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http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120712/NEWS/207120343/1018/OPINION

NEW BEDFORD — With the goal of increasing commercial links between Mexico and New England, the port of New Bedford on Wednesday entered into a sister port agreement with Tuxpan in the state of Veracruz on Mexico's Gulf Coast.

Alfredo L. Sanchez Hevia, director of the port authority in Tuxpan, formally signed the agreement in a ceremony at the Waterfront Grille with New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, who also chairs the city's Harbor Development Commission.

"This agreement will make it easier for businesses to develop relationships and profit," Mitchell said. "It creates a symbiotic relationship so both ports can experience the benefits of international trade."

The agreement is more than ceremonial, Sanchez Hevia said. "Having these agreements instills confidence in the business community that government is behind them," he told The Standard-Times.

An international shipping company has already expressed interested in becoming involved in the route which hopes to bring fresh produce from Mexico to New Bedford as part of a weekly shipping service, Sanchez Hevia said, but declined to name the company. "It's too early for that," he said.

Pierre Bernier of Maritime International Inc., the waterfront cold storage facility that is one of the largest on the Eastern Seaboard, has also been working to establish the service. Bernier confirmed that a shipping company was interested but also declined to reveal its identity.

"I can tell you that they are the world's largest refrigerated shipping company and operate 185 vessels," he said. Three independent cold storage facilities in the region are also interested in participating, he said.

In 1984, a similar attempt was made to establish this route, Bernier said. "Three ships came up from Tuxpan with produce but they were the wrong kind of ships for what they were carrying" and the attempt was abandoned, he said. But with new Department of Transportation regulations restricting truckers' daily driving hours that goes into effect in 2013, shipping by sea will become even more attractive in the future, he said.

Officials in both countries are actively seeking wholesalers and producers to develop the new markets, according to Daniel Hernandez Joseph, Mexico's consul general in Boston. "And New Bedford is strategically positioned to open up sea routes that will make our producers more competitive," he said. Mexico is the fourth largest bilateral trading partner with Massachusetts, state officials said.

"I'm very excited by this. We have to make it happen," said Gerardo Patino Fernandez of ProMexico, the country's trade commission.

To further the shared goal, a trade development summit is scheduled for New Bedford in October, according to Ed Anthes-Washburn, New Bedford's port director and acting harbor development commissioner.

"We'll get the producers from Mexico in the same room as the buyers here," he said. "The port already has all the facilities. We could start tomorrow."
 
But with new Department of Transportation regulations restricting truckers' daily driving hours that goes into effect in 2013, shipping by sea will become even more attractive in the future
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On a side note - effectively this means a lot of truckers will retrain as railroad workers or longshoremen and work the same hours as before. But also that there will be less redevelopable waterfront space and more demand for freight trains, making it difficult to expand passenger rail transit in urban areas. Working ports are cool, but I'm not sure this is all that good for cities.
 
This is good for cities as it brings jobs back to urban areas and life to otherwise derelict post-industrial districts. If only Boston and Cambridge hadn't been so quick to obliterate their peripheral rail yards we'd be in a better position.

If anything rail freight is far more efficient over long distances than trucks, generally faster, and more environmentally friendly. If only the freight routes could be rebuilt in a few key bottlenecks to have clearance for double stacked containers, the country would be golden for a new era of rail freight on the east coast. Much like the Midwest and West has seen.

And I must say thank heavens the Castle Island port facility has space to expand into the abandoned tank farm. Too bad it no longer has decent rail freight access.
 
I think there is a plan to add rail via haul road to the port (something like that). And working ports are good for cities, most cities came to be b/c they were working ports.
 
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This seems familiar somehow....




(BTW: The picture is a link to the story)
 
Seamless, highly-detailed German engineering. Love it.

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Awesome section.
 
Ted has officially become the highest grossing film at the domestic box office that is set in Boston; pretty great that millions of people are seeing the city on the big screen.
 
Anyone have recommendations for dealing with lens flare ....... at night?

Headlights/streetlights = amazing pictures RUINEDDDDD. :(

Usually I don't even notice until I see it at full size.
 
dshoost88 said:
Ted has officially become the highest grossing film at the domestic box office that is set in Boston; pretty great that millions of people are seeing the city on the big screen.
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Saw it last night, very good entertainment though maybe not MacFarlane at his comedic best (some slow points, overwritten and unfunny dialogue, flopping one liners). Still great fun.

One bit of the way Boston was portrayed disturbed me a bit - cars, cars, cars. Main character works at a car rental. Girlfriend drives to work ("no space in the garage today")... from the South End to the FiDi. Even the Hatch Shell is portrayed as having an adjacent parking lot (and I don't mean Storrow at rush hour). Car chases over the Zakim (which somehow leads to Fenway Park).

Anyway - I don't know how much has been written about Hollywood's obsession with cars as facilitating plotlines. I know I've read a few things on this. But it seems very clear that the Hollywood standard is car, car, car - based on familiar tropes (car chases, etc) and audience familiarity (most people drive).

Thoughts?
 
BostonUrbEx said:
Anyone have recommendations for dealing with lens flare ....... at night?

Headlights/streetlights = amazing pictures RUINEDDDDD. :(

Usually I don't even notice until I see it at full size.
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A good lens hood can reduce lens flare. Day or night. Still, it's not fool proof.

That's where the spot healing tool is helpful. If you don't have photoshop, I'm sure gimp or some other freeware has something similar. It's great for dust spots on those long exposures too.

I usually setup my night shots with the "live view" function as lens flare shows up on that before you even take the photo. Sometimes moving a few inches will fix the problem.

Some photographers prefer the lens flare as it's "real," and it adds to the effect of the photo. In some cases that can be true, but it's one situation where I fully support some post processing work.
 
The Ted filmmakers closed down Davis Square for several hours on June 14 last year to film a scene of people standing in line for a Star Wars opening at the Somerville Theatre. At that time, some of the marquee's letters happened to be burned out, causing the sign to read 'SOME THEATRE'. Does it look like that in the movie, or did they correct it in post-production?
 
Ron Newman said:
The Ted filmmakers closed down Davis Square for several hours on June 14 last year to film a scene of people standing in line for a Star Wars opening at the Somerville Theatre. At that time, some of the marquee's letters happened to be burned out, causing the sign to read 'SOME THEATRE'. Does it look like that in the movie, or did they correct it in post-production?
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Ha. I think that scene was a seconds-long establishing shot, I'd be surprised if you could even see the marquis at all.
 
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