Published July 16, 2010
India, or the Harbor Islands? They both collide this weekend. (Dey/Flickr)
There’s a lot to look at this weekend, whether it’s a blueberry pie eat-off, a breathtaking relay race or Bhangra dancing. Set your sights on these summer performances before July slips through our fingers and we’re actually missing this face-melting humidity.
Published July 16, 2010
A native Southern Californian, I’m used to heat. Dry heat. The humidity out here is killer.
Health experts recommend this remedy for heat exhaustion.
WBZ meterologist Melissa Mack wrote up a humidity explainer, complete with a scale of 1 to Oppressive.
Lately, our dewpoints have had trouble dropping below 65, which is why so many of us find it uncomfortable to exercise, work or spend a large amount of time outdoors.
What’s more, today may be the first day of a heat wave, if the temps over the weekend remain above 90 degrees in the shade. The Glossary of Meterology has a definition of heat wave/hot wave/warm wave if you would like to learn more:
The eastern United States, heat waves generally build up with southerly winds on the western flank of an anticyclone centered over the southeastern states, the air being warmed by passage over a land surface heated by the sun.
Even today on my scooter, with its built-in AC (just hit the throttle), I melted.
Published July 16, 2010
WBUR’s managing editor, Dave Shaw, goes on the radio from time to time to talk about what stories are getting people jazzed on wbur.org. Here is his latest roundup of the week’s big stories. –AP
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The hubbub this week was over David Boeri’s story about proposed protections for the endangered piping plover on a barrier beach in Plymouth. The conversation got heated — fast. On one hand, there are folks who want to drive onto the beach to enjoy it. In the other hand, there are people who say the beach should be off-limits to cars order to protect the birds.
[pullquote author=”bobas77″]”The birds are thriving, we are complying with the restrictions and this talk of permanent closure is INSANE.”[/pullquote]
“The birds are thriving, we are complying with the restrictions and this talk of permanent closure is INSANE,” wrote a commenter with the handle bobas77.
But bobas77 was outnumbered by commenters such as Richer Earth, who said the beach is best enjoyed “without the use of an internal combustion engine.”
The back and forth turned personal — violating our Community Discussion Rules — and the comment thread was shut down. That’s pretty rare. Andrew, who considers himself the “mean old dad” of enforcing our rules, says that only happens about four times a year.
Published July 16, 2010
The news of an eighth suicide this year in a Massachusetts correctional facility is troubling. That’s four times the national average, the Globe reports. It was enough to push the Patrick administration to hire a suicide prevention expert.
But consider another new and staggering statistic: On average, a U.S. service member committed suicide every day last month — 32 in all. Most of those who took their lives were on active duty — and many of those in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Army has deployed a suicide prevention website and a video called “I Will Never Quit On Life.”
In January, 28 service members committed suicide. 145 this year — more than half of last year’s total, a record-breaking 245, CNN reports.
Published July 16, 2010
Bracing for widespread celebration and rioting after the Celtics’ inevitable victory in the NBA Finals, Boston Police spent nearly half a million dollars on overtime pay to put nearly 3,200 cops on the streets, the Herald reports. They wore face shields and wielded batons. It was quite a display.
But the Celts lost. Mass mourning ensued. (Seriously. I was at a bar downtown. It felt like a funeral.) Now the BPD says the team should foot at least part of the bill. No comment yet from the C’s.
An additional thought: It’s interesting timing on the PD’s plea, on the same day it’s reported that BPD supervisors will get a 14 percent pay raise to account for the fact that they don’t get overtime pay, as officers do.
Published July 16, 2010
Nieman Journalism Lab editor Megan Garber says we newsies can learn a lot from the Old Spice man (@OldSpice) — the ridiculously handsome spokesmodel whose charm caused even the most cynical anti-meme bloggers to perspire.
If you somehow missed it, the Old Spice ad agency holed up in a studio for hours and recorded short, personalized video clips in response to what was being said on the Web in real time. Even NPR got the love.
And the best part — he cut it off before people could tire of it. In his good-bye video, Old Spice man seemed to be talking directly to all of us:
I know a lot of you have written me and commented on my works, but I am just one ridiculously handsome man. I can’t write to everyone. But please know that I consider you my dearest and closest Internet friends. I’ll never forget this time we spent together.
Garber says the videos are an assault on the mass media’s broadcast sensibilities (emphasis hers):
There’s the obvious, of course: the fact that the ads are personalized. That their content is created for, and curated from, the conversational tumult of the web — “audience engagement,” personified. … The real hook of the videos isn’t the OSM’s awesomely burly baritone, or the whimsy of his monologues (the scepter! the bubbles! the fish!), or the postfeminist irony of his Rugged Manliness, or any of that. It’s the fact that we’re seeing all those things play out dynamically, serially, in (semi-)real-time. And: in video.
We don’t always have to craft beautiful, highly produced media to engage our audience. We just have to go where they are.
Published July 16, 2010
Hi, Hubbubers. Arts reporter Andrea Shea is always talking about local music she likes. I told her to start blogging about it! Ghost Box Orchestra releases its debut CD this week, “The Only Light On.” Here’s Andrea’s take on the fledgling artist and a few free tracks to download and enjoy. –AP
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The Ghost Box Orchestra (courtesy of the artist)
Ghost Box Orchestra is inspired by the microphones that ghost hunters use to record spectral visitations. And then there’s a somewhat obscure audio device used to communicate with the dead called a “ghost box.” The Ghost Box Orchestra manages to channel a “from beyond” aesthetic through their playing and textured production.
The songs are layered, noisy but quiet, undulating, ethereal. Most importantly, though, they rock! They really take you for a ride. Especially if you experience them through headphones.
Published July 16, 2010
Don’t miss this radio today: The attorneys for Cambridge’s own Russian spies (real names Andrey Bezrukov and Elena Vavilova) join Radio Boston live at 3 p.m. They’ll take your calls, comments and tweets (@RadioBoston).
Published July 16, 2010
Bar Harbor sure is pretty. (slack12/Flickr)
The Obama family retreats to Maine today for some R&R — maybe to thank Sen. Olympia Snowe for supporting the financial overhaul?
The last sitting president to visit Bar Harbor was William Howard Taft, 100 years ago, when he apparently played an epic round of golf there.
The Globe reports no one in Bar Harbor seems to care. The New York Daily News reports everyone in Bar Harbor seems to care.
Gawker has a complete Maine travel guide for the first family. An excerpt:
Bar Harbor: Bar Harbor is the main town on Mount Desert Island. It is unbearable. Whatever you do, spend as little time here as possible. It is fun to say in a Maine accent, though. Bah Hahbah. Hahbah.
Officials at the Acadia National Park are warning visitors of delays and detours, as the park will remain open to the public.
Do you have any vacation suggestions for the Obamas in Maine? Best lobster? Prettiest views? I’m sure they’re reading the comments.