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This morning in the car, I listened to Scott Simon interview a man who sounded tough. Turned out it was Teddy Atlas, a former boxer and trainer who had stories to tell. When Atlas was a kid, his father was a well-known doctor. He got a bad cut, and was […]

Angola was on page one of today’s NY Times. Sadly, this was a portrait of a Malthusian crisis, with mountains of garbage, rivulets of raw sewage, kids sliding into the muck and more than 40,000 often fatal cases of cholera. It would have taken 22,000 dump trucks just to haul […]

Today’s a lovely day and my heart is full and upbeat. Perhaps that’s because it feels like the cafe is finally reaching a point of success. People come in who’ve never been here before, they always say how nice it is in here, and at the same time our regulars […]

Reading the Republican in the cafe. A story out of Southwick told of a plumber who made an interesting discovery in the bathroom vanity he purchased at “a major retail chain.” Inside, packaged in what appeared to be parts for the vanity, was a stash of $150,000 worth of cocaine […]

The American Journalism Review ran a story about the effect popularity rankings of stories on the web has on the people who decide what goes on the front pages of newspapers. “At the Washington Post’s daily 2 p.m. story meeting, editors report on the popularity of stories published on the […]

Boingboing.net today has a story about the owner of a new Seattle art gallery’s encounter with an absolute ass. “As we were closing up, some drunk mouth-breathing knuckle-dragger starts banging on the door demanding to be let in. After Damion tells him that the gallery was closed, the Moron says […]

Today I got a bit of a jolt when Alan, our main barrista at the cafe, said he felt sick and had to go home. He works the whole day on Mondays, so I knew I’d have to step into the breach. Egads, I am not really that good at […]

The newest trend in wedding photography is a no-holes-barred look behind the scenes. The Wall Street Journal had this story today. “Joelle Nieto, a 28-year-old from Miami, was looking for an “informal” photographer to document her Sunday-morning wedding last May. Stephan Maloman’s site caught her eye, and she liked how […]

Woke up in Holyoke to a grey day, the temps barely reaching 60, we both cursed our New England clime. On the web I read about Bus Uncle. You can always rely on Readuponit to keep you on the cutting edge. Bus Uncle is a video that has gone ’round […]

Saturday at the cafe. In a few, I teach a class in beginner computers. Should be fun. Last night I went out on the town. Spoletos on a Friday night. I got the coveted corner seat, and beside me sat a man who had only been to Noho once before. […]

Today the History Channel told the story of the Lake Nemi ships, huge floating palaces that were found on a lake bottom in Italy. They belonged to the emperor Caligula, and some of the features of these large ships amazed the architects over the centuries. The ships had heated floors. […]