On the other hand, it looks like President Obama’s re-election team will have the message, organization, and money in place by the summer convention to wage a strong campaign against whomever the GOP sends forward. The stock market and employment numbers are trending in a better direction for the President. The Clint Eastwood ad for Chrysler aired during the Super Bowl could have been a preview of the Obama for America campaign movie, othewise why all the angst in some quarters of the GOP establishment? Romney said don’t interfere with federal government support; let the carmakers fail. Bad call.

I’ll go back to what I wrote here some months ago. I don’t understand why the national Republicans didn’t start with stronger potential opponents to the President. Well, actually, I think I do understand. The “A Team” didn’t think the President could be beat, not really. Why else was there so much oxygen available for jokers like Trump and Cain? So now they have what they have, and the pundits are jabbering about drafting a new standard bearer.

Of course, Republican activists can say the Democrats were in disarray in 2008, with Hillary and Barack beating each other up through the late stages of the primary and caucus season. That was a horror show for weeks, but the Obama team steadily built its delegate count. In the public arena, the Democratic Party was working through an identity crisis. I think it turned out well, but that’s one voter speaking.

“It’s halftime in America. And our second half is about to begin.” A poet wrote that ad copy, I learned yesterday. Nice work.

Would a 10 percent increase in the fare be justifiable? Maybe. But not the huge increase being proposed by the MBTA. Would a slight adjustment in the weekend schedule on the Lowell-Boston line be defensible? Maybe. But not the plan to wipe out weekend service.

The MBTA certainly got the public’s attention. There is passion around this issue. You could feel it in City Hall last night. The opposition was spontaneous. It was personal. It was professional. It was immediate. This is the kind of change that would hit people where they live. It would be bad for everyone who lives and works in this area, as well as for those who count on the public being able to easily visit and do business in the city and region. We need the train. We need late service. We need weekend service. And the cost should be fair and affordable.

The ads were mediocre, too. Except for the monkeys. The monkeys were funny.

Madonna was smart to go big with the drummers and choir at the half. And she’s for “world peace,” which is a good thing.

PS: I had missed the Clint ad for the carmakers of Detroit. After seeing the ad on Facebook, I give that one an A+. And I will refrain from any political commentary at this moment.

I haven’t been to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum since the grand re-opening. Unfortunately, the Saturday hours start at 11 a.m., so all I could do was snoop around the edges. The expansion is substantial. The new contemporary-styled entrance is a startling update for what I’ve always known as a kind of period piece art-house. Designed by the renowned Renzo Piano, the new structure includes a long greenhouse facing the compact Evans Way Park. Bold plants and flowers are always a major draw at the Gardner. The whole complex looks fresh. I want to see it from the inside.

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Wentworth Institute of Technology. Simmons College. Massachusetts College of Art and Design. These outstanding schools are shoulder-to-shoulder in the neighborhood. On the downtown side of the MFA, you see banners for Northeastern University. Bikes and bike racks abound.

At 10 a.m., I merged with a crowd that had formed at the Huntington Street entrance to the Museum of Fine Arts, which has been lifted into the orbit of destination museums around the world courtesy of the $500 million expansion that the staff and patrons accomplished smoothly and swiftly. As good as the MFA has been for all the years I’ve gone there, the new-and-improved version makes you proud to be a museum member and a resident of the state. This is not sedate excellence that you take for granted any more. The place has pop and sizzle and wow now even as you can find yourself alone in a gallery with profound objects and images. That happened to me yesterday when I wandered into a gallery in the contemporary art area that featured a sublime display of wood sculptures by Ellsworth Kelly, a 1948 graduate of the Museum School. These were rough and smooth boards and slightly curved planks presented like the crown jewels of lumber—reflections on topography and geometry.

Earlier, when I had circled the museum while waiting for the doors to open, I was thinking, This is a big stone box full of beautiful things. That’s what you find here and there in civilized places. We put certain beautiful things within walls and under a roof to protect them, so we can visit them occasionally to be inspired, to move our emotions, or to study and learn from. When the doors were unlocked, dozens of people were already lined up to go in, all kinds of people, on their own, as couples, with kids, in groups from schools or clubs, all of them wanting to see what is inside.

Dale Chihuly, “Lime Green Icicle Tower”, MFA Boston (web photo courtesy of hubreview.blogspot)

Jack Kerouac in the 1938 Lowell-Lawrence football game.

The New England Aquarium plans a $15 million facelift, including renovation of its Giant Ocean Tank and surrounding exhibit spaces plus opening a new ground-floor center focused on conservation and research efforts. Scheduled for completion in July 2013, it marks the final phase of a five-year, $42.5 million expansion and renovation program for the Boston aquarium, which opened on the city’s waterfront in 1969. (from www.boston.com and Boston Globe)

 

Martha’s Vineyard Times

FOUND

Black Helix cash box. Call 508-693-4658.

LOST CAMERA

Canon Elf lost in Gay Head near painted house. 508-274-6312.

LOST BALACLAVA

Black, lightweight, lost January 2 on the yellow trail. Under Armor. If found, please call 508-367-0199.

LOST EYEGLASSES

Ray Ban glasses lost between OB/Island Alpaca and Main Street, V.H., on Friday, January 7. Prescription, thin-frames, tortoise shell style. Please call Barbara, 508-423-1443. Thank you!

FOUND

Stuffed lamb chop found in icy parking lot in Edgartown. 508-494-8700.

LOST iPHONE

White iPhone with yellow case lost on Simpson’s Lane, Edgartown, about 8:00 pm on January 2. 508-627-4210.

LOST SOU’WESTER

Black Diamond sou’wester lost on Main Street, Edgartown, on Monday, January 23. Sentimental value. REWARD. 508-627-6160.

FOUND BIKE REPAIR KIT

Tradewinds field area. 508-687-9318.

LOST KEY

Single black car key on a Brighton Academy lanyard. Please call 508-693-2105

LOST-CHILD’S HAT

Black and white knit, jester style with black pom-poms. Lost January 9 on Circuit Ave. near Black Dog store. Sentimental-has other pieces to match. Please call 508-693-3128 or 508-693-1115.

FOUND KEYS

Toyota key, post office key, and house key on ring found on Frisbee Golf course. 774-563-0682.

LOST SCHOOL BACKPACK

I am eight years old and I lost a brown and orange backpack near Gannon and Benjamin last week. It has my favorite stuffed kitty inside! REWARD. Call 920-410-4588.

LOST DERBY PIN

My 2011 Derby pin fell off my coat. It’s silver and round. Please return if found. 508-939-8550.

I’ll be doing a reading and book-signing at the beautiful old Pollard Memorial
Library in Lowell on Thursday, March 22, from 7 to 8 p.m. Admission is
free. I’ll talk a bit about Washington Irving and how I came to write a parody
of his classic “Rip Van Winkle,” then I’ll answer audience questions and sign
copies of the book. The library is at 401 Merrimack St., Lowell.

He recently read from the book at the Tarrytown, N.Y., library, where he ”livened up a dreary January evening with his lively characters and a charming delivery,” according to Librarian Maureen Perry.

Learn more about the author at www.nicholasdigiovanni.com

A Day in the Life: San Francisco

UPDATE: Here’s the video