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.
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.
Continue reading “Two judges cause much celebration”
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
Many of the readers around here know that Geoff and I both have neurologists at Boston Medical Center. You may also remember me singing in the Boston Medical Center Concert When Patients Heal You last November. (Video is here, sorry for the sound quality) I’ll be singing in the concert again this October. Watch this space for more details.
Anyway, the BMC is loaded with great talent and with people who give their time and talent to not only give back to the community here in Boston but also but to raise money for others who need it, as well as to fund health care for those who would not otherwise have access to it. I’m not performing in the concert listed below, the pianist/nurse/saint I’m performing with in October is. Check it out.
That’s globalhealthneurology@gmail.com with questions or to volunteer. To donate, click here. The concert has a $20 ticket/donation at the door.
The Baskt Auditorium is in A Building at 72 East Concord St. Boston, MA 02118 on the Boston University Medical School campus.
~Kelly
It has taken a while for me to process everything that has happened in the past couple of weeks. And truthfully, I am still processing it.
Never, in my life, would I have predicted that the discussion to get rid of the Confederate flag once and for all would begin in Charleston, South Carolina.
The same place where the Civil War began, all those years ago.
Continue reading “Charleston, the Confederate flag, and the Civil War”
Regular readers will recall that a little while back I said we’d be away for a while due to the death of a friend. Truth be told, his loss was, at the time, the latest in a long string of Very Hard Things 2015 had handed us.
It seems, however, that June might bright A New Hope. (Sorry) But, before we get to the good stuff, let’s go over where we’ve been, shall we?
After the light snow we got last night, it seems that Boston has officially broken the record for most snowfall in a single season. Our current snow total is now 108.6 inches, beating the old record of 107.6 inches from the winter of 1995-1996. Here in Boston, they began keeping records of snowfall in 1872.
Thankfully a lot of snow melted in the last couple of weeks, so the new snow hasn’t really done a whole lot to make anything worse. But as the snow melts, it is revealing all the garbage and other stuff that got buried in the massive piles.
Ah, spring.
-Geoff
I was overjoyed to hear that the FCC voted 3-2 to adopt new rules that treat broadband internet as a utility, much like telephones. The basic purpose of this would be to guarantee that internet service providers are neutral in terms of treating all customers and web content equally, and not favoring those who can pay more money or slowing down those that pay less. It means that a cable company can’t slow down the traffic to their competitors’ websites. It assures that the Internet remains a generally level playing field, so small businesses and start-ups don’t get squashed by huge corporate competitors who can afford to pay more to have their own service prioritized. And critically for people like me who have complained incessantly about being at the mercy of a few big telecoms when it comes to broadband service, it also means that it will become easier to get more choices, especially if those choices mean expanding municipal broadband service where they were previously banned by state laws favoring those big telecom companies.
And yet, there are those who are still opposed to it and will fight this tooth and nail. Needless to say, I am not a fan of those people. But I am encouraged by the fact that so many people thought net neutrality would fail, and they turned out to be wrong.
Continue reading “Net Neutrality and why the FCC’s new rules matter”
Science is important. It is something that both Kelly and I take quite seriously. It’s one if the reasons Kelly has worked as a science educator for a decade, and one of the reasons why even some of our hobbies involve a lot of science. We feel quite passionately about it.
And it’s also why we both get so frustrated about the problems with scientific literacy in America – demonstrated by things like this survey that shows the gaps between scientists and the public when it comes to views of science. And if you want to see scientific ignorance displayed in all its factually-challenged glory, and I mean some truly godawful stuff, just turn on a television.
After a small break in January, we’re back at it, this time in time for Valentine’s Day. Geoff and I will be vending at the Somerville Local First Local is for Lovers Market at the Armory in Somerville on Sunday February 8th from 10:00am – 3:00pm. (For those of you scurrying to check your calendars, this is the Sunday after the Superbowl.)
This will be our first market with SLF since Singing Stones Jewelry became a part of Cambridge Local First. I, for one, am really excited.
We’re also going to be back showing with the ever fantastic Gravestone Girls, Erica from Esoterica and Smiley Baby Hats, Q’s Nuts, and the good folks at Next Step Living. This is, as always, a full on family event with Knucklebones there to entertain and enlighten the kids while the adults shop, listen to great music, and check out the hard cider vendor Far From the Tree Craft Hard Cider.
We really hope to see you there!
~Kelly
