The Boston Traveler

It looks like it was raining fairly hard this morning in New York, but that didn’t stop women around my age from showing up to drool and reminisce over the reunited New Kids on the Block when they appeared at Rockefeller Plaza. Since I was never into boy bands, I can’t say I share their enthusiasm. Still, who can grumble about so many having such a good time because of one music group? I’m happy for ‘em!
As promised, check out high-quality videos of the New Kids’ performance on NBC’s Today earlier today. Danny Wood, Donnie Wahlberg, …read more

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There’s no denying it or wondering about it now — the rumors about New Kids on the Block staging a tour in the near future are undeniably true.
To prove it, the group’s website nkotb.com is currently chock full of supporting extras, including a blog, image downloads, and a brand-spanking-new track called “Summertime,” the last of which is located at the New Kids on the Block MySpace site.
As of this writing, the following tour dates are listed, so start snapping up those tickets now if you’ve got NKOTB fever. And, if you won’t be able to make any of the …read more

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…for the next week at least.
Armed with the provocative motto “The Future of Jazz Is Here and Now,” JazzBoston will take over Boston from April 25 to May 4 to offer residents and visitors a variety of affordable events focused on the music genre, such as workshops, concerts, and tributes to pioneers.
Highlights include a series of free seminars at the Boston Public Library’s main branch in Copley Square (700 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Boston, 617-536-5400), ranging from The Worlds of Duke Ellington to From Jazz to Hip-Hop and Beyond: Why Jazz Matters in the 21st Century. Especially notable is …read more

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Boston-area comedy fans, you’re in luck, because one of the funniest people anywhere is about to pass through our corner of the universe.
That would be the one and only Chelsea Handler, a talented author of humorous fare, not to mention the creative force behind the thoroughly entertaining TV show Chelsea Lately, previously called The Chelsea Handler Show, on basic cable’s E! network.
Her follow-up to the 2005 autobiographical book My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands is called Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, and it’s slated for release today, April 22.
On Wednesday, locals and visitors alike can catch …read more

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Monday is going to be a traditionally busy day here in Beantown, what with Patriots’ Day, the 112th annual Boston Marathon, and the Boston Red Sox home game against the Texas Rangers all in the works. How do you find something to do, then, if you have zero interest in any of those events?
I suggest checking out an interesting feature offered at Brookline’s Coolidge Corner Theatre (290 Harvard Street, Brookline, 617-734-2500) in conjunction with the Museum of Science and New Scientist magazine, namely the monthly Science on Screen series. Designed to make good use of the abundant scientific …read more

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Exactly one week from today, the sixth annual Independent Film Festival of Boston will take off with a variety of movies from a variety of talented filmmakers.
The festival has enjoyed such success in the past that this year’s roster has been expanded to encompass 96 films that will be featured at over 150 screenings. The focus is on filmmakers whose work — be it long-form movies, documentaries, or short films — presents themes “that are life changing, thought provoking and expose aspects of life in new and revealing manners.”
And, if you think all the festival is about is going …read more

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If you’re in the mood to take in a movie that explores a world unfamiliar to many people from the United States, then the Boston Public Library has a treat for you on Monday, April 14, from its current film and video series Making a Difference: Individuals Who Chose to Participate.
At 6pm EST, the Central branch will screen the critically acclaimed 1996 South African drama Tsotsi in Rabb Lecture Hall (700 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Boston, 617-536-5400). The selection is offered in conjunction with the library’s Choosing to Participate: Facing History and Ourselves exhibit on display through May 18, …read more

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The latest Major League Baseball regular season is now roaring into full swing, so what better way to get into the groove of America’s favorite pastime than with a longtime observer, knowledgeable insider, and successful author? You couldn’t do so in a better place than here in Boston, either, where the home team Boston Red Sox are the reigning 2007 World Series Champions.
On Monday, April 7, Harvard Book Store (1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617-661-1515) will welcome Michael Holley. The current co-host of radio’s Dale & Holley Show on local sports station WEEI is also the author of Patriot …read more

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Forty years ago yesterday, on April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The very next night, “Soul Brother Number One” and “Godfather of Soul” James Brown (1933–2006) was scheduled to perform a concert at the Boston Garden in Massachusetts.
Yet, after word of the reverend’s murder spread, riots quickly erupted in more than 100 cities across the United States. As a result, Boston’s newly elected mayor at that critical time, Kevin White, was left with the difficult task of preventing widespread disorder in the city.
His original …read more

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Despite overall lousy weather, it was very obvious that nothing could keep the ladies away from the Today show plaza this morning to get a look at boy-band icons New Kids on the Block.
The guys — Joey McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg, Danny Wood, and brothers Jonathan Knight and Jordan Knight — were in New York to make their first public appearance together in 14 years, and aside from Mother Nature’s refusal to play along, the reunion went off without a hitch.
Each member of the band looked pretty good given the passage of time, and as co-host Hoda Kotb noted at one …read more

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