What the world needs now

Nothing cures what ails you like some dirty southern rock 'n' roll. It's so good when an electric guitar washes through you, knocks away the particles of rot clinging to your bones. Everything that adheres is gone when you leave.

Cracker is awesome, even in stripped-down duo form — just David Lowery on acoustic and Johnny Hickman on electric. They did a lot of Cracker (including an intense, minimalist Teen Angst), some Camper van Beethoven (All Her Favorite Fruit was spellbinding), some stuff just for kicking at the walls. The kid who opened for them, channeling early Elvis Costello in his moves and his voice, was pretty good too. The extra bonus band that came between them...well, we could've done without it. When the doors open at 8:00, and 11:30 comes and goes without the headliner setting foot on-stage yet, you know your second opening act has played too long.

Gotta get up in six hours.

Montfern vs. Greycliff

We're back from home-hunting in Boston! After a tiring and discouraging Saturday, during which we met a lot of pushy realtors who insisted our demands were sheer madness and only they could find anything even remotely close to what we wanted, we got incredibly lucky on Sunday. We met first with a nice Quaker fellow with anti-Bush stickers on his car, and then with the cheerful and knowledgeable Seth, who showed us four apartments, all of which we liked. In fact, we liked them too much, and are now having trouble deciding between two:

32 Montfern Ave., near Oak Square in Brighton

Pros:

• used book/CD/video store on corner, video rental across street
• 10-minute walk to excellent coffee shop and other urban amenities
• an embarrassment of space: room for a master bedroom, guest bedroom/office, another office, and a home theater dining room
• quirky and cool room arrangement, including excitingly angled ceilings and stairs with carved balusters
• nice grassy back yard
• porch
• no realtors' fee, which effectively saves us a month's rent
• parking space included

Cons:

• 20-minute walk to the T, 30 to adfamiliares's office
• requires use of corner laundromat — no washer/drier
• street is crowded with houses
• rooms and mazelike layout may feel confining after a while

5 Greycliff Rd., quite close to campus

Pros:

• awesome street name!
• 5-minute walk to the T, 15 to K's office
• working fireplace
• gorgeous flowering trees and such in yard
• really nice kitchen with extra counter space in pantry
• very pretty interior details, with great flow
• beautiful view of green hills and trees across the street
• screened-in back porch

Cons:

• long hike to anything non-residential, like coffee shops or groceries
• may not allow a cat (which would be a deal-breaker)
• no space for separate offices
• slightly higher rent, and a full realtors' fee

I think we're planning to start looking at houses to buy (ackholycrap) in a year or two, which makes this less of a weighty decision, but there's still enough weight here to make us nervous. Anybody want to offer some brilliant and clearheaded advice — before we make an offer on Monday?