MON 8/30: Film, Nerdery, Music

For all of you who aren't at Burning Man this week, I may try to keep things brief so I can finally get myself over the hump and have the listings for a whole week in advance.

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MON 8/30

7pm
"Grease Sing-A-Long"
at Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline
$9.75

Some good, clean family-fun -- for those who are into such things. Maybe Mondays could use a bit of positive energy from joining in a group-sing and movie. Hey, I'd rather see the re-release of an original movie with a twist than a lousy remake.

If you're like me, you could be singing the wrong words since you were a kid, so the subtitles could provide some clarification as well as help match everyone else in the theater.

MON 8/30

8pm
NerdNite: "Lasers on Brains" & "Nerd Games"
at Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$5 / 21+

Whether you've just returned or been here all summer, all nerds and nerd-friendlies can hang out and listen to a couple presentations.

Talk 1:
"Mind Control and Optogenetics: How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Virus"
by Azriel Ghadooshahy

Check it out -- Laser beams into your head could fight currently incurable brain maladies. Ghadooshahy shares some of his research as an MIT grad student in Brain and Cognitive Sciences.

Talk 2:
"Tolkien, D&D, RPG's, MMO's and me: one geek’s personal journey there and back again through fantasy and gaming subcultures."
by Ethan Gilsdorf

As far as 'nerds' are concerned, Gilsdorf's book "Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks..." (just released in paperback) explores role-playing games of various stripes and his own experiences in a volume that articulates that it's more than simple escapism.

DJ Claude Money will offer some funky, nerd-friendly tunes before, after, and in between.

MON 8/30

10pm
Coyote Kolb, Cat-Tooth Jim
at ZuZu!, 474 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE

There's a deep-country vibe to Coyote Kolb's sound, but they also rock in fuzzed-out dirges that Neil Young has excelled at over the years. Cat-Tooth Jim brings a punk sensibility to an acoustic, bluegrassy style.

MON 8/30

10pm
Hello Ninja, The Susan Constant, Chalk Talk, Wolves & the Radio
at Charlie's Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5 / 21+

From my (limited) experience, the music at Charlie's usually starts around 10pm. Wolves & the Radio seem to have been added recently, so maybe they'll start early but it'll probably just finish later.

All in all, it should be a fun night of indie-rock from W&TR to the feral pop-punk of Chalk Talk to tuneful post-punk of The Susan Constant to the confidently swinging, snappy rock of Hello Ninja.