WED 10/28: Talk, Film, Rap, Pop, Rock

I mentioned it last week, but I walked by the "Diet Coke Pop-Up Kitchen" the other night. It was closed, but they decorated an empty storefront near McDonalds. I don't drink the stuff, but you can get a free sample, a snack, maybe shwag, and other crap.

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WED 10/28

6pm
Sarah Vowell, "The Wordy Shipmates": Reading
at Rabb Lecture Hall, Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St, Boston (Copley Sq)
FREE

The witty essayist and nasal-voiced commentator from " target="_blank"This American Life" points her ironic and political attention towards the Puritans of New England and how they shaped American history and values.

Sarah was here for "Wordy Shipmates" last October, so perhaps we didn't buy enough copies afterwards...? Or maybe she just wants to tell us another story or two...

WED 10/28

7pm
"The Yes Men Fix The World": Screening & Discussion
at Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline
$9 / $6 senior, child

The Yes Men will be in attendance to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A.

There's a humor with a purpose that I call "tweaking the nipple". The Yes Men are non-physical nipple tweakers who target the rich and powerful, and they certainly deserve a good tweaking. If the "Jackass" guys were aware of current events or if Michael Moore wasn't so pedantic, you might have other versions of The Yes Men.

The Teachers section on the movie's site is meant to help teachers plan a lesson after showing the movie but could be used as tips to would-be activists.

WED 10/28

7pm
"20 Years after the Fall of the Wall: Revealing the Truth": Panel Discussion
at Photonics Center, 9th Fl, 8 Saint Mary's St, Boston (BU campus)
FREE

Before the Berlin Wall fell, singer-songwriter-poet Wolf Biermann and activist Marianne Birthler lived in East Germany who grew to oppose the government. Tonight's discussion will assess "a united Germany's future while coming to terms with the complicated past of the Stasi Regime."

If you haven't seen it, I'd recommend watching "The Lives of Others". It's a German-language film that centers around some people with nasty interactions with the Stasi, East Germany's secret police -- a category that might have included almost all East Germans. Marianne Birthler currently oversees the Stasi archives.

"In English. Reception to follow."

WED 10/28

9pm
MC Esoteric, Apathy, Bladerunners, Will C & Raheem Jamal, Blacastan
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

I think I'd like to listen to MC Esoteric's "Saving Seamus Ryan" CD from beginning to end. It's an album with a story that continues throughout all of the tracks, which begins with the death of his dog and things get more complicated from there. (Harrison Ford, Gary Numan, gunplay, and Spiderman comic books, etc are all referenced.)

It's a night full of local MC's and DJ's. My favorite name: Blacastan.

WED 10/28

9:30pm
Har Mar Superstar, Mystery Roar, Bang Bang Eche
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$10 / 18+

When Har Mar Superstar came out, I thought it was a novelty act. There's a doughy, balding guy who was breakdancing with little clothing on with music reminding me of Beck. It turns out that Har Mar had more staying power than I thought. As seen on Jimmy Fallon, he still has a strong visual presentation when fully clothed, and new music still has a retro-funkiness while sounding modern.

Mystery Roar is a bunch of local rockers doing their disco thing, and Bang Bang Eche brings the dance-punk party from New Zealand.

WED 10/28

10pm
Tiger Saw, South China, To The Wedding
at Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St, Cambridge (Inman Sq)
$10 (maybe $8) / All Ages

When I read that a puppet show would be involved, I didn't really care what else was happening.
Besides oodles of folky chamber-pop and indie rock, Tiger Saw mastermind Dylan Metrano has put together a "part travelogue, part studio diary, and part oral history".

As part of the celebration puppets will read passages from "All My Friends Are Right Here With Me: A Decade in the Indie Rock Underground". If you buy the book, you also get a CD of Tiger Saw covers by 13 of their friends (which is a cool idea).

I watched a video of the puppetry, and it's pretty amusing.