Off-Topic: Beatles Graphs, Etc

Do you love The Beatles? I do.

And I dig crazy charts and the like. Some dude is making all sorts of them that relate to the Fab Four.

You can submit your own on Flickr.

WED 1/20: Reading, Film, Classical, Rock

Hey, folks. When I encouraged you to vote, I expected you to pick up on my secret message to vote for the democrat... Sheesh!

Just in case you're going to eat at Legal Sea Foods, you should get a cup of clam chowder with your entree. It's only 60 cents today to celebrate their 60th anniversary. It's about a $4 savings, and their chowder is delicious.

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WED 1/20

7pm, 9:30pm
Nick Flynn, "The Ticking Is the Bomb: A Memoir": Reading & Music
at Cafe 939, 939 Boylston St, Boston (Back Bay)
$5

Performances by:

7pm -- Eric Martin & Drew O'Doherty
9:30pm -- Buffalo Tom (acoustic), Franc Graham

File this under "Cool gig that hasn't gotten enough buzz".

A few years ago, Flynn's "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City" brought a poetic and passionate approach to his memoirs about reconnecting with his father who lives as street-person -- when not living at the Pine Street Inn. His new book deals with terror and torture while still making it personal. (You can read an excerpt in Esquire.)

Unlike most readings, it's going to last a bit longer with multiple musical performances at each reading.

At 7:30pm, Eric Martin has been part of classic bands like The Neats and The Illyrians; Drew O'Doherty is also a fantastic singer-songwriter (who used to play in Ted Leo & the Pharmacists). At the late show, you can hear Bill & Chris do some acoustic Buffalo Tom as well as the quite impressive Franc Graham who will probably play a solo set.

WED 1/20 (thru WED 1/27)

7pm
"Twelve Monkeys"
at Room 133, Bldg 3, 33 Mass Ave (Rear), Cambridge (MIT Campus)
FREE

When you have a manic Brad Pitt and subtle Bruce Willis performance, one wonders if this is an under-appreciated Gilliam film. Maybe Bruce is traveling back in time to prevent an apocalyptic biological attack, or maybe he's hallucinating the whole thing. It's entertaining either way.

Presented as part of "The Life and Death of Terry Gilliam: A Film Symposium" curated by Michael Rapa and Jennifer Williams-Rapa, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" is screening on MON 1/25 while the documentary about his aborted Don Quixote movie can be seen on WED 1/27.

WED 1/20

7:30pm
Muir String Quartet, "The Beethoven Cycle, Part 4"
at Tsai Performance Center, 685 Comm Ave, Boston (BU campus)
FREE

One of the most respected string quartets is "in residence" at BU, and they're actually offering free concerts. There are at least two more recitals in this Beethoven series.

Program:

Quartets in E-Flat Major, Op. 74
G Major, Op. 18 No. 2
C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131

WED 1/20

9:30pm
"1919 Boston Molasses Flood Commemoration"
Feat: Boston Molasses Disaster, Self Assembly, Hot Molasses, Young & Old
at Middle East - Upstairs, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$10 / 18+

The anniversary of Boston Molasses Disaster was actually last Friday, but some "molasses-related" bands have been getting together for annual gigs for the past couple years. For the most part, it'll be a night of cool, lo-fi indie-rock. I believe Hot Molasses Young & Old is another project from one of the B for Brontosaurus guys. Hot Molasses has a pretty cool thing going on too.

Boston Molasses Disaster is also the name of a jammy-rock band. To give you an idea, they've covered bands like Umphrey's McGee, Dave Matthews Band, and Pink Floyd -- but they've also done tunes by Springsteen, Huey Lewis, and The Beatles as well as "The Office" theme song.

Proceeds will benefit Alternatives for Community and Environment, who advocates for environmental justice with a focus to under-served communities.

TUES 1/19: Vote, Listen, Discuss

Whatever position you have about the national agenda, you should go out and vote today. It should be about the individual candidates, but you have the power to affect the political process more than any other MA Senatorial election in a long time.

You'd still have time for fun too...

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TUES 1/19

6pm
Motion City Soundtrack: Acoustic Performance & Autograph Signing
at Newbury Comics, 332 Newbury Street, Boston (Back Bay)
FREE

Call me old-school, but their best albume was "Commit This To Memory", but the new CD sounds pretty good.

There have been long lines for bands with less devoted fans, so I'd guess there may be a chance that it will reach full capacity before everyone gets in.

TUES 1/19

7pm to 9pm
Rock Shop #2: “You Booked a Show... Now How Do You Get People There?"
at Middle East - Downstairs, 480 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE / All Ages

In this second in a series of monthly panel discussions aimed at local musicians, the Middle East's booking manager Kevin Hoskins will be joined by longtime Boston booker/promoter Shred and Steve Theo of Pirate! Promotion.

In my experience, the strategies likely to be shared tonight could work for almost any type of event. Respond to the Facebook invite or just show up. Bring questions.

TUES 1/19

La Tuza (7pm), The David Wax Museum (9pm)
at Toad, 1912 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Porter Sq)
FREE

Both bands have played Toad, but I don't know if they've done the same night before. La Tuza is probably the premier Mexican roots band in Boston. Some may put The David Wax Museum in the same category, but I see them more as a folk/Americana that infuses a Mexican influence. (Should it be called Meximericana?) The bottom line is that you'll hear a couple hours of jaunty good-time music that doesn't hammer you over the head.

TUES 1/19

9pm
Spitzz, Anarchcunts, The Egos, Dr Bin Laden
at Jacques Underground, 79 Broadway, Boston (South End)
$10

Bin Laden is in the South End tonight (Osama, not so much) at a punk show in the basement of a drag club.

TUES 1/19

9:30pm
Freelance Whales, Faces On Film, Animal Tropical
at Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Allston
$10 / 18+

It's a folky indie-pop night with Freelance Whales (from NYC) and Animal Tropical (Miami) on tour. When I heard "Generator^1st Floor" by Freelance Whales, it did sound a bit like a giant, ancient creature swimming around a sun-glittered ocean. I dig the detailed arrangements with freewheeling vibe.

I think the main attraction of Faces on Film is the delicately crafted songs, and it doesn't hurt that the entire band create a gorgeous, dreamy tapestry that wraps around them. From what I can tell, there are some knockout lyrics, but I'm sometimes removed by a perceived seriousness.

As far as Animal Tropical (fka The Down Home Southernaires?) seem like they really care about keeping their sense of humor while bouncing around genres; I was reminded of Talking-Heads-meets-Ween, but I can also believe some would compare them as a more comfortably multi-culti Vampire Weekend.

TUES 1/19

10:30pm
Monique Ortiz w/ Roger Miller, Larry Dersch
at Plough & Stars, 912 Mass. Ave, Cambridge (Central Sq)
FREE / 21+

This is a really special night in Monique Ortiz's month-long Tuesday residency. Expect to hear some amazing interpretations of whatever material is played when guitarist/keyboardist Roger Miller (of Mission of Burma, others) joins Ortiz and drummer Larry Dersch. I might stay out late on a school night to hear what the Facebook page called, "...a night of experimental, improvisational music..."

MON 1/18: MLK Day, Art, Red Sox, Film, Rock

It's a good thing I'm not a weatherman, because I thought the weather was going to be crappy last night.

There's MLK Jr events around town (e.g. Cambridge), but...

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MON 1/18

10am to 4:45pm
MLK Jr Day -- Open House
at Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave, Boston
FREE

Gotta love the MFA, they open the doors wide open on Martin Luther King Jr's Day every year. The museum is pretty good at having free admission on holidays. There are quite a few good exhibits as wells as the permanent collection, but they usually have a bunch of extras on MLK Day.

There's an art & civil rights short film program (including a documentary on artist Romare Bearden) at 10:30am, a Baptist gospel choir at 12:15pm, a poetry slam at 2:30, followed by more music.

MON 1/18

1pm
MLK National Speaking Program
at Faneuil Hall, 1 Faneuil Hall Market Pl, Boston
FREE

Various readings of Dr. King's texts will be interspersed with performances by an ensemble from the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Poet and activist Sonia Sanchez will deliver the keynote address.

I assume it will be held in the Great Hall upstairs at Faneuil Hall.

MON 1/18

1pm
Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration: Only Love
at Metcalf Hall, 2nd Fl, George Sherman Union, 775 Comm Ave, Boston (BU campus)
FREE

The program to celebrate one of BU's greatest alumni with the Inner Strength Gospel Choir, the REACH! Dance Ensemble, other performances, a speech by Joseph Sebarenzi, former president of the Parliament of Rwanda.

MON 1/18

3:30pm to 5pm
Red Sox Rookie Program Autograph Signing
at Best Buy, 401 Park Dr, Boston (Fenway)
$10 Donation

Maybe none of these minor-leaguers will be superstars, but there's a good chance that some will be damn good. Your donation benefits the Red Sox Foundation.

Scheduled to appear: pitchers Casey Kelly, Randor Bierd, Felix Doubront, Ryne Miller, Junichi Tazawa, and Kyle Weiland; Luis Exposito (C); Yamaico Navarro (SS); outfielders Ryan Kalish and Che-Hsuan Lin.

MON 1/18

7pm
Science on Screen: "The Wild Child" w/ Judy Shepard-Kegl
at Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St, Brookline
$9.75 / $7.75 students, seniors

Sometimes they stretch the science-cinema connection is a bit thin, but they've picked a winner tonight. Francois Truffaut took the real story of a boy who was found living on his own in the woods of France in 1798. It's a now-classic story that an idealistic doctor takes on the case and works years to teach the savage how to speak -- probably proper food-wine pairings.

About 170 years later, a French new-wave director made a black-and-white film that's supposedly faithful to the story while making a larger exploration about humanity.

Prior to the film, Dr. Judy Shepard-Kegl (Linguistics, Univ. of Southern Maine) will speak about language acquisition. Her specialty is ASL, so the discussion -- and film -- will be translated into sign language.

MON 1/18

10pm
Triple Thick, Dan Webb & the Spiders, JJ & Thee Cuban Heels, Jinx Brothers
at Charlie's Kitchen, 10 Eliot St, Cambridge (Harvard Sq)
$5 / 21+

If Martin Luther King were alive and in the Boston area tonight, he'd probably show, I'm guessing he would rock out upstairs at Charlies. There's something cool about hearing some really great bands in a too small room, and tonight is a killer lineup.

The guys in Triple Thick could have been satisfied with just thick, but they wanted their fuzzy brew of garage-rock three times as strong. I haven't heard Thee Cuban Heels, but everything JJ Rassler does (DMZ, The Queers, Downbeat 5, etc) is rockalicious. It will be the same as he and the band mines 50's and 60's rock and R&B. Dan Webb & the Spiders have got a good thing going that'll fit in. The Jinx Brothers are supposed to start the night with a set of early country-blues, and Triple Thick will finish up.

SUN 1/17: Lit, Film, Rock, Jazz

They say it may rain/snow later, but we own umbrellas and jackets, right?

If you have MLK Jr Day off, then today is like Saturday...

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SUN 1/17

1:30pm
Author Talk: George Saunders & Ha Jin
at Abbey Room, Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St, Boston (Copley Sq)
FREE

Mentioned mainly for people that already like at least one of these two acclaimed essayists with new collections out. Saunders pieces in "The Braindead Megaphone" are generally humorous, while Ha Jin's stories in "A Good Fall" deal with people that are having challenges in America.

SUN 1/17

3:30pm
"HomeGrown": Screening & Discussion
at Conference Auditorium (downstairs), George Sherman Union, 775 Comm Ave, Boston (BU campus)
$5 donation

Begin their 3rd Annual Winter Film Series, Slow Food Boston is presenting a 52-minute documentary about a family living off the grid just miles from downtown LA and producing 3 tons of food per year on their 1/4 acre property. Did I mention that they live mostly off the grid. (I don't care if you use a solar-powered computer to maintain your website, the Internet is "the grid".) Still, these folks could inspirational to the urban-dweller who'd like to do a little more. (As someone who's familiar with Pasadena, there are some parts that are about as urban as Newton...)

The panel discussion afterward will include Lisa Gross (founder, Urban Homesteaders' League) and Jess Liborio (Urban Grower, the Food Project).

SUN 1/17

Larcenist (10:20pm), Coyote Kolb (9:25pm), Lonesome Republic (8:30pm), We Were Ghosts (7:35pm)
at TT the Bear's Place, 10 Brookline St, Cambridge (Central Sq)
$8

Wow, even though it's a three-day weekend for many, the bands are starting a bit early. Larcenist is bound to touch on lots of influences when there are 4 songwriters (and 5 singers) in one band. There's still an earnestly rockin' continuity though. I think of them as "heavy Americana". Coyote Kolb fall on the 'city' side of alt-country to me; it's rock that dabbles with the fuzzed-out dirges that I loved from Neil Young. They do they're own thing to make it modern. We Were Ghosts have a synth-heavy vibe that doesn't jibe that well, but should be pleasant if you don't mind the robo-vocals. Lonesome Republic is the wild-card; some these guys play in this hardcore band, but you never know...

SUN 1/17

8pm to 11pm
Now Vs Now
at The Beehive, 541 Tremont St, Boston (South End)
FREE

Some of this progressive, funky electro-jazz is not necessarily my cup of tea, but keyboardist Jason Lindner has drawn accolades from respected jazz publication and fellow musicians. It's the NYC trio's first Boston gig, so you could say you were there from the beginning.

SUN 1/17

9pm
Treat Her Right
at Toad, 1912 Mass Ave, Cambridge (Porter Sq)
FREE

Jim Fitting and David Champagne, along with the great Mark Sandman, had a rocking outfit about 20 years ago called Treat Her Right. Billy Conway was the drummer, but he lives in Montana these days. They had a bluesy flair and solid songwriting.

It felt so good to play the old tunes at the Sandman tribute concert in September, they decided to do it again and a few more times. Tim Gearan, Billy Beard, and Steve Mayone will fill out the band for an evening of great fun.