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Sunday scenes from the Festival
I’ll have some thoughts on the “big picture” of the Folk Festival in a few days. For now, here are some photos from a great day in downtown Lowell.
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Saturday at the Folk Festival
Some observations after five hours of festivaling today: the weather, crowd, talent, food and visitors were all great. I especially enjoyed the amazing Red Trouser Show, the street acrobats who performed in the middle of Merrimack Street (at intersection with John). They did a lot of juggling, backflips and other…
Read More »Lowell Folk Festival kicks off tomorrow night
I know it’s unlikely, but just in case any of our readers didn’t realize it, the Lowell Folk Festival begins tomorrow night and lasts through the weekend. We’ll have photos, video and text reports posted throughout and welcome contributions from everyone. So if you have reviews, observations, pictures, whatever, just…
Read More »Arguing about A/C
Saturday night I refereed a debate between two friends, both from a younger generation than me, over the necessity of air conditioning. One combatant maintained that even here in New England, modern home and building design made artificial cooling a necessity; the other maintained that while A/C is certainly pleasant,…
Read More »‘In Pursuit of Loneliness’ by John Wooding
“(We hope) that our transportation crisis will be solved by a bigger plane or a wider road, mental illness with a pill, poverty with a law, slums with a bulldozer, urban conflict with a gas, racism with a goodwill gesture.” – Philip E. Slater “Wisdom demands a new orientation of…
Read More »Lowell real estate, week of July 15, 2013
From my vantage point, the real estate recovery is reality and no longer just hype. Here are the Lowell sales for the past week: July 15, 2013 (Monday) 16 Merrimack St Unit 4D for $90,000 29 School St Unit 29 for $174,500 13 Wiltshire Cir for $189,000 356 Wentworth Ave…
Read More »Edward Snowden and secret intelligence
It was last Wednesday, our first afternoon in Berlin. Struggling to stay awake against the effects of losing a night’s sleep by flying across the Atlantic, we found a peaceful cafe with outdoor seating along the banks of the Spree River right in the heart of Berlin for a late…
Read More »Back from Berlin
For anyone who enjoys history, Berlin should be high on the list of places to visit. I just got back from a seven day visit (which is why I’ve been AWOL from blogging). Beginning with the German History Museum where we say a document preserved in bronze from the year…
Read More »‘Macca-holics: There Is No Cure’
Paul McCartney read aloud a sign down front in the crowd that summed up the situation nicely: “Macca-holics: There Is No Cure.” First, I will post Sarah Rodman’s exuberant Boston Globe review of Tuesday night’s concert at Fenway Park, and then will offer my thoughts. Web photo by Barry Chin…
Read More »The Boston Pops on Independence Day
For a decade now, my routine on the 4th of July has been consistent: a family cookout late in the afternoon and then in front of the TV to see the Boston Pops perform at the Esplanade. For several years, I’d been slowly growing disenchanted by the evolution of that…
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