Twelve

A unique collaboration of 12 Boston area directors and starring a local ensemble cast of relative unknowns or actors with limited professional experience, the Boston International Film Festival debuted the world premiere of "Twelve" last night at the Somerville Theater.

This eclectic but unified collection of 12 short stories—each about a different month of the year—forms both a love letter both to Boston and an impressive showcase for the area’s burgeoning indie filmmaking scene, said the indie festival's website when I booked my weekend festival tickets.

Last Friday night, I watched three festival films but the highlight was "Phoebe in Wonderland," an amazing drama starring 9-year-old Elle Fanning as a girl with behavioral issues who reluctantly joins her school production of "Alice in Wonderland" and creates a fantasy world to cope with her troubled life. If/when this is distributed nationwide, I'll be back to see it.

The other two films I saw were "Natural Causes," a well-performed though poorly constructed romantic drama that follows a college couple through flirtation, into a relationship, and break-up; and "Nerdcore Rising," a pioneering and humorous documentary in the form of a concert roadtrip with MC Frontalot, the so-called father of nerdcore hip hop, known to nerds and geeks around the country (if not beyond) for inventing raps about nerdy subjects like "Star Wars," PalmPilots, and comic strips.

But back to "Twelve."

Co-producers Scott Masterson and Steve Oare hand-picked 12 directors to shoot a 10-minute short during a different month of 2007. Each director had creative license to explain a story any way he/she wanted.

The films were directed by Scott Masterson, Seanbaker Carter, Andy McCarthy, Garth Donovan, Luke Poling, Noah Lydiard, Megan Summers, Brynmore Williams, Joan Meister, Marc Colucci, Jared Goodman, and Vladmir Minuty.

Individually, the 12 short films were shot in and around Boston and focus on love, friendship, despair, addiction, and violence using elements of comedy, romance, song, and documentary. I liked each film in a different way, but my favorites include:

• "March" - about a serial murderer and the police detective who tracks him down in a very funny way.
  
• "June" - following the inventive exploits of a teenage boy who builds a flying contraption to escape his alcoholic stepmother.
  
• "August" - an educational documentary about bees and the hive sounds they make.
  
• "November" - a jarring look at inner-city youth who live a life of drugs, guns, and violence.

Together, the 12 films are linked by a tree that changes appearance as the months of the year unfold in each successive short film.

My friend Katie and I thankfully bought our tickets in advance, as the premiere sold out for all 900 seats of theater 1. (Due to demand, the festival is showing an encore presentation tonight.) We enjoyed the film from the sixth row of the balcony.

Searching the web, I see that Justin of Lonely Reviewer also attended last night's show, calling it alarmingly cohesive and effective, and that the 12 directors demonstrated a love of filmmaking. These 12 talents behind the film showed that given something as seemingly simple as telling a story in or about a month can be something more than just a simple story about a month.

For comparison, see Erin Trahan's profile earlier this month of "January" director and co-producer Scott Masterson at NewEnglandFilm.com, and last December's story in The Phoenix when Caitlin Curran interviewed "July" director Megan Summers.

Eastern Standard

I alwsys smile when plans change and destinations deviate off-course. If nothing else, my life is rarely constant. This is a good thing, as I detest the mundane and thrive on spontaneity and the unknown.

For about two weeks, I'd been planning to spend Saturday night with some friends I traveled with to Israel last summer in celebration of Caryn's recent birthday. The plan was to meet at the Foundation Lounge in Kenmore Square and groove to a DJ. Caryn's evite suggested getting there by 9, as the DJ was set to start at 10.

Driving conditions on I-95 were slick with snow and ice last night as I trekked into Boston, to meet Sasha, who I hadn't seen in a few months, for dinner at Eastern Standard, a French-American restaurant neither of us had eaten at before. I arrived around 8, and between the delicious food and our non-stop conversation, we didn't leave until almost 11. (I just posted a review of the restaurant on yelp.)

By then, we observed a snaking line of some 40 people standing outside to get into the Foundation Lounge. We waited for about 20 minutes, realized the line wasn't really moving, so we took off, having no idea where to go but with Sasha as shotgun, I drove off. In due time, we both realized we were tired so I dropped her home and I wound my way back to my apartment.

(On a sidenote, the streets of Newburyport are dead quiet at 2 a.m. yet there are so many lights on, one would think it's 8 p.m. I wonder how many kilowatt hours of electricity could be saved by turning off selected lights at night.)

Mystic travel

About two weeks ago, I convened a meeting in Newburyport City Hall with state officials from the UMass Center for Health Care Finance and Policy to talk about federal reimbursement options under Medicare and Medicaid. In response, and based on cost analyses I performed on Medicare insurance, I drove down to Charlestown today to meet with them at the Schrafft Center.

Before driving over this bridge and getting stuck in 10-minute-per-mile traffic on Route 1 in Saugus, I shot this picture of the Tobin Bridge, as seen from the north outside the Schrafft. It was cloudy, foggy, and about an hour before dusk.

Beach Boys

My first live music concert at a real performing venue with a real stage was on June 17, 1988 headlined by the Beach Boys. Here is the 28-song setlist.

John Stamos, fresh from his second season on the TV sitcom, "Full House," cameoed as the band's drummer.

Roy Orbison opened for the Beach Boys, six months before his death at 52 from a heart attack. And John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band (which performed the music of the fictional band in "Eddie and the Cruisers") opened for Roy.

Dad had received tickets from a client, and I remember the joy of a 13-year-old sitting in the sixth row at Great Woods watching Mike Love's sweat. Stamos received wild applause, as did the hula-hoop dancers donning bikinis. It was summer, after all.

Fast forward 19 years, and I've attended dozens of concerts in the years since: Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Duran Duran, Indigo Girls, Steve Miller Band, Dave Matthews Band, Bob Dylan, Billy Idol, Natalie Merchant, Rilo Kiley, Kevin So...

Tonight, in about five hours, the Beach Boys take the stage at the Hatch Shell, for a free concert sponsored by local oldies radio station, 103.3 FM. I'll be at the concert, reliving the memories from 1988, back when life was different and simpler. I'm sure the Esplanade will be a mob scene, but the music will still roar and it will be Fun, Fun, Fun.

Friending Strangers

"Spare change?" a homeless man asked us, as we stood on the sidewalk late Saturday night in front of Vox Populi, a Boston bar that had just closed at 1 a.m.

The homeless man said he could dance.

Patrick, a Maryland employee of Saks 5th Ave., in Boston for the weekend for work, smiled and told the homeless man that he'd give a dollar to see the dance.

The homeless man proceeded to get down on a knee, wave his hands in the air, and do a mini breakdance.

Impressed, Patrick gave the dollar he promised.

Patrick, joined by Joe, an Iowan, who knew Patrick from Saks' IT department, had just approached me and a scattering of new and old friends as we mulled which bar to go to, knowing we had a full hour until the puritanical blue laws would force all bars to close by 2 a.m. that hadn't already closed at 1.

We went to Solas.

I was with an interesting mix: R, a 35-year-old male software consultant who commuted between Boston and Pennsylvania every week, who I'd first met a few months ago but saw again Friday night at a social mixer at the Museum of Fine Arts; S, a 31-year-old female who worked at Harvard, who R and I met at the MFA on Friday, and who I quickly discovered was a collegiate friend of one of my hometown friends; M, who was R's friend from New Hampshire and arrived in Boston earlier that day for a golfing fundraiser; and Patrick and Joe, two random strangers we'd just met on the sidewalk three blocks away.

We drank, sharing stories and laughter until Solas, like Vox an hour earlier, closed.

M had to drive back to New Hampshire, so the rest of us -- me, R, S, Patrick, and Joe -- headed to R's condo in Boston's West End. We got there by 2:30, and shared more drinks and stories and personal experiences. R spoke of a time he was shot at in Arkansas, Joe relayed a story involving some altercation and a knife, I told a joke.

Sitting on R's porch some 25 floors high, we watched the sun rise... and then trekked off to the South Street Diner for an early breakfast of pancakes, steak, and eggs.

I fell asleep at 8:30 in the morning, slept some six hours, and kayaked on the Charles River yesterday afternoon.

While I'll see R and S again, it's fair to assume we won't see Patrick and Joe... but we'll definitely remember that random allnighter and the communal ambience we created when strangers became friends.

Depart here for the Boston Public Library

Boston Public Library officials are asking the MBTA to rename the Copley station to a BPL station, Universal Hub recently reported, not unlike existing stations named for the Museum of Fine Arts, the New England Aquarium, and Symphony Hall.

If anyone's ridden the Red Line, as the train pulls into the Charles/MGH stop, the conductor typically announces, "Now entering Charles/MGH. Mass. General Hospital. Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary."

The Mass. Eye and Ear Infirmary, like MGH, is a division of Harvard University, but is not part of the MBTA station name. Still, for years, I recall someone announcing it.

Can't the BPL be announced in the same manner when Green Line trains pull into Copley? Why is no one using this argument?

deSoL will shine in Boston

WBOS is sponsoring a free concert on Thursday, August 5 featuring deSoL, a Latin rock band from Asbury Park, New Jersey.

I've followed the band since their formation in 2001, thanks to their first photographer, Jamie, who shot pictures of the band's rehearsals for media advisories and a pre-domain website. I knew Jamie from an Internet chat forum, and while we never met in person, I learned to appreciate her work and began to enjoy the sounds of deSoL and other musicians she photographed.

Three years later, after numerous concerts around the country including opening for headliners such as Blues Traveler and Cypress Hill, deSoL marked their Boston-area debut with an electrifying performance at the Ryles Jazz Club on August 21 2004.

I remember emailing a Boston Globe editor with a pitch to write a preview of that concert, knowing I'd have access to the band through Jamie. The editor's response: "No thanks."

I attended that concert with a mix of friends, and everyone walked away with a smile on their face and a foot that kept tapping. I remember chatting with lead vocalist and acoustic guitarist Albie Monterossa, telling him of my fascination with the band since 2001, and he also smiled. Nice guy.

I've followed deSoL over the past three years, and while I've known they've played around the city, I never saw them again.

On Thursday evening, I'll stroll down memory lane and see deSoL again, opened by R&B sensation Ryan Shaw.

Sland is your land, sland is my land...

I recognize that times are tight and state funds are low, but I doubt it costs more than a dollar or two, including labor, for someone to paint an I where it peeled off, can it?

More history on the Boston Common restroom

As a traveler, I enjoy visiting places off the beaten track. Just because I am a tourist in a new city does not mean I have to (or want to) do what every other tourist does. Sure, I'll see the main attractions to say "been there, done that" but I'll also eat at local dives or drive down side roads.

If I stumble across something unique or historic, especially if there is no marker or sign indicating the history or purpose, my research begins. Over the course of my travels, I've entered public libraries and administrative offices to speak to the locals and read their books to determine why a street is named such or who the first settler was.

In this sense, I combine mystery with research.

Closer to home, I wrote last week about walking through Boston Common and discovering a structure I'd never seen before. Located about halfway between the Parkman Bandstand and a baseball field, I later learned from a phone call to the Friends of the Public Garden, Inc., that the structure is known as the one-time men's comfort station.

I wasn't satisfied and wanted more information on the history of the building. I emailed the reference desk at the Boston Public Library... and received a response today.


To summarize, the comfort station (also known as a convenience station) was designed and built during Mayor James Curley's term. Planning began as early as 1911 and construction began in 1915. Upon completion, the building's footprint was 540 square feet and 15 feet high.

During Mayor Ray Flynn's term, a 1990 Boston Common Management Plan slated the building for removal unless it could be "adaptively reused and contribute to the character of the Common.”

By 1992, the toilets were relocated to the now-Visitors Center (which was previously the women's comfort station).

My research is not complete, as I'm curious to learn more about the building, its history and its future.

Pleasure Dogs

Somehow I missed this two weeks ago.

The Boston Globe ran this editorial investigating how to raise funds for 14 Boston Harbor beaches under the control of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. I'm unsure where they get that figure, since I only counted about 9 such beaches on the DCR list, but I digress.

The Globe focuses the article on Pleasure Bay, which is the circular inlet surrounded by the approximate one-mile boardwalk from Day Boulevard to Castle Island (home of Fort Independence and Sullivan's) and back. Southie residents call the exercise trail by its nickname, the Sugar Bowl. The Globe poses the idea of charging $1-2 during the summer for anyone parking at the 300 street spaces.

It's an interesting idea, but unlike Nantasket Beach, there is no central area for people to park. Perhaps if the MBTA could run its City Point bus to Fort Independence, the idea would have greater merit as public transit users would have far less distance to walk.

I bring this up as I want to say something about hot dogs. I don't remember the last time I ate a hot dog, let alone non-wheat bread (due to my recent health kick), so I figured I'd be different today. Usually, when I stop by Castle Island and stand in line at Sullivan's, I order a small bucket of fried clams and sit on one of the hill benches, watching the planes land, the boats churn, and the seagulls flap around.

Today, though, I ordered a pair of hot dogs with relish. They hit the spot... but I think they also tired my body out, for I walked back to my car which was parked next to Pleasure Bay. I lowered my windows to 1/4 down, and fell asleep for a half hour. A much needed cat nap.

In other news, I learned yesterday that my Symantec software was on backorder. The company shipped it today. What a difference a day makes.

Update on that unknown building

I called the office of the Friends of the Public Garden, Inc., and learned the identity of the previously-unknown building (see bottom of previous post) in Boston Common.

Seems it was a one-time men's comfort station. I'm unsure of the date, so I've contacted the Boston Public Library's reference desk. I'm guessing mid-1800s, given the numerous Boston Water Works gates and manhole covers in the area.

Granted, there used to be a Beacon Hill reservoir building up by Derne Street, so maybe the BWW gates are for that, but a public bathroom makes sense, too.

Uncommon in Boston Common

I walked around with my camera this afternoon in Boston Common and I noticed things I never saw before. Despite hundreds of walks in years' past along the same foot paths, I never had the time to really l-o-o-k.

The Parkside at 170 Tremont Street, for instance, was recently remodeled but I never looked up at its shiny windows.



With my naked eye, I noticed what looked like a light post or a security camera on the roof. Indeed, it's a security camera.



Maybe there's a roof patio I don't know about, but why else would the camera be there?

As I stood on a patch of grass not far from the Boylston subway station, I switched my eyes from the sky to the ground and observed, at first what I thought were MBTA markers, a series of manhole covers for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission and the much-older Boston Water Works. (I posted several of these archaic covers here.)

Keeping my eyes to the grass, though, I didn't really notice where I was walking until I found myself about halfway between the Parkman Bandstand and one of the baseball fields. Looking up, I saw a crypt-like structure.

At first, I thought it was a war memorial but there were no markings. It was near several of the Boston Water Works' markings; could it be an old BWW building? Or a mauseleum for the old burial grounds? An MDC guard shack? The trapdoor next to the structure also blew me, but the fence was rusted and also padlocked.

What is it?

Static Websites Are OK, But for Boston's Grub Street, the Content is Old

It is a misnomer for a professional website that advertises creative writing classes and other media content to fail to regularly update the data.

In Boston, there are three primary purveyors of professional writing classes: Boston Center for Adult Education, Mediabistro.com, and Grub Street. However, while the content on BCAE's and Mediabistro's websites are dynamic to server databases, the content of Grub Street is clearly static.

Mark Cahill at Vario Creative: Static websites remind me of the dark old days when someone would hand us their product catalog and we’d simply put it on line, in the hopes someone would find it and buy something.

Take a look at Grub Street's self-titled opportunities for writers. The links work, but the accompanying captions describe contest deadlines from 2004 and 2005. Moreover, the copyright line at the bottom of the page is dated 2003.

Mediabistro and BCAE use dynamic content, linked to server databases. Grub needs to get with the times.

False Advertising?

Walking near Government Center recently, I spied this advertisement on a Boston sightseeing trolley. What Internet cafe in Downtown Crossing?

I googled the address and the phone number. One meaningful link, for a company known as Internet Boutique. But it has no website, at least not from a simple google search.

Which makes me wonder: Why is a so-called Internet cafe, touting itself as Boston's largest, paying for a banner advertisement on a bus if it's not easily found online?

(Not) Made in Massachusetts

One would presume that upon arrival at a parking lot, when the attendant rips a claim check, gives you half to place on your dashboard and keeps the other half for record-keeping, that the claim check would say something about the location.

This is not necessarily the case.

Earlier this week, I parked at a $6 lot located in the median strip between Maffa Way and Mystic Avenue across from the then-full Sullivan Station orange line station on the Somerville/Charlestown line.

I was handed the pink claim check, but upon closer inspection, the location stated, "Kingston & Bedford St. Garage," as operated by Owl Parking of Boston.

Whether Owl Parking operated this lot or whether the lot's operators bought the pink slips from Owl, I don't know. But more amusing is that in small print at the bottom of the claim check are the words, "Toledo Ticket Co., Toledo, OH," which begs the question why a parking lot adjacent to a MBTA station is not made in Massachusetts.

Blending Into the Background

Built in 1729, the Old South Meeting House continues to serve Bostonians as a gathering place. It blends into the background, though, adjacent to a subway station and surrounded by Boston's cosmopolitan Downtown Crossing district.

Yesterday, while sitting on a bench in front of the behemoth Borders bookstore on the corner of Washington and School Streets, I observed two young women about to meet friends. One of the women suddenly looked up and across the street, exclaiming, "I didn't know the Orange Line stopped there!" Indeed. If you are not looking for something, you'll never find it.

A bench in a park or on an urban plaza is the perfect setting for people watching. It allows one to blend into the background and be a passive observer of social interaction.

As the bell tolled 5:00 and workers stormed out of their offices and headed to shop, eat, and commute home, I watched three college students, donning red Save the Children collared t-shirts, trying to hawk passers-by to sign-up and donate money for the international cause. The three kids, two boys and a girl, casually strolled next to the walking workers and tried to shake their hands and engage the workers in chit-chat. Nine times out of ten, the street fundraising warriors were ignored or politely told "No thanks," or "I'm busy," or "Not now."

Oddly, I was not approached sitting on the bench despite being in eyesight of all three hawkers. Two middle-aged men sitting next to me observed the same phenomenon. Bench warmers are not marked targets. The kids were looking for people to give money, but I blended into the background.

Boston gas stations are behind the times

There are two primary websites for determining where to purchase cheap gas: Gas Price Watch and Gas Buddy. Both sites display an interactive map pinpointing gas stations, updated frequently with individual gas prices.

The problem is the two sites do not necessarily show the same prices for the same station.

For instance, the Hess station at the corner of Prospect and Hampshire Streets in Cambridge is $2.93 on both sites. However, the Shell station a short drive away at 1001 Cambridge Street is listed on GPW as $3.06 and on Gas Buddy as $3.05.

OK, so you will tell me a penny is nothing to squabble over. Fair enough, but look at the Mobil station at 1181 Blue Hill Avenue (at Morton Street) in Mattapan. GPW lists $3.03 and Gas Buddy lists $2.99. Which is it? Clearly, one is not up to date.

Aggregate databases will continue to display data in accordance with inputted content by registered users. But who sets the standards for content delivery? Can anyone update a gas price, or must one be a gas station employee? I didn't check.

Boston University's BSL facility just like in the movies

Adapted from Michael Crichton's novel of the same name, The Andromeda Strain was written by the author when he attended Harvard Medical School and is a semi-accurate description of the necessary precautions when dealing with biohazards.

The film is set in the U.S. Southwest in 1971 when all but two inhabitants of a small New Mexico town are killed when a satellite crashes to earth. The satellite, scientists learn, is carrying a deadly extraterrestrial pathogen. The scientists whisk the satellite and the survivors to an underground facility to determine the nature of the virus.

According to epidemiologist and chief medical officer for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Dr. Alfred DeMaria, who I heard speak last fall before the cinematic presentation at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, the film's underground facility is no different than the BioSafety Level 4 facility that Boston University is currently constructing. The only difference? The BU facility lacks a nuclear security system.