Mark Cuban writes:

Whether it’s been newspapers, magazines, TV or radio, the opportunities to reach an audience has been limited to a finite number of local and national gatekeepers. Just outside those gates, knocking on the door, trying to be heard for the past 100 or more years have been wanna be Woodward and Bernsteins. People with information, ideas and concepts that they know the populace would respond to have been turned away, again and again.

Its payback time . The bloggers are here, and they are ready to knock down the gates and get their pound of flesh. The traditional media has no idea what is about to hit them.

Jason loves his Dodge pickup, but concludes it's time to trade it in for a vehicle that gets better mileage, like, oh, a car.

Beth concludes the Ford F150 is the vehicle of evil, after some jerk in one nearly kills her in the equally evil Lowell Connector this morning.

Chris, meanwhile, is forced to write a breakup letter to his overly clingy Saturn dealership - and beg it to stop stalking him:

... I think it is time that I start seeing other dealers. To be honest, taking my picture while getting into my car for the first time was a bit weird and I felt as if you were coming on too strong. To make matters worse, when I was in getting my oil changed one day, I noticed a picture of me in this big binder with other new car owners. How long have you been selling other cars to people behind my back? ...

Kathleen has a very nice boss.

Jeff Jarvis says, etch this in brass:

Welcome to the new world of journalism, where every witness to news can report the news, thanks to the internet; where every citizen can question the powerful, thanks to the internet; where every speaker can be a pundit, thanks to the internet. Journalism is no longer the closed society of the gatekeepers. Journalism can no longer just lecture; now it must listen. News is freed from the limitations of paper and schedules and reporters' pens. Journalists should welcome the help, for journalists should believe that more information yields a more informed society and that is our goal.

Angela is a waitress who had to work V-Day night. The morning after, she is not happy:

To every customer I waited on tonight who eventually stiffed me, I hope you all cannot maintain an erection tonight when trying to satsify your girlfriends/wives/mistresses. I have never before worked so hard for so little. You jerks sent me running back and forth to the kitchen for ridiculous things. You made me refill your drinks countless times. You left a mess of epic proportions for me to clean up and all I get in return is a 13% tip? ...

A new report says that within 50 to 100 years, global warming will mean repeated, expensive flooding of the Back Bay, Cambridge and other waterfront areas as sea levels rise and storms grow more intense:

An EPA-commissioned study details the wrenching impacts that global warming will have on Greater Boston. Most strikingly, the study shows predicted sea level rise caused by global warming flooding swaths of Downtown Boston with waters reaching all the way to the Back Bay and Harvard Square in a severe storm.

Charley on the MTA says it's a call to action:

... 94 billion cost for global warming, just in Greater Boston. When will skeptical business types wake up, and realize that if it's bad for everyone, it's bad for business, too?

Message to Mitt, Reilly, Galvin, Patrick, all you would-be govs: you've got to make this a major issue, and take it national. Get in the media's face about this, in a real and persistent way. It's way past time. ...

John, though, isn't buying it:

... Sure, we should be concerned about global warming and realistic about our vulnerabilities to mother nature's extremes, but this five-years-in-the-making report is a non-story. They can't get a seven day forecast right, and this is a ninety-five year forecast.

Tanaise is walking through the courtyard of the BPL in Copley Square when she sees a heart somebody had made in the snow:

This is found art--I walked by it, stopped and said, "That was a heart, wasn't it." I love the perfection of the heart, and the starkness of the light.

See it today before it melts.

Eric and family try Cafe Apollonia, the Boston area's only Albanian restaurant (146 Belgrade Ave., in Roslindale). He recommends it:

... Our best expectations were confirmed, and we are delighted to say that the Hysi family operates a wonderful little place. Francesco, they have byrek! The menu looks traditional, but chef Marlon Hysi makes them with the innovation you might expect of a Cordon Bleu graduate, which he is. Ivana's Trofte Tave was baked in wine and tomatoes over carmelised onions, Azra's Qebaptore were excellent čevapi, but served over a bed of seared eggplant and peppers, with a thick yoghurt sauce and rosemary mixed in with the meat. ...

What? There's some other celebration today? Not for Girl, who posts a photo of her captain, oh captain (of the Sox, that is):

I am celebrating the workout that is stretching your Man-Thighs!  I am celebrating the cerebral force that you are behind the plate!  I am celebrating your honesty and integrity!  I am celebrating the fact that you have grown back your facial hair!  I am celebrating your seriousness in the clubhouse!  I am celebrating your communication skills!  I am celebrating the fact that you move better now than you did when you were 21!  Limber and flexible!  Big but fast!  Bending and squatting and trotting to the mound! ...

Steven marvels at the state GOP's decision to use the Rovian "flip-flopper" strategy against Tom Reilly because a) Bush lost Massachusetts, so people might not take kindly to it and b) it could boomerang against their man. As he points out, the Mittster, who now wants to ban stem cell research, said something a wee bit different in 2002:

I am in favor of stem cell research. I will work and fight for stem cell research.

Charley on the MTA relays a report from Mrs. Charley, who tried to board a Red Line train in Central Square this morning:

[H]uge, angry crowds of people; waits of much longer than an hour; fights nearly breaking out; trains stuffed full, moving slowly; dozens of trains going outbound, while only three or four were going inbound over the course of more than an hour.

This is pathetic. The blizzard was weeks ago, and it's been like this way too much lately. It costs individuals and businesses too much to put up with this. We deserve better. Call your reps: If they can fix potholes, they should weigh in on this.

Bad Transit has more Red Line near-riot reports here, here and here.

LooLoo: Tonight the boy and I are going to have a little valentines dinner of lasagna, Texas toast and cake! Perfect!

Fondofelves: Mwwwwah

Megan says she loved the day even when she was single:

... Now I don't agree that the day is just for couples. Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate love. That would be saying that the the only love that exists is between couples. Not true! We love our family, our friends and ourselves. Why not take the day to show those people that you love them? Those are the people forgotten on Valentine's Day because we assume it's a day just for couples. Don't assume, redefine. ...

The Playful Antiquarian dishes on how to make her swoon:

... indulge my bookishness by presenting me with a pamphlet -- set, printed, and bound by hand ... ideally, on sumptious handmade paper ...

Ezra explains why they should rename the holiday National-Remind-The-Single-People-Just-How-Alone-They-Really-Are-Day Brought To You By The Blood Sucking Vultures At Hallmark.:

Here, have some chocolates, I hope you choke on them. You and all the other stupid happy couples dumb enough to fall for a Hallmark "holiday." Go give your money to the worst profiteers since OPEC. ...

Shelley might commiserate: Happy blah blah Valentine's mumble grumble hearts and flowers yadda yadda:

I am dressed entirely in black today. It wasn't intentional but it somehow seems fitting.

Neither probably knows Blogorelli, who wants us all to spread some Valentine lovies - and sends a special kiss to Cupid:

... for sending that particularly delish piece of eye candy into my train car this morning and then facing him in my direction. you are too good to me!

Chris gets all grumpy:

I wish I could be more excited about the holiday, but this year things are different. This year marks the first time in three years that Valentine's Day and President's Day don't fall on the same weekend. So you can see why this year Valentine's Day is somewhat of a letdown. ...

Andrew points to an article listing local bar restrooms good for a little love action:

... And to think, all this time I have been going there only for the shows on stage. Next time maybe I will kick open the door to the handicapped bathroom and try to catch a bonus opening act. ...

Thanks to the seemingly all knowing John Daley, we now know that Bostonist is here.

We welcome our new New Yorkish overlords but humbly remind them that, in Boston, commuter train lines don't have third rails.

Chris sees and reviews Trumbo at the Huntington Theatre. He generally likes it, except for the morally facile ending, but has words for the audience:

I will say, though, that the audience suffered from what I previously called Cambridge Film Audience Syndrome (CFAS), a tendency to vocalize sighs, laughs and other noise that signal the audience's political and historical superiority to the subject matter. Highly annoying.

Clayton Cramer lives in Boise, Idaho, but he grew up driving the freeways of Los Angeles, so he figured navigating our fair Hub by car would be tolerable - even after friends warned him about our traffic. He now knows better:

... I was attempting to get from Storrow Drive to Boylston Drive, and I was in the right lane. This was not a right turn only lane, but the taxi driver behind me kept honking, trying to force me to make a right turn a couple of blocks earlier than I needed. I'm a pretty accommodating person, and I became tired of the honking. Also I have a natural sympathy for some guy who, if he is lucky, is making about $6 per hour in exchange for risking holdup or murder, so I made a right turn that I didn't want to make. I figured that I would go make a grand circuit, and return to Storrow Drive. Nope. By the time I was able to finally get headed the right direction again, I was across the Charles River in Charlestown. ...

Eric and Jen discover why their newborn had turned so cranky:

... Turns out it was the formula. Not the brand, which was perfectly fine, it was the powdered form. For some reason it gave him gas - lots of it - and he was very unhappy about it. We bought the powder because it was about 30% cheaper than the premixed stuff so the savings we realized of about $10 for each can seemed pretty great. ...

Yeah, yeah, the Pats won the Super Bowl again. But that's so last week, especially since The Truck has left for Florida (is there any other city in America where something like this would be news?)

Meanwhile, Red watches a replay of game 7 of last year's ALCS and says it just doesn't get old:

... After soaking it all in for the second time, I have to say that one of the most satisfying things has been the looks on the faces of the Yankees fans and players as it all just liquifies and slips through their fingers. Cashman with his hands in his pockets, staring blankly at the Red Sox pigpile. Billy Crystal slumped over in his private suite, being comforted by his wife in a manner not seen since the reviews for Mr. Saturday Night came in. ...

Kristen also watches the replay and provides a detailed diary of the second time around:

Bottom of the 1st:
Shut up, Gary Sheffield, shut up and die. I hate you and your perpetual motion, metronome bat moving thing. And your sad excuse for a mustache. And your pants and the way they inexplicably remind me of Scrooge McDuck and his spats. ...

You may recall how Kristin thinks women should stop wearing pink Red Sox hats right this second.

Tatiana says bite me (more or less):

...I'm sick of taking grief for this.

People need to get their heads out of their asses.

Greta tries to decide if she's really in the mood for zitti with brokoli at Forest Hills Pizza on Washington Street in Jamaica Plain.

You kan always kount on a kool hairkut at Kutting Korner (formerly Nanci's Nu-Look) on Corinth Street in Roslindale.

We are going to start a revolution in video broadcasting in the Boston area.

I am telling you.

We are going to start reporting news/human interest stories and putting them up on the web.

These stories are going to show the big media that there are people out there that can produce video pieces in way that's new and different, real and personal, timely and far reaching.

That's what this group, Boston Area Video Bloggers at universalhub.com, is all about.

It's all about citizen journalism.

It's going to allow people to report on local stories, personal stories, different stories.

What's exciting is that we can use this as a platform to be a new outlet for videos. An outlet that is more far reaching than public access, TV, or even cable. Those shows are broadcast once and then they are gone. Our stories will stay around for people to find, watch and tell their friends.

The revolution starts now!