Beantown Trip

Posting will be light at best for the upcoming 10+ days, as The Wife and I are making a trip back to New England. Here are the details that I know at the moment:

  1. We arrive in Boston on Tuesday, August 2.
  2. We'll be staying at H's uncle's house in Randolph
  3. There are plans in place to see H's friend Jill and her family Wednesday
  4. Thursday, we will be heading up to Maine to see H's aunt and uncle, returning to Randolph early Saturday, probably.
  5. ...?
  6. We come back home on Wednesday, August 10.

Big Fish, Little Fish

Thanks to spending my childhood summers in Destin, Florida -- home of an annual "shark rodeo" (at least back then), and recently a fatal shark attack -- I have actually seen more than a few extremely large sharks. While all of them were exceptionally impressive (especially the one that, in combination with a very large crowd, nearly brought down the weighing pier!), none looked quite as menacing as this thing caught near Martha's Vineyard. I actually think the perception is mostly based on the way the fish are handled. The boys running the shark rodeo in Destin were pure efficiency when it came to stringing even the most massive sharks onto the scales. Whereas, the folks in Oak Bluffs look like they have no effing clue what they are going to do next with their behemoth.

Boston Reality

If you are at all curious about what blue collar Boston is really like, check out Firehouse USA: Boston on the Discovery Channel. Choice quotes (paraphrased):

  • "We got all these these wood construction triple-deckahs around heah -- We call them Irish Battleships..."
  • "We gotta check the airbags and stuff, cuz airbags'll go off and they'll break ya leg, they'll break ya head -- they'll kill ya..."

I need to work break ya head into more conversations.

The show lead to some contentious moments between The Wife and myself, however.

For one, one part of the show took place in a Rock Bottom Brewery and we were both kind of disappointed by the obvious shilling for a chain restaurant. The Wife tried to tell me that "That was the Sam Adams place, wasn't it?" to which I responded "What Sam Adams place? The words you are saying mean nothing to me..." So, she goes on to tell me that we had gone to a bar that only served Sam Adams brew, including specialty items not usually available at your local packie. I had (and still have) absolutely no recollection of ever setting foot in such a place, so we argued for a while questioning each other's mental capacities until finally I cracked saying, "I didn't even like it there, why would I retain that sort of detail?"

This, of course, is an overstatement. I have a lot of fondness for Boston, obviously. That said, New England and I really didn't mesh well. And so it goes.

(BTW: The Wife and I will be hitting Beantown in early August. Email for details, kids.)

Skunk Works

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, best known for his time with Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, is now a counterterrorism consultant.

The guitarist-turned-defense-consultant does regular work for the Department of Defense and the nation's intelligence community, chairs a congressional advisory board on missile defense, and has lucrative consulting contracts with companies like Science Applications International Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. He says he is in increasing demand for his unconventional views of counterterrorism.

"We thought turntables were for playing records until rappers began to use them as instruments, and we thought airplanes were for carrying passengers until terrorists realized they could be used as missiles," says Mr. Baxter, who sports a ponytail and handlebar mustache. "My big thing is to look at existing technologies and try to see other ways they can be used, which happens in music all the time and happens to be what terrorists are incredibly good at."

He's also on the list of Boston University dropouts to go on to fame and fortune -- though I doubt the conservative Baxter would care to talk politics with many of the others (Rosie O'Donnel, Jason Alexander, Peewee Herman).

[This list of "notable" BU people is interesting, if incomplete. Lots of hockey players on there, of course.]

Getting Lost at 10,000 Feet

Actually, it would be way higher than that, but whatever... Factor in the zoom. So, I mentioned the new satellite images incorporated into Google Maps. The new trend is to find cool stuff, demonstrate human impact on the world, or most fun of all, map out your childhood neighborhood.

I can't do it.

When I look at my old hometown in Tennessee, I get completely lost. I blame the fact that they don't have the resolution to support a close zoom. It sure is pretty with all that green, though.

But then, they do have fairly good resolution on the places I lived in Massachusetts. I recognize the area immediately surrounding the first house we had there. At first view, I could find any good landmarks, but on further review, I have since located the Quincy Quarries where Hanh and I (and others) used to go climbing (pretty sure that's them... they look strange, though) and the Barnes & Noble where we could go afterwards for mochas and backgammon. The B&N is also notable for being the place where I stalked wooed my wife. (Her house is in this shot.)

I was also able to locate my apartment in Framingham, MA, but there wasn't really much noteworthy in that area to look for... You can (and I did) follow Route 9 to anohter climbing spot, Hammond Pond. It was there that Miracle Ed "caught" Hanh in his arms (after effectively plucking him off the rock).

Good times.

I just wish there were better shots of Rogersville.

Bonus: The Wife's brother, Chris, and his girlfriend Kate just got a house right around here. We're dying to go see it.

Shane Corcoran's Injuries

Shay has another update on Da Kine's status. It's mostly good. He's in Hawaii and has a crack team of ninja doctors working on his injuries. Just for the record, these are them:

  • Three left side skull fractures
  • One Right side Skull Fracture
  • Subdural Hematoma’s (Now gone)
  • Epidural Hematoma (There but getting better)
  • Right side brain contusion
  • Pelvis fractured twice
  • Fractured shoulder
  • Collapsed lung (not yet fully inflated, put on O2)
  • Broken ribs
  • Fractured tibia
  • Kneecap knocked out of alignment
  • Tendons and severe lacerations of right hand

Holy crap!

I figure his tennis, ballet, boxing, and Xtreme Tai Chi carreers are all a wash. And he may never play the violin again.

(Seriously, I'm glad and a little amazed that I can joke about it.)

In other news, it sounds like Shane and his wife Courtney may be moving to Boston. I'm disappointed to lose my Hawaiian tour guide, but that's exciting news.

More Chris Bourque

As my BU Ice Dogs get ready for Providence in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs, Boston.com gives us a nice feature on our favorite feisty winger, Chris Bourque:Son burst: Once he arrived on scene at BU, it took Bourque no time to excel

Let the record show, too, that it was a certain winger who for years wore No. 8 for the Bruins who most captured the imagination of this Bourque's generation.

"Cam Neely was probably my favorite Bruin," said Chris. "He did everything. He fought. He scored. He killed people, the way he checked and fought. He set up goals and scored some others that were just unbelievable to watch. All in all, I'd say he was the perfect hockey player."

I knew I liked that kid.

Also, congratulations to Chris for his classic quote in response to the various taunts he receives due to his lineage: "I love it. Really, it's wicked funny, and when it's something new, that cracks me up."

Wicked funny...? That's pissah.

Northeast Travel Alert

FYI: The Wife and I are making tentative plans to travel to Boston and Maine towards the end of July. We were hoping to bring along Matt and his lady, but that's not going to work out, sadly. From what I hear, though, there is a possiblity that Hezzy's brother Chris might be able to come along with Auntie Kate.

It's liable to be a bit of a whirlwind tour, but I'd think, if it's at all possible, that we'd need to touch base with any available Corcorans, the Hanh/Van Collective, and possibly Cringe & Co.

Ping us if you're on that list or if you think you unjustly got left off it.

On Boston Drivers...

Yes, they are a notorious bunch. I hereby offer a couple more exhibits for the evidence pile: First is a somewhat whiney account from a freshly exposed youngster who thinks she's been around long enough to have an authoritative opinion: Massholes

Yes, the popular term is “Masshole,� but that’s something of a misnomer. You see, the trouble with Boston drivers is not really that they’re jerks on the road—I’ve driven alongside my share of New York cabbies and asphalt cowboys. Boston drivers are a different breed. Their driving wavers somewhere between oblivious and schizophrenic. They stop dutifully in the left lane at a stoplight because that’s the lane they were driving in—even though there’s nobody in the other lane. They fade between lanes with no semblance of purpose—or sometimes even intention. I’ve driven in front of buses at night that had no lights on. More than once, someone has tried to merge in from the right—right into my passenger door.

That’s the thing. Boston drivers aren’t bad, they’re scary. Congratulations, folks: you frighten me.

This is fairly typical stuff, especially for someone who has been in the area less than, say, five years.

More damning, however is this bit about Boston cabbies not wearing seatbelts — because they don't have to!!

Published in today's Annals of Emergency Medicine, the survey by Fernandez and other BMC emergency room doctors found that of 250 taxi drivers observed during a four-day period last June, only 17 were properly belted in. The doctors stationed observers throughout the city where cabs are common, to note and record whether the driver was wearing a seat belt.

Industry lobbyists pushed for the exclusion from the seat belt law back in the late 1980s, saying that being strapped in was inconvenient for cabdrivers, who frequently get in and out of their vehicle.

The mind boggles. How did the cabbies get the exemption? Well, they argued that the belt would slow them down too much considering how often they get in and out of their cars to load/unload luggage and such. Oh, and since they mostly drive in the city at speeds under 30 mph, a seatbelt would be silly anyway.

Yeah right. Show any cabbie in any town two blocks of open road and I bet they'll get to 60 in no time. Time is money and speed equals time.

College Hockey Playoffs

Well, thanks to a boatload of ties, Boston College has secured top spot in the Hockey East standings at the end of the regular season. Meanwhile, my boys at BU edged New Hampshire in the last game of the season to grab the number two spot. That sets up a three game series against the Providence Friars in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs:

BU also faced the Friars in the quarterfinals in 2002 and 2003, both series that BU won. BU swept the Friars in three games this year, including two 3-2 wins and a 4-2 win in which BU scored an empty net goal as time expired.

The odds sound good to me, but Coach Parker (who will soon share his name with the rink on which his teams skates) is always cautious – or at least politically correct:

"I don't see any home-ice team being a shoo-in," said BU coach Jack Parker. "It's a tough league."

Now I need to get me one of the new old school third jerseys (perhaps with Chris Bourque's number)...

The plan is to have the team wear the uniforms on various special occasions. "Once in a while, yeah," Parker said. "Although I think if a lot of people like them, we might use them a little bit more. We might take the negative of them and make the white uniform to use as our home jersey once in a while. But we will not get rid of our traditional 'Detroit' look."

Yeah, that "Detroit look" has almost gotten me into some bother here in Colorado. I've sported my Chris Drury sweater around town a couple times and heard several grumbles along the lines of "That better not be a Red Wings jersey..."

Good Music in Beantown

Hawaiian punch: Waitiki throws a Polynesian party to play the music of Juan Garcia Esquivel

Tonight at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Waitiki is presenting a very special show, even by Waitiki standards. The group will swell to a 20-piece ensemble, dubbed Waitiki Orchestrotica, for a rare live performance of the ''supersonic space-age bachelor pad" sounds of the late Juan Garcia Esquivel, variously known as the King of Lounge, Mexico's Duke Ellington, and -- oxymoronic though it may sound -- an easy-listening innovator.

Fantasic. The music scene is one of the main things I miss about Boston. And you gotta love any band that travels with its own drink menu.

I wonder if/when Waitiki will have a disc out for us land-locked folks... Or if they will ever travel west of Pittsburg.

Good Hockey News

Since the NHL sucks, let's review some nice happenings in the hockey world, shall we?

Now, if only I could get NESN broadcasts of BU hockey games here in Denver...