Recently sent from a reader. Thanks Ben
This past October, with the help of a few friends, I hosted a chocolate chip cookie tasting to determine which cafe and bakery in my neighborhood makes the tastiest cookie. If you’re a chocolate chip cookie fan, you can read the ranking on my blog post, South End chocolate chip cookie tasting.
Posted above, is a print out of the blog post, which you can see if you visit The Appleton Bakery. I’m thinking its time to do another tasting…
If you live in the United States, no doubt you have the forthcoming holiday weekend on your mind. Enjoy the long weekend if you can.
Most here will head to the coast and the islands, Cape Cod (where Provincetown is located), the coast of Maine and Rhode Island. Wherever you go – have a great time.
Last week while on The View Judge Judy spoke out in support of same sex marriage. As wonderful as it is to have this conversation on network television, my experience is personal conversations have even more impact.
Do people know how you feel about the Republican Party’s continued attempts to legally prohibit gay and lesbians from having equal protection and rights under the law? It would be a wonderful thing to have the Republican Party make their homophobic rhetoric and evangelical ties a thing of the past, but I’m not holding my breathe and I’ll be using this blog as my bullhorn to express my frustration. I’d like to ask you to speak up as well. It wasn’t by remaining silent that the LGBT community and its allies were able to convince President Obama to support same sex marriage.
Have fun guys
IML Chicago officially opens today so I thought I’d post a leather-themed Furry Friday. I’ve never been to Chicago for IML, but I’m intrigued. Once upon a time I had a great friend who was very much into the leather scene and had all these accessories and more.
Earlier, I wrote about the impact President Obama’s support for legalizing same sex marriage had in Maryland – a state that recently past legislation that would legalize same sex marriages starting in 2013 in my post, Maryland public opinion shifts in favor of same sex marriage. The 12-point shift was attributed to African American voters change in opinion following the President’s endorsement.
Now a Washington Post-ABC survey finds that opinions of same sex marriage in the African American community may be shifting even faster than the Maryland survey would lead people to believe. This survey finds that nationally there has been an 18-point shift with 59% of blacks now saying they are in favor of same sex marriage.
These latest polls show Obama’s announcement may have been shrewd politics as it has united two important bases for the Democratic Party.
According to an article published by The Huffington Post, a recent poll by Marylanders for Equality shows a significant shift in public opinion supporting same sex marriage.
This is significant because Maryland recently passed a gay marriage law that goes into effect January 1, 2013 which opponents are trying to have overturned in a referendum vote later this year.
The poll shows a 12-point shift in favor of same sex marriage with 57% now saying they would vote to uphold the Maryland law. According to the report “The shift can be explained ‘almost entirely’ by a change in black voters’ attitudes.”
The reason for that shift in attitude in my opinion may be summed up in one word, “Obama”.
Read this the other day and thought it was funny. If you are on Twitter you can follow Leo at @leo_jag045.
Thanks to Matthew over at Giants, Cowboys, Football, Rugby and Life for bringing this to my attention. I’ve always thought of myself as a “legs” guy so after seeing this photo of Luke McAlister’s “Thunder Thighs” I was reminded that I need to go over and watch a Boston Rugby Club game this summer.
Does your weekend revolve around brunch?
Sometimes it can feel that way here in Boston, and thanks to a recent Food & Wine survey, I now understand it is probably due to Boston ranking as one of the best cities to have brunch.
Although I question the methodology of their ranking (how else can one explain San Francisco ranking 12th best; I disagree), Sunday brunch in Boston is a weekly ritual for tens of thousands. If this post has reminded you to make reservations for the holiday weekend, you can check out this article for some quirky brunch suggestions in Boston.
Not from Boston? Check out how Food & Wine ranks your city, here.
Universal Hub reports today that the proposed South End steakhouse, Boston Chops, is looking to purchase Columbus Cafe’s liquor license for $280,000. The Boston Licensing Board will vote tomorrow (Thursday, May 24th) whether to let Brian Piccini pay the owners, but I would be surprised if they ruled against this purchase since it is in the neighborhood’s interest to have Piccini open his “urban, modern steak house”. Nobody except for the ill-tempered tenant living above wants to see this space remain vacant.
Piccini has not indicated when Boston Chops might open. Piccini is the current owner of dBar in Dorchester and Deuxave in the Back Bay.
Boston Chops will open at 1375 Washington Street in the South End.
Boston has long been known as a very walkable city. Its small, mostly flat and many people walk to work each day here. However, Boston’s reputation for aggressive drivers, cramped roads, lack of access to bikes as well as bike lanes probably never made you think of the city as a bike-friendly place, but that has changed.
The city’s community bike system, the Hubway, which started last year, has exceeded expectations. Many of the city’s rotaries are gone and bike lanes have popped up nearly everywhere you look.
WalkScore recently ranked Boston as the 4th most bikeable city in the US. According to the site, scoring is based on bike infrastructure (lanes and trails), hills, destinations and road connectivity, and the number of bike commuters. You can read more about this and compare Boston to other cities around the US by linking to the WalkScore website.
