Bettie Page dies at 85

It’s a sad day: iconic pinup model Bettie Page has died. More coverage.

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Obama wins

Historic day: Obama wins the US Presidency by a landslide to become the first black president. I was on campus, waiting for a cab which never came when I heard loud cheers coming from the direction of some dorms. Read a transcript of his victory speech. He looks quite happy:

And:

Technorati Tags: election, obama, politics, usa

Election fraud: how Rove did it

Watch this.

Technorati Tags: election, fraud, palast, politics, bush, rove

Jimmy Slyde dead at 80

Tap legend Jimmy Slyde has just passed away. I saw him when local dancers and musicians put on a tribute show for him a few months ago at his home church in the South End of Boston. He will be sorely missed.

The following is the shout out finale at the tribute show in January which I wrote about.

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Boston becomes laughing-stock

Pretty ridiculous. Turner Broadcasting has already offered to pay $2m, much more than the cost of the emergency response. Now, the Cartoon Network’s chief has just resigned. Plus, the city is moving forward with prosecuting the two artists who were hired to install the blinky lights around the city.

Technorati Tags: aqua teen hunger force, athf, boston, ignignokt, mooninite, bomb scare

Democrats take both Houses

… and Rumsfeld is out.

Technorati Tags: democrats, elections, midterm, usa

Arson: a little too close for comfort

I walked out to the bus stop this morning to find that the real estate agents’ office (Pondside Realty) just around the corner from me blackened and smoldering. There were a couple firefighters and policemen, and TV trucks around, too. I didn’t hear a thing last night: I sleep like the dead.

Thankfully, the fire didn’t spread. The realtor took up two lots on the corner. In the same building are a nail salon and a tailor. Right next to this commercial building is an old wooden triple-decker. I’m amazingly glad it was raining heavily last night and fire didn’t spread to the residential properties.

The local CBS affiliate says it was a gas bomb. There was a witness.

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“Heros”

I found this at a neighborhood café (which has a Wikipedia entry). There are no indications whose work it is.

Technorati Tags: art, cigarettes, lebonese, paper cutting

Doublespeak

Mat Whitecross, who co-directed “Road to Guantanamo”, wrote a good piece about the Bush administration’s use of doublespeak:

One of the less noted aspects of the Bush Administration's 'War on Terror' is the government's simultaneous War on Language, a calculated use of Orwellian double speak. Post 9-11, the invasion of other countries became a 'preemptive strike', the capture and torture of civilians 'extraordinary rendition'. A sign on the front of the US prison in Guantanamo Bay reads 'Honor Bound to Defend Freedom'.

Technorati Tags: bush, doublespeak, language

Of old buildings and new visions

I was reading in yesterday’s NY Times about the controversy surrounding plans to renovate, and substantially change the façade of 2 Columbus Circle, a building by Edward Durell Stone. The City Review has a scathing article about the new plans. You can see some of the renderings of the new plans by Brad Cloepfil. Wikipedia has a nice long article about the building. My opinion is that the building should be preserved in photographs, and the new design be allowed to go through. It is just not a good building to inhabit: there are no windows!

All this talk of preservation mentioned the loss of the old Penn Station. So, I had to look for pictures of the old Penn Station, a beautiful grand building that was torn down in 1963 and not replaced. Penn Station is now just a basement.

Technorati Tags: 2 columbus circle, architecture, brad cloepfil, edward durell stone