Plane to see

Planes fly really low over my house sometimes. Close enough to see the underbelly. If it was daytime I imagine I'd be able to tell you what airline it was that just buzzed the place. And they seem to fly really close to each other on takeoff/landing approaches.

While I was on the porch watching the jets zoom overhead, I noticed a police officer walking through my parking lot. Then he noticed me noticing him and waved. I guess that's what community policing is all about.

Kidnap encounter

I didn't blog about this until today because I've been busy. And because I had some trouble finding evidence of a real kidnapping until now.

Picture it, Allston, Massachusetts, a late Sunday night in June.

J. and I accidentally sort of drove by the scene of the crime. It began with me facing the wrong way on Harvard St. and trying not to be that asshole who pulls a u-turn in the middle of a busy street. I turned off of Harvard St. and was just trying to go around the block... bad idea. Glenville was blocked by a cop car and a bunch of fire trucks. And there we were on a one way street with no place to go.

Adding to the chaos was this white car in front of me. I thought he was trying to parallel park (badly). It seems that he was actually trying to turn around.. on a one way street! First I thought that maybe the cop told him to do that. But then I realized that if the cop was so keen on this guy driving out the wrong way, wouldn't he be trying to assist or attempt to turn me and the car behind me around too? By the time White Car Guy managed to complete the turn, said cop had driven away, allowing me free passage to Comm. Ave.

We must've gotten there towards the end of the action. Oh well. As I turned the corner heading towards Comm. Ave. I asked one of the people gathered on the street corner what was going on. "Kidnapping" replied a woman in her pyjamas. I sort of thought that she was just being flip. Until I ran across this.

WBOS Earthfest 2008 in pictures

At one point, the music stopped and the police got on the stage with Cracker. Not entirely sure what the problem was.

Rude awakening

Every morning there comes a moment of awareness - I'm awake. [pause] Why am I awake? - sometimes it comes following the annoying buzz of the alarm clock, sometimes it's the dog needing to go out, and sometimes it's your kid is trying to tell you that she had a bad dream. Today I was roused to consciousness thanks to a REALLY LOUD BOOM followed by an eerie envelope of stillness. It was like when there's a huge clap of thunder that almost seems to make your entire house vibrate punctured by the silence that makes you notice that the thunder is gone. I glanced at the clock, which was blank. Confused, I tried to turn on the TV, and when that didn't work I stumbled out to find my cell phone. The time said 6:45am.

I was not the only one awake - I ran into a neighbor in the hallway who was coming inside with his young son (where were they coming from at 6:45 in the morning?). He said that he'd heard it too and noted that the building's 'power off' alarm was beeping and that the emergency lights were on in the hallway. Still confused and barely awake, I went back inside and called the local police station to ask what tha what the what had happened to my electricity. The person who anserwed their phone patched me through to 911, despite my sleepy protests that I didn't think it was an emergency, I just wanted to know what was going on. The 911 operator asked me what happened, I said I wasn't sure that this classified as an emergency, but was patched through by the police. I told her that I had been awakened by a VERY LOUD BOOM at around 6:45am and I had no idea what it was, but that my apartment complex seemed to be without power. Confirming that it was not a weekday and I wouldn't oversleep and be late to work, I fell back asleep.

I still don't know what happened to create such a cacophony. But by the time I woke up again around 10:30am, the power was back on. Weird way to start the week.

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.

Some drivers are just stupid

I was at the light at the corner of VFW Parkway and Rte. 109 around 5:45pm today and noticed crime scene tape and a few police vehicles are blocking VFW Pkwy. South. (Anyone know why?)







Some idiots still kept trying to turn onto the closed portion of Rte. 1 South. What did they not understand about the police cars and the patient officer directing traffic? (Those of us going straight on Rte. 109 were supposed to follow the traffic light.) The officer saw that the idiots were totally screwing up the traffic pattern by their insistence that they HAD to get on Rte. 1 South, that he seemed to start directing them to a sort of waiting area near the cruisers. (I don't recall it being a very residential area, so I'm not sure if they were desperate to go to Stop n' Shop or what....)



{Note - The kind folks at Universal Hub later informed me that the blockade was due to a fire.}

Brookline police confront divine problem

Police confronting a man outside the Trader Joe's in Brookline (parking lot side) on Sunday afternoon. Seems his signs and loud praising of Jesus was weirding out the customers. The customers complained to the staff, who in turn called the authorities.




I'm all for religious freedom, but this guy did seem a little pushy (from the part I witnessed anyway).



I realize the angle of the photos is kind of odd, but the presence of police officers kept me from getting any pictures of they guy's signs ("Praise Jesus" and etc...), as well as his manner of dress (black cassock-like thing, HUGE cross around his neck).