Sorry, Internet-ers. I've been neglecting the mailing list people, so I sent out the list and started the weekend fun. This is what I got, but I'lll try to flesh things out throughout the week, as I've been doing lately...
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SAT 5/17
* SoWa Art Walk (& Open Market Opening Weekend)
* Cambridge Home & Energy Fair
* "Trails, Sails, Rails and Wheels": Spring Bicycle Tour
* "Drink Craft Beer, Eat Craft Cheese": Tasting
* Umoja Orchestra
* Harvard Art Museum Open House -- and SUN 5/18
SUN 5/18
* Cafe Sci: "Your body is remarkably perfect"
* Boo Radley, Big Digits, The Secret Sea
* Haitian Flag Day (and WED 5/21)
MON 5/19
* Four Stories: Alden Jones, Michael Palmer, M.D., Jon Papernick, Ted Weesner, Jr
* Redbones Annual Bike Party & Benefit
* Introduction To Jewish Music: "From The Origins To Current Times"
TUES 5/20
* Martin Bisi; Black Fortress Of Opium; Walter Sickert & THe ARmy of BRoken Toys; What Time is It, Mr Fox?
* Double Feature: "The Big Lebowski", "Raising Arizona"
* "Like Water for Chocolate": Free Screening
WED 5/21
* Shakespeare and the Law: "King Lear and the Perils of Surrendering Authority"
* Preacher Jack
THUR 5/22
* Rock Climbing Wall Open House
* "Standard Operating Procedure": Free Screening
* Air Traffic, The Douglas Fir, Senor Happy
* Varsity Drag, Two Saints, lump, Von Ehrics
FRI 5/23
* Liam Finn
SAT 5/24
* EarthFest
* Tango by Moonlight
* Boston Zombie March IV
* Sailing Open House
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SAT 5/17
11am to 6pm
SoWa Art Walk (& Open Market Opening Weekend)
at 540 Harrison Ave and around there, Boston (South End)
FREE to walk around
The weather is getting better, and there is probably at least one "Open Studios" event somewhere in town. Many of the artists South of Washington St (Get it? So = South, Wa= Washington.) invite you in to see their stuff and chat. The South End Open Market is also beginning again until October-ish with all sorts of arts, crafts, collectibles, home goods, clothes, food, etc, etc. They should be open from 10am to 5pm both days this weekend at 540 Harrison Ave; Sundays only for the rest of the season.
SAT 5/17
10am to 2pm
Cambridge Home & Energy Fair
at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School cafeteria, 459 Broadway, Cambridge (Near Harvard Sq)
FREE
I went last year, and it was very informative. There is some Cambridge-specific info, but the exhibits and activities/presentations offered the general citizen a good idea about saving energy (& money) and developing a sustainable lifestyle.
SAT 5/17
10:15am to 12:30pm
"Trails, Sails, Rails and Wheels": Spring Bicycle Tour
begins at City Hall, 795 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE
It's a casual, approximately 2-hour, 11-mile bike ride through Cambridge. There will be a few stops to talk about this ride's theme: transportation history in Cambridge from pre-colonial times to the present -- with a little future thrown in.
Get there on time for the orientation.
SAT 5/17
3pm to 6pm
"Drink Craft Beer, Eat Craft Cheese": Tasting
at Wine Gallery, 371 Boylston St, Brookline
FREE
Free beer and cheese tasting with a variety chosen by the good guys at DrinkCraftBeer and various goat cheese from Westfield Farm of Central Mass. If you're rambling down Route 9, you might get thirsty and/or hungry. You don't have to buy anything, but you probably will.
SAT 5/17
8pm
Umoja Orchestra
at Harriet Tubman House Atrium (United South End Settlements), 566 Columbus Ave, Boston (South End)
$10
Umoja Orchestra, a Latin Afro-jazz 12-piece (or so) band from Florida, make beautiful music in the vein of Ozomatli. Tonight is a benefit for Hostelling International's Cultural Kitchen program serving inner city youth in Boston.
SAT 5/17 and SUN 5/18
10am to 5pm (SUN: 1pm to 5pm)
Community Open House
at Fogg Museum, 32 Quincy St, Cambridge (Harvard campus)
FREE
Believe it or not, the Fogg Museum is closing at the end of June for major renovations (and the Busch-Reisinger Museum will be probably be torn down altogether). Take one last look at the old layout for free this weekend. If you go on Sunday, you'll see the opening of the last exhibit aptly called, "Renzo Piano's Art Museum for Harvard". Construction is supposed to begin in '09...
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SUN 5/18
6:30pm
Cafe Sci: "Your body is remarkably perfect"
at The Thirsty Scholar, 70 Beacon St, Somerville (Inman Sq)
FREE / 21+
"Your body is remarkably perfect." It's not just a pick-up line; it's the topic of this discussion in association Nova on PBS. Harvard Medical School researcher Cliff Tabin will talk about the wonder of genetics in plain English. There are free appetizers (which were good and plentiful when I went) and drink specials.
(Since the Celtics need a game 7 to win, this may be rescheduled.)
SUN 5/18
9:30pm
Boo Radley, Big Digits, The Secret Sea
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
FREE / 21+
Big Digits are a party by themselves. Resistance to their raps and beats is futile. Boo Radley is more of an experimental indie-hip-hop thing that does stuff like rapping under Radiohead tracks like a melancholy Warren G. The Secret Sea brings the synthy new-wave/indie-rock.
You might see this listed on some internets as "at Milky Way Lounge", but I promise you it's been moved to O'Briens. You don't see many free shows like this at O'Briens.
SUN 5/186pm to 8pm
Haitian Flag Day
at City Hall Concourse, 93 Highland Ave, Somerville
FREE
Whoops! Looks like I screwed up, but the Wednesday event looks like a go...
WED 5/21
6pm to 8pm
Haitian Flag Day
at City Hall, 795 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE
Music, dance, speakers, and Haitian food.
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MON 5/19
7pm to 9pm
Four Stories: Alden Jones, Michael Palmer, MD, Jon Papernick, Ted Weesner, Jr
at The Enormous Room, 567 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE
Not exactly "thrilling" but relatively cheap. Listen to four readings while enjoying some food and drinks. You can test if they actually give a free tapas with drink orders from 5pm to 9pm. It's a night to check out the (tiny) Enormous Room without the usual dance/lounge crowd.
Tonight's theme is "Now You See Me, Now You Don't: Tales of Appearing & Disappearing". The Four Stories is going disappear for a while -- this is the "season finale".
MON 5/19
5pm to 9pm
Redbones Annual Bike Party & Benefit w/ 2nd Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band
at Redbones, 55 Chester St, Somerville (Davis Sq)
$15
You loved Bay State Bike Week, right? Okay, the total is over $10, but you get so much for your $15 -- a Redbones sandwich (meat or vegetarian) with fixin’s, a soft drink or Harpoon beer, and a raffle ticket. The sandwich plate with a beer is about $13 without tip! You could walk away with a prize, and Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band are going to play.
Bicycle valet parking is even included, but you don't have to ride a bike to go. (Maybe you want to win one...?)
Additional raffle tickets will be $2 each or 3 for $5. Drawing at 7:30 pm. Proceeds go to New England Mountain Bike Association & Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition.
MON 5/19
6pm
Introduction To Jewish Music: "From The Origins To Current Times"
at French Library/Alliance Francaise, 53 Marlborough St, Boston (Back Bay)
$10
Am I the only one interested in the history and nature of Jewish music? Okay, I thought so... You just wait until you hear my electronica CD based on traditional Hebrew music! (One of my actual backburner ideas.)
They say the lecture will be conducted in French "with simultaneous English translation" (by Sorbonne musicology professor Anny Dreyfuss), so this might be interesting in itself to Franco-phones/philes. A Kosher reception will follow.
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TUES 5/20
9pm
Martin Bisi; Black Fortress Of Opium; Walter Sickert & THe ARmy of BRoken Toys; What Time is It, Mr Fox?
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$8 / 18+
TUES 5/20
Double Feature: The Big Lebowski (10pm), Raising Arizona (7:30pm)
at Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$9.50
I'm not telling you to go, man... I'm just telling you about the potential comedic, cinematic experience.
The Dude abides.
TUES 5/20
6:30pm to 8:30pm
"Like Water for Chocolate"
at Somerville Central Library, 79 Highland Ave, Somerville
FREE
Yes, I liked this movie and magical realism in general.
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WED 5/21
5pm to 7pm
Shakespeare and the Law: "King Lear and the Perils of Surrendering Authority"
at Cutler Majestic Theatre, 219 Tremont St, Boston (Theatre District)
FREE w/ RSVP
If the Federalist Society does anything constructive for the general public, it might be presenting their annual "Shakespeare and the Law" series for free. There will be an abridged staged reading of Shakespeare's tragedy about power, family, and trust. Incidentally: "The event is hosted by former Whitewater Special Prosecutor... Kenneth Starr." Participants will include Federal District Court Judges, Supreme Judicial Court Justices, ex-Gov. Paul Cellucci, and other big fancy lawyers who will perform a one-hour version of the play and/or sit on the discussion panel.
RSVP Required to Dottie Moore: by email or 617-449-6617
WED 5/21
9:30pm
Preacher Jack
at Church, 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston (Fenway)
FREE (but drop a little something in the basket)
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THUR 5/22
5pm to 7pm
Rock Climbing Wall Open House
at Fitness and Recreation Center, 915 Comm Ave, Boston (BU campus)
FREE w/ Registration
This is a good chance to try rock climbing at no cost -- and you don't need to crack your head open at the quarry where no one will find you for days. For some reason, BU is offering their climbing wall for free. Warning: This is may be exhilarating, and you'll want to pay to do it again.
Register here. There are a few steps, but maybe you'll want to do something free again in the future. You'll be halfway there for the next time...
THUR 5/227pm
"Standard Operating Procedure"
at Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge (Harvard campus)
FREEErrol Morris was going to attend for a post-film discussion with Homi Bhabha, director of Harvard Humanities Center, but I guess he can't stand interviews without his giant interrogating film-machine in between... You can still see his Abu Graib documentary though.
Maybe Errol read my comments and took his print back, but this screening is cancelled.
THUR 5/22
Air Traffic (11:30pm), The Douglas Fir (10:30pm), Senor Happy (9:30pm)
at TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$9
Air Traffic are an English rock band with a lot of musical variety; nothing immediately hummable for me, but they sound really good. It's near the end of the American smallish-club tour, they could be on the verge of something medium-sized. Even if these guys are running a B&B back in Bournemouth a few years from now, you won't be disappointed. Thankfully, we're in a period where the excellent Douglas Fir is playing some gigs again. With an English, noir post-wave sound, they've stuck out on the Boston over the years -- and others are starting to catch on to their wave. If that isn't enough, you should dig the rootsy pop-rock of Senor Happy.
THUR 5/22
Varsity Drag (11:45pm), Two Saints (10:45pm), lump (9:45pm), The Von Ehrics (9pm)
at Abbey Lounge, 3 Beacon St, Somerville (Inman Sq)
$8
It's kinda one of those mish-mash lineups that usually bother me, but this one is so interesting. What can I say -- Varsity Drag is my favorite new-old band. The songs are so catchy, and the guitars churn loudly yet tunefully. Leader Ben Deily was also the co-main Lemonhead for the first 3 albums. Two of the other bands are reunited from the 90's: the boozy-punkish rock of Two Saints and noisy post-punk of lump who played SXSW this year. Back in '93, The Noise described them as "Husker Du on diet pills". The Texas cow-punk of The Von Ehrics will get you in the mood to rock.
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FRI 5/23
7pm
Liam Finn: Performance & Signing
at Newbury Comics, 36 JFK St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
FREE
Neil's (Crowded House) son.
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SAT 5/24
Noon
EarthFest
at Hatch Shell, Charles River Esplanade, Storrow Dr, Boston
FREE
The big ones:
Cake (4:45pm), Cracker (3:15pm), The English Beat (2pm), The BoDeans (12:45pm)
SAT 5/24
7:30pm to 11pm
Tango by Moonlight
over the Charles River on the Weeks pedestrian bridge, Memorial Drive side, near Dewolf St, Cambridge
FREE
The first night of season. Go. Dance. Feel the "Amor"...
SAT 5/24
2pm
Boston Zombie March IV
at South Station to Newbury St to Boston Common
FREE
Finish at Boston Common for some zombie games. Bring frisbees, wiffle ball, hacky sacks, whatever but you must stay in zombie mode!
SAT 5/24
1pm to 5pm
Sailing Open House
at Boston Sailing Center, Lewis Wharf, Boston (North End)
FREE
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Links of the Week:
A Boston fashion photoblog by someone I met this week.
Free downloads of an "Old Cambridge" walking tour are available -- and it's going to be $5 in June...
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Quote of the Week:
"A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation."
--Moliere
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th-th-that's all, folks.
~r
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