I Am A Scientist.
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- Neighborhood
- Allston
- Where I'm From
- Boston
- Occupation
- Music Writer, Copyright Research Assistant
About Me
I live in Boston and work in my bedroom. It's hard for me to fill things like this out. I am extremely excited for summer.
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.jpg "A Cyclist's Guide to Boston")
A Cyclist's Guide to Boston
The other day I saw a political cartoon where a bunch of numbers fell off of a gas station's price sign and turned into a bicycle, which a businessman promptly rode away. I get just about all of my information about American culture from political cartoons, so it's interesting to note that cycling is on the rise for some reason or another. It is very important to follow trends. With that in mind, I created this guide to help potential Boston bikers strike while the iron is hot.
.png "A Free Guide to Free Culture")
A Free Guide to Free Culture
The phrase "free culture" has been getting bounced around a lot lately, especially around the internet (where we are right now). It's a pretty confusing issue, but it's also pretty important if you're at all interesting in things like "creating art" and "not being sued." This is a guide that highlights several basic organizations and issues revolving around free culture. It's only a starting point, but if you're interested it should be easy enough to take it from here.
.jpg "A Guide to Strange, Spooky Health Problems")
A Guide to Strange, Spooky Health Problems
As anyone who has ever used the internet or watched television or listened to the radio knows, there are thousands upon thousands of things that can afflict and/or kill you on almost a daily basis. Some of these afflictions are particularly strange or scary. Others just have odd names. Don't come down with any of these, okay?
.jpg "Animals Riding Things: It's That Simple")
Animals Riding Things: It's That Simple
Sometimes animals climb atop moving objects and stay there. Sometimes the objects are other animals, sometimes they're the same moving objects humans tool around on. What follows are some of the best examples I could find of impressive animal rides.
.jpg "Boston Burrito Roundup")
Boston Burrito Roundup
I consistently find myself at the oratory mercy of west coast transplants talking at me about the inadequacy of New England Mexican food. This happens to me about once every two weeks. I've been to the west coast, and their burritos are good, but (with some exceptions) I truly fail to see what's so inedible about the Mexican in our fair city. This guide provides an overview to just about all the high-profile burrito places in town.
.jpg "Breakin' Down Allston For Real")
Breakin' Down Allston For Real
I live in Allston (a small neighborhood of Boston), have done so for two years, and will likely do so for at least one more. People consistently (and occasionally accurately) dismiss it as a filthy den of sin populated entirely by drunken young maniacs. It is a weird and often charming neighborhood, though, and I feel like there is often more to it than meets the sober, disgusted eye. I've taken the liberty of noting what I perceive as the best and worst of the area.
.jpg "Buyin' Some Vinyl in Boston")
Buyin' Some Vinyl in Boston
This is a guide for Boston residents who, for some reason, insist on buying physical music, particularly in vinyl form. The number of brick-and-mortar record stores is dwindling pretty quickly in these parts (and everywhere else, I guess), but the ones that are still around are all pretty great. This is by no means an exhaustive list (though I think it's actually pretty close), just a list of my favorites. RIP Mojo, Mars, Skippy White's, Second Coming, Re:Generation's Record Store, etc.
.jpg "Curses! The Cool and the Coincidental")
Curses! The Cool and the Coincidental
Nobody likes being on the receiving end of a curse. Unfortunately, religious and psychospiritual doctrines dictate that curses are fun and interesting and therefore must be brought into existence both as a form of punishment and as a diversion from monotonous field labor. Field labor has been outmoded in much of western civilization, but we've hung on to some of the most illustrious curses in addition to coming up with some of our own. Observe.
.jpg "Grown Men With Ponytails: Your Guide to Boston Music Shops")
Grown Men With Ponytails: Your Guide to Boston Music Shops
Chances are, if you play guitar or anything else you’re going to have to end up at a music store at some point. Going into a music store is one of the most unequivocally unpleasant consumer experiences I can think of, perhaps rivaled only by buying a coffin. These commission-driven dens of deceit are often a necessary evil, so as someone who has ventured into the belly of the beast more often than most, I offer a guide to some of Boston’s notables.
.jpg "Not a Boring Hellhole Ruined By Blue Laws and High Rent After All: Boston Odds and Ends")
Not a Boring Hellhole Ruined By Blue Laws and High Rent After All: Boston Odds and Ends
Alright, fine, the title was facetious. Still, though, it seems pretty self-evident that Boston's undergone a pretty serious facelift within the past couple of decades. Crime has dropped and Boston is regularly mentioned among the safest, nicest cities in America. Somewhere along the line, though, it seems like it's lost a lot of the street-level mystique that, to me, makes a city really great. Here are a handful of facts and other minutia that just might fool you into thinking Boston has...
.jpg "People Who Are Great at Being Rich")
People Who Are Great at Being Rich
All-too-often we peasants find ourselves thinking, "Man, if I were rich I'd pull some stupid crap." Unfortunately for us, becoming rich often means walking a specific kind of straight-and-narrow that precludes the kind of wacky behavior that would be the best part of being rich in the first place. An amazing category of people have managed to sidestep that. Let's hear some examples of rich people who are actually living the dream.
.jpg "Schadenfreude: The Best Places in Boston to See a Fistfight")
Schadenfreude: The Best Places in Boston to See a Fistfight
A skinny, relatively wimpy friend of mine was recently hassled by a group of toughs in southern California. Grasping at straws, he explained to them that he was from Boston and had learned how to fight there and that they had better get out of his way. The toughs immediately acted impressed and backed off. However earned the reputation might be, Boston is apparently infamous for both the frequency and quality of its fistfights. Judge for yourself, if you'd like, using the tips in this guide.
.jpg "Serious About Fun: Barbecuing in Boston")
Serious About Fun: Barbecuing in Boston
In Boston, the extremity of the seasons means taking advantage of what precious few beautiful days we are allotted. I'm sure just about anyone will agree that one of the best ways to do so is by throwing a barbecue. Day drinking, excellent home-cooked food, friends, night drinking: What is not to love? In this guide I've included some of my tried-and-true grilling favorites, one item I've never tried but assume I'd like and some drink ideas to make playing with fire that much more fun.
.jpg "Some New Boston Bands I've Gone Ahead and Liked")
Some New Boston Bands I've Gone Ahead and Liked
There are lots of bands in Boston. Some of them are good. Many are not. Here are just a few bands that I think fall in the former category. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just the ones that came to mind first and/or the ones I find easiest to write about.
.jpg "Something About Screaming: Ice Cream in Boston")
Something About Screaming: Ice Cream in Boston
Everyone likes ice cream. It's summer. Aside from vegans and the lactose intolerant, I can't imagine anyone turning down some awesome ice cream. This guide runs down some places Bostonians might want to snag some of this culinary gold in addition to collecting some of my favorite ice cream-related detritus.
.jpg "Something Something With the Radio On: The Best Live Music Venues in Boston")
Something Something With the Radio On: The Best Live Music Venues in Boston
In a lot of places, I often see smaller (read: not arena-sized) music venues recommended really weakly as sort of a “kooky, low-budget night on the town” or “where hipsters hang out and drink PBR’s to the tunes of next month’s superstars.” To me, it’s simply where my time and money are better spent. The people who hang out at these places, at least in Boston, are way more likely to be uniformly annoying college students or (maybe overly) friendly townies than someone’s invisible stereotype...
.jpg "The Best Possible End of the World Scenarios")
The Best Possible End of the World Scenarios
The World's gotta end someday, right? Even if we get off earth and reach higher planes of consciousness or whatever the ostensible goals of humanity are, time, nature and science will have their way and at some point the human race as we know it will be eradicated. It's scary to think about, but all the most plausible theories for bringing this about aren't going to happen for quite awhile, so join me in checking out the top of the heap.
.jpg "The Best Themed Blogs")
The Best Themed Blogs
In case this is the first website you've checked in a few years or you haven't noticed the slow death of print media, I should point out that there are lots and lots of blogs. Lately, I've become partial to focused blogs that have ridiculous, specific themes. These are some of my favorites. To the more industrious among you: It seems starting a blog like this is a one-way ticket to a book deal. Take note.
.jpg "The Greatest Fictional Rock Bands of All Time")
The Greatest Fictional Rock Bands of All Time
Everyone's got a favorite. Be they a one-off in some obscure episode of a television show, or the terrible band of a recurring character, fictional rock bands are a pop culture mainstay. Here are a handful that I think are pretty great. If there are any you think I missed, let me know.
.jpg "\"They Got Comics On That Internet Now?\" \"Ohhh yeah.\"")
"They Got Comics On That Internet Now?" "Ohhh yeah."
I like webcomics one whole hell of a lot. Besides being, as Achewood creator Chris Onstad has put it, "a momentary diversion on the road to the grave," webcomic artists are at the front of a sea change in how working artists make their livings. As a working fake-artist who has, more or less, no living, I can't help but find that pretty cool.
Statistics
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Shout Outs
Shout out to JoeB-
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JOE is back!!!!!!!!!!!! My week feels complete, the the holy lord. ;) Thanks Joe!
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Ok Joe, so who do you think you are? Too creative to check out the new and improved Guidespot…. and to categorize your guides and get involved in Community Guides? The wedding excuse didn’t last long… Where are you!!!?
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Joe is so creativo… awesome guide ideas!
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Hi JoeB, Thanks for the comment on Subtext. Please keep that image around; in the next version of guidespot, you’ll be able to add it to that guide because it will be a “community guide”. I’ll try to remember to ping you when that happens. Be well, r
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Hey Joe. I love the Fictional Band guide… The first one that popped into my head when I read the title was the band in Wayne’s World. Also, what about Bill & Ted, weren’t they in a band…. I don’t know.
But, I’m submitting to digg. They’ll make sure to point out any others that you may have missed.
peace. ~Jeff
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Animals Riding Things: It's...
Sometimes animals climb atop moving objects and stay there. Someti...
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Something About Screaming: ...
Everyone likes ice cream. It's summer. Aside from vegans and the ...
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They are paid mercenaries.