Please Hold, we will be with you shortly

I have a post percolating in my brain about Game of Thrones.  Geoff and I have both been working crazy schedules between his school schedule and interviewing for work and my endless work schedule.

Then Jay died on Saturday.

Jay was really Carron’s friend, but he was a larger than life person who made the world a happier, better, and funnier place for being in it.  I knew Jay through Carron but both Geoff and I had met him and like him immensely.  He was Carron’s brother from another mother and circumstances in life had left him in a position to always make sure that Carron had what she needed if there wasn’t enough work that month.  He was generous, giving, hilariously funny, and kind.  Everything you’d want in a best friend and separated at birth brother.

Jay was violently murdered on Saturday in Mexico.  No, I won’t link to the article or any photos.  We don’t want or need to remember him that way.  I choose to remember him as the kind man who made Carron so happy and and who was so good to so many people.  I choose to remember the man who loved animals and always had a dog nearby.  The man who contributed to animal charities and animal rescue.

So we’ll probably be a little sporadic in posting around here for a while.  Between our schedules and the fact that a giant hole has been torn in Carron’s world, Game of Thrones posts can wait.  We have funeral preparations to make, emails to send, and people to contact.

Requiem in aeternam, Jay.

~Kelly

Cappella Clausura brings you EXULTET! 5/2 & 5/3 with a discount for blog readers

EXULTET!

Saturday May 2nd at 8:00 pm in Lindsey Chapel, Emmanuel Church 15 Newbury St, Boston   RSVP here via Facebook.

Sunday May 3rd at 4:00 pm in Eliot Church of Newton 474 Centre Street, Newton, MA   RSVP here via Facebook.

EXULTET_WITHTEXT

Featuring the Music of Hildegard von Bingen, Arvo Pärt, Eric Whitacre, and a premiere of Hilary Tann‘s exuberant “Exultet” for reed quintet and double chorus, arranged especially for Cappella Clausura, and with special guest Peggy Pearson, oboe.  Hilary will be at each concert and will stay after each performance for a post concert talk-back with the audience.

Our May 3rd concert is a part of Newton’s May Festival of the Arts

TICKETS:

$20 in advance/ $25 at the door
Seniors/students:  $15 advance/ $18 door

OR, you can get a serious discount if you buy tickets in advance.

Because you’ve read to the end of this post and because you’re a friend of this blog, if you use the password FRIENDSOFKELLY at either of the links above, May 2nd or May 3rd, you’ll get advance tickets to either concert for just $10 each.

That’s less than half price for a general admission ticket purchased at the door.  The best part is that you can share this discout with anyone you like.  Spread the wealth and invite your friends in on the deal too!

 @CClausura <– come visit us on Twitter for more news and discounts!

See you at the concerts!

~Kelly

More thoughts on Stannis Baratheon and the future of the North

After I wrote my earlier commentary on Stannis, I found that I am not alone in feeling that Stannis has gotten the short end of the stick.  Both Anna Silman at Salon and Thomas Fichtenmayer at Esquire also have not only a soft spot for the unappreciated Baratheon brother, but possibly think even more highly of him than I do, and I think pretty damn highly of him indeed.

Continue reading “More thoughts on Stannis Baratheon and the future of the North”

Some thoughts on Stannis

Tonight I was thinking about writing something about what has happened so far in Season Five of Game of Thrones, but then Kelly and I had a conversation about Stannis that made me think I should do a post about him.

Frankly, I think that  Stannis is unjustly unappreciated by both the masses of Westeros and the masses of ASOIAF/GoT fans.  Allow me to explain.

Continue reading “Some thoughts on Stannis”

Spring finally arrives… and so does Game of Thrones

Well, the weather has finally warmed up enough that I can reasonably wear shorts outside.  Most of the snow piles have disappeared.  This nasty winter seems to have claimed what I hope is its last casualty: my truck.

Continue reading “Spring finally arrives… and so does Game of Thrones”

Basil and the pothole from hell

Poor Basil.  He has suffered immensely this winter.  Still, our Mini Cooper has, like us, managed to survive this record-breaking winter and has been buried in snow more times than I can recall.  At least digging him out isn’t so bad most of the time since he is so small.  And it certainly makes it easier to park in narrow spots nestled between snow piles.

But getting through this winter unscathed was not meant to be, I guess.  Last night, on Route 99 where it goes under Rutherford Ave in Charlestown, we hit what was probably the biggest pothole I have ever seen, at least on a road that wasn’t being washed out underneath.

Continue reading “Basil and the pothole from hell”

@DavidScottJazz and @Shilanikus in concert 3/27 & 4/10 – Jazz by DYAD

DYAD- David Thorne Scott & Mark Shilansky present: Emerging from the musical wasteland

DYAD-CD-cover

Dave sent me an email about this fantastic pair of concerts.  Naturally, I’m working both nights.  *grumble*  But YOU should go.  Check it out.

Continue reading “@DavidScottJazz and @Shilanikus in concert 3/27 & 4/10 – Jazz by DYAD”

The two different kinds of apocalyptic fiction

The first is the kind that I read and/or watch.  Stuff like The Walking Dead comics, or Mira Grant’s awesome Newsflesh trilogy of novels, or movies like Deep Impact, and even video games like Left4Dead 2 and Fallout 3.  I guess the thing I find most interesting is seeing how people adapt. It’s compelling drama.  And while I find it entertaining, it does have a certain amount of practical value if it makes emergency preparedness a little less dull, as even the CDC has discovered.

Then there’s the other kind.  The kind that makes seemingly ordinary people lose their minds, because they think it’s real.

Continue reading “The two different kinds of apocalyptic fiction”

Support Cambridge Local Businesses and Win Great Prizes!

I received this email from Cambridge Local First and I think it’s GREAT idea.  Certainly this winter weather, now record breaking, has been hard on all of us.  But it has been especially hard on local business who don’t have a national or international infrastructure over which they can spread the cost and losses.

Join Cambridge Local First in this innovative and fun way to bring some of the lost revenue back into our local community.  And, if you’re one of our readers who isn’t local to the greater Boston area, give your own local businesses some love.  Shop, eat, bank, and do business locally!

Continue reading “Support Cambridge Local Businesses and Win Great Prizes!”