Chocolate, Wine and Food Trucks: A Delicious New Spin on Tours in Boston

Boston’s got its plethora of tours: from Duck Boats to Old Town Trolleys, the Freedom Trail to Boston by Foot, there are plenty of ways to explore the history of this city. But besides the standard tourist destinations, what can you really learn about your city from a trip down the Freedom Trail? We’ve been told the tale of Paul Revere and his midnight ride for decades, and Bostonians are itching for something new.Just in time, too. A new breed of tours are popping up around town: food tours. These delicious tours cover a range of culinary topics — from food trucks to wine pairings to desserts Continue reading >>>

A Catch Above the Rest at Turner Fisheries Boston

By: Jessica Cickay “Where can we get some really good seafood?” If you’re a Bostonian, you know that when you hear this question, the pressure is on – the lights seem to get low, the sweat somehow starts to drip and all eyes in the room piercingly turn toward you. Seafood is a staple in New England, so this should be an easy answer, right? Not so fast. This query is loaded – locked and loaded really, so much so that it makes you realize that you’ve “been there done that” around the local seafood scene, but more often than not, you’ve been disappointed. From buckets full of rubbery Continue reading >>>

US economic woes could keep Bruins fans at home

MONTREAL - The United States economy is hurting, and that’s worrisome.The U.S. is our major trading partner. An ongoing increase in the misery index may compel our neighbours to do something rash, like electing one of those loopy Republicans their next president.One positive effect: In the sovereign state of Massachusetts, where Mitt Romney introduced health care before he decided it was an insidious Marxist idea, belt-tightening is probably taking its toll on travel budgets.And that means the crowd at the Bell Centre on Saturday night will include fewer unlettered oafs in Size XXXL black-and-gold Continue reading >>>

‘Good Will Hunting’ Trio are Re-Teaming for ‘Whitey’ Bulger Pic

Casey Affleck is also reportedly aboard to play 'The Corrupt Midget' By: Brad Brevet Published: Wednesday, October 26th 2011 at 4:29 PM The Oscar-winning scribes, Boston natives and friends behind Good Will Hunting are teaming once again as Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will work as director and star respectively on a film based on the recently captured South Bostonian gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger for Warner Bros. The news surfaced as Damon told GQ, "We're doing a Whitey Bulger movie… There are Continue reading >>>

Dallying with the Dead

“Blessed Lord, what it is to be old;Be the teller, and not the told,Be serene in the wake,Of a triumph, mistake,Or life’s rainbows, with no pots of gold.” I’m standing in front of the tombstone of 19th-century poet David T.W. McCord ’21 in Mount Auburn Cemetery. As I had been wandering the cemetery, a woman asked me if I was looking for any grave in particular.  No, I said, I had just come to the cemetery to explore, and she smiled and told me that McCord’s grave was inscribed with the cemetery’s most poignant Continue reading >>>

New Natural Neccos Now Old News

A couple of years ago, Necco brought natural flavors into its product line, but, with sales falling, the company has decided to return to its bad old ways of tinny, Day-Glo colorsToday's Boston Globe brings tragic news: Necco's have returned to their bad old ways of tinny, Day-Glo colors and sharp, strange, unidentifiable but aggressive flavors. Oh well. Two years ago, I wrote a column in the magazine hailing the trend of introducing natural flavors into what had long been the pleasantly lurid world of mass-produced candy -- a world entertainingly documented in my fellow Bostonian Continue reading >>>

Damon Talks Whitey Bulger Film

Hot on the heels of the news that he will play the lead role and help produce a biopic of notorious Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger, Oscar winner Matt Damon has gone on the record about the project. The untitled film will reunite him with fellow Bostonian and Oscar winner Ben Affleck, who will direct and also play a role in the movie. In case you don't know, James "Whitey" Bulger is the long-time South Boston crime lord and top-echelon FBI informant who spent 16 years as a fugitive on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list before being captured in Santa Monica, Ca. last June. In an exclusive Continue reading >>>

Photo Gallery: Proper Bostonian Quilters’ Guild Quilt Show

I have never been to a quilt show. So when I walked into the Biennial Quilt Show sponsored by the Proper Bostonian Quilters at St. Theresa last Sunday, it was a colorful surprise. I had to walk through the display of quilts at the Monsignor Donahue Hall at St. Theresa School more than once to really grasp the creativity, energy, colors and designs. “That’s a lot of sheets!” my 3-year-old son exclaimed as we walked the room. It was hard to keep him from touching because no touching was allowed. But the experience was perfect for a preschooler. There were three quilts he wanted to see over Continue reading >>>