Elevators don't really use "elevator music" anymore but you can still hear bland, instrumental muzak when you board or deplane on various airlines. Not so now on American Airlines who, in October 2014, switched to a "surprisingly edgy mix of indie music" like Real Estate, Bon Iver, The xx, and, uh, Haim. It appears to be a welcome change, according to an article in one of American Airlines' employee newsletters:
The decision to change to the lesser-known indie music was a reaction to customers' complaints, which included boredom. Since the switch, complaints about our cabin music have decreased, and compliments have increased, according to a social media analysis.
Still, AA's criteria for the edgy mix they play is songs that are "upbeat yet not distracting" and "helps American stand out from the competition and appeals to younger generations." Other artists on their playlist include Lykke Li, Washed Out, Future Islands, Foster the People, Hozier, and Moby.
The only reason to watch HoC S3 is claire's outfits. She is freaking flawless. The rest of the show is...flawed
Claire Underwood in 2016
Staying up until 2 a.m. to bingewatch the third season of “House of Cards” probably wasn’t a smart idea when I had work the next day, but it’s my preferred way to watch “television” shows when possible. The season feels more like an extended film and the tempo feels quicker.
Still, the end of the season gave me an unsettled feeling. In the two seasons prior we witnessed Frank Underwood achieve his goals. He had power and then proceeded to gain more. He encountered rivals, bested them and then assumed the mantle. But season three gave the president severe setbacks and showed us the limits of his power and influence when faced with the national and international stage.
Watching Kevin Spacey’s character execute a flawless victory is fun and he’s the perfect actor to play the part of a man who enjoys his own arrogance. But the “House of Cards” has begun to wobble for him as his support structure unravels. Congress is in revolt. Remy quit. Jackie Sharp went turncoat. And most importantly, Claire walked out of an abusive relationship with the most powerful man in the world.
What’s always made “House of Cards” interesting was its willingness to have Frank break the fourth wall and address the viewer with his own inner monologue. But I’ve always wondered if we, as the viewer, are being conned and manipulated by Frank. How reliable of a narrator is he, really? He wants to show off a certain portion of his inner thoughts, however, he never talks to us when he’s suffering or feeling something real. He gloats during his moments of triumph or anger, but you never directly see his insecurity or fear.
It’s interesting to think about how deliberate this is on the part of the writers. But how much longer will it be novel or interesting?
And that’s why I think “House of Cards” should experiment with the formula a bit: Make the next season from the viewpoint of Claire and let her be the only character to break the fourth wall.
We learned this year that the plan is to eventually put Claire in the White House, and I can’t think of a better way to transition to that future plot point than to let her assume the lead role. It would add a fresh perspective to the series and refocus the writing on a character that I feel is an audience favorite.
Throughout the series, we are told and even shown that each side of this political power couple are supposed to be equals. We’ve always had Frank’s side of the story, but never heard the inner thoughts of Claire. It would be an innovative move and the kind of thing that only Netflix could be gutsy enough to try.
There'll be no pot districts in Boston, if at-large Councilor Michael Flaherty has his way.
On Wednesday, the City Council considers a proposal by Flaherty that would require at least 2,500 feet - nearly half a mile - between any marijuana dispensaries in Boston, should we ever actually get any.
wait. city gov't employees don't have this yet? Srsly?
City Councilors Tim McCarthy (Hyde Park, Roslindale, Mattapan) and Michelle Wu (at large) - who recently had a son - want to let city employees who have kids take time off with pay.
Under their proposal::
During the leave period, the employee shall be paid 100 percent of her or his base wages for the first two weeks, 75 percent of his or her base wages for the following two weeks, and 50 percent of base wages for the remaining two weeks.
Employees would be able to take off longer periods of time without pay.
This is my neighborhood. I would like this cafe, but there is something hinky about how the structured the incentives. I would have expected small amounts of food scrip in exchange for small donations. This is a business afterall. I donated anyway, but mostly to show development banks that they have community support via headcount
The Lenane Building, planned home of new cafe.
Three Dorchester residents are turning to the community to try to raise the money needed to turn an empty space in the Linane Building, 1448 Dorchester Ave., into a cafe that will focus on both baked goods and the community.
Elisa and Vivian Girard, who live in Fields Corner, and Jack Wu, who lives in Ashmont, hope to raise $60,000 by May 5 on their Indiegogo site to open Home.stead Bakery and Cafe:
The student newspaper at Wellesley High School, the Bradford, reports a student found his lost tarantula when another student spotted it crawling towards him in math class:
It was a minute before the bell and everyone in the class was putting their binders away, when all of a sudden someone started to scream.
CommonWealth Magazine ponders a Boston with a continuing decline in the pre-18 set.
Boston is becoming not only a city without young people to shovel snow for those of us with arthritic hands and bad backs, but also a city which has a strikingly reduced number of young people participating in Little League, youth hockey, scout groups, and all of those other bedrock institutions that cement neighborhoods and create a sense of community.
Boohoo, Brookline. You seceeded to protect your wealth, and then can't understand why you aren't treated like a part of the city proper. Go ride a Turkey.
An article on the warrant for the May 26 town meeting in Brookline calls on members to publicly reject the idea of a summer Olympics in 2024.
The article, proposed by Lee Biernbaum, starts:
Whereas: the Town of Brookline, surrounded on three sides and about 85% of its borders by Boston, was never consulted about hosting the 2024 Olympics before Boston2024's private bid was placed, proposing at least two events within our town ...
I work really near RIF.LA. I went in a couple of times just to look. I confess, the subtlety of a 25k shoe vs. a 2k shoe is lost on me. I think it just requires more knowledge than I have. also, all the shoes are displayed like a normal store but are shrink-wrapped, which is funny
I can think of a lot of ways to spend $25,000. I could buy five champion english bulldogs, I could buy an entry-level luxury sedan, I could almost buy an exact replica of the iron throne from Game of Thrones, but never in a million years would I consider dropping twenty-five grand on a pair of Jordans. In fact, I can't imagine that before 2 Chainz and Nick Young enlightened me I'd ever think such a thing existed. But they do! And they're in L.A.! Watch as our favorite most expensivist shit expert takes Swaggy P to RIF.LA to see their insane collection of rare, collectible, and batshit crazy expensive sneakers.
Ted Dobbin reports spotting this note yesterday on the remains of a snow mound at 6th and Cambridge streets in East Cambridge. One can only hope it's been there awhile, because to think that it might have just shown up yesterday would be kind of depressing.
The Globe reports on a study by an institute at UMass on all the economic benefits we'd see - but don't worry, the institute isn't directly affiliated with UMass Boston, which has strongly supported the games and stands to get its first dorms out of the deal. The study does caution we should be concerned about public expenditures and Olympics fever sucking the life out of projects and development in the rest of the state.
Yup. Apparently my zip has 25% of household below $15K. Sobering
WBUR reports on a study that found Boston is the third most unequal city in the country in terms of income:
In 2013, the richest Boston households - those at the 95th percentile - took home $239,837 in income, while those at the 20th percentile made just $15,952.
Phillip Carr, the director of Saint Crispin’s, is holding trunk shows at The Wingtip in San Francisco this week. I have a pair of chukkas already on order with him, but have been dreaming about my next commission. So far, the plan is to get a pair of Norwegian split toes (model 633) made from the some of the company’s famous crust calf.
Many shoe companies would have you believe that their shoes are handmade, but Saint Crispin’s are the real deal. Their uppers are hand lasted, bottoms hand beveled, and soles hand attached. Instead of using Goodyear welting or Blake stitching (which are machine-executed operations), Saint Crispin’s are hand welted with a pegged waist. By eliminating the stitching, they can get much more shaping into their waists and arches.
It’s that shaping that accounts for so much of Saint Crispin’s appeal. Check out these studded Dainite soles below, for example. Instead of the chunky versions you’ve seen from almost every other maker, Saint Crispin’s carefully bevels theirs to match the narrow waist of their shoes. This is done by first shaping the sole with a chisel, and then fine-tuning it with a rasp.
As it goes with most things, these are best seen in person. You can check out Saint Crispin’s schedule of trunk shows on their website. They’re at The Wingtip in San Francisco until the end of Wednesday, March 18th, after which they’ll be leaving for East Asia. In North America, you can also find them at Leffot, The Armoury, LeatherSoul, and LeatherFoot.
Four veteran San Francisco Police Department officers are being investigated for having sent racist and homophobic text messages. The messages, exchanged during 2011 and 2012 the San Francisco Chronicle reports, surfaced in connection to a fifth officer, Sgt. Ian Furminger, 48, who was recently convicted in federal court on corruption charges. With more attention being paid to police misconduct and racial bias over the past year, that means in addition to their street interactions, officers' activity online (i.e., Facebook, Wikipedia) and via text are garnering more scrutiny, too.
In a May 2012 text message exchange between Furminger and an unnamed officer:
...[he] asked whether he should be worried that the black husband of one of his then-wife's friends had come over to his home.
The officer responded, "Get ur pocket gun. Keep it available in case the monkey returns to his roots. Its (sic) not against the law to put an animal down."
"Well said!" Furminger replied, according to the prosecutors' court filing. "You may have to kill the half-breeds too,'' the unnamed officer replied, adding: "Don't worry. Their (sic) an abomination of nature anyway."
Messages with other officers include the phrases, "White power," and "All n-- must f-- hang."
The four officers, all of whom have at least 10 years on the force, have not been identified according to state law. While they have been reassigned to other duties, one public defender raises the prospect of re-investigating their cases from the past few years.
Mud Season in Peg City was amazing. there was just a carpet of filth.
City officials said today they are pouring extra manpower into cleaning up city streets and sidewalks as the snow melts, but say making Boston shine again is going to take help from residents.
City Councilor Sal LaMattina (North End, East Boston, Charlestown) said he hopes residents put as much effort into cleaning the curbs and sidewalks in front of their homes as they put into helping neighbors shovel out their cars.
LOL Gregory Pack. How did I never think of that pun? I can take or leave this trend of designing backpacks to look like 1984.
At the tender age of 14, Wayne Gregory was tasked with designing and building a backpack as part of a Boy Scouts activity. That pack would get Gregory his first job in a budding San Diego company, and he would eventually embark on a successful career......
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I can think of a lot of ways to spend $25,000. I could buy five champion english bulldogs, I could buy an entry-level luxury sedan, I could almost buy an exact replica of the iron throne from Game of Thrones, but never in a million years would I consider dropping twenty-five grand on a pair of Jordans. In fact, I can't imagine that before 2 Chainz and Nick Young enlightened me I'd ever think such a thing existed. But they do! And they're in L.A.! Watch as our favorite most expensivist shit expert takes Swaggy P to RIF.LA to see their insane collection of rare, collectible, and batshit crazy expensive sneakers.
