Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Great Scott
Joshua Smith

I understand you promote concerts here?
Yeah, Great Scott's kind of my favorite place to book shows. It's the place bands play their first show, then maybe move up to bigger venues and blow up.

Ari Up of the Slits at Coney Island in 2000

"Lowell Lecture Series: Boston's Best" | With conductor Keith Lockhart | Boston Public Library, Rabb Lecture Hall, Copley Square, Boston | January 13 @ 6 pm | 617.536.5400 or bpl.org

Meetup Game Nite 8 | Socialize and play Apples to Apples, Settlers of Catan, Trivial Pursuit, and other games | Prudential Center Food Court, 111 Huntington Ave, Boston | January 14: 6:30-9:30 pm | mgn.

Whenever something really appalling happens -- the kind of thing that ought to shock us all out of our petty factions and unite us in horror and grief -- somebody always has to step up to show us how cool they are by being an asshole about it.

This week, that asshole is Travis Corcoran, a/k/a tjic, founder of the Arlington-based heavyink.

Updated 3:20 pm
What we're reading today. [Got links we should see? Tweet them @bostonphoenix or add in the comments.]

Accomplice theory ruled out: "second" man was innocent cab driver. [NYTimes Caucus Blog]

According to screenshots of his MySpace Page, alleged assassinator Jared Lee Loughner appears to have been a fan of prog-hardcore band Fear Before the March of Flames

Are Tea Partiers and right-wing Republicans responsible for the horrifying violence we saw yesterday in Arizona? Of course they fucking are. And you don't have to be the sheriff of Pima County to know that.

Let's start with Sarah "Don't Retreat, Reload" Palin -- who cemented her own guilt when she pulled this down from her site before pausing to tap out a fake apology on Facebook.

Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Kendall Square Cinema
Penny Camberville

Ever get lost trying to find the Kendall?
Well, the first time I tried to find it, 10 years ago, I took the T and got off at the Kendall T station, and it was nowhere near.

A lawyer for "America's Most Hated Housewife" and the network reached a settlement that allows Grammer to walk away from the hit show right now, though she probably will not make a formal decision until after the reunion show has aired.

Inauguration isn't just a relatively thrilling circus that the Statehouse hosts once every four years. It's also the most superficial and elaborate production that the legislature acts in – and, as Beacon Hill observers are aware, these are some of the most splendid actors in the commonwealth, skilled enough to nurture token news items into weeks of political theater.

Two days ago, as every resident of Massachusetts was daydreaming of what to do if he or she won the Mega Millions (I too was guilty of that), Governor Deval Patrick held an intense marathon of media availability. He gave 15-minute interviews to 19 reporters from all over Mass., including two from Hispanic media outlets, three Brazilians, and one Haitian.

Kim Edwards | The Lake of Dreams discussion | Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard St, Brookline | January 6 @ 6 pm | 617.566.6660 or brooklinebooksmith.com

"A Darwinian Look at Darwin's Evolutionist Ancestors" | With Ned Friedman, Director of the Arnold Arboretum | Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Jamaica Plain | January 10 @ 6:30 pm | 617.

Every news story should be accompanied by a reaction by Dawson's Creek star James Van Der Beek. Always. Struggling newspapers take note. Fortunately for us, Van Der Beek has created James Van Der Memes, and they're taking the world by storm! And so, we present "The News, with James Van Der Beek."

Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Boston Phoenix
TJ Miller

Has anyone ever confused you with the other T.J. Miller?
The actor? No, but a friend of mine in New York saw T.J. Miller was performing at some comedy club.

It's been over three years since credit markets started shaking with the early tremors of the subprime crisis, and two years since that spread into a marketwide collapse. Prosecutors, regulators, Congress and journalists have spent the year uncovering the financial shenanigans that brought the market to its knees.