Dave’s Photo Blog

I had the pleasure of attending a show at the Limelight on Tremont Street this past Sunday, and decided to write about it. The band that I saw there, January Broke, was making their first appearance with a drummer. Previously, they had played with just guitar and bass or guitar and piano. Both Jeremy Ross (guitar, vocals) and Cilla Bonnie (bass, piano, vocals) have won the Lizard Lounge Open Mike Challenge. Joined by drummer Chris DeSanty, they scarcely had time to practice together before this first gig at the Limelight.

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If you drove on Massachusetts Avenue in East Arlington this fine Saturday afternoon, you could not have missed the festival taking place on both sides of the street. Today was the Feast of the East – the annual festival in Capitol Square, better known, probably, as the “Lake Street” area. The Feast of the East is the brainchild of Jack Hurd, a town selectman. This year was the 11th year it has run. It’s funded by local businesses, but caters to safe family activities: face painting, jumping castles, food and of course, cotton candy and other sweets.

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Copyright © 2009 Joseph Allen

I’ve written a few times before about the railroad tie replacement activity that was slated for the West Medford Commuter Rail station. Over the last few weeks, it’s actually been happening. It’s rare that one gets a chance to see this much work happening on the railroad – we often take them for granted. But I’ve taken a few photographs to illustrate just what a railroad tie replacement project looks like, from the crews to the equipment.

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The Regent Theatre in Arlington punked the rest of New England today with the worldwide simulcast screening of Iron’s Maiden’s Flight 666. The movie is a documentary of their 2008 tour and recently won the best music documentary award at the recent SXSW festival and conference. The Regent was the only theater in New England to join the simulcast that had the movie playing in roughly 450 locations worldwide. And the Regent did it in style, with the soundtrack at concert volume levels.

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I was sitting on a shelf. I twisted one arm back. I twisted the other arm back. I got unsteady. I wiggled. I wobbled. I fell off. I walked over to mommy. I said, “ui mom ui, ui, ui, wa, wa, wa - mom I think I broke my arm.”

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I took the kids up to Bear Hill Tower on Good Friday. We call it, “tower 2,” because of course the Tower is Wright’s Tower. It had been years since I’d been up Bear Hill and it was a shorter walk than I remember. While Wright’s Tower is locked during the off-season, Bear Hill Tower is not, so we were able to go up to the top to take in the view. You don’t get the expansive view of Boston that you get from Wright’s Tower, but it is still well worth the effort and you get a 360° view, unlike Wright’s Tower.

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I have to tell you that this sign from Pastor Thomas Michael has me really confused. If you are an evolutionist, I suppose it’s pretty easy to be offended at having evolution called a religion and blamed for sin. But if you are religious, I would think you would also have to be offended because it seems to me that the Bible is pretty clear about the origins of sin.

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On Saturday, April 4, the Town of Arlington will hold an election for, among other things, two school committee members. There are three candidates vying for two seats: Cindy Starks, Jeff Thielman and Joe Tully. In a debate held on Thursday, March 26th, they each answered a three-part question on the Thompson Elementary School. While I won’t endorse any particular candidate, I have transcribed both the question and the answers given by all three candidates on this issue.
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I had the great fortune to combine many of my favorite things today into one big slice of the afternoon. Music, acoustic guitar and a little photography to boot. Those of you that play acoustic music in the Boston area have no doubt heard of The Music Emporium. It’s an area institution that sells all manner of stringed acoustic instruments, and especially guitars. From time to time, The Music Emporium will run workshops with talented musicians from around the country. I attended today’s workshop on fingerstyle guitar playing given by Pete Huttlinger.

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