WED 10/3: Film, Talk, Comedy, Music, Trivia

As it often happens, I begin to wax about one event and give short shrift to others. For the record, blurb length does not necessarily indicate differences in my excitement level.

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WED 10/3 (and THUR 10/4)

Various Times
Manhattan Short Film Festival
at Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline
$9.25 / $6.25 child, senior

Wednesday -- 11:40am, 2:10pm, 9:30pm
Thursday -- 11:40am, 2:10pm, 6:45pm, 9:30pm

The cool thing about the MSFF is that audiences in Brookline and elsewhere vote for their favorite of the 10 shorts. Based on the numbers, your influence is much greater than the upcoming presidential election.

WED 10/3

5pm
Rock Shop #20: "Show Booking & Promotion"
at O'Brien's, 3 Harvard St, Allston
FREE / 21+

Feat: Jackie Indrisano (Cafe 939), Jim Healey (O'Brien's), Ned Wellbery (Middle East Upstairs)

I wish Rock Shop when I was playing in bands. There is a lot of information on the web, but it's not the same as getting tips from Boston music pros that are especially pertinent to what's happening around here.

You might hear things you already know, but you'll definitely hear something you don't. You may think you know how to get a gig, but you don't know more than a panel of seasoned bookers.

Like the monthly Rock 'n' Roll Social, it's a good place to network with other performers.

WED 10/3

6pm
"Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry": Screening & Discussion
at Tsai Auditorium, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge St, Cambridge (Harvard campus)
FREE

On face value, the story of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is a great example of China's growing pains when they realize that economic freedom may instigate citizens to think as well as buy & spend freely.

He was one of the co-designers of the 2008 Olympics' Bird's Nest stadium, yet he's also criticized the whole spectacle. He has refuse to stop speaking his mind and tweaking the establishment, so he gets punished which increases his acclaim.

A panel discussion follows the film with director Alison Klayman, Rebecca Cohen (Harvard Law), and Benny Shaffer (Anthropology grad student with a Chinese emphasis).

WED 10/3

6:30pm to 8:30pm
"Syria: The Struggle for Justice and Freedom": Lectures
at American Islamic Congress, 38 Newbury St #702, Boston (Back Bay)
FREE

Feat: Ousama Nassar, Yaman Al Qadri

The conflict in Syria (revolution? civil war?) is a major news story that han't gripped the average US citizen in relation to its global importance. Maybe hearing two personal stories -- one from Syria via Skype -- can bring some perspective.

WED 10/3

7pm to 9pm
Science in the News: "How Evolution Generates 'Endless Forms, Most Beautiful'”
at Armenise Ampitheatre, 200 Longwood Ave, Boston (Harvard Medical School / Longwood)
FREE

Three Harvard grad students will attempt to illuminate the theory of evolution. As usual with the Science in the News series, they break down the subject with some background, the general state of the topic, then an update so the audience doesn't have to be a biologist to understand the material.

WED 10/3

7pm
"Wiretap Wednesday": Open Stage
at Arts at the Armory Cafe, 191 Highland Ave, Somerville (Spring Hill)
FREE

7pm -- Sign up / social time.
7:30pm -- Open stage begins
8:30pm -- Feature performer: Captain Easychord
9pm to 9:30pm -- Open stage resumes

Performers (up to 20 per night) are invited to sign up and share their best short work (5 minutes or shorter including setup) and be a live-streamed (and archived) Internet star.

Goota love the reasonable limitations:

Nothing illegal, no nudity, no fluids. It's an all-ages venue, so please keep that in mind.

Everything else that's potentially entertaining is in play, folks.

Each month will also include a featured artist playing a 25-minute set. Gotta love a featured performer named Captain Easychord -- no fancy jazz voicings, just stories in song.

WED 10/3

7:30pm
The Horse's Mouth: "Everything is Weird"
at Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
Donations Welcome

Feat: Lillian DeVane, Ryan Douglass, Ethan Marsh, Chris Braiotta, Raj Sivaraman, more

10pm
Quilt, Zoo
at Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$3 / 21+

Go early for some laughs or later for the trippy tunes presented by pRIMORDIAL sOUNDS whether it's Quilt's hometown folky psych rock or Zoo from SF that look weird with banjo and a cello worn like a guitar that don't seem to conform to conventions of any type.

WED 10/3

8pm
"Undressed: Fashion Burlesque"
at The Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston (South End)
FREE

Feat: Calamity Chang, Medianoche, Bettina May, music by Aabaraki

Yes, it's true. People have been strutting around town more than usual, because it's Boston Fashion Week. There are a lot of fashion shows, etc. Most of them cost more than $10 and/or they bore me.

At least this event has burlesque women from NYC and Canada as well as live Brooklyn funk-soul.

WED 10/3

9pm
"Champion Of Champions": Pub Trivia
at Middle East - Corner, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE

This is another recurring night of fun that I haven't personally enjoyed yet seems like a good bet. Experienced the 'interactive trivia' fun (Combining elements that are reminiscent of Dicecapades and Cranium?) and see how you may have been playing at the wrong trivia nights.

WED 10/3

10pm
Members of Morphine & Jeremy Lyons
at Atwoods Tavern, 877 Cambridge St, Cambridge (near Inman & Kendall Sq)
FREE

Sax-man Dana Colley and drummer Jerome Deupree revive the "low-rock" sound they pioneered in Morphine with New Orleans blues-guitar ex-pat Jeremy Lyons. It's not like seeing Mark Sandman, but it's still pretty damn good especially whenever Dana Colley is doing his thing.