WED 12/3: Art, Game Show, Talk, Rock

This is one of those days that reminds how good it is to live in Boston. Our world-class art museum is free tonight... Dennis Lehane is speaking for free... Then we have a live game show and a great rock show for cheap...

--------------------------------------------------------------

WED 12/3
4pm to 9:45pm
"MFA for the Holidays"
at Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston (The Fens)
FREE

As usual on Wednesday evenings, the MFA is open to the public for free. There's just more happening tonight, and the special exhibit "Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum" is also free (a $25 savings).

Jacques Pepin will be signing his new cookbook at 4:30pm, and the Boston Children’s Chorus will sing "seasonal music"at 5:30pm. Also today, the MFA shop is offering a 10% discount on all purchases over $25.

You should check out the gingerbread replica of the museum made by some culinary students from North Shore Community College. (Jacques should like this...)

It's going to extra festive at the MFA through the weekend with their First Friday event and the Amaryllis Chamber Ensemble (a wind & string chamber group) playing holiday music on the weekend near the Museum Road entrance.

WED 12/3

6pm
Dennis Lehane, "The Given Day": Discussion
at Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St, Boston (Copley Sq)
FREE

From the author of "Mystic River" and "Gone, Baby, Gone" comes a Boston-based crime novel set in the 1919, which was a crazy time in town. As part of the "Lowell Lecture Series", there'll be a focus on the social justice aspects in "The Given Day".

WED 12/3

10pm
"Match Game - Live"
at Milky Way Lounge, 403 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain
$5 / 21+

From the comedic minds of Chris Braiotta and TD Sidell (Douchebags at 24fps, Union Square Round Table, more), currently billing themselves as "Butler's Choice", it's a return to the days when "game show" meant b-list celebrities playing a bawdy game of fill-in-the-blank on weekday afternoons.

They're presenting two live episodes of Match Game -- that's 4 lucky contestants from the crowd have a chance to win "fabulous" prizes! They did this about a month ago, and I heard it was a lot of fun. Some video shorts will be shown between games.

The "celebrity panel" is full of local witty & funny people who've performed with Union Square Round Table and Anderson Comedy: Chris Braiotta, Gretchen Gavett, Keira Horowitz, Katie McCarthy, Michael Brodeur (Phoenix music editor, who I hope will be the "Charles Nelson Reilly" tonight), and Al Deaderick (keyboardist of Magic People). TD will be the host, and guitarist Tom Scanlon will provide a live soundtrack.

More fun and music will surely follow the games.

WED 12/3

9:30pm
Viva Viva, Darker My Love, The Strange Boys
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

This is a damn fine rock show! I'm not sure about the sequence of bands, but you have Darker My Love from L.A. who has released their second album and getting a lot of buzz for their spin on psych-garage that might fall somewhere in the neighborhood of The Jesus and Mary Chain. The Strange Boys from Austin have a raw sound that sounds like an updated version of the "Nuggets" sound. Local rockers Viva Viva more than hold their own with tasty brand of rock that has a foot in retro and another in modern sounds.

It's listed as an "upstairs" show, but I have a feeling this might actually happen in the "downstairs" room...