Category Archives: Boston

Don’t let the cold temperatures keep you at home. I’ve pulled together a partial list highlighting a variety of events and parties to help you figure out what you might like to do. I’d like to give a special shout out to the Mass Bears & Cubs which presents the  Mr. Boston Bear & Cub competition 2018 this weekend and for those looking to get out of town the 5th Annual Mr. New England Leather Weekend takes place in Provincetown.

There is plenty more to do this weekend so check out one or more of the events listed below.

5th Annual Mr. New England Leather Weekend Full Kit Gear and The Crown & Anchor play hosts yet again to this annual party that runs Friday thru Sunday in Provincetown

Queer Inclusive Climbing Klub (QuICK) Pizza night and climbing club at Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville

Casual Fridays is a weekly dance party with no cover featuring DJ Begbick at the Alley Bar in DTX

Excess Boston is Boston’s pan-alt. scenes club night – creative attire is encourage; doors open at 9PM at SABUR Lounge in Somerville

Boyfriends presents Janet Jackson this Friday starting at 10PM at the Milky Way Bar & Lounge in JP

The Coolidge After Midnight: Creature Double Feature NIGHT Swamp Thing and Return of the Swamp Thing  starts at 11:30PM on Friday in Brookline

White Fight Supremacy 2.0: Day of Action and Racial Justice Gathering will meet on Saturday the Boston Common on Saturday 12 – 4PM in Boston

Thanksgiving Movie Special: Planes Trains & Automobiles is at 5PM on Saturday in Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston

November Social presented by Frontrunners Saturday starts at 6PM at at Roxy’s A4cade in Cambridge

Singles Pool Tournament starts at 7:30PM at Cathedral in Boston

Mr. Boston Bear & Cub competition is this weekend
Photo Source: Massbearz website

Mr. Boston Bear & Cub Competition takes place on Saturday night at The Alley Bar in Boston

Saga Saturdays Boston’s biggest gay dance party at Paradise in Cambridge

The Coolidge After Midnight: Creep Show starts at 11:59PM on Saturday in Brookline

4th Annual Gay Beer Club “Friendsgiving” is from 11AM – 2PM on Sunday at the Mystic Brewery in Chelsea

Sunday Tea Dance never has a cover and always has great music from 70s 80s & 90s, starting at 6PM no cover every Sunday at Club Cafe in Boston

Karaoke at the Alley is every Sunday starting at 8PM in Boston

Pajama Party is a weekly dance party hosted every Sunday starting at 10PM at Machine in Boston

Hot Mess Sundays at Candibar in the Theater District is every Sunday starting at 10PM in Boston

Send me information about your upcoming programs and events in my blog’s comment section or message me the details on Facebook.

Boston was named the seventh least affordable housing market in North America recently by real estate search portal Point2 Homes, which looked at affordability ratios across North America.

Point2 Homes divided Boston’s median home sale price, $610,000, by its median annual family income, $61,176, to arrive at an affordability ratio of 10. An affordability ratio of 5.1 or greater is considered “severely unaffordable”.

Unsurprisingly, the ten most unaffordable markets were all cities in the Northeast and the West coast, but what did surprise me was seeing Vancouver topping the list with a ratio of 17.3, surpassing San Francisco and Manhattan.

Mayor Marty Walsh was just re-elected to office as Mayor of Boston. I hope that in his second term he can work with developers to create more affordable housing. Boston has long been considered a very expensive city to live in and it would be to our advantage to shed that reputation or at the very least find a way to drop out of the top 10.

You can see the full listing of all 50 markets in North America to see where / how where you lived was ranked: Housing Affordability by Market in North America.

Boston is bringing back its 11,000 square foot skating path and winter village to to City Hall Plaza for the second consecutive year. The so called “Boston Winter” sponsored by Berkshire Bank will open November 24 and run through February.

This year’s festivities will include an 11,000-square-foot skating path; a replica of a Bavarian village; a Santa Claus house; a Christmas tree maze; and something called Vinopolis, which the city describes as“an interactive wine and beer experience.” There will also be 85 chalets for food and tchotchke vendors. According to City Hall, last year’s Boston Winter drew more than 300,000 visitors, including one very happy Sergio. You can learn more about this year’s “Boston Winter” here.

View of The Exchange South End from Albany Street looking East

Last month The Abbey Group filed formal plans to redevelop the former home of the Boston Flower Exchange in the South End. The 5.6-acre site sandwiched between I-93 and Albany Street will be significantly transformed. Adding four buildings with a combined 1.4 million square feet of mixed-use commercial and life science research space; 42,500 square feet of ground floor retail space; 30,000 square feet of civic space situated around a new park; and approximately 1,145 below-grade parking spaces.

The Abbey Group has proposed a phased approach, building the two smaller buildings along Albany Street first; Building A (6-stories) and Building B (14-stories). Building C (20-stories) and Building D (15-stories) which are closest to I-93 would be built in a second phase. Below is a rendering of what The Exchange South End will look like from I-93.

More information about The Exchange South End is available here.

HUBweek (October 10-15) is a festival for the future that celebrates innovation  in art, science and technology. HUBweek will kick off with events taking place all across the city, but will be centered on Boston’s City Hall Plaza, which will be transformed into a first-of-its-kind festival site. Filled with 80 shipping containers, dozens of art installations, and 6 geodesic domes, HUBweek will bring toether thousands of artists, innovators, and creators from across Boston, and the globe.

Join thought leaders like Malcolm Gladwell, Deepak Chopra, Atul Gawande and more; connect with 100+ of Boston’s most impactful start-ups; and interact with Boston’s creative economy and those who are helping rethink Boston’s future.

I’ve registered (it is free BTW) to attend, MIT IDE Inclusive Innovation Challenge Celebration, Leading for Creativity, and I’d encourage you to look throgh the full list of meetings, discussion groups and sessions available.

Learn more here: hubweek.org

Explorateur opened earlier this month in Boston’s historic Masonic Lodge at the corner of Boylston and Tremont Street. The new space overlooks a busy corner of the Boston Common where you can grab breakfast and lunch in their cafe or dinner in their restaurant seven days a week.

They describe themselves as a community-focused, all-day dining, European styled cafe, bar and restaurant. The cafe is filled with long community tables that let you spread out (which also conveniently have outlets) as well as smaller cafe-style tables where you can sit quietly with a friend to catch up. Eater Boston has some great photos of Explorateur’s interior here.

Strictly for research purposes of this blog I ordered a few bites from the cafe. In addition to the typical sweets and pastries you would expect the cafe provides heartier options for breakfast including omelets, pancakes and a chocolate-hazelnut French toast (that I’ll have to try on my next visit). The coffee, quiche and breakfast sandwich were all very good although the orange juice (not shown) was a bit off so perhaps stick to fully caffeinated beverages if you try the cafe.Stop by and check out this great space and let me know what you think of Explorateur.  I’ll reserve a proper review for a future dinner in their restaurant.

Explorateur
186 Tremont Street || Boston, MA
www.explorateur.com

On Saturday, September 23rd at 10AM thousands of people will head to the Boston Common to help establish a Guinness World Record title to support the Children’s Services of Roxbury campaign called (CSR) “Peace of Mind”. CSR believes that peace begins and ends with building strong, nurturing family environments and they hope to assemble over 6,000 people to form the world’s largest human peace sign on the Boston Common.

Want to learn more? Visit their site where you can also register to participate ($10 donation suggested), World’s Largest Human Peace Sign.

With the influx  of so many new residents at the start of each academic year, I like to update and share this post each September. If you are new to the area or looking to meet more people outside of a bar setting the groups listed below might be a good first step.

Boston Gay Men’s Chorus is one of New England’s largest and most successful community-based choruses.  Auditions are later this week!

Boston Gay Men’s Books Club is monthly book club on MeetUp featuring literature by and about gay men. This month’s book is Insignificant Others by Stephen McCauley. They will meet on Monday, September 19 at 7PM at Trident Booksellers on Newbury Street in Back Bay.

Dignity Boston is a progressive, inclusive community of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics and their allies. All are invited for liturgy and social every Sunday at 5:00 PM, St. Stephen’s at 419 Shawmut Avenue, Boston.

Fenway Health has been working to make life healthier for the LGBT community for more than 40 years; the Fenway and AAC are always looking for volunteers.

Gay Beer Club is a Boston based organization that produces events and gatherings for members of the gay community.

Gay For Good mobilizes the LGBT community to interact with the greater community by volunteering their time with different monthly activities.

Gay Men 50+ Club is for gay men and their male friends who wish to meet monthly for brunch and enjoy good conversation.

Gays for Patsy is a country western dancing club that holds events each month. Beginners are encouraged to join.

Hispanic / Black Gay Coalition HBGC is one of few non-profit organizations in Boston dedicated to the unique and complex needs of the Black, Hispanic and Latin@ LGBTQ community.

History Project is a volunteer-driven organization established in 1980 that focuses on preserving the history of Boston’s LGBT community to make it accessible to future generations.

Jamaica Plain and Roslindale Men’s Group is a social group for gay men living in, near and around JP & Rozzie that organize dinners and events regularly.

Keshet Boston is a grassroots organization working for the full inclusion of LGBT Jews in Jewish life, offering community events for LGBT Jews in Greater Boston.

Men of Melanin Magic is a social group in the Boston metropolitan area for those who identify as queer men of color.

New England Gay Men Camping is a social outdoor group for gay men who meet and plan local camping trips. Their next outing is later this week in Hingham at Wompatuck State Park.

Opus Affair is probably best known for their monthly cocktail party hosted at local restaurants  to raise money for local arts organizations. Next cocktail party is Tuesday, September 19th at Vanderbilt Kitchen & Bar in downtown.

OUTbreath offers a safe space for those who identify as queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning to come together to explore the practice of meditation and support each other in community.

Queer Boston Board Gamers is a friendly LGBTQ meet up group that connects every other Thursday (mostly in Cambridge) to play board games.

The Welcoming Committee is a young, social group who organize activities to broadening the spectrum of gay life here in Boston and beyond.

Yankee Cruising Club was founded over 25 years ago to bring LGBT boaters together to meet, make friends and most importantly get out on the water.

Apologies if I have overlooked any area gay organizations in the area.  Feel free to add information for any such group in the comments section of my blog.