Sneak Peek -- SAT 10/18 & SUN 10/19

Yep, yep... Almost there...

Okay two more times -- Go Sox!

Do The Papi Pound tonight...

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SAT 10/18

Noon to 8pm
Boston Pumpkin Festival
at City Hall Plaza, Boston (Govt Center)
FREE

I think I liked the Common better than City Hall, but there will be thousands of pumpkins and various pumpkin & family fun. It was cool that they broke the "most jack-o-lanterns" record a couple years ago, but I was somewaht amused by seeing so many pumpkins. If you go, good times for music will be around 3:30pm (Barefoot Truth) and 7pm (Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra -- whatever you think of the name, it's a killer group).

Maybe we'll break the record again; people are encouraged to bring as many carved pumpkins and votive candles.

If you buy stuff, proceeds benefit Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses.

10/18

1pm to 4pm
Home Movie Day
at Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St, Cambridge (Harvard campus)
FREE

It's "Home Movie Day" around the world, and our closest location is Cambridge. You don't have to stay for the whole time. I imagine most of the video will be found footage, because how many people have the guts to bring embarrassing footage? Who knows...

Anyone can bring in 5 minutes (or less) of footage on VHS, DVD, 16mm, 8mm, or Super 8 you know Harvard Film archive must have a bitchin' audio-visual closet. (Film check-in is at noon; please cue tapes ahead of time.)

SAT 10/18

8pm to 9pm
Hank III, "Damn Right Rebel Proud": Listening Party
at Paradise Lounge, 969 Comm Ave, Boston (near BU)
FREE

This is the kind of country I can get behind! Hard-drinking, bad-ass songs that keeps the tradition alive yet sounds modern. I know Hank III doesn't like comparisons, but I bet his grandpa would do it much like this, if he were a young man today. So basically, hang out have a drink or two... Listen to the album... Grab a prize and/or giveaway... Enjoy the rest of the night.

SAT 10/18

9pm
CCTV 20th Anniversary Show
Feat: Three Day Threshold, The Sift, Magic People, Big Digits, Kindergarten Killers, "Project Documentary"
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$8 / 18+

A wide variety for the Cambridge Community TV anniversary show, so it's going to be a crazy (good) time. There are some really good performers like Three Day Threshold and Big Digits (in slightly different ways). Magic People are not typically my cup of tea, but they deservedly have their fans. I think Kindergarten Killers are a mom-and-son, guitar/drums noise-punk duo -- wow!

Classic CCTV footage will be pulled out for entertainment between bands, and a new documentary "Nuclear on the Block: Inside MIT’s Research Reactor" will have its premiere screening. (How many people knew there's a nuclear reactor in Cambridge?)

SAT 10/18

10pm
Boston Horns w/ Barrence Whitfield
at Johnny D's, 17 Holland St, Somerville (Davis Sq)
$10

Thanks to the Boston Horns for having local pride. I saw them once playing their soulful New Orleans jazz without a vocalist, but match will meet gasoline with the Barrence Whitfield singing. BW is simply incredible rock-soul shouter and has a collbaorated with BH before including their new CD.

SAT 10/18 + SUN 10/19

8am to 5pm
Annual Head of the Charles Regatta
along The Charles River, Cambridge (and Boston) [PDF]
FREE

Unfortunately there's no live music this year, but everyone should go see this at least once. It'll be beautiful by the river, and you can watch a whole lotta rowing...

(A good spot to see the action is between Central Sq and Harvard Sq.)

SAT 10/18 + SUN 10/19

11am to 6pm
Annual Fort Point Open Studios
all around Fort Point, Boston (South Boston/Seaport)
FREE

This is the grandaddy of Boston Open Studios, and there are still hundreds of artists in the Fort Point area. I've said it before, but it's fun to talk to the artists and ask them questions. Many are friendly, at least for one week per year. Take some free cheese and wine when you see it...

SAT 10/18 & SUN 10/19

10am to 5pm
Wellfleet OysterFest
around Main Street, Wellfleet (Cape Cod)
FREE, pay-what-you-eat/drink

Almost everyone besides me owns a car, and now might be a weekend to actually drive somewhere since gas prices have been declining. It's probably much like any other street festival, but there's no better place for a shellfish lover to be this weekend.

Selfish lovers can go, but should consider their mate's feelings.

Both days feature oyster shucking contests from 1pm to 2:30pm with the finals on Sunday.

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SUN 10/19

2pm
annual tribute to ee cummings
at forsyth chapel, forest hills cemetery, 95 forest hills ave, jamaica plain
$5

it was ee's birthday on tuesday, so his final resting place presents local poets (charles coe, robert k. johnson, and john sturm) reading a selection of his works and some of their pieces. this year, singers jennifer ashe & martin near will perform some cummings poems that have been put to music by microtonal composer juila werntz. could be interesting...

afterwards a group will walk to his gravesite, and i suggest following along if you'd ever like to see it. (difficult to find, but it's near lake hibiscus.) people are encouraged to bring a memento or message to leave there.

SUN 10/19

6pm to 8pm
Four Stories, "The Big Trip": Reading
Feat: Andre Dubus III and Margot Livesey
at Enormous Room, 567 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE

This month's theme is "The Big Trip: Stories of growing up, messing up, and everything along the way." I think there might be SIX stories on Sunday. Novelists Andre Dubus III ("House of Sand and Fog", etc) and Margot Livesey will read, but so will 2 high-school students from Grub St's Teen Writing Fellowship program and "up-and-coming authors from Beacon Academy". Maybe the Grub St kids and the Beacon Academy kids are the same two kids?

Think of the drinking in front of kids as a prep session for Thanksgiving...

SUN 10/19

9:30pm
Pretty & Nice, The Royalties, The Toothaches, Professor Pez
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$4 / 18+

You might think a show with Pretty & Nice and The Toothaches could get any cooler, but the two other bads are from Norway! And they sound really good! It's rare to find power-pop excellence at $1 per band -- let's not even consider what the cover charge converts into Euros... Pretty & Nice harken back to the time when punk and new wave and pop were colliding, and I love that! The Toothaches just left Boston for Brooklyn, but I can't help smiling and swaying when I listen.