Your long day of corporate drudgery is over. Get out and enjoy the city! Here are a few ideas to get you started, lovingly picked by Boston Daily.
I’m never last picked, I got a cheerleader chick. Words to live by, to be sure, but unfortunately for Nada Surf those lyrics will haunt them forever. That’s a shame because the boys have put out a decade’s worth of fine music (download Blizzard of ‘77 if you need proof). They play The Paradise tonight. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/2/08 in The Last Word | No Comments »
This is the exterior of the building that houses the National Bureau of Economic Research. You are probably familiar with their work by now, since they were the folks who called the recession “official” yesterday.
But who are they, and why are they located in a rather drab office building on Mass. Ave between The People’s Republik and Harvard Square?
The first part first: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/2/08 in Economy, City Life | No Comments »
Every Tuesday, Matthew Reed Baker will offer his thoughts on the arts and culture scene. This week: The Peabody Essex Museum makes our landlubber want to go to sea; The BSO offers a downloadable sonic treat. Plus: Achtung baby! Free screenings of classic German film.
Thankfully, winter has yet to clutch us in its witchy embrace, but should ye be keening for Arctic ice and chill, then hie thee hence to the Peabody Essex Museum. Indeed, this North Shore institution’s new exhibit, “To the Ends of the Earth: Painting the Polar Landscape,” made this landlubber want to get his Melville on.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my search for the sublime seascape on Newbury Street, but the scope of this show goes way beyond that noble standard.
To be true, the exhibition’s rather prosaic, if descriptive, name doesn’t quite do justice to the soaring images on display, but I’m not sure what would have worked better. After all, these 54 works cover the last 200 years of Arctic and Antarctic exploration. And to think that the artists managed to risk their lives while creating such terrifying beauty should be humbling, to say the least. Seriously, you try painting icebergs and floes from a wooden ship circa 1870. Ernest Shackleton hadn’t even disembarked yet from his mother’s womb. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Matthew Reed Baker on 12/2/08 in Notes on the Culture | No Comments »
Taking you around the Internet for your afternoon enjoyment
Nothing is over until Evangelidis decides it is: Lewis Evangelidis vows to continue his fight with Brad Jones for Minority House Leader. The Holden Rep. vows to call back every member of the republican caucus, which should take him about five minutes. [PolitickerMa] Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/2/08 in Spanning the Web | No Comments »
That would be Elizabeth Warren, Harvard law professor, bankruptcy expert, and chairwoman of a congressional oversight panel, who told the New York Times that the government’s bailout plan seemed to lack a coherent strategy.
“You can’t just say, ‘Credit isn’t moving through the system,’ ” she said in her first public comments since being named to the panel. “You have to ask why.”
Warren was appointed to the panel, whose initial report is due Dec. 10, by Sen. Harry Reid, and voted chairwoman during the group’s initial meeting. Warren, who has written extensively about the middle class, described the initial report as akin to a roadmap for congressional questions of the Treasury Department. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/2/08 in Economy, Politics | No Comments »
Sometimes a story comes along that, bad karma or no, you just can’t help but take satisfaction in another’s misery. The word for that is schadenfreude, and it has no greater application than the demise of former Turnpike honcho Matt Amorello.
The Herald gleefully skewers Turnpike Matt who we find out has a mere $240 to his name, and has been told by a judge to get a job. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/2/08 in Economy, Massachusetts Turnpike | No Comments »
City Councilor John Tobin has long been kicking around an idea whose time may have come: term limits. Tobin is proposing that a referendum be placed on the November 2009 ballot to see if voters like the idea of imposing term limits on councilors, and, uh, the mayor.
Whenever there is corruption, politicians run out reform measures, and term limits are always at the top of the list. If pols didn’t have to worry about reelection, the argument goes, they would be more inclined to do the people’s business without an (alleged) hand out ready to stuff (alleged) dollars down their shirts.
“If you have term limits, it gives elected officials an incentive to get the job done, because there’s an end date,” Tobin said. “Also, there’s talented people who would like to run for office but won’t give up a summer to run against an entrenched incumbent.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/2/08 in Politics | No Comments »
Your long day of corporate drudgery is over. Get out and enjoy the city! Here are a few ideas to get you started, lovingly picked by Boston Daily.
When one is getting down, one could do worse than putting on “Be” by Common. He’s scheduled to host a release party at Venu tonight.
Or if string quartets are more your speed, Jordan Hall hosts a celebration of Elliott Carter’s 100th birthday with a performance. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/1/08 in The Last Word | No Comments »
The ballots for the Baseball Hall of Fame have been distributed and while there are a couple of interesting new names up for consideration—Mo Vaughn, Rickey Henderson, and David Cone most prominently—this year’s talk will be all about Jim Rice.
This is Rice’s 15th and final year on the Baseball Writer’s ballot, and he fell painfully short last year. Rice needed 16 more votes to reach 75 percent, the number needed for induction, and the next month will be yet another referendum on Rice’s candidacy until the totals are announced, Jan. 12. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/1/08 in Red Sox, Sports | No Comments »
Seems like it began in December, of 2007.
Several responses to the news:
President Bush: “I’m sorry it’s happening, of course.”
Thanks, Mr. President. Really.
Ben Bernanke: Interest rate cuts are “certainly feasible.”
What’s lower than 1 percent?
Dow Jones: Buh-bye.
Is now a good time to pick up some stock on the cheap?
Deval Patrick: “We’re prepared to do more.”
You sure you’re not interested in a cabinet position?
Posted by Paul Flannery on 12/1/08 in Economy | No Comments »