Some commentators are pleased that the Out of Town News site will continue to be a news stand. It's too bad that something more relevant or exciting won't be using the space.
A coffee shop or some third space would be better than the nostalgic fantasy of the news stand in an age of ubiquitous information from newspapers and others online.
It seems likely that there will be a similar "crisis" when the next tenant decides to shut down.
Including from its former owner in what is likely a triumph of sentiment over business.
An emotional Cohen told city councilors Monday night that he has been overwhelmed by the national attention the iconic Harvard Square kiosk has received since the current owners decided not to renew their lease, and fears that the newsstand he founded in 1955 could be gone for good.
"To see this being changed breaks my heart," he told the City Council Monday night. "I'm thinking of coming back. This is an opportunity to bring some life back to the square."
Cohen now joins the ranks of several "reputable, established news firms," looking to lease the historic kiosk, according to City Manager Bob Healy.
Right now, there are 11 companies that have formally shown interest in the city-owned space. Potential bidders include Patriot News Inc., Boston Snack Foods/Landmark News Group, Inc., Unofficial Tours LLC, Thorndike Investigations, Inc., Harvard Book Store and Cohen.
It does seem that another news stand in the site will just die a slow death without really adding anything to the Square. Something related to tourism or food seems more likely but it would be interesting to see what the Harvard Book Store would do with it. Perhaps plant a flag in front of the Coop for all the people who don't realize there is another book store.
Travel icon Rick Steves will be speaking in Cambridge on December 4th discussing the subject that made him famous European travel as well as a recent visit to a more unusual locale, Iran. The Steves approach of seeking less pricey alternatives to mass tourism should be getting renewed interest these days. Although his image is of a genial average guy, Steves is also a social activist noted for his advocacy of drug policy
reform.
Info:
Time: Thursday, December 4th at 5:00pm
Place: First Parish in Cambridge, Mass. Ave at Church Street, Harvard Square
Accessibility: Wheelchair Access at #1 Church St.
Cost: Free, Ticketed Event, Reservations Recommended. Reservations: 
617-649-5700
x21 or events@gcb.com
Does this windshirt really say Harvard Square to you? The Harvard Square Business Association should try to get their name under control.
As this video shows, Harvard Square's Out of Town News is closing. The newstand near the Harvard T station is suffering from the same decline that newspaper and magazine publishers are. It seems like there are a lot of people who will be sad to see the change but there must not be all that many people actually buying papers and magazines. There is one other newstand on the Square and a big selection of magazines in the Coop so there is also probably an oversupply of news dealers at a time when the fortunes of the medium are declining.
In this email, Jeff Mayersohn explains why he thinks the book business still has a future and tries to allay fears about what a change in ownership means to the Harvard Book Store.
In a symbolic gesture, Harvard will install a wind turbine above the Holyoke Center in Harvard Square.
Interestingly, the Holyoke Center itself was built to improve a passageway that was described as a "wind tunnel." (Image of the Holyoke Center by Paul Kelleher)
Kelly Link, a writer with a unique approach to fantasy, science fiction, and horror and the founder of her own publishing company and zine, will be reading from her new story collection at the Harvard Book Store tonight.
Harvard Book Store is jubilant to welcome Northampton-livin', Magic for Beginners-conjurin' KELLY LINK for a reading from her her first Young Adult story collection.
Through the lens of Link’s vivid imagination, nothing is what it seems, and everything deserves a second look. From the multiple award-winning “The Faery Handbag,” in which a teenager’s grandmother carries an entire village (or is it a man-eating dog?) in her handbag, to the near-future of “The Surfer,” whose narrator (a soccer-playing skeptic) waits with a planeload of refugees for the aliens to arrive, Link’s stories are funny and full of unexpected insights and skewed perspectives on the world. Her fans range from Michael Chabon to Peter Buck of R.E.M. to Holly Black of Spiderwick Chronicles fame.
Info:
When: Friday, Oct. 3 at 7:00pm
Where: Harvard Book Store, 1256 Mass. Ave, Cambridge, MA
How Much: Free
Frank Kramer reveals he has found the purchaser of the Harvard Book Store in Jeff Mayersohn (scroll down).
Some good business news for a change.
An mp3 file of Junot Diaz, author of the great Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and MIT creative writing professor, reading his new story in progress Flaka at the Brattle Theatre
Harvard Book Store will be hosting the latest of its Winedown events on Friday Sept. 12. They'll be serving free food and wine. In the era of Amazon, this seems like a great way for a real-world store to distinguish itself - by positioning itself as a place where people can participate in a community.
Info:
Time: Friday, September 12th, 7:00pm
Location: Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA
Cost: Free
Boston comics creators meet weekly in Harvard Square as the Boston Comics Roundtable. They have their first anthology "Inbound" available now. Looking forward to checking it out.
Cambridge's American Repertory Theatre is reaching out to bloggers with complimentary tickets to their new play Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deveare Smith. If you're not a theatregoer, you've probably seen Smith in a movie but she might be most familiar from the West Wing. The
"The American Repertory Theatre invites Boston bloggers to the A.R.T.'s latest production: "LET ME DOWN EASY a play in evolution"
To receive a complimentary ticket, bloggers are asked to write impressions and feedback about the performance on their blog within a few days after the show. You do not need to be an arts or entertainment blogger to attend! If you are curious about theater and/or the A.R.T. this is a great night to see what it's like and then write about it.
It seems like a great idea in trying to broaden theatre audiences and especially good that it isn't limited to "arts and entertainment" bloggers whose audiences are most likely already aware of the play. It will be interesting to see if there are any issues if blog word isn't positive. There will be a series of events so it sounds like they've built patience into the plan.
Great work by Sooz to help organize this.
"Sooz, a Boston blogger and event planner, has teamed up with the A.R.T. to host a series of blogger nights at the American Repertory Theatre in Harvard Square.
Info:
Location: Loeb Drama Center at A.R.T., 64 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA
Date: September 16, 2008 at 07:00 PM
Cost: Free
(via Metaboston Media Blog)
Eileansiar has a huge and interesting collection of images in and around Harvard Square with great little details of the neighborhood.
Videos too. (Above, cool time lapse video of people lining up in Harvard Yard for a ritualistic touch of the John Harvard statue's toe).
A history of street performing in Harvard Square (and elsewhere in Cambridge)
Deer can now be found roaming in Cambridge adding to the woes of urban gardeners and drivers.
"Wild deer near Harvard Square? Andrew Fletcher would not have believed it had he not seen one himself.
"It was right off of Brattle Street, at the corner of Brattle and Craigie. And it was just sort of standing in the middle of the road," said Fletcher, who works at the nearby Buckingham Browne & Nichols School.
Fletcher encountered the doe earlier this month, in the third deer sighting this summer within the urban wilds of Cambridge, according to animal control officials. (The others were spotted on Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square and near Somerville's Beacon Street.)
"Today, 17 years later, its exterior walls have deteriorated so
badly that Harvard says the only way to repair them would be to take
them off entirely and start over.
Yet this disaster was created by the best and the brightest.
The client was Harvard, or more specifically, its Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The architect was the firm Gwathmey Siegel, known for its superb 1992 addition to another museum, the Guggenheim in New York, among other buildings. The general contractor was Walsh Brothers, a Boston firm now in its fourth generation that has long been regarded as one of the region’s best.
***
"So what happened? What’s the diagnosis? To put it simply, the guys who worried about the museum’s art were not the guys who worried about the weather. It was a classic failure of communication. We'll call them the art guys and the weather guys."
In author Robert Campbell's terms, the art guys are the curators and museum officials (the clients) and the weather guys are the architects, engineers and builders.
Failure to communicate does seem clear but the article seems to come down more on the architects' side or at least that a failure to communicate means both sides are equally at fault. This seems strange given the unequal levels of knowledge about construction It seems like the architects, etc. are the ones who really have to communicate though. Clients can make their demands, suggestions, requests but the architects need to explain what is doable. The clients aren't going to know what the moisture effects are going to be.
There also seems to be a bit of a disconnect on the "weather guys'" side as to how buildings will be used. One expert Campbell talks to refers to problems at "the Davis Museum at Wellesley, a building by another Pritzker-winning architect, Rafael Moneo, the curators themselves caused problems. They ruptured the vapor barrier by drilling holes to hang artworks." But couldn't this action be anticipated by the fact that it is a museum?
It seems like Werner Otto Hall represents the product of a time when architects considered exteriors and use of space more than the actual use of the building. (Image: Harvard)
Have you been plagued by the "stoned skateboarder" of Harvard Square?
The Harvard Square Business Association is putting on a fun outdoor Shakespeare festival from August 1-3 in Winthrop Park. The highlight is probably the Love's Labour's Lost production but there's other free events as well.
"Actors’ Shakespeare Project Presents Love’s Labour’s Lost:
Actors’ Shakespeare Project will present an encore presentation of their highly successful interpretation of Love’s Labour’s Lost in conjunction with the Harvard Square Business Associations’ Shakespeare in the Square. This production is directed by Benjamin Evett and features Steven Berkhimer*, Marianna Bassham*, Jason Bowen, Khalil Flemming, Sarah Newhouse*, and Michael Forden Walker*
Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost is a sweet and hilarious dance of courtship. Four young lords swear an oath to give up the company of women for three years and devote themselves to study. Soon after, the Princess of France arrives with her three friends and the four lords are instantly smitten. The women decide to torment the men, and boy, are they easy marks! In ASP’s rendition of this classic comedy, six actors play sixteen roles—dancing back and forth between male and female, pursuer and pursued!
WHEN: Friday August 1st at 7:15pm, Saturday 2nd at 7:30pm and Sunday 3rd at 3:00 pm
WHERE: Winthrop Park (corner of JFK and Mount Auburn Street).
PRICE: Free!"
(More after the break)
Continue reading "Shakespeare in the Square: Free Shakespeare in Harvard Square" »
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.
Yondernet, a new online Haitian-American magazine started by a group of local entrepreneurs will be celebrating its launch this week.
"Yondernet Magazine is a quarterly online publication
magazine dedicated to Haitian-American professionals and other minority
professionals who have a keen appreciation for their heritage and self.
Yondernet Magazine is striving to showcase some of today’s most
brilliant Haitian-American and minority professionals and the
aspiration, success and concerns of all Haitians living in the United
States."
They're looking for content as well: "Yondernet Magazine is a user generated content magazine.
We are looking for contributing writers to submit articles and
editorial contents for the following topics: Health, Education,
Finance, and Business." Good idea for an underserved niche.
Man accused of kicking people in Harvard Square. Just not very nice.
Pierre Menard Gallery's new exhibit focuses on meat as the subject for artistic inspiration and as an artistic medium:
"Visitors to the gallery can examine a flag made of pure raw meat and meat fat.
The flag’s sculptor, Betty Hirst, also produced an opened book made of frozen raw meat and, possibly disturbing, a baby girl on a pink blanket composed of dried meat." (Image: 21 Chops, David Raymond)
"To our many friends, customers, and supporters,
Yes. It's hard for even me to believe, but
it's true. Harvard Book Store is for sale.
Now that the news is out in the media, I want
to say a few words to you. I know many of you
personally and I can honestly say that
building our customer relationships has been
the best part of running Harvard Book Store.
Continue reading "Frank Kramer on the Sale of Harvard Bookstore" »
Odd image of philosopher, pioneering psychologist and theorist of religion and prolific writer William James from the Wall St. Journal:
'William . . . appears as the original dilly-dallying graduate student, hanging around Harvard Square to teach, marrying at 36 and not publishing his breakthrough work, "The Fundamentals of Psychology," until age 48."
It seems hard to argue with his approach considering what he accomplished.
Any regular visitor to Harvard Square might actually sincerely appreciate this April Fool's event by the Boston Society for Spontaneity: a protest against protests.
Suggestion for next event: protesting soliciting or soliciting against soliciting.
After months of delays while working with the City of Cambridge to get public wi-fi, the Harvard Square Business Association was able to get their new wi-fi network up and running in a week after hiring Anaptyx as the contractor.
"The Harvard Square Business Association drove the project while working with the city of Cambridge, and other local businesses. The Executive Director of the Harvard Square Business Association Denise Jillson said in a statement, "The research and installation period took a little longer than anticipated, but the delay worked to our advantage as the technology kept improving." The actual construction and deployment of the network happened in just one week with Anaptyx meeting the deadline of having the network ready for Harvard's 357th commencement.
"We signed the contract last Wednesday and it is Wednesday a week later and the network is up," said Anaptyx CEO Kenneth Carnesi, Jr. on launch day. The Harvard Square project is the first city implementation for Anaptyx as it traditionally outfits apartment and condominium complexes.
According to Jillson, the Harvard Square Business Association paid just under US$20,000 for the hardware and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) lines to launch the free Wi-Fi. It will continue to fund the DSL connections and add more if needed. The businesses that host the nodes pay for the electricity, which is anticipated to cost less than $20 a year."
The network should be really useful. Is this a case study in why municipal wifi projects have not be working?
Interesting video (no embedding) that shows how Harvard Book Store gained a customer from Amazon after the local shop recovered a grad student's mail-ordered books that were stolen from his lobby. Harvard Book Store was informed of the thefts by the student and sure enough a man tried to sell the books to the store's used book buyers. They bought the books, unable to arrest the man, returned the books to the student and informed the police.
O'Reilly will be putting on another Ignite Boston on May 29th at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square (6pm to 10pm).
"This time, we're using two floors at Tommy Doyle's, so the acoustics will be better than our first event there. From 6-6:45 pm, mingle and talk tech with your fellow FOOs, alpha geeks, and techies from the greater Boston area. After the mingling and social stuff, we'll have a couple of special keynote presentations by Jonathan Zdziarski of iPhone notoriety and John Viega of Security notoriety to kick off our Ignite talks. Then, onto guest speakers who'll catch you up on the cool, new, innovative stuff going on in technology today. Don’t blink or you’ll miss their lightning-fast, five-minute presentations. During intermissions, get a cold beer and chat with speakers, sponsors, and O’Reilly’s own editors."
You can still propose your own short presentation if you stick to the ground rules:
"Presentations must:
The short time limit makes the presentations you aren't interested in fairly painless. The last Ignite Boston was a good fun mixed bag although quite hard to hear so hopefully Tommy Doyle's will have better acoustics.
As cable problem sparks manhole explosions.
As always Chowhound has the early insight, in this case about Crema the barely opened new coffee shop started by the daughter of the owners of Flat Patties.
The Harvard Yard Archeology Project investigates the ground beneath Harvard Yard for remains of the original 17th and 18th century buildings of the college as well as the institution that was focused on Native Americans:
"Harvard, founded in the reign of Charles I and named after John Harvard, a Cambridge graduate who left his books to the young college, is centred on Harvard Yard, a series of grassy quadrangles enclosed by red-brick buildings such as Massachusetts Hall, built in 1718 and the oldest surviving structure. “Seventeenth- century Harvard Yard included not only the Old College, which was the oldest university building in the country, but also the Harvard Indian College,” said Professor William Fash, the director of the Harvard Peabody Museum.
“Built around 1655 as a place to train Native students within Harvard, the Indian College is of special interest as the first university-level institution in the Americas focused on Native people,” said Professor Fash, although several centuries of activity mean that “the yard is a very dense and overwrought landscape.”"
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court says nakedness in Harvard Square is a violation of state law.
"The SJC ruled today that the state’s open and gross lewdness law is legit. The law was challenged by a Cambridge woman, Ria Ora, who was arrested for dancing naked in Harvard Square."
Ora's naked dance was a protest against Christmas commercialization.
Given the number of buskers and leaflet passers in Harvard Square nakedness is probably one of the only ways to get any real attention.
The ACLU accuses Harvard of maintaining a political intelligence unit within their police department according to this interesting article by the Crimson:
"The nation’s preeminent civil liberties group is accusing the
University of maintaining a political intelligence unit within the
Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), an allegation that comes
after two protesters were arrested during a demonstration in the
Square.
The
protesters allege that undercover HUPD officers were photographing the
demonstration, according to John Reinstein, the legal director of the
Massachusetts division of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“What
we found really quite surprising and disturbing is that the Harvard
police department has an undercover, plainclothes, political
intelligence unit which so far as I know has never been acknowledged by
them before,” Reinstein said.
HUPD spokesman Steven G. Catalano declined to comment, and a University spokesman did not comment as well.
The
protesters, Patrick Keaney and Lisa Nieves, were arrested March 3 in
front of the Holyoke Center according to the HUPD’s police log. The log
said that “officers were monitoring a demonstration” prior to the
arrest."
The arrest came when one of the demonstrators took her own picture of one of the "undercover" officers.
"Reinstein said that Nieves noticed a bystander in plainclothes taking photos of the protest and decided to go photograph him. When she did, the man informed her that he was an undercover police officer with HUPD and placed her under arrest for refusing to delete the photos."
Cambridge Common also notes some examples of apparent surveillance:
"I have heard stories from people who were involved in the 2001 Living Wage Campaign that corroborate such activity. During the time of the sit-in, campaigners had planned an action that was coordinated partially over email but not advertised publicly at all. When they showed up to the location of the action, HUPD was waiting for them. It seemed that the only way that HUPD could have known the action was taking place was if the authorities had been spying on the group, either electronically or by other means.
More shadiness of this kind took place during the Stand For Security Campaign last year. During the hunger strike and the daily actions that accompanied it, a plainclothes man with a nice camera was taking pictures of us almost every day. I went up to him one day to see what he was taking the pictures for and he told me that they were for the Harvard Gazette. I am sure the Harvard Gazette has photographers, but this guy was there almost every day and he was not taking pictures of things that you would really put into a magazine."
(via Cambridge Common)
As part of the continuing vigils in Harvard Square by activists marking the Tibetan protests over 40 protesters shaved their heads as a sign of mourning for Tibetans killed in the Chinese crackdown.
If you work alone as a freelancer or consultant as more and more people do you might miss the camaraderie of a lunch with colleagues. Free Agent Boston is restarting its lunch get-togethers with a meeting on April 17th at the Cambridge Common. It's Spring! Time to break out of the home office hibernation!
Another branch of the Upper Crust pizza chain will fill the spot recently vacated by the Museum of Useful Things (the more functional branch of Black Ink) bringing the number of pizza places in Harvard Square to at least 9 (?). (via MenuPages Blog)
The Brattle Theatre will be hosting the Boston Cinema Census on Friday March 14. "The Boston Cinema Census is presented by Central Productions – a
Cambridge based nonprofit film production support organizations
dedicated to supporting emerging narrative and experimental filmmakers. " The films are described below by the BCC, with filmmakers coming from all around the area including Jamaica Plain, Cambridge and Brighton. The longest movie is 20 minutes so some of the usual apprehension that you might have (e.g. a 3 hour experimental film starting at 11 at night).
Mysterieuse, by Samantha Olschan
Animation, Easton, Connecticut, May 2007; 3 min:15 sec.
When
a local girl is seduced by the arrival of an enigmatic leopard she is
left with more than the memory. Mysterieuse is a computer generated
animation deeply influenced by traditional myth, as well as collage and
printmaking techniques.
Full Stop Hilltop, by David Baeumler
Experimental, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, July 2007; 11 min: 06 sec.
When
the water mysteriously stops, a man is forced out of his daily routine
to examine his life. He revisits his past to consider the places and
moments that shaped him. But in a constantly shifting world, these
memories have lost the meaning they once had. Have the places changed
or has he? What can these places tell him now, and do they always say
the same thing?
Pearlswig, by Jesse Kreitzer
Documentary, Brighton, MA, March 2007; 10 minutes
Meet
Jarome Pearlswig, Boston's #1 celebrity autograph hound and amateur
paparazzi. This thoughtful doc chronicles 40 years of Jarome Pearlswig
capturing the world's most beloved celebrities – whether they like it
or not!
Where is Estel, by Jared Katsiane
Narrative, Boston, MA January 2007; 3 minutes
Yesterday
Estel joined the JROTC youth military progam. Today she is just
hanging out with her friends. Could this be just a normal day in the
life of this group of friends, or has Estel's decision made subtle but
significant changes to this schoolyard group?
The Front Runner, by John MacDonnell
Animation, Bedford, NH, May 2007; 8 minutes
After
an unlikely turn of events turns fatal during a rural drag race, a
young Texan's mentor's car ends up unjustly in the wrong hands. Our
young Texan takes control of the situation with what might be his first
solo victory or his last run.
Scatterbrain, by Jean-Paul DiSciscio
Narrative/Experimental, Lynn, MA January 2008; 22 minutes
Scatterbrain
tells the tale of a man whose brain begins to sing one day, so he has
to cut it out of his head (to be replaced by a heavy-duty lithium
battery of course). This unique tale plays out like a silent musical
in the slapstick vein of Buster Keaton and featuring the music of
Daniel Johnston as the singing brain!
Hanna's Ride, by Anne Loyer
Narrative, Boston, MA January 2008, 13 min: 20 sec.
Coming
of age film about a girl caught between two worlds – the open landscape
of a horse farm where she confronts physical danger regularly, and the
confining suburban environment where she struggles with the external
expectations of beauty and propriety.
The Beautiful, by Peter Pizzi
Narrative/Experimental, Boston, MA January 2007; 3 minutes
Inspired
by the Michelle Tea poem of the same name, The Beautiful tells the
story of one young woman's disillusionment with her family and on a
greater level the disappointment she feels for her country. Sassy and
bratty Beauty rips into her parents, comically they will either respond
or not… come on America!
The Cambridge Companion, by Ethan Goldhammer
Docudramedy, Cambridge, MA January 2008; 20 minutes
The
Cambridge Companion casually follows the campaign of the legendary
orator Lloyd Smith as he and his son ArtMan set their sights on one of
the highly coveted 9 seats on the Cambridge City Council. Their
miss-managed actions make this original work in turns funny, touching,
and perplexing in a very engaging way.
There is a new documentary about Harvard Square puppeteer Igor Fokin who died tragically young at 36 and who is memorialized by a small sculpture in the Square (left).
"Igor Fokin came to America in 1994. For two years, his puppets entranced children and adults alike with memorable performances in Harvard Square, drawing audiences from all over the country. He died of a heart attack at the age of 36, two weeks after the birth of his son. The family could no longer stay in America and had to move back to Russia. Five years after his death, a commemorative statue of Fokin's most popular puppet, Doo Doo, was dedicated in the puppeteer's honor.
The Story of Fenist introduces viewers to Fokin and his magical marionettes , who played a central role in his life. Rich performance footage and insightful interviews with his wife, children, extended family and friends are used to retrace Fokin's life from his time as a Russian university theater student and at his St. Petersburg studio to his life in New England.
The film includes a parallel story to Fokin's artistic struggles based on the Russian fairy tale, Fenist the Bright Falcon -- about an enchanted bird that, overcoming great odds, reaches its star. Two children provide the delightful narration. Merging two stories in one, the documentary brings viewers into the world of beautiful images and metaphors, music and theatre.
"Igor's life was brief but incandescent; he touched many hearts," said filmmaker Yelena Demikovsky. "When he died, his family -- with whom I became close -- was orphaned just like his beloved marionettes. As Igor's friend, and as an artist, I committed myself to helping his widow and children. Fenist, the fairytale recounted in my film, is a prince who brings beauty and light to the world. In my film, Igor is that prince. So the film is really his," said Demikovsky."
Boston Chowhound posters note that local Starbucks are testing the Clover coffee machine, a new single-serving device (in action above):
"I don't know how well reported it's been, but Starbucks, as part of their recent corporate shuffling, has started testing something called "fresh-pressed" coffee, which is made with the ever-controversial (and crazy expensive) Clover coffeemaker. When I discovered that one of the Harvard Square Starbuckses (in the Garage) had gotten themselves a Clover, I ran--I did not walk.
The short version is that it's, by far, the best Starbucks coffee I've ever had."
The thread has lists and discusses the pros and cons of the various Starbucks and independents using the Clover if you want to give it a try.
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.'”
Alpha-Omega held liquidation sales this week.
"The Alpha Omega and Alpha Omega Express jewelry stores launched a private one-day sale Wednesday.
The jewelry chain plans to hold a court-authorized bankruptcy liquidation sale for the public at all locations in the Boston -area on Thursday."
A profile of James and Devon Gray Booksellers, a store in Harvard Square where you can pick up a copy of Musæum Regalis Societatis. Or a catalogue & description of the natural and artificial rarities belonging to the Royal Society and preserved at Gresham Colledge by Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712) a collection of oddities belonging to England's Royal Society (like this nice armadillo image below) for a cool $3,500.
"Sixteen years ago, Roger Stoddard, then curator of rare books at the Harvard College Library, challenged Devon, who was studying English with him, to go into the business. “He romanticized the good old days of bookselling,” James recalls, “and asked, ‘Why can’t we do that now?’”
When Devon—inspired by Stoddard and the curator of manuscripts, Rodney Dennis—began scouring auctions and book fairs on weekends to create a collection, bankrolled by about $8,000 in borrowed start-up capital, James was still working in industrial equipment sales. But soon she was reselling her acquisitions to Houghton and to other universities’ rare-book collections. Once the shop opened, James, who trained in anthropology and is something of an autodidact, worked mainly in the store while Devon focused on the catalogs and book repair."
While used bookstores are facing problems in Davis Square, an entrepreneur with a new Harvard Square store, Boston Coasters, focused on Boston-centered drink coasters and other Boston-themed mugs, mouse pads, and other items is more optimistic.
'"Coasters are what started everything," Brian Beaucher says, his arms outstretched in his five-week-old store meticulously lined with Boston-emblazoned merch. "The idea just came out of the blue." Coasters and their smooth-surfaced brethren cleanly sport photos by area artists, including Mike Ritter and Saul Blumenthal, with strikingly familiar locales like MBTA signage, views of Fenway Park or an antique map of Jamaica Plain."
Coasters may have paved the way but the messenger bags, particularly this one with a Back Bay station sign modified with grafitti, are what caught our eyes.
JK Rowling to speak at Harvard graduation. Guess they'll have to roll out Hogwarts Square again.
The owners of Harvard Square record stores Planet Records and Twisted Village on a resurgence of interest in vinyl records.
"Wayne Rogers, owner of Harvard Square’s Twisted Village, says sales of new releases are as strong on vinyl as on CD at his specialty record shop. At Planet Records, a Harvard Square used music store, owner John Damroth says the vinyl LP business is brisker than it’s been in a decade."
The losing format is CDs that aren't portable or flexible as digital files and don't have the physical presence or retro appeal of LPs. Record stores seem like a classic part of a university town streetscape so it is appealing to think they can be successful even when the big chains are suffering.
Photographs of the "old" Harvard Square from the early 1980s. People miss the Tasty but the Mug n Muffin sounds good (image Andy Lee) (via GirlHacker's Random Log)
A list of "things that haven't changed in Harvard Square." There are a few more than that: Harvard Book Store, Darwin's, Herrell's, Pinocchio's Pizza, Grolier Poetry Bookshop and Shay's Pub.
Bad news for customers of Alpha Omega Jewelers, including "Abigail Burger, a second-year law
student at Harvard, stopped by the Alpha Omega store in Harvard Square
yesterday afternoon to inquire about the engagement ring that her
fiance had purchased and was having resized. But when she arrived, the store was closed, shuttered all day," as the stores close, the owner departs for a trip to India with his entire family and rumors circulate about its financial condition.
