Music to My Eyes XX

Photographs and videos from the Handstand Command residency at the Choppin' Block last month are now available online.

Hiking History X

Last night, I went on a history walk titled "What Makes Harvard Square a Square?" through the Cambridge Center for Adult Education. What follows are my rough notes and photographs taken during the walk and talk. I have not fact checked the dates or names, so there may be some inaccuracies.

Cambridge founded 1630 as capital of Massachusetts Bay Colony... Originally a planned city on a three-by-four grid... Now mostly Harvard dorms... 64 house lots in a one-third mile radius surrounded by a fence... On the Charles so only small craft can access... Elected officials built homes in Boston and Charlestown... Didn't want to move... After a year, only 10 families... By 1635, 500 people, 86 families because of the Great Migration... 1635, Hooker's parishioners all moved to Hartford, Connecticut... Only 11 families remain... Shepard's flock moved into abandoned homes... Founded first college in British America... 400 pounds pledged in 1636... Will be located in Newtowne...



Changed name because of Cambridge, England... Classes start in 1638... Harvard named for minister in Charlestown... Died of consumption and gave half of estate and 300-book library to college... Died 1638... Town 35 miles long from Billerica to Newton... V shaped... Less than a mile wide at Harvard Square... 70 acres dedicated to pasture... Only college in America for 50 years... Even at Revolution, only 12... Attracted first printing press... Provincial Congress met here... Continental army based here... Massachusetts constitution drafted here 1779... Brattle house... Reclaimed by son Thomas in 1776... Street not as wide, formal garden... Also a little creek where sidewalk is...



Brattle Hall built in 1789 as a live theater and meeting space for Cambridge Social Union, now CCAE... 1948 theater converted to movies... Also Architect's Corner built in 1966... Design Research one of first furnishings importer... Also Architects Collaborative... Blacksmith's house... Longfellow lived nearby... Chestnut tree near Cafe of India... 1946 the Window Shop helped European resettlers... Christ Church oldest church still standing... First Parish on other side of burial ground... First church has rooster on top... Puritans weren't separatists, Pilgrims were... Puritans Congregationalist... 1686 Church of England imposed, resulting in King's Chapel...



No Church of England in Cambridge until 1759... Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts... Opened 1761... Originally five windows, split in half, added two... Designed by architect of King's Chapel... East Apthorpe first priest... Fears of Anglican bishop... Apthorpe's house called the Bishop's Palace... Unitarianism started in England, first Unitarian church in Boston 1789, 1810 a major movement... Cambridge's church split, original church in center of square... Burial ground 1635 not the original site... Churches postdate ground by 100-200 years... Vassal family tomb in basement of Anglican church... Cambridge Common shared pasture land...



Originally to Linian Street... Shrunk, fenced in... Need to feed 10,000 soldiers... Slaughterhouses on Charlestown side, cattle would graze on common... Mt. Auburn Cemetery founded 1835... Old milestone 1734... William Dawes' route... Five milestones remain... Originally stood in center of square... Other side 1794 directions to new bridge... Unitarian parish building paid for by Harvard... Used for graduation until Memorial Hall... Emerson gave address in 1837... First bit of Transcendentalism... Churches are 0 Church and Garden Street... Movie theater originally University Theater... Entrance originally on Massachusetts Avenue, cut through...



Known for 1970 live performances, Leonard Bernstein lectures, play "Oh, Calcutta!" banned in Boston but staged in Cambridge, and Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen concert... Rolling Stone review.. Used to be one auditorium... 1827 house... Palmer Street originally an alley with stables... Coop built in 60s... Starbucks a carriage house... Nearby firehouse... Abercrombie building on site of 1790 wooden building with posts, 1896 electric street car couldn't make corner with sharp point, so they remodeled it as rounded, removed one post, 1990s debate about demolishment, removed all but 1890 facade, preserving next door brick building...



Brattle Street from a creek leading to a pond in Harvard Yard... Brattle Square originally Creek Lane... Subway opened in 1912, sidewalks 5-6 feet lower originally... Creeks converged at 1 Brattle Square... Tunnel for subway under here no longer used, trains once stored near Kennedy School... Winthrop Street part of original 1630 layout... Ground level behind Charlie's is original level... Stone wall 1700s... Until 1909, Charles was tidal... Newtowne Market 1635-1699... Stone thing only 15 years old... Winthrop Street part of grid... Harvard undergraduate life on original grid... JFK originally Boylston originally Wood...



Harvard didn't have enough dorms until 1920, wealthy didn't live on campus, gold coast apartments along Mount Auburn... No fraternities, but dine in clubs, final clubs... Used to be 12-plus along Mount Auburn... Some still operate, building used otherwise.. Fox Club green shutters on corner... Grendel's Den Pi Eta... Brick with green shutters near For Eyes was Sigma Alpha Epsilon... John Hick's house, white with shutters originally a couple blocks over, killed in British ambush... 1920 Harvard dorms built (called houses)... Still lumberyards, coal docks, subway power plant... Harvard bought up land... ice house with freight dock at end of Dunster...



Houses named after Harvard prexy... Dorms copy historic building elements... Tower has 17 bells bought from Bolshevik monastery, rung Sunday afternoons... Mount Auburn all private dorms, Ridgely Hall, Claverly Hall bought by Harvard... Each dorm had own identity, Adams House with older recycled buildings had fringe elements, theater, leftists, gays... Also dorms in yard itself... Now for first years... Now you don't choose dorms, too cliquey, random assignment... Lampoon building designed by Edwin Wheelright... Ibis pranks with Crimson...



Fly Club, Phoenix SK, Iroquois Club, Spee Club... Nantucket Nectars headquarters used to be in old Delta Upsilon club with ivy... East Apthorp's home 1760 10 Linden St., yellow wood with shutters... Now housing for Adams House master... Fairfax actually three buildings... Gnomon Copy storefront dates to 1907, French art nouveau...



J. August building houses Porcellian Club, top of the line, named after roast pig at inaugural banquet... George Washington didn't want to stay in Wadsworth because of Longfellow house... College house dorm built 1832-1870... Coop was site of courthouse... Lyceum Hall built there, Emerson, Charles Dickens, glee club... Out of Town News is old subway entrance... Old Harvard Yard.



As time allows, I will add links to some of the people, places, and things encountered during the tour.

Among the Literati XLVI

Mayrav Saar, an old college chum, now has a column in the Orange County Register. The first installment, published yesterday, is a hoot.

Sites on the Side of the Road IX

Kurumi's Web site is a rich resource for road geeks. Tools include a field guide to interchanges, a Java applet that enables you to make your own road signs, and a virtual drive through 1971-style Hartford, Connecticut. But the most interesting part of the site is the section on "secret routes" -- state-maintained roads that are unsigned and usually not visible on maps. Kurumi outlines what the different route numbers mean and offers a brief history of these secret routes. While I need to track down a Massachusetts corollary, Kurumi did turn me onto the book Turnpikes of New England. A fascinating read, I'm sure.

Thanks to Metafilter.

Rock Shows of Note LXXII

Last night was the weirdest. I kept hearing friends' voices through the window outside as people walked past my house -- when they weren't the voices of my friends. I thought I saw a friend walk by talking on her cell phone. It wasn't her -- and she doesn't even have a cell phone. I even thought I heard a friend calling my name at one point. Bizarre. Clearly, I had people on my mind, so I went for a walk around the block to find some.

Stopping by the Middle East to see who was playing, I bumped into Brett Rosenberg, and then I heard some of the music emanating from the back room. Deciding that I liked what I heard even though I didn't know who was playing, I plunked down some money to check out the Fugue. Am I ever glad I did!

They were amazing. And even though I heard just a few songs at the end of their set, I think they are my favorite band of today. Herky-jerky angular guitar stabs punctuating the vocalist's frenetic singing -- and tons of energy. The singer was insane. At one point he leapt off the stage into the crowd, then catapulted himself back on stage in a tuck and roll only to barrel into the guitarist, who collapsed on top of him. They kept playing the whole time, and the guitarist regained his feet without dropping a note, ending the song by throwing his guitar to the floor with a satisfying final squall and thunk. Wow. Well worth seeing live.

I don't remember the name of the next band that played, but they were a five-piece that played energetic alt.rock. The lead singers voice was pretty cool, and the bassist and second guitarist jumped around a lot together. My one gripe was that the band didn't just under-utilize the female vocalist, they pushed her way over to the side so she was almost waiting in the wings. She had a great voice and should be featured more prominently instead of relegated to the edge.

Event-O-Dex LXXI

Thursday, July 31: Mittens, Choo Choo la Rouge, and Fearsome Earsome give an ear full at P.A.'s Lounge in Somerville.

Friday, August 1: Mike Tremoulet and Christine Selleck, two Houston-based bloggers, are visiting Boston and convening area Web writers for a meet and greet.

Corollary: Happpy Birthday to Media Dieticians XVII

Woohoo! Dennis Huston's 32!

From the In Box: NetWork VIII

What we really need is a common data format for all of these different services to manipulate and "decorate" (in the pattern-language sense).

Well, we have that common data format: FoaF. It would be cool if these sites let you export/import your friends list as an FoaF file. It wouldn't be hard at all.

Well maybe not that cool; I don't really use those sites that much. But it would be the "right way to do it". -- Joe Germuska

I guess I'm not as concerned about porting my networks from social software service to social software service, as I tend to use different ones for different purposes -- and have slightly different networks as a result. But I'd sure like a portable profile -- perhaps with an accompanying FoaF file since you mention it -- that I could swap out instead of signing up anew, creating a new profile page, and otherwise populating each new service as it emerges. Then we could truly navigate by person -- not by service. Even though I just canceled my premium subscription to Ecademy, I'm still a member of Friendster, Ryze, LinkedIn, and the Buddy Network, which I haven't revisited since I signed up in May. That's a lot of disconnected networks. And networks shouldn't be disconnected.

As more and more of these services emerge, the more I think that Duncan Work is onto something with his Net Deva project. In the past, I wasn't convinced I needed a portable profile for the various online communities and discussion forums I frequent, but the more I think about all these new online networking and social software services, the more I want one ID for all my overlapping networks. I said it in May, and I'll say it today: "As more of these services develop, it'll become increasingly important to bridge them."

Who's building that bridge?

From the Reading Pile XIX

Benjamin Franklin: History's Greatest Time Traveler!
I don't really see the point in billing this as "the story SPX didn't want you to see." I don't self-publish short stories as pieces Eyeshot rejected, and I think it's bad form to grouse about rejection by editors. That said, this eight-page mini by Ron LeBrasseur details a young student's report on how he spent his summer vacation. On the way to Florida, the narrator is joined by a time traveling Benjamin Franklin, whom the boy doesn't recognize and who is there to combat the 50-foot Mecha Lincoln, a rampaging robot brought to ground by a lightning bolt. It's a quick bit of cartoony silliness, and the punchline -- "The assignment was, 'Why I love America!'" -- gives hint to why the piece wasn't accepted for the SPX annual. The SPX pieces were to be biographical comics, not selections merely involving historical figures as characters. Still, punk points for trying, Ron! Also, extra credit for the Gloucester Dogtown snapshot in the beginning of the comic. Contact Ron LeBrasseur for more information.

Drake Marvel, Private Eye
Ron LeBrasseur claims Peter Phelan's character Drake Marvel as his own in this 12-page digest including the eight-page story titled "Roswell That Ends Well." It's a silly, cartoony story in which a stranded grey obtains work as a DJ. LeBrasseur's character designs are clean -- despite some potentially misleading coloring (p. 7, panels 4-5 led me to think a new alien character had been introduced) -- and the punchline pays off. I look forward to an anthology of Drake Marvel stories. The full-color covers add a nice touch. Contact Ron LeBrasseur for more information.

Dust
I feel slightly cheated now that I'm actually reading this 32-page digest. As much as I like the work of P. Shaw, $10 for this photocopied, reflective cover digest? "You cannot afford that," (p. 3) is right! Collecting Shaw's Dust, Kurla, and Sloppa Lee Slapdup strips, inked and watercolored in his characteristic style, the comics involve robots, cooking, nature, music, ninjas, Tinker Toys, revenge, and construction work. In many ways, it's a love story between Dust and the Insuperable Kurla, and the tender tales are more oriented toward process comics and the oblique than Shaw's past work. The Flip n' Read comics gracing the center spread -- one dedicated to Jamaica Plain-based City Feed and Supply -- are a concept worth returning to. You know what? I don't feel ripped off at all. Despite my slight irritation about the item's price, Shaw deserves kudos for this new complexity and direction, as well as the more mature character set. Kudos! $10 to P. Shaw, P.O. Box 425430, Cambridge, MA 02142.

Go-Go Girl #3 (Spring 2002)
Every time I see Craig Bostick, he gives me a hard time for not reading or reviewing any of his comics since the previous issue in this series. This one's for you! Craig's got a fun Maurice Vellekoop and Los Bros. Hernandez by way of Leela Corman and Seth art style, and the four short pieces in this 28-page digest are extremely well paced and timed in their comedy. In the first and longest story, "Specially Marked Boxes," the chain-smoking Go-Go Girl falls under the thumb of a hyperactive child in an attempt to win a date with a pop singer. The two-page "Last Call Close Call" might be the best of the lot with its pratfall, passing time, and apologetic punchline. And "Hypnotized" works well until the overly expositional explanation at the end, which is then redeemed by a well-drawn Pete Bagge-esque pratfall. Craig's art and sense of humor are pleasantly clean and well-paced. I won't hesitate to read #4 when it comes out -- if it hasn't already! $3 to Craig Bostick, 7 Weld Hill St. #2R, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.

Machievelli
Don MacDonald's watercolor, well-lettered historicomic originally appeared in the 2002 SPX anthology. Scaled down to an almost too-small mini format, the eight-page comic remains a lush, expertly illustrated story even though MacDonald's beautiful cursive, near-calligraphic scripting is practically illegible. The art is wonderful, and it's clear MacDonald has a solid grasp of perspective, his use of reference photographs aside. A beautiful introduction to what will hopefully expand into a longer work. Contact Don MacDonald for more information.

Happy Birthday to Media Dieticians XVII

Doc Searls turns 56 today. And Wil Wheaton turns 31. happy birthday, you two!

Rules for Fools XVII

Tom Hopkins doesn't update his blog frequently, but when he does, it's a doozy. His July 28 entry shares some of the things he's learned lately. I'm right with him on Nos. 2 and 8. I've been skipping breakfast for far too long, and I've been sleeping way too much lately. Thanks for the elbow, Tom!

NetWork VIII

There's a new social software kid on the block! Tribe.net is currently in beta, and it appears to be a combination of Friendster's degrees of separation-based connection making and Craig's List's focus on listings. We'll see how it develops, but how many of these services do we really need? I wonder.

Thanks to Boing Boing.