🍓 Pick-your-own boo (and berries)

Happy Friday, Boston!

🕺 Think Boston’s nightlife is blah? Now’s your chance to fix it. The city is putting together a N.I.T.E. Committee made up of residents, business owners, and community leaders to help create a more fun, equitable, and vibrant nightlife scene. You’re not allowed to complain unless you apply here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• The tax battle begins

• Body-ody-ody-ody

• A Kowloon documentary

Up first...

SUMMER FRIDAYS

Pick a boo, pick a berry

If you’re in need of weekend plans, we’ve got you covered. The air quality forecast is looking OK, but we’ve still got some indoor options, just in case.

Here are a few ways to spend your Saturday and Sunday:

💏 Ditch the apps and try dating the old fashioned way. The Thirsty Scholar is hosting a speed-dating event on Sunday for 26- to 38-year olds where you can have up to 14 five-minute dates with potential boo things. After the dates, you check off if you'd like to see them again, and the bar will send you the email addresses of your matches.

🪴 Spend your Sunday building your own terrarium. From choosing the perfect plants and soil to perfectly highlighting their aesthetic, this workshop will give you a step-by-step process of building your mini plant sanctuary. You just have to bring your own glass vessel for planting (clean tomato sauce jars or big ole’ candle jars will do).

🚶 Make your weekend hot girl walk a group event. Boston Girls Who Walk will be hosting a group walk this Sunday around the Mystic River Reservation. Their walks are typically around three-ish miles long and end with a coffee or snack stop at a local spot.

🌳 See the queerness in nature with the Mass Audubon Society. During their generative writing workshop, you’ll read a few queer, nature-themed poems, do a one-mile nature walk with mindfulness activities, and spend some time in nature writing your own poems. It's open to writers of any experience level, so give it a go!

🍓 Need a day trip? Pick-your-own strawberries at Ward’s Berry Farm. The U-pick season kicked off Thursday at this beloved Sharon berry patch. And while the rules technically say you can’t eat them while picking, we’re not not giving you permission. A PYO pint starts at $6.

🏅 Play cornhole for a cause on the Greenway. For $100, you and a friend can enter the sixth annual tourney. While the entry price is a little steep, proceeds will support the North End Music and Performing Arts Center. In addition to two guaranteed games, entry gets you two T-shirts, live music, raffles, prizes, and more.

🏳️‍🌈 And, of course, be sure to swing by Boston’s Pride parade and festival. The parade kicks off in Copley Square at 11 a.m. Saturday and ends with a festival on The Common. Or, if you’re over 21, a festival on City Hall Plaza. It’s been a long four years without you.

TOGETHER WITH THE BROADWAY

Giveaway alert!

Good news! We’re giving away two tickets to Broadway’s Community Supper at The Broadway in Southie on June 13. To be eligible, refer a friend below and have them accept your invite between June 8 and Jun 11. If you’ve already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

💸 The Senate’s tax relief bill just dropped. And the business community didn’t get a ton of love. Most notably, it doesn’t include Gov. Healey’s proposal to cut the tax rate on short-term capital gains from 12 percent to 5 percent (a proposal that would’ve benefitted predominantly wealthy residents). And although similar in several ways to the House’s tax bill, which clocked in at $1.1 billion, it’s roughly half the cost, likely due to the state revenue picture that has soured in the last few months. Next stop: Negotiations. This should be interesting.

🩺 Medical residents and fellows voted to unionize at Mass General Brigham. And the support was overwhelming. The yes votes beat the nos three to one (1,215 to 412), meaning MGB hospitals around the state will now join the Committee of Interns and Residents, creating one of the largest unions of its kind in the country. And the unionization momentum in hospitals continues to grow throughout the country. The union’s reps have said its membership has grown by more than 50 percent since 2020 as the pandemic put significant strain on hospital staff.

💀 The body-ody-ody-odies are coming to Boston. More specifically, Body Worlds: The Anatomy of Happiness exhibit featuring a collection of real human specimens. The exhibit, which is set to make its North American debut in July, uses preserved bodies to show the impact of happiness on the body and mind. It’ll also show the unpleasant effects that tobacco, alcohol, and various diseases can have on the body. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased on pre-sale starting June 16. Side bar: I went to another version of this exhibit in 2014 and it was low-key incredible.

QUICK QUESTION!

👀 Thoughts on the body exhibit?

ONE LAST THING

A Kowloon documentary

Route 1’s iconic restaurant is making a documentary. And they need your help!

The legendary North Shore Chinese spot (which recently made plans to significantly downsize), posted on social media asking customers to provide some of the footage for the film. Preferably, “old video footage (VHS, Super 8mm).”

So if you or your parents remember taking a camcorder to Kowloon at some point in time, you can email the footage to [email protected].

But if you only have shots on an iPhone, that too should suffice.

🤔 Thanks for reading! Maybe it’s the Gen Z in me talking, but I’m having a hard time imagining someone whipping out a camcorder or Super 8 camera in Kowloon.

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected].