Sweeping time

Whose bright idea was it to have the street sweepers out and about when people are trying to drive to work in the morning?

Reflections on violence II

Every time a siren can be heard I see my neighbors outside looking around more, instead of ignoring them like we usually* do. There are more parents outside with kids, gripping their hands as the sirens blare. Their body language indicates that they're wondering if something violent has occurred even closer to home.


*We live in proximity of a police station, so sirens aren't terribly unusual.

Reflections on violence

What a wonderful thing to come back to after a trip to NY to visit the family - there was a shooting near my house on Monday.

In a park that I often drive or walk by. A park that tends to be filled with children – on the playground, playing baseball, shooting hoops, etc.

I realize that I live in a city and that shit happens.

But it just seems kind of ballsy and brazen to shoot someone during the daytime in a park filled with people. JP isn’t perfect, but the areas between the Green Street and Stony Brook T stops tends to be a quieter, feel a little safer… until Monday.

Fantastic seats at Fenway

Pictures from the Red Sox game I went to on Thursday. More can be found on Flickr.

What's so bad about Bicon?

More trouble is brewing about the Bicon building in JP. It's right near my neighborhood, so I pass it frequently.

let me be honest in the beginning, my opinion is not unbiased, since I'm also a patient there. I've spent a decent amount of time there in the recent past. The staff at Bicon has been nothing but helpful since I set foot in the controversial building for some emergency oral surgery in February. As far as surgeons go, the docs there are conventionality situated (for me at least) and provide important services for those of us who suffer from rotten teeth that often need to be extracted and replaced with dental implants. (My mouth is full of bling... just not the kind that you see on MTV.) Bicon also offers parking in a small lot. (Think that's overrated? You try walking home after having oral surgery during which you were sedated.)

I understand the desire to keep Boston's neighborhoods leafy and keep them from getting overrun by rampant, soulless development. Let's be realistic here - it's not in a park in the proper sense - it's not surrounded by parkland in the traditional sense (ex: Tavern on the Green in Central Park). It's on a high-traffic rotary that isn't too attractive itself, save for the leafy entrance to Franklin Park.

I'll be the first to admit that the building itself isn't the most attractive, but it's already built. What does the opposition plan to do - tear it down?

Fanatics, up close and personal

J. got free tix to tonight's Red Sox v. Tigers game. Not only were they free but the seats were fucking awesome - right behind the 3rd base line... like 4 rows behind where the opposing players hang out when warming up for their trip to home plate. We sat behind these 2 crazy guys, J. said they reminded him of Statler and Waldorf (the 2 old hecklers on the Muppet Show). Another guy sitting near us referred to them as 'schizophrenic yellers.' One of them reminded me more of Randy Quaid's character in Major League II. He was yelling such things as "you have no ass!" (to Detroit's Ivan Rodriguez). He also seemed to get personally insulted if we were not enthusiastic enough.

Other gems overheard tonight.

Have some excellent pictures, but am too tired to upload them now.

Update:
I accidentally caught some of the more enthusiastic fans on film. And the wave too.

The Globe explores my 'hood

A nice job capturing some of the flavor of JP.

One suggestion for the whoever edits these videos at the Globe - just because JP is quirky, does not mean that you have to add annoyingly quirky background music.