Saturday, May 1, 2010
Inca Son in Harvard Square
Inca Son performing in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 30, 2010.
Fallen Angels in Harvard Square
The Fallen Angels perform in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 30, 2010.
Update: Smitty at The Other McCain has a proposition, "Could we have these ladies be the Supreme Court? They would be the best sounding judicial opinions ever, even if they were all about shoes."
Friday, April 30, 2010
Flat Stanley Visits the Left Bank of the Charles
I received an email a week or so ago from my friends Don & Jackie in Iowa. They asked if I would show Flat Stanley around Cambridge, Massachusetts where I live. Don said this was a favor for his cousin’s bowling teammate who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska and has a granddaughter in Maryville, Missouri.
Well, whenever someone’s cousin’s bowling teammate needs a favor, I always say yes. Plus, it was a warm, sunny day and I was glad to get out of work to show someone around town.
When Flat Stanley arrived in another email the next day, I was surprised. I was expecting a boy, not a girl with long orange hair and a blue skirt. I asked her how she got the name Stanley. “That’s my last name,” she replied.
She wasn’t very happy because she arrived upside down. She said she had traveled by email upside all the way across the country from Lincoln, Nebraska. That’s 1,500 miles. She had quite a headache.
I should tell you a little bit about my city. Cambridge has about 100,000 residents, which is about 10 times more people than Maryville. But the town is only about twice as big, so it’s a lot more crowded. That’s like if you had to have four other classes share your classroom with you.
First we went to Cambridge Common, which is a large park in the middle of the city. The farmers used to graze their cows there, but there are no farmers in the city anymore.
During the American Revolution, this is where General George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775. He was the first President of the United States.
Cambridge Common also has some cannons that were captured from the British. Flat Stanley wanted to fire the cannon, but I didn’t think that was a good idea. “The people in those buildings wouldn’t like that,” I said.
Cambridge has two universities, Harvard and MIT, so it is a college town like Maryville.
We went into Harvard Yard and saw the statute of John Harvard.
Some Native American students at Harvard have constructed a Wetu, a wigwam covered in bark like the ones Native Americans in Massachusetts lived in a long time ago.
Next we walked into Harvard Square, where there are lots of stores and a subway station.
Last we went to JFK Park, which is named after John F. Kennedy who was President of the United States 50 years ago. He was born across the Charles River in Brookline.
I asked Flat Stanley if she would like to go back by email, but she said no, she didn’t want to do that upside down thing again. So we chose the regular mail.
Well, whenever someone’s cousin’s bowling teammate needs a favor, I always say yes. Plus, it was a warm, sunny day and I was glad to get out of work to show someone around town.
When Flat Stanley arrived in another email the next day, I was surprised. I was expecting a boy, not a girl with long orange hair and a blue skirt. I asked her how she got the name Stanley. “That’s my last name,” she replied.
She wasn’t very happy because she arrived upside down. She said she had traveled by email upside all the way across the country from Lincoln, Nebraska. That’s 1,500 miles. She had quite a headache.
I should tell you a little bit about my city. Cambridge has about 100,000 residents, which is about 10 times more people than Maryville. But the town is only about twice as big, so it’s a lot more crowded. That’s like if you had to have four other classes share your classroom with you.
First we went to Cambridge Common, which is a large park in the middle of the city. The farmers used to graze their cows there, but there are no farmers in the city anymore.
During the American Revolution, this is where General George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775. He was the first President of the United States.
Cambridge Common also has some cannons that were captured from the British. Flat Stanley wanted to fire the cannon, but I didn’t think that was a good idea. “The people in those buildings wouldn’t like that,” I said.
Cambridge has two universities, Harvard and MIT, so it is a college town like Maryville.
We went into Harvard Yard and saw the statute of John Harvard.
Some Native American students at Harvard have constructed a Wetu, a wigwam covered in bark like the ones Native Americans in Massachusetts lived in a long time ago.
Next we walked into Harvard Square, where there are lots of stores and a subway station.
Last we went to JFK Park, which is named after John F. Kennedy who was President of the United States 50 years ago. He was born across the Charles River in Brookline.
I asked Flat Stanley if she would like to go back by email, but she said no, she didn’t want to do that upside down thing again. So we chose the regular mail.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wall Street Journal Hypes the iPad as Ultimate Leisure Device
The iPad 3G arrives in stores tomorrow. Throw away your Kindle. And that's the hype coming from the Wall Street Journal.
Common Sense columnist James B. Stewart calls the Apple iPad "the ultimate leisure device: the book, newspaper, magazine, television, stereo and movie theater all rolled into one." His headline: "Punch Apple's Shares Into Your iPad, Press 'Buy'."
Personal Technology columnist Walt Mossberg thinks the iPad will replace the laptop for a lot of people. He thinks Apple has done a beautiful job. He says he got 11.5 hours of battery life playing video back to back. He says he's a fan of the Kindle but would pick the iPad for ebooks.
A Wall Street Journal poll asks readers to rate Kindle or iPad: Which is the better book-reading experience? At this writing, the score is 66.77% iPad, 28.8% Kindle, 4.5% other reader.
I tried the iPad at the Apple Store this past weekend, and thought it was great for web surfing. One problem is that it doesn't support Flash, which is used on a lots of websites. But the salesman says a lot of media websites are promising to dump Flash, including the Wall Street Journal's website.
That's a lot more than just hype.
Common Sense columnist James B. Stewart calls the Apple iPad "the ultimate leisure device: the book, newspaper, magazine, television, stereo and movie theater all rolled into one." His headline: "Punch Apple's Shares Into Your iPad, Press 'Buy'."
Personal Technology columnist Walt Mossberg thinks the iPad will replace the laptop for a lot of people. He thinks Apple has done a beautiful job. He says he got 11.5 hours of battery life playing video back to back. He says he's a fan of the Kindle but would pick the iPad for ebooks.
A Wall Street Journal poll asks readers to rate Kindle or iPad: Which is the better book-reading experience? At this writing, the score is 66.77% iPad, 28.8% Kindle, 4.5% other reader.
I tried the iPad at the Apple Store this past weekend, and thought it was great for web surfing. One problem is that it doesn't support Flash, which is used on a lots of websites. But the salesman says a lot of media websites are promising to dump Flash, including the Wall Street Journal's website.
That's a lot more than just hype.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A Brilliant Sunset on an Otherwise Sunless Day
The sun slips in under the cloud cover at the end of a rainy day.
It burns very brightly for a moment.
Then leaves a lingering afterglow.
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