A U.S. Navy ocean tug that vanished in 1921 with its entire crew of 56 officers and men has definitively been found.
Tag: news
What we’re reading now – March 2016 edition
I got home from work last night, bundled myself into my Dash-don’t-you-dare-lick-me outfit, and spent some time playing Shaws Monopoly and reading stuff and things on the intertubes. Some of them were awesome, some were thought provoking, others were troll/bless your heart you stupid little millennial magnets, and some actually made me want to comment. Here they are for your reading pleasure.
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Another historic shipwreck found
A shipwreck found near the coast of Oman is believed to be the oldest yet discovered from Europe’s Golden Age of Exploration. The wreck is believed to be the Esmerelda, a Portuguese vessel from Vasco de Gama‘s fleet that was lost near the island of al-Hallaniyah in a storm in May 1503.
Fortunately, the wreck’s relatively remote location seems to have prevented the site from being looted.
Bitter cold this weekend
Wow, it got cold suddenly. You know it’s cold when the temperature climbs up 20 to 25 degrees from when I got up this morning, and it’s still only 12 degrees Fahrenheit.
I think a few Commandments got broken here…
Well, well, well.
It appears that the Greens, the “Christian” family that owns Hobby Lobby, the same lovely people who think that there are one set of laws for them and another for everyone else when it comes to employee healthcare, may have gotten themselves in some hot water with the Federal government.
You see, with their billions of dollars, they have been building quite a collection of historical artifacts associated with the Bible: some 40,000 items, including the second-largest collection of Dead Sea Scrolls, all of which are unpublished (can’t have any more of those “funny” Gospels floating around now, can we?) And a huge number of Jewish scrolls, including many that survived the Nazis and the Inquisition.
It turns out that some of the items in their collection may have been acquired under, shall we say, murky circumstances.
Continue reading “I think a few Commandments got broken here…”
Um, apparently this is actually happening
I’m still not entirely clear on how this happened. But apparently it did. OK, technically it hasn’t happened yet, but it’s going to happen because it’s in calendars and there’s advertising. And I’m going to be rehearsing. Perhaps I should explain.
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October and November concerts for you!
There has been a lot going on in the last few weeks. I’m still sorting through the luggage, photos, and general wreckage of running around like a decapitated chicken. But! I have concert news for you that involves me, friends, coworkers, and perfect strangers that I feel the need to bring you. So, I’m setting aside the work that needs to be done to share the details with you. Please make sure to see at least some of these, they’re going to be great!
“Sir Ernie of Fall River”, or how a Portuguese MIT professor helped bring about the Iran deal
There are so few Americans of Portuguese descent that are seen on the national stage, much less the international stage, and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz has managed to do both. He is one of the few people in politics and policy circles that I would totally go all fanboy over if I ever had the chance to meet him.
Why? you might ask. After all, this guy is probably more famous for his hair in American culture than for anything else about him.
Well, let me tell you a bit about him.
Two judges cause much celebration
I haven’t been able to do a lot of writing here on the blog lately. It’s been a combination of having a very full schedule and not sleeping well. I am working on trying to fix the part about not sleeping well. The full schedule will start easing off a bit after October 10th. I will probably post more about that in the near future.
In the meantime, I wanted to say something about two stories in the news that are related to the title of my post. One is in regards to civil rights, the other is in regards to one of New England’s favorite athletes.
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Tom Zajac, you will be missed
Unlike a lot of people in Boston I can’t claim I knew Tom well. I’m sure that the couple of times we met didn’t make an impression on him at all, as a matter of fact. But he was a bit of a legend in his own time and, unlike a lot of far less talented people I’ve met, he wasn’t a legend in his own mind. That much was clear the moment you met him, he didn’t buy into the “Artist as Asshole” phenomenon.
I hate that particular phenomenon.
Regular readers will remember that not long ago I posted in this space about a benefit for Tom. The link to that post is here. Teri had told me recently that Tom was being moved into hospice care. That’s never good. People generally go into hospice care in order to peacefully move from this world into the next, not to return to the bloom of full health. Tom had apparently been given about 6 months, maybe less, as a prognosis.
The Early Music community here in Boston has been collectively holding its breath while Tom’s illness has been unfolding. He was not only a well respected performer here, he was also a teacher and friend to many. He was also just unfailingly nice.
Tom died on Saturday. And though I didn’t know him nearly as well as many, I still grieve for those who loved him, especially his lovely wife Lilli, the community of which he was a linchpin, and the rest of us who were touched by his presence.
There is a lovely post about his life here. I encourage you to read it. I do not know the author, I found the post by happenstance, but it is beautifully done.
“Good-night, sweet prince;
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”
Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 5, Scene 2
Rest in Peace, Tom.
~Kelly
The Books are Taking Over... 