book Discussion on "Steve Jobs," a biography by Walter Isaacson. "We have copies of the books available for patrons to borrow, but prior reading of the books is not necessary to attend the discussions. [...] Our Spring Book Discussion Series will continue with The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides on Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m., and The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach on Tuesday, May 1 at 7 p.m."—from the Darien Library announcement.
• at March 2-4

Kids:

• Drop In: Preschool Time: 9:30 to 10 a.m., Storytime Room. Darien Library. "Storytime for preschoolers ages 3 to 5. Includes stories, songs, and act-outs."—from the library announcement.
• Family Gaming Sandbox: 4 to 5:30 p.m. Darien Library. "Bring along Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Grandma for this whole-family afternoon of gaming fun. Try out the Wii, XBox Kinect, and handheld gaming devices. Learn about the hidden and not-so-hidden benefits of video gaming and how video games can help boost brain power!"—from the library announcement.
• "We've Got Game": 4 to 5:30 p.m., Children's library at Darien Library. "[A]n afternoon of gaming. Ages 7 to 12."—from the library announcement.

Teens:

• Vote in the DMV Teen Safe Driving Video Contest for 2012: See the video attached to this article. The Connecticut DMV and Travelers Insurance are "sponsoring a challenge to communities – in Connecticut and outside the state — to view these videos and rally behind one,  as shown by the number of views it gets,  that best supports a community safety message.  Please help us promote this challenge. [...] Schools ranking in the Top 10 [...] can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/teensafedriving12 "—from The Depot website
• February Doings at the Depot (calendar)
• WRITING COMPETITION: For this third annual event sponsored by library, there is "$100 for the winner in each age group and category, You will also have the opportunity to meet with published authors and have your work printed and read by a large audience. And can you imagine putting this on your college applications?" Poetry, fiction and nonfiction are all accepted. If you have any questions, call Erica at 669-5225. [...] To enter email your entry along with the application form to teenstaff@darienlibrary.org beginning on Jan. 1.  Participants have until Feb. 28 to enter for a chance to win cash prizes.  An awards ceremony will conclude the competition on Saturday, March 31."—from the Darien Library website.

DARIEN PLAYHOUSE SHOWTIMES

• The Artist: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., P.G. 13 (1 hr., 40 min.)—IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes
  
• The Vow: 7 and 9:15 p.m., PG-13, 1 hr., 44 min.)—IMDb—trailer—Rotten Tomatoes

GOVERNMENT MEETINGS

All meetings take place in , 2 Renshaw Rd., unless otherwise noted. Since Darien town government provides no reliable, centralized list of town government meetings, and there is not enough time in the day to go searching for them, this list may well be incomplete:

• There are no known meetings today.
  

FORECAST as of 12:20 a.m., Thursday (update)

• Friday: "Rain. High near 43. East wind between 9 and 14 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible."
• Friday Night: "A slight chance of rain before midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. Breezy, with a south wind 8 to 11 mph becoming west between 22 and 25 mph. Winds could gust as high as 43 mph."

INTERSTATE 95 TRAFFIC CAMS

See also Darien Patch's "Traffic & Gas Prices" page.

• Stamford: southbound, Exit 8 - Elm St.

• Stamford: northbound, south of Exit 9 - Lockwood Ave.

• Darien southbound, north of Exit 9 - Darien Service Plaza

• Darien northbound Exit 12 - Tokeneke Rd.

• Darien northbound, south of Exit 13 - Darien Service Plaza

• Darien southbound, Exit 13 - Rt. 1 (Boston Post Rd.)

• Norwalk southbound, Exit 15 - Stuart Ave.

• Norwalk Rt 7 south of Exit 1 - Connecticut Ave.

• Norwalk northbound, Exit 15 - Rt. 7

TIDES & TIMES

• Sunrise: 7:02 a.m.
• Sunset: 7:42 p.m.

• Low tide: 6:16 a.m. (-0.4') 
• High tide: 12:14 a.m. (7.5')
• Low tide: 6:31 p.m. (-0.3')

HOW TO USE PATCH:

Forecast obtained from the National Weather Service; tide information obtained from saltwatertides.com (calibrated to Long Neck Point).