If you are of a certain age and grew up in New England, chances are this retailer brings back a lot of fond memories. Pronounced Leach-mere with a hard “e” on the first syllable; I purchased my first 10-speed bike, stereo and practically everything else at Lechmere.
According to Wikipedia, the chain which started in Cambridge in 1913 finally closed in the late 1990s.
The Onion is at it again, tweaking the noses of Bostonians with an hilarious article they published yesterday entitled, Pretty Cute Watching Boston Residents Play Daily Game Of ‘Big City’.
BOSTON—Boston residents once again hustled and bustled their way into the nation’s hearts this week as they continued playing their adorable little game of “Big City,” a live-action role-playing adventure in which Bostonians buzz about their daily routines in a delightful hubbub of excitement as if they lived in a major American metropolis.
My favorite line in the article is this quote, “My favorite part is when those little guys and gals head out to bars on the weekend like they’re experiencing real nightlife! Gets me every time.” OUCH! So true… If you’d like to read the full article in The Onion, link here.
Boston Spirit magazine’s 6th Annual LGBT Executive Networking Night which was scheduled for Thursday, March 7th at the Boston Marriott Copley Place has been postponed in light of the bad weather expected in Boston tomorrow. The event will take place two weeks from today at the Boston Marriott Copley Place from 6-9pm as originally scheduled. Please spread the word.
Bridge Rep of Boston Theater Company
A new theater company called Bridge Rep of Boston has produced their first show, The Lover, now being performed in the Calderwood Pavilion in Boston’s South End. Shows run Wednesday thru Sunday until March 17th. Want to purchase tickets to The Bridge Rep of Boston’s show The Lover? Link here.
More about Bridge Rep of Boston:
Photo by Ginger Gillette Kent
Overlooking Boston University’s West Campus was “Ellis The Rim Man”. And nobody thought that was the least bit funny (well some of us did).
Boston’s theater companies in recent weeks have started their spring performances. The Lyric Stage Co. currently features a two man show called Stones in his Pockets which opened earlier this month and runs through Saturday, March 16th. You can read about this play which takes place in a small Irish village on the set of an American film crew in The Boston Globe’s review.
Also currently running is The New Rep’s comedy, Lungs. This 90-minute show uses humor to address serious questions about overpopulation, global warming and our collective responsibilities to help preserve the environment for future generations. As with The Lyric Stage Co., performances started earlier this month and the production will hold its final show on Sunday, March 10th.
Following the A.R.T.’s triumphant pre-Broadway run of Pippin, The American Repertory Theater in Cambridge has been performing The Glass Menagerie, which stars the hunky (and gay actor) Zachary Quinto. The show closes on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th so get tickets while they remain available.
New performances from The SpeakEasy Stage start later this week (Friday, March 1st to be exact) with their production of Clybourne Park, a show that addresses race, real estate and the volatile values of each. Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play A Raisin in the Sun, this show explodes in two outrageous acts set 50 years apart. This new show will run through March 30th.
Starting a week after The SpeakEasy Stage opens with their play that was inspired by A Raisin in the Sun, you can go and see The Huntington Theatre Company interpretation of this American classic. Based on the 1959 classic drama, this will be a fiercely moving show. A Raisin in the Sun opens on Friday, March 8th and runs through April 7th.,
Also I’m very excited to share news that a new theater company called The Bridge Repertory Theater opens with their first production of The Lover, which opens on tonight and will run through Sunday, March 17th at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA).
© Romina Amato/Red Bull Cliff Diving
Although it is nearly six months away, mark your calendars because Red Bull’s Cliff Diving competition will be returning to Boston for the third year in a row on Saturday, August 24th.
Boston is the only stop in North America for this amazing tour which may be one of my favorite “free” events the city hosts for the public. I’ll be writing about this event again in the summer as the date approaches, but I thought I’d share the good news now that the tour has been finalized and confirmed.
If you’ve never had a chance to see this competition, check out my video below from the first year in 2011.
May 25 | FRANCE – La Rochelle
June 22 | DENMARK – Copenhagen
June 29 | PORTUGAL – Azores
July 14 | ITALY – Malcesine
August 24 | USA – Boston
September 14 | UNITED KINGDOM – Wales
September 28 | BRAZIL
October 26 | THAILAND
By now news of Justin Timberlake and Jay Z touring this summer has been broadcast far and wide. Apparently their joint performance at the Grammy’s earlier this month was a glimpse of what one can expect.
The “Legends of Summer” tour will be coming to Fenway Park on Saturday, August 10th. If you’re hoping to see this show, just a quick heads up that there is Facebook pre-sale on Wed 2/27 10am local time, Code: LEGENDS. General sales begin Thurs 2/28 10am local time. Ticketmaster link for tickets here.
In a little more than two weeks, on Saturday, March 9th, Fenway Health will host it’s annual fundraiser, The Men’s Event. This black tie event gathers more than 1,300 gay, transgender and bisexual men and their friends and supporters for a night of dinner and dancing.
This year’s award recipient will be Marc Solomon who is perhaps best known for his work as executive director of MassEquality. While there he led the campaign to defeat two constitutional amendments in the first freedom to marry state in the nation (Massachusetts), beating back attacks by the Catholic Church, President George W. Bush, Gov. Mitt Romney, and the right-wing anti-gay industry.
Will you be attending this or the Women’s Event later this year? You may purchase tickets to this year’s event here.
Boston Spirit magazine will host their 6th Annual LGBT Executive Networking Night on Thursday, March 7th at the Boston Marriott Copley Place from 6-9pm. Last year’s event was attended by more than 1,300 local LGBT corporate professionals, making it the largest LGBT business event in New England.
I’ve attended these each year and candidly I find the event is more of an opportunity to connect with friends and neighbors rather than doing any true networking, but I’m sure there are many who have parlayed the evening into follow up meetings and it certainly is always a great evening.
Note that this year there is a $10 admission fee to attend, and one must RSVP.
One week ago today several hundred Boston University students came out for a massive snowball fight on the Esplanade. It looks like it was a lot of fun.
The John Hancock Tower which was designed by I.M. Pei & Partners in the early 1970s transformed Boston’s skyline and is often photographed by tourists and residents alike. The soaring glass structure literally reflects the Back Bay neighborhood. When the structure was being built, architects had an issue with the large reflective glass windows popping out and crashing below. Many of those patched windows in the photo from 1973 are from those falling windows. Pedestrians must’ve cast a weary eye toward the sky when walking by. The more recent photograph is of the same building but from a different angle to afford you a better appreciation for the minimalist design the building is noted for.
Perhaps you’ve seen this already on Facebook. For those not familiar with the Boston accent, this is actually quite accurate. And for the record, yes, once upon a time I spoke just like this. For the price of a martini I can trot out the accent with surprising ease.
In the late 1980s Boston embarked on its largest construction project in the city’s history. It became known as “The Big Dig”. Critics have pointed to this public works projects as an example of excess and waste, but looking back at the scope of the project and the final result, I am so happy with how it turned out.
Above on the left you see what was referred to as “The Artery”. Initially constructed in the 1950s it was the main highway that ran north to south through the city. The expressway was also approximately 30-40′ above ground casting huge shadows, creating awful pollution and cleaving the city in two. The Big Dig submerged the expressway and expanded the number of lanes to help move traffic through downtown. After the green iron girders that supported The Artery were torn down a large park called the Rose Kennedy Greenway (a.k.a The Greenway) took its place. You can see traffic driving into one of the entrance ramps to the submerged highway in the present day photo. Both images depict the same exact spot along the expressway.
The old image of Boston is courtesy of Dirty Old Boston. The newer image is from Google Maps.
The Boston Custom House was the only “sky scraper” in Boston in 194o. The tower had been added in 1910 and stands just under 500′ tall. However, you can barely find the Boston Custom House from my photograph taken in the summer of 2012, but you’ll see it off to the right if you look carefully.
In 2009 I had a regular post called “Flashback Friday”, which I would share past images and memories of life in and around Boston. After perusing Dirty Old Boston on Facebook I was inspired to revive this regular post. For those not familiar with Boston, thank you for the indulgence. For those who may have grown up in and around Boston, I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I like putting them together. Apologies for the older posts which were done in 2009. When I moved my blog to WordPress the formatting from my Blogspot address left a lot to be desired.
BosGuy 