Manna

Oh, and I must mention that the MIT Press Bookstore (at the Kendall T stop in Cambridge, MA) is heaven on earth, as if you couldn't have figured that out for yourselves. We spent literally hours combing the shelves, leaving only when dying of hunger and fatigue and returning as soon as we had scarfed down lunch. Glee. Bliss. A little heavy on the Chomsky, but still.

On the way home, I saw the neatest public art project ever. Huge chimes hang from the ceiling between the two T tracks in Kendall station, with mallets interspersed. On the walls on both sides are handles that passengers can rock back and forth, which rocks the bar that holds the mallets. Eventually, those waiting on the platform are rewarded with deep, rich, burbling drones that echo off the cement walls.

After doing some research, I discovered the chimes are part of a set of 3 instruments, called The Kendall Band. The chimes are Pythagoras; I guess we didn't see Galileo or Kepler. You can read more about them all here.