Pop-up markets, polar bear BBQs, and more events in Boston this weekend

By: Jim Martinho - Thursday, Feb 26, 2015 - 1:22pm

(Photo credit: PlayCity/Creative Commons)

See ya later, February! Good riddance to one of the worst months in Boston history: The most snow we’ve ever had in a month, the most expletive-riddled tweets ever directed at a single public agency (the T), and the most times you slipped on some ice and almost fell but didn’t but almost kind of wished you did because you could give up and just lay there until spring. It’s hard to believe it was only last month that the Patriots won the Super Bowl. Wait, that happened in February? February 1st? GREATEST MONTH EVAH.

* Did you know Cambridge has its very own late night talk show? This one’s live, so you can’t go to bed before it airs and just catch anything interesting on YouTube the next day. Man, that Jimmy Fallon is just delightful. So That Happened: A Talk Show hits ImprovBoston the fourth Thursday of every month, hosted by comedian Sam Ike (having a first name for a last name is a surefire ticket to showbiz success, just ask Billy Joel/James Dean/Rick James). Tonight’s edition features live music, audience games, and a tasting with Deadspin beer expert Will Gordon, who will probably judge you for drinking that cheap swill you always drink, but whatever he only got his job because he’s in the two-first-names mafia. 2.26. 9:30p. $10

* What do you see when you visualize Somerville? Probably some dude with a really well-groomed beard and pants that are slim-fitting but not Allston-skinny, and he drinks at hip craft breweries and goes rock climbing, or at least he went rock climbing a couple times three or four years ago, still counts, and he appreciates local art and music and you know what? He’d probably enjoy Friday night’s Visualize Somerville event happening at Brooklyn Boulders and Aeronaut Brewing Company. VJ Jon Bonk transforms the BKB space into another world, using 40,000 lumens (seems like a good amount of lumens) of projections systems to paint the climbing walls with waterfalls, mountain peaks, and even a lava flow. Next door, Aeronaut will highlight the visual arts with a free showcase of Somerville and Boston artists. 2.27. 8p. $6-10/$25 to climb

* The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference is happening this week, bringing to town lots of really smart people who in more robust economic times might be helping NASA put a man on Mars but have instead dedicated themselves to inventing new statistics to represent how bad James Harden is at defense. Stop by The Nightcap after party at District Hall to join fellow sports nerds for a night of music, general debauchery, and a Connect Four tournament with some sweet prizes. All proceeds support San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner’s Rock On Foundation. 2.27. 8p. $10

* Boston Social Sports and Rally Sports present the first Boston Sports Pop-up Market Saturday in the North End. It’s like the SoWa market for sports, featuring jackets, jerseys, bobbleheads, hip artwork, and lots more. Scoring a sweet Tom Brady bobblehead seems like a great idea, but do you really want a representation of the greatest male specimen of our time in your bedroom when you bring a lady home? Things are going great and then it’s all, “Sorry, um, I feel like you keep looking at the bobblehead. Am I not good enough? Wouldn’t you rather be with a real person than a stupid doll?” and you’re like “Oh my gawd you did NAWT just call Tommy stupid! He’s the smahhtest player evahhh!! YEAR OF THE G.O.A.T.!!!” 2.28. 12p. FREE

 * Imagine the best steak you’ve ever had, but even steak-ier, and there’s so much meat and it just melts in your mouth. Sure, it’s a little weird at first, like “Wow, am I really eating a polar bear right now? Is that even legal?” And the answer to that is no, it’s not even close to legal and I have seriously misinterpreted the title of this event. Cuisine en Locale’s Polar Bear BBQ serves up standard barbecue sandwiches and sides plus music from the Somerville Symphony Orkestar, but it’s outdoors in the middle of winter, so it’s like you’re the polar bears. Stand on a small, melting snow pile and pretend your habitat is disappearing due to man-made climate change. Or not, that’s pretty mean and the polar bears have been through enough. 2.28. 12p. $20-25

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