Opee’s Zombie Hash in Charleroi...

After being disappointed that the Zombie Hash in Charleroi in 2017 didn’t run through any abandoned buildings, Opee was determined to lay a trail there when he was recruited to hare the 2019 Zombie Hash for Brussels Manneke Piss Hash House Harriers (BMPH3). It took a lot of convincing of the BMPH3 Mismanagement that he would avoid all of the areas of the city that could create problems with the police and luckily he managed to live up to his promises.  

We arrived in Brussels on Friday afternoon so we could stay at Yark and Rumple’s and go out for a nice dinner with them. Rack of Lamb came over on Saturday to work on her make-up. No doubt that she was the scariest of the bunch of Harriettes willing to be zombies.

Here she is with Moule en Rouge and Pick a Window near the start of the trail...

 ...and here’s Opee before he set off to live lay the first half of trail, while he had pre-laid the rest.

It was so cool that some local kids were recruited to transform into zombies to scare us on trail.

 Clearly I wasn’t too afraid of this zombie...

...but she was pretty scary. 

The trail was a mix of normal neighborhoods...

 ....and abandoned buildings.

Give It a Blow did a great job as a co-hare and impromptu zombie.

Meanwhile in England...

Originally Ashlynn was supposed to start university in Plymouth, England in September, but after she learned that working in northern Australia for three months could earn her an additional one-year work/holiday visa, she pushed university off for another year and made plans to return Down Under. So, while I was in Boston, Ashlynn set off for her next big adventure: four months to work in hospitality or farming in Australia and four months to do a Divemaster program on a small island in Malaysia (although fate intervened and those plans changed significantly). I was very sad not to see her off as I had on all of her previous trips, especially since this would be the first time I wouldn’t be joining her at some point. At least Jimmy was there to see her off as she caught a bus in The Hague to London...

 ...and then onto Exeter where she spent a few days with Veronica. Of course, Veronica had to take her to the Old Firehouse for one of their incredible vegan pizzas.

She also showed her around University of Exeter, where they ate some vegan wraps...

 ...and brought her to volunteer for Food Cycle, helping to cook dinner using surplus veggies to make a three-course meal.

They also went clubbing to the only club Veronica’s ever been to in the city; that evening the theme was Lion King.

After a few days, Ashlynn went to London to spend a few nights with Sophie in her dorm room at Regent’s University London. They enjoyed meeting up with Hannah, their old primary school friend, shopping and going clubbing.

On October 28, Ashlynn caught a flight to Cairns, Australia with a six-hour layover in Singapore.

World Peace Through Beer...

I got home from Boston just in time to take a short nap and change into running clothes for a special run with the FILTH H3 for World Peace Through Beer hared by Opee and ending at his office. 

We had a short bout of sprinkles, but no one seemed to mind as the trail was quite good with several beer stops. If only attaining world peace was so easy.

Last Moments in Cambridge...

Our final task was across Cambridge. Along the way, we passed MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Ursula von Rydingsvard’s Scientia, a 25-foot tall bronze sculpture.

We also saw this beautiful street art...

...Cambridge City Hall, built in 1889, was the first place in America to issue same-sex marriage licenses starting in 2004...

...and this cool reflection in a mirrored building.

Our final stop was at Mike’s Pastry, infamous for their cannoli. While we had witnessed hour-plus long lines at the original Mike’s in North End, founded in 1946, we had the new Cambridge location to ourselves.

Originating in Sicily, cannoli are deep fried pastry dough filled with a slightly sweet and creamy filling, usually made from ricotta cheese. With around 20 varieties to choose from, I preferred the peanut butter and chocolate. After our snack, we dashed back to Andrew’s, grabbed my luggage and walked to the subway so I could head to the airport and my overnight flight back to Amsterdam. What a fun trip! Looking back now, I’m so glad that I had the chance to go with Sally when I did because Andrew had to leave Boston over three months early after his lab closed due to the coronavirus.

The Stata Center.....

By far this was the most unusual building we spotted. Designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, it opened in 2004, with an unfinished appearance.

A mirrored side allowed for a selfie and the steps provided a great place to eat lunch from the cafeteria inside.

Inside we also found Non-Object (Plane) by Anish Kapoor, most famously known for Cloud Gate (aka The Bean) in Chicago. This 16-feet tall and 7-feet wide concave form of mirror-polished stainless steel provides a counterpoint to the eccentric forms and metal cladding of the building in which its housed.

Like Kapoor’s Vertigo in Tilburg, we appeared upside down in the mirror...

...until we were close enough to appear upright. Unlike in Holland, this sculpture has another hanging above it which interacts with the mirror...

...a giant cascade of paper birds.

According to MIT’s website: The word hack at MIT usually refers to a clever, benign, and “ethical” prank or practical joke, which is both challenging for the perpetrators and amusing to the MIT community (and sometimes even the rest of the world). Note that this has nothing to do with computer (or phone) hacking (which we call “cracking”). In 1991, a group of hackers turned a fire hydrant into a drinking fountain in front of the largest lecture hall on campus. The Fire Hose Drinking Fountain was quite appropriate because former MIT President Weisner coined a colorful and often quoted description of the MIT educational experience: Getting an education from MIT is like taking a drink from a fire hose. 

The side of the building facing the street was also quite funky.

MIT List Visual Arts Center...

The Wiesner Building, designed in 1985 by I.M. Pei, had a similar roof design as the glass pavilion he designed for the JFK Library. Inside the building was the MIT List Visual Arts Center, which was small, but fascinating.

The main exhibit, In Between Glances, featured German contemporary visual artist Alicja Kwade. In Object-Tree Works items seem to emerge from the interior of tree trunks. Using a robotic arm, she was able to make the forms without using a traditional saw.

Trans-for-Men 11 includes one granite boulder and 10 permutations, made from 3-D scans of the original boulder, separated by double sided mirrors.

Light Touch of Totality was my favorite piece. It features 5 stainless steel rings, each with a 16-foot diameter, adorned with over 1,400 strands of beads made from wood and lapis lazuli.

Normally I wouldn’t photograph an ordinary bowl and vase, but these aren’t ordinary by any means. The original functional objects have been ground up very small, combined with epoxy resin, glass and brass, and those particles have then been used to cast new forms reminiscent of ancient Greek pottery. You might be surprised to learn this bowl was once the artist’s iPhone...

.,.and this vase was her Macbook.

At first glance, Against the Run is a freestanding clock on the plaza outside of the museum.

In actuality, the minute and hour hands tell the correct time, but the second-hand goes counterclockwise one second and then returns to 12:00, while the clock’s face rotates to the left each second.  

Mother Nature was kind enough to put on a show on the adjoining mirrored building.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology...

On my last day in Cambridge, Sally and I took the short walk from Andrew’s to MIT, where my father graduated in 1962 with a BSc in Electrical Engineering. The first thing we spotted was Alchemist by Jaume Plensa made out of numeric symbols crafted in stainless steel, commissioned by an anonymous donor for MIT’s 150th annivesary in 2011. 

Next we took a peak into the MIT Chapel, built in 1954.

Just outside the chapel we noticed a temporary shelter and went closer to investigate. Apparently it was built for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot and the structure is called a sukkah.

Our next stop was Baker House, built in 1949, and my father’s dorm for four years. We tried following a student inside, but got quickly caught by security and instructed to leave. 

Originally built for men, it went co-ed in 1974. My dad had already been out of school for ten years when Baker House became famous for its annual Piano Drop from the roof to the ground below.

The backside of the building overlooks the Charles River.

Nearby we spotted some cute jack-o’-lanterns...

...and the Great Dome. Built in 1916, apparently it was fashioned after the library at Columbia University which in turn was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.