An animal alleged to be Loch Ness Monster was spotted by a group on a Boston Duck Tour yesterday. An observer of the incident provided the following drawing of the encounter. An area paleontologist, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the Bostonist in an exclusive interview that, "the positioning of the flippers, combined with the angle of the jawbone, leads me to believe that the creature represented in the meticulously executed, true-to-life drawing is......

Needham 4th of July parade, photo by Pappatom Fireworks lit up the skies of Greater Boston last night. From our perch on the Mass. Ave. bridge, we saw four fireworks displays, including the grandest of them all, the Boston Pops extravaganza. (The other three appeared to be in Newton, Somerville(?), and South Boston.) Contributors to the Bostonist photo pool have captured the festivities for those of you who were homebound or out-of-town. Shooting from......

Sunday morning, more than 100 swimmers left the River Dock on the Esplanade, under the watchful eye of the Arthur Fiedler bust, for a mile-long race in the Charles River. Swimming in the Charles: it's a phrase that would make most Bostonians cringe. But, for the Charles River Swimming Club, who hosted Sunday's race, it's a matter of pride. The Charles, a victim of more than a century of raw sewage and industrial waste,......

Our favorite Boston NPR station, 90.9 WBUR, posted this nice shot of canoe reflections on the Charles. Their Flickr stream is filled with great Boston-related photos, so be sure to give it a gander. Also stay tuned to Bostonist for a story about the upcoming Charles River swim.......

Just a gorgeous shot from amythyst_lake. The exposure makes for a perfect silhouette, and the sunset on the Charles is simply beautiful.......

hargo puts a new spin on the iconic Hatch Shell on the Esplanade. The framing makes it look abstract and we love how the simple colors pop. The shot conjures up memories of warm summer days and free concerts on the Charles....hey only 5 or so months to go!......

Flickr user srdaly11 absolutely blew our minds with his fantastic set of chilly HDR Charles River images. We had an almost impossible task trying to choose just one to feature, so please make sure to view at least this other great shot. We love how the water-logged canoe and rickety dock stand in contrast to the dark and strong city in the background. The ominious tone is heightened even further by the bright swath......

Whoa. Flickr user Iceburns is quickly proving himself to be the Boston master of the "How'd he do that?" While totally different in style from his levitating Charles River photo, this shot is just so cool, and we again wonder how he managed such a neat effect. Boston skyline photos are a dime-a-dozen, but this great picture cleary stands out from the pack. Great work!......

Be prepared to take a long lunch break tomorrow. Mayor Menino has announced that Red Sox celebration festivities will begin tomorrow at noon. Bostonist watched the WBZ webcast of Mayor Menino giving the details. The players will be riding in duck boats in a repeat of 2004's "rolling rally." Menino said that the parade will follow the same route as it did in 2004. Here's an image of last year's route from the Globe.......

If you've always dreamed of owning a swanky Back Bay condo overlooking the Charles River Esplanade, you might get your big chance soon. All you'll need to do is stock up on the earplugs and fun-tak. Remember how the Storrow Drive Tunnel was voted Boston's most likely to collapse and leak on you to death last semester? And how maybe the only way to fix it would be to close the road and bulldoze......

Now that a partially dissolved piece of sodium metal has been deemed the culprit in the burning of several Charles River cleanup volunteers, the local news is playing up the MIT ritual known as the "sodium drop." MIT students like to drop stuff. Sometimes they drop pianos. In this case, at the start of each school year, students get the sodium from somewhere on campus, tote it to the Longfellow Bridge, and drop it bit......

Update: Our anonymous commenter is likely correct! The substance that burned the crew was solid sodium, which MIT pranksters like to drop into the Charles for orientation. Members of a Charles River cleanup crew were burned when they picked up a "taffy-like substance." When they put it into their boat, the substance ignited upon contact with water. The cleanup crew consisted of volunteers who were cleaning up the river along the Mass Ave Bridge. Three......

Despite the blooms of blue-green algae spotted in the Charles, the Charles River Swimmers were able to hold their one-mile swim Saturday morning. The top overall winner was Sebastian Neumayer, and the top female finisher was Emily Sutliff. The swimmers started at the River Dock, and swam for one mile between Harvard and Longfellow Bridges. The race had been cancelled last year thanks to an abundance of algae. The Globe notes that the organizers......

The Armenian Memorial, a proposed park, would pay homage to the Armenian Genocide that saw the loss of an estimated 1.5 million lives in 1915. The memorial has been on and off in the news mostly for their intention to develop a parcel of the Greenway near Christopher Columbus park as the site of the memorial. Tom Menino has voiced his opinion: no way. He doesn't want the Greenway to become home to a number......

--A man has been sentenced to two years in jail for threatening a teenager with a hatchet after fighting over a pump position at a Revere gas station, according to a release from the DA's office. The message? Rein in your temper, especially if there's a sharp object nearby. That goes for hatchets and machetes. DA Daniel Conley said in a classic understatement, "The decision to keep a hatchet in one’s vehicle is bizarre, but......

--The last thing the Boston brass wants to hear is someone comparing Dorchester to Iraq. But that's exactly what a guy told the Globe after a man got shot several times in the head yesterday afternoon. The victim must be made of steel. He was able to run to a friend's house after getting hit, and he is in "critical but stable condition." As for the Iraq comparison, a neighbor said, "There's something always going......

This week is officially Bike Week. Regular commuters, part time enthusiasts, friends, and allies of bikers will be donning their helmets (please put on your helmet) and taking to the streets to celebrate a great form of human powered transportation. While many events take place from Boston to NoHo we're focusing our attention on those happening close to home. Free biker appreciation breakfasts and group rides have been organized. Check out the full listing at......

On Monday the Globe reported that "Antiterror cameras capturing crime on T" and Boston is safe. On Wednesday the Globe reported that " T's searches turn up only false alarms" and Boston is safe. Wednesday afternoon pretty much every media outlet reported on the breaking story that "Holy f*ing sh*t lite-brite is going to blow up our city." Mac Daniel's article on Monday touted the cameras installed in T stations as crime solving machines that......

Today we continue on our video theme for the week, bringing videos out of the YouTube vault as our way of saying happy birthday to the new quarter-centenarian on the block, MTV. Yesterday was New Kids, today is New Edition. Choosing between a solo Bobby Brown and the entire Boston-bred crew of New Edition was actually more difficult than we thought. Bobby's got a certain presence we find hard to turn away from – since......

What goes better with summer than al fresco dining? Al fresco beer, of course, and Cambridge Brewing Company (a.k.a. CBC) has both in spades. Although this Kendall Square hideaway makes for a cozy nosh during the winter months, (wood-burning stove outside the front door so smokers don’t have to freeze,) once the mercury rises CBC opens its spacious patio for diners and drinkers alike. It’s an ideal place to while away a weekend afternoon, and......

As you know, its the halfway point in the baseball season and Bostonist's favorite team is in a good position. We are always looking for a new webcast to listen to and during this All-Star break, we thought we would take a look at the Without a Curse podcast. The Without a Curse podcast is hosted by Alex Reimer. Alex shows that he has a passion for baseball, a passion for the Red Sox, and......

Nearly every digital camera on the market these days comes with a number of pre-programmed settings for aperture and shutter speed. Usually these include a macro setting for taking pictures up close, portrait setting for moderately close and still captures, a sports setting to capture the split-second action image, and fireworks. While most of the settings may find their way into daily photography, last night everyone was turning the dial or scrolling through menus to......

Spring seems to have arrived in full force. The feet of snow we remember from winter 2005 seemed to be lacking through the early months this year, and we can’t claim to be disappointed. The video we present today is a four minute montage of ice, sped-up video, and all sorts of things Boston. One of the best videos we’ve seen out there on the internets in some time. Shots of the T, the Charles......

For those of you who enjoy a good rowing race later than 5 a.m., couldn't get to the Olympics to see it in person, or just want to see the entire J. Crew fall line in person, head over to the Charles River this weekend for the 41st Head of the Charles Regatta. Billed as the world's largest two-day rowing event, the Regatta could not personify Boston any more; perhaps it's the fall foliage, the......

Despite the annual hemming and hawing around Labor Day about the passage of summer and the necessity abandoning of white shoes, autumn actually begins today. While some may lament the fall, if for no other reason than it signals the approach of winter, Bostonist loves it. It's not just the foliage (although that is nice); it's that New England, especially our part of it, is lucky to be at the perfect lattitude so that the......

While this Bostonist has never lived in Beacon Hill, we have heard the woes from our friends and co-workers about the lack of a decent supermarket in the area. In such a pricy neighborhood, the shopping options are limited to pricy, smaller local markets like Savenor's and Deluca's. Well, the waiting for a supermarket is over; a brand new Whole Foods Market is opening today in the Charles River Plaza on Cambridge Street. (A Stop......

War! The Charles River, which is typically invaded by tourists in Duckboats, will have an unexpected rival this week. The question: Is there enough room in our dirty water for Ducks AND Dragons? Now before you think the Bostonist has completely flipped our lid, check out The Boston Dragon Boat Festival coming to town this Sunday, June 12. Bostonist didn't believe it at first, but the prospect of giant metal World War II duck boats......

Building #19 has long been one of Bostonist's favorite discount outlets. From weight-loss shakes to OJ Simpson trivia to remote control holsters and more, we have turned to the store for all our discontinued product needs. Though age and reliability is sometimes in questions with goods purchased there, Bostonist has never been as skeptical as we are with the new Charles River bottled water many of the store locations are now stocking. Sure, the Charles......