Boston: land of the famous

Over the course of the past 24 hours I've seen Eve Plumb (a.k.a "Jan Brady") at an art opening at the Mills Gallery in the South End (she's an artist herself), and Cameron Diaz at the BPL filming a movie called "The Box". The BPL is, according to a reference librarian, acting as a stand-in for a library in Virginia. The place was swarming with the film crew, and at least half of the library was closed to the public. This is really too much excitement for one day.

Walking really is (almost) faster

I've often thought that it makes more sense to get off the Green Line at Park Street and walk to Aquarium on my way home to Eastie. Not only is it a scenic city walk by day or by night, but it always seemed to me that it may actually be a quicker way to get to Aquarium (along with the added bonus of exercise). So the other night I left Park Street Station and walked at a comfortable pace until I was halfway down State Street. On my way I saw a historic plaque, and of course I had to read it...so I stopped for a couple of minutes to try to make out what it said, but could only see that it had something to do with John Winthrop and the first house in Boston, but it was too dark to read the details. On my merry way again, I soon bumped into a guy looking for directions, and giving them to him took a minute or two. Eventually I made it to the Aquarium platform a couple of minutes before the train arrived, and who should pass me by as he's leaving the train but one of the people who was on my Green Line train at Park Street Station. It goes to show you - if you can, you might as well just walk. You can even stop along the way and still make as good time as the T.

Who reads the Weekly Dig?

That's the question I asked myself after reading their 2007 Dig This Issue. The category that caught my attention was "Hamburger". For most locals, best hamburger is usually a choice between Mr. & Mrs. Bartley's and R.F. O'Sullivan's (I'm partial to R.F.'s, the most amazing burgers ever to grace the Earth). NEITHER of them were among the winner or the runners-up. Unbelieveable! The winner was a place called Uburger somewhere near BU (which according to the description specializes in tasty burgers for people on the go), so I can only assume that a huge chunk of the readership is BU students. I used to love the Dig, but it hasn't been even mediocre since they ditched the border and went glossy and all topical on the covers. After reading the new Dig This results I'm hating the rag even more. I'm practically out of reasons to take the effort to read it, but they do still have Savage Love, and that's a big plus.

Dan Grabauskas: silenced!

Have any of you T commuters out there noticed anthing missing from your commutes? An ever-present voice that used to tell you to say something when you see something? Ever since the death of T-Radio, I've noticed that the voice of Dan Grabauskas no longer wafts through every T station. I can only assume that Dan finally realized that publicly associating himself with the MBTA would make him possibly the least popular person in the metro-Boston area. Certainly, now I don't say "Damn that Dan Grabauskas" as much as I used to. It's a good move on Dan's part to create an MBTA that is a faceless bureaucracy; drawing so much ire from the commuting masses couldn't have been too good for his self-esteem.

Update: No such luck - I heard the "see something, say something" message at Harvard Station last night. Wishful thinking!

Eating like a champion

Last night I was at the Texas Roadhouse in Everett for L.'s birthday, and one of the folks there paid with an official Red Sox credit card. The waiter returned to the table with the credit cards asking who paid with the Sox card (I was thinking, "Uh oh, it's been declined...") - because Sox pitcher Manny Delcarmen was eating with a crowd at the table next to us, and the waiter offered to ask him to autograph the front of the card! Sure enough, I look over and there's Manny Delcarmen, whooping it up with his folks. So the waiter brings back the signed card, and we're all like, "Wow, Manny Delcarmen! Wow! How about that!" On my way out I wanted to tell him congratulations on the World Series, but he was pretty caught up chatting with his peeps. It's pretty cool that he signed the card. Go Sox!

Sleater-Kinney - The Hot Rock

I bought Sleater-Kinney's LP "The Hot Rock" many months ago, and am listening to it as I write this for the first time. It's really terrific stuff - so 90's! I bet they put on an awesome live show - will have to remember to buy tickets for their reunion tour (which I imagine will happen at some point, right?). Next on my list of Neglected Vinyl Due For a Listen, Syl Sylvain and the Teardrops.

Update: The first side of SS & the T's is total dreck, but the 2nd side is total awesome wicked dancey fun, well worth the $5.99.

Jeveli's Lounge - Terminal J

Last night I went with S. to Jeveli's over in Day Square, where I've never been to despite living in Eastie for 2+ years (wow, has it really been that long?). It took us a while to figure out whether to go to the Dining Room or the Lounge, and settled on the Lounge. It's a very comfortable, familiar-feeling place. Very friendly, too. There were a few TV's around, but they weren't very distracting, and the noise level was low - very easy to carry on a conversation during dinner. I ordered the Penne Rigate with Sausages, and the waitress had no idea what I was talking about. After saying it a few times I pointed to it and she said "Oh, you mean Ziti with Sausages. I always call it ziti." We all got a good laugh out of that, and within a couple of minutes our salads were served, which were composed mostly of iceberg lettuce and lots of dressing. Mainly I tasted the dressing, but that was fine since the dressing (peppercorn) was really tasty. The bread we got was pretty standard, and handily soaked up my fine glass of merlot. The main dish was good, and the sausages were plentiful. It's hard for me to describe standard Italian pasta dishes, because generally they're pretty standand no matter where you go, even in the North End (for non-standard Italian dishes, I highly recommend Pomodoro on Hanover St. in the North End. For amazing standard Italian pasta dishes I highly recommend Vinny's at Night on Broadway in East Somerville). And this is no different - but the convivial atmosphere at Jeveli's is really what makes it special, and the fact that they call it "Terminal J" is cool (there are pictures of planes lining the panel above the bar). If you're looking for decent but standard Italian food and a great place to to hang and chat, get over to Jeveli's Lounge today!

Bitching, moaning

It's been months since I've posted here, though not for lack of things to write about. There have been a couple of things over the past week that need mentioning, though:

I went to a concert at Jordan Hall at NEC the other night, for the first time in nearly 6 months. Soon after sitting in my seat it was clear that something was different about the hall...NEC was advertising itself on stage! Yes, in their obsession with "branding" (which I know of firsthand), NEC created a wood/metal(?) sign and that reads "New England Conservatory," and place it smack dab in the middle of the back wall of the stage. The wood on the sign almost matches the wood of the hall, but it's noticeably different. The font, though (which can be seen in the logo on their website), doesn't match the style of the hall at all, which makes the words even more of a distraction. Does the BSO have a sign in the back of Symphony Hall? Does Sanders have a "Harvard University" sign in the middle of Sanders Theater? It's obvious that NEC wants to remind people that they're not just in Jordan Hall, but also at NEC. But it's also obvious that putting the words "New England Conservatory" in plain sight on the stage really takes away from the concert-going experience - you want to be focussing on the music and the beautiful hall, not on words on the stage (which I found difficult to ignore). It's too bad NEC chose to detract from the Jordan Hall Experience.

Another disconcerting change in the area is to the Harvest Coop in Central Square. I saw a while back that they were renovating, and now the renovations are complete. The store is still called "Harvest," but they renamed the front portion of the place...get ready..."The Clear Conscience Cafe." A while back I was getting annoyed at a hybrid commercial that indicated that a great reason to buy a hybrid is so that you can lord it over your littering, polluting brethren. Now this mentality is seeping into cafe culture! Will I have people with Clear Conscience Coffee Cups giving me knowing looks of their superiority I walk down the street with my cup of 7-Eleven joe? Oh, the disgrace I will feel! Sheesh.