Our Tiki God Watches Over Us

Last weekend we had a housewarming party. Our friends Mark and Karen gave us a solar powered Tiki statue as a gift. As they said, they had to give it to someone who would appreciate it, and we were the obvious choice.

He hides amid the foiliage out front during the day, gathering energy.

At night, his glowing eyes pierce the darkness, watching out for us.

Melrose Marathon Memorial

I was riding my bike in Melrose when I saw this monument on Main Street, next to Ell Pond.

It appears to be a memorial for Clarence DeMar, who certainly deserves one.  But for some reason, whoever designed the monument (a committee?) added the confusingly worded Bill Rodgers reference. Perhaps they were trying to justify the Marathon City boosterism, but all it does is diminish the accomplishments of both men. DeMar and Rodgers each deserve their own memorial.

I searched the Internet, but couldn’t find anything that tells the story behind this monument.  If you know something, tell us in the comments!

10 Year-olds Have Better Mustaches

First Joel made himself a mask.  Then he moved on to facial hair.

Ray decided he’d do his own thing.

Then he decided that his real mustache was manly enough.

Jelvis gave it a try.

But when the tutor jumped in, that was going too far.

The Decemberists – June 9, 2009

Ruth and I went to the Bank of America Pavilion for the June 9th show by The Decemberists. We originally had tickets for that night’s Red Sox/Yankee game, but through some brilliant planning (I accidently bought the concert tickets without checking the game date first) we went to the concert, swapping the baseball tickets for a game on April 26th instead. As it happened, it was cold and damp for the concert but at least we were under a roof.  The weather for the night game in April was wonderful, so we won!

Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 opened up with a fine set of his psychedelic-pop-folk-rock.  REM’s Peter Buck was in the band, and The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy sat in for a song.

Then The Decemberists came out and ran through their latest, the “Hazards of Love” concept album, in its entirety.  I enjoyed the music much more than I had on the CD.  The songs came across with a lot more intensity.

For “The Rake’s Song”, they went with five drummers.

Our seats weren’t that close, but the sound was good and the Pavilion has giant video screens on either side of the stage to help out.

The show wasn’t sold out, so it wasn’t too hard to spend some time closer to the stage.

The tent allows for some interesting lighting effects, both inside:

and out. Here’s a view of the structure that supports the tent:

After a break, the band came back and went through some of their more popular older songs.  They were more playful, incorporating a cover of Heart’s “Crazy On You” and a segment where they pulled people from the audience to attempt to play guitar.

Spider John Koerner – June 5, 2009

Last night, after a meat-fest at Redbones, Ruth and I went to see Spider John Koerner at the Unity Church of God in Somerville. The show was part of the notloB Folk Concert series.  

Elizabeth Butters opened up with a set of morbid traditional roots music, which was oddly affecting in her little girl voice.  

She was accompanied by a substitute for her usual partner, and it was interesting to watch him learn the songs on the fly by watching Butters play.

Then Koerner came out and played a strong set.  He’s 70 now, but his voice hasn’t changed appreciably from how it sounded in the 1960’s.  

His band accompanied him on  fiddle and washtub bass while we watched from rock-hard church benches.

From time to time, they’d switch to spoons and Jew’s harp.

And every once in awhile, Koerner would tell a joke.

“Weekend Baggage” Harold Comedy Night – June 19!

Come see my troupe “Weekend Baggage” perform Harold (an improv comedy format) in public for the first time!

We’ll be performing in the Cabaret Room at ImprovBoston, 40 Prospect St, Cambridge on Friday, June 19th at 9:30, along with Marjean, one of the regular Harold teams at ImprovBoston.

The IB theater is steps away from the Red Line station in Central Square. Free parking is available in the lot at the corner of Prospect St. and Bishop Allen Dr.

It’s a small room, so tickets should sell out fast. Tickets cost $10 ($7 for students). Get yours ASAP online or by calling the box office at 617-576-1253.

Memorial Day weekend in Vermont

Hundreds of colors, all described by one word – “green.”

Click on the picture for a slideshow from our trip

People flock to Vermont for the fall foliage, but I prefer the vibrant greens of the springtime.  The colors are equally striking, and it’s a celebration of returning life, instead of a last hurrah before the impending quietus.

Medford’s new wind turbine

This year, a new presence looms over Medford.

In January, Medford installed a Northern Power Systems Northwind 100 turbine on the McGlynn School grounds. It looks cool.

According to the Medford Clean Energy Committee, the turbine supplies about 10% of the school’s electrical needs, saving about $25,000 per year. Medford’s portion of the cost of erecting the turbine will be recovered in about 7-8 years.  

However, the energy committee site also lists $550,000 in other funding, plus ongoing matching grants (perhaps to help cover expenses), so the true time to recover the cost is more like 30 years.  Since Northern Power claims the Northwind 100 has a 20 year lifecycle, it’s not clear that the device makes sense on purely financial basis.

On the other hand, energy costs are likely to continue to escalate, so the rate of return will probably increase. There are benefits in helping green power efforts get off the ground, and we all win when we make more use of clean energy.  Also, there could be educational benefits from Northern’s Wind for Schools package.  And it’s pretty.

Abracadabra

I was out on a run on a beautiful spring day when I saw a leaf floating in mid-air over the trail.

When I came back with my camera, almost an hour later, it was still there.

Racing is fun, and keeping fit is great, but the best reason to keep running is that sometimes, when you’re outside on a glorious day, you find a little bit of magic in the air.

Grip the Pole with One Hand

I’m not the only one who will do anything for a cheap laugh.

Get hooked on fish porn at www.masterbaitonline.com.