Metaboston

GamerDNA at Boston Postmortem

Jon Radoff of GamerDNA, the Cambridge-based gamer social network, will be speaking in Waltham on Wednesday at Boston Postmortem, the local video game developer meeting.

"I'll be talking about market trends in the game market that we've,been able to observe by integrating data about gameplay across multiple game networks. Example discussion topics will include:

- Rock Band versus Guitar Hero 3 — which is being played more, and why?
- Braid vs. other XBLA titles — real evidence of the word-of-mouth long-tail at work
- What happens to former World of Warcraft players when they try other MMORPGs? (Hint: it's not what you expect)"

Info:
Time: 7pm, Wednesday, September 10
Location: The Skellig, Waltham, MA
Cost: Free (Including free food and drink courtesy of Gamer DNA)

The End of Antiques Row in Cambridge

With the last sale at F.B. Hubley's, the old antiques row between Harvard and Central Squares has also disappeared.

"A lot of people never thought they would see a final sale at the venerable F.B. Hubley Auction Galleries. It did conduct its last sale, however, and the June 4 auction marked the end of an era. It also denoted the end of antiques row, a several-block area in the shadow of Harvard Square that was once filled with dealers and auctioneers. Hubley's was the last to go. Established in 1935 by F.B. Hubley, the gallery has been run since the early 1940s by his son-in-law Robert Cann, who turns 91 in December."I am disconsolate," he said the day before the sale. "It is a very sad day.""

They'll still be continuing their appraisal service.

It's an interesting article about the long history of a store you might have passed by without thinking about it.

New England Horror Writers at Pandemonium Books

A group of member-authors of the New England Horror Writers will descend on Pandemonium Books in Central Square to sign and discuss their books.  Festivities begin at 2 PM on Saturday, May 3rd.

"There'll be a broad spectrum of writers in attendance this time around -- participants include Inanna Arthen (Mortal Touch), Scott Goudsward (Trailer Trash, Shadows Over New England), Nate Kenyon (Bloodstone), Alisa M. Libby (The Blood Confession), L.L. Soares (published in Cemetery Dance, Horror Garage, Lullaby Hearse, and others), and Morven Westfield (Darksome Thirst, The Old Power Returns)"

Stabbing in the People's Republik

Cambridge police have arrested suspects in a stabbing that took place in the Central Square bar the People's Republik when two men tried to escape a group of pursuers:

"Robert Blair, who owns and manages the bar, said the reason police were so quick to arrive on the scene is that they had been called before the stabbing. Blair said he wasn’t at the bar Saturday night, but had talked to his employees about what had happened. According to Blair, two men — including the victim — approached the door, where they were asked for identification. Blair said the men were out of breath when they reached the door.

“They didn’t really respond and just sort of walked into the bar,” Blair said. “That’s why one of my staff called the police, because we couldn’t get them to leave.”

Blair said moments after the first two arrived at the door, several more young men walked into the bar. When one of the staff told them to leave, one of the men pulled a knife."  (Image:  People's Republik MySpace)

Betahouse First Birthday Party

Cambridge coworking site Betahouse is celebrating its first birthday by throwing itself a party.

"Come help us celebrate one year of operation at BetaHouse with good peeps, good music, good food and plenty of booze."

Info:
Friday, April 11, 2008

             

                                    6:30pm -  11:30pm                               

Betahouse 

 

    13 Magazine St
    Cambridge, MA 02139  

The Call of Bohemia in Cambridge: A New Novel by Ken Janjigian

Ken Janjigian, an literature professor at BU and Harvard, explores Cambridge's call to bohemia in Defending Infinity.

"Van is the central figure in Watertown author Ken Janjigian’s new novel, “Defending Infinity,” the story of a young Cambridge man struggling to reconcile the pressure to lead a “normal” life and his desire to live la vie boheme. Set against a backdrop that includes Harvard and Central squares — as well as Boston and Paris — Janjigian’s book follows Van as he is charmed by a cast of motley artists and barstool prophets, who spend their energy imploring him to let loose his creative urges.

'The characters are very eccentric; they’re artists or characters that want to be artists,” Janjigian said, adding that he spent almost every weekend he could as a teenager in Belmont traipsing around Harvard Square. “So you have that element that Cambridge has, especially in the Harvard Square and Central Square, that eccentricity and bohemian mentality. A lot of people say it’s gone from Harvard Square, but I think it’s still there, or at least, its memory is still there.'”