The World According to Gillespie

PREPARE YOURSELF FOR STICKER SHOCK  This column originally appeared on Wicked Local . Gone are the days when I could get my inspection sticker at that special garage up in Everett where they would close the garage door behind you (always suspicious), put your car up on the lift, and rev up the engine until it passed the emissions test.   And we are way past the days of my dad’s 1973 Volkswagen bus (made famous in an earlier article) which once passed the state inspection without a horn.   When the mechanic told my dad to beep the broken horn, he just shouted, “beep,” and a sticker was placed on the front windshield.   This year, the state of Massachusetts has implemented changes.   Each inspection station licensed to give stickers would now be forced to purchase roughly $7,000 of new equipment from Applus Technologies in order to meet the new state regulations including five cameras to film and record each inspection for the RMV, a handheld devic...

FROM WOODSTOCK TO SCITSTOCK This column originally appeared on Wicked Local.   “All things must pass,” read the announcement from Scitstock host and co-founder, Bill Barton, quoting George Harrison to announce the end of the anticipated musical tradition nestled in the small coastal town of Scituate, Massachusetts.   “Over the years, we have had the most glorious good fortune to have amazing artists volunteer to perform for us, all in the spirit of Peace & Love, and the vibe has been indescribable.”   Scitstock has been a Scituate celebration of peace, love, and music for the better part of the last decade as was its more notable predecessor, Woodstock, more than 40 years ago.   Ok.   This local event is shorter, usually far less muddy, and largely witnessed by crowds of people who are, in some cases, old enough to have been at the original Woodstock, meaning the predominant illicit drug passed through the crowd on this particular night ma...