Check out the new cites added today.
austin, TX
minneapolis, MN
hawaii, HI

A friendly reminder to everyone that Wednesday, Oct. 13, is the last day that one can register to vote in Massachusetts for the Nov. 2 election. Go here and all questions shall be answered. Make sure your family & friends are registered, too.

And, of course, don’t forget to actually vote on Tuesday, Nov. 2!

I’ll be away in Maine for the next week or so, without connectivity. There will be leaf-peeping, napping, and bonding with the baby so, I won’t miss my life back here.

Sometimes it seems to me that Bostonians can be categorized by the places they enjoy vacationing:

• Capers: although it has several subcultures (gay P-town, artsy Truro, etc.), the Cape is for folks who enjoy fried food, the Chritsmas Tree Shop, and gas abuse — waiting in traffic in a big SUV, running the outboard or the Ski-doo in circles, and grilling without charcoal.
  
• Islanders: Vineyardtucket — the upper middle class trapped with the rich and super-rich in an embrace fueld by expensive wine and overcrowded beaches.
  
• Vermonters: for Islanders who enjoy a hike, clean mountain air, newly-acquired big bank accounts, organic vegetables, and pretending they are from New York instead of Boston.
  
• New Hampsters: see Capers and deduct the subcultures.
  
• Berkshires: see Vermonters and add more left-leaning politics and 35% more books purchased per capita.
  
• Mainers: see all of the above — Maine is so diverse that it has places for Capers (see the popular lakes and southern coast), Vermonters (see the Blue Hill/Stonington area), and Islanders (Isle au Haut, Deer Isle, etc.).
  

Johnny Kelley, who won the Boston Marathon twice and ran it a record 61 times, died at age 97 last night (story).

I saw him run for many years when I was a kid, and I was always impressed. My grandad is only a little younger (he’s almost 91), and in my memory, my grandad has always had trouble walking.

Godspeed, Johnny!

Virginia Senator John Warner is using a defense appropriations bill to kill the Cape Wind wind farm project. One might wonder what the hell windmills have to do with the defense budget. Think for a moment.

Warner continues to aid the Bush administration’s obfuscation of the facts on Iraq from his perch on the Armed Services Committee. Yesterday, when the senators heard testimony on the new CIA report confirming that Iraq was neither an imminent nor even a gathering threat to the US, Warner sought to spin it like Cheney.

If we had more projects like Cape Wind, a real focused effort on renewable energy sources, there would be less call for spilling blood in the Middle East over trumped up fears.

Took this on my camera phone on my way to work today — westbound on the Mass Pike after the Weston tolls. Pretty leaves.

I went to see Morrissey on Monday night at the Orpheum and it was an awesome show but the Orpheum is kind of a wreck. I counted at least four ginourmous holes in the walls and lights surrounding the stage and the whole place is badly in need of a paint job. What’s up? Where is that wealthy socialite who will fund a refurbish for the place? It needs it badly, it’s such a nice theater really.

Also there is no AC which I know but somehow always forget. Our seats in the balconey were Africa hot. Morrissey said we could all just sweat together. He changed his shirt four times, by my count. I thought I might pass out and fall over the very short rail. I think the people who sit below should be made aware that someone could fall on them at any moment.

Otherwise, great time.

Sometimes I think Boston is the most melancholy city in North America. Case in point: the Globe Magazine Bostonian of the Year call for nominations. Ostensibly, they are looking for the person who we leave “the biggest impression here” in 2004. But, their examples from prior years are both negative:

In 2002, it had to be Cardinal Bernard Law. In 2003, the name — still eating away at the hearts of Bostonians — was Grady Little, for his decision to leave Pedro Martinez in for one batter too many against the Yankees.

Suggestions for this year are also not exactly optimistic: Mayor Menino for “his stubborn insistence that the Democratic National Convention would be a windfall when it wound up turning the city into a ghost town” and Nomar for creating another wretched curse on the hometown team. Sure, they throw in Mitt Romney and John Kerry, but I have a suspicion that they view them with the same lugubrious attitude. Are we only allowed to celebrate the dark side of life here? Is the Hub of the Universe a black hole?

They mention the “generic gay couple, for putting Massachusetts at the center of the gay-marriage debate” as a possible nominee. What is a “generic gay couple” –two men wearing non-name-brand clothing? Two women with nondescript features? There is a perfectly non-generic gay couple available for Bostonian of the Year — Hillary and Julie Goodridge — the lead plaintiffs and first homosexual married couple.

They have my vote.