Today is the 50th anniversary of the Smoot, a terribly impractical measurement unit used to calculate the distance of Cambridge’s Mass. Ave. bridge. The Boston Globe has a short video of Smoot himself discussing the unit’s origins.

And thus perished fifty forlorn “pit” kids. When the firemen arrived all that was left was a tuft of green, dreadlocked hair, and a partially melted bellybutton ring. Also, an overwhelming sense of ennui.

Ok, it didn’t really kill any pit kids. I used to park my bike right there, it would have gotten singed… that would have been a true tragedy. This could have been my bike:

More information at Boston.com.

Via Cynical-C.

US, Boston, Kenmore Square Riots (2004)

US, Boston, Union Square Castle (2005)

US, Boston, Mt. Auburn Cemetery

US, Boston, Lightning (2005)

US, Boston, Commonwealth Avenue Rooftop

US, Boston, Downtown (2005)

US, Boston, Alewife

I took this picture a few days ago of a sign inside a subway car on Boston’s Green Line:

If you see smoke or suspect a fire, please SPARK IT UP!

If a passenger is in distress, please FINISH HIM!

remember

Because jbg was hassling me about football team theme songs, here’s a collection of links to most NFL teams’ theme songs (or fight songs, if you’re old-timey):

• Atlanta Falcons – Go You Falcons (lyrics)
• Arizona Cardinals – The Cardinals are Charging
• Buffalo Bills – Shout
• Carolina Panthers – Stand and Cheer
• Chicago Bears – Bear Down, Chicago Bears and of The Super Bowl Shuffle
• Cincinnati Bengals – Fear Da Tiger (fanastic!)
• Cleveland Browns – Cleveland Browns Fight Song
• Dallas Cowboys – Go Dallas Cowboys
• Denver Broncos -Broncos Fight Song (lyrics)
• Detroit Lions – Gridiron Heros (lyrics)
• Green Bay Packers – Go! You Packers! Go!
• Houston Texans – Texans Theme Song
• Indianapolis Colts – Blue Sunday
• Jacksonville Jaguars – It’s Time for Jaguars Football (lyrics)
• Kansas City Chiefs – Chiefs Fight Song (lyrics)
• Minnesota Vikings – Vikings Fight Song I (and more)
• Miami Dolphins – Can’t Touch Us (fanastic!)
  
• New England Patriots – Patriots Fantasy
• New Orleans Saints – When The Saints Go Marching In
• New York Giants – Touchdown
• New York Jets – The Jets Keep Sailing Along
• Oakland Raiders – The Oakland Raiders
• Philadelphia Eagles – Fly Eagles Fly
• Pittsburgh Steelers – Rock n Roll Steelers (and more)
• San Diego Chargers – San Diego Super Chargers
• San Francisco 49ers – We’re the 49ers
• Seattle Seahawks – ?
• St. Louis Rams – ?
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Yo Ho Ho We’re the Buccaneers (and more)
• Tennessee Titans – Houston Oilers Theme Song (fantastic!)
• Washington Redskins – Hail to the Redskins (actually uses the words “Rah Rah Rah”)

Technically the Houston Oilers Theme Song ISN’T really the theme song for the Tennessee Titans, but it’s awesome. For the rest, I just scavenged around and grabbed what seemed right. Any changes can be recommended in the comments.

Links for the Chargers, the Patriots and the Redskins courtesy of jbg.

When I saw that the concept behind ROFLCon was “to assemble every famous internet meme or celebrity to come to Harvard in the spring of 2008 to attend a conference,” I thought I had a decent chance of being invited. Sure, if this were a year and a half ago, I would have had a much better chance, but I figured a few people might remember.

But alas, perusing the list of people they’re looking for, I apparently didn’t make cut. Tim Hwang, I’m saddened by this. Even the One Red Paperclip guy got invited! We were doing our things at the same time. *Shakes head in disgust.*

I need to fire my agent.

Cross posted at Snakes on a Blog.

One of the original versions of the Cheers theme song started with the following lyrics:

Singing the blues when the Red Sox lose
It’s a crisis in your life
On the run ‘cause all your girlfriends
Want to be your wife
And the laundry ticket’s in the wash

Also check out the full version of the theme song which includes a few wacky verses and an out of place saxaphone solo.

Via Cynical-C.

$4 drop fee plus $0.25 per 1/6th mile. This rate is comparatively high (see New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago). In fact the initial drop fee will be higher in DC than any other major urban area in the country. Metroblogging takes a look at the new rates and finds that most trips will be more expensive for passengers.

I’m not sure the protests are going to win much support among the general ridership with rates like these.

Troeltsch presents the following trivia question:

Five players on the 2007 Red Sox (at any point this year, not just the 25-man roster) share last names (one with a very minor change) with the 2007 Rockies. Name them. A hint: 4 of the five are hispanic (latino? whatever) names.

Knowing nothing about anything, I leave this to my few readers to figure out.

Something that was striking when I moved to L.A. was that when first trying to get around, you immediately felt like you knew where you were going. After a few cross-town trips I realized that it was because I already knew all the street names. Pop culture somehow prepared me for the move. I’ve been thinking about this, and L.A. seems to top the world in terms of famous, name-recognizable streets. Here’s all that I can think of off the top of my head:

Los Angeles:
Santa Monica Boulevard
Wilshire Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Palms Boulevard
Mulholland Drive
Vine Street
Melrose Avenue
Rodeo Drive
Venice Boulevard
Ventura Boulevard

New York:
Wall Street
Broadway
Canal Street
Park Avenue
42nd Street
Bleeker Street
Fifth Avenue
Madison Avenue

Boston:
Newbury Street

New Orleans:
Bourbon Street

Chicago:
Lakeshore Drive

Philadelphia:
South Street

San Francisco:
Castro Street
Haight Street
Lombard Street

Paris:
Champs Elysees

London:
Abbey Road
Downing Street
Oxford Street

I’m sure Los Angeles does so well because every TV show and movie is filmed and written here, so the streets just show up a lot. It’s a weird phenomenon though, where you arrive in the city and already feel like you have a vague understanding of it.

Is it just because I’m an American that I can only think of a few famous foreign streets? Do Americans somehow value streets more than non-Americans do?

We need some more famous streets.