Bowl of Cheese by Jeff Cutler

 Comcast upgrade works. Now I get as high as 22 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up. The numbers fall off when you go overseas. Apple rolling out 4 more non-exclusive iPhone deals. Yahoo being sued. It decided to conceal details for some unknown reason. Missouri woman now indicted for cyberbullying. Comcast still being accused of throttling bit-torrent. Sprint says 2008 WiMax. Yeah, right. I like the Aliph Jawbone. ASUS making all its motherboards "instant on!" Wow.

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The real trouble with an initiative like Bike Week is that people see it as a novelty. For a five-day period each May, people in major metro areas make a fuss about pollution and the environment by taking to two wheels for a day or two.

This is a joy for everyone because it fills the streets with people who don’t know how to pilot a bike, litters the lanes with uncoordinated boobs who don’t understand biking and traffic laws, and stifles the flow of traffic with self-righteous morons who think they’re now going to heaven because they balanced their way to the office on one out of 250 work days.

I’m not against people trying new things, but if you’re going to make a commitment and try to make a difference start at home. Maybe you should stop dropping your 14-year old kid off a the bus stop in the morning and letting your Escalade idle for 20 minutes.

Here in Boston, the city has established a bunch of treats for the wannabe bike commuters. They’ve set up water and food stops, lunch areas and even mechanical assistance in communities all around metro-Boston.

This is great if you’re commuting for nine minutes from Cambridge to Back Bay. But what about the real difference-makers? I’m talking about the guy who rides from Cohasset or Scituate to the Financial District. Or the people who ride their bikes to the T and then use public transportation to get to their destination.

Those are the people who deserve rewards. And the best part is that the know the laws regarding bike travel.

Here’s a refresher rant…

BIKES ARE TREATED LIKE CARS WHEN THEY ARE ON THE ROAD. That’s the law.

You are not supposed to ride on sidewalks, against the flow of traffic or in crosswalks. If you are riding a bike on the street, you have a right to take up a lane if you are going the speed limit or if you are keeping up with the flow of traffic. You are supposed to obey ALL traffic signals.

Now, practice and theory are two different things, and we all see bike messengers and college students racing the wrong way down one-way streets and blasting through red lights. But that’s an issue for Darwin. In most cases these riders are also the same ones who aren’t wearing helmets.

If I were the Czar of Boston - and maybe Mumbles should do something about this - I would start enforcing two things in the city. Bicycling laws and jaywalking laws.

Because right now there’s a huge dichotomy between cagers (people in cars) and everyone else. And if we all were subject to the same laws then we might have a more peaceful coexistence.

Until those things happen, bike week and any event that supposes to get more people out of their cars won’t be a friendly or effective happening.

And that’s what really makes this whole initiative weak.

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That’s right. People waited in line for eight hours or more to get a shirt. A green shirt. A green shirt with the Apple logo on it. A green shirt with an Apple logo on it and the location of the newest - and largest - Apple Store in the United States.

BUT, the shirt does not say BOSTON on it. It says Boylston Street. Can that mean that another Boston store is in the works?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Here are some photos of the box they handed me on the way through the door and the shirt that was within the gorgeous package.

This is the madness at the door where all the Apple folks are handing out boxes with T-shirts in them.

This is the insanity on the stairs in the front door when I arrived. Some of these people are NOT attractive, but they were enthusiastic.

That’s the box we were handed.

That’s the package open. Great design…so very cool.

Now a little more open.

The FRONT of the shirt. Just like the Green Monster at Fenway Park.

And the back. Notice the complete absence of a city. Here come more stores!!

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By the way, it was worth the 2.5 hours I waited.

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Hey, I was there today when Apple opened their flagship store on Boylston Street in Boston. I went by the location at around 9AM when there were precious few people in line. See photos at my tumblr site.

And then when I returned at 4PM a TON of people were in line. Here’s a quick video I uploaded to YouTube while it was still about an hour to go until the opening.

Here’s another video taken inside the store. I say again, CRAZINESS! Photos of the shirt I got and other stills will be in another blog entry shortly.

More to come…

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Quick. What’s the last smell that made you have a truly visceral or overwhelming reaction. This could have been a mental flashback to a meal or encounter. Or a physical dodge to the side just to avoid the actual odor?

For me, it was the smell of a beer in a sushi restaurant. I got a whiff of the Tsingtao and felt immediately like I was back in 1983. Tsingtao isn’t a great beer and neither was the Moosehead brand that I had sipped for the first time during my senior year in college.

Until that point I didn’t drink and I still only dabble occasionally in the liquor arts, but as with any event, the first time is memorable.

I’m amazed at how quickly I was transported back in time and thought about other fragrances that have had that power over me.

I can certainly list the perfumes that various girlfriends have worn. Well, I can’t list them by name but if you spray them near me I can name the girl.

And I reflexively reach for my skis and boots anytime I smell diesel fuel. We rode busses to the mountain when I was a teenager, so the acrid and overpowering scent of diesel signifies a three-hour bus ride to a snow-covered mountain.

Old Spice means my father. He hasn’t used that junk for decades, but it was the perfect choice when I was using paper-route money to buy holiday and Father’s Day gifts.

And smoke from a fire makes me think of marshmallows, pig roasts and backyard bonfires.

Some scientists say that our emotions and our memories are tied more closely to scent than to any other sense. I fully agree.

The smell of a particular laundry detergent on a blanket will soothe a crying baby. The sea air near the shore is a welcome sign for weary ocean travelers. Fresh cut grass means neighborhoods and safety.

I’m sure people have their own odd smell-mind connections, too. Mine include the smell of gasoline on my hands making me think of meatball subs.

It’s because I was pumping gas for my family’s business when I was 11 and my favorite meal at the station was a meatball sub. I still associate the whiff of petroleum with a perfectly toasted sub.

How about you? What jogs your memory or makes your mind perk up when you smell it?

Share your smell-mories in the comments here on the blog.

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More to come…

If you enjoyed this post, pour me a spot of tea.