Music Atlas Sound, featuring Bradford Cox going solo during Deerhunter's hiatus, hits the Middle East tonight, riding a wave of praise for his new project. Cox's hometown weekly, Atlanta's Creative Loafing, raves, "Let the Blind contains Cox's most haunting and sad songs to date. It throbs with delirious depression, and is bursting with powerful, barely contained emotions." For those of you who can handle strong emotions in the bleak winter, Cox is your fella.......

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......

Romney didn't endear himself to anyone when he answered a question about whether or not he would appoint a Muslim to his fantasy presidential cabinet. Here's Mansoor Ijaz, who asked that question of Romney and wrote about the response for the Christian Science Monitor: I asked Mr. Romney whether he would consider including qualified Americans of the Islamic faith in his cabinet as advisers on national security matters, given his position that "jihadism" is the......

Introduction to the Current State of Film Criticism Wednesday, October 17, 7:00pm Traditional and Evolving Models of Film Criticism Thursday, October 18, 10:30am Outlook for U.S. Film Criticism Thursday, October 18, 2:00pm All events are $9.75 and are at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. When it's good, movie criticism is as much of an art as filmmaking itself. Read the works of the late, great Pauline Kael to discover that. Beyond art, movie critics can help......

The findings of a scientific study recently asserted that this nation's college students are really into themselves. Since Boston is flush with colleges, this would mean the city is absolutely drunk on narcissism during the school year. According to the study, narcissists may love themselves, but that doesn't mean anyone loves them back: "[Narcissists] are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for infidelity, lack emotional warmth, and to exhibit game-playing,......

The only things certain in life are death, taxes, and problems with Fung Wah buses. Mac Daniel reports that the latest Fung Wah problem involved two tires coming right off the bus as it headed down the Turnpike. But here's the real howler - the bus passed its state inspection on November 29. Surely, whoever inspected that bus was smoking something absolutely magnificent. How on earth can someone whose line of business it is......

The Christian Science Monitor released part 1 of their ten part series on Jill Carroll's abduction and subsequent captivity in Iraq. Carroll, a UMass – Amherst graduate had been working for the paper for only a few months as an Iraq correspondent when she was taken captive in Iraq. She survived 82 days in captivity before being released. The numerous deadlines and threats from her captors, videos released of the journalist, and eventual return......

Bostonist is still recovering from that one-hour loss of sleep due to Daylight’s Savings Time yesterday, so please be kind as we slowly enter into the world of blogging this week. Here’s a round up of the top stories here in the city today…with a couple of highlights in what is turning out to be a gloomy news day. Breaking News: A crane that was working on an Emerson College building at 136 Boylston Street......

We often forget about our friends headquartered over on Mass Ave. The Christian Science Monitor brings the love for Valentine’s Day today throwing some statistics. Let them count the ways. The stats are all pretty tame, but we do find it hard to believe that only 16% of yearly candy sales come from Valentine’s day. We’ve already eaten a bag of NECCO “conversation hearts” and several handfuls of red, pink, and white M&M’s, the Sampler......