Books Manil Suri's The Age of Shiva follows a woman as she tries to find a life outside male expectations. Meera, a young woman in India, marries the man she desires, only to discover he's Mr. Wrong. Eventually, she throws all her hopes on her son, and the intensity of her feelings prompted the San Francisco Chronicle to call the work "a steamy, hot-out-of-the-oven offering of mother love." Whoa, there! Brookline Booksmith, 7:00 pm,......

Today from 12-6 PM, Dunkin' Donuts will be handing out free samples of their oven-toasted sangwiches in a "toasty tent" that has been erected at City Hall Plaza. If that were not enough excitement for ya, from 1-2 pm, preselected contestants and a few random people off the street will have an audience with Ted Lange and Bernie Kopell from the Love Boat (TOS). Isaac and Doc will serve as celebrity judges for a......

On the third episode of "Gone Country," Bobby Brown started displaying the eccentric behavior for which he is known. The episode kicks off Brown drinking alcohol for breakfast instead of coffee or tea. Music producer John Rich dragged the cast to a farm, where they were scheduled to do farm-appropriate tasks with "Redneck Woman" singer Gretchen Wilson. Theoretically, the trip should have sobered Brown up, but maybe all the horse poop and chewing tobacco got......

--Meet Dirus Gaines, a man with an iron constitution. Mr. Gaines' seemingly lifeless body was found by the railroad tracks on Wednesday afternoon in Framingham. Gaines exhibited all the signs of being dead – no movement, eyes rolled back in head, odd position of body. Then, Gaines "suddenly" awakened and displayed his beverage of choice, a bottle of blackberry brandy. And here's the best part – Gaines is awfully lively when he's not completely pickled:......

Get 'em in. American Idol is over for this season, but the Popsearch is just beginning. The Boston Pops PopSearch2007 has extended the deadline until midnight tonight. In case you forgot to mail your entry into the talent competition, or you just now realize that you really want your moment in the spotlight, you've got about eleven hours to get it in. As we've mentioned before the ages old organization of the Boston Pops has......

First Keith Lockhart got himself an official website. Then the Boston Pops started teaming up with pop/rock/alternative musical acts. Now Keith and Company are taking to YouTube for some "American Idol"-style action. The Boston Pops - not your average orchestra! Lockhart sent out a call to amateur singers everywhere today, via a YouTube posted on the Pops' new YouTube group. From his seat at a piano within the Conductor's Room at Symphony Hall, the cool......

Text messages aren't just our favorite way to vote Sanjaya off of American Idol, they're also the quickest way to get in touch, no matter where we are. The mobile is always close at hand (and usually in the pocket) if we're at a concert, in class, or even in the cube toiling away on our TPS reports a text message won't likely go ignored for long. A number of US colleges and universities have......

Public Radio Talent Quest is live and taking submissions and your vote. Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting have teamed up and are giving away $70,000 and a shot at creating your very own radio show. The contest opened on Monday and is taking entries from radio wannabes. They host the entries and feed them to the team of judges. Oh, wait, did we say team? We meant everyone who visits......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor is spending......

The latest enterprise in the Idol brand comes to Massachusetts this summer. Many college, university, and even boarding school facilities go dormant over the summer as the students are on break. To monopolize on the bricks and mortar they already own it's time to rent out the facilities to camps of all sorts. This year way out in Western, Mass the town of Northfield will play host to Idol Camp. The Northfield Campus of the......

In case you're passing through South Station Friday afternoon or evening and you wonder what's with all the people and probable increased police presence, it's just the MBTA trying to bribe you with a free Jewel concert. OK, we're kidding. But Jewel will be playing for free tonight at South Station at 7:00 pm. And it's Verizon Yellow Pages trying to bribe you, not the MBTA. Beforehand, she'll ride the Green Line, which will be......

As 2006 ends and 2007 begins, the -ists look back not at the past week, but at the past year. So here it is, your Best of 2006 Spectacular. And from all of us at the -ists, happy New Year! Austinist was all about controversy as new construction to increase urban density ran rampant in 2006, as did threats to the city's image from gigantic corporations looking to set up shop in town, leading......

Torontoist visits the site of a new Frank Gehry structure, stalks "the elusive Bahamas streetcar", and watches Tom Green get surgery. Phillyist rejoices in the Phillies' wild card chances, mourns the injuries sustained by Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse, and goes pirate on our asses. SFist notes that Guns and Roses were in town, that San Franciscans are taking over reality TV, and that the San Francisco Chronicle's skills of original nomenclature could use some......

San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called "How to Get the Guy" that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing. Getting on the wrong train sucks. Getting on the wrong train and becoming the victim of what will later be described as a "stabbing spree" really sucks.......

WBOS' EarthFest played host to upwards of 100,000 people yesterday – with nearly 7,000 of them waiting in line not for music, but to turn in their losing scratch tickets. The Herald reports on a bad experience had by one man trying to redeem 60,000 losing instant win tickets, while the Globe reports a win for recycling on the day as The Lottery reclaimed 50 tons of paper. For every 25 losing tickets returned a......

The week starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney's best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. Houstonist is there to start compiling the punditry when when the guilty, guilty Enron verdict comes down. This guy seems to be able......

As Bostonist loves to remind our dear readers, there is a race for governor going on in this Commonwealth. We realize you'd rather focus on baseball and American Idol, but damn it, we're highbrow. As you may have heard, there was a gubernatorial debate last night, featuring democrats Chris Gabrieli, Tom Reilly, and Deval Patrick, and the independent Christy Mihos. Bostonist listened to the debate on the radio and our feeling was, "meh." But we're......

Cooking this time of year can get pretty boring if you’re trying to use only the freshest ingredients, but there is one thing available right now that is at boiling point: citrus fruits. We’re not suggesting the same old generic oranges from the grocery store, but beautifully colored and deliciously ripe fruit. They have great names like Moro (the infamous blood orange) and Cara Cara (or red navel). Some sweet, some sour, but all delicious......

So Bostonist has never claimed to be the most intellectual of the bunch, especially when it comes to television. We’ve been tuning in these past couple weeks to Fox’s harshest reality television show (no, not Skating With Celebrities) to see just how mean the judges on American Idol can get. As we’ve seen in the last few seasons of this spinoff of the British show, Pop Idol, the best part of Idol is the......

Sure, some people like to spend the holidays with family, friends, eggnog, and/or hangovers, but Bostonist is sure that some of you also love a good holiday concert to get you in the festive spirit. We’re also sure that lots of you out there have already bought your concert ticket to the Clay Aiken “Joyful Noise” concert at the Boston Orpheum tonight at 7:30p.m. Listen, you don’t have to be embarrassed. Bostonist has watched American......

Well, it's official. "Boston Rob," as CBS execs like to call him, got hitched to fellow Survivor castaway, Amber, in a two-hour mind-numbing adventure cleverly titled, "Rob and Amber Get Married." Bostonist was not planning its night to include this wedding show fiasco, but perhaps it was the Nor'easter or the high one gets off watching American Idol (with only two contestants left! Can you stand it?!), which caused a temporary lapse in judgement. Not......