Improper Bostonian

When I am stuck in a waiting room or a long bus ride I pick up a copy, which fairly easy to do. I generally enjoy reading it and it’s free so even if I don’t like a particular issue I am not out any money. I don’t take it to serious, just a decent way to pass the time. I don’t really bother with other free press with the exception of pride month.

Quickly becoming synonomous (sp?) with Boston itself, we have yet another free magazine on the streets: The Improper Bostonian. I have had people ask me if I have the most recent edition, of if I want theirs, now that their done with it. It speaks to the magazine itself if people are telling me about it.
Full of ads, which I don’t like, but sometimes there’s a decent article or I’ll learn of something going on in town I didn’t know about. I could do without the photos of people at events — useless to me. But once in a while the magazine provides me with info that comes in handy.

I like IB, not just because I interned there back in the day but there are some good articles. I mean, there are some sections of the mag that are not interesting like the calendar. It seems to be the same eek after week. Well not the calendar I guess, but whatever that whole section is which is about 20 pages long, its just boring :-(but can be helpful when trying to find something to do i guess.
The subscription is for people who dont live in the city and don’t have access to the magazine and who are fans. That is the point of having a $ 14 a year subscription, which is pretty cheap. I used to process them for people who lived all over.
As for the pictures… I had the pleasure of taking some photos here and there and the reason they are dark, and sometimes difficult is because at the functions… its dark! I had a blast interning there.
The parties, they are fun if you are the first to arrive. I’ve been to a few of their events and theyre always nicely set up except for the free booze and food. Sometimes the venues get so. So packed that you cant even see your hand infront of you, and forget about the free promised drinks as they sometimes run out (thats the alcohol sponsor). The food is usually really good but hard to find.
Overall, I am a fan of the magazine, but I dont think i like the new font on the cover.

I definitely like IB more since Veronica Chao left as the editrix. When she was in charge, it was this weird paper that pretended Boston had this hot and happening scene with people wearing $ 60,000 cocktail rings. The paper ignored the actual cool things that happened in Boston that didn’t happen to the absurdly rich. It was so ridiculous that I stopped picking it up altogether, preferring staring into a homeless man’s armpit on the 66 bus over reading it.
The new editor, Megan Lisador, has brought some cohesion to the bi-​weekly. The fashion spreads are still the weak point, but now they aren’t *as* static in composition, the models don’t look *as* constipated, and the clothes/​accessories aren’t *as* comically out of my price range. There are more light featurettes, and a nod to experiencing the metro area for less than $ 10,000 a day. Ezra is solid — I hate to admit it but he does make me chuckle sometimes. (Don’t tell anyone). The Soroff interviews are diverting. And the personals and the horoscopes are fun.
The event listings are actually good, though. The most thorough and easy to understand out of all the freebies. It’s worth picking up for your commute — better than the Metro!

I have no idea about the content of this magazine, because I cannot get past the amaturish design. Did they run out of money? What advertiser would want their content anywhere in or around that layout?
It’s unacceptable that in a relatively large and cosmopolitan city we have to settle for this standard of design. If one of a city’s main magazines is below cutting edge or beautiful, it degrades the cultural relavance of the whole place.

2 star SAT review
the IB is to boston: the Phantom gourmet is to dining out.
there you go, if you advertise in IB you are the best, if not, your not worth the ink its printed with. hey its free amusing and always worth picking up to read ezra article (maybe the 2 stars itself) and the sometimes witty improper personals. from time to time the articles are worth a read, but its either that or look at the twitching person father down the t car.
i hate the cut out pictures& montages that look like the emerson’s senior project.

I’m all about the free publications we have in Boston.
Out of them all, the Improper is my favorite followed closely by the Phoenix. It’s just that the Phoenix is too long and I don’t really have time to read it through, so the Improper moves to #1.
What I don’t like is the fashion spread each issue. It feels like I go from reading something like Budget Travel to flipping through Vogue. It doesn’t really mesh with the rest of the issue.
I live for getting updates on new restaurants, bars and of course the new shops/​boutiques in the area. I definitely look forward to picking this up every other Monday night.

I’m only giving this one star because it’s free and in color. This magazine makes me barf. Written by rich yuppies for rich yuppies, they have no touch with reality. I realize a lot of people in Boston are rich students, but they are not interested in yuppie activities. And can we talk about the photos? What is going on here? Every week, consistently baaaad lighting and bad printing. Wow. Woww… This thing sucks. Staring at the person across from you on the T will be more informative and enlightening than reading this fluff garbage. I hope they give it up soon.

The man issue is out now and being a man I have to put my 2 little cents in here. First of all you guys got me with the hot babe on the front like you did with the bartenders edition. The pictures inside of the model on page 1000 were in a dark room with her in the same outfit with no skin. Really really bad pics. Also you did a hot dog thing rating weiners which is sort of not a man thing (at least not out of the locker room) but the number one dog was at a south end eatery for $ 14. Like any guy would pay more than 2 bucks for a hot dog. We swallow them whole without tasting them when we are drunk and don’t give a shit what they taste like. SO obviously written by some stuck up journalism major bitch. And on the same page a story about crepes. The whole mag seems to be geered towards wannabe party pals and gay south end men. Leave the man issues to Maxim and stick with Lydia Shires new eatery in… The South End, you guessed it. You’re as improper as anal lube at the Park Street church. It should be called the,” We moved here from New Jersey where no one knows us so we can pretend to be popular and hang out with gay guys in Bostonian.” or something…

My first impression of this rag when i moved here was that it was trying too hard to be hip. The covers had the latest hot celeb/​boston native, the articles were geared toward a hipster-​esque crowd, and the restaurants and bars they featured looked pretentious.
That said, whoever they have writing the music articles is surprisingly good. One of the articles was about (10) local bands that one must check out before they make it big or break-​up — both unforgivable in the hipster guidebook. It was so well written, i may actually venture out of hibernation to check a few of them out.

A question for those who have been an owner or manager of a business: Do you ever have the fear that one of your employees will do something so stupid or act very rudely? And the sad thing thing is managers can’t be everywhere at all times to watch out for the idiocy of their employees. I’ll get to the point now.
I love the magazine as it used to make my plans each week. Even Ezra made sense every now and then. I even sent a photo of me posing with an issue in Melbourne (Boston’s sister city). It was a great publication to find out about events as well as new eating establishments and stomping grounds. So when a friend of mine from San Francisco was planning to open a sushi restaurant in Boston, I said I would looking to advertising rates at certain publications.
I called up the Improper and spoke to the ad exec. I explained that the restaurant is still in the business plan phase and I am helping make a budget and Idon’t know anything else. She kept asking for the owners’ names plus chefs, investors. I told her I didn’t know and reiterated that it is still in the planning phase. She then asks where is it going to be? What style of décor? Can I fax a menu to her? I politely explained that I didn’t know while here tone was condescending, aggressive, and she used some profanity. At this point I hung up.
Don’t people realize that you get more bees with honey and vinegar? I think that there is a certain respect you have for people in general. But I feel bad for the management/​owner of the Improper as one of the uncouth rogue employees acted idiotically. I don’t see why she was so rude there was no point in it and I am less likely to give money to someone who is rude.

The very first thing I do each and every time I pick up an Improper Bostonian is flip to the Ezra Dyer article. This guy seriously cracks me up. Pick up a copy the next time you are waiting for the T, get to know Ezra, and I promise the 20 minutes you spend waiting for the next car on the green line will go by in a flash. This guy scores extra points for the magazine cause he is from Maine.

Frequently irreverent, often witty, and always up-​to-​date, the Improper Bostonian is THE source of event listings for greater Beantown. The «impersonals» are usually good for a laugh as well.
The last star is withheld because I think their reviews of plays and shows are a bit skimpy — I wish they would model it on the film section.
Pick it up for free practically everywhere in Boston.

Worth every penny! Hah hah, it’s free. No, seriously, if you only read 1 newspaper/​magazine in Boston, this should be it. Ezra’s funny (well, usually) and it’s fun looking at all the High Society pictures on the back page, and you can actually find out lots of gossip, but Improper can’t be beat for its events listings… everything from sales to clubbing to concerts to book readings to parties to the gay/​lesbian scene to events for kids to galleries… if you are ever bored just pick up an Improper and I promise that you’ll find something to do.