Music Hometown keytar heroes Freezepop have returned from touring the world (okay, Florida, and the Rust Belt) to once again rock Cambridge, with the help of the The Information, The Main Drag, and Michael Hensley. Middle East Downstairs, 8 pm, 18+, $14. Beer Harpoon will hold its St. Patrick's Festival at the brewery on 306 Northern Avenue. Wear galoshes because the floor may well be slick with beer. Harpoon Brewery, 5:30 to 11:00 pm,......

We’ve always had this weird love/hate relationship with instrumental music and the bands who play it. One the one hand, instrumentals are transcendentally personal, evoking a different image or concept in every listener. What’s sad to one person might be peaceful to another. There’s no singer telling us exactly what the piece is about. Also, instrumentals require a certain technical mastery on the part of the musicians that songs with vocalists can slide on, less......

--Massachusetts earned a C in state government from the Pew Center. Given the state of the Big Dig, is it any wonder? [Boston Herald] --The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA, which includes Calderwood Pavilion and the Cyclorama) is undergoing a sudden change in leadership. [Boston Globe] --Glenn Ordway, local sports radio host on WEEI, is taking some time off the air because his wife and daughter sustained injuries during childbirth. [Boston Herald] --In related......

Say hello to new columnist Ol' Scratch, who is posting on all things retro in Boston. Here's how he describes "Retroville" to us: "Amongst Boston's many underground scenes and small, quirky social groups, a segment who are passionate about the 'classic' lifestyle has arisen. Whether it's the greasers who love rockabilly, the classy cabaret kids, the swing dancers, or the bodacious burlesquers, they've all got one thing in common: They all live in Retroville." With......

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......

--More fire department turmoil: A panel of union firefighters determined that the alcohol and drugs found in the bodies of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne in August's Tai Ho Restaurant blaze did not cause their deaths. But the fire commissioner begs to differ. [Boston Globe, background: Bostonist] --While it's good that the mayor is throwing his efforts behind saving Hendry Street from the foreclosure crisis, the housing problems in Dorchester aren't limited to......

Music Funny, they don't look bloodthirsty. Vampire Weekend's sound could be described as "My First Afro Pop." They merge indie sounds with world music, and the critics are falling in love. The Village Voice called them "goofy"--it was a compliment. MFA, Remis Auditorium, 8:00 pm, $15. Why do we post this since it looks like it is nearly impossible to get tickets? So you can share hot ticket tips in the comments. Keep an......

Music Cat Power will be at the Orpheum. Last time Bostonist saw her, she seemed a little plowed and, with her dark glasses, she resembled country singer Ronnie Milsap. Since then, she's been hanging out with Karl Lagerfeld. She's different every time, but the music is always memorable. 7:30 pm. It's cosmopolitan night at the MFA, and we aren't talking about drinks. The uber-sophisticated Keren Ann and Dean & Britta will perform. MFA, Remis Auditorium,......

Tuesday was supposed to be a glorious day. A crowd was to stand in the rain, braving the elements to cheer for the football heroes ambling down roads lined in blue and red. And after the last bits of confetti were cleaned up, the celebratory mass of people would tune in to cheer for their basketball team's winning ways. Clearly, that didn't happen. Instead, Boston was treated to a day of quiet coaches, plea-entering players,......

Super Bowl Media Day is the professional football equivalent of the annual family reunion. A bunch of people get together, often traveling long distances, for the purpose of catching up. There's little that they have in common, but since they sort of fall under the same name, everyone has to make nice. The hijinks on display makes for a hilarious time for those not directly involved. People make nice and dumb down the stories of......

Music --In a show rescheduled from September, Blonde Redhead will provide art-damage rock, and maybe some literal damage. Really. The last time Bostonist saw this band, they were crashing into each other onstage. DCist spoke to Kazu Makino about their album's name (23) and a few other things. The Paradise Rock Club, 7:00 pm, $20. --Mission of Burma will, appropriately enough, play to raise money for the US Campaign for Burma at Great Scott at......

--After such nice weather, a Nor'easter? You're kidding, right? Oh, no. You're not. At least it's scheduled to arrive Sunday, which will make the Pantsless T Ride much more pleasant. [WBZ] --A report indicates that a terrorist attack on Everett LNG would be a bad thing. Gee, ya think so? [Boston Globe] --Alex Jimenez, the soldier from Lawrence who went missing in Iraq last May and who still has not been found, has been......

The Track Girls are spreading the word from Us Magazine that Katie Holmes has received a special exemption to run this year's Boston Marathon, which will be on April 21. If true, she will be joining another newly minted national celebrity--the slimmed-down Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. He's training, and he will likely be running while flipping the bird toward Romney's Belmont manse. Holmes is going to get smoked. The Boston Marathon is nothing to......

--The Boston Police Department and the DA's Office are investigating the death of an inmate at the Suffolk County House of Correction. 41-year-old Darryl Lee Leslie died on New Year's Eve while being moved to maximum security because he was, according to a jail spokesman, "planning a violent attack." An autopsy is being performed. [Boston Globe] --A 15-year-old who was shot in the stomach at a New Year's Eve party in New Bedford has since......

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......

Continuing our list of list series, Bostonist slugged through all the best and worst of lists for the albums of 2007. Locally: The Boston Globe also Globe's Notable Local Albums of the Year WERS Phoenix & WFNX staffers The Weekly Dig Elsewhere: Blender NPR Paste Pitchfork TIME......

Let's be honest. We've long known that Boston is at least on the short list for Sports City of the United States. The passion felt by Boston sports fans has long been either heralded or chastised, depending on your point of view. But if you'd told us at the dawn of 2007 that we were entering one of the best years Boston sports teams and fans would ever experience, we would have laughed. Long. Hard.......

Bostonist finds that food makes a great gift for even the most difficult to shop for. Some of our favorite local food purveyors have made it easy for us with food-of-the-month clubs. We’d be thrilled to receive the gift of pork from Savenor’s, which has a bacon-of-the-month club. For something sweet, Pemberton Farms of Cambridge has a coffee-cake-of-the-month club and plenty of locally themed gift baskets. Formaggio Kitchen, famous for having its own cheese......

--King Downing, the ACLU coordinator for the Campaign Against Racial Profiling, won his case against the Massachusetts Port Authority and the State Police. He sued because he felt that he was illegally detained at Logan Airport in 2003, and a jury agreed with him. [Boston Herald, WCVB] --City officials in Everett plan to develop an emergency plan to improve response to disasters following last week's tanker explosion. [WBZ] --The Boston Society of Film Critics gathered......

Brrrrlesque Saturday, December 15, midnight Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St., Brookline (T: Coolidge Corner) $12.50 in advance, $20 at the door Official Boston Babydolls site In the press release we got, Boston Babydolls impresario Scratch declares, "People hate the cold, the rising gas prices, and - of course - the snow. But there's a lot that's beautiful about new England in the winter, and we wanted to remind people of some of those things."......

The Eight Saturday, December 10, 9:00 pm T.T. the Bear's 10 Brookline Street, Cambridge (T: Central Square) $12 advance / $15 at the door More info Taglit-Birthright Israel and JDub Records is hosting a Hanukkah rock concert that will be held in cities all over the United States. Boston will represent at T.T. The Bear's this Saturday. The Boston celebration will be split between rock and electronica. The Brakes are straight-up pop-rock, and press for......

When the RMS Carpathia began hauling Titanic passengers out of lifeboats in the North Atlantic in 1912, those passengers probably didn't want to spend a lot of time reflecting about the food, or the music, or man's hubris. They were just happy to be alive. Was that too Nick Saban-y an analogy? Sorry about that. But that's kind of how we feel after the Patriots clawed their way to survival against Philly last night. The......

Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair November 16-18 Hours: Friday 5-9 Saturday 12-7, Sunday 12-5 Hynes Convention Center Directions | Tickets (Purchase $15 weekend tickets on Friday, or $8 for Saturday or Sunday only) If nothing turns you on like yellowed pages and musty smells, the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair is for you. From a copy of Ariel inscribed by Ted Hughes to an original copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with promo......

Wicked Pissahs vs. Nutcrackers 6pm, Saturday, November 10 Shriners Auditorium, Wilmington Tickets and more information The Bruins have some competition for Boston's sports dollar on Saturday night: roller derby. It's the perfect sport for those who love full-contact skating but can't follow a puck. The Boston Derby Dames are in their second season of presenting live, all-women, flat-track roller derby. Saturday night, rivals Wicked Pissahs and Nutcrackers (the Derby Dames are split into four teams)......

Rack 'Em Up With the Boston Babydolls Sunday, November 11, 8:00 pm Flat Top Johnny's, 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge America's Next Top Model competitor Sarah, of Heath, was eliminated from the show on Wednesday (check out our interview with her, which will appear this afternoon at 1:00)--and the Boston Babydolls are none too happy about it. Sarah is a member of the burlesque troupe and performs as Vita Lightly. The Boston Babydolls put out a......

Bostonist presents a public service announcement … Mayor Tom Menino and Police Commissioner Ed Davis held a press conference today to let the city know that the party police would be out in force for Game 7 in the ALCS. Whether the Red Sox win or lose (and they're gonna win, right?), the BPD will be ready. But, if you didn't get a ticket and you're planning on swarming upon Fenway Park, The Boston Police......

Boston Vegetarian Food Festival Saturday, Oct 20, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm Reggie Lewis Athletic Center 1350 Tremont Street Free More info Boston is proud of its efforts to become a foodie-haven; and the success of such chefs as Ken Oringer, Barbara Lynch, and Michael Schlow have brought well-deserved publicity to the Hub. So while cutting-edge cuisine is on the rise, Beantown has not been known to fully live up to its legume-y name.......

--Beauty and the Geek: John, the MIT student Bostonist thinks is most likely to get some, received a "booty dance" from one of the beauties and admitted, "I didn’t know where to look." Romance was also on the minds of the other local contestants. Girl geek Nicole admitted that she had a crush on one of the boy geeks. Somerville LARPer Dave said of her revelation in his confessional, "I have to admit, my curiosity......

The Boston Globe assembled yet another online photo album that is custom-made for workers to peruse during lunch break. Only this time around, the Globe tackled a touchy subject - "What makes a true Bostonian?" As opposed to what? A false one? And how long do you have to live here to get your credentials? Not to pick on the Globe, but any kind of list such as this is going to have its problems,......

We've fretted over the fate of food delivery people before. Now, after the Globe's latest piece about the perils faced by food delivery people, we ask you to hug your pizza delivery guy today. Those people work hard for their money, and it's a risky gig. There have been 52 delivery-related robberies this year. The BPD blotter is often full of cases in which a food delivery guy gets held up for a free pizza......