Still Going Strong

490 years ago today Martin Luther posted his arguments against the selling of indulgences. This sparked a movement that would bring about the Reformation of Christianity in Western Civilization. The process of reformation continues to this day.

Sympathy From the Devil?

The other day I was waiting for a train at North Station and I heard . . . nothing. T-Radio was off the air. Had we been granted a reprieve from the newly dug circle of Hell that commuters had been kicked into? Or was the arch-fiend simply toying with us?

The former, it turns out. Amazing.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised to hear it again in a few weeks as the New and Improved T-Radio, featuring less puerile blather and more fingernails on blackboards!

Somewhere, the Royal Rooters Are Marching

Tessie, "Nuf Ced" McGreevey shouted
We're not here to mess around
Boston, you know we love you madly
Hear the crowd roar to your sound
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Tessie, you are the only only only
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Boston, you are the only only only
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Red Sox, you are the only only only

Bohemian Rhapsody

Hey kids, thinking about studying overseas? Check out the Czech Republic. Consider these important educational points -- Pilsner Urquell -- in cans -- in half liter cans -- in vending machines -- in your dorm.

And the world just keeps getting better.

Just That Much Closer to Hell

Every day I, like thousands of people who live in or near Boston, descend into the tunnels belows the old town and commute on what we call the T. Driving a car up on the surface is inefficient, wasteful, and expensive. The T is certainly the best alternative, even if it is often uncomfortable, unpleasant, crowded, dirty, loud, smelly, ugly, vulgar, unreliable, and generally awful. Still, we all know it could be worse.

This week it got worse. T-Radio was launched and is now annoying people at three busy stations. One of those stations is a place that I pass though every day.

I'm thinking of all the time I've stood on that platform, waiting (and waiting, and waiting . . .) for my train. I've stood, listening to the water dripping around me, smelling the occasional backup of sewage in the tunnel, contemplating the odd pattern of stains on the floor, while watching little rodents frisking about the tracks below me, and never once thought that my overall experience could be improved by insipid pop music, hip-hop, Latin hits, commercials, and lame chatter from pathetic local "celebrities."

Such is my lack of vision. Have you ever been commuting, stuck on a train or platform or some other public place where you have no control of your environment, when some jackass walks in carrying a boombox? The jackass is playing music you don't want to hear, or a radio program you'd really rather miss, but too bad, his bad taste is now your problem. What I saw as an annoying intrusion the T saw as something to institutionalize as a potential source of revenue.

If this sort of thing had gone on in Charlie's day he would have thrown himself onto the third rail. An increasingly attractive prospect.

Tales of the World's Worst Birdwatcher

Da Queen and I were taking a little stroll the other day. I noticed a little bird flitting about the plants over to our left. Sparrow, I thought, and moved on. "Look, a goldfinch," said Da Queen. She was right. Female goldfinch in her winter plumage. A pretty little thing too.

Right under my nose.

MVP!

Who else?

Another Sunday, Another Blowout

If you go by the final score you might think that the Cowboys were pushovers. But Dallas played well and they are the only team this season to get ahead of the Patriots, if only for a few minutes. All week I've been saying that the Cowboys are overrated, but I was wrong. They played the Pats pretty well, even if it was eventually to be for naught. My Beloved Patriots win by three touchdowns and ring up a total of 48 points. So far this season their lowest point total has been 34 and their smallest margin of victory has been 17.

Is this Patriots team the best in the NFL this year? I think we'll settle that in a few weeks. Is this the best team ever? We'll see.

Sure is fun for this old Pats fan to watch.

The Swedish Prize

Doris Lessing just won the Nobel Prize. Wow. I never thought they'd give it to her. Check me on this -- is she the first person whose oeuvre includes science fiction to become a Nobel Laureate?

Captain Pike, We Hardly Knew Ye

Get your tickets now fellow trekkies. "The Menagerie" will hit the big screen for one night only, November 13 at 7:30 PM. Come on, you know you want to. The Talosians. Number One. The captain's hat. The martini. Not good enough? How about Vina as a green Orion animal woman? Right. I'll see you there.

Happy Leif Erikson Day!

Today we celebrate Leif Erikson, the Viking explorer who established the legendary city of Norumbega, in the year 1000, in what we now call Massachusetts. This, according to Eben Norton Horsford, the man who gave us Rumsford Baking Powder. Sometime after this great invention, Horsford's longboat ran aground on Wackjob Island. He commissioned this wonderful statue of the discoverer of Boston (and inventor of the iron brassiere) that stands today on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall.

Truly one of my favorite things in New England

Happy Columbus Day

In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Back in those days everybody thought the world was flat, so Columbus proved it wasn't by sailing around the world to America. Nobody knew America was there, so Columbus discovered it. He met the Indians, who must have thought they were in India or something, but he told them no, this is America, which they must have been glad to learn. Then he went back to Europe and told everyone about America, and some people said hey, we should move there and invent democracy, so that's what they did.

Special thanks to Washington Irving for filling in some of the historical detail.

Missed It

I figure if I had to miss one game this month, it might as well be this one. The Browns had no chance. I was off giving a speech to a great group of young people who wanted to hear about Fair Trade. I didn't get home until late in the fourth quarter, by which time the Patriots were just putting a bow on things. Da Queen told me that things got a bit sloppy in the second half and the Browns almost made a game of it, but in the end My Beloved Patriots scored their standard 30+ points and notched up number five. Fourteen to go.

Next week, Dallas. Not going to miss that one.

Fast Money

When I think about the fact that two of Indy Racing's top drivers are switching to NASCAR, I get a sense of vertigo. It seems to me that the racing world is upside down. The fastest, most advanced, most aerodynamic and exciting race cars in America are in the IRL. The big money is in NASCAR. Imagine a world where the NFL was the weak sister to arena football. What if dial-up was more popular than DSL? How about single malt scotch for two bucks a bottle while a Bud Light would set you back $50? That's about where American motorsports finds itself today.

I Am Curious, Cinnamon

Hurray Sweden, for giving us National Cinnamon Bun Day! What a great idea.

I Spy, With My Little Eye

An asteroid named George Takei.