The Vernacular of a Dismal Economy
I’m becoming all too familiar with the vernacular of today’s amazingly dire economic realities, as written in the pages of the WSJ. Many businesses seem to be ‘stung’ by the tough retail climate, and ‘struggling to cope’ or deciding to ‘unwind or unravel’ the deals they made in the ‘good […]
Voters Demand Better High Speed Rail and Subways
I sat this morning in my kitchen while we waited for the men to arrive to work on the new bathroom. I had a chance to see a positive story in the WSJ, about how voters said yes across the US to Mass Transit projects of all stripes. That’s good […]
Caribbean Beaches Shrink as Thieves Steal Sand
Caribbean round grains, favored in creating smooth surfaces for plastering and finishing, are being hauled away by the truckload late at night. On some islands, towns and ecologically sensitive areas get exposed to tidal surges and rough seas.Among the hardest hit is Grenada, where officials are building a $1.2 million […]
Finally, Pirates Get What They Deserve in Somalia
Score one for the good guys: I read today on Times Online about the Royal Navy’s first shootout on the high seas in living memory. Pirates off the coast of Somalia were trying to hijack a cargo ship, and made a bonehead move. They opened fire on one of her […]
Radio Networks Face Debt Limits and Pain
Whenever I read the WSJ, it’s so full of terrible news, it’s almost hard to continue on with my life. How bad can it get? Bad, really bad. A few days ago I read dire reports about radio networks. One analyst said it was the perfect storm…highly leveraged companies in […]
The Trials and Tribulations of the Cafe
The cafe requires such a range of different talents. Like last night when I had to empty out the grease trap, and saw six month’s worth of gunk there waiting for me to remove it. Egads that’s awful! That’s one job I don’t want to do from now on. I […]
A Weekend Bursting with Socializing and Fun
It’s going to be a tough week, with my bathroom being renovated, but happily, it was a great weekend. We were out all three nights, first to the Voo in Turners Falls, then to pal Shelley Rotner’s get together at her spacious studio in Florence’s Arts and Industry Building. The […]
The Signs I’ve Been Begging For Are Up
These signs have been an objective of mine since November 2007. That’s when we had our first meeting and I pitched the pair of politicians Rosenberg and Kulik that we needed something to direct people to our little town center. I am happy to see them up and installed today, […]
I’d Rather Die Than Ride These Coasters
Last night while we were waiting for Cindy to arrive to go up to the Voo in resurgent Turners Falls, a television program on the Travel Channel caught our attention. Francisco and I looked aghast as the show, called “Extreme Terror Rides,” described North America’s most fearsome ‘fun’ rides and […]
A Treasure Trove of Little Drives
At the VEMEX meeting of European tourism boards, it was a pleasure to meet the tourism officials and also to get their gifts of USB drives.
Paul’s Beloved Bennie Has Passed Away
A sad note this morning, in an eloquent email sent out by my pal Joe O’Rourke. My cousin Paul’s beloved black lab Bennie was struck and killed by a car last night, and later buried in Paul’s yard, with the help of Paul’s friends Bill and Joe. Bennie has been […]
I’ve Been Invited to Iran
Ahm-ma-dina-jad. Ahm-ma-dine-ijad. I used to say this over and over again, walking through Cindy’s house. Ahm-ma-dina-jad, I wanted to learn how to say it. I better get it right, because I just got invited to visit Iran later this month. I have always wanted to see Persia, see the famous […]
Obama’s Speech Brings a Tear, He’s That Good
It’s an exhuberant day, one that will be remembered for many decades. Watching Obama’s speech last night, I have to admit to welling up with tears, his eloquence again and again amazes and inspires me. The best part was when he reached out to those ‘who didn’t vote for me […]
Time with Sam Was a Week-long Treat
It feels excellent to be back in the cafe after a week away. With Donna’s strong leadership, no one is looking to me to find out what to do next, she has all of our cafe staff understanding what their jobs are, and in my absence, everything flowed smoothly. That’s […]
Manchester Mulls a Congestion Tax
We’re up at 6:45 am this morning, after a night of hearing about how enthusiastic these Brits are to see Obama win the prize. In the Independent, a headline dramatically intoned “Is this troubled nation ready for change?” Troubled? huh? I thought I’d reserve this moniker for Congo or Mozambique. […]
Visiting the Pubs of Manchester, England
We tried hard to see a musician I’ve enjoyed who is from Manchester, but we did not succeed. We saw a poster for Mr. Scruff, who plays underground house style music. We followed the advice on his website and made our way to his cafe, called “The Cup,” a few […]
England Feels Like a Long Lost Cousin
I’m sitting in the dim light of the Lister Arms pub, in Malham, Yorkshire Dales, after a 6-mile hike over hills, dales, stone walls and muddy fields that left Sam and I exhausted but happy. Our guide, MarkReid, literally wrote the books about walking here, he specializes in pub–to pub […]