Cambridge | The New York Observer

Trader Joe's: Who Are These People?

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 08:15:38 -0500

Ok, so we've covered local television news crews, overly-friendly staff, and, sadly, lack of cheap wine. (Although the store is stocked on Guinness for the big holiday). But who are these crazed shoppers, anyway? "[With] Whole Foods, Garden of Eden, Food Emporium, and now Trader Joe's, I'm excited," said Peter, a self-described "foodie," who lives at nearby Irving Place. And what got him so excited? Sliced Papaya in White Grape...

People Who Get Married In Dorchester County Stay Married

Sun, 12 Mar 2006 05:06:57 -0500

AIMEE: Brian and I arrive in Maryland for a whirlwind day of wedding planning: Our all-important first stop? Popping by the Dorchester County Courthouse in the tiny town of Cambridge to get ourselves a marriage license.
Aimee and Brian getting their marriage license. With my parents in tow, Brian and I wander in and a cheery clerk named Patty greets us: "People who get married in Dorchester County stay married!" she proclaims. "So where...

Spamalot: Make Way for Mr. Beale! New Arthur Is King of Broadway

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 19:00:00 -0500

I have very good news. Simon Russell Beale has unexpectedly taken over the role of King Arthur in that mad pleasure of a show, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and his smashing performance is a wonder to behold. It may even be the most amazing debut in a Broadway musical I’ve ever seen. Mr. Beale is the last person I would have expected to triumph as the horseless King of the Britons—or “Breetuns,” as they...

Bluestein Bistro

Fri, 01 Apr 2005 06:52:00 -0500

In case Freddy advisor Jen Bluestein hasn't told you yet -- she hasn't? -- we bring you the news that her brother's excellent Cambridge restaurant, the Craigie Street Bistrot, won him a "best new chef" award from Food & Wine Magazine. The restaurant was, not coincidentally, a haunt of Democratic operatives during last summer's convention. And in other culinary news, it pains our Anglophile hearts to fully agree with Gothamist that the food at Brooklyn's Chip...

Cambridge Shrugged

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 20:00:00 -0400

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-"Cambridge here is not unusual. It mirrors New York and Los Angeles, or San Francisco, certainly-a lot of people hate Bush, but no one really likes Kerry. No one really feels they have a sense of who he is." That was how Martin Peretz, Cambridge resident, editor in chief of The New Republic , part-time lecturer in social studies at Harvard, and keen observer of A-list Cambridge dinner-party culture and its feelings toward...

Cambridge Shrugged

Sun, 01 Aug 2004 20:00:00 -0400

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-"Cambridge here is not unusual. It mirrors New York and Los Angeles, or San Francisco, certainly-a lot of people hate Bush, but no one really likes Kerry. No one really feels they have a sense of who he is." That was how Martin Peretz, Cambridge resident, editor in chief of The New Republic, part-time lecturer in social studies at Harvard, and keen observer of A-list Cambridge dinner-party culture and its feelings toward Mr....

Eight Day Week

Sun, 02 Feb 2003 19:00:00 -0500

Wednesday 29th

Comedians talk about their first time and their worst time (which was one and the same for us) … and take turns signing How to Do It Standing Up , a collection of stories by comics published by the Friars Club. On hand for a panel discussion will be Curb Your Enthusiasm 's Susie Essman , who plays the potty-mouthed wife of newly-Golden-Globed Larry Kramer's pal Jeff, and...

I Was a Shropshire Lad, But Stoppard Bored Me

Sun, 22 Apr 2001 20:00:00 -0400

The other day, I fell to talking about A.E. Housman with a friend who'd also been to see The Invention of Love , Tom Stoppard's play about A.E. Housman. I wasn't as crazy about it as my friend, but then the only show for which I had been able to get tickets was the first night of previews, and the performance I saw went on forever, at least 20 minutes longer than the version...

Poetic Justice for My New Lawyer

Sun, 25 Jun 2000 20:00:00 -0400

Uneasily I write this column: In the fear-heavy shtetls , where superstition was as common as the common cold, folks refrained from pronouncing aloud the beauty, skill and fineness of their children. It was thought that such boasting would bring on the Evil Eye and that calamity would follow as night to day. These superstitions cast their shadows generations into the modern world, where I am right now daring fate with my IBM ThinkPad.

I...

Discovering a Lesser Gatsby, Perfection's Rough Draft

Sun, 18 Jun 2000 20:00:00 -0400

Trimalchio: An Early Version of 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by James L.W. West III. Cambridge University Press, 192 pages, $39.95.

There are many ways to love The Great Gatsby , and sometimes I feel I've run through them all: avid worship of the rich, romantic prose; cool appreciation for the lean structure; awe at the enduring power of the Gatsby myth, now synonymous with the promise and corruption of the American...