Oscars Hooray that the writers' strike is over, and we can see overmedicated stars and their pretty dresses walk the red carpet! Regarding the actual movie-picking, Reel Hub is a touch grouchy due to the shadiness of the Oscar voting process. If you'd like to watch the festivities with others, dress up for the Fafarazzi.com Oscar party at Lir, 903 Boylston, Boston, 5:00 pm. Travel Plans The Boston Globe Travel Show is on at......

Books --Self-described philosopher-comedians Tom Cathcart and Daniel Klein discuss Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington. Imagine Jon Stewart after he stops shouting "Whaaaa??" takes some time off for a philosophy PhD, and returns to TV. Brookline Booksmith, 7:00 pm, free. --Find out why Drew Gilpin Faust is the president of Harvard, and you're not. Faust will discuss her book This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War at the Harvard Coop......

--One would think that Boston would be prepared to handle snow. But it isn't a good sign when headlines read "what went wrong." [Boston Globe] --It also isn't a good sign when kids don't get home until 11:30 pm because of the weather. [Boston Globe] --A mistrial has been declared in the second trial for Alexander Pring-Wilson, who was convicted of manslaughter for the 2003 stabbing of Michael Colono in Cambridge, but who was granted......

--The BPD arrested two people in the South End for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. The gun wouldn't have been discovered if it hadn't accidentally gone off in the bathroom. The Herald reported that the woman who was arrested was the mother of Dontel Jeffers, the child who died at the hands of his foster mother, who was recently sentenced for the crime. Laurel Sweet writes, "Crystal Claiborn [Jeffers' mother] claimed that while aiming the......

--A woman who was pregnant with twins was shot in the back last night in Mattapan. Police are saying the 22-year-old was shot through her apartment window. The woman is now in stable condition. The Herald adds that Police Commissioner Ed Davis went to the scene and that It was unclear last night whether the woman was targeted by someone she knew or whether she was a victim of a bizarre act of random violence.......

This week's episode of Project Runway Season 4 brought us all sorts of drama. From forcing the competitors to ::gasp:: work together to create a cohesive set of outfits to having them use ::gasp:: outdated materials to make their looks, Heidi & Co. (TM) challenged designers to the max. Accustomed to working on their own with only the latest materials, some designers reacted negatively and picked unnecessarily melodramatic fights with one another. Still, a few......

Ann Marie McNally died when her car and a BPD cruiser hit each other in South Boston in November. Yet she lives on because hackers, for some strange reason, are using her name as a way to draw people to their own sites. Louise Story at the New York Times spoke with McNally's friends and family because several of them thought they found a video for her memorial service on the web. The memorials were......

--The banner brawl continues. The Highway Department decided that the banners declaring support for the troops that hang over the roadways pose a potential road hazard. That decision poses a potential PR nightmare, and Governor Deval Patrick has put it on hold. [Boston Globe] --Corinne Stephen, 26, was sentenced to 8 to 12 years for the involuntary manslaughter of her foster child, 4-year-old Dontel Jeffers. [DA's Office, background] --A longshoreman fessed up to putting......

Pollock Matters Through December 9 McMullen Museum of Art Boston College 140 Commonwealth, Devlin Hall 108, Chestnut Hill (T: Boston College. Directions by car.) Boston College is running an art exhibit addressing the relationship between painter Jackson Pollock and his friend Herbert Matter. The exhibit is national news because the paintings, which were discovered by Matter's son Alex, may or may not be original Pollocks. Numerous experts have evaluated these paintings to discover the truth,......

--An employee at the TGI Friday's at the Shoppes at Blackstone Valley in Millbury was stabbed to death in broad daylight in the restaurant's parking lot. Ronda Healey, 27, of Worcester, was a mother of three. Her boyfriend, 30-year-old Justin Hiser, has been arrested for the crime. The Herald described the weapon as a "large hunting knife." According to the Globe, he led police on a chase but was arrested after hitting traffic in Southborough,......

Larry Bird was once quoted as saying, "I've got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end." If this theory holds true, Larry was speaking in the long-term - the Celtics gave 100 percent last night and things didn't work out in Cleveland in the end. After battling through regulation and overtime, the Celtics fell to the Cavs, 109-104. In order to pull......

Reverend Bruce Wall has gone to great lengths to draw attention to the violence on the streets of this city. The last time he appeared on Bostonist, he had published a letter advising tourists not to visit Boston following the death of New York City resident Chiara Levin in February. Wall is in the spotlight again for different reasons. The Globe reported today that his 15-year-old son is a suspect in an armed robbery in......

Federal Judge Reginald C. Lindsay is sick of hearing lawsuits from victims of the Bulger gang. Yesterday, Lindsay granted a motion for summary judgment against the FBI in lawsuits filed by widows of Brian Halloran and Michael Donahue, two men killed in 1982 by James "Whitey" Bulger and accomplices. But that's not all. With at least four additional wrongful death lawsuits brought by survivors of Bulger's victims still pending, Lindsay wants the FBI to put......

Now that absinthe is legally available in Boston, you may be tempted to try it out. But, like many potent liquids, absinthe should be quaffed with care. Hanky Panky of LUPEC, the Boston chapter of Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails, has a few words of advice for absinthe novices: "As Absinthe is quite high as far as alcohol content is concerned, you most frequently find it being used in very small quantities.......

The Globe published a long piece about the mystery still surrounding Army specialist Ciara Durkin's death in Afghanistan in late September. Durkin, who was from Quincy, was shot in the head, although the Army called it a "non-combat-related incident." Her family is not satisfied with that explanation, and the Globe report provides evidence that someone on the base may have had it out for Durkin. In one event, Durkin wrote an e-mail saying, "Ok. so......

--Corinne Stephen was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the brutal death of Dontel Jeffers, a four-year-old who died in her foster care in 2005. [Boston Herald, Boston Globe] --Massachusetts environmentalists are upset because they think the Legislature's new energy bill will breed wind farms. Folks, if you want to free yourselves from oil, you are going to have to suck it up at some point and try out the turbines somewhere. [Boston Globe] --Follow-Up: Herald......

Norman Mailer, identified with New York City but buried in Provincetown, died, giving rise to all manner of praise. But Paul Flannery at Boston Daily found the best tribute of all--the obituary Mailer wrote for himself for the magazine back in 1979. Here's a little taste: " At the memorial service, passages from his favorite literary works, all penned by himself, were read, as well as passages from prominent Americans. His old friend, Truman Capote,......

The Pentagon has announced that Army Specialist Christine M. Ndururi, 21, of Dracut, died on Tuesday. The military has stated the cause of death was an "unspecified illness." Her family wants to know what happened now because it was the first day of her first overseas mission. Her father told the Eagle-Tribune that she hadn't been sick: "I’m waiting for them to tell me what happened. She was not ill, unless she was ill after......

In the first half of the Patriots' perfect-so-far season, there were a few scary moments. There was the time Dallas took the lead in the third quarter, and....well, that was about it, actually. For eight games, the Pats picked the tune, and the opponent either danced along, or more likely, got flung out of the way. We've had our scary moments now. Yesterday was a game when the Pats not only didn't pick the tune,......

Update: The disorderly conduct charge against Hillel Neuer has been dropped. Remember that guy who freaked out the employees at the Stone Hearth Pizza after a 78-year-old man was beaten to death in Needham? Turns out that he was a perfectly normal guy who just happened to be changing his clothes in the bathroom. Franci R. Ellement at the Globe writes that Hillel Neuer is a human-rights activist who is the executive director of UN......

--Needham went into lockdown yesterday when 78-year-old Robert J. Moore was murdered in his home, prompting a manhunt and a standoff with a suspicious man at Stone Hearth Pizza. However, the guy at the pizza shop wasn't the killer. He was just acting nervous. During the standoff, a State Police K-9 unit was busy arresting William Dunn, 41, of Norwood, who had fled to a marsh. The Globe writes that Norwood Dunn was at the......

--A man and his mother were shot while riding in a car yesterday in Dorchester. The Globe reports that Darnell Ricks Jr., 20, was hit in the arm, and his mother "appeared to have been grazed in the face by a bullet." Police have a detailed description of the alleged perps: "They were looking for three black males who appeared to be in their late teens and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. One wore......

--It seemed as if the World Series put a cork in local gun incidents or the media (Bostonist included) was too busy with the Sox to notice. Now the cork is out of the bottle. The 45-year-old owner of Stalex Pizza in Dorchester was shot in the head this morning when he tried to go after an 18-year-old who robbed his shop. The man is in critical condition. The BPD announced that officers moved fast......

The Red Sox has permeated nearly every facet of Bostonist's lives. When they're not live-blogging the games, waxing poetic about the games, thanking Curt Schilling for his splendid work, or telling Dane Cook to watch his hair, they're watching certain presidential candidates hop on the Red Sox bandwagon (sorry, Gothamist). The Sox are so branded on the local brain that people are using the Series to spice up their sex lives. Speaking of spice, Bostonist......

"Authorial Intent" wraps up book events for the week in the Boston area. Wednesday, October 24 Chris Matthews, 6:00 pm, Coolidge Corner (via Brookline Booksmith), $5 Recently, Jon Stewart sank his fangs into Matthews for pimping the concept that "Life's a Campaign," which is, admittedly, a little scary. Bostonist prefers the old saw that life is a bowl of cherries. Watch what Matthews has dubbed the "interview from hell," and you'll already be armed with......

John Fulton Reading With Joshua Henkin Brookline Booksmith Tonight, October 22, 7:00 pm Free Fulton's Official Site John Fulton doesn't go for sly pop-culture references or verbal pyrotechnics in his short-story collection The Animal Girl. Instead, he zooms in on the emotions of his older characters who are attempting to find love. With Match.com and eHarmony, dating and romance seem easy and ordinary topics, but Fulton throws obstacles in the paths of his characters, and......

We did our best to spread the word on Sunday that Boston Police would be cracking down on debauchery outside Fenway Park during Game 7 of the ALCS, but let's face it: we're naturally curious. We wanted to see with our own eyes what the scene was like down by the ballpark, given the likelihood of stories running wild about who was going to take it too far: the crowd or the police. Police had......

--Mike Mennonno writes a wonderful post about the power of the Polaroid. Photo of the Day fans, take note: "It's hard to say whether the fleshiness of polaroids is an illusion of their application or inherent in the process, but Warhol's polaroids capture that same sinuous, sensuous seediness polaroids seem made for. You don't get that with digital, with its sharp focus and white light." --Newton Streets & Sidewalks had another encounter with a turkey.......

Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys Saturday, October 20, 8:00 pm Lizard Lounge Official Site Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys, last seen on Bostonist during the closing of Somerville's Sky Bar and the Great Lowell Cable Access Television Fiasco of 2007, will be bringing their experimental goth-rock to the Lizard Lounge. Their website promises that they combine "music, shenanigans, toys, and voice to make an organic industrial texture-core Death-folk ride......

--After a woman was shot to death on Talbot Street on Tuesday night, another person has been shot at the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Esmond Street. The victim, 28-year-old Andre Stoner, had been shot "multiple times" and died at the hospital. He was shot at about 4:20 pm in the broad daylight. The Herald is reporting that the victim was a "reputed gang member." --The woman who died in the Talbot Street shooting......