Just a reminder to everyone out there: We know the TSA is constantly changing the rules, but you still can't carry a loaded gun onto your flight. Sorry to remind those of you who already know this, but apparently Louis Tasiopoulos didn't remember.
He was about to hop onto his JetBlue flight from Boston to Florida, police say, before they caught him with a 9 mm Glock pistol. Seriously? Tasiopoulos told police:
I forgot it was in my bag...I meant to leave the gun in my room at the hotel and could not leave it in my truck.
He's been charged with carrying a concealed weapon in a secure area, and has already been convicted in the court of TSA opinion. Said an agency spokeswoman, "It is beyond stupid to think that you can pass through a security checkpoint with a loaded gun."
Thanks to Massport, the Boston Logan Airport taxi situation has gone from mildly annoying to hellishly intolerable, but don't blame the taxi drivers.
Massport, in their infinite wisdom, at some point, decided it would be best for the hordes of taxi drivers anxiously awaiting an airport fare to sit in a holding area away from the terminals and wait to be "called" to the terminal when a taxi was needed. So the system, as we understand it is akin to waiting for meat at a local supermarket deli. Taxi drivers enter the holding area, get a number, and wait for the Massport traffic controller with a walkie talkie to call their number and direct then to their terminal.
However, what ends up happening is there are never enough taxis outside the terminal and the clueless Massport controller never knows how many taxis to call in from the holding area. To further complicate the mess, taxi drivers in the holding area regularly bail if their number hasn't been called after a long period of time, thinking there are no passengers needing a taxi at the airport.
You expect this sort of Disneyworld-like line when you land in Vegas, where taxi supply struggles to keep up with demand, but at BOS, at 1:15 AM? When one flight lands and every passenger who needs a taxi ends up waiting twenty five minutes, you know there is a big issue.
The solution to this clusterfuck seems simple enough -- allow a limited number of taxis to wait at the terminal, once Massport guy sees the post flight taxi rush he can make himself useful by calling in the next group of taxis. Kind of like how Southwest use to board their flights. This make way more sense than calling in taxis one by one -- oh and isn't it how almost every other airport in the country works? We certainly never have an issue at JFK or LAX or other busier airports.
Singing Sweet Caroline at Fenway during Game 1 of the 2007 World Series.
Boston is in the midst of an absolute World Series tourist rush. BOS is full of those from away, and those returning, all wearing Red Sox gear. Say what you will about the pink hats, the band wagon, and Red Sox Nation, John Henry and the group that bought the Boston Red Sox have turned the team into a worldwide brand to be reckoned with. Furthermore, they have turned cramped old Fenway into baseballs top tourist attraction.
Nothing encapsulates that more than listening and watching those at Fenway sing along to Sweet Caroline, an alleged Red Sox "tradition". Truth of the matter is the Sox started playing Neil Diamond's classic sometime around 1999. Amy Tobey, who was the ballpark's music director from 1998 to 2004, is credited with first playing the song at Fenway, but at the time it was hardly a staple.
When John Henry bought the team in 2002 his group made playing Sweet Caroline mandatory before the home half of the eighth inning and the rest is history. 2002 was a forgettable season, and most Red Sox fans don't really remember happily singing along with Neil until the 2003 season, but somehow it feels like a tradition as old as manually changing the score on the Green Monster scoreboard. Doesn't really matter much now, because people come from all over the world to sing along and watch the Sox play.
Was in the spring, and spring became the summer, who'd have believed you'd come along...
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by pbb
