Tag: boston local news

A couple of clarifications

1) Yes, the bomb squad has had a busy day today in Boston.  Yes, they did just blow up two things in controlled detonations (as in, within the last two minutes) at the Marathon Finish Line.  Geoff and I are both fine and were nowhere near any of the controlled detonations today.  Yes, there were more than just those two detonations, no, we were never in any danger.

2) To all the crazies/”patriots”/martyrs/whatever who think that today is a day for demonstrations of their ideologies by throwing backpacks full of stuff into random places: Go back under whatever rock you came from.  We don’t want you, you will get caught and possibly killed, and your “message” just gets lost in the kerfuffle.  Stop already, enough.  April 15th is for paying taxes.

3) To the people heading up the security theater that now invades so much of our lives: I want my rights back.  Catching the guy who tossed those backpacks into the middle of a heavily guarded street was no biggie.  Stopping the guy who shot up KS yesterday?  Not a whole lot of warning on that one despite his obvious history of hatred.  Oh, and that was terrorism too, in case you missed the memo.  Just because a white guy did it doesn’t mean it isn’t terrorism.

And finally, to leave the serious topics for a minute:

4) Geoffrey and Joffrey aren’t the same person, thank all the Gods.  If you’re looking for information about the character on Game of Thrones who died, his name is Joffrey and that post is here.  Geoffrey is my husband and he is a) not a psychopathic murdering boy king and b) very much alive.

~Kelly

ETA by Geoff:  And c) I am very much loyal to the Starks and hate the Lannisters very very much.  I am a true man of the North.  Nyah.

Surviving the Apocalypse

As anyone who knows me well will tell you, I am somewhat obsessed with emergency preparedness and safety in general.  Mind you, not to the point of having a bunker and hoarding gold coins and such, but I do take that sort of thing seriously when it comes to normal Red Cross-type preparation.

Well, this past week I got to hear Annalee Newitz, one of the founders of io9, give a reading from her new book: Scatter, Adapt, and Remember:
How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction.  And it was quite illuminating, and a lot of fun to boot.  Count on the Harvard Bookstore to always bring in cool authors.

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Mark your calendars! Cambridge Open Studios is coming!

Cambridge Open Studios is back, and this year it is all of Cambridge in only one weekend.  Just like last year there will be a shuttle bus that will take you, for free, all over town.  And, lucky for us all, the primary departure point will be at Cambridge College, 1000 Mass Ave, every hour on the hour.  That also happens to be where I’ll be showing my work this year.  I love it when a plan comes together.

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Boston Strong all over again

Yesterday there was another tragedy in our fair city.  A fire broke out in the Back Bay, one of the more tightly packed areas of the city, both architecturally and in terms of traffic.  It quickly went to 9 alarms, sent 18 people to the hospital, destroyed the 4 story building where it started, and killed 2 firefighters.

9 city blocks were closed through this morning as 40+ mph winds whipped the fire into a frenzy.  Backdraft type conditions made the fire merciless and the brave men and women kept fighting even when they knew that one of their comrades lay dead at the bottom of the building.  Even when the fire leapt through the roof and reached for the sky, when floors collapsed and sprayed the surrounding houses with showers of embers, and when the smoke was so thick we could see it from Cambridge, they fought on for hours.

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Go out and get some culture! Concerts for YOU.

I have concert listings.  Lots of concert listings.  These are upcoming concerts that I’m not performing in but will try to attend.  You should try to go as well.  Music is good for the soul.  Also, Bach rocks.  And, there may be cake.

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Yeah… about that “winter is over” bit

A little while back I had commented about how we were experiencing winter’s “last hurrah”.

Oh, man was I wrong.

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Baritone or Bass needed 3/30 & 4/6‏ Cambridge, MA

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Central Sq, Cambridge is in need of a Baritone or Bass sub for Sunday services on 3/30 and 4/6.  No weekday rehearsals are required, call is 9:00am and the service is over by 12:00pm.  Pay is $50 per appearance.  Preference is for one person to perform on both dates.  Strong sight-reading and leadership skills are necessary, familiarity with Episcopal liturgy is desirable.  St. Peter’s is accessible by the Red line, the 1 bus, and street and lot parking are available.

Please forward this announcement to interested parties.  Responses can be directed to the Music Director, Josh Lawton.

~Kelly

OPEN MIC OPERA on Tuesday March 11 at 7 pm in Cambridge

This is happening at our church.  If you’re available to come and sing or to come and listen please stop by.  It sounds like great fun.

For Immediate Release- Tuesday, March 11, 2014, starting at 7:00 pm, at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 838 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, the weekly “Tuesday Nights” concert series presents Open Mic Opera.  Local opera singers, younger and older, amateur and professional, are invited to sing their hearts out.  Collaborative pianist Juliet Cunningham, who has accompanied opera, oratorio and musical theater singers (and produced operas with her Janus Opera Company) will play whatever you bring.  Suggested donation of $10 at the door.  For more information about the weekly “Tuesday Nights” concert series please visit www.saintpeterscambridge.org/news-events/announcements/tuesdaynightconcertseries    

Open mic opera?  In Boston – the home of the Red Sox, the Bruins, the Celtics?  Yes, and it isn’t new either.  Many lovers of Italian food will remember a restaurant near Quincy Market that used to feature singing waiters.  In other parts of the country, such as California, there have been restaurants with nights given over to singers performing opera arias and scenes for the past two to three decades, according to Duff Murphy, host of The Opera Show on Los Angeles’s radio station KUSC.   In case you thought opera was just for the old folks, Murphy also has observed that it has become popular with many 20- and 30- somethings.  Robert Hansen, executive director of the National Opera Association has been quoted to the effect that open mic opera is growing in popularity because “there is a huge population out there now of singers who want some sort of opportunity to sing, whether they make a living doing it, for pocket money or just for the love of singing.”  Boston is brimming over with opera singers.  This is an opportunity for them to strut their stuff in public, with encouragement and at no risk.  All singers are welcome to participate, and you can bring your accompanist and audience with you. 

Me, I’d probably bring some Musical Theatre just to shake things up a bit.

~Kelly

More medieval cooking on a snowy winter’s eve

This week has become one snow event after another, and we are starting to actually run out of places to put the snow when we shovel.  There are really only two piles: the big one on the other side of our trash and recycling bins, between them and the neighbor’s fence; and the small one in this little corner between the steps and the house, where there is a stump I want dead anyway.  So the little pile is getting close to its maximum practical size, and the other one has reached the height of the bushes.  And trying to chip away all the melted, compacted snow that had refrozen as ice all over the walk and steps took almost an hour of hard work.  Thirty degrees outside and I was sweating.

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Internet in Greater Boston – fewer options for more money

Greater Boston, and especially our home of Cambridge, is undoubtedly one of the technology capitals of the United States, and certainly of the East Coast.   And yet Kelly and I have struggled for years to find a decent, reliable Internet provider for a reasonable price.  Currently we are using Comcast, because we simply could not get reliable service from Verizon no matter how hard we tried.  It was depressing, but at least we figured it probably wouldn’t get any worse.

And then earlier this week I read that our Internet/phone/cable provider, Comcast, is going through yet another merger.

Sigh.  No good can come from this.

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