Not much time as I am off to the Cape soon. So, what is there aside from the Pops and the fireworks?
In no particular order:
Topping everything is the ongoing Boston Harborfest, culminating in the Chowderfest.
At City Hall Plaza on the 4th celebrate Cape Verde at the Cape Verde festival from 2-5.
The Bald Eagle is America’s symbol. See one up close along with other raptors and owls for 3 shows (11, 12:30 and 2) at the Gore Place in Waltham Sunday the 5th.
At Pandemonium, on the 4th at 1:00 is a Magic: the Gathering Alara Block Constructed Cash Tournament: $25.00 entry,. Sets legal for this tournament include Shards of Alara, Conflux and Alara Reborn. Deck lists are required. We’ll be firing up the grill for this event for Magic Players and store customers. Prizes will go to top 8 players (Top 4 if 16 players or fewer). Prizes scale with attendance.
Then the next day at Pandemonium is store inventory. They will be open for gaming and soda and snack sales will be allowed. If you want to earn store credit and score dinner afterward, e-mail tyler at pandemoniumbooks.com with “Store Inventory” in the subject line. Include weather or not you have a laptop computer, experience with Open Office Calc / Microsoft Excel, and use of retail scanners.
Easy Rider is being shown at the Brattle to the 9th.
And now for the WTF event of the week. Ever heard of the ‘Three Penny Opera?’ You know, ‘Mack the Knife?’ Well, that was based on ‘The Beggar’s Opera,’ a 1728 satire. Brecht adapted an English opera into German and then it became a hit in English. The original is being performed July 4th at 6 PM at the Daniel Arts Center 84 Alford Rd. Great Barrington. Tickets available online.
It looks like a quiet week. Still, there are a few good events on.
Gaming:
Are you honorable? A sportsman? Willing to lend a hand to a fallen foe? Then stay away from Pandemonium at 1 PM this Sunday (6/28) . For that is the time the Munchkins come out. Yes, it’s Munchkin Tournament 2: The Revenge: $5 entry fee. Top players in each game will advance to a classic Munchkin game for Pride, Glory, and Prizes!
Your Move Games hosts its usual schedule of games. On Sunday the 28th, you can take part in one of two campaignes. From 12-4, explore the Savage Worlds, in the titular RPG in the Sundered Skies setting. For more info click here.
Also at YMG, Sunday, from 1-10, revisit a classic. Gary Gygax’s classic module ‘The Village of Hommlet’ has been updated for the 4th edition.
For a ‘classic’ of a different sort, the Coolidge replays The RoomMidnight Saturday.
Concerts: Yes, it’s already concert season. And a lot of acts from my misspent youth will be playing. [Insert Michael Jackson joke here.]
Saturday, Huey Lewis and the News will be at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset and Sunday they will be in the Cape Cod Melody tent in Hyannis. (Both shows at 8 PM).
Sunday, at the Mohegan Sun arena, Aerosmith and ZZ Top perform (7:30 PM).
For even harder rock, Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick will be burning up the Comcast Center in Mansfield this upcoming Tuesday.
Full agenda this week! Josh Wheedon fangirls pay special attention.
Geekery:
All weekend, M.A.S.S.F.I.L.C. presents ConCertino, the Northeast filk convention, all weekend at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Worcester. If you know what filking is, then enjoy nerdy musical fun. If you don’t be glad of your ignorance.
Saturday is Free RPG Day! While supplies last, you can get ommemorative dice from Chessex, a Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader RPG adventure from Fantasy Flight, the 4th Edition Hero’s Handbook from Goodman Games, three offerings (Paranoia XP, Corporation & Dragon Warriors) from Mongoose, a Pathfinder Bestiary from Paizo, and an all-new D&D 4th Edition Eberron adventure from Wizards of the Coast!
If you are honorable and your word is your bond, don’t go near the Boston Massacre Diplomacy Tournamen. The Boston Massacre will beholding their 3rd annual Championship Diplomacy Tournament at Pandemonium Books & Games. Games start at 9am and 3pm on Saturday and 9am on Sunday. $25 for Tournament Entry, $10 for individual games.
Your Move Games has a great deal on tap as well. The highlights include:
YMG is sponsoring the Magic Grand Prix Boston Trial at the Holiday Inn, Boxborough Woods in Boxborough this Sunday. Registration begins at 1:00 pm and the start is at 2:00 pm. The entry fee is $25. Sealed format (2x Shards of Alara, 2x Conflux, 2x Alara Reborn.). Prizes: The winner gets a 3-round bye in Grand Prix Boston. Top finishers also win booster pack prizes.
Meanwhile, at YMG’s Somerville store, you can participate in a sanctioned RPGA 4th edition Forgotten Realms game Saturday. $5 entry becomes a $5 credit usable on Dungeons & Dragons product at the end of the session. There will be two games. One from 2-6:30. The other runs from 7-11:30 Bring a sanctioned character of 4th through 7th level for the first and 1-4 for the later game.
Sunday is a good day to crush everything! Monsterpocalypse: All You Can Eat! This full-day event. The goal of the event is to play as many games of Monsterpocalypse as possible in order to earn achievements that can be redeemed for prizes. $7 entry includes pizza at 2:00pm. Discounts on sealed Monsterpocalypse product. Additional store credit prizes based on attendance.
The battle between pirate and ninja continues this Saturday from 11AM to 7 PM. at the Peabody Essex Museum Courtyard with a capture the flag game! The dress code is full pirate or ninja regalia. The event is free, but donations for simple prize baskets will be appreciated.
Movies:
The Brattle unleashes classic gangster movies all week. Travel back in time when the criminal element wore fedoras and nice suits. Films include Little Caesar,Public Enemy,Key Largoand White Heat. Yeah, I know they’re in black and white and had to deal with the censorship of the Hays Office. They still rule.
David Mamet has been on the arts pages with several productions appearing locally. On Monday at 7, the Coolidge is showing American Buffalo, starring Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz. Director Michael Corrente will be on hand for a Q&A after the film.
It’s been a long winter, so it will be nice to get outdoors and work the kinds out. This Saturday from 2-5, take part in the Boston Whip Practice event at Victory Road Park in Dorchester. The event is free. And yes it will be outdoors.
Curious about kink, but not up to weilding a bullwhip in public? Well there’s Kink 101 this Saturday at an undisclosed location in Cambridge. They screen their would-be guests. RSVP at bostonseduction at gmail.com. Ages 18-29 are preferred. Tough luck, old horndogs.
For some reason I’ve not been emailed about this week’s show. And I see The Dungeon has been knocked off the menu. Am I on the way out? It’d be a pity if I were. Well, I will still keep it up unless the site gets cancled.
The Brattle, not to be outdone, unleashes a double barreled Tommy-gun barrage of gangster flicks, Wednesday with The Public Enemy and Little Caesar.
The Brattle is offering a pair of innovative animated features, Friday through Sunday. Sita Sings the Blues, a musical retelling of an Indian legend, will be shown at 4 and 7:45 Azur & Asmar, a fairy tale by renouned animator Michel Ocelot will be shown 5:45, 9:30 and Saturday and Sunday at 2.
Johnny Cupcakes continues its nostalgia series at the Coolidge with a special screening Midnight Saturday of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Cowabunga!
Games:
Saturday is June Game Day, hosted by the happy maniacs who bring you Total Confusion are presenting a June Game Day this Saturday, from ten to ten at Game Keeper 1005 Main Street, Suite 2225 Pawtucket, RI (in the Hope Artiste Village). Most of the events are free- a few have a $5 entry fee and one Magic event has a $14 deck fee. Enjoy open gaming and tourneys of all sorts, including: A Race for the Galaxy Tournament, D&D, Magic, many Munchkin flavors, Power Grid, Stone Age, Ticket to Ride, Agricola, Le Havre, Santa Fee Rails, Age of Steam, Atlantic Storm, Dominion, and more!
Pandemonium (of course) is hosting a Magic The Gathering (of course) Invasion Block Draft Saturday 1-6. $20 Entry, Invasion/Planeshift/Apocalypse booster packs will be used!
Sunday, Your Move Games is hosting Yu-Gi-Oh! Regionals at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center (1657 Worcester Road
Framingham) Doors open at 9:00 am. Deck Registration until 9:50 am. You must have your deck list filled out and be ready to play by 10 am. Advanced format. $20 entry includes five free packs. Top 32 players will receive invitations to U.S. Nationals. Regionals playmats to Top 8. Top 4 will receive $25 Best Buy gift cards.
Concerts: They Might Be Giants, the favorite band of nerds everywhere, is in town this Saturday at the Berklee Performance Center for two shows (3: and 7:30). Admission is $26.
Festivals:
Yes, the Marathon was in April. So take part in the other great race- the Boston Beer Marathon. Hit 26 bars in America’s biggest pub crawl! Signups will be from will be from 10:30 AM until 2:00 PM at the House of Blues on Lansdowne Street. It won’t end until 2 AM. Cost is $25 for those who register online and $30 at the door.
From 12-6 this Saturday, head on down to Memorial Drive between Harvard and Central Squares for the Cambridge River Festival. Enjoy arts, crafts, food and music.
Since the weather is likely to be good, head to the Charles by Harvard Square for the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, 9-5 Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy food, arts and crafts, live performances and, of course, the dragon boats.
Listen, youse mugs, if ya know what’s good fer ya, get yerself down to the Museum of Fine Arts, see… There’s gonna be film noir program, see. Get all the mugs, thugs, shamuses, flatfeet, gunsels and deadly double dealing dames you can. Want more? Fine. Gilda: Friday 5:40 Touch of Evil: Friday 8 PM and Saturday 3:15. The Maltese Falcon: Saturday 10:30 AM. Double Indemnity: Saturday 1 PM and Wednesday 8 PM.
Saturday:
Before watching The Longest Day, you can break out the cards! First is a Magic Austin Pro Tour Qualifier at the Brighton Knights of Columbus 323 Washington St. in Brighton, sponsored by Your Move Games. Entry Fee: $25. Standard format. Winner receives invitation and airfare to Pro Tour Austin. Additional prizes are available.
Pandemonium has two events starting Saturday morning. First, at 9 AM, is an Epic CCG tournament. Entry fee $25. First place, a Nintendo DS and 24 Packs of Epic. Additional prizes and promotional cards are also up for grabs.
At 10 AM Pandemonium is offering Pokemon Battle Roads: a small, entry-level tournament to give players another opportunity to work on their premier ratings, potentially earning an invite and trip to Worlds.
Back to YMG. If cards are not your thing, head to their store in Somerville and try D&D 4th Edition Forgotten Realms at 6:30 and 7:00pm – 11:30pm. The two games are RPGA sanctioned Forgotten Realms events. $5 entry becomes a $5 credit usable on Dungeons & Dragons product at the end of the session. Bring a sanctioned character of 1st through 3rd level.
Interested in something more genteel? Head to Brookline for the 31st annual Coolidge Corner Arts Festival, at the Devotion School, 345 Harvard Street, coupled with the Brookline Food Fest to benefit the Brookline Food Pantry. The arts festival runs from 10-6. The food fest runs from noon to 3.
The week:
Monday- The Coolidge, as part of its showings of big screen classics chooses to represent the 90s with Pulp Fiction. 7 PM.
Wednesday and Thursday- The Brattle presents a special return engagement of Coraline. Matinees and evening screenings are scheduled.
Anime Boston was a blast. I know a report is overdue and sadly I won’t be on the show today. But, devoted drone that I am, here is your Warp Speed…
All Weekend:
Who is on first at the Brattle with ‘Hooked on Who!’ First off, Friday night at 9:30 enjoy Tom Baker in the politically incorrect ‘Talons of Weng-Chiang!’ Extra credit- Louise Jameson getting dirty while wearing Victorian underwear… Then Saturday, try another 4th Doctor romp in pre-WW1 England (Edwardian, this time) when he uncovers the secret of ‘The Pyramid of Mars‘ at 1:30. Or, if you prefer a 21st Century Doctor, at 9:30 enjoy the David Tennant doubleheader with ‘Silence In The Library‘ and ‘Forest Of The Dead.’
Up for some LARPing? The Siderus LARP is holding its May event ‘The Shadows of Dawn’ all weekend at Camp Cedarcrest in Orange, CT. Admission varies with the roles. Check the site for details.
The Coolidge has its geek on this weekend. First, ‘Repo‘ returns for a Friday Midnight showing. Saturday at Midnight, Johnny Cupcakes presents that 80s video game related classic, The Wizard.
Saturday
Get yer WAAAAAAGH! on, Warhammerheads! The Arvard Ardboyz are back in Pandemonium, with a WH Fantasy doubles tournament 11:30 AM-10 PM. Registration available online. 1250 points perplayer. But you team up. Rules here.
Your Move Games is hosting aYu-Gi-Oh! Booster Box Tournament 7-11 PM. $8 entry. A booster box of the most recent set to first place; tournament pack or booster pack prizes to top finishers.
Sunday:
Pandemonium offers a Sunday Stompfest with a Mosterpocalypse constructed challenge: The Ninjitsu Heart Throb Event! $5 Entry. Bring your own army and compete for store credit and a Megazor Magna! All entrants receive a Shadow Pteradactix figure for participating. 1-6 PM
Your Move Games takes a bite out of boredom with a Vampire: The Eternal Struggle event: the release party for the new set for Vampire: The Eternal Struggle. (Yes, the vamps of White Wolf have their own CCG…) Take part in theEbony Kingdom Launch noon- 8:30. $20 entry includes one “Legacies of Blood” preconstructed deck and four EK boosters.
TJ’s Collectibles is sponsoring a Battle Roads Pokemon torunament at Batter Up 1875 Main Street Tewksburry. Registration: 10:15-11am
The Week
Pandemonium will be holding Monday Night Blood Bowl, from 6-10.
Thursday 5 PM, writer Inanna Arthen will give a lecture called, “Before Twilight: How Vampires Got to be So Hot” at The Rabbit Hole in Fitchburg. She will also read an excerpt from her new novel ‘Mortal Touch.’
Last weekend was thin eventwise. This weekend compensates.
Where to start? There is only one event: Anime Boston, Friday morning to Sunday afternoon at the Hynes! Weekend registration $50.00. Day rates available. Take part in panels, workshops, cosplay and games galore! Find out about the newest in manga and anime. Enjoy the anime music video, cosplay chess and (if you’re 18 or older) the notorious hentai dubbing extravaganza! I must emphasize how foul, loathsome, shameful, degrading, degenerate and hilarious the last is!
The second big event is Leakycon, a four day (it started Thursday) Harry Potter conference at the Park Plaza Hotel. Registration at the door is $199.
Saturday Midnight: Break out the leg warmers and tease your hair for the Ladies of the 80s Singalong!
Monday 7PM: Head underground for the Labyrinth Singalong!
And, completely breaking the pattern, Thursday at 6, Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos will be reading from their new mysteries, The Scarecrowand The Way Home.
Saturday night is all right for fighting, but at noon, you can take part in an XBox 360 Street Fighter Tournament being held in At the Buzzer in Allston.
Saturday is Worldwide D&D Day. Pandemonium will have an event, of course. The adventure will be about 3 hours long, and comes with 5 5th-level pregenerated characters. They should have 6 total runs: two games starting at noon, two more at 3pm with the last two kicking off at 5pm. Register online.
TJ’s Collectibles in Milford Mass will be hosting a Magic Toruney this Saturday. The event starts at 9. Entry is $10. The winner of this event receives a booster box of the newest Magic expansion. Additional prizes based on attendance.
Monday, is Memorial Day, so, spare a thought for those who served. At 2PM at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Max Kennedy will read from his book Danger Hour: the story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikazi Pilot Who Crippled Her.
And for the truly unbelievable and grotesque, James Carville and Karl Rove will be debating “Strategies, Alliances and Policies” Wednesday night, 8 PM at the Wang. Charlie Rose will moderate and mop up the blood afterwards.
This weekend is going to be quiet. Next one will be insane.
Friday:
The Boston Babydolls are looking to raise some cash to fight city hall (Quincy City Hall, apparently). Their fundraiser will feature an evening of burlesque, music, dance, performances and an auction to top it off. 8-11 PM at 820 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge
The Harvard Film Archive presents one of best regarded critiques of American society that came out of the great cinema of the 1970s: the original ‘Dawn of the Dead‘ 9 PM.
Saturday:
Sweet on Geeks presents this weekend’s big event: Are looking for a knight in shining armor with a +5 holy avenger, or a lady with whom you can debate DS9, B5 or SGI? Then you neeed to be at G33K S1NGL3S N1GHT at Pandemonium (where else?) 5-11:30 PM.
Aviation buffs come on down to the 3rd Annual General Aviation Fun Day 10AM-3PM at the New Bedford Regional Airport. Military and classic aircraft will be on display as well as dragsters and antique cars. The New Bedford PD K9 Unit, Fire Department and Airport Fire Crash and Rescue will perform demos. Admission is free.
Your Move Games is hosting another Magic Regional. This one is at the Sheraton Framingham Hotel & Conference Center, 1657 Worcester Rd. Framingham, MA. Standard format. $25. Doors open at 9. Top four qualify for U.S. Nationals. Booster pack prizes to top finishers. First 16 amateurs to drop get free entry into a booster draft!
A Charity Car Show to benefit the American Cancer Society Relay for Life will take place at the Larz Anderson Museum, 15 Newton St. Brookline. 8:30 AM on. $10 Adult $5 children.
Sunday:
The Boston Theater Marathon presents 50 ten-minute plays by 50 New England playwrights presented by 50 New England theater companies in 10 hours. Come and go as you please with your all-day pass. You probably will need to as this event runs from noon to ten. All net proceeds from this charity event benefit the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund.
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