The North Shore Sunday Shorelines Blog

The midnight ride of Ty Revere

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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Yes, it’s nice that a Maynard family is being featured on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and getting a rebuilt home and all that. But what people really want to know is: Will there be any horses featured on the show? And if so, will Ty Pennington move a giant truck to reveal a spiffy newly renovated stable, prompting said horse to sob uncontrollably?

Well, the answer is: Yes, and no. There is a horse on the show — Abraham, or “Brahm,” a Friesian from Byfield chosen from around 2,000 horses to be featured on the hit reality show, airing this Sunday. But neither Brahm nor his digs are being made over:

In order to convey the essence of Massachusetts, Brahm will appear as part of a dramatic reenactment of Paul Revere — with a hat and cape-clad Ty Pennington on his back — in front of the patriotic statue in Boston. He will also appear at the home to be renovated.

The Newburyport Current has the story.

All that you can’t leave behind

Posted on May 1, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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Followers of true crime know that if you’re going to break the law, the best way to get away with it is to make sure that your pockets are completely empty. Police logs are full of stories of people who fled crime scenes (presumably in a hurry) only to leave behind their wallets, driver’s licenses, credit cards and filled-out employment applications.

And now you can add something else to that list: large pieces of their cars with the license plate still attached.

Why Alaska hates Rockport

Posted on April 23, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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Hmmmm …. I can’t help but get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, Touchstone Pictures is wishing it had picked somewhere other than Cape Ann to film its new Sandra Bullock romcom, “The Proposal.” And yes, I just used the word “romcom” as if it really existed — isn’t that just so Entertainment Weekly of me?

Anyway, everything went fine to start off with, as locals went typically gaga at the sight of Sandra Bullock, Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson — yes, even Craig T. Nelson. But then of course things went awry when Bullock and hubby Jesse James got hit by a 64-year-old allegedly drunken driver. This marked the first time the E! channel showed an interest in Gloucester since George Clooney left in 1999.

And now, the seaside town of Rockport finds itself embroiled in controversy. It seems the residents of Sitka, the small Alaskan town Rockport stands in for in the film, feel like they’ve been slighted — and they’re not going to stand for it!

“It’s always neat to have your hometown featured in a movie,” said Sitka Mayor Marko Dapcevich, adding, “If a film is going to somewhat showcase your community, you would really like it to be your community being showcased rather than another community that is impostering your town.”

In fact, I think that might be against the law in Alaska, impostering.

Thankfully, filming now seems about done, and Rockport can get back to doing what it does best: selling tourists ridiculously priced tchochkes shaped like Motif No. 1.

You must be hearing things

Posted on April 22, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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Geez, I go away for a couple of days and I miss all the big stories. For instance, there was this one in Medford, about the man who put up a sign in front of his house that reads, “We are victims of electronic harassment. We will not be blackmailed, extorted, or forced to sell our home!” Which is a nice change from all the political signs, but still perplexing.

Turns out he thinks he’s being harassed by someone with an “audio spotlight,” a device that can send sound along a laser beam for up to 200 meters. Yes, it sounded far-fetched to me too, but its inventor, Dr. F. Joseph Pompei, actually talked to the Medford Transcript to verify its uses — and report that since he came up with it, people have been coming out of the woodwork to complain that it’s causing those strange voices telling them to do things they’d otherwise never think of on their own:

Pompei developed the technology in 1998 and said almost immediately his company, Holosonic Research Labs, began receiving letters from people claiming it was used for mind control or responsible for the voices in their heads.

I don’t know … It certainly would explain a lot.

When we think ‘North Shore,’ we think ’science,’ right after we think of clams

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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Scientists on the North Shore are mad as hell, and they’re not gonna take it any more! Well, maybe they’re not mad, per se, but they’re at least a little annoyed, primarily at having to drive into Cambridge for work. You try driving through Harvard and/or Central Square every day and you’ll see why all those science types are a little cuckoo.

But some of them are trying to change that by doing their best to grow the North Shore as a science and technology center. To that end, the North Shore Technology Council started what it’s calling its First Friday Bioscience Seminar. At last week’s meeting, Abiomed of Danvers actually let everybody there hold a real, honest-to-goodness artificial heart — they make two, the Abiocor and the Abiocor II, which presumably gets better gas mileage. Read more

The White stuff on Cape Ann

Posted on April 7, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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There have been so many movies filmed in Massachusetts lately that I admit I’m getting kind of jaded. Take the plans to film “The Proposal” on Cape Ann, which kicks off in Rockport this week. Don’t get me wrong: It will be fine to have Sandra Bullock there, and Ryan Reynolds is OK I guess (I think he was in that Harold & Kumar movie), and Malin Akerman I’m sure is a very nice young woman, even if I had to look her up on IMDB to find out who she was.

But I didn’t really get pumped about the production until I read who else will be starring in this particular picture: None other than the original happy homemaker, Betty White! Now, that’s star power. (Warning: Link NSFW. No, really.)

The movie is about a publishing executive, played by Bullock, who forces her assistant, played by Reynolds, to marry her so she can avoid deportation to Canada. Will the sparks fly between the mismatched pair? Only time will tell, but I’m more curious about White’s role. No specifics on that yet, but I’m hoping it’s the randy grandmother.

Poets wanted

Posted on April 3, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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The sounds of his melodious verse are still hanging in the air over the harbor, but the city of Gloucester is apparently wasting no time in its efforts to find a replacement for its most recent Poet Laureate, the late Vincent Ferrini (left). In fact, the Gloucester Committee for the Arts is actually advertising for the job, offering all the unemployed former fishermen yet another opportunity for which they’re not qualified.

What’s interesting is that the committee only requires that you submit three poems, which technically means I could apply for the post, based on the three haikus about food I wrote in high school English class:

Quarter Pounder
Why must they add the cheese
It’s overkill

I’ll spare you the other two, but I’m presuming that the committee will be looking for work that’s a little more accomplished. They note that candidates are eligible regardless of race, gender, belief, national origin, sexual orientation or physical ability, but I hope they at least take into account whether you can rhyme a couplet. Mmmm … Couplets …

Budding Yeatses can find the application here.

Pie in the sky in Marblehead

Posted on March 30, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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Sure, everybody thinks that people in Marblehead have it all cushy, with their big mansions and ocean views, and it’s true they do have certain advantages. But on the other hand, they’re constantly at risk that a group of seagulls, working in tandem, will drop a slice of pizza on their windshield.

And, sure enough, that’s exactly what happened Friday:

A group of “about six” seagulls apparently had been warring over the Italian treat in the skies over Atlantic Avenue at around noon Friday when one lost its grip and sent the slice plummeting to earth and — splat! — right onto Wildfield’s windshield.

So next time you’re feeling all jealous of those seaside dwellers, remember that you at least don’t have to be concerned about flying pizzas while driving, say, up Route 495 in Tewksbury. Also, you never have to worry about somebody accidentally scratching your yacht.

And the next day, they pulled up the Lost Ark of the Covenant

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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Remember those old Chris Farley sketches on “Saturday Night Live,” about the motivational speaker who lived in a van, down by the river? We’ve decided that it was probably the Saugus River. And this week, we think divers may have pulled up the van.

It was submerged minivan, in fact, which a resident reported seeing roll into the water about three days earlier. Fierce winds and a strong riptide kept the Cambridge dive team from finding the vehicle until Monday, when they thankfully found it empty. Well, presumably except for a lot of water and possibly some old Kelly’s wrappers. Read more

He’s a pole man

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Peter Chianca
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It’s hard enough running a marathon — I’ve never done it, but I’ve heard it gives an entire new meaning to the word “chafing” — but try running it with, say, a foot-and-a-half tall replica of Fenway Park’s Pesky Pole strapped to the top of your head. That’s what Neil “The Snail” Bernstein of Swampscott does every year, and he does it for one reason only: Because he likes getting beaten up and having his lunch money taken.

Wait, I read my notes wrong. He actually wears it to garner donations for the Jimmy Fund, and he even has the endorsement of the pole’s namesake, fellow Swampscott resident and Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky.

“I really like this crazy idea — Neil’s Pesky Pole Marathon run,” said Pesky. “I encourage Red Sox and Boston Marathon fans to support the run with contributions to the Jimmy Fund. Your generosity makes a difference in the lives of these kids.” Then he beat Neil up and took his lunch money, and gave it to the Jimmy Fund.

To find out how to make your own donation, visit www.peskypolemarathon.org. And if you see Neil running by with that giant pole sticking out of the top of his head, give him an extra loud cheer, right before you trip him and kick sand on him.

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