Thank god George W. Bush isn't a Celtic. On a visit to Ireland (a prime example of using the presidency as an excuse to travel the world before he gets kicked out), Dubya tried to shoot hoops with some Irish youngsters, but missed four of four shots. As The Independent puts it, "His sporting aim was far from true." We think his aim has been off in some non-sporting situations, too. (The video is......

Music Kimya Dawson has long been one of those buried indie-rock treasures, at least until the release of Juno. The former member of the Moldy Peaches and avid livejournal diarist contributes a large part of the soundtrack, and stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera cover one of her songs, "Anyone Else But You." In fact, Page suggested that Dawson be on the soundtrack since she felt Juno would be a Moldy Peaches fan. Bostonist......

--Three firefighters were injured in a blaze in Weymouth. At first, officials suspected arson because the home was about to be sold, but they've since declared it accidental. [WBZ] --Firefighters could use a dose of good PR, but it's not coming. On the heels of cheating accusations, some firefighters are under suspicion of boosting their disability pensions by claiming their injuries took place when they were filling in for higher-paid superiors. [Boston Globe] --In a......

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......

"There's always a small cataclysm," Merry Rutrick explained. "That's what we talk about." Rutrick is a co-host of Drinking Liberally Boston, and the cataclysm last Wednesday night was the impending vote in the US House to overturn President Bush's veto of the State Children's Health Insurance Program funding bill. "I'm so psyched that Tsongas got elected," said co-host Ethan Tavan. "I hope she gets sworn in in time for the vote." (She did, and......

Authorial Intent spotlights readings throughout the area. All events are free unless otherwise noted. Michelle Wildgen, You're Not You, Wednesday, October 3, 7:00 pm, Brookline Booksmith. In Wildgen's debut novel, which is enjoying glowing reviews, Bec, a drifting college student, takes care of Kate, an older, sophisticated woman dying from ALS. The two grow close, and soon Bec is taking care of business for Kate - such as carrying out a clever little way to......

--Melvin Heard was once an Assistant DA working for Dan Conley. Now he faces charges of beating his own fiancée. The charges have cost Heard his job. DA Dan Conley said in a statement: "On the morning of Monday, Aug. 20, immediately upon hearing of Melvin Heard’s arrest, I ordered him placed on unpaid leave. Our office undertook its own inquiry into the matter and four days later, on Aug. 24, he was terminated." Heard's......

Ah, the New York/Boston debate. While many point their fingers at Boston for stoking the flames on a regular basis (chants of "Yankees Suck" heard everywhere might have something to do with it), we can now point a little of the blame back to NYC. Gawker, having decided that they'd chastised Britney Spears' parenting techniques enough, shocked readers across the globe today by turning its typically New Yawk-centric eye beyond the boroughs. But, in characteristic......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

After the painfully boring debates which marked the 2004 Presidential campaign, the nation became aware that John Kerry wasn't the most interesting of orators - at times even coming off as a little pompous. Massachusetts voters have known this for years. Occasionally Kerry will deliver a joke, well crafted for his use by writers, and it will work. National and international attention is being given to one of those instances when that didn't work out......

Breaking the law, breaking the law We -ist folks love us some crime, and no misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week, join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged. Gothamist gets us started with "Law & Order", muppet style. Oh, you know what isn't a crime? Taking pictures on the MTA. So, why are cops stopping photographers? In other Gotham crime, a......

Even as the stores sport back to school sales (which depress us, even now), summer lingers on your friends the -ists. This week's collection of links provides some of the best, worst, and oddest bits of summer fun. So, bring your laptop up onto the roof, make yourself an umbrella drink or ten, and enjoy this week's choice posts from across the Gothamist network. Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing)......

Bostonist tries not to comment on matters with no local connection, but something is bothering us and we have to bring it up. Listening to NPR this morning, all we could hear about is how U.S. forces have killed the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. There was endless analysis from all manner of experts on what this will mean for the ongoing conflict in Iraq and for President Bush, but......

This evening, Bostonist will gather around the family television set with the Mrs. and the Toddler, hot tea by our sides and our trusty Bible close at hand, to listen to the warm words of wisdom bestowed upon us by our dear, gentle leader. And then we'll hit the sauce. Yes, tonight President Bush does his annual star turn, delivering the State of the Union address to Congress. Events like this can be sobering, especially......

Update: Life is unfair. Bostonist wanted a regional or local story that would give us an excuse to gripe about the President, and we thought we'd found it (see below). Turns out, it was a hoax. So everything reported below about the U. Mass. student is not true. But President Bush is definitely still a disaster. Bostonist, like the Governor, has lately been checking out of local affairs and focusing on the presidency. But in......

When Bostonist read that Senator Kerry served on a jury last week, our response was, "Uh huh. So?" Because Kerry is boooooring. He may be smart, sure, and maybe even a decent senator, but it's hard to imagine Kerry in the jury room wielding a knife to prove a point, Twelve-Angry-Men style. But when we heard that President Bush got the call in Waco, Texas, all we could think about was how to make sure......

Boston, along with numerous other cities including; Detroit, Cleveland, Newark, DC, New York City and Philly, honored Rosa Parks by leaving a bus seat empty on each of the city's buses to commemorate her heroic act in 1955 of refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Ms. Parks recently passed away, and just today President Bush announced that a statue would be erected in her honor at the National Statuary Hall in......

Today's Globe reports that the state Republican party is lending resources and support to the drive to get an anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment on the ballot (Pay close attention to the two pictures on this site's front page: one smiling, heterosexual, white family, and one (smaller) Asian one. They want you to know that they may be homophobic, but they're not racist!). Party leaders have apparently faced some criticism from rank-and-file Republicans, because denying equal rights......

Much as Bostonist loves running at the mouth, we realize that there are some matters, especially those concerning national politics, that are simply beyond the scope of our little endeavor. So when the President announces he has a new man for the Supreme Court job, Bostonist just says, "What's his man got to do with me?" And when when folks in the administration are exposed for the crooks we always suspected they were, we remember......

Today's news brings word of President Bush's recess appointment of John "Michael" Bolton to be ambassador to the UN and of Rafael Palmeiro's suspension for steroid use (no word yet on whether further punishments are in the works for the other performance-enhancing drugs he uses). Because these are not stories of particular local interest (except insofar as Jason Giambi is totally back on the juice and it will be really annoying if his enhanced......

Many buildings around the Hub are grandfathered, but those with new construction must comply with the American with Disabilities Act. The Act, signed fifteen years ago today by President Bush the elder, requires new and public facilities to be accessible by disabled persons. After spending a couple months in a wheelchair following a car accident, Bostonist became aware of all the challenges to getting that around people with disabilities face day in and day out,......

In this post election edition of Kerry Watch Bostonist follows a popular theme of the Kerry camp. from 2004. In an act of faith Kerry has been keeping the fight alive, even if he's conceded. No, conceded, not conceited (though he might be that too). Kerry has kept open presidential aspirations by reaching out to his national email base from the 2004 election to keep up the message. Back in October during the second debate......

So, as you may have heard, President Bush has nominated John G. Roberts (whom Bostonist wishes were known as John "O.G." Roberts, but oh well) to the Supreme Court. (The G., by the way, is for Glover, but we suspect no relation to Savion or Danny.) We think this neither surprising nor especially exciting, but it is newsworthy enough that we would be remiss if we didn't offer at least some perfunctory commentary. While we......

Bostonist awoke this morning to breaking news of the latest terrorist attack hitting the London transportation system. Beginning in the height of rush hour traffic, the bombs exploded in several different areas of the Underground, as well as one double-decker bus; officials say that at least 10 people have died with over 90 casualities thus far. The entire London transporation system has been shut down and government officials have told city residents to stay where......

Yesterday was a big day in town. Former House Speaker Tom Finneran, hands down one of the most powerful politicians in the Commonwealth for nearly a decade, plead not guilty at a preliminary hearing on federal perjury charges. Now, in case you've been living under a rock for the past couple years, Republican U.S. Attorney and possible gubernatorial hopeful Michael Sullivan has accused Finneran of lying about his involvement in the 2001 Massachusetts legislative redistricting......

Throughout last year's presidential election, media accounts, debate performances, and other appearances led to the establishment of very clear public assumptions about personality of both major-party candidates. While President Bush has for years been seen as a verbally-challenged simpleton, our Senator Kerry developed the reputation for being an intellectual and overly-complex orator. Since the campaign, The Globe has been fighting hard to get Kerry's military and medical records released, the former of which would include......

Today the Red Sox will attend the traditional recognition ceremony at the Whitehouse for the World Champions. The players, owners, managers and president of the Sox will meet President G. W. Bush. He’s the first President since Woodrow Wilson that has seen the Red Sox win the World Series while sitting in office. Bush has some special connections with the Sox. Where the Curse befell the Sox after trading the Babe to the Yankee’s, Bush......

In case you blocked out the hoopla known as the Oscars, the 77th Academy Awards aired last night for a short three hours and two minutes long. Held at L.A.'s Kodak Theater, the awards show went off without a hitch or much sparkle, creating a predictable show with few surprises. Chris Rock, who was being built up to perform some of his outrageous stand-up, was pretty calm, but did start the show by telling his......

Chatter for the last few months has been hitting the media as more studies on global warming come out. Boston is in for it according to the newest report. Severe flooding, the bigger badder older brother of the flooding from the Blizzard of ’78, will wash over Boston. Adamg over at the Universal Hub says we’ll have to teach our kids why they call it the Back Bay. To combat the threats of global warming......

The Freedom Fries, Freedom Toast, Freedom Kiss never really seemed to have the same ring. After several years of a passive aggressive hostility between France and the United States it is now time to build bridges. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a speech in France yesterday that it was time to “open a new chapter” in our alliance with France. It appears that President Bush has realized that we really can’t go it......