Irish Mossing

A staple of Scituate's economy for many years - there is a mossing museum in Scituate, MA now.

But WHO KNEW how fit and trim these mossers were???

Check out their reunion news here.

Carmen has never seemed so musical

Danny's Boys

Ode to Beaker's Joy

Public Art, Eyesore to Eye Candy

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/arts/design/24smit.html?em

NYTimes' great article about public art. Also explains "the bean" - Anish Kapoor's sculpture in Chicago. I had no idea there were more "balloon dogs" around. Road trip!

(did you notice the first pix - "puppy" by Koons at Bilbao???? - all my favorite stuff!)

The Abstinence Teacher

By Tom Perrotta

Great initial character development, I was excited to turn the pages. Ended too early, I think. a lot of plot seemed not completely fleshed out. I liked the writing style, perhaps I will read more of his novels.

Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs

A disturbing look at a cult. I try to be respectful of religions that differ from my own, but this is a horrifying account of a young girl married off into an abusive relationship, and a controlling cult.

A Great Site. Find a Sign.

My Yard Our Message.

A neat site with signs you con order for your lawn!

Skool Daze

Take the whole kit

Take the whole kit

with the caboodle

Experience life

don't deplore it

Shake hands with time

don't kill it

Open a lookout

Dance on a brink

Run with your wildfire

You are closer to glory

leaping an abyss

than upholstering a rut

~ James Broughton ~

One more week!

One more week to go before it's back to the "daily grind!". Today I learned some new computer tricks which may prove helpful. One of these days I will be computer savvy, I will!

Rachel Maddow to Replace Dan Abrams on MSNBC

Hooray! Smart move MSNBC - finally!

story here

ROMEO AND JULIET

If you will die for me,
I will die for you

and our graves will
be like two lovers washing their clothes together
in a laundromat.

If you will bring the soap,
I will bring the bleach

Richard Brautigan

In honor of returning to Skool

This year's theme is reading and writing. Almost time to return to school!

THE WAY WINGS SHOULD

What will

our children do in the morning?

Will they wake with their hearts wanting to play,

the way wings

should?

Will they have dreamed the needed flights and gathered

the strength from the planets that all men and women need to balance

the wonderful charms of

the earth

so that her power and beauty does not make us forget our own?

I know all about the ways of the heart - how it wants to be alive.

Love so needs to love

that it will endure almost anything, even abuse,

just to flicker for a moment. But the sky's mouth is kind,

its song will never hurt you, for I

sing those words.

What will our children do in the morning

if they do not see us

fly?

~ Rumi ~

An Unreasonable Man (2005)

"What did you learn in school today Ralph, how to believe or how to think?" - Ralph Nader's father at the dinner table.

No wonder he ended up who he is today.

Whether you believe in his causes and methods or not, it is hard to not have respect for his sheer tenacity. We all need the Naders of the world to keep us safe, and open and free debate happening.

This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation - Ehrenreich

An amusing tale that is all too true - good chapters on the rise of the "princess" culture for young girls (I am very scared about that myself) and more updates on the Walmart generation of consumers and workers. An accurate and disturbing view of America today.

MUSIC, MY LOVE An autobiography with Deborah Wise

MUSIC, MY LOVE An autobiography with Deborah Wise

Great and entertaining, about the flute and Rampal's travels around the world while playing it. Told in an acessable tale that's as much about the food he ate as the pieces he played.

Believe in Me (DVD)

A great feel- good movie about a man who coaches girl's basket ball in Oklahoma in the 1960's. He arrives expecting to be the boy's coach, and then is demoted to girl's high school coach. They teach each other how to win, how to succeed, how to be proud even though they are "just girls". Subscribes to some predictable tugs of emotion, but overall an entertaining film!

Everything is waiting for you.

EVERYTHING IS WAITING FOR YOU

(After Derek Mahon)

Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

~ David Whyte ~

Gerhy's leaks

MIT sues Gehry, citing leaks in $300m complex

Oh dear. My favorite architect. I wonder how many buildings of his go through New England weather? I hope this gets solved. I'd like to go see the building (bring my raincoat).

Mothering Madness

Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety - Warner

Applying my natuaral perfectionist tendencies to motherhood was never a good idea. This book confirms it!

A long list of perceptions of motherhood through the ages - and the struggle to be "perfect" in the face of each societal perception. Sometimes plain old walks and looking at bugs is okay - "enrichment" has its problems too.

This book also contains an amusing antiquated account of the "quiet time" that every husband needs when he arrives home from work - he is to be greeted with a cold beer, slippers, and of course - keep the noisy/messy children away! My husband's version is 1. arrive and barely get in door. 2. throw a ball and yell and chase and run while MOM puts on the slippers of relaxation. 3. repeat.

A great read, and an assurance of perspective for me!

OLYMPICS!

Watch over 1,400 hours of television and 2,000 hours of online coverage

headline from nbc. oh my goodness. even i am overwhelmed by the olympic fervor. I LOVED the opening ceremonies. I'm still trying to navigate the tv times to figure out what/when will be on.

statshot from the onion

onion

Will Respirators Help Our Olympic Athletes?

from Slate.com

Environmental news from China. We had better stop messing up the planet SOON.

Movies I can't wait to see....

I guess I'm firmly back into my movie obsession. It seems like every time I see a bunch of trailers, I want to see every one! Here's a list of what's hopefully coming to me:

Bottle Shock

Hamlet Two

Religulous

Sixty Six

Encounters at the End of the World

Up The Yangtze

reviews to be posted as I see them - wish me luck!

American Teen

Now in theaters - a disturbingly accurate (?) portrayal of high school in a rural town. I enjoyed the drama, worries about the welfare of the students, was kinda amazed at how "adult" their issues were, and yet not so surprised at the same time.

I was able to catch this at the Embassy Cinema in Waltham - where I had not been in a long time. Good to see films there.

Loving Frank

Loving Frank - Nancy Horan

A disturbing tale, but well written. A fictionalized account of the affair between Mamah Cheney and Frank Lloyd Wright. A picture i guess of a woman trapped in conventions of society, and the choices she makes to escape them upon finding the true love of her life. I was fascinated by the commentary on children and feminism the book presented. I am sure I would have made different choices, but I could see Mamah's motivations as valid too. A little stereotyping with Wright as the "tortured artist", but I do not know much of his life and work yet. A tragic ending I was not aware of - I am going to read the real accounts of what we know of these two soon!

The Greening of Southie

What happens when you’re asked to build the city of tomorrow… today? Set on the rugged streets of South Boston, The Greening of Southie is the story of a revolutionary Green Building, and the men and women who bring it to life. From wheatboard cabinetry to recycled steel, bamboo flooring to dual-flush toilets, The Macallen Building is something different––a leader in the emerging field of environmentally friendly design. But Boston’s steel-toed construction workers aren’t sure they like it. And when things on the building start to go wrong, the young development team has to keep the project from unraveling. Funny and poignant, The Greening of Southie is a story of bold ideas, unlikely environmentalists, and the future of the way we live. (from The Greening of Southie website)

An interesting film from a more interesting premise. Apparently this is the "cutting edge" building of the future. But.... what they do not emphasise here - the cost of shipping all these new-fangled materials to Boston for construction. A key issue - although the building is "green" and cheaper, the cost over the life of the building for the materials will not be paid for in money saved. Not counting the ripping up of the first round of bamboo floors from China. I was glad this was shown on Sundance - I had heard about it but didn't want to buy it. I'd like to look into how these building options can be sustainable.

Amusement park fun - part one

We went to York's Wild Kingdom yesterday. We patted an elephant (Lindsey) and feed lots of deer and goats. Expensive, but worth it for her age, when even simple animals are very exciting. Hard to see some of the smaller animals in the cages, but being surrounded by deer and goats was a big hit!

Girls Rock!

A MUST SEE FILM.

At Rock 'n' Roll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it's OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that "it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are." The girls have a week to select a band, an instrument they may have never played before, and write a song. In between, they are taught by indie rock chicks such as Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney various lessons of empowerment from self-defense to anger management. At the end of the week, all the bands perform a concert for over 700 people. The film follows several campers: Laura, a Korean adoptee obsessed by death metal; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth addiction, homelessness and gang activity; and Amelia, an eight-year-old who writes experimental rock songs about her dog Pipi. What happens to the girls as they are given a temporary reprieve from being sexualized, analyzed and pressured to conform is truly moving and revolutionary. (from The Boston Globe)

This film is at the Newburyport Screening Room through Thursday, and also at selected times at the MFA through the weekend. It avoids the "save the girls" stereotypes and yet is a great picture of some tough struggles of these rocker girls. I may go see it again!