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‘Merlot Line’: B’s Trivia
Okay, I’m a hockey fan, but I’m not a “heek” (a hockey geek). I’ve heard the TV play-by-play announcers refer to the “Merlot line” of Gregory Campbell, Daniel Paille, and Shawn Thornton, one of the Bruins’ supporting lines. What are they talking about, I wondered? I could have Googled the…
Read More »Pie-Yay. The French way. Paille.
These Bruins are fun to watch. The first two games of the NHL championship series have been as good a display of hockey as I remember seeing. One of the TV announcers quoted a writer who declared, “If these two teams played 100 games, each would win 50.” Maybe so.…
Read More »Former First Lady Laura Bush & Jenna Bush Hager
I don’t know if the program was un-partisan, bipartisan, non-partisan, or post-partisan, but last night’s uplifting presentation by Former First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush Hager left me feeling that Mrs. Bush has a lot of good work left to do in what she called “the afterlife”…
Read More »‘The Danger of a Single Story’ (book excerpt)
Following is another excerpt from my book about the origin and influence of the national park in Lowell, which was written for the National Park Service in 2011-12. If the publishing process goes as planned, the book should be available in spring 2014. ‘Duey’ Kol, who speaks in this section,…
Read More »Bruins Sweep & Skate to Cup Finals
What a night for the Boston Bruins. Nobody expected a sweep of the vaunted Pittsburgh Penguins, but there you have it: two goals by the Pens in four games. Kudos to the B’s “Immense Defense.” Tuukka Rask has earned a place in goalie royal-dom (I think we should just call…
Read More »Hockey Talk
Between the UMass Lowell River Hawks skating and blasting their way into college hockey’s Frozen Four in Pittsburgh this spring and now the surging Bruins, one win away from the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in three years, our region is in prime condition for a spell of…
Read More »Pure Color
Web photo courtesy of catseye-marble.zip I was out early with Ringo the dog this morning, before 6 a.m., and the thick grass on the South Common and flawless sky over Lowell were of such pure color that I began thinking about the bright cat’s-eye glassies that I collected and played…
Read More »Women in Congress Stand Up for Military Women
Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, second from right, has been a leader in challenging top officers in the military to take action to reduce the number of sexual assaults on women in the army, navy, marines, and air force. Today’s NYTimes includes an article about how women in Congress are demanding that…
Read More »‘You’ve Got a Friend’
Composer and singer Carole King visited Lowell last weekend to express her support for Congressman Ed Markey in his campaign to win election to the US Senate from Massachusetts. She says she is especially grateful for his support of public policy that addresses the impact of global warming. I was…
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