Some major-league punkings went down today. One of them included a gag from the Weekly Dig, which proclaimed in its Daily Dig that Radiohead would be doing a free benefit for the Oxfam Cafe. They even threw in a must-see video promo. The UMass-Boston Mass Media website also offered a cutout Mr. T mask that would help you look cool and properly pity the April Fool. The Harvard Lampoon April Fool's was okay, if a......

Matt Ashare is leaving the Boston Phoenix. The Weekly Dig broke the news and seems happy, as, for once, [they're not the ones in the news for alt-weekly staff turnover. Apparently the shakeup happened because the Phoenix's music coverage wasn't keeping on top of the trends. Sam Baltrusis at Loaded Gun notes that things might have gotten a tad crusty over there: "The Phoenix has the exact same editorial lineup it did when I left......

Books Sarah Boxer bravely prowled through the blogosphere to share its treasures with us in Ultimate Blogs. Of course, Go Fug Yourself makes the list. Brattle Theatre (via Harvard Book Store), 6:00 pm, $5. Edit: Event has been moved to Harvard Book Store --If you've been reading Bostonist for a while, you might know how we feel about the potential of wind power. A while ago, we read this barnburner of a book about......

Sci-fi flick Jumper was number-one at the box office this weekend, but the real story was the disappointing turnout for Definitely, Maybe, which was supposed to be a romantic comedy. Was it the annoying title? Maybe they should have referred to an old '80s TV show and called it My Three Moms instead. Maybe moviegoers aren't feeling Ryan Reynolds. Ty Burr blew kisses at Maybe co-star Isla Fisher, but he blew a raspberry at Reynolds:......

This afternoon, the Globe reported that Cambridge ice-cream store Toscanini's is back in business. After the state seized the store for nonpayment of taxes, the owners raised enough money online to give to the state and reopen. The amount of money was staggering--$31,406 as of tonight on the site www.savetoscis.com. Owners Gus and Mimi Rancatore turned over the money, so they can open up and start paying off the rest of it. In an e-mail......

It seems that Bostonist's call for submissions inspired you. Say hello to Gerard Sloan, who is already working the political beat! And we hope you'll meet more writers in the next week. Interested in joining the team? Read our call for columnists and e-mail jobs@bostonist.com. Despite polls showing large leads for Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, the Granite State used its moment in the national spotlight yesterday to give Hillary Clinton a narrow victory......

Anticipation, anticipation … Let's see what fresh weirdness is unfolding up in New Hampshire. You can bet there's a lot of it. For starters, Dan McCarthy at the Weekly Dig witnessed the Republican debate at St. Anselm's and finds that no one will understand how much McCain despises Romney unless they see it in person. And the press area at the debate was "more ghetto than our hotel, the Econo Lodge, on Manchester's west......

It's getting wild in New Hampshire! The primaries are tomorrow, and already some trippy stories are streaming from up north. Here's a few: --Dennis Kucinich proved that Mike Huckabee isn't the only one who has an action hero. Viggo Mortensen is part of the Kucinich "entourage." [Union Leader] --Who knew that John Sununu was a hero? [AP] --Team Weekly Dig is up in New Hampshire, and Chris Faraone enjoys a Bill Clinton Epiphany: "[His words]......

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......

Here comes red meat for the Weekly Dig's Media Farm: Yesterday the Globe decided to share the holiday cards it received with the public and show just how uncool the great unwashed really are. In fact, whoever put the slide show together said as much: "You may not have received Christmas and other holiday cards from the likes of Caroline Kennedy, Bob Kraft, NASCAR, and the Red Sox -- but we did." Now we're......

--Don't eat the yellow pills: "Mixing cough syrup, Vicodin or Lipitor with cat litter is the new advice on getting rid of unused medications. Preferably used cat litter." [WCVB] --Another BPD (pardon us, ex-BPD) officer has pled guilty to protecting shipments of cocaine. Unfortunately for him, the people shipping the cocaine were undercover FBI. [Boston Globe] --A boiler explosion in Salem sends three people to the hospital. [WCVB] --A huge sinkhole in the middle of......

DJ David Day MAKE IT NEW Thursday, November 1 Middlesex Lounge 315 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, MA 21+ / 9:00 pm - 2:00 am / FREE MySpace: Make It New This has been an incredibly eventful year for the youth in Boston's club scene, and it's about to experience another resurgence. In February, an event happened where three newly acquainted DJs got together to spin at Shine, the tucked-away haven in Kendall Square. Since then,......

--Maggie's got a great Halloween costume idea. Yes, it involves monkeys and Boston, but it is so cool you must read it to believe it. Hint: "Rock me, Joe!" --Chris Klein, the HubTrotter, scored some sweet photos of the Red Sox players showing up at Fenway before Game 2. Papelbon's got a powerful head of hair. --H2oTown posts a photo of a leaf-peeping Barbie. We're not sure if she's on sale yet, but we hope......

This year's Boston Comedy Festival is about to start, and you won't be able to make up your mind about all the events happening around town. The following listings include just a few measly highlights, but the Boston Comedy Festival is sure to have something that suits your sense of humor, whether it be ironic, sarcastic, slapsticky, or potty. Check the official site and full schedule for all event details. Boston Comedy Festival Contest Preliminaries:......

Bostonist Pick: Ballermore Has Arrived .::. Shake 'Em Down @ Milky Way (Thurs) Bostonist has some good news for you: this is going to be an easy weekend on the liver. The bad news is that your two days of drinking, dancing and staying up into the wee New England-established hours begins tonight. There are two main events invading our city on the 4th, and first up is Shake 'Em Down, a dance party......

We had heard word from a kind tipper that some of the Weekly Dig staff gave notice as soon as former Editor Michael Brodeur found out that he was fired. The Boston Magazine blog just confirmed that managing editor Shaula Clark and staff writer Julia Reischel are indeed gone. The Boston Magazine blog also had an exclusive interview with Dig publisher Jeff Lawrence. That makes sense, as Joe Keohane used to edit the Dig and......

A post appeared on Universal Hub earlier today saying that Editor Michael Brodeur was out at the Weekly Dig. A Phoenix post backs that up, and Dig founder and president Jeff Lawrence sent out a press release. Here's the text of the release: Boston's Weekly Dig announced today that the editor, Michael Brodeur, is no longer with the company as part of an editorial restructuring, “Michael has been a huge part of the Dig for......

A hot-pink color scheme. A dead ringer for Kate Bosworth on the cover. A first chapter that opens with lyrics from Loverboy's "Workin' for the Weekend." No kidding. Restless Virgins, a book on the Milton Academy sex scandal, just screams, "Bourgeois sex! Bourgeois sex! Yippee skippy!" The sex scandal in question didn't involve teachers (Exhibit A: Arlington's school system) but a 2005 incident in which one girl was - ahem - orally satisfying the sexual......

The Weekly Dig just unveiled its new website design. Anything would have been an improvement over the crappy, sluggish site the Weekly Dig had before. You could go make a grilled-cheese sandwich and eat it in the time it took for a page to load. The new site is far more sprightly in terms of performance and design. However, we didn't pay as much attention to the design as we should have because of the......

So, Gawker started up this feature on "The Poors," in which they ruthlessly mock media encounters with those of us who don't have trust funds. Gawker might be interested in a recent front-page article by the Globe about the South Bay Center, the big ol' mall that is apparently a crossroads of class conflict. The form of Sarah Schweitzer's article isn't the problem. Well, maybe the fact that the Globe put a story about a......

--Early this morning, a man was stabbed outside Tonic on Comm Ave. The BPD report describes a fight in which one of the parties had a knife and decided to use it. The victim is going to be okay, but does that mean the city is going to have to shut down Tonic a la The 6 House? Fair is fair, you know. But the city brass probably won't do it. Last we heard, Whitey......

After a rocky start when the fundraising chair stepped down when the Weekly Dig noted that he was a registered sex offender (whoops!), Pride is back on track and not looking back. The full Pride Week schedule is available at the Boston Pride site, but we've highlighted some of the best events: --Flag Raising Over City Hall Plaza: today, 12 noon --Puppy Pride Costume Contest: Saturday, June 2, 11 am to 1 pm at......

The author behind the blog the Full Comp, which told stories of restaurant life, has outed herself. She's Gwen Butler, who received a $3-million-dollar tip. The blog is a big deal, as she wrote a very public screed against her former boss, Garrett Harker at the Eastern Standard. This screed is nasty. It will make your momma blush. It will make you blush. The Weekly Dig, who printed how to find the screed on Google......

Jon Clinch will read from Finn tomorrow, Tuesday, April 17, 2007, in the Howard Thurman Room, Marsh Chapel, Boston University, at 5:30 pm. In his first book, Jon Clinch transforms Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by tackling where Huck came from. In this take on the classic, Huck has a black mother, and his father is a human-flesh-roasting, floor-licking nutter. About the flesh-roasting, we're not kidding. Here's a paragraph from an excerpt available......

Okay. You're gonna need a map for this one. Those who were already ambivalent toward or completely against the Guardian Angels have more reason to be skeptical of the group. Apparently the Angels' screening process could use an overhaul because a registered sex offender is among their ranks. However, we aren't quite sure what's going on because the Globe and the Herald are have different takes on the story. Here's the real story: The Guardian......

Joe Keohane, editor of the Weekly Dig, will be leaving the paper to embark up on a lucrative career as a freelance writer. Best of luck to him, but, given how hard it is to make a living as a freelancer, Bostonist hopes he likes the taste of ramen noodles. Even Keohane jokes about that his future "vast freelance wealth" in the press release announcing his departure. (Did you know that the inventor of......

The New England Patriots can't seem to get enough of the courtroom. Tom Brady filed suit against Yahoo! for using his image for their Fantasy Football promotion, and the Patriots also used an obscure Massachusetts anti-scalping law to file suit against Bay Area company StubHub.com, which allows Patriots ticket holders to resell their tickets at a profit. Only StubHub hit the ball back across the court - they've filed a countersuit against the Patriots for......

It's a good week to take the whole week off. Well, is there such a thing as a bad week to take off? Grilled meats will be invading your pores for the first time in such a heavy dose since Memorial Day, which was only about a month ago. In addition to this weeks picks for some of the great shows creeping up on us in Boston we'd like to point you over to......

The Weekly Dig uncovered the Boston Police Department's relatively new blog, BPDNews.com. Many regulars in the Boston blogosphere have been aware of the site reporting daily incidents and special announcements since the site went live, print media faithful and those who are occasional surfers are now realizing the site exists and the information it delivers on a daily basis. Many of the items posted on BPDNews don't make it into the local papers – but......

Filter Magazine, along with a few other corporate sponsors, including Honda, and local establishments Fenway Recordings and The Weekly Dig are hosting a free show from NY’s The Walkmen in Boston tonight. Yes free. Yes, the same Walkmen who sold out the Middle East a month ago. Just get your act together and your internet-wandering backside over to this Filter link and RSVP. Oh, and don’t stop too many times along the way over......