THUR 1/12: Art, Food, Music, Theatre, Science

Yes, there is cool, cheap stuff happening this weekend. I hope to have it up tonight...

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THUR 1/12

6pm
"Lighthouse": Installation Reception
at Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion, about 190 Atlantic Ave, Boston (Kennedy Greenway)
FREE

It looks crappy now, but it could be less crappy this evening. The "Lighthouse" is a video installation that launched on "First Night" that supposedly has an interactive element.

There's should be a short presentation by the artists and a dance performance followed by an after party at the Marriott across the street.

Hey -- if you're downtown anyway, why not?

THUR 1/12

6:30pm to 8:30pm
Eléonor Picciotto, "French Cuisine for the Young & Broke": Presentation
at French Cultural Center, 53 Marlborough St, Boston (Back Bay)
$5

Is this a case where you have to "spend money to save money"?

I can't speak to the efficacy of this cookbook, but it has a great title and has decent potential to provide easy, tasty (cheap, mais oui?) recipes.

The book will be for sale. If you used it once per month instead of having something delivered, you'll be in better shape before the end of the year.

RSVP Required: 617-912-0400

This event is presented in English.

THUR 1/12

Kevin Hearn & Thinbuckle (8pm), Leo Blais (7:15pm)
at TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10

Kevin Hearn took over for the keyboardist in Barenaked Ladies a little while before they got really annoying ("One Week"), but you have to add some cool credibility for playing with Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. There's not much bite to his solo material, although melodic piano-pop doesn't have to bite you.

Even though I've noticed melancholy lyrics like some Leo Blais, the way he sings them can make little kids dance. I saw it with my own eyes...

THUR 1/12

8pm
"Copenhagen": Pay-what-you-can Night
at The Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont St, Boston (South End)
$5 minimum

I've been interested in seeing the play that imagines what two major scientists discussed when they met in Denmark at the beginning of WWII. What actually had been said that night may have prevented the Nazis from obtaining an atomic bomb -- or did it matter? No one knows.

It's worth paying full price, but you can attend for as little as $5. I think you have to purchase in advance to take advantage of the deal.

THUR 1/12

8pm
Dr. Steve Leman, "Searching for the Universe, from an Iron Mine": Lecture
at Phillips Auditorium, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St, Cambridge (between Porter Sq and Fresh Pond)
FREE

For those of us who are curious what is out there beyond our little blue orb, it's been cool to see big strides in our understanding.

The problem is... I'm pretty sure that I don't understand dark matter and dark energy. I know Steve Leman understands way better than I do, and he intends to describe it for people with "no background knowledge in astro-particle physics".

And he'll discuss why looking in a Minnesota mine is a good idea.

THUR 1/12

9:30pm
Quilt, The New Highway Hymnal, Sand Reckoner, Creaturos
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$10 / 18+

Do you like the flyer above? It's not too far off from what you're going to hear tonight since there is a bit of psychedelic rock woven into these bands in one way or another. Dig the folky Quilt, the retro-modern fuzz of New Highway Hymnal, the shoegazey Sand Reckoner, and the trippy experimentation of Creaturos. Should be a good night (with or without chemicals).