Harvey Ball Day

 Today in Harvey Ball Day in Worcester, MA where he was born in 1921. 

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Funny because it's true!

- Good for Worcester! A new Catholic School policy in Worcester's diocese outlines that there's only two genders and proper bathroom use. 

- Saint Thomas (Doubting Thomas) in India. Who knew? The roots of Christianity in India is as old as the roots in Italy.

- Will the Patriots Malik Cunningham be the next Taysom Hill?

More Linky Links

More stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Richard Feynman: The Pleasure of Finding Things Out (video)

- Bob Cousy at 95-years old. Was not aware that Chris Forsberg was also born in Worcester.

- Lessons for today's Cold War 2.0 with Russia, China. 

- Residents of Victoria housing complex in Australia awarded $5 million because the government locked them up during Covid-19 lockdown.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Douglas Murray and Uncancelled History. Looking forward to listening to these podcasts.

- Worcester struggles under Polar Park debt. Covid really put a crimp into the plans and not mentioned is parking around the stadium. Once the parking stadium garage is completed things should improve.

- Christmas Eve to remember - 1944 in the Ardennes Today's must read.

- The epilogue to the story

Blame it on the Pill

Has pharmacology worked to change the evolutionary direction of humankind? Not a new theory as I have been hearing variations of this for decades.

Should also note that the birthplace of "the pill" is normally credited to Worcester, Mass (but it was actually in neighboring Shrewsbury).  

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I'd be OK with vaccine passports if it also became mandatory for any candidate or incumbent for political elected office had to first pass the current test immigrants have to pass on US history and civics in order to become citizens. The argument of "what's the big deal?" is equally valid for both issues. Looking at you AOC and other members of "the Squad"...  Heh Heh... Amused by fact I've heard a number of people refer to the vaccine now as a "stab" instead of a "jab." Gives a slightly different meaning to, "Let Big Pharma jab you." Wonder if "Let Big Pharma stab you" is actually more accurate though... The City of Worcester grew by over 25,000 in the latest census giving the Heart of the Commonwealth a total of 206,518 and keeping it the second largest city in New England. Suck it Hartford, Providence, and Portland!... Never noticed this before but supermarkets put the most colorful, sugar-filled cereals on the bottom two shelves to catch the eyes and be well within reach of little kids... Both President Biden and VP Kamala Harris are distressed assets...  

Worcester and Women's Rights

 On this date in 1850 Worcester, MA was host to the first National Women's Rights Convention. That put Worcester on the forefront of the woman's suffrage movement. 

Seeing how Worcester was also the birthplace of the birth control pill - it can be argued that Worcester was one of the most important cities in terms of woman's rights in the entire US.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- This makes me sad. The last candlepin bowling alley in Worcester is closing for good.

- Ernest Hemingway on symbolism in The Old Man and the Sea.

- How to plan your day like Marcus Aurelius

- Wow - Joe Rogan bringing his podcast exclusively to Spotify. This really does seem similar to Howard Stern moving to Sirius XM.

- And speaking of Spotify and podcasts - an update on Bill Simmons and The Ringer

- Great Robert Parrish / Michael Jordan story

3 Reasons to Feel Good About Today's Patriots Victory over Cowboys

On the cover of the GameDay magazine Lt US Navy Reserve and Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona was honored as part of today's "Salute to Service."

Before today's game the Patriots honored the memory of Worcester firefighter Lt. Jason Menard who recently gave the last full measure of devotion saving others in a four-alarm fire.

During the game each member of the Patriots wore decals of the initials of a military service member who paid the ultimate sacrifice. The were 26 fallen service members total who were honored. All had family ties to New England. Patriots did this in partnership with the Tragedy Assistance  Program for Survivors (TAPS).

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Southern California and North Korea have roughly the same populations (about 24 million) and it could honestly be argued that Southern Cal actually is the bigger existential threat to America... What was the worse preseason bet - Mitch Trubiski as NFL MVP or Kyrie Irving as NBA MVP? (Note just asking I didn't make either of those dumb wagers)...  The 9 most badass Bible verses... It should be remembered that perhaps the main reason ESPN purged itself of any politics a while back was to protect the launch of their new streaming service Disney+ (they didn't want to give any excuse for half the country to not want to buy a Disney product). It's amusing that many who loudly decried the "muzzling" of people like Jemelle Hill at the time are the same people who remained oddly silent over Daryl Morey's right to free speech when it came to the NBA and China... When I find myself in times of trouble or doubt I ask "What would Tim Tebow do?" and the path is made clear... I don't own any sports jerseys (because I'm a friggin adult) but I might make an exception for a Number 6...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Using nuclear power to directly eliminate the root cause of global warming. Interesting, technical, long-read but the proposal means a 1 GW reactor could remove 3,790 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere PER DAY

- This gave me chills - people's beautiful expressions at hearing sound for the first time

- Interesting - the world first rooftop 360-degree infinity pool

- How to donate your body to science

- An app for iPhones can automatically start to record if you get pulled over by the police

- One stat where I want to strive to be below average

- Interesting map showing the most famous person born in different parts of the US. Worcester's most famous resident is listed as H. Jon Benjamin (Archer) - I would have guessed Dennis Leary (though historically it should have been Robert Goddard)

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- This should put a smile on your face.

- Very cool interview with the Chicago Bears Mama Bear 96-year old Virginia McCaskey

- My first thought was "what a waste of books" but my second was "I want one but with a fire-pole"

- USC's penny-sized robotic bee. I for one welcome our insect sized robot overlords

- If you don't at least get a little misty watching this then I really don't want to know you

- Really great news about Alex Trebek

- Patients with drug resistant malaria cured with plant based therapy developed at WPI. Go Worcester!

A Little Epiphany

This morning over my first cup of coffee I had a little epiphany. I realized that growing up I was a bigoted "left side of the church guy."

Main Street in Worcester runs North and South. The Church I attended growing up, Saint Peter's, was on Main St. "South" (which was also the name for the general section of the city I grew up in - Main South).

There were three doors to the church in the front and doors on either side. Me, my family and I realized this morning pretty much everyone who lived on the west side of Main Street - meaning the Clark University towards Park Ave neighborhoods - not West Side (capitalized meaning the Tatnuck section of Worcester) - we all used the left side front entrance of the church and sat in pews on the left side of the church. If we ever entered through the middle door in front of the church - we generally made our way over to the left side entrance to the church nave or sat on the left side of the center aisle. I can't recall ever entering the church through the right side front door.

The right side of the church? Well that was for the people who lived on the east side of Main Street (not to be confused with Worcester's East Side which is generally considered to be the Shrewsbury St. section of the city). I'm talking about people who live on Kilby St., Gardner St., and Crystal Park. Those neighborhoods. Those people.

The people from Clifton, Florence, and Dewey Streets - well we consciously or unconsciously self-segregated ourselves from those people. We sat on the left side of the church because we looked down on the people who sat on the right side. We lived on the "right" side of Main Street. The "good" side of Main Street. And we stuck together.

It took me 40-years to suddenly come to this realization.

Sure I knew some of the people and families who sat on the right side of the church. I even dated a girl from Crystal Park. But to be honest I think I always felt the people on my side of the church were superior.

Now I wonder how much different and richer my life could have been if I just sat on the right side of the church every once and a while. 

A Very Special Beer

There is a very special beer coming out in February and I plan to make it my beer of choice until they run out or stop making it. 

The beer is called Worcester's Bravest and it is a collaboration of Wachusett Brewing and Wormtown Brewing. Proceeds from the beer will benefit the family of Christopher Roy who died fighting a blaze last month. 

Support your local breweries because when times get tough they support their communities like they are doing for the family of Christopher Roy.

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- The US needs to keep the pressure on Iran's regime.

- Maybe the best way to announce your retirement ever.

- Wages and salaries jump by 3.1% highest level in a decade. This news may have gotten more press except there's an election coming.

- It's cool that Assumption College in Worcester is getting so much love this football season

- And speaking of Worcester - UMass Medical researchers near ALS breakthrough

- Ernest Hemingway's guide to life in 20 quotes

- This just cracks me up

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Now that Worcester has secured the PawSox - next up the Providence Bruins!... Credit where credit is due - Jared Kushner was quietly been very effective behind the scenes in the Trump Administration... Disappointed that the nickname Spanky isn't used anymore. Except I guess for high school boys who are caught - well you know... Interesting - Elon Musk claims a Tesla Semi prototype drove across the country alone... The things you learn from the Internet - "Despite the horrific display, nearly two-thirds of those who were on board the Hindenberg survived its 1937 crash"...  A new reports says China hacked Hillary Clinton's private server and had real-time copies of every single email. But nothing to see here... Scott Peterson was sentenced to death in 2004 for killing his wife Laci. He's still on death row. Get it over already!....

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I don't disagree that it would be cool to come up with a unique name for the AAA team to be based in Worcester but given these options I'd prefer a simple WooSox... Things can be infinitely small or infinitely large but yet both are equally infinite. Blows your mind if you stop to think on it... Meanwhile this week in Musk World - Tesla stock slides to below $300... Mischief Managed would be a great name for a Harry Potter themed punk band... ESPN's new president says politics is not their job and network will stick to sports... Observation from a Sunday spent at Old Orchard Beach - I could live to be 110 and not be able to come up with a reason or justification for having a large neck tattoo of a boom box..  Have to say that so far the new ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro is acting just as I predicted in March...

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Why Saudi Arabia would want to invest in Elon Musk and Tesla

- The official announcement of the PawSox coming to Worcester. And what the new ballpark will look like.

- Trump Administration could be nearing a new NAFTA deal with Mexico

- Mysterious X-37B military space plane nears one-year in orbit. Do we already have a Space Force?

- Interesting interview with Tao of Poker founder Pauly McGuire. (Long read)

- So Colin Kaepernick turned down a chance to play for the Broncos. Anyone who feels sorry for Kaepernick is a sap.

- Things that make you say WTF!?!?

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Worcester - the birthplace of barbwire, the shopping cart, the birth control pill and modern rocketry. Site of Ted William's first pro home run and soon to be the new home of the Pawtucket Worcester Red Sox...  I think we've all stood upon Mount Stupid at one time or another... It's OK Omarosa. On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog... Life lesson - if a man is dropping a deuce at a bar late at night he either has stomach problems or is a vampire just waking up... Fantastic life advice from Brad Stevens... The advice from Coach Stevens reminds me of this quote from Teddy Roosevelt, "Do what you can, where you are, with what you have."... Which then reminds me of this quote from Tom Peters, "Excellence is the next five minutes... Forget the long term. Make the next five minutes rock!"...

Bob Cousy

Happy 90th birthday to Holy Cross and Boston Celtics' legend Bob Cousy.

90-years young and still sharp as a tack. He might not have been born here but many (including me) consider him Worcester's own.