Pictures

Today was a nice sunny day and I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of Salem as promised earlier. I posted them on my Flickr page.

Noreastern

It looks like the winter has thrown us another curve ball. After a nice couple of days, we got hit on Friday by a winter storm with a couple inches of snow, blowing wind and snarling traffic. It generally referred as a 'Norestern'. So, since there was not much to do outside, I went to see a movie. There is a smaller theater nearby, that plays older movies and smaller independent ones. The theater looks like it has been stuck in the 80's, but that gives is a unique touch. Kinda reminded me of some great movie experiences I had in the past.... "Karniggels" in the Deli III, 'Pulp Fiction" in Luebeck, or 'Star Wars" in the Oriental in Milwaukee. Good times.
Today, I watched the oscar winning German movie "Das Leben der Anderen". Great film about the East German secret police and how it spied on their own people. The movie is interesting in a sense that in the beginning the main character still believes that his 'police' work and wire tapping is the right thing to do. Through the movie he finds out that the cause gets corrupted because others use the system of spying and black-mailing for personal gain. One can find similarities with the witch trials in Salem or the way the "war" on terror is being conducted. Deep thoughts.... Nevertheless, I thought it was an excellent movie.

Salem Stroll

Finally! This weekend it was warm enough to explore Salem for a bit. I started at the harbor at Derby Wharf, where the Friendship of Salem is moored to the docks. The ship is a replica of Salem East Indian from 1797 and it certainly makes for a great site. Salem is mostly famous for their witch trials and early trade around the world and it certainly shows. The town has a lot of brick buildings telling of older times. It has a very European feel to it. If you walk the tiny streets it almost feels like walking through Luebeck. They also have their share of architectural nightmares. The power plant that sits next to the historic harbor must have been build before Salem made a living out of tourism, just awful. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, so I'll post some pictures later, once I take some. ;-)
Speaking of tourism. Salem certainly has adopted the witchcraft theme, every second store is about witches, haunted houses, and everything spooky. It's a bit much for my taste, but hey, if it brings the crowd, whatever works. All in all it was a nice stroll through the neighborhood.

Closer to home, I finally put up pictures,
so at least the living room is done. The set-up is pretty much the same as in my old place. I still need to add some lighting and I also need to buy some furniture for the bedrooms. It's process and it will take some time. The apartment is on the second floor, so it's nice to look out the window and see a tree, instead of a parking car, like in Peoria.

Global Warming

With friends around the globe enjoying balmy spring temperatures, Massachussets clearly didn't get the memo on global warming. I stepped out today to be greeted by temperatures that would make any penguin feel at home. You got to be kidding! With wind chills reaching -15 F, that's -25 C, any discussion on global warming takes on a rather amusing twist. This hot topic seemed to gain some steam in the media here in the US and in Europe with "An inconvenient truth" winning an oscar, Al Gore being outed as an energy hog, and German politician suggesting to spend vacation close to home instead of jetting around the world. Maybe somebody can enlighten me, because it seems like everybody and their brother seem to have a different opinion on the effects of global warming. All I know is that today, huddled up and shivering in the car, I wouldn't mind a little bit of local warming myself.