Unlikely Words » somerville

Cindy Brady’s Fluff art

aaron cohen — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 21:25:16 +0000

Susan Olsen, who you may know as Cindy Brady, from The Brady Bunch, also makes Fluff art. Her work is currently showing at Bloc 11 Cafe in Union Square, Somerville. Union Square is the home of this weekend's Fluff Fest. I know all of this because that's me on the Cooking Contest Judge page right under the astronaut and State Representative. No offense, Mr. Astronaut and Ms. State Representative.

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Flood on Lake St, Somerville

aaron cohen — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 20:17:39 +0000

My street floods fairly regularly because we're below the hills of Somerville so it's no surprise, with Hurricane Irene and all, that my street would flood this weekend, too. That said, I expected it'd actually wait for the hurricane to get here to start. Irene is supposed to get here sometime tomorrow...

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Hawk attack in Somerville

aaron cohen — Mon, 09 May 2011 02:00:52 +0000

Linking to this story about a dude getting jacked up by a hawk while he was walking down the street minding his own business (the dude was walking, not the hawk) because I have a fascination with the hawks that hang out in Boston. I can think of at least 3 posts I've written about them over the years, including the 2nd or 3rd post I wrote when I started blogging again in 2004. HOLY SHIT that was a long time ago.

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Somerville asks, ‘Are You Happy?’

aaron cohen — Mon, 02 May 2011 14:18:08 +0000

My city in the NY Times! I remember noticing this question on the City's census form a couple months ago, but I didn't realize it was among the first in the nation...

Officials here want this Boston suburb to become the first city in the United States to systematically track people’s happiness. Like leaders in Britain, France and a few other places, they want to move beyond the traditional measures of success — economic growth — to promote policies that produce more than just material well-being.

To draw up its questions, Somerville turned to a neighbor, Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard psychology professor who wrote the 2006 best seller “Stumbling on Happiness.” Dr. Gilbert, who donated his time, is also helping the city do a more detailed telephone survey, using a randomized sample of Somerville’s 76,000 residents.

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Ice Cream Showdown 2010!

aaron cohen — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 15:16:29 +0000

My latest @eatBoston event is today and tomorrow. Ice Cream Showdown! The best ice cream shops from the Boston area setting up in a parking lot to support deserving local organizations. This year is 2 days in 2 different parts of town. Full info including participants, T Shirts, etc at the link above.

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Flood on Lake St, Somerville

aaron cohen — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:39:39 +0000

I live on Lake St and every couple years you find out why. We were away this weekend when our entire neighborhood flooded, stranding cars and trains. Here's an awesome video by Paper Fortress Films showing the situation Saturday afternoon.

A couple years ago, I made this much less awesome video to show a flood.

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Tom Champion Stepping Down

aaron cohen — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:19:39 +0000

Somerville residents have grown accustomed to Tom Champion's awesome robocalls for city events. Snow emergencies were what he was best known for, but he was also good for water mane breaks and city firework events. It is with sadness I read last week that he's stepping down.

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RCN DNS Redirect in Boston and How to Opt Out

aaron cohen — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:15:59 +0000

A couple weeks ago, I noticed that whenever I mistyped a domain name, instead of getting a "Server not found" message or being redirected to Google, I was being redirected to a RCN search page. Not the end of the world, obviously, but still annoying.

I had heard about other ISPs utilizing DNS redirection or DNS hijacking on user accounts "as a service", otherwise, I don't know if I would have realized what had happened. I especially don't remember RCN in Boston/Somerville informing me of this added benefit or telling me how to get rid of it. Google let me know that other folks have gotten their ISPs to remove the service by opting out, so I gave it a shot.

I looked everywhere in my account for an opt out before sending an email to RCN Customer Service. I would have called, but this post made me think I'd be better off emailing them and waiting for a reply instead of frustratingly trying to explain the problem up a chain of customer service representatives. RCN refers to this service as PaxFire, but I didn't want to confuse things by using proper nouns. I sent the following email to around 10 in the evening:

It appears that DNS redirection was recently turned on on my account so that when entering text in the browser address bar if the text was not a website the page that loads is a RCN search page as opposed to Google. I would like to opt out of this service please.

By 11 the next morning, I had a response and solution:

...I reviewed your account and it needs to be updated. The PaxFire opt-out has been added to the account and in order to pull a non-PaxFire IP address, a good thing to try would be to power cycle the modem...Once complete, the PaxFire service should not be active on the Internet connection.

Another Somerville RCN user was also able to get the redirect removed by sending the above note to them, so it seems to work.

I had also mentioned my displeasure on Twitter and got a response there the next morning as well. The lesson? If you want good, quick customer service from RCN, email or Tweet at them instead of calling. Though, if they won't fix your problem, it's not going to be fun either way.

I hope I don't get throttled for this.

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Going Nutty! in Union Square, Somerville

aaron cohen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:58:24 +0000

I'm helping to put on a fun event this weekend in Union Square. Going Nutty! features nuts from Superior Nut being used by chefs from all over Boston (Flour Bakery, Kickass Cupcakes, Channel Cafe, Rocca, OM Restaurant, Bloc 11, and how2heroes) in some of their favorite dishes.

If you want to get nuts this weekend, come to Bloc 11 and Grand from 2-4 PM on Sunday the 4th. All proceeds benefit the newly founded Juniper Fund, which was formed to honor John S. Hall, bass player for local band Addison Groove Project, who passed away in 2004. To RSVP or for more info, check out the Facebook Page.

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Hawks in Boston

aaron cohen — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:31:38 +0000

Another hawk sighting in the city. Along with imagining seeing that giant out on the fire escape and being freaked out that he'd eat me, I'm compelled to blog about hawks in Boston so I can link to one of my first blog posts after starting to blog again in 2004. I was sitting at my desk in Davis Sq when there was a flutter and thump outside the window and a hawk had caught a pigeon in mid-air and then smothered it right on the sidewalk... I went out to check it out, and it flew off thinking I was trying to steal his pigeon. I didn't realize that happened in the city, but it does. And they attack people at Fenway, too.

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Inside the Fluff Factory Video

aaron cohen — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:18:56 +0000

Plus this. Sorry for the horrid object frame...

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Hearing for Fluffernutter Bill

aaron cohen — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:26:17 +0000

Photo by Flickr user define23Back in the beginning of February, I posted about bill H-2932 in the Massachusetts legislature. The bill aimed to make the fluffernutter the official sandwich of the Commonwealth. According to the Globe, there will be a hearing tomorrow to determine whether Marshmallow Fluff, Necco Wafers, and Charleston Chews will make the cut as state foods.

Massachusetts already has five official state foods, among the most in the country: the baked navy bean, corn muffin, chocolate chip cookie, Boston cream pie, and Boston cream doughnut.

After my initial post about this in February, I emailed everyone in both the House and the Senate, as well as several Somerville politicos. Only a few responded (but I'll email everyone again regarding this matter) and their responses are below the fold. I'll continue to add responses as they come in.

Representative Denise Provost
Do you support H-2932 before the Massachusetts House of Representatives?
Yes

If so, what do you think it is about the Fluffernutter that deserves the mantle of Official State Sandwich? If not, why?
Fluff was invented in Union Square, Somerville. It is a Massachusetts creation.

How often do you enjoy Fluff, either on a sandwich or in a dessert?
My eleven year old enjoys Fluff, especially in rice krispie squares.

How would you respond to claims by some critics that the Legislator should be focused on more pressing issues?
(1) Did you notice how long it took to respond to this email?
(2) One cannot lie on crisis and disaster alone.

What is your favorite sandwich?
Grilled vegetables on whole grain bread, maybe ciabatta.

Anything you'd like to add?
Don’t miss Somerville’s annual What the Fluff? celebration.

Senator Stan Rosenberg declined comment.

Senator Richard Moore
Do you support H-2932 before the Massachusetts House of Representatives?
NO

If so, what do you think it is about the Fluffernutter that deserves the mantle of Official State Sandwich? If not, why?
I think we've got more pressing issues to consider.

How often do you enjoy Fluff, either on a sandwich or in a dessert?
Very rare.

How would you respond to claims by some critics that the Legislator should be focused on more pressing issues?
See my answer above.

What is your favorite sandwich?
No particular favorite. Prefer wraps, with less bread.

Anything you'd like to add?
No

Representative Tim Toomey

It’s a timely coincidence we would be talking about Fluff right after I restocked with a couple jars. Fluff is a delicious treat (to enjoy in moderation, of course) and makes for a great sandwich snack.

With all of the serious concerns on our plate this session, I doubt legislators will be spending much time debating or researching the official state sandwich. At the same time, I think it’s alright to take a few minutes to recognize a local success story. As a lifelong resident of the area, I’ve grown up with Fluff and I’m proud to see an invention of our neighborhood catch on and become a treat for so many people in Massachusetts and across the country.

In the spirit of bringing recognition to the long history of business innovation in Somerville and in the state, I’ll be supporting Representative Reinstein’s bill to make the Fluffernutter the official sandwich of the Commonwealth.

Representative George Peterson
(Notes paraphrased from phone conversation)

-The Bill submitted was probably by students.
-If it was submitted by students then I support it
-We've got a lot of different official everythings.
-Not a big fan of combining Fluff with peanutbutter, but likes Fluff.
-There are a lot of pressing issues, obviously.
- Doesn't take a lot of time to do this.

Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone

As a lifelong resident of Union Square where, of course, Fluff was invented, I am certainly supportive of its growing popularity.

Currently, I am a team leader for a “Shape Up, Slim Down Challenge” in City Hall, which is another program stemming from our Shape Up Somerville Program whereby City employees are encouraged to join one of 5 teams to eat healthy and be more active. As such, it would be difficult for us to qualify a Fluffernutter sandwich as an official, “Shape-Up approved” meal (what would that do to our team’s reputation?), but we are ALL certainly fans of the Fluffernutter sandwich, and indeed it deserves recognition.

With four young boys, Fluffernutter sandwiches are always in demand at our house, so I am probably one of the main reasons why other residents find local stores out of stock.

Archibald Query did very well by his invention, and I’m already looking forward to this year’s annual “What the Fluff?” Festival! I hope to see you there.

Somerville Rocks!!

Senator Pat Jehlen

I think the legislature should be focused on the fiscal crisis and our constituents’ needs. Fluff is doing fine with the help of Union Square Main Streets’ celebration and fans like you!

Hate to disagree, ever, with a constituent!

Representative Carl Sciortino:

I support the bill to make the fluffernutter the official sandwich. I associate having a fluffernutter sandwich with being at my grandmother’s house, enjoying her company, especially on days when I was home sick from school. It was comfort food, and it’s one of those traditions that started right here in Massachusetts. I think it’s a worthy honor.

Representative Tim Madden
"Gotta love Fluff."

Representative Alice Wolf
"I think a discussion about the fig newton and its origins in Cambridge is more interesting."

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What the Fluff Festival 2009 – Union Sq, Somerville

aaron cohen — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:33:21 +0000

Back for year number 4, Union Square Main Streets has their What the Fluff fest on Saturday, the 26th from 4-7PM. Lots going on including:

Vendors with lots of Fluff treats will make this a real party. You'll find a wacky collection of times, from Fluff t-shirts to soaps that look like 'smores, from savory barbeque to whoopie pies. Food vendors include: Kickass Cupcakes, Pao de Acucar, India Palace, Cantina la Mexicana and Somerville High School. Other vendors include: Union Square Main Streets, Groundwork Somerville, Neighborhood Health Plan, Grand, Yelp, Dirty Ass Soap.

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Union Square, Somerville: Good and Bad

aaron cohen — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:37:15 +0000

Good. Bad. ###Possibly related posts:Union Square, Somerville Winter Craft Market Going Nutty! in Union Square, Somerville Market Basket – Union Square, Somerville ### Possibly related posts:

Somerville Shepard Fairey Mural Defaced, Repaired

aaron cohen — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:11:25 +0000

I can't believe it took me 2 months to get to this, but I'm kind of glad it did because of the happy ending. At the beginning of April, Union Square's Grand came in to find their Shepard Fairey mural defaced and if you look at the pictures, not even in a creative way. Fairey had put up the mural and others like it all over Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, etc this winter in advance of his show at the ICA. While some of these murals, like the one on Grand, were officially approved, some were not, resulting in a legal storm with charges being added as quickly as they were dismissed. The police are so interested in adding additional charges, they recently came in to Grand to ask if the mural had been approved.
All this to say, that in the meantime, Fairey sent a local friend some replacement posters and the mural at Grand has been restored to it's original design. This makes me happy.

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Chris Piascik Gallery Opening, Chorus Gallery, June 13

aaron cohen — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:12:12 +0000

I was thinking it's been a while since I posted one of Chris's pictures and then I saw TV Vomit and I had to post it. Chris has an opening on June 13 at Chorus Gallery, which is part of Open Bicycle (which I like because it's aound the corner). Check it out if you like good things.

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Market Basket – Union Square, Somerville

aaron cohen — Fri, 22 May 2009 21:00:08 +0000

Market Basket in Union Square, Somerville, is the best grocery store ever. You don't often see reviews for a grocery store that talk about the adventure of shopping there, or referencing a charming chaos, but if I were to write one, those are the exact words I'd use. Speaking of reviews, here's a good one.

Market Basket is dirty, crowded, and cheap. Because of how quickly it turns over, it has the best produce in Boston (except for maybe the garlic). If you can get in and out of there without having to drive or use a shopping cart, you'll be totally fine. If you have to park, check out one of the side streets because the parking lot is a nightmare patrolled by police detail. If you need a shopping cart, go somewhere else because you'll just slow everyone down and get frustrated.

In the "12 Items or Less" line, I've seen people with 14 items sent away. Around the holidays, these express lines are overseen by a 2nd police detail, while the aisle between the other checkout lines and the store is completely impassable. My favorite time to go is Sunday night about 25 minutes before closing. It's still jammed, but not hopeless, almost as if everyone knows what they're doing.

You can get incredibly obscure ethnic food items, but good luck finding them, because the products seem to change from week to week. Cold cuts at the deli are often $1-$2 less than other area grocery stores.

In my mind, Market Basket fits the personality of Union Square perfectly as well as complimenting the many nearby ethnic markets. Check it out if you think you can handle it.

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Two Awesome Local T Shirt Companies

aaron cohen — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:54:11 +0000

1. Print Brigade, or PRBR, has got just what you need for your body. That is, if you like wearing good looking T Shirts. (If you don't believe me because they're friends, would you believe Thrillist?)

2. Family Dinner for One, or FDF1, has got just what you need for your body. That is, if you like wearing good looking T Shirts. (If you don't believe me because they're acquaintances, would you believe The Boston Globe?)

Both places have several designs, so if you don't like bicycles or kittens, you can still have fun.

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Interview with Davy Rothbart from Found Magazine (3 of 3)

aaron cohen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 22:24:02 +0000

Here's Part 3 of my interview with Davy Rothbart from Found Magazine. In Part 1 Davy talks about the cover of his new book, being on the road, and what happens at a normal Found show. In Part 2 we cover how Davy gets into performance mode, passion, Rise Against, and his new book, Requiem for a Paper Bag. Today, we FINALLY get to the Isiah Thomas part of the interview. These are the hard hitting questions you people are looking for. The Boston area Found show is Saturday, May 9 in Union Square, Somerville at Precinct. If you find something and want to send it to Davy, check out Foundmagazine.com.

You were saying just a second ago how the glimpse you get is incomplete and I feel like wondering about the rest of the story would just kill me over and over, but it sounds like you maybe have used your imagination to counter that.

I think it is intriguing, endlessly fascinating to take whatever clues are there and try to piece the clues together. We're all surrounded by strangers everyday, walking down the street, sitting on the bus. When you look at these notes, it gives you these clues into what the lives of the people we share with - it gives you a little glimpse into their life. I like watching people and kind of in the same way you wonder 'what's that guy sitting alone at the bar, what's he thinking about' and it's the same thing when you read these notes. You're sense of wonder is titillated. You wonder, 'what is the story here'.

You lover your job, I can tell. Is there anything you don't like about what you're doing?

I think one thing I struggle with, I have a lot of different interests and I struggle with figuring out which - I don't know if this is the right answer to the question you asked - you know I love writing and I haven't done that much writing the last few years because Found has been so wonderful. I plan on writing a book of personal essays this coming year and I'm excited to give more time to writing. I also like film making. So sometimes I feel like I'm stealing time from one project and putting it into another and I wonder which thing I should be working on.

That's an answer.

Here's another answer for you, too. I like making art. Whatever, writing, or film stuff, or radio, or Found, putting the magazine together, I consider art. There are some aspects of Found Magazine that are more like a small business, you know? I do love talking to all the bookstores that stock Found, stores will call me on my cell phone, the relationships you create with the people that work at these indie record stores or book stores that call me, 'Hey man, I need 5 more issues of #5." You know, I like getting those calls. But then there's some parts of it that are less fun. But I've have some friends that have helped transition some of the less fun stuff off of me in the last year or two, so that's been cool.

I don't want to take up your entire day, but I do have one last question and I hope it doesn't end the interview on a sour note. Isiah Thomas and the Knick's. Does that debacle change the way you feel about him, or do you look past that and only think about the short-short era Zeke?

It's been... It's been tough. I always played point guard, I always loved point guards, Isiah Thomas was my hero growing up. The career he's had since he retired from the court has been one sort of colossal blunder after another. The CBA, he tanked this poor fledgling basketball league. He just bought and tanked it. As a Piston's fan I didn't really mind him decimating the Knick's organization. But I also felt bad that he's the object of so much scorn. There's now talk of him going to the Clippers which would just be, I don't know, bad. I still like him, I still love the guy. There's this moment in 'Hoop Dreams', it's one of my favorite movies, where the young Arthur Agee and William Gates, they're 9th graders and they get to meet Isiah Thomas for the first time. And he's so sweet with them. To me, I'll always remember him as the guy with dazzling charm and kindness and not as the maybe, poor businessman and [under his breath] sexual harasser.

But my other favorite players have done well, like Jalen Rose has done a lot better after his basketball career. And some of my other favorite point guards are doing well.

And CWebb's doing well on TNT.

Yeah! CWebb's a great guy, awesome to see how he's doing. It's weird though. It's strange thinking about when people make these career transitions. Everything they've done... I'm about the age, I'm 33, so I'm about the age a lot of NBA players are when they retire. They've been incredibly successful and they've put everything they had into one thing their whole life, so how weird would it be to suddenly be gone from it and leave it behind. I love stories like The Wrestler, that was a fucking awesome movie. That struggle people have, 'When are you too old to do something?' A lot of touring musicians that question arises, too.

When do you stop and what do you do then?

Exactly. I think that is a really interesting question to explore. I'm writing something about a story that takes place in 1987 and I thought of that White Lion song 'Wait' because I wanted to use it in this screenplay I'm writing. So I decided to look it up and it turns out the singer for White Lion he has resurrected White Lion and some people, they can't ever give it up. He's almost like The Wrestler, he's playing these county fairs in Des Moines, Iowa. And in fact, his bandmate sued him because he didn't want him out there, so now they have to call it 'Mike Tramp's White Lion' or something, he can't even use the name White Lion. And yet there's something beautiful about people still trying to do what it is they love to do. But sometimes you feel like it's the only world they know and they don't know what to do with themselves after that. And maybe that's what Isiah has struggled with.

It sounds like you'll be OK because you have several different projects so you won't get burned out.

I like to think I'll be able to transition, but it is strange sometimes being home, you get used to a different kind of lifestyle on the road. It's changed me. I'm sure it will be a transition regardless, but I think it will be a good transition. I look forward to having time. One day when I hang up the Found road show, when I'm in my 60s or 70s, I look forward to having time to try to make movies, or writing, or playing ball. I still hve my college eligibility, I can still play ball.

[Laughter] That's true, and you could ruin a basketball league or two.

Hopefully. Yes. I do think if I went to some tiny-ass liberal arts college for grad school maybe could I make their varsity team. Like Reed or something. [Laughter]

I've heard you can't go left, but that probably wouldn't matter in Division III.

I'm thinking if you can rain threes like I can't, but hope to one day then I could make the team. 'Put me in coach.'

[Laughter]There's a Scott Bakula movie about that, right?

Yes. There's got to be. [Laughter]

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Taza Chocolate – Union Square, Somerville

aaron cohen — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:29:42 +0000

Taza Chocolate is having an Open House & Factory Tour this Saturday, May 2nd at their factory in Union Square, Somerville. If you don't know about Taza, how the chocolate tastes (delicious), or how they operate (excellent corporate citizens), the open house is a perfect opportunity to find out. You'll see their factory, tucked into an industrial building, sample chocolate, meet the makers, and see where the beans are roasted and winnowed.

There are many details that set Taza apart from almost all other chocolate makers in the US, and I'd try to explain them, but they'd just get jumbled up. Youll be much better served by reading this excellent Cake and Commerce post. If you're too excited to read, watch Sooz's videos on How The Roaster Works, How The Cocoa Winnowing Machine Works, and Grinding the Cocoa Nibs.

Last week, I had the opportunity to go through the factory tour with the special bonus of seeing the beans ground into chocolate and watching some bars get molded out of the tempering machine. I refuse to cook with a thermometer, tempering is something I always hope happens to the shell of my truffles by accident (it never does). Because of this, I got more excited to see the tempering machine than I was expecting. Like before with the post from Cake and Commerce, I'm going to shirk off the responsibility of writing up the visit, but lucky for you, Bostonist has covered it perfectly. Also, peep this wonderful picture of some of Boston's best food bloggers (I know, you're wondering what I was doing there, me too) in hair nets.

Taza's 'bean to bar' process for making chocolate makes a bar that's about as far away from a Hershey Kiss as you can get. The texture of the chocolate is pleasantly grainy and the flavor is almost fruity. I like how they direct trade with (and actually overpay) bean co-ops to get the best of the best cocoa beans, and I like how the chocolate is delivered locally by Metro Pedal Power. I'm in the bag for them and you should check out their Open House. Also, if you see Alex (at left), be sure to ask him if he'd prefer to be known as a chocolatier or chocolate maker.

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