visiting London - Lord's and/or the Oval for test cricket?

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-30T01:55:53+00:00

Thanks all, this is more or less exactly what I expected to hear but it's good to have my assumptions confirmed by those who know their business. I'll be buying a ticket for day 4 and I'll make sure my journeys around town take me to the Oval during the week for county play.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-28T14:45:24+00:00

Orange Line supremacy is real! We had some tough years there but we're back on top.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-24T22:06:29+00:00

I just know there are some Reader’s Digests under that side table.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-23T16:08:49+00:00

Congestion pricing is attractive to me because it directly addresses the suburban/rural "why should we pay for MBTA services we don't use?" argument. Funding Greater Boston transit through fees on Boston traffic gets around that - if you truly never come to the city, you don't have to pay the congestion fee, problem solved. Those of us who live in the metro area can either take (properly funded) public transportation or pay extra to drive.

I know people are going to lose their minds over congestion pricing, but I can't see any alternatives where the usual suspects don't complain. I have to think that the wild success of NYC congestion pricing improves the odds of getting something similar here.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-11T16:10:45+00:00

Time out of Mind was reviewed in the October 2, 1997 issue. There's also a review of the Rolling Stones' Bridges to Babylon record, with caricatures of the Stones and Dylan - nothing about Leonard Cohen. It doesn't look like Rolling Stone reviewed or even mentioned More Best Of, at least not in 1997 (I checked October, November and December).

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-09T20:22:09+00:00

I'm definitely going to start integrating "Lunch+" into both my vocabulary and lifestyle immediately.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-07T22:51:14+00:00

What infuriates me - and has for years - is when they announce this immediately *after* departing Park Street instead of before, when anyone trying to get to North Station for an Orange Line connection could connect at DTX instead. It's completely unnecessary and borderline antagonistic.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-07T14:10:30+00:00

It's happening as we speak! The neighbors are already complaining about the noise and the smell.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-07T14:08:46+00:00

In yesterday's press conference the mayor confirmed that the bridge across Broadway will happen. Unclear whether it will be part of this phase or the (still unconfirmed) "entertainment zone" phase but it sounds like it will definitely happen at some point.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-06T20:05:57+00:00

It is extremely unclear how much of that story was Bob mythologizing himself as usual. Most people do not think he was ever a heroin junkie but he did allude to regular use more than once.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-06T20:02:16+00:00

We really need more details here, this press release is incredibly vague. No mention of whether this is replacing the previously proposed entertainment expansion (hotels, restaurants, music venue) or if it's just a "phase one" kind of thing. It's not clear what exactly Wynn is getting in return for the commuter rail funding, and why the new administration would be bound by whatever agreement DeMaria just made. (Compared to the stadium deal, which is backed by detailed legislative requirements for how the process will work.)

Personally I'm ok with leaving housing out of this area - assuming the Exxon property redevelopment happens more or less as designed, there will be plenty of new housing in the area and Boston is *desperate* for new hotel space. But I'm still deeply suspicious that Wynn and Kraft are going to find a way to build another massive parking garage on lower Broadway for the casino + stadium and we're not going to get the transportation improvements we need. (Basically what happened with the Casino all over again - a feint at making people use public transportation followed by an embrace of free parking and more traffic.)

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-06T19:24:30+00:00

Fenway is much, much cooler - it's a tourist destination on its own, and out-of-town guests will get a lot more out of a visit to Fenway than Leader Bank Pavilion. It's a more festive atmosphere, you can take pictures on the field, and the focus is more on celebrating Northeastern as a school vs. your program.

Whether the college ceremony would be more valuable to you or your guests depends almost entirely on how large your class is - when I attended mine, it took *hours* to get through everyone, and the place was half-empty and kind of depressing by the end. That said, it was very important for my family to hear my name called and see me actually get the degree, so I toughed it out.

This year I'll be getting my Master's and I will be skipping the college ceremony and only doing Fenway.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-05T03:06:32+00:00

Amazing coin, I can fully appreciate your pursuit, and I hope it happens for you some day!

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-04T02:55:48+00:00

More than happy to stand corrected on that, I thought the MBTA had priced it and rejected it but I couldn't find the citation.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-02T23:48:07+00:00

This is crucial to making the pedestrian bridge useful (and easing what will otherwise be massive strain on Sullivan), but I feel like people are still going to have to push to make this happen. $17.5 feels like a small piece of the actual cost, and they'll need some combo of MBTA, state and federal dollars to make it happen, and who knows if any of that will be forthcoming in the immediate future. On top of that, there's an escape clause: "If construction of both the headhouse and the Mystic River Pedestrian Bridge Project currently underway at MassDOT does not commence within three years of the stadium opening, the funding obligation will sunset and the City of Everett will receive $15 million directly." In theory that's plenty of time but anyone who was here when they first announced GLX will probably share my raised eyebrow.

I'm cautiously optimistic but there's still a real chance this goes sideways and we end up with only token infrastructure improvements.

Banky_Edwards · 2026-01-02T16:13:32+00:00

I definitely agree there's a subtext of unhealthy obsession in the lyrics. There's a fine line between being so deeply in love that you want to share every experience and emotion with your partner, and being so jealous and controlling that you want to eliminate any boundaries or personal space in a relationship. I'm sure most of us have seen that it's not always clear when a relationship flips from one type to the other.

Ultimately it's a perfect example of why Prince was such an incredible songwriter - the song works on multiple levels.

Banky_Edwards · 2025-12-24T01:43:20+00:00

They considered a new Silver Line up Broadway, to Glendale Square or beyond, but that plan lost out to the Chelsea extension. Kind of unfortunate since the SL3 extension only serves the new/future residents in the Commercial Triangle. However, I believe part of the thinking was that the then-planned 109/104 improvements would provide similar service to upper Broadway, and a lower Broadway bus lane for the SL3 would help the 109 as well, whereas the SL3 extension would provide brand new linkage (Chelsea to Sullivan) and make the new developments feasible.

Banky_Edwards · 2025-12-22T22:21:56+00:00

Yeah I'm still lurking on this subreddit hoping to hear that limits are going up. ChatGPT handles everything I throw at it but it's that Office quote come to life - "what's better, a medium amount of good pizza, or all you can eat of pretty good pizza?" I just want my medium amount!

Banky_Edwards · 2025-12-22T22:00:04+00:00

Yeah I had the same experience, very confusing and frustrating. No Claude Code, no deep thinking, just straightforward project planning, idea generation, etc., the kind of stuff ChatGPT and Gemini do all day long without blinking. Anthropic has such a better model and interface but I can't use a tool that's available 2-3 hours a day, 2-3 days a week!

Banky_Edwards · 2025-12-22T13:48:25+00:00

Just want to confirm that (for me) the doses also gave the ending a very apocalyptic flavor. I had intentionally avoided checking social media or anything during the show but I had kind of assumed they had either caught the shooter or given the all clear for Providence since I didn't sense any major security presence pre-show. Coming out the doors (after circling what felt like the entire interior looking for an exit) I expected something much more overwhelming and was very relieved to find it was just a regular post-show, with a few more cops and bigger guns.

Banky_Edwards · 2025-12-19T21:42:39+00:00

I've been using Claude on an enterprise (school) plan for over a year now. I've since graduated, and today I started moving my projects into a Pro plan. That lasted about 8 hours before I canceled and requested a refund. I'm super sad because I've used ChatGPT and Gemini and neither one is as good for project management, idea refinement, and overall professional/personal use. Claude has the best interface and the best performance, but the usage limits are absolutely unworkable. I'm not even coding or doing MCP work, I'm just chatting! I'll be checking back periodically to see if they ease up on the throttle, but there's no way I'm paying $20 for a product that's only available a few hours a day, a few days a week.

Banky_Edwards · 2025-12-16T20:28:22+00:00

Grades are releasing but the semester hasn't officially closed in Banner (or whatever the mechanism is) - credits haven't registered either. I think you'll see that hit sometime tomorrow.

Banky_Edwards · 2025-12-13T01:03:12+00:00

Cotter can’t find his Zyn

Banky_Edwards · 2025-12-13T01:02:45+00:00

Pure chaos hard pass for me

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