I was going to drop a brief word this morning noting that the Dropkick Murphys' "Shipping Up To Boston" was featured all through last night's episode of "The Simpsons," a "Departed" takeoff called "The Debarted." It wasn't the greatest episode, but it was nice to see the Dropkicks get some love as always. Not everyone feels the same way.

But better the Dropkicks out there representing for Boston than the possibly reunited boy band New Kids On The Block, despite their borrowed Wahlberg street cred. For weeks fans have been buzzing about a possible NKOTB reunion, which has been hinted, leaked and, most tellingly, vigorously denied by the principals. Perhaps the news will be announced in L.A. today, and we'll get to see what 15 years have done to those members of the million-selling band who we haven't seen since. (Here's a hint.)

There's going to be a certain amount of excitement from the (formerly) teenaged girls who worshipped the band for a few years there before the Backstreet Boys and N'Sync grabbed the template and made themselves even bigger. It's difficult to imagine what charms a boy band might have after its members have reached adulthood - the smooth voices and nonthreatening Tiger Beat charm must be gone, leaving what exactly? Not that there was much else to begin with. This was a manufactured bubblegum pop band that most of us over the age of 16 ignored and/or mocked when it was at its peak. It's a little unsettling that people are tracking the NKOTB reunion saga as if they were this great band that mattered. It's a sign of just how celebrity-starved this town is.

We talk about Aerosmith and Boston like they're the Beatles and the Stones, when of course to the rest of the world they're, um, not. But they're what we've got, along with Ming Tsai and Ernie Boch Jr. and a handful of others, plus of course the Sox and Pats. Caring about celebrities is debatable; caring about the NKOTB reunion seems to me a sign of desperation.