My View of Life on the Dock
Use our fantastic screening room or take advantage of the meeting hall and kitchen downstairs! Spiran Hall is ready to host your next event, whatever that may be. We can assist with any technical setup that needs to happen to make your event one to remember! Contact us here!
Don’t you just love the name ‘Pipit?’ At first glance the American Pipit looks rather like a Plain Jane but their sweet name complements their spunky personality. I loved watching them energetically forage on the beach as they ran hither and thither wagging their tails and craning their necks chicken-like while searching for tiny bits of seafood amongst the popples and seaweed.
With a silhouette that looks something like a slender and smaller American Robin, and a facial expression to match, I was having trouble identifying the bird. I emailed John Nelson, author of Flight Calls and a recent guest on our podcast, and he knew just what they were.
The photos were taken in low light and at some distance, but you can still get a good idea of what to look for. In Massachusetts, the American Pipit is reportedly seen during spring and fall migration, much less so in winter. They breed in both the high Arctic tundra as well as alpine meadows. Their varied habitats include mudflats, sandbars, airfields, and farms.
Notice the Pipits long, long hind claws – excellent for foraging on the ground.
American Pipit range map
For the month of January, we will be donating 10% of sales of our Angel Wings 1500 mg full-spectrum CBD oil to local non-profit; HAWC. It’s mission is to create social change by taking action against personal and societal patterns of violence and oppression. HAWC provides services to victims of domestic violence residing in 23 cities and towns on Massachusetts’ North Shore in order that they may make informed, independent decisions about their futures. If you would like to recommend a local non-profit for future months, please e-mail us at angelwingscbd@gmail.com.
Cold and windy but the brave swimmers started 2020 with the right attitude.
Dave says,
Great show Thursday! Mr. Peter Ward, catarrhist xtroidinaire, joins me for a night of mystic vibrosis and brain-free paroxysms for your glistening pleasure. Pete is one of the royalty of boston blues and has a pretty good new Cd out, worth buying, I must say. Originally, Steevee Sadler was to materialize and play along, but he recently suffered a man-bun infection and is down for the count, until his personal stylist gives him the okay. So, Mr. Jon Ross, another brilliant gootarist you’ve seen here, will fill in. Steevee Bankuti drums. This will be great fun!
40 Railroad Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930
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The new Registry of Motor Vehicles is situated in a long empty, 6,983 ft’ free-standing building in the Danvers Crossing Shopping Plaza, 8 Newbury St. (Rt. 1), Danvers, Massachusetts. The Hardcover and Costco are across the highway. Businesses sharing the parking lot include Ann & Hope, Dollar Store, David’s Bridal, and Monkey Joe’s. (I didn’t know there were still Ann & Hopes.) A number of vacancies remain. The shopping center was originally built out in 1990.
Prior to this move, the RMV had landed at Liberty Tree Mall. This new branch was expected to receive 500 visitors per day. It’s open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. rather than the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. broadcast ahead of time. We have been a couple of times recently to this new one; they were quite helpful. (Make certain to arrive by 4pm on any given day or you’ll have to make a second trip. We learned this the hard way arriving for the first time at 4:35pm.) I never visited the RMV when it was in the mall. I have mostly been to the Revere location.
Reporter Paul Leighton followed the RMV Danvers relocation for the Salem News,
“The good news for North Shore residents is that the Registry of Motor Vehicles is finally planning to open a branch in Danvers after two years without one in this area. The bad news? The new place will cost taxpayers a lot more than the old one.
The registry announced last week that it had signed a 10-year lease to open an RMV branch in a former restaurant building at the Danvers Crossing shopping plaza on Route
The rent for the first year will be $350,616 — nearly 10 times as much as the $41,729 that the state paid in the final year of its lease at the Liberty Tree Mall.
A spokesman for the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance, which handles leasing for the state, said the agency does not comment on lease negotiations.
Danvers state Rep. Ted Speliotis acknowledged the new lease payments will be much higher at Danvers Crossing. But he said that’s more a reflection on the great deal the state had at the Liberty Tree Mall.
Speliotis said the registry moved into the mall during tough economic times, when malls and other retail landlords were desperate for tenants. Liberty Tree even offered the space for free for the first three years, from 2010 to 2013.
“We were in the worst recession of our lifetime and the mall needed the foot traffic,” Speliotis said. “That was a once-in-a-lifetime deal.” Read the full article, “RMV deal finally done, but taxpayers will pay” April 30, 2018: here
The Danvers RMV wasn’t busy the times we went December 2019. Still, it remains a bit of a slog* to get to that RMV (or Revere or Wilmington) from Gloucester. Having been to this new one, I’m not sure why there can’t be a branch in Gloucester as well, perhaps at Gloucester Crossing.
*Having to go 5x in the past two months plus needing to get there by 4pm makes it a slog. Revere and this are a toss up.
Photos below: Gloucester Crossing December 2019 looking in the direction of Starbucks (on right) and future pharmacy (free standing building on left, next to Aspen Dental)
Before the Danvers build out- What about a DMV at Gloucester Crossing post here
Lisa Kawski of Sound Healing for the Soul invites you to an evening of Guided Meditation and Sound Healing for the Soul at Ayurveda Wellness Healing, LLC
Tonight, January 2 at Ayurveda Wellness Healing, 25C Lexington Ave, Magnolia
Everything is vibration. Vibration is energy. We connect through energy, to ourselves as well as others.
Creating ceremony, ritual and offering sacred sound is a means to connect with one’s self on an intimate and personal level. Gentle guidance through meditation invites relaxation – turning inward, expanding outward.
Listen to your heart. Let the soothing sounds of crystal singing bowls, gong, chimes and bells transport and heal you.
Sound vibration is a powerful tool to help recalibrate the body, mind and spirit. Feel yourself relax and melt away during this time dedicated just for you.
Please bring anything that will aid in your comfort, we will have yoga mat, blanket, bolsters &…
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Celebration of culture and history is one of the most blessed facets of life in Gloucester. One of these celebrations are the mosaics on the Americold building downtown. Their origin story can be found here. Ever since the most recent one was installed, I’ve wanted to get an up close and personal view. I thought you might enjoy the same.
Inspiration for the cook from Malcom Reed’s channel How To BBQ Right
This January brings two great concerts to Rockport Music’s Shalin Liu Performance Center. On Sunday, January 19 at 3 pm, pianist Michael Brown and cellist Nicholas Canellakis bring Soul of the Americas, a program featuring seven iconic composers from both North and South America. They are joined by pianist Orion Weiss and percussionist Ian David Rosenbaum for the concert. On January 23 at 7 pm Palaver Strings, Rockport Music’s Education Ensemble-in-Residence for the 2019-20 season, will bring the first of two community concerts this season. On the January 23 program, Palaver’s program follows the gradual return of light marked by the winter solstice through different musical selections.
On Sunday, January 19, at 3 pm, The Soul of the Americas celebrates the rich tapestry of musical influences across North and South America, featuring the works of seven iconic composers. Aaron Copland’s El Salón México and George Gershwin’s Cuban Overture were directly inspired by their travels to those respective countries. Leonard Bernstein was an ardent champion of Latin American music, including the music of Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos and Argentinian Alberto Ginastera. Osvaldo Golijov settled in the United States but his music draws on his Argentinian roots. Samuel Barber was enamored with diverse musical styles, as seen through his nostalgic Souvenirs. Curated by Michael Brown and Nicholas Canellakis and joined by Orion Weiss and Ian David Rosenbaum, this program features unique combinations of piano, cello and percussion, and will take the listener on a sizzling journey through both hemispheres.
COPLAND: El Salón México for Solo Piano (arr. Leonard Bernstein)
BERNSTEIN: Three Meditations from Mass (version for cello, piano, and percussion)
BARBER: Souvenirs for Piano, Four Hands, Op. 28
GOLIJOV: Mariel for Cello and Marimba
VILLA-LOBOS: Divagação for Cello, Piano, and Drum
VILLA-LOBOS
– A Maré Encheu from Guia Pratico for Solo Piano
– O Polichinelo from Prole do Bebê for Solo Piano
GINASTERA: Pampeana No. 2, Rhapsody for Cello and Piano, Op. 21
GERSHWIN: Cuban Overture for Piano, Four Hands and Percussion (Four Hands version)
Pre-concert talk with Michael Brown & Nicholas Canellakis, 2 PM
On Thursday, January 23 at 7 pm, Rockport Music’s Education Ensemble-in-Residence Palaver Strings brings a program entitled “On the Nature of Daylight.” This concert explores the gradual return of light marked by the winter solstice. Through thin sunbeams, quiet snowfall and frosted windows, there is warmth and comfort in the measured lengthening of daylight. Our program opens with Winter, from Vivaldi’s beloved Four Seasons, followed by Max Richter’s On the Nature of Delight–a meditation that juxtaposes desolation with pure beauty and gentleness. The program culminates with Mendelssohn’s radiant Octet. With soaring melodies and warm, youthful brilliance, the octet encapsulates the promise of spring. PALAVER STRINGS is a Maine-based musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization founded in 2014. Now in its sixth season, Palaver has established itself as a forward-thinking ensemble whose mission is rooted in community and creative programming. This season, Palaver is a resident education ensemble at Rockport Music and the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, MA.
Vivaldi: Winter from Four Seasons (Nicholas Kitchen/first violin of Borromeo Quartet)
Max Richter: On the Nature of Daylight
Mendelssohn: Octet in E-flat Major
Widor: Toccata for Organ (arr. by Palaver member Jesse MacDonald)
It’s in the books! Plungers, they can’t take it away from you, you did it!
Once I get my glasses on we will review the video and call out anyone that didn’t dunk under.
Post polar plunge libations at the Crow’s Nest today. What a start to 2020.
We had a very cozy meal at Cape Ann Brewing recently. It was a Saturday night and we weren’t the only ones with the same idea for a relaxing evening. I had ribs and GMG Jimmy had the seafood stew. So happy to see Ryan and Wood Distillery products being offered! We were also super excited to see national news coverage of the Final Plunge for Pete at Good Harbor Beach. Always a good time!
Good Morning Gloucester 