One More

One more from the pillow fight. This guy was in cahoots with the giraffe from yesterday.

Pillow Fight

Saturday was World Pillow Fight Day, and so of course I headed to Copley Square to make sure that you guys got to see some of the action (apparently I really do go for the in depth reporting, George). That's not snow on the ground (thank GOD!), it's the aftermath of the first burst pillow. And that guy in the middle? The giraffe holding the state flag? He's the one that started it all when he ran into the square with a bullhorn on it's siren setting. Click the photo to enlarge, and make note of the other photog in the photo. There were almost as many people there to take photos as there were to pillow fight!

I took a LOT of photos that day - so many that I haven't made it through all of them myself! Luckily for you, there are heaps of photos of the event here, so feel free to check those out. There was also an article in the Boston Globe about how this kind of spontaneous event is a new trend, and you can read that here.

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!

I love seeing live music, and I don't do it nearly as often as I used to. Luckily for me, I have some friends that are very good about keeping track of when their fav acts are in town and letting the rest of us know. Now, I love watching a band perform live, but what I really love is watching a band that doesn't just perform, but interacts with each other and the audience. I'll throw out here some of my favs to see live, so you can keep your eyes peeled for when their in your neck of the woods - Guster, Reel Big Fish, Panic at the Disco, They Might Be Giants, and the talented lady that you're looking at: Missy Higgins.

Missy is an Australian singer/songwriter. She played The Paradise, and our friend Ros (who is also Australian) decided that seeing Missy would be the perfect way to celebrate her birthday. Happy Birthday (again) to Ros! To the rest of you: do yourself a favor and listen to this woman sing. I'm currently loving 100 Round the Bend from her new album, but anything you see on that page I linked won't be bad (except the few videos that snuck in and aren't Missy!).

Aside from just being talented and wonderful to listen to, the awesome part of seeing her live was hearing the stories in between the songs - about her experience writing the songs, what they're about, why she wrote them. The best stories though, were about her experiences touring - her first time hearing a Boston accent and realizing that it just sounds funny, but then there's a few "Aussie" words in there every once in a while (Aussies and Bostonians drop their "r"s in the same manner), or about how a few nights ago in NYC she thought she was witnessing a drug deal, but really it was a guy that tried scalping her tickets to her own show.

Don't miss her live if you have the chance!

Power Tool Racing?

Here's a blast from the past - I've been going through everything I shot on film before I got my digital camera a year ago, and I found this! What is it? It's a belt sander drag race, of course! Doesn't everyone do that??

This is actually from a few years back - 2006 I believe - and I highly recommend that you listen to the NPR's Only A Game story here. The Winter Nationals are run by the New England Belt Sander Racing Association, and are held at Kenyon Woodworking in Jamaica Plain every winter. If you want to get in on the action, they are usually held the first weekend in February (sorry, we're too late to catch them this year), and get there early because it gets PACKED and you'll have to fight your way through a crowd. It's really an amazing experience, you've really got to see this at least once in your life.

People supe up belt sanders and send them screaming down a two lane race track (and occasionally off the track, so make sure you stand behind the line of death they mark on the floor!) in a single elimination style tournament. Did I mention that they also do some pretty awesome decorations on these suped up belt sanders? Check out the Central Main Power Tool Racing Association's 2008 Race Report, complete with video clips.

Who knew power tools could be so much fun??

Better Late Than Never! Part 2

Doppiavu and I were walking along Comm Av. several days ago and spotted this on the side of Prudential Tower. The color of the dress periodically changed from white to red.

Better Late Than Never!

February 1st was National Wear Red Day, a part of Go Red For Women - raising awareness for heart disease among women. Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America - a fact I think is often over looked because of the attention given to other diseases (which are no less horrible!).

I found this display of support on the side of The Federal Reserve Bank and loved how it echoed the red from the South Station T entrance. Check out some other cities that went red here, and check back here tomorrow to see the Go Red projection that Maria found around town!

Kung Fu Monks

The boyfriend and I saw the Shaolin Warriors perform at the Orpheum Theater this past Saturday. Very random, but totally cool. The show was a little more theatrical than I had hoped for, but I didn't really expect to be seeing challenge matches and actual fighting. Seriously though, what better way to spend a Saturday night thatn watching a bunch of Buddhist Monks doing kick-ass kung fu? I can't think of one!

The inspiration behind us going was the book American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch, by Matthew Polly. We both tore through the book when we read it, and I'm pretty certain that just about anyone will enjoy reading it!

Red Sox Victory Parade

The Boston Red Sox made their way through the city streets in Duck Tour vehicles (World War II-era amphibious duck boats) today amid the excited roars of over-excited fans. The vehicle with the Sox's General Manager, Theo Epstein, was held up in front of us for a few minutes and the crowd figured it was a good time to voice their opinion by yelling "re-sign Lowell!"--I think Theo was happy when the parade started moving again! Jonathan Papelbon didn't disappoint and even donned a kilt while performing his jig on the back of a truck with the Dropkick Murphys. The top picture is a view from Boylston Street and the bottom pic shows construction workers with a prime view of the parade.

Five More Days!

The Marlborough Street Fair was last weekend, to raise money for the John Winthrop School along the street. There were pony rides, a train, bouncey castles, and ambulance to explore, a band to dance to, plenty of snacks...and of course, pumpkins to decorate!

Photo by Whit, I just posted!

Halloween Countdown: Six Days Left...

Come on Sox, eat 'em alive! ;-) Today's pictures celebrate both Halloween and Red Sox Nation madness. The picture above is yet another pumpkin from the Pumpkin Festival on the weekend. The picture below is of the Prudential Center which was lit up last night for Game 1 of the 2007 World Series.

Let's Go Red Sox!

Tonight's the first game of the World Series...anyone who knows Boston knows that this city is going nuts right now (and how jealous am I of my boss who scored tickets to tomorrow night's game?!). You can't turn around without seeing something Sox related, and it's even on everyone's mind at the grocery store - when I was at the grocery store someone apologized to the person behind them in line for taking a long time and the person responded "Hey, as long as I'm home before the game starts!"

This is one of Whit's photos from the Pumpkin Festival...there were at least a half dozen that we saw with this same sentiment!

Halloween Countdown: 9 days left...

More from the Pumpkin Festival: the goal was to break the Guinness World Record or jack-o-lanterns (well, and make some money for Camp Sunshine) - which means having 30,128 lit jack-o-lanterns all in one place and one time. Here's an idea of what they had when were there about two hours after they had started.

Halloween Countdown: 10 days left...

Here's another shot from the pumpkin festival yesterday. Let's go Patriots...let's make it 7-0 today!!!

Halloween Countdown...

This is Arizona, who is the start of our Halloween countdown. Whit and I cruised through the Camp Sunshine Pumpkin Festival at Government Center today and got our fill of pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. Arizona was getting into the spirit and hanging out in her bee costume, proudly sporting her Red Sox leash in anticipation of their win tonight!

Chalk One Up For The Arts

This afternoon folks headed over to joins Sidewalk Sam in the annual Chalk One Up For The Arts. There was a band playing music, drinks, and ice cream treats - plus you get to break away from Excel spreadsheets in your cubicle to have at a square of sidewalk in the middle of the financial district, and wrap it up by getting your photo taken with Sidewalk Sam. What more could you want for your lunch break?

Boston Landmarks Orchestra

Tonight the Boston Landmarks Orchestra played at Dorchester Park, which is just down the street from my house. We picked up subs and headed over for a "picnic" and to enjoy the music. It was a Red Sox themed program, which was very cool - a few patriotic songs, Take Me Out To The Ballgame, Heart from Damn Yankees, and a song that the orchestra commissioned called Lifting the Curse: A Story of the Red Sox. The narration was written by Bill Littlefield, of NPR's Only A Game.

If you're in Boston and interested in seeing the Landmarks Orchestra, they play every Wednesday night at 7 PM at the Hatch Shell during the summer - the last performance is September 5th and there's more info on the specific programs at their website.

Click photo to enlarge!

The Cat Empire

A well-known Aussie band, The Cat Empire, performed last night in Copley Square Park. The concert is part of WBOS 92.9 FM's FREE concert series in the summertime. There was a great atmosphere with people of all ages dancing, singing and lounging on the grass--sorry to all those who missed it (Sarah!). ;)

Hearts of Gold

I was lucky enough to attend the Boston Heart Ball last night at the Westin Waterfront Hotel. According to the event's MC, Ann Curry, the evening raised an estimated 1.5 million dollars for the Heart Foundation. Way to go Boston--open those hearts...and wallets!

Champions Cup Boston

The Champions Cup Boston is in town this weekend - marking Sampras' return to tennis. We saw Sampras play Petr Korda and John McEnroe (above) play a poor guy named Tim Mayotte. Mayotte has been retired since 1992, but lives locally and was called up when Mat Wlander hurt his back and couldn't play. It was pretty obvious he was rusty, but he had a great sense of humor about it and put on a good show none the less!

Stop and smell the flowers

The Boston Flower Show was this past weekend, and Whit stopped by to say hello to her roomie who organized the event. This was one of her favorite arrangements, but Leyre and I really loved this photo here.