ROFLCon invaded Cambridge over the weekend, storming MIT's lecture halls and colonizing the bars of Central Square with novelty t-shirts. Bostonist knows that the Internet is always talking to itself, about itself, but it was surreal to be in the room while that was happening. Case in point: this guy sat in front of us during a web comics panel, watching the live webcast and browsing Flickr images of the very talk that he......

Bostonist arrived at the Prudential on Saturday ready to be let down. The gatekeepers at Anime Boston 2008 had not issued us a press pass, and our +20 Cloak of Belonging is, shall we say, somewhat out of date. But, to our great pleasure, the grim, unreachable confines of Hynes Convention Center could not contain Anime Boston's faithful, who erupted into the Shops at Prudential Center. Hey, they've got to eat sometime, right? We caught......

First Night Monday, December 31 Everywhere (see below) All outdoor events are free. All indoor events are accessible with a First Night button ($15) Official First Night site Artists use the cold weather to their advantage with ice sculptures. The sculptures will be on the Common starting at 1:00 pm until midnight. You can look at a frozen version of Florida courtesy of Donald Chapelle, an American eagle that would make Stephen Colbert proud, and......

First Night Monday, December 31 Everywhere in Boston (see below) All indoor outdoor events are free. All outdoor indoor events are accessible with a First Night button ($15) Official First Night site First Night has been preparing to ring in the New Year. Revelers can enjoy all the First Night outdoor events, such as the ice sculptures and the fireworks, for free. But they'll need to pick up a button to attend the indoor events,......

Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair November 16-18 Hours: Friday 5-9 Saturday 12-7, Sunday 12-5 Hynes Convention Center Directions | Tickets (Purchase $15 weekend tickets on Friday, or $8 for Saturday or Sunday only) If nothing turns you on like yellowed pages and musty smells, the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair is for you. From a copy of Ariel inscribed by Ted Hughes to an original copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with promo......

--A Boston judge sentenced three cocaine dealers yesterday and then told them that, after they serve their time, they will not be allowed to move back to the city for 12 years. According to the Herald, 19-year-old Amos Carasquillo of Mattapan, 26-year-old Nathan Garrasteguy of Roxbury, and 21-year-old Louis Garcia Jr. of Roxbury have 60 arrests among them. Besides those guys, eleven gang members have been rounded up in the past few weeks. --Last night,......

Bostonist saw today's "Rolling Rally," featuring the players riding duck boats across the city and relief pitcher Jonathan Papelbon dancing to the Dropkick Murphys, from two different vantage points--near the Common and at the Hynes Convention Center. Everyone clearly enjoyed themselves, especially Papelbon: Wherever you were along the parade route, it was simply madness. Of course, the Red Sox faithful turned out in their jerseys. Hundreds of little kids skipped school. College students sat down......

This was a rough week, as we were faced with some hard calls regarding our shows, the World Series, and TiVo limitations. TiVo did not deliver America's Next Top Model, so this week's discussion is somewhat abbreviated. --Beauty and the Geek: The geeks have a fantasy handed to them on a platter--turning their beauties into super-heroines for the Comic-Con convention in San Diego. The geeks are dizzy with the possibilities, especially Northeastern Jen's partner, William.......

PodCamp Boston 2 Friday, October 26 through Sunday, October 28 Boston Convention & Expo Center Free, but registration required Official Site PodCamp Boston 2 promises to teach you more than how to bedazzle an iPod, as witnessed on the reality-show I Love New York 2. The days are packed with practical seminars on creating your own web-media empire. Seminar titles include "Web 2.0 Tools That Are Actually Useful" and "Intellectual Property Law for the Creative......

It might be a stretch to claim that all the children at Sunday's Boston Comic Con were present to support their parents, but there was one incontrovertible example. Two toddlers, swaddled in the costumes of Superman and the Flash, raced through the Back Bay Events Center in strollers, pushed by their parents. "I think he's going to win," said the mother, pointing at the one dressed as Superman. "He's really the fastest." The convention was......

All the local news outlets went nutty over Ben Affleck at the Boston premiere of Gone Baby Gone. They were especially tickled that Matt Damon showed up, too. Of course they both said they would sneak out so they wouldn't miss the Red Sox game. Affleck is on a real hearts-and-minds mission. On Tuesday, he went to City Hall and joined Mayor Menino to help the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) unionize hospital employees.......

--While fitness guru Richard Simmons was tormenting the Fox 25 news crew, rapper LL Cool J was teaching fitness moves to AARP conventioneers at the Convention & Exposition Center. The Globe did a long piece on LL and his hotness, lingering up on one of his exercise moves: At one point, Cool J [Copyediting question: How does one find a rapper's surname?] demonstrated an exercise that required lying on his back, thrusting one leg in......

During Restaurant Week, which runs from now to August 17 (skipping Saturday, August 11), you can eat three-course lunches for $20.07 and three-course dinners for $33.07 all over town. You still have to pay for tips, tax, and beverages alcoholic and otherwise, but that's still not a bad deal. You can see a full list of participating restaurants here, and you can make reservations through OpenTable. From there, it's beg, borrow, or steal to get......

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did some research and found that Massachusetts bridges......

The Armenian Memorial, a proposed park, would pay homage to the Armenian Genocide that saw the loss of an estimated 1.5 million lives in 1915. The memorial has been on and off in the news mostly for their intention to develop a parcel of the Greenway near Christopher Columbus park as the site of the memorial. Tom Menino has voiced his opinion: no way. He doesn't want the Greenway to become home to a number......

Last weekend, Deval Patrick marched in the Pride parade. And he has vociferously opposed adding a ban on same-sex marriage to the 2008 ballot. Supporters of gay rights have many reasons to feel good. But today is going to be nerve-wracking because the Legislature might vote again on the ballot measure at the constitutional convention. In the winter, the Legislature approved adding a ballot measure that would give voters the option to define marriage as......

We're playing a little game we call "what's Tommy's name not on?" The Zamboni that smoothes the ice at the Frog Pond? It's on there. The welcome sign to Boston? It's on there. The toothbrushes the Boston Public Health Commission distributes? It's on there (and happens to be absurdly huge.) The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center? Yeah, that's it. Menino's name does not adorn the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center is not yet called......

Some people might wind up on the blotter starting tomorrow. Police are getting ready for an onslaught of protesters for Bio 2007, the gigantic biotech conference that starts on Sunday. We think that making such a fuss about it makes protesters look like a bunch of peasants armed with pitchforks, and anyone working in biotech should already be prepared for people to have a lot of questions. It's probably going to be a lot of......

Bostonist saw Anime Boston 2007 participants all over yesterday: on Newbury Street, in the mall, at Spike's, outside the Pru, where they had strayed from Hynes Convention Center in their full regalia.......

Five out-of-town - and a few out-of-nation - graffiti artists are accused of tagging MBTA cars in Braintree. While they went to court, Boston police grew jittery because of an impending "graffiti convention." The lawyer for the Braintree Five, including two Germans and a Swiss, says that they were out looking for something to eat. But, when MBTA police pulled them over, they smelled paint fumes, had a Berdvosky/Stevens flashback, and brought them in. If......

Bostonist caught the Reno 911!: Miami sneak preview a few days ago and fully intended to write about it sooner if it weren't for another unmentionable movie based on a TV show. Overall, the audience was pleased with the big-screen version of the Comedy Central COPS spoof. The audience was even happier when two actors from the movie came out as their characters. The ladies loved Cedric Yarbrough, who plays the self-described studmuffin cop "Jonesy."......

Our new governor is, in the words of Bob Dylan, really taking his potatoes down to be mashed. His staff announced that he landed Yo Yo Ma for his inaugural bash on January 4. Hear that? Yo Yo freaking Ma! Many are shocked at the price tag for the inauguration and related bash, but at least we know what he paid for. The Globe has a rundown of performers, but the highlights are Patti Austin,......

The emphasis on First Night has been as much on what you can't do as much as what you can do. So let's get what you can't do out of the way right now. Don't drive. Take public transportation. No excuses because the T will be free after 8 pm. The MBTA provides more details about the New Year's schedule here. And, as far as the law is concerned, the message is try not to......

While you were waiting in line for the CharlieGate to open the MBTA has been hard at work. Fixing escalators? No. Running busses on schedule? Of course not. Giving their website a complete overhaul? You got it. This morning browsing over to the MBTA.com website brings up a whole new page. Compared to the last 2002-esque design of the T website of yesterday the new implementation is in the flashy web 2.0 vein. For......

If you’re hiking, consider charging up your iPod, as Seattlest finds out that a man lost during a hike was found by the glow of his iPod. That cleverness seems to be devoid in cops who were using police cruiser instant messaging clients - although we imagine IMs “so are you nakie” to be included in cop shows, just for realism. If only the cops were busting the Hummer-driving jerk who made a poor......

Outside the State House during the Constitutional Convention, which may or may not vote on a proposed amendment to ban gay marriage Afternoon of November 9, 2006 Update: (37-5) x (dude+lady) - (heart+heart+heart)/0 + 6,000,000,000 + 9000/(51+2) - 38 + heart + heart = tabled till January......

Hot on the heels of his feature film debut in Jesus Camp (Bostonist's most enthusiastic movie pick in October), megapreacher Ted Haggard faces allegations of methamphetamine use and indiscretions with a male prostitute. Haggard was (until last night) president of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, where you can rent a "prayer closet" for $25 per night and apparently give new meaning to the phrase for......

Governor Romney, only weeks away from being a lame duck, announced that the MBTA would resume random bag searches of transit system passengers. We thought at first they'd be riffling through our bags trying to find any tokens we still have in our possession, though really they are indeed looking for bombs. The announced plan will deploy portable machines outside of stations that will test baggage for bomb residue, and, with probable cause, police can......

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......

Yesterday was supposed to be the big day for the proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. The Supreme Judicial Court had just ruled that the proposed amendment was legally kosher, the constitutional convention was slated to begin, and Senate President Travaglini had said he would make sure the amendment got a vote and wasn't postponed indefinitely by parliamentary maneuvers. (To get on the ballot, the amendment must be approved by two consecutive sittings......