Category: Boston MA (Page 4 of 13)

Irish Shirts Are Smiling: The Bruins Go Down To Southie

7 March, 2011 / Kat

St. Patrick’s Day is so celebrated in Boston that my church – an historic Orthodox cathedral over a century old – shuts down during the St. Patrick’s Day parade on the Sunday surrounding the Irish holiday. Yes, there is no service on a Sunday because the Irish and wanna-be Irish line South Broadway to get inebriated and celebrate the start of spring and the land of Ireland. And our church, full of Albanians, Greeks and Russians, says, “You know what? Go do that, totally fine, we’re just going to stay home and pray inside.”

It floored me the first time I heard about it. Only in Boston would churches decide not to have Sunday service in deference to…well, a religious celebration that has turned very un-religious.

That tale told, it should not be surprising that the Boston Bruins have a large collection of St. Patrick’s Day related wear. Both the NHL Shop (with 28 items) and Faceoff Fanatics (with 13 items) have been advertising their St. Patrick’s Day Bruins wares in a hope that some of their gear will make it down to South Broadway for the parade – and it’s more than just shirts.

Faceoff Fanatics' Boston Bruins PJ pants for St. Patrick's Day

Faceoff Fanatics are now featuring pajama pants with Irish style and Bruins love. Perfect for that parade morning brunch on your overpriced Southie apartment’s porch – if the weather allows for it.

The Old Time Hockey Colleen St. Patrick's Day Bruins shirt.

Old Time Hockey's Colleen St. Patrick's Day Bruins shirt (shop.nhl.com)

In one of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day offerings so far, NHL Shop offers the Old Time Hockey V-Neck women’s “Colleen” shirt. Trying to marry a traditional Irish design with a more identifiable shamrock and a nice, not corny, script font, this shirt seems more flattering than most women’s offerings of late. (It is also available for other teams.)

The City Hall Stairmaster

26 February, 2011 / Kat

I am not the biggest fan of the gym. I can’t get over the non-competitive and non-productive nature of the treadmill. I’m walking (no running, thanks to my asthma), very fast, to…nowhere. And that person next to me, she’s walking really fast….to nowhere. And that women next to her, the marathoner who is reluctantly indoors on the treadmill, whose veins are bursting, is looking like she’s going to pass out while running…to nowhere.

But I want to stay healthy, so I sucked it up and was letting myself be unproductive. Until I decided that instead of toiling annoyingly walking on the treadmill, I can work it into my everyday commute.

I present to you my new gym: The Ugly, Horrendous, City Hall Plaza Stairs.

Pushing Through Till Summertime

21 January, 2011 / Kat

The reason the Canadian pop-rock-country band Barenaked Ladies always have appealed to me is because it is so obvious we all are originally from the same region of North America. When Ed (the remaining lead singer) crooned in 1998 about “the foam on the creek is like pop and ice cream/a field full of tires that is always on fire/to light my way home” on “Light Up My Room,” I could vividly remember taking the Greyhound with my Grandma on a late 1980s summer day trip to Buffalo, and seeing both out the bus window on the way home.

Last spring, the band released their first album without co-founder Steven Page. The second song on the album, “Summertime,” is an ode to Western New York-Southern Ontario weather; a response to those not from the area who ask, “How do you put up with all the lake effect snow, wind and cold?” The answer? “We’re all pushing through till summertime.”

I have been fielding many questions in the same vein lately now that Greater Boston has been hit with three snowstorms in a month’s time. “How did you put up with weather like this?! How does your family back there handle it?” So, Bostonians, my answer and advice to you in song form. “Keep on pushing through for summertime.” May it become your winter 2011 anthem.

Summertime – Barenaked Ladies (YouTube)

Find more artists like Barenaked Ladies at Myspace Music

Two Words for You: Wing Fest.

10 September, 2010 / Kat

I don't know if there will be Buffalo wings there, but wings are wings. (Photo: Me)

Every year, I lament not being able to attend the Buffalo Wing Festival over Labor Day Weekend. Buffalo is only a few stops down the Thruway from Big Roc City, so one of these years I need to time my annual summer trip home appropriately and attend.

But my sadness has been tempered by the following announcement, which I spotted on one of my favorite non-sports blogs, Boston Restaurant Talk.

Game On! is hosting a King of Wing Competition next Thursday, September 16th at 6pm. And I need to attend. Not want. Need. This is mandatory attendance for me. While I do not believe all the wings will be Buffalo flavored – nor would I expect that of them, because this is Boston – they are still wings, and they are still all you can eat.

From Boston Restaurant Talk:

During the event, chefs from dining spots such as Game On!, East Coast Grill, Eastern Standard, The Harp, Jerry Remy’s, Kings, Myers+Chang, Stadium, and Sweetwater will take part in a chicken wing competition, with wings being judged for authenticity and creativity, as well as “best BBQ” by guests and a panel of celebrity judges.

Eastern Standard = the unofficial restaurant of my office = my pre-event favorites for best wing.

Tickets are $20 and include all-you-can-eat wings and a drink ticket good for non-alcoholic drinks or Bud Light. Now, I think Molson and Labatt are the only appropriate wing beers, but I’m not going to rag on what was probably purely a sponsorship decision. (I recognize when people do what they gotta do.)

If I attend, I will be sure to take photos and tell you about the deliciousness – if not here, definitely on Twitter.

An Analysis of Every Train Song Ever (Or, I’m a Suburbanite)

1 August, 2010 / Kat

I have become a suburbanite. The one thing I never wanted to become, I have become. It was time to move out of Allston after a neighbor turned our apartment building into an art studio, complete with an 125 attendee opening night party that involved a huge piece of bad art being placed in front of my door, a full carpet of Miller Light cans left on our front stairs (Where did your taste go, young art goers? Go with Molson if you want a cheap beer.), having the artist-neighbor tell my husband that the artist-neighbor is “a f— horse,” non-existent security after some was promised, and people playing slide on our interior stairs with margaritas in their hands.

The morning after, my husband had to go take an ax he had borrowed (he needed to cut up our broken futon in order to remove it from the apartment) back to his parents house, and while taking it to the car, scared off the homeless man picking up the carpet o’ beer cans. He had to run down the street – with the ax – to convince the homeless man that he wasn’t threatening him, just taking an ax to his car, and to encourage him to please take all the beer cans. Luckily, this happened at 6:30am on a Saturday morning, otherwise I think this would have become more of a problem than it was.

So we moved to the ‘burbs. (Truthfully, it was in the works way before this art opening/ax incident, but it helped seal the deal.)

Moving to the suburbs means I now have a long-ish commute on the commuter rail, which in turn leads to me spending much quality time with my iPod, which in turn has led me to the following conclusion:

Every Train song is the same. Continue reading