Published October 4, 2010

You might have heard the New England Patriots play the Miami Dolphins in Monday Night Football. Commentator Jeremy Bernfeld laments that MNF is not really about F anymore:

Hank Williams Jr., Gloria Estefan, face off in Monday Night Football (AP)

As viewers, we’re “treated” to a full 90-minute pregame show and a game that’s supposed to last two-and-a-half hours, though it always seems to last longer. The broadcast itself is as bloated as the game time, with three men in the announcer’s booth and two sideline reporters.

According to its theme song, the game is a “Monday Night party.” Monday nights don’t bring to mind parties, at least not fun ones. As in, “come on over, me and my tax returns made nachos!”

I’m excited for the game, especially when the Pats play, but it can be hard to see the game through the forest of “extras” that I rarely want. Each February, we’re all treated to the spectacle that is the Super Bowl. I don’t need a mini-Super Bowl every Monday, just a plain old football game.

How are you taking in the game tonight?

Published October 2, 2010

Kimani Washington (Facebook)

Kimani Washington describes himself as “The realest n—- livin’ In and outta prison” on his Facebook page. Universal Hub’s Adam Gaffin was tipped off to the page.

Washington was arrested early Saturday morning in Manchester, N.H., in connection with the Mattapan murders. He is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and receiving a stolen motor vehicle in connection with the shooting.

Washington is not charged with murder.

On Facebook, Washington’s name is displayed as Kimani Iklhas. I Googled the word and asked on Twitter for the meaning of Ikhlas — it’s Arabic for “purity,” “fidelity” or “sincerity” and is the name of the 112th chapter of the Holy Quran.

Here are some of Washington’s pearls of wisdom, as posted on his Facebook Wall. The latest entry is dated Sept. 20:

If u don’t spot the vic(tim) in the first 30 seconds that means ur IT. If u don’t hear the shots when the shells yell Sun that means ur HIT!

And from Aug. 22:

I’m still washin’ my s— out in the SINK. ‘Cause even when I’m free I’m in the CLINK. Being free is what you THINK… I’m a G I need a DRINK!

A woman named Latifah Ruff follows up with the comment: “U r crazy in the am that jail talk is not good 4 da soul”

Almost all of Washington’s posts read like rap verse. On another post, Ruff comments: “Rap on Mr.Boston.”

Published October 1, 2010

Normally it’s WBUR asking people for money. But as our fall pledge drive got underway this week, another news organization reminded us that news has to be paid for one way or another.

The money has to come from somewhere. (Daniel Borman/Flickr)

The Boston Globe’s paywall announcement prompted some interesting reactions from our own listeners. My friend Christian Holland (@crholland) tweeted:

Globe creating subscription website BostonGlobe.com; launching 2nd half of ’11 http://t.co/hva6ucQ Guess I’ll be spending more time on @WBUR

We have received a lot of comments like this, actually, and it’s nice to hear. But I responded to Christian thus:

@crholland It’s a common misconception that @WBUR content is free.

Because 90.9 FM and wbur.org are free to use, people seem to forget that high-quality news and information are not free to produce. Only an estimated 10 percent of people who use WBUR give us money.

And yet our business model is arguably the most successful in the industry right now. That’s why Craigslist founder Craig Newmark this week said NPR will be the dominant news force in 10 years. Trust is “the new black,” he said. People support us because they trust us.

Continue reading →

Published October 1, 2010

Isaac watching the planes taking off at Castle Island (Chris Devers/Flickr)

Crack photographer Chris Devers — whose work we feature frequently in the pages of this website — provides today’s inaugural Photo of the Day on Hubbub. We’re reinvigorating the long-dormant Listener Photo Project on Flickr. More about that in a moment.

Chris describes his 9-foot-by-4-foot(!) photomontage:

All of these pictures were taken over the span of half an hour or so while having a picnic dinner with the family.

I wasn’t really keeping track while I was doing this, but there are probably half a dozen or so individual planes (most shown multiple times, of course), and I dunno, maybe fifty or so images in total.

Due to Flickr constraints, the largest version available here is 2048 x 1027pixels, and a bit fuzzy in some of the details. The original is 11,454 x 5,745, or around 111″ by 52″ (9+ feet by 4+ feet) if printed at 300dpi resolution. And quite a bit sharper, too

I know there are a lot of sharp shooters out there. Want to share you work with ‘BUR Nation? Join our Flickr group and submit your work now.

Every day, I’ll hand-pick a truly great image from the group and feature it here. If you submit a masterpiece and I don’t pick it, be patient — it’s probably in the queue.

The more detail you provide — names, places, camera details — the more fun we’ll have. And please do license your work with some flavor of Creative Commons.

Happy shooting!