Oscar the Grouch would be quite happy in Boston these days. Boston police ordered the city to remove trash barrels from 30 downtown streets, including places like Beacon Hill, Back Bay, and the Theatre District. The result?

”That’s kind of weird,” Donald Contois said, as he crumpled up a 7-Eleven taquito wrapper and went to discard it in an overflowing frame near the corner of Mount Vernon and Charles streets yesterday afternoon. He was working a construction job around the corner and had been busy taking down scaffolding, he said, ”so it would look pretty for the convention.”

Pretty it wasn’t on Beacon Hill yesterday. Under blooming window boxes and faux gaslights on the hill’s quaint, tony main streets, Starbucks Coffee cups and cigarette butts toppled out of the trash can frames onto narrow brick sidewalks. Over the weekend, city workers began removing public trash cans on much of Charles and Cambridge streets. By yesterday afternoon, complaints flooded the local neighborhood association, and many business owners fumed as they watched the trash pile up outside their stores.

”Now, it’s a mess,” lamented Alex Marder, owner of Simmons Liquors on Cambridge Street, where an overflowing trash can frame stood a few feet from a planter he had recently filled with purple and pink flowers. ”People throw out here, they throw out there, they don’t care!” [Boston Globe]

It is starting to look like every security measure is just stuff they happen to think of off the top of their head. Next up will be backpacks (unless they’re made of clear plastic), soda cans (plastic bottles okay), and iPods.

Quentin Crisp
“If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style.”
[Quotes of the Day]

Halley points to a Dave Barry post (be sure to read the comments) about Cuddle Parties: “your worst nightmare that is supposedly “sweeping New York.”” Pretty scary, the Cuddle Party site even includes rules for when you have a cuddle party:

1. Pajamas stay on the whole time.
2. No SEX. (Yep, you read that right.)
3. Ask for permission to kiss or nuzzle anyone. Make sure you can handle getting a no before you invite or request anyone to cuddle or kiss.
4. If you’re a yes, say yes. If you’re a no, say no.
5. If you’re a maybe, say NO.
6. You are encouraged to change your mind from a yes to a no, no to a yes anytime you want.
7. NO DRY HUMPING!
8. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
9. If you’re in a relationship, communicate and set your boundaries and agreements BEFORE you go to the Cuddle Party. Don’t re-negotiate those agreements/boundaries during the Cuddle Party. (Trust us on this one.)
10. Get your Cuddle Life Guard On Duty or Cuddle Caddy if there’s a concern, problem, or question or should you feel unsafe or need assistance with anything during the Cuddle Party.
11. Crying and giggling are both welcomed and encouraged.
12. Outside of your personal relationships, it’s nobody’s business who you cuddle, so please be respectful of other people’s privacy when sharing with the outside world about Cuddle Parties.
13. Arrive on time.
14. Be hygienically savvy.
15. Clean up after yourself.
16. Always say thank you and practice good Cuddle Manners.

They also say that liquor isn’t allowed, but this kind of event seems like the perfect place for MDMA.

So what does everyone else out there think? Is their skin crawling as much as mine?