US – Saturday, November 21

Shave and a haircut — Elliott’s $.02

You’ll notice none of America’s problems have been solved. Well, you can only blame yourself for not doing a good enough job of demanding the government act on the brilliant ideas I’ve been dispensing every week in Metro, the world’s greatest newspaper. Don’t bother groveling for forgiveness; it demeans us both.

The last of the original urban village

It was once a vibrant neighborhood, but was cleared out to make way for hospitals, hotels and upscale condos emblematic of a new Boston. Fifty years later, those that remember the neighbors and streets of the "old" West End are becoming as scarce as the landmarks of their youth.

First drop in Mass. jobless rate since ’07

The state unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent in October, marking the first decline in over two years, according to state labor officials.

Kids stand by as reform debated

Eighth-graders at the Excel Academy Charter School in East Boston scored tops in Massachusetts on the English and math MCAS tests last year, a feat that left principal Komal Bhasin and her staff both proud and motivated to continue their success.

These Orphans are not afraid to play with ‘Dolls’

Ryan Landry and his Gold Dust Orphans have long been having their way with some of the greatest films of all time. Finally, the men, women and not-so-easily-identifiable members of this ridiculously talented troupe take on the big kahuna of camp, “Valley of the Dolls.”

Exploring every ‘Avenue Q’ puppet

The fuzzy puppets that inhabit “Avenue Q” won’t teach their audiences how to sing the ABC’s. These mature Sesame Street-like adult puppets have real problems: sex, racism, morals and finding a purpose in life.

Time to erase fourth-and-2

The Patriots sound like they’re sick of talking about it.

UMass heads the crowded HEA pack

UMass sits atop Hockey East going into the weekend. But not by much.

What to do and where to go.

Updated 23:57, October the 19th, 2008

MTV co-founder speaks at Tufts

MEDFORD. MTV Co-founder Tom Freston remembers when the channel played nothing but music.

“It was a wild ride to work there,” he said during a lecture on new media and the birth of MTV at Tufts University last week. “It’s hard to believe now, but it was a revolutionary thing when it first came out.”

Even after the channel gained popularity, cable companies were hesitant. The slogan “I want my MTV” was developed as an appeal to audiences to request that their providers keep the channel.

Freston’s lecture detailed the evolution of media since the popularization of the television. He also recalled being in Berlin in 1972, where he “saw Rod Stewart playing guitar with these two beautiful blondes, and I realized I was seeing my first music video.”

Freston called HBO and cable television “a Trojan horse with a cornucopia of all these new media.” He said that the media revolution really started in around 1980.

The November MMMpod features interviews and music with a band called Girls, a band of girls called Supercute, and a supercute vampire. Yes, listeners, we have Pattinson!

[Flyers by PaperG]