MON 5/30: Museum, Nerd, Trivia, Music

Happy Memorial Day, folks!

Do you like trivia? Think about teaming with me for a great cap to the day.

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MON 5/30

10am to 4:45pm
Memorial Day -- Open House
at Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston (The Fens)
FREE

If the MFA wasn't a world-class museum before, the new Arts of the Americas wing nudges it up the list. I wasn't *blown away*, but it's a substantial expansion. I recomend seeing it for free or paying regular admission.

I went to the last free event and saw the Chihuly exhibit. Pictures can't capture the amazing color and scale as well as the subtlety.

MON 5/30

Noon to Midnight
"Campfire Festival"
at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$10 per day

Sure, you can pass an acoustic guitar around a real campfire. You know someone is going to butcher a Tom Petty (or Eagles or Sublime or whatever).

My guess is that you won't hear a Petty cover all weekend, but there will be wall-to-wall folky goodness for the next 4 days -- as well as some folks that'll be more rocky, bluesy, or left-of-center in one way or another.

Monday schedule:

12pm -- Americana Ensemble
12:30pm -- Ginger Ibex
1:15pm -- Tara Greenblatt, Bridget Matros, Karaugh Brown, Bitch Trifecta, Meg Smallidge
3pm -- Mike Evin
3:45pm -- Evie Ladin &
Keith Terry
4:30pm -- Baby States
5:15pm -- Ronald Reagan
6pm -- Munny & The Cameraman
6:45pm -- The Honey Dewdrops
7:30pm -- Dinty Child, Lloyd Thayer, Sarah Borges, Alastair Moock
9pm -- Fiske & Herrera
9:45pm -- Ariel Rubin
10:30pm -- Goli

There won't be mosquitos, and the evening looks pretty good.

MON 5/30

8pm
Nerdnite: "Psychopaths and Slot Machines"
at Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$5

Talk 1: Zach Alexander, "Free Money: The Art and Science of Beatable Slot Machines"

Talk 2: John Fennel, "Stalking the Sasquatch; Or, Are There Psychopaths Among Us?"

Is it worth $5 to hear a couple nerdy presentations? Maybe tonight it is, because a mathematician may give you some tips for your next trip to Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun. For some reason, psychopaths have been in the news this past week. It might be interesting to hear about the subject from an attorney who sex offenders.

MON 5/30

8pm to 10pm
The Big Quiz Thing
at Club Oberon, 2 Arrow St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
FREE

I went to Big Quiz Thing by myself last month, and it may be the best possible quiz night. Drinks are served, and cash could be yours for the taking.

The questions are different than your average quiz night, and it is more entertaining. And we don't even have to pay $10 like the first few

I have a friend who kicks ass at trivia, and his team has won this thing a few times. We -- you and me -- have a chance, because I'm pretty good at trivia. Join me. Leave a comment or email me, and we can make a team.

If I even get one response, I'll be there. And I'll invite friends. (This is better with a team.)

The grand prize is $200, and there are 2nd, 3rd, 4th place prizes that are books & DVDs we can share...

MON 5/30

9:30pm
Girlfriends, Sweet Bulbs, Young Adults, Sore Eros
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$7 / 18+

I'd like to shake the hands of both of the Pelly Twins, because they do organize some brilliant shows. Any gig with Girlfriends is already a green light affair.

They make the most beautiful mess of fuzzy, punky garage-pop that will beer-soaked love so special. I read an article about Young Adults where they said they wanted to sound like 'Lightning Bolt meets the Ramones'; I think you should make up your own mind, but it's pretty cool.

In between, there's a bit of sloppy noise from Brooklyn's Sweet Bulbs and psych-noisy Northamptonisms of Sore Eros.

MON 5/30

9:30pm
Viva Viva, Doomstar!, Ski Mask
at Charlie's Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5 / 21+

No need to mingle with the Allston hipsters if you're hunkered down in Cambridge.

Combine the dusky, fuzzy, rootsy indie-rock of Viva Viva with the spastic-psych goodness of Doomstar, and Ski Mask's strange noise with a fine seledtion of beer on tap, cheapish decent burgers and a cool jukebox for in between sets.

This, my friends, is a combination for a heckuva patriotic, boozy good time.