The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/17438
Casual Chit Chat Each week, we have a casual conversation with a member of the community. This week over lattes, Criminal Defense Attorney Andrew Puritz of Oneonta and Cassandra Miller chit chat, casually. 1. Would you rather listen to Da- vid Hasselhoff music for the rest of your life, or have to clap every time you said the word “the?” I would absolutely prefer to clap every time I said the word “the.” 2. What’s your favorite gangster movie? Courtroom drama? The Godfather, part I and II, taken together. They describe the story of every immigrant group that’s ever come to America. Beautiful mo- tion pictures. And for the courtroom drama – The Verdict with Paul Newman. To my eye and my ear, it’s the most realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be a solo practitioner fighting a big case. 3. What din- ner would you be depressed about never being able to eat again? Spaghetti with marinara sauce and steamed clams, maybe some crusty bread and rich red table wine – a lambrusco or chianti. I’d be very sorry if I could never eat that meal again. 4. You have to throw a theme party; what is it? Sherlock Holmes. I’ve never thought about that. But, I think it would be an absolute blast if everyone who came to the party had a knowledge of Sherlock Holmes stories. 5. Name three songs on your iPod. The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There.” Flight of the Concords’ “Carol Brown.” John Sebastian’s “Darling Be Home Soon.” 6. What was the first concert you saw? I was a senior in high school and went to Madison Square Garden. It was a rock ‘n’ roll revival concert, in 1970. Chuck Berry was the headliner. He was an absolute thrill. The Four Seasons and Sha Na Na played the same night. 7. What do young people do that grates on your nerves? They put a question mark at the end of every sentence – even if they’re telling you what they had for dinner, they’ll put an inflection at the end of every statement. I think it reflects the deterioration in the art of conversation. 8. What do you wish you could do if you were in college again? Have a community member to recommend for Casual Chit Chat? Great! E-mail editor@thedailystar.com Oct. 7, 2010 O-Town Scene 7 Instead of going to law school, I would go into a graduate program in history and go for a Ph.D in 20th Century history. 9. If you weren’t a criminal defense attorney, what would you be? I would’ve enjoyed be- ing a historian. One of the things I worry about most is America’s col- lective memory getting shorter and shorter because of our modern technological age. 10. What’s the best part about liv- ing in Oneonta? For me, it’s three things: How beautiful it is in the fall. Crisp, clear, gorgeously colorful; It’s where my brother Freddy lived with his wonderful family, and my father lives not far away; and Oneonta’s been very, very good to my kids. I’ve enjoyed watching them grow up with the school district, the pace of life and the decency of the people. It’s been wonderful for my children and their childhoods. That’s been a real pleasure.