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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
It may be a silent protest, but the message is loud and clear. And ‘temporary graffiti' is building a following.
'I'm coming to Boston, I'm bringing hell with me,' Homan In early March, on the night before Mayor Michelle Wu was due in Washington, D.C., to testify before Congress about the city's immigration policies, a group of activists had an answer for Homan. Advertisement 'You can't bring hell to Boston,' the artists projected in vintage typeface on the brick facade of the Old State House. 'It's been waiting for you since 1770.' Photographic evidence of the temporary installation quickly made the internet rounds. Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up The Silence Dogood display at the Old State House. Handout Not by happenstance, that day was the anniversary of the skirmish that came to be known as the Boston Massacre, when the colonists' disagreements with the British Parliament and King George III's occupying troops boiled over into deadly violence. That kind of link to this city's revolutionary past is what drives the folks behind Advertisement The group borrowed the name from the Boston native Benjamin Franklin, who used it as an alias early in his illustrious life. At 16, while apprenticing at his older brother's print shop, Franklin adopted the pen name after James Franklin declined to print his young sibling's letters in his weekly newspaper, the New-England Courant. A display on Old North Church. Aram Boghosian Benjamin Franklin imagined his alter ego to be a middle-aged widow, a defender of 'the Rights and Liberties of my Country' and 'a mortal Enemy to arbitrary Government & unlimited Power.' Silence is 'a bit of a busybody,' explained Diane Dwyer, who has become the default spokesperson for the Silence Dogood project. On a recent Friday afternoon, Dwyer sat in a shared artist space on the second floor of an old brick building in the Fort Point district. Scale models covered most flat surfaces; artists' renderings were pinned up across much of the available wall space. A display in Boston Harbor. Handout Dwyer, who grew up in Maryland, moved to Boston a few years ago, after earning a master's degree in narrative environments from the University of the Arts London. She has a background in theater, 'and I'm a huge history nerd,' she said. She was recently named a grant recipient of the Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture's 'We're inviting people to write their own plaques,' Dwyer said. While she's currently compiling a database of Boston's existing markers — and noting the overwhelming prevalence of white men (there are, she says, as many references to Paul Revere as all women combined, and more than all Black people) — she still gets excited about making connections to the country's founding fathers. Advertisement A display on Faneuil Hall. Handout Silence Dogood's projections have featured statements attributed to George Washington ('The cause of Boston now is and always will be the cause of America,' projected in the water at the base of the Boston Tea Party Museum), Joseph Warren ('May our land be a land of liberty,' at the Bunker Hill Monument, on the site where Warren was killed), and, yes, the aforementioned silversmith Revere ('One if by land, two if by D.C.,' projected on the Old North Church, though that's not a direct quote). Silence Dogood's work at Old North Church on April 17, 2025. Mike Ritter The Rev. Dr. Matthew Cadwell, the vicar at Old North Church, didn't know about those projections until he saw them on 'The Rachel Maddow Show.' Silence Dogood's warning came during a busy week for the church, which doubles as an active Episcopal mission and a historical site. It was the 250th anniversary of Revere's famous ride. One of the projections borrowed from the last stanza of 'In the main, people were very enthusiastic about it,' Cadwell said over the phone. 'It was neat. It was a powerful capstone on that night of historic remembrance.' To stage the Silence Dogood protests, Dwyer borrows state-of-the-art projection equipment — and sometimes enlists production help — from the small circle of Boston creatives who specialize in outdoor art. At one 'activation,' an unexpected hailstorm sent volunteers scrambling to cover the expensive projector with their jackets. Advertisement Visual artists Jeff Grantz and Diane Dwyer are part of a grassroots group that uses high-powered projectors to beam protest messages on the facades of Boston historical buildings, reminding people of connections between Boston's revolutionary history and the present day. Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe In recent years, projection-mapping artists have fine-tuned the art of 'temporary graffiti.' Some say the practice of projection mapping as a form of protest took off during the Occupy demonstrations of 2011. During the first Trump administration, Another group, In Boston during the racial reckoning of 2020, some of the city's projectionists partnered with street artist Cedric Douglas after the removal of a Christopher Columbus statue in the North End. They While redefining the nature of public protest, these artists have also been grappling with the unresolved debate about the legality of their protests. Some legal experts cite property rights and laws governing trespassing. Others argue that the right to free speech covers projections just as it does signs and banners. Arists Diane Dwyer and Jeff Grantz project a quotation from George Washington on the wall of a vacant Dorchester tire store on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe Dwyer and her colleagues talk often about their First Amendment right to protest and the potential collateral damage to the other work they do, for advertisers, art festivals, and more. Dwyer, who heads Advertisement For her, the commitment to activist work came into sharp focus on a Friday in May, when she watched the live feed of a 'They were speaking to the coordinated resistance without hemming and hawing,' Dwyer recalled. After another period of despair, she said — 'Who can remember the headline of the day?' — the Town Hall discussion fortified her. It also made her feel, for the first time, like she'd become a bona fide Bostonian. You just hope, she said, 'that we're not screaming into the void.' James Sullivan can be reached at .
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Zohran Mamdani's wife Rama Duwaji is an animator, illustrator and ceramicist. And they met on Hinge.
Advertisement Duwaji was not a public presence during much of the campaign, but is active on social media through her work. In her art career, Duwaji has worked with The New Yorker, The Washington Post, the BBC, Apple, Spotify, VICE and the Tate Modern museum in London, among others, according to her website. 'Using drawn portraiture and movement, Rama examines the nuances of sisterhood and communal experiences,' it says. Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up Duwaji, 27, who is ethnically Syrian and was born in Houston, Texas, also enjoys taking a break from her tech-based art to create her own ceramics, particularly illustrated plates in blue and white. And there's one very contemporary (and much-mentioned) fact that's emerged about the couple: They met on Hinge, the dating app. 'I met my wife on Hinge so there is still hope in those dating apps,' Mamdani said, laughing, on a recent episode of The Bulwark podcast. Advertisement About six weeks ago the candidate posted a romantic set of photos showing the couple on their wedding day at the city clerk's office earlier this year. The lead photo was a black-and-white shot on the New York subway, specifically at Union Square in Manhattan. The smiling couple held onto a pole, Duwaji dressed in a white dress and black boots and holding a bouquet, as other riders minded their own business. In the accompanying text, Mamdani referred to online harassment the couple had experienced. 'If you take a look at Twitter today, or any day for that matter, you know how vicious politics can be,' he wrote. 'I usually brush it off, whether it's death threats or calls for me to be deported. But it's different when it's about those you love. Three months ago, I married the love of my life, Rama, at the City Clerk's office. Now, right-wing trolls are trying to make this race — which should be about you — about her.' 'Rama isn't just my wife,' Mamdani added. 'She's an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms. You can critique my views, but not my family.' Duwaji, in the comments, responded with humor: 'omg she's real.' In an April interview on art and activism, Duwaji was asked if artists had a responsibility to speak out about global issues. 'I'll always quote Nina Simone: 'An artist's duty as far as I'm concerned is to reflect the times,'' she said. 'I believe everyone has a responsibility to speak out against injustice,' she added, 'and art has such an ability to spread it. I don't think everybody has to make political work, but art is inherently political in how it's made, funded, and shared. Even creating art as a refuge from the horrors we see is political to me. It's a reaction to the world around us.' Advertisement On Election Day, Duwaji's mother-in-law, filmmaker Mira Nair, posted a message to her daughter-in-law about art and its importance. 'Darling DIL — Art will flourish in our city in the new day,' Nair wrote, adding a heart emoji.
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- General
- Boston Globe
At 80, he's a legend in plumbing supply circles. But what happens when he retires?
Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up 'Caino?' said a plumber who, on a recent morning, was being helped by the man himself. 'One of my instructors said, 'If you ever have a question you can't answer, there's a guy in Watertown.'' Advertisement Jim Cain tried to retire once, but the company asked him to come back. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff 'Caino?' said that instructor, Nicholas Nocifora, of Wakefield's 'Caino?' said Drew Pilarski, a 48-year-old colleague. 'A lot of stuff he knows predates the internet. AI has not yet been trained on his brain.' It was about 8:30 on a recent morning — two hours into Cain's shift. He was stationed at his familiar spot behind the counter, a worn brown company baseball cap on his head, self-fashioned fingerless gloves keeping his hands warm. Advertisement Plumbers came and went, enjoying plumbing humor (one knee-slapper involved tank-to-bowl gaskets), and it felt like the setting for a genial sitcom: 'The Office,' maybe, but without the snark. 'I've been doing this for 53 years,' Cain said as he proceeded to unspool a life story that felt almost sepia-toned, though there he was, telling it in real time. Jim Cain helped plumber David Waldron as he looked for a shower diverter at the F.W. Webb plumbing supply store in Watertown. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff That life? It started with a role model — a beloved uncle, a farmer who could fix anything — and moved along to a high school wrestling career, cut short when his family relocated from one small Oklahoma town to another. There was an initial attempt to stay out of the Vietnam War, which eventually led to deployment at Air Force bases in Quy Nhon and Nha Trang, where he repaired helicopter radios. Then came the return from war; a night out drinking beer with buddies that turned into a spontaneous road trip to Boston; a marriage; and, with it, the need for a regular salary. He took a warehouse job delivering bathtubs, sinks, and other bulky items for a Waltham hardware store. He was eventually 'talked into' moving to the plumbing section and later jumped at the chance to take a job at Watertown Supply, which was eventually acquired by F.W. Webb. And, well, here he is, joyfully seeing life through a plumbing-supply guy's eye. 'Every place I go, to a restaurant or wherever, if I go to the bathroom, I'll think, 'Oh, that's a Delta faucet or a Sloan flush valve,'' he said. In a culture that rewards self-promotion and emotionally charged content, Cain is a more old-fashioned influencer. 'TikTok I could care less about,' he said. Advertisement His followers are in the real world, on their backs, in a crawl space, feeling blindly for a slow leak, or squatting to see behind a garbage disposal. Jim Cain arranged copper pipes at the F.W. Webb plumbing supply store in Watertown. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff One of them is Matthew Waller, the owner of Waller bought steam vents from Cain, which solved the heat problem, but not the secondary clanging issue. Soon after, Waller returned to Webb for something else, 'and Caino stopped me outside.' Cain had recalled the existence of a vent made by some obscure company with an aperture that allowed for better air flow and, with it, silence. And it was less expensive. 'He knew there was a fix and no one else would have,' Waller said. But as crucial as plumbing may be, there's more to life. Cain is a husband (for the third time), a dad, a grandfather, a brother, and a man who enjoys a good joke. Taped to the plexiglass shield in front of his workstation (a COVID holdover) is a cartoon from his sister that shows an executioner who's built a bowling alley lane below the guillotine. 'No matter what the job,' the caption reads, 'always try to make it fun.' Jim Cain searched through the hundreds of bins for a faucet part in the supply room at the F.W. Webb plumbing supply store in Watertown. He knows everything about plumbing and will relentlessly find a part for loyal customers. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff On a recent morning, during a brief lull in business, Pilarski — Cain's coworker and enthusiastic publicist — took the opportunity to tell more of his idol's life story. 'Caino once wrestled Advertisement 'Brisco kicked my butt,' Cain said, not unhappily. He pulled up his sweatshirt to display a big belt buckle with an image of two men wrestling. 'A tradition since 1922,' it reads. 'Perry Wrestling.'' So, is he planning on retiring anytime soon? In 2022, Cain missed a few months' work after he passed out while grocery shopping at Market Basket in Billerica and had to have a pacemaker put in. But he couldn't wait to get back. 'I got bored as hell being at home,' he said. Asked what he longed to get back to, he said the people — and the parts. Beth Teitell can be reached at
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- General
- Boston Globe
Labor Day wedding too much work for out-of-state aunt
I am beyond sad and disappointed. It seems she is prioritizing her comfort over this joyous occasion. I don't know how to express this to her, if at all. She is something of a control freak, who doesn't take criticism well at all. Advertisement Do I simply let it go, or do I say anything and, if so, what? SAD SISTER A. I understand the logic of not wanting to travel around major holidays. Your sister does have other options, though. She can come early, if her work allows for it, for instance. She can travel some or all of the way using means of transportation that aren't planes. Or she can make the trek for family. Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up Obviously, all of these things are still her prerogative. She may have already thought through the options and still decided to decline. I understand why this is hurtful to you — it's a small ceremony and she's close family, so her presence would be missed. There are ways of talking about this without it coming across as criticism. Start by expressing what you feel — you want her there, you're sad she can't make it, et cetera. And then ask a question: Is there any way that we can make this work? Would you like my help to make this easier? Advertisement An open-ended question allows her the option of engaging or shutting it down. Whereas a criticism would make her feel more boxed in. She may still choose to stay home, but by having a conversation with her that starts with your openness to hear her and respect her opinion, you may find a solution that's not too laborious. Q. A 20-something neighbor we have known since the age of 3 has recently come out to my husband and me as transgender. We have embraced and accepted 'Sara' and are glad she feels able to be her authentic self to us. Sara's parents, with whom she lives, are unaware of her transgender identity. Often when her parents leave the home for work, Sara will dress in skirts or dresses and walk across our street to visit with my husband and me (we are retired). We have encouraged Sara to inform her parents of her identity and have advised her to have an exit strategy should the reveal have a negative result. Our concern is for how our neighbors, who we genuinely love, will take the fact that we knew about their child's transgender identity before them. We have told Sara that we will not 'out' her to her parents, but neither will we lie if we are asked. While we are grateful Sara felt free enough to share with us her identity, this secret is heavy on us whenever we speak to our neighbors. How should we handle the eventual disclosure that we knew long before they were told? Advertisement MUM'S THE WORD A. It's so important that anyone who is sharing a new, potentially vulnerable part of themselves has a safe space to feel seen and cared for before they tell the world. I hope her parents eventually see this as an extension of your love for their whole family. In the interim, check in with Sara about your anxiety. It's not her job to manage her parents' emotions about this, nor is it yours, but being on the same page about the heaviness of the secret may help to unburden you. It may also help to reframe. By providing modeling acceptance for Sara, you're helping her — and eventually her parents — normalize the kind of security that she deserves in order to thrive. Reading your letter, I grew curious and potentially concerned that by walking across the street in a dress, Sara runs the risk of another neighbor telling her parents before she's ready. This is something it may be worth talking with her about. When you do have a talk with your friends, lead with love and with empathy. Acknowledge that it may be hard for them to find out you knew before them. It's a vulnerable conversation, but vulnerability is not a weakness. Be patient with them, be consistent and clear about your care for them, and be steadfast in your love for Sara. That's the message that will outlast the initial shock. R. Eric Thomas can be reached at .
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- General
- Boston Globe
An Alaskan brown bear has a new shiny smile after getting a huge metal crown for a canine tooth
Related : The hour-long procedure was done by Dr. Grace Brown, a board-certified veterinary dentist who helped perform a root canal on the same tooth two years ago. When Tundra reinjured the tooth, the decision was made to give him a new, stronger crown. The titanium alloy crown, made by Creature Crowns of Post Falls, Idaho, was created for Tundra from a wax caste of the tooth. Advertisement This image shows Tundra during his procedure for a new metal canine tooth, on Monday. Uncredited/Associated Press Brown plans to publish a paper on the procedure in the Journal of Veterinary Dentistry later this year. Get Love Letters: The Newsletter A weekly dispatch with all the best relationship content and commentary – plus exclusive content for fans of Love Letters, Dinner With Cupid, weddings, therapy talk, and more. Enter Email Sign Up 'This is the largest crown ever created in the world,' she said. 'It has to be published.' Tundra and his sibling, Banks, have been at the Duluth zoo since they were 3 months old, after their mother was killed. Related : Tundra is now 6 years old and, at his full height on his hind legs, stands about 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall. The sheer size of the bear required a member of the zoo's trained armed response team to be present in the room — a gun within arm's reach — in case the animal awoke during the procedure, Routley said. But the procedure went without a hitch, and Tundra is now back in his habitat, behaving and eating normally. Advertisement This image shows a close up of Tundra's new metal canine tooth, the largest crown ever created. Uncredited/Associated Press Other veterinary teams have not always been as lucky. In 2009, a zoo veterinarian at Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska, suffered severe injuries to his arm while performing a routine medical exam on a 200-pound (90 kilogram) Malaysian tiger. Related : The tiger was coming out of sedation when the vet inadvertently brushed its whiskers, causing the tiger to reflexively bite down on the vet's forearm.
