Leisure

Good Times...

The Most Dubious Moments of 2011

2011 was the sort of year you’ll tell your grandchildren about—replete with white-collar crime, Kennedy gossip and captured fugitives. Here’s a quick review of the weirdest moments.

FEBRUARY 28

Ted Kennedy Liked Chilean Hookers

The Kennedys were back in the news in 2011. First came a controversial made-for-TV movie about their family. Then an FBI report revealed that Ted Kennedy made arrangements to rent out a Chilean brothel in 1961 during a trip to South America. Giving new meaning to the phrase “international relations.”

JUNE 23

Whitey Bulger Captured After 16 Years

Speaking of the FBI, 2011 saw it scratch two criminals off its famous Most Wanted list. Osama bin Laden, of course, and Southie crime lord turned rat Whitey Bulger. Jack Nicholson could not be reached for comment.

AUGUST 12

A Tycoon Opens His Home to Ochocinco

When word got out that Patriots-bound Chad Ochocinco was looking for a place to live while settling into New England life, North End restaurant godfather Frank DePasquale (Umbria Prime, Splash, Bricco) suggested his $8.5 million estate in Marblehead Neck would be a suitable crash pad. Ocho decided it wasn’t.

OCTOBER 1

Billerica 99 Restaurant Makes <em>Guinness</em>

There are many ways to get into Guinness. The Billerica 99 restaurant decided to do so by creating a 70-foot, 3,999-pound plate of nachos with (among other things) 1,105 pounds of chips, 459 pounds of chili and 825 pounds of cheese melted with a torch gun. All nachos should come this way.

OCTOBER 12

The Sox Blow It with Fried Chicken

If 2004 marked the end of The Curse, 2011 was tarnished by a spectacular, history-making Sox flameout courtesy of an excess of video games, beer and fried chicken in the clubhouse. Making it the first time beer, video games and fried chicken were a source of pain in your life.

OCTOBER 26

Cambridge Gets a Mini-Madoff

Bernie Madoff is the gold standard in white-collar supervillains. But a local 27-year-old Harvard Business School dropout became Cambridge’s mini-Madoff when his investment firm was shut down by the feds, who claimed it was a $1.6 million scam. Fittingly, the firm’s name was Locust...