Fri. Jan. 9 & Sat. Jan. 10

This is the time of year we need to remind people that Celtic is sometimes pronounced with a hard "C." Especially when the soft "C" guys are doing so well on the parquet, as they are for the second year running. But the hard "C" people do a lot with music in these parts and so it will be at the Boston Celtic Music Fest, at Club Passim and First Parish Church in Cambridge, as well as at Springstep in Medford Friday Jan. 9 and Sat. Jan. 10 What you've got spread over two days/nights and three venues are concerts, dance performances, dance parties, and workshops for all ages, showcasing over 100-regionally-based performers and groups from Irish, Scottish, Cape Breton, and other Celtic traditions. New this year: BCMFest Boston Olympics, Performer Makeovers, traditional and Celtic fringe showcases. The Saturday night finale "Steps in Time" will present the rich variety of Celtic dancing in solo and ensemble performances with several special guests; plus a Celtic-style salute to Paul Simon.  Annual Friday night Boston Urban Ceilidh at Springstep is a hugely popular event.

Fri. Jan. 9 

The Huntington Theatre has major success with a one-day/deep discount sale last year, and the American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) is doing so this year, Friday Jan. 9. They will offer $25 tickets during for early performances of each production of the current season. “Given the challenging economic climate, we want to give the opportunity for price conscious patrons to be able to attend the A.R.T. at a lower price.  We don want them to miss our exciting upcoming offerings – a world premiere, two classic masterpieces, and a no-holds-barred comedy,” says Ruth Davidson, A.R.T.’s Director of Marketing and Communications.
 
The remaining productions of the Season are Anton Chekhov’s "The Seagull," directed by János Szász; Samuel Beckett’s "Endgame," directed by Marcus Stern; the world premiere of "Trojan Barbie" by Christine Evans, directed by Carmel O’Reilly; and David Mamet’s "Romance," directed by Scott Zigler. Hit the "read more" button for details on the plays and which shows are available on the cheap.

Saturdays, Jan. 10  - April 25 

A while ago, we were channel surfing late at night and caught one of those condensed "Saturday Night Live" re-runs. This one featured the skit where four diners were enjoying - mild word - a tasty chocolate treat at a restaurant. As the skit progressed, the diners kept topping each other regarding just how damn delicious it was. It moved from orgasmic to plate-smashing ecstasy and was both a poke at chocoholics and an ode to the love of the dessert. We can relate. If you can, you'll be heartened to know that the One & Only Boston Chocolate Tour returns to satisfy New England's collective sweet tooth every Saturday through April 25. You'll hit Top of the Hub, the Omni-Parker House, the Langham - and new this year - Beacon Hill Chocolates. The bus leaves at 11 a.m. and 12:15 (all right, they're two separate buses), with the cost being $80/person.

Boylston and S. Charles streets, 617-269-7010. www.historictours.com

ongoing - March 22

One of the most inspirational books I ever read was Carl Sagan's "The Demon Haunted World," which looked back through history and exhumed the phantasmagorical creations humans made to try and explain the inexplicable. The Roman gods, the various monsters and witches, the roots of religion. You could say he took a more scientific, yet populist, approach to some of the things Bill Maher does now. The Museum of Science is looking at some of those creatures in an exhibit called "Mythic Creatures: Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids," that opened Oct. 26. To the best of our knowledge, it does not have an exhibit of, say, "dragon bones" or a "mermaid skeleton, but it does look at the cultural roots of some of those creatures from Asia, Europe, the Americas and beyond. How were those creatures portrayed? Considered? How were they accepted as "reality?" Fascinating questions all, and not all of these things are the province of ancient man. We're still not quite sure about certain UFOs, say. The British are planning on releasing some pretty bizarre files from their archives soon. "Nightline" gave us a recent peak.

ongoing

 When I first heard about the plot of "Slumdog Millionaire" - a young poor man goes on India's version of "Who Wants to Be a Millioniare?" and wins it all - I thought: Look, I didn't like the damn show much when it was on every night all week (or close to it) and what would make me want to revisit a story keyed around the show - Indian, America - whatever? Well, turns out a lot. First hint: It was directed by ace Brit Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting," "28 Days") and the man is a master of shuffling time frames as well as comedy and drama. (Was there nothing funnier than "Trainspotting" fishing-the-drugs-out-of-toilet scene and nothing more awful than the results of heroin addiction?) Boyle has those kind of abilities, to pull you into another world (in this case the realm of richness, poverty and crime in India) and mix humor, love, violence and narrative in a way that makes you feel for everyone involved.

Sat. Jan. 10 

 The “Hot Stove/Cool Music” charity fundraiser returns to the Paradise for its ninth year this month. Saturday, 1-3 p.m., at Fenway Park’ State Street Pavilion, there’s a roundtable discussion with various players (Dustin Pedroia, Torii Hunter, C.C. Sabbathia), execs (Theo Epstein) and journalists, led by – can you call him anything but ESPN baseball guru? - Peter Gammons. Later, at the Paradise, starting at 7, it’s the music (mostly) and, yes, chat where Letters To Cleo; American Hi-Fi, The Figgs; Bill Janovitz of Buffalo Tom, Gammons, (and no doubt others) take the stage, with emcee actor/comedian Mike O’Malley. We talked with Gammons recently about the upcoming event. And why it’s been so successful over the years, packing the ‘dise and raising $1.7 for 8-10 local children’s charities under Theo and Paul Epstein’s Foundation to Named Later umbrella.

 “I think its’ the makeup of the city,” says Gammons. “A little bit of baseball and a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll and combining the two reflects the passion of the city. One oft the underlying things is the generosity at the roundtable with people of business community.” (It’s $100 to sit in.) We’re just trying to help out people in need, dong what government can’t do. We’re trying to bring out the best, like this election brought out the best in people, in a much smaller way.”

ongoing

When someone asks you "Whatever Happened to Pluto?" do you first think "Something has happened to the Disney dog?" or do you go, "Yes, I believe it's somehow not a planet anymore. How could that be?" To be honest, both thoughts flooded our head when we heard about the Museum of Science exhibit, but - clever as we are - we deduced this had to be about the planet, not the cartoon dog. We were right, and went to the opening of the exhibit in the Charles Hayden Planetarium in April. Haven't been inside a planetarium since ... um ... childhood. And it was fascinating, both the experience of simply leaning back and looking at the projected sky and the presentation about Pluto.

Sun. Jan. 11 

Hallie Ephron went to a yard sale. Actually, the Milton mystery writer goes to more than a few yard sales. One day she went to a home her daughter used to go and play … and she had a thought: “What if this woman gets invited in and never comes out?” Sounds like the start of a Stephen King tale, doesn’t it. The normal … suddenly not normal. That was the kernal of “Never Tell a Lie,” the first novel Ephron has written without longtime collaborator Donald Davidoff. (They wrote a series about a forensic psychologist as G.H. Ephron.) That’s what kicks off the new book, as the pregnant Ivy and her husband David, decide to get rid of the junk that’s been accumulating around the house, junk that was in the attic before they even moved in. Mmmm. And then there’s Melinda – a pretty girl they went to high school with (when she was not pretty and shunned). She shows up and they don’t recognize her at first. But she’s the one who David allows to go in the house in suburban Brush Hills. And she’s the one who becomes the center of a murder investigation that centers, increasingly, on David. The clues, you see, all point that way?

“It’s a suburban middle class couple,” Ephron says, in a recent chat. “They have, on the surface, the American Dream, the completely innocuous, content life. … I call it a psychological suspence novel. It’s not reaaly a ‘thrilller.’ People spies and bombs and politics.” Ephron has a series of readings in and around Boston this month, the first Tuesday Jan 6 at 5:30 at Redbones with Kate’s Mystery Store. Asking Ephron to explain what the book involves could mean revealing ey plot details – trust me, these are juicy details – and things Ephron wants to avoid so that she doesn’t spoil her own story. She will say Brush Hills is really Milton, and the house the story is mostly set in exists. Ephron and her husband and looked at it to buy back in 1975. They underbid at $45,000. A lot of other stuff factors in from Ephron’s real life: there’s a wicker basket that figures prominently, a bowling alley. But the key thing Ephron’s addressing is how much a role does your past play in your present?

ongoing

 If you, by some chance, were born old and “aged’ backwards to birth, you might consider this a highly unusual occurrence and have it investigated by the greatest minds of the day – whichever day you happened to live in. If you’re Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” you realize you’re an odd duck – one of a kind - but you go about your life without asking the big questions or getting freaked by the process. It is normal to you. (I once asked ex-Monkee Peter Tork what it was like to be seen as an ex-Monkee your entire life and he answered, quite reasonably, “Compared to what?”) So, if you accept that premise – and I did as the movie gently unfolded – you’ll be able to slip into this epic story and apply that old “suspension of disbelief” theory.

There are many charms to this movie, based loosely on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story and directed by David Fincher. One is how Fincher – “Seven,” “Zodiac” - employs state-of-the-art special effects and makes Pitt’s Button completely credible, as a bent-over “old” man down to a “teenager.” (Much credit to the actor, too, of course. Yes, he should get an Oscar nomination.) Another is that you don’t keep thinking, “God, how did he do that?” Rather, you get absorbed in the story – Button’s birth, abandonment, salvation in an old folks home in New Orleans and then his life (war, love, travel).

You relate to this affable Southern gentleman and fully enjoy his early relationship

ongoing

We ran into Scullers Jazz Club Entertainment Director Fred Taylor at the recent Keith Jarrett concert at Symphony Hall. There was some nostalgia. We talked of his old clubs, Paul's Mall and the Jazz Workshop - and how Jarrett used to helm the house band way back in the day when he was at Berklee. And Freddie said it was almost startling, the realization that his Scullers Jazz Club was approaching two decades in business. Seemed less than half of that, we both agreed. Time sure passes fast. We didn't have time to talk about the recession or the effect it was taking in the arts world - hey Jarrett was about to play and grunt and he does like it when people pay attention - but then we just got this from Scullers General Manaager Dayla Arabella Santurri. There's some discouraging news up front, but stay with it, there's some good news for you in there, too. Do the words "free tickets" mean anything to you? Read on ... 

Tues. Jan. 13

 "If you don't want a wild one/Quit hangin' 'round with me," sings one of the three gals who goes by the surname Darlin. Later, another (the same?) Darlin sings, "I'm drivin' nails in my coffin/Every time I drink a bottle of booze/I'm drivin' nails in my coffin/Though I'm drivin' those nails over you." And then there's a song that proclaims proudly, but with some shame, that one of Those Darlins ate a whole damn chicken. "Not just the leg/Not just the wing/The whole damn thing!" They blame it on the booze. Those Darlins are bassist Kelley Darlin, guitarist Jessi Darlin and Nikki Darlin on, yes, baritone ukulele. You'd probably call 'em an alt-country group, but the Darlins opt for pop/2 step/garage on their myspace page. By picking the same last name, the mini-skirted Darlins, of course, reference the brothers Ramone. A gang. In it together. All equal. As Kelley says, “I think we approach things in a unique way, a very egalitarian way, where there’s not the lead singer and ego and all that.”Or as Nikki puts it, “We perform, the three of us, and we’re straight in a row on the front of the stage.  No one’s holding back.”  I'd say that punk rock informs their attitude, but this trio from Murfreesboro, Tenn. - which has a drummer of indeterminte gender somewhere in the mix - is a country group in the same way the Knitters is a country group. They're at Toad Tuesday Jan. 13 at 8. It's free. They return to the Paradise March 1, presumably after their album produced in New York by Jeff Curtin comes out. It won't be free.

1920 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-497-4950 www.toadcambridge.com

Tues. Jan. 13

 One of the weird things about meeting celebrities - in the course of doing my job - is relating stories about them that don't sound self-serving or self-important. Neither, do I want to go, "Aw shucks, it was nothing. Spending an hour with Pete Townshend in his New York hotel room discussing music, art and heroin addiction. Yeah, that was all right." But I will tell you of the one celebrity intro where I fumbled the conversational football - and if you follow this tale to the end you'll see how it relates to a gig at the Milky Way Tuesday Jan. 13. Anyway, back in the 1980s Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter Cash are touring, and I'm covering it for the Globe. It's at the South Shore Music Circus. Johnny Cash was the first musician I ever saw in concert, at age 13, right after "Folsom Prison Blues," "Live at San Quentin" and "A Boy Named Sue."