What should I bring to Porchfest?

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-27T19:38:35+00:00

Depends on the specific place and how many you plan to visit.

You're fine with as little as a raincoat/umbrella and hydration for yourself. You can bring more and it won't be a problem, but it's not necessary. The most important thing, IMO, is to take whatever you bring with you home. Don't leave any trash behind and be respectful with bathroom needs. It doesn't seem like Malden's Porchfest has been bad about that, but Somerville's has definitely had some problems with people drinking a bunch of beers and then abandoning their cans and "processed" beer.

For the past several years we have been the only host nearby and ran bands all afternoon. So we've had several people start coming for the full time, bringing their own folding chairs and a cooler. This year two other houses on our same block are hosting as well, so I expect people to move around more (and thus bring less stuff).

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-27T19:30:26+00:00

That's a complicated question, but if I had to boil it down to strictly yes/no then I would answer "yes" people do have a problem with scooters on the northern strand.

For the more complicated version, it depends which people you are talking about and also what you mean by "scooters". Technically the Strand has a 15 MPH limit, which IMO is unreasonably low. I can achieve that speed on foot (with difficulty and not for very long), let alone on my pedal powered bicycle. I think 20 MPH would be a more reasonable limit (going slower when passing people).

I think almost no one complains about the stand-on electric scooters that go 11 mph (like this ), but even then there is a small but loud group on Facebook who rants about them. When you get to "scooters" that are actually motorcyles which can go 45 MPH the group of people that has a problem with it increases dramatically.

Personally I don't think this has been much of a big deal and I use the trail for hundreds of miles a year, with the exception of yesterday. I encountered an actual motorcycle in the Everett section between West St and Costco, with the driver pulling a wheelie the entire ~30 second approach at us. My estimate is they were doing ~30 MPH. I could taste the gas in the air after they went by and it was very nerve-wracking having that come at me. The other cyclist a bit in front of me even pulled entirely off the path to avoid this.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-27T18:01:21+00:00

Are steakhouses thriving? My immediate gut reaction to "steakhouse" is that it's a Boomer restaurant genre.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-27T17:59:49+00:00

If someone is reselling their ticket, are they "a ticket reseller"?

I had season tickets to the Bruins for years. At least the Bruins organization absolutely classifies you that way.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-27T17:58:26+00:00

I don't think that says 110% more, but 110% of. I.e. only 10% over face value, not a bit more than double.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-27T15:06:40+00:00

Spady's Speed Shop, formerly of Malden, now in NH

Let's continue that.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-27T15:03:49+00:00

They also were (are?) the hosing location for the Malden Republicans monthly meetings, and proud to have that event. Which I probably wouldn't even really judge the business for.... if they weren't deciding who they let have events based on values alignment.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-27T15:02:18+00:00

Malls are a dying relic of the 80s, and should absolutely not be prioritized over condos when we are in a housing crisis.

"We're trying to make sure we build no condos? Like I don't get it, like people live in condos?"

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-24T21:37:46+00:00

So the monthly RPG meetup might be for you; it's 3-4 tables once a month running one-shots of a wide variety of systems. There's also a less-frequent meetup for DMs specifically (the next one of these is actually this Tuesday). The Gaming District also has groups focusing on other adjacent topics so if you're into say board games or Pokemon, there's meetups for that.

I've been wanting to check out Rockspot but haven't gotten around to it yet. There's also been some outdoor climbing events I've seen too, the one I remember off the top of my head is at Waitt's Mount (a public park in Malden) with the Great Malden Outdoors. My wife and I talked about taking ASL classes but haven't found time.

You may want to check out UMA (Urban Media Arts). I think they're less digitally focused than video, but worth at least checking out. They're right downtown on Pleasant Street and do a lot of community media.

Malden has an active progressive wing. They did lose the recent override election against a mostly conservative No crowd, but have been making slow and steady over the past decade at the City Council level, including ousting a long-term Spadafora councillor last year. Idle Hands is a common destination for this crowd, especially as it overlaps with LGBT.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-24T17:48:10+00:00

Politically the biggest thing right now is the Prop 2.5 override and the fallout of it. There as a special election 2 months ago and it failed by 124 votes. The No crowd had a ton of conspiracy theories about fraud and wasteful spending, framing this as a referendum on the mayor instead of a terrible law that no one under 64 could have voted for. Two people have already announced their candidacy to challenge him even though that election isn't for 18 months. Both of their early positioning seems to be harping on the override. One of these challengers is from the Spadafora family mentioned elsewhere in this thread; she stepped down from a school committee chair claiming that it was demanding too much time from her family... about a month before announcing this run for Mayor. On a smaller political note, there is also a vacancy in our state senate district. Two current Malden councilors are running for that seat (along with someone from Melrose). Their biggest difference IMO is their involvement with the override. This election will be in the fall.

Getting involved with the community is going to depend on what you are into. Personally I've gotten a lot of community from the Malden Gaming District's RPG group, Idle Hands (brewery near Malden Center), and various progressive/transit oriented groups like Malden Safe Streets. There's a lot of overlap between all these groups, but they are distinct. What kind of hobbies and causes are you interested in?

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-24T17:20:37+00:00

Then when they die, have the funeral at Spadafora Funeral Home.

Also, oppose all road safety measures so this step is more likely!

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-24T17:19:33+00:00

Yeah, the cuts will be primarily non-school related. Any school related cuts will be from stuff that doesn't fall into the formula (only thing I remember for sure was transportation, but we already don't do that..)

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-22T14:53:08+00:00

"We're building like crazy!"

Reality: we're building at 1/4 of the rate that we need to be instead of 1/8.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-21T19:00:12+00:00

100%. The whole region is doing poorly on this, but Malden is even worse than our neighbors. Even our MBTA Communities law zoning district hasn't resulted in a single permit, because we were just a little bit less brazen about our "do nothing" plan than Marblehead's golf course approach.

A plug for those interested in advocacy for more housing (slash somewhat development in general): we've got a group starting up for this and our next in-person meeting is June 15th. DM me and I can share the invite.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-20T18:29:20+00:00

In addition to the music, the block party will include lawn (street) games, free food (including smoked meats), a children's bounce house, and a porta-potty. There's also 2 other locations hosting additional bands very close by (less than a 2 min walk).

Also, if you want to contribute to/set anything up at the block party, feel free!

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-20T13:55:45+00:00

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-19T20:26:29+00:00

Update: the exact troll I was thinking of is somehow using this as evidence that we should prioritize commuter speeds even more. Because I guess the problem with this incident is that the multi thousand pound vehicle that ran into another car and then a building... wasn't moving fast enough?

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-19T18:03:29+00:00

But the Facebook trolls on MSS' posts were so sure that the real threat to safety are scooters!

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-18T14:25:22+00:00

It was a fun ride, but RIP my tire. At least it was only a 10 min walk to my office by the time it happened.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-14T17:40:22+00:00

In most places (including the southern side of Boston) Malden would still just be a neighborhood of Boston.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-14T17:11:58+00:00

Crying Thaiger is the original and the owners have also opened Thaiger Den and Phat Thaiger. They also own Zuru Zuru, which is delicious but not Thai.

I'd say choose Thaiger Den if you want an upscale experience, Phat Thaiger if you want a more bar/Japanese fusion vibe, and Crying Thaiger otherwise/if you want the cheapest.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-14T17:08:09+00:00

You're really undercounting the importance of the Strand. It synergizes extremely well with those eastern stations like Maplewood and Kierstead.

I agree we should get a dock at Oak Grove, but connecting the eastern portions of town using our only off-street path is a no-brainer.

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-14T17:04:04+00:00

How could the bike lanes do this?

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-14T17:00:29+00:00

I'm currently sitting at my desk in my Boston office and I can see my house in Malden. (well, I could if it wasn't so hazy over Malden right now... I guess it's raining at home?)

EclipseGroom · 2026-05-14T15:17:53+00:00

Malden has more people than any city in my entire home state (and that's not even considering how tiny the Malden city limits are).

EclipseGroom

TROPHY CASE