Bell Biv Devoe: For Reals!

Saturday, Sept. 4: Bell Biv Devoe @ The Wolf Den, Mohegan Sun

We're just tickled to see that BBD are back in the saddle again. How many times a week do you find an excuse to reference hot lyrics from "Poison" or "Do Me"? Smack it up flip it rub it down - OH NOOOOO! (Never not funny by the way.)

What's Hot at the Lot: Back to School Edition

Ugh, totally dreading starting up classes tomorrow. Mortified that "back to school shopping" is still a part of my life. Oh well, the student commuter life calls for certain snacks and supplies. So today at The Lot I stocked up on Polar seltzers and soda ($5.50 per 24 case):


I know I'm going to be doing a lot of stress eating between (and during!) certain classes:


These cookies are sophisticated because they come from Europe. Real Americans hate European things, so they end up at the discount store. Where Real Americans shop. Confusing!

Why pay more when you can pay less for generic items like paper and pens and binders? Available in a comforting rainbow of colors. Looks like pride!


The tag on these capri sweats says "campus wear for women." Well, after binging on all that soda and cookies and crap, elastic waistbands are gonna be the only way to go.


Just kill me now.

We Read the Courant, So You Don't Have To (2nd ed.)

It's that time again. We thought we would check in with the Courant and see what's happening in "journalism" today. We'll make this as quick and painless as possible. If you want it the sexier way, by all means, read the actual Courant.

1. This guy...

...paid his 8-year-old son $1 to swear and use racial slurs on a video for YouTube. He titled it "Swearing Kid." The man was charged with "Impairing the morals of a child". His hair was charged with "having a party in the back AND the front." His beard was charged with "harboring fugitives."

2. This lady...

...admitted to stabbing her diasbled son 35 times. (Her hair was let off with a warning.)

3. A man in a wheelchair escaped from a group home in WeHa and rolled down a nearby hill to his death. (We'll let you decide if this is sad, hilarious, or both.)

4. Friend-of-the-blog John Mertens is taking a little vacay from campaigning for Senator to go to Burning Man. The Courant didn't really know what to make of this.

5. Two women were arrested for forging truck driver's licenses. Their fake company, Affordable CDL, claims to be the "cheapest and best commercial driver's license school in Connecticut." Cheapest? Best? Sign me up.

That, apparently, is all the news that's fit to print. Sigh.

(Musical) Friends of the Blog Week

Remember that great band Sidewalk Dave from our fabulous party? Your new favorite band? They have two New Haven gigs this week. Wednesday night they play at BAR and Thursday night they'll be at Cafe Nine. We're psyched about rock shows at BAR. We've seen some great acts there over the years, like Adam Franklin and Magnolia Electric Company, and they have some of the coolest looking bathrooms in the state! (Which you know we'll document for you if we make it down.)


How about that superfun punk band from our party? The Midnightmares? You can see them this Saturday in East Hartford at 125 Riverside Drive. It's part of the Advocate's Grand Band Slam, which the paper seems to have neglected to create a page for on their great website.


And those Brooklyn hotties Katie Scenic liked so much the other night? They'll be playing in Stamford on Friday at someplace called Rack n Roll (not really our neck of the woods, unfortunately) with CT gal Daria Musk, who seems very nice, if not exactly our type. They are also playing in Hartford on Saturday at Up or On the Rocks, and we can't think of another - er, a better - reason to go there. Aw, we kid. They've booked some other "friends-of-the-blog" lately, so they must be alright. Looking forward to this gig for sure!

The Human Centipede Experience

Back in September of last year I was first alerted to the existence of The Human Centipede by this blog post and immediately sent an email to DH with the link and the message "let's definitely not ever see this movie. in fact don't even click this link." But with all the hype and amusing novelty t-shirts and necklaces and supposed comedy (very tedious) that ensued, Team Scenic somehow ended up hosting the premiere of the film at Real Art Ways and attempting to coerce viewers into posing as human centipedes themselves.

In spite of a pretty good turnout - especially for a film that has already been available in various capacities for months, we had few participants willing to actually pose (check out the few, the proud on our FB galleries). Even for the opportunity to win this one-of-a-kind jewelry item by crafty bitch and BFF-of-the-blog SuperLula (though surely you can commission her to make more).


Still, we had a good time playing with our (impressively realistic!) medical props and costumes and feeding people fake drugs with fun explanations about muscle relaxants and immune suppressants and vitamin supplements and stool softeners. And of course latex gloves are never not fun. (Actually, these are vinyl.)


As for the movie itself, I would encourage you to take the remaining opportunity to see it on the big screen this weekend at RAW. The concept is so much more disgusting in its contemplation than in its on-screen execution. It was actually a lot of laughs (thanks to a combination of terrible acting, overacting and inept scriptwriting by director Tom Six), and I didn't notice any walkouts at our screening.

Hype about this film has included a tagline "100% medically accurate," which of course is completely absurd. But true in the sense that (**SPOILERY**) this film's rendering of an ATM human centipede would stand no chance at survival. Actually, I can imagine a much more horrifying film based on the same concept only with better medical accuracy. In the existing film, the surgical fusion is fast and glossed over. In reality, to attempt such a fusion with any hopes for a lengthy survival of the fused victims would take multiple operations and recoveries from a series of body modifications and treatments. This would be truly horrible to behold (consider The Fly, a much more affecting biological nightmare) and prolong the fear and anticipation for the both characters and the viewers. As it is, you get an unbelievable quickie surgery on characters who have been so hastily or unflatteringly portrayed to begin with that you barely sympathize with them anyway. There's oodles more "wrong" with The Human Centipede from a critical perspective, but to analyze is to miss the point here. We had a shit-ton of fun watching it, and even more fun anticipating it and developing an arsenal of centipede themed jokes and puns. Bring friends and think of it as participating in the culture.

Northampton: By Day

We admit that part of Connecticut's charm is being able to leave. People love to talk about how close we are to those "real cities", Boston and NYC, but who has the resources to actually go on any regular basis? I rarely leave my bed, let alone cross state lines. Although it can be rewarding to hunt down fun activities in Hartford, sometimes we don't want to have to work for it. Fun should come to US! Luckily, we live in the center of everything (middle of nowhere?), and can drive in pretty much any direction to find someplace worthy of our "travel" tag.

When gay culture was still new and fascinating (and hadn't completely taken over our lives yet), we would oft stroll around Northamption center and admire the rainbow flags, lesbian street performers and gift shops full of useless novelty items. We returned recently to reaquaint ourselves with the area, and see if record stores still exist.

They do, but are definitely on the endangered species list. Noho's Turn It Up! Records is still hoppin'. They are still in their cozy basement locale on Pleasant Street. The place is packed with have bins of new and used vinyl, CDs and DVDs, which I am mostly too lazy to look through these days, but it's nice to see people are still into that. Sadly, Dynamite Records was DOA. All that remains is a skeleton of their most recent location on Main Street, evidence that there was a time when two records stores could coexist peacefully.

I'm not sure why the mark of a vibrant cultural community is an abundance of stores that sell old used crap, but we all know it is. Raven Used Books has been a beloved Noho landmark for 17 years. The large college population helps keep this place afloat, but anyone could spend an entire day in there. I found an adorable book of Andy Warhol's cat prints, and a posthumously published Jack Kerouac/William Burroughs collaboration that was on a clearance rack. (Clearance racks being the only place I can afford to shop).

Since it was the middle of the day, we decided to indulge in ice cream rather than booze. At Herrell's I tried a vegan caramel ice cream made from Mimiccreme. It was possibly the best thing I've ever eaten.

After hitting up all our old favorites, we needed some guidance on binoculars. Luckily, "Backyard Birds: A Birdwatcher's Store" was nearby! It's run by a really nice older couple that explained binoculors to us and let us wander the streets of Noho trying out various pairs.

Connecticut, you know I love you, but sometimes I gotta go see my MA mistress to keep things interesting.

Third Week Scene

It's an effort but here's a not entirely us-centric post...

Cuz it's "third week" and you know what that means:

Thursday, August 19: Creative Cocktail Hour @ Real Art Ways, Hartford
Our favorite party will feature something called Bhangra music and dance. What is that anyway?!

Friday, August 20: Open House Tour & Tasting @ Hooker Brewery, Bloomfield
We totally went there. You can too. But obvs you should actually be coming to see us and The Human Centipede that night.

Saturday, August 21: Redlight Burlesque and Variety Show @ Jokers Wild, New Haven
This show is fun! Surf theme this month. Burlesque dancing and live music by The Clams.

Fourth week used to suck, but now we have Guerilla Queer Bar (location: TBA) on fourth Thursdays and Final Fridays with New England Brewing (beer & bands) to look forward to.

ATM @ RAW: Show us your centipedes!

Friday, August 20: Human Centipede Pre-Op w/ CT Scenic @ Real Art Ways, Hartford


OK, so we basically only blog about ourselves now. Last week we issued a challenge of sorts to Real Art Ways, suggesting that a great way to kick off gross-out torture porn medical nightmare horror flick The Human Centipede's run at the theater would be to get patrons to pose for pictures as human centipedes. Well, they wisely recognized that this is a genius fun idea and asked CT Scenic to host the shenanigans, which will take place before the movie's Hartford debut, Friday Aug. 20.

In his review, Roger Ebert famously refused to assign any stars to The Human Centipede, deeming "the star rating system unsuited to this film," and warns viewers that "no horror film I've seen inflicts more terrible things on its victims than The Human Centipede." He also said "you don't want to be part of the Human Centipede at all, but you most certainly don't want to be in the middle."



Wait, yes you do. Come to Real Art Ways Friday, bring friends, and show us your centipedes. The Scenics will be there with special treats (probably donuts, duh) and pre-meds to facilitate your fusion. Real Art Ways will be selling beer and wine (as always). Hopefully your "heads" will be considerate and drink for three. Antics will be fully clothed/non-pornographic, so if your friend groups are as slutty as ours, we reckon you've already done much, much worse together, hygienically speaking. We already 'peded up (at our amazing party). And not because we were drunk, but because we said we would do it in a previous post. And look - these ambitious cosplayers took it to the next level. Really, it's no biggie.



The Human Centipede will play at Real Art Ways Aug. 20, 21, 27 & 28, 9:30 p.m. We've been saving ourselves to see it in the theater so watch it for the first time with us!

Cheap Eats, of the fishy variety

What: Sake Cafe

Where: 774 Park Ave., Bloomfield, CT

When: lunch- 11:30am-3:00pm daily

happy hour- 3-5:30pm Mon-Thurs

By now you've seen the giant bus advertisements and received coupons in the mail in those weird Valupak things, and probably thought about how fucking ridiculous the slogan "More sake, more happy!" is. Well, you'd be right. But you'd be wrong to avoid The Sake Cafe on bizarre marketing alone. Not only do they have grrrrrreat specials, but the food is excellent, and hey, there's usually no one in there!

(I still have no camera, here's a picture of some generic sushi)

I've now been twice, once for the lunch special and once for the happy hour There are various nicely priced lunch options; my lunch companion and I both went for the Lunch Roll Combo: $9.95 for miso soup, house salad and 2 rolls. I had an avocado roll and a spicy tuna roll, both delish. As we were the only people in there, the chef sent us an amazing shrimp tempura thing on the house. I usually don't order anything fancy, so I was pleasantly surprised by this ornate, multi-ingredient sushi delight. Happy hour went similarly, they have single pieces of (nigiri?) sushi for 99-cents or rolls (maki?) for $3. This time I had a tempura sweet potato roll and a salmon roll, and tried a piece of my LC's tuna. (That's what she said.) We also tried some deliciously fruity $4 martinis. I am obviously no food writer, but I can tell you that this place is awesome, the food is good, the service is kinda awkward but endearing, and the price is right. I can only hope this place is totally hoppin' on a Friday night, because its a ghost town during the weekdays (go figure). Some Yelpers had good things to say about their Hibachi action too, but that's a little out of my recession budget. Maybe someday...

Brooklyn in Hartford: Black Taxi

There's no greater thrill for a blogger like me than when I get treated like a real media outlet. So when I got an email from some publicist I don't even know encouraging me to come down and cover her artists playing at the Asylum Cafe tonight, I was all about it, sound unheard.

But I'm so glad I went, because Black Taxi put on a great show, and they were really nice new guys for me to have crushes on. So, like, everybody wins. Asylum Cafe is not the hippest venue, it's just this room... with pizza... and a bar... and no stage. Look, it's no Monster Lab. But the room was pretty full of people - a very straight, preppy audience of normals, not my usual artistic elite crowd. And these normal people were dancing, and the women were dressed all sexy and wearing their stripper shoes. So if that's any kind of barometer of success (and I think it is), I would say this band was hot stuff.



Actually, I knew they were good the moment I laid eyes on frontman Ezra. OMG doesn't he look like Adrian Grenier? OMG haven't I made that comparison about somebody before? Anyway, sexy guys like that don't grow on fucking trees, OK? It was obvious we were dealing with a "total package" here.

The band made a great first impression by opening up with the surf theme from Pulp Fiction. Adrian - I mean Ezra - played trumpet. The next song he had a xylophone around his neck... then he busted out his megaphone. And his keyboards. And his classic Mick Jagger dance moves.




Their sound reminded me of important hipster bands like Franz Ferdinand and the Cold War Kids, and they pulled off very convincing Rolling Stones ("Miss You") and Talking Heads ("Life During Wartime") covers.

I would totally go see these guys again (and not just because drummer Jason said he might send me a picture of him and his roommates doin' the centipede, or because guitarist Bill responded very well to my chatting up). And you can too! You have your chance coming up, August 28 they'll return to Hartford for a show at Up Or On The Rocks.

MORE:

A Funny Thing Happened... (Laughter Yoga)

Last night I attended the Laughter Club (and potluck dinner) at ArtSpace Hartford. So-called "laughter yoga" is an international sensation that has had some pretty prominent press lately. In case you missed it, Laughter Clubs get together for structured laughing sessions and the punchline is... there is no joke. In fact, talking is kept to a minimum, except for some explanation of the "exercises." Hartford's lady of laughter, Laura Le, took us through a series of movements and breathing exercises - we hopped on one foot and laughed our asses off, high-fived while cracking up, played "Ho Ho Ha" (a "Duck Duck Goose" variant).


The group was small and included some incredulous first-timers. So it was fun to watch people squirm, striving to overcome self-consciousness for the sake of being good sports and - who knows - maybe reaping some mental health benefits. Whether or not we all become laughter regulars, I think just trying it once is a worthwhile exercise in breaking ice, expanding comfort zones and letting go of inhibitions. We all got our first giggle of the evening over having to sign a liability waiver on the way in.


Admittedly, I did get feel a little light-headed a couple of moments from all that strenuous romping and laughing.

I must say, I was a natural (Laura said I totally made her laugh). I credit my past history as a camp counselor. It's not that hard for me to embrace being publicly silly or have child-like fun. When I found myself at the lead of a laughter conga line, I just channeled Joan from Mad Men. And when we reeled in the most hilarious fish ever, I thought of River Monsters dreamboat Jeremy Wade.

This group is free and meets Tuesday evenings at ArtSpace Hartford at 5:45. The more the merrier, I'm sure.

Read more about Laughter Yoga. Or watch John Cleese explore the phenomenon on the BBC:

Groupon hits the Hartbeat

Some very exciting news: Groupon is now available for Hartford! If you are unfamiliar, Groupon is a service that provides a daily coupon deal for local businesses. It's been around the bigger cities for awhile, offering deals on things like restaurants, spas, yoga classes, event tickets, hotels, etc. You only have 24-hours to purchase, but the coupon can be used anytime. There's a new deal everyday, so check back often, or sign up for their email list.

www.groupon.com/hartford

P.S. Don't forget to vote today!

I like Ned

Tomorrow August 10th is voting day here in CT. These are the primaries that determine who ends up on the ballot in November. Turnout is usually much lower than in the general elections in November, so your vote counts even more.

I wanted to do a complete rundown of all the candidates and positions, but with the Blogaversary and all, I have become much less ambitious. Funny how staying up all night can do that.

So who's running for governor? I spent some time looking at the candidates, both republican and democrat. I am not a fan of either party at the national level, it's a documented fact they work together to keep third party candidates off the ballots and out of sight of American voters in order to protect their power. However, it is most likely that one of the 2 major party candidates will be elected as our next guv. CT (like most states) still has the system that forces you to be registered to a party in order to vote in their primary. After stints as a registered independent, green and even republican, I finally became a democrat (grudgingly). I'm guessing many of you who are reading this blog find yourself in the same boat.

The big decision tomorrow is between Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy. Either one would be a huge improvement over our current do-nothing-in-chief Jodi Rell. You can hit the web (wait, you're on the web right now) to check out both candidates, however, reading anything but their short policy summations will probably make your eyes cross and start you fidgeting. One of the reasons for this being that many of their proposals are similar, with differences in scope, details or level of importance placed on whichever point. I encourage you to read it all for yourself, but you should probably take notes to keep it all straight.

In the end, my decision is based on multiple factors:

1. Lamont has stressed increased rail service across CT, including expanding service from New Haven to Hartford and up to Springfield. This is key for getting us and our clients back and forth from NYC. I don't have to tell you that rail service may be the past, but it is also going to be the future of transportation in the USA.

2. Lamont has a business focus, and from what I've seen, will work hard to get more jobs to CT. I feel that he will be very effective in this roll.

3. Anecdotal evidence from friends and acquaintances has indicated to us that Lamont is a genuine "nice guy" who treats everyone on his campaign staff with respect, and has subsequently won theirs. Although this may seem a bit of fluff in comparison to hard issues, I feel it carries some importance.

4. We find his less than silver tongued delivery kinda charming.

5. There has been some talk on the street about how he had some family wealth. Far from being a minus, I feel this shows a plus. Instead of being content to settle back and "manage" his money, Lamont built a viable business, has spent time volunteering at Bridgeport public schools (pre-politics), and came forward to challenge Joe Lieberman when so many of us were so angry at the wars and his uber-hawkishness (by the way, we still are angry about the wars, as well as Joe).
Also, due to self-funding, he owes no favors to the mysterious forces that make it possible for candidates for office to spend such huge sums of money.

This Scenic endorses Ned Lamont, Democrat for Governor. Please vote tomorrow, you can find your polling place at Ned's site:
http://www.nedlamont.com/

In Case You Missed It: The Blogaversary Bash

I am so fucking proud of this blog and so totally proud of our awesome First Blogaversary Party which went down Saturday. I mean, "we totally blog here," but this was our opportunity to do instead of just comment and actually make something scenic happen. Earlier this year, someone asked me what I would want to do for my ideal birthday celebration, and I said I'd really like to put on a show with some hot band that I want to push on people, and loads of people would come and have a drunken good time and love the music. Well, on my actual birthday, I just went to my crappy job and my unpaid internship as usual and then let some drunk girl hump my leg on stage to Lady Gaga karaoke, which was pretty ok birthday stuff I suppose... But with this Blogaversary I got my event promoter fantasy (and a few others) fulfilled.

Let us take a moment to appreciate Jackie Scenic's excellent flier for our gig one more time:


That's your fine bloggers' faces MS Paint-shopped onto the bodies of Three's Company, in case you missed it.With a flier like that, I don't know who could resist our gig.

I mean, obviously some people resisted, but the turnout was just fine. The major stress involved in party-planning was refreshment shopping. Trying to calculate how many people we thought would show up and how much they could possibly drink. Our math turned out pretty perfectly - we didn't run out of anything essential, and didn't have too too much left over either. At a Scenic party you'll never drink like common people, so we had a drink agenda in effect which did not allow for any chintzy crap like cola or other lame mixers. We served you Dark & Scenics (Bacardi dark rum + Gosling's ginger beer), Tom Scenics (Gin, selzer and organic lemonade), and Scenic Screwdrivers (vodka + Polar orange dry), with some variations thereon, and you loved that shit. You drank it up. (So did we, perhaps to excess).

Donuts from Luke's and Windsor Donut & Deli were a big hit as well, and our hearts were warmed to see our friends and fans, including many Scenic celebrities, indulging:

Look, that's Tom Pizzola, much beloved/reviled area music critic

Sidewalk Dave's adorable drummer, Bruce is clearly loving it

Rubber Pants drummer Jeffrey is definitely interested (what's up with drummers and donuts?!)

Fashion icon and living legend JCC is obviously metabolically gifted.

Our entertainment for the evening was awesome. We already liked Sidewalk Dave, but now we can upgrade him/them to Katie Scenic's pretend boyfriend status, because they were just so great, and adorable and nice to boot. And rocking harder and twangier than we expected - much to everyone's delight. They turned up the heat on our party and we're pretty sure they landed some new fans. Totally go check them out, they have some upcoming area gigs. And style for miles:


The Midnighmares brought their raucous punk rock theatrics, perfectly timed to coincide with the party's maximum alcohol buzz. Special props to lead screamer and one of our newest BFFs Rachael Pixie, who is always dressed to impress and poses like no other:


Everybody loved the space, which we can't take any credit for really, except for having the good taste to book it. We rented Monster Lab Recording Studio for the evening (and the excellent technical services of Monster/Sexy MF Ramon Morant), which happens to be an ideal show/party venue as well as a recording studio, with a Brooklyn hipster loft feel and a comfy bar/hangout room as well as appropriate live music room.

Speaking of fantasy fulfillment, I also got to be a bartender for the end of the evening after our graciously borrowed professional went home. I'm pretty sure I was awesome at it. But this was definitely about the time when state of consciousness went from pleasantly buzzed to devastatingly drunk (hard to resist all that liquor, especially whilst serving delicious mixed drinks to lovely friends). But Sunday's all-day hangover was merely a testament to the greatness of the party.

Additional thanks and props to: our door guy, KT; unofficial, self-appointed door guy Justin; sexy bartender Christina. And of course our readers, friends and fans who came out and made it a scene.

Well, now that that's over, we'd better get back to telling you what to do/eat/see/listen to in CT.

OMG Idea!!!$%#$%^!

I'm sure you've all heard about the Human Centipede. In fact, if you really wanted to see it, you probably have by now. So it's kind of a shame that this cult classic in the making will be so late coming to Real Art Ways (Aug. 20, 21, 27 & 28). Nevertheless, such a vile film - I think - deserves the communal movie theater experience. I know I've been saving myself. It's also a shame Real Art Ways didn't give me that job I really wanted for them, because now I'll probably have spend the rest of my life sticking my fingers up dog's assholes, AND they don't get to take credit for great ideas like this one:


I challenge Real Art Ways to challenge their Human Centipede viewers to pose for Human Centipede photos with their friends when they go to see the show. Fully clothed is fine. The very notion is hilarious and awkward enough. Think about it peeps. And make it happen. CT Scenic will be there - we've got the right ratio!

What's a Poker Run Anyway?

Sunday, August 8: 2nd Annual Meriden Human Society Poker Run & Benefit Concert @ The Meriden Human Society

Blogging up this event (which is for a good cause - adorable, sad animals, and features live music by kilt-wearin' friends-of-the-blog Falling Stickmen) prompted us to find out what the hell is a poker run anyway. It's complicated! Anyway, you'll all be so jazzed about partying after the Kelvins and the Blogaversary that you'll never want this weekend of fun to end, so keep the ball rolling this Sunday in Meriden. It's a daytime event - starting at 10 a.m. through early evening, so you can be home well in time for your Very Important Television date with Mad Men and True Blood.

(Handsome) Kelvins Unplugged

Friday, Aug. 6: The Kelvins @ Sully's Pub

Oh dear, look how handsome and brooding Greg and Eric from the Kelvins (we totally know them) look with their acoustic guitars. Wouldn't Greg look so right with a falcon on his shoulder? And Eric should totes get a wolf.

They are opening for a band that may be called High Planes Drifter, or High Plains Drifter, or some variation thereon (apparently lots of bands have taken this upon themselves). It's a bit unclear. However, we have it on good authority (from their recording engineer) that the Kelvins are no longer a stylish cock rock band, as we may have previously indicated, but a psychedelic pop band with a bunch of great new material, which we, for one, can't wait to hear.

Will the real Muni Reunion please stand up

Although I'm much too young to remember the Municipal Cafe, rumor has it that it was one of Hartford's key venues for local bands way back in the 90's. Now it's back, for one day anyway. August 14 2010, the Muni lives again. Former head honcho Mad Murphy (Steve McKay) has put together a lineup of the best bands that could still carry a tune some 15 years later. Who, you ask? Well how about Max Creek, Neybas, The Midnight Sun, Monster Band, Bud Collins Trio, and Flipper Dave. For tickets go here.
Every good event needs a little controversy, and I've picked up some rumblings. It seems that Mad Murphy opened up the Muni's basement and there was quite a rave scene that developed in that dank space. The rave rats were unhappy to be left off this event, so they organized another unofficial event on another date. Unfortunately, that date conflicts with our awesome Blogaversary, which you are of course attending. I mean why spend $10 per drink when you can come by our place and drink for free (not really free, we're gonna hit you up on the way in, but then it's "free" - ed.)? And they will not have donuts.
To sum it all up:
August 14th, the Municipal Cafe reunion show, put on by the man who was there, Steve McKay.
August 7th, CT Scenic Blogaversary.
Be seeing you....

M.C. Escher: In New Britain????

I was a little surprised to hear the patron saint of dorm room walls was having a show at the New Britain Museum of American Art. Now, truth be told, Maurits Cornelis Escher wasn't an American (he was born and lived primarily in the Netherlands), but I won't tell if you don't.
One strange bit of Escher's life that isn't widely known: he moonlighted for Ikea, drawing assembly instructions for many of the early products.
Unfortunately, this didn't work out well, and he was let go. I can tell you from personal experience that some of his Ikea diagrams remain in use. Here's one of his pieces I had on the wall for a few years:
The detail and size of many of the works has not been done justice by the common reproductions you stared at during countless bong sessions and keggers, so shake off memories of that bad trip and get down to the NBMAA. Show runs now until November 14