Brian Christiansen reports 3,800 people showed up to try to get one of 2,000 flu shots (500 for H1N1, 1,500 for regular flu):

... Took my 14 month old son to the clinic held at Burlington, MA’s high school today. I got there a half hour before it opened, after sitting in a half hour of traffic on Rt 3A to get there. Police blocked the driveway, sending people to park at Simmons Park, about a half mile up the street.

I parked there and took my son in his stroller back through the pouring rain. When I got about half way up the school driveway, the woman whom I parked next to was coming back towards me with her infant. She said there wasn’t enough vaccine of either seasonal or H1N1 for the number of people in line. She said 3800 people were already there, pushing and shoving. ...

Notice anything a little odd about their price for 3x5 rugs?

Shane Curcuru snapped this shot at the Burlington store.

Posted under this Creative Commons license.

Channel 5 has the details on a two-car crash around 7 a.m. Channel 4 tweets a 10-mile backup at 8:26 a.m.

Serious enough to require firefighters to cut open the roof.

Photo by Dangut.

Kirk informs us that he went to last night's meeting of the New England Lego Users Group at the Burlington Mall Legos store:

... Maybe 'cause I'm going through a bit of a "Dark Age" (what they call a period of time a lot of Lego fans go through where they don't do much Lego) I was a bit more stoked about building then and there than most of the regulars. ...

Ed. rectangular note with pegs on the top: Kellogg's now sells Lego-shaped Eggos (or are they Eggo-shaped Legos?).

Seems the towns along Rte. 3 north of 128 are trying to come up with a branding campaign to make their towns more attractive to business - something along the lines of "Rte. 128," only they can't actually name the road because they wouldn't want people to think they have anything to do with those trashy towns along Rte. 3 on the South Shore and all:

... Most people involved in the branding process believe traditional advertising will play a small role in spreading the campaign's message. Instead the campaign may use professional channels ranging from traditional trade shows to online videos and blogs. ...

Ed. snark note: Like I should talk. I used to sit near the reporter who came up with "MetroWest" as a replacement for "Greater Framingham."

Phillip McCarthy photographs the real faux Burlington Mall (or is that the faux real Burlington Mall)?

DJDiva reports from what sounds like the aftermath of a food war:

... Where did all the 'restaurants' go? The whole thing is boarded up shops. It looks like a mall 4 days before it closes forever over there. My hope is that they are trying to clean it up, put in some healthy options (bring back fresh city!) and make it look better for the launch of the new Nordstrom wing. ...

With bonus rantage about the Macy's and other stores there (but with kind words for the Mac stores and Legal Seafood).

Think anybody would mourn? No, didn't think so. On myDedham, Brian discusses what looks to be an interesting book by an MIT professor who imagines wiping the slate clean at the Dedham Mall, the Burlington Mall and Revere Beach and "transforming" them into modern-day downtowns with not just shopping but housing. Hmm, maybe the Natick Mall was onto something, after all? Right. Let's not get too carried away now.

Back in 1930, somebody gave Boston 200 acres of land in the two suburbs on the condition the city maintain it forever as "a public pleasure ground."

Only now Boston seems to want to sell off the land either as a subdivision or a golf course, according to Friends of the Cummings Park, which notes the city took $141,000 out of the park trust fund last year to pay a subdivision surveyor and $13,000 for legal fees this year - while spending absolutely nothing to maintain the land as a park.

Patrick O'Reilly: Mayor Menino, Please don't sell our park!