Too much skin, nice bit of Charles
Can rubber chickens be obscene? And if so, do they belong on WHRB?
Somebody in Roslindale is deeply offended by the bikini-clad rubber-chicken doggie chew toys in the window of Pet Cabaret on Washington Street. Lisa Di Pietro, one of the pet supply store's owners, reports on her Pet Talk at Pet Cabaret about a phone call from an irate man:
''He asks how he is supposed to walk his children by our store and explain to them why there are naked chickens in the window."
The other owner, Lisa Schlossberg, ''explained to him that all chickens are naked, they usually don't wear clothes." And the chicken ''was wearing a purple polka-dot bikini, and so was not naked.
''He remained unconvinced. He threatened to call the mayor's office and report us. (I am not sure which department of Mayor Menino's office deals with rubber chickens.)"
Erika-Rose McLaughlin of Roxbury writes on her One Smoot Short of a Bridge that she was listening to Harvard's radio station WHRB the other day when the DJ ''clearly announced that she had just played 'Beethoven's Erotica Variations.' "
Steve Garfield of Jamaica Plain is loving WBOS now that Charles Laquidara is back with his hourlong morning show.
He writes on http://www.radio-info.com/ ''I think Charles is the best DJ in Boston right now. Maybe it's because I was always a big fan, but I also think it has to do with BOS allowing him to select the music."
One of Boston's newer blogs is really useful only for people living in neighborhoods like the Back Bay, Beacon Hill -- and maybe Charlestown. Boston Parking Report lists parking spaces in places that the rest of us can only marvel at, such as a recently offered $150,000 spot on Marlborough Street.
Rob Noyes of Somerville writes on his Der Spatchel that he was in the middle of a movie at the recent Sci-Fi Film Festival at the West Newton Cinema when he cracked a tooth.
Rather than flee the theater, he waited until a break, then went down to the concession stand and asked for a cup, which he filled with water and some popcorn salt. He put some soda ice in a napkin, iced down his gum, then went off to a corner to pull out what was left of the tooth -- after which he rinsed with the salted water.
He adds: ''The irony of the situation is that at the time, we were watching '12 Monkeys.' Tooth extraction plays a role in the third act. . . . I can now accurately and with authority tell you which films out of the 13 we saw this year were so bad that pulling teeth was not only a preferable option, but more fun, besides."
On a recent drive, Sandouri Dean Bey of Hyde Park noticed that a crescent has finally been placed atop the under-construction mosque on Columbus Avenue in Roxbury. On his Aman Yala blog, he writes that the construction progress makes him happy:
''I was struck by how lovely the crescent looked with its delicate shape and graceful lines. . . . This is a teachable moment. By celebrating Islam and the colors it brings to Boston's rich spiritual and cultural tapestry, we are demonstrating the very tolerance and commitment to pluralism that our Muslim brothers and sisters often lack. And lest we rush to the conclusion that the crescent represents intolerance and hatred, I ask: Is the cross any better?"
Find links to the complete items cited here at www.universalhub.com/0305.html. Adam Gaffin can be reached at adamg@gaffin.com.
