SAT 8/22: Kites, GreenFest, Water Guns, Ice Cream, Rock

Stay cool today, whether or not you eat ice cream.

I hang out around Cambridge quite a bit, so I'm a sucker for the Harvard Book Store. If you're like me, you need more books like a hole in your head -- but they are having their own version of a tax-holiday sale this weekend.

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SAT 8/22

10am to 4pm
"Kites on the River": Neponset River Greenway Festival
at Pope John Paul II Park, 899 Gallivan Blvd, Dorchester (Neponset Greenway)
FREE

When I went to a kite festival at this park (not too far from Ashmont T station), I laid down on the grass and enjoyed the view. But it'd be nice to BYO kite...

The question is: where can one buy just a simple kite? Maybe CVS or Walgreens? I know there's a specialty store somewhere, but a cheap kite isn't easy to find. I saw a "kite in a bag" thing at Brookline Booksmith a couple weeks ago...

Kite flying is a smile-inducing, zero-emission fun and relaxation. Some say kite-flying improves eyesight and Yin-Yang balance, reduces excess body heat, and helps you avoid bad luck.

SAT 8/22

10am to 10pm
Boston GreenFest 2009
at City Hall Plaza, Boston (Govt Center)
FREE

Having fresh food and drinking water is cool. Being alive is cool. Sustainability is therefore something to think about. Let's try to live in a responsible manner with respect for limited resources.

These festivals and fairs are great places to gain some knowledge and practical tips. GreenFest looks like they've put a lot thought into making it fun with activities, etc.

Or you can ignore the environment and listen to the bands. A very cool part is the massive amount of music going on all day long today and tomorrow. There are two main stages and a family stage.

I went last night, and the info booths were a bit quiet, but The Neighborhoods were rocking. The green fun should be bustling today.

These are the bands of note (imho). Check out Lucero from Memphis if you like southern-tinged rock (like Kings of Leon, rough around the edges)...

Main Stage

1:15pm -- Michael & Marisa
3:15pm -- Mighty Mystic & The Strings Of Thunder
5pm -- The Dirty Truckers
6pm -- Midatlantic
7pm -- John Powhida International Airport
8pm -- *AM Stereo
9pm -- Lucero

Second Stage

3pm -- Auto Interiors
4pm -- Watts
4:45pm -- Cassavettes

SAT 8/22

11:45am to 12:15pm
Allston Squirt Gun Day 2
at Intersection of Brighton Ave & Harvard Ave (about 150 Brighton Ave), Allston
FREE

Both of our annual water fights are happening today. This is the easy one: no registration or secret location.

Show up about 15 minutes before noon on one of the four corners -- y'know... near Blanchard's, Big City Billiards, Store 24, and Herrell's (which isn't Herrell's anymore).

Everyone floods the intersection at noon with water guns and and water balloons for about 15 (or more) minutes. It supposedly lasted for almost a half-hour last year before the cops broke it up.

This is a chance to keep "Allston weird". I love the idea of the traffic stopping once a year for some harmless fun. The drawback with announcing the time and location is that the police will be there to ruin the fun whenever they feel like it.

Remember:
- Wear green so it's easy to tell who's participating.
- Be respectful to non-participants.
- Be creative
- Have fun.

SAT 8/22

3pm to 6pm
Sugarbomber/eatBoston Ice Cream Block Party
at Grand (adjacent lot), 374 Somerville Ave, Somerville (Union Sq)
$2 suggested donation

Eating ice cream for a good cause is considered guilt-free, right?

Sugarbomber and @eatBoston have organized a rather wonderful win-win situation, if I understand it correctly. For a $2 donation, you can sample at least 5 different ice creams (probably) from: Christina's, Toscanini's, JP Licks, Chilly Cow, Wheeler’s Frozen Desserts, and b.good.

Wheeler’s has made a special "Death by Chocolate" flavor, which is vegan and made with Taza chocolate. b.good is sending its shakemaking rickshaw, and it looks like a clever little invention.

Proceeds go to the Juniper Fund to offer a scholarship to a local high school senior who has a passion for music like the honoree John S. Hall, a bassist who died of cancer in '04. (Let's not bring up the "Death by Chocolate" ice cream, mm-kay?)

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SAT 8/22

9pm
This Car Up, Quiet Loudly, Hot Box, Gunfight!
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$9 / 21+

It's a couple Boston bands and a couple Brooklyn bands, and let's try not to associate any baseball rivalry (esp. after the Friday night game). Just focus on hearing loads of melodic (and often gentle) indie-rock.

Unfortunately, it's the final gigs for both locals, This Car Up and Hot Box. For some reason, I never paid too much attention to This Car Up, because the name reminded me of a mediocre band when they're quite good. I simply don't remember seeing their name except for a gig they did with The Diamond Mines in February. It's all good...

I hate to say it, but the NY bands are quite good. Quiet Loudly has a new CD of quiet gems, and they're supposedly going to be joined by horns and organ tonight. Gunfight! may be going on first tonight, but they should shake things up by making a hoedown-like party. They may sound like revved-up country boys dressed up as hipsters, but let's remember they're hipsters having a good ol' time.