There's been a wave of rickrolling, or sightings of Rick Astley's infamous song "Never Gonna Give You Up," and the wave has hit Boston's craigslist. Via b0st0n livejournal, a craigslist poster declared the following: You were the brown eyed girl whom I was flirting with last night at the beautiful establishment known as The Estate. I am no stranger to love. Hopefully you know the rules because so do I! I feel commitment is what......

Juventas New Music Ensemble & OperaHub present Tramps, Emails & Hemlock Seully Hall, Boston Conservatory, 8 The Fenway March 18, 19, and 22 at 8 p.m., $6-$24 (20% discount if purchased through the Juventas web site) J. Jacob Krause was demanding something unusual of some singers leaning over some unusual props: more salivation directed at the laptops, please. Bostonist had slipped into Seully Hall in the midst of a dress rehearsal, where OperaHub and Juventas......

Music --The Willows bring to the Middle East Upstairs a brand of Americana country rock inspired by the seasonal carnival scene up in Salem. Alas, no salt water taffy is included in the price of admission. With The Vic Morrows, The Resonance, The Giant Melons. Middle East Upstairs, 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, doors 9:00, 18+, $8. --While the show has been sold out for weeks, if there's any way you can get in we......

--The State Supreme Judicial Court just overturned the conviction of a Methuen ex-police officer accused of raping a woman in 2000. The case hinged on whether or not lawyers could prove the woman was "too intoxicated to consent, not that she was merely high and drunk." However, the SJC felt that the trial judge didn't give proper instructions to the jurors. The ex-officer will get a new trial. [Boston Globe] --In a similar case,......

Note: A few NSFW links are in this post. All of them are craigslist-related. No pictures, but words. Even though the Super Bowl is in Phoenix and all the hookers seem to be over there right now, that doesn't mean people aren't having their own naughty soirees, if Craigslist is any indication. After reading the Herald's articles about "Patriots Widows" and World Series hook-ups, Bostonist had to peruse The Craig to see if anything was......

Given our current state of divisive affairs - debate about the war, the ever-intensifying drama between presidential candidates, New York versus Boston - it's somewhat nice to know that there's one thing the vast majority of the American people can agree on: we're in The Office withdrawal. It's unclear at the present how long we will remain unified as one nation missing Michael Scott, given that the Writers Guild of America and the majors are......

--A few days old, but still exciting--the MBTA says it will improve the lighting at the JFK/UMass stop. [Boston Globe] --Speaking of transportation improvements, the city will start work on the intersection of American Legion Highway and Walk Hill Street, which one neighbor calls "Kamikaze Way." [Boston Globe] --Want to know how to help Frank Enwonwu, the local man who may be deported to Nigeria, even though he informed for the DEA? [Bostonist] --Cable......

A story about hookers would usually be part of the Boston Blotter, but the sudden burst of coverage in the Suburban Hooker Plague deserves its own post. Bostonist is underwhelmed by the Suburban Hooker Plague because prostitution happens all the time in the city, and prostitution-related incidents are so common that they rarely rank on the Blotter. That is, unless the BPD's ongoing "Operation Squeeze" nets a lot of people or particularly old or young......

Note: A few NSFW links are in this post. All of them are craigslist-related. No pictures, but words. Bostonist has noticed a Herald trend. Whenever a major sports event takes place in the city, someone at the Herald scours the craigslist romance posts for sports-related ads. Last time, during the World Series, the Herald found a few posts indicating that Red Sox victories boosted the sex drive. This time, the Herald claims to find something......

The fight over where Patriots season-ticket holders can sell their tickets is heating up now that the AFC Divisional Playoff is scheduled for January 12. Jessica Fargen at the Herald is putting out the reminder that season-ticket holders can lose their privileges if they re-sell their tickets. The Patriots argue that these practices make ticket prices too high for the average fan, but at the same time it seems that the Patriots don't want resellers......

The Hometown Throwdown with the Mighty Mighty Bosstones will kick off at the Middle East tonight and will take place every night until Sunday, December 30. Tickets are as precious as gold--all five shows sold out in seven minutes, according to the Globe. On Craigslist, tickets are going for about $200. On StubHub and eBay, the prices are dizzying. But at least no one is getting desperate. Bosstones fans have pride, and no one has......

--What would happen if you threw a Christmas mass and the priest never came? [Boston Herald] --Looks like City Councilor Maureen Feeney (aka "MoFee") will be elected City Council president for another term. [Boston Globe] --Even though the family that owns the stores skipped the country, Alpha Omega stores reopened. [WBZ] --Since Filene's is undergoing reconstruction, the annual "Running of the Brides" is moving to Hynes Convention Center and will be held February 22. [Boston......

Josh Ritter Tuesday, December 11 Club Passim, Harvard Square 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., $35-$75 (SOLD OUT) When Josh Ritter closed his most recent Somerville show with a rambled monologue in which he dispensed impractical driving directions from Davis Square to Canada (via the Fresh Pond Whole Foods) and plugged his two upcoming benefit concerts at Passim, Bostonist jumped at the chance to see him in such a cozy, acoustic-friendly venue—and so did everyone......

Oprah and Obama Sunday, December 9 Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH Doors at 6:00 pm, rally at 7:30 pm You can knock, but you might not get in. Waiting List As the presidential race heats up, Barack Obama isn't messing around. He's already been to Boston several times and paid extra-special attention to New Hampshire, but now he's uncorking his secret weapon--Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey will be with Obama in South Carolina Sunday morning, and then......

--Screenwriters, get your pens. A boy finagled his way into becoming an exchange student at the all-female Wellesley College. Ready … set … go! [Boston Globe] --Barack Obama and his supporters didn't let the weather stop their gathering at the Park Plaza Castle. He joked that "the name of my cousin, Dick Cheney, will not be on the ballot.” Now when's Oprah coming? [WCVB, Harvard Crimson] --Dr. Ruth was in town. Laurel Sweet describes her......

Other -ists, such as Chicagoist, Houstonist, and Austinist, regularly peruse Craigslist's "Missed Connections" for the good stuff. Boston's Missed Connections have been fairly straightforward, with the exception of the guy who thought he found Fung Wah Love. But this has been a good week for impressive Missed Connections. First, a love note to a "meter maid" caught our eye: You waited until I backed into the parking space to tell me that in the future......

--Paul F. Ware Jr., the special prosecutor looking into the Big Dig has cost the state $1 million so far. Maybe, if the AG's office actually gets around to getting some money out of Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, they can foot the bill. [Boston Globe] --More gratuitous limos and tour buses in New Hampshire! Oprah's coming to town to campaign for Obama! She'll be in Manchester, NH, on December 9. [WBZ] --The Worcester Telegram & Gazette gets......

Mike Doughty proved Saturday night that the Hannah Montana scalping uproar could be easily solved if Miley Cyrus and her target audience were old enough to drink. While welcoming his audience of about 75 people to the intimate basement space of the Lizard Lounge, the singer-songwriter and former Soul Coughing front man explained that tickets to the evening’s show had sold out in one minute. There had been postings on Craigslist charging $100 a ticket.......

--A former MBTA employee is in trouble for allegedly selling fake discount passes. Casey Ross reports that Giovanni Francis, 19, was selling discount passes for the elderly and blind to people who a) weren't old and b) could see just fine. T police caught them trying to sneak through on those passes, and video of the fake blind people is available on WCVB's site. Francis used to be a sales associate for the T. He......

First base. Second base. Third base. HOME RUN! We're not talking baseball--we're talking sex. Laurel Sweet at the Herald has a lot of fun with her lede about Sox fans who are hoping to find some action during the World Series: Sure the Red Sox [team stats]’ bats are hot, but the boys are also a potent aphrodisiac for swinger fans itching to have sex while in the throes of watching the World Series. Bostonist......

STEP Fundraiser hosted by Taza Chocolate Thursday, October 25, 2007 Bloc 11 Cafe, 11 Bow Street, Union Square, Somerville 6:30 to 9 p.m., $25 suggested donation Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership can list a lot of fine reasons to extend the green line into the town that sits north of Cambridge like a jaunty sailor cap: pollution, population density, lawsuits, "revitalization". Bostonist has selfish reasons of our own, and they live in Union Square: crack-laced cream......

--Because some teenage bonehead with an anger-management problem and a gun shot popular Pop Warner coach Myron Stovell in the leg, Boston Pop Warner games will be getting a police detail. Way to ruin the fun for everyone. The alleged shooter is currently being held without bail. He is not being identified because he is a juvenile. The press release from the DA's office confirms that the shooter got angry after Stovell accidentally hit the......

--Don't mess with the elderly in this city. They are not easy targets. A guy found that out when he tried to steal an old woman's purse at the Downtown Crossing T stop. On Wednesday night, Christopher Linehan, 29, of Dorchester, tried to snatch the purse of the unidentified 79-year-old woman. Neither party would let go of the purse, so Linehan tried dragging the woman to one of the black turnstiles. Good Samaritans started blocking......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. LAist saw national headlines soar this week with......

Sorry, Boy Britney - you are too old for Final Club. Plus, you are a boy. Update: A kind tipster e-mailed us the text of the craigslist post but forgot to mention that it came from Sex and the Ivy, whose eagle eye caught it first. And, besides, how can you resist a blog with the tagline "The Bleeding Heart Nympho's Guide to College Life"? The following ad has been pulled from Craigslist, but......

--We've heard of "road rage," but "boat rage"? Apparently that's what happened in Danvers late yesterday afternoon when some alleged bonehead got ticked off and rammed a motorboat with his pontoon boat. Twice. According to the Salem News, the drivers began wrestling each other. The person who got rammed had bite marks on his arm. Ronald J. Phillips, of Danvers, who allegedly committed the ramming and the biting, is now facing a host of charges:......

From the tallest skyscraper in the City of Brotherly Love to Canadian tourism copywriting brilliance, here's what you should know from our -ist cities: This week, Phillyist took a gleeful listen to the White Stripes' exciting new release, watched in awe as their new tallest skyscraper was finally completed, found a cheaper way to get to Gothamist, invented a tasty new dessert, and brought back their Craigslist Round-Up feature with a bang. Bostonist watches......

Boston Craigslist had a reality-tv casting call that caught our eye. Danny Bonaduce, last seen locally getting nekkid for the Harvard Lampoon, is casting for a new VH1 show that will feature aspiring child stars and their parents. We don’t want a pissed-off Danny Bonaduce on our doorstep (would you?), but the new show idea puzzled us because Bonaduce himself was a child star. He has said many times that the experience wasn't exactly the......

Who knew that Commish Ed Davis' radical new idea of having police officers patrol the streets might actually work? According to the Globe, crime is down in Bowdoin-Geneva, Grove Hall, and Downtown Crossing, where the new beats started. Since the back-to-basics plan is doing so well, Davis wants to add even more regular foot patrols. We agree that the Blotter looks slightly less crazy as of late. But we're curious. What happened to the Guardian......

Bostonist enjoys taking a stroll through the music community section of Craigslist every now and then. It's always entertaining to see how the rockers are describing their sounds these days (today's listings, for example, include "baby makin' music" and "a blend of indie rock with break beats") and sometimes we happen across something that otherwise would have flown under our radar. We're curious about whether there will be more responses posted to one of today's......