my big umbrella

Getting off at South Station this morning I observed something very strange.

When I got out to the corner at Summer Street, the rain was coming down, however the ground was completely dry!!! I was stunned by this until I realized that while I was standing under my sizeable wind vent golf umbrella, so was everyone around me, except for some guy named Stan who was about 12 feet away.

Stan was soaked, and I mean it was literally as if buckets of water were being dumped on his head. This was almost true. What had actually happened was that every other person with their golf size umbrellas and a few with the well placed “tote” size umbrellas had created a river of water that was just drenching Stan.

As I stepped off the curve in my little Goretex lined bucks, my stain and water resitant khakis and my LL Bean Gore Tex lined coat, I took a quick look over my shoulder to make sure that my umbrella was also covering my bag, which is also waterproof. Thankfully I was dry.

I headed for work and thought about my fortune in being so well protected by the rain. I did get a little scared when I was passing people that they may hit me in the eye with their umbrellas so I am going to bring in one of my other two umbrellas next time.

The first one that I have, which should be helpful in keeping me dry, is my backyard table umbrella. It’s a little on the big side ( about 8′ across) but it should be able to keep me dry and ensure that no one can undercut my umbrella. While one guy on the train was a little aggravated when I put it in the storage above the nine seats around me, it’s important (tough shit… man), I need to be dry.

Sometimes though, when you need to move quick the backyard umbrella gets a little cumbersome, so I have my customized chariot umbrella. This one is equipped with chariot wheel style blades on all 8 sides and not only helps me move quickly through a crowd, but also works to cut the umbrellas of those who come a little too close. I do find it is VERY important to open and close it carefully ( sorry Al!).

I think with all of these options I should be good…I will let you know how it goes..

Facebook fun…part two

So I mentioned the article on Facebook I wrote  to a friend yesterday who was telling me of some of the funny stuff that shows up on their live feed so I decided to actually look at this today and found out the following:

 

someone I know is in training today….( are you currently somehow unfit for your job?)

another friend is jealous of her girlfriend’s boots…( buy better ones)

on one friend’s page someone was posting while taking their morning dump…( their post, not mine)

another opined about the birds eating the bird seed…( if you have time to post this while the birds are eating your bird seed, you could spend it spreading hay over your bird seed, or perhaps following the directions and tilling the seed into the lawn…)

someone else is running their computer on reserve batteries….

another felt better after taking Tylenol pm…

someone got free food and someone is going to some cool restaurant

someone is a fan of Salvador Dali

another guy has a huge ass grill and a cool wine collection

And….

some of you just read redigested content from Facebook…

love, hugs, and kisses…

from the train.

facebook…the new face of Gen X…or…lessons in how to not use Facebook if you are over 30.

Having worked at colleges for a while I have had a Facebook account for some time. It started when a student innocently started an organization based on a program I ran and I was concerned about how he might portray our program so I got an account so I could help manage the face of the program.

Over time, students would “friend” me which was fine also. And as students became more savvy to FB they started to realize they did not want me to have access to their information or pictures or anything else. All of this is also fine and also the reason why I do not actively seek student friends on FB because

1. it’s creepy  2. it’s intrusive 3. it’s unnecessary.

Students also thought it might be a smart idea to block me from their accounts which meant I could not find them on Facebook or see their info – again something that I think is a good idea because if I am a student I do not want administrators looking at my info, or pics of me having a good time with my friends.

All around, I found Facebook to be a peaceful coexistence with students. I would happily use it to promote “student” events to them, and put up some tidbits about myself so they could reach me if they had questions.

and then it all changed….

Yes, if I were Mark Zuckerberg, I’d have done the same thing- make Facebook an open site for all to use, make joining easy, create a bunch of crap add ons or better yet, let other companies do so, and let the world in. In actuality, a great idea from a business perspective.

When Facebook became a much more open site, I saw a merging for myself of the professional self and personal self, because all of a sudden, lo and behold, it was like old home week…

Friends from high school who I had not heard from in years would find me, or I would find them, or they would mistake me for a friend ( this did happen where an old high school colleague drunkenly mistook me for someone else, I drunkenly responded I was not they guy, we are now facebook friends and we both thought it was funny, not uncomfortable.. but funny). So a neat way to say hi to people you have not seen in 10-20 years. I have been able to reconnect with pals from high school that I never would have found and that is, to me, a very cool thing.

Also, I found that college friends came out of the woodwork too. It became a great way to get back in touch with people I had not heard from in years and for them to do the same. It’s really quite cool to get a message from some guy you used to spend 2 nights a week with stumbling down the streets of Amherst, or find out about how the lives of many have changed or not over time. It’s also great because when 200 people who all were part of Greek life want to plan a little get together…good ol facebook is there to help them start a group to do so, and if you don’t like the group that is planning it, you can even create private groups where you control the membership and only let certain people in, or even make the group private so it won’t show up on your “groups’ site at all…it’s like being at rush all over again…

Of course with this comes some new “funny..ha ha” moments. Such as when people you went to college with post pics of you from many a year ago. I always look at them and then detag myself from them, and I’d recommend the same to you. Why…because you never know who is looking at them, and, you never know who will. So while I think it’s funny to find pics of myself doing…I am not sure everyone would. Which reminds me, if people take the time to scan old photos of you and then upload them, just think  of how useful the old camera phone is today…think before you blink my friends….

Also, for all of you Facebook rookies…don’t poke anyone, the Superwall is lame, and having too many games, quizzes, and gifts is just too much clutter…but it does give me an many an idea of just how busy or not busy you are at work…make sure you look at those old date and time stamps…they tell a hell of a story.

Also for rookies…Facebook is a nice place to visit, but not so nice a place also, so avoid the stalkers and get rid of your birthdate, home address, and the 20 identifying pictures of your children. Take some time to look through the security settings and make sure you are only showing people what you want to show them.

Consider who should be able to look at your full profile, your pictures, your wall, and anything else that you might enjoy sharing with friends, but not necessarily the world. You can creatively set up groups to create access points for your friends…and your “facebook only” friends.

If you send me a beer, a lily patch, or a video don’t be upset that I didn’t respond. Similarly, I intro’d the blog to pals on Facebook so they’d know I wrote one, but then I stopped because, hey, if they want to find it, all they really have to do is ask…they don’t need me to self promote it.

I didn’t write this for the undergrads who might stumble upon it. I wrote it for you…Tim, Dave, Tommy, Cindy, Janet, Sally, and Rex. Yup, all of you have way too much info out there, and the nude beach pics seemed like a cute thing to post for the newlyweds but c’mon…

it’s a digital world…you never know who is looking.

RIP Richard Wright

Everyone has a band or two that seem to traverse time with them. Simply put, there are artists from our youth that seem to be ones that we revisit over time, replaying the music we grew up with, and listening to it with a new conviction, a new meaning, or even just a remembrance of time past.

For me those two bands are The Who and Pink Floyd.

While listening to “My Generation” this morning, a collectuion of The Who’s greatest hits, I settled in to the train to read the paper ( don’t worry, it wasn’t on time, I just left later, I wouldn’t want you to think service was improving…) and as I hit the end of the Business section I read of the death of Richard Wright, the keyboard player for Pink Floyd. According to the Globe – “Wright died after a short battle with cancer at the age of 65”.

I don’t remember listening to Pink Floyd with any regularity in high school, and I am pretty sure my introduction to the band was from “ The Wall”, both in film and soundtrack upon arriving at college. A trip to Hartford in the fall of my freshman year to see Floyd live at the Hartford Civic Center was a music appreciation altering experience. While I knew this was a post Roger Waters, post Syd Barrett rendition of the band I was listening to in heavy rotation, it didn’t matter.  A 17 minute opening of “Shine on Your Crazy Diamond was enough to hook me, and after the return drive from Hartford I spent months listening to a variety of Floyd albums and for some strange reason settled onto the “Final Cut” as my album of choice.

“The Final Cut” was the base work of one of my favorite classes from college, a class called “Metaphors” taught by a post grad in which we explored the meanings, and messages behind a variety of books, symbols, and artwork. My professor allowed me to write my final paper on the Floyd album, and it was probably at the time the biggest academic challenge of my career. A challenge because she forced me to try to figure out what I was trying to say in a way that told a story, accurately, fully, and with some flourish.

Richard Wright won’t go down as the most memorable Floyd member, the arguments will be over the initial genius and charismatic Syd Barrett, the moody but divisive Roger Waters, or the quiet but artful longevity of David Gilmour.

Wright, like drummer Nick Mason, isn’t seen as a lead in the epic battles over the Floyd name, but Mason and Wright in many ways the steady backbone of the various versions of Floyd over time, the Barrett years, the Water/Gilmour struggle, and the post Waters revision of Floyd that I was fortunate enough to experience a few times.

But if you listen to Floyd albums his influence is evident, from his work on Dark Side of the Moon to Wish You Were Here and even the die hard junkie Mason- Wright collaborations that I bought, listened to and discarded, Wrights organ, piano, and synth were often the catalyst for a Gilmour solo, or set the table for songs such as “Us and Them” and “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”.

Thanks Rick.

Just some quick thoughts from the train…

It’s humorous to watch people over the age of 8 drink juice boxes. If you are over the age of 8 – get a cup, and if you need a drinky on the train- get a bottle…

 

I just watched a woman trying to apply her eye makeup graze her eye when the train shifted…I am going to assume that was unpleasant from the reaction she had.

 

I can not wait for Matt Damon and Wyclef to get back from  Haiti to tell me what is going on there  after the storm season…it reminds me of waiting for Sean Penn to fill me in on Iraq and  New Orleans…

 

Matt Cassel might be able to do enough…if the defense plays like that every week

 

I want to dance with Adalius Thomas

 

Being stuck on the inside seat of a 3 seater sucks and makes me type with my thumbs. But it is better than standing.

 

I am voting for Ed O’Reilly tomorrow. I want John Kerry to represent me in Washington, but I don’t want  him to dodge the democratic process and avoid a guy ( who looks like Joe Kennedy) who wants to share a differing perspective. Similarly, when Teddy didn’t show up to take on a candidate in a debate, I felt a little cheated, so I’d vote for the other guy (yes, I did vote for Jack E. Robinson). So good luck Ed, send a message, and perhaps this will be the momentum builder for another run, or a house run in the future. Besides, you are a UMass guy, I have to give you some love…

 

No one has the right to fart on the train. Even if you are 60+, dye your hair, and sit unassumingly…I know it was you…and so does everyone else…lady.

 

If the guy next to me is reading this…

 

I think getting a 12 ride during the busy season may be cheaper because no one checks when it’s too crazy.

 

The paper was there before I left this morning…

 

3^rd base behind visitors dugout seats…nice…pizza and wings at woody’s…great…watching a five and soon to be seven year old do irish jigs when paps is introduced to the dropkick murphys…priceless.

how to get rid of extra zucchini part two…

So with pounds of zucchini hanging around and after people flat out refuse to take it here are a few ideas.

 

Zucchini spaghetti – I just cut thin slices and then cut those into thin strips. I added them to a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes, pulled them out, tossed with a little butter and salt and pepper and …not nearly as bad as the stuffed zucchini my Mom made me eat growing up. Actually- quite good and if you skip the butter and have a hot pan with a little olive oil and turn for less than a minute after the boil – even better.

Zucchini Pie – a fave among the CT crowd. 9×9 pan, butter the bottom, put in half a roll of crescent roll dough spread thin. Chop zuke into slices and layer in, small layer of sprinkle cheese, add mixture of 2 eggs beaten with dijon mustard on top of cheese and zuke, add another layer of zucchini, a little more sprinkle cheese and the rest of the crescent roll on top. Cook in oven for 30-35 minutes on about 350. Ridiculously good, and totally not good for you.

 

Freeze it. Yes- slice it thick, and freeze and use mid winter. If you have one of those handy vaccum sealers even better. I’ll end up with a little zuke parm mid winter when I can stand to look at the stuff again.

A Sad day in Amherst

It was sad enough years ago when Twisters closed…losing what may have been one of the best college bars ever was bound to happen, but the recent news out of Amherst is the recent closing of Delano’s, soon to be known as McMurphy’s…
http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2008/09/04/News/Delanos.Falls.On.Hard.Times-3415046.shtml

Delano’s was not the greatest bar I’ve ever been in, but it certainly felt like home for a good period of time, and the people there were extraordinarily good to me and my friends ( and we were very generous too). Every time a few of us have headed back we have felt the need to go in, and while it wasn’t the same ol place we went to many a year a go, it was a good connection back in time.

Gone are the days of 109 jello shots, ( a week after 102 jello shots), crowd surfing to the Blues bros ( it just seemed right at the time), 8 pm arrivals to get the entire front window, and getting thrown out with half of the chapter for some indiscretion to remain unreported.

it’s sad to see it go…

Why Boston Globe Home delivery sucks…

This will sound petty…
I do not have a lot of “addictions” but I do have some routines. Two are daily, I like iced coffee, and pretty much drink it every day.

The other which I’ve had for a very long time is reading the Boston Globe. Ever since I was probably six, I read the Globe. I can’t even say that my method of reading it has changed. Sports first, then City, then Arts, then the front, the rest, ending with the comics.

I have had a Globe subscription in some form just about all my life. I also delivered it for six years growing up. I guess I bring this all up because Globe delivery has some simple rules – delivery by 6am on weekdays and by 8am on weeekends.

Our local globe delivery service can not get it right. I leave early in the morning for work and like to read on the train, so if the paper is not there I have to get it in town. Not a big deal but if it happened 12 times in less than a month, it’s a little over the top.

I have called the regional office a bunch of times and have recieved every excuse in the book. But herein lies the glitch, when your paper is supposed to be there, no one is there to answer the phone, so you can’t get service from the regional office.

So I call the main globe office to talk to someone- mind you the first few times i just followed the automated system and reported my paper and got my little credit. But after six times I thought I might want to talk to someone so I called the main customer service line and talked to a very nice person in the ….Phillipines.

yes, the Boston Globe shuttles their customer service to the Phillipines which is extraordinarily helpful when you just want to stop the paper, let them know about a vacation, or to let them know your paper is late. Not so helpful when you want to talk to someone who actually is in Boston, or someone who realizes that your paper is chronically late, or even talk to someone who can make a decision.

What makes this more fun is that if you ask then you are given a supervisor, and when you let the supervisor know that you really want to talk to someone in Boston you are referred to a Customer Advocate group for the Globe…which I did, and then they tell you the same thing, they will talk to the regional office ( which already knows they deliver the paper late) and then they tell you they will alert customer service ( which is in the Phillipines) and that should take care of it…not.

it is so nice to have someone advocate for me to people who can already not help me…I love advocates.

Look, I like the Globe, I like to read many of the writers associated with the paper. I always enjoyed the work of Mike Barnicle, Brian McGrory, Kevin Cullen, the late Will McDonough and even the whine of Dan Shaunessey among countless others.

I acknowledge I could read the paper online, but what gets me is this, if you wrote for the Globe, and you saw your colleagues laid off by your parent company, wouldn’t it mildly irk you to know that your work is not reaching some of your readers…and perhaps this reader is not alone in considering cancelling his subscription? After all, I know it’s not the main source of revenue for newspapers, but what if it contributes considerably to a decline in readership? If you were writing for a paper, and your work was not getting to readers wouldn’t it mildly upset you?

why you have to love Mitt Romney

I am not a Mitt fan, but even I think he is getting beat up in an extraordinarily cruel way. I know adversaries are expected to stand up and support the winner a la Hilary in her day glow orange suit but man o man, poor Mitt has done a yeoman’s job, and been treated like…

Moving past my long held thoughts that Mitt left us out in the rain for about half his term in office, and even after watching him flip flop through his loss to McCain in the primary, I didn’t think I would see more of Mitt, but I was fooled…

There was Mitt, strolling tall with Mccain in the weeks leading up to the RNC, whispers continuing as to whether he would be the VP candidate. There was Mitt, a beacon of smarmy counterperspective outside the DNC last week – showing up like a Clone war drone, taking one for the team, playing the role of Republican refuter.

Then after the proverbial Heisman from the McCain camp where Sarah Palin became the Vice President candidate, good ol Mitt kept up appearances walking the walk, talking the talk, extolling McCain’s candidacy, walking around with Sarah Palin…

So as Gustav passed and the RNC came back to order, Mitt got to practicing his speech, only to find out that at the last hour, he’d been hosed. Yes, his speaking role at the convention was taken from him. Ironically, good Republican Joe Lieberman is speaking in his place…oh that’s right he’s a demo-indy.

In watching tonight’s Fox news, Mitt told reporters he does not want a cabinet spot, and that he wished he was the candidate but ackowledges McCain’s victory.

So it got me wondering, does Mitt now know what it feels like to be treated like a donkey?

Brady out for the season

According to Yahoo’s Michael Silver, Tom Brady is out for the season…http://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/blog/roto_arcade/post/Sunday-Scene-Week-1-And-so-it-begins-;_ylt=AnEXF0qSJ9Ao912_TFBDR_tNC5kB?urn=fantasy,106016

So if this is the case the question becomes, do the Patriots stay with Matt Cassel for the year, or do they look elsewhere for a QB? Cassel was passable today and the 51 yd bomb to get out of the end zone was a boost for him , but his preseason was so poor that I wonder if he can keep any senese of momentum for this team.

if the report is true, the 2 headed hydra of Morris/Maloney in the backfield needs to produce and Lamont Jordan becomes even more valuable.

I do wonder if the Pats will look at some potential free agents who are around right now, Chris Simms? the 50 year old Vinnie Testaverde, the king of Natick rock Doug Flutie, recently retired Daunte Culpepper, or just stay within their system with Cassel.

Since it’s only one report I guess we can be hopeful, but if not…this will be a painful reminder of just how much impact one player can have on a team’s season