Hey, there! Log in / Register

Kenmore: Where trolleys go to die

Growing indications are that Friday was just not a day to take the T. In addition to earlier reports, this just in from Mats: 17 minutes after he got to the inbound platform at Kenmore, a two-car trolley shows up, only to be unloaded:

A brusque T-guy yelled at people to get out of the car to get out - almost as if they were at Park Street, in a car marked Government Center - but that there's another trolley right behind the broken down one. Well, yes, there was, only it, too, was chockful with passengers. To top it off, it had only one car. You do the math: One car load plus two car loads plus one quarter car-load equals ... more than one car can hold. ...


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

No more movies at Copley Place

Ron reports:

I happened to walk through the Copley Place mall tonight and notice this sign on the cinema marquee:

CLOSING JAN 30TH THANK-YOU FOR YOUR PATRONAGE

Once this closes, there will be only two movie theatres wholly within Boston city limits: AMC Fenway and Loews Boston Common.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Commutes that suck

Nothing like some snow and sub-freezing temperatures to make your commute on the T extra special. Karl reports what happens when no Red Line train shows up and then, finally, one slowly appears, already crammed with people:

... Imagine buying some toothpicks in those see-thru plastic containers. You can jossle that thing around but the toothpicks don't budge. THAT was the subway this morning. ...

Wendy reports on the trackless trolley in Watertown this morning:

... Today, we were heading along the bus route as normal, after a tough but timely walk from my home, when the electricity along the entire route stopped. ... Luckily, it was only about fifteen minutes before the juice came back on, but people were looking about ready to riot. "I'm going to be late again," people whined into their cell phones. People were considering just walking back home and starting their weekends early. I was considering weeping, because sitting on a bus makes me incredibly nauseated. ...

Chris, who has seen his commute increase by 45 minutes or so this week, is amazed that Boston can't handle snow, but says he was saddened to read about a T worker killed in a snow-related accident on the tracks of the Orange Line:

... There seems to be perpetual conflict and suspicion between the MBTA and its riders, but it's moments like this that should make riders realize that delays are often despite the best efforts of MBTA employees ...

Cynthia goes "ick:"

This morning I can report that I actually saw a real-life man take a real-life piss in the Davis Square subway station. During morning rush hour no less. I always wondered how the subway stations manage to smell like urine when I've never seen anyone taking a leak in any stations. ...


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Making something happen on the T

Michy has her eye on this tall guy who rides the C line through Brookline every day just like her - and has decided to do something about it:

Tonight I am going to wait at the station he gets on at night to make sure I get on the same train. ... [O]nce I am in a good enough position I will ask him if he has a girlfriend and something along those lines, introduce myself, and ask him about the book he is reading etc. I don't want to be messing up my commute every morning for some guy. So, my rationale is in life you or I need to make things happen, we need to take action. ...


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Democratic call to action

Bob Neer reports that local Democratic Party caucuses are this weekend and next:

... All Progressives MUST attend their local caucus if we are ever to grow this Party a new set of balls so it can beat the Republicans. ...

Caucus times and locations.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Who says chivalry is dead?

Frecklegirl tries the Warp-Factor-9 approach to getting into her re-snowed-in on-street parking space in Cambridge and, of course, gets stuck in a snowbank and blocks traffic:

I jumped out of the car, grabbed my trusty little shovel and start trying to get my car out. I do a little dorky wave to the disgruntled Harvard guys and they look at me like I am the stupidest girl on the planet. Which, of course, I am.

Then, out of nowhere, my savior comes! Even weighed down with a gigantic backpack, he shovels like a madman!

Another guy jumps out of one of those F3000 trucks and helped push me out of the devil space with the help of Backpack guy.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Today's best Red Sox site you probably won't understand a word of

No, Dan Shaughnessy hasn't started his own site. The Boston Japanese Red Sox fan club is entirely in Japanese. But it looks really cool. For English stuff, see JapaneseBallPlayers.com. Both are by Daigo, also active in the Boston Japanese Linux/Unix Users Group (where you can satisfy your curiosity about what a penguin would look like in a lobster suit).


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Nice spine there, PBS

In case you missed it, PBS will not distribute an episode of "Postcards From Buster" - made right here at our very own WGBH - because Education Secretary Margaret Spellings is upset that it shows Arthur the Aardvark's best friend visiting a pair of lesbian maple-syrup farmers in Vermont.

Bri is aghast:

How damn insensitive and agenda pushing has children's television become?

Have they no concern for us trying to raise children in a maple free environment? ...

I never felt that I had to sit side-by-side with my daughter as she watched Public Television. I fear for what she will see. What if diversity creeps into her vocabulary? What if she sees children eating peanuts when she knows that her school is "nut product free?" I hope she does not cross to the dark side. SpongeBob SquarePants eats nuts, ya know.

Girlie So Groovie says:

... I really like the part about our Secretary of Education saying that many parents wouldn't want their children exposed to lesbian lifestyles. This is a woman who "became the subject of conservative sniping soon after moving to Washington after she was asked on C-SPAN to react to census data showing a decline in the traditional family. 'So what?' she replied, noting that there were "lots of different types of family" and that she herself was 'a single mom.' " Apparently, gay couples with children don't count among the "lots of different types of family." ...

Charley on the MTA knows what's going on:

In lieu of pushing the anti-marriage constitutional amendment (a certain loser in the Senate), the Bush administration is pandering to its homophobe base with micro-initiatives, like this. ... These people are bullying our friends, neighbors, and relatives.

Domenico, however, says 'GBH is just a bunch of gay-loving liberals and that the incident shows why PBS should stop getting public funding:

... This is typical of how such things are done. Rarely do they slap you in the face. Instead, they present it as a fait accompli, just a normal part of the background of life. This is why parents need to be extra careful in monitoring what their children watch. Otherwise you allow the poison to creep into your home through the idiot box. ...

You'll want to hide the children on March 23, when WGBH airs the episode.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Save the Plough and Stars

Cambridge is apparently considering revoking the Central Square pub's entertainment license. Cynthia signals a call to arms for the Friday (at 1 p.m.) Cambridge License Commission meeting:

The Plough's music has been a part of Cambridge culture for many, many years. I've been going to the Plough for the past 20 years. They've always offered great entertainment, at a reasonable price, in the most "Neighbourly Pub" in all of Boston/Cambridge. ...

We always talk about getting involved and making a difference in something we believe in. This might not be about the war in Iraq, global terror or national politics. This is a chance for you to do something in your own backyard that you believe in. Besides, if the Plough didn't have music, where else would you see Los Diablos?

If you can't attend, you can send a letter to [email protected] for delivery to the commission.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

How do I get my blog's postings on Universal Hub?

Use this form. Be sure to include your RSS feed URL (sorry, at this time, our software doesn't recognize Atom) - and let us know which neighborhood and T stop you want to be associated with.


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Pages