|
Spring Flowering at the MFA |
|
Apr 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM |
|
Sat. April 21 - Tues. April 24 We all have traditions, especially in the spring when we use the word "rebirth" more than the rest of the year. There's opening day at Fenway, of course. There's the appearance of the birds who wintered down south. And there's "Art in Bloom," the annual flower fest at the Museum of Fine Arts. Nearly 70 garden clubs throughout New England and their flower arrangements are spread thr oughout the museum's public spaces and galleries. The event, the 31st of its kind, usuallly brings in about 20,000 visitors. You can be one of them. If you're well-heeled and like parties, you can attend the opening party Saturday April 21 at 7 p.m., drink the "Art in Bloom" signature cocktail and listen to the Blus Cabaret jazz quartet and the Marianne Solivan Quartet. That runs $200. On the flip side, on Monday April 23, there's an open house from 5 to 9:45 where it's free to get in. Normally, admission is $15. The floral designs are meant to compliment works of art in the museum, including the restored Marine Mosaic (A.D. 200 - 230) excavated from Antioch, and Claude Monet's La Japanaise (1876) featuring his wife Camille in Japanese costume. The "star" attraction if you will is Eirene, the collossal Greek statue of the Goddess of Peace (in photo) on loan from Italy. There are various events slated throughout exhibition. Check the website below for details.
465 Huntington Ave. 617-369-3196 mfa.org
|
|
|
Welcome Home: Kristin Hersh and friends |
|
Apr 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM |
|
Saturday April 21 Kristin Hersh has shifted gears once again. The singer-guitarist of Thowing Muses and 50 Foot Wave also goes out as a “solo” artist under her own name, and that’s how her latest CD, “Learn to Sing Like a Star,” is billed. But it’s far f rom a solo project and her tour, which stops at the Regent Theatre in Arlington Saturday April 21, is far from a solo tour. You’ll see Muses mate Bernard Georges on bass, drummer Rob Ahlers and – most notably – the McCarricks: violinist Kim and cellist Martin. “It’s a big show, it’s a tall show,” says Hersh. “There’s a lot of sound going on. I was around the stage, listening.”
How did this come about? “The record was confusing from the start,” says Hersh. “It was a series of mistakes. I was trying to make it spacious and atmospheric like and it sounded stupid, like I didn’t know how to play. I played to a click track, and when you do that you lose fluid timing, emotional aspects that make rhythms intriguing. It sounded clean and elegant. These songs wanted to sound anthemic and there’s nothing more anthemic than strings.”
As to touring the record – most of Hersh’s set comes from “Learn to Sing” - Hersh says, “I knew I couldn’t do the primary tour on my own. Martin and Kim are aware of potential schmalziness. As rock as this is, the distorition is more painting colors than punk rock The songs wear whatever they want to. I’ll still love you. The set is so interesting. It’s not a band; it’s an intriguing collection.”
Hersh is in fine spirits – on tour with her husband, three of her kids and three dogs – but she had a catastrophe last year. The house they lived in in Ohio was flooded while they were away in London. She realized in retrospect she uses “water” metaphors a lot on the new album. “I still have a future,” Hersh says, “but it’s hard to not have a home. The bag lady fears crop up.”
But she had a successful European tour starting the year off, and she’ll continue for a few months in the States before heading to Australia. At the Regent, it should be a lovely welcome home for one of our own. The McCarricks and Delorean open. Starts at 7 p.m. Tickets available at the Middle East box office. (The club is promoting the show.) They cost $16.50.
7 Medford St., Arlington, 781-646-4849 regenttheatre.com
|
|
|
Boink Does Burlesque in Boston |
|
Apr 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM |
|
Sat. April 21 The Combat Zone, as we knew it, is long dead. But it's getting so that if you scan the Boston events scene, you can find an R-rated burlesque show any time of the week. Maybe, that's extreme, but the burlesque craze continues with there being at least  four regular Boston burlesque troupes, the Suicide Girls coming to the Middle East Downstairs on a fairly regular basis and Boink magazine staging something similar. Boink, the college sex magazine based here in our fair city, stages "Boink Does Burlesque" on Saturday April 21 at 9 p.m. at the Middle East. Your MC is Mizery; you DJ is Rodney Marable; your choreography is by The Babes of Boinkland with artistic director Vanessa White. Stripping by Abby Normal, Bella Sapphire, Honey Suckle, Machete, Penny Candy, Pixy Dust and Sugar Dish. We're guessing these may not be the names they were born with. There's also a dirty dance contest open to all gals, with a $125 prize. Now, keep in mind, the Middle is not zone for the totally nude (or even pastie-less) performance, so this won't be an all-out flesh assault. But it should be pretty darn sexy, Boink's hook being that their models are real college girls, not the "college girls" the porn mags and websites tout. Should be an evening of sexy fun. It's a $15 ticket in advance, $20 at the door.
472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-864-3278 boinkmagazine.com
|
|
|
Everything's Gone Green: A Talk with the Kerrys |
|
Apr 21, 2007 at 12:00 AM |
|
Sat. April 21 We met John Kerry. Twice. Once when we covering the party scene for the Boston Globe and last year at Fenway Park when Boston Phoenix publisher Stephen Mindich reintroduced us in the stands. Seemed like a nice fellow. Less stiff the second time, post-Presidential defeat. Now, we hated the way he ran his pre sidential campaign, voted for him anyway, and cursed the controversial results. Have we mentioned the Electoral College has gotta go? This red state/blue state divide is ridiculous. Each state has liberals and conservatives and more. Make the presidential election one where every vote counts the same, not just the ones in the "swing" states. Oops, we're off course. What we wanted to say was that John Kerry and his wife Teresa Heinz will be at the Harvard Memorial Church on Saturday April 21 reading from their book, "This Moment on Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future." Is Kerry trying to jump Al Gore's train? Does it matter? The more voices - prominent, regular folks - who speak up the better. You people who live along the Cape Cod coast might want to be personally concerned about this global warming thing, but all of us need to be. By the way, we heard the Gore film, "An Inconvenient Truth," is the third most popular documentary of all time. And there are now bunches of Gore disciples out there, tailoring his presentation to their locales. All good, all good. The Kerry event starts at noon and costs $5. Earth Day is tomorrow. Start early.
1 Harvard St., Cambridge, 617-661-1515 harvard.com
|
|
|
Apr 20, 2007 at 12:00 AM |
|
ongoing ... still Well, it won a Golden Globe and garnered 7 Oscar nominations. Not our first choice, or even second for best picture, but we c an understand why the foreign press liked it: It was shot on three continents and employed 1,200 people. As to the Oscar voters, maybe they were saluting the sheer ambition and "we're all interconnected" message. But you can't call Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett the stars of "Babel," as has been implied. Yes, you find out eventually, the events that take place across the world are linked however spuriously to them. But they have minimal screen time - or at least not dominant screen time. This movie, by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, has that dislocating, discomforting feeling his "21 Grams" also had. Blanchett's character is shot in Morocco by a young boy, challenged to shoot at a passing tour bus. The US government believe it's an act of terrorism, not ill-conceived bravado. Other stories emerge: a deaf-dumb girl in Japan tries to cope with hormones and despair over her mother's suicide, a Mexican nanny (without papers) takes two children over the border to keep them with her for her son's wedding - and bad things happen. There are moments of splendor in this movie: the wide open dessert, Tokyo at night, the Mexican wedding itself. But the characters all too offen fail to communicate - hence the movie's title - and that's a contributing source to everybody's travails. Inarritu bounces among these stories and our interest in each waxes and wanes. When the threads pull together, there's an "Oh, yes" moment which is rewarding. The Japanese girl played by Rinko Kikuchi is the most heart-breaking of characters - to say more would spoil the surprise of her breakdown. It's an unsettling, yet gorgeously photographed, movie you will leave pondering and discussing. It's not exactly still in wide release - in fact it's out on DVD - but it does remain on the big screen at the Somerville Theatre at 2:40, 5:30 and 8:30. Tickets: $9.
55 Davis Sq., Somerville, 617-625-5700
|
|
|
