A Visit to St. Mike's

 

Well folks, here's yet another one of my cheerful cemetery posts! I was in Pine Point over the weekend, where I now know more residents under the ground than above it. Some of the underground ones I visited at Saint Michael's. However some of the more interesting tombstones in the place belong to people I never knew. For example by chance I stumbled upon the tragic grave of Conor Reynolds.

 

 

No doubt there are tragic stories behind many of these graves. This beautiful orb commemorates someone who died in the 1800's at only 26 years of age.

 

 

Here's something a little odd that someone placed on a grave - a lobster in a clear container! My mother was a big fan of Maine lobsters, but I'm not sure I'd put one on her grave. Oh well, there is no right or wrong to such things.

 

 

I remember reading once about some eccentric philosopher who used to walk around with a lobster on a leash. When asked why he was using a lobster to guide his way, he would reply, "Because it knows the deep." Soon I was back in Northampton, where there are no lobsters but where dragons lurk.

 

 

 

In recent weeks there have been protests and counter-protests in Northampton each weekend, where the participants are usually well behaved. But this week things got a little tense as you can see in this video.

 

    Upside down "open" sign on a Northampton headshop. 

Forbidden Topic

Off Limits

 



One of the often stated virtues of the Obama Administration is its willingness to use "New Media" to interact with the public. In the aftermath of last week's State of the Union Address, YouTube invited their viewers to send in videos asking the President a question, the best of which would actually be presented to Obama at a later date and which he would answer.

Sounds like a high-tech public meeting and exercise in good government, right? However, a funny thing happened on the way to picking the questions - it turned out that the most often submitted question for the President involved the legalization of marijuana! Furthermore, instead of including a marijuana question among those presented to Obama, all of the pot inquiries were rejected by YouTube.

Here were the final votes and top five question topics that were sent to YouTube:

Marijuana Legalization - 2,406 questions, 195,198 votes

Jobs and Economy - 656 questions, 109,265 votes

Foreign Policy - 1,170 questions, 69,329 votes

Health Care - 883 questions, 66,329 votes

Education - 898 questions, 49,784 votes


Meanwhile, pot smokers are not the only one's growing disillusioned with Obama

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Odds and Ends

Coakley backer.

Brown in the snow. 

At the grave of Jay Libardi. 

View from the gazebo at Hillcrest Cemetery in Springfield.

The guy next to me in Amherst's Black Sheep today was getting arty. 

Art on....

UMass First Amendment Criticism

Angela Davis caused a UMass free speech controversy in the 70's.

Nationally respected free speech advocate Harvey Silvergate weighed in on the recent free speech controversy at UMass over the cancelled invitation of a leftist terrorist. Not surprisingly, Silvergate supports the free speech advocates, but also scolds campus liberals for their failure to defend free speech for non-leftists on those occasions in the past when they were shouted off the stage. As Silvergate says in the Boston Phoenix:

If free speech is what gives value to the campus "marketplace of ideas," UMass Amherst would long ago have gone bankrupt....

For freedom of speech to function, its supporters must be willing to apply it equally, especially to speech with which they disagree. Though the Levasseur incident saw faculty asserting its academic freedom rights — as the UMass administration kowtowed to outside pressure — it also exposed the professoriate as one-sided. Defending only controversial speech on one half of the political divide is a formula for hollowing out this time-tested constitutional guarantee and academic axiom.

In the late 1970s, Angela Davis, a Communist activist, was invited to speak at UMass. The administration — equally at odds with First Amendment freedoms as the current leadership, but leaning to the political right — forced Davis to pay for her own security. It's only a matter of time before what goes around comes around.

There is a certain irony, then, in seeing a faction of the UMass faculty appear to come to the rescue of free speech and academic freedom, knowing that the same faculty cannot be counted on when political speakers whose views they disapprove of are threatened. And so, when dealing with that hotbed of censorship known as UMass Amherst (faculty, administration, and even many students, alas), not to mention the governor and the US Parole Commission, all one can do is hearken back to Shakespeare, who succinctly observed (and we paraphrase): a pox on all their houses.

Never Forget

UMass put up this display to honor the anniversary of the fall of Germany's Berlin Wall. 

It is a rare that we have a chance to test political theories with the same rigorous precision that is used in the hard sciences. However that opportunity emerged after World War II when Germany was divided into two nations, each with the identical history and culture, the only difference being that one half embraced free markets and the other embraced socialism. Forty years later, the capitalist half of Germany was one of the wealthiest and most powerful nations in the world, while the socialist half was a poverty stricken police state. 

It's Coming

As it becomes increasingly apparent that the incompetence of the Republicans under Bush is only being surpassed by the incompetence of the Democrats under Obama, the disillusionment and disgust of the public with the two major parties is reaching historic levels. Hopefully we are hurtling towards the so-called "libertarian moment" when the American people will finally decide, "To hell with the liberals, to hell with the conservatives, let's choose freedom instead!" Predicting the arrival of this happy day is the hiply influential business magazine Fast Company:

If the two-party system is ever going to be seriously challenged, this is the moment. The GOP, the stall-tactic party, is reeling. The Democratic administration is struggling to turn around the economy. And across the country, creative, engaged folks are increasingly feeling politically homeless. More Americans consider themselves independents (39%) than Democrats (33%) or Republicans (22%) -- and the gap is widening.

Who will fill that void? The best third-party contender already exists. The Libertarians, like so many independents and disaffected Democrats and Republicans, are fiscal conservatives and social liberals -- and no one has yet built a lasting coalition out of this growing force....Seize the moment, Libertarians. You're not going to get a better one.


Around Amherst

Some tombstones make you wish you knew something about the lives behind the stones, such as this one in West Cemetery.

 

"She Went Out in a Blaze of Glory!"

 

Is there a reader of this blog who knows something about this person?


Stone orbs hold open the door to a downtown shop. 

Wheels on fire. 

Side street leading to the UMass library.

Radio station broadcasting from campus today.

Today's Video

If you get confused listen to the music play.

 

Springfield Starship

More Oldies

Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth (or at least the concert stages) I was a misbehaving teenager attending acid rock shows in the Springfield area armed with a beautiful topshelf Yashica camera I got for a pittance from a B&E artist I knew (as in Breaking and Entering). In a bit of karmic justice, the camera was eventually stolen from me. Anyway, in that distant era they would let you bring cameras into concerts, these being the days before every moment of a rock and roll show became a copyrighted experience that no one can capture in any form unless somebody is being paid a royalty.

So I took a bunch of pictures at a lot of shows and put them in a photo album. Then in the course of relocating hither and yon somewhere along the way I thought I lost it. I always hoped it would turn up someday, but frankly I had no real expectation that it would. Then one day when I was going through some of the stuff in my late Mom's cellar, lo and behold there it was, the book of photos along with some other local music memoriabilia such as the Martian Highway flyer reproduced below.

Leave it to dear old Mom to always save the stuff I was careless about. As for Martian Highway, it was a popular local party band fronted by a cool spade named Carl Mayfield.

The following are pictures of the Jefferson Starship at the Springfield Civic Center, exact date unknown, but it was sometime in the late 70's. The earliest incarnations of the Jefferson Starship were more in the style of the revolutionary Airplane than the commercialized Top 40 hit machine they later became. My main memory of this show is how about a week before the concert, the aforementioned madman Carl Mayfield had some weird LSD-induced vision that the phrase "Bloated Oat a Goat Will Float," whose specific meaning he was never quite able to explain, must somehow be spread to the multitudes assembled and particularly to the Starship itself.

So he went about making stickers, signs, balloons and anything else he could think of to disperse to the crowd which had that statement (among other things) written on them. I think all eight thousand people who attended that show encountered that phrase multiple times; at the very least they heard it once when Grace Slick picked up something with the phrase written on it that was thrown on stage and asked, "Bloated oat a goat will float? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Ah Grace, just another one of the cosmic mysteries that will never be solved!

Grace encountering a bloated oat.



Spacey Gracie the Acid Queen



The voice that launched a thousand trips.



Paul Kantner



Craig Chaquico and Kantner. 

The late Pine Pointer "Fuji" Cardinal (center) and crew at the concert. His real first name was Dave, and he was best known as a Boston Road Cumberland Farms cashier who also sold weed that he kept hidden behind the counter. The place sold more lids than it did gallons of milk. He died in a highway accident about five years ago.

Boston Road Car Caper

 



Want even more Springfield oldies? Okay, here's a funny true life story my friend Jordan Williams (above right) sent me in an email years ago. 

It all began when I stopped by that used car lot next to St. Michael's cemetary in Pine Point, Springfield:



At the time I was searching for a replacement for the RX-7. As I drove down Boston Road in Springfield at around 10 PM, I spotted a vehicle on the Pine Point lot that I thought might be the ticket. I pulled up onto the sidewalk in order to get out of the way of traffic and got out to check out the cars. I'm in the habit of leaving the car running for brief stops like this one for fear that the intermittent starting problem I've been having might arise once again. This despite having invested $542 during the prior week because of a bad door, a major tune-up and that starting situation.

A couple of minutes into the tire kicking, I noticed a guy walking down the street on the other side who seemed to be making an effort to get my attention. Waving his arms and yelling some sort of gibberish. I knew I didn't know him and just sort of waved him off. Well naturally he stumbled over to talk to me - in Spanish. I said "No espanol," and just hoped he would go away. He spoke English just fine though, and offering his hand in friendship his first sentence was this: "My name is Manuel, I am Puerto Rican, and I see, my friend, that you are looking for a car. This is a very good business - cars. It so happens that I will be receiving twenty three thousand dollars very soon because of this injury (points to unmarked portions of one arm and one leg) and I would like to invest in such a car business. Me and you can be partners. What do you think? Would you like to be with me in the car business?"

Hmm. I sized up my potential new business partner. On the plus side he appeared to be about 40, in good shape, bilingual and would soon have many thousands of dollars. On the minus he was shirtless, drunk, stoned, crazy and dirty. It was a close call and one that, sadly, went against poor Manuel. I said "Well, that is certainly something to think about." But I believe that I saw in Manuel's eyes a sadness. A sadness that said "I do not believe you want to be partners with Manuel."

He then informed me that he was late to work and asked if I would give him a ride. I declined. He then asked me for a dollar. "Sorry Manuel, all tapped out." "How about 50 cents?" "No can do." And the litany began again, starting with a ride, moving to a dollar and ending with 50 cents. No. No. No. And again. And again. He was also getting more belligerant. By now I was simply ignoring him and just looking at cars. He wouldn't leave though and I thought that maybe, just maybe, if I drifted away in the opposite direction that he'd eventually leave. It worked. He finally walked away.

I was now about 50 yards from my car. Manny was gone. Wrong. A few minutes later I realized that Manuel had doubled back, screened from me by a house, and suddenly reemerged near my car. He screamed out the question "50 cents man?" It was all crystal clear now. I shook my pockets wishing I had a couple of quarters. Nothing. "No Manuel . . . NO!" I hollerd. But I watched in horror as he jumped into the Mazda and, as I screamed "No, Manny don't do it!" Manuel floored it, bouncing off the road as he left the sidewalk onto the pavement and laying a fair amount of rubber. The Mazda was gone.

Or was it? Coincidence, or perhaps destiny, can be a remarkable thing though and a Springfield police cruiser came around the corner just moments after Manuel's betrayal. I ran into the street arms flailing away. The cruiser swerved slightly to avoid me and though I noticed the lone officer looking curiously into the rear view mirror, there was no change in speed as he crested and then disappeared over the same hill as Manuel. Indeed - the Mazda was truly gone.

12 hours later I was on my way to the Poconos and wouldn't get a police update until the next night: "Mr. Williams…that car is still stolen."

Actually, I never saw it again.

 

Around Amherst

If you don't offer this you can't stay in business. 

The Jolly Rogers atop a UMass partyhouse.

I stopped in at Amherst's historic West Cemetery.

 



I wanted to check in on Miss Emily Dickinson.

Status Update: Still dead.

Some of the stones have been damaged by vandals.

 



If the vandals don't get you, time will. 

Nothing lasts.

Political Falls

The conventional wisdom on the street in that Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins is heading towards a fall in next months's election. In the meantime, the winner of last month's primary against Higgins, Michael Bardsley, has a big thank you sign on the front of his headquarters in Florence.

But the big news in local politics was yesterday's primary in Agawam where the scandal plagued Mayor Susan Dawson got bounced. Top vote getter Derek Benton will now face former Mayor Richard Cohen for the mayoralty in November. Cohen was a good mayor when he was in office, but he is a terrible campaigner whose dull speaking style makes even his supporters cringe. Benton on the other hand, a former aide to former State Senator Brian Lees, is Mr. Personality.

Mayor Dawson must in some ways be relieved to be forced out of the public spotlight, which was no doubt very uncomfortable for her over the past year because of a scandal involving another man's ex-wife. The hard part to bear is that she now has to accept the bitter truth that her enemies have succeeded in ruining her career.

Among the Dead

A cold rainy morning today along the woodland way leading to downtown Northampton.

A good day to poke around this little cemetery in the center of Florence.

There are lots of old graves dating back to the 1800's. 

This old monument is getting rather lopsided. 

Despite being reinforced by stones, this tower still looks like it will topple.



We yearn for worldly immortality, but eventually time is triumphant over us all. 

Today's Video

 



That's Lord Russ above in March playing the Northampton courthouse steps as Elvis. Here's a classic bit of video that has surfaced of him playing outdoors in Amherst way back in 1996. Did he have more fun as a blonde?

Smith's Ferry Cemetery 2007

A visit to an old cemetery.




Well, I had many fun adventures yesterday, exploring our beloved Valley with the talented lensman Jeff Ziff. Actually, it won't be possible to present all of the material at once, in part because Jeff left for a vaycay in Maine this morning. 

Yesterday he took most of the photographs, thereby freeing me to do what I do best, which is run around acting crazy, but that also means we must wait for him to process the photos and video. However it shall all be released for your pleasure and enlightenment, dear readers, in the by and by. Today, I'll tell you about our visit to the Smith's Ferry Cemetery which is located in Holyoke on Route 5 near the Northampton line.

This is a small cemetery which you've probably driven past a million times but never stopped to visit. However, as a history nut I'm fond of cemeteries, as they are often the repositories of historical information that cannot be discovered otherwise. For many of the people of the past, their tombstone is the only permanent record of their lives. Here is a picture of me taking a picture of the statue (shown above) on the tomb of someone named Richard F. Underwood.



I thought this was a pretty creative grave marker. The last name is apparently represented by a single block etched Strain, with accompanying blocks giving the first initials of the deceased. I guess this is the technique for those who wish to be discreetly dead.



One of the largest monuments in the boneyard belongs to this dude, William Caldwell Bowlen.



Never heard of him. However a Holyoke history book about cemeteries, Stories in Stone has this to say about him:



William Caldwell Bowlen was born in Newburyport MA in 1868, where his Nova-Scotian-born father, William Bowlen, was a grocer.... W. C. Bowlen not only designed timeless silver patterns, he was a talented artist who created evocative images of the landscapes and people around him. He was also an etcher, one who engraves metal printing plates, and produced limited editions of his artworks. He died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of sixty-six, while attending an auction sale in Greenfield.

So he was a famous local artist who probably shouldn't have gotten so excited about an auction in Greenfield. Here is what we found odd about his tomb however - there are air grates on the top, as you can see in the picture below.



Why does a tomb need air grates? Was Mr. Bowlen intending to return to life, and wanted to be sure he had fresh air? When Mr. Bowlen was freshly dearly departed, wasn't there a danger that those air grates would spew forth a stinky smell? If anyone has an explanation for those grates, I'd love to hear it.

Anyway, next time you're zooming down Route Five, stop for a few minutes of peaceful historical contemplation among the old stones of Smith's Ferry Cemetery. 

How do you like this neat shirt based on Springfield's Dr. Seuss?