Boston Phoenix

Heavy police presence deters melee at West Roxbury protest

adamg — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:06:26 -0400

West Roxbury's mullahs of morality showed up on the VFW Parkway today to protest alleged sexual exploitation of women in the Boston Phoenix, which they apparently think is distributed only at Gary's Liquors. Fortunately, a phalanx of eight Boston police officers - including two in a prisoner transport van - kept the ten middle-aged and elderly people from running amok through the mini-mall (by 4 p.m., the police presence had dwindled to just two officers).

The protesters, deeply and suddenly concerned about the treatment of young women in the Phoenix (as opposed to the Verizon Yellow Pages, Craigslist, Comcast On Demand, the Boston Public Library or the Amazing adult book store in Dedham), tried convincing passersby to pass by Gary's, which was the only store to tell organizer Bob Joyce to pound sand when he "requested" they stop distributing the paper.

Phoenix digs up a new music editor

adamg — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:44:33 -0400

Sam Baltrusis has the scoop.

Phoenix music editor is now ex-Phoenix music editor

adamg — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:01:24 -0500

Matt Ashare out, the Dig reports (along with some cracks about his Geritol consumption).

Obligatory Vote-for-UH post

adamg — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:54:17 -0500

The Phoenix is taking reader nominations for its annual "best" awards. One of the categories is Best Blog/Podcast, and, yep, Universal Hub is one of the nominees.

Yippee, right? I think the other entries they chose (Blue Mass Group, Allston-Brighton Community Blog, Jon Keller, Dan Kennedy) are all fine choices, except maybe Keller, and that's because something happened to his RSS feed and I never read him anymore so I just don't know. But it's an awfully small list (um, guys, if you have a Blog/Podcast category, you might want to list some podcasts). Boston is blessed with tons of great bloggers, so who am I to judge?

Fortunately, you can cast write-in votes. And it's a good thing I don't have a marketing person, because I'm sure he/she would be yelling at me right now. Oh, and when you vote, you need to click on Finish, I think.

The hypocrisy of West Roxbury's morals squad

adamg — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 15:09:53 -0500

There are several odd things about Roslindale resident Robert Joyce's campaign to rid West Roxbury of the Boston Phoenix.

Anti-Phoenix harrumpher insists he's no Mullah Omar

adamg — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:57:26 -0500

We're not Taliban blares the front page of the West Roxbury and Roslindale Bulletin this week about Bob Joyce, the man who would liberate West Roxbury, where he doesn't live, from the evil clutches of the foul Boston Phoenix. He says he's not against the First Amendment, so there. The Bulletin clarifies his merry band's philosophy, in what has to be one of the best paragraphs ever written in a neighborhood weekly:

The party further discussed the kind of freedom they hoped to preserve in opposing the Phoenix, an ordered liberty in the spirit of Montesquieu and the Federalist Papers, which serves as a constructive foundation for human society-and decent society, even. They decried the flimsiness of libertarianism, which can lead to life the way Hobbes put it-nasty, brutish and short.

Tammy, who does live in West Roxbury, explains why she wishes she could liberate West Roxbury from the evil clutches of Bob Joyce, and wonders why the Bulletin keeps giving him space.

Earlier:
Banned in West Roxbury: Group tries to keep the Phoenix out of the neighborhood.

Banned in West Roxbury: Group tries to keep the Phoenix out of the neighborhood

adamg — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 12:50:50 -0500

The West Roxbury Bulletin reports on a group of West Roxbury residents trying to get the Phoenix banned from the neighborhood because of its adult ad section.

Support Community Decency, Inc. claims it's already gotten several stores - and the Centre Street post office - to stop allowing distribution of the free paper. But Gary's Liquors on the VFW Parkway is refusing, so they're trying to organize protests outside the store at their Saturday meetings at the West Roxbury library. It's organized by Bob Joyce, who ran an unsuccessful 2004 campaign to unseat state Sen. Marian Walsh after she came out in favor of same-sex marriage.

Joyce tells the Bulletin:

"This is not a freedom of speech issue, since we are not deciding whether or not this material is obscene. We are saying that it is indecent, sexually exploitive, and has potential to cause significant harm, physical and emotional, to West Roxbury families. We have a right to oppose the distribution of the Boston Phoenix in a lawful, peaceful way."

The West Roxbury Transcript quotes a Phoenix editor that this is a freedom-of-speech issue because Joyce is a right winger upset with the Phoenix's political stands - and quotes the owner of Gary's Liquors as saying Joyce came into his store and started threatening him.

Neither the Bulletin nor the Transcript asked Joyce why he's more concerned about the moral turpitude of West Roxbury than Roslindale, where he lives.

Phoenix VP leaves

adamg — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:46:03 -0500

The Dig (which knows something about departures) breaks the news; posts the memo.

Papering over their differences?

adamg — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 21:48:01 -0500

Boston Phoenix: Our anonymous source says the Herald's irrelevant!

Boston Herald: Anonymous source? We don't think so.

Boston Phoenix: Oh, you might be right.

Universal Hub: What about me?

A better class of newspaper hawkers

adamg — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:44:47 -0500

Jesse Legg requests the Phoenix send its peppy, good-looking hawkers to the Davis Square T stop on a regular basis, rather than only every 40 years or so.