Last week, North Shore announced it was $10 million in debt and would close for good.

The loss leaves a vacuum for suburbanites who don’t want to fight the traffic, or pay three-digit ticket prices, to see glossy productions at Boston venues. North Shore delivered fresh young performers, topnotch sets and costumes, and every now and then, a former star getting back into the song-and-dance biz.

At its peak, the theater drew more than 27,500 subscribers and some 300,000 people a year, making it the largest regional theater in New England.

The closing has led to finger-pointing and recriminations, with those loyal to former theater head Jon Kimbell accusing Ivan of poor management and blasting his decision to abandon the organization’s proven holiday-season winner, “A Christmas Carol.’’ But a closer look at the theater’s financial health in its tumultuous final years, which included a devastating 2005 fire and a staff revolt under Ivan, reveals that myriad factors played into the collapse.

More at: Boston Globe: Curtain, then finger-pointing at North Shore

Also, some photos of the reflecting pool at the Christian Science Center.

Taken on a nice October weekend that started in the city and ended in the country.

See the photo in context at: Schmap entry for Trident Booksellers & Cafe (now for iPhone!)

This is my view most Saturday mornings: breakfast at the Trident Cafe, with a coffee to wake me up and a book to read.

Taken from the side of the Charles river on July 4.

As noted on the home page, Serra Boston’s mission is “to assist the Vocations Office of the Archdiocese of Boston in any way possible to foster, promote and support vocations to the priesthood and religious life.” The first meeting is Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 8am at St. Mary’s Parish in Waltham, MA.

This is one of the best sites I’ve done; the code is very well structured and I’ve used Google Sitemaps to (hopefully) increase traffic.  Hopefully it’ll serve as a good portfolio piece in addition to an important web presence for this new (but growing) organization.

Looks like they’re not biking anywhere till May.

My own confidence in the possibility of unity during our lifetime has been strengthened by my experience of the pilgrimage and my friendship with Metropolitan Methodius and so many brothers and sisters in the Orthodox Church.

…I was very encouraged by the recent meeting between Catholics and Orthodox that took place in Ravenna. On November 15, the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the catholic Church and the Orthodox Church released a statement entitled “Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church: Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority.”

In that document, the Orthodox have actually recognized the primacy of the Holy Father. There is still much to be done as far as to clarify what that means but that was a very important step towards unity.

Here is a portion of the document that I also shared with the Boston Greek Orthodox:

That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be one in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17, 21). We give thanks to the triune God who has gathered us — members of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church — so that we might respond together in obedience to this prayer of Jesus. We are conscious that our dialogue is restarting in a world that has changed profoundly in recent times. The processes of secularization and globalization, and the challenge posed by new encounters between Christians and believers of other religions, require that the disciples of Christ give witness to their faith, love and hope with a new urgency. May the Spirit of the risen Lord empower our hearts and minds to bear the fruits of unity in the relationship between our Churches, so that together we may serve the unity and peace of the whole human family. May the same Spirit lead us to the full expression of the mystery of ecclesial communion, that we gratefully acknowledge as a wonderful gift of God to the world, a mystery whose beauty radiates especially in the holiness of the saints, to which all are called.

More at Cardinal Sean’s blog.

What a fascinating idea – this could be a wonderful blend of the best of both Churches.

Problems had started almost immediately. When contractors began work, they ran into scores of undocumented utility lines that had to be moved or worked around, which delayed work, said Charlie O’Reilly, the MBTA’s assistant general manager for design and construction.

MBTA officials also didn’t take into account the complications that come with having a winning baseball team; the work zones were flooded with people well into October. “They had the good fortune to get into the playoffs,” O’Reilly said. “When the Red Sox are home, we’re inhibited with what we can do.”

More at the (redesigned) Boston Globe site. 

Overall I thought the movie was a bit melodramatic but tugged at the heartstrings pretty effectively. It was also nice to see a movie that was subtly Catholic – for example, the Virgen de Guadalupe appears in the background of a home, though it’s never referenced by the characters or explained.

Worth seeing while in Boston, or in other cities if you get the chance.