blue socks looked at the world through the eyes of a child on a recent visit to the Museum of Science. Great framing and a fun capture.......

Daft Punk's Electroma Gus Van Sant, Isaac Asimov, and a French-loving raver walk into the desert... Not a joke, but the vibe of Daft Punk's art-house film debut that debuted at Cannes in '06. In what could either be called a long-form music video or a 74-minute silent movie, it's a beautifully-filmed story that touches on some classic human themes, but in a really twisted way starring robots. (It better have been filmed beautifully......

Dancing Hipsters Probably most famous for dating producing transatlantic hipster heartthrob MIA, Diplo made his name DJing. He's a dance music polymath who introduced the world to Brazilian Funk Carioca and Baltimore Club while inspiring a legion of white guys in skinny jeans to invest in Serato Scratch Live. He spins in Allston tonight. Great Scott, 1222 Comm. Ave, Allston. 9:00 pm. $15. Music --Darkbuster's Hometown Throwup continues with Hub City Stompers, The Allstonians,......

Art Somerville's Nave Gallery has brought us thoughtful installations before, but their new "Ghost Town" sounds positively compelling. Artists imagine our earth in a process of transformation, with cities growing and shrinking, populations moving, people interacting with nature, and everything cycling both naturally and unnaturally toward growth, decay, and chaos. Might sound like a bunch of hippie nonsense, but we think it makes for some appealing art. "Ghost Town" runs through March 21 at......

Movies The MFA calls Les Saignantes "the first science fiction film to come out of Africa," which should be reason enough to see it. But did we mention that it has won comparisons to Russ Meyer? And that it's about a group of women determined to rid their distopian future world of all men? Cameroon director Jean-Pierre Bekolo wins Bostonist's seal of approval. Remis Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, 6:00pm (also screening Sunday). $8/$9......

Awkward Lectures Cory Arcangel's best known artwork Super Mario Clouds turns the world's first scrolling video game into a digital environment of placid repetition. It percolated on the internet and spilled into the Whitney's Biennial, making Arcangel a digital art superstar. But his true calling may have been as a lecturer. Whether the topic is hacking old electronics or copyright; his willful ignorance of art history or his place in it, Arcangel always entertains.......

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......

Thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts’s ongoing exhibit Walk This Way, shoe-loving Bostonians have found a new excuse for their obsession: They’re not just conspicuous consumers, they’re art collectors. The exhibit—which shows shoes as pieces of art as well as symbols of wealth and power throughout the ages—is cleverly spread throughout the MFA’s galleries, organized, according to the program, as a “treasure hunt” for visitors. (Bostonist’s companion had more fun reading the map than......

The cold weather is no excuse for you not to get out! Human Dogsledding No kidding. The 8th annual National Human Dog Sled Competition will start today in Lowell. You can learn more about other Lowell Winterfest events, which sound like fun. However, for Bostonist, it is all about the human dogsledding--and teams usually wear costumes. Challenger rounds will be tonight at 6:45 and 10:00 pm, and championship rounds will be tomorrow at 3:30 and......

A spring-loaded dress, a sun-lit fan, and a purse with a built-in alarm system were just a few of the futuristic fashions on display at the Seamless: Computational Couture fashion show at the Museum of Science on Wednesday. Over 1000 design and technology lovers packed three floors of the MoS's Blue Wing to admire clothes and accessories ranging from sublime (an air-filled dress that changes shape based on barometric pressure) to sci-fi (a burial suit......

Art The exhibit Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914–1939 shows the sharp, mechanical-feeling prints that set the artistic tone for the future. Museum of Fine Arts. Read Bostonist's preview of the show. Runs through June 1. Fashion Put away your spindles. Fashionistas can flash forward to the 21st century at Seamless, which showcases "experimental works in computational apparel design." The dry-witted Steven Rosengard of Project Runway 4 will be hosting, and Red Sox......

Rhythms of Modern Life: British Prints 1914-1939 Torf Gallery, Museum of Fine Arts January 30—June 1, 2008 In the collection of prints going on display tomorrow at the Museum of Fine Arts, humans are chiefly represented in clumps: anonymous crowds, armies, bocce players, orchestras, audiences, stick-figure Ballets Russes, eight men with oars forming a human motor, blurred passengers whirling around an ominous proto-Seussian merry-go-round—Oh, the places you (plural) will go. The exhibit highlights artists......

Worcester's American Sanitary Plumbing Museum has decided to flush itself out of the city, but it's not going into the crapper just yet. The museum will relocate to the more appropriately named Watertown. Worcester might consider this development perfectly potty, but at least the collection is staying in Massachusetts. The owners of the museum, the Manoogs, are retiring and have donated everything to the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors of Greater Boston, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports.......

Books Ex-SNL writer Patricia Marx, who was also one of the first women to be elected to the Lampoon, will be at Borders Back Bay to talk about Him Her Him Again the End of Him, about a woman who cannot wash a supremely snotty, pretentious man out of her hair. Check out the first chapter, in which Marx's heroine describes her first encounter with "Eugene" and tries to remember what her dissertation was about......

Human Rights Watch International Film Festival Various Showings, January 16-20 Museum of Fine Arts Boston and Peabody Essex Museum It can be easy to get caught up in local and national news, especially when election coverage is hot and murderous Marines are being sought. But even in the face of exciting events, we shouldn't lose sight of larger, less glamorous issues like human rights. Human Rights Watch has been keeping an eye on international abuses......

Flickr user Ed Karjala caught our eye with this outstanding shot of the ICA. We love the odd green tones (which are rendered richer through the glass), and the angle gives a unique perspective of the new Institute of Contemporary Art building. One of our favorite details is how the Boston skyline is reflected in the glass, adding another dimension to the photo. We also require that you view this amazing shot of the......

Movies Two-Lane Blacktop is one of the best underground movies you've probably never seen. Even though the 1971 movie about drag racers looks like a star vehicle for "Sweet Baby James" Taylor, the images and general restless atmosphere make it seem more like Godard than anything else. Throw in a performance by another one of Hollywoods unsung heroes, Warren Oates, and a haunting final scene, and you have a classic. Showtimes from the Brattle Theatre.......

Emily Sweeney at the Globe did a great piece on a local guy with ">an unusual hobby--barf bags. Most barf bags are plain, white, and discreet, but one guy relishes collecting the snazzier unused barf bags and posting them online. Steven J. Silberberg, from Hull, runs the Air Sickness Bag Virtual Museum. (Love the euphemism "air sickness.") He began his hobby in 1981 and now has 2,037 bags, all lovingly detailed and cataloged on the......

Movies The rule is unspoken, but obvious. No T-shirts or sweats when you watch Lagerfeld Confidential, a documentary on the life of the legendary glamourpuss. Museum of Fine Arts, from today until January 17, $9. All showtimes from the MFA. Music Reconsider the ukulele with "Viva La Revel-UKE-tion!," in which the East Boston Make-Out Club Band and others pay musical tribute to the laid-back instrument. Club Passim, 26 Church Street, Cambridge, 8:00 pm, $10.......

In Boston, a commemorative plaque is mounted on every other building, tree and rock... and we're proud of it, b'gum'! We just checked the historic museum gift shops and the coast is clear of tourists, stoners and field-trippers until February vacation. Here are a few gift ideas for the history buff (or the ignorant). The people at Historic New England do not mess around. We're getting misty about their spectacular historic photos of Boston. Their......

School of the Museum of Fine Arts Sale Through Sunday, December 9 12:00 pm-6:00 pm 230 The Fenway, Boston (T: Museum of Fine Arts or Ruggles) Surprise your friends and family with original art instead of the standard old holiday presents like gadgets, bath soap, and socks. Five thousand pieces of art will be on sale at the School of Museum of Fine Arts this weekend, including original art by Ellsworth Kelly, which you......

Former Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney delivered a thoughtful, moving speech today at the George Bush Sr. Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas. Romney delivered points that no one could argue with--namely, that religious liberty is "fundamental to America's greatness." No kidding. Isn't that why the pilgrims came here in the first place? Aside from a few "duh" moments, Romney delivered a solid speech with some quotable lines, particularly: "Americans do......

After the Mooninite Menace and Star Simpson's light-up sweatshirt, we were starting to think that the entire city of Boston was afraid of its own shadow. But Toronto just made us feel better by having its own experience of homeland security gone awry in the face of art. Torontoist has an interview up with a gentleman who just scared the holy shit out of the city. And this is Canada, people, aka America's Hat. They're......

Pollock Matters Through December 9 McMullen Museum of Art Boston College 140 Commonwealth, Devlin Hall 108, Chestnut Hill (T: Boston College. Directions by car.) Boston College is running an art exhibit addressing the relationship between painter Jackson Pollock and his friend Herbert Matter. The exhibit is national news because the paintings, which were discovered by Matter's son Alex, may or may not be original Pollocks. Numerous experts have evaluated these paintings to discover the truth,......

Authorial Intent is Bostonist's wrap-up of local readings. All events are free unless otherwise noted. Wednesday, November 28 Helen Vendler, Our Secret Discipline: Yeats and the Lyric Form, Sacker Museum (via Harvard Book Store), 6:00 pm. More info. Vendler, the closest reader of all close readers, so says the New York Times, shines her spotlight on William Butler Yeats. Thursday, November 29 David Hosp, Innocence, 7:30 pm, Charlestown Branch Library Hosp will be reading from......

Panel Discussion on the Gas Tank Saturday, October 27, 7:00 pm Savin Hill Yacht Club Free Part of the Dorchester Open Studios More info about the studios If you have lived in Boston for a long time, you are aware of the area's most prominent landmark next to the Citgo sign--the gas tank on I-93. If you haven't lived in Boston for long, you're probably wondering what's going on with the gas tank with the......

As Red Sox fans we've become accustomed to the various tauntings (they're clearly jealous), pepto-fueled stressful evenings, and many bleary-eyed mornings. However no matter what curve balls (pun intended) our beloved Boys of Summer, er October, throw at us, we will always declare ourselves proud members of Red Sox Nation. Turns out our all-weather team allegiance is nothing new. One of Boston's most giving and interesting daughters, Isabella Stewart Gardner, was a passionate Red......

"Authorial Intent" wraps up book events for the week in the Boston area. Wednesday, October 24 Chris Matthews, 6:00 pm, Coolidge Corner (via Brookline Booksmith), $5 Recently, Jon Stewart sank his fangs into Matthews for pimping the concept that "Life's a Campaign," which is, admittedly, a little scary. Bostonist prefers the old saw that life is a bowl of cherries. Watch what Matthews has dubbed the "interview from hell," and you'll already be armed with......

Gothamist learned about the craziest urban nightmare come true: A huge python found in the bathroom pipes. It was also a nightmare for some Yankees fans, as manger Joe Torre declined to come back and manage the Bronx Bombers. At least the city's attempt to give some direction to subway riders was interesting, pranksters went shirtless at the Fifth Avenue Abercrombie & Fitch and the I Heart Brooklyn Girls calendars came out. And just......

A Conversation with Michael Haneke Friday, October 19, 7:30pm, Harvard Film Archive Michael Haneke: A Cinema of Provocation Ongoing, Harvard Film Archive and Museum of Fine Arts Austrian director Michael Haneke, best known for his spare and chilling 2001 adaptation of The Piano Teacher, will discuss his thirty year career in television and the movies tomorrow at Harvard Film Archive. The talk will be followed by a screening of Haneke's latest: his shot-by-shot U.S. remake......