As a historian, and as someone who grew up in the South, I can’t help but shake my head at how a generation after the tumult of the 1950s and 1960s, we as a society are still struggling with virtually all of the issues that Dr. King fought against. Don’t get me wrong, we have come a long way, even in my lifetime, but that progress still doesn’t mean that we live in a “post-racial” society.
Some Thoughts on a Boston Olympics
As usual, Mike is *right ON* with this post. Take a read.
~Kelly
I’ve waited a week to see if the overwhelming negative reaction to the possibility of hosting the 2024 Summer Olympcs by Bostonians changed. As far as I can tell, it hasn’t. Not only is requiring an Olympic games as a prerequisite to improving mass transit and housing a fundamental failure of governance–these are problems that should be solved without hosting the Olympics–but it also doesn’t make sense on its own terms. While there has always been a minority of Bostonians who suffer from an inferiority complex (truthfully, I can’t figure this one out–Boston is a great city), Boston really doesn’t need the Olympics to increase tourism: Fanueil Hall alone is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world*. Unlike Barcelona, which used the games to great effect, Boston is already ‘on the map.’
Anyway, it seems there’s an opportunity for both local Boston politicians…
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Ecuador, Japanese Food, and Bugs
My friend Shoyo is a pretty cool guy. He’s an undergraduate student at BU, he’s got a wicked sense of style, and he’s been volunteering at HMNH since he was about 5 years old. He’s also the only thing I can think of that unites the three things listed in the title of this post.
Footprints in the snow
I worked a half shift yesterday before I went to rehearsal last night. I wasn’t really in any mood to deal with people but one of my coworkers had called out sick and another was sick and needed to go home. Word had also spread about Rerun’s passing and this particular group of people, who are ordinarily nice to me, were super sweet and supportive. I ended up with a lot of time to work in the quiet places and get some time alone. I really appreciated it.
Rerun S. Hopkins-Michael June 2003 – January 15, 2015
This is not the obituary I thought I’d be writing. I really thought that Rerun would be with us for a while yet. Rerun died this morning. He was 11 years old.
Continue reading “Rerun S. Hopkins-Michael June 2003 – January 15, 2015”
I thank God for our city council
The Cambridge City Council has voted in a policy order to make known that they are opposed to the 2024 Boston Olympic bid. I get the impression that no one in the group to bring the 2024 Olympics to Boston thought to discuss their plan with surrounding communities to feel the waters, so to speak.
I cannot believe that any serious person would think that hosting the 2024 Olympics here in Boston is a good idea. And with such a relatively small window to prepare, it is quite unrealistic. In fact, it is hands down one of the dumbest ideas I have heard put forth in a long time.
Where would we put it all?
Yes, I know Kelly has talked about this already, but I have to throw in my own two cents worth, because this is something that has actually gotten me quite a bit fired up and angry. It is yet another case of the privileged few dictating to everyone else.
A Beautiful and Storied Ship, Part Three
I have been meaning to put up the rest of the photos from my tour of the USS Cassin Young, but I just hadn’t been able to get around to it yet.
So here are more of the photos from the tour, in no particular order.
#BlackLivesMatter & #NoBoston2024 – The intersection of money, race & power
Anyone who isn’t a moneyed plutocrat in the very tiny ruling elite here in Boston – Marty Walsh, John Fish, Charlie Baker, and Shirley Leung, I’m looking at you – likely understands that yesterday’s announcement that Boston “won” the USOC nomination for the 2024 olympics is a Very Bad Thing. The Boston 2024 group has existed for about a year and, chaired by Fish, has been trying to essentially shame the populace into believing that if we do not do this thing, invite the world to come here for a 3 week-long party 9 years from now, we’re provincial losers and that Boston isn’t fit for the world stage.
To put it bluntly, the people at Boston2024 are liars.
Continue reading “#BlackLivesMatter & #NoBoston2024 – The intersection of money, race & power”
Courage to take the high ground
I confess that I am not much of a sports fan, with the exception of the Red Sox of course. But I still know enough to know who Stuart Scott was and to appreciate what the man contributed to sportscasting.
A gentle reminder that this is New England in winter
Although we are WAY under our usual quota for snow so far this season, winter has decided to let us know that it is still here, and that all those warnings from the Starks were not for nothing.
This morning when I got up, the temperature according to the little weather tool on the kitchen computer was -3 degrees Fahrenheit, and the wind chill was somewhere between -20 and -25 degrees, depending on just how hard the wind was blowing. It would be white walker weather, except for the lack of snow.
Continue reading “A gentle reminder that this is New England in winter”
