Image from Flickr user DJ Durutti Boston is the greatest place in the country to spend Independence Day. It's the historical center of America, the place where it all happened, the site of the greatest fireworks, yar yar yar, blah blah blah. You're here; you know this. But is there anything you don't know about Independence Day in and around Boston? We're trying to find that out. The Globe covers tired--'scuse us, "tried"--and true......

Thespians stopped by Boston this week to read for the miniseries that will be based on BU professor and left-wing darling Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. And here's what happens when an intellectual heavyweight's work gets mixed up with this thing we call pop culture: --Somehow, it just doesn't seem right to call noted author Howard Zinn the "Zinn-Meister." It makes us think of the SNL skit with Rob Schneider at......

--The BPD is on the defensive after Roxbury residents accused them of using unnecessary force to shut down a party on Saturday. The police says the party was so violent that 100 officers were needed to stop it. The partiers said that officers giving them black eyes, choking them, and spraying Mace all over the place was the real source of the violence. One interesting tidbit didn't appear until the third paragraph of the Herald's......

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take......

Sure. That and a pair of testicles. Lace up your bowling shoes! Tonight Coolidge Corner Theater is having a screening of the oddball Coen Brothers' bowling hit The Big Lebowski. It's a nine dollar entrance fee, unfortunately that doesn't come with a White Russian, but there will be a pre-screening bowling match, along with Lebowski trivia and Lewbowski themed rewards for the best bowling shirt in the crowd. Expect to see some interesting folks at......