--Graffiti artist Adam Brandt, who may possibly be "Spek," was arrested and "charged with 16 counts of tagging and 16 counts of malicious wanton destruction to property." [Boston Globe] --Two college students, one of them a junior at Bridgewater State College, have been missing since Valentine's Day. 22-year-old Daniel Querzoli, the Bridgewater State student, and his girlfriend, Amy Scott, a Johnson & Wales student, went out in Providence and haven't been seen since. [WBZ]......

--Flu isn't just prevalent in Boston right now. It's "raging." Don't leave home without the Purell. [Boston Globe] --Comm Ave is getting a 5-foot-wide bike lane on both sides between Kenmore Square and the BU Bridge by summer. [Boston Herald] --Chinatown continues to evolve into Condo Central. [Boston Herald] --GateHouse Media is cutting about 60 staff positions. Brighton Centered analyzes how that will impact one of GateHouse's local papers. [Brighton Centered] --Enjoy a slideshow of......

Bostonist was on the phone with our buddy Keith on Thursday, chatting about the upcoming Boston Pops spring season. The initial season announcement had just crossed our desk at Bostonist HQ, and we wanted to see what Keith thought of a spring and summer that will include jazz, Broadway, a season-long tribute to Leonard Bernstein, and appearances by Natalie Cole, Natalie Merchant, and Amanda Palmer. By Keith, of course, we mean Keith Lockhart, who is......

-- An early Valentine's Day celebration turned violent this morning when a 41 year-old Roxbury man allegedly assaulted his date in her Dorchester home with an aluminum pan. The pair had been celebrating the holiday with cocktails before they got into an argument. She was washing dishes when the argument escalated to blows. The suspect struck the victim repeatedly with the pan before police arrived. He stands charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. [BPDNews]......

Veggiest Quick Hits -- Happy Valentine's Day! For us being vegan is all about the love. We love our bodies and want to keep them healthy and strong and free of animal products. We love the environment and want to protect it from the extremely destructive practices of factory farming. We love animals and don't want to see them mistreated. You'll most certainly be doing your heart a favor. Heart disease is still one......

Happy Valentine's Day from prolific photog AntyDiluvian. We liked how the various reflections, buildings and angles make for an interesting shot with depth. Our eye was drawn immediately to the bright heart however, giving focus to the complexity. Nothing but love for this shot today.......

Harvard LoveFest: Science is Sexy Cambridge Queen's Head Pub, Harvard Square Noon As the old saying goes, "Valentine's Day at Harvard is like Father's Day at an orphanage." In other words, the geeks just don't get the girls (or guys, for that matter). Fortunately for the beaker-bearing types, a group of determined Harvard students has decided to change that. Today's Valentine's LoveFest, organized by a group of science-minded Harvard students called Zing, will feature stimulating......

Music --The Magnetic Fields, on Valentine's Day? Could anything be better for a first date, or any sort of date? They even work well for a broken heart. Well, only if you got tickets in time. Check the Craig, as this one is a hot ticket. Somerville Theatre, Davis Square, 8:00 pm, $27.50. Good luck getting in! --Drown your Valentine's Day sorrows with a night of indie rock and dancing at Viva Viva's Valentine's......

Valentine's Day: a time for sweets and sweet sentiments. Unless, of course, you visit Flour Bakery on 12 Farnsworth Street in Fort Point, where they've cooked up some pervy pastries especially for the holiday. Flour's delicious X-rated cookies are so true to the spirit of adult film that they aren't on display; customers must ask to see them. A word of warning: expect to be shocked—the unprintable endearments range from pornographic to really pornographic. "3some"......

Awkward Lectures Cory Arcangel's best known artwork Super Mario Clouds turns the world's first scrolling video game into a digital environment of placid repetition. It percolated on the internet and spilled into the Whitney's Biennial, making Arcangel a digital art superstar. But his true calling may have been as a lecturer. Whether the topic is hacking old electronics or copyright; his willful ignorance of art history or his place in it, Arcangel always entertains.......

This Valentine's Day, there's no shortage of options for those whose preferred wining & dining is beering & dining. Cambridge Brewing Company's skeezily-named Night of the Aphrodisiacs starts at 5 p.m. and includes a four courses "with every course built around an aphrodisiac and in some cases two or three": truffled artichoke, oysters, mango, anisette-honey, pinenuts, figs, coriander, chocolate. The beer menu includes Bostonist's beloved Weekapaug Gruit (an ale made with the herbs brewers used......

In the Mood For Love (花样年华) Tonight at 7:30 7:00 (oops) Harvard Film Archive (Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy Street, Cambridge) Free admission! For anyone looking to launch a pre-Valentine's Day attack, Bostonist recommends tonight's free screening of Wong Kar-Wai's In The Mood For Love. This is a cheap date that says, I am sensitive (but not in an Eat, Pray, Love way). I am stylish (but not in a leggings-and-Uggs way). I can put up......

Bostonist knows a girl who once got lingerie on Valentine's Day from her Dunkin' Donuts guy. They weren't dating or anything. He just thought a bra & panty set was an appropriate "getting to know you" gift. Take our advice: if you don't have access to her drawers, both literal and figurative, do not give her lingerie. If you are able to check her tags (or are one of the four people on earth who......

Attention all singles! Looking for something different to do this Valentine's Day? If you don't mind the early hour, consider making the trip to the WFNX studios for The Sandbox Morning Show's "Sandbox Singles Mixer." Aside from the chance to be part of a live studio broadcast and hang out with our buddies Charlie, Fletcher, & Special Ed, you will also enjoy live music from local Marty O'Malley, catered food from Ivy, and cocktails......

Music --The Willows bring to the Middle East Upstairs a brand of Americana country rock inspired by the seasonal carnival scene up in Salem. Alas, no salt water taffy is included in the price of admission. With The Vic Morrows, The Resonance, The Giant Melons. Middle East Upstairs, 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, doors 9:00, 18+, $8. --While the show has been sold out for weeks, if there's any way you can get in we......

Valentine’s Day is coming up next week and women everywhere are shopping like crazy to find the perfect outfit for that special date. So what about all of those single girls who have a whole lot of nothing planned for that evening? Many of them will do the generic, sit home in sweats, eat ice cream out of the container, and curse their friends who are part of a couple. Bostonist would like to recommend......

Great Romances III Friday, Feb 8 -- Thursday, Feb 14, various times Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge More details Somebody at the Brattle Theatre must have a heart made of sap. The cinema is hosting not one, not two, but six days of romantic films leading up to Valentine's Day. You cannot deal with that much loving. We cannot. So, Bostonist has assembled a quick guide to help you choose the ideal screening for......

Gordon's Fine Wine and Culinary Center is slated to host "Sip, Shop, and Support" at their Waltham store Feb. 12 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Gordon's' Marketing and Events Director Lindsay S. Cohen created the monthly charitable event with her friends Gail Schneider and Catherine Howe during her first few days on the job. "The ultimate ladies night out" features a free wine tasting as well......

The New England Confectionary Company (NECCO) has announced the new phrases that will be printed on its hearts. This year's themes include weather ("Melt My Heart" and "Get My Drift") and animals ("Wild Life" and "Nature Lover"). Regarding the animal theme, we dare them to put "Doggy Style" on a heart! You know that someone at Team NECCO thought it and then swiftly pushed it out of his or her mind. Weather also gave rise......

Books Author Jami Attenberg, whom Bostonist had the pleasure of interviewing recently, is breaking out the big guns for her reading of her latest novel, The Kept Man. Kickass Cupcakes will provide food, and Ryan Walsh of Hallelujah the Hills will bring music. And it's free! Brookline Booksmith, 7:00 pm. Hot Dates SpeedDate.com is holding an online event tonight. Speed dating helped get a lot of dating crap out of the way, and it's even......

H Bomb, the Harvard University sex magazine, vanished for reasons that had nothing to do with scabies. Last year, the people who ran H Bomb lost their status as an official student group. But ">Lingbo Li at the Crimson revealed this week that H Bomb is back in the school's good graces, and they will publish a new magazine on February 14. H Bomb only published two issues, but a new editor, Martha ‘Martabel’ Wasserman,......

The last word that should be used to describe Boston is "cheap," but housing prices compared to New York City's are a steal. The cellist for the Magnetic Fields, Sam Davol, has moved his family up to a new pad in Boston's Chinatown above Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. Of course, "cheap" is relative. The New York Times did a piece on how Davol and his spouse decided a move to Boston would allow them to quit......

We'd like to start this week's run-down by wishing a very happy birthday to parent blog Gothamist, which turned four on Friday. If it wasn't for them, the rest of us wouldn't be here. They celebrated their birthday by nabbing an interview with Entourage star Adrian Grenier, who misses NYC public transportation when he's working in LA. They also reported on NYU students protesting a band whose name is also known as a slur,......

The Celtics earned a little Valentine's Day present by finally snapping their 18-game losing streak against the Bucks last night. It didn't look pretty at first. The Bucks, who were also laboring under a rotten record, were pounding on the Celtics and closed the first quarter 32-19. And then Paul Pierce and Gerald Green, who is gearing up for the All-Star Slam-Dunk competition Saturday night, caught fire. We remembered why we love Paul Pierce so......

The old saying goes that nothing is certain except death and taxes. You should add Fung Wah buses to that list. A Fung Wah bus was understandably overwhelmed by today's nasty weather. Mac Daniel reports that a Fung Wah bus hit a guardrail this morning on the Pike by the Allston-Brighton tolls. Another Fung Wah bus came by to retrieve the freezing passengers. For once, it seemed that Fung Wah could probably blame an accident......

We're digging through the week's music finding that the best deal of the week for jilted lovers comes from Upstairs on the Square. Local rocker Ad Frank plays a show for only $13 for singles, it's $14,000 for couples. Other than that and the iPod DJ Night at River Gods (you can't do all Al Green) we're ignoring the occurance of Wednesday. You'll probably be too busy for music as you're buying flowers, chocolates,......

Valentine's Day is only a few days away, and we here across the network wanted to express would like to tell you, in the spirit of the holiday, just how much we love you, our readers. Don't let it get to your heads, though. There are plenty of things we love, you included. Just be glad you're not amongst the things we hate. SFist saw their beloved mayor enter rehab, and they loved the opportunity......

Wasn't "Green 17" the Celtics' marketing slogan a few years ago? This might have been in the years before "This Train Is Bound For Glory" and after "Who Needs a Slogan? We're Actually A Good Team". But when they were pitching "Green 17", they weren't reminiscing about Hondo (right), they were telling us #17 was around the corner. Here, we thought they meant BANNER #17. But now we have to face the fact that......

John DePetro, famous and fired for calling former gubernatorial candidate Grace Ross a "fat lesbian" during his WRKO show, has found a place that will take him. He will be part of the mid-morning lineup at WRPO-AM in East Providence They're already advertising him with a gigantic banner on their home page. In an interesting side note, DePetro starts on Valentine's Day. Somehow, DePetro and romance don't exactly go together. The Herald notes that the......

The Naked at the MFA Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt will be Saturday, February 10, from 2:00 to 4:30 pm and on Wednesday, February 14, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The prices are $28 per person for February 10 and $23 per person for February 14. Like your parents' copies of National Geographic, museums always provide a great excuse to ogle beautiful bodies in their birthday suits. Depending on your tastes, these undraped bodies might put......