I am the ghost of groovymother.com. Woooooo!
This is an old page from Rod Begbie's blog.
It only exists in an attempt to prevent linkrot. No new content will be added to this site, and links and images are liable to be broken. Check out begbie.com to find where I'm posting stuff these days.
Filed under 'massachusetts'
➠ April 21, 2012
In Conversation: Barney Frank
Outstanding interview with Barney Frank. Massachusetts and the Democratic Party are going to miss him.
If the Republicans win everything in November, then we’re in for a very bleak period, because they’ll take it as ratification of this anti-government attitude. I think it’s going the other way. I have a bumper sticker for us: “We’re Not Perfect, But They’re Nuts.” And I think the public buys that.
➠ October 21, 2007
The Polygraph (wallpaper)
When I saw the awesomely complicated and old-school looking EEG monitor at Axon Labs, I commented to Mike that I wanted a close-up shot of it for my wallpaper.
He obliged with a shot, which I've trimmed to MacBookPro 1440x900 resolution.
➠ October 20, 2007
Massachusetts Land Records
Search the complete land-history records (mortgages and deeds) for Massachusetts. Find out how badly your friends and family are in debt!
➠ June 29, 2007
“Smart” Water
Apple sent out a couple of employees with bottles of water to keep the line cool.
➠ June 24, 2007
geeksinboston.com planning
Today at DevHouseBoston2, Shimon Rura, Jeff Potter and myself started work on creating a local geek-event aggregator/notifier webapp.
With a design sensibility somewhere between Craigslist and Upcoming, it should be live in the next couple of weeks.
➠ June 1, 2007
Back Seat Basset
When Bacon's in the back of the car, and I'm stopped in traffic, he loves sticking his head out the window and getting adoration from the other drivers.
…for some value of left
Road testing my new GPS in Cambridge gave this rather bizarre instruction (it's telling me to take a "left on Magazine St", but the illustration is actually taking a right onto Massachusetts Ave).
Proof that the roads of New England are too much for even the smartest of technology to deal with.
➠ May 31, 2007
View from the Stage, Ignite Boston!
The blinding light of the LCD projector, above a pretty full (and frustratingly loud-at-the-back) room.
➠ May 3, 2007
At last! The secret formula! It is mine!
Spotted on a door at Fenway: The secret instructions for making a footlong hotdog. WIth this recipe, I shall RULE THE WORLD!
Spot the life-long Sox fan
Joy and my parents at Fenway Park.
You'll note that my dad (who's never been to a baseball game before) and my mum (who's been once) are both wearing Red Sox jackets. I'd mentioned to them the night before that it can get kind of chilly in the evening, so they should maybe bring a jacket. So when they happened upon Red Sox jackets at Marshall's earlier in the day, they snapped them up.
Classy!
➠ April 21, 2007
“Boston Runs On Big Papi”
➠ April 11, 2007
Mr Dice, Meet Mr K. (again)
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 8:05 pm 4/11/07 Boston, Massachusetts
Yet more Japanese
WEEI and ESPN Radio were both handing out Japanese signs for the crowd to hold up. No idea what they say, though. (Outside the park after the game, the Sully's Tees folks were selling shirts that said "YANKEES SUCK" in Japanese. Some things are universal)
Mr Dice, Meet Mr K.
These guys were a couple of rows back from us. Joy & I are totally going to rip off their idea this Hallowe'en.
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 6:44 pm 4/11/07 Boston, Massachusetts
ZoneTag: Photosphere / About. Owner only: Fix Location / Add Tags / Settings
Japanese Baseball Cheers
Handed out outside the park.
Matsuzaka 18
First person I saw with a MATSUZAKA 18 shirt on. Saw a fair few people who'd recycled their "DAMON 18" shirts from before he went evil.
Popeye’s Chicken Welcomes Japanese-Speaking Red Sox Fans
First piece of Japanese writing I saw near Fenway, outside the Popeye's Chicken.
➠ March 26, 2007
Voting device pact at issue - The Boston Globe
Diebold is suing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts because it chose a competing firm’s voting machines. “Weisberg said the company is not alleging any improprieties by the secretary of state’s office. Instead, it is saying the office acted in good faith but made a mistake in the selection.” Just when you think Diebold can’t get any more evil/corrupt/incompetent, they’re (ab)using the courts to screw with the rolling out of competitors’ technology.
➠ March 1, 2007
This ATM is NOT A BOMB
This parking meter is NOT A BOMB
This cone is NOT A BOMB
The phone is NOT A BOMB
The box is NOT A BOMB
➠ February 7, 2007
Yum!
Joy savours the delight that is the "Berry Smoothie" barium stomach liner, prior to her CT scan today.
➠ January 30, 2007
WebInno10 Tuesday 7:12 pm 1/30/07 Cambridge, Massachusetts
The tenth Web Innovators Group meetup. By my guesstimate, there were well over 200 people there this evening, a far cry from the 60 or so crammed into the back room at Tommy Doyle's the first time I went.
➠ January 27, 2007
Capitol idea: Senator Schilling? Curt's not so sure, but fans think he's just the ticket - Local Politics - BostonHerald.com
Heh. He’s probably the only person who’d have a chance at being a Republican senator for Massachusetts.
➠ January 26, 2007
Wii News Channel
It just seems right that the first story I pulled up on the new Wii "News Channel" was about the European PS3 launch.
➠ January 4, 2007
Trashbag Balancing Thursday 7:25 am 1/4/07 Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville changed their Trash pickup policy on the 1st January. Now trash will only be accepted if it's in, or on, a trashcan; you can't just leave the bags on ground level. I forsee my future of creative stacking. (Or, perhaps, going out and buying a second bin.)
➠ January 1, 2007
Theo Cheever: Five-Year-Old Rawk God
Theo, middle child of the multi-talented Cheever brood, shows off his prowess on "the skins".
➠ December 9, 2006
Dev House Boston Saturday 12:45 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dev House Boston Saturday 12:45 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dev House Boston Saturday 12:44 pm 12/9/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mac owners attract each other, it seems.
➠ November 21, 2006
Sunset from The Mountain
One of the advantages of working at a location with the street address of "The Mountain"? Getting to see some gorgeous sunsets from the parking lot.
➠ November 19, 2006
Wii in Action
Home, unpacked, and rawkin'! Four hours in the cold? Worth it!
We have Wii!
The Wii bundle (the console plus Excite Truck and Zelda, neither of which I really wanted, but which I should be able to sell on eBay no problem), plus Super Monkey Ball and Rayman: Raving Rabbids. In my car boot. Mine!
I'm a happy camper.
Updated to add: Zelda and Excite Truck both sold on half.com in about 10 minutes, recouping my $90. Ace!
Got my ticket.
Twelfth in line. My Costco had 48 to hand out, and everyone in line at 9am got one. In fact, the manager had to stand around outside with a spare ticket until a family showed up at 9.31am and claimed the final system!
My hero
This kind gentleman showed up with a Box of Joe and donuts to share amongst the line.
Costco Wii line
The line for Wii, outside Costco in Everett MA at about 7.30am.
Originally, I was planning on going to Target, but when I got there about 6.30, they'd already handed out tickets to the line for all the systems they had. (Some students were offering to sell their places in line. I didn't bother asking for how much)
The official word from Costco earlier in the week had been that they weren't stocking Wii's in their retail stores, to avoid lines. This turned out to be untrue, as when I wandered round the corner, there were 11 people waiting, including an off-duty Costco employee who said they had 48 in stock!
➠ October 24, 2006
God Says: Please Do Not Go to Hell
Tucked under my windscreen wiper on Landsdowne St. As I approached my car, I thought I'd got a parking ticket. Instead, I just got redemption. Phew!
Vote Dig
The badges being handed out at the Weekly Dig "Dig This" awards party.
With Love, From Carnegie Deli
My birthday present from my wee sister? 2.5lbs of cheesecake, overnighted from the Carnegie Deli in New York.
➠ October 23, 2006
Joy’s Moo Cards
I treated Joy to a box of Moo Cards for herself -- each illustrated with a photo of the dogs. Here are two, resting in some dog photo holders I picked up for her at Philadelphia Airport.
The word ‘unblowupable’ is thrown around a lot these days.
This is the pressure-gauge on the outside of our central heating furnace that gave up the ghost over the weekend. You might note that the clear protective plastic shield on it has turned brown, melted and buckled.
This is because the furnace apparently decided that merely heating water into steam and pushing it around our radiators was, shall we say, passé, and instead dived head-first into a mission of heating itself up to a frighteningly hot temperature and dripping boiling water onto the basement floor.
Remind me again why home-ownership is a good idea?
➠ October 18, 2006
Home, Wednesday 5:53 pm 10/18/06 Somerville, Massachusetts
Berkeley Street, Wednesday 5:52 pm 10/18/06 Somerville, Massachusetts
Dunkin Donuts, Union Square Wednesday 5:49 pm 10/18/06 Somerville, Massachusetts
Used Car lot, Prospect St Wednesday 5:48 pm 10/18/06 Somerville, Massachusetts
Corner of Prospect & Hampshire, Wednesday 5:42 pm 10/18/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts
KFC Windows, Wednesday 5:42 pm 10/18/06 Cambridge, Massachusetts
Back of a bus, Wednesday 5:34 pm 10/18/06 Boston, Massachusetts
Pike Exit 18, Wednesday 5:32 pm 10/18/06 Boston, Massachusetts
Newton Sheraton, Wednesday 5:29 pm 10/18/06 Newton, Massachusetts
Shaws, Wednesday 5:26 pm 10/18/06 Newton, Massachusetts
Fast Lane, Weston Tolls, Wednesday 5:23 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts
Weston Tolls, Wednesday 5:23 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts
Pike Exit 14, Wednesday 5:22 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:21 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:21 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts
2 miles from Exit 14, Wednesday 5:21 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:20 pm 10/18/06 Weston, Town Of, Massachusetts
Eastbound Services, Wednesday 5:18 pm 10/18/06 Wayland, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:17 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:17 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
Westbound Services, Wednesday 5:16 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:15 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:14 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:14 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:13 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
Deval Patrick Supporters. Wednesday 5:11 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
ZoneTag Photo Wednesday 5:10 pm 10/18/06 Framingham, Town Of, Massachusetts
➠ October 10, 2006
My Flickr Moo Cards
A mixture of Boston, Bassets and a Bunch of other stuff. They look great, especially considering most of the photos were taken with crappy cameraphones!
Sadly, two of the twenty images I uploaded got printed as "Unavailable photo:" Not sure what caused that, but I'm gonna ping Moo and see what happened.
Decorated Trunks
Someone's been decorating the tree trunks around Union Square.
➠ October 9, 2006
‘Best’ of Boston?
This is odd. Dunkin Donuts cups currently proclaim that they were awarded a "Best of Boston" award by Boston Magazine this year. However, a search of the Best of Boston site finds no such win.
In fact, it appears that the "award" was merely a corporate agreement to use the cup on the magazine cover.
I love DD as much as the next New Englander, but since the "Best of Boston" usually _means_ something (unlike some other awards, which just rank which business did the best job getting their customers to ballot-stuff), it seems massively lame to whore the title this way.
➠ October 6, 2006
Jon Stewart, The Wang Center, Friday 10:50 pm 10/6/06
For our third wedding anniversary, I treated meself and the missus to tickets to see Jon Stewart do standup. He was splendidly entertaining, though it seemed like he hadn't updated his standup act much over the last few years (jokes about Y2K, the Million Man March and Rodney King!)
➠ October 3, 2006
Pandora Town Hall, MIT, Tuesday 6:25 pm 10/3/06
Tim Westergren of Pandora, talking with a hundred-or-so interested students and other music geeks at MIT.
Pandora Town Hall, MIT, Tuesday 6:10 pm 10/3/06
A subset of the crowd at the Pandora Town Hall.
➠ October 1, 2006
Massive Attack, Boston Orpheum, Sunday 9:14 pm 10/1/06
The light show was really quite stunning, but of course, looks like ass on my cameraphone. Their use of scrolling ticker displays reminded me somewhat of the Blue Man Group!
Clyde’s Nest
Clyde isn't spritely enough to hop onto the bed like Bacon, so he's made himself a little nest in the corner of the bedroom.
➠ September 25, 2006
Blue Screened
Clearly the presenter from Traineo had not performed sufficient sacrifices to the god of demos before getting up at the Web Innovators Group. Within 10 seconds of starting, his laptop bluescreened.
And all the Mac fanboys in the crowd smiled to themselves.
➠ September 20, 2006
Pyrotechnics Wednesday 10:59 pm 9/20/06
The grand finale for the Stones gig, ending at 11pm precisely.
Truly rock'n'roll at its most punctual.
➠ September 19, 2006
Well that’s something you don’t see everyday
Open-top Double Decker Routemaster London bus driving round the streets of Cambridge, MA.
➠ September 12, 2006
The Tobin Bridge Tuesday 2:26 pm 9/12/06 Charlestown, Massachusetts
Taken during the Bose Cruise (It's like a Booze Cruise, but with less alcohol, and greater noise reduction).
Boattuggery Tuesday 2:11 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts
A tanker navigating Boston Harbor with a few tugboats guiding it.
The Zakim Bridge Tuesday 1:57 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts
My favourite new piece of architecture in Boston.
Skyline Tuesday 1:48 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts
Airyplane Tuesday 12:50 pm 9/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts
Descending to Logan.
➠ September 10, 2006
Patrick in the Primary - The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe has endorsed Deval Patrick for the gubernatorial primaries in MA. Patrick is one of those rare politicians who, the more I read and hear about him, the more impressed I am with him.
➠ September 5, 2006
Exit 25MPH
Just discovered that when I use ZoneTag with my GPS whilst driving, it not only tags the photo with "driving", but also the speed at which I was going.
Which was 65mph when I took the photo of this road sign, apparently.
‘New Hampshire Boring’
Refreshingly honest, but it really feels like the New Hampshire tourist board isn't even trying anymore.
➠ August 17, 2006
Snakes which are neither on a plane, nor in a movie theater
AMC apparently has a policy that you are not allowed to take rubber snakes into movie theaters showing Snakes on a Plane. These were the contraband snakes confiscated prior to this evening's showing.
Corn-Gratulations!
What a corny pun.
Yellow Brick Road
The final bridge before victory.
Fabio!
Fabio is on the right. Peter is on the left.
View from the bridge *over* the Victory Bridge
The red carpet bridge was right below us, but we took another thirty minutes to find our way there.
Christine and Pete
This was my team.
The Davis Mega-Maze Thursday 1:31 pm 8/17/06 South Lancaster, Massachusetts
This afternoon, our team at work took a group outing (under the auspices of "team building exercise") to the Davis Mega-Maze, a massive maze through 10-foot-tall corn. It took us an hour to find our way out!
➠ August 14, 2006
Scooby Snacks
When I got home from work, there was an unexpected package on the doorstep from Petco.com.
"Crap!", thinks I. "Clearly Bacon has got himself a credit card, and entered the murky world of e-commerce."
Luckily, it turned out to be a gift from the lovely folks at Reddit, as thanks to Bacon for appearing in banner ads for them!
As a precaution, though, I've taken away Bacon's pre-authorized credit-card application forms. You can't be too careful.
➠ August 6, 2006
FIVE!
One of my pet peeves is when I'm trying to find a friend's house, but can't read any of the house numbers on the street.
I just installed this number on our house this week. It's a nifty design -- It's solar-powered, so it charges its battery during the day, then when it gets dark, lights up using a couple of white LEDs.
The things I do to help out our friends. (OK, I'll be honest: Most visitors to our front door are Chinese and Pizza delivery guys).
$20 from ThinkGeek.
➠ July 29, 2006
Arrogant Bastard Ale Saturday 9:55 pm 7/29/06 Somerville, Massachusetts
My chum Noel and I sample Arrogant Bastard Ale. The bottle warned us "You probably won't like this," and it was right.
➠ July 27, 2006
Baldy!
Having woken up to a particularly stonking case of bedhead this morning, I inwardly-dialogued "fuck it!" and asked Joy to help me take my beardtrimmer to my head.
Lesson learned? Next time, use a longer setting on the trimmer, cause my blond hair is nearly transparent this short.
➠ July 24, 2006
Gigantor Remote
Ah, I love the crap they sell at Brookstone. The overpriced junk that gives the air of being vaguely useful, but is too cheap and shoddy to actually solve a problem well.
My favourite one that I saw yesterday was this $50 massive universal remote. Pretend to be a Lilliputian from the comfort of your couch!
➠ July 22, 2006
Steee-rike!
Joy bowling at King's. For a crappy cameraphone shot, I think this turned out pretty good!
➠ July 12, 2006
Puffy AmiYumi, Wednesday 10:10 pm 7/12/06 Boston, Massachusetts
The Puffy AmiYumi Splurge! Splurge! Splurge! tour. They read their on-stage banter off of notebooks. "Thank you. You guys... are.. the.. best?" It only sounded 5% more scripted than when native English-speaking bands do it..
Anti-MassPIRG T-Shirt
“I DO NOT HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT”. Man, I freakin’ hate MassPIRG. Their streetteams are one of those things where they actively turn me against a cause I’d otherwise support.
➠ July 2, 2006
Hitched
A (year-and-a-half) belated first wedding anniversary gift from our smashing chum, Cheryl: A signed Garry Trudeau print of Mike & JJ from Doonesbury.
Hopefully, our marriage will turn out happier than theirs!
➠ June 28, 2006
Aimee Mann with the Boston Pops, Wednesday 9:40 pm 6/28/06
➠ June 25, 2006
Morningwood, Sunday 11:08 pm 6/25/06 Boston, Massachusetts
The lead singer, Chantel, has a helluva lot of energy in her. Especially considering they've cancelled the next four dates in the tour because she's sprained her leg.
Morningwood Sunday 10:56 pm 6/25/06 Boston, Massachusetts
Chantel getting the crowd to crouch during "nth Degree". As I took this photo, she was admonishing the Axis security, and telling them to crouch too.
➠ June 24, 2006
View from the State Street Pavillion
Managed to get a pair of "Standing Room" tickets in the "State Street Pavillion" at Fenway. Since it was a pretty grey day, not everyone had shown up, so we had seats for the whole game. Result!
➠ June 11, 2006
Joy trains her brain
I bought the DS Lite that I've been craving for so long this morning. Joy's been quite taken with Brain Age.
I'm hoping to get it back off her soon so that I can indulge in a little more Super Mario.
➠ June 4, 2006
Ingredients for Web 2.0 Success
"Pierre Francois from Underscore_ Consulting" (who looked alarmingly similar to Alexis from Reddit) did a great presentation, somewhat reminiscent of Stephen Colbert's "The Word" segment. The video should be up soon.
➠ June 3, 2006
Panel: Startup 2.0 - The New Landscape
Building Scalable Web Infrastructure
Carbohydrates A Go-Go
Geekfood
Goatse Stickers
Spotted on Brian's laptop. Purchasable from GoatseSticker.com
How Technology is Changing the Music Industry
Shimon & the Schedule Board
This was right at the start of BarCamp, before it got completely filled for the day.
➠ May 23, 2006
XM Inno
I'm playing with a loaned XM Inno radio at the moment. It's considerably shinier than my olde Roady -- Nice colour screen, the ability to save tracks you like, and a reasonably decent UI for browsing stations (better than the one on the competing Sirius player.)
And hey! If they're getting sued by the RIAA, they've got to be doing _something_ right!
➠ May 15, 2006
No running, shouting or piddling in the shallow end.
Our basement, with the delightful addition of a couple of inches of floodwater. Every hardware store in the area is sold out of pumps, so we're waiting for the fire department to pop round and help us out. Oh, the joys of homeownership.
➠ May 9, 2006
EL(?)OO
Do Stop & Shop lie? Is this really "Extra Light" enough for Shangri-La?
➠ May 6, 2006
The Radio Knives, P.A.’s Lounge, Somerville
My Brother-(in-law)^2's band. Fine garage-rawk tunes can be found at their MySpace page.
Crated Bacon
Bacon suffered a back injury this week -- A slipped disc or a pinched nerve, reckons the vet. Poor little bugger has the be kept in his crate (except for "short leashed walks") for two weeks.
Since he's caged and being fed steroids, Keith suggested we should rename him "Veal".
➠ April 20, 2006
Licky Tongue
➠ April 19, 2006
Monster Joy
Joy on the Green Monster. As opposed to next to the green monster.
A Six-Foot Latte
You know, I often dream about getting this much caffeine.
View from the Monster
We had Green Monster tickets for tonight's Sox game. Since our normal seats are way back in right field, this was quite a different view!
➠ March 31, 2006
Somerville has a Dog Park
Until very recently, there was not a single place in the City of Somerville (population ~77,000) where you could let your dog off-leash. Thankfully this has now changed, with the just-opened dog run on Nunziato Field. Here's some of the cheerful dogs that were gallavanting round there when we took Bacon down this evening.
➠ March 19, 2006
A ‘smooth, creamy coffeehouse classic’, apparently
Or, alternatively, half-a-mug of piss-weak, nastily artifically-sweetened, CoffeeMate-crammed brownwater. The rather disappointing result of trying a HomeCafe "frothy cappuccino" pod.
I got the coffee machine for free from BzzAgent, but I still feel ripped-off. I'll stick with my Senseo, thanks.
➠ March 17, 2006
Apple Powerbook 5300cs
Intel is for wussies. The 100Mhz PowerPC 603e is where it's at.
This laptop was unceremoniously dumped in the random-crap-pile outside my cube. It's ten years old, running System 7.5, has a staggering 24Mb of RAM, and a whopping 500Mb hard drive. Anyone got suggestions for what I can use it for?
➠ March 1, 2006
Another Zonetag test
Bacon's tail: Too fast for the LED flash on the camphone.
➠ February 27, 2006
Belle & Sebastian, Avalon, Boston
ZoneTagged Mon Feb 27, 2006 19:03:29 PST
➠ September 12, 2005
My new plates
Come the end of the month, these will be attached to my car. It just takes a $40 donation to the Jimmy Fund, every two years, to get Sox plates.
➠ February 11, 2004
About This Site
This is an archive of groovmother.com, the old blog run by Rod Begbie — A Scottish geek who lives in San Francisco, CA.
I'm the co-founder of Sōsh, your handy-dandy guide for things to do in San Francisco this weekend.