places I miss (where can I get a good pastrami?)

Lazy Sunday and I had a relatively short todo list - got a few of them done, well partially anyway. Made a sweet front wheel for K. for cyclocross season, still need to make the rear - plenty of time, they're for his birthday, which is today, but he won't be home until later this week (he'll never know I was late with his present).

Went to Coolidge Corner for lunch. Still looking to fill that pastrami void gnawing at the pit of my soul - Michael's Deli comes pretty close, but damn, wasn't the pastrami at that dive sandwich shop in Harvard Square juicier and more flavorful, and more artery clogging? or is it just a dim memory made all the more magical with the passage of time? what was the name of that place anyway? you know the one, on Mt Auburn St, right near the Lampoon building?

So I went net surfing to find the place that made that special sandwich which no deli can ever live up to, and to no surprise, I found plenty of sentimental old farts (like me) reminiscing about their favorite haunts, now long gone. Here is my list...

* Elsie's Sandwich Shop in Harvard Square - the best pastrami that my memory can recall (thanks to Andy Lee for having a picture of it on his site)

* Michael's - Jazz At, on Gainsborough St in Boston - maybe it's real name was Michael's Pub like Bob Nieske said the other night at the Lily, but I will always remember the strange sign:

Michael's
Jazz At

* Sami's Falafel on Longwood Ave in Boston - I know it's still there, but it's no longer open 24 hours a day like it used to be way back when.

* Oxford Ale House in Harvard Sq (now that location is the intolerable Border Cafe)

* Jack's in Central Square - I never saw Bonnie Rait there, that was just a bit before my time.

* Orson Wells Cinema - across the street from Jack's and where I learned why art and cinema are one and the same. (thanks again to Andy Lee for having a picture of it on his site)

* In Square Men's Bar in Inman Square - once I realized the mystical noises at Michael's were actually music I couldn't live without, I began searching for it all over and (after getting over my silly paranoia about the place's name) I found Inman Square and it's treasure of dive bars with the music I craved.

* 1369 Jazz Club in Inman Square - now just a coffee shop, good coffee true, but just a...

* Ryles in Inman Square - still stands and all swanked up from the seedy place I went to so many years ago. Now it's a very nice place to hear great music. One of these days, I'll go upstairs and learn to Salsa.

* Pall's Mall and the Jazz Workshop on Boylston St in Boston - I saw Ron Carter play there. It was the first time I saw a trio made up of bass, bass and drums - it was eye/mind opening and wonderful!

I'll add more, if my memory dredges up any more gems...

Big Wolf Project at the Lily Pad

fri night @ the lily
Bob Nieske’s Big Wolf Project - 10 piece band

start in the swing,
then to hear cool birth.
rolling waves, dancing on top.
trading notes like passes tossed.
swirling duet takes shape.
to the end, walking down
to Michael's Pub, where I began.

2nd set, more stories.
begins with flatline,
scenes of memories from a life
fractured & spun, then to peacefulness.
then hard swing and groove,
transitions slowly, seamlessly
to bowed bass and trombone crying plaintively.
next Fast Edd going for bass,
hooks a pike, dragged around the connecticut
- a story the way Mingus would tell.
a post script to phil
so he can tell us what he really feels.
then a really hard one...
close your eyes, don't watch,
just listen, you can't see it
- feel it - hear it.
ends with joy,
from the suite grief love fear beauty joy
- this is my ecstasy.

I love the lily pad!


Bob Nieske’s Big Wolf Project
sax: Allan Chase, Tony Carelli, Tom Hall
trumpet: Phil Grenadier, Ken Cervenka
trombone: Jeff Galindo, Phil Swanson
guitar: Jon Damian
drums: Bob Tamagni
bass: Bob Nieske

pictures from all night bike tour

riding to the Fens

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Beacon St

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Cambridge St in Allston

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wet earth in Kendall Sq

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fuzzy Boston

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underneath the Zakim Bridge

Boston All Night Ride

so I've lived in Boston (or within spitting distance) for a little while - 5 years in college (go NU!) and then since 1985, after coming back from 5 years in southern Cal. That's a lot of years, and most of my life by more than a little. I really do love this town. and every place I visit gets viewed in comparison, and few make the grade. Yeah, Joe taught to me to recognize the ugly side of Boston (and I think that's what made him leave), and PJ could never envision staying here (nice place to visit, but...) but I came back and will probably stay.

every once in a while, while wandering around the city (or Cambridge or Somerville or Arlington or...) I remember why I came back and why I love this town.

last month, I got pretty stoked about the CowParade - yeah, some aspects of the concept and the internationalized commercialization of the "CowParade" brand rubs me the wrong way, but some of the cow paintings (should I really call them sculptures? the cows themselves are just a mold, it's what the artists did with them that counts) are truly wonderful. I ended up making the Unofficial CowParade Map web site based on google maps to show all of the cows in their correct locations (the official web site has a few errors, and their map only gives very rough locations) along with artist info and a link, if I could find one. I had a fun time, running around the city, obsessively snapping pictures and updating the site with info and hearing from some of the artists and a few folks that stumbled onto my site and wrote to say "hi"

last night / this morning, I rode with Back Bay Midnight Pedalers on their annual 18th annual Boston By Bike At Night ride - a midnight to dawn ride around Boston, Brookline, Allston/Brighton and Cambridge that started at Copley Square, made it to sunrise at Castle Island and finished with a picnic breakfast. I have heard of this ride before and wanted to go on it several times in past years - either I chickened out or got spooked by the weather or let my bike snobery get in the way of having a good time or thought I was too old to stay up all night.

last night I finally dropped all those excuses (and the weather one was pretty fucking valid last night!) and went out and had a blast. Greg and Ann were the primary ride leaders and they kept us entertained by describing the architecture and history of the city at our many and frequent stops (how the hell else can it take all night to ride around Boston if you don't make lots of stops!). The coolest parts of the ride was going places I had never been to before - like the locks at the mouth of the Charles (love that dirty water!) and riding underneath the Zakim Bridge, and I had never even heard of the South Bay or Bay Village neighborhoods before.

I will add a few of the picture I took a little later...