Sunday, January 31, 2010

January 31, 2010





Cooking day, recipe development. Trying out two new ones: curried cauliflower soup with aged gouda, and asparagus salad with avocado, oranges and tarragon in a honey-Dijon vinaigrette. The soup made with fresh stock. Soup and salad, simple. Maybe some cornbread.

The February issue will also go online. I'll continue on some ongoing writing - the King and Starting articles. Then I'll kick back and rest up for a big week.

Image ... Staircase at the African Meetinghouse, Boston.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Dr. King in Boston | Notebook . 1



We're going to try an experiment and publish our writer's notebooks for their works in progress. If they want to, that is. I'll lead off with the notes for Dr. King in Boston. Please feel free to comment and offer corrections, criticism or useful information. -- Steve.


- Shopper's World opens in Waltham. One of the first suburban shopping malls in the US.
- October 24 – U.S. President Harry Truman declares an official end to war with Germany.
- Nuclear testing begins in Nevada and the Marshall Islands.
- The first military exercises for nuclear war, with infantry troops included, are held in the Nevada desert.
- First nucleaur power plant.
- Rosenbergs tried and executed.
- The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger published.
- The movie adaptation of A Streetcar Named Desire premieres.
- Other movies ... An American in Paris, The African Queen.
- Ninth Street Show.
- Chinese invade Tibet.
- The transistor, the fundamental building block of all electronic devices, introduced bt Bells Labs.
- The King and I opens on Broadway.
- In Joplin, Missouri, the George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument to honor an African American.
- Oral contraceptives developed.
- October 20 – The Johnny Bright Incident occurs in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
- Marshall Plan expires.
- September 8: * Treaty of San Francisco: In San Francisco, California, 48 nations sign a peace treaty with Japan to formally end the Pacific War. * Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, which allows United States Armed Forces being stationed in Japan after the occupation of Japan, is signed by Japan and the United States.

From a summary of the country at the time, we go to a snapshot of Boston at that time.

Image ... Geese flying over the Fenway, Boston.

Frost | Screenscape . 2



Frost is the new Screenscape for the February 1 issue.

Screenscapes are images especially selected from Roofscape Magazine to decorate your computer desktop.

They are available for download in a 1024 x 768 format and will usually resize gracefully to fit most screens.

The image is of frost on a window just outside Roofscape's office in Boston. By West Adams, 2009.

Shackles (Praise You | Sunday Gospel Set . 34





Mary Mary took us out of last week's Sunday Gospel Set with Get Up and this week they're leading us into church with Shackles (Praise You). Along with Kirk Franklin, Mary Mary is one of the pioneers of contemporary urban gospel music - and huge hit makers.

Sunday - January 31, 2010 ... We're taking it to church for some gospel.

Mary Mary - Shackles (Praise You)
The Canton Spirituals - I Recommend Jesus
Bob Dylan - Knocking on Heaven's Door (live)
Mary J. Blige & U2 - One
Prince - The Cross
Johnny Cash - Why Me Lord (live)
Aretha Franklin - Say a Little Prayer for You (remix)
The Jordanaires - Swing Down, Sweet Chariot
Black Jesus - Black Jesus is Here

You'll notice that this week we've invited a lot of singers who aren't actually gospel artists. That's OK, it's a big church with room for all.

And a big shout out to 過年 in China who commented 很好啊, very good, about last Sunday's gospel set.

January 30, 2010





An urban survivalist started following us on Twitter, or more exactly, an entrepreneur of urban survivalism, the libertarian wing. And after some thought we started following back. After all the urban world is our beat. People who describe themselves as a god and live in California are a little bit worrisome, however. But he's got spelling, syntax, makes some sense and advocates baking bread (but not if zombies might be lurking), so we'll check him out.

Cold. Single digits cold with wind chill in the double negative numbers. Saturn burning bright in the middle of the night. A full moon tonight. Full Wolf Moon. Raccoons mate now, the The Old Farmer's Almanac helpfully notes. I wonder what our coons are up to in this cold. OFA also says that Mark Twain loved to write in bed. I agree with that, an astronaut-style workplace is by far the best; flanked by books, files, camera, tape recorder, headphones, notebooks, magazines, radio, seed packets, lamp over the right shoulder - with laptop canted up in lap and hot tea at hand.

Today I'm working on the Screenscape section of the magazine. These are images for decorating computer desktops. They are sometimes, but not always, the current image on the cover of the magazine. The cover images don't always make good desktops. It takes something sort of abstract, that works as an unobtrusive background and can scale well to different screen sizes. I think I'll go with the frosted window image. That's certainly timely. I'm trying to upgrade a department a day - new page color, navBar, ads, content and department blurbs.

Image ... Mural. Roxbury, Mass.

Friday, January 29, 2010

February 1 | Roofscape Sneak Peek . 1





A preview of Roofscape Magazine's next cover, with background.

Some time in the snows of dreary February the witch-hazel blooms. Here's the story, according to science and Wikipedia.
They are deciduous shrubs or (rarely) small trees growing to 3-8 m tall, rarely to 12 m tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, oval, 4-16 cm long and 3-11 cm broad, with a smooth or wavy margin. The horticultural name means 'together with fruit;' its fruit, flowers, and next year's leaf buds all appear on the branch simultaneously, a rarity among trees. The flowers are sometimes produced on the leafless stems in winter, thus one alternative name for the plant, "Winterbloom". Each flower has four slender strap-shaped petals 1-2 cm long, pale to dark yellow, orange, or red. The fruit is a two-part capsule 1 cm long, containing a single 5 mm glossy black seed in each of the two parts; the capsule splits explosively at maturity in the autumn about 8 months after flowering, ejecting the seeds with sufficient force to fly for distances of up to 10 m, thus another alternative name "Snapping Hazel".

The name Witch has its origins in Middle English wiche, from the Old English wice, meaning "pliant" or "bendable".[3] Hazel is derived from the use of the twigs as divining rods, just as hazel twigs were used in England.

The witch-hazel in the photograph, shown under a mantle of fresh snow, flanks the main entrance to the Fenway Victory Gardens off Park Drive in Boston. I went by there yesterday and it's not yet in bloom. When it is it's stunning and the scent is powerful.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

January 29, 2010





Biked to Coolidge Corner, Brookline yesterday - from Uphams Corner, Dorchester. Nearly died. Looked over a project then went to this place to warm up with some tea. The place was freezing, the tea got cold in two seconds. I didn't get warm, so when we left I was chilled and shivering. I knew I wouldn't make it home. I'd have to stop somewhere warm. So by chilly circumstance I got to do something I've wanted to for years. Eat at the Busy Bee and chat up the waitresses about the Winter Hill Gang (Whitey Bulger's crew).

Sat in the book furthest back, as far away from the door as possible, next to the warmth of the kitchen. The waitress let me because the place wasn't busy. Ordered spaghetti and meatballs. Found out they obviously didn't eat here for the food.

So I was wondering - where did they sit? They were gangsters. Creatures of habit. Probably always sat in the same spot and had their table. Thought to myself, right here, down back, out of the middle of things, keep eyes on the whole place.

So when I was done, having hardly touched the horrid strings, asked the waitress, "This is where the Winter Hill Gang used to hang out isn't it?" She affirmed and I asked, "Where did they sit?" She said that was before her time but called over a senior staffer and asked her.

"Always right up front. First two booths," she said. Of course. Stupid me, although I got the always part right. They were gangsters. To watch the door and get out fast if need be.

Waitress #1 filled me in on the story she'd heard. The FBI bugged the napkin dispensers at those two tables to record the gang's Busy Bee business meetings. And no one ever knew, not even the owner (she said gesturing to the guy in a Busy Bee cap sitting at the counter watching the lottery on TV) until the whole Bulger story came spilling out when Whitey skipped. "He's dead," she said. And waitresses often know whatever needs to be known.

On the way home stopped by the garden. No criminal activity. Everything intact and in place but for a few things blown around a bit. Brought back a book and some packets of seeds to start. Coming wasn't as bad as going, but it wasn't easy. Walked parts of the way in scattered snow showers.

Driveway Shrine. Dorchester, Mass.