During the twilight hours on Sunday evening, G and I took a walk on Castle Island. After having so much rain the previous few days, the weather finally cleared up and we figured it would be a nice time to visit. Castle Island is located in South Boston, which is practically a walk from Quincy, but I had never been there. It's also very close to Logan Airport, so there are planes flying overhead seemingly every two minutes. Some of them are flying pretty low too. From Castle Island, you ... More ...

Pump up the jam! Remember that song? Loved it! Not only can you pump it up, but jam has several other meanings and uses. You can jam by taking part in a jam session. You can get stuck in a traffic jam. You can jam your foot on the brakes, to avoid hitting the car in front of you, because you’re stuck in a jam. And of course, there is that delicious edible variety of jam that adds fruity goodness when spread on a scone or toast. Why did I pick jam as the theme for this week? Well, I was luc... More ...

One of these pictures is not like the others. Can you guess which one? Ha! I know pretty lame. Sometimes I just can't help myself. Actually the last one that I included kind of throws things off... Anyway, last Friday, I finally made it to Quincy's Farmers' Market. My intent was to buy a few things and take some pictures for the 888 Flickr Pool. Here is my submission. I went a few years ago, but don't remember being too thrilled. This time I was pretty happy. Although, I missed the cooking demo... More ...

(Photo from Yahoo! Sports) Honestly, "pitching out of jams all night" should probably be Matsuzaka's middle name. So much does he love loading the bases and working full counts and walking guys that, by all reason, should have struck out, that it's a wonder to me that he's actually 15-2. Which is also why I called Lester the team's ace yesterday. It's just...even Tito thinks watching Matsuzaka pitch is frustrating. That was his word, "frustrating." Probably because you can't swear on TV. Unless... More ...

(Photo from Yahoo! Sports) So apparently Jason Bay and El Capitan were engaged in a little game of "anything you can do, I can do better" last night against the Orioles. With Tek hitting what was evidently a towering shot - perhaps as his way of telling everyone that his personal troubles are none of our damn business and can we please focus on baseball now thanks? - and Bay smacking two, it was all Jason Power, all the time. Not bad. Also, Jon Lester, who I think can legitimately be called the... More ...

(Awww, now that's love) Amy and I have a new InSite piece out wherein we explore the different types of sports bromances. Not to excite you too much but Dunkaroos, the "Ninja Rap" and, of course, Air Supply are mentioned. Enjoy. ... More ...

The New York Times profiles Karen Gadbois, who moved to New Orleans from Boston in 2002 and whose blog's detailing of malfeasance in a city-sponsored reconstruction program has led to a federal probe. Via Collateral Damage. ... More ...

Mike the Mad Biologist is plenty mad at Reed Elsevier, which excerpted one of his posts, then slapped a copyright notice on it. Read more ... More ...

Bruce Allen points us to Tossing Batting Practice, which is allegedly by a pseudonymous Boston sportswriter (who starts out by saying he's blogging from his own apartment, not ma's basement). Read more ... More ...

It’s time once again to clean out my feed reader of all the fun videos I have found all over the tubes, internets, webs, webertubes and even some I found on the internet. Again I will start with the most awesome video. This is just great. Everything you think you came up with first, you didn’t…. Bicyclists Strike back at Santa Monicaby thepeoplesride More below. (more…) ... More ...

more cat pictures ... More ...

WOW! So this weekend was the bicycle film fest. In a word, AWESOME! Great time, great people, great movies. It was a fantastic time, and if you missed it, SHAME ON YOU. The whole thing kicked off with a sweet party at Underground video/Revolution Cycles in JP. BoldSprints, over 200 PBR’s (mostly tall boys, all free) veggy dogs, food from veggie planet, and a whole lot of fun. Natasha took some great pictures of the event, here is a taste. Here is some guy betting five bucks that I w... More ...

A long weekend of baseball on the south side of Chicago and the final result was the Sox won all 4 games.(Red Sox 2 White Sox 2 ) Red Sox Nation was at U.S. Cellular Field in force all weekend and for the most part was very well behaved. We met a couple Monday night and their reason for being in Chicago saddened me. They are from Randolph and ardent Red Sox (and especially Coco) fans. I asked if they get to Fenway often and their reply stunned me. They don't go to Fenway *NOT* because they can'... More ...

I am in the middle of a baseball vacation and we will see our beloved Sox tonight and tomorrow in Kansas City and then in Chicago this weekend. I had never seen a game at Wrigley Field so last night we went to the old ballpark at Clark and Addison. I won't remember much of the game but I will never forget the sheer terror of thinking I am going to die with 40,000 other people. The Chicago Tribune explains The clock on top of the venerable Wrigley Field scoreboard read 8:06 p.m. Monday when torna... More ...

On Sunday evening I took my teenage son to Yankee Stadium so he could experience all that The Stadium in The Bronx can offer ( the history, the smells, the garbage etc ) I had bought the tickets months ago from Ticketmaster.com and chose the will-call option. After waiting in line nearly 30 minutes at the window I gave the clerk my ID and confirmation from Ticketmaster. NO TICKETS Of course I asked for the ticket manager and after about 10 minutes I was told to go into the lobby of the Yankees o... More ...

Douglas Flynn is an interesting guy, one with a background you might not see in many sports writers out there. He grew up in Massachusetts, and then went to Brown University, earning an honors degree in History as well as a second degree in Afro-American Studies. He then accepted a fellowship at Ohio State in a doctoral program in military history. He gave that a year before decided he had enough of school. Coming back to New England, he wasn't sure what he actually wanted to do, so he started... More ...

Scott Benson wants your opinion on which veteran free agent quarterback the Patriots should've added this offseason over on Patriots Daily. Get the rest of the Patriots coverage this morning at PatriotsLinks.com. Daisuke Matsuzaka was his usual self last night, which means the Red Sox won. Dice-K improved to 15-2 on the season in the 7-2 Boston win over the Orioles. Check the coverage at RedSoxLinks.com. I'll be back later on with another edition of “Who Are These Guys?”   ... More ...

by Scott Benson scott@patriotsdaily.com Matt Cassel's less than inspirational performance in the Patriots' first two pre-season games - and Tom Brady's absence from same - has some observers wondering if Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli could have done more to fortify New England's quarterback position in the off-season. Of course, they did draft Kevin O'Connell in the third round of April's draft, but it's a proven veteran backup that most critics have in mind, I figure, especially as the team pr... More ...

Here's a guy who's been to see a game at every NCAA Division 1 football stadium. And here's detailed maps and information about some of history's most famous voyages and road trips, from Marco Polo (whose trip sucked because people kept getting separated from the party and had to keep calling out his name - you try putting up with that for 11,000 miles) to Jack Kerouac. ... More ...

So I met some cool people in North Carolina, and found out they're all going nuts making manga avatars of themselves. Thus inspired, here's a pictorial salute to my usual Monday Night Trivia Team. (even though one's left for NC, which is why I was visiting there in the first place, he still belongs here until Ben overthrows him in our hearts) Make your own. And then send me a copy. ... More ...

BunkoSquad went on line for the first time on August 11, 1998. Weird, huh? Anyway, I'm currently travelling, so you're gonna have to celebrate without me if you're of a mind to. ... More ...

n.b. This title will make more sense if you read the comment argument on my last post. It gets so heated on the internets! I'm loving the purple robes. And, of course, Mr. Spongebob in the background. Related -Jewcy: Gay Black Jewish Klansmen ... More ...

If you’re interested in reading a summary of completely asinine insights, check out this August 21th post on the NY Times' Freakanomics blog, The Plight of Mixed-Race Children. Right off the bat, the whole premise of the paper is baffling to me. Plight? Really? A mixed race kid might become our next president. How ‘bout we turn this study on its head and call it “The Opportunities of Mixed Race Children.” Two, the research completely oversimplifies the issue. Take, for example, their ... More ...

If you???re interested in reading a summary of completely asinine insights, check out this August 21th post on the NY Times' Freakanomics blog, The Plight of Mixed-Race Children. Right off the bat, the whole premise of the paper is baffling to me. Plight? Really? A mixed race kid might become our next president. How ???bout we turn this study on its head and call it ???The Opportunities of Mixed Race Children.??? Two, the research completely oversimplifies the issue. Take, for example, t... More ...

A walk along the old rail bed to the South River in Marshfield. ... More ...

Thunderclouds coming in over Westwood. ... More ...

15,000 journalists covering a forgone conclusion. Jeff Jarvis says it’s a waste and he may be right. But I’ll be in Denver, not as a journalist but as an observer and posting if there’s anything interesting. ... More ...

I thought it might be interesting to try to get out to see live music every night in July; but I’d probably die after the first week trying to juggle that and my work schedule. So I’m looking for cohorts to contribute. Look for interesting happenings (or try something random) once (or more) a week and note the who/what/when/where on this shared Google calendar. (If you can’t edit it, send me your gmail address is and I’ll send you an invite.) Let me know where to find yo... More ...

I thought it might be interesting to try to get out to see live music every night in July; but I’d probably die after the first week trying to juggle that and my work schedule. So I’m looking for cohorts to contribute. Look for interesting happenings (or try something random) once (or more) a week and note the who/what/when/where on this shared Google calendar. (If you can’t edit it, send me your gmail address is and I’ll send you an invite.) Let me know where to find yo... More ...

Until this year, I skipped every other WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble since moving to Boston in 1994. I’m glad I finally ended that tradition and made it out to some of the shows at this year’s 30th annual rumble. The finals night was no exception. The winners, Girls Guns & Glory, played their best show I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been to a bunch). I finally got to see A.K.A.C.O.D., the union of Dana Colley (former Saxaphonist for Morphine), bass player and singer Monique ... More ...

Having just discovered that H2OTown has returned (Welcome back, all!) this is coming a little late - but I wanted to post something about Flat Earth Theatre's show that's going up this week and next at the Arsenal Center for the Arts. Here's the press release: WATERTOWN: Watertown based community theatre company, Flat Earth Theatre, presents two one-act comedies by Christopher Durang at the Arsenal Center for the Arts August 15th through the 23rd. The double bill will consist of ... More ...

I spent the summer in Boulder, CO working on a new startup, People's Software Company, with my friend and fellow blogger Susan Mernit. Why Boulder? Boulder is the location for TechStars, a seed funding and incubation program for tech startups. Each year, TechStars chooses ten teams out of over 400 to participate and gives them funding and mentoring. We sublet a house from a CU/Boulder architecture professor and spent our days in The Bunker, which is what everybody really calls the works... More ...

Not new, but H2otown *loved* this take on the RickRoll meme featuring Barack Obama. ... More ...

Picked up Simon Scarrow's 'Under the Eagle' in preparation for Hub Blog's summer vacation. Some are comparing Scarrow to Cape Cod's Bernard Cornwell. I've started reading the first of Scarrow's Roman-legion series -- and it's pretty good. But I can already tell you he's no Cornwell. ... Now here's a Cornwell book I can't wait to get my hands on: 'Agincourt.' But I'll have to wait. ... On-deck vacation read: 'The Historian.' Should be getting to it by about Tuesday. ... ... More ...

The first reaction to Carla's self-payments: Disappointment. But now let's look at public unions' use of pass-through taxpayer funds to fight the November anti-tax initiative -- and look at the pay, perks and palaces of union bosses and underlings at the same time. As one commentator put it: "What Ms. Howell pays herself from her efforts is a fraction of what lobbyists who work to extract more money from taxpayers are raking in." ... ... More ...

I do too. But it's a shame Julia Child and others couldn't reveal too much about their OSS roles in World War II. They deserved recognition right up there with GIs, WACs, Coast Guard members, Rosie the Riveter, etc., for helping win the war. Glad to see some of them are now proudly talking about their association. ... ... More ...

Today's Live Nation concert info dump: ZuccheroAt the Somerville TheatreThursday, September 25, 2008 at 7:30 pmTickets are $39.50 Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 23, 2008 at 10:00 am Common/N.E.R.D.At the Orpheum TheatreWednesday, October 1, 2008 at 7:30 pmTickets are $35.00 and $39.50 Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 22, 2008 at NOON Death Cab For CutieAt the Agganis Arena at Boston UniversityFriday, October 3, 2008 at 7:30 pmTickets are $35.00Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 23, 2008 ... More ...

I flipped when I saw this headline: Unfortunately the story wasn't as interesting as I thought: "ABC is moving forward with its plans for a male-based 'Supernanny' spinoff. The network will air a pilot episode of 'Supermanny'" in the fall. The spinoff's format will remain similar to the original, with a child-development expert lending a family in crisis some tough-love guidance." I like the idea of Manny-as-superhero better. You know, Gotham City would need saving from some u... More ...

From 8 to midnight on Sept. 26 at the ICA, the art collective Sosolimited will perform "ReConstitution," a live, non-partisan remix of the first presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. Uh huh, that's right. The Cambridge-based Sosolimited Cambridge, Mass., has designed software to samples a TV broadcast in real time - video, audio and closed captioned text - for remixing. Did I mention that the members of Sosolimited are MIT grads? ReConstitution 2008 - Live Presiden... More ...

ongoing We have as much ambivalence about Woody Allen as anyone these days, and can't quite let go of that he-took-dirty-pictures-of-and-then-married-his-step-daughter! thing. I mean, really, the heart wants what it wants. But we also have to say his last three films, Match Point, Cassandra's Dream and now Vicky Cristina Barcelona. These movies all show Woody getting away from what we've considered typical Woody, and a willingness to take cinematic leaps as he ventures into t... More ...

Sat. Aug. 30 Keith Hollis and the PO' BOYZ are a high-powered organ trio, steeped in New Orleans funk and down-home blues. They bring the music to the Middle East Corner - that's the bar/restaurant above the Middle East Upstairs - for a Saturday night residency beginning August 30. They'll start at 10 and wind down at 1:30. No cover.472 Massachusetts Ave. Cambridge, 617-492-1882 www.mideastclub.com ... More ...

Thurs. Aug. 21 Fri. Aug. 22 Rich Parsons may be a mild-mannered mananger for Newbury Comics - and he's been that for years - but he's also the singer-guitarist of one of Boston's first punk outfits, Unnatural Axe. Which still exists, at various times, as do other Parsons-helmed bands. The dream of punk rock stardom may have passed Parsons by, but the passion to play - and the desire to round up like-minded folks haven't. And, so the Axe host a 30th Anniversay Celebration for tw... More ...

This past weekend, we were fortunate to have Sara and Ann both visiting Boston at the same time. They were planning on meeting up together, and did a surprise visit on me, and it was a REAL surprise! The two of them had spent a day or two together before we’d gotten a chance to meet [...] ... More ...

The Ols South Church is located in Copley Square, Boston, right across the street from the Boston Public Library. ... More ...

If you slept in, this is what you missed this morning. It was beautiful, looking towards the east. ... More ...

I've read "For Better of For Worse" for years and years, and have been disappointed in the recent development that Elizabeth is going to marry Anthony. Today's strip was such a cliffhanger that I actually gasped at the last box. I can't wait for tomorrow's strip- any guesses on what will happen? Is anyone one else out there a fan? ... More ...

Photo from Boston.comI walk by this site every day, and while it's interesting to see the building's innards, so to speak, I'm very excited to see how the new construction will develop. This article on Boston.com this morning is particularly frightening... I hope 2 years from now this photo still isn't an accurate representation of Downtown Crossing. ... More ...

Nick is in Florida this week for business, so it's just Dwayne and I. Poor Dwayne gets all of my attention when Nick's not around. I really think blue is his color ... More ...

Margaret Cho's "The Cho Show" premieres 11 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21 on VH1. Based on the clips I've seen, the show looks hilarious. Back in April, I interviewed the the comic while she was in the process of filming the VH1 celeb-reality series. Here's her take: Comedian Margaret Cho is a bit preoccupied lately because, well, she’s making a skin flick. "Is it raunchy? Absolutely," she jokes, giving the lowdown on the simulated sex scenes for her upcoming celeb-reality project, "The Cho Show," whi... More ...

Forget review sites like Yelp.com, Wicked Local and Yellowbook.com. They charge local businesses fees for basic features like adding a YouTube video or an image gallery. Take control of your online brand with Povo.com. This FREE service enables Boston-area restaurants and shops to easily share information about their establishment to the many of thousands of potential customers that use Povo.com as a community resource. Also, because of the site's tagging capabilities, improve your establishment... More ...

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Many people who live near and commute through Cambridge, Watertown, and Waltham have noticed potions of the essentially abandoned Watertown Branch railroad. Vanshnookenraggen PhotoBlog has an interesting series on the Watertown Branch, located here, which includes decaying train tracks, puddles, bridges, and oodles of neat graffiti.This whole line is easily accessible at