Well, City Councilor John Tobin has a solution for low voter turnout, and it's not a MoFee Style Public Kvetch-Fest. If Mayor Tom Menino thought he didn't like the idea of Kvetch-Fest 2008, he must have blown his stack when he heard what Councilor Tobin proposed. Tobin wants to limit mayoral and city council terms to 12 years. Menino, who is an institution along the lines of the Old South Meeting House, has already served......

Thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts’s ongoing exhibit Walk This Way, shoe-loving Bostonians have found a new excuse for their obsession: They’re not just conspicuous consumers, they’re art collectors. The exhibit—which shows shoes as pieces of art as well as symbols of wealth and power throughout the ages—is cleverly spread throughout the MFA’s galleries, organized, according to the program, as a “treasure hunt” for visitors. (Bostonist’s companion had more fun reading the map than......

--Bostonist hasn't seen a "flagrant foul," or a sports-related blotter entry, in some time. The bad situation that was the Super Bowl loss just got worse for New England Patriots defensive back Willie Andrews, who was busted driving an unregistered car and having pot on him in Lowell. If it had happened to anyone one else, on any other day, no one would have cared. But the Herald points out that Andrews has a record.......

The New England Confectionary Company (NECCO) has announced the new phrases that will be printed on its hearts. This year's themes include weather ("Melt My Heart" and "Get My Drift") and animals ("Wild Life" and "Nature Lover"). Regarding the animal theme, we dare them to put "Doggy Style" on a heart! You know that someone at Team NECCO thought it and then swiftly pushed it out of his or her mind. Weather also gave rise......

Mike of The Food Monkey shares his thoughts about cooking, food history, restaurant trends, and any other Epicurean issues. He promises to discuss what tastes good, but not always what is in good taste. For more on consuming the opponents and other food news, go to the Food Monkey website. To contact Mike, go to the Food Monkey's contact page. After a long hiatus filled with flurries, football, food, and fireworks, I resume my series......

Many women get close to their hairdressers, whether they're forking over too much for a haircut or going to SuperCuts. But have you been worried that your hairdresser might hate you? Kayleen Schaefer at the New York Times did a trend piece on how the most successful hairstylists don't gossip with or barely even talk to their customers. The first hairstylist profiled was Mario Russo of Boston: “I’m not in a position to give you......

Roz Chast and Maira Kalman Wednesday, November 14, 6:30 pm ICA Boston, $25 More info. Roz Chast and Maira Kalman's talk at the ICA has a loooong title: "A Shaky Yet Curiously Enlightening Evening with Roz Chast and Maira Kalman Who Will Show Work and Then Answer with Chipper Doubt Any Questions You Might Have About This, That, or the Other." It's surprising that the two offer such a long title when they are best......

Dear Lola, Oh, Lola, how could you? You incurred the wrath of Gawker and left local bloggers puzzled as to what you were about, you coy little vixen! You claim to be the Boston Globe's new fashion magazine. You claim to be Boston's newest best friend. You resemble Louise Brooks, but shrunk down into the size of the old TV Guide. You seem so harmless at first glance. But we've discovered that you're a little......

Okay, okay, before you get insulted, Bostonist is not especially fashionable. And New York is in the throes of its own Fashion Week right now - so Boston is having Fashion Week at the same time? Isn't that just asking for no one to notice? Well, Boston's Fashion Week did indeed start yesterday. Much of the excitement appears to be centered around Natick, though, because of Friday's Natick Collection opening. "Collection" is a fancy word......

It can't be the first documented case of "Manny being Manny" this year – but it's close. The Herald's 'Track Ladies were all over the Red Sox slugger this morning for what they're filing as a hair don't. Last year Manny strutted out for training with dreads that had obviously grown since the fall, dreads which he'd gotten the ends of colored during the off season. He got flack then, though little did we know......

The Boston Beer Company is headquartered here in Boston. The test brewery is only a few drunken steps from the Stony Brook station in JP, the marketing and admin happens downtown out of the design center on the South Boston waterfront, even if the bulk of the beer is brewed out of state. The flagship is still Sam Adams Boston Lager and the company felt something was missing – their own glass. We've been drinking......

The newly freezing weather reminded us all of how awkward it is to dig for your slick plastic CharlieCard with your glove-covered fingers. But the industrious Subway Knitter has the answer - a mitten with a top pocket just the right size for a CharlieCard. The yarn is thin enough that, when you wave your mittened hand in front of the sensor, the card will communicate with the gate's sensor, and you'll breeze through the......

Apparently in Cambridge it's just too hard to pop the collar on a corset. Yesterday the Harvard Crimson published an arts editorial "Preppy-Goth Is Doomed Fashion." The skull fashion is on the rise at Harvard. Hipsters and Preps alike are taking on the emblems normally associated with a gothic look. We know all about the Wal-Mart Nazi t-shirts that have been pulled from all many stores. But that was a simple case of plagiarism. They......

What do you do ten days after Christmas when you've gotten a gift and you're still not sure what it is and you've really got to get that thank you card out to Grandma? Bring it into the office and start asking around. It will be an amusing game for everyone. This morning a teeny tiny shirt showed up with a co-worker, looked sized to fit a Cabbage Patch Kid. It had been received in......

The right to bargain with a star pitcher - $51.1 Million to the Seibu Lions The deal that brought Daisuke Matsuzaka to the Boston Red Sox roster - $52 million over six years. A second World Series win in 86 years – Oh, crap, we almost got caught in a MasterCard commercial for a moment. The $112 million that was spent to bring the Japanese pitcher to Boston is more than we can ever......

Every year since 2001, the Bazaar Bizarre has brought together avant-garde knitters, hipster t-shirt printers, vinyl melters, and other makers of objets d'adorable. At last year's Bazaar in the Cyclorama, this Bostonist finished her Christmas shopping in record time, pawed covetously at a purse shaped like a turtle, ran into long lost friends, chatted up the author of a favorite web comic, heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit" played on a theremin, and misplaced our......

Photograph of Rick Santorum conceding defeat with his family by Gene J. Puskar/AP The -ists this week had politics on the brain. And what goes better with politics? Partying-- that's two great tastes in one. Oh, and Kevin Federline...can't forget about Kevin Federline. That's three great tastes in one. -Bostonist discussed two big state issues-- what sort of math constitutes a marriage and what kind of alcohol can be sold in most grocery stores.......

A true story of seven strangers picked to live in a…firehouse. Back in 1997, when Bostonist was still eligible to participate as a member of MTV's Real World cast (sadly we're too old and not enough of a stereotype for the current seasons), the show filmed a season with the cast living at a converted Beacon Hill firehouse. Yesterday the Boston Globe ran an article about an Eastie residence which sold for $1.15 million, also......

God, we're so sick of Snakes on a Plane that we want to kill anyone and everyone that makes a "something on a something" joke. But then we realized that there was no way we could ever win this fight, and, hell, if you can't beat them, we might as well join them. And with that, you have the theme of this weeks' Gothamist network post. Austinist makes it easy for us, with Candidate on......

The debacle that was Hot Stove, Cool Music last week has made us ready for a week of good music. The debacle in that it poured so hard they had to move the whole thing under the bleachers (inside). The sound quality was poor and James Taylor pulled a rock star move and only made the stage for a single song because he didn't have enough space. This week we're looking forward to cooler......

Even though Boston somehow failed to make the Top 50 world's most expensive cities to live in list (although this survey is of arguable accuracy.) God knows it's nice to find a deal in our "in-what-world-is-Boston -cheaper-than-Chicago-which -ranked-38-on-the-list" little city. One thing we can always count on in Boston is Filene's Basement, a little chunk of discounted-retail heaven on earth. The Basement is stocked right now…If you're a medium or above. Smaller sizes are still......

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. What's better than Bostonist ripping off lines of Beatles songs on a Monday? Checking out the Boy Least Likely To show at TT's. What's better than Bostonist ripping off Beatles lyrics on a Tuesday? The Aaron Goldberg Trio's Boston CD release party. What's better…oh you get the point. Check out this week's music picks for......

What happens when you take two dozen New England interior designers and put them in a house? Do they stop being polite? Um, no, there's no indication that they're no longer polite. But do they start being real? Well, kind of…if "real conservative" counts. In the recent Junior League's 34th annual Decorators' Show House, in which a bunch of designers get together to exhibit their skills for charity, New England designers didn't stray far from......

It's well known that Boston is not known for its fashion…unless fleece and Teva sandals topped off with a Red Sox hat rank high on your list of hot trends. But one man is defying the stereotype. Gary Croteau is Esquire magazine's Best Dressed Real Man in Boston. His stylish threads not only got him into Esquire, but also into the Globe last week, where he received even more accolades for his fine taste. According......

For our years in academia and a continuing commitment to understanding social and economic policy, we’ve heard that ecological friendly initiatives won’t be widely popular unless economic incentive is the driving force. We thought the whole emissions trading market would help out our ambitions for green, before a certain someone backed out of the Kyoto Protocol. Recently, with gas going for over $3 a gallon (still way less per ounce than a Dunkie’s large regular),......

There’s something about the mustache. Some folks sport it well (Tom Selleck, Alex Trebek) and can look just as dashing without it - naked for a while, but we got used to a mustache-less Trebek. Others opine in song about their desire for the ‘stache, take Jimmy Buffet's ballad for example: "I wish I had a pencil thin mustache." Fresh from a Fung Wah trip last month we overheard talk that hipsters in NYC......

We’re working for the weekend and it's only Monday. Rainy day outside and the sun is reported MIA until Wednesday. Despite the current gloom, things are looking mighty green outside - a good sign of spring. Flowering trees have done their thing and soon we’ll be smelling the lilacs. For now we’re settling for another cup of Stella while we soak up the tunes and the increasing temperatures. Monday 4/24: John Vanderslice mk Ultra......

Today was the second installment of the Boston Globe’s weekly Calendar section appearing inside the Sidekick. Last Wednesday we held our breath when we read the short announcement in Sidekick that they would swallow the Calendar – but it didn’t turn out as bad as we thought. The new format requires a reader to actually open the Sidekick to remove the Calendar section. Perhaps this was the goal of the Globe; in the next survey......

Since limited edition t-shirts are "so hot right now", Bostonist can think of nothing better to take our minds off that post-St. Patty's Day hangover than checking out the Legends of Style: ICONS event at the BCA this Saturday, March 18 from 8 pm - 1 am. "ICONS will showcase artwork from more than 30 artists and designers from across the country. This time around, Future Classic [the event's host,] decided to add a......

Being a long weekend and all we finally got around to reading the articles in the most recent Phoenix. The standout in the crop was “Life, love, and sneakers” all about Boston and the shoe culture. All the big talk about Reebok’s merger with Adidas that has been hitting the business section has gotten us wondering what is to come with some of our favorite suburban brands. According to the article what’s at hand is......