Boston + Cambridge + Somerville

It's Boston City Council Day at the Globe

adamg — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:48:11 -0500

Reporter John Drake gives us a twofer today - and neither story carries a single mention of words like "indictment" or "extortion."

In one story, he helps City Councilor John Tobin revive his perennial pitch for term limits - which wouldn't apply to anybody currently in office, but which, strangely, never seems to get anywhere.

In another story, Drake lets Councilor and mayoral wannabe Michael Flaherty channel Maura Hennigan and complain that, when the Big One hits, Boston is toast, and it's all Menino's fault.

Remember when Boston cab companies got fare increases because of gas prices?

adamg — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:55:22 -0500

The Outraged Liberal's been wondering about that:

Now that gasoline prices have plummeted, shouldn't Boston taxi fares do the same? Yeah, I know, pretty stupid. Too much tryptophan-induced delirium I guess. But at the very least, shouldn't the increased rates only apply to cabs that don't have a "Check Engine" light illuminating the dashboard? ...

Young black leaders seek piece of leadership pie

adamg — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:52:17 -0500

The Globe details efforts by a younger crop of black leaders in Boston - who use phrases like "paradigm of governance" - to fill the vacuum left by Dianne Wilkerson and, soon, possibly, Chuck Turner.

Signs of the time's

adamg — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:55:54 -0500

It's kind of amazing to think this sign has stood in Dedham Square for 78 years now without anybody doing something about the errant apostrophe in "years."

Barbara Wallraff notices a similar apostrophic sin right in the middle of Harvard Square.

Bostonians improperly dropkicked

Anonymous — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:20:10 -0500

I was a big fan of the Dropkick Murphys hit and Red Sox fight song "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" which also found its way to the soundtrack for The Departed (on YouTube here.) Their more recent effort from this summer, which they wrote for Improper Bostonian is called "The Chosen Few" and has been derided as "sorta like drunken karaoke." What do you think? Lyrics after the break.

Gawker should stick to stuff it knows - like airheaded Manhattanites

adamg — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:13:39 -0500

Gawker looks at some Obama contributor list and concludes it's "full of fraud" because one of the contributors, Doug Berman of Cambridge, MA, listed his employer as Dewey, Cheetham and Howe.

Yeah right, Mr. Berman! Very clever!

Anybody care to educate Gawker on who Doug Berman really is and who he really works for? Here's a free clue for Gawker. And here's another photo of their headquarters in Harvard Square.

Thanks to Lindsay Murdock of Brighton Communication for the tip!

Photo by Schmich, used under Creative Commons.

Fox 25 somehow figures out how to get a crew to Somerville

adamg — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:52:20 -0500

Kathleen Powers posts some notes on Belinda the Pile of Sawdust and Woodchips, but you need to read the last paragraph about a Channel 25 cameraman.

Not all local biotech researchers working on cures for cancer, chronic diseases

adamg — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:40:36 -0500

Ryan McBride interviews the CEO of a Cambridge start-up seeking to use the full weight of modern science against the scourge of frizzy hair:

... The substance, Robillard says, combats frizz by both coating porous hair shafts, preventing water from penetrating them, and by smoothing over hair cuticles to prevent surface friction. He argues that polyflouroester prevents frizz better than silicone used in other products because its molecules' smaller size enables them to fit into tiny pores in our hair that silicone molecules cannot get into. ...

Herald readers see things

adamg — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:02:56 -0500

Herald photographer Mark Garfinkel reports that a couple of readers contacted him about a photo he took at a five-alarm fire on Prince Street in Cambridge last week: One thought the flames looked like Mother Teresa, the other thought they looked like the devil. Judge for yourself.

Do you play Monopoly with money on Free Parking?

adamg — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 10:47:46 -0500

In any case, Park and Pray reminds us that you can park for free at metered spaces on Saturdays in Boston between Nov. 29 and Dec. 27 - but only for two hours at a time. Or you can shop in one of the many fine business districts outside Boston Proper where the parking is always free (oh, no, I'm starting to sound like Rhode Island Treasurer Frank Caprio!).