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May 11, 2013 - 10:50pm
The spring flowers we enjoy in the city aren’t necessarily in gardens. (Top photo: azalea in front of barred basement window.) Some city flowers live wild and free, surviving against the odds in a sea of asphalt. Others share their space with drifting trash, or they camp out in forgotten borders, elbowing the weeds and sheltering under idle construction equipment. Street trees create brilliant vistas with their clouds of new leaves; their fallen seeds and petals bring a moment of magic to the gritty sidewalks beneath.
Images, right:
Top row: Left, dandelion with dead leaves and trash. Right, a flowering crab covers the sidewalk with rosy petals, accented by a drifting plastic bag.
Bottom row: Left, red tulips frame a utility box. Right, potted pansies are background for a pile of dog droppings.
These courageous flowers deserve some appreciation. They bring joy to the ants and birds and honeybees, and also to us.
For more urban botany click on the slide show below.
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May 9, 2013 - 7:35pm
Top photo: Young artists who worked on the historical mural at the Novartis construction site on Massachusetts Avenue were introduced to guests at a Community Art Center reception February 13 by Executive Director Eryn Johnson (at right above). Visiting Mural Artist Laura Smith, partly visible, is next to her. The event celebrated completion of the first phase of the mural project.
So what’s it like painting a mural outdoors in the middle of winter?
Half a dozen 7- to 10-year-old artists shared the story with guests at a reception at the Community Art Center (CAC) at 119 Windsor Street on February 13. They were describing work on the mural now taking shape in the construction walkway on Massachusetts Avenue between Albany and Windsor Streets. The kids are veterans of the newly completed Phase 1 of the project. They offered some survival tips.
“We did jumping jacks.”
“We wore warm coats.”
“Hot cocoa!”
The group leader for the project, CAC’s visiting mural artist Laura Smith, noted a practical discovery: “Paint freezes when the temperature goes below 32 degrees,” she said.
More images, above right:
• Top row left, reception attendees walked over to the nearby mural site for a...
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April 20, 2013 - 10:58am
The Cambridge Community Chorus will join the Masterworks Chorale, Choral Arts Society, MIT Chorus, Harvard Radcliffe Chorus, Metropolitan Chorale, Chorus Pro Musica, and others from the Greater Boston area in a performance of the Brahms Requiem Sunday, April 21, 2013.
The event is a benefit for those affected by the tragic events at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Proceeds will go to One Fund Boston, Inc., a charity set up by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino in the wake of Monday’s bombing attack.
The concert is at 8:00 PM at MIT's Kresge Auditorium at 48 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. Those who wish to sing should come at 7:00 and bring their own scores.
Danica A. Buckley, Director of the Simmons and Lesley College Choruses and the Choral Arts Society will lead the performance with participation of other music directors. Jamie Kirsch, Director of the Cambridge chorus, will conduct the 4th movement. Singers will be accompanied by Brahms's four hand piano reduction of the piece.
Suggested donation at the door is $10.
More information on the Cambridge Community Chorus Facebook page.
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April 16, 2013 - 9:24am
The photo* at the top of the page represents the local legend of Patriots Day as it was portrayed this year in Cambridge on Monday morning, April 15. This is our own backstory, set in the Revolutionary-era city of 1775, with the central role played by a local patriot who undertook a dramatic all-night ride to warn of a coming attack by the British. The second photo* (right) shows our new vision of Patriots Day. It is a scene from the bombing that took place later that afternoon at the Boston Marathon. The attack, as yet unexplained, makes this a darker holiday.
The local backstory, now more than two centuries old, was reenacted Monday morning at the Patriots Day Observance on Cambridge Common. According to historians, it was Boston tanner William Dawes, Jr., not Paul Revere, who rode through this city in the early morning hours on the 18th of April to warn of a British attack. Mayor Henrietta Davis read aloud the Helen F. Moore poem above, which contradicts the version popularized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in "Paul Revere's Ride."
Patriot Dawes was portrayed by Sergeant First Class Matthew Johnson of the National Lancers Foundation. Mounted on a bay horse, he came into...
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April 11, 2013 - 10:34am
*Top photo: City Councilor Craig Kelley (at left) and former On The Rise board member Gerry Wolf.
Four-term City Councilor Craig Kelley joined some 40 attendees at the annual community meeting of On The Rise, Inc. on April 2 at the Cambridge Main Library. Chatting with other guests over coffee, Kelley said he assesses his constituents’ concerns in part on the number of emails he gets about a given topic.
"Homelessness is high on that list," he said.
Similar concern was expressed by another guest, Officer Matthew Price of the Cambridge Police Department. He is one of two officers currently serving in the department’s Homeless Outreach Program. He said the program coordinates efforts with street outreach workers from On The Rise, CASPAR (Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation) and other groups.
Homelessness is more than a concern, it is a reality for the majority of women who seek assistance at On The Rise, a day program located at 341 Broadway. In the short term, On The Rise offers them a warm welcome and safe haven in a community setting, plus some simple necessities – a meal, a warm jacket, a shower.
Over the longer term, professional...
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March 7, 2013 - 12:20pm
Marcos Colono, 35, of Cambridge has been found guilty of the seven charges of home invasion, assault and rape brought against him in a 12-day trial that began February 21 in Middlesex County Superior Court, Woburn. The outcome of the trial and the sentencing were reported this morning in a press release (below) from the Middlesex District Attorney.
Colono still faces charges in a 2008 assault case in Brighton. According to Jake Wark, press secretary to Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, that trial will begin May 8.
------Press Release------
Gerry LeoneMiddlesex District AttorneyTHE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS15 COMMONWEALTH AVE WOBURN, MA 01801 Tel: 781-897-8325
Cambridge Man Guilty for Cambridge Home Invasion and Rape
WOBURN- A Cambridge man has been found guilty in connection with a 2010 Cambridge home invasion, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone informed the public today.
Marcos Colono, 35, was found guilty by a Middlesex Superior Court Jury of home invasion (2 counts), aggravated rape of a child with force (2 counts), assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a...
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March 5, 2013 - 1:55pm
“These charges are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
A reminder of this basic premise of our justice system is routinely included in press releases from the office of Middlesex County District Attorney Gerard T. Leone, Jr. The principle of presumptive innocence, with its emphasis on proof, appeared to be the basis for Cambridge resident Marcos Colono’s defense on February 27 as he questioned the reliability of the fingerprint evidence that led to his arrest in a 2010 Cambridge home invasion and assault case. Colono is representing himself in the trial, which began February 21 in Middlesex County Superior Criminal Court, Woburn.
On the 27th the prosecution presented fingerprint evidence that was key to Colono's being identified by name and arrested in October, 2010. He is accused of breaking into an upstairs apartment at 220 Pearl Street in Cambridgeport shortly after midnight on August 26, 2010 and attacking a father and son with a knife. He allegedly raped the 11-year-old boy and stabbed the father repeatedly.
The charges against him were stated in a November, 2010 press release from the District Attorney's office: – aggravated rape of...
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February 16, 2013 - 10:48am
Young artists who worked on the historical mural at the Novartis construction site on Massachusetts Avenue were introduced at a Community Art Center reception February 13 by Executive Director Eryn Johnson (right) and Visiting Mural Artist Laura Smith (second from right). The event celebrated completion of the first phase of the mural project.
So what’s it like painting a mural outdoors in the middle of winter?
Half a dozen 7- to 10-year-old artists shared the story with guests at a reception at the Community Art Center (CAC) at 119 Windsor Street on February 13. They were describing work on the mural now taking shape in the construction walkway on Massachusetts Avenue between Albany and Windsor Streets. The kids are veterans of the newly completed Phase 1 of the project. They offered some survival tips.
“We did jumping jacks.”
“We wore warm coats.”
“Hot cocoa!”
Their group leader, CAC’s visiting mural artist Laura Smith, noted a practical discovery: “Paint freezes when the temperature goes below 32 degrees,” she said.
Photo, left: Mural Artist Laura Smith (r) with Novartis Community Core representatives Dwayne Quimby (l) and Kara Cournoyer (c) at the reception.
The...
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February 9, 2013 - 9:47pm
This is no game - it's life or death.
In this weather, house sparrows compete fiercely for a spot at a bird feeder. There's a waiting line down below on the railing at this house on Pearl Street.
The need for energy to keep warm is at its peak now, just when food is hardest to find. Every house with a birdseed feeder has a mob of sparrows yelling and elbowing each other in the bushes nearby. According to a report from the Audubon Society, the kind of seed in the feeder determines to some extent whether it draws sparrows or other birds. Sparrows like millet, wheat and cracked corn. They are less attracted to the pricier mixes of sunflower and safflower seed that most song birds prefer.
sparrows 2 from Mary Holbrow on Vimeo.
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February 1, 2013 - 2:48pm
The 1369 Coffee Houses at Inman Square and Central Square celebrated 20 years in business on January 26 with an all-day open house at both shops and an evening party at the Middle East Restaurant. Party guests included friends, colleagues, neighbors and former employees of the businesses as well as supporters of two local charities, On The Rise and Food For Free. The celebration included a benefit for the two programs, bringing in donations of some $10,000 that will be shared between them, according to 1369 owner/manager Joshua Gerber.
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