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

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Good. Bad.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

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.