The Boston Traveler

Today is December 31, the last day of 2007—Geesh! Already?!—which means it’s almost time for First Night festivities. If you, like me, grew up in an area where there’s no such thing, you might need a bit of a primer to understand what’s what. Thankfully, I’ve gone all out and put one of those together. Read onward…
What is First Night?
First Night is a citywide, arts-centric, community-oriented, family-friendly celebration of the New Year held nearly all day on New Year’s Eve. Think Dick Clark, that big dropping ball, and New York’s Times Square, except with more …read more

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Well, they did it! On Saturday night, the New England Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38–35 to become only the second team in NFL history to go undefeated for an entire regular season. The first team to do the same was the Miami Dolphins in 1972.
But, wait, there’s much more. The New England Patriots are also now the first team in NFL history to have a perfect regular season since the football league increased the length of a regular season from fourteen games to sixteen in 1978. At one point, the Pats trailed the Giants …read more

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As has been widely reported, two-time former Pakistani prime minister and opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated yesterday at a political rally held in honor of her return to her homeland after eight years of self-imposed exile. The 54-year-old member of the Pakistan Peoples Party received a top-notch Western college education at Harvard and Oxford Universities before becoming the first woman and youngest person ever to lead a predominantly Muslim nation when she was elected the first time at the age of 35 in November 1988.
A number of U.S. publications have devoted space to the recollections of Bhutto’s former …read more

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I’m not even remotely a football fan, but I admit I am still pretty psyched for the New England Patriots. When the team plays the New York Giants this Saturday night the members will be going for an impressive 16–0 record to remain undefeated in the current regular season.
The only other team to achieve a comparable goal was the Miami Dolphins in 1972. Notably, the players then went on to snag Super Bowl VII, giving them an overall perfect record of 17–0 for fourteen regular season games, two playoff games, and the championship matchup against the Washington Redskins. …read more

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This post is brought to you courtesy of the many fine ska/punk tunes streaming online at various bands’ websites. I got all caught up in the music for hours (it’s been a while since I’ve listened to either genre), which is why I’m posting early Thursday morning instead of Wednesday night, when I intended to.
The last week of 2007 is proving pretty special for Boston music lovers because for the first time in almost five long years, hometown ska-core creators The Mighty Mighty Bosstones are playing live gigs at the Middle East, their old haunt in Cambridge. …read more

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Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and one thing that makes the current holiday season in Boston complete each year is the massive effort put forth by Globe Santa to ensure that December 25 is special for as many young people as possible.
The Globe Santa Fund was established in 1956 by the local newspaper the Boston Globe in order to buy gifts for needy children in the Greater Boston area. Both readers and advertisers provide the donations, while the Globe publishes articles in the newspaper detailing the needs of various families. The process begins on October 1, when the Globe …read more

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…and Rutger Hauer and Sean Young and Edward James Olmos and Darryl Hannah and Joanna Cassidy and James Hong and M. Emmet Walsh and Brion James…
Those individuals looking for something different to do on Christmas Day are in luck, especially if they have a soft spot for action movies in the science-fiction genre with prominent neo-noir elements. At a time when many are lounging around their homes, marveling at gifts and enough tasty food to feed a small army for a month, Cambridge’s Brattle Theatre will present a surprisingly compatible antidote, namely the supposed Final Cut of Ridley Scott’s …read more

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So, what have the brilliant minds at Cambridge’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology been up to in 2007?
I spent significant time this morning browsing assorted Best Of 2007-type compilations on numerous local publications’ websites. As I expected from one of the most widely read free newspapers around these parts, the Boston Phoenix produced some particularly interesting and entertaining content throughout the year to chronicle the highlights and lowlights of Beantown, including a nice video-based list on the Phoenix Phlog.
That’s where I discovered a bit of news concerning Boston’s second most famous academic institution that I sorely regret missing when it …read more

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There’s no doubt the New Repertory Theatre’s stage production of “The SantaLand Diaries” is one of the hottest tickets in Boston.
Based on the famous and beloved essay written by best-selling author David Sedaris and debuted by him during a 1992 reading on National Public Radio, the play recounts the writer’s real-life experiences when he had the great misfortune to take on a gig as an elf named Crumpet at a New York Macy’s during the Christmas season. The essay brought Sedaris’ unique brand of biting humorous storytelling to the attention of the world, helping him launch a career as …read more

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We’re down to the final four days before Christmas! Fortunately, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still plenty of great events besides shopping going on around Boston, from rock concerts to theater productions. With all the talent in the area, Boston and its artists will continue spreading holiday cheer throughout the weekend and well beyond. The many seasonal options on Friday 12/21, Saturday 12/22, and Sunday 12/23 include (all times EST):
A Christmas Celtic Sojourn
Presented by WGBH and with radio host Brian O’Donovan, this “intimate sharing of Christmas music, songs, dancing, poetry and stories to warm the winter nights” features …read more

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