Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

Moody's Falafel Palace (foursquare.com/venue/21279)
Adriel Irons (foursquare.com/ferrum26)

What exactly is shawarma?
It's meat on a stick. It's this big vertical rotisserie where they're roasting this meat and letting it marinate for hours.

Eli Pariser is at the Harvard Book Store on Wednesday

Brothers Donovan | Middle East corner, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge | Friday, May 27 @ 11 pm | mideastclub.com

"This Has Been a Disaster, Thanks For Having Us" | Live podcast with Steve Almond and Ryan Walsh interviewing local musicians | Toad, 1912 Mass Ave, Cambridge | Sunday, May 29 @ 9 pm | thishasbeenadisaster.

So now all that bullshit Rapture hoopla is far behind us, it's time to revel in a little schadenfreude. While we laugh at those on their hands and knees with a dustpan trying to sweep up the remains of their lives like a shattered vase after doling out their life savings over (DUN DUN!) Judgment Day, let us remember the ghosts of failed predictions past.

"We never got rich, but we are going to heaven."
-- Clif Garboden

This mortal coil? The final traces of Carly Carioli, Shaula Clark, Peter Kadzis, David Delmar, Susan Kaup, Michael Walsh, Maddy Myers, Kristen Goodfriend and Eugenia Williamson. Photos taken at precisely 6:01 pm on May 21, 2011.

Everybody wants more art, right? But building an art collection can be an arduous, expensive endeavor. Then again, we used to say the same thing about getting a steady supply of organic, locally grown heirloom tomatoes, too -- and then along came community-supported agriculture, and changed everything. So who says that model couldn't work for art, too?

In an email today to publishers including the Boston Phoenix, Google told partners in its News Archive project that it would cease accepting, scanning, and indexing microfilm and other archival material from newspapers, and was instead focusing its energies on "newer projects that help the industry, such as Google One Pass, a platform that enables publishers to sell content and subscriptions directly from their own sites."

If you're doing a double-take on the way past one of our red Boston Phoenix boxes this week, you're not alone -- Faraone amused himself for an hour this morning watching the whiplash at Forest Hills. You may have noticed that we took a different approach with this week's cover for our first (and last?) ever Rapture Issue

Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

O'Brien's Pub
Lilith Astaroth

Do you think O'Brien's was better when it was shittier?
I kind of do. When you go see a metal show, it's going to be dirty and grungy and gritty. That's part of the appeal.

Sebastian Junger discusses War [with Karl Marlantea] at Porter Square Books on Wednesday

Geeks Who Drink | Weekly pub triva, inaugural nights at new bars this week | 8 pm: Thursday, May 18 @ Phoenix Landing, 512 Mass Ave, Cambridge + Wednesday, May 24 @ Tommy Doyles, 96 Winthrop St, Cambridge | geekswhodrink.

At the same time that we celebrate the seventh anniversary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts granting same-sex couples the right to marry, we must renew our commitment to struggle against state control of our personal lives and our bodies. The Supreme Judicial Court's decision - the first in the nation, with four other states and the District of Columbia quickly following suit was a great, and important moment for Massachusetts and the United States.

Welcome to "Meet the Mayor," a segment in which we interview local Foursquare Mayors in their natural habitats.

City Feed & Supply
Melissa Silva-Gaete

What do you think of these delicious sandwiches?
They're just so incredibly delicious. I just started coming here recently.

Brittain Sullivan and Matt Finkle | I love My Bike release party, with free ice cream + snack | Marc Jacobs International, 81 Newbury St, Boston | marcjacobs.

A friend asked earlier this week what I thought of President Obama's late-night speech to the nation, announcing the death of Osama bin Laden, in view of the widespread celebratory reaction. In particular, she asked, how did I-a lawyer who handles both criminal and civil liberties matters-react to the President's handling of the killing, rather than capture, of the Al-Qaeda leader.

A few weeks ago we published an update on the story of Myles J. Connor, the art thief who once claimed to have been the mastermind of the (still unsolved) art-heist of the 20th century: the theft of $300 million in paintings -- including Vermeer's The Concert -- from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.