February 2006 Archives

Hi there,

Oh, also as part of updating my huge-o database of activities, which is a major project, I discovered that two of the rollerskating rinks I recommended last month have gone out of business. At least, their phone numbers are disconnected.

So forget Skatetown USA and Skate Palace, and use these instead for your wish-it-was-Spring blues. I'm planning on going skating tonight! Yay!

This weekend, another Mardi Gras event, Mardi Gras @ The Big Easy, Feb 24th, which is the largest one I could find. 1 Boylston Place, Boston, MA . Reserve tix ahead. 8:30PM - 2:00AM
Also, consider the Central Massachusetts Flower Show, Feb 23-26, in Worcester. I suppose Spring is coming up so it's the right time to get gardeners excited -- but how are they going to show any flowers at this time of the year? Well, they do it. It's at the DCU Center, which used to be called the Worcester Centrum. 508-792-0314. Park at Worcester Municipal Garage at 30 Worcester Center Blvd.
The big event of the week is the Festival of Funny Songwriters, Feb 25th in Somerville. Somerville Theatre. 7PM. Folk music & comedy. I haven't been but it looks interesting.
Also bucking the it's-still-Winter trend is the Camellia Show at Arnold Arboretum. You've already heard of Lilac Sunday; well, this is the "other" big event at Arnold Arboretum. Camellia's bloom in Winter. No, really, the website told me. Apparently it involves some opera, which will hopefully be indoors. Interesting factoid: the arboretum is run by Harvard.
Finally, check out some of the museums at Harvard and MIT. The MIT Museum. 265 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA. 617-253-4444. $5. Tues - Fri 10am - 5pm. Sat & Sun Noon - 5 pm. Monday - closed. Closed Dec. 24 & 25. MIT Bldg N52. 3rd Sunday is free admission.
MIT List Visual Arts Center. 20 Ames Street. Cambridge, MA. 617-253-4680. FREE. Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday, Sunday: 12-6PM. Friday: 12-8PM. Closed Mondays; Nov. 25; Dec. 24 and 25. Closing at 4PM on Dec. 31. MIT building E15, Atrium level
All the Harvard museums are within walking distance of each other, starting with the Harvard Museum of Natural History, which is fossils, stones, glass flowers, etc. The funny thing about the glass flower display (which was created nearly a century ago so that biologists could study flowers that weren't dried) is that they are so perfect looking that when you see them, you're like, hmm flowers so what. But they're made of glass, which is pretty cool. 26 Oxford St. Cambridge, MA. (617) 495-3045. $8. Daily from 9 a.m to 5 p.m. Closed on: New Year's Day,Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. Free Sundays 9-12. AAA discount.
Harvard University Art Museums - Fogg, Sackler. 32 Quincy Street. Cambridge, MA. (617) 495-9400. $8. Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sackler is at 485 Broadway. The Fogg and Sackler are sort of put-together as one big building, which also connects to the Peabody. And the Busch-Reisinger is no longer a separate museum, it's a wing of the Fogg now basically.
My personal favorite is the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. When you think of 19th century academics in pith helmets roaming through darkest Africa, you think... well you think of The British Empire but you should also be thinking of Harvard. And they have artifacts from native cultures worldwide that will make you feel part of it personally. Plus the volunteer program is truly excellent at all the Harvard museums, there is always plenty for kids to do. 11 Divinity Avenue. Cambridge, MA. (617) 496-1027. $8. Seven Days a Week from 9 am to 5 pm
Finally, right across the street from the Peabody is the Semitic Museum. I've never been to this one, but they have a model ancient-Israelite house and I bet it's worth a visit. 6 Divinity Ave Cambridge, MA. (617) 495-4631. FREE. Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and Sundays, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. The Museum is closed on holidays, and on the Sundays before Monday holidays. Model Israelite house & ancient artifacts and society from Cyprus, Mesopotamia.

As you can tell from the completeness of this week's information, I am spinning up the activities project into something truly high-tech and funky. If you would like to help with event-finding, programming, databases, web design, or marketing/promotion of the finished project, please zip me a note or LJ comment and I will send you my two-page writeup as to what the project will be. Hint: it will be cooler than evdb.com. The current idea is to keep it on the hobby-level not starting a company.

Oh, also it's Boskone this weekend, the other Sci-Fi festival

This week, check out Carnaval Brasileiro, Feb 18th, in Boston at the Castle at Park Plaza. 800-965-4827. It's the biggest Mardi Gras event I could find this week, although there's one next week at the Big Easy. More on that later.
Also see the New England Championships - Fencing, Feb 19th in Wellesley, MA. I went one year and it was worth seeing.
Here are some wild ideas as we continue to wait for Spring. Take a helicopter ride with Boston Helicopter. $200 for 30 minutes. Or Ryan Rotors in Plymouth, www.ryanrotors.com, $75 for 15 min, $125 for 30 min.
Also, there's more than just Frog Pond at Boston Common for ice skating. Try the Charles Hotel @ Harvard Square. Rentals $5, 2-8pm M-F, 10am-8pm SS. Or Larz Anderson Rink @ Brookline, www.townofbrooklinemass.com/recreation/LarzAnderson.html. Brookline. 23 Newton St. 617-739-7518. Or the Simoni Arena in Cambridge, but really it's pretty much full all the time with youth groups, so the public skate times are short, except Sunday afternoons. Cambridge. 155 Gore Street. 617-354-9523. Indoors. Public skating Sundays 2-4pm, and weekday afternoons. Call in advance.

I am working on a new, Web interactive version of Johnny's New England Activities, and also I am seeking a business partner such as the Zagat's Guide or Weekly Dig to help me hook into advertiser's and such. Any advice, please leave a LJ comment or email me. :)

The event of the week is Les Miserables, Feb 15-26, at the Opera House.
Also next week is the Ice Sculpting & Merrimack River Eagle Festival, Feb 15-18. Here's the scoop. It's in Amesbury. You can take ice sculpture lessons 2/15 & 2/16 @ 5:30. And then the entries are judged 2/17 at 5:30. But basically, you want to show up Feb 18th because they'll be showing the ice sculptures then and the Eagle Festival will be in full swing. Basically it's eagle tours & demos and events. 978-388-3178.
Every year the students at Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theater Club give out awards to the Hasty Pudding "Man and Woman of the Year", Feb 16 & Feb 24. Typically they are famous actors who are drawn in by Harvard's allure, without realizing that Harvard doesn't have a theater department and after all, they are only college kids, no matter what school they go to. They do a "roast" one for the man -- this year it's Richard Gere, and for the woman, this year it's Halle Berry. So you get to dress up and attend a big dinner, basically. Buy tickets in advance, like now.
Playing at MIT are The Vagina Monologues, Feb 16-18 @ 8pm. It's fine but I know there are other women-power shows out there. Now that it's a decade old, maybe colleges should give this one a rest and perform some other works.
Not much is happening outside of theater because it's so cold out. So yet another show to recommend, Othello, Feb 16-Mar 11, at the BCA Plaza Theatre, 539 Tremont St, Boston. 617-933-8600. Shakespeare's classic work.

Also, Tuesday is Valentine's Day.