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Sunset in Tyngsborough
Tony Sampas caught the sun setting over the Tyngsborough bridge last Friday evening.
Read More »Saturday’s Tour of the Acre
Paul Sweeney sent along some photos of St Patrick’s historian Dave McKean (above and below) leading his annual tour of the Acre this past Saturday as part of the city’s Irish Cultural Week activities. Besides Paul’s photos, Corey Sciuto wrote a blog post about St Patrick’s Church that included some…
Read More »Nuclear power: a short-lived Renaissance
When I moved in during the Fall of 1995, the heating system of my new house consisted of individually controlled, electric baseboard heaters. I thought about switching to a more conventional heating system but decided to wait until Spring. That February, my electric bill was more than $700, and that…
Read More »After Reading ‘Townie: A Memoir’ by Andre Dubus III
Tom Wolfe titled one of his books “A Man in Full,” and the word “full” came to me when I tried to think of a word to describe the story that Andre Dubus III tells us in his fiercely honest new memoir “Townie.” He grew up between two worlds, the…
Read More »Jack Kerouac and Charlie Parker
Jack Kerouac was born on March 12, 1922; jazz man Charlie Parker died one March 12th. From the Barnes and Noble people, here is a literary comment on author Jack Kerouac and jazz man Charlie Parker. Thanks to Alan Crane on Facebook for the link. For the schedule of Kerouac…
Read More »Era of FDR’s Fireside Chats Begins
On this day – March 12, 1933 – just a week after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his first national radio address or “fireside chat” broadcast directly from the White House thus launching a series talks with nation. FDR relied on simple language and folksy anecdotes or analogies to explain the often…
Read More »Dubus Debuts @ #13 on NYTimes Best Seller List
13 TOWNIE, by Andre Dubus. (Norton, $25.95.) In this memoir, Dubus explores his attachment to violence and his relationship with his famous father. 1
Read More »Middlesex Community College Setting Up Tsunami Support Centers for Student, Staff and Community Members
Middlesex Community College is responding to the natural disaster in Japan by setting up support and information centers for students, staff, faculty and community members on both the Lowell and Bedford Campus. This morning the college posted details on its blog in the following post. Tsunami Information Center The devastating…
Read More »Archeological Dig Presentation
Last evening at UMass Lowell’s O’Leary Library, Dr. Colm Donnelly of Queen’s College, Belfast, Ireland, gave a presentation on the results of the archeological excavation that was conducted last August on the lawn in front of St Patrick’s Church. The historical dig, a joint effort of Queen’s College and UMass…
Read More »Self & Society: Uncle Dave Finds a Rat Behind the Baseboard
David Brooks in today’s NYTimes wonders out loud if the contemporary American behavioral trend of heightened self-approval may be weakening the national civic culture. He often asks such “community” questions as he tries to puzzle out the workings of our democratic-republic system. He makes a comment on the connection to toxic partisanship in…
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