Sure, there are plenty of places in this town to get a burrito, but their options are often fairly limited. Enter Boloco, which features a menu of "inspired burritos" that stray from the classic bean-and-rice. With 11 (soon to be 13) stores in Massachusetts (plus branches in New Hampshire and Vermont), Boloco is a great option for cheap, fast, filling, and nutritous meal.

For a fast food restaurant, the options at Boloco are vast. You can go traditional with the Classic (cheese, pinto beans, salsa, cilantro, and rice) or the brand-new and very tasty Yucatan (lime rice, black beans, pickled onions, habanero salsa, and sour cream), or you try something a little un-burrito-like, such as the Mediterranean (black bean hummus, salsa, olives, feta, cucumber, balsamic vinaigrette, and rice) or this Bostonist's favorite, the Bangkok (peanut sauce, slaw, cucumbers, and brown rice). Each wrap or bowl comes with your choice of chicken, steak, carnitas, tofu, or peppers and onions. Regulars are under $6, and larges are under $7.

When you go, make sure to ask for a Boloco card. Part gift card, part rewards system, the card can be loaded with cash and used to rack up points for free meals (including a free burrito just for registering). During the holiday season, you get a free burrito for each $25 you put on a card. Or you can always just get an empty card and use it for the rewards!

With so many locations in Boston, there's bound to be a Boloco near you. The newest of the bunch will be opening right next to the Common, at the corner of Boylston and Charles, in about two weeks. Hours vary by location, but many are open as late as 11pm, and some even offer online ordering.

For more local food writing from Pam Aghababian, check out Cave Cibum.

"We made room," the MBTA is proclaiming in advertising for its brand new seatless car approach to subway travel. Boston's transportation system will take out seats in Red Line train cars, seemingly with the thought process that riders are so content with the cattle car approach to rush-hour commuting that cramming more people into the T each day will make people even happier.

One would never want to be guilty of saying, "Not on my T line," but at the same point, it could be argued that Red Line passengers are getting the short end of the stick. The expansive T line, extending from Alewife all the way down to Braintree/Ashmont, is the one that's going to leave riders standing the entire way. Add to the fact that Red Line passengers on the northern leg of the line recently enjoyed shuttling from Kendall/MIT to Park Street (the memory of getting off at Park Street still makes us shudder) so as to prevent us from falling into the Charles River and we're starting to wonder about what the MBTA has against Cambridge and Somerville. Why not test this bad boy out on a line known for stops set up in what feels like 30-second increments? It makes more sense.

The new name for this pilot program, however, tells us what the T really has in mind. "Big Red" leads to one association, right? The gum. Which of course brings to mind the "Big Red" jingle of old: "Kiss a little longer, stay close a little longer, hold tight a little longer, longer with Big Red!"

Of course! The MBTA believes that busy Red Line passengers don't have enough time in their busy schedules to get a little lovin' going on. By gently nudging the elbow of another passenger into each of our backs, Charlie is simply encouraging us to take out our iPod buds, put down the book we won't have room to read, and get busy with some good ol' fashioned PDA.

Thank goodness for the MBTA, realizing that you can't miss true love when it's staring you in the face from about two inches away. We will be watching to see if this results in a spike in Missed Connections on Craigslist. Or if the cynics of the Red Line start staging a sit-in. It could go either way.

Image of seat-free car from the MBTA documentation, hosted on Universal Hub

We hope you still love Mike Lowell and David Ortiz. Because the slow tango between the Red Sox and Mark Teixiera came to a sudden crash yesterday, as the Yankees showed up on the dance floor with a briefcase full of $1000 bills and took the slugger back to New York.

So Tex (and we'll have to come up with a derogatory nickname soon, something like "A-Fraud"...we're open to ideas) got his payday - 180 million clams over eight years. And now the Yankees have the four largest contracts in baseball history. The Sox' yes-maybe-no-OK-please offer, and the Washington Nationals' tempting offer of paying Tex a lot of money to disappear off the face of the earth, just weren't enough. And it will be a merry Christmas in the Scott Boras household, if he gave anybody presents, which we doubt he does. Any way you slice it, it's a hell of a lot of money for a guy who's won one playoff game in his life.

While our springtime team was thrown into turmoil, both our local wintertime teams did what they do - win. The Celtics toyed with Philly for their 19th straight win (wasn't it like six weeks ago that they lost 18 straight?) , and got saluted with the obligatory "Beat LA" chant as they prepare to go play the Lakers tomorrow. (Also, one more time, "Beat LA" began as a congratulatory chant to the Sixers, who were about to finish off the Celtics to go to the Finals and were widely seen here (and still are) as the lesser of two evils. Many people seem to have forgotten this, or never knew.)

And the Bruins... wow. The Devils were on a 12-2-1 streak, but there's hot and then there's hot. The B's just can't lose right now. Milan Lucic broke a scoreless tie seconds into the third period, and David Krejci sailed the puck the length of the ice for the empty-net clincher. The only bummer (besides the Teixiera deal we've already discussed) was that Phil Kessel was scoreless for the first time in forever. So it's time to start a new streak Saturday at Carolina.

Image from Wikipedia.

• A Worcester teen is suspected of smothering her baby with a teddy bear. [Worcester Telegram]


• Man can sue Jiffy Lube for its discriminatory facial hair practices. [Herald]


• Ford might not need a bailout, but it'd still like to have a $9 billion cred line on hand "just in case." Yeah, us too. [Globe]


• Axl Rose is mad at Dr Pepper, and China is mad at Axl Rose. OMG, it's just like middle school, when we actually listened to GnR. [CNN]


• Venice is underwater, setting 30-year records, and everyone freaks out. Brazil is underwater, setting 45+-year records, over 100 people are dead, nearly 80,000 are homeless, and no one gives a shit. [UPI, News 24]


• Obama will help governors, not hurt them. We hope. [CNN]


• The National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession-declaring body that many have called a "Washington" group, is located in Cambridge, conveniently near the People's Republik. [Boston Daily]


• Cann sisters avoid being evicted. [Globe]


• We saw a Giant Inflatable Rat drive by in downtown Boston today, but aren't sure why. Anyone have the scoop?

Photo from normanack used with Creative Commons license

Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, did a Cambridge double-dip yesterday to discuss his company’s plans to create a workable system of electric cars. (Beaker Hill is also double-dipping today, so stick around. We’ll be right back!) We were fortunate enough to attend the first of his two talks, part of the Brunel Lecture Series put on by MIT’s Engineering Systems Division.

A classic salesman whose talents have been honed by his experience in the software industry, Agassi’s primary focus is customer convenience. “An electric vehicle was the name that was invented when we asked people to give up something from their car,” he explained. “You don’t need so fast: 28 mph is good, right? You don’t need all those seats: 2 is enough. It doesn’t need to look normal: 3 wheels!” Instead of trending toward the bizarre, Better Place hopes to give its consumers “a better car.” The lynchpin of the Better Place model is separating the battery and the car, providing significant advantages to its customers. One of the major sticking points with previous electric cars (besides all the weirdness), is the issue of expense/obsolescence. You were asked to pay a hefty premium for the car+battery combination, knowing that there was an excellent chance that a greatly improved battery would be around the corner while your old one was stuck in the car. So Agassi decided to avoid this headache by having the battery be a completely interchangeable commodity, not included in the price of the car itself—as he refers to it, “electric gasoline.”

Then two pieces of infrastructure need to be put into place: recharging stations and battery exchange stations. According to Agassi, most customers will simply be able to recharge their batteries at home and work, and not need to exchange their battery at all. (The batteries used by the company, including some developed by local company A123Systems, have a range of about 120 miles.) The hope is to install charging stations in four main places: in the home and in parking lots at offices, shopping districts, and downtown areas, thus covering the majority of places people park. Automated battery-exchange stations would be on the road like gas stations, for longer trips or for those who forgot to charge up their batteries. The entire system would work like a cell-phone contract, in which consumers pay for the service, not for the batteries themselves.

The other interesting portion of the Better Place system is the advantages it would provide for renewable but intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind. Current technology in these fields has lacked the ability to store the energy gathered—or as the dilemma is often phrased, “what happens when the wind stops blowing?” Through software coordination with power utilities, the batteries associated with Better Place cars provide this energy storage capability, as power can literally be sucked out of the batteries and put into the grid during peak times if necessary. (No word on what happens if you need to use your car…)

To conclude his prepared remarks, Agassi took aim at critics who thought that the quick-deployment model he is implementing (Better Place has deals in place to build infrastructure and begin service in Israel, Denmark, the San Francisco Bay area, and Hawaii) will be an overly jarring transition. Comparing it to the Industrial Revolution, which started in Britain to fill the needs of industry after immediately freeing all British slaves, Agassi claimed that immediate transition is necessary. “We know we’re doing the wrong moral thing today. We’re digging the ground, we’re burning the planet for our kids, we’re giving the money to immoral countries…If you do the right moral thing, and you do it immediately, you win.”

While we’re not entirely sold on Better Place just yet—certainly not until we see the system actually implemented—and have some quibbles with portions of the plan (for example, the near- and over-100% taxes placed on non-electric vehicles by Israel and Denmark in response to signing the Better Place deals), it may indeed provide a portion of the answer to the question which caused Agassi to start the company. “How do you make the world a better place by the year 2020?”

Bostonist didn't know what to think of the recent news that Harvard University's endowment has lost $8 billion so far this year. It sounds like a lot of money, but given all the billions being thrown around these days, what with the banking and auto industries asking Congress for really big early Christmas presents, it's difficult to tell exactly what $8 billion is worth. So we made a handy list of what $8 billion can get you in 2008 in Boston and beyond:

• 879,120,879 large BBQ combos at Chacarero.

• 800 million cocktails (1,875,000 gallons!) at Drink.

• 8 million $100 ham sandwiches at Persephone.

• A post-toll-hike trip through the Ted Williams tunnel for every man, woman and child in San Jose, California.

• 350,000 Boston liquor licenses at the alleged Dianne Wilkerson rate (26,666 at market rate).

• 305,000 '08 Ford Escapes for MBTA upper management.

• 28,570 Clark Rockefeller sized collections of gold coins.

• Dustin Pedroia's services through the year 3193 (approximately).

• Half a Big Dig.

• 6 new Yankee Stadiums.

• Three copies of Versailles.

• 1000 Alaskas (in 1867). (And 53,333 $150,000 Sarah Palin wardrobes, in 2008.)

• 41 days of the Iraq War.

• Based on Gross Domestic Product: Mozambique.

(Image of the Big H via AntyDiluvian)

Good morning, class. Unfortunately your regular Bostonist couldn’t make it to the IFC Media Project’s town hall at MIT yesterday, so you’ll have to make do with a substitute teacher. One word out of any of you and it’s straight to the principal’s office!

Let’s begin, shall we? Hosted by Gideon Yago, last seen doing the MTV News cut-ins during TRL, the IFC Media Project takes a critical look at the state of journalism today. (To be honest, we weren’t aware there were actual “shows” on IFC, but we digress.) To bolster their criticism and spark debate, they arranged a series of town hall meetings in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston Cambridge.The panelists were:
Candy Altman, VP of News, Hearst-Argyle Television
Martin Baron, Editor, Boston Globe
Tucker Carlson, Chief Political Correspondent, MSNBC
Josh Silver, Co-Founder, Free Press
Juan Williams, News Analyst, NPR
(To the dismay of the high school girls in the audience and one Bostonist editor, Gideon Yago did not actually make an appearance.)

The focus of the discussion was coverage of crime in the media, particularly TV news. We heard about the “missing white girl” phenomenon, the appeal of which has always been a mystery to us. But for our money, the most interesting exchange came following Silver’s contention that centralization of media ownership is (more or less) the downfall of civilization.

“Government has failed…they have allowed the consolidation to make it such that profit is paramount. Everyone in the business understands that is the most important thing, not necessarily providing the critical investigative journalism that people need, that democracy needs…” he lamented. Consolidation is a common refrain in media criticism; while there are certainly fewer hands on the levers of the big-name journalism and entertainment institutions, what sort of effect has that really had?

Baron weighed in first after Silver further said that his business was “falling.” No argument here. But he raises the interesting point that if consolidation was all about profit, and clearly the companies involved aren’t, well…profiting, something else has to be afoot. You’re reading it. (Seriously!) “With the Internet…the cost of entry into the news and information business is zero. This is why many of our companies are facing serious challenges these days, because things are atomizing, rather than consolidating.”

Carlson followed along the same line, adding that he felt a lack of creativity among the so-called mass media is also to blame. “The problem is that we’re unimaginative a lot of the time. We don’t write enough and produce enough great stories. They’re ignoring the more traditional news coverage because we’re not offering up stuff that’s very compelling.”

We are in the midst of a titanic media shakeup because the companies and personalities of the last generation are unsure of their place today. People are increasingly looking to the Internet for news, and why shouldn’t they? Not only does an outlet with essentially unlimited space provide for more in-depth coverage of any particular issue, but the tools to conduct your own background research are also right there! The focus on “missing white girl” stories (to grab the attention of older generations) and celebrity news (to siphon off at least some of us youngsters) is a natural consequence of companies not knowing where they fit into this new spectrum...or even understanding it.

That being said, the bewildering array of media outlets requires more responsibility from consumers to discern the veracity of what they see. For that, we commend the effort of the IFC Media Project in reaching out to high school students to go over the basics of media literacy. One complaint: we found it incredibly ironic that an event devoted to criticizing TV news for being rushed and shallow also appeared to be under severe time constraints which limited the panelists’ ability to branch out into other issues. (Combined with the graphics-heavy backdrop, it was sometimes hard to believe that this was not done as a sort of metacriticism.)

Anyway, if you’re still with us, it’s your turn. We, the cells of this organism called Bostonist, have had some internal discussion about “what the readers think,” so here’s your chance to let us know as we head into 2009. What can we do to make this place even better for you? We can’t promise we’ll take everyone’s suggestions (though we may laugh at them), but this is the time to make your voice heard, so go to town!

Political Blogger sees "Big Picture" at Globe: Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo gave some props to the Boston Globe's photo blog. In a brief entry, he wrote:

I think I've officially seen a few million online picture books of Obama from over the last several weeks of the campaign. But this one from the Boston Globe's website has to be the best.

The Big Picture's angle is big pictures of current events. Pretty clever, huh?

You might have trouble getting tickets at Fenway, like most of us do. But it's comforting to know that when all those and myriad other troubles have gone away, you can still proclaim your allegiance to the boys even as you while away the centuries.

The Globe today introduces us to Eternal Image, a Michigan company that's correctly deduced that people don't want to spend the hereafter in a boring old coffin when they can cheerfully decay surrounded by the logo of their favorite team.

So we now have the option of Red Sox-themed caskets and urns. The steel casket, of which the first was just delivered to a Rockland funeral home, has a Sox logo on the outside, logo-festooned interior lining, and (we hope) the voice of Joe Castiglione beamed inside for all of eternity. Think of it as a never-ending rain delay.

The caskets carry a suggested retail price of $4,499, so it is not their most modestly-priced receptacle. But if the Sox fan in has already spent their earthly existence saturated with caps, shirts, pennants, books, etc., etc., why not take the last step, and let St. Peter know to strike up "Sweet Caroline" when they get to the gates? They will soon be available for all 30 MLB teams, so you can suggest one to your Yankee-fan coworkers (who have spent the last few years coming to grips with mortality anyway), or make arrangements to be buried in a Seattle Mariner setup if there's a good inside joke behind it. But the company fully expects the Sox one to be among their biggest sellers, and they're ready to, in the words of an MLB spokesman, "take care of the long-term fan".

(And, no, it doesn't come in pink. Yet.)

Picture from EternalImage.com

The blog Fan Foodie recently asked Bostonist to provide a guide to eating before seeing a game at the TD Banknorth Garden. We were suitably amused by the blog's guide to tailgating in Foxborough, that we were happy to oblige.

Here it is, our guide to eating before seeing a game at the Garden. Did we leave anything out? Do you have a secret strategy for gathering calories before Celtics and Bruins games?

The Boston edition of Bazaar Bizarre is coming up this Sunday, December 7, from noon to 7pm at The Castle at Park Plaza (Arlington and Columbus). It's an opportunity to peruse handmade crafts from local (and far-flung) artists. Learn a new crafting technique, get a little something for yourself, or stock up on those obligatory holiday gifts this weekend.

To help you prepare for the fair (see how we rhymed?), we're running profiles of crafters (courtesy of the wonderful Bazaar Bizarre Boston Blog) all week. These will introduce you to different crafters and aid you in deciding which booths to visit (you probably don't have time for all seven bajillion, but you can try). Today, we're pleased to present Vintage by Crystal.

Who are you and where are you from?

My name is Crystal Hanehan and I am the owner of Vintage by Crystal. I grew up on a dairy farm in Saratoga Springs, New York, and now live in a beautiful part of Dorchester (yes, beautiful parts of Dorchester do exist!).

How did you get your start?

Vintage by Crystal is only about a year and a half old. For many years I fawned over the pages of Mary Englelbreit’s Home Companion and Country Living magazines, admiring the home décor and art they featured. I especially loved the old German spun cotton ornaments they sometimes pictured. I couldn’t afford to buy the ornaments at a couple hundred dollars apiece and I’ve always been very creative, so I decided to try and make them myself.

After TONS of trial and error, I seemed to have figured out the secret to making spun cotton ornaments and figures. Plus I added my own twist to them so they’re somewhat historical and somewhat brand new! They were so much fun to make, I decided to start selling them on my website and here I am now!

More Vintage by Crystal after the jump. Profile from Bazaar Bizarre Boston Blog. Images from Vintage by Crystal website.What inspires you the most to create?

Browsing through boxes of rusty, random old junk at flea markets really gets the itch going. Looking at photos of whimsical interiors and vintage vignettes starts to spark ideas. And then thinking about how I can use the old materials I’ve found to make something special to fit into a unique environment gets me moving to create.

What are your favorite materials to work with? Do you have a favorite color palette?

Natural fibers, paper, and old doodads are always what I use to create my figures and decorations. And while I use many color palettes in my work to fit into different types of environments, my personal favorite colors to use are cream, light turquoise and silver. Those colors are light and airy and just too delicious!

Who are some of your favorite crafters and why do you love them?

Ashley Carter of Goldbug Studios is very inspiring because of her crazy use of the most beautiful vintage materials and the whimsy her finished pieces possess. Jennifer Murphy is also a favorite. She makes the most adorable little animals using just the right kind of bright colors and a hint of vintage doodads.

Any exciting future plans or developments in the works for your business?

Things are getting a little crazy for me on the business end with filling orders and getting ready the holiday rush. Having a full time job (I’m a graphic designer) is getting in the way! So I might just have to fix that… ;)

What are some other things you like to do when you're not busy making awesome stuff?

As you may have guessed by now, I’m obsessed with old things. Hidden treasures from the past. My all time favorite thing to do is to go treasure hunting. Antique fairs, flea markets, and garage sales are where you’ll find me on a sunny, or even a not so sunny Saturday morning. But I also really enjoy spending time outdoors and indoors, exploring new places, and just hanging out with friends or with my family back in New York.

If you miss Vintage by Crystal at Bazaar Bizarre, here's a list of her other appearances in Boston this month.

Hipsters and crafty types in search of the perfect, handmade holiday gift descended on the Castle at Park Plaza on Sunday for the eighth annual Bazaar Bizarre. Bostonist was there to capture some of the eclectic wares on display.

(Photos courtesy of Crafty McSnapper)

Curt Schilling, Boston's favorite riddle wrapped in an enigma, has done it again!

We're still scratching our heads over the way Schill managed to work it so that he could walk out to the Fenway mound during the 2008 postseason (a season to which he told us - and the Sox brass - that he would be able to contribute), throw out a bouncer of a commemorative first pitch and still get a standing ovation from the Faithful on hand. That was some crazy mindwarping, for sure.

But the latest news from all things Schill-y is even more...well, typically him. The pitcher, who has yet to officially retire from the game, is now one of the Knights of the Keyboard about whom Ted Williams use to grouse.

A Major League Ballplayer is now part of the press corps, in a manner of speaking. Schilling's blog, 38 Pitches, is making the move over to WEEI.com. According to the release issued by a very happy Rob Bradford (whose work Bostonist loves, it should be noted):

This past week, in his 38 Studios office, Curt officially agreed to join our team. He will write columns and blogs every week, participate in video blogs, and schedule live, interactive in-game blogs during the season, while also appearing on the WEEI Radio Network each week, including an in-studio spot once a month ... As for whether or not part of Curt’s immediate blogging future will include documenting a return to the pitching mound, I can’t help you there. You’ll just have to log on every other minute to find out.

So...OK. Where to begin? This is all-new territory. Retired players making their way up to the broadcast booths? Sure, that's old hat. But an still possibly playing writing about baseball, the game he might still be playing, for a media source while possibly still working in some facet of Major League Baseball? And without having to bow to the will of an editor? These are uncharted waters. Curt Schilling is getting awfully mavericky here.

We're imagining Bud Selig rocking back and forth, muttering to himself. "Remember the bloody sock. Remember the bloody sock."

Potential messy conflicts of interest aside (and there are many), we're going to extend a warm welcome to Mr. Schilling. Congratulations on joining OUR ranks, fellow sports blogger guy. A few tips to help you set off on this journey of journalistic something-or-another:

- When you call Jason Varitek to find out how contract discussions are going, don't click "record" on the voice recorder until you say those three magic words. On. The. Record.
- It is not proper etiquette to show up at a press conference wearing your full Red Sox uniform.
- If there isn't a rule expressly forbidding you from sending a Tweet to your followers during a conference with the manager on the mound, there will be one by Spring Training.
- Bloggers don't get press passes.

Photo by flickr user Eric Kilby

In the Viewfinder manages a new take on an oft-photographed landmark. We love the sharpness and detail.

A year ago, at a benefit for T.T. the Bear's bartender Jeanne Sheehy, the members of Letters to Cleo took the stage for an impromptu reunion, and they could tell from the reaction of the crowd that people were happy to see them. This year, they're back for a real reunion, playing 4 gigs in 3 cities.

Last night featured the first of Letters to Cleo's two sold-out Boston shows at the Paradise; they play their second show tonight before heading to New York for their final gig.
The night started with local band Midatlantic (formerly The Bleedin' Bleedins), who released their newest album back in September. Their sound is full and beat-driven, with a little bit of an Arctic Monkeys vibe to it. They got the crowd warmed up with no problem, and were a pretty damn hilarious when dealing with people at the merch table after the show.

When Letters to Cleo took the stage, though, the crowd went from loud to ear-splitting. Kay Hanley (vocals), Michael Eisenstein and Greg McKenna (guitars), Stacy Jones (drums) and Joe Klompus (replacing the band's original bassist) used their time to show off why they were such a pivotal part of the Boston music scene in the '90s. They wasted no time, jumping right into "Demon Rock," and the crowd sang along with every tune. Their set was 20 songs strong, with a good mix between all three of their albums, plus a previously unreleased Christmas song and their fantastic cover of Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me." The band seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves onstage, and hopefully they'll realize just how much they've been missed around Boston.

In conjunction with the mini-tour, Letters to Cleo has just released a compilation of rarities, titled "When Did We Do That?" The album features their work on various soundtracks (most famously 10 Things I Hate About You, but also The Craft and Jawbreaker), as well as demos of a few songs, and a couple of unreleased tracks (including their Christmas song "WTFAMP.") The album is available at tonight's concert and will soon be available on the band's website.