Books Is it possible to be saved by the Sex Pistols? The answer to that is a resounding yes. Michael Patrick MacDonald will be reading from Easter Rising, an account of his youth in the Boston punk scene, at Brookline Booksmith. Bostonist had the opportunity to hear him read from the book when he spoke at UMass-Boston, and we say with great emphasis that this is a must-see, not just for those who love......

--Five men were arrested for the stabbing death of Terrence Jacobs, 16, last May. Everyone arrested is from Dorchester, except one man from Brockton. [Boston Globe] --In a follow-up to the case in which a man stabbed his ex to death, stabbed another woman 8 times, bit a man, and then stabbed himself to death in New Bedford, Jane Doe Inc. notes that the incident marks the sixth domestic violence homicide in Massachusetts this year.......

America's Next Top Model: Quite a week for our locals! Alas, Massachusetts contestants seem to be following a trend. Like Mila from the last season, Kimberly, a bank teller from Worcester left in the first show. However, she volunteered to get out of the house. Some shocking information about Kimberly was revealed at the last possible minute--she thinks its silly for people to carry around a $700 handbag! And she kept talking about it. And......

- The Bobcats are to the Celtics what the Giants were to the Patriots: confident, strong, capable of making a game of it (although we'd like to think that we won't see Jason Richardson celebrating a championship for at least another couple of years). The Celts barely beat the 'Cats in November, lost (embarrassingly) in January, and were challenged up until the end on Friday night, when Boston won, 108-100, at TD Banknorth Garden. Not......

The days are getting longer. The nights are getting shorter. Layers of clothing are slowly coming off and you're getting thirsty. Luckily local wine whiz Chris Campbell (left) has a few wine suggestions to slake your thirst. First, German Riesling. Campbell says when enjoyed in the spring and summer, this varietal becomes not only enjoyable, but thought provoking. "Try a dry, light, Kabinett style," he said. "Its low alcohol and high acidity has my attention,"......

There may be no institution in the city as diverse as the Boston Public Library, whose resources entice students, intellectuals, high culture types, the elderly, foreign language speakers, the homeless, and bookworms of all persuasions. Recently, though, the BPL has also been attracting some unwanted attention from Mayor Tom Menino. Menino's administration has taken greater control over how the BPL uses money that has been donated to it by benefactors. According to the Globe, the......

Bobby Brown, we love you, but this week marked the debut of the new "America's Next Top Model" cycle, and we must lead with that. Tyra and the J-Boys (Miss J. and Jay) put the aspiring models through a charm school of sorts, in which they wore uniforms and took class photos. Kimberly, a bank teller from Worcester, was cute in a clean-cut, ditzy cheerleader way. She made it to the next round, and Bostonist......

--Wo ist Whitey? The Feds are going on the German equivalent of "America's Most Wanted" to ask for help looking for Whitey Bulger. If you are an old white guy planning a leisurely European tour or happen to know an old white guy considering such a trip, watch out for overeager foreign policemen, even if you wear a Yankees cap. [Boston Globe] --Read this before you go to the grocery store. Three words: "Rodent-gnawed......

A recent article in the New York Times pondered that constant buzzing question, are Americans willfully stupid? Though it may seem asking this question is a favorite pastime of the popular rag, a recent profile on a bevy of books on the subject argues Americans are less willfully stupid than they are openly hostile towards the smarty-pantses of the nation. Author Susan Jacoby, whose book The Age of Unreason came out last week, says she......

Veggiest Quick Hits -- Happy Valentine's Day! For us being vegan is all about the love. We love our bodies and want to keep them healthy and strong and free of animal products. We love the environment and want to protect it from the extremely destructive practices of factory farming. We love animals and don't want to see them mistreated. You'll most certainly be doing your heart a favor. Heart disease is still one......

Mike of The Food Monkey shares his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to the Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. I have been knocked out of commission because of a cold and have spending my......

Rudy Giuliani might be out of the presidential spotlight, but one of his comments regarding the Boston Red Sox is back to haunt him thanks to the Topps Baseball Card Company. The supposed die-hard Yankee fan will be in the background of a card featuring the celebration of the Boston Red Sox winning the 2007 World Series. To refresh your memory, a reporter asked Rudy who he was rooting for last October and he......

We meant it as a joke when we said that former Romney aide Jay Garrity was the only one on the team having a good week. But it might be true. WBZ is reporting that Romney is "suspending" his campaign. Leave it to Romney to use the euphemism "suspend" instead of "drop out." WBZ explains that he can keep his delegates "if something happened to front-runner John McCain's campaign." The language makes the situation sound......

Today is truly a day to end all days: Super Tuesday and Fat Tuesday unite as one, to reveal America for what it truly is: the Nation of the SuperFat (and the grammatically illicit double-colon sentence as well!). Bostonist encourages all of its readers to vote prior to partying (a couple of drinks might make you think Michael Cera is a great write-in vote--actually, he totally would be), and to party like it's 2009 and......

5:38 PM. Let the live blog begin! We're back at Bostonist Auxiliary HQ in Central Mass, where we've been for 15 out of the previous 18 games this season (2 of the 3 we missed were the way-too-close Baltimore and Jets II games, so no way we're taking any chances). We're joined for a little while by a 2 1/2 year old who has never seen a Patriot Super Bowl win in his entire life.......

Theater Theater lovers! A rare treat - Part I *and* Part II of Tony Kushner's seminal modern epic "Angels in America" is in town and it runs until Feb. 10. It's about the painful disintegration of two relationships against a backdrop of greed, conservatism, and the discovery of AIDS. Presented by Boston Theatre Works. Fringy Theater That Tastes Like Chicken! Who can resist a play about chickens that advises, "Beware! Contains fowl language"? Useless Theater......

Arthur Penn, American Auteur Harvard Film Archive (HFA) Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge Friday-Monday More details Filmmaker Arthur Penn's reputation rests so firmly on Bonnie and Clyde (1967), that you could be excused if you thought he only made one good movie. You'd be wrong, of course. It's a point that will be reiterated throughout the weekend as the Harvard Film Archive presents a retrospective of his work. Penn doesn't get the press that......

Governor Deval Patrick testified this morning at the State House about his plan to create an Executive Office of Education. This would consolidate authority and responsibility for the commonwealth's education system from pre-kindergarten to higher education to one cabinet-level position in the State House. Patrick referenced his recent trip to China, saying that Massachusetts is known throughout the world for its educational institutions. Education is "our calling card." In addition, as home to America's......

In a sense, it's comforting. The Celtics went to battle against one of the other good Eastern teams without Kevin Garnett, and almost beat 'em. On the day of the C's' long-awaited return to national afternoon TV, the script ran eerily similar to the first game in Orlando; the Magic jumped out to a big lead, the Celtics clawed their way back, but ran out of gas at the end. Orlando's the only team to......

This morning, the Patriots are headed to Phoenix. Most of America is uncomfortably embracing a New York team as "good"'s only hope against "evil", while we're just waiting and anticipating that Tom Brady will eventually show up and rejoin the team. (We think he will; it's not Manny we're talking about here.) Luckily for the Pats, another opponent has decided to open his big mouth and give them something other than Brady's foot to talk......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Bostonist. America Unzipped, Brian Alexander's book on the desire of American's to get down and dirty. Busted Tees, where they're in the middle of their winter sale. All shirts, $15! If you're interested in advertising on Bostonist or any other site in our network, check out our online mediakit.......

You heard that right--"on our lawn" as opposed to "off our lawn." We're serious! Turns out that Boston--Boston, home of constant tension between college students and permanent residents--is one of the best 100 communities in the United States for children and young people. America's Promise Alliance spotlights the "best places for young people to live and grow up." Mayor Menino is already touting the development in a press release. Some of the city's programs that......

Given our current state of divisive affairs - debate about the war, the ever-intensifying drama between presidential candidates, New York versus Boston - it's somewhat nice to know that there's one thing the vast majority of the American people can agree on: we're in The Office withdrawal. It's unclear at the present how long we will remain unified as one nation missing Michael Scott, given that the Writers Guild of America and the majors are......

Books Jazz critic Bob Blumenthal reads from Jazz: An Introduction to the History and Legends Behind America's Music, and Branford Marsalis is going to join him. However, word is from Harvard Book Store that Marsalis will only talk about jazz, not perform it. The event will be at the Regattabar at the Charles Hotel (via Harvard Book Store), 7:00 pm. Free. Music The Von Bondies have been quiet as of late. What happened? A major......

We guess we have to face the facts that the Steamroller Pats of this past autumn were the aberration, not the norm. The M.O. for the first three championship teams was: keep it close, make the big plays and make the other guy NOT make them, then walk out with a win, and make sure the other guy walks out shaking his head and wondering if one or two plays would have made the difference.......

The American Kennel Club released the most popular dog breeds, not just in the United States, but in the major American cities. Here's the list out of Boston: 1. Labrador Retriever 2. German Shepherd 3. Yorkshire Terrier 4. Golden Retriever 5. Boxer 6. Bulldog 7. Pug 8. Dachshund 9. Poodle 10. Pomeranian Boston is following a trend since the AKC notes that Labrador Retrievers have been the most popular dog in America for 17......

The next season of America's Next Top Model will air on the CW starting February 20, and the new cast has been revealed. Last time, Sarah Hartshorne, aka "Vita Lightly" of the Boston Babydolls, represented Boston well, and now not one, but two women from Massachusetts will be undergoing extreme makeovers and wearing ridiculous clothes. Kimberly is a waifish 20-year-old banker from Worcester, and Fatima is a 22-year-old student from Boston. Both of them......

We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Bostonist. America Unzipped, Brian Alexander's book on the desire of American's to get down and dirty. Busted Tees, where they're offering free shipping with the purchase of three shirts. If you're interested in advertising on Bostonist or any other site in our network, check out our online mediakit.......

Ask Bill Belichick about last week's game, and you may as well be asking him about the Treaty of Ghent. Ask him about the 14-point-underdog Chargers, and you may as well be asking him about an All-Star team composed of the '85 Bears, '89 49ers and the Justice League of America. You know what you get from Coach Bill when you ask about football. But apparently, ask him about team fight songs and you hit......

Political junkies have divided the last few months between obsessing over Iowa and New Hampshire and complaining about how much energy is wasted obsessing over Iowa and New Hampshire. Those states, the argument goes, are too white and too small and too rural to represent the country at large. But, while true, it always seems dismissive and elitist (possibly because we're writing this on a iPhone while stopped at a light in a Prius Zipcar.)......