High School Football

I covered two football games tonight...I found it interesting that the grass isn't grass...and if you put your fingers in it you find the dirt isn't dirt...it's all plastic (or something similar) I always thought just the grass was fake.

THE PEOPLE I MEET #10

I met Chris at a football game tonight...He's hearing impaired...Some of the pictures he took will end up on a website for the deaf...In between the two games he taught me how to say football in American Sign Language...He also said my expressions make it easier for him to know what I'm saying...Even he thinks I'm a loud mouth! I'd like to thank Chris for teaching me a couple of signs...

FLAT AGAIN?

I got another flat. I was driving to work when I heard a tremendous (worse than usual) bang and had very little control over my car...I saw smoke funnelling out from behind me and didn't know what to expect...when I got to the side of the road (after seeing my rim fly away in car chase style) I saw that the new tire I had just replaced the last flat with had expired...I am so glad that tomorrow I will be getting my new car...a Hyundai Sonata...this car has been through the Dusty ringer.

Shaskeen: A Bar

It happens to be a no smoking bar...but still good. It oppened yesterday and had the Cheiftens play to a private audience...Heather and I went tonight to check it out and it was not over-crowded and seemed to be well designed to enjoy live music or to have a conversation...by being in one section of the other of the bar...U2 cover band playing this weekend.

THE PEOPLE I MEET # 9

I met Allysa and her daughter Elizabeth in Plymouth, MA while trying to find my way back to Boston...I had just finished running video tape down to our crew in Plymouth and gotten myself turned around...I asked her first how to get out of Plymouth and second how close I was to Plymouth Rock...She said she'd show me.

I followed in my car down Water street and up to the granite portico that protects it I wondered what it would look like when I saw it...I had heard the legendary story of how the pilgrims stepped on the rock as they stepped off the Mayflower into their new land...
Allysa told me it used to be a lot bigger than it is today...The townspeople of Plymouth had chipped off pieces of the rock and sold them to raise funds for the town...They must have been in dire straits because it is now barely the size of a bean bag chair...She then told me about how the rock has been moved all over town...First it was moved about 100 yards to the East to be closer to the Mayflower's replica...then it was moved to the center of town...Finally it found its way back to this; the original location of the rock...But it didn't make the journey around town unscathed...it split in two during one of the moves and is now partially held together by concrete...
I saw a statue across the oldest street in the United States, Leyden Street, that honored the women pilgrims (above). Allysa says she doesn't like that statue because it doesn't depict the type of woman who would have survived the harsh conditions that were faced when arriving here...She prefers the statue in Brewster Gardens (below). She likes it because she thinks it makes the woman seem more rugged...

DINNER AT FANEUIL HALL

I had dinner at Faneuil Hall in Quincy Market...Hot Spicy food...Soothed by live music

TREE LIGHTING AT HYDE PARK

I was present at the tree lighting ceremony in Hyde Park which is near Mattapan Square...It got me in the mood to celebrate Christmas...but also made me long for a German Christmas Market. I was able to experience one last year when I went to Germany around Christmastime... They have these markets in every town square that sell everything from handmade ornaments to warm clothes...It is also the place you can get Gluwein...a spiced hot cider like wine...Mmmmm...instead I get to experience it in the presence of Manny Del Carmen, the Red Sox relief pitcher, who flipped the switch to light the tree...Go Sox!

I HEAR TAPPING

I am driving to work on this Sunday and I am hearing the tapping on my axel getting worse and worse...I believe I will need to get a new car sooner than originally planned.

FINALLY SEE MY WIFE

I finally saw my wife after three long days without her...Time apart really does make the heart grow fonder

NEW TO DUSTY'S THINKING

BALLET IS THE WAY

I went to the newly refurbished Opera House on Washington Street in Boston (which happened to be built in 1928 in honor of the "Father of Vaudeville" B.F.Keith by his business partner Edward Albee, vaudevillian great: I met Edward Albee, his son, the author of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf when he gave a talk about playwriting in Herkimer a couple of years ago...Really nice guy.) and got to be witness to a great experience...
I enjoyed an up-close preview of tonight's opening performance of the Nutcracker...It is running until New Years and I hope to bring my wife to a show...
The theatre looks great and everything is shiny and gold-coloured...
The funny thing was watching the choreographer screaming at the dancers when they went off-step...I think that might have enhanced the experience for me...

KERMIT Rocks

Hands Down, the best Balloon ever in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

IT SNOWED

This is the first I have seen snow in almost three years...It's exciting to wake up and look out the window and only see white...I ran out and had to get a picture of my car covered in snow...It has never seen snow and probably won't last this winter (just a guess...it's running rough)...There is nothing like seeing the evergreens around covered in snow because it causes a very pleasant pattern the way it falls on the branches...I caught a few snowflakes on my tongue...and went back inside to prepare for my hour plus long drive to work in this stuff.

HOLIDAY TREE?

It's supposed to snow tomorrow. Brrrr...Tonight it was pretty cold and I had to go out and do a story on how Boston's website had named their Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony the Holiday Tree Lighting Ceremony...and people like Jerry Falwell were making a stink about how all this stuff is disenfranchising people of faith...I personally hate the word disenfranchising...because to me it sounds like just another way to say people aren't happy that things don't go their way...but he does have a point Christmas is a day that Christians celebrate for a specific reason...The birth of Jesus Christ...and while he may not have been born in the winter it still is a day that I can meditate on the wonderful gift...Now if you don't claim to be a Christian and still want to celebrate Christmas fine...but remember that the reason for the season is part of Christianity and let them be.

BLOG POLL

What do you think of my ever changing banners...is there a favorite? Please give me a comment and tell me what you think of all my different banners you have seen.

WORKING 11/23/2005

Today was a tough one to work...My story was about this dog the police found on the railroad tracks outside of Boston...It probably had been hit by a train and was really wounded when the police found it...I went to the animal hospital to get some video of the dog and the hardest thing was seeing this dog...(a beautiful black lab) walk weakly into the room...with a gash running all around his belly to his back...and the most heart breaking part was when he looked at me and tried to lick his chops and because of the four breaks in his jaw all I heard was cracking and he had a ton of blood pouring out of his nose and mouth...The tough thing is that they need to find the owner to pay for an extensive operation to put his face right...($6000) and will probably have to put him down if they can not find the owner...Kind of frustrating because I bet the owner knows their dog has been hurt but won't claim it because they don't want to spend the money...If I had a dog I would have it microchipped...

Don't Touch

I was at work and was about to get online when I discovered that my Keyboard had a warning label on it...I can't believe they will put an idiot label on anything...
Sorry this is out of focusThis warning basically said that it is true that all keyboards can cause injury to the user...and to check the back of the key board for more details...I decided to not even touch the keyboard for fear of risking bodily harm.

Senator Kerry

Sorry the picture wasn't steadyI saw Senator Kerry today...his office is within walking distance of my station...I walked there with my gear...and he had some things to say about the Vice President as well as the war in Iraq...He was referring to something Cheney had spoken about earlier today...Cheney mentioned that some congressmen are trying to lead the American people to believe that the American soldiers were led to war by a "deliberate falsehood"Kerry says that the White House (Bush and Cheney) has been misleading the American people...and that the congress was not given all the information before they voted in favor of going into Iraq...when asked if he thought Bush lied...he would not bring himself to say yes...instead saying "Never used that word...don't like the word..." and when a reporter asked what the difference was "It's a question of intent...They've misled America and they're still misleading Americans... (slight pause) You can fight about the words." I told Hooter about that statement and he said that is a pure example of why Kerry "didn't win the election...You have to be willing to hang yourself sometimes..." (by which I learned in our further conversation meant he has to stand for something and make decisions)