Blue Man Group goes on ... and on ...

Blue Man Group began in New York City in 1991; four years later, Boston became the first satellite venue. Today, Blue Man Group Boston continues its astounding run, 21 years and 9,848 performances later, and counting. As the years pass, Boston’s cast and crew have played an increasingly key role in building the Blue Man Group empire. Read the rest of my story for the Boston Globe here.

With Boda Borg, Reality Gaming Comes to Boston

Is Boston ready for the "Maze of Craziness"? I explore the reality-gaming center Boda Borg Boston for The Boston Globe.

Boda Borg Boston is a place where completing “quests” isn’t the only challenge.

One is explaining what goes on there. Recently, a reporter was given a sneak peek of the new facility, which opens its doors Saturday in the building that once housed Sparks department store, a downtown Malden landmark. To bring this “reality gaming” center to the Boston area, Ellis spent close to $4 million renovating the 30,000-square-foot space. Inside, there’s a sleek reception area, a taco restaurant that seats 150, and space upstairs for corporate retreats and birthday parties. But downstairs is the heart of Boda Borg, what Ellis calls “the maze of craziness”: a warren of black-painted hallways leading to 16 real-time,live-action puzzles, or what the company calls “quests.” They await teams of three to five players, who must figure each one out.

Boda Borg is no Dungeons & Dragons fantasy game, nor is it a haunted house with ghouls. Still, guests should bring a sense of adventure and be prepared for befuddlement. Being stumped by any quest on the first attempt — or 21st — is expected.

Read the rest of the story here.

Follow my insane itinerary?

Hey Boston travel fans: I dare you to do all this in Boston in a mere 36 Hours. Here's my insane itinerary for the New York Times Travel section "36 Hours in ..." series.

D&D Celebration at Pax East

I am very excited to present the panel "Why D&D Is Still Awesome: A 40th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons Tribute" at Pax East in Boston with David Ewalt and Jon Peterson on Sat April 12.

Here's the official description:

Why D&D Is Still Awesome: A 40th Anniversary Dungeons & Dragons Tribute

In 1974, D&D first appeared on the market. Now, 40 years later, we can see how this revolutionary game caused shock waves in the worlds of pop culture, gaming and play, and influenced how we spend our leisure time and socialize in profound ways. This panel features three of country’s leading experts on D&D, its history and cultural impact: David Ewalt, author of “Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It”; Ethan Gilsdorf, author of “Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms”; and Jon Peterson, author of “Playing at the World: A History of Simulating Wars, People and Fantastic Adventures, from Chess to Role-Playing Games.” We’ll talk about D&D’s incredible social impact, tell a little history of the game, show slides (OK, nostalgia bait) of its major editions and other historical goodies, discuss why D&D still matters, and maybe give away some free stuff. Followed by a rousing Q&A where you the audience can geek out about how D&D changed your life—- hopefully for good, and not, you know, for Satan. Followed by a book signing with the three authors.

Hope to see you there.

The pitfalls of using science to prop up literature

"Hi, I’m lit-fitness celebrity JK Rowling. If you’re busy like me, then stay tuned because I’m excited to share with you the most innovative piece of emotional and interpersonal exercise equipment ever. I’m talking about the fastest, easiest way to make lightning-fast decisions and get your empathy into its best shape ever. ... Introducing, the great American novel."

We’ve always agreed that books are fun, diversionary, and entertaining. Now they are apparently as good for you as a bowl of bran flakes and a jog around the park.

There's a spate of new studies and research supporting what we’ve suspected all along: Reading is good for you. (Thanks, Mom.)

On one level, this is good news. I mean, who should be grumpy about research helping to boost the cultural relevance of an art form? 

But on another level, I’m skeptical, and a little depressed, by this new kind of literary analysis. (I also think post-structuralist, Marxist, feminist, post-colonialist, and deconstructionist literary theories take the joy out of literature, but that’s another rant.) Is relying on laboratory research to tell us books make us better human beings a positive development?

In my lastest post for the WBUR blog "Cognoscneti," I argue that all these new studies showing that reading good literature is scientifically beneficial to us is, well, kind of depressing, taking all the mystery and magic out of reading. Check out the full post here.

WBCN Remembered in Book and Boston Globe story

Remember the "Rock of Boston"? The Big Mattress? The Rock and Roll Rumble? The on-air hijinks, comedy, in-your-face personalities, the music? A new book called Radio Free Boston: The Rise and Fall of WBCN is out written by 'BCN disc jockey and music director Carter Alan, recalls the era when WBCN ruled the airwaves.

In my story for the Boston Globe today, I was able to sit down with Alan and talk to him about the groundbreaking station, and how it will be remembered. I also spoke with some of the major players at the station -- incuding Charles Laquidara, Oedipus, Ken Shelton, Tank, Mark Parenteau, Lisa Traxler, Adam 12, Tank Juanita, Sam Kopper, Matt Siegel, and others. 

The story ended up being a little shorter than I had hoped. I tracked down as many players from WBCN's past as I could, and asked them to share what 'BNC will be most remembered for in the annals of rock and radio history, but a lot of the great material ended up on the cutting room floor.

Read my original story here, then check out the cut sidebar below.

And incidentally, check out Carter Alan, who's got a few book reading and signing events coming up, including: Wed., Nov. 13 at 7pm at The Book Shop, 694 Broadway, Somerville, MA, www.bookshopsomerville.com; Fri., Nov. 15 at 7pm at The Book Shack, 101 Independence Mall Way, Kingston, MA, www.thebookshack.net; Fri. Nov. 22 at 6pm at the Barnes & Noble, Braintree, MA; and Sat. Dec 7, at 7:30pm, Barnes & Noble, Salem, NH.

Charles Laquidara in the early days (photo: courtesy of Carter Alan)

Voices Carry: WBCN Veteran DJs Through the Ages Recall 'BCN's Legacy

How will WBCN be remembered? The Big Mattress? Its Rock and Roll Rumble? The on-air hijinks, comedy, in-your-face personalities, or the music? We tracked down as many players from WBCN's past as we could, and asked them to share what 'BNC will be most remembered for in the annals of rock and radio history.

"I remember there was a time when you could hear 'BCN without a radio. Literally. You could start in downtown Boston and walk, if you wanted to walk the five miles to Cambridge, to Harvard Square ... Between the cars that were playing it, with their open windows, in the summertime ... and all the dormitories and all the apartments, the houses, it was like you could hear 'BCN from one end of the city to the other." --- Charles Laquidara, DJ, 1968–96

"All media going back to cave drawings ... reflect what is going on in their time and stimulate it. 'BCN happened at a time when socially, politically and musically it was unbelievably charged." --- Sam Kopper, first program director and morning DJ - 1968–71, live music broadcast producer and weekend DJ 1975 - 91, now PD/DJ of WBCN Free Form Rock, wbcn.com  and 100.7HD3

"WBCN was like being in the Sons of Anarchy without the motorcycles." --- Ken Shelton, DJ, 1980–93

"It was an amazing thing to go in there every day and flip on a switch and talk to a couple million people in six states...To make people laugh and make them dance and make them enjoy their life. I miss that style of radio. There's nothing like that now." --- Mark Parenteau, DJ, 1978–97

"It was a different time. Radio was different. It's all commercial now ... Then, they were just a bunch of crazy hippies. .... I can trace my success to BCN. I dont know how I would have developed differently had I not had the 'BCN experience." --- Matt Siegel, DJ 1977–79, now at KISS 108

"The music meant something to the DJ and to the moment in which it was begin played... What's missing [now is] the human touch. The feeling that someone else was there with you." --- Paul "Tank" Sferruzza, Listener Line operator, van driver, producer, sports reporter, 1978–95

"I remember the owners telling me, distinctly, they said, 'You’re gonna make mistakes, and you’re gonna learn from your mistakes. But we like you because you’re intelligent and you’re not afraid to take chances.' Who says that?" --- Oedipus, DJ and Program Director, 1977–2004, now at RadioDBC.com and oedipus1.com

WBCN staff hanging with Elvis Costello on the release of his SPIKE album. 1989 (Courtesy of Warner Brothers Records)"There was a strong sense of history being made. 'BCN would play something and damn the torpedoes. If we believed in something we could go to the wall on it." --- Lisa Traxler, DJ, 1984–90

"The sense of family came across the airwaves. It was a radio station that you listened to find out what was going on ... The DJs were funny and smart and they lived the life." --- Janet "Juanita" King, DJ 1996–2001, 2002–09, now at WZLX

"It was part of the fabric of Boston ... 'BCN for years set the tone for radio stations of its ilk all across the country. But 'BCN as cultural phenomenon, through it s music and its personalities and its event and its presence, really was Boston. It united Boston." --- Adam "Adam 12" Chapman, DJ, 2003–09, now at RadioBDC.com

Writing Our Way Through The Terror

A woman carries a girl from their home as a SWAT team searching for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings enters the building in Watertown, Mass., Friday, April 19, 2013. (Charles Krupa/AP)An author friend writes a tribute to his country on his Facebook page. A stay-at-home mom, guarding her bevy of children, becomes a citizen reporter on the scene in Watertown, tweeting about the view from her backyard of snipers staking out a position on the roof of her garden shed. An otherwise non-aspiring writer is inspired to try his hand at capturing his version of this past week’s dreamy miasma of exhausting, hand-wringing events.

As we Boston-area residents have been recovering from the Boston Marathon bombings, the lockdown, and from our media hangovers, out gushed the words, like a fresh wound. Not spoken words, which can evaporate as soon as they are voiced. But stories, written down.

Sure, we’ve all experienced the flurry of hastily dashed-off texts, sent to loved ones to check in, to say, “We are safe.” But even before the dust settled on Boylston Street, I’d noticed a burst of blog posts, Facebook posts, and other personal accounts popping up on the Internet. Those longer stories that cannot be contained in a mere tweet.

All these written words prove our need to find our place within the events. To be part of the story, to insert our own heart and mind into this larger narrative. Who doesn’t want to comment, to communicate, to reflect, to engage in some way? Or, as Neil Diamond himself belted out at Fenway Park, to use words as, “Hands, touching hands / Reaching out, touching me, touching you”?

This urge to participate and to tell one’s individual story humanizes pain and makes big, sweeping events human-scaled. The tradition is as old as Homer and the Icelandic Sagas. We cope with trauma by injecting ourselves into the wider story. The gesture says, “I, too, was there.” The gesture also says, “This is how I process grief.” Story helps transform chaos, crisis, and helplessness into something we can retell, and therefore transcend.

Read the rest of my commentary "Writing Our Way Through The Terror" for NPR affiliate WBUR

Stunning Stormtrooper Cake Hits the Spot

Unable to shoot straight. Weak in the knees. Apt to fall for Jedi mind tricks, and fall over at the weakest of laser blasts.

In the Lucas universe, the typical stormtrooper is portrayed as a hapless soldier in service of the Empire.

Stormtroopers don’t tend to be very yummy, either … we assume.

But this footsoldier (pictured at left) was solidly-built, very tasty, and served not only Darth Vader. He also served several hundred hungry science fiction fans.

A crew from Boston-based Amanda Oakleaf Cakes worked like crazed jawas for two weeks to complete this 6-foot, 4-inch high, edible Imperial stormtrooper.

Constructed of white cake, Rice Krispies Treats and fondant (an icing made from sugar used to decorate and sculpt pastries), it weighed 300 pounds — and was devoured this weekend at the Arisia science fiction and fantasy convention by some 600 conventioneers in just two hours.

“Everyone assumes that because it’s such a crazy cake we must be ‘cheating’ in some way, but this isn’t the case,” said head baker Amanda Oakleaf. ”All sculpted and tiered cakes you see, be they ours or others, have some type of inner structure as cake simply collapses if staked over eight inches high.”

Creating the stormtrooper wasn’t easy as cake. Much like in sculpting with clay, making this massive dessert required an interior armature to support the cake. Oakleaf and her team made one from iron pipe, wrapped in plastic for food safety purposes. Every four inches (vertically), they inserted a cardboard divider to separate layers of cake, and every eight inches they attached a masonite board, secured to the iron pipe with pipe clamps.

“This does a number of things, including making the cake incredibly sturdy, but also making it easy to slice and serve,” said Oakleaf. The arms were made of solid sugar “because they were too narrow to use cake.” The lower legs below the knees and the bottom of the head were made of Rice Krispies Treats. She said the overall percentage of Krispie was 15 percent or less; the majority of the cake was, well, cake.

“The main reason that we used Krispie at all wasn’t because we couldn’t have used cake, but rather we just wanted to get a head start and Krispies stay fresher a lot longer than the cake does. Cake is a very time sensitive medium, and that is always our biggest challenge. Once it comes out of the oven the clock is running on freshness.”

Amanda Oakleaf started her cake business with her husband Tyler Oakleaf out of their bedroom apartment in 2008. Now they’ve expanded into a storefront in Winthrop, MA (just outside Boston) and currently employ ten cake artists.

Their previous best was a 5-foot tall Dora the Explorer cake for a Food Network Challenge a few years back. “Her head was massive (3 feet wide),” Oakleaf remembered. “It ended up crashing to the ground when we moved it to the judging table when the inner support slipped out of its socket.”

For now there are no plans for other geek-themed cakes. But, there’s always the possibility of a special request.

“We are a completely custom bakery so we take the orders as they come in,” Oakleaf said. “It’s always fun, and always a challenge.”

See a photo gallery of the entire construction process here at the website for Amanda Oakleaf Cakes.

And may the fondant be with you, always.

(photos courtesy of Amanda Oakleaf)

[This post originally appeared on GeekDad/wired.com]

Impulsive Traveler: Boston's Harbor Islands shelter a multitude of surprises

In the ominous opening of Martin Scorsese's movie "Shutter Island," Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, playing federal agents, take a boat out to a craggy-cliffed island off the coast of Boston.

"My friends were watching the DVD and said, 'Wow! You have an island like that?' " said Phil Rahaim, a park ranger on the Boston Harbor Islands. He had to tell them, "Not exactly."

"Shutter Island" was partly shot on an island called Peddocks, but none of the 34 real harbor islands actually look much like the movie's CG-enhanced slab of rock. Nor have any of them ever housed an insane asylum conducting experiments with psychotropic drugs.

read the rest of my Washington Post story here

geek camp in Boston

A couple years ago I reported on a martial arts studio in suburban Boston called Guard Up. Meghan Gardner, founder of the company, had begun to offer classes in Sport Sword. She and her instructors began playing with padded swords and ''armor" cobbled together from motocross, ice hockey, and lacrosse gear. They studied medieval sword-fighting and adapted the techniques to the nonlethal world of injection-molded plastic, Velcro, and spandex. They created a series of Sport Weapon programs, such as Sport Sword and Sport Armor, as well as kids' classes like Little Knights.  I went there to learn how (and wrote about my meager efforts for the Boston Globe).

Last summer, in 2008, Gardner launched her Wizards and Warriors Camp, a sort of live-action role-playing adventure for kids, which I visited during the research of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks. This year she offers a day camp and overnight camp versions of the experience, which introduces kids to the concepts of role-playing. In a solid story, the Globe recently reported on this.

What I appreciate about what Gardner is doing is not simply that she's having campers stay in costume for the entire week, solve puzzles, and go on quests. Her camp counselors are teaching values such as camaraderie, honor, compassion and courage. And, in a way, she is indoctrinating a whole new generation of gaming geeks—only these geeks are running around outside, and they are learning how to kick ass with swords. 

Harry Potter comes to Boston!

The Museum of Science in Boston made this announcement today:

"This fall, Harry Potter fans will get the chance to step inside the famous wizard's magical world through Harry Potter: The Exhibition, which opens at the Museum of Science, Boston on October 25, 2009, at 9 a.m. Tickets are now available online at mos.org or by calling 617-723-2500, 617-589-0417 (TTY). Visitors will be able to experience dramatic displays inspired by the Hogwarts™ film sets and see the amazing craftsmanship behind authentic costumes and props from the films. Harry Potter: The Exhibition will run in Boston through February 21, 2010." 

Cool stuff includes "display Harry Potter artifacts in settings inspired by film sets, including the Great Hall, Hagrid's hut, and the Gryffindor common room" and "a 500-pound, 10-foot tall chess piece"

Great news. But it raises the question: what business does a science museum have displaying movie props and special effects displays? Don't get me wrong: I love these movie magic exhibits. The MOS hosted both a Lord of the Rings and Star Wars movie show. But I wonder if, in the words of  Ioannis Miaoulis, President and Director of the Museum of Science, "This exhibit will spark their curiosity and imagination, leading them to experience the excitement of discovery that's also at the heart of the Museum's science and technology exhibits and programs." 

Or maybe, just maybe, it will net the museum a crapload of money. Which isn't a bad thing. But I'd rather Miaoulis just call a spade a spade and say, hey, this is going to pay the heating bills and help update our cutting-edge technology displays that date back to the 1980s.