CAMBRIDGE — Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House (R-GA) and current Republican candidate for president, appeared at Harvard University last night to introduce a documentary he helped create, “A City upon a Hill: The Spirit of American Exceptionalism,” at John F. Kennedy School of Government. But was soon interrupted by members of Occupy Boston and Occupy Harvard using the “mic check” call and response popular throughout the Occupy Movement.

The conservative non-profit organization Citizens United Productions is producer of this documentary and was the lead plaintiff in “Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission,” the 2009 Supreme Court case which resulted in unions and corporations being allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money on political ads. Citizens United produces a variety of media – from television ads to feature-length documentaries – and describes itself as being dedicated to “…American values of limited government, freedom of enterprise, strong families, and national sovereignty and security.”

The protestors interrupting Gingrich used sarcastic mockery and said, in part, “Mic check / mic check / we love you Newt / thank you for standing up for corporations / they have rights too / thank you for understanding / that simple point / we are / the ninety-nine percent…”

Gingrich is the latest in a line of Right Wing figures (including Karl Rove, Michelle Bachmann and Scott Walker, Governor of Wisconsin) who have been “mic checked” by members of the Occupy protest in recent weeks. The male demonstrator leading the mic check in Cambridge, whose words were repeated by fellow protestors, seems to have been ad libbing his lines. This stands in contrast to interruptions in other states where protestors seem to have been reading prepared statements. Gingrich, standing with his wife, Callista, remained smiling and composed throughout the interruption but another person in attendance admonished the demonstrators by yelling “go back to your tents.”

Harvard security guards quickly removed the protestors. No arrests were made. Newt and Callista Gingrich where scheduled to sign copies of his book about American exceptionalism, “A Nation Like No Other,” at the Harvard Square Coop following his appearance at the Kennedy School. The cancellation of this appearance was celebrated on Twitter for several hours by Occupy supporters who tweeted messages such as “rare yellow-bellied newt sighting in Boston” and “@newtgingrich enjoy this while it lasts- you’ll never be this popular again!”

It wasn’t that long ago when the infectious Hey Mama broke up, but they are back again for some boot stopping and hand clapping for two exclusive reunion shows this Friday and Saturday night in Boston and Vermont.

“We love playing together and we’ve have had a hunger to reunite with our fans. There’s a whole life that lives inside the songs and experience of Hey Mama that we wanted to revisit and share with world,” said guitarist and vocalist Avi Salloway as to why they are performing together again.

While fans are rejoicing to see the roosty rock Hey Mama back on stage together again, the group is only focusing on these two shows.

“Our energy is focused on the moment right now and that is these pair of concerts in our current and former home! This is it for now,” Salloway said.

The group members have been busy in the meantime with their own solo projects. Last winter and spring Salloweay was in Israel and Palestine working on an ethnographic music and peace project.

“I was guerrilla recruiting young Arab and Jewish artists to come across the line to collaborate on musical projects based in songwriting, recording, and performing. Building these relationships was intense, but once the artists were making music together more often than not a sense of trust was established,” Salloway said. “These artists bear the torch for peaceful progress in the region. I am continuing to work with Heartbeat Jerusalem (the organization I was working with) from stateside and we’re developing a US tour to promote their message.”

This powerful experience has inspired Salloway to form a new band called Billy Wylder.

“It’s a social bandit band which includes Paul Chase, Hey Mama’s bassists and a collection of innovative string players,” he said.

Salloway is not the only member of Hey Mama that is busy. Lead singer Celia Woodsmith has joined Della Mae, an all girl bluegrass band who recently just new record and gearing up for a tour in Germany this December.

What about drummer Jared Seabrook? “Jared’s rocking and rolling and climbing up trees!” Salloway joked.

The beginnings of the popular local band started in 2003 at University of Vermont through Salloways and Woodsmith’s mutual love of Carlos Santana.

“I was rocking out on electric guitar with Carlos Santana on ‘Live at the Fillmore’ in my forth floor dorm room. I turned around to find a sexy girl at my door, proclaiming that I had to play with her roommate (Celia), who was a great singer,” Salloway said. “The next day we met on quad and bonded over playing a collection of great American songs including a fair share of John Prine. The chemistry was palatable and we started performing and writing together, experimenting, touring, and growing together. We moved to Boston in 2007 and wanted to evolve our sonic landscape and established Hey Mama with Jared Seabrook and Ben Kogan who was later replaced with Paul Chase.”

For Hey Mama, songwriting is a collaborate process that often surprises them.

“It’s like fishing. You have the bait and throw out your line with your heart and soul and play the river. Once you’ve got a catch you reel her in, clean the fish and season it,” Salloway said. “Some of our best songs have been collaborations, where Celia and I color the song together and expand on the stories, textures and rhythms in with a ping pong approach. Then we work it out with the band and it takes on a life of its own.”

The band is looking forward to performing to their hometown crowds of Boston and Vermont again. “The synergy between the band and the audience,” Salloway said as to why he is so excited. “At our last show, the crowd was singing along as loud as we were. It was f*cking awesome!”

The band also has been inspired by the protests happening on Wall Street and around the country. “We’re enthused by America’s action to reclaim its voice and direction through the occupy rallies from Wall Street to Los Angeles. As our musical story continues together and individually we are impassioned to sing the song of justice and rock & roll. Friday’s show will be a celebration of the human spirit. Let’s roll!” Salloway said.

Hey Mama will be playing at the Middle East tonight at 8 p.m.

Cambridge city manager Robert Healy announced Friday that he, and thus the city, will not appeal the Supreme Judicial Court’s $4.5 million discrimination verdict, the Globe reported.

The suit accused Healy and his staff of retaliation against former city employee Malvina Monteiro after she filed a race discrimination lawsuit.

The case was filed in 2003 and has risen to $7.7 million with interest and legal fees.

Healy said he was disappointed with the court’s decision but added that it was “time for closure,” the Globe reported.

It might feel nice to kick up your feet and unwind by watching TV after work or to relax by the pool all day, but a sedentary lifestyle can be just as bad for your health as smoking, according to recent research.

Dr. David Coven, a cardiologist at New York’s St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, told CBS.com San Francisco earlier this month that “Smoking certainly is a major cardiovascular risk factor and sitting can be equivalent in many cases.” Coven added that according to several new studies, a sedentary lifestyle is linked to the increased risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and premature death.

According to exercise science expert Steven Blair, as quoted in Science Daily, as many as 50 million Americans live a sedentary lifestyle. Not surprisingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than two-thirds of Americans are overweight and a third are obese.

Callie Durbrow, a personal trainer at Durbrow Performance Training in Cambridge, Mass., says, “It’s all an unfortunate chain of events: sedentary lifestyle leads to obesity, which, in turn, is a well known factor in heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.” She adds that not getting enough exercise is a “recipe for disaster.”

So what can you do to get active if your day revolves around sitting at a desk at work and sitting in the car during your commute? Sneak “mini-workouts” in, says Durbrow. Durbrow recommends getting at least 30 minutes of “moderately intensive” physical activity five days a week.

“Finding time to exercise–maybe before or after work or during the lunch hour–can literally be a real life saver,” she says.

Here’s what you can do:

Take the stairs, and make this mini-workout session even more effective by running up and down instead of walking. “If you do it several times a day, every day, it’ll add up,” says Durbrow.

Get out and walk briskly, enough to get your heart rate up, instead of driving short distances.

Try to use your free time for exercise instead of watching TV or surfing the Web. “If you finally have a bit of free time, use it for some form of physical activity, not to sit around some more,” she says.

The Walt Disney Company’s research division plans to open a lab in Cambridge next month to investigate social sciences for the Disney theme parks.

The lab will open in the American Twine building next month, coming 11 years after Disney shut down a low profile lab in East Cambridge.

“While labs tend to grow organically according to who ends up joining, my initial plan is to have the lab focus on social sciences, broadly defined, and also on commercialization of some existing research,” said Joe Marks, head of Disney’s research division.

The new lab is looking to hire researchers in social and behavioral sciences, data analytics and mining, media and transportation. On a more technological level, they are also looking for software engineers with Web and mobile background.

The previous lab, run by Bran Ferren and Danny Hillis, mainly kept their business a secret. An anonymous source told the Boston Globe that they mainly worked on “high performance electric robots,” which could roam the theme parks freely and talk to guests.

The old lab also designed a toy called “Pal Mickey,” that provides guests with information about the parks and parade times and dates when they pass certain infrared transmitters located around the parks. The toys are sold for $50 in the theme parks.

The new lab promises to be less secretive than the last.

“We’re committed to engaging fully with the global research community through collaboration with academe, publication of our results, participation in professional service activities, etc.,” Marks said. “In that regard we’re following more in the tradition of Pixar Research.”

CAMBRIDGE — As an Irish pub, the Asgard in Central Square is usually festooned in green, but Saturday saw the addition of a little gold to the color scheme as expats and locals alike convened to celebrate Australia Day.

Though traditionally held on January 26, the day in 1788 that the first British ships sailed into Sydney Harbor, the celebration of Australia’s Fourth of July was moved to the weekend to observe the holiday in style, with drinking, live music, and a hot meat pie or two. With more than 200 revelers by the late afternoon, the event had already outpaced previous years’ festivities – all good news for the evening’s hosts, the Demons, Boston’s Australian rules football club.

A blend between American football, soccer, rugby, and a little bit of cricket, Australian rules football, or “footy,” is a grueling, physically taxing sport — and a popular one, judging by the red Demons jerseys that liberally dotted the sea of green and gold at the Asgard. Though relatively unknown in the US, the sport has been gaining popularity in Boston in recent years, especially among non-Australians.

Joe Connor, who is entering his second year as back pocket for the Demons, is one such recent convert. After discovering the sport on late-night ESPN after an evening out at the bars, Connor was immediately taken: “It was the best sport I’d ever seen. I had to find a local club after that.” Though the demands of the sport required months of getting into shape, Connor was not to be dissuaded; “I found something that I loved.”

Something else Connor loved, it seemed, were the meat pies provided for the event by Sam Jackson of KO Catering and Pies. An Aussie himself, Jackson offered partygoers a taste of Australia with his pies and sausage rolls, much as he does on a daily basis at his restaurant and food truck in Southie.

Though I have a natural fear of any foodstuff dubbed by the generic “meat” rather than a specific kind, I was pleasantly surprised that, with a dash of ketchup, the meat pie was a spicy, flaky, delicious creation, not unlike the barbecue pulled pork of my Southern heritage.

Australia Day in Boston is not just about the food though, as attendees enjoyed beers from the Coopers and James Boag, both Australian breweries with burgeoning appeal in the United States. To accompany the hearty eating and drinking was David Putrino, a Cambridge resident by way of Perth, who played Australian classics on the acoustic guitar. Over the tunes, guests compared their Aussie pride: green and gold beads, t-shirts and temporary tattoos emblazoned with the Australian flag and, in one case, a rather daring Steve Irwin costume, complete with flowing blond wig.

“We’re here to celebrate Australia,” said Richard Fuller, a transplant from Melbourne and president of the Demons. Fuller is not a recent arrival stateside, coming to Boston in 1998, but his accent remains firmly in place. “It’s about getting the expats together and having a bit of a fundraiser.”

In a city as sports-mad as Boston, Fuller acknowledges the challenge of getting the Demons name out there – a reason for events like the Australia Day celebration and the team’s annual Grand Final watching party, the Super Bowl equivalent for Australian rules football. “We’re trying to educated Boston and the natives,” Fuller explained. “It’s a tough town, but hopefully we’ll do what we can.”

And under the green and gold streamers and several “sporting flags,” bearing the beloved national symbol of the boxing kangaroo, over the strains of a particularly haunting version of “Waltzing Matilda,” the Demons seemed to be doing a pretty good job.

City life has major perks: great bars, restaurants, museums and concert venues abound. For young professionals, there is arguably no better place to be. Sometimes, though, one starts to long for the country, growing nostalgic for fresh air, open fields and the family French Alpine dairy goat.

What, you say? Your family doesn’t have a French Alpine dairy goat? Well now, thanks to Cambridge, Mass.-based company Rent Mother Nature, they can.

Since 1979, the folks at Rent Mother Nature have been supporting New England family farms by allowing customers to share in their harvests. The company now also works with farms from across the country and even in other parts of the world; their fair trade organic coffee comes from South America. Customers can rent a variety of products, including trees ranging from apple to pecan, beehives, oysters, cows, goats and sheep.

One of the many great things about the program is that just how much of mother nature you would like to rent is entirely up to you. Don’t want a whole apple tree? Rent a branch. Not sure you can handle the 50 ounces of maple syrup that comes with the maple tree lease? Opt for a bucket.

Once you’ve committed to one of Rent Mother Nature’s tempting options, you simply sit back and wait for the harvest to be delivered to your door. Rent Mother Nature has an extensive network of farmers dedicated to sustainable agriculture who are more than happy to farm for you.

Though the set of three 5 ounce logs of the freshest chevre possible won’t arrive until four weeks after your goat’s requested milking date, the lease document ships immediately. This beautifully illustrated certificate is personalized with your (or your gift recipient’s) name and is embossed with a gold seal. The maple lease document is particularly cool: it’s a reproduction of an 1890 US Treasury License for Sugar Producer printed on parchment.

After the lease document is sent out, the lessee is kept up to date with progress reports about the upcoming harvest and how their little piece of nature is faring. The website notes that, “As a humorous option, we’ll even go out and take and action photo of their tree, hive, cow, sheep, or field hard at work and mail it with one of the reports.”

If a live action photo of your tree doesn’t quell your longing for the countryside, you may have the option to go and visit in person. While some farmers discourage visitors (mainly those working with animals, as they want to ensure a sterile environment), others encourage them. If you rent and apple tree it’s well worth it to travel out to the Berkshires to check on it. Not only will you get to say hello, but you will also be allowed to pick a peck, all at the farmer’s encouragement.

Once the allotted time has passed and you have become thoroughly acquainted with your field, tree or goat through pictures or a meet and greet, the harvest is delivered to your door. Rent Mother Nature’s website boasts that they will “do all the work and you’ll get all the raves!” So treat your friends, and yourself, to food as it should be: fresh and natural, right off the farm.

For more information, go to www.RentMotherNature.com.

Oh this is poetic.

After a three-month joint investigation between the Cambridge Police Department and the Postal Service’s Inspector General, an alleged steroid dealer was arrested, and a large quantity of drugs seized, said Dan Riviello, a spokesman for Cambridge police.

The steroids were allegedly being carried around in an Ed Hardy bag.

Stephen Rauseo, 47, of Saugus was arrested on Mooney Street in Cambridge after a search of his vehicle revealed 23 different drugs. He faces drug 23 charges of drug possession and more charges of intent to distribute.

Police seized eight bottles of liquid steroids, nearly 600 pills and various bottles of other controlled substances. They also took $1,093 in cash off Rauseo.

CAMBRIDGE — Tattoos last for life — so they’d better be done well.

Luckily, Boston area residents have Redemption Tattoo, named Boston’s Best Tattoo Parlor by the Boston Phoenix in 2010, City Voter in 2009, Boston Magazine in 2008, and WBZ-TV in 2007. And thanks to Redemption’s new website and portfolio images, both those contemplating getting ink for the first time and those looking to add to their heavily decorated “sleeves” can take a peek at what Redemption has to offer. Arranged by artist, the site’s portfolios show off the artists’ beautifully detailed work, from colorful dragons and peacocks to a ridiculously realistic portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

Mike Shea, who co-owns Cambridge’s Redemption with Erick Lynch, attributes the parlor’s success to the high quality of work produced by passionate, talented tattoo artists. “There’s no attitude when you come into our shop,” he said, “we just want to do the best tattoos for our customers, plain and simple." And if you’ve never gotten ink, don’t fear. “We don’t care if you’re covered in tattoos when you walk in or if you’re coming in for your first tattoo and need a lot of guidance,” he said.

Shea says that tattooing is the best thing that has ever happened to him, and his love for it doesn’t stop when the shop closes for the day. “Everyone at Redemption works hard at the shop and then they go home…and draw designs for their upcoming appointments. It’s definitely a lifestyle, not just a job,” he said.

The new website, which will soon feature a tattoos blog, is the next step in Redemption’s overall goal, which, according to Shea, is “to be a staple in Boston tattooing and set the standard.”

To view the artists’ portfolios and get more information on Redemption Tattoo, go to RedemptionTattoo.com.

The Lizard Lounge hometown team

ST. PAUL, Minn. — When you hear the phrase "poetry reading," does your mind’s eye envision a dusty room in a library; three rows of folding chairs, less than half of which are occupied; and a gray-bearded man reading Whitman knockoffs in a monotone voice? Stop nodding off, buy yourself a drink, and welcome to Saint Paul, Minnesota, host city of the 2010 National Poetry Slam.

Each year, over four hundred of the world’s best performance poets converge on a city to compete in the National Poetry Slam. Eighty teams of four to five poets each bring their best pieces and dramatically deliver them in bars, theaters, and auditoriums filled with cheering—and sometimes buzzed—crowds.

This year, Saint Paul won the honor of hosting the National Poetry Slam through an Olympics-style bidding process. Matthew Rucker, host city coordinator and slam master of the reigning national champion Saint Paul Soap Boxing team, explains that his vision for the event was to have "a huge and happy audience. The poets come to share. Without an audience, poets might as well have stayed home and read poetry to an empty room." Rucker raised enough money to have a public relations budget larger than the entire cost of last year’s event. He also explains that he chose the venues based on proximity; all of them are conveniently within six blocks of each other.

In the final night of preliminaries, 14 bouts are taking place at these venues. At the History Theatre, the Lizard Lounge slam team from Cambridge, anxiously waits for their bout to begin. Having garnered a first-place ranking in their initial preliminary bout against three other teams, another win tonight will guarantee them a spot in the semifinals, as well as the prestigious distinction of being ranked one of the top twenty slam teams in the nation. However, as one of the first-place teams with the lowest total number of points, anything less than first place tonight will likely cause them to be eliminated.

Thick black curtains are draped behind History Theatre’s stage, which is empty except for five microphones, standing in military formation like a challenge to the poets. Who will make us sing, make us scream, use us to enrapture and enmesh the audience? They seem to be asking. Though the onlookers seated in the stadium seats chatter amongst themselves as they wait, all is quiet on the stage.

The emcee breaks the silence by announcing that the bout will soon begin. She reads the standard emcee spiel. "The slam was started in the 1980s by a construction worker named Marc Smith—" "So what!" interject the audience members who know that one of the grand traditions of slam poetry is dismissing the importance of its founder, illustrating that there are no celebrities or superstars here. As Rucker says, "slam is grassroots" and the poets are "just regular folks, not movers and shakers." Poems are judged by randomly selected audience members who are not necessarily by poetry experts. When asked to describe what qualifies them to judge, the answers range from "having two dogs with two nostrils" to "being an elitist snob and an English major" to "living in Michigan."

In order to help these amateur judges get used to the judging process, a calibrating or "sacrificial" poet delivers a poem which is judged as though it were actually in the slam. Tonight’s sacrificial poet is Jeff, who performs a standard-length piece of three minutes or less. The five judges flip through the large, laminated numbers on their score paddles until they select the score between 0 and 10 they feel is appropriate. The high and low scores are dropped, giving the poet a total score out of 30. Jeff receives a respectable 23.9 for his poem. Excitement and anticipation fill the theater; it is time for the slam to begin.

Round One: Cole Rodriguez

After the teams from Del Ray Beach and Oklahoma City have each delivered a poem, the emcee calls out, "Lizard Lounge, who are you sending up?" The four poets on the team yell back in unison, "Cole!" Nicole "Cole" Rodriguez is a legend at the Lizard Lounge as the only woman ever to win the lounge’s individual all-star King/Queen tournament. The microphone her scepter and the stage her throne, the Lizard Queen speaks but two words before the audience becomes her subjects.

"So I find myself / Per usual / Admonishing my daughter / Bellowing from the hot kitchen / That she needs to stop / Wasting water," she begins with a deceptively simple story that most audience members can relate to. The poem escalates, telling stories the audience knows but would like to ignore. "Czechoslovakia, Egypt and Ethiopia are all / Engaged in warfare / They are feeling the scarcity of water / And are trying to hoard their own share / And here in the States, / Those of us with ghetto passes / Won’t be considered / Part of the privileged masses / They’ll be drinking lovely / While we are denied access." As her words and performance intensify like the heat waves of recent decades, she asks, "How thirsty do you have to get / Before you show a little passion?" The audience certainly responds with passionate applause and gives the poem the highest score of the round: 25.6.

Cole says that she originally planned to perform one of her signature pieces—"old faithfuls," as her teammate Arthur Collins calls them—and save the water poem for semifinals. However, a quick glance around the History Theatre, one of the few National Poetry Slam venues that is not 18+, reveals quite a few children under the age of ten in the audience. The poem she’d intended to do is a somewhat graphic extended metaphor about a woman asking a man if he can make love to her mind. She asks him "To penetrate my thought patterns / Invoke sly suggestions / Permeate my lower intestines / With your mental erections." Deciding that the water poem was more appropriate for this particular audience, Cole changed poems last-minute.

Slam is a dynamic art form, so it’s not unusual for a poet to alter the plan as the event progresses. Like all good writers and stage performers, slam poets must be continually attuned to the audience; the scores reveal whether or not their intuitive assessment of the room was accurate. Cole explains, "A key to my strategy is my flexibility. I’ve watched people bomb on the basis that they’ve gone in with a plan and they stick only to their plan and they’re not flexible enough to notice stuff like the makeup of the judges…or the audience’s receiving of a different piece of a similar nature." Similarly, her teammate Marlon Carey says that poets shouldn’t be constrained to doing a specific poem in a particular round. "I’m an artist; I want to feel the room!" he says. "If the room doesn’t feel this way to me, but I was told to do this poem, I’m going to deliver it poorly."

Round Two: Marlon Carey

After the Los Angeles team presents its piece, it’s time for Round Two. "Lizard Lounge, who are you sending up?" the emcee asks again. "Inphynit!" the four poets respond, yelling Marlon’s stage name. He says he began calling himself Inphynit after a particular open mic night at the Lizard Lounge when he was 22. The Lizard’s open mic sessions used to last for hours and sometimes included freestyling, a type of performance where poets and rappers improvise verses on stage. Marlon explains, "I couldn’t stop freestyling one night; I was just loving the mic and loving the freestyle vibe, probably drunk. And when I stepped outside, this girl was like, ‘Yo! You never quit; you’re infinite!’"

This conversation inspired Marlon to change his name from Kid M.C. to Inphynit, but the name grew to have a deeper meaning. He’s not just a poet and rapper; he’s an actor, a singer, a published author, a radio show host. "Inphynit becomes this character that can’t be categorized," he says. "That’s what I try to live up to, a mission."

Not only can Inphynit’s artistry not be categorized, his poetry is not restricted to stereotypical styles and topics. Marlon explains that a lot of other African American male poets do poems about "the revolution and the ghetto," so he stands out by having a broad range of poems, including an extensive repertoire of love poems.

The poem he breaks out for Round Two is a beautiful blend of the sensual and tender sides of lovemaking that maintains a lighthearted tone throughout. "When I love you next," he begins, "it won’t be just sex."

Another way Marlon stands out from other slammers is that he enjoys impressing the audience with his poetic acumen, incorporating a lot of internal rhyme, alliteration and double entendre. He focuses on helping people "to enjoy the auditory experience" of listening to a poem. In contrast, he says that a lot of slam poetry is "very narrative, a three-minute comedy sketch, or everyday stuff that you write in your journal." Writing a poem in everyday language causes it to lose "the essence of what makes a poem a poem; the magic."

In fact, Marlon sees slam as a new art form altogether. He explains, "I have long since stopped thinking about it as being a poetry slam; it’s slam." Slam diverges from traditional poetry, coming alive for people who might not resonate with poems that are printed on a page. In a world where fewer and fewer people read for pleasure, Marlon believes that poetry is changing fundamentally. Through sharing poetry out loud, "we’re going back to the griots and the bards," he explains, conjuring up the ancient days when entire communities gathered around a bonfire to hear poets tell their history, invoke scenarios of their future, and inspire a deeper understanding of their present.

However, some poets and poetry aficionados are not enthusiastic about slam poetry. "There’s great question about if the integrity of the art form and the use of language and verse is upheld in competition," Cole explains. "Competition puts a whole new spin on things, and the fact that it’s a competition that’s specifically intended to be judged by people who are not experienced poetry listeners puts another spin on things."

"I think there are many poets who are turned off by slam poetry because they think it’s only about the numbers," Art agrees. "But it’s a good venue, particularly for people who are not used to regular poetry events…It’s an interesting, new way to appreciate the art."

Lizard Lounge team member Jamele Adams—known almost exclusively on the slam circuit as Harlym 1two5, a name he chose to celebrate 125th Street, which he calls "the vein of culture" in Harlem—looks the literati squarely in the face. "Don’t criticize it ‘cause you don’t dig it," he asserts. He goes on to note that slam poetry has been a positive force in the lives of many people he knows as an outlet for creative expression and a way to make sense of life. Because slam is a literary movement of true cultural value, Matthew Rucker believes that "the world would be a better place if poetry slam were as popular as sports or stand-up comedy."

As the applause swells for Marlon’s poem, it seems that the audience agrees.

Round Three: Arthur Collins

In Round Three, both Art and Marlon take the stage to perform a group poem. Making hand motions that suggest rifles, they shout in unison, "Pull it back and squeeze!" Pictures of urban violence illustrate American capitalism’s lack of conscience. Art delivers his line: "Years ago we were moving targets / Now we’re the urban market." Marlon joins in, the euphony of their combined voices adding emphasis to the final words of the stanza: "Targeted in different ways."

1two5 emphasizes that group pieces have to be generated organically for them to be effective. One way this happens, says Marlon, is when a team member realizes that he or she has a snippet of poetry that matches a snippet another teammate has written. Blending them begins to form a distinctive group piece.

But great group pieces also arise, Marlon says, simply from close friendships between the poets. As the poem’s rapid-fire back-and-forth continues, it’s clear that the hours Marlon and Art spent together have resulted in perfect timing and the ability to play off each other.

Art: But the truth is self-evident.

Marlon: The inhabitants of this country

Both: Still go hungry.

Art: For the proof isn’t in the pudding;

Marlon: It’s in the putting of your faith

In these small green rectangles.

Art: When the wool is over your eyes

Both: You can’t see all the angles

Art: They wash your thinking cap

And now your brain is star-spangled.

The camaraderie evident in this powerful group piece unifies this year’s Lizard Lounge team. Art explains, "Over the years, I had always said to myself, if there could be a team of myself, 1two5, Marlon, and Cole, we’d bring a different dynamic…We’ve all known each other for a couple years. I’ve seen Marlon grow up; I’ve seen Cole come from just reading poetry to actually performing it to winning the slams and doing very well with it. So I think we bring a good history and a good experience and a good chemistry." Cole agrees, "The excitement around wanting to work together was palpable."

Cole also notes that each of them brings a different skill set and attitude to team meetings. She and 1two5 are strong advocates for meeting agendas and planning ahead. Marlon, on the other hand, complained at one point, "The bureaucracy is killing me!" Cole laughed in response, "You’re such a poet!"

Cole says that Art’s personality is "to figure out what’s not being done and do it…If the room is really loud and boisterous, Art is the one that’s quiet. If no one’s saying much, Art is the loudest voice. He’s really good at reading what’s needed in the moment."

While the other three have been on the Lizard Lounge team in the past, this is Art’s first year as an official member. He has performed slam poetry for 14 years, but this year he worked especially hard to get on the team by competing in the Lizard Lounge’s weekly qualifying slams every Sunday from September until April. "Unless the Patriots were playing," he adds seriously.

Art was an alternate on the 2008 team, and Marlon notes that his poetry and performance grew and changed a lot through that experience. "He was able to see what Nationals was all about, see what he was trying to get to." He adds that he aspires to learn from Art’s theatrical talent and ability to get in character for a poem. "This year," Marlon says, "I’ve been focusing a lot on breaking the fourth wall, on resonating, on going where Art’s going."

Round Four: Harlym 1two5

According to 1two5, being able to break that fourth wall is the essential ingredient in making a powerful slam experience. Bringing poems from "page to stage," he says, is "heavy on performance…The poet immerses human structure into the delivery of that poem…and commits every ounce of their human existence to those three minutes."

And that’s just what he’s about to do.

Going into the fourth and final round, the Lizard Lounge is in the lead but less than a point ahead of Los Angeles. Luckily, 1two5 is prepared with a killer piece that celebrates black heritage and culture. "I’m the porch monkey that became President / Right after that reform Nazi became Pope," he begins. "The architect of Rock-n-Roll… / The trim of the sunset / And the highlight of midnight / Deep chocolate and Hennessey on fire / Wade in the water / Beautiful / And say it loud! (I’m Black and I’m Proud)."

As the poem goes on, it progresses from music and hairstyles to slavery and racism. "Slavery couldn’t break me / And even though the colonists / And the masters and the Spaniards / Raped me / Separated my children from me / Mutilated me / Hung me / Sold me as property / And betrayed me / I still have my black family / I taught Betsy Ross how to sew / I’m the bloodstain on the right hand of the pledge of allegiance / I’m the missing two-fifths / From your definition of three-fifths."

The repeated motif, "I’m black," casts a wider net near the end of the poem. "There was nothing before black / Before black there was more black / And just when you think you’re not black / You are black." We’re all interconnected and we’re all black—and proud of it.

The judges respond enthusiastically, bestowing on the poem a 28.4, the highest score of the entire slam. Their decision is mirrored in the audience’s resounding applause. The Lizard Lounge is officially in the semifinals, having edged out their closest competitor by a wide margin of almost five points. The team cheers excitedly and hugs in celebration.

Despite the Lizard Lounge’s stellar performance tonight, perhaps their greatest contribution is yet to come. Tomorrow night is the National Underground Poetry Individual Competition (NUPIC), an unofficial event hosted and organized by 1two5 and the rest of the Lizard Lounge team. In the spirit of slam’s oral tradition, NUPIC is not advertised in bulletins, brochures, or flyers; the time and location can only be discovered through word-of-mouth. 1two5 calls or texts the 16 individual competitors on the day of the event, and the news spreads like wildfire. "The entire poetic family ends up there," he says.

NUPIC, affectionately known amongst poets as the "underground indies," was initiated last year by 1two5. He came up with the concept because Poetry Slam, Inc., the official organization that runs the National Poetry Slam, stopped holding an individual competition at Nationals. Though poets can compete in the much smaller Individual World Poetry Slam, many missed being able to exhibit their work for the massive slam community that shows up at Nationals.

To get to this year’s NUPIC, poets wander through the deserted St. Paul skyway at 1:00 a.m. until they get to a fuchsia-colored room in the Hilton, the host hotel for Nationals. Soon the room is packed with poets sitting on the floor or in stackable chairs, and 1two5 welcomes everyone and explains how the competition works. Pairs of poets each deliver a poem and are judged, not by numbers and scorecards, but by applause alone. Whichever poet gets the louder cheer from their poetic peers moves on to the next round; the process continues until all but two poets are eliminated.

1two5 and Cole trade off facilitating rounds until, a little after 4:00 a.m., Eboni Hogan of New York City wins the crown over Oz Okoawo of the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the final round. She will get to perform on the prestigious finals stage at Nationals, and she also earns the purse money, which comes from the $125 entry fee paid by each of the competitors. The amount $125 was chosen, of course, because of 1two5′s name. He explains that he requires an entry fee because "I like for us to demonstrate the ability to invest in each other."

This supportive spirit is the core of Nationals. Though the official stages are fraught with intense, heart-pounding competition, the driving force behind the event is a shared passion for poetry. "It’s not a point of whether we win or whether we lose," says Art. "It’s more about the experience of sharing and meeting with different poets."

The Final Stage

Every poet wants to get to the finals stage. This does not conflict with the oft-quoted remark that slam is all about the poetry, not about the numbers. "On finals stage," says Marlon, "in this auditorium, it is dead silent. Dead silent; you could hear a pin drop. And the mics—you could hear yourself breathe! I want to get on the finals stage! My goal is just to get there for the good mic."

But only four teams will make it there, and they must win a semifinals bout against other top teams in the nation. The Lizard Lounge’s bout is held in the Artists’ Quarter, a dimly lit jazz bar with an ambiance not so unlike the team’s home venue in Cambridge. An hour before the bout is scheduled to begin, the line of people waiting to be let inside sprawls down a hallway and up a long staircase. By the time the bout begins, the bar is packed beyond its capacity.

It’s an outstanding night of poetry featuring two teams from New York City, the louderARTS and the Nuyorican Cafe teams; Loser Slam from New Jersey; the Berkeley Poetry Slam; and the Lizard Lounge. Unfortunately, despite wonderful performances by all the poets, only one team will go on to the finals. The legendary Nuyorican team wins, heralding the end of the Lizard’s competitive journey at Nationals.

On the finals stage the following night, the Nuyorican takes second place, just behind the Saint Paul Soapboxing team. It’s a special moment for St. Paul to reclaim the national champion title on their home turf.

But win or lose, it’s been a special week for all involved. Looking around at the cheering poets and poetry lovers filling St. Paul’s massive Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Matthew Rucker must have smiled to himself. The huge and happy audience and the extended family of slam poets are under one giant roof, celebrating the power of words, the solidarity of community, and one heck of a show.

CAMBRIDGE — Both Nona Marie Invie and Marshall LaCount have a distinctive and unassuming vocal style that’s fascinating in the context of their great music. This pair forms the core of the band Dark Dark Dark. Like many of their fans across North America and Europe, the first time I head them play, I immediately wanted, even felt I needed, more.

Jonathan Kaiser (The Blackthorns, Painted Saints), Todd Chandler (who created the movie "Flood" with Dark Dark Dark and the band Fall Harbor), Walt McClements (Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?, Panorama Jazz Band), and Brett Bullion (Tarton) are other gifted musicians that are part of the Dark Dark Dark line up, each joining the band on the road or in the studio at various times while others veer off on different projects. This band is rooted in the surprisingly cool Minneapolis music scene, but they also have deep connections to New Orleans and New York.

They’re frequently on tour, and I caught up with them recently as they performed in Cambridge at the Lizard Lounge to promote their new six-song EP "Bright Bright Bright" (available from Supply and Demand Music). Compared to their previous release, "Snow Magic," this new collection of songs is more optimistic in its themes and more sophisticated, maybe even serious, in its melodies. Both demonstrate that Dark Dark Dark has a beautiful and original sound.

Describing their sound more specifically is difficult and feels a bit like slapping a cheap label on something precious which really has no name. Their record company has called them a "chamber-folk sextet." That’s okay, but it doesn’t wholly encapsulate them (nor is the group always six in number). Some listeners fixate on their frequent use of accordion-driven melodies and see them as a hip, alternative take on Eastern European music. As exemplified by "Snow Magic," the band could have made this particular characteristic their hallmark and rode it to success. But like many genuine artists, they are eager to try new things rather than repeat the old.

Listening to both these releases, one might notice the subtle and not-so-subtle syncopation that pops up in fun and delightful places. This characteristic connects them to jazz, but also to a wide variety of other styles, from medieval choral music to reggae and ska. Does it seem like the more I describe their music the less you’re able to imagine it? Then check out their MySpace page or brightbrightbright.com instead; both provide means to hear their music, for free, with your own ears.

Into the dark

It was a sunny afternoon in Cambridge as Dark Dark Dark did sound check for their Lizard Lounge gig that night. Nona and Marshall remembered me from a meeting at the Whitehaus artist co-op in Jamaica Plain a few years previous. I had heard them play there on a Friday night and spent Saturday trying unsuccessfully to remember their music that had so impressed me the previous evening. Sunday morning, they visited me in my dreams so that I awoke at noon with full memory of their songs in my head. It was an experience that has forever raised the bar on what I’m able to term "haunting melodies."

Seeing them again, after a couple years of listening to "Snow Magic" and a few weeks of hearing "Bright Bright Bright" before its release, I was eager to express my appreciation. Yet awkwardly, among my first words were an admission that "Bright Bright Bright" didn’t immediately sweep me off my feet the same way "Snow Magic" had. But I explained that it drew me in more deeply each time I listened. It’s melodies, like many things complex and magnificent, can’t be fully appreciated until one has time to experience them.

On first play, I liked it a lot. By my third listen, I loved it. Its dainty syncopation charmed me and even made me chuckle. After I’d described my journey into affection and some understanding of "Bright Bright Bright," Nona and Marshall, with characteristic reserve, looked at me just a little bit funny. Then they looked at each other, they smiled a bit, and Marshall said quietly, "Wow, a reviewer who actually listens to our music!"

Both Nona and Marshall have somewhat soft-spoken, introspective demeanor. To even casual questions, they tend to pause thoughtfully before responding, but that might be a lit bit of a Minnesota thing. Nona told me that she "usually makes Marshall handle the interviews," and something in her voice hinted that it’s a responsibility he doesn’t exactly relish either. Their slight trepidation about the media is surprising since music reviewers seem to adore them. Nevertheless, the press is a weird animal, and Nona and Marshall have the perception to recognize that.

With their fans they are less guarded. Their fans are enthusiastic and far-spread. At their Lizard Lounge gig in Cambridge, people came from at least as far away as Northampton, and they were delighted to do it. Other fans, having seen them at AS220 in Providence the night before, drove north the next day to catch their show again. Perhaps recognizing me as a fan of what they do rather than a mere observer, Marshall, Nona, Mark, Todd, and Walt seemed to grow more comfortable with showing me their off-stage ideas and feelings. After sound check, we went to a local taqueria and started a conversation that lasted, off and on, all night.

Getting to where they are

Starting with a report on the tour that brought them back to Greater Boston, Marshall said, "Nothing weird has happened. It’s been totally great. The worst thing that happened was three days of downpour and dangerous driving. And a leaky van. The top seam of the windshield was leaking and filling up the cup holders with water. That’s not that dramatic or calamitous."

A question about the first music they remember owning lightened everyone’s mood. Todd’s first records were J. Guiles "Freeze Frame" and Ozzy Osbourne "Diary of a Madman." Marshall put down his veggie burrito and informed us his were the soundtracks to the movies "La Bomba" and "Top Gun" on cassette. Nona peered over her thick glasses, seemed to suppress a smile, and told us her’s was "Funky Divas" by En Vogue. Walt said his first record was "Come and Feel the Lemonheads" and  Rush’s “Chronicles,” his first cassette.

Marshall recalled, "I remember my mom doing the laundry while I was listening to Dr. Dre really loud in the next room and thinking, ‘I wonder if my mom thinks this is weird.’”

Todd said he listened to that type of music, too, but added, "None of the references were anything I could actually relate to."

Nona and Marshall first became friends in Minneapolis. Then, according to him, "pretty fast we started playing something of Nona’s old songs." Not long after, "both of us were without jobs, and running out of options, and becoming closer friends, and just decided to actually travel and make gas money playing. Within two weeks of being Dark Dark Dark we were on tour."

Soon someone mentioned the accordion, and when asked about its role in the band’s image, Todd explained. "It often seems like we get placed with bands of a certain genre because they feel we fit in because we have accordions."

The accordion isn’t featured on every song, but both Nona and Walt play the instrument. Describing how she first came to play, Nona said she simply "moved in with someone who had one, and I just picked it up and started playing." It must have helped that Nona had first learned the piano. Indeed, several of the Dark Dark Dark members are multi-instrumentalists. Marshall plays piano, banjo, and clarinet. Besides accordion, Walt plays the trumpet. As part of Dark Dark Dark, Mark plays drums and Todd plays bass.

Accordions, horns, certain beats — these things tie the work of Dark Dark Dark to some types of ethnic music, but Marshall says he’s a bit tired of people focusing on the Eastern European nature of their sounds "…because it’s clearly not. It’s okay to talk about that as an influence, along with jazz and folk and tons of contemporary minimalist composers. There’s so many influences that it’s a bore to write them all down." When asked if it was fair to note that along this spectrum, "Snow Magic" was more klezmer-y than "Bright Bright Bright," Marshall agreed, saying, "Definitely. But as far as just calling it that, or calling it any other one of these music types? It’s not true about our music and it’s not respecting the tradition."

He further insists that it’s more than a matter of lumping or splitting when one talks about labeling the music of Dark Dark Dark as Eastern European or as anything else. "It’s more with us that we have so many other influences that it feels very strange to us.  And we hold in high regard so many other different kinds of artists that it doesn’t feel very true to us." He added, "Klezmer and Eastern European music was the first music we learned to play our instruments on, before we started writing ourselves. So that’s what we grew out of, but calling it Eastern European music in any way is cheating."

Previously, Marshall described some of the songs on Snow Magic as "waltzes." When asked if there were tracks on "Bright Bright Bright" that would properly be called waltzes, he thought for a moment and said, "I believe so. But the one-two-three, oom-pa-pa is not so clear any more. And I guess we no longer really think of them that way because we are doing some three against four things and they’re not so blatantly waltz-y."

Nona says people notice how "Bright Bright Bright" has moved their sound in new directions. "Someone did a review," she said, "and it was interesting.  They did still say ‘Eastern European,’ but then they said it was ‘piano driven’ and they had some other adjectives. I mean, it’s true that’s a part of my life and my experience. And when I was learning the accordion, I did listen to a lot of Eastern European music. So it’s there still." Nona described a review that said something like "moving from Eastern European to something jazzy" and added, "I think I like that."

The first, and title, track on "Bright Bright Bright" is indeed driven, slowly and exquisitely, by a piano. On the second track, "The Hand," accordions kick in with gusto, but their flavor is more gumbo than borscht. Hearing how the sound of these accordions, and a lyric about lights across the water, made me think of Louisiana bayous, Nona said, "Ah cool… that’s great. New Orleans has been a really big part of my life so my time there hopefully comes out in my music. But I actually wrote that song in New York. Half of it I wrote in upstate New York, and I think I finished it in New Orleans."

Marshall said that Walter, who is from New Orleans "is a big influence on us. He’s in the band and he’s an influence on us and his other bands. And the Dixieland and the jazz happening in New Orleans is an influence on us. And I think when Walter’s playing it’s even a little more clear than when Nona’s playing. But it’s definitely there."

"Walter plays jazz music in New Orleans," said Nona. "But I don’t know anything about jazz. I listen to New Orleans jazz and I love it. It’s part of our experimenting with writing music and not trying to write in a certain genre. Not trying to categorize ourselves in a certain way leaves us open to exploring."

Creating Bright Bright Bright

"Wild Goose Chase," the last song on "Bright Bright Bright," is a cover of an Elephant Micah song. Of the rest, Marshall explained, "Nona wrote four out of five of those." Marshall wrote "Make Time," the third song on the EP. It starts with nervous, rolling drums that are soon joined by Marshall’s voice sounding a bit creepy and British. Then, after a change, it becomes a joyous melody that both builds and floats pleasantly in one place in a way that might also be thought of as a Dark Dark Dark trademark.

Explaining their creative process, Marshall said, "Generally if Nona writes something, or if I write something, the other gets a chance to edit, or give feedback. But the primary writer is often Nona, and I get to be the editor, especially in language. And the whole band is involved with arranging the music."

Nona described, "Usually I just get an idea, somehow, and think about it for a long time. Then I sit at the piano and sort of work it out, somehow. I don’t know how it happens. It seems a little different each time." She reads and writes music and says "I write lyrics down right away or I forget them… I think usually I get ideas for lyrics first then I come up with the music. I guess I’ve done it both ways."

As for the themes of the songs on “Bright Bright Bright,” Nona says "if it is about romantic love, I tried to explore different aspects, more complicated aspects of those relationships. And some of them aren’t necessarily about romantic love either." She said "it all comes from personal experience," but I asked how specifically that applies, citing the record’s fifth song, "The Flood," that has a nice little image of someone in the park wearing their collar up. Thinking, she squinted, then explained. "Some of that song was really literal. The first half was really literal and the second half was more interpretive."

"Bright Bright Bright" was recorded at Sacred Heart Studios in a former church overlooking Lake Superior. Minneapolis producer Tom Herbers, known for his work with groups such as WHY?, engineered, produced and mixed the EP on analog equipment from start to finish. Nona says, "I think it just sounds a lot better. I think it sounds beautiful. When you record digitally, you’re trying to recreate the beautiful sounds of analog music and when its possible to do analog it just feels better." She added, "I don’t know that much about recording, and I know it can be easier to do things digitally, but for us to just play all in a room, and to have it recorded right onto the tape, like in two takes or something like that, it was amazing to me."

Still, they are a small group of people, and Marshall explained that "the choir" (actually the band itself) was done on a separate track. Nona recalled, "I think there were a couple of cello overdubs, and the clarinet was tracked separately than the rest because Marshall plays it and sings. But most of it was done at once, and it was really great to perform live together because we were able to feed off each others’ energy a lot more. It felt like it was a more holistic experience when we were all in the same room, playing at the same time, instead of wearing headphones and listening to a click track, which is how it can also be done, but it felt more warm and real this way."

Musing about her preference for analog recording, Nona said, "I don’t know if all the advances in technology are that great for listening to music. People just downloading music and listening to it on iPods is such a difference than taking a record and sitting down with it in your living room with a record player. You give it more attention than when you just plug in your iPod on the subway."

Summing up how "Bright Bright Bright" relates to their previous work, Marshall said simply and playfully, "It’s better. We got better!"

Nona said, "I feel like it explores different emotions and different experiences." I agree with both of  them. In its substance, "Bright Bright Bright" has an encouraging relationship to their previous work. It’s built on the same confident foundation, but it towers in good new directions. Their music has some very simple layers and some very complex ones. Their songs, both the slow ones and the faster ones, aren’t just interesting or well-crafted; they’re genuinely catchy.

The fans and the experience

Dark Dark Dark has some deeply devoted fans. According to Nona, "A kid asked me to marry him in Bloomington, Indiana… I said I’m not interested in marriage. That was pretty weird. I guess it was funny… maybe the funniest thing a fan has said to me."

They also have fans abroad, and have played to appreciative crowds in France and Italy. Marshall described, "They were separate trips. It was amazing. We were floating around in the Venice canals in boats that we had built, and pretty much treated like we had the key to the city."

When asked how their European audiences were different, maybe less or more reserved, Marshall said, "Actually it varies. Even the difference between last night and tonight is what you’re talking about a little bit, just because of the way things are set up, and the sound is, and so on." He said their previous night’s gig at AS220 was "louder overall. There were two hundred people there, and we were the last band." He compared that to this particular visit to Lizard Lounge, saying the latter was "more acoustic sounding… it’s a pretty dramatic difference."

Speaking with affection for the band’s followers, Marshall said, "we have a couple fans who have mailed us packages in different cities, or have sent us messages. Quite often, it turns out that some of those might be on different sides of the country. But they end up meeting on the Internet because they’re both talking to us, like say through MySpace. They’ll both comment to us, and realize that they’re both commenting, and end up being friends in the end around us. Some of those people are pretty intense. They’re all really sweet, but sometimes really intense."

Marshall laughed when asked, "What don’t you like to be asked by media?" and reiterated, "Simply saying ‘what are your influences?’ is a strange question because it makes us list bands. And then, I guess, people start putting us in a hole. Whatever that comparison is, it will get used over and over again, and we try to be real careful about that."

Nona agreed and said she’s often asked, "What don’t you want to be categorized as?" or "What bands do you sound like?" I didn’t guess that Dark Dark Dark could get a bad review, but according to Nona, "I think someone said once that they didn’t like my voice. I think people have preferences. They just don’t like accordion, so they’re not gonna like it. They just don’t like us, so they’re not going to like it." More often, Nona said, "I feel like people really get us and get what we’re trying to do."

Looking ahead

Dark Dark Dark, again working with Tom Herbers, have a new album due in the fall. Marshall says, "All the recording sessions are theoretically done, and it’s even rough mixed. But we’re taking a bit more time listening to rough mixes to decide if we’re on the right track… I think that with this album, we certainly didn’t repeat ourselves and I hope we can continue growing and developing in interesting ways and not start making the record that sells and getting into an artistic habit because it worked the previous time… We’ve found that formula, but I don’t want to find that formula and stick to it. But that’s a long-distance fear — what happens to my favorite musicians."

Looking into the future, Marshall says, "I hope we can honor all of our friends and fans without getting too inaccessible in terms of venues and prices and stuff. We try to be careful of that, but even now its a little hard to balance… We have so many fans that are close friends. I’m grateful because it’s kind of a huge number. And we also want to reach out to new audiences and not scare off the old ones."

Part of me would like to see Dark Dark Dark become rich and famous as soon as possible so that more people would be exposed to their wonderful music. But fame and fortune might bring them little happiness if it meant sacrificing artistic integrity or alienating longtime fans. Instead, it seems, their career — like their beautiful songs themselves — will continue to grow and build at its own pace, interesting twists and turns not excluded.

If Dark Dark Dark’s upcoming record reflects the same sensitivity and intelligence as "Snow Magic" and "Bright Bright Bright," they’ll be growing in the right direction indeed.

CAMBRIDGE — News from Microsoft today, that NERD,their New England Research & Development Center,
which they opened in Kendall Square, Cambridge in 2007, is expanding.

More on Microsoft’s rapidly growing, world  class R&D center, including Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s thoughts on the expansion, after the jump.

"Are you unfreakable?" asks the psychedelic, hand-lettered poster advertising Blastfest III (March 20th) at the Cambridge YMCA in Central Square. It’s a twelve hour event from 11 a.m. — 11 p.m. that will feature over two dozen artists. The cost is $5 – $10 on a sliding scale, but not even the most broke-ass hippy will be turned away from this groovy, feel-good equinox event.

Blastfest isn’t associated with us here at Blast Magazine, although we kind of wish it was. Rather, it’s an annual event organized by Whitehaus Family Record, the indier-than-indy Jamaica Plain label with a charmingly crunchy DIY aesthetic. Perhaps best known for their "hoots" — artistic salons where guests are invited to share their various talents with a supportive audience — the Whitehaus is a cool local phenomenon respected for its cooperative and highly non-businesslike approach to art, music, poetry, and all things creative.

Blastfest III will be hosted by Simone Beaubien, a notable performance poet who some know from the Cantab Lounge. The line up includes Ambitious Tugboat, Apollo Sunshine, Avi Jacob, Concord Ballet Orchestra Players, Debbie and the Bullets, Duck That, the Girlfriends, Gregory J. Mullen, James Lindsay, the Meadowlarks, Needy Visions, Shai Erlichman, Tulsa, Turtle Ambulance, the Woodrow Wilsons and other interesting artists who like to experiment. At the same time, the venue will be hosting Boston Zine Fair 2010, an event facilitated by Papercut Zine Library in Somerville to celebrate independent media and self-publishing.

The all-ages gathering will also be a record release party for Whitehaus Family Record, a 27-track double album which is the first vinyl release from this prolific group of affiliated artists and friends. Morgan Shaker, prominent among the Whitehaus group for his skills at organizing and promoting events, calls the album "just a picture of the musical culture as we see it…kind of a stamp of a day in our world."

Shaker is also an articulate spokesman for the "yes wave" philosophy that pervades the music and lives of the Whitehaus artists. He encourages the idea that art and music can be a cooperative activity, but also indicates that observers aren’t just people on the sidelines. He says, "anyone who goes to a show, or wants to talk about this stuff, or comes to a hoot, or comes to any Whitehaus thing — that emotional connection happens to each and every person who was there, so the story becomes as much about the person who is showing up."

The Summer of Love may have happened years before you were born, but counter-cultural events like Blastfest III continue to offer an alternative model of thinking, doing and being that all but the most cynical can appreciate. Stop in, read a zine, get a hug, eat a PB&J, hear startlingly original live music and expand your mind.

In preparation for her New Year’s Eve show with the Boston Pops, Blast asked Boston resident and musician Amanda Palmer about her preferred spots in and around the city. Here’s what she had to say:

On her favorite Cambridge spots:

"My favorite mainstays haven’t all gone away. Algiers (Coffee House), Caf© Pamplona, The Brattle. … Honestly, you know, if I were to move to Mars and you said, ‘You can only have one day in Boston, where are you going to go?’ I would grab a book and I would head to Caf© Pamplona. That’s my number one location. … The day Caf© Pamplona closes, that’s it. I’m movin’ shop."

Harvard Square or Newbury Street?

"It’s funny. You know, I grew up going to Harvard Square as a teenager in the ‘80s. And even then, people were telling me that it was losing its soul. And now I feel like the ‘80s were, like, this bohemian heyday! … It hurts me, actually, to hang out there a little bit. I miss the funk. I miss the cool little stores. I mss all the street performers. I miss walking around and feeling city life. It feels more and more like a mall every summer, and that hurts me, because I always felt like Harvard Square was sort of my spiritual home. … Even with the soulless jewelers and bankers, it still beats Newbury Street."

Axis/Avalon or the House of Blues?

"I haven’t been to the new House of Blues (so) I can’t say. Everything I’ve heard leads me to believe that I would probably vote House of Blues. Axis and Avalon, as clubs, had very bad feng shui."

The Middle East, TT the Bears or Paradise?

"It’s a toss-up between the Middle East and Paradise. I’d say the Middle East probably wins just because there’s actually a real bar and you can sit down and eat."

Boston Common or the Esplenade?

"I’m a Common person."

Museum of Fine Arts or Institute of Contemporary Art?

"I haven’t been to the new ICA, but I have special attachments to the MFA. Probably MFA."

On where she goes for inspiration:

"Especially in the fall and spring, just walking around the South End, it’s so breathtakingly beautiful because of the architecture and the trees. And when I want to just go on a solitary walk, I actually go out to Castle Island and do that circle.  But I’m kind of a hometown girl at heart, and even though my hometown has changed a lot, I still go back to Lexington constantly and visit my folks and hang out in the center of town there."

CAMBRIDGE — If the name doesn’t pique your interest, the food certainly will. Lord Hobo (92 Hampshire St) is the new Cambridge restaurant that replaced the hip B-Side Lounge. Chef Matt Bailey of Teatro is serving up a mouth-watering palette of kinda-fancy American fare. We highly recommend you stop in for a bite.

Located just past Inman Square, Hobo plays up its too-cool-for-school vibe right from the get-go. The restaurant is located on the corner, but there’s no sign to tip you off. Instead, look for a bouncer slouched against the wall outside. Half restaurant, half bar, the place is surprisingly 21+. We were ID’d and then ushered in through a red velvet curtain.

Once inside, the atmosphere feels hipster-industrial, with bare, low hanging lights, exposed pipes crossing the ceiling and typical Cambridge professionals in their mid twenties to early thirties at the bar. The tables are slightly too close together, but we didn’t mind since our neighbors were kind enough to let us try their truffle fries.

Ah, the fries. Nearly every table in sight had ordered one of the three tempting options: curry chips, gravy chips, or truffle chips. We (me and my culinary educated friend, Meredith) chose the curry chips ($7). Both of us are used to the beyond delicious curry served with fish and chips in England and Ireland, and oh-my-God, this was just as good. The truffle sauce was equally enchanting, and we’re heading back soon for the gravy fries (the neighbors to our left were not as share-happy).

For our second appetizer, we opted for the Maine lobster mac and cheese ($12). The sauce was delicate and mild, allowing the flavor from the lobster to permeate nicely. The pasta was just a little less than al dente and the lobster was a little lacking (but, then again, you can never have enough lobster, especially when it’s drenched in cheese). All in all, a nice starting dish, but not the best thing on the menu.

Our third course was a salad of frisee and duck confit, which seems to have disappeared from the menu. However, it was simple and elegant, and very hard to stop eating, so we’re assuming the two salads ($9, $10) now listed on the menu will be as well.

Entr©e number one was house made gnocchi with oxtail and squash in a Parma cream sauce ($18). The gnocchi was a little too doughy for Meredith’s liking, but the oxtail was pure heaven. Reminiscent of short rib, it was tender and juicy. The sauce was a nice complement.

I had a hard time deciding on my entr©e. I was originally excited for the gnocchi, but Meredith was already schooled in oxtail, so I let her get it (I had no previous oxtail experience, but won’t hesitate to order it again). I was tempted by the hanger steak and fries, but something about the half roast chicken ($19) called out to me.

I haven’t been a huge chicken fan lately, always opting for a giant steak instead. But the dish seemed so simple — served with carrots, celery, chippollini onions and roast potatoes — that I figured it would give me a good base for grading the food. As I waited for it to arrive, I was beginning to regret my hasty choice. Why hadn’t I chosen the steak or something a little more unique, like the pan roasted skate? I decided to look forward to sampling the oxtail and tried to ignore my potentially poor choice.

When the chicken arrived, it was huge. I recruited Mere to gobble up the entire leg and pushed it over to one side of my plate. Then, I dug in. I carefully cut off a nice slice with some bad-for-you-but-oh-so-good skin on top. I swirled it around in the gravy and popped in my mouth. Then, it happened. My eyes closed and a shiver went down my spine. This was, without a doubt, the absolute best chicken I had ever tasted. Ever. The meat was juicy and succulent and the skin was as indulgent as it should be. And the gravy — oh dear God, the gravy. Creamy, buttery and just plain heavenly, it elevated the dish from delicious to absolutely fantastic. I practically binged on the meal. People around me were probably staring, but I wouldn’t have noticed. Perfection.

Okay, now that my unabashed praise of the chicken is out of the way, let’s get to the cocktails ($9). After conferring with the waiter to ensure that I wouldn’t choose anything too fruity-sweet, I went for the Cat Wagon (vodka, Chambord, Lillet Blonde, fresh lemon and Proseco). It tasted like a cherry Jolly Rancher. It wasn’t the usual sugary, more than one will make you sick cocktail. It tasted like candy and childhood (well, childhood if your mom was a raging alcoholic). It’s one of my new favorites.

Mere ordered the Triple C, which is also a no-show on the online menu. It tasted like a cherry pina colada, and we’re hoping it’s still available.

After we drained our glasses, we each ordered a glass of the 2007 Mitolo Jester Shiraz ($12). The wine list offers a nice variety, but it’s the beer lovers who will return again and again. Boasting over 40 draught beers and 38 bottled, you’ll have to head to Hobo 78 times before you’ll be truly satisfied.

In addition, the service was very good. Our waiter was knowledgeable and happy to give his opinion. He didn’t hover, but the entrees did seem to take a little bit too long to come out (most likely not the waiter’s fault).

Lord Hobo opened November 18 and has since been getting "crushed" just about every night, according to the manager, Daniel Lanigan. It’s easy to see why. The food is definitely in the A range and the drinks were clearly expertly chosen. It’s a fun place to be, offering great food and drink and the opportunity to people watch (and sometimes eavesdrop). It’s not a romantic place, but it still fits the bill for a great date or a birthday dinner with friends. Don’t pass this one by, it totally deserves a try.

Transplants from Texas to New England long for abundant sunshine, open roads and — most importantly — Mexican food. "But we have Mexican food!" Bay Staters doth protest, unaware that the lumpy burritos and watered down tequila that count as authentic Mexican cuisine up here would never pass muster with even the least epicurean-minded Texan. Therefore, I set out to perform a service to lost Texans and New Englanders alike: find the best Mexican food in the Boston area.

First, let’s get a few things straight.

Number one: Burritos do not count. No amount of Qdoba, Chipotle or even Anna’s Taqueria will suffice to fulfill my Tex-Mex cravings. "Burrito" did not enter my vocabulary until chains like Taco Bell appeared on the scene, and in fact burritos originated in that most un-Texas-like place: California.

Number two: Hot sauce, salsa, and pico de gallo are three separate condiments. While some Texans may indeed use the terms "hot sauce" and "salsa" interchangeably — much like Coke can also mean Dr. Pepper — we would never mistake pico de gallo for salsa. Pico de gallo (which means "rooster’s beak"), often served with other sides like sour cream and guacamole, is a chunky combination of raw tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and jalapeno peppers. Salsa is the cooked, liquefied version, usually served with chips, and hot sauce can be defined as any of the thin, vinegar-based sauces like Cholula and Tabasco. Most of the Mexicans I know put hot sauce on everything. I once traveled through Austria with a few folks from Ciudad Ju¡rez who kept hot sauce in their pockets and even doused their Wiener schnitzel. Some taquerias specialize in their own sauces, which at one of my favorite taco stands (operated out of a roadside trailer) is nothing more than liquefied jalapenos — not for the faint of heart.

I’ll summarize other ground rules by clarifying that real margaritas have salt and fresh lime juice. tequila shots can be taken straight, with lime and salt, or even with cinnamon and orange, and I’m not even going to get into the bastardization that is Velveeta-spawned queso (cheese dip). With that out of the way, we are ready to begin with my top five finalists.

Tu y Yo, Somerville

Fashioned after a Mexican fonda (a hostel with home-cooked meals), Tu y Yo is one of my favorite restaurants in Boston. This tiny gem, tucked into Powderhouse Square (about a ten-minute walk from the Davis Square T stop), offers food deeply rooted in Mexican culture. Tex-Mex purists may feel a bit lost at first, but will undoubtedly be won over by the flavor and colors of "You and I."

While dinner is excellent, if a bit steep ($13-$18), I actually prefer stopping by Tu y Yo for brunch on weekends, which is not only cheaper but features my favorite dish, huevos divorciados (two eggs sunny-side up on a fried tortilla, with red and green sauces and refried black beans). The caf© de olla is a treat (coffee brewed with chocolate, cinnamon, and orange peel), and while Tu y Yo does not offer liquor, they do serve a range of wine, sangria, and beer. A Slow Food snail icon adorns the menu, much like yellowed reviews and awards adorn the crimson and orange walls. Those in need of a Mexican food education will appreciate the pictorial glossary at the back of the menu (with entries like nopales, huitlacoche, and amaranth). Best of all, the menu proudly proclaims "No Burritos!!!" — encouraging even the sepia-tinged se±ors hanging out over the bar (photographed with guns, sombreros, and abundant mustaches) to crack a smile.

La Paloma, Quincy

Of all of my finalists, La Paloma represents the truest Tex-Mex feel. While it’s a bit of a trek for those of us near Boston proper, La Paloma is definitely worth it. I know a couple of Colorado transplants who make monthly pilgrimages out on the red line (La Paloma is a short walk from the North Quincy T stop). The d©cor is laid-back with a "homey" atmosphere, and the menu and drinks are all reasonably priced (dinner entrees from $7-16). A vegetarian pick: cheese and onion enchiladas with verde sauce. La Paloma offers a wide range of tequila and a long list of margaritas and specialty drinks under $7. With these kind of prices (not to mention the freshly made salsa), I almost feel like I’m back home.

Ol©, Inman Square, Cambridge

Ol© offers a citified atmosphere and menu that may bode well for Houston and Dallas residents used to chi chi gourmet food — not to mention the expense. But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for: superb margaritas, to-die-for guacamole (prepared right at your table), and excellent mole (a traditional sauce made with chocolate and pumpkin seeds). While no Tex-Mex restaurant I can recall offers organic baby spinach and Canadian goat cheese, Ol©’s flavors still form a veritable fiesta in your mouth. Entrees range from $15-26, and the menu features a plethora of seafood and creative concoctions, like a vegetarian "lasagna" with chile poblanos on a corn puree. Save your pennies and treat yourself, or that special someone, to Boston Mexican done right.

Boca Grande, Brookline, Boston and Cambridge

Boca Grande caters to those in the market for Mexican fast food—but not too fast. While there is no table service and the counter ordering process can prove a bit hectic, Boca Grande still offers real plates and silverware to dine-in customers (a plus for the eco-conscious), and there are plenty of complete meals (an entr©e served with rice and beans) on the menu. All of the food is prepared fresh on location, and I particularly appreciate the vegetarian specialty, marinated tofu enchiladas. (My omnivorous partner-in-crime can vouch for the chicken tamales, which are roughly as big as your head). The d©cor of the Coolidge Corner location may leave a bit to be desired, but the atmosphere is nonetheless cozy and cheerful, perfect for treating those recession winter blues.

Your Own Kitchen

Have you tried all of the above and still felt something lacking? Then never fear, because the perfect Mexican meal is never farther than your own stove. The biggest challenge to preparing authentic Mexican food may be knowing where to shop, but neighborhoods with concentrations of Latino immigrants are always a safe bet. My favorite Hispanic grocery is Hi-Lo in Jamaica Plain, which offers bins full of ripe avocados and plantains (however, the organic-minded should shop elsewhere). Within its haphazardly organized shelves, Hi-Lo features a wide variety of imports at reasonable prices (much more diverse and reasonable than, say, Shaw’s cheesy "Shop the World" section). I like to stock up on packages of dried chiles, fresh tortillas, and the ubiquitous Mexican white cheese. To get you started, here is my favorite salsa recipe, adopted from my college roommate’s host mother during her study abroad in Mexico. ¡Ol©!

Francesca’s Salsa

4 tomatoes (preferably in season)
Enough water to cover the tomatoes
3 dried red chiles (may vary amount depending on desired spiciness)
2 cloves garlic
1 medium onion, diced
1 fresh jalape±o, diced
Finely chopped cilantro, to taste

Boil the tomatoes with the red chiles and one garlic clove, until the skin of the tomatoes begins to break. Drain but save the water (can be used to thin the salsa later if necessary). Put the boiled ingredients, plus the jalape±o, half of the diced onion, and the other garlic clove into a blender; blend but leave chunky (add retained water if too thick). Pour contents of the blender into a bowl, stir in the remainder of the onion and the cilantro, and serve with chips or fresh tortillas.

CAMBRIDGE — I’d been to Bambara before, about three years ago for Restaurant Week. One of my better Restaurant Week experiences for sure, I still remember that awesome Blueberry Mojito like it was yesterday. And the food was well-cooked and insightful. When I heard about Bambara’s “Happiest Hour” menu I needed to try it. So I got on the Green line to Lechmere and walked a pleasant five minutes toward the restaurant, flanking the Cambridgeside Galleria on the Edwin H. Land Blvd.

The menu has five offerings, slightly smaller versions of many of their menu appetizers, for only $2 a piece. I was promised a good portion, and I held my breath as I sipped on my decadent, if not slightly too-tart, Caramel Apple Martini. Side note: I caught myself licking the caramel swirl inside the glass more than once as I was wishing for a caramel-dipped rim to balance out the apple cider and Stoli Apple.

I placed my order for the “mini arancini” and “mini grilled flatbread.” The description of the arancini which were anything but mini, were described as Crispy risotto balls, with short rib, Parmesan, fontina, herbs with tomato and aioli sauces. The combination: divine. The arancini rice balls were denser than I was used to with my Brooklyn, New York upbringing, but it worked. The outside was crispy and delicious and the marinara sauce had a touch of cream giving it a lighter color and deep flavor. The flatbread was a hearty, light, fluffy bread reminiscent of thicker Syrian bread and took up the entire large plate. (I’d say the pizza was approximately 10 inches long and 7 inches wide) and it was just delicious. The ingredients, roasted garlic, goat cheese, over dried cherry tomatoes, arugula, and aged fig vinegar, were perfect and this dish was filling enough as a light dinner. Arugula and goat cheese is the perfect marriage of peppery greens and creamy goodness and the aged fig vinegar was sweet and I feel a strong need to go out and purchase some to dip all my bread in, all the time. It was … I was … needless to say, I was enjoying this meal and I was getting full off of only two bar menu dishes, cashing in at a total of only $4.

Last dish up for me to try was the “mini fried squid.” I can’t stop myself from using the quotes because honestly, mini has to be some sort of sarcastic inside joke between Executive Chef Jay Silva and his warm staff, which were attentive and informative. Served with spicy, tangy aioli, fried lemon slices and chili paste the fried squid was very good. I, however, wasn’t doing as good because I was getting ridiculously full. I only managed three (okay maybe five) bits of squid including tentacles (yum!) and just couldn’t finish. It was kind of perplexing to me how they, the little squid guys, managed to have the full, robust flavor of deep fried squid, but with not the traditionally thick breaded coating you find at many chain American eateries, and even small mom-and-pop run Italian restaurants. It was damn good, and overflowing oval bowl loaded with the seafood was mind-boggling. So for $6 dollars I’m sure a friend and I could have polished off every last arugula leaf and fried squid-breading for a filling, gourmet dinner that was extremely wallet-friendly.

In the spirit of not being wasteful, I couldn’t just leave my sad little squids alone in their bowl, and overheard a quabble with my neighbors at the bar. “Is this one bowl for both of us, why didn’t you get me my own serving,” the late-arriving man said to his friend while he eyed the plate of mini fried squid. I instantly offered up my own fried squid seeing as it would only go to waste since I was about to explode, and had a back-and-forth while he decided to take me up on my generous offer.

It turns out Frank and Frank are New Yorkers in town for business staying at the gorgeous Hotel Marlowe, where Bambara is housed in. (Apparently Hotel Marlowe is one of the only pet-friendly hotels in Boston, who knew?!) We had some good laughs and toasted the large portions that we just feasted on, and I made some new friends from my hometown of New York City.

So if you’re looking for a mellow atmosphere with light jazz music in the background and fragrant food smells wafting from the partially open kitchen, head to Bambara between 4-6 p.m. (I suggested they extend it until 7 so we’ll just have to wait and see if they take my advice) for their Happiest Hour menu and bring a few friends, or just meet some new ones. I’m planning to head back to try the herb french fries with spicy mayo (I kind of have a serious thing with spicy mayo, we’re involved AND exclusive) and the mini fish cakes. Their menu, and in turn Happiest Hour menu, is always changed seasonally to reflect the best ingredients.

CAMBRIDGE — President Barack Obama addressed state officials and a crowd at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday to encourage the nation on becoming a leader for the global economy in clean energy.

The speech, delivered at MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, praised the school’s faculty members and students for their commitment to energy research and achieving new advancements in clean energy technologies. He spoke about his excitement after touring the school’s Energy Initiative program laboratories and the benefits that these new technologies can bring to the world.

“Windows that generate electricity by directing light to solar cells; lightweight high-power batteries that aren’t built but are grown. That was neat stuff. Engineering viruses to create batteries; more efficient lighting systems that rely on nanotechnology; innovative engineering that will make it possible for offshore wind power plants to deliver electricity even when the air is still,” said Obama.

He pointed out that every country has recognized that the world’s energy supplies are growing scarcer and “that’s why the world is now engaged in a peaceful competition to determine the technologies that will power the 21st century. The nation that wins this competition will be the nation that leads the global economy,” he said. “I am convinced of that. And I want America to be that nation. It’s that simple.”

Obama also promoted Ricovery Act Investments that are creating advancements in wind energy as well as creating jobs. He said the Act includes $80 billion to create thousands of jobs for Americans developing new battery technologies for hybrid vehicles, modernizing the electric grid and doubling the country’s capacity to generate renewable electricity.

Susan Hockfield, the president of MIT, said that having Obama speak about renewable energy at the university can motivate more students in getting involved in new energy technology and policy development.

“It’s enormously energizing. The Energy Initiative has become a real centerpiece at activities here at MIT. And having the president here to make a major statement about energy really confirms and amplifies the work that’s already been done on campus” said Hockfield.

MIT’s Energy Initiative program director Ernest Moniz said that energy research conducted around the country has helped the US be a frontrunner for leading the global economy in clean energy. However, he said there’s still much work to be done.

“United States still has, in my view, the world’s foremost science, technology and innovative system. In the other hand, we cannot be complacent. We can compete as long as we have the resources sustained and commitment from the highest levels, which the president demonstrated today” explained Moniz.

Obama has been the second president to visit MIT but was the only one who met with faculty members and received a tour of school laboratories. The previous presidential visit was made by Bill Clinton who delivered a Commencement address in 1998.

Video report by Melissa Unger

The driving dilemma for so many young Bostonians is simple. We love to drive, but we don’t have a car. And considering how much I love singing Taylor Swift at the top of my lungs when I’m driving in a car “" even when I forget that I have the windows down “" this is a sad plight indeed.

But no matter how much I try to justify it to myself, I just don’t have that much of a reason to personally have a car. I ride my bike around town eight months out of the year and curse the MBTA’s existence the other four. Cambridge, the place I call home, is replete with bike lines on practically every major thoroughfare, and Boston is certainly attempting to get there too. And when all else fails, I’m always up for a lovely stroll through town. It’s Boston, after all!

But there are times when it’s clear that I need a car. Like for my frequent trips to Ikea. Or like every eight or so weeks when I go on a massive grocery shopping binge because I hate walking back and forth between the grocery store, even though its only ten minutes away form my house. Or like every eight weeks when I do the laundry because I hate doing laundry with every fiber of my being.

Luckily for those times, there’s Zipcar. If you’ve been living underneath a rock, I’ll “" pardon the pun “" zip Zipcar up for you. The Cambridge based and founded company allows licensed drivers aged 21 and over to rent a wide variety of cars parked all over the city by the hour or by the day.

If you’re feeling eco-conscious, grab Prius Pete “" every Zipcar has an adorable, alliterative name “" from the Genzyme Garage in Kendall Square for $7 per hour. If you’re feeling flashier, grab Baker the BMW 328 for $13 per hour from the Boston Common garage.

To become a Zipcar member, users pay a $50 annual fee to join. For those who only grab a car every now and then, they pay the hourly or day-rate for whichever vehicle they want. For those who drive more often, users can make a minimum monthly commitment, and cash in on discounted rates. Every reservation includes 180 miles of driving, a gas card to fill the car up “" and make sure to use it any time the vehicle falls beneath a quarter tank! “" insurance to cover your indiscretions, and a parking pass if the Zipcar lives in a non-free lot.

Users make a reservation, tap their RFID-tagged Zipcard on the windshield to unlock the vehicle, which already has the key inside the ignition. They then zip around town, and then lock it up when finished by tapping their Zipcard on the windshield again.

Car sharing is as simple as the name sounds. The cars are meant to be parked near where users will need them. Because everyone pays a membership fee, they all in a way jointly own and share the vehicles. Everyone is expected to fill the gas when it gets low, keep the car relatively clean, and keep it from being damaged. Zipcar will even reimburse users that pay for a carwash. Another big part of car sharing is making sure the vehicle is where it’s supposed to be. When Zipcar says your reservation is over at 6:00 PM, they mean 6:00 PM, sharp. If you haven’t locked your car up by then, you’ll get a late fee. Get enough late fees, and Zipcar will suspend you from driving.

Obviously, I don’t want to turn you off from Zipcar. You have to really piss someone off to actually get your account suspended, and because it’s a car sharing program after all, users are usually rather fanatic and therefore largely respectful of the rules. Overall, Zipcar is simple, effective, and much better than having a car and insurance payment every month “" plus, for me at least, it’s the closest I’ll ever get to driving a Beamer before I can ever afford one of my own.

While Zipcar got its start in Cambridge back in 2000, it has since spread to 49 cities across the world. Zipcar was founded by residents Robin Chase and Antje Danielson who based the company on car-sharing programs similar to those in Europe. By the end of 2002, the company had 6,000 users in Boston, D.C., and New York.

Zipcar got its start by stocking different neighborhoods with different cars, giving each area it’s own identity. In Cambridge, home to the recycling, biking, hippie granola crunchy type, the company filled the neighborhood with gas-sipping Priuses. In the Back Bay, Zipsters were more likely to want a showier convertible Mini-Cooper for weekend trips to the Cape.

Now in 2009, Zipcar has merged with former rival Flexcar, and now commands a fleet of 6,000 vehicles for 675,000 users in places as far as Ann Arbor, Mich., Tuscaloosa, Alab., and even across the pond in London. In fact, in one of the tougher economic times we’ve seen, Zipcar is preparing itself to go public, and is launching an IPO in 2010. The company is constantly adding cars to its fleet and expanding its user base. With the influx of cash from an IPO, Zipcar really will be going places.

What makes Zipcar so special is its amazing blend of cute personality, sharp business prowess, and of course, cutting edge technology. The technology starts when you try to start the car. Sitting in the upper right corner of every Zipcar is a little black box. When you tap your Zipcard on the windshield above it, the system sends out a signal to Zipcar HQ over EVDO “" yes, that ancient data technology your old cell phone used to run “" that matches your card to a reservation to a specific Zipcar. When everything aligns correctly, the black box unlocks the car door, the black box releases the kill switch on the engine, and you get in and drive off.

The black box is also hooked into the on-board diagnostics system, or OBD. When my Zipcar wouldn’t start on a particularly cold January night, I called Zipcar, and the helpful man on the phone could already tell me that I had killed the car battery by leaving my headlights during my quick trip into Trader Joe’s. If you somehow lock your Zipcard inside the vehicle, a quick phone call to Zipcar customer service can unlock it. Likewise, the black box has a simple GPS system so that the vehicles can be located should they wander off and get lost. The same kill switch that keeps the car from being stolen can also kill the car should it somehow manage to drive off.

However, the newest technology debuted at the tail-end of September is, of course, Zipcar’s new iPhone app. Up to now, users have had to make reservations though the Zipcar website, the mobile website, or over the phone. Both of the websites are robust, AJAXy, and a breeze to use. The phone however, well, lets just say it’s not Zipcar’s fault if you’re using a technology from the 19th century.

But now with the magic of the Zipcar iPhone app, users can locate themselves on a map of all of Zipcar’s offerings, make a reservation, and even unlock the car from inside the application. When I did just that with my iPhone app, I almost cried from the sheer amazingness of what I’d just done. It also made me feel amazingly futuristic, despite the fact that we’re all supposed to have personal jetpacks in the future. And OK, fine, people have been able to remotely unlock cars since OnStar in the 90s, but that still required calling someone who was sitting at a computer somewhere in Arizona. Now, I can do it from my touch screen god-phone.

Using the rest of the app was just as easy as you would expect Zipcar to make it. Making my reservation was a breeze. The app grayed out all Zipcar lots that didn’t have a car that matched my time reservation. If you needed the exact location of a Zipcar lot, the app would send the exact coordinates to your Maps application which would then direct you to the lot. While my reservation as open, I could extend the time I needed the car from inside the app as well.

Zipcar polled its users and found that 25% of them had an iPhone, hence releasing their first app on Apple’s platform. Everyone else without an iPhone can still use the mobile website to make reservations. Also, once you’ve given Zipcar your cell phone number, they’ll send you text message reminders about your reservations. You can then extend your reservation just by texting Zipcar back. “Ext30m” will get you an extra half-hour to get back while “End today 4pm” will do just what it says.

Zipcar has always been a company to embrace technology, and now every car in their fleet now comes equipped with an auxillary cord to plug into your iPod or mp3 player of choice, so you can jam out to Taylor Swift, or any other embarrassing musical offering you might enjoy. Every car has a toll-tag that auto-magically bills your Zipcar account for the tolls.

Another thing that’s hard to ignore about Zipcar is that the company is rather green”"and we’re talking about more than its logo. Like I said before, I only drive a Zipcar when I really need one. But if I had a car of my own, I’d probably take a lot more places. That means I’m driving more, burning more gas, and doing my part to warm the earth with more carbon dioxide. When you factor in people who just use Zipcar instead of owning a car, that’s a lot fewer miles being driven out there.

Zipcar recognizes this, and discounts the Priuses in its fleet more than the other vehicles. Zipcar even ran a “low-car diet challenge” which in return for media coverage, encourage drivers to hang up their keys for a month and ride public transit or use a Zipcar when absolutely necessary. While the miles saved from these twelve users is merely a minuscule blip in the amount of carbon spewed into the atmosphere by the millions of drivers in the U.S. every day, the ideas are still a good one. It’s also a counter intuitive notion, considering that Zipcar essentially makes its money when people drive, but it’s just the good-nature of the company. When was the last time you saw gas companies encouraging eco-consciousness?

Zipcar is here for good it seems, and that’s something that I, and thousands of other users certainly embrace. While Zipcar advertises through print frequently, a lot of Zipcar’s brand strength comes through word of mouth. Zipcar user Matthew Lasek shared just such a story. “About two weeks ago I rented a Volvo and zipped to the hardware store to fill up on more paint, brushes and cleaner to remove all the paint I would inevitably spill. While locking the car a 65 year-old woman asked ‘So how does Zipcar work?’” Lasek then explained the entire membership and rental rental process to the questioning woman, Brookline resident Lauren Smith, who lamented how expensive it is to rent a cart through a traditional car service and how she hated asking her daughter to drive her on her errands.

When asked to sum up the Zipcar experience, Lasek put it like this: “I think this is what Zip Car is: freedom. This strong and able senior wanted to have the freedom to do something as simple as go to Johnny’s Fresh Market; while my exploits in Zipcars to the beach or Six Flags are a little more adventurous, the fact remains that Zipcar lets us do things that our own two legs can’t, or what our wallets would prohibit.”

Images courtesy Zipcar, the author, and Flickr users Andrew Currie, rakka, reinvented, and scoobyfoo.

The FBI and state police in Illinois are reviewing all evidence from a series of 1982 deaths dubbed “The Tylenol murders.”

Given the many recent advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence,” the FBI Chicago office said in a statement Thursday.

The FBI says the review was prompted by the recent anniversary of the killings and a bevy of new tips that have come in. No new physical evidence has emerged, and no charges have been filed.

James W. Lewis, of Cambridge, served 12 years in federal prison for trying to extort $1 million from Tylenol, but was never charged in the killings.

Following in the footsteps of the guy who threw the shoe at Bush, a man at Cambridge University threw a runner at Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during a speech there, though his aim was a lot worse, he missed Jiabao by about 30 feet, according to the Times.

The man blew a whistle during the speech, causing Jiabao to look up, after which he began yelling.‚ Police escorted the offender out of the hall, however not before he shouted “how can you listen to the lies he’s telling?” into TV cameras. The man, who is not Chinese, also called Jiabao a dictator before he was removed from the hall.

Witnesses describe the man as a “goateed European in his 20s or 30s speaking foreign-accented English.”‚ 

The altercation took place on the final day of Jiabao’s three-day visit to the UK. Jiabao spoke with Prime Minister Gordon Brown about a possible increase in trade between the two countries.

Human rights groups picketed outside the university before the speech, protesting China’s treatment of Tibet.

On a completely unrelated note, I wrote a post yesterday about some sea explorers who uncovered the remains of a 1744 shipwreck in the English Channel.‚ 

Today, I got an email from a woman named Shelley Kapitulik, who works for a PR firm in New York called Trylon SMR. She informed me that the team who uncovered the shipwreck was the subject of a documentary, which caused some stir in the archeology community.

Apparently Odyssey Marine’s methods of exploration raise some ethical questions in the archeology community.

She invited me to give her a call to find out more, which I will. So that’ll be coming soon.