SAT 8/18: Day Cheapness

Maybe I'll look for my favorite fried calamari at the Fisherman's Feast this weekend. Maybe I'll even see the little girl on a wire on Sunday night.

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SAT 8/18

9am to 5pm
Lowell Asian Water Festival
at Lowell Heritage State Park, 500 Pawtucket Blvd, Lowell
FREE

My first impression was that there would be a giant water fight at some point, but that's probably not in the cards. (Can people jump into the Merrimac River at this spot?)

It's mainly dance, music, food, arts and crafts all day because it's the time of year:

In many Southeast Asian cultures, a time is set aside each year to thank the rivers, lakes, and ponds on which they have built their communities and earned their livelihood.

Lowell is the home to a strong Asian community, so it's nice to see a big public celebration. There will also be a 'Buddhist blessing tent'.

SAT 8/18

10am to 2pm
MG Day
at Larz Anderson Auto Museum, 15 Newton St, Brookline
$10 / $5 military, seniors, students, children under 12

I love these little British sports cars, and I didn't think there would be enough in Massachusetts to fill the Larz Anderson lawn.

SAT 8/18 (and SUN 8/19)

Various Times
Boston GreenFest
at City Hall Plaza, Boston (Govt Center)
FREE

Saturday --11am to 10pm
Sunday -- 10am to 5pm

While it's great to celebrate and encourage sustainability with presentations, exhibits, and live entertainment, I haven't been overwhelmed by the overall experience from what I've seen in previous years. (I recall seeing a Porsche that had been converted to get ridiculously good gas mileage.)

Take a look at the schedule or swing through (earlier the better) and tell me what I'm missing. Anything to encourage responsible living is a good idea.

SAT 8/18 (and SUN 8/19)

Noon to 10pm
"Woodstock 4"
at Boston Common, Boston
Four stages:

-- near Soldiers and Sailors Monument
-- Founders Stage, Beacon Street side, North-West
-- Cross Paths, Beacon Street side, North-East
-- near State House

FREE

The Mayan Year of Apocalypse gets a visit from the Summer of Love with almost 400 performers from all over the map to set up in different spots of the common to continuously play for 10 hours each day.

I put some more links in my earlier post.
http://www.cheapthrillsboston.net/2012/08/818-819-woodstock-on-boston-common.html

Please do not try the brown acid!

SAT 8/18 (and SUN 8/19)

Various Times
Annual Dog Day Poetry Marathon
at Outpost 186, 186 1/2 Hampshire St, Cambridge (Inman Sq)
FREE

Saturday -- 1pm to 5pm & 7pm to 10pm
Sunday -- 1pm to 4pm

The verse will be flowing more rapidly than expected. It may not be swift enough for some even though it's less then 10 minutes per poet.

Whether you can listen for hours or just hang in there for a couple poets as you head to another Inman Square destination, poetry fully blooms when it's spoken and others ears receive it.

SAT 8/18

1:30pm
Harry & The Potters "10th Anniversary Special"
at Middle East - Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / All Ages

The kings of wizard-rock celebrate a decade of songs inspired by the crazy shit that goes down at Hogwarts and all the other places that muggles don't see.

The first set will be performed by the original line-up which might not have been more than the 2 brothers, then the current band closes the show. There will, of course, be a Harry Potter puppet show in between.

SAT 8/18

1:05pm
7th Annual Futures at Fenway
at Fenway Park, 4 Yawkey Way, Boston
$5 and up

Game 1 -- Lowell Spinners vs. Hudson Valley Renegades
Game 2 -- Pawtucket Red Sox vs. Buffalo Bisons

Fenway Park hosts a minor league doubleheader of Red Sox farm teams so you don't have to drive to Pawtucket or Lowell (but you should 'cause the lines are shorter and the prices are cheaper).

They're bringing some 'minor league' entertainment between innings, so expect stuff like t-shirt slingshots, kids racing mascots, frisbee-catching dogs, etc.

For the heck of it, the first 1,000 people aged 14 and under who visit a Kid Nation booth will get a free lightsaber. And someone on the field might be the Jacoby Ellsbury/Dustin Pedroia of the future...

So root for the home teams. If they don't win, it's a shame. That's about it, since we're not following the minor-league standings anyway.

SAT 8/18 (and SUN 8/19)

7pm
Jean Renoir’s "Grand Illusion": 75th Anniversary Restoration
at Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St, Cambridge (Harvard campus)
$9 / $7 Non-Harvard students, senior citizens

One usually falters when trying to convince someone about the greatness of a movie, but this is one of the masterpieces. Besides being the foundation of every prisoner-of-war movie of the last 75 years, there's a story that examines class issues and nationalism. It wouldn't happen in modern war, but analogies still apply today in other ways.