Mac Attack

hold on to your hats, mac whores: the boston behometh apple store opens downtown TODAY, at 6pm. brace yourself for the calamity. if you're not already there, you're LATE. get in line.

if you didn't get the memo, it's the largest store in the country. w0wzerz.

the three-floor testament to the fact that steve jobs controls how and when our neuroses hit is a gorgeous, modern, spankingly lustworthy piece of construction. a formidable cube of glass, concrete and steel, the store is anchored by a big helix-like translucent spiral staircase (note: it's an up-skirt gazer's fantasy come true) like a strand of giganto robot's DNA.

the open set up makes people-watching key, inside and out, though i found myself almost getting vertigo as it almost feels too unreal to be floating in such a lightweight space. imagine a glass-bottomed boat, except you're surrounded by goofy kids in headphones instead of schools of clown fish.

it's basically the same layout as the other stores (stark arrays of computers, ipods, speakers, etc) with the top floor dedicated to the genius bar and employees who actually look pumped. leave it to them to break the status quo.

Menino meets Mac

at yesterday's press preview, mumbles menino and his groaning entourage joined apple VP of retail ron johnson. we espied the mayor chatting with an apple consultant on a imac. i bet he secretly is PC all the way, but wouldn't let the cracks show.

the fact that the place is open from 8am to 11pm every day will make it a huge magnet for people dying to check their email or surf the web at odd hours. also, could it be possible for a reliable source of downtown bathrooms? ever since best buy starting locking their loos, it's back to the back bay b-room hunt. only time will tell.

what are waiting for, killas ... those iphones aren't going to buy themselves, you know.

exclusive photos by E.T.!

camo doesn't mask the truth that you're trying too hard

By christine on Tue, May 13, 2008 12:17 pm

to the marketing and design teams of this project: WAY TO GO.

Diaper Dude Bag

"Padded changing pad included."

"A diaper bag that dad won't shy away from! Specially designed for hip dads (and moms!), this cool sack has sporty messenger styling and lots of handy features for on-the-go parents."

where are you hiding? in the URBAN YUPPARENTING JUNGLE? sigh.

truly gay times at climacts... pop! benefit for the theatre offensive

By christine on Fri, May 2, 2008 5:07 pm

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i had no idea what i was getting myself into last saturday at the theatre offensive's annual benefit, climacts ... pop! the blindingly neon invitation could only guarantee great things, so together my friend and i succumbed to this subterranean world of glittery swathes of makeup, adonis gyrations, reaaaaally strong ketel one cosmos and excellent chandelier earrings spilling from the lobes of artistic director abe rybeck.

though never been to a theatre offensive production, they're quite active in the city for doing some great stuff to champion queer arts and culture. their aids awareness guerilla productions in the fens are often the most notorious, but ballsily effective. useful catch-up in this article in edgeboston.

anyway, back to the night. greeted by a diva on rollerskates, we bumped into some pals and realised that jonathan soroff (talk about improper) was scheduled to do some cage dancing later in the night. i wasnt sure what to think, except take pictures and make sure his mother sees it on the internet. the big ticket for tonight was justin bond, who i've fallen inexplicably in love with after watching shortbus, and he and our lady j took the stage after mingling easily with the handsome and hasteningly inebriated crowd. he is MESMERIZING. loves it. the night dissolved into witnessing astounding sums being waved around during the professionally heres-going-once-heres-going-twice-SOLD auction (i lamented the italian wine weekend that got away, although not too jealous about the ellen degeneres show tickets), grazing the terrine table and dancing super silly to some of the actual original vocalists from CHIC (le freak, good times, everybody dance, et al). it was sweaty disco heaaaaven.

it was great to see everyone just letting their hair down, though the room did seem to empty out on the early side (before midnight). maybe there was an afterparty with even more boas and oiled muscle men? the world may never know.

who's fabulous? honey, you're fabulous

just your average guy dancing on a table amongst the candles

shortbus celebrity starstruckedness!

jonathan soroff doing the nasty

belles of the ball

hair of teh puppeh

By christine on Thu, Apr 24, 2008 10:44 am

behold the splendorso the nice people at HOTD sent me not one, but two, bottles of their sweet-on-the-palate and vaguely creepy-in-concept product. which is, brilliantly enough, a bloody mary mix with some caffeine and taurine mixed in there for good measure.

i'd be lying if didn't acknowledge that some people in this office are seen chugging a can of red bull at 9:30am. diet coke for breakfast? been there. but it makes sense to clear the blood with a little antioxidating vitamin c and some legal uppers.

i'm one of those weirdos who actually LIKES the flavor of bloody mary mix and often orders them at brunches (or lunches) sans booze. crazy, whatever. so i've been happy to slurp these puppehs down without vodka (bottles of which are patiently sitting on my desk), viscous tomato pasty texture nonewithstanding. (which shouldn't be an issue when, um, diluted.)

this stuff is super good, and i'm sad that you cant buy it directly from boston-area retailers ... yet. but there are some online resources, if you're really into the beverage-ordering over the internets level of want. i'll horde this stuff if i ever see it on shelves somewhere. it's really complex with a spiced depth, and apparently they're coming out with an x-tra spicy variety in the near future. rowr. the ingredients are all-natural (take that, HFCS). not sure if i'd actually chug this before clubbing (one of their suggestions ... groce), but for a breakfast nicety, it works superwell.

grill it like u mean it

By christine on Tue, Apr 22, 2008 12:38 pm

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ok, despite a glut of food already destined for the table, i couldnt resist those wings of mass destruction. yes, east coast grill, i have an unhealthy infatuation. but that's acceptable, because you love me back in that twisted way.

anyway, back to said food destiny. last night (monday), inman square's chef chris schlesinger kicked off energy for his latest book, grill it!, co-authored by john "doc" willoughby, exec editor of gourmet magazine. there was a special menu (in addition to the normal one), featuring recipes from the glossy, juiced-practically-dripping-off-the-pages tome on fire and flesh. the styling is really kickass (kind of like the jerk spices and heat throughout), with clear and crisp text layout juxtaposed with pure full-bleed bbq pr0n. pun totes intended.

my friend josef and i went in for the kill, refreshed and lubricated by a couple of watermelon mojitos (pg. 327, if you please) with enough mint leaves to make a fragrant herbal mess. pretty subtle on the melon, but just enough to twist up an otherwise familar rum standby. quick run through: the scallops were fresh and super-plump with a nicely spiced smokiness, the duck was rare with a seared exterior (yum), the topping on the monkfish must have broke some combo-is-too-good law (fatty pork meets crab), and the swordfish was richly dynamite. fried treats like the sweet potatoes and artichokes == first-rate. cornbread, as usual, down the hatch and life-saving from the inner beauty hot sauce.

yellow condiment fever is not a crime.

just leave christine in the corner with it and she'll be fine

moroccan style new bedford scallops with spicy green sauce and garlic spinach

curry rubbed grilled duck skewers with pineapple-grape chutney

another grand literary journey

coriander monkfish with lump crab - crisp proscuitto relish, garlic spinach and fried artichokes

pepper grilled north atlantic swordfish with smoked salmon-chive butter, fried sweet potatoes and asparagus

grill it! drinks + apps

grill it! entrees, sides + desserts

tiny bits

By christine on Sat, Mar 15, 2008 2:22 pm

ok, since teh internet has somehow broken down in the last 24 hrs at the place i'm staying, here's a quick rundown of yesterday's highlights:

- i had beef brisket for the approximately 13480243rd time

- i met the portuguese equivalent of mick jagger (his band is about to celebrate their 30th band anniversary -- yeeps!)

- caught a smattering of awesome bands in awesome venues, including a place to bury strangers, lymbyc systym, plants and animals, the mae shi (oh wait, they suck now, and people were SITTING DOWN at a 1am SHOW), and madi diaz (go berklee partee)

- everything's like one big 24/7 summer barbeque, which is pretty surreal when you think that's it's not even st. patrick's day

- whenever 'mister lonely' comes to the theatres, GO SEE IT. all i can say is... flying nuns, dying sheep, mud swimming in the scottish highlands and some really amazing acting on the protagonist 'michael's' end

- there are so many food kiosks up and down e. 6th st. when things get crazy; i really like one little red stand (selling sausages and tacos) called 'A LA CART'. super cute on name alone.

- beer is an anytime food

- the public transit buses here ACTUALLY RUN ON TIME. i am not sure what to do with myself.

- tacostacostacostacos.

i'm out and ready for more sunburning, ear-splitting excitement.

optimized excitement per capita

By christine on Fri, Mar 14, 2008 1:56 am

i'm back on the computer embarrassingly early, but my head's pounding and the coughing and sneezing that hit me beginning from this morning have prompted some catastrophe prevention. because my mind's going a million miles a second and i've seen/done/heard/ate/drank some pretty righteous stuff all day, it's either going to fly out on this blog either in (a) an endless epic with diminishing returns or (b) haiku. while i flex my feet, guess which one is winning.

a 2nd street crawl

fancy schmance yuppie kingdom

boutique bonanza

sangria at noon

deflowered day's drink quota

alcohol breakfast

barbeque brisket

they take baths in that stuff here

tender, rich, hot-sauced

brooklyn vegan show

cute drummer girls and mirman

hold down emo's fort

british showcase rocks

london, hiphop, acoustic

awesome sweet tea stand

then spanish picnic

paella and rockstars, too

the banjo means "roots"

paste-stereogum

puts on mean party, day warms

everyone sheds shirts

screening cool films too

'yeast' shows a bunch of crazed broads

i liked camping scenes

alamo theatre

coolest food-order system

champagne and nachos

throngs pack east 6th street

diplo blows sound to 11

mass ape-shitted-ness

more sweat tomorrow

music mania, et al

can't wait to PAR TAY

p.s. taking a lot of photos but want to edit the sets before uploading to flickr. probably will do it all this weekend. holla!

austin, papered

By christine on Thu, Mar 13, 2008 4:23 am

i must preface this 3:13am post by saying that i smell like a base layer of spicy fish with corn-oily tortilla whiffs on top.

i could make out the scent of beans, rice and simmered pork the instant the bus rolled into downtown. i swear.

got lots of swag in fancy bags. great totes this year. extra-heavy! and ultra stylish, fer sure.

imagine a planet in which everyone looks like a friggin' rockstar. that planet is austin sxsw.

jumped in on a canadian hiphop outdoors show, cracked some crawfish, got mexican beer under my belt (not to mention margaritas and beer and mixed drinks and more beer and ... ), crossed the highway on a sparks run, ran into fantasy mirrors and followed them to ron jeremy's porn-esque partee, saw lightspeed champion at the domino show at antone's, the raucous big bang at six taphouse, blissed out to some norwegian dj with too many close calls to john digweed, dipped in and out of bars, saw cute bassist girl rock out in striped hoodie and boots, lights and sounds whirring past, bumping into a dude who referenced the medici in florence and dragged me to the club where tommie sunshine was making the cat-eared hat-wearing ladies happy. btw, he looks like kid rock in sunglasses behind a deck. he needs a new look, clearly.

apparently REM performed tonight at stubbs and are coming out with a new album next month. i love REM, but there's exists a limit...

tomorrow lou reed gives a keynote presentation! w00t! upcoming to love: the blow, white williams.

jew likes to eat bacon

By christine on Fri, Feb 22, 2008 6:14 pm

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fellow digster craig "bacon is my middle name" kapilow and i are probably head to head when it comes to pork product obsession, but i think he takes the cake with respect to bacon. bAkoN. baconbaconbacon. bake-on baykon. i have an embarrassing selection of bacon salt at my disposal (not necessarily a bad thing, but life will assume a different toll once i start experimenting with rimming baconned bloody marys) soley because of him; in thanks, i got him a little present.

craig hearts bacon: pigs are crisping themselves to death over this

spreadshirt, you're my savior. nothing like a little glitter flex print and cooper black to save the day.

p.s.

god loves you

cranberry - chocolate-chip crusted baked - bean topped pizza ... yum?

By christine on Tue, Feb 19, 2008 12:47 pm