ongoing 

   On  Monday June 10, all proceeds from the show will go to the www.onefundboston.org to benefit the Marathon bombing victims. Tickets: $55 & $35. On sale May 22.

     As Apple launched its iPad 2 in San Francisco, Blue Man Group unveiled its GiPad in Boston. Let’s hope Steve Jobs is not in litigation mode, or at least has developed a sense of humor.

Sat. May 25

The Possum is gone, but the Possum's songs live on. Merle Haggard has saluted his pal George Jones as the greatest country singer ever, and no one's really stood up to argue. Certainly not me. Saw the man once at a racetrack in New Hampshire, after missing him in Boston at the Paradise years earlier because, yep, it was a night for No-Show Jones. (He played the first Paradise show; I planned on going to the second - stupid me - and by then George was "sick." Nick Lowe was another disappointed fan out in the lobby that night as I recall.) At any rate, singer-guitarist Dave Aaronoff (Muck and the Mires. the Protagonists) had a cool idea: "I thought it would be nice to salute George Jones since he recently passed away," he emailed us.  I have been a big fan of his for years.  I do come from more of a rock n' roll background, but I have been playing country music with my band The Protagonists for several years now.  We cover a lot of George Jones songs in the band.  It's true, he was a hell raiser and a bad ass which I love, but he was also one of the great songwriters of the century.  I put him up there with Hank and Johnny Cash.  His songs tell such great stories of heartbreak, and he wrote many of the best drinking songs of all time.  His duets with Tammy Wynette are some of my favorite recordings of his.  I never did get to see him live." Aaronoff notes that he heard a bootleg of that first Paradise show (the one I missed) and he says, "but I did hear a bootleg of the show and despite the fact that the whole band was sick, they blew the roof off the place. ... So we are going to play some of his songs, and some of our own, and raise a glass (probably quite a few glasses, actually) to The Possum! Hopefully he's up there at the great honkytonk in the sky knocking a few back."
With the Darlings and the Invaders. Starts at 9. Tix: $8.

1667 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-547-0759 www.lizardloungeclub.com  

ongoing - June 2 

 There is still, perhaps, the idea that art and science live on two different ends of the world. One is a creative pursuit and the other driven by research and analysis. Left brain, right brain. Rarely the twain would, or should, meet.

    Whitney Bernstein a Ph.D. student at MIT/Woods Hole Oceanography Institute, wasn’t so sure.

    “A lot of people don’t have a good connection to science,” said Bernstein, on the phone from Woods Hole. “They see a scientist as someone in the lab, very analytical. But if you only see a scientist that way it’s limiting.  At WHOI, a scientist is very multi-faceted and actually it’s like the process of doing art. In fact, the processes in investigating science and art are parallel.”

    So, thought Bernstein, why not try and get scientists from Woods Hole and artists from Massachusetts together in a collaborative setting? What might they come up with?

     “The idea,” she said, “was putting two people together who might think different. It might stimulate new ideas, to put together those practitioners in the arts and sciences to think in a different way and to convey those stories about oceanography. How do you reach new audiences instead of preaching to the choir? How do you convey these ideas in a more visceral or impactful way?”

   In March 2012, Bernstein – who was later joined by Lizzie Kripke an artist and student in neuroscience, and art student Michael MacMahon – put out the call for something that would become “Ocean Stories: A Synergy of Art and Science” - eight pieces that are at Boston’s Museum of Science’s Art & Science Gallery through June 2.

    . Last May, they staged “matching day” at WHOI’s Clark Building Auditorium.  “I was really excited,” Bernstein said, “but I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.  I wasn’t sure if scientists would want to participate. If I got all these artists, are any scientists going to show up?  I set up a round table, and what was fun about that day was just to see people look around and get in conversations and share their work.

    More than 50 artists contacted her, as did about 30 scientists On matching day, Bernstein said, “Artists brought in samples and scientists brought in samples. I thought, ‘Wow, my brain is blown on both sides.’” The “Synergy” team ended up consisting of eight artists, nine students, one post-doc student and one senior scientist

     Initially, Bernstein and her partners thought this might result in a small-town affair – maybe a wine-and-cheese opening at a space in the Woods Hole village. “But when I realized the caliber of the artists and dedication people had,” she said, “we wanted to find a bigger and longer home.” The Museum of Science was interested and with seed money from MIT, the project expanded its scope.

    “Both professions lend themselves to seclusion,” said scientist Jill McDermott, who worked with Jamaican-born oil painter Bryan MacFarlane. Three works hang, “Blues Rediscovered,” “Discovery” and “Underworlds.” “And both require a lot of focused, dedicated energy to succeed. The message I hope we convey is that scientists and artists do not exist in isolation. Artists and scientists are similar in that they both convey complex information to others, but they employ different tools and emphasis. The combination can be very powerful, and convey scientific concepts in a more compelling visual sense than even the nicest illustration in a textbook.”

Thurs. May 30

The train keeps a rollin'. Dropkick Murphys just did their smashing multi-band benefit for Marathon bombing victims at the  House of Blues and raised $100,000. There were whispers at that show that there was something bigger in the works, and now there is: A benefit - called Boston Strong: An Evening of Support and Celebration - at TD Garden Thursday May 30, featuring (as of now) Aerosmith, the J. Geils Band, (in photo, Peter Wolf) Boston (the band, or whoever Tom Scholtz has in the band),  Godsmack, New Kids of the Block, Extreme and, holy moly, Jimmy Buffett. Now, the idea primarily here is Boston artists for the Boston tragedy, but Buffett's a friend of Live Nation's Don Law and so ... And James Taylor is on the bill too (he's a Vineyard and Western Mass. guy, sometimes) along with his longtime pal Carole King. Country singer Jason Aldean - he's on it. (Not sure of his connection.) Comedy from Dane Cook who has done these big halls and Steven Wright, who is known for smaller-scale wry jokes and more intimate rooms. More to be announced, and it'll be interesting to see if any younger Boston area talent comes on the bill - Passion Pit - or any hip-hop or any outside-Boston superstars, as with the Sandy Hook benefit.  Tickets On-Sale Monday, May 6 at 10:00 AM. (See details below.) Net proceeds go to www.onefundboston.org.
    Says Don Law: “Live Nation and TD Garden have hosted thousands of concerts over the years, but none with such a sense of purpose as Boston Strong: A Concert of Support and Celebration.” said Don Law, President of Live Nation New England. “Boston is a city with strong roots, and homegrown artists reached out to us to see what could be done.  We are proud to help solidify this huge concert line-up.”
   NKOTB's Donnie Wahlberg: “Like so many other proud Bostonians who have been extremely generous, we are honored to step up and do our part to help the victims and their families. Hopefully this event will not only raise money, but spirits as well.” 
   Taylor: “The One Fund event at the Garden this May 30th is destined to be a true Boston landmark. From the promoters to the sound & lights, to the performers and the Garden staff; everyone involved has responded from the heart in a spontaneous and simultaneous desire to be there, and to do what we can for the city we love. I am honored to be a part of it, and…I can’t wait."
    Tickets are priced from $35 to $285.  Prices include all fees and service charges. In an effort to make sure all net proceeds from ticket sales go directly to The One Fund, all tickets will be sold through Ticketmaster’s paperless ticket delivery.  Fans must have the credit card used to make the purchase and a valid, government-issued ID to gain entry.

1 Causeway St., 800-745-3000 www.ticketmaster.com and www.livenation.com/vip. 

Sat. June 1

Jon Lupfer, co-owner of the fab Q Division Studio in Somerville, is comin' right at you with this pitch. "You Will Buy Our Stuff!," emails Jon, taking a page right out of HSN. What stuff? you wonder. "Vinyl records and CD's, cables, books, posters, speakers, microphones, outboard gear, guitar road and drum cases, hand made amps, hand made pedals." (We're guessing the latter two cater to the hipster crowd and the "outboard gear" has nothing to do with powerboats.) Explains Jon, of this four hour sale Saturday June 1 (rain date: next day) : "It's happening again. A bunch of friendly engineers, musicians and just regular (well...regularish) people with too much stuff on their hands are getting together in Q Division's back lot to clear house, or to pretend to clear house, but really just to trade their stuff for other people's stuff. It's a good time. I'm not sure what's going to be for sale this year, but it's pretty sure to include these [aforementioned] items." What if you get hungry? What if it's hot? "We'll be firing up the grill and having some good old fashioned hot dogs and other grillables. It tends to be VERY SUNNY. We recommend sun screen if you think you'll be hanging out for any length of time (and we certainly hope you will)!" How about music? Crikey, everyone and his sister has recorded at this spot, anybody on board? "This year it didn't work out to be the same weekend as Porchfest," Lupfer says, "so we don't have any live music planned, but we might find some music around here somewhere." Hours: 10 AM - 2 PM.

393 Highland Ave., Somerville, www.qdivision.com

Tues. June 11 

One of our favorite old Tom Waits' songs was "Pasties and a G-String," an ode to the old days of burlesque, before the hardcore era surged in and way before the internet turned every possible sexual delight (or perversion) into something a click or two away. The Boston Babydolls, a leader in the new burlesque revival, come from that old-school, but, of course, with new twists. The Babydolls start a second-Tuesday-of-the-month regular gig at Somerville's Davis Square Theatre (Jimmy Tingle's old spot). They're calling it the Teaseday Club (cute) and your host Mr. Scratch will be joined by Betty Blaize, Brigitte Bisoux and others in an evening of provocative R-rated entertainment. Vaudeville and comedy also promised. Burlesque performers from outside Boston may come and join the event as well. Starts at 7:30. Tix: $15.

255 Elm St., Somerville, 800-838-3006. www.bostonbabydolls.com

Tues. June 11

What Robert Parker was in the late 20th century to Boston crime fiction, Dennis Lehane is now. Lehane – who reads and chats with Globe editor Brian McGrory at the JFK Presidential Library and Museum Tuesday June 11 at 6:30, a benefit for www.onefundboston.org - is the author of 11 novels, including “Mystic River” and the highly successful six-book series featuring private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. The fourth, “Gone, Baby, Gone,” was made into a film directed by Ben Affleck  in 2007. (Clint Eastwood directed Lehane’s “Mystic River” four years earlier.)

      In 2003, he published “Shutter Island,” a radical swing from his crime oeuvre. It’s a hallucinatory novel he calls “a dark and stormy night on crack,” the action taking place mostly on a fictional Boston Harbor island. “I did my gothic,” says Lehane. “I was covered and I felt that’s as far afield as I ever wanna go. It was fun; it really scratched an itch.” Martin Scorsese made the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio

     Lehane may have finally put Patrick and Angie in retirement after 2010’s “Moonlight Mile” – maybe – but he is back in the crime thriller-writing mode. He’s just writing about that havoc being wreaked in a different era.

     In 2008, Lehane published the incisive and ambitious historical crime novel “The Given Day.” In last year’s “Live By Night” he picked up the thread, returning to one of the main characters, Joe Coughlin, who is wheeling and dealing, navigating prison and Prohibition. Coughlin flees Boston for Ybor City, a gritty, ethnic part of Tampa, where he aims to take over the rackets (and a lot more). The trade paperback version came out May 14. Affleck will write and co-produce the movie adaptation, having secured the rights from DiCaprio, who first purchased them.

   Lehane and his family live in the Coolidge Corner area of Brookline. But he grew up in the Irish-immigrant-heavy, working-class Dorchester and he returns there a lot in conversation.

    He’s not a bad-boy writer. “I gave up smoking five years ago he says, adding “I turned into “a domestic human being. But I live under the operating theory that if you lose all your vices you’ll die of a stress heart attack. So I keep one. I still drink beer. It’s the only one I’ve got left. I don’t drink hard alcohol. I was never into drugs.”

    Yes, he’s made some money. “I can’t be the pathetic guy Springsteen talks about in ‘Better Days.’” Lehane recalls the couplet: “It’s a sad funny ending to find yourself pretending/A rich man in a poor man’s shirt.”

     “But I don’t think when I write, about movies, although in terms of what the movies have done, it’s been terrific. Do I swim in those waters? Yes. To act as if I don’t is disingenuous. At the same time, I don’t sit around with my friends and namedrop, ‘Hey, I was talking with Ben the other day!’ It’s a conservation I may have with my wife or my agent, but not part of my everyday life.”

Tickets on sale Monday April 15, details below                                                             Wed. June 12

     Some years ago, in the '90s and at the Boston Globe, I was asked - along with a cadre of other writers - to do a fictional projection story: What life would be like in 2030. Some writers tried to seriously predict the gadgetry and zeitgeist of the future. I opted for a parody review of the world's longest surviving rock band, The Rolling Stones and in the lede, wrote: "Is this the last time?," oh so cleverly playing of "The Last Time" song and aping the lede we rock writers have been using for DECADES. I had Keith with a blood-changing machine; I had Mick in a wheelchair. I had one of their new songs as being "Learning to Crawl (All Over Again)." I had Jagger forgetting the lyrics to "You Can't Always Get What You Want" having a senior moment trying to figure out what you got when didn't get what you wanted. Oh yes, you get what you need. I imagined Wrinkle Vision goggles for fans which cleared up Stones wrinkles and portable oxygen tanks. It was all good fun.

   Now, as you know, the Stones are back at it with their 50th Anniversary tour - no joke, it's called 50 and Counting - and once again the age and rock thing looms. I'll be covering the show at TD Garden in Boston June 12 for the Cape Cod Times. I thought I'd go back to a real concert, from 1999, and cull some observations of that. Serious observations, mind you, and project those thoughts 14 years down the road.

    Take your pick: Mick Jagger  is our very own Dorian Gray: spry, lithe, ageless, possessing a full head of hair, in command of all his faculties, a babe magnet still as he exhorts the graying, balding, and well-heeled nation of Rolling Stones fans to relive their youth via his group's adamant decision not to be put out to pasture. Or, Jagger is a rock 'n' roll Hugh Hefner -- fresh out of a marriage, shameless, and on saucy roll, an aging cad flirting with self-caricature.

     The Rolling Stones played their second consecutive sold-out show at the FleetCenter last night. The goods? The Rolling Stones had 'em and we bought 'em. Make your own joke about getting what we want vs. what we need. Money is certainly part of their motivation -- Jagger's got this rather expensive divorce on the way -- and when he sang "Gimme all your money/Gimme all your gold" in "Some Girls," it really felt like he was singing to us, even us in the rear "club seats" who ponied up $110 a ducat (love those "service" charges) to squint at the human ants and lock onto the large crystal-clear video monitor that hung over the stage. Did I say ants? I'm sorry. They were ants last time around at Foxborough Stadium in 1997. This time they were as big as shaggy-haired gerbils.

     But it's not just about money. The Stones want to prove that there is something both ephemeral and eternal about rock 'n' roll pleasure, that like the old blues guys, they can bring their music to all generations and not succumb to self-parody. Last night, there was a lot of pleasure to be had. Was it enough bang for the buck? That's one for endless debate, but I will say this: The Stones are like Microsoft, to whom they sold "Start Me Up" for the Windows 95 TV ad campaign. Both the Stones and Microsoft make obscene gobs of money because they have a product people covet. It's supply and demand, Capitalism 101. I may not like the equation, but I'm not crazy about multimillion-dollar golden parachutes for faltering CEOs or the cost of Ryder Cup tickets. A thought I couldn't escape: You know the Stones's ubiquitous tongue-and-lips design that was seemed so lascivious in 1972? Today, it's as radical as any other corporate logo.

ongoing  - Aug. 4  

    You enter the main chamber in the Ann and Graham Gund Gallery at Boston’s Museum of Fine Art and you feel as if you should get ready for war.

   To your right, a trio of fierce-looking, heavily armored samurai warriors on mounted steeds, frozen in mid-gallop, ready to charge into battle. The horses, you notice, also have protective face armor. To your left, staring down the cavalry are five more samurai warriors, on foot, readying for a confrontation. Behind them is a mural depicting an epic wide-ranging battle.

    These sculptures, and other standalone warriors and their accessories, are the centerpieces of “Samurai! Armor from the Ann and Gabriel Barbier-Mueller Collection,” on display through August 4.

     An exhibit like this offers us a chance to transport ourselves back in time, to imagine ourselves in the midst of a culture long ago and far away. In this case, we’re in Japan during the expansive era of the shoguns, who served country’s emperors from 1185 to 1868. The samurai began in 792, following the discontinuation of troop conscription, as landowners needed to provide their own defense. The sword-wielding samurais’ role evolved over the centuries, but by 1185 they aided the governing shoguns, enforcing tax collection and crushing rebellions. They lived and died by a strict code – bushido, the way of the warrior, with loyalty and chivalry high on the list – and they accepted suicide by disembowelment as just punishment for dishonoring that code.

    Not long ago, the MFA held a press gathering for an exhibit tour.  Director Malcolm Rogers and co-curator Anne Morse spoke, as did Gabriel Barbier-Mueller. Rogers noted that while the Museum was “famous for our Japanese collection, this is an area we’re not strong.” The MFA’s Art of Japan Gallery features 100,000-plus objects - paintings, textiles and decorative arts – and is considered the finest collection of Japanese art outside of Japan.

     Barbier-Mueller, 57, is a Dallas-based global real estate developer and investor with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion. He was born in Geneva, came to Dallas in 1979 and is the founder and CEO of Harwood International.  His grandfather was an art collector; his parents were collectors; he, his wife and children are collectors. “Three generations,” he said. His adult daughter Nina Barbier-Mueller Tollett traveled with him to the Boston exhibit. She said she’d grown up with the samurai around her since she was 12. She and co-curator Jessica Liu Beasley installed the exhibit.

   “Each piece,” said Rogers, “Is a beautiful piece of art conveying the power and might of these warriors.”

Saturdays

First, there is the smell.Familiar. Intoxicating. Some say ED-preventing.Then, just when you can barely take anymore, a smiling head pops through the door - “Anybody want some chocolate?”
 
Welcome to two-and-a-half hours of educational heaven, aka the Taste of Chocolate Workshop.
 
Run by the folks who have been bringing the legendary Mystery Café to Boston and beyond for years and hosted in the Elephant and Castle Pub in Downtown Boston (the same site as one of the most popular Mystery Café dinners), the Workshop tells you perhaps more than you ever wanted to know about chocolate (pretty much right down to the molecular level) and then lets you get into it up to your wrists (at least) through a hands-on truffle-making party.

Sat. June 22

The Grateful Dead and the Boston Pops? The ghost of Jerry Garcia (in the person of Warren Haynes, in photo) and Keith Lockhart? Yeah, we expected that. (Actually, I'm only half-joking: I didn't ever expect to see the Pops play with Amanda Palmer either.) But the music of Garcia and the Dead, the ultimate jam band, with an orchestra - the ultimate, uh, control band - as played by Dead/Govt Mule guitarist Haynes and the Pops, celebrating what would have been Garcia's 71st birthday. Well, here it is. It's an eight-concert tour, which stops at Tanglewood Saturday June 22. These things can go horribly or wonderfully. I'm thinking back to Metallica's "S & M" live album (symphony and Metallica) which I absolutely loved and a whole lotta Metallica fans hated. I'm thinking here of the country-blues-psychedelic base of most Dead songs, the lumbering, some would say lethargic, pace and down-low vibe. How will that work with an orchestra? Will there actually be any improv allowed? A space drums section? How will stoners be treated? Recovering stoners? (That's a big part of today's Dead community, too.) Traditional Pops fans? Will straggling hippies invade Tanglewood on Friday night looking for a miracle? How does everyone play "Sugar Magnolia," "Touch of Grey," "Bertha," "Fire on the Mountain" and "Ripple"? Lots of questions dangling here. Ticket info TBA.

www.bso.org http://www.warrenhaynes.net/showsthday