September 2006 Archives

There is so much weird because Halloween is starting! This is like weird festival peak of the year.

Let's start with the Ig Nobel Prizes. http://www.improbable.com/. Oct 5. Sanders Theatre. Cambridge. Comedy night of joke awards for scientists for bad or funny research.

And the Salem Haunted Happenings Grand Parade starts Thu Oct 5th as well. http://www.hauntedhappenings.org/events.htm

This weekend is the NEMO Music Festival, the professional musician's industry conference. A great opportunity to hear some emerging stars. Sep 28-30. http://www.nemoboston.com. Buy one $50 wristband and go to various venues around Boston. Industry trade show

The BeanTown Jazz Festival is this weekend, Sep 29-Oct 1. http://www.beantownjazz.org. Columbus Avenue, Boston.

MIT's glassblowing center sells pumpkins every year. Great Glass Pumpkin Patch @ MIT. http://www.mit.edu. Kresge Oval, MIT Campus. Cambridge, MA. 617-253-5309. Sep 29-30.

The Jamaica Plain Open Studios is this weekend. Yet another local festival where artists throw open their private homes and studios. Sep 30-Oct 1. http://www.jpopenstudios.com. Jamaica Plain, MA.

Also coming up is yet another Disc Golf event. Yes, some people play golf by throwing frisbees. NEFA Points Finals. Sep 30. http://www.nefa.com/.

It's all the New England Fall Festival @ Sturbridge Village, Sep 30 - Oct 1. This is not so much an event to attend as a nice excuse to visit Sturbridge Village itself, which is a fantastic recreation village with live actors. http://www.osv.org. 1 Old Sturbridge Village Road. Sturbridge, MA. (508) 347-3362. 9:30-5. Craft demonstrations, food vendors, music.

The Royal Drummers of Burundi are performing at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge Sep 30. 8pm.

The Three Apples Storytelling Festival is this weekend! It's storytelling for adults as well as kid and I've been twice -- really worth checking out! Sep 30-Oct 1. http://www.threeapples.org. Harvard, MA. 617-499-9529. Rt 2 exit 38, Rt 111 into Hvd Center. Sat eve is for adults. Sunday is "classes" only. See http://www.storynet.org/Calendar/massachusetts.htm.

Yet another agricultural fair may help you connect with the local farmers and their culture. Topsfield Fair, Sep 30 - Oct 9, http://www.topsfieldfair.org. Topsfield, MA. Arrive early, much parking trouble! MITAC discount.

I don't normally list art shows, but the DeCordova Sculpture Museum is opening "Animal House" which looks interesting, on October 1. Through Jan 7. http://www.decordova.org. 51 Sandy Pond Rd, Lincoln, MA. 781-259-8355. Depictions of wild critters.

Hub on Wheels is a cycling event for charity, I think. Oct 1. http://www.hubonwheels.org.

I just learned that Oct 3rd (and possibly every Tuesday??) is Magic Lounge @ Hong Kong Comedy Studio.http://www.thecomedystudio.com/schedule.html. Professional magicians play. 617-661-6507.

Continuing events, King Richard's Faire (Ren Faire) continues to Oct 22nd. http://www.kingrichardsfaire.net. Cirque du Soleil - Boston to Oct 8. http://www.cirquedusoleil.com. Eastern States Exposition to Oct 1, http://www.thebige.com.

And the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has opened, it's supposed to be good. A theatre performance set in a spelling bee. Wilbur Theatre. Boston, MA. Whenever I hear the name "Wilbur Theater" I always think of the talking horse who always said WILLLLL BURRRR...

And now finally what you have been waiting for all year! OK, well at least I have... Haunted Houses are starting to open!! Most wait until Mid-October but a few open this weekend. Last year I went to 7 haunted houses a total of 11 times and I graded all of them.

Barrett's Haunted Mansion, http://www.bhmansion.com. 1235 Bedford St, Abington, MA. 781-871-4573. MY RATING: A. Rt 3S to Rt 18S. 7-10:30pm daily except 1-5,10,11,12,31. A BIG one worth seeing.

Asylum of Horror (haunted house), http://www.asylumofhorror.com. Anawan St. Fall River, MA. 508.324.7709. MY RATING: A-. Sep 29,30, Oct 1,6,7,8,9,13,14,15,19,20,21,22,26-31, 7pm+ . See website for coupons. Go to the other fall river haunted house while you're there.

Witch's Woods (haunted house) @ Nashoba Ski Valley. http://www.witchswoods.com. Nashoba Ski, Westford, MA. 978-692-3033. MY RATING: C. Rt 2W to Rt. 2A/119, 6mi to Powers Rd. The worst one, skip it! Every Thu-Sun night Sep 29-Oct 28 + Oct 30,31.

As I mentioned last week, definitely check out Revels RiverSing, which is tomorrow, Thursday Sep 21. http://www.revels.org

This weekend, see the Aviation Heritage Festival, Sep 22-24, at Daniel Webster College in Nashua, NH. It's probably the only old aircraft festival in New England, and worth seeing. (978) 562-9182 or (978) 568-8924. http://www.collingsfoundation.org/cf_sch-all2002.htm

The big event of the week -- don't miss it! -- is the AltWheels Transportation Festival. I went to the smaller precursor event and it was fantastic. I love how passionate people are about hybrid vehicles. Sep 22-23 at City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Plaza, Boston. 508-698-6810. Then Sep 24, Sunday is at Larz Anderson Auto Museum, 15 Newton St., Brookline MA.

Also it's the NH Highland Games. There's no Scottish festival very close to Boston so if you're interested you'll have to make a trek at some point and it might as well be this one. Sep 22-24, http://www.nhscot.org/index.php?id=13&tpl=default

Even more interesting is the North American Indian Center of Boston Pow Wow. http://www.wanderingbull.com. I believe it's in JP but I'm too busy to find out, so take a peek if it interests you. Sep 23-24.

This is what you've been waiting for! The weird event of the week! It's J. Cannibal's Feast of Flesh, with a dance party and zombie costume contest. http://www.jcannibal.com. Friday at midnight at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. I want to start a charity walk called the Undead Walk for Life. No really. I actually want to do this.

The Phantom Gourmet Food Festival is Sep 23. Warning, they sell out, so you need to buy tix in advance. Landsdowne St. Boston. http://www.phantomgourmet.com. 11-4pm, next to Fenway Park. $25 and sample food from 30 restaurants. I don't normally even read "tastings" ads but the Phantom Gourmet is a good judge.

Also it's the Boston Blues Festival, http://www.bluestrust.com/, Sep 22-24

The Connecticut Renaissance Faire opens this weekend, Sep 23-Oct 15, http://www.ctfaire.com. It's in Woodstock, CT, and it's supposed to be better than King Richard's Faire. I've heard that the problem with King Richard's Faire is they pay their performers next to nothing and it just doesn't attract real talent. Woodstock is just 1.5 hrs from Boston, it's only barely in CT. Raine or shine. Weekends & holidays, 10-5:30.

This weekend too is the Arts in the City event, which is 6-9pm Sep 27. An "overview" of all the arts (dancing, theatre, etc.) going on in Boston in the 2006-2007 year. They claim it'll sell out. So buy ahead. The Cyclorama, Boston Center For the Arts, 539 Tremont Street. Boston, MA. I wonder if it'll suck. I mean, sound bites of fine art, and it's not free, I don't get it.

And here are some cute New England-y things you should probably skip. Because hey, we have to liev here, don't forcefeed us New England goodness, OK?

Bourne Scallop Festival, Sep 22-24 on Cape Cod. Main Street, Bourne. MITAC discount? Rt 28. http://www.capecodcraftshows.com/bourne-scallop-festival.htm

Essex Clamfest. Memorial Park, Essex, MA. Sep 23. http://www.capeannvacations.com. Chowder-tasting competition, arts and crafts, games, and entertainment. Open from 11 am to 4 pm. Free.

Heads up, next weekend is the NEMO Music Festival, http://www.nemoboston.com. It's the only Boston attraction for industry pros.

Boston Knit-Out & Crochet Too. Sep 24. Boston Common, Boston. 12pm-4pm. Rain or shine, because it's totally fun to knit in the rain. http://www.bostonknitout.com

Continuing events, the Eastern States Exposition is still going on in Western Mass. It's hokey agricultural faire goodness. Yee-haw! http://www.thebige.com. To Oct 1.

Bored, why not check out Murder Mystery Weekend, at an inn in West Dover, VT. http://www.murdermysteryweekend.com Or go to Orimigado Studio - Walk-in Folding Night, Haverhill, MA. http://www.origamido.com. Thursdays beginners, Fridays intermediate. Or call ahead to schedule your own hours with a group, for Origami & Paper Crafts. Paper Making - Pulp Painting or Sculpture.

The MIT Chantey & Maritime Sing is at a special location this month:
the USS Constitution Museum, near North Station (Green Line).
As usual, it's on the third Sunday (this weekend, 9/17) from 1-4pm
and is free and open to the public. For more info and directions:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NE_ChanteySings/

In other news, Tuesday 9/19 is International Talk Like A Pirate Day,
and the Coolidge Corner Theatre (in Brookline, MA) is celebrating
with a pirate double feature:
5:00pm - The Sea Hawk
7:00pm - Captain Blood
Admission is $9.50 general / $6.50 seniors, kids and Coolidge members.

Gee, I almost forgot this week. My attempts to start a company based on activities and events are progressing!

Tonight, Sep 15, at 6pm former Secretary of Defense William Cohen is presenting his new book, a fiction about a secretary of defense, go figure. Harvard Coop, www.harvard.bkstore.com.

Theatre Scene stuff, they've made a musical version of the film High Fidelity, at the Colonial Theatre, Sep 26-Oct 22, which is also hosting 12 Angry Men, Nov 7 - 19. And the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is supposed to be good, now playing at the Wilbur Theatre.

This weekend wraps up the Boston Comedy Festival, to Sep 16, http://www.bostoncomedyfestival.com. Highly recommended.

There is plenty of weird stuff happening this week! Let's start with The Salem Pirate Faire, Sep 16-17, on the North Shore, http://www.pastimesentertainment.com. Winter Island Park, Salem.

Not weird enough? In southern New Hampshire, check out BioBlitz at the Seacoast Science Center. http://www.seacoastsciencecenter.org. Sep 16. (603) 436-8043. Volunteers and naturalists scour the local environment counting and identifying species in a biological scavenger hunt.

Or try the Freedom Trail Frenzy Scavenger Hunt, Sep 16, http://www.watsonadventures.com. RSVP for meeting spot. 2-4:30pm. Test your knowledge of Old Boston. For adults. $15

Still not weird enough? How about Hoot & Howl Night - BBQ at Wolf Hollow. I've been there, it's in Ipswich and basically it's a zoo for wolves and you get to howl with the wolves. It's awesome, definitely go. Sep 16. Call ahead to reserve a space. 114 Essex Rd, Ipswich, MA. 978 356-0216. http://www.wolfhollowipswich.com

While you are in Ipswich, you can also go to Ipswich ChowderFest, Sep 16, http://www.ipswichchowderfest.com. Market Street, Ipswich, MA. 978-356-1988. 2-4pm.

The Boston Folk Festival is also this weekend, Sep 16-17. http://www.bostonfolkfestival.org, on the campus of UMass Boston. (617) 287-6911.

Yet another open studio is this weekend, the South End Open Studios (also known as the Boston Open Studios). http://www.useaboston.com. 560 Harrison Avenue, Boston. 617-267-8862. local arts exhibition. 11am-6pm. The difference is that Boston's best artists live in this area, so you might find something really good if you go.

Also, check out True Story Theatre at Club Passim. It is a really cool improv troupe that takes true stories from the audience then retells them improvisationally. http://www.truestorytheater.org/calendar.html.

Sep 16 is Endless Summer Waterfront Festival @ Nantasket Beach. That's in Hull, MA on the South Shore. http://bostoncentral.com. 12-6pm. Free. Artists, bands, food, sandcastle building.

Tuesday is National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Comic journalist Dave Barry started this tradition, see http://www.talklikeapirate.com. Since there's no actual Boston-area gathering, why not attend the Floating Gallery, at McCormick&Schmick's Seafood Restaurant, The Boston Park Plaza Hotel, 34 Columbus Avenue. Sep 19th. You can talk like a pirate there, then. The Floating Gallery is a high culture collection of local artists that changes its venue monthly to appeal to differing communities.

Finally, and probably the most important event of the week, Revels RiverSing is happening on Sep 21st. 6-7:30pm. Participatory singing on both sides of the Charles River. Bring a flashlight. Thousands come. Weeks footbridge, Charles River, Cambridge & Boston. http://www.revels.org.

Boring events of the week include yet more charity walks, American Heart Walk Sep 16, and Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk Sep 17. heartwalk.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=155910 and http://www.jimmyfund.org/eve/event/marathon_default.asp

In Boston, they are holding a block party to benefit Charles River Skatepark, Sep 16, http://www.charlesriverskatepark.org/event2006091601. Although this is basically a marketing event for Boston's Underground Snowboards, if you want to check out the skateboarding scene, this is your chance. 860 Commonwealth Ave, Boston.

Also, if your idea of a good time is getting smashed, because all the arts and culture in New England kinda bore you, and what's really fun is getting some distance from all the pain in your life by getting drunk rather than trying to solve your problems, then check out Boston Oktoberfest, Sep 16, http://www.beersummit.com. Not only will there be beer, they'll have music too.

Next week, Sep 20th is the Annual Bike Nite at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston. It's to benefit firefighters, and apparently... you show up with your bike? That's the whole event? Oh, there's a competition, and I'm sure they'll be beer, so hey.

The Museum of Science, Boston and the collection of Harvard University Museums are each having free admission days. MoS is called "College Night", and its for students only, but get free admission to everything including the films and laser shows Sep 18, 4-10pm. Harvard's is Sep 17th, 1-5pm and they call it "Community Day". http://www.mos.org and http://www.artmuseums.harvard.edu.

Finally, holdovers from last week, the Eastern States Exposition is ending this weekend. It's incredibly cheesy, like a huge-o agrarian festival, and worth checking out just for that reason. To October 1, http://www.thebige.com, West Springfield, MA. Cirque du Soleil is still performing, http://www.cirquedusoleil.com,a nd King Richard's Faire and the Maryland Renaissance Faire are ongoing (http://www.kingrichardsfaire.net, http://www.rennfest.com)

The warm weather will be gone in a month, so this is your big chance to visit a state park, or go to Davis Farmland with their petting zoo and huge corn field maze (http://www.davisfarmland.com.)

The weird event of the week is the Civil War Re-enactment at Fort Adams. Sep 9-10, http://www.fortadams.org. Fort Adams State Park, 1 Lincoln Drive, Newport, RI. Or www.riparks.com/fortadams.htm. Or www.cwevents.org. 401-841-0707. Bring a kite to fly, too.

Npt weird enough? How about "Rib'n Brews", which is the Massachusetts State BBQ Championship. You heard me right. Bar Be Que!! Sep 9-10. Lucy Larcom Park, Lowell, MA. 978-970-4257. Beer and BBQ. Plus children's activities and music. Because you just know that beer and kids go together. http://www.nebs.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=

Still not weird enough? Try the Audubon Society's "Raptor Weekend", Sep 9-10, which is the largest raptor event in New England. See owls, hawks, eagles in live demonstrations. At Audubon’s Environmental Education Center located at 1401 Hope Street (Rt. 114) in Bristol. http://www.asrieec.org

Also this weekend is the Boston Comedy Festival. I went last year and it was awesome. Sep 10-16, Boston Comedy Festival.

And for those of you who just can't get enough friggin charity walks, the MSPCA Walk for Animals. Sep 10. Boston Common, Boston. http://www.walkforanimals.com. Also Springfield and Hyannis.

This weekend, check out the Boston Arts Festival, Sep 9-10, http://www.cityofboston.gov/arts. 617-635-3245. 11am-6pm, at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston. It's a preview of 60 theatre and other arts events coming up in the 2005-2006 season, and I believe it's free.

I don't normally list lectures, but I'm especially interested in "Hunting for Dinosaurs and Other Long Lost Creatures", Sep 10th, 2pm, at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge. www.hmnh.harvard.edu. It's a talk by a Harvard prof about Arctic expeditions, etc.

Playing this weekend at MIT is Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", Sep 9th at 7:30pm, Sep 10 @ 2pm. Free. By the Cambridge American Stage Tour. http://web.mit.edu/arts. Sala de Puerto Rico, in the student center, at 84 Mass Ave Cambridge.

Also, and I've heard this play is a great one, the Compleat Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, in which all 38 Shakespeare plays are condensed into 90 minutes. Sep 9th, 2pm, at Fenway House, which is one of the MIT off-campus living groups. 34 The Fenway, Boston. Free, arrive early. Call 617-437-1043 or visit http://web.mit.edu/fenway/www/Directions/index.html.

Definitely skip the Boston Gift Show (Fall), at the Boston Convention & Expo Center, Sep 9-12, http://www.bostongiftshow.com. (800) 272-SHOW. Basically one huge marketplace.

Instead, check out the Cambridgeport Open Studios, Sep 9-10, http://www.caosonline.org. Local arts exhibition. 10am-10pm. One of several in metro Boston annually.

Or see the Charlestown Art in the Park Festival, Sep 9, which is arguably bigger than the Charlestown Open Studios. Although it's also a huge marketplace, they're all locals and you typically get to meet the artists. http://www.artistsgroupofcharlestown.com

I would also skip RiverFest, which is a WXRV free concert, like anyone's ever heard of that radio station. http://www.wxrv.com. Hatch Shell, Esplanade, Boston, MA. Sep 9th.

See the Jamaica Plain World's Fair, 12:00pm - 6:00pm at the Hyde Square Rotary in Jamaica Plain. It is Yet Another Hippie Street Festival. Free, world music, ferris wheel, moonwalk. There's also a Portuguese street festival at the corner of Warren & Cambridge Street in Cambridge, MA.

Holdovers from last week, two Renaissance Fairs continue: King Richard's Faire in Carver MA and the Maryland Renaissance Faire in MD. This is the last weekend for the Publick Theatre, http://www.publicktheatre.com. And the Brimfield Antiques Festival (Fall) is still ongoing, http://www.brimfield.com.

That's it! Get out there and enjoy the summer while it's still here.