Bitching about Boston

A grey, soggy, hot, sweaty day.

Weather woman said yuck, ick.

Disturbed atmosphere in the city, yesterday.


Keep cool, calm, and collected, Boston!

I will visit Boston in 2018! I am so excited, it will be my first time in Boston and the first time attending the AACN NTI critical care conference.

Baaston... I was there in, let's see, that would be 1968 or so. Windows in the Hancock Tower were boarded up with plywood because bad design let the glass blow out onto sidewalks below. I was back again in 1974, and then 1984. Roadway traffic was insane. I may get back next year unless diverted down the Erie Canal.

I'll admit my major connection to the city was via childhood consumption of baked beans and brown bread. But those were forced upon me.

The sky is heavily weighted down with water. But, all the storms are in Tornado Alley East. No relief until the early morning hours. Was an AC day.

Boston had The Boston Phoenix/The Real Paper

(Thank goodness, New York is too big, to be bullied.)

Before Texas got their mitts on Bread and Circus, and renamed it Whole Foods, you could get copies of the Village Voice, there.

Now, the Texas Christians will not allow dirty hippie commie sinners to besmirch their pristine, immaculate stores with unclean ideas.

No more dead tree copies of Village Voice.
End of an era.

But, they are alive, on the interwebs.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/0...-stories-from-2017-that-prove-we-still-exist/






The Voice Is Dead, Long Live the Voice: 30 Stories From 2017 That Prove We Still Exist

by VILLAGE VOICE STAFF
AUGUST 24, 2017

More, on the decision to no longer put the Village Voice in print-

(Grain of salt, since this is coming from NY Daily News, and from someone that was treated in a shabby, heartless way,by the management.)


"In a tweet linking to a photo of a press release, the whimper went out last week that the Village Voice will end its print run after 61 years."

The Backpage gang eventually tired of wasting their pimp profits on news, and spun off the Voice into a separate, money-losing newspaper company, which then found a greater fool in Barbey.

I’d (Harry Siegel) previously had a cup of coffee in 2005 as editor-in-chief of New York Press, the alt-weekly that back in 1996 forced the Voice to go free as the competition between the two pushed both to produce some great journalism before the Press folded after 23 years in 2011.


Now the alt-weeklies are done for, and the news market is in tatters.

Meantime, the bad guys are winning. Money’s talking, and there aren’t enough outlets employing reporters to talk back to it.

Boston Chronicle covers Brookline

Largest town in America ?

Treats of many kinds.

S.S.Pierce building!

House and condo living-
a bit pricey for the historic ones.

Boston has changed much. What was once the shoreline, are now islands off of the coast of Boston. What were once isolated Native American camps, is now a city that is nearly filled.

Boston center is part of an settlement city, and the surrounding business districts, neighborhoods, and bedroom communities are very old.

Boston began with soggy marshland, on the banks of the ocean and rivers, to build on.

It is difficult to build new coping mechanisms. There is so much that has been built since the city began to form


Oct. 21, 1996, after nearly a foot of rain, the Muddy River overflowed its banks and poured into the Riverside Line tunnel into the T stop.

8 to 12 inches of rain fell over three days.

Rivers overflowed their banks.

http://brooklinebeacon.com/2014/07/...sion-will-muddy-river-flooding-be-controlled/

14 feet of water in the Kenmore Square underground transportation center. The water covered the staircase coming up to street level.

We have instances where cars will float in floodwaters in the underpasses.

It does not take much rain to create problems, because the efforts to control flood waters have been neglected for decades.

We are not protected from 50 year floods. 100 year floods, or 1,000 year floods. Too busy trying to cope with increases in population. Suddenly, there are massive new condo buildings, everywhere.

Snow, ice, and rime on the mountain

Mt. Washington
Hurricaine force winds 94 mph


Temperatures fell to a chilly 25°F Friday morning.
Hurricane force winds and a trace of snow giving the summit of Mount Washington our first taste of winter!

Nicer, today
Temperature 29°f
32 mph wind
wind chill 13°f
Direction NNW

Red Sox vs Yankees

September 4, 2017

Much shouting about the concerts at the Green Monster.


The coverage about the Red Sox was subdued.

New York Yankees wore out Chris Sale early and routed the Boston Red Sox 9-2 on Sunday night


"Bitter rivals on the field, the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are teaming up to help victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas."

"The teams announced they are partnering to raise money by auctioning off autographed memorabilia and game-used jerseys from Sunday night’s series finale between the clubs at Yankee Stadium. All proceeds will go to support hurricane relief efforts."

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/09/04/red-sox-yankees-hurricane-harvey-relief/

Texas and Boston ? Family! You do not turn your back on helpless people. Boston has sent everything that it could spare. Fundraising was more successful than was expected.

Labor Day stupidity, now, with more sharks.

Greater Boston covered the argument between NY Yankees and the Sox. The NY Times covered it, too.

Not 1898, anymore.

Harvard and M.I.T. and art.

Definitely, not 1898, anymore.

Homesick ?

Fish Boil!

With its history as a settling ground for Swedes, Norwegians and Finns in the mid-to-late 1800s, Door County has a decidedly Scandinavian flair, from popular evening fish boils to the mid-June Fyr Bal Festival that re-creates traditions of early Norwegians celebrating Midsummer's Eve.


It's often called the "Cape Cod of the Midwest," and that's probably the best way to sum it up for a first-time visitor to Door County, Wisconsin


Door County is a spiny-looking peninsula, surrounded by water - Lake Michigan to the north and east, and the bay of Green Bay (part of Lake Michigan) to the west. About 18 miles wide at its widest point in the southern part of the county, the county is less than two miles across at the northern tip.


19 communities, 300 miles of shoreline, five state parks, 11 historic lighthouses, and 53 public beaches, sightseeing options in Door County are plentiful.

http://www.nj.com/south/index.ssf/2017/07/door_country.html

Turns out that the 'Antifa' group claiming they protested Red Sox game are actually right wingers

September 16, 2017

This past Wednesday night’s Red Sox vs. Athletics baseball game, at Fenway Park in Boston. During the fourth inning of the night game, three people unfurled a very large sign over the historic “Green Monster” wall in left field that read “Racism Is as American as Baseball.”

WEEI and other traditional media outlets reported on Thursday that a Boston Antifa group took credit for the protest. WEEI has conveniently pulled down the post without an update or retraction. Why have they pulled it down?


The actual twerpy arseholes who hung the banner denied any connection to Boston Antifa in an interview with CSNNE.

https://www.dailykos.com

The lunatics from the Right Wing Proud Boys, that are. making a nuisance of themselves, helped out the "twerpy arseholes, pull off the banner escapade.

Fake Boston Antifa group, which claimed credit for anti-racism banner at Red Sox game, is actually run by right wing trolls

The actual (twerpy arseholes) who hung the banner denied any connection to Boston Antifa in an interview with CSNNE. And the people behind the social media pages do not actually believe the things they say -- because they are a pair of anti-leftist pranksters from Oregon who started Boston Antifa as a parody of actual anti-fascist groups.

The pair said they lived in Oregon at the time, but planned to move later that year. The (twerpy arseholes) antics have tricked conservative and mainstream media outlets, including Sports Illustrated, Townhall, RT, Gateway Pundit and Reuters.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/fake_boston_antifa_group_who_c.html

The Big E
Springfield, MA

(fair)

The Eastern States Exposition began its seventeen day run on Friday

sticky sweet fluff


To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the invention of Fluff, this year’s festival is shaping to be one of the biggest yet.

http://somerville.wickedlocal.com/n...-festival-coming-to-union-square-this-weekend


WTF ?

On Saturday, an estimated 15,000 people will flock to Somerville’s Union Square, where Archibald Query invented Fluff in 1917, to celebrate the sugary substance’s centennial. Fluff will, of course, be the centerpiece of the special iteration of the annual What the Fluff? Festival, now in its 12th year and always brimming with Fluff-themed activities.


However, the festival aims to prove that eating Fluff is not the only way to enjoy it. Hanig said that the main activities stage, called the “Department of Shenanigans,” is one of the event’s main attractions.

“We have our very own Archibald Query impersonator and wildly crazy Fluff games for everyone,” she said.
(Mike Katz)


https://www.boston.com/culture/food...at-this-festival-dedicated-to-the-white-stuff

*fluffernutter*

Isn't some storm heading your way?

Meanwhile, we really do plan to visit Boston next year.

If anything is left by then.

Weekend travel from Cambridge to Boston is about to get harder for a few months, as a complicated construction project will shut down weekend T service over the Longfellow Bridge.

For now, the Red Line is still rumbling over the Longfellow Bridge. But it’s coming to a stop here this weekend, and for nine more upcoming weekends.

In the meantime, though, shuttle buses will be running from Kendall to Park Street on the weekends. After this one, there are nine more to go – not including the weekends of the Head of the Charles regatta and Thanksgiving.

*throws the bird, at the arseholes that have stolen the sculpted cast iron railings, from the bridge, many years, ago.*

http://news.wgbh.org/2017/09/28/loc...e-work-interrupt-red-line-service-10-weekends

Lynn, Lynn, former city of Sin, was flash flooded on Saturday morning. A foot of rain. Tow trucks were busy with cars sitting in instant lakes, nearly up to the hood. Trucks and SUVs in water over the hubcaps. Fuckin' Revere was flooded, too.

Some received 4 inches of heavy rain in an hour, collecting into a foot deep pool.

According to National Weather Service meteorologist Alan Dunham, the service received reports of flash flooding in Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea as well.

https://www.boston.com/news/weather...sh-flooding-traps-vehicles-on-the-north-shore

Police and emergency workers have been out rescuing stranded motorists.

The National Weather Service urges people to avoid flooded streets if possible.

Although heavy rain in Lynn has stopped, there are still major traffic delays due to street flooding. There were also areas in Lynn where people experienced large amounts of hail.

http://whdh.com/news/localized-downpours-and-street-flooding-throughout-lynn/

It was not my imagination. The temperatures have been cold enough for cold feet and noses. I found myself thinking about ice and snow.

*looks at Montréal and Quebec weather* Ah! There are the culprits.*


Earlier in the week, it felt as if the flesh would melt off of my bones. It is no wonder, that the West boasts about dry heat.

We do get summer weather, that is like trying to breath warm water, but those are rare instances.

I think that is over, for now. Tourists will be comfortable. Leaf peepers are headed North. *sigh*

The fact that Massachusetts came out with such a strong ruling placed us in the bull's eye for federal immigration enforcement. When the federal government released the list of places that it had targeted, it mostly concentrated efforts in cities like Los Angeles or Philadelphia, but it's also included Massachusetts as a place of priority. The fact that we were roped in with other cities that have been the target of the federal government. So, we were specifically targeted because of our immigrant friendly policies. No other state was on the list of enforcement activity.

Howard: Now you've put in a FOIA request to get information from the federal government about these raids. What kind of things are you trying to find out with a FOIA request?

Espinoza-Madrigal: We submitted the FOIA request to determine whether communications between immigration officials reference the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision that was very immigrant friendly. If public records released show references to the Supreme Court decision, it could be strong evidence that we are being retaliated for following the rule of law.

http://news.wgbh.org/2017/09/29/loc...laims-ice-raids-massachusetts-are-retaliatory

There will be no lane closures from 5:00 AM on Friday, October 6, to 12:00 PM on Tuesday, October 10, for the Columbus Day holiday.

MassDOT will close the Longfellow Bridge overnight to vehicular traffic from Tuesday, October 10, through Thursday, October 12, from 11:00 PM each night until 5:00 AM the following morning. Bike, pedestrian, emergency responder, and MBTA Red Line travel will be maintained. Bikes, both inbound and outbound, will share the upstream sidewalk with pedestrians.

The Memorial Drive/Land Boulevard eastbound sidewalk, also known as the Dr. Paul Dudley White Bike Path, in the vicinity of the Longfellow Bridge is closed into late October. Visit the Traffic Information page and view the detour map for more information.

MBTA Red Line Diversions and Bridge Closures: MassDOT will close the Longfellow Bridge and shuttle buses will replace Red Line trains between Park Street and Kendall/MIT Stations on weekends beginning on Friday, September 29, through Sunday, December 17. The bridge will reopen to inbound vehicles and Red Line trains for Columbus Day beginning at 4:30 AM on Monday, October 9. The bridge is currently scheduled to be open and have Red Line trains in use for the Head of the Charles weekend (October 21-22) and Thanksgiving weekend (November 25-26).During these weekends, the Longfellow Bridge will be closed to all vehicular traffic, except shuttle buses and emergency responders, from 11:00 PM each Friday to 5:00 AM the following Monday. Shuttle buses will replace Red Line trains in both directions between Kendall/MIT Station and Park Street Station, with a stop at Charles/MGH Station, from the start of service on each Saturday to the end of service on each Sunday. Bicyclists, both inbound and outbound, will share the upstream sidewalk with pedestrians. Visit the Red Line Weekend Diversions page and see the September 2017 Red Line Diversions and Bridge Closures Advisory for more information.

http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/charlesriverbridges/LongfellowBridge.aspx

Greater Boston on PBS provides a reminder-

The 53rd Head Of The Charles Regatta, the world's largest two-day rowing event is this weekend. (Oct 21- 22)

Almost everything is on twitter!

Congratulations, Witch City

On this evening, 100,000 people visited Salem, MA
October 28, 2017

The festival will continue until the evening of October 31st.

Please leave weapons and replica weapons at home...Not allowed, and will be confiscated.

The weather cooperated with a very pleasant, sunny day, and a mild evening.

Stormy Sunday! Wild and windy Monday.

Tuesday will be just fine, for Trick or Treat.