Pizza War At BU!, II

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

From our Pizzapalooza desk:

Of course, initial impressions are only one measure of pizza quality. In the burgeoning battle of pizza places at Boston University, there’s also the question of how a slice holds up as leftovers, or – as we call it here at the Global Worldwide Headquarters – RePizza®.

So the hardmunching staff revisited the respective offerings of Comm. Ave. next-door neighbors University Grill (megaslice) and Sal’s Pizza (biggerslice).

And here’s what we found:

Both salvaged minislices were rubbery, as RePizza is wont to be, but the UGrill version held up better, making it the overall winner in the BU bakeoff.

Congratulations, you bros at UGrill, and long live the slice.

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Is Carla Bruni’s Biography Authorized Or Not?

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

The new biography of French First Lady/Sleeparound Carla Bruni (Carla: Une Vie Secrete) has opened up the family-size can of worms, given its claim that Michelle Obama told Carla she hates being America’s First Lady.

But there seems to be some question about whether the book is authorized or unauthorized.

Plug “Carla Bruni authorized” into the Googletron and you get about 33,200 search results. Plug  in “Carla Bruni unauthorized” and you get about 41,400 search results.

But wait. There’s more.

Another book, Carla et les ambitieux, also seems to contain the Michelle-in-hell quote.

What’s real here?

Who the hell knows.

The hardsearching staff reports.

You decide.

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“Town” & Letdown

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

Ben Affleck’s new flick “The Town” has debuted to boffo box office and boffo reviews. The Wall Street Journal loved it, the Boston Phoenix lionized it, and in the Boston Globe Dennis Lehane defended it.

The Missus and I, not so much.

To be sure graf goes here:

To be sure, Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, and Jeremy Renner were terrific, and Charlestown did great. It was the plot that came up short, and also Jon Hamm, who was one step from being a cipher.

Initially you wonder if he’s too Don Draper for his career’s own good, but then you realize that only a sliver of the movie-going public (as in, fewer than two million people) actually watches “Mad Men,” so Hamm doesn’t need to escape that series, he needs to pick better roles.

“The Town” just might be, as the Phoenix says, the best Boston movie in a generation.

Then again, that might not be saying much.

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Pizza War At BU!

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

University Grill & Pizza has been a fixture on Commonwealth Avenue in the heart of Boston University for, well, forever. As such, it has seen a variety of food emporiums (ave atque vale, Lollicup King) come and go – mostly go.

(Full disclosure: The hardworking staff has a deep and abiding affection for UGrill’s french fries.)

But here comes a new pizza place – North End stalwart Sal’s Pizza – that sets up shop right next door.

As a public service, the hardworking staff immediately called a Campaign Outsider Pizzapalooza, which is very much like a loya jirga in Afghanistan, except with fewer people and less talking.

Without further ado, the tale of the tape:

UGrill

Pizza Style Greek

Crust Doughy

Sauce Light

Cheese Oily

Size Megaslice

Sidewalk Signs Two

Price $3 (with soda)

Sal’s Pizza

Pizza Style New York

Crust Overdone

Sauce Chunky

Cheese Light

Size Biggerslice

Sidewalk Signs One

Price $3.74  (no soda)

Both pizza places have their attractions, so let’s end with this:

Can’t we all just get aslice?

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UMash Boston Globe

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

Given how badly the University of Massachusetts got whacked as a second-tier school by the Boston Globe earlier this month, how eager do you think UMass officials were to run Friday’s full-page ad in the Globe about coming in #56 in the Times of London World University Rankings?

(Cock-of-the-walk press release here. Globe make-up story here.)

Ad headline (under a Times of London banner):

The University of Massachusetts is one of the best universities in the world . . .

“Truly World Class”

Truly sweet, yes?

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UMass: We’re Number 56! We’re Number 56!

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

After taking a beating as a second-tier educational institution in the Boston Globe earlier this month, UMass students, friends and alums rallied to defend the state university, as the hardworking staff duly noted here and here.

Now, the Times of London has bolstered their defense with its World University Rankings, which have the University of Massachusetts at #36 stateside and #56 worldwide.

Second-tier that, Globeniks.

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“Idol” Hands?

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

From a Thursday Wall Street Journal piece about the quest to replace departed Brutish judge Simon Cowell:

News Corp.‘s Fox Broadcasting is close to naming actress and singer Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith musician Steven Tyler as judges for “American Idol,” according to people familiar with the matter, a high-profile bid to revive the eight-year-old singing competition.

(So would that combo be JenTyle? Or JeniTyl? Your call.)

But here’s the really interesting part:

Fox executives expect to save some money by not paying Mr. Cowell’s salary, according to people familiar with their thinking, even as they splash out to sign Mr. Tyler and Ms. Lopez.

So Simon Cowell makes more than Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez combined?

Yikes.

Not to mention, wait till the agents for Tyler and Lopez read that.

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Brookline’s Recyclorama

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

Brookline was Bin City on Wednesday as trucks dropped off hundreds of big blue recycling bins (they have wheels!) in front of houses and apartment buildings all across town.

The bins (part of Brookline’s new Single Stream Recycling Program)  came with a handy Town of Brookline Recycling & Guidelines Booklet, which featured the standard FAQ.

At the very end was this note:

Getting a free Recycling Bin
Blue recycling bins are available free of charge for residents who subscribe to Town Disposal Service. Bins are available for pick-up from the Department of Public Works, 333 Washington Street, Town Hall, 4th floor during regular business hours. In order to receive a bin, you must show proof of residency at a Brookline household that is on Town Disposal Service.

Given that the three units in my building will barely fill even one bin every week, the real question is:

How do I go about Getting Rid of a free Recycling Bin?

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“Look Out, Kid, It’s Something Google Did”

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

Every now and again Google creates an online ad, and it’s usually cherce. Here’s the latest – for Google’s stalky/creepy Instant Search – via MediaPost:

Come to think of it, the Googletron is more than a little like Maggie’s Farm, no?

(Link compliments of . . . wait for it . . . Google.)

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WSJ Gives Malcolm Rogers Bell’s Palsy

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Campaign Outsider

Nice, informative Cultural Conversation with Boston Museum of Fine Arts director Malcolm Rogers in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal. It also provides a preview of the MFA’s “Art of the Americas” wing that’s scheduled to open in November.

Fun facts to know and tell:

• The new four-story wing will expand the MFA’s space by 28%

• “It will contain more than 5,000 works of art, compared with 2,500 on display before.”

• The MFA’s American collection comprises 15,000 items

• In advance of the expansion, Rogers donned his own American wings:

“When I embarked on this wing, I became an American citizen, because how could I expect people to invest in it if I did not have a stake in it?”

Bully!

The only discordant note in the piece was the illustration of Rogers:

Honest to God, does that look anything like Malcolm Rogers?

Draw your own conclusions.

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