Main Street Nerd Alert: April 30, May 1

Lots of good Main Street festival nerdiness happening this weekend in small towns around NJ. The weather is supposed to stay decent, so get out there and shop local!

Saturday, April 30, Communiversity Festival of the Arts is happening in downtown Princeton. Participants include "more than 200 artists, crafters, and merchants"; There will also be "continuous live entertainment on 5 stages, children's activities and games, a wide array of delicious food from around the globe."
Nerd Alert: Street food AND an opportunity to visit iconic Princeton Record Exchange? We're in!

And on Sunday, May 1, Boonton Main Street is sponsoring the Boonton Bazaar from 9 AM to 3 PM in the Upper Plane Street parking lot. Look for Antique Dealers, Crafters, Household goods, and more.
Nerd Alert: BMS's press release cryptically encourages us to "follow the pink flamingos." Fascinating. Also, if you're a crafter or have stuff to sell from your Spring cleaning, you could probably still score a table by contacting the organization.

Also on Sunday, the Clinton Guild holds its annual Pansy Festival, which promises music, carriage rides around town, gardening demonstrations, and a "bird house contest."
Nerd Alert: Be sure to cross the bridge and get a look at the most photographed mill probably ever. It's also a museum, and in October, a popular haunted house.

Science Nerd Alert: May 1

Check out this good nerdy update from The Raconteur in Metuchen:

8 PM, Sun, May 1
MISHA ANGRIST
Reading/Discussing/Signing
HERE IS A HUMAN BEING
At the Dawn of Personal Genomics
Once considered a fanciful topic confined to speculative fiction, DNA-based science has blossomed in the last decade to encompass a wide range of real world technologies. Angrist, a Duke University genetics professor with the added pedigree of an MFA in writing, is ideally suited for probing and explaining this often-befuddling field in crisp, accessible prose.To read more about this event, click HERE and scroll down.

Nerd Alert: FREE and the extended press release hints at the following tantalizing questions: "What exactly will happen to this information? Will it become just another marketing tool? Can it help us understand our ancestry, or will it merely reinforce old ideas of race? Can personal genomics help fix the U.S. health care system?"

Music Nerd Alert: End of April, Early May

Fairleigh Dickinson University's WAMFest is bringing some impressive names to its Florham campus, including Alejandro Escovedo, Josh Ritter, and The Fiery Furnaces, for intimate conversations and music. All events are FREE but require reservations, particularly for non-students. See the festival website for details.

Movie Nerd Alert: April 29-30, May 1

In true nerdy fashion, Loew's Jersey City will be screening sci-fi classics old and new, along with a special silent film screening by the Garden State Theatre Organ Society.

When:
Friday, April 29: The Matrix (1999)
Saturday, April 30: The Thing From Another World (1951) and John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)
Sunday, May 1: The Eagle, starring Rudolph Valentino (1925); with organist
$ (cheapest tix: $7 for adults, with discounts for students and seniors)
Nerd Alert: Though we haven't been there, the restored theatre looks like an experience in itself

Music Nerd Alert: April 28, 29, 30

See below for a press release from our friends at The Raconteur bookshop in Metuchen. Not technically North Jersey, but worth the drive for regular FREE events that also support an excellent independent bookstore:

8 PM, Thurs. April 28
THE EAST CACKALACKY & THE SHAYFER JAMES SIDE SHOW
East Cack is a touring avant-folk duo from Klamath Falls, Oregon specializing in homemade electrical weirdness and a singing saw. Singer/songwriter/artful pianist Shayfer James writes songs that are dark, dense, and Dickensian, and fingers the 61 keys of his Casio Portable with the dodgy subtlety of a Fagan street thief (also with singing saw). FREE! Comp wine. CDs on sale at event.

8 PM, FRI. APRIL 29
MIRANDA KENNEDY
Reading/Signing
SIDEWAYS ON A SCOOTER: LIFE & LOVE IN INDIA
In the early aughts, Miranda Kennedy, a twenty-something reporter living in New York City, relocated to India, where a British great-aunt had served as a missionary and where her own parents had lived during the early years of their marriage. She stayed for half a decade, becoming a foreign correspondent for American Public Media’s Marketplace and National Public Radio. To read more about this event, click HERE and scroll down.

2 PM, Sat. April 30
MUTTS Creator PATRICK MCDONNELL
Chalk Talk/Reading/Signing
In 1994, McDonnell created the award-winning comic strip Mutts, which now appears in more than 700 newspapers in 20 countries and has been anthologized in books all over the world. It was described by Peanuts creator Charles Schulz as "one of the best comic strips of all time." To read more about this event, click HERE and scroll down.

Music Nerd Alert: May 1 and Beyond

Two opportunities for low-cost music nerdiness coming up in the North Jersey area are The Masterwork Chorus's Spring performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah at the Community Theatre in Morristown and the 2011 Raritan River Music Festival, in various locations in the Hunterdon County area.


Mendelssohn's Elijah
Who: The Masterwork Chorus, an impressive Morris County group that also performs yearly at Carnegie Hall
Where: The Community Theatre, Morristown
When: Sunday, May 1
$$ (cheapest seats: $27)
Nerd Alert: A powerful group of singers; worth it if just to watch brilliant and energetic conductor Andrew Megill


The Raritan River Music Festival
Who: Raritan River Music, spearheaded by guitar duo Newman and Oltman; an eclectic mix of classical and folksy performers
Where: Various locations throughout Hunterdon County
When: Throughout May, see website for details
$$ (cheapest tickets: $19)
Nerd Alert: Notable for the diversity of its performances; we were lucky enough to attend an evening in this series a few years ago of Irish music coupled with a reading by Frank McCourt shortly before he died