So a few weeks back our friend Bill Forry over at the Dorchester Reporter put out this great piece about the folks who maintain the Ashmont/Mattapan trolley line. With all the anti MBTA sentiment that’s being tossed about it was a welcomed perspective. Of course I, like a lot of …
On most days I get pissed off if my phone rings while I’m trying to tie my shoes. Your old pal has never been a multitasking type of guy. It’s always been my way to zero in on a problem and work on it till it’s …
All of us have friends right? Of those friends you may have a small percentage of Ginger friends. You know – those fair skin folks with the fiery red hair and the freckles that resemble the stars that lead you back to Ireland. Well I just …
Once upon a time there existed a nightclub across the mighty Neponset river in Quincy Massachusetts. That club was called Aquarius and it was the stuff of legend. It resided inside this little hotel/motel where my parents actually spent their honeymoon (back then blue collar folks actually had honeymoons like blue collar folks). You may all know this place as it’s latest incarnation, the Adams Inn. Lets have a look back in time shall we….
Video courtesy of Pat McDonough
I know…..dudes didn’t have sideburns back then. Maybe all the sideburns formed gangs and morphed into the giant bangs you see on the heads of all the ladies. There’s a good reason we have a hole in the ozone layer….and the blame lies squarely on Aquanet in the late 80’s and early 90’s. That’s just the way people rolled back then.
Notice the full participation of everyone in the club? It didn’t matter if you were a ginger from St Marks with one dance move….you brought that sh*t and if you played your cards right you just might walk out with one of those Aquarius dancers.
Video Courtesy of Pat McDonough
Let’s face it, a good chunk of twenty and thirty something kids running around Dot, Southie and The Q probably owe their existence to Aquarius. Cathay Pacific seems to have filled the role of Aquarius for these same kids….time will tell though.
Unfortunately, like all fun and quirky things woven into the history of the neighborhood, Aquarius fell to the wrecking ball a while back…
You didn’t really think this ended on a buzz kill? – Tomorrow night at Florian Hall their will be an Aquarius reunion. It’s already sold out so it is half a buzz kill but, you may be able squeeze some tickets from someone who cant go.
I am expecting this reunion to be a regular thing given how fast it sold out. It should be a blast….check out their website here : http://www.aquariusreunion.com/
This weekend is Wildcard Weekend and the first set of playoff games this season. The Patriots ended up with the number 2 seed, and although that potentially forfeits home field for the AFC Championship game, it remains the best case scenario for the Patriots. The …
When every major space agency on the planet tells you it’s impossible to land and reuse a multi million dollar rocket….do you quit trying to build one? The parents of all these young scientists at SpaceX deserve some recognition for teaching their kids to never …
Open311 is nothing new in the world of municipal data. The commonwealth’s first venture into this arena on a massive scale was “Commonwealth Connect” – a state grant funded rebranding and distribution of the SeeClickFix platform spearheaded by then City of Boston CIO Bill Oates and his team. While Boston was not the first to use the platform in this state, Boston is however, the first in the country to have an elected leader say “compile all of our performance data from internal and external sources so we can grade ourself”.
Like any large operation with a political component, performance metrics can be sac religious. Data is power, just ask the IRS why you need to retain 7 years of records while they can’t seem to muster 6 months worth of email for a congressional hearing.
As someone who has worked in this arena for quite some time and brought one of the first generations of SCF into the state (excuse me while I kiss my own ass for second) I would like to commend Mayor Walsh.
I know first hand that it takes guts to grade your operation with cold hard data but I’m a believer that once the power of this incarnation is realized it will become the standard. I’m expecting the rest of the commonwealth to follow suit..then the country thereafter.
Bravo Mr. Mayor!
On December 9th the Patriots claimed former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Leonard Johnson. Johnson started at Nickle Corner for the Bucs a good part of the last three years until he was placed on IR and waived by his hometown team on December 3rd. Belichick clearly …