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recommended boston area events

thursday, july 2nd

the church

adam franklin (swervedriver)

@ showcase live, foxborough


sunday, july 5th

city breathing

deep sea diver

adam rich

steve pardo & lindley cameron

@ the middle east upstairs


saturday, july 11th

the luxury

the click five

midatlantic

aloud

@ the paradise


sunday, july 12th

the dead weather

screaming females

@ the house of blues


saturday, july 18th

butterflies

travels

@ pa's lounge


sunday, july 19th

grand duchy (w/frank black)

the bunnies

van elk (w/valerie mistle thrush)

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, july 19th

lymbyc systym

coralcola

the cush

the pandas

@ the middle east upstairs


monday, july 20th

you can be a wesley (cd release!)

casper & the cookies

everything, now!

magic magic

@ the middle east upstairs


monday, july 20th

green day

the bravery

@ the garden


tuesday, july 21st

mark eitzel & marc capelle

performing american music club songs

@ the lizard lounge


friday, july 24th

varsity drag (cd release!)

the grownup noise

winterpills

brendan boogie & the best intentions

@ the middle east upstairs


sunday, july 26th

pete yorn

@ the house of blues


tuesday, july 28th

cass mccombs

jennifer o'connor & band

mike bones

@ tt the bears


wednesday, july 29th

foreign born

the veils

faces on film

@ tt the bears


thursday, july 30th

justin ripley & his band

@ pa's lounge


friday, july 31st

destroyer (dan bejar)

iran

wooden wand

@ the paradise


friday, july 31st

depeche mode

peter bjorn & john

@ great woods


saturday, august 1st

alasdair roberts

@ lorem ipsum books, inman square


saturday, august 1st

wheat (cd release show!)

the xyz affair

@ great scott


sunday, august 2nd

soft power (featuring mary timony)

gramercy arms (featuring dave derby)

@ tt the bears


monday, august 3rd

billy bragg

@ the berklee performance center


monday, august 3rd

tinted windows

(james iha, adam schlesinger,

taylor hanson, & bun e. carlos)

@ the paradise


monday, august 3rd

coldplay

elbow

kitty daisy & lewis

@ the comcast center


wednesday, august 5th

the rural alberta advantage

joshua english (ex-six going on seven)

with lisa molinaro

baby teeth

@ the middle east upstairs


wednesday, august 5th

arctic monkeys

modey lemon

@ the paradise


wednesday, august 5th

joe pernice (solo show & book tour)

@ the brattle theatre (2 shows)


wednesday and thursday

august 5th and 6th

paul mccartney

@ fenway park


friday, august 7th

the electric prunes

love

sky saxon (of the seeds)

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, august 8th

blondie

pat benatar

@ the b.o.a. pavilion


wednesday, august 12th

the warlocks

@ great scott


wednesday, august 12th

the pretenders

cat power

juliette lewis

@ the bank of american pavilion


thursday, august 13th

bat for lashes

@ the paradise


friday, august 14th

six finger satellite

@ tt the bears


sunday, august 16th

the decemberists

heartless bastards

@ mountain park, holyoke


sunday, august 16th

trashcan sinatras

@ tt the bears


monday, august 17th

the breeders

@ the paradise


friday, august 21st

choo choo la rouge (cd release!)

the big disappointments

impossible hair

the operators

@ pa's lounge


saturday & sunday

august 22nd & 23rd

bruce springsteen & the e street band

@ the comcast center / great woods


saturday, august 29th

caspain

actors & actresses

irepress

arms & sleepers

@ tt the bears


sunday, august 30th

the flaming lips

explosions in the sky

stardeath and white dwarfs

@ the boa pavilion


thursday, september 3rd

kay hanley (letters to cleo)

antisocialites

ingenue

@ tt the bears


saturday, september 5th

the pains of being pure at heart

cymbals eat guitars

depreciation guild

@ the middle east downstairs


saturday, september 5th

pet shop boys

@ the house of blues


thursday, september 10th

autolux

sleepy sun

@ the paradise


thursday, september 10th

dirty three

@ the i.c.a. boston


friday, september 11th

kings of leon

glasvegas

@ the comcast center / great woods


saturday, september 12th

the cult

performing 'love' in its entirety

@ the house of blues


sunday, september 13th

down

melvins

@ the house of blues


tuesday, september 15th

the horrors

@ the paradise


saturday & sunday

september 19th & 20th

boston lebowski fest

with movie screening & bowling

@ the house of blues & kings


sunday, september 20th

u2

snow patrol

@ gillette stadium


tuesday, september 22nd

son volt

@ the paradise


friday, september 25th

township

the lights out (cd release!)

reverse

gravehaven

@ tt the bears


friday, september 25th

charlatans uk

hatcham social

@ the paradise


saturday, september 26th

kmfdm

@ the house of blues


sunday, september 20th

maximo park

@ the paradise


monday, september 28th

sunny day real estate

@ the house of blues


wednesday, september 30th

mono

maserati

@ the middle east downstairs


sunday, october 4th

the "loud & rich" tour

richard thompson &

loudon wainwright iii

performing solo & together

@ the sanders theatre, harvard


wednesday, october 7th

bob mould

@ the paradise


saturday, october 10th

the psychedelic furs

happy monday

@ the house of blues


wednesday, october 14th

loney dear

asobi seksu

@ great scott


wednesday, october 21st

mum

@ the somerville theatre


saturday, october 31st

pinback

@ the paradise


friday, november 13th

janeane garofalo

rob riggle

two shows @ the wilbur theatre


visit tourfilter for more shows



Sunday, December 16, 2007

Writer's Guild Strike: Boston Rally Report (with audio)

A snowy Sunday afternoon here in Boston finds me taking a brief detour from my usual music-related ramblings...


Jaime Paglia, Rob Kutner, & Joss Whedon

On Friday afternoon, television scribes and proud Writer's Guild of America members Jaime Paglia (co-creator of SciFi Channel's excellent Eureka), Rob Kutner (from The Daily Show), and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly) came to Boston to lead a strike rally of fans and their fellow WGA faithful. While the attendance was surely lessened by the previous day's snowstorm, more than 250 supporters filed into the First Parish Church in Cambridge's Harvard Square, winter boots on many feet and slogan-filled signs in many hands.


A variety of TV shows were name checked on posterboard in thick sharpie, including Pushing Daisies and The Office, but it's no surprise that most of the crowd was there to bow down at the altar of Joss (even his fellow writers humorously acknowledged the obvious imbalance). There may be no more devoted fiction fans than Whedon fans, and they showed up in force. Cambridge City Councilor Marjorie Decker's introduction, while eloquent, garnered its most raucous applause when she admitted her love of Buffy.


Once inside the church, each of the three writers delivered impassioned, wit-filled speeches; Jaime spoke of being inspired by a young intern who, rather than go elsewhere when told they had no work for him due to the strike, has been on the LA picket lines every day. Rob gave us a small taste of what we're missing with the Daily Show in reruns (Alberto Gonzalez, incomprehensibly named the ABA's "Lawyer of the Year" last week, took one on the chin). And Joss spoke to us of dragons.

Here's the audio from each speech, as well as the strike-centric question & answer session that took place before we all hit the streets for an old-school picket march...
01. Introduction (Cambridge Forum Director Pat Suhrcke & Cambridge City Councilor Marjorie Decker)
02. Jaime Paglia (Eureka) speaks
03. Joss Whedon (BtVS, Angel, Firefly) speaks
04. Rob Kutner (The Daily Show) speaks
05. Q&A session
Another attendee shared up video here, and the Cambridge Forum, who hosted the event, will hopefully have their own recording up at their site soon.


I encourage anyone reading this to not just listen closely to what each writer had to say, but to do what you can to show your support when you're done, even if it's just by spreading the word. The AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) and their associated mogul-run media outlets are conducting a cliched campaign of disinformation. To find out what the strike is truly about, check out this YouTube video, a concise explanation of what's at stake. And if you're so inspired, hop on over to the Jobs With Justice site, where voting is taking place for their 2007 Grinch of the Year, an annual 'award' for "the national figure who does the most harm to working families". Vote as you see fit, but note that among the cads up for nomination is AMPTP President J. Nicholas Counter III (man, does his name scream cash-infused pretension or what?).


And lastly, a few related links...
  • All of my photos from the WGA Boston Rally are here. More photos from other attending supporters are here, here, here.

  • Bostonist wrote up the rally, as did Wicked Local Cambridge. The Cambridge Chronicle filed a video report.

  • The strike march through Harvard Square brought us to the front of the Harvard Lampoon Castle, where local comic/actor/writer/WGA member (and former CBS employee, so he knows how the big guys treat writers, too) Jimmy Tingle rallied the troops with a little harmonica and some impromptu drumming. The Lampoon guys even brought out free donuts for the crowd, a kindness that made me resist asking what the deal is with all the tree killing.

  • Battlestar Galactica writer/creator Ron Moore is blogging about the strike here. And as you'll discover there, Joss wasn't wearing a Red Sox cap just to suck up to us locals.

  • For more information on what you can do to support, or at least stay informed about, the WGA Strike, check out the Fans4Writers and United Hollywood sites.
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