Manchildren Founder of K Records and former member of Beat Happening, Calvin Johnson mastered precious naivete decades before it became the default indie mode. His off-kilter baritone is what sold it, and he's bringing his voice and an acoustic guitar to Cambridge tonight. Teenbeat Records founder Mark Robinson also performs as Cotton Candy. Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, 7:00pm, $10. Men With Children Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers is returning to......

Chinese New Year Harvard Square is celebrating the Year of the Rat with a Lion Dance Parade. Perhaps even more meaningful for some Cambridge residents, the Hong Kong (yay scorpion bowl!) is holding an open house in honor of its 54th anniversary. But be aware that they are having a craft party, not a scorpion bowl party. 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, free. Art Instruction You've seen the MFA's British Prints show, and you......

ImprovBoston Benefit Dinner Sunday, November 18, 6:00 pm UpStairs on the Square 91 Winthrop Street, Cambridge $50 for dinner, $10 without More info ImprovBoston is moving from Inman Square to Central Square, on Prospect by The Field. The plans are already set in motion, but they need money to fund the move to the new space, and they are working hard for the bucks. They began a Funny Money Capital Campaign, and they've taken advantage......

Diptych The Elizabeth Peabody House 277 Broadway Somerville, MA September 27-30, October 5-7 12-13 All shows at 8:00 pm, except Sunday shows at 3:00 pm mySpace site While Improv Boston prepares to move from Inman Square to Central Square, a few of its members are keeping busy with the upcoming play Diptych. Diptych is written by Improv Boston head writer/Phoenix writer Sara Faith Alterman and monologist David Mogolov. Steve Kleinedler, last seen on Bostonist helming......

Improv Boston is moving from Inman Square in Cambridge to Central Square. The new space is at Prospect and Mass Ave, right by The Field in the former home of an Asian grocery. The new space represents an era of bigger, better, faster, more for Improv Boston, and they need your money for the move, so they have put together the 25th Anniversary Funny Money Capital Campaign. They'd like $150,000. So would we, but they're......

He started snapping photos of religious icons while taking his son out for walks in the stroller near their Somerville home. Josh Michtom, an amateur photographer, public defender, and one of Bostonist's own, found the project to be addictive. His iconography of Somerville's Madonna statues (and other religious lawn ornaments) expanded his set of images into a 234 image set on Flickr, and last November the Somerville Madonna shop was born on the Internet. Note......

Bostonist swung by ImprovBoston on Wednesday night. Upon arrival, we realized that we had happened upon a nirvana for Boston's sci-fi/D&D elite - Geek Week 1.0. IB is offering geeks and the non-geeks who love them three more nights of themed improvisational comedy. Two of its previous sci-fi heavy shows, "Quest" and "In the Garage," were dusted off to join the lineup last night, and the remainder of the festival will feature the Inman Square......

Boston has a rich Catholic tradition. Ash Wednesday was this week and had may Boston residents walking around town with the cross of burnt palms on their forehead (yes, that's what it was – and it was on purpose). The beginning of the Lenten season brings other rituals to many Catholics and other Christians who may be a bit more liberal in following the canon laws the rest of the year. The practice of......

Sort of. The Lily Pad, the venue which occupies the space in Inman Square that was home to the Zeitgeist received a cease and desist order from the city of Cambridge last Friday. They cancelled their weekend events and mounted a campaign to open their doors again. On their website and myspace they pleaded with those who support the venue to let the city licensing board their opinion. The board granted a hearing to the......

It's a good week to take the whole week off. Well, is there such a thing as a bad week to take off? Grilled meats will be invading your pores for the first time in such a heavy dose since Memorial Day, which was only about a month ago. In addition to this weeks picks for some of the great shows creeping up on us in Boston we'd like to point you over to......

The first day of summer has finally passed and the ice cream season is in full swing. While we've already hit up Emack and Bolios, J.P. Licks, and Toscanini's, we are all ready to kick it up a notch in our ice cream consumption. So when we heard about a mini ice cream party this Sunday in Inman Square, we RSVP'ed "yes" immediately. Boston's own chocolate guru, Dana Zemack, is the chocoholic behind the website,......

While we don’t long for the days of having a required summer reading list, Bostonist has been feeling a bit inspired to pick up a book and actually start reading something not on a computer screen. Since we’re going to be “vacationing” in the city this year, we might as well read some books that are set here in our fair state. Here are some of our Bostonist staff picks for your reading enjoyment. History......

Bostonist loves restaurants where they prepare the food right there at your table. It’s not that we have some neat-freak, O.C.D. thing (well, ask our roommate and then you decide), but we love to see the process of it all. When we were a kid, it was the Chinese restaurant's sizzling rice soup that crackled and bubbled at our table. In college, we moved onto the Japanese steak house where the chef fried up the......

Yes, we know it’s cliché to love the Christmas movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life” but every time we see lil’ Zuzu talk about an angel getting its wings, Bostonist goes straight into tears. The1946 Frank Capra film is like a bad habit we just can’t kick. Well, if you are jonesing for some George Bailey vs. Mr. Potter action tonight, the Brattle Theater is showing the black and white film tonight at 7:15 p.m. for......

People must be learning. We’ve had our ears open all week and the ridiculous nonsense we’re accustomed to hearing wasn’t flowing as fast and furious as it once had. But there’s no stopping our intrepid readers. Bostonist and our cohorts around the city will keep dropping those eaves, as long as you keep dropping us lines. Send them to bostonistoverheard at gmail dot com with your latest tidbits of out-of-contextual phraseology. Woman: So I......

Bostonist has noticed that haircuts for women tend to be a big, expensive, high-stress affair. The people who do the job take an exceedingly long time to remove a very small quantity of hair at a very high price, and for this reason they are called "stylists," not "barbers." We have observed that these stylists are treated almost like mystic oracles - or at least like rock stars - by their faithful customers. ("I went......

Bostonist will readily admit that we’re a sucker for a throwback. Better yet when the throwback is coupled with a sweet deal. All this week the East Coast Grill in Inman Square is celebrating their 20th anniversary, or Birthday Party, as they like to call it. Bostonist has been contemplating the East Coast Grill as destination dining for a while. We’ve heard such good things generally coupled with a mention about the prices. Really,......

To continue with the theme of sugar-packed fatty goodness...the Scooper Bowl is finally here. The Scooper Bowl isn't a health conscious event, but that's why Bostonist will be wearing the big pants to work starting today, June 7th thru the 9th. While it might not help you lose the weight this upcoming summer season, it will help others' health seeing as all the money (7 dollars for adults) goes to The Jimmy Fund and......

Tonight, Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Square is hosting the record release party for Fischerspooner's new album Odyssey. Odyssey, the long-awaited follow-up to NYC art-pop duo Fischerspooner's groundbreaking debut, #1, was released in the U.S. yesterday. The event is from 5 pm - 10 pm. Inspired by the success of their salon in Williamsburg, Brooklyn's Fischerspooner are showing reproductions of the art and photography on display in the NY Salon in four additional cities nationwide......

Have yourself a night of radio fun with Midnight Radio: An Evening of Music And Horror tonight at 7pm at the Zeitgeist Gallery in Inman Square. A fundraiser for local filmmaker Chelsea Spear's production of the feature film The Ballad Of Burd Janet, Midnight Radio will showcase the old-timey joys of radio. There will be a live production of Arch Oboler's play The Revolt Of The Worms, and an accompanying set by local band......

If there's one thing that Bostonist loves almost as much as America's Next Top Model, it's The Critique of Pure Reason, a series of local events curated and produced by Stacie Slotnick. She's always bringing fantastic artists to town in interesting venues--anyone remember that fantastic Devendra Banhart/Joanna Newsom/Vetiver show at the Brazilian Cultural Center over the summer? Or the Jens Lekman/The Impossible Shapes/Pants Yell! show from two weeks ago? Tonight at 9:30, head on......

While many think of the "Beanpot" as that hockey tournament between four Boston area colleges, there is another Beanpot this weekend in Inman Square. Four New England colleges, Boston College, Harvard, Northeastern and University of Hartford, go head-to-head at the ImprovBoston to compete in the battle of improvisation. The event is two nights: Tonight at 8 and 10 p.m. and tomorrow at 6, 8 and 10 p.m. Tickets are $10 a piece (or $40 for......