Arts & Events: October 2009 Archives

Bike Rides The best part of Halloween is Truth Serum's annual Halloween Bike Ride. Starting from the Green Street T station in JP, the ride winds through Boston, Brookline, Allston, and Cambridge before winding back up at JP Licks. Costumes—and the proper safety accessories—are encouraged. Ride clear of the Stereo Bike, which will be blasting the jams that keep the crowd moving. Green Street T station, Jamaica Plain, 8 p.m. Free.

illumnight has today's Film Friday photograph, shot with his Canon 7n. This shot helps show there expansive dynamic range captured by traditional film where the Equinox sign doesn't have the appearance of being wildly blown out, while the shadows around the bases of the pyramids still contain good detail. The repetition of pyramids is an eye catcher, and the way they glow adds suspense to the shot.

D. Brim gives us another great representation of beautiful New England fall colors with this shot. Colorful gradients combine with a shallow depth of field to really isolate this wonderful piece of fall foliage.

Piano Men NEC faculty member Anthony Coleman digs self-proclaimed jazz founder Jelly Roll Morton enough that the noted avant-garde performer dedicated his most recent records to Morton's dusty compositions. He brings this work to the stage tonight, in a concert that is dedicated equally to the Morton's memory and that of Coleman's late partner, Suzanne Fiol. The concert will also feature a tentet of NEC students, "coached" by Coleman, and the premiere of two new works. Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 30 Gainsborough St., 8 p.m. Free.

Sekbaavi has a strong composition and great colors in today's photo. A new take on a classic theme, the tree lined lane. Good framing and a nice vanishing point add a great sense of space to the photo.

Pranks Given the nature of the performers, we're hesitant even to list the Yes Men's appearance tonight in our Happenings post. The pranksters, who are notorious for posing as members of the WTO and the heads of corporations, will appear in connection with their new movie, The Yes Men Fix the World. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St., Brookline, 7 p.m. More information.

Fox's hit show So You Think You Can Dance (think American Idol minus the caterwauling and plus epic foot injuries) held its first Boston auditions this spring. The visit was a success for local dancers, with two of the show's twenty finalists hailing from the Bay State. Bostonist is totally addicted to SYTYCD, a reality show that doesn't rely on manufactured drama and instead focuses on talented contestants performing amazing feats of athleticism and skill. Many of the dancers have trained since they were toddlers, and it shows in the intricate routines they somehow master each week. Dancers are eliminated weekly, first by a panel of judges, then, when the show is down to its top 10, by whomever receives the fewest votes from the show's viewers. Bostonist is here to catch you up on the story so far for both Massachusetts dancers so that our readers can tune in and vote for them. (Bostonist has no shame about being a total homer.)

Kmacgray's shot is the second in our autumn week spectacular. (OK, perhaps spectacular is a little much) Animal shots usually work best when you're on their level, and this one holds true to that. Whether you usually love them or hate them, it's hard not to find the little guy adorable as he munches on some lunch.

Discretion is the dumber part of valor.

Burlesque With Boston's wealth of burlesque, you need a pretty good reason to catch a troupe from out of town. NYC's Pinchbottom Burlesque might offer one: A Halloween spectacle that combines love, monsters, and nudity. Boston boosters, don't feel bad: Co-founder Nasty Canasta is a native. The Beehive, 541 Tremont St., South End, 9:00pm. Free.

-- A woman was sexually assaulted early Saturday morning as she crossed through the Back Bay Fens on Agassiz Street. The woman was reportedly attacked by three men, one of whom raped her in the park's bushes. [BPDNews]

Historygradguy kicks off a week of autumn PotDs here on Bostonist. This shot was taken over the weekend in the Public Garden. The low perspective and fine details are just great.

Garage Rock Charlie's Kitchen is Bostonist's unofficial offices, but it's also home to live music in Harvard Square. Tonight, the burger joint mounts a program of garage rock, featuring local three-chord masters The Coffin Lids, The Acrobats, and The Egos. Charlie's Kitchen, 10 Eliot St., Cambridge, 9 p.m.

Sunday, October 25 Webcast of Kate DiCamillo reading The Magician’s Elephant, Porter Square Books, 4:00 pm Submit questions to webcast@candlewick.com. 7:00 PM, First Parish Church Meetinghouse (sponsored by Harvard Book Store), $25 *Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood

Wide Awake Half Alive from Quixote on Vimeo.

Escape From Mom's Basement We're big fans of the Boston Comic Con, which is reliably awesome and for the nerds. The guests this weekend include Louise Simonson, which alone is reason enough to go. She created Power Pack, dudes and dudines. Back Bay Events Center, Old John Hancock Building, 180 Berkeley St., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. $10.

Jazz NEC's celebration of the 40th anniversary of its landmark jazz studies program culminates tonight in a massive performance featuring saxophonist Wayne Shorter and his new work for quartet and orchestra. A bandleader in his own right, Shorter made his name in the 60s playing for Art Blakey and Miles Davis. Today, his motto is "To hell with the rules. I'm going for the unknown." Follow him, if you can afford it. Featuring Brian Blade, John Patitucci, and Danilo Pérez with the NEC Philharmonia, Hugh Wolff, conductor. Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 30 Gainsborough St., 8 p.m. $45 to $65. More information.

light under a bushel has today's Film Friday shot featuring a fantastic innovation, the often overlooked downspout. It keeps rain from coming off the roof and drenching us, and as this photo shows, when paired with colorful walls and algae, they make for a nice colorful photo as well.

The Boston Bike Film Fest opens tonight at the Brattle Theatre, taking a broad perspective on all things bike. Last year, we enjoyed films about soft pretzels in Philly and a bike-powered rock tour across Wisconsin. This evening the festival promises a bike rap video, a farm-raised bicycle-related story, and a feature on fat bikes in Alaska (not to mention the Louie video we've already seen). Tomorrow night we'll see a Boston-based perspective on biking from a local filmmaker, a take on the RAGBRAI ride across Iowa, and other bike-related goodness. It's a good chance to celebrate your love of two (or maybe one, or three, but not four) wheels. Just make sure you bike there.

Jazz The NEC's Jazz40 series reaches its crescendo tonight with the Jazz40 Summit, which unites past and present faculty from the conservatory's landmark jazz studies program. The program turns 40 this year, and it was the first of its kind in the United States, which is how jazz luminaries like Bob Brookmeyer, Don Byron, Gunther Schuller, Ran Blake, Billy Hart, Fred Hersch, and Cecil McBee will share a stage together. 40 years is a long time in the history of any musical genre, and NEC's jazz giants all come from different backgrounds with different ideas about what constitutes jazz. That means that tonight's program is going to be either a hideous cacophony or a glorious revelation. Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 30 Gainsborough St., 8 p.m. $25. More information.

Brookline native John Hodgman is a man-about-Brooklyn whom the kids seem to like, whether he's playing the human embodiment of a computer on television or a space brain surgeon. He has written several droll books and has a certain reputation as a professional literary agent, which is why he'll be appearing at the Boston Book Festival this Saturday at the Old South Church.

Charlieontheradio has kind of a moody shot of Salem looking over from Beverly, fitting for this time of year we think. With blue hues dominating, and lots of depth in the clouds, you may miss the warm glow of the sun low on the horizon.

Gentle Sounds Atlas Sound is the side-project of Bradford Cox, the front man of the Atlanta band Deerhunter. Cox cushions pop melodies with a layer of reverb and guitar feedback. It's a psychedelia that's soft but challenging, and his recordings bring to mind the work of 4AD labelmates His Name is Alive and the Cocteau Twins. Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm. Ave., 9 p.m. $15.

Lucyrk took an unusual approach to photographing Boston's fountains, don't include the fountain. This shot has what appears to be just the top intersection of water streams from a local fountain. There is just a hint of motion blur but the shutter speed was fast enough to capture individual droplets. A good abstract.

Human Rights

EdO'Connor took a colorful sunset capture of Boston in today's photo. The light streaks are indicative of a long exposure, and the blue/orange gradient in the sky is a really nice perk.

Showdowns We're still shilling for the String Quartet Showdown, an event that we really dug this summer. Two string quartets vie for supremacy as they work their way through the Western canon and you drink beer, judging their every mistake. (Or paying attention only a quarter of the time, as the case may be.) Last time we dropped in, it was heavy on the Schubert and the Mozart; maybe this week will be all Elliott Carter. Alchemist Lounge, 435 S. Huntington Ave., Jamaica Plain, 9 p.m. Free.

The Boston Book Festival is coming up on Saturday. We already talked to an organizer; now it's time for a participant. Nicholas Negroponte is perhaps most famous for founding the MIT Media Lab and One Laptop Per Child, but he's also written his share of content. We talked to him about the role of technology and the future of books. He will be on the Digital Inclusion panel Saturday at 3pm.

Pearl_in_u's shot of this maple leaf floating in a shallow pool has some cool elements. The colors and textures of the leaf and the stones, and the edges of the leaf are causing some haloing where the water is diffracting the light. Good stuff.

The inaugural Boston Book Festival takes place in Copley Square this Saturday, October 24, with Orhan Pamuk as the keynote speaker. A launch party called "Boston Out Loud" bill be held at Trinity Church on Friday the 23rd. All Book Festival events are free, but some are ticketed, so plan accordingly.

If you don't feel hemmed in by the weather, two great shows tonight kick off a solid week of local music with some decent names dropping by for a good time. Plus, our friends at Ryan's Smashing Life are having an anniversary show Saturday, so keep an eye out for more info on that. In other local music blog news, we sincerely regret missing the "For Amie" breast cancer benefit put on by Bradley's Almanac at the Middle East yesterday, but you can stop by the 'Nac and offer your support if you haven't done so already.

It's the week of the Boston Book Festival, which will hit town on Saturday the 24th, bringing in big names like Orhan Pamuk and John Hogdman alongside lesser-known folks. Make sure to attend to get a new perspective on books in the 21st century. Bostonist will have interviews with Book Festival founder Deborah Porter and tech expert Nicholas Negroponte later this week. If you can't make it to the festival, at least check out one of the other literary events going on about town.

Tonight's the night to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the silliest comedy troupe in Britain. Part one of the new Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) kicks off a week of movies and six parts of SPAM-melting documentary. It's the perfect opportunity both for longtime fans to celebrate their idols and for new recruits to be welcomed into the bosom of Python. To the jump!

               

Well, it happens every year: the Head of the Charles Regatta. There are boats, there's water, there are rowers. Find results from today and the schedule for tomorrow, which is slated to be a rainy rainy day. Photos tagged Bostonist by historygradguy and Paul Keleher.

Movies We're big fans of Home Movie Day, the national celebration of home movies, because we dig antiquated things like Super 8 and 16 millimeter film. Home Movie Day is the opportunity for you to bring your old, moldering films to the HFA, see them on the big screen, and get some advice from professional film archivists about how to preserve your personal collection. Fun for voyeurs, too. And, yes, video is allowed, but you're limited to five minutes of it. Harvard Film Archive, Carpenter Center, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge 11 a.m. (screenings begin at 1 p.m.). Free. More Information.

(V)oluntary (∀)mputation has today's Film Friday shot from back in 2006. There is a lot going on in the photo with many small and detailed elements. The incorporation of the sprocket holes in the frame is a nice touch as well.

Movies Robert Mitchum's grizzled and vulnerable performance as a down-on-his luck Quincy gunrunner makes The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973) one movie that every Bostonian ought to see. Peter Boyle plays Eddie's friend, a hitman who takes the T because he doesn't have a car. Watch for Bobby Orr on the ice at the old Boston Garden and local independent filmmaker Jan Egleson as a young soldier. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge. Tickets and more information.

Unfortunately it looks like it is going to rain on our plans to photograph the Head of the Charles races on Sunday. The chance of rain is at 70% and has gone up since the last time we checked.

karrie_amelia blended two photos and a texture layer to come up with today's PotD. Although not a traditional photo, this is definitely a great example of a photograph as art.

Soul The Reverend Al Green is singing tonight at the House of Blues. Are you sure we need to write anything else about that? The finest tenor from Forest City, Arkansas can still cut a killer record, and the only reason you should miss his show is that you can't afford the exorbitant ticket price. House of Blues, 15 Lansdowne St., 7 p.m. $49 and up.

    

Bostonist saw Ryan Gosling's spooky new band, Dead Man's Bones, with our friend Jill last night. Here's her take on the show (cross-posted at Boston Book Bean).

Material Guy has an awesome black and white today. With complex lines and geometrical patterns, this image has lots of good stuff to explore.

Art and Soul The Beehive's regular "Sting!" events mark the opening of a new art exhibit, and "Sting! 6: Home Grown" celebrates the art of the Beehive's own staff. The evening will feature the work of more than 20 artists as well as the soul stylings of the inimitable Sharon Jones, who, it should be noted, does not work for the Beehive. 541 Tremont St., 6:30 p.m. Free. More information.

Tomorrow night, hippie-folk rocker Mason Jennings will grace the stage at the Somerville Theater with indie songstress Anni Rossi. Shockingly, there are still tickets available, so take advantage of this opportunity. Dubbed “one of the best acoustic-based singer-songwriters you’ve never heard” by Rolling Stone, Jennings most recently released Blood of Man. On this, his eighth album, Jennings takes a new direction by incorporating electric guitar, drums, and distortion. Mason took some time while touring for a phone conversation with Bostonist, talking about our great city, his doodles, and his favorite psychic waitress. He was beyond polite, calling five minutes early and telling his sick interviewer to feel better.

Brian Matiash has a very detailed HDR image as today's PotD. The textures in this are great, from the stone walls, to the smooth metal, and slick glass. It's also a good representation for the use of reflection which in this case adds significant depth to the photo.

Last week, the legendary jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette graced the stage of the Berklee Performance Center to present a program charting the past and future directions of his music. The show was divided into two sets—the first, DeJohnette's jazzier, earlier work and the second a glimpse at his current projects, which combine the harmonic ideas of modal jazz with those from North Africa and Spain.

Italian Horror We're not talking about Silvio Berlusconi. Italian horror film is among the best ever made, and Lucio Fulci was one of its masters. Best known for the superfluous accuracy of his gore, Fulci could also establish a goofy, suspenseful mood, which he did in his loose adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's The Black Cat (1981). Starring horror vet Patrick Magee. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 9:30 p.m. $9.75.

i.am.soul wants to be taken away in today's photo. Much like Columbus, the idea of being on the sea in a sailboat is a relaxing one, and this image lends itself to those feelings. The simple composition and simple processing are terrific.

Free Stuff It's Columbus Day, which means it's time for the Fenway Alliance's annual Opening Our Doors event. That means free admission to everything from the Museum of Fine Arts to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and to just about everything in between. (Including the Izzy G!) Special events at most venues make the day an easy way to enjoy the sun and get some culture. Various locations, Fenway and Back Bay, Boston, More information.

              

We made it to Davis Square's third annual Honk Festival on a windy, sunny Saturday afternoon. Though many of the bands specialized in Dixieland marching standards, there were a few that changed the whole tenor of the gathering. Locals Bloco Afrobrasil were one of those bands. Another was Scene of the Crime Rovers, an experimental marching band from Durham, North Carolina, whose repertoire includes lengthy stretches of supervised improvisation based on John Zorn's Cobra game. More skronk than honk, the SoC Rovers also managed to be crowd-pleasers.

We did a wee bit of slacking with regard to getting the book events out this month, but it's cool—there are still a ton of amazing events going on. And keep an eye out for more coverage of the Boston Book Festival coming up on October 24.

Marching Bands The Honk! Festival might be the largest annual gathering of leftist adult marching bands in the world. Based in Davis Square, it's definitely our favorite. The schedule lists 25 bands, and you're likely to hear everything from Afro-Brazilian marching music to klezmer, free jazz to New Orleans second line brass marches. The only thing uniting the bands? A punk rock ethos and a dedication to being "radical and subversive without being militant or sanctimonious." Davis Square, Somerville, noon to 9 p.m. Free. More information.

We're big fans of Honk! Festival, Davis Square's annual convergence of lefty, adult marching bands, but we feel like Boston has gotten screwed in years past. HonkFest has been confined to Somerville and Cambridge, forcing the rest of us to cross the river to see the spectacle. No longer.

Film Friday time again, and this week we have a beautiful fall shot from the Public Gardens. Gnarayan took this on Kodak Ektar 100 using a Leica M6TTL camera. The two people sitting on the dock appear to have the whole pond to themselves, and the trees really pop against the grayish skies.

The Social Network may be the worst movie title since My Best Friend's Girl desecrated the Cars' legacy, but that didn't stop Justin Timberlake from signing up for it. This means JT not-T will "likely" be at Somerville's Thirsty Scholar in two weeks filming that poorly but appropriately titled movie, which apparently traces the tale of Facebook's founding at Harvard. Written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, the film will also star Adventureland's Jesse Eisenberg.

Trapped in the Wang We wish that we could tell you that tonight's R Kelly show was going to be a Trapped in the Closet stage play, but, alas, we think he's just going to sing. At least that will save at least one little person the indignity of crawling out of a kitchen cabinet. CitiWang, 270 Tremont St., 8 p.m. $45 to $88.

Falconn67 has the PotD for today, a 9 shot panorama of our favorite home away from home, Fenway Park. The stitching of the different shots is well done, and the perspective actually makes the Pesky's Pole look unreachable by hitters. This great photo is a fitting way to wish the Sox good luck as they head into the playoffs.

Jazz Jack DeJohnette is one of the greatest jazz drummers of his generation. His contributions to Miles Davis's electric era alone would be enough to qualify him for superlative praise, but he's also worked with everyone from Bill Evans to David Murray, with a long and notable collaboration with Keith Jarrett to boot. His newer, ambient music might not be everyone's cup of tea, but the wealth of his back catalog is undeniable. DeJohnette will sit behind the drums tonight as his band mate, Berklee prof Dave Fiuczynsk,i leads a group of students through DeJohnette's "musical history and future." Berklee Performance Center, 136 Mass. Ave., 8:15 p.m. $20-$25.

From his place before the Boston Pops in the perfect acoustics of Symphony Hall, Ben Folds sported the face of a man who thought he'd committed the perfect crime.

Mike Cialowicz took a photo of a typical urban scenario, taxis. Using light to draw you into the photo, this is an excellent take on a daily scene.

Movies If you didn't catch Phil Solomon disease at the HFA on Monday, you'll have a second chance tonight at MassArt. The experimental filmmaker is an alumnus of the college, and he's bringing a clutch of his films to screen tonight, including Seasons... (2002), which he made with his mentor Stan Brakhage, and third and last installment of the series In Memoriam (Mark Lapore), the film Still Raining, Still Dreaming (2009). Organized by the MassArt Film Society. Film Department Screening Room, Massachusetts College of Art and DEsign, 621 Huntington Ave., 8 p.m. $4/Free.

Dazzzzzle wanted a shot of planes landing over the harbor, and in this shot also incorporated some foreground elements including the passenger boat. The processing appears to be a throwback to the film era, and the colors work with the photo.

Tongues, Cheeks Wasted Talent, the brainchild of Nabo Rawk and DJ Paul Foley, updates hip house for the white boy set. We're partial to the geography dropping banger "Khed," but any rapper who can rhyme "Dukakis" with "their Moms want to jock us," deserves a few of your dollars. With tongue-in-cheek teenage rock band The Sprained Ankles. O'Brien's Pub, 3 Harvard Ave., Allston, 8 p.m. $7.

Onstage last night at the Somerville Theater, Os Mutantes looked remarkably young for a 40-year-old band. The Brazilian pop alchemists, who were at the center of Brazil's Tropicália cultural uprising, had performed a new transmutation—this time, on themselves.

Bostonist photowalker nolansternphotography took a cool picture while on our last photo walk. This hydrant shot has some neat elements. Symmetry, shallow depth of field, framing, and post processing all work together to yield a stunning photo.

Armies The members of KISS have been dressing in make-up, Spandex, and leather for 35 years now, and though the band's "Army" might be averaging half a century in age these days, that doesn't make the fans less rabid. The band performs the entirety of KISS Alive tonight. TD Garden, 7:30 p.m.

                          

Bostonist caught up with the Boston Tweed Ride as it paused at the Weeks Foot Bridge on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon.

Tropicalia Os Mutantes has finally come to greater Boston. Best known by most Americans for the song they licensed to McDonald's (this video is great because it demonstrates that children would much rather eat fat-soaked garbage food than win athletic competitions), Tropicalia's wackiest band actually has a long history of selling songs to big corporations. (Check out this trippy Shell commercial if you don't believe me.) The members of Mutantes were the pop-culture swilling young and hip Paulistas who, in the late 60s, joined their more serious-minded friends Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso to change the course of Brazilian musical history. Mutantes' candy-colored costumes were made-for-TV and their searing psychedelic riffs were headshop-ready. Goofy, allusive, and sometimes avant-garde, Mutantes were as bizarre a pop culture phenomenon as you could hope to find in a military dictatorship. The band has reunited, minus Rita Lee, released a new album, and toured the U.S. with a stage show that you absolutely do not want to miss. Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, 8 p.m. $28.

Beer Harpoon Brewery opens its doors and its taps for the 2009 Harpoon Octoberfest. It's Harpoon's 20th such event, and it includes "three stages of music including New England's premier German Oompa bands" as well as the requisite beer and German food. Harpoon Brewery, 306 Northern Ave., (shuttles available from South Station), 3 p.m. More information.

We're not shy about expressing our gawking admiration for Mission of Burma, the best rock band ever to come from Boston, and we were geeked to see that city councilor John Tobin feels the same way. In recognition of the release of The Sound the Speed the Light, the band's fifth studio recording, Tobin passed a resolution naming October 4, 2009 Mission of Burma Day in the city of Boston. See the declaration above and bust out your copy of Vs. this Sunday morning. Or, better yet, hoof it across the river to Cambridge, where the band will be playing a free show at MIT.

JHamel has today's Film Friday photo, well photos. This triptych of the Zakim explores a few different angle of the world's widest cable stay bridge. The colors and angles are great, and the shots work well together. These images were made on a medium format camera, the Mamiya 645E using Fujicolor Pro 160S film.

Jazz George Russell, who died earlier this year, freed jazz in the 1950s when he began discovered "a new way to relate to chords." His Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization yielded both the modal jazz of Miles Davis and the free jazz of John Coltrane, but Russell's own compositions were nothing to sneeze at, either. Students and faculty at NEC, where Russell taught, celebrate his work tonight by playing some of his best known compositions, including the majestic tribute to Charlie Parker and Igor Stravinksy, A Bird in Igor's Yard. Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, 30 Gainsborough St., 8 p.m. Free.

Smashion, a new mashup of smart people and fashion, offers fashionistas the chance to shop, share, and gab with similarly clothing-conscious folks. It's essentially a social network for folks who drool over the September issue (the actual one, not necessarily the film). To wrap up Boston Fashion Week, Smashion is having a launch party for its service. The party at District Lounge features fashions from LF boutique as well as drinks and hors d'ouevres designed to make it hard for you to fit into haute couture. 6pm, District Boston (180 Lincoln St), free, 21+.

Sekbaavi captured something different Tuesday night, the moon aglow with rings of color bouncing off the clouds. A shot like this is a good reminder to keep a camera handy because you never know when you're going to come across something to photograph.

It's getting down into the forties at night, the leaves are coming out, and the time has come to buy your October T pass. Yes, it's officially fall. And there's no better way to ring (or strum) it in than with local folksters The Points North, whose silken sounds range from cool autumn breezes to crunchy acorns underfoot. The band celebrates the release of its new LP, I Saw Across the Sound, with The Needy Visions and Gracious Calamity at First Church (6 Eliot St, Jamaica Plain). The show starts at 8pm, and the $8 admission fee includes a vinyl LP.