Fun in Philly
April 26, 2009
Philadelphia fun this weekend has included a trip to the Museum of Art and a surprise. It has also included more heat and humidity than I’m happy to cope with in April, and the disappointment of not seeing the Cézanne exhibition to which I was so looking forward. We were at the museum in the morning, and the next entry time for which there were tickets available was 4pm.
But enter and enjoy the museum we did anyway. We went, not only to the main museum, but also to the Perelman Building. Some of the gallery space there is currently devoted to an exhibition of Henri Matisse and Modern Art on the French Riviera. The painting is by Dufy, and shows the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, along which I promenaded many times when I lived near there.
In the afternoon, we were fortunate enough to stumble across Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, a much-mosaic’d house and courtyard. You can see my ***** review at Yelp.
Hard Times at Boston Globe
April 22, 2009
The photo may look as though it’s left over from coverage of Salem at Halloween, but it’s actually scarier than that. It’s New York Times Co. chief executive Janet L. Robinson. Here’s a quote from the Globe article featuring the photo.
Company officials… singled out “significant losses at the New England Media Group” as a major factor in the Times Co.’s weak performance in three months ending March 31… While every segment of the company’s business was battered by the steep advertising decline in the first quarter, the New England group, dominated by the Globe, turned in the weakest performance. Advertising revenue tumbled 31.6 percent for the New England group.
That makes it sound as though the Globe is dragging down a media firm that would otherwise be buoyant. But the graphic that accompanies the corresponding article in the Herald gives more detail. The 31.6% decline is $55.7M. For NYTCo as a whole, the decline is $334.7M, or 27%.
Other numbers also point to the Globe being about a sixth of NYTCo, and doing slightly, but not massively, worse than the rest of the company. No wonder Universal Adam put it thusly: New Yorkers blame Boston for their problems.
Jill Sobule’s California Years
April 14, 2009
Jill Sobule’s fan-funded album, California Years, is out today. That’s true here is Boston, but not in California, where it’s not yet today, and hence California Years is still Jill’s next record.
The NPR show All Things Considered has a feature on Jill and the album, including a couple of tracks. You can also listen at Jill’s show and tell (sampler page at her main website).
Or you can watch a video of “San Francisco” right here. The video is actually at YouTube, where Jill has her own channel, with lots of interesting stuff (e.g. Jill teaching other musicians how to play her songs).
I know I’ll buy the album, but I’m not yet sure where from. It isn’t yet available from Jill’s site (or Amie Street or Lala). If I get really impatient, I’ll buy California Years from Amazon.
Jill’s album is yet another example of a music without a record label. That’s the way you have to do it if your labels keep dropping you or dropping dead.
Toilet Seat Time
April 8, 2009
One of the worst things about spring for me is spring cleaning. One of the worst things about the apartment is the toilet seat. So, time for a new seat.
Of course, the first step was to do some internet research. I found an article at The Fun Times Guide to Household Tips, in which Lynette muses about size, style, and material, and prompts comments about color and other considerations.
Having decided that the toilet seat task and the article merited a post, I went to Flickr to find a suitable photo. I did not give serious consideration to using a photo of the incumbent seat (or of an incumbent on that seat). My thanks to Mark Blevis and his opthalmologist.
Haiku: 5/7/5 for 06/04/09
April 6, 2009
Red Sox season dawns
As sunset threatens the Globe
Boo Big Apple twice.
Here in Boston, it’s Red Sox opening day. Or at least it would be, had weather not caused the postponement of the (home) opener until tomorrow.
Another stream of local news focuses on the Globe, the newspaper in danger of closure. The direct source of the threat is the New York Times, owner of the Globe. Jay Fitzgerald (with the help of “ExGlobieInTheNickOfTime”) questioned NYT’s reasoning.
There has got to be something really wrong with 85 million dollars in annual losses … Either the number is crap, or if it’s close to true, it indicates the entire Globe business is crap, and what the heck has the NYT Co. been doing with the Globe for the last several years?
This via Universal Adam, who also provided a roundup of blogging about the prospect of a Globe closure.
Since I wrote the haiku, the Sox opener has been postponed until tomorrow. That seemed like a good idea when I heard about it this morning, and seems like an even better idea given the rainstorm I’ve just come in from.
Quitting Quiet Quarter
April 3, 2009
It has been a quiet quarter at Lake ChangingWay. In other words, I didn’t post much in Jan/Feb/Mar. Time to get past that, and make Apr/May/Jun more lively – springlike even – round here. Coming soon is a post reviewing what I found interesting (e.g., starred in Google Reader, or started to draft a post on) the 2009 so far.
