"Shim Sham Shimmy" by Ron Brunelle

 A PEEK AT SOME NOTABLE EVENTS AROUND TOWN

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FRIDAY (Jan. 27)

SOFT MUSCLE Start the weekend off by turning your nerves and joints into lava with a full body massage. The Massage Clinic at Lincoln Institute hosts fundraiser benefiting Somerville Youth Development and Boxing Club. Money raised will go toward programming and equipment needs. Jan. 27, 12—8 p.m. $30 per full body massage, by appointment only, $20 for walk-in service. The Lincoln Tech Massage Clinic, 5 Middlesex Ave. facebook.com/SomervilleYouthBoxing

MELTED CHOCOLATE The Boston Babydolls bring to life the story of a miserable writer writing a self-help guide to romance in Unlucky in Love. Plays every night this weekend and runs through Feb. 14. Jan. 27, 8—10 p.m. Tickets $20—$40 through Brown Paper Tickets. Davis Square Theatre, 255 Elm St. brownpapertickets.com

SATURDAY (Jan. 28)

LEG UP Shake the cold from your bones and limber up for two-hour yoga workshop, Beating the Winter Blues, with Kripalu Yoga Instructor Natalie Brooks. Jan. 28, 2—4 p.m. $25 pre-registration or in class. Third Life Studio, 33 Union Sq. yogawithnatalie.net

THE OTHER DYLAN Brooklyn’s Dylan Chace plays the Armory with Somerville’s Dan Zinder opening. Cozy time. Jan. 28, 8—11 p.m. Tickets $7 at the door. Center for Arts at the Armory café, 191 Highland Ave. facebook.com/dylanchacemusic

B IS FOR BUSINESS A night of prehistoric music that defies the elements of sound presented by Performer Magazine.  Double Stops, B for Brontosaurus and Hands & Knees all get down. Jan. 28, 8:30 p.m.—12 a.m. Tickets $10. 21+. P.A.’s Lounge, 345 Somerville Ave. paslounge.com

SUNDAY (Jan. 29)

COLLECTOR’S WILL The bi-monthly Drill Hall Flea Market pulls out the tables littered with collectibles and antiques. Jan. 29, 10 a.m.—4 p.m. Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave. artsatthearmory.org

BRUNELLE’S LAST STAND Ron Brunelle’s washed-out, microscopically blurred paintings have decorated the walls of the Armory all month. Sunday is Brunell’s closing reception and your last chance to stare into alien oceans. Jan. 29, 2—4 p.m. Center for Arts at the Armory Gallery, 191 Highland Ave. artsatthearmory.org

TURKEY LEG Early Music Afternoon enters its twenty-third season with “The Tudor Consort,” a collection of early Renaissance music from England play by El Dorado Ensemble with mezzosoprano Pamela Dellal and special guest Wendy Gillespie. Jan. 29, 3 p.m. Tickets $17, $12 for students, seniors and museum members. The Somerville Museum, 1 Westwood Rd. somervillemuseum.org

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Following up on the wildly successful Eat Outside the Square Foodie Crawl, East Broadway has introduced Two for Tuesdays. Participating restaurants offer a two for the price of one special every Tuesday until March 15, 2012. The specials vary by week, so ask for the details when you stop in. They are available from 4:00 – closing. This week the specials are:

Mt. Vernon Restaurant (14 Broadway): Pork chops or Baked schrod with salad, potato & vegetable for $20.99
Taco Loco (44 Broadway): Tacos
Los Paisanos Restaurant (62 Broadway): Pupusas, tortas, and burritos
Vinny’s Ristorante (76 Broadway): tba
Tapatio Mexican Grille (82 Broadway): Pupusas
Gauchao (102 Broadway): Desserts
Ola Café (112 Broadway): Ham & cheese croissant, medium coffee, and any pastry
Brasil Steakhouse (129 Broadway): 2 all-you-can-eat buffets (BBQ included) for $15.99
Taqueria Montecristo (146 Broadway): Enchiladas and tacos
Fasika Ethiopian Restaurant (145-147 Broadway): tba
Casey’s Tavern (173 Broadway): Appetizers
Maya Sol (179 Broadway): Tacos

Visit eastsomervillemainstreets.org for details on each week’s event.

Happy Eating!

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Recent unseasonably warm weather has allowed us to observe & analyze the wilds of the Somerville Bikepath before its wheeled denizens go into true hibernation for the winter.
Here are our findings… in cartoon form.

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When my friend, Holli Banks, publisher of my local bimonthly magazine, The Somerville Scout, approached me about helping with their first annual holiday gift guide, I was thrilled.  At last, my penchant for shopping locally could be put to good use!  Scouring my neighborhood squares for great goodies is a favorite weekend pastime that I never have a problem indulging in.  I am lucky to live in a small city with a vibrant local scene of shops, restaurants, music and artist studios (NYC is the only US city with more artists per capita!) and try to take advantage of this awesome locale every chance I get!  I quickly got to work, brainstorming and popping around to my favorite neighborhood haunts to see what they had in store for the holidays.  After a few inspired emails on my favorite findings (you may have noticed, I can be rather verbose about my passions), Holli asked if I would author the guide.  I’ve never had an official writing gig, but hey, why not?

To read the rest, go to Amanda Williams’ “Scribbles and Schemes” blog!

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the lease to my new property.

On my second day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my third day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my fourth day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my fifth day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

5 pot-hole dings

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my sixth day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

6 Green Line Stations

5 pot-hole dings

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my seventh day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

7 shoes on wires

6 Green Line Stations

5 pot-hole dings

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my eighth day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

8 thermal windows

7 shoes on wires

6 Green Line Stations

5 pot-hole dings

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my ninth day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

I-nine-ty three

8 thermal windows

7 shoes on wires

6 Green Line Stations

5 pot-hole dings

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my tenth day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

10 hills by Mystic

I-nine-ty three

8 thermal windows

7 shoes on wires

6 Green Line Stations

5 pot-hole dings

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my eleventh day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

11 elected aldermen

10 hills by Mystic

I-nine-ty three

8 thermal windows

7 shoes on wires

6 Green Line Stations

5 pot-hole dings

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property.

On my twelfth day in Somerville my landlord gave to me

12 thousand students

11 elected aldermen

10 hills by Mystic

I-nine-ty three

8 thermal windows

7 shoes on wires

6 Green Line Stations

5 pot-hole dings

4 streets named Linden

3-1-1

2 parking permits

and the lease to my new property!

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In 1922 a beady-eyed vampire named Count Orlok shuffled in broken film projections to the horror of German audiences watching the debut of Nosferatu. Nearly 100 years later, with a revolving cast of blood-suckers come and gone, Orlok still finds space on a screen somewhere for his bald head and pointy ears every Halloween.
Next Friday, October 28 at 8 p.m., at the Center for the Arts at the Armory, multi-instrumentalist Brendan Cooney and four other musicians will inject new life into the classic creeper when they perform their score over the silent film.
Count Orlok, played by Max Schreck, “is such a fantastic character,” Cooney said.  “Compared to modern film production, it’s nothing, just a little make-up, but it comes across really creepy.”
The first time Cooney saw Nosferatu, directed by F. W. Murnau, it was fittingly projected onto the walls of a church in Germantown, Philadelphia.  He was asked to play piano for the score at a showing and practiced only once.  From then on he knew it would be a project worth delving into.  “[The film] has many contrasting moods and overly emotive body language,” he said.  “It lets the imagination run wild.”
Debra McLaughlin, Executive Director for The Armory, called the minimal effects of the film “haunting and mesmerizing,” especially when combined with live music.
Cooney, who comes from Philadelphia but very recently moved to the Boston area, has taken his score on the road for a short jaunt through New England this month.
“It’s funny,” Cooney reflected, “Audiences crack up at the things I thought were spooky.  Some things were spooky because they come across very campy [even] humorous.  The score I wrote brings those things out,” he said.
Cooney took his musical direction from the movie’s spooky setting.  Set deep in an ancient castle in the Carpathian Mountains the film has “an old-world Eastern European vibe,” he said.  He incorporated klezmer ideas, Yiddish traditions, Hungary folk melodies and gypsy grooves from that round-about area to build an atmosphere that hinges on the kooky, but also the shuddering freak-nature that is prevalent in the film.
On top of that Cooney throws in clarinet, violin, accordion and bass.  “I’ve also used a lot of modern improvisatory effects [like] screeching violins and things you might associate with old horror movies like Psycho” or other Hitchcock scores, he said.
Cooney is a major player in the Philadelphia music scene.  For the West Philadelphia Orchestra he plays baritone, in the City Wide Specials, a weekly country/bluegrass concert, he plays banjo and is also a member of Noggin Hill and Rhinoceri Trio.  He’s also worked with acts like Dr. Dog, Buried Beds and Rick Berlin as a horn and string arranger.
“The fun thing about this project is the musicians are from very diverse musical backgrounds,” Cooney recognized.  “It allowed me to write a lot of different types of music for the score and rely on the players.” Perfecting the score was very natural thanks to “some killer musicians” backing him up.
Shinjoo Cho, who lives in Somerville, plays accordion, Carlos Santiago is on violin, Chris Coyle is on bass and Larry Goldfinger on clarinet.  They are all loosely connected.  Goldfinger works with Cooney in the West Philadelphia Orchestra and Coyle is in Rhinoceri Trio with him.  Santiago creates avant-garde music, hitting on prog-rock and experimental jazz and Choo plays with the Oscuro Quintet.
Over the last year or so the team rehearsed under ten times, according to Cooney.  “[The film] is time-coded with a clock,” he explained.  “The more we [play], the less we have to rely on the clock,” and it becomes more about remembering the pacing of the scenes.
Joining live music with film is nothing new for the Armory having hosted versions of Phantom of the Opera and Nosferatu before, as well as a festival centered on pairing documentaries with live musicians.  “We feel it enriches the viewing [and] listening experience for all parties,” McLaughlin said.
Friday marks a return to the Armory for Cooney who played a few years back.  For Somervillians this will be an appropriate start to the Halloween weekend.  Tickets are $10 and doors open at 7:30p.m.

www.nosferatu2011.com

www.artsatthearmory.org

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Winter Hill resident Bob Massie has thrown his hat into the U.S. Senate race, and the Herald's Wayne Woodlief believes he has a chance.

Sometimes the Scout staff gets so caught up in creating the next print edition…a few days, nay, weeks go by without a single blog post.

So I figured I it was high time to weigh in with something. Luckily, today’s Herald provided ample grist:

1. A story by Richard Weir about MBTA officials approving $56.5 million for the Assembly Square T stop.

2. Wayne Woodlief’s column about how Somerville’s own Bob Massie (a Winter Hill resident) still has time to take the lead in the Democratic primary race for Scott Brown’s Senate seat.

Massie, in case you missed it, also has Mayor Joe Curtatone’s endorsement.

And that’s what we’ve got, for now. Back to work on another kick-ass print edition…and on finding a way to blog more frequently.

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A long-time Somerville resident poses 26 questions from A to Z for Ville-ans old and new—with bonus questions at the end.

1. Signs all over town herald Somerville as an “All America City,” an award Somerville received for the second time in 2009 (the first was in 1972.) What does that mean?

a) It honors Somerville’s role in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, which inspired citizens throughout the nation.
b) It’s recognition of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich being invented in Teele Square.
c) The National Civic League awards this honor to 10 cities, towns or counties annually on the basis of neighborhood and school renewal, job creation, crime reduction, diversity and inclusion.
d) Somerville, as a typical American city, was chosen to partner with more sister cities around the world than any other city in the US.

2. On April 4, 1877 Alexander Graham Bell ran the first outdoor telephone line from the home of Charles Williams on Arlington Street to the workshop on Lincoln Street where he manufactured telegraph machines. (Williams supplied parts for Thomas Edison, and let Bell establish a lab in his building on Court Street in Boston.) What were the numbers of these first two residential
phone lines?

3. Who built the Circular house on Atherton Street?

a) Enoch Robinson, a locksmith also known for his eccentric inventions and his interest in perpetual motion machines, in 1856.
b) Alexander Graham Bell, for experiments in acoustics.
c) Nathaniel Tufts, to promote his classroom-in-the-round and for egalitarianism in town meetings.
d) George Washington, as a stable for military horses.

4. Who is Davis Square named for?

a) The Davis Cup, as early tournaments were played on what is now the central plaza of Davis Square.
b) Private Smith Davis, a squadron-mate of George Dilboy, who fought with him in the Infantry.
c) Jedidiah Davis, an ancestor of Sammy Davis, Jr., who settled in Somerville after the Civil War.
d) Person Davis, a nineteenth century merchant and alderman, whose estate occupied the site.

5. The Economy Grocery Store opened in Somerville in 1914. This store later expanded and grew into what chain?

a) The Home Depot
b) Economy Hardware
c) Stop & Shop
d) Star Market

6. Many people made their fortunes in Somerville. Which of following did not?

a) George Charles, who supplied cobblestones made from mud in Somerville, when the swamp in the Back Bay Fens was filled.
b) Charles Foster, who lived in an estate on Winter Hill, made his money by manufacturing, then creating a need for wooden toothpicks, which he observed on a business trip to Brazil.
c) Dairyman Harvey Hood moved to Somerville from Vermont, and pioneered the use of pasteurization, glass milk bottles and frozen yogurt in his plant along what is now I-93.
d) Alfred Carl Fuller made wire brushes by hand and sold them door to door. He founded the Fuller Brush Company which by 1919 had sold over one million dollars worth of products.

7. The Green Line Extension, proposed to be operational in 2014, plans to include stops at all of the following except which one?

a) Inner Belt/Brickbottom, near Washington Street
b) Gilman Square near Pearl, Medford, and School Streets
c) Magoun Square
d) Ball Square

8. McLean Asylum for the Insane was originally located on Cobble Hill but had to be relocated to Belmont in 1895 because of :

a) A fire that started in a nearby candle factory and spread through Cobble Hill.
b) Protests from neighborhood cobblers, who objected to the noise emanating from the grounds.
c) Revisions in the city’s zoning laws, which prohibited doctors and patients from living on the same grounds.
d) Encroaching development in the form of railroads, slaughterhouses and rendering plants.

9. Isaac Asimov is one of Somerville’s many famous one-time residents. Which of the following never lived here?

a) Barack Obama, while attending Harvard Law School
b) Jimmy Somerville. who sang with Bronski Beat and The Communards, and took his name from his adopted home.
c) Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections and Freedom
d) Bobby “Boris” Pickett, composer “Monster Mash”

10. On January 1, 1776, what happened in Somerville?

a) The Stamp Act was repealed on the site of the current post office in Union Square.
b) A cannon ball was dropped from the top of the Powderhouse, which was the precursor to the ball dropping in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
c) One of the first Union flags was raised, under orders of General George Washington.
d) Members of the Continental Congress stayed on the current site of the Holiday Inn on their way to Boston.

11. At Key intersections and entryways to the city there are blue flashing lights. Why?

a) The lights flash when there is a prediction of four or more inches of snow and a snow emergency is declared, and continue to flash until the emergency is removed.
b) They monitor foot and vehicle traffic for the MBTA Green Line expansion.
c) They are part of a test project to see if artificial intelligence can reduce wait time at red lights when no vehicles are using the adjacent green light.
d) They are crucial links in GPS satellite transmission.

12. How many Languages are spoken in the Somerville Schools?

a) 1
b) 2
c) 17
d) more than 50

13. What is the motto on the seal of the city of Somerville:

a) “Municipal Freedom Gives National Strength”
b) “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty”
c) “God Be with Us as He Was with Our Fathers”
d) “In Unity, There is Strength”

14. Which Nursery rhyme character originally lived in Somerville?

a) Peter Pumpkin Eater, who owned the Milk Row farm, famous as a champion gourd grower
b) Jack Sprat, who worked at the rendering plant
c) Little Jack Horner, who lived next to the circular house but never sat in a corner in it
d) Mary Sawyer, who had a little lamb, and even took it with her to school.

15. What was the original name of Somerville? When settled in 1630, Somerville was part of Charlestown, and was frequently called “the area beyond the Neck,” the northwest corner of where Charlestown joined the mainland. In 1842, a
separate town was created. A group of citizens met and the name they chose was:

a) Walford, after the first white settler of Charlestown.
b) Summerville, because of the Boston residents who summered here
c) Somerville, after Colonel Richard Somers, colonel in the militia and later a judge
d) Great Neck

16. Somerville’s emblematic Powderhouse is called that because it

a) was used to store powder from Somerville’s talc mines, which was used in wigs, including George Washington’s.
b) housed gunpowder for Revolutionary soldiers, although originally built as a windmill for grinding grain.
c) was built by Jeremiah Powder in 1703 or 1704 as a look-out tower for lost cows and British Redcoats.
d) was where the Hood dairy company stored its newly-created powdered milk.

17. What did Archibald Query invent in Somerville in 1917?

a) A system of maps for the insurance industry, which simplified the haphazard street patterns in congested cities.
b) The modern adjustable pipe wrench.
c) Volleyball, as a summer pastime on the spacious lawn of his Spring Hill estate.
d) A soft, sticky mix of corn syrup, sugar, vanilla and egg whites, which he peddled door-to-door, then sold the recipe to Allen Durkee and Fred Mower, who marketed it as Marshmallow Fluff.

18. On his famous Midnight Ride to Lexington and Concord on April 18, 1775, Paul Revere was almost captured by the British. A stone marker commemorates this at what point in the city?

a. Next to the Police Station.
b. At the top of Prospect Hill
c. In front of the Holiday Inn on Washington Street.
d. At the lowest point in Somerville, on Beacon Street.

19. After a Snow Emergency is declared, how much time do residents have to move their cars before ticketing and towing starts?

a) Two hours
b) Four hours
c) Twenty-four hours
d) Until sundown of the following day

20. Which statement about Tufts is not true?

a) Charles Tufts, a businessman who made his fortune in livestock, donated the land
b) P.T. Barnum, a Tufts trustee and benefactor, donated Jumbo’s stuffed hide after a train in Toronto killed the elephant.
c) In 1975 a fire in Barnum Hall destroyed all of Jumbo except a piece of his tail and some ashes. The ashes remain in a peanut butter jar and Tufts athletes often rub the jar for good luck.
d) The first veterinary school in the U.S. was established in honor of Jumbo, the circus elephant.

21. Union Square got its current name after the Civil War, when the Union Army used the area for recruiting soldiers and calling together troops. What was Union Square’s original name?

a) Brick Square, for the manufacturers of decorative and ornamental brick from clay taken out of nearby Miller’s River.
b) Sand Pit Square, because manufacturers of glass came to the area to collect the sandy soil.
c) Hood Square, after dairyman H. P. Hood who was among the founders of the Prospect Hill Congregational Church on Bow Street.
d) Victoria Square, to commemorate both the Union’s victory in the Civil War and Queen Victoria’s son Edward’s visit in 1860.

22. What did the Somerville Light Infantry of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia do in 1903?

a) Had the Armory on Highland Avenue built.
b) Guarded the Mystic River in case German soldiers tried to use it in a sneak attack on Boston.
c) Predicted the coming of the First World War and started stockpiling arms and ammunition.
d) Protected Nobel Prize winners Pierre and Marie Curie when they visited the city on their world tour, carrying radioactive materials including radium and polonium.

23. Which member of the Winter Hill Gang won an Emmy Award for his performance in “The Famous Teddy Z,” a series in the 1989-1990 season, and portrayed Play-Tone Records owner Sol Siler in That Thing You Do!

a) Howie Winter
b) James “Buddy” McLean
c) Alex Rocco
d) James “Jimmy” Simms

24. Francis X. Bushman, who drove a chariot in the 1925 version of Ben-Hur, performed at the Somerville Theatre. Which of the following did not perform or direct at the Somerville Theatre:

a) U2
b) Bruce Springstein
c) Ray Bolger (the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz)
d) Minnie Pearl, for whom Pearl Street was named

25. Yorktown Street sits on what was once a military camp called Camp Day (or Camp Cameron.) Which adjacent street was NOT named for a famous battlefield?

a) Gorham Street
b) Seven Pines Avenue

26. Currently Somerville has almost 30 Zoning districts, including Arts Overlay, Waterfront Overlay, University, and Open Space. On December 30, 1926, the first Building Zone Ordinance was adapted, dividing Somerville into 6 classes or districts. What were the 3 categories these districts fell into?

a) Farm, Manufacturing and Religious
b) Historical, Educational and Household
c) Residence, Business and Industrial
d) Detached Houses, Apartment Buildings and Commercial Properties

EXTRA CREDIT QUESTIONS

1. To date, Somerville has four Sister Cities, listed below. Which was the first (formalized in 2007)?

a) Nordeste, on Sao Miguel island in the Azores
b) Yucuaiquin, El Salvador
c) Gaeta, Italy
d) Tiznit, Morocco

2. Why are the numbers 311 significant to Somerville?

a) George Washington slept here on March 11, 1778.
b) It’s the phone number for Somerville’s customer service helpline, where residents can call to request city services, information or reach a city department.
c) In the first Census in 1790, George Washington’s marshals counted 311 residents.
d) The US Transportation Security Administration’s 3-1-1 for Carry-Ons procedure was developed and tested by government researchers in the Inner Belt Industrial District.

3. The oldest cemetery in the city is on Somerville Avenue at the end of School Street. What is the original name of Somerville Avenue?

a) Walford Street
b) Tufts Lane, after Oliver Tufts donated part of his farm for the cemetery
c) Milk Row, after family farms there that produced milk and vegetables for Boston residents.
d) Olde Charlestowne Path

4. According to the 2010 Census, what is the population of Somerville?

5. What is the maximum length of time a vehicle can remain in the same space on a street before being subject to towing?

6. How did Assembly Square get its name?

a) It served as an assembly point for George Washington’s troops during the Revolutionary War.
b) It was a meeting place for the first settlers who migrated south from Plymouth Plantation.
c) In honor of the Grande Assemblée of France, which supported the Colonial troops’ revolutionary efforts in 1775.
d) In 1926, the Food Motor Company filled in Mystic River wetlands and built a plant there to assemble cars (including the 1957 Edsel.)

7. On his Midnight Ride, Paul Revere slipped past the British and rode to the top of Winter Hill, where he turned right toward Medford at what is now the intersection of Broadway and Main Street. There, at the highest point in Somerville, is Somerville’s smallest park: Paul Revere Park. The Paul Revere Apartments sit behind this park. They were built in the early 20th Century
and featured which cutting-edge conveniences:

a) beds and ironing boards that folded into closets to save space
b) telephones in every apartment
c) air vents with special baffles to keep out smells from the slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants wafting over from East Somerville
d) garages for residents who owned the latest technological invention, an automobile

8. Which, if any, of the following city/cities has or have more Artists per capita than Somerville?

a) Miami

b) Chicago

c) New York

d) Woodstock, VT

9. When do residents have to shovel snow from their sidewalks?

a) As soon as the snow stops falling.
b) Before school buses start running.
c) Six hours between sunrise and sunset after the snow stops.
d) Within 24 hours of the end of the snow fall.

ANSWERS

1. c Somerville won the All American City award in 2009 represented by a delegation of 40 civic and business leaders and residents. At the conclusion of the 3-day event they presented a short skit about the Green Line Extension Project.
2. Their phone numbers were 1 and 2.
3. a
4. d
5. c
6. a
7. c
8. d
9. b
10. c
11. a
12. d
13. a
b) is the motto of the state of Massachusetts, c) is the motto of the city of Boston and d) is the
motto of Brooklyn
14. d
A statue of a lamb commemorates this in Powderhouse Park.

15. a.
The name they chose was Walford, although some people preferred Warren. But that December, prominent citizen Charles Miller convinced them to change the name to Somerville—and no one really knows where that name came from.
16. b
17. d
18. c
19. b
20. d
Although Tufts University is formally considered in Medford, the Somerville-Medford line runs through the Tisch library—among other places. Since only around half of Tufts is in Medford, this question receives only half credit.
21. b
22. a
23. c
24. d
25. a

26. c
Extra Credit Questions, worth 2 points each
1. c
2. b

311, with the tag line “Once call to city hall,” has operators who speak Portuguese, Spanish and Creole. (911 is still the number to call for fire, police and health emergencies.)

3. c
4. b
5. b
6. d
7. a
8. b
9. c

Scoring Your Somerville Skill

Give yourself 3 points for each correct answer in the first set of questions; 2 points for each extra credit question.

0-20 Go back to New York and take the Yankees with you
21-35 Stay in Revere and wait for rents to drop in the Ville
36-50 Think about buying a triple-decker and planting a garden
51- 70 You’re Somer-brilliant.
71-84 Somer-virtuoso: Did you ever consider running for alderman?
85 or higher Veritable Villen: You just can’t hide your Somerville Pride.

As Mayor Edward Glines said in his inaugural speech in 1902, people come to Somerville because it “is healthy, morally clean, comfortable and convenient.”

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DC FAM

Somerville natives Leanis Almanzar, Wilner Alexis, Kenny Neff and Larry Travaglione will perform Thursday, July 28, at 8 p.m. at Club Samba (608 Somerville Ave). Known together as DC FAM and respectively as Third Degree, Real Wil, K Street and Renzo, the group is headlining an event featuring DJ Stix from Hot 97 Boston and performances by Concep, Cav Bernah, Black Roze and Fly Rydaz.

And if you recognize none of the names listed above: fear not! You can read more about DC FAM in the next print issue of Somerville Scout. Until then, catch their recent hit “I’m on Fire (Beam Me Up)” on YouTube and visit Brown Paper Tickets in order to attend the Club Samba show.

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