The Metropolitan Opera’s gala opening night production of “Tosca” made the news when the audience loudly booed the production staff. The publicity won’t hurt. Many will say it’s the traditionalists who were upset at the grim staging and liberties taken by director Luc Bondy. But The New Yorker‘s Alex Ross, certainly not one to walk the traditional line, holds nothing back in his severely critical review of the performance that moved some to boo. He opens with “It takes a certain effort to suck the life out of ‘Tosca.'” and proceeds downhill from there. And unlike other critics and the audience, he also pulls no punches with the singers, who had otherwise escaped the booing.

It was a surprise to see the Hanford Site pop up on the N.Y. Times’ “American Journeys” column but low points in history are the critical ones to remember. With advance planning, you can tour Hanford’s B Reactor which provided the plutonium for “Fat Man.” Located in south-central Washington, the Hanford nuclear reservation is a huge environmental clean-up site with nine decommissioned atomic reactors and tons of liquid and solid nuclear waste, not to mention decades of controversy. There’s a lovely buffer zone around the site where the Columbia River flows and nature abounds.

It’s been 10 years since the first major league baseball bobblehead doll giveaway (SF Giants: Willie Mays) and the gimmick still packs fans into the stadium. The design process for most bobbleheads begins at Bensussen Deutsch & Associates in Woodinville, WA. A detailed sketch is sent to the Chinese manufacturer who ships back a hand-carved and painted proof. A few revisions later a little baseball player with an oversized nodding head is ready for manufacturing and then bobblehead day at a stadium near you.

As firefighters battle to save the Mount Wilson Observatory from L.A. County’s Station Fire, the caretakers of a less well-known observatory are anxious to hear the fate of their cinder block and metal structure six miles away. Stony Ridge Observatory was built by 15 amateur astronomers who paved the road, dug the foundation, and even ground the glass for the telescope lens. There are several movies capturing the construction. It was completed in 1963 and used the next year to map the moon for potential Apollo program landing sites. The Station Fire has damaged other structures in the area and the road up is blocked so they won’t know the condition of Stony Ridge until it is safe to take a helicopter over.

Harvard’s Hollis Professor of Divinity is the oldest endowed chair in American higher education and legend has it that this position comes with the right to graze your cows in Harvard Yard. Professor Harvey Cox is celebrating his retirement from the Hollis chair by borrowing a cow. She’ll graze in the Yard and take part in Cox’s retirement celebration on September 10th. Not wanting to pass up such great publicity, HarperCollins has moved the upcoming publication of Cox’s book to match the cow’s Harvard visit. (Harvard press release)

Wikipedia’s List of mottos entry is interesting browsing, especially the variety in the educational institutions section.

The Lightship Nantucket WLV612 is one of a long line of ships that served to warn others of the dangerous Nantucket Shoals. It’s the only operational one left, and Bill and Kristen Golden bought it for $126,000 on eBay in 2000. They restored it and created an elegant interior. The ship can still shine its bright lights and sound the foghorn from its former life, but nowadays it is home for the Goldens. On Wednesday evening, the Lightship Nantucket came alongside the Kennedy compound and turned on its lights to illuminate the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s schooner.

Did any editors yell “stop the presses” when news of Senator Ted Kennedy’s death came in the earliest hours of the morning? From a look at the front pages of Boston area papers on the Newseum, it seemed that only the Boston Herald had come through with a tribute that was likely prepared in advance, ready to go (afternoon papers of course had time to prepare). But Editor & Publisher reports that although the first and second editions of the Boston Globe had already been printed, Editor Martin Baron halted the run of the third edition after his night crew woke him up with the news. Fittingly, the redesigned third edition was the one delivered to Cape Cod. (Unfortunately it didn’t make the Newseum front page archive.)

At America’s Camp in the Berkshires of Massachusetts kids who lost parents to the horrible events on 9/11 congregate every summer to do what typical campers do, sing songs, canoe, build close friendships. In the earlier years it was harder for them to talk about their loss, but they knew they shared a strong common bond. Older kids have now become counselors and the youngest campers were born after the tragedy took place. It’s a place that you hope will not be needed anymore after those last children grow up, except perhaps for reunions.

Trees must be at least 65 feet to be considered for Rockefeller Center’s Christmas display but that seems like nothing in comparison to the search for a mast to replace one on the two-masted Schooner Zodiac. The ship, built in 1924 for the Johnson & Johnson heirs, needs a 114-foot replacement mast. A yearlong search ended with a 150 foot tree deemed straight enough to make the grade. The new mast is being turned in the spar shop at Grays Harbor Historical Seaport. The Zodiac is used today for educational cruises.