characters

The Celebrity Beacon Hill Town Crier was giving Bostonians on the Common the news they needed today.

Jason Feifer was ambling about Miami yesterday when he stumbled across our very own Jesus Is Lord Guy. "It's nicer here," he told Feifer about his winter home.

Literally on track. At 8:20 a.m., A.P. Blake tweeted from North Station:

Sob Story Guy is spilling his schtick from IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GREEN LINE TRACKS.

Gnimsh captured part of his his show in front of the old Best Buy at Mass. Ave. and Newbury.

Ed. note: It will never happen, but wouldn't it be awesome if he teamed up with Chicken Man and danced in the back of his truck?

Around 8:15 p.m. yesterday, Rachel Zarrell spotted Sob Story Guy getting on the Orange Line at Chinatown:

Needed money to get to Worcester to "treat his staph infection." Was pretty gross.

But by 11, he'd either gotten it looked at or had just become resigned to it. Colin Steele reported from the Red Line near Harvard:

No story this time, just "anybody? Anybody?"

Photographynatalia captured George, the guy who sings his requests for money, on the Common the other day.

Copyright Photographynatalia. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Neuroboy files an e-mail report from Downtown Crossing:

Just sitting here at work in Downtown Crossing minding my own business. What is that enchanting sound I hear wafting in from the street below? It’s the siren song of everyone's favorite hollering trike rider, Louie Evans, making his way down the sidewalk on Washington St.

Ride on Louie, ride on.

Boston Reddit is hot on the trail of this goth guy who can often be found walking around the Back Bay with the top half of a female mannequin, even though he's made it clear he just wants to be be left alone.

The Plastic Bag Lady of Park Street is in touch with the zeitgeist, based on the sign she was wearing on her back today.

Somebody's set up a Spare Change Guy account on Twitter.

Robbie Felder, the omnipresent Mattapan panhandler whose disappearance a few months back sparked rumors he was dead, is back slowly walking up and down Morton Street, quietly asking for money.

On a Facebook page set up to discuss the man who has been a familiar sight for years as he walks from one side of Blue Hill Avenue to the other, people report he is looking better after his time in rehab. However, one person who saw him tweeted he wasn't looking too hot today.

Evilada took in a Rambling Dan performance in the Public Garden yesterday.

The rumor spread like wildfire tonight: Robbie Felder, who has spent much of the past decade shuffling up and down Morton Street asking for handouts, was dead.

Not true, counter people who say they know his family: Nobody's seen the white-bearded guy recently on Morton Street by Blue Hill Avenue because he's in rehab.

The story unfolded on his Facebook fan page (yes, of course, he has a Facebook fan page):

PEOPLE ARE SOO IGG FAMILY HAS STATED THT MR.BOBBY IS ALIVE AND DOING WELL HIS SO CALLED FANS ARE STILL DECLEARING HIM DEAD AND FOR THOSE WHO CALL HIM A BUM AKA BUMB MR. FELDER ATTEND MORNING STAR BAP CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY I CAN SPEAK FOR THAT HOW MANY BUMBS DO YOU NO WHO ATTEND CHURCH SERVICES PEOPLE GET A LIFE

As Spearmintkitten, who snapped the Chickenmanmobile near BC on Friday, puts it: "WTF."

He is apparently different from this Chickenman (the one we're supposed to remember) and this one and this one and, of course, the Chicken Man of Codman Square (who doesn't even look like a chicken).

Whoever, or whatever he is, though, he gets around. In fact, read to the bottom of that link to see how he may be "a daily Mass-going Catholic" who enjoys a dip in the pool at BC.

Photo copyright Spearmintkitten. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

The Lady with the Cardboard Signs at Park Street looked more like the Lady Who's About to Be Eaten by Pigeons this morning when UncleRico23 snapped her photo.

If you do want to read her signs, without having to actually stand right there, Colleen Bryant took a photo of them from the rear. Something about taxation equaling slavery.

Among the people taking in the Boston Photography Center's annual living photo installation in the Public Garden this year: Louie.

Scooterdude updates us on the impending arrival of his new multi-colored, professional-grade sail.

Iseut profiles Marvin Sealey, who can usually be found walking around, no matter the weather:

... Sometimes, fast, sometimes slow: his distinctive gait is a comfort to me when it's late and dark and I'm feeling a little edgy. He's lived with his family, on Kittredge Park for 41 of his 51 years and the other ten, the family lived on Dorr Street. He estimates he walks 2-3 miles a day but I bet it's more. No type of weather is a deterrent, Marvin says, and I've seen him out in the worst of it. ...

Alex Howell photographed the guy who yells Bible verses at the top of his lungs every Saturday night in Harvard Square while his acolytes hand out flyers.

Copyright Alex Howell. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Anybody who's ever driven down Morton Street in Mattapan knows the white-bearded guy who shuffles up and down the middle of the street by Blue Hill Avenue. Our own eeka reports that for some continuing-ed class, she did "a functional behavioral assessment" on him:

... The function of waving seems to be attract positive attention from other individuals. The purpose might also be to avoid the negative interactions that are often aimed toward people who are perceived as not having a job; it does seem that everyone in the area knows of this person and many seem to find him charming – while at the same time feeling a bit exasperated that he is behaving unsafely. This latter perception might in fact be a product of his waving, and the fact that people find him friendly might mean that they are more likely to avoid him and wish him well rather than finding him annoying and trying to run him off the road. It seems to be an adaptive response that he responds in a friendly/apologetic manner to cars honking at him, rather than a reactive manner that is more likely to start an altercation. ...

Scooterdude discusses the challenges of sailing around Copley Square on a scooter when the wind chill is below zero:

... It should be noted here that a secondary invention was extremely useful in keeping my nose and the rest of my exposed face from the bitter cold. I've discovered that the plastic sail provides an excellent temporary solar-warmed, wind-protective 'tent' as I headed back into the wind for my next gust-ride. It causes me to wonder why something of this sort is not devised for people subjected to Arctic conditions, whether on mountain summits or enduring polar climates. This kind of plastic 'Bubble' proved extremely useful and a great relieve from the steady punch of frigid wind. ...

Korri Leigh Crowley was walking down Mass. Ave. with her camera last night when Jesus asked if she'd like to take his picture.

16WadeSt captures Louie on a warm day downtown. Louie's story.

Copyright 16WadeSt. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

I was meeting somebody on the Common today (it's amazing what you can do when the weather's nice). As I walked down Winter, there was Spare Change Guy doing his usual thing (and still clean-shaven) right at Tremont.

Meeting done, I walked through the Common back toward Downtown Crossing. Spare Change Guy was sitting on a bench. His hand was out, and he was asking for spare change, but he was really subdued, almost like his battery was worn down.

At his usual spot at Winter and Tremont, there was a Spare Change guy, somebody hawking Spare Change News. So is there some rotation going on here?

Angry Mike is a fixture of Powder House Square in Somerville who screams at passersby. Ronhaha108 reports, however, that flashing a peace symbol at him calms him right down:

... I saw Angry Mike walking up the sidewalk yelling at people and looking around. I caught his attention and flashed him the peace sign, he did a double take and smiled at me and put his hand over his heart. ...