Zagat's Best Cheap Eats in Boston

I've been reading the Zagat guide's restaurant reviews powered by the people years before Yelp.

It looks like they've calculated the places with the highest ratings in the categories of food, decor, and service that have the lowest average price.

They call it "10 Best Cheap Eats in Boston". I won't spoil the game if you want to figure it out, but I've enjoyed at least something at all of them and really like 6 of them.

If you ask me, #9 on their list is the best cheap eat in Boston.

I've scheduled this late, so you'll have to settle for a slice or calzone at Bova's...

Vote for Boston's Most Valuable Bloggers

I received an email that I had been nominated for CBS Boston's "Most Valuable Blogger Awards" in the dining/entertainment category.

Initially, I wanted to encourage people to vote for me repeatedly, then I saw the other nominees.

I thought, "Oh... Some of those sites are really good... Do I deserve to win?"

In reality you fine people will vote as you like, so it's really out of my hands.

I'm going to add the badge to my side banner as a reminder that I can vote daily through FRI 9/9. (Haven't decided whether to spread the votes around or futily try to tilt things in my direction...)

And thank you to whomever/however I was nominated!

Psst... Some Free Mp3's

Hey friends,

I see a lot of links and click on many of them. One particular trail that I can't recall led me to Insound.

It's one of those cool websites where bands can sell their music on vinyl.

The interface is very friendly, and they offer a lot of free mp3's of complete songs. The bands are mainly non-mainstream, but they are real-deal bands that put out stuff that should be filling the airwaves.

The free downloads probably change at any time. I threw a bunch of tunes from bands I like (or have heard of) into an iTunes playlist, hit 'shuffle', and made a pretty sweet indie CD sampler:

"Lust For Life" - Girls
"Change of Heart" - El Perro Del Mar
"Say Yes" - Langhorne Slim
"Can't Get Over You" - Vivian Girls
"Sugalumps" - Flight Of The Conchords
"In The NA" - The Hidden Cameras
"Fables" - The Dodos
"Dominos" - The Big Pink
"River May Come" - Wild Yaks
"Hunchback" - Kurt Vile
"Hindsight" - Built To Spill
"Freedom" - Daniel Johnston
"Magpie To The Morning" - Neko Case
"Best Of Me" - Morningwood
"French Navy" - Camera Obscura
"And the Hazy Sea" - Cymbals Eat Guitars
"Percussion Gun" - White Rabbits
"Here To Fall" - Yo La Tengo
"Last Dance" - The Raveonettes
"Pa Pa Power" - Dead Man's Bones

It's great to see that records are coming back. You should buy some discs from Insound and appreciate a band's output as the artist had intended. They also sell shirts and posters and other kewl stuff...

It's fun, it sounds better than you think/remember, and people will admire your hipness!

My song of the day was "Say Yes" by Langhorne Slim. Nothing is wrong with it; everything is right.

Off-Topic: Funny Graph

I'm guessing a lot of people already know "Indexed", where a graph geek (my description, not hers) draws on index cards.

If I were to draw a description, it might be a Venn diagram with two circles practicaly on top of each other that are labeled "humorous" and "thought-provoking".

Off-topic: Some Friendly Advice

I tried to find the original source, and this was the furthest I could go.

BUT I saw it on bear. I'm really impressed by the cool text and images. Keep an eye on this blog, if you like to be excited by that sort of thing...

One more from "bear":

MON 8/18 to SAT 8/23: Band in Boston Residency

I don't really listen to a lot of podcasts. My friend Rob says that I should do one, but I need to get some pointers from him and others like Band In Boston. I've enjoyed listening to their sessions every now and then, and they do a great job with the content and the production value. So many good bands have crossed paths with Andy and Jen, so it's not hard to believe they can get dozens to celebrate their 2nd anniversary (as podcasters, not as a couple -- but I believe they're married).

They've put together another 6 shows this year. While I think Friday's show is your best bet -- with Wednesday a close second -- you could go any night and hear something good...

I may update as I listen more during the week.

--------------------------------------------------------------

All Shows (probably) start around 9:30pm
at PA's Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave, Somerville (Union Sq)
$7 -- 21+ / $10 -- 18+

MON 8/18

Boat, The Woodrow Wilsons, Creeping Weeds, Old Abram Brown

TUES 8/19

Beasts of England, Anthems, Greg (of Pending Disappointment), Polarbaron, Emeen Z

I listened to each of these bands, and there's some damn good music with some interesting variety! I guess the idea is to trust Jen and Andy's good taste, if you don't listen to their every podcast. But you should listen...

WED 8/20

E.R., Chris & Dave (of Viva Viva), Donny Hue and Olivia Mancini, Ryan Lee Crosby, Mr. Sister

THUR 8/21

Broken River Prophet, Akudama, Mikey French Fries, The Painted Lights

FRI 8/22

Baker, Marc Pinansky, George Lewis Jr, Drug Rug, American Car, The Needy Visions

SAT 8/23

The Soft Drugs, Higgins, The Toothaches, Drama Queens

BlogLove: Locust St.

I was doing some of my usual web-surfing, and I have to say that this is one of the best blog posts I've ever seen. I think I've been to "Locust St." before, but this is just a thoughtful mix of great mp3's, text, and images.

First, "Marie Provost" by Nick Lowe is one of my favorite songs. You gotta love a ditty about a failed actress who dies and is eaten by her dog. Check out the little unison piano-guitar break!

You get more mp3's from The Kinks, Prince, Vic Chesnutt, Lou Reed, and much more -- probably every song of early cinema... (There's a 'Part 2' post on the site that includes Roxy Music, Billy Bragg & Wilco, Leadbelly, Blue Oyster Cult, Nirvana, The Clash, The Beach Boys, Siouxsie & the Banshees, as well as Anita O'Day doing "Hooray For Hollywood"...)

I throw these damn posts together, but someone did solid research at this site to quote extensively and coherently accompanied by interesting and fresh pictures from the pioneering days of movie-making.

Holy Moley! Awesome Photo Blog...

© Dmitri Goutnik

All photos on radio.uruguay are by Dmitri Goutnik who apparently lives in St. Petersburg, and photographs all over. Most are black & white, but some are in color (some colored as above).

The Guardian had one of this series in their travel section. (I love that news organization...)

Just had to share my joy with you,

~r