--Massachusetts earned a C in state government from the Pew Center. Given the state of the Big Dig, is it any wonder? [Boston Herald]
--Hendry Street isn't the only place suffering from the home-foreclosure crisis. In fact, so many areas are suffering that real estate agents are taking possible buyers on bus tours of other people's property. As if someone losing a home doesn't have enough misery, now they have to have complete strangers tramping about on the front yard. [Boston Globe]
--MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas has received plenty of angry e-mails in his time, and should be able to take some serious heat. But he is furious about an e-mail from a Department of Corrections employee that got way too personal. Grabauskas is gay, and the e-mailer used anti-gay slurs about Grabauskas when describing MBTA service. Now Grabauskas is upset with Deval Patrick and his administration for not doing something about it sooner. The employee has been suspended. [Boston Herald]
With over 20 million accounts, Second Life has become a pop culture phenomenon. An Internet-based virtual world, the metaverse in which we can be the person we've always wanted to be (without putting in the hard-work of exercise or educational training) have very few competitors. Currently, there is an exhibition going on in Boston called Mixed Realities - an exploration of real and synthetic places made possible by computers and networks.
Thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts’s ongoing exhibit Walk This Way, shoe-loving Bostonians have found a new excuse for their obsession: They’re not just conspicuous consumers, they’re art collectors.
The exhibit Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914–1939 shows the sharp, mechanical-feeling prints that set the artistic tone for the future. Museum of Fine Arts. Read Bostonist's preview of the show. Runs through June 1.
Friday, January 11, 5:30-8:00 pm
The rule is unspoken, but obvious. No T-shirts or sweats when you watch Lagerfeld Confidential, a documentary on the life of the legendary glamourpuss. Museum of Fine Arts, from today until January 17, $9. All showtimes from the MFA.
Everybody's making "best of" lists at this time of year, but who's in charge of making a list of these best of lists? Well, nobody really, so we've put ourselves in charge and assembled a list of the "best books" lists of 2007. Nobody really needs another list, but a compilation of lists--and determining what's best according to all lists--is something helpful that nobody else really does. Bostonist has checked out several "best of" book lists so you don't have to, and we've assembled lists of the best of the best of lists. Below is our list o' book lists, and after the jump, we summarize the best-best books of 2007 from all lists!
--After the panic, let's think about the fun aspects of winter--sleighs, end-of-year parties, presents, twinkling lights, and the general atmosphere of coziness.
Ethan Gilsdorf and Ted Weesner, Jr. Friday, December 14, 7:00 pm Willoughby and Baltic Art Space 195 G Elm Street, Somerville (T: Davis Square) Free Ethan Gilsdorf's official site Listings for readings may be slim while everyone is busy for the holidays, but it's quality that matters. Two recipients of fellowships from the Somerville Arts Council will be sharing their latest projects for free tomorrow night. Journalist/poet Ethan Gilsdorf and novelist Ted Weesner, Jr., are...
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory in Smell-O-Vision Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge Thursday, December 13, 7:30 More information If you missed the outdoor screening of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in Smell-O-Vision at Union Square this summer, you have the opportunity to miss it again. The indoor debut of the event is sold out. Last July, a group of artists led by Megan Dickerson and funded by the Somerville Arts Council, presented...
How did The Golden Compass, Juno, and Atonement do critically and commercially? Of Compass and its controversy, the Dig's David Wildman said, "So screw the religious nuts, there's no reason not to see this fun little flick." James Verniere at the Herald disagreed, finding it a "long and often tedious slog." Unless you're a sci-fi fan or want to stick it to The Man, you might want to stay away. The movie opened at Number...
Now that David, the Somerville LARPer, took the grand prize in Beauty and the Geek, we are focusing our attentions on Denise, the martial-arts aficionado with the heroic hair. Denise has hung on throughout several rough rounds of Survivor:China. This week, Denise caught a break since the reward challenge involved the presence of family members. The producers saved Denise's husband for last--for good reason. He is a big, burly dude who looks like he would...
School of the Museum of Fine Arts Sale Through Sunday, December 9 12:00 pm-6:00 pm 230 The Fenway, Boston (T: Museum of Fine Arts or Ruggles) Surprise your friends and family with original art instead of the standard old holiday presents like gadgets, bath soap, and socks. Five thousand pieces of art will be on sale at the School of Museum of Fine Arts this weekend, including original art by Ellsworth Kelly, which you...
Illuminations Holiday Tour Saturday, December 15 Tour times: 4:30, 5:00, 5:45, 6:15, 7:00, 7:30, 8:15, 8:45, 9:15 Tickets on sale at McIntyre and Moore Booksellers, 255 Elm Street, Davis Square More info Fighting off a raging case of Seasonal Affective Disorder? Somerville has a cure. The city's residents know how to decorate, and when it's the holidays they want to share their spirit with everyone. The Somerville Arts Council will be offering 45-minute-long trolley tours...
In October, Boston University threw down the gauntlet and declared plans to expand. Now, Boston College is one-upping BU with expansion plans of its own. BC's expansion plan rivals that of BU. BU said it would put in $1.8 billion, and BC has announced that it will spend $1.6 billion. The BC Heights reports that the money will go to construction and renovation, and 100 new faculty members will be hired. The rest will go...
The cold weather - and holiday festivities - descended upon Gothamist. The Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit, Broadway stagehand finally ended their strike, and NASCAR decided to run their victory lap through Times Square. There were disturbing photographs revealing the working conditions in which many city manholes are produced and ninjas were also a hot topic, either robbing homes or entering into alibis. But the city was really rocked by how Rudy Giuliani's visits...
Christopher Guest - actor, director, writer, musician, and Grammy-winning composer - stood solemn in his academic regalia on Friday night as a packed Berklee Performance Center crowd gave him a standing ovation. Looking every part the dignified scholar, Berklee's newest Honorary Doctorate of Music recipient nodded to the crowd. Then he raised his hand, made devil's horns, and got down to business. Guest told a story of a young boy, one who grew up in...
Multiple Singular Nave Gallery (155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville) Saturday, December 1, 1 - 5 p.m. Today is your last chance to check out Multiple Singular, the latest exhibition at the Nave Gallery in Somerville. Displaying works by Chris Nau and Kevin Dacey, Multiple Singular "brings together two artists whose work describes how multiple signifiers may illuminate an unknown by pointing to one singular reality/truth/identity/definition, but one that shifts according to the movement of its known...
