UPDATE! (May 6th): The Klondike Bars will be served on Friday, May 7th, from 2pm to 3pm instead. Reason: shitty Cambridge weather, as always.

Well, not really. But these food deals will certainly lessen the pain!

- ON CAMPUS -

Brought to us by the Common Spaces Committee. Odd name? Maybe. But it’s still free food!

Wednesday: KETTLE CORN from 12:30pm-3:00pm outside Lehman Hall (the ART is also presenting a preview of a new play, Johnny Baseball, at 12:30pm). It’s like killing two birds with one stone! You can pretend to look artsy while devouring your free corn.

Thursday: KLONDIKE BARS from 2:00pm-3:00pm at the Gazebo outside Grays Hall. Bonus: A prime view of the colorful chairs and newly installed Wetu nearby in the Old Yard.

- OFF CAMPUS -

Between May 7 and May 16, head over to any Starbucks store between 3 and 5 p.m. and get a Frappuccino blended beverage at half price!

Happy eating and drinking! Just don’t put the blame on us after you step on that weighing scale.

Not The Body Shop!

five minutes later, headin' back to the truck

After a lovely Sunday Brunch, we arrived back to Straus to five firetrucks, a police car, and dozens of puzzled onlookers wondering what was all the ruckus. Across the street on Mass Ave, firefighters were descending upon CVS and C’est Bon as if they were making a run for Veritaffles. At one point, my roommate and I did wonder if we should evacuate our Straus perch but figured “no alarm, no problem!” Luckily, our Titanic-esque logic was not fatal; just as soon as the hoses were unwrapped and the ladder assembled, everyone started to return to their trucks and drive off. This false alarm hawt mess (no smoke or fire spotted) lasted for only five minutes but was a solid distraction from work and an alarm clock for anyone who might have still been sleepin’ away.  A definite WTF moment, we were still impressed that Cambridge Fire Department hustled up like nobody’s business. Kudos!

Photo from yelp.com

La Flamme, the budget-friendly Harvard Square barbershop has apparently been featured in the January/February issue of Playboy magazine. The barbershop has quite the history — it was established in 1898 and has serviced many a famous Harvard alumni, including Barack Obama. If anyone, er, sees the issue around, let us know what you find! (Besides the obvious.) [link]

Club Passim is located underground at 47 Palmer St.

If you’re taking “Sound, Noise, and Music” as your Expos class you have learned a little bit about Club Passim and the important role it has played in the history of American music.  If not, you may not be aware that one of folk’s most legendary venues is less than 200 yards from the Yard.  The club, opened in 1958, was first known as Club 47 and was located at 47 Mt. Auburn St. (currently Daedalus Restaurant).  It moved to its current location at 47 Palmer St. in 1963 and eventually changed its name to Club Passim.

In the 1960s, the venue was a starting point for many folk stars including Joan Baez who began playing the club as an unknown seventeen year-old singer.  She also convinced relatively unknown Bob Dylan to play shows at the club.  Dylan played songs between others’ sets, but never had his own headlining show.  Others who played at Club Passim, many of whom had their starts at club, include Muddy Waters, Tom Rush, Jackie Washington, Peter Wolf, Taj Mahal, Patty Larkin, Geoff & Maria Muldaur, Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Nanci Griffith, and Judy Collins (though not Bruce Springsteen who was refused the opportunity to play at Club Passim).

Though the club rarely attracts artists of that level today, it still offers an opportunity to see some of folk’s greatest acts in an intimate environment.  When we say intimate, we mean intimate.  The club is a mere 30 feet by 40 feet and seats only 125 concertgoers.  Good luck finagling yourself into your chair.  You’ll be getting to know your neighbors very well, especially if you choose dining seating. Read the rest of this entry »

Hasn’t this month of folk been awesome?  You’ve been going to lots of concerts in and around the square, right?  Attending the discussion groups, speeches and workshops?  You’ve at least been noticing the photos in shops all over the square?

Okay, maybe not.  Noice hadn’t realized either until recently, but it turns out that the entire month of November marks the celebration of “Forever Young: Folk Music History Month in Harvard Square,” an effort co-organized by the New England Folk Music Archives and the Harvard Square Business Association.  More information on the concerts and other events happening in the Square all month long can be found here.  To name a few, the legendary Club Passim has folk concerts every night, Tommy Doyle’s has a few special events planned, and the Brattle Theatre is showing “Festival!,” a documentary on the Newport Folk Festival.

The most exciting part of the History Month is that businesses all over the Square from J.P. Licks to The Tannery have exhibits on folk history set up.  At each business, photographs are set up in the window and a page of history about an influential photographer, club owner, concert promoter, band manager, musician, or artist is displayed.  The full list can be viewed here.  This blogger recommends not walking the distance to the Irving House because he couldn’t find any set-up there, but the rest of the businesses have some great photographs displayed in the window.  Examples follow after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

It is hard not to sensationalize such a horrific event, but a man was stabbed in Harvard Square this weekend... seven times.

A Somerville resident walked into the Cambridge Hospital with seven stab wounds this past Saturday at 12:39 a.m., according to a police report.

Cambridge Police later determined that the 38-year-old man had been attacked outside the CVS at 29 J.F.K. St. on Oct. 17. The three suspects were age 19 to 21, and one of them wore a hat, but the victim reportedly could not give any further descriptions. Police said they would not release any additional information on the suspects since it’s early in the investigation.

source

We’re happy to report that the victim has been released today in stable condition and we hope that they find the suspects soon…the violent bastards. Though you should not be alarmed or take this as a sign of Cambridge’s utter and total dissipation into, say, Detroit, we do strongly urge caution when traveling with (or without) your posse late at night. Wear heels with some traction, ladies, in case you gotta cut and run.

Today, Mr. Don Draper of Mad Men himself–Jon Hamm–was filming in the Square right outside ABP, along with Ben Affleck. But here we have pictures of Jon Hamm since we already posted about Affleck yesterday. Plus, Hamm is much more beautiful. Seriously.

They are continuing filming on the movie The Town, which also stars Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively.

Parading through Cambridge!

Like most students here at Harvard, I find myself rationalizing my procrastination. But this morning has allowed me to resort to a novel excuse. “Sorry Professor, there was a parade outside of my window.”

A part of the Honk! and Harvard Square Oktoberfest celebrations, the eclectic Honk! Parade worked its way along Mass Ave to the cheers of enthusiastic crowds. As advertised on its website, the event featured activist street performers as well as other organizations with the intention:

“…to create a spectacular processional theater piece with striking visual images and plenty of brass band music in order to show by example how our streets and public spaces can function as places for community celebration and fun, as well as for their everyday practical purposes…”

The parade kicked off from Davis Square and hit Harvard Square just as I opened up my Expos reading (read: around 1:00 pm). Considering how Straus is a habitable sound barrier for the rest of the Yard, I decided to grab my camera and hit the streets. Keep reading to learn about today’s events along with a video.

Read the rest of this entry »

Banda Roncati performs outside the Science Center

Sick and tired of midterms and papers already?  Looking for something fun to do this weekend?  Something new and completely different?  Yesterday, Banda Roncati helped students escape their worries with a performance in front of the Science Center.  Banda Roncati, a activist street band from Italy, performed their unique music to students and many others.  It was all part of HONK! Fest, an annual activist street band festival focused at Davis Square in Somerville.  Missed the action yesterday?  Don’t fear.  Most of HONK! Fest is coming to Harvard Square tomorrow, Sunday, to combine with the Harvard Square Oktoberfest and create a whole day of fun.  More info on Oktoberfest and HONK! Fest including schedules of the day follow after the break: Read the rest of this entry »

Bye bye Bombay. :(

BerryLine. Grendel’s Den. Bartley’s. Bombay Club. Domna. Few things better define the Harvard dining experience, and now, not only has Domna left her post at the gateway to the Great Hall (aka Annenberg), but it has just been announced that Bombay Club will soon be leaving our increasingly permeable Harvard bubble as well.

Since 1991, Bombay Club has occupied its central location on JFK right above Staples, serving authentic Indian food to Indian food fans and noobs alike. The Kapoor family came to Massachusetts from New Dehli, India, in 1978. Vinod Kapoor started out as a Fayva Shoe salesman until his brother-in-law loaned him $30,000 to open what became Kebab-N-Kurry in Boston’s Back Bay. Today, Bombay Club has become a bustling hotspot, and has been Zagat-rated, and won a number of “Best of Boston” awards.

This Cambridge landmark has hosted students and celebrities alike, enjoying visits from “Led Zeppelin’s lead singer Robert Plant, former Vice President Al Gore, legendary Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar, a host of Bollywood personalities,” as well as “weekly visits from Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates.”

As a faint silver lining to this dark cloud of fantastic-Indian-food-lessness, the Kapoor family will be relocating Bombay Club to Boston’s South End, opening in November. The new Bombay Club will feature many of the same long time favorites, along with “an array of new items that will be introduced every other week after its opening.” They will also host a full bar every night, open until 1 am – how this wouldn’t have been perfect for Harvard Square is a mystery to me.

Nonetheless, this will have to serve as the excuse I’ve been looking for to make the shuttle-less Sunday morning trek from the Quad to enjoy their Sunday Brunch Buffet of delicious dosas, masalas, naan, and curries. And if the grieving process has not run its course by November, I suppose it’ll be the reluctant push I need to hop on the T and check this place out for myself.

Another week past, another week of HUPD patrolling.  This week’s reports were full of laptop and bicycle reports.  Most of the laptop thefts occur when owners leave them unattended at libraries or cafes so be smart and keep an eye on it.  To protect your bicycle, use a strong U-Lock.  For more interesting stories, read below.

Read the rest of this entry »