SUN 3/22: Part II -- Greek Music, Film Fest

Did you love Saturday? Let's have a good Sunday too.

I'm going outside, but I'll be back at the keyboard soon...

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SUN 3/22

7pm to Midnight
An Evening Of Rembetika w/ The Greek Music Ensemble
at Enormous Room, 567 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$8

To the casual listener there's not much difference there's not much difference between one style of greek music versus any other. (All Greek music sounds similar to me, but I love it.) Rembetika is called the Greek blues for its gritty origins than the musical scales; I guess one difference may be the absence of trotting rhythm that compels people to dance in circles and pick up tables with their teeth.

Most of the players in The Greek Music Ensemble are music educators/students, so they might gladly explain the basis of rembetika. It's amazing how much history, culture and achievement have come out of Greece -- not to mention spinach-n-cheese-filled turnovers -- and many of us don't consider the modern nation.

This may not end up to be cheap, because Greek music makes me want to eat and drink. On the other hand, Greek people may swarm to this tiny venue, and you won't get in...

SUN 3/22 (thru THUR 3/26)

Various Times
Boston Underground Film Festival
at Kendall Square Cinema, 1 Kendall Sq, Cambridge
$8 (individual shows)

Boston hosts a handful of independent/underground film festivals. BUFF offers some movies that are on the cusp of art-house cinema distribution and some that are just too far out. I've seen some shorts and trailers from this year's programs, and there's a lot of good filmmaking even if the production values aren't as slick as you're accustomed to. There is a lot of horror and sex -- but often with a sense of humor and intelligence you'd expect from independent cinema.

My thoughts about Sunday's schedule:

If you didn't go to Showbiz Pizza when you were a kid, "The Rock-afire Explosion" robot-animal bands are living on by folks in documentary who program them to play current songs -- then put videos on YouTube. "Mock Up on Mu" creates a sci-fi story by cutting-and-pasting various bits from all sorts of movies along with some original footage that's been distressed to match the rest. The jumps might make you sick, but that's like other rollercoasters.

Of today's two shorts programs, I'd check out "Ill Logic" because I love flat-out absurdity; this is where someone has a clever idea, but it doesn't last longer than 5 minutes. I have a feeling "Illustrated Oddities" could be a hit-or-miss assortment of animated shorts, but there may be some cool pieces in there.

Noon -- "Lo" w/ "On Homeostasis"
12:30pm -- "The Rock-afire Explosion" w/ "Out Of Print", "Davy Crockett In Outer Space"
2:30pm -- "Illustrated Oddities"
3:15pm -- "Ill Logic"
5:45pm -- "Mock Up on Mu" w/ "Death of the Reel"
6pm -- "The Antidote" w/ "Dirt", "Take Out"
8pm -- "Anywhere, USA" w/ "Thumbnail"

There's a "closing night" party/awards ceremony at Tommy Doyle's in Kendall Sq. Brother Cleve is going to DJ and make the party people boogie when crazy films aren't being handed out. It's $10, but I'm guessing it'll be a raucous crowd and there may be a complimentary Harpoon in it for you...

BUT most of the BUFF screenings will be shown again at the Kendall Sq Cinema until Thursday. If you want to see a bunch of them, there's a $25 weekday pass option. Watch as much as you dare over the next 4 days! You can buy the budget pass online or at the the box office.