Boston Common
Note: Boston Common was retired in 2005 to make way for Universal Hub - it's what online Boston is talking about.
February 13, 2005
C'mon over to Universal Hub
OK, gang, from now on, I'll be posting at www.universalhub.com exclusively, so come on over, kick the tires and tell me (in no uncertain terms) what could be done better!
I hope the end result is worth all the inconveniences (for which I apologize)!
Oh: There's a full RSS feed at www.universalhub.com/node/feed - complete posts, photos and links to other sites, even!
The right formula
Eric and Jen discover why their newborn had turned so cranky:
... Turns out it was the formula. Not the brand, which was perfectly fine, it was the powdered form. For some reason it gave him gas - lots of it - and he was very unhappy about it. We bought the powder because it was about 30% cheaper than the premixed stuff so the savings we realized of about $10 for each can seemed pretty great. ...
Ancient art
Beth describes a Greek restaurant with belly dancing:
... After a while, to my open-mouthed surprise, three more women, this time diners from one of the tables in the restaurant--get up to join her, dressed more casually, of course, but the three of them begin that twisting, careful, erotic dance, and suddenly a concept of womanhood ancient and entirely separate from modern-day ideals of silicone-pumped, painted androgyny fills the room like a perfume. One of the women is old, with dyed hair and heavy makeup and skeletal hands, but she dances with a soft smirk on her face, a kind of knowing glance of wisdom toward her younger, beautiful counterpart with all the flowing black curled hair and the slim body that has never known children or hardship, and it makes her the most beautiful woman in the room. ...
Tom Reilly and gay marriage
News that Tom Reilly now supports gay marriage cheers some, upsets others.
Charley is grateful the AG has had a change of heart:
... Now, I don't know if he really had a change of heart, or if he felt that the public opinion was changing, if he's covering his bases within the party, or if he just decided it wasn't worth the effort to fight anymore. And it doesn't matter now. He did the right thing, and came a step closer to getting my vote.
Doesn't matter much to Sparky, who wasn't planning to vote for him for governor, anyway:
... The mere fact that IDIOT pursued Microsoft after the Federal & other state government settled, demonstrates he's anti-business. If he runs, then wins, look for unemployment in Massachusetts to double. ...
Spring is coming
Yeah, yeah, the Pats won the Super Bowl again. But that's so last week, especially since The Truck has left for Florida (is there any other city in America where something like this would be news?).
Meanwhile, Red watches a replay of game 7 of last year's ALCS and says it just doesn't get old:
... After soaking it all in for the second time, I have to say that one of the most satisfying things has been the looks on the faces of the Yankees fans and players as it all just liquifies and slips through their fingers. Cashman with his hands in his pockets, staring blankly at the Red Sox pigpile. Billy Crystal slumped over in his private suite, being comforted by his wife in a manner not seen since the reviews for Mr. Saturday Night came in. ...
Kristen also watches the replay and provides a detailed diary of the second time around:
Bottom of the 1st:
Shut up, Gary Sheffield, shut up and die. I hate you and your perpetual motion, metronome bat moving thing. And your sad excuse for a mustache. And your pants and the way they inexplicably remind me of Scrooge McDuck and his spats. ...
In the pink
You may recall how Kristin thinks women should stop wearing pink Red Sox hats right this second.
Tatiana says bite me (more or less):
...I'm sick of taking grief for this.
People need to get their heads out of their asses.
Rich tree-y goodness
My Boston goes on an Appalachian Mountain Club trek through the Middlesex Fells:
... We learned the difference between white oaks and red oaks (smooth lobes versus pointy ones) and looked at six million pine trees (did you know that their needles grow in bunches and depending on how many are in a bunch, you can tell what pine tree it is?). Under the motto "If in doubt - smell it" we discovered that you can tell many trees by rubbing off a little bit or bark and take a whiff - black birch for example smells like wintergreen gum! You can distill its leaves and its bark to extract the flavoring. Beer can also be made from black birch, I might have to inquire some more about this. Cherry trees smell like either stale cigars or almond oil, Sassafras smells like lemon verbena - there was no end to it! ...
February 12, 2005
oh-K
Greta tries to decide if she's really in the mood for zitti with brokoli at Forest Hills Pizza on Washington Street in Jamaica Plain.
You kan always kount on a kool hairkut at the Kutting Korner (formerly Nanci's Nu-Look) on Corinth Street in Roslindale.
Curing those afternoon blahs
Amy comes up with a great idea for the office: 4 p.m. cocktail carts. Alas, not everybody's behind them, she writes:
Seriously, one time at my old job a co-worker found a cocktail cart in a supply catalog and emailed the admin suggesting we order it. Her response was merely: that is not an approved item.
Do unto others
Vee explains how she happened to come home to a bag of delicious oatmeal-chocolate chip-raisin-coconut cookies:
The other night, our friend and neighbour decided to try a bicycle kick during an indoor soccer game where she was the only woman playing amongst men. Large, athletic men.
Suffice it to say, she landed on her head.
D & I took her to the emergency room, a four hour long ordeal that included CAT scans and smiley Asian male nurses, and the next day she left us a lovely thank-you card and a bag of gourmet cookies. ...
February 11, 2005
Modern fatherhood
Eric is the proud father of a newborn. A newborn who just isn't going to sleep:
...The phone rang. It was a doctor or nurse or nurse practitioner or doctor nurse or something returning Jen's call. Jen explained the situation to the whoever. Hayes hadn't been sleeping, was incolsolable, wouldn't eat, etc.. The nurse-whatever said Jen sounded tired and the best thing to do was to - GET THIS - involve her husband so Jen could get some rest. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I guess she was going to have to get me off the couch with my Bud Light and nachos and tear me away from the Celtics to make me help her. Yup. Right. I can't possibly be the only man in the Boston area that this woman has heard of who is taking an active part in his child's life. ...
February 10, 2005
Movin' on up or over or something
After much thought and no small amount of teeth gnashing: I've decided to transmogrify Boston Common into Universal Hub.
MORE... "Movin' on up or over or something"
The (fill in the blank)Center
Steve shows what will happen when he renames the FleetCenter the Steve Garfield Center.
Jonelle, though, wonders: Got the balls to rename it The Boston Garden?
Roy: Stupidest thing I've ever seen:
Someone could rename it "The Yankees Center" for a day.
Feeling fine
Ned finally gets a dongle.
You're not getting enough roughage!
Atlantic Avenue, near South Station.
Where can a guy watch him some Manchester United around here?
Brit's making a four-day trip to our Hub next month and wonders if there are any pubs or bars that show English football.
February 09, 2005
Interview with a panhandler
For the past month or so, Jon's noticed a panhandler by the Store 24 on Beacon Street in Brookline. Today, he gives him a buck and decides to ask him some questions:
As tonight was quite mild, I thought I'd give him some time along with some change. How long does it take to collect a buck? I asked him. Twenty minutes, he told me. I said, alright, you've got my time for twenty minutes.
So I asked him where he lived (in a "halfway house" the street from me), where/if he worked (3 odd jobs today). This information isn't of any use to the greater Internet, as it is to my Griggs Park and Washington St. neighbors, to whom I sent some more details. I told them I wasn't pleading a special case; I was just sharing information. ...
Sell City Hall Plaza
Paul watches the Duck Boats go by and gets disgusted that City Hall Plaza stayed empty:
... Why do we even have a huge plaza in the middle of downtown Boston if we're not going to use it?
That's my new thing, folks. Sell City Hall Plaza. This wind-swept, brick plaza that was completed in 1968 was conceived as a gathering place for Bostonians, a place in the city where everyone can get together to celebrate any civic success of that time. And, because of a few snowbanks and a culture of paranoia, Menino won't use it for this purpose. Fine. Sell it. If we're not going to use this massive plaza for the reason it was conceived, sell the land off to the highest bidder, build the largest building the city's population and real estate demand can support, and put the money into the school system, public works projects, or to cover Big Dig overruns. ...
Editor's Note: Some may recall that Menino once proposed basically doing that, by allowing a developer to put a hotel in the plaza but that the federal government, which owns the JFK building, objected and that was the end of that.
From the very heart of West Roxbury
Carol and Steve and Steve's videocam go shopping at the West Roxbury Roche Bros. - despite Carol's initial hesitancy at bringing the camera along:
Like a supermarket, like they always see?
Is BU a nest of filthy spammers?
Heather reports that Yahoo Mail apparently thinks so:
Yahoo Spam Blocker is blocking all my emails from BU. Since I'm putting together some stuff for a class and group members are emailing me their parts it's a pain. I keep on telling yahoo it's not spam but it isn't getting the message. ...
No photos from him
Carpundit explains why the Patriots parade made him grumpy enough not to take photos:
... I almost got run over going to the T this morning because of the stupid crowd barricades that they weren't smart enough to leave open at the crosswalks for the morning commuters, and I'm being deafened by the idiots yelling at passing cars on Cambridge Street hours before the parade even starts two miles away, and I simply don't understand the mentality of someone whose best use of today is to appear at City Hall Plaza at 6AM, strip off his shirt, and start screaming, and there are like 50 of them within screaming distance of me, and it depresses me about the state of humankind and makes me question why I toil in a public-service job when that's the public I'm serving. ...
He also doesn't understand the parents who let their teens show up drunk enough to vomit on Boylston Street.
February 08, 2005
The shih-tzu hits the fan
Joel is nearing the end of his nightly run in Kenmore Square when he tries to get by a family with a small dog:
... Like a teether ball, this little Shitzu wrapped around me like three times. This little, four pound dog, just thrown through the air, then slams into my legs. Not to mention the fact that the old lady never let go of the leash. Oh my god. She, obviously, got pulled with me but her resistance rocketed the damn dog back towards here. SO, like a teether-ball with a hundred and something pounds of tension, the little damn dog rocketed back towards the owner. ...
At the parade
Hearts and Flowers snaps a Patriots parade-goer who looks suspiciously like a villain from a 1970's-era Marvel comic.
She also shoots the Duck-boats cavalcade.
Daigo gets up close and personal with the Pats (well, his camera does, at any rate).
Keegan takes a bunch of photos at the parade - and posts photos from the first and second Super Bowl victory parades/rallies.
Eeka: Uh, there's confetti falling from planes onto Canal St.
Backlash
I Hate The New England Patriots:
Let The Whine-asty Begin
I'm too bored by all the LiveJournal Patriots hatas to link to any of them.
Legislative tilting
So Speaka DiMasi is shuffling the leadership of House committees (Globe version; Herald version).
Jay sees this as proof of the revival of the Hack-Progressive Alliance:
... The Hack-Progressive Alliance has come out of deep freeze. It lives! It lives! ...
John sees it as good for Boston:
... Elevating Rushing, St Fleur and Owens-Hicks should be good for the city.
February 07, 2005
Paul Shanley
Domenico says:
... Shanley is symbolic of the Boston Scandal because it was the discovery process in his case that brought out many of the documents that revealed the extent of the problem. ...
Jhr61:
Hope he lives to be a very old man in jail!
Funny Lookin': there's got to be a special place in Hell for those who abuse the trust of children:
There have got to be a whole lot of survivors who didn't step forward, or who stepped forward and couldn't go trough with the trial, breathing a silent prayer of thanks tonight for the lone remaining accuser who had the strength to see it through.
The morning after
Mats is probably pretty hoarse this morning:
If you live inside Route 128, you probably heard me scream "cover schemes, cover schemes!" throughout the fourth quarter.
But he concludes:
Thank you, Robert Kraft! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Three out of four and I still want more. This never gets old.
Sparky: Woo Woo!
Patriots Insider: Can they Three-peat?
Jen reveals her Super Bowl weight-loss plan:
Despite eating roughly my own weight in Super Bowl Party Food, I didn't gain so much as a pound. This leads me to conclude that alternately cheering one's team and running outside to stand in the cold because you're having a hot flash burns a whole lot of calories. ...
Domenico: Can anyone doubt they are a new dynasty or that they are the dominant force in football?
Jonelle: Hey, TO. How's the ankle?
I picked the BEST year to move back to Boston.
Girl: I could get used to this winning thing.
Wally disses most of the commercials and the halftime show:
... Paul McCartney has written some pretty incredible songs, but there's something immensely disturbing about seeing a bunch of 16-year-old girls dancing and screaming while a 60-year-old knight plays songs that were old before they were even born. ...
Charley gives his ultimate praise to Bellichick:
Genius, Dynasty... And let's add... Democrat.
Farmer Joe rides the wave, but can't help but sigh:
If only there were hockey this year.
Michael remembers:
It really wasn't all It really wasn't all that long ago that being a sports fan in Massachusetts meant pain and agony.
He says in a way he's sorry it had to happen to Philadelphia, which also deserves a win (just not at our expense).
Speaking of Philly, let's go now to The City of Brotherly Love:
Damn? How 'bout Damn, Damn, Damn! ... No one choked yesterday. It was a game fought to the end. There's some legitimate criticism to go around, but I hope this team remains intact.
February 06, 2005
You could get used to this
24-21!
Dave watches the game with his daughter and explains how cool it is they are watching history in the making and how, when she's older, she'll have such great memories:
Her eyes grew wide as I trailed off, a smile came to her lips, and I was ready for some beautiful father-daughter moment that transcended time and age.
"Daaaaaddddy??" She asked while moving her face close to mine. "Yes punkin?" I eagerly answered.
"Can I have another brownie now??"
Neal reports:
There are like six helicopters hovering over my neighborhood filming the lack of activity in Kenmore Square. Serves the crappy news stations (4, 5, 7, 25 & 56 -I don't have cable, so I'm sure there some in there too) right. Maybe they'll get back to their mission and actually report news.
Dear Jimmy Johnson: Shut up about Terrell Owens already. His team lost.
Deanna: Right now, i am happier then i have been in a long time. what an awesome feeling.
Tennischica38: We are the Champions...AGAIN!
Ghettodave: YES YES! PATRIOTS!!!
... YES YES YES YES YES YES YES NEW ENGLAND!!! NEW ENGLAND!!! LOL I LOVE THE PATRIOTS, THEY ROCK AND THEY BEAT PHILLY AND PHILLY CAN DO NOTHING BUT FLY HOME SAD CUZ THEY LOST AGAIN AND THE PATS WON AGAIN! LOL HA HA EVERYONE THOUGHT THAT PHILLY COULD DO IT BUT HELL NAW THEY CANT BEAT A DYNASTY! NOW I CAN LAUGH IN THE FACE OF PHILLY'S FANS!!! HA HA WHAT NOW HOMIES!? LOL ...
Commercial liveblogging
Matt's liveblogging all the non-football Super Bowl stuff:
... 6:16: Michael Chiklis introduces the AFC champ Patriots. We can be thankful he did not say "It's Clobberin' Time!" to plug his upcoming movie role, and be even more thankful we didn't have to endure an introduction from this blog's favorite whipping boy, Jimmy Fallon. ...
We have a winna
It's the cone that really brings this ensemble together and so we're pleased to present this award for Best Use of Crap to Save a Boston Parking Space This Week to the "owner" of this space on Belgrade Avenue in West Roxbury.
The new definition of chutzpah
It used to be "guy who kills his parents then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he's an orphan. Lis says Gov. Romney has redefined the term by firing the head of the state department responsible for plowing on the VFW Parkway in West Roxbury because those four kids got hit by a car, even though the department's budget has been cut 37% since 2001 and it has more roads to plow AND he used part of the department's limited funds for that Super Bowl rally last week:
... Um, governor? How is the agency expected to plow without money to pay the drivers? Where does the buck stop, anyway?
Note: What's also galling to those of us who regularly drive that stretch of road (raises hand) is that the kids were walking in the road TEN FEET FROM A PLOWED SIDEWALK and yet this woman gets fired. And never mind the city should never have built a high school in a place that can ONLY be reached by crossing what is basically a highway - a sure recipe for disaster when dealing with teen-agers, who are convinced they're invincible and so routinely saunter along/in the road before and after school, regardless of how much snow is on the ground.
Heat
Rod wonders:
Is a $471 gas bill for the month of January just the cost of owning a 3-storey house in Somerville, or is there something seriously FUBARed with our heating system?
348 Therms in 30 days seems like a helluva lot, but is that just what I have to look forward to every winter?
Pinch him
Ben: So here we are. Sunrise on the morning of the Patriots third Super Bowl appearance in four seasons.
Late night
John snaps a photo of a Mass. Ave. panhandler late last night.
February 05, 2005
Knowing one of the women who died in Afghanistan
Guenevere says another member of her college fencing team was Cristi Gadue, one of the aid workers:
... We all gave each other pointers, and we all screamed for each other from the sidelines when one of us had a bout. They got me drunk for the first time in college. They helped me with the ensuing hangover. We all dyed our hair blue for team spirit, and we ran the Naked Quad Run together. Some of my best memories come from fencing.
I guess maybe the news of Cristi's death hit me hard partly because it was so out of the blue. After all, I picked up the newspaper, and there was her photo, on the front page. After I read the article, I broke down in the cafe where I was sitting. ...
Cambridge parking permits
Apparently, lots of Cantabridgians wait until the absolute last minute to get a new Cambridge parking sticker (and apparently, Cambridge doesn't let you get one online like its more enlightened neighbor across the river):
... I considered bagging it but then we all agreed the meter maids will be running wild on the first day of the new permits. All those snow covered cars will be easy targets as it would not be impossible for them to have the newer stickers in place. Two hours later, and half way through Coetezee, my time approached. Did I have everything? I went through the careful interrogation and, fortunately, they accepted my papers. As I left, precious permit in hand, I noticed the evening rush was even longer.
Post script - I noticed that the meter maids were indeed out and all the cars on my street with old parking stickers sported new tickets. ...
Relief for long-suffering Alewife commuters
Ron reports the Burger King at Alewife station has been replaced with a Dunkin' Donuts.
Oh, nuts
Rhode works at a local hospital. On the way back to her office from lunch, she notices a man talking loudly to himself in the lobby:
... A nurse, observing the same behavior I had, approached the man and asked if he needed to be helped.
The man looked at her slightly confused. Then he took the nearly invisible earpiece out of his ear and said, "Sorry, I'm on the phone. Could you repeat that?" ...
February 04, 2005
Boston fashion
Blogorelli gives us clueless types the 411:
... Why, just the other night my dinner companion noted that quilted, black coats had become the overcovering of choice for many Bostonian women.
"Like the one I'm wearing?!" I replied in disgust.
"No...yours is better. It's tan," he rebuffed.
The best place to spot trends you will eventually love to hate is Urban Outfitters. This shopping locale is also THE location to experience scenerios like the "Am I Too Old to Be Dressing in This 80s Trend (again)?," the "Casual Fridays Mean Showing Less than 1 Inch of Bum Crack, So Do These $100 Jeans Pass?" and the always-entertaining "That Bitch Just Stole the Last 'I'm Desperate (Housewives)' tee...But She Flat Irons Her Hair so I'm Prettier." ...
But all that is really just a prelude to the week's most in-depth discussion of the hot new word: Crunk.
The former Patriots reporter
Boston Sports Media Watch, which helped uncover the plagiarism that got Ken Powers fired by the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, posts more examples of liberal borrowing by him and offers some advice to other sports reporters:
... Powers was at the Super Bowl, in Florida doing a job that many people would be envious of. Now he's not there. He's unemployed. All those media types out there complaining in print and on the air about everything under the sun (rain?) down in Jacksonville should take a moment and reflect on how quickly it can all be taken away from them. All it takes is a little laziness, as exhibited by one Mr. Ken Powers. Let's all take a lesson from it.
Hey, MBTA: Fix your turnstiles
Carpundit puts a token in the slot at his favorite Back Bay stop on the Green Line this morning. The turnstile doesn't work. The always surly token-booth person is busy. So he jumps the turnstile. And is promptly turned in by the token clerk as a fare jumper:
I turned and saw an angry, red-faced, thirty-something, MBTA cop striding through the gate toward me. ... The turnstile was sticking, people were jumping it, and the token clerk was calling them in as fare evaders. I learned all that from the shouting match the MBTA cop got into with a businessman who had witnessed not only my encounter, but apparently the token clerk's encounters with people as well, and was not happy about the MBTA's efficiency or customer service. So the MBTA cop should have known, or did know, that the problem was an MBTA one, not one of rampant miscreancy....
That's some hole
Chris, who lives in Cambridge, reports the water's back on after last night's Kendall Square pipeburst. In a note to Chris's comment, Helen adds:
There's a hole ripped at the intersection of Broadway and Main, at the service entrance to 1CC/the Marriott Hotel. Obviously this was no well planned street work; I can imagine that the dirt went flying yesterday (figuratively and literally) as workers dug to find the leak.
The pipe itself was exposed, and as the aforementioned workers were not paying attention to me, I stood right next to the hole to get a good look. All I can say is: wow! The pipe hole has to be at least two feet by eighteen inches, perhaps even larger. There was water still coming out of the pipe hole, but at a much slower clip than (I imagine) yesterday. ...
February 03, 2005
A solution for winter parking woes
Chris proposes a way to end all the cone/chair battles:
[F]rom late December to mid-March, create assigned spaces. Such spaces could be adjudicated in whatever way seems appropriate - through a lottery, through a market-rate fixed cost, or tied to units and property tax payments. Those without space to park would need to find alternate arrangements. ... It may not be a perfect solution but would keep people from beating each other up over plastic cones.
Boston cop an accomplice to murder?
Some reactions to the Globe article that suggests a Boston policeman helped his cousin get away with a murder.Carpundit wonders if the Globe got the story wrong or if maybe the case is being handled differently because the guy is a cop:
Imagine the same facts, but take the officer out of it: Two cousins from Dorchester travel to Randolph in one car, one of them kills a man, and they both drive away. Now imagine the police can find only the non-shooting cousin. What do they do with him? They arrest him. Every time.
John, though, says the Globe was simply irresonsible in running the story:
The cop that served as the source for the last paragraph in this story, Suzanne Smalley who wrote the peice, and the Globe by publishing it, may well be putting lives in jeopardy. They all should know better.
Ghost, meanwhile, notes that the murder took place at a club frequented by Cape Verdeans:
This is one of the dozen cases of shootings and violence involving the Cape Vedean youth that has not only give us a bad name in the media but also has cause great suffering and pain to families and the CV community. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
What can we do to definitely reduce and stop violence and shootings among us?
Sales that'll leave you in stitches
Martha notes that at least three local knitting and fabric stores are throwing sales on Super Bowl Sunday.
Time for college students to grow up
Jen is sick of local college students whining about the police or the city or liquor stores and says if they don't want trouble after the Super Bowl, they should just stop acting like assholes:
... Guess what? I was a college kid, and I wasn't an asshole, so I know it's possible. I also know lots of other people who weren't idiots or jackasses in college. ...
Another blogging journalist
Jeff Epperly, who used to be editor of Bay Windows before he moved out of town, is back, and he's blogging.
There's bad traffic and bad drivers
In a Globe report on the Traffic Tieup from Hell, Carpundit notes this snippet:
"Josh Resnek, 55, editor of the Chelsea Record, said it took him 1½ hours to drive from North Station to Mass. General, where his wife was in surgery."
To which Carpundit adds:
Josh, you can walk it in ten minutes. Park the car.
He watches the Buster episode with his daughter - and lightning doesn't strike him down
Bri reports he watched Buster Bunny visit the syrup-making lesbians in Vermont - with his daughter:
When it was finished, like the responsible adult that I am, I decided to discuss the episode with her:
"So," I began "Did you notice anything different in the show?"
"They used milking machines instead of milking the cows by hand." replied my six-year old.
"Yes. That's true... but did you notice anything different about the families?"
"They had a bonfire."
"True... but was there anything different from our family?"
"They ate real cheese. Not that weird Kraft stuff."
"Again, that is correct... but what about the mothers. Was there anything different about them?"
"One of them was as big as Kirstie Alley(tm)." ...
Turn left where the theater used to be
Ron ambles by the now former Loews Copley Place Cinemas:
[W]orkers were already busy taking the place apart. One of them was putting black paint over the box office windows and the theatre doors. Another was carting speakers out through a service door. I tried to wander around looking, but eventually got shooed out.
I bet that within another week, shoppers in the mall won't even see that a cinema used to be here.
February 02, 2005
Coincidence or something more?
Now living in Israel, Moshe reports he was leaving a cemetery ceremony in Beit Shemesh when he ran into the former rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Malden - there for the first-year remembrance of the death of a key congregation member. Moshe joins in the service, then notices a tombstone for Rabbi Oskar Bookspan - who was his son's introduction to synagogue life in Brookline:
... There were 2 empty seats in the front left of the synagogue. 2 empty seats next to an old man, Rabbi Oscar Bookspan. We took those seats and for the next 4 years, my son was able to enjoy the character of this sweet, kind and gentle old man. He passed away in 2000 and I remember how our son cried when hearing the news. His funeral was held in Israel and we never knew where he was buried. Never knew until today. ...
Krist Almighty
Marc is happy that the convenience store replacing the old White Hen Pantry at 2245 Mass. Ave. in Cambridge will be open 24 hours. He is not so happy that the replacement is a Bread & Butter "Konvenience" store:
Ugh. "Konvenience." Good lord.
Neal wonders:
Maybe it's going to be run by Krusty the Clown.
And LaDivina ponders:
Will they also sell Krispy Kremes?
Anybody remember when Matt Siegel was good?
Me neither. Fondofelves finds herself particularly irritated at Matty this morning:
Seems Matty in the Morning (who was funny when he was Charles' sidekick) can't remember who Joe Jackson is. I mean, come ON! It's not like he's some young guy who didn't live thru the '80s. ... I miss Charles.
Firefighter on a ladder
Pmaiorana photographs a firefighter on a ladder at his Mass. Ave. apartment:
... The fire truck showed up, and a fireman scaled the ladder to my balcony for no discernable reason. The was no alarm....no smoke...no fire. Just a huge guy on my balcony with an axe.
February 01, 2005
Run, Mitt, run!
Good thing the Mittster's spreading PAC money around in other states, because he might not have a job locally in a couple of years, Jay says:
... I don't think his advisers have an inkling how poorly his shallow checklist governance style is playing on the streets here.
Carol and Steve drink lots of wine
On Sunday, the Carol and Steve show paid a visit to the Boston Wine Expo, in a video that will leave your head spinning (but maybe that was just the camera angles at the end).
This is Neilllll Chayet, llllloooking at that ass
Well, probably not. Candlemaker is kind of doubtful that Chayet will actually report onthe Back that Ass Up case, in which two rappers battled over who has the right to the phrase "Back That Ass Up". So you'll just have to imagine him drawwwwing the phrase out.
January 31, 2005
Eat the city
Amy photographs an Eat the City bunny on a map at the Forest Hills T stop and wonders what the deal is:
I've spotted this hungry bunny in a few places around Boston. I don't know what "eat the city" means, really, but it's a satisfying phrase no matter what your mood. ...
No, his name isn't Doogie
Mark goes out for a drink:
"Yeah ok so what are you really?" Her friend drew in closer to me, to hear me capitulate and confess the truth.
"Excuse me?" I laughed.
"You're way too young to be a doctor at MGH, wasn't that just a line? It's ok we like talking to you, you can tell us the truth now!" They stared at me. ...
When icicles attack
Sandy snaps a photo of the killer icicle that broke free from her Northboro condo's roofs moments after it plummeted to the ground, smashing her barbecue grill into bits and making her glad it was too cold to be outside cooking a steak.
Lake lingo
One of the fascinating things about "Boston English" is how, even in our fairly small corner of the world, there are enough differences that some claim they can tell what parish you live in just by how you pronounce 20 or so specific words. And then there's The Lake in Newton, where people use words that might be descended from Romany spoken by Gypsies:
... Any of you divia mushes or bree know where mandi-ki can get a history of Lake language? I was born there and was told that it came from "carny talk". That might have been an overchay because I was just a chabby then. ...
Unfair representation
Dan wonders why we tolerate a Congressional system in which the relative Senate weight of a Massachusetts resident is only 1/13th that of a Wyoming voter.
Question of the day
Denise: Does anyone else think Ray Bourque is looking like Liberace these days?
January 30, 2005
More like Thousand Dollar Baby
Jennifer resents Million Dollar Baby:
I won't ruin the ending, but I haven't felt so blatantly and shamelessly played since the cheap ending of Saving Private Ryan ...
Cynthia: So I got suckerpunched by Million Dollar Baby and wasn't too happy about it:
... It isn't Oscar-worthy (even though the Oscars are of course bullshit). It isn't a great film. It's effective, and entertaining, and absorbing, but it's still a formula genre picture and it's full of cliches. Several plot holes too, and a very rushed pace that was unsatisfying. ...
Still, she explains why she's always been fascinated with Eastwood's interest in gender relations.
Jabba the snowman
Beech Street, West Roxbury.
Advice from Yoda
Even when he doesn't have a kid with him, Paul always puts the child's seat down in the shopping cart. A few days ago, he's in an aisle at Shaws, lost in thought, when a wizened Yoda-like guy comes up to him and offers a tip:
... "See," he tells me and it's not like he thinks I'm retarded, but I'm a guy and might not know these things, "that plastic thing is a seat for when ya gotta kid. You don't need to put that down, ya see. Leave it up. That way your purchases don't slide around if you're puttin' 'em there. See?"
"Yyyyeah," I say, trying not to sound like I'm talking to a retard. "Good idea. Thanks for that."
"Noooo problem! Ya have a good night" he tells me and waddles off. ...
Cambridge eats
Bill reviews several Cambridge food places, including Tamarind Bay in Harvard Square and Christina's in Inman Square.
All the nudes you can use
Jeffrey describes being a nude model for a day at a Cambridge artist's studio:
... We posed. The artist loomed over his easel, swiftly painting with forceful brushstrokes; we'd chat as he worked, talking about our jobs or sarcastically commenting on what was playing on the radio. His work was highly abstract, to my eyes compelling, and as he finished each sketch he showed it to us (I had to often work to identify the "me" portion of the finished piece: "look, that's my arm!"). The last hour was devoted to a single large canvas, and we held a pose for nearly an hour. My arms fell asleep.
January 29, 2005
Snow fun
What a great day for sledding, like, say, on this "secret" hill on the Roslindale side of the Arboretum.
Dear Shaw's
Jay and Shaw's had a good thing going, but now he finds himself going to Roche Bros. more and more and feels compelled to break the news to Shaw's:
... After a long stretch of time in which I've observed you trying to be Stop & Shop, raising your prices, getting obsessive about store brands, adopting that assinine card program that most customers hate, there's nothing special about you anymore. Unless you are trying to be special by overcharging me. ...
Plus, unlike Shaw's, Roche Bros.
... actually charge the sale prices when things are on sale. Always. It's not a game of pricing roulette.