Dirt

Attention! Attention! The death of civilization by tabloid apocalypse is at hand. Yes, again. "Dirt," Courteney Cox's new FX series, warns us that the pretty people of Babylon are still selling their souls, and their lip mobility, and their nasal passages, to be the next Brangelina. What's more, "Dirt" asserts, tabloid editors are godless power-brokers who create these celebrities and then use them as piñatas. Because we didn't know all this already? I'm not sure we need a Chicken Little wake-up call about Hollywood pitilessness and paparazzi invasions.

Let's start the workweek on a positive note. Dustin Pedroia . Latin for "he who gives a damn. " Pedroia is the anti- Beckett . He sleeps with more intensity than Adrian Gonzalez brings to the plate. He's the Pepto-Bismol to all that chicken and beer that made us queasy and ill. The brightest spot on this team remains covered in dirt at second base. That above photo was taken in the 16th inning of last Sunday's debacle as Pedroia turned a double play.

The Patriots announced the signing of three more defensive linemen today, giving the team 19. Andre Carter, one of the three veteran signees along with Gerard Warren and Shaun Ellis, said he's never seen so many D-linemen on one team, but believes it will only be a plus. "I always say, 'hey, the better the numbers the greater the success' so … it just creates competition within each individual," he said. Carter, the No. 7 pick in the 2001 draft, had his greatest success as an end on teams that ran base 4-3 systems - in Washington in 2009, he recorded 12.5 sacks, but last year,...

Beware the terrible meek. That could be the moral, if there were one, of David Vann's "Dirt. " A domestic tragedy played out in small, but inexorable steps, this novel chronicles the downfall of one already quite dysfunctional family, through the actions of its crumbling protagonist, Galen. Ostensibly a seeker, Galen is a lost and tortured soul. Through a hodgepodge of spiritual masters, from the Buddha to Carlos Castenada, he strives for transcendence. Twenty-two and stuck living with his mother, apparently because of poverty, Galen tries to fast and rise above earthly things.

Q. I'm dying. Should the family's secrets die with me? For three generations, I have been privy to the immoral, unethical, and, yes, illegal behavior of some individuals in my family. Before I die, should I tell my niece-in-law that her husband has had a 30-year sexual relationship with her brother? Does my own brother need to know that his youngest son is not his, but the result of his prim and proper wife's affair with a neighbor? What would the family think of sweet Aunt "Flo" if they knew she's been embezzling from her employer?

A fight is brewing over dirt at housing development in North Smithfield. Providence-based Narragansett Improvement Co. wants permission to build a 122-lot subdivision. Opponents claim the subdivision is a cover for the company's real mission, which is to level ridges and sell the dirt as fill. The Providence Journal reports ( http://bit.ly/uGz8Jy) that the fight is over eskers, a geological remnant of the last ice age. As glaciers moved out, water drained out of crevasses in the ice, leaving behind long ridges of dirt 80 or more feet high.

Edwina Kluender, director of public relations at the Mandarin Oriental, Boston, is leaving the local luxury hotel to become director of communications at the Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco. We checked in with her yesterday hoping that, because it's her last week on the Boston job, she'd give us some dish about the many celebrities she's met at the hotel over the years. Sadly, Kluender wouldn't give up any celebrity gossip. (Celebs who have been spotted over the years at the Mandarin include Adam Sandler and Gisele Bundchen)

"Nothing could ever bring my mother back or make it okay that she was gone. Nothing would put me beside her the moment she died. It broke me up. It cut me off . . . I would want things to be different than they were. The wanting was a wilderness and I had to find my own way out of the woods. It took me four years, seven months, and three days to do it. I didn't know where I was going until I got there. It was a place called the Bridge of the Gods. " When a book has this kind of velocity, when a narrative is enriched by the...

EAST BURKE, Vt. - Jake veered left off the road and, like a good dad, I followed his lead, riding on a soft dirt path in a forest rich with the smell of pine. A right turn on the trail, Coronary Bypass, and we were soon flying downhill on a gem of a narrow run, banking corners and bouncing over roots as the path snaked back and forth through a pocket of trees. Less than 30 minutes into our mountain biking jaunt, we were covered in sweat and that perfect Vermont souvenir, mud. “I think I like this better than skiing,’’ yelled my 12-year-old son as he became a blur through the woods.

FRANCONIA, N.H. - Some hikes lead to breathtaking summits or blockbuster alpine views. But a forested winter trek or snowshoeing expedition to a lovely waterfall loaded with trailside wonder can be an ample reward as well. The gentle journey to 80-foot-high Bridal Veil Falls with its granite ledges and shallow pools is just such a ramble. Tucked in a lush White Mountain ravine on a side of rugged Cannon Mountain, the wide canopied trail follows tumbling Coppermine Brook much of the way before unveiling an enchanting cascade with flat rocks for...

Edwina Kluender, director of public relations at the Mandarin Oriental, Boston, is leaving the local luxury hotel to become director of communications at the Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco. We checked in with her yesterday hoping that, because it's her last week on the Boston job, she'd give us some dish about the many celebrities she's met at the hotel over the years. Sadly, Kluender wouldn't give up any celebrity gossip. (Celebs who have been spotted over the years at the Mandarin include Adam Sandler and Gisele Bundchen)

The body of a 22-year-old Ashburnham man was found in a pond on Saturday after he apparently died in a dirt bike accident, the Worcester district attorney's office said. Zacharie Brodeur was found by police in a pond off of Sherbert Road where he was riding, said Tim Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. Connolly said Brodeur lost control of the bike, hit the guard rail, and was thrown into the pond. Brodeur was pronounced dead at the scene, Connolly said.

The body of a 22-year-old Ashburnham man was found in a pond on Saturday after he apparently died in a dirt bike accident, the Worcester district attorney's office said. Zacharie Brodeur was found by police in a pond off of Sherbert Road, where he was riding, said Tim Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. Connolly said Brodeur lost control of the bike, hit a guard rail, and was thrown into the pond. Brodeur was pronounced dead at the scene, Connolly said. State Police are investigating the accident, and do not suspect foul play, he said.

"Nothing could ever bring my mother back or make it okay that she was gone. Nothing would put me beside her the moment she died. It broke me up. It cut me off . . . I would want things to be different than they were. The wanting was a wilderness and I had to find my own way out of the woods. It took me four years, seven months, and three days to do it. I didn't know where I was going until I got there. It was a place called the Bridge of the Gods. " When a book has this kind of velocity, when a narrative is enriched by the authority and raw power of a voice like...

Put on your green jeans, floppy straw hat, and Wellingtons to dance at Bountiful Brookline's first Dirt Ball, a fund-raiser to celebrate local food and gardening. The April 1 gala, starting at 5 p.m. at the Goodwin Gardens, 11 Goodwin Place , will feature "dirty" blues from the Frank Morey Band, "dirty" cocktails, and food from local restaurants including the Fireplace, La Morra, and Lineage. Tickets to the benefit event are $45, or $40 for Bountiful Brookline members, and may be purchased in advance at www.bountifulbrookline.org.

The new Lumia 710 phone from Nokia and T-Mobile is lightning-fast and dirt-cheap. It may also represent Microsoft Corp.'s best hope of gaining a foothold in the US market with its excellent but unpopular Windows Phone 7 software.

The new Lumia 710 phone from Nokia and T-Mobile is lightning-fast and dirt-cheap. It may also represent Microsoft Corp.'s best hope of gaining a foothold in the US market with its excellent but unpopular Windows Phone 7 software.

An entrepreneur is selling soil from a serial killer's home in Cleveland, outraging victims' families. The Plain Dealer reports Eric Gein of Jackson, Fla., had an associate fill two sandwich bags with dirt from Anthony Sowell's (SOH'-wehlz) house two weeks ago and is selling it on his website called serialkillersink.net for $25 per gram. Gein expects to make a total of $500. Sowell was convicted last month of murdering 11 women and dumping their remains around his property.

Q. I'm dying. Should the family's secrets die with me? For three generations, I have been privy to the immoral, unethical, and, yes, illegal behavior of some individuals in my family. Before I die, should I tell my niece-in-law that her husband has had a 30-year sexual relationship with her brother? Does my own brother need to know that his youngest son is not his, but the result of his prim and proper wife's affair with a neighbor? What would the family think of sweet Aunt "Flo" if they knew she's been embezzling from her employer?

A fight is brewing over dirt at housing development in North Smithfield. Providence-based Narragansett Improvement Co. wants permission to build a 122-lot subdivision. Opponents claim the subdivision is a cover for the company's real mission, which is to level ridges and sell the dirt as fill. The Providence Journal reports ( http://bit.ly/uGz8Jy) that the fight is over eskers, a geological remnant of the last ice age. As glaciers moved out, water drained out of crevasses in the ice, leaving behind long ridges of dirt 80 or more feet high.