category: Harvard

Where to ride a snow tube to an ice bar, plus more Boston events this weekend

Between all the events rescheduled from last weekend and lots of new stuff, you have plenty of options to get out and support local artists and businesses. They’ll be extra happy to see you, and you’ll be extra happy to be there, probably because it took four hours on the T, but you made it so have some fun and forget all the times you cursed out all of humanity in the past week. (more…)

Film, flapjacks, fall beers, and more events this weekend

(Photo credit: Janine/Creative Commons)

Attention movie buffs: This weekend in Boston you can see a free screening of a new film produced by locals, meet a film and television legend, or eat some pancakes at an indie theater. Or, fine, just drop $20 to see “Interstellar” in IMAX because the Internet has already spoiled half the movie for you anyways and that Matthew McConaughey sure is dreamy.

* Struggling to make ends meet, Philip Waters decides to turn to old habits and sell an exclusive strain of marijuana known as “The Grim Reefer.” Sounds pretty awesome so far, but if  “A Sea of Green” — filmed around Lowell with a cast of underground rappers — is anything like most drug movies, things probably aren’t going to end well. Writer, director, and co-star Myster DL hosts a screening and party with many of the film’s stars tonight at Good Life. 11.13. 8:30p. FREE

* Provided that you’ve heated your griddle to the proper temperature, got your flipping technique down, and always reach for real-deal Vermont maple syrup — not that Vermont Maid brand from the supermarket — pancakes are pretty much the perfect food. But does their deliciousness translate to the visual medium of film? Find out at The International Pancake Film Festival, celebrating animation, puppets, and pancakes tonight at the Brattle Theatre. Admission includes complimentary pancakes. 11.13. 8:30p. $7

* Look, whenever Angela Lansbury comes to Boston, I’m going to let you know about it. Whether it’s for a Q&A after a Harvard Film Archive screening of John Frankenheimer’s “All Fall Down” (1962) or just a brief layover at Logan, I’m going to find out where she’ll be and put it in this column, because Dame Angela Lansbury is a national treasure. Not only was “Murder, She Wrote” a cultural touchstone for a generation, it warned all of us that old people can actually be pretty sneaky and should never be trusted. That show premiered in 1984 and she was already old. Could you imagine being old, and then living for another 30 years? That’s another whole lifetime of old. 11.14. 7p. $12

* It’s OK to admit you’re excited to transition into your fall/winter wardrobe (you have so many nice sweaters!) but it’s also time to transition into a fall/winter beer, which means putting down the Bud Light Straw-ber-ita and walking away slowly until you’re drinking a nice dark imperial stout at the Drink Craft Beer Fall to Winter Fest. Three sessions at the Revere Hotel will feature 25 New England brewers, all bringing along at least one beer made with a fall or winter seasonal ingredient — and not just pumpkin. We’re talking stuff like sweet potatoes, roasted pecans, and foraged sumac. 11.14 and 11.15. 6p and 1p. $50

* These days you expect to find artists working in cool lofts converted from old factories that once housed real factories where men came to work carrying metal lunch boxes instead of hip Jack Spade messenger bags they bought on Gilt. No so with the Fenway Studios, built in 1905 and considered the oldest structure in the country designed solely as artist studios. Check out the building and meet the artists working there at this weekend’s Open Studios, which doubles as a food drive for the Greater Boston Food Bank. 11.15 and 11.16. 11a. FREE 

* Back when San Diego Comic-Con first got started, pretty much no one cared because comics were generally considered to function only as fantasy lands where high school losers could imagine they had superpowers including but not limited to X-ray vision. Then Iron Man started cracking jokes and geek culture became cool and now all the Cons have been taken over by Hollywood studios. What’s a true geek to do? Well, Alternicon is here to remember the media that others forgot: web comics, flash animation, and podcasts. Stop by the Midtown Hotel to check out author panels, workshops, a cosplay contest and more. 11.15 and 11.16. 10a. $30-35

* Every November, the Nave Gallery in Teele Square hosts a Wrap Around Sale of homemade knitted, crocheted, and sewn goods to benefit the Somerville Homeless Coalition. (Hey if you’re going to Alternicon, you should stop by and look for a nice Cosby sweater. You know, for the “Cos”-play contest. You’re so clever!) The sale kicks off Sunday with a dessert reception — FYI, knit hats prevent brainfreeze — and runs through December 14. 11.16. 1p. FREE

Honk! Hodor! Hard cider! This weekend’s Boston events

(Photo credit: Gianluca Sciannameo/Creative Commons)

Five hundred and some odd years ago, Columbus discovered America, kind of in the same way models get “discovered” by creepy agents at the mall. He gave America its big break! Here’s how to celebrate your three-day weekend if you’re lucky enough to work for the government or other employers that value a healthy work-life balance. (more…)

This week’s Boston events: Archery, astronauts, and ice cream

(Photo credit: comedy_nose/Creative Commons)

It’s June and you’ve officially turned off your brain for the summer (a little less “Mad Men,” a lot more “Bar Rescue”) so this week’s slate of events tends to emphasize food and ice cream and beer instead of, I don’t know, arts and learning. But you can at least drink that beer with some NASA scientists, and food is kind of like art because “you eat with your eyes,” right? Sure, why not. (more…)

Meet the man behind Boston’s hottest IG account: @brianmcw

Haven’t we all, from time to time, questioned ourselves whether this is a good picture? Even photographers frequently don’t know how to think about pictures. We tend to say “I like it” and then, when it comes to “why is it nice,” often it goes unanswered. If vision is the ultimate end to end tool, I can’t help but wonder if the way we see, or better yet look at the world, could be frankly very subjective. Having said that, we can not ignore one exception to the rule: Brian!

Brian learned photography in the auto-didactic manner and there isn’t a day that goes by without experimenting on new angles and places or improving the style and texture of a picture. His gallery offers dynamic views of the city, illuminated with lyrical sensitivity. Lucky enough to spend some time with Brian, we are going to unfold the way he shaped his IG account through this last year and discover the aspects that have made him Boston’s favorite “Iger.”

To start, when was your “initiation” to Instagram? Were you into  photography before that?

Not really. I always thought it was weird that people obsessed over those little square photos on their phones. But then I started instagramming my walk to work last April, and now I am as obsessed as anyone.

Acorn Street by @brianmcw

What kind of camera do you use and what is your most used application before uploading a picture? (more…)

Robots, rhyming couplets and more events in Boston this week

(Nao the Robot. Photo credit: Stephen Chin/Creative Commons)

There’s a little something for everyone coming up this week in Boston: Sonnets for Shakespeare lovers, documentaries for dancers, and food for people who consume food. People who aren’t robots, that is. Just watch out for robots this week, OK? (more…)

Punk rock fests, pop up ramen, and more weekend events for late-night T riders

(Photo credit: Chaval Brasil/Creative Commons)

So you’ve heard that MBTA late-night service starts tonight, but they’re only going to keep it around if it makes money. It’s basically your civic duty to go to the bar, stay until closing time, then sort of mill around on the sidewalk sharing cigarettes with strangers, searching their sad eyes for some passing hint at real human connection and, finding none, jump on the T around 2 a.m. That’s after you hit up some of these fun events happening this weekend, obviously. (more…)

Spring into, um, spring with Madonna parties, sci-fi cons and more weekend events

(Tulips in the Public Garden, via Instagram)

Happy first day of spring! That’s according to my official Labrador Retriever-themed wall calendar, not some rodent from Pennsylvania, of all places. Get out there and celebrate the slow but delightful realization that the sun, in addition to providing light, also functions as a source of heat. (more…)

The person behind Boston’s fastest growing twitter account: @OnlyInBOS

It isn’t your average Sunday morning coffee date when you get the chance to spend it chatting with the Bostonian behind the Twitter handle we all look to for the latest on Boston happenings. I was lucky enough to sit down and chat with the @OnlyinBOS at Pavement Coffeehouse on Boylston to find out a little more about how the account works, the success behind the tweets, and how this person created this well known Boston persona all within the constraints of 140 characters.

Let’s kick things off by asking you about the local king of 140 characters, @BostonTweet. Have you met Tom? Are you trying to do something similar to him? If not, what makes your account different?

I have not formally met @BostonTweet, but we have been at the same events. (more…)

War horses, tiger moms, and more things to do this week

Photo via Coolidge Corner Theatre

Happy Daylight Savings Time! Here’s some stuff to do with all this extra sunlight, instead of just waiting another hour until it’s dark and you can finally start drinking. (more…)