derequito grabbed some great shots of the Chinese New Year festivities in Chinatown this past Sunday. This photo perfectly captures the noise, smoke, and general activity of the day. Happy Year of the Rat!......

Movies --The ultimate sci-fi slumber party will happen with the 33rd Annual Boston Sci-Fi Film Festival, where this year's theme is "The Future is Passe," and the main event is a screening of A Boy and His Dog, starring Don Johnson. Get more details. Somerville Theatre, Davis Square, 12:00 noon, running through 12:00 noon the next day. Gender Bending Trannies take the stage for Traniwreck, Boston's only all-gender, all-genre burlesque variety show. Expect comedy,......

--Flu isn't just prevalent in Boston right now. It's "raging." Don't leave home without the Purell. [Boston Globe] --Comm Ave is getting a 5-foot-wide bike lane on both sides between Kenmore Square and the BU Bridge by summer. [Boston Herald] --Chinatown continues to evolve into Condo Central. [Boston Herald] --GateHouse Media is cutting about 60 staff positions. Brighton Centered analyzes how that will impact one of GateHouse's local papers. [Brighton Centered] --Enjoy a slideshow of......

--Let's look on the bright side for a change. Any number of homicides in this city is bad, especially given the fact that the victims are often so young. However, the overall number of homicides in Boston is down from 71 to 66. [WBZ] --A guy who worked at a porn shop decided that selling porn just wasn't enough. Dwan Hammond, who worked at the Amazing.net on Stuart, was selling poppers, too. Can you imagine......

--Craig Bigos, who hit a teenager while driving in Taunton, took off, and later surrendered to police, admitted that he was texting while driving. He initially thought the 13-year-old he hit was a mailbox. [Boston Globe] --The lawyer for Robert Iacoviello, the man arrested for allegedly killing Revere police officer Dan Talbot in September, is asking questions about audio and videotape evidence. Three suspects related to the killing--Iacoviello, James Heang, and Derek Lodie--are now being......

A 17-year-old from Roslindale was arrested for stealing a gun from an MBTA agent at the Chinatown stop last night. The surveillance photos provided by the MBTA show Nelson Otuechere of Roslindale accosting a T agent to get her sidearm. Joe Pesaturo at the MBTA said that all MBTA revenue agents carry sidearms. (This Bostonist did not realize.) Another agent leapt into the fray and stopped the teenager, who was promptly arrested by MBTA......

The last word that should be used to describe Boston is "cheap," but housing prices compared to New York City's are a steal. The cellist for the Magnetic Fields, Sam Davol, has moved his family up to a new pad in Boston's Chinatown above Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. Of course, "cheap" is relative. The New York Times did a piece on how Davol and his spouse decided a move to Boston would allow them to quit......

-- 18 protesters were arrested during yesterday's Veterans Day ceremony at City Hall Plaza. They were members of Veterans for Peace, an organization of former soldiers opposed to the Iraq War. The American Legion had placed the group in the rear of the Veterans Day parade and told them that they could not carry signs protesting the war. The Veterans for Peace responded by blocking the official ceremony podium with gags in their mouths and......

No one likes going to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. The experience consists of watching trivia about Joey Fatone scroll past on the light board, listening to the people next to you wax poetic about "curvaceous" RMV employees (hope you got her digits, dude--you should get something out of the experience!), and dodging the police when they throw an agitated citizen out. This time, an agitated citizen struck back by sending a "white powder" to......

--A level 3 sex offender with some serious impulse-control issues got busted in Cambridge District Court yesterday. According to the Herald, he went to the ladies' restroom, exposed himself, and masturbated in front of women in the restroom. Police arrested 48-year-old Malcolm Maker, who apparently really wanted to get caught. Far as we can tell, he had no other reason for being at the courthouse. He was already on the radar for incidents at Mohegan......

The mayor wants a former Big Dig contractor, Paul Pedini, to return two foo dogs to Chinatown. The contractor had "liberated" them to decorate his snazzy sustainable home, which was built from Big Dig recyclables. The contractor claimed it was okay for him to take the two foo dogs because they were going to be replaced by brand-new ones. There were four old foo dogs—two went to Pedini, and two went to the Kowloon Restaurant......

Talk about adding insult to injury. Not only did the Big Dig contractors bleed the state of money and do a crappy job, but one of them somehow obtained two of Chinatown's "Foo Dogs" during a renovation of Chinatown park. From the Herald: The marble foo dogs, sometimes called lions - which once stood guard under the Beach Street arch leading visitors to Chinatown - were taken by Paul Pedini, a former vice president of......

According the MBTA inspector we stalked into the Dunkin' Donuts at Haymarket Station, the Orange Line was shut down from Back Bay to North Station all morning because "a car tipped over at Chinatown." When pressed for more info, the inspector only added, "everything's cleared up now." Offers to trade him a donut for more scoop nearly resulted in a Star Simpson style escort out of the area. Sorry. We're not cute enough to......

The Globe's Mac Daniel reports that a man was separated from his briefcase during yesterday's morning rush hour. Orange Line doors suddenly snapped shut on Juan Sierra’s shoulder as he tried make his way out of the car, using his briefcase as a shield. “The closing of the doors also sandwiched my head to the point that my glasses popped off to the outside of the train car onto the platform," Sierra wrote in an......

Did you know there was an election today? Bill Linehan and Susan Passoni are up for the late Jimmy Kelly's District 2 seat on the City Council, which represents South Boston, South End, and Chinatown. Their Backgrounds Linehan: Lifelong City Hall employee. More South Boston than South End. Passoni: Used to be a financial analyst. More South End than South Boston. Insider/Outsider Status Linehan: Insider thanks to the City Hall pedigree. Passoni: Outsider Moving City......

We don't know about where you are, but it seems like spring can't decide whether or not to happen. Some days are warm, some days are cold, and sometimes you aren't sure which. Baseball may have started up (and soccer/football winding down) but it still seems cold out there. Unless it's not. Anyways, onto the -ists. Austinist happily anticipated fall's Austin City Limits, even though they're not fully recovered from South By Southwest. In......

Yesterday the coming of 4705, the Year of the Pig, was celebrated in Chinatown. Flickr user Pear Biter provides fitting visual tribute to the occasion. Each weekday Bostonist will be selecting a photo from those tagged "bostonist" on Flickr or otherwise submitted to us for this feature. Please contribute yours.......

In a world where there's nothing to do but watch movies. In a city full of theaters, museums, and libraries. One moviegoer who can be in three places at once. Friday 9/15 Chuck Norris Film Festival The action starts with 1985's Invasion USA, and culminates in Saturday's midnight screening of the early Norris classic Breaker! Breaker! Somerville Theatre Starts at 8 pm (see schedule) Chuck Norris: web site (warning: plays "Hi, this is Chuck Norris"......

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. SFist Tourist......

With the demise of the drive-thru and the largely inhospitable weather in New England, the outdoor movie theater has been all but forgotten. Too many film buffs are denied the simple pleasure of munching popcorn while the moonlight casts shadows over the screen. If you're one of the poor sods who's never experienced the romance and magic of al fresco cinema, fear not! Boston's own Asian Community Development Organization (ACDC) is teaming up with......

Downtown Crossing is set for a makeover. It's yet unseen what the City will do to improve the space (planters and pushcart awnings are promised). A big spot on the block is slated to be vacant very soon. Filene's will be no longer. Macy's parent corporation has merged with Filene's Federated, and is in the process of converting the Filene's branded stores to Macy's – and where they're in competition, consolidation will follow. Menino seems......

We spied this woman in Chinatown one morning, doing some stretches (or making a futile attempt to move a concrete wall). It made us wish everyone would wear awesome floral jackets for their outdoor exercise.......

Sitting through two minutes and thirty seconds of a trailer can sometimes be painful.The trailer is for The Departed, which spent about a month last year filming exterior shots in town, had us watching closely and hitting repeat for the places we know. Zakim, as the seemingly new icon, makes an appearance. The gold dome of the State House can be seen through a couple of office windows. Chinatown looks amazingly like a fantastic destination,......

Bostonist has heard the Fung-Wah bus company maligned up and down the east coast, even before those regrettable bursting-into-flames incidents. Of course, considering the nearly inhuman number of trips that each sleepless driver makes, to have suffered only two spontaneous combustions seems to us not a bad record, especially at just $15 a trip, and extra especially when one considers the train's penchant to stop running entirely. If low fares and a comparatively high......

There is something intriguing about snooping around your neighborhood to see what is going in the vacated spots that once housed a locally owned business. In February, many were surprised when arriving at Zathmary’s in Coolidge Corner for some matzah ball soup and the doors were locked, bread in front of the door, with no sign of life inside. The place was gone forever without a last chance to hit up the great salad bar.......

Sitting outside on a grassy patch next to flip-flop and business suit clad Bostonians seems like a recipe for snippets of wonderment. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. As the weather turns from Spring to Winter to Summer (it’s New England, right?) we’ve got our ears open and hope you do, too. When you hear something, say something. Send in your nuggets of out-of-context statements, outrageous pickup lines, and nonsensical musings to us......

We don’t really know what’s going on with the New York folks. They’re always up to something crazy. We thank Michael Malice who’s let us become his partner for “outside New York.” Now you can find the New York crazy conversations at NewYorkOverheard.com, while in Boston check in with us (your ears permitting) every Thursday for what nutso conversations we’re overhearing. Join the fun by sending in the things you overhear on your commute,......

At lunch today, this Bostonist found herself with a veritable hot Man-wich, that is, sandwiched between three attractive young professional males (two front/one behind) in the deli line. This caused us to wonder: is the Leather District really "the next Soho" of Boston? Bostonist has noticed at least three major condo developments going up within as many blocks of our place of employment — in fact, Lincoln Plaza, directly across the street, is already......

Restaurant Week, that wonderful time in late summer when Bostonist plans ahead so that we don’t break the bank eating $30 tasting menu dinners all week long. This year the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau has set up another Restaurant Week – Winter Restaurant Week 2006, March 5-10 (this URL was the one reported in multiple places including the press release but appears to be out of comission today) . Prices have gone up,......

Ping On Alley is just off of Essex Street in Chinatown, pretty close to South Station. Nothing very special about the alley… a parking lot on one side, a big ol’ brick building on the other. But if you look closely, there is a plaque that tells the tale of that alley. In June 1870, the first wave of Chinese immigrants were brought in by shoe factory owners in western Massachusetts to break a strike.......