-- The 13 year old boy found shot early yesterday morning was the victim of two assailants on bicycles, police say. The victim, whose name has not been released, was steps from his own doorway when two bullets struck him in the groin. Police say the victim was not a known troublemaker and cast initial doubt that he was the target of the attack. The boy is expected to live, but may suffer permanent injury.......

When celebrities come to town to make movies, they usually descend upon us in a flash, look pretty, drink our booze, eat our ice cream and zip back out again. But Ricky Gervais, who is making a movie in Lowell, is leaving us a little something special in his blog. After a rocky start in which Gervais made fun of the Lowell Sun and the Lowell Sun responded in kind, Gervais appears to be back......

-- While many Bostonians remain only vaguely aware of the Bruins' playoff loss last night, at least three fans mustered enough anguish to make it to jail, police say. Last night, a celebrating Canadiens' fan found himself bleeding from the head outside the TDBanknorth Garden after allegedly being assaulted by a two-man goon squad. Police arrested the pair, one of whom was wearing a Jason Allison Bruins jersey. And, inside the Garden, a detail cop......

The Lowell Sun is presenting a surprisingly thuggy side to an unlikely target--British actor Ricky Gervais, who is making a movie there. Via Pax Arcana, we hear that Gervais did a video about the Sun. In the video, Gervais comments on some lines in the Lowell paper about his upcoming movie: "LA meets LA--Lowell area, that is." Throughout the clip, Gervais' lip curls in a gesture of distate, and he catches a typo ("scoping" versus......

More reason for cash-starved college students, especially those in the UMass system, to cultivate the taste for ramen. WBZ reports, "The university's trustees finance panel approved a 3.1 percent increase in fees Wednesday." The hike applies to all UMass campuses, including UMass-Boston. However, UMass-Amherst will see the greatest rise in fees. A press release from the school points out that, compared to the private schools, public education is still a bargain: Last year, the average......

Sean Garballey, 23, a grad student at Suffolk, soundly defeated two opponents yesterday to gain a seat in the commonwealth's House of Representatives. Garballey will represent Arlington and part of Medford. Garballey is a recent graduate of UMass Lowell and has served on the Arlington School Committee. On his campaign website he exclaims, "Public Service is my life!" He credits a volunteer tour guide position at the State House when he was 16 with......

It seems that the Bruins' approach to the NHL trade deadline - to hold steady and remain as is - might just pay off. On Tuesday night, against an Ottawa Senators team that the Globe kindly referred to as "thoroughly disinterested" (read: someone's will to play didn't arrive at the TDBN Garden with the rest of the Senators' gear), the Bruins cruised along to a 4-0 win, extending the winning ways that began out on......

-- Four Salem High School students have pleaded not guilty to charges that they raped a teen girl in a Lynn home late Friday night. The four boys, three 17 year-olds and one 18 year-old, were arraigned Tuesday on charges of aggravated rape. The alleged victim reported the incident to police Saturday morning. [Globe; Herald] -- Derek Boisvert, a 25 year-old convicted child rapist who appeared on the Massachusetts' 10 Most Wanted Sex Offender List......

The cold weather is no excuse for you not to get out! Human Dogsledding No kidding. The 8th annual National Human Dog Sled Competition will start today in Lowell. You can learn more about other Lowell Winterfest events, which sound like fun. However, for Bostonist, it is all about the human dogsledding--and teams usually wear costumes. Challenger rounds will be tonight at 6:45 and 10:00 pm, and championship rounds will be tomorrow at 3:30 and......

--Bostonist hasn't seen a "flagrant foul," or a sports-related blotter entry, in some time. The bad situation that was the Super Bowl loss just got worse for New England Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews, who was busted driving an unregistered car and having pot on him in Lowell. If it had happened to anyone one else, on any other day, no one would have cared. But the Herald points out that Andrews has a record.......

--An update on the murder of Daniel Yakovleff, who was stabbed to death in Dorchester. The lawyer for the man who owned the apartment in which Yakovleff died says that the BPD no longer considers the owner a suspect and that they are looking for a third man who may be involved with the crime. However, the BPD is saying that the owner is still a "person of interest." Police are still trying to find......

--An MBTA bus driver lost control of his bus this morning in Revere. The driver suffered from an unspecified ailment and went to the hospital, along with two passengers. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald] --A 5-year-old boy died choking on an object while on a school bus in Marlborough yesterday. [WBZ] --A UMass-Lowell student was hit by a truck as she waited for a bus. Police said that this driver might have had an unspecified......

Vaudeville This event sounds freaking crazy, even crazier than Sxip's Hour of Charm, and that was a grand old time. "Titler" will host a show featuring Red Peters from "Howard Stern," comedian Shane Mauss, and the Yo-Yo People, who do exactly what you think they will do. The Beehive, 10 pm-midnight. Cheap Thrills Boston has an interview with "Titler" in which you hear what the guy is all about. Burlesque After a two-month hiatus,......

"Half the guys in our league couldn't shoot 15-for-21 if they were in a gym by themselves," said Doc Rivers. The man would know, having coached Kedrick Brown, Gerald Green, and Brian Scalabrine over the years. But 15-for-21 were the numbers Toronto rained down on the C's from 3-point-land, dropping the C's to their first division loss of the season. It was perhaps the Celtics' poorest defensive game of the year; the Raptors shot 58%......

--A man was in court for holding a knife to the neck of one of a mentally disabled co-worker at the Lincoln-Sudbury High School cafeteria. The alleged attacker said he was stressed out by his job and told the investigating detective, "One hundred kids want chicken fingers." [MetroWest Daily News] --Usually, domestic violence incidents lead to a trip to the hospital, but this time the incident happened at the hospital. A woman allegedly tried to......

--While the BPD's attempt to round up the city's criminal element was noble, it didn't work. Someone shot two brothers, a 12-year-old and an 18-year-old, through the window of their own home last night in Roslindale. They are in critical condition but improving. [Boston Globe, Boston Herald] --Two female Boston University students were assaulted in their beds and in their own dorm rooms early Sunday morning. [WBZ] --In Lowell early yesterday morning, a man......

-- Former "Most Eligible Bachelor," and now infamous sleazeball, Gary Zerola has been acquitted of kidnapping and attempted rape by a jury after less than a day of deliberation. He still faces other charges. However charges that he's a major creep still pending in the court of public opinion. [Boston Globe] -- An already odd case continues to grow stranger amid reports that the tragic deaths of Marcelle Thibault and her niece and nephew......

--Alexander Pring Wilson, who was convicted of manslaughter for the 2003 stabbing of Michael Colono in Cambridge and then tried again, has pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He will serve two years and one day. [Boston Globe] --The three men behind Massachusetts Care International, which was accused of using its money to fund writings that supported Islamic militant groups, were found guilty yesterday of conspiracy to defraud the United States. [Boston Globe] --A woman......

All right. Let's dispense with the false modesty and ersatz humility. The Boston sports scene was AWESOME in 2007. So many great moments, and so many great stretches that can't be summed up in a single moment. How do you make a top-ten list of near perfection? Well, we tried. 10. Back to back to back to back. It wasn't Clemens or Mussina. It was only Chase Wright, who began the year as a potential......

The following is a public service announcement: The next time you steal a Red Sox's castoffs, particularly their sweaty cups, eBay would rather you sell them elsewhere. The Track Girls are spreading the word that SportsWorld, in Saugus, tried to sell Jonathan Papelbon and Kevin Youkilis' used jocks on their eBay store. Judging from how many times the Track Girls have written about SportsWorld and its Red Sox underwear sale, SportsWorld has been trying......

--A woman from Blackstone was hit and killed by a snowplow. 50-year-old Rita Plante had to walk on the road after parking her car and heading to her home. According to O'Ryan Johnson, "Plante carried groceries and walked with her back to traffic when authorities said a white Ford extended-cab pick-up truck with a plow struck her from behind about 5:30 p.m." The snowplow hit her and kept going. Another car hit her after the......

Given that there were no local games to be had on Tuesday evening, we here at Bostonist wanted to dig below the surface, uncover some little-known facts about the local sports scene and its ripple effect. And did we* come up with some gems for you! -- Mike Ditka Doesn't Like the Pats! As we mentioned Tuesday afternoon, Ditka spoke out after Sunday's Pats win and said that Tom Brady was as wrong for acknowledging......

That's right; we almost had to go in the closets for a rare winter activation of the Panic Button. The Patriots were struggling on offense, dropping passes left and right. The defense really struggled, allowing Raven Willis McGahee to run amok for three quarters. Don Shula was up in the booth with corkscrew in hand. But somehow, the game stayed close. And Tom Brady had a chance to go up the field with 3:30 to......

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and......

No matter how old we get, the more we get a kick out of the immature, downright gleeful sensation of zinging another city's team. Case in point: Toronto on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs hosted Boston, who in turn officially introduced the NHL to Tuukka Rask. Rask, a mere cub at 20 years of age, then made 30 saves and led the Bruins to a 4-2 victory over the Leafs. The zinger? Bruins fans know......

The Sox got the message. After making decisions that led to the breakup of the 2004 champs, like letting Pedro (which we grudgingly understood) and Johnny Damon (hey, how's that working out for you anyway, Johnny?) leave, Sox fans stood as one and declared that if they didn't bring back World Series MVP, great fielding, clutch hitting, hard working, popular Mike Lowell, we'd...be pretty unhappy. So Mike Lowell will be right where he belongs next......

--The man who fell off a roof and died at an Allston party Friday night has been identified as 21-year-old student Shawn Dow. Dow attended the Art Institute of Boston. Although a brawl erupted at the party, BPD reports indicate that Dow wasn't involved and accidentally fell off the roof. However, according to the Globe, "Some of Dow's friends and classmates who attended the party disputed the police account, saying a beating in the brawl......

Ukulele Noir Nave Gallery, Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church, 155 Powderhouse Blvd, Somerville Saturday, November 17, 2007 8-10 pm, $10 Bostonist never thought we'd hear the words "ukulele" and "noir" used together, but now it's happened. And it sounds pretty rad. Tonight's installment of Ukulele Noir, an assortment of skilled ukulele players, will feature Craig Robertson, Melvern Taylor and the Fabulous Meltones, Uncle Shoe, and the East Boston Make Out Club Band. All will strum tiny......

Josh Beckett got to hoist the championship trophy, ride down Boylston on the duck boats, and will get a huge ring in the spring. He earned the Sports Illustrated commemorative issue cover, the champagne and beer showers, and the reputation for serving as the ace among aces in October. He had a rich season, so we're hoping that such a reminder helps as C.C. Sabathia is toasted as the American League's newest Cy Young winner.......

You'd think that a day on which we learned that the Pope would rather celebrate mass at Yankee Stadium than anywhere near Boston would be a grim one. Let's face it, that's kind of like George Steinbrenner holding a press conference to announce that Yankees fans are guaranteed eternal salvation, but Red Sox fans will be hitting the highway to hell when their times come. But hey - let the Pope do what he will.......