The House of Blues has bought the Lansdowne Street clubs, including Avalon and Axis. How is this going to affect the renovations of Avalon and Axis, which has had a negative impact on performers and fans since the venues shut down? The Globe reports: "The only thing that has changed is in place of a sign that says Lansdowne Music Hall, it will say House of Blues," Lyons said yesterday. He will continue to own......

Bostonist finds that food makes a great gift for even the most difficult to shop for. Some of our favorite local food purveyors have made it easy for us with food-of-the-month clubs. We’d be thrilled to receive the gift of pork from Savenor’s, which has a bacon-of-the-month club. For something sweet, Pemberton Farms of Cambridge has a coffee-cake-of-the-month club and plenty of locally themed gift baskets. Formaggio Kitchen, famous for having its own cheese......

Oprah Winfrey was in Manchester, New Hampshire, last night as part of her very public endorsement of presidential candidate Barack Obama, and 8,500 people showed up to hear her. The Herald sent Jessica Heslam and Mike Underwood up there. They interviewed several people who seemed to be more swayed by the celebrity endorsement than by Barack Obama's record. One woman said, "Just because Oprah believes in him, maybe there's more to him." While that surely......

COLOR Friday, December 7th Milky Way Lounge 403 Centre Street Jamaica Plain, MA 9pm / 21+ / $5 MySpace w/ resident Joseph Colbourne special guest: David Shaw A recently added night to Boston's blossoming dance party scene, COLOR - hosted by Ben Sisto - takes on a handful of meanings. Open to all, the genres spun cover a vibrant variety. The idea behind it, too, is to join art and music, bringing in guests......

--67 Boston clubs might be forced to shut down by Thursday if they can't install sprinkler systems. [Boston Globe] --Myron Stovell, the Pop Warner coach who was shot in the leg by a teenager, has announced that he is praying for his attacker and wishes he could have helped him. [Boston Herald] --Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo is cool. [Boston Herald] --Your laugh for the day: Gameday to show Williams-Amherst game. [Sports Hernia] --Your......

Anyone who questions that old phrase "idle hands are the devil's tools" ought to take a look at what happens in sports cities when the games are in desperately short supply. When no one's playing, people get ansty. They start speculating. Guessing. Predicting. Complaining - and no good can come of that. We need sports action, people! Thank goodness the Bruins are set to answer the call tonight, when they face off on the ice......

The Joiner is a newcomer to Boston and a compulsive joiner of clubs and organizations. He shares his experience joining Boston area groups weekly at Bostonist. Last Wednesday, Geri Sullivan presented a visitor to the Somerville clubhouse of the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA) with a gift: A hand-colored copy of her Hugo Award winning fanzine, Science-Fiction Five-Yearly. Printed on vintage, musty Fibertone paper using a mimeograph (named "Mr. G") and hand stapled, the......

The Red Sox didn't play yesterday, so of course they were more successful than usual of late, picking up half a game on the Yankees (thanks, Toronto!). Now they face their final homestand, against Oakland and Minnesota. This looked at the beginning of the season like a rough end to the season, but both those clubs have been surprisingly bad this season. Remember, all the Red Sox have to do is win five of the......

This week, Boston Magazine blog spread the word that the Globe had hired Veronica Chao, editor of the Improper Bostonian to helm the Globe's Sunday City Weekly section. The City Weekly section is intended to be a fizzy cultural spread about the region, but a recent story on how Peter, Bjorn & John's "Young Folks" started a whistling frenzy amongst the hipsters might have been a bit much. Gawker seized on the story as if......

You know those TGIFriday's commercials, where they portray the hard workers of today sitting at a round table and laughing, drinking, and eating inexpensive but tasty comfort foods to celebrate the end of another work week? Not this time. This Friday, it's time for a fast, light meal and one or all of the variety of events going on in this city. It seems there's been a lot more nightlife lately, with parties happening left......

The next Four Stories reading will be on October 1, 2007. Kris Frieswick, Jake Halpern, Michael Lowenthal, and Hank Phillippi Ryan will be participating. The evening's topic is "Love and Money: Tales of Making It, Having It, and Losing It," and the readings will take place at The Enormous Room. For more details, visit the Four Stories site. To prepare, check out Bostonist's interview with Jake Halpern. Many of us spend our days in front......

The Joiner is a newcomer to Boston and a compulsive joiner of clubs and organizations. He shares his experience joining Boston area groups weekly at Bostonist. Pedestrians trying to navigate the Atlantic Avenue sidewalk on the Boston Waterfront at 7:30 Sunday morning had more to contend with than the usual pointing and clicking tourists. They also had to bypass the mound of tripods and camera bags piled outside Dunkin' Donuts, where members of the Boston......

--No, it's not what you think. David Chacon of Somerville took suckage seriously when he threw a vacuum cleaner at his roommate. The two got into a tiff, the victim went out, and, when he returned, Chacon had blocked the door. The victim busted inside, and that's when Chacon threw a knife, followed by the vacuum cleaner. Chacon was also an alleged pain in the ass when police showed up. He resisted arrest, "deliberately hit......

The Joiner is a newcomer to Boston and a compulsive joiner of clubs and organizations. He shares his experience joining Boston area groups weekly at Bostonist. The scene at Downtown Crossing's Alley Bar the afternoon of Saturday, September 1, should have been more somber, considering New England's only gay rugby squad had lost its first match of the season by a score too embarrassing to relate. But that's not how rugby works. After the match......

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the......

Paris is in jail, the Red Sox are on their way to California, Mitt is still running for president, but we're bringing it back to the clubs. Well, the clubs and urban outfitters. Some folks that seem like they've been around forever (dinosaur jr.) and those who legitimately have been around forever (Lee "scratch" Perry) come and visit the nontraditional and traditional venues, respectively, as part of this weeks music picks. Tuesday 6/5 The......

Sometimes even those of us who live in the rock clubs can forget how to behave ourselves. Maybe it’s some strange alchemy of alcohol and entitlement. Maybe it’s a vague attachment to the spirit of “punk rock.“ Or maybe it’s just plain rudeness. Just in case, here’s a brief refresher course on the things to keep in mind from people who know best - the ones who work there. 1) Keep Your Hands to Yourself......

Bostonist was dismayed last Thursday night to see first-hand the effects of the temporary underage concert attendance ban limitations implemented by the Mayor’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing (MOCAL). A couple of WERS staff members were barred from tabling (read: handing out pens and stickers) the Chad Perrone/Mieka Pauley concert at Harper’s Ferry – a show that the station had been promoting – because those staffers were underage. Bostonist understands that the Harper’s crew’s......

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to. In Austin, bands are beginning to confirm for SXSW and the rumor mill is up and running. Good thing, too, because we all know how much Austinites love live performances. Austin also found itself in the national spotlight, with Longhorn Legend......

Last night was the last call at The Rack. The Hard Rock Café is moving from their Back Bay location where they've been neatly tucked away from most of the foot traffic only blocks away to The Rack's location near Faneuil Hall. What Bostonist will miss most about The Rack isn't the overpriced drinks or pool tables – it's the column inch upon column inch of content they've provided for The Inside Track over the......

Bars, clubs, and restaurants will be taking on a premium for celebrating the coming of the New Year with them. There is, however, a free ride available to get you home. The MBTA has announced that again this year the T will be free for riders from 8 pm to 2 am on New Years Eve and into the early morning of New Year's Day. We could go on for hours about how we miss......

Before the book clubs, car giveaways, and Bob Greene, Bostonist didn't really mind Oprah and her show. Then Ms. Winfrey began her path to spiritual bliss and started her magazine, and now she is a guru of anything having to do with females. So, she’s now pairing up with her own set of “gurus” and is hosting the O You! event this Saturday at the Boston Convention Center. For a measely(!) $95 resgistration fee, you......

Who needs advance reviews when this Bostonist's got an excuse to wear her vintage stewardess uniform to the theater? Thursday 8/17 Snakes On A Plane Jon Stewart: What's the plot? Samuel L. Jackson: Uhhh... Bad guy wants to bring down the plane... Stewart: What's on the plane? Jackson: Victims. Stewart: No no no no. Jackson: Reptiles? Stewart: Yes! Jackson: Poisonous reptiles! Stewart: Yes! Jackson: Snakes on a mother***ing plane! Stewart: They wanted to make it......

Eight Days a Week. The music scene is hot, and we realize that we're not giving you enough lead time on some of the best way to cure a case of the Mondays – with a Monday evening show. This week we're putting eight days into our weekly music picks. Starting on Monday and running through the following week. This week we're eating locally – and listening locally. Several local acts find prominence on......

You might have seen all the signs around Boylston Street today announcing the street being closed Saturday morning. The city then put up a flashing sign for motorists this afternoon warning them of the “Lions Club International Parade of Nations.” What the hell is the Lions Club parade you ask? Well, Bostonist had to submit an “Ask Bostonist” question to itself and did a bit of research on this one. The 89th Lions Clubs International......

A little bit of comedy, mixed with political commentary, some pop culture, and interesting interviews. This is exactly what Baratunde delivers on his podcast, the Front Porch Podcast. When Baratunde Thurston isn't appearing in local comedy clubs or writing down his thoughts and opinions, he is creating some pretty darn good podcasts. At press time, there are only 15 episodes out for consumption, thus the show is in its infancy. Despite the show being young,......

Kevin Barnes has taken his band, Of Montreal, on a quest of original expression through rock music, provoking individuality in all who stand in his path and show up to music clubs around the world. Of Montreal’s last tour, in support of Bostonist 2005 fave The Sunlandic Twins, brought Barnes and company through Cambridge twice last year. These shows were so successful, Of Montreal return to the Middle East on March 5. Bostonist caught up......

Now, Bostonist doesn't like to make light of serious matters that could, potentially, have led to tragedy, but damn, this is amusing. A woman from Brockton, formerly a waitress at a strip club there and another in Stoughton, was so fed up with mistreatment by men that she mailed condoms containing drano and gasoline (an almost-but-not-quite-explosive combination) to various locations she apparently felt were good representatives of male wrongdoing: Bridgewater State College (?!), the Taunton......

For those three others of you in your cubicles this afternoon, Bostonist thought you’d like a little something to read while you mind-numbingly try to keep yourself entertained until 5p.m. Newton Couple Stabbed in Home Invasion: Once voted the safest place to live in America, Newton pops up on the local news scene with a scary story about a knife wielding neighbor who inexplicably attacks a couple in their home. Luckily, police caught him after......

The problem with doing 2005's Top Ten Best Webcasts is that you need a full year of webcasts to really get a good selection. Bostonist was lazy this year and started less then 6 months ago. Instead of holding back and waiting to make a list next year Bostonist is going to cut loose and make 2005's Top Four Best Webcasts. One podcast for every month Bostonist has been giving out ratings. 1. The BC......