Singing in the Fall

In the coming months I will be singing thrice weekly with a variety of organizations.  It looks like it will be a lot of fun, although maybe a challenge for time commitments as well with rehearsals starting this week.

For the first time, I will be singing with the Mystic Chorale.  The fall concert Pastures of Plenty – Woody Guthrie at 100 will take place Saturday, Nov 17, 8:00pm and (my birthday!) Sunday, Nov 18, 3:30pm at Tremont Temple in Boston.  I’m looking forward to singing songs written and inspired by one of my all-time favorite persons.

My son and I will also once again be performing with SingPositive, JP.  This multi-generational, family chorus will be making our sophomore outing with a concert themed on Optimism in Hard Times on Sunday, December 16th, 4pm at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Jamaica Plain.  If you are looking for a musical, community experience, I definitely recommend looking into SingPositive which is branching out into other communities in the Boston area.

Finally, my daughter and I will be attending regular classes of Music Together at the Children’s Music Center of Jamaica Plain.  There’s no performance with this one but it may be the most fun.  I enjoyed singing with my son when he was little and look forward to repeating the experience and introducing my baby girl to music and rhythm.

This post is partially shameless self-promotion to get you to come out to my performances, but I also hope that anyone looking for opportunities to sing and perform music in the Boston area (with or without children) will see this post.  I highly recommend all of these organizations and suggest you check them out and get involved if you’re interested.  If you know of any good singing and music activities in the Boston area, let me know in the comments.

Photopost: Museum of Science

A few photos from a visit to Boston’s Museum of Science with my son this weekend.

Escalator innards.

 

There’s no app for that.

 

Freshly-hatched chick.

World’s largest collection of barf bags (many of which are politically-themed)

 

The ever so elusive Plastic Pink Lawn Flamingo (Pseudamingoflay plasticus)

This Sunday: Boston By Foot South End Walking Tour

Come join a South End Walking Tour presented by Boston By Foot.

I will be one of the guides, but this is not just shameless self-promotion as the other five guides are a dream team of some of the best walking tour guides in Boston.  Come learn about one of the largest, most diverse, and dynamic neighborhoods in Boston.

Buy advance tickets for the tour online and meet us across from Back Bay Station on Dartmouth Street at 2 pm on Sunday August 26th.

Boston Olympics?

On Sunday night during the broadcast of the Closing Ceremonies from the 2012 Summer Olympics in Boston, a trend started on Twitter asking what an Olympics in Boston might be like.  Adam Gaffin of Universal Hub who started the trend Storified the many humorous responses.  My own contribution was to suggest that Big Papi would carry the torch up the Charles on a speedboat.  Almost instantly after tweeting I knew I should have said Duck Boat instead, and several people rightly corrected me.

It’s not very likely that Boston would ever host the Summer Olympics in reality as the city is too small to welcome so many people at once and constructing all the necessary venues would be cost prohibitive and difficult to justify beyond the games (although it should be noted that Boston has played its part in Olympic history).  I got to thinking though that Boston could quite possibly host the Winter Games which attract fewer athletes and often takes place in cities the size of Boston and smaller.  Existing venues such as the Boston Garden, Matthews Arena, Conte Forum, and Agganis Arena would be perfect for the indoor games on ice while the mountain sports could take place at a ski resort in New Hampshire, Vermont, or Maine.  An Olympic Village for the athletes could be appropriated as much-needed student housing.

I searched the web and discovered that somebody else already has the same idea.  This website puts together a good case for Boston to host the Winter Olympics in 2026.  The creators of the website show that Boston and its venues are comparable in size to previous Winter Olympics’ hosts such as Salt Lake City and Torino.  They also point out that having the mountain sports in a location about two hours away has already been done at previous games such as Vancouver.

One thing they suggested that I hadn’t thought of was to hold the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Fenway Park.  While I like that idea, I think an even better location would be a venue not yet constructed which would be the soccer specific stadium for the New England Revolution.  Long-promised by the Kraft family, one would hope it would be in place well before 2026.  Fenway Park has its history and charm, but it also has a lot of posts and seats with poor sightlines even for baseball.  I’d want everyone in attendance to have a perfect view of the ceremonies and parade of nations.

And what an Opening Ceremonies it would be.  2026 coincides with the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States.  Boston played a central role in the Revolution and surely would be great at commemorating our history in performance.  With snow and sleds, I see a reenactment of Henry Knox’s Nobile Train of Artillery.

Anyhow, I’m pretty excited by the possibilities of the Olympics in Boston.  If you have your doubts, check out the Boston Winter Olympics 2012 website and read the compelling case.  Then take action to make this dream a reality.

Walking Tour of Davis Square in Somerville

I’ll be leading this Boston By Foot Tour of the Month of Davis Square in Somerville (which I also researched and co-wrote) on Sunday, July 29th from 2pm-3:30pm.  Admission is $15 per person, $5 for members (and you can become a member on the day of the tour).  No reservations needed, just show up a few minutes before 2 pm on Sunday at the plaza opposite Somerville Theatre.

Photopost: Tall Ships in Boston

OpSail Boston and Boston Navy Week bring lots and lots of tall ships to the port of Boston. I took the kids to see a few of them yesterday at the Fish Pier and Charlestown Navy Yard.

Brazil’s Cisne Branco at the Fish Pier.

Pleasure boats loop around the dock to enjoy viewing the tall ships.

Mast of the Cisne Branco.

Mast of the USCG Barque Eagle.

USS Cassin Young in the dry dock at Charlestown Navy Yard.

The deck of the USCGC Juniper with the HNOMS Thor Heyerdahl and HDMS Esbern Snare in the distance.

Norway’s HNOMS Thor Heyerdahl and Denmark’s HDMS Esbern Snare.

A buoy on the deck of USCGC Juniper.

A windshield wiper view from the bridge of the HDMS Esbern Snare.

Related Post: Sail Boston ’09

Photopost: Wake Up the Earth 2012

Some photos from back on May 5th when Spontaneous Celebrations presented its annual Wake Up the Earth Festival in Jamaica Plain. This year we not only watched the parade but my son and I also participated in the festival, performing with Sing Positive JP.

Here comes the parade!

There were many dragons in the parade but this was the cutest.

A trombone serenade for a young biker.

Strolling musicians and a big chomper.

Racing bakfiets.

Dragons evolved into chickens?

Bock.

Bah!

Here’s a sample of our chorus’ singing:

Related Posts:

• Wake Up The Earth (2009)
• Wake Up The Earth Parade (2010)
• Wake Up The Earth (2011)

Photopost: Holiday Week in Boston

There’s no place like home for the holidays, and Boston is our holiday home. With a week off from work and school, my wife Susan, son Peter, and baby Kay sought and found many adventures including: The Museum of Science, Boston Common, The Children’s Museum, The New England Aquarium, The Christmas Revels, The Larz Anderson Auto Museum and Park, and Edaville USA. Thanks to the Boston Public Library for providing the museum passes that allowed free entrance to the Museum of Science, Aquarium, and Auto Museum.

Some of my favorite photos are below. If you want to see more, check out my online photo slideshow.

San T. Rex is coming to town.

Leatherback Turtle surfaces for a snack in the giant ocean tank.

Anderson Auto Museum license plate collection.

The Edaville Railroad's steam engine

Big fun on the big wheel

Boston By Foot Boston Common & Public Garden Tour

Today I enjoyed another special Boston By Foot tour focusing on Boston Common and the Public Garden.  Our guide taught us a lot about the history of these two great public places, their features, and many works of public art.  It was a wet day, maybe not the best time to enjoy the parks, but on the plus side I got to take lots of pictures without people getting in the way.

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Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon

Would you like to help out a cute 3.5 year old kid and his dad as they ride a bike 15 miles around Boston to support Bikes Not Bombs?  Then donate now to support our efforts for the Bikes Not Bombs Bike-A-Thon.

My son Peter & I love riding our bikes around Boston and look forward to the 15-mile ride around the city on June 12th to support Bikes Not Bombs. Bikes Not Bombs is a great charitable organization that helps the youth of our city through programs that offer bike safety lessons, teach mechanic skills and encourage a healthy life. As a result of Bikes Not Bombs programs, kids learn confidence and leadership skills. Bikes Not Bombs also refurbishes bicycles and ships them abroad. These bikes help people in Central America, the Caribbean and Africa fulfill necessary transportation and technological needs in an environmentally friendly manner.

Please consider making a donation to sponsor us and support Bikes Not Bombs. Better yet, sign up and ride with us!

Thank you very much.