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Saturday, October 13, 2007
I Had A Field Day In Arlington
*groan* Sorry. But it was, in fact, Field Day in Arlington's Robbins Farm Park. This park is an awesome place
- we come here with the kids a bunch. And of course, I've done a few astrophotography blogs from here as well.
Field Day took place in the playground (middle, right side, in the trees in the photo below) and was aimed
mostly at young kids and families. As you can tell even from this shot, the view from the hilltop in this park is really special.
This is the ticket booth. There was no admission, but you needed tickets for food, jumpy rides, tattoos and
so forth. We bought some for the jumpy rides and Katherine went on them. I hung out with Alex while he watched the blowers
behind the jumpy castles with great trepidation. As often happens, we ended up soon after running in the great field at the
park. It's a huge hillside that's almost all grass with a scenic vista of Boston on top.
Looking back over towards the playground, however, shows us a lot of the activity of the day. Of course, there
are the jumpy castles (sorry, I don't really know what to call them). But there are also lanes in front for a bunch of different
races, throwing games, and a bunch of other stuff.
This was tough, because Alex was too young, but Katherine really wanted to compete. First she did an egg and
spoon race and destroyed the field. I have photos of the one girl who was close dropping her egg :^). Then we went back and
she took part in a few rounds of tug-of-war. That was really fun because her team won both times and thus won the round and
she got a prize!
By this time, though, I needed to do something about Alex, like, leave, frankly, so we headed on home after
a quick trip there. I didn't have a chance to eat there, but it looked like a pretty good barbeque. It certainly smelled really
tasty.
By the way, the park is about peak color, I think, for foliage, as is much of the local area now. There were
way too many people around today to take nice photos of the park. However, I was there last week and managed to get the photo
below of one of the nicer trees around the playground. My wife looked at it and immediately said, 'how did you get a shot
with no people in it?'
It's a fair question. The answer, as usual, is part hard work and part luck. The hard work part is that I
saw the shot happening when I was standing up on the hill. The luck part is that it actually happened. That is, the two or
three people milling about actually all managed to be out of the shot at the same time. The final hard work bit is that I
managed to have the camera ready and focused at that time. I took two shots a few seconds apart. There's a man walking through
the bottom right in the second photo.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Dave Can Be A Bit Daft
I have two stories for you this evening. One was a blog that didn't work out. Both make me look stupid. Fair deal? With
photos, of course.
The Strawberry Pop-Tart Swindle
Before I get into this one, I have a confession to make. I like Pop-Tarts. Particularly cherry Pop-Tarts, but strawberry
is the most common and satisfies nicely. Now, last month I was in a classic Pop-Tart situation. I had a morning doctor's appointment
in Woburn and then I had to run to work. Now, I knew there was a small vending area in the ground floor of this building,
so on my way out I took a little look. I hadn't eaten breakfast you see, and I was getting very hungry. And there, way down
in the bottom left of the vending machine, was a package of strawberry Pop-Tarts for 85¢.
So I bought it, of course. When I got to the car, I remember thinking it seemed kinda slim for two Pop-Tarts. Then I
opened it up and there was only one, slightly squished, Pop-Tart inside. Wow, I thought, what a rip off. Squishy or not, though,
it was still good.
Then I thought, hey, that's false advertising. There's supposed to be two in there. Well today, I happened to be in the
same building and so I thought, AHA! Here's a moment to stick it to the man, you know? I'll go buy this miserable falsely-labeled
runt of a treat and photo the whole thing.
There were two in the package. Then I had a major **eeewwww*** moment. Let's just leave it at that, shall we?
In Retrospect, That Was Dumb
There's a thousand stories in the naked city. (In Arlington, it's more like 63, really)
and tonight felt like one of them would play out for me. I had to go for a walk, see? To the bank. So I did. Walk. To the
bank.
But the bank had a little problem. The Bank of America ATM on the Mass Ave side of the main BofA building
in Arlington center, well, the card reader was kinda hanging loose and wrapped in wires.
I studied it briefly. I looked inside the building. Bright, cool pools of white light bathed the interior
of the ATM booth. I pulled the door. It was locked.
I looked over again at the card reader. It was sticking out of the wall at a 30º angle down with presumably
a lot of slack data cable wrapped around it.
OK, so you know what happens here, right? Do I try the card reader or walk around to the back of the building,
where there is another Bank of America ATM, and use that one. As I put my card in, I heard this screaming in my brain like,
no, that's stupid, that's the lazy choice.
Then the card reader released from what was now, more obviously, a very tenuous grip on the wall and clattered
to the cement ground below.
I stood there with one hand out where the reader used to be and one hand holding my bank card and wondered
what on earth I should do?
After the coup de grâce, I walked around back and did my business. I caught this shot of the defunct reader
on my way back. Oh, and if you're still with me, there was nothing wrong with those two strawberry Pop-Tarts I bought, if
you know what I mean...
Monday, October 8, 2007
South Medford Parking Update
Since posting the original story, there have been several developments. The latest, another open letter that I will publish below. Wayne's letter (along
with others I am aware of) is addressed to the Medford Transcript, but with a healthy list of carbon copy recipients: local
and state government officials, mostly. From what I'm seeing at this point, there are certainly some strong feelings in the
neighborhood that this issue cannot be resolved this way.
The Lincoln (foreground-right) and Kennedy (background-left) parking areas on Yale Street
An open letter to the residents of Medford:
As a homeowner in South Medford with property abutting the Lincoln / Kennedy School redevelopment project, I was
in attendance at the September 25, City Council meeting at which the project was on the agenda for discussion. While
I was dismayed with the decision of the Council to limit the number of public/neighborhood parking spaces included as
part of the project to between 30 and 40 - when the original number discussed with the community was as many
as 58; I was far more dismayed with the manner in which the process evolved. Basically the Council members based
this decision on a simple guess of how many cars park there on a regular basis - "I don't know maybe twenty" was one
response offered - rather than opting for a thoughtful site review of the parcel to determine what might best suit the project
and community as a whole. It should be noted that as I drove down Yale Street after the meeting there were 43 cars parked
there with room for at least 15 to 20 more; and this at 10:30 on a Tuesday evening when the restaurant traffic on Main Street
was certainly not brisk. On a subsequent Sunday morning at about 9:00 AM I counted 50 cars parked in the two lots -
once again a volume not fueled by restaurant traffic. I can only conclude that - at least on this particular evening
- the Council acted on emotion and not thoughtful consideration of the majority of residents in the area.
This emotion seemed to be fueled by Councillor Penta, and I must add that I am personally insulted by Mr.
Penta's now well documented rant about "transient renters" and "absentee landlords". I lived in South Medford for
48 years and have seen the neighborhood change in this time. Councillor Penta and others seem to want to reminisce about
some good old days, well I can tell you that in my opinion the South Medford of today is far better than the South Medford
of the past. I can attest first hand to the trouble and drugs a teenager had to encounter while navigating their
way on these streets. Would anyone even have wanted to set foot in South Medford Square after dark in the good
old days with the number of teenagers congregating and, yes, using drugs in these schoolyards? Maybe
much of it is do simply to demographics, but my first hand experience is that the neighborhood is better off today, and
that a portion of this improvement can be directly attributed to the people renting in the community. These
people are attracted to a neighborhood by the urban amenities it provides, and we should be happy that South Medford Square,
with the rejuvenated Boccellis along with Oasis and Mays Cafe, have made the area a destination after dark - and thus deserving
of the municipal parking that the area so desperately needs, and which can be accomplished with this project.
I have also come to know many of these "transients" as Mr Penta so eloquently referred to them, and many are wonderful
people who contribute positively to the fabric of the neighborhood. They are students from abroad who have
introduced my young daughter to different cultures; they are early childhood education students who have baby sat for my daughter;
and as an another resident pointed out, they are good hardworking people trying to get by and who may be future
homeowners in South Medford. I am actually in correspondence with a pleasant young women from the UK who is interested
in renting in my home while she attends graduate school at Tufts. Perhaps I should just let her know that the
apartment is not available to her because Mr. Penta just set back the American Revolution 250 years.
My family may very well be one of those "absentee landlords" Mr. Penta holds in such disregard. My mother worked
hard to maintain our home during my youth, and it is a gift she is proud to be able to pass on to her children.
I will honor her gift by using it as an investment to help ensure the future of my children.
Perhaps I will opt to move back to South Medford someday - assuming I have somewhere to park. Whatever someone chooses
to do with their property, as long as they pay taxes and maintain it in a desirable manner - what business is it of yours
Mr. Penta?
Wayne Talbot
Use the feedback page if you have comments, feedback, corrections or opposing views.
The Kim Davidson Loose Change Challenge
As many of my reader's know, I've been following, covering and generally supporting Kim Davidson whenever I can. She's a Medford musician working on her second CD. I received the following newsletter from her this weekend
and decided to repost it here (with her permission, of course).
...lint optional...
Ah, welcome to October and autumn, everyone! If it stays cool long enough we just might see some foliage before Christmas...but
let's not jump the gun! It's time to focus on things like what to be for Halloween, and maybe a bit of autumn cleaning?
With that in mind, I'd like to present The Kim Davidson Loose Change Challenge. That's right, yet another
creative begging scheme from Yours Truly. I'm planning to put in some quality studio time in October (no gigs you may have
noticed), and I could use everyone's help to afford it.
Here's what I propose:
- Pick an area of your world...the couch cushions, the kitchen junk drawer, the floor of your car, the bottom of your purse...
- Scrape up the loose change that you forgot was there...
- Count it up...a buck-seventy-three, forty-nine cents, whatever.
- Donate it to my CD fund by going to www.paypal.com, entering my e-mail address (kimdavidson@gmail.com), and the amount of your loose change. If you're so inclined, you can throw it in an envelope and snail-mail it to:
P.O. Box 445
Medford, MA 02155
You know you weren't missing it anyway...No amount is too small! For less than the price of a cup of coffee (or perhaps
a gumball) you can help me make my CD...though if you're feeling generous (or are independently wealthy) you can feel free
to sponsor me for much, much more.
I know you want to help me because you're my friends, but to make the offer extra sweet, the person who contributes the
MOST loose change (and by change I mean every type of money made in America!) by 11:59 Sunday 10/14 will get a $50.00
Amazon.com gift certificate! You know you want to win...Now get digging!
And thanks, as always, for supporting my music!
~ Kim
New England Baptist Church Sign: October 8, 2007
On Sunday, I took my kids to a baptist church for Sunday school. Isn't that ironic? But it wasn't the New
England Baptist Church in Medford Square. On the way home from Sunday school, I drove past that church. The big busses were
out on the street - clearly the church had an outing yesterday. And the sign was different than the photo below (this is Sunday,
now, remember). It had a 'congratulations john and jane' type message on it. I assumed it was either a wedding or birth in
the parish. But Monday starts a new week, this time with John 14:6.
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