Results tagged “fitness”

In addition to being the only state in the nation that pays police officers to stand around and do jack shit, Massachusetts is also (ironically enough) the only state that pays police to be fit. According to the Herald, officers who pass a fitness test are given a 2.5% raise. That's like giving secretaries more money for passing typing tests. The expense of offering such raises aside, a fitness test should be a requirement for police officers—not an extra. What shouldn't be a requirement? Overseeing construction sites. Call us crazy, but we think that our officers might have a little more time to stay in shape if they weren't paid so much to stand still all the time. The current bonus system (introduced by Mitt Romney in 2002) ends December 31. Will the police fatten up as a result, or will Massachusetts continue its backward ways? Maybe our officers just need some real crimes to deal with. You know, like Meatwad. more ›

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The game was tucked in the dark corner of the Cambridge Common last night, away from the lamp-lined paths and trees covered with Christmas lights. From afar, it looked like some kind of goofy science project: a pair of lights darting back and forth in the night. But when you approached the field and saw the players, you realized that it was something even more bizarre. Those floating lights were frisbees. The Illuminated Frisbee Nighttime... more ›

--Sure, people like to collect knickknacks. Salt-and-pepper shakers, Beanie Babies, comic books, parking meters. Yeah, parking meters, 123 of 'em, in fact. Thomas Gannon of Cambridge had cut the meters off poles all over Cambridge and Somerville. Police stumbled upon them when visiting Gannon for other reasons on Monday night. Master of understatement and Cambridge PD spokesman Frank Pasquarello said, "This does seem to be odd." Indeed. --Police arrested 17-year-old Derek Lodie, of Revere, for... more ›

Who will be the next Boston Rob? Who cracked us up as much as "Mr. Boston" did when he wooed Tiffany "New York" Patterson? A new season of reality television has started, and Massachusetts residents are on many of the shows, so we'll take a tour of how they're doing each week. more ›

--While fitness guru Richard Simmons was tormenting the Fox 25 news crew, rapper LL Cool J was teaching fitness moves to AARP conventioneers at the Convention & Exposition Center. The Globe did a long piece on LL and his hotness, lingering up on one of his exercise moves: At one point, Cool J [Copyediting question: How does one find a rapper's surname?] demonstrated an exercise that required lying on his back, thrusting one leg in... more ›

Home Movie Day will be at the Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, Room B04 tomorrow, from noon to 3:00 pm. You can drop off 8mm, Super 8, or 16mm film starting at 11:00 am. For more information, go to the official Home Movie Day website. Movies need a few scratches and grit. The new technologies of the day make movies seem almost too smooth and clean, but imperfect conditions make a movie more like a... more ›

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti... more ›

A four-alarm fire erupted at Danvers State Mental Hospital early this morning. The hospital itself no longer exists, but the buildings are being turned into condos and apartments. Some people already living there had to be evacuated, and seven buildings burned. more ›

It must be the Dunkies Turbo Ice. Well, not really. The makers of Hiro Beverage, yet another option on the ever-expanding field of contenders to Red Bull, asked Sperling's BestPlaces to come up with some stats on the most energetic cities to help hype the beverage's launch. Statistics supported the assertion and put Boston in third, San Francisco took the top spot and New York City was the nearest East Coast contender hitting the top... more ›

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,... more ›

If you’re begrudging the workweek that put an end to the beautiful weekend the Bean just basked in, a morning at the beach in Southie seems like a satisfactory way to start the next. All the better to be there for a good cause: a fundraiser for multiple myeloma, a cancer of blood plasma cells that affects more than 50,000 Americans. The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation is working to bring this disease to its knees in part by hosting a 5k Walk/Run this Saturday morning, May 13, Mother’s Day weekend (consider yourself reminded) at Carson Beach. more ›

For all you "Smykowskis" out there, fear no longer...local company Big Idea Group (BIG) wants to make long-shot brainchild into a real product. Ok, so they're actually located in Manchester, but it's not as if New Hampshire is a stranger to product innovation. more ›

When Bostonist received an e-mail notifying us that the results were in, we were expecting news about a new M&M color being introduced. It turns out the e-mail was referring to the latest survey from Men's Fitness magazine, which once again ranked the Fittest/Fattest Cities in the U.S. While Bostonist’s own fitness routine has dropped off in the last few months, it seems that our city has actually improved in health, moving from the 11th Fittest City in 2005 to the 10th Fittest City in 2006. The Fittest City overall is Baltimore, which was ranked 25th in 2005, while Chicago takes the Fattest City award (but that authentic deep dish pizza is definitely worth it). So, how did little ol' Boston get to the number 10 spot? Well, Men's Fitness created a report card of sorts to see how all the cities stacked up in 5 areas. Here is how we did: more ›

For those three others of you in your cubicles this afternoon, Bostonist thought you’d like a little something to read while you mind-numbingly try to keep yourself entertained until 5p.m. Newton Couple Stabbed in Home Invasion: Once voted the safest place to live in America, Newton pops up on the local news scene with a scary story about a knife wielding neighbor who inexplicably attacks a couple in their home. Luckily, police caught him after... more ›

Oh, the Holiday Season, how it makes us remember that we really should get back on that diet and start working out. Now that the leftovers from Thanksgiving are finally eaten up we’ve already started upon the cookie circuit. Time to get ahead of the curve (well, our curves, mostly growing around the middle), stake out our resolutions, and join a gym. With FitCorp, Boston Sports Club, Gold’s, and even Beacon Hill Athletic Club locations-a-plenty... more ›

After Boston was recently ranked11th for Fittest City in their spring issue, Men's Fitness Magazine has just released the top 20 Fittest (and Fattest) colleges and universities. With Boston already being a very healthy place (if you discount all the Dunkin Donuts in town), two local universities were listed in the fittest higher institutions of learning. Boston University came in third place, with Boston College taking the eleventh spot on the list. more ›

Bostonist should have mentioned it sooner, but better late than never: this is Bike Week (sometimes known as Bike to Work Week). That means tons of bike-friendly activities all over the state, which are listed at the helpful website of Massbike, our favorite tireless champion of two-wheeled transport. Being great lovers of free stuff, we especially recommend the free breakfasts for bike commuters. There's one tomorrow in front of the Au Bon Pain in Harvard Square from 7:30 - 9:30, and two on Thursday at the same time: one on Main Street in Kendall Square and one on Boylston by the Pru (where the Duck Boats queue up). There will also be a city-funded, bicycle-related giveaway on Friday morning in Cambridge (at Kendall, Central, Harvard Square, and the Minuteman bike trail), and we have it on good authority that even non-Cantabrigians can partake (last year, Bostonist got a bicycle bell). more ›

File this one under random: As pets are now going to spas instead of dog runs and getting massages instead of walks, they receive better treatment than their owners these days. Pet food makers are joining in by producing natural, healthier foods for your dogs and cats...and one of their special ingredients turns out to be cranberries, the major fruit export from here in the lovely Bay State. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth recently released a study reporting that one-third of U.S. pet food companies use the red berries in their pet foods. Why cranberries? By adding it to the pet food, it helps prevent bad breath, urinary tract infections (who knew pets suffered from these as well?), and some other stuff too. By adding the whole berry or the powdered form, the foods actually helps the animal. more ›

Of course critics flocked to this chart, saying it doesn't take into consideration minority or elderly groups. No word on revising it just yet, but look for the new pyramid on your box of Cheerios in the near future. more ›

It looks like Bostonians have been celebrating the Sox win with too many Fenway Franks this past year...According to Men's Fitness Magazine's annual "25 Fittest Cities" survey, Boston dropped from #7 to #11. Okay, so it wasn't a huge drop but the mag points out that we spend lots of time in traffic and complaining about finding a gym to use. On the bright side, Bostonians have clean air and few fast food joints to temp us. So, let's work on this kids and crack the top ten again in 2005. At least we beat out our friend, Gothamist and its beloved New York City, who ranked #8 in the "25 Fattest Cities" survey. more ›