Pillow Fight, Pink Floyd Tribute, Carnival, Comic Book & Roleplay Festivals, & Al Gore!
03/29/09 by
Johnny Monsarrat
Here’s your week in weird. Enjoy it! Want this weekly? Please subscribe.
-Johnny
The Week in Weird |
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| World Pillow Fight Day | Apr 4 | Metro Boston | |
| The weird event of the week is a massive worldwide pillow fight! 3pm. TBD, Boston, MA. more |
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| Rube Goldberg Machine Design Contest | Apr 4 | Metro West | |
| Or check out this MIT student run event for middle school students. They build complex Rube Goldberg type devices. You know, where the candle burns through a string which releases the parrot who eats the grain, spilling over the bucket, etc. Fay School, 48 Main Street, Southborough, MA. more |
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| Audubon BirdFest | Apr 4 | Rhode Island | |
| Speaking of parrots, perhaps you’ll be the first to spot one in the wild in Rhode Island! 8am-3:30pm. Coastal Institute, URI Graduate School of Oceanography, 215 South Ferry Road, Narragansett, RI.401-949-5454. more |
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| Revere Spring Carnival | Mar 25 – Apr 19 | Metro Boston | |
| I haven’t been to the Revere carnival, but I’ve seen the Fiesta Shows event before. They are the major traveling carnival in New England, and wherever they go it’s bound to be a party. It’s not quite like going to Six Flags, but with the right (low) expectations you’ll have a blast. Here’s their first event of the year, in Ruh-VEE-uh. My favorite: looking at the view from the Ferris Wheel. Showcase Cinemas, Revere, MA. more |
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| Clay Center public observatory nights re-open in April | Mar 31 – May 26 | Boston Metro | |
| Of course, you can look at a much bigger view now that Spring is here and local observatories host public nights. This one is every Tuesday. 20 Newton Street, Brookline, MA.617-454-2795. more |
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| Wellesley College’s Whitin Observatory – Spring Public Night | Apr 3 | Metro West | |
| Whereas this one is far rarer. No need to RSVP, but call ahead to make sure it won’t be cloudy. Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. more |
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| Lecture on Aging @ Museum of Science | Apr 5 | Boston Metro | |
| They also have free telescope nights every Friday evening on the top floor of the parking lot at the Museum of Science. But I’m listing this lecture on aging, which looked interesting. Museum of Science, Boston, Boston, MA. more |
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| FestEvil: Festival of the LARPs | Apr 3 | Metro West | |
| One way to not worry about aging and live forever is to give up reality entirely! The roleplayers at Brandeis are hosting a poorly explained day of games where the audience gets up on stage and becomes the actors! Brandeis University, Waltham, MA. more |
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| Northeast Wars | Apr 3 – Apr 5 | Vermont | |
| Or you could go way over the edge and re-enact a war from the middle ages. Inn at Essex, 70 Essex Way, Essex Junction, VT.800-727-4295. more |
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| Boston Comic Book Convention | Apr 4 – Apr 5 | Boston Metro | |
| Or way WAY over the edge and pretend that the Hulk just might be real. Back Bay Events Center, 180 Berkeley St, Boston, MA.508-320-1440. more |
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Also Fun |
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| Annual Harvard Intercollegiate Kendo Tournament | Apr 4 – Apr 5 | Boston Metro | |
| Here’s an event that takes comic books into real like. Kendo is like light sabre fighting but with kendo sticks. It sounds great. MAC Mezzanine, Harvard University, 39 Holyoke St., Cambridge, MA 02138. more |
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| The Boston 48 Hour Film Project | Mar 30 | Boston Metro | |
| Another way to live forever is through film! They give filmmakers 48 hours to create a film from start to finish. There’s a kickoff “best of” on March 30. Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA. more |
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| Lowell Film Festival | Apr 3 – Apr 4 | Northern Mass | |
| Lowell always punches above its weight in events, and this one’s no differerent. As well as films, they’ll have a social reception, an entire “fair trade” marketplace, and a guest panel. And it’s free! Revolving Museum, Lowell, MA. more |
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| Boston Turkish Film Festival | Mar 27 – Apr 5 | Boston Metro | |
| In comparison, this event might be something of a turkey. (Get it? Turkey? Nudge nudge.). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. more |
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| Campus MovieFest (CMF) @ Emerson | Apr 1 – Apr 7 | Boston Metro | |
| Or check out “the world’s largest student film festival”, which seems to be a nationwide rather than local experience. MIT, Cambridge, MA. more |
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| Documentary Filmmaker Ken Burns and Old Sturbridge Village to honor Actress Laura Linney | Apr 3 | Worcester | |
| This one’s my pick though. Have you heard of actress Laura Linney? She was in a TV show or film about former US president John Adams from Massachusetts. So she’s visiting, getting an award no doubt designed to draw her to Massachusetts, and helping raise money for Old Sturbridge Village which is my favorite re-enactment museum! 7:30 p.m. Crowne-Plaza Hotel, Natick, MA. more |
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| Entrepreneurship Lecture with “Johnny Cupcakes | Mar 30 | Boston Metro | |
| I’m not really sure what to make of this lecturer. But I guess he’s really good at t-shirts. Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Tower Auditorium, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA. more |
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| Al Gore Speaks on the Environment Yet Again | Mar 30 | Metro Boston | |
| Personally I’d prefer to hear Al Gore speak about the environment, on Monday. CitWang Center, Boston, MA. more |
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| Down:2:Earth Expo | Apr 3 – Apr 5 | Boston Metro | |
| Along environmental lines, here is an entire conference of green lectures and workshops, including how to eat bugs, and holding Eco-Chic Wedding! Hint: don’t serve bugs at your wedding. Just don’t. Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA. more |
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| Elegant Evening | Apr 4 | Boston Metro | |
| This annual folk dance event sounds like a blast and is preceded by lessons. Folk dancing is usually pretty easy just to show up and pick it up. Don’t be afraid! Church, 365 Belmont Street, Belmont, MA. more |
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| ICA “Experiment | Apr 3 | Boston Metro | |
| God!! I love the ICA!! They are holding a wild dance party too. Only, not folk music. JUST GO! YOU WILL NEVER LIVE IT DOWN IF YOU DO NOT GO!! :). Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston, MA. more |
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| ICA/AIGA Design Series: Design as Social Agent | Apr 4 | Boston Metro | |
| Oh, also the ICA is a museum: I almost forgot. They’re having a series of talks about street art, in context with their exhibition on Shepard Fairey. Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston, MA. more |
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Easter |
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| Easter Egg Hunt — Winslow Farm | Apr 4 – Apr 11 | Southern Mass | |
| It’s not Easter until April 12, but it’s not too soon to go hunting for eggs! I’ve actually been to this working farm and zoo. Considering it’s not really near anything else, it’s lovely and worth the trip! Winslow Farm, Norton, MA. more |
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| Easter Egg Hunt | Apr 4 | Rhode Island | |
| If you’re in Rhode Island, go to this park instead. I have a huge height and speed advantage over 5-year-olds. I’m quite sure I can collect more eggs than anyone! 1pm. Wilcox Park, Westerly, RI.401-596-7761. more |
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| Easter Egg Hunt @ Roseland Cottage | Apr 4 | Connecticut | |
| Here’s one for those of you in Connecticut, a land I often forget about in this blog. Rain date April 11. Roseland Cottage, Woodstock, CT.860-928-4074. more |
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Performance |
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| Pink Voyd: The Ultimate Pink Floyd Trip for All Ages | Apr 17 – Apr 25 | South Shore | |
| They’re back! The #2 Pink Floyd tribute band starts a new tour. I’ve had the honor of building their website and handing out flyers. The band is just THAT good. Get your tickets now for Apr 17-18 in Plymouth or April 25 in Amherst Mass. Plymouth Memorial Hall, 83 Court Street, Plymouth, MA. more |
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| Speech & Debate | Mar 27 – Apr 25 | Boston Metro | |
| This smart comedy caught my attention, about a debate club. Lyric Stage, Boston, MA. more |
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| KISS Concert tickets go on sale | May 17 | Boston Metro | |
| Tickets are now on sale for Kiss Concert, the largest concert by the largest generic Top 40 radio station. It’s 9 hours of all the most successful bands on pop radio, from KISS 108FM radio. Buy tix before they sell out. Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA. more |
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| Big Apple Circus | Apr 4 – May 10 | Boston Metro | |
| And the annual circus tour of Big Apple returns. Buy tickets in advance. City Hall Plaza, One City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA.(800) 922-3772. more |
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