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World Cup at City Hall

Jul 9, 2006

Above is a panorama I took at Boston City Hall today. I was there to watch the World Cup championship between Italy and France. The panorama is not 100% perfect, but I didn’t have the time to mess around with it too much. You can find some ghosts in it, but it basically captures the day pretty well. Click on the image to see a larger view.

As for the viewing of the game at City Hall, there was a really good turnout and it was a lot of fun. It was good to see that soccer could draw a big crowd, although the interest was somewhat increased because of Boston’s Italian population. Kudos to Boston Mayor Tom Menino (an Italian-American) for making it happen. I hope Boston will try it again in 2010 even if it’s Ghana vs Brazil!

New York Pictures

Jul 8, 2006

I posted some pictures from a recent long weekend in New York where I did a little World Cup viewing and chowing of some quality food among other things. The pictures are from all over Manhattan and a few from Brooklyn. Stops included the Empire State Building, Brooklyn Heights, Washington Heights, various soccer bars and a few places inbetween.

View New York pictures

checkout.google.com

Jun 29, 2006

The PayPal killer is here. Google’s payment service has arrived in the form of Google Checkout. I had previously heard it called Google Wallet, GPay and GBuy. It will be nice to have a legitimate alternative to Paypal. Not that I personally have had any major problems with them, but there have been times when I used Paypal just because there was no other option. Hopefully this will have a ripple effect and help shape up the overall online payment arena. Google should bring some integrity to a segment of the web that I have long felt was relly lacking.

Links: 6-24-06

Jun 24, 2006

ItsOurNet.org
An easy way to contact your state representatives to vote ‘yes’ to preserve net neutrality.
Why Brazilian Soccer Players Have Only One Name
Most of the greats have one name…Pelé, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Romario, Rivaldo, Zico, Garrincha, etc.
Top 50 Places to Have a Beer in America
It’s cool that #1 and #2 are right here in New England, although this site is based out of Boston.
Burritophile.com
Wiki-Burrito! The ultimate resource for burrito enthusiasts and a well done site. Find a taqueria near you.

Currier Museum Closing

Jun 20, 2006

Pictured above is La Cama (The Bed) from the Voces y Visiones exhibit at the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH. The exhibit is there just a little longer, until June 26th. It features Hispanic works from El Museo del Barrio in New York City. The bed surprised me because a bed is not something you come across all the time at a museum.

On another note, the Currier is closing for up to 18 months for major rennovations at the end of June. Quite a bummer because the museum is one of the jewels of Manchester. When it reopens, it should be something special. There are sketches of the expansion plans at the museum that look gorgeous. While the museum is closed some of the collections will be at the Portland Museum of Art and the Hood Museum.

For this last week admission to the Currier is free. Get there while you can!

Corporate Greed Wants To Create “The Internets”

May 27, 2006

I think now I know what George Bush was talking about when he referred to “the internets” in a speech once. Over the last couple of days there have many articles regarding the attempt by US broadband providers (some of Bush’s corporate buddies) to create a two-tiered internet. To quote Popular Science magazine, there would be “a fast lane for Web sites able to afford it and a slow lane for everyone else.”

Some of the articles that discuss this:
Coming Soon: The Web Toll
Berners-Lee calls for neutral internet

If you get why the internet works, what the broadband companies are trying to do is a travesty. It works because it empowers the little guy equally as much the big guy. It’s like their saying, “let’s create 2 internets, one high-end internet and one ghetto internet. Even Tim Berners-Lee agrees:

“The computer scientist credited with inventing the World Wide Web has strongly condemned moves by US broadband providers to control their subscribers’ content, saying it threatens the internet’s greatest strength: openness.”

I guess every once in a while ill-conceived ideas like this have to come along. I am assuming it won’t go anywhere, just like other hair brained schemes of the past from out of touch corporations. The companies that are lobbying Congress for the right to have a two-tiered internet are pretty powerful though. Here are some of them: Verizon, Bell South, AT&T and Time Warner.

Holy Tale

May 23, 2006

Mona

Not that I’ve been big on writing movie reviews on this site, but as I walked away from The Da Vinci Code I had a few thoughts, so here goes a little sharing of them. This review has nothing to do with the controversial religious suggestions that are made in it. The only thing I’ll say regarding that is – to anyone who has a problem, this is fiction, so get over it!

I guess I can start by breaking down what was right and what was wrong with the movie. First, what was wrong. I thought Tom Hanks was poorly cast as Robert Langdon. He wasn’t terrible, but he was pretty drab. I almost felt like he was knew it wasn’t a good fit and he was uncomfortable, so he just played it safe. Hanks has pulled off a variety of characters amazingly, in some cases where I didn’t think it would work. I think he is really at his best though when he plays the loveable, heart-warming, average guy hero. In movies like Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, etc, he reigns supreme. I think choosing Tom Hanks for this intellectual symbologist character was a bad move though. It just didn’t do that much for me. Not to mention the hair style he used for the movie has to go, although I did adapt to it as the movie went on. I’m thinking if they had to go the mega-star route, maybe somebody like Harrison Ford would have fit the bill a little better.

The other thing that was wrong with the movie was I felt if you didn’t read the book or have at least have some background on it the movie might have been tough to follow. I read the book so I was fine.

As for what was right, and there were several things, I’ll start with the Sophie Neveu character. Audrey Tautou, was a perfect fit in this role, not to mention cute. Whether she was feisty cop or damsel in distress, she provided some spark. Also, during the driving around Paris, the view of her eyes in the rearview mirror really highlighted her beauty.

Actually, now that I think about it. all the actors really worked in their roles, with the exception of Hanks. Ian McKellen, was great as the Holy Grail fanatic. Then again I don’t think he could possibly be bad in any role. Paul Bettany totally nailed Silas, the albino. He played “torture boy” with just the right amount of intensity and exactly matched the vision I had of this character from reading the book.

The handling of the historical background stories are also done very well. Flashbacks of ghosts of the past were used frequently to enhance stories that were told to lay the foundation for what was about to happen. I wondered how they would do this without being too lengthy and boring. In the book they would sometimes go on for a while. This method worked well. It was at its best when Langdon and Neveu are arriving at Westminster Abbey amidst a sea of royal phantoms.

Lastly, for those who like a movie that stays faithful to a book, you will be happy. This movie probably parallels the book more closely than any that I can ever recall.

Overall I enjoyed seeing this book that I somewhat liked put on the big screen, but it might not be for everyone.

Manchester Daily Express

May 22, 2006

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Starting today Manchester, NH has a new daily newspaper, the Manchester Daily Express! The paper is being put out by the team behind the excellent weekly newspaper, The Hippo. It will be published Monday through Friday and will be free.

Since it’s going to be put out by the team behind the Hippo, there is a decent chance this will become a great paper and a good thing for Manchester. When the Hippo first came along it gave the Manchester area something it was sorely lacking, a good alternative newspaper that promotes arts and entertainment coverage and other fun things in the area. It quickly became a must read because it was really tuned into goings on in the area and because of great writing and the progressive views of people like Jody Reese, Amy Diaz and others.

if you’re local, check out the paper when you get a chance. Click on the image above to to see a larger view of the inaugural edition.

More Merrimack River

May 21, 2006

I didn’t have a chance to post it until today, but here is another shot of the Merrimack River in Manchester, NH when it was close to 8 feet above flood stage early last week. Here you can really see how high it was rising up on the the mills. Click on the image for a larger view.

Roaring Merrimack

May 16, 2006

Above is a picture from yesterday of the Merrimack River in Manchester,NH. During the relentless rains of the last few days, the river crested at 9 feet above flood stage. The river has been flooding in many areas, but has also been quite a site to behold.

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