You'll have to forgive the Celtics if they felt like they arrived in Portland having lurched their way up the Oregon Trail. Three losses in a row doesn't quite compare to running out of buffalo meat and spilling a wagon into the Big Blue River, but combine that with the debacle in Phoenix, and you can understand why some of the team felt like they died of cholera. Things reached the lowest of the low......

Bostonist had a sudden urge to saunter over to PA's Lounge tonight, and we're so glad we did. Not only did they have the Pats game on in the bar side, so we could stay updated on the football front, but they also had an evening of sweet (mostly) local sounds on the music side of the venue. Though we (sadly) missed opener Elizabeth Butters, we were able to catch The Battle of Land and......

Update: Someone from 1190 KEX News Radio in Portland, OR, just let us know that, while Sam Adams, Mayoral Candidate, isn't using a domain that would annoy Sam Adams, Beer, this very second, his current website "will likely be moved" to www.samadamsformayor.com. And if he wins, his domain will be www.mayorsamadams.com. You could not buy this kind of publicity. The makers of Sam Adams are irritated because another person who happens to be named Sam......

Maybe someday, when all this is over, we'll sit down with (or maybe without) Terry Francona and we'll all have a good laugh out of all of this. Because when it became obvious that Curt Schilling didn't have it (and he was OK, but clearly didn't have his A game, or even the B+ game he's been getting by with), maybe a different manager would have gone to Jon Lester, or Julian Tavarez (whoops! he's......

A while ago, we mentioned that the entire Gothamist network was phasing out "Guest" comments and bringing in a profile system that includes nifty avatars. As part of that, those of you who have registered and have made comments may have noticed the image of a panda by your words. While cuddly and adorable, the baby panda doesn't suit everyone. You can change your avatar. If you already have a profile, go to the Edit......

No joke - if you have a bag of Veggie Booty at home or in your lunch bag, throw it away NOW! Robert's American Gourmet has issued an immediate recall of Veggie Booty, the incredibly nasty, green version of Pirate's Booty. Veggie Booty has been linked to outbreaks of salmonellosis in 17 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. According......

The first Out of the Book event will take place Tuesday, June 19, at 7:00 pm at the Brattle Theatre. The event is sponsored by Powell's Books and the Grub Street Writers. Powell's of Portland, Oregon - the top vacation destination for any true book fiend - is producing a series of documentaries about modern authors. The goal is to give authors the kind of exposure that other creative types get. Few authors have the......

On the brink of the Summer music scene, two weeks from EarthFest 2007 music doesn’t stop in Boston. Good shows are still to be had on the cheap before the summer festival season is truly upon us. Take a gander at this week's picks and keep on rocking. Wednesday 5/16 The Blow With the release of their latest record, Paper Television, Portland, Oregon's The Blow have finally hit their mark. Earlier recordings were scattered......

James Murphy is a busy man, and over the years he's seen a lot. "I was there in 1968. I was at the first Can show in Cologne," he says before declaring the song's title, "I'm losing my edge." He was also there in 1974 at the first Suicide practices in a loft in NYC. "I was the first guy playing Daft Punk to the rock kids. I palyed it at CBGB's. Everybody thought I......

Plenty of fascinating news this week for our oft-neglected New England neighbors: Vermont: The poor folks in Vermont will miss out on the wonders of the new iPhone because the iPhone will use Cingular, and Vermont doesn't have Cingular networks. They won't be the only ones: "The iPhone service won't be available in all or large portions of Alaska, Colorado, the Dakotas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, upstate New York,......

Rumors have been blowing around in the windy Back Bay streets by their corporate headquarters for weeks. In 2002 the company was purchased for about $1.7 by three private equity firms, two of Boston, Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital, and the Blackstone Group of London and New York from the then French owners, Vivendi Universal. The publisher came back to the Boston roots they put down in the mid-eighteen hundreds. Today a deal......

Does signing to a major label change everything? Many longtime fans of the Portland, Oregon-based band The Decemberists wondered if the group's decision to sign with Capitol Records to release their fourth full-length album would serve to tone down everything that drew indie fans to them in the first place: the quirky lyrics, the range of song subject matter (from prostitutes to mariners), and the group's unabashed fondness for obscure literary and historical allusions. The......

The Herald ran an article today reporting that according to a study by the insurance agency GMAC (which is totally going to be Bostonist's new rap name), Massachusetts drivers rank second worst among the contiguous 48 states and D.C. in knowledge of traffic laws, while Oregon's are at the top (Rhode Island is at the bottom). However, Mass. has the lowest rate of fatal traffic accidents. The Herald, citing an unnamed state highway official,......

Thanks to the fabulous minds over at Bostonist favorite, the Institute of Contemporary Art, we all have the opportunity to hear Julian Opie "speak about his artistic process and his work for the 8th Annual ICA/Vita Brevis project, two animated LED sculptures installed on the Northern Avenue Bridge that feature full-length portraits of two walking figures. " Artists talks are always tricky events - sometimes we leave feeling excited at the prospect of the......

When Bostonist read last week that some road signs for state routes in Easthampton were accidentally set against the silhouette of Alabama, we thought it was amusing: Alabama is funny, that's all there is to it, and Alabama road signs in our deep-blue Commonwealth are even funnier. We learned from the news today, however, that at least one man fails to see the humor, not only in the Alabama signs but in any wrong, blocked,......

Tonight at Great Scott, Blackout Bar hosts Turbojugend Boston's listening party for Turbonegro's Party Animals CD. Musical guests The Midnight Creeps and Rock and Roll Soliders (Oregon, Gearhead Records). Doors at 10, $4 cover. Hailing from Oslo, Norway - Turbonegro is one of Europe's biggest bands, on par with Motorhead and AC/DC. Since being featured on an episode of Viva La Bam, Turbonegro's popularity has increased in the States. Turbojugends are local fanclub chapters......

When you think of liberal marijuana culture in the United States, what comes to mind? San Francisco and the rest of Northern California, undoubtedly. Maybe Seattle, Portland (Oregon), or in our region, hippy Vermont. But no. You may be surprised to learn that, according to a new study, our fine city (metro area, actually) has the highest rate of youth and adult marijuana use in the country. While nationally 5 percent of people smoke pot,......