Reading in the dark
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Kestrell" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
06:09 pm
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Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow, John Scalzi interviews Neil Gaiman at Google http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LmfCGy_ZLg
and for those in the Boston area, Neil will be the speaker for the first julius Schwartz Memorial Lecture happening on May 23, 7-10 p.m., Kresge Auditorium at MIT. http://cms.mit.edu/events/specialevents.php#052308
John Scalzi and Cory Doctorow talk about their new young adult books, George Orwell fan fic, and new ways to mentally torture your dog http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THEGpbnp1tM
Also of potential interest is Cory's article in The Guardian about his top tips for sorting email http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/29/email.filter
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: cold Current Music: www.wumb.org Tags: books, events, mit, writing
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07:08 pm
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50th Smoot Celebration being planned for October 4, 2008 From a MIT Club of Boston newsletter:
A 50th Smoot Celebration Committee has just begun planning a full day of activities for Saturday, October 4, 2008. They plan to appropriately commemorate that fall day when Ollie Smoot '62 started on way to becoming a measurement icon. There will be community service events, tours, and a menu of options for students, alums and their families, and others from the extended MIT community. Current planned events things like a River Cleanup, dedicating a new plaque on the Bridge, MIT tours, and a nostalgic 50's party in the MIT Museum that evening. Our Club will be co-sponsoring the day, along with the MIT Class of '62, and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, which has dutifully repainted the markings these last fifty years.
Current Location: aerye Tags: events, mit
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08:54 pm
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My Arisia schedule Okay, I got vampires, evil, and underground...it's good to have a theme with which to work.
Track Title Start Time Duration Description Literature Vampires in 20th Century Fiction Sat 10:00 PM 1hr From *Dracula* to *Interview with the Vampire* to Buffy, we have seen major changes in our perceptions of Vampires. We'll be discussing the evolving role of Vampire from monster to sophisticate, and how culture and society may have affected those roles. Are they evil, are they misunderstood, or are they a bit of both?
Literature The Appeal of Evil Sun 2:00 PM 1hr Explore the appeal of Drusilla, delve into the dungeons of Slytherin . Why is Maleficent so magnificent? Why did we want more of snarky Spike? Evil is supposed to be dark and forbidding. Why is it so damned hot?
Literature Underground! Sun 4:00 PM 1hr Discussion of the underground as a setting for stories. Who and what's underground -- tunnels, abandoned buildings, subways, homeless populations, raves, etc. Historic abandoned cities beneath the modern ones.
Current Location: aerye Tags: arisia, cons, events
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04:40 pm
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Queer horror movie festival at the Brattle Please join us on October 17th when CineMental returns with a special Halloween edition presenting queer horror films from across the globe!
Meet us at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square for an evening of gay zombies, incredible dykes, ghosts, succubi and even trannies in space.
CineMental
October 17th at 9:30 PM
Brattle Theatre, Harvard Square.
Cambridge, MA 02138
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: anticipatory Current Music: www.937mikefm.com Tags: events, horror, movies, queer
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04:54 pm
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Who wants to check out my tech? Because a number of people have asked, I thought I would try to coordinate a demo of my assistive technology, my computer, my screen reader, and my scanner/OCR.
If I was to do this on a Saturday in October, say, the 13, would there be people who would be interested?
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: curious Tags: disabilitytech, events
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06:20 pm
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Free museum day on Saturday, September 29+MIT Museum has an open house Okay, I have lived in Boston for years and have only been to the Science Museum a couple of times, so I really want to do this. Would anyone be interested in doing a whirlwind tour of some of these?
The Smithsonian's Museum Day is Saturday, September 29, 2007. All you have to do is go to the Smithsonian Web site http://content.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/ and print out your free pass in order to attend museums of your choice.
Here are some of the museums listed for Massachusetts http://content.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/?state=MA
Higgins Armory, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Springfield Museums & the Dr. Seuss National Memorial, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and (hey, look! it's the House of Clocks!) Willard House and Clock Museum.
Also note that on the same weekend the MIT Museum will be celebrating the opening of the Mark Epstein Innovation Gallery. For more information on the opening of the Mark Epstein Innovation Gallery and other new museum exhibitions, go to http://web.mit.edu/museum. I did receive, however, an email which mentioned that this event will be part of a weekend-long sidewalk festival to celebrate the opening of the new Mark Epstein ('63) Innovation Gallery on the ground floor facing Mass Ave and it will be a family-friendly event for all members of the MIT and Cambridge communities and beyond!
There was also something about showing kids how to make molecular structures out of gum drops and other edible items. I love edible science projects, and they are so accessible! Can someone show me some interesting molecules during the Halloween party?
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: wanna go! Current Music: www.wumb.org Tags: boston, education, events
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01:26 pm
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Halloween party I'm throwing a Halloween party this year with a retro Satyrday matinee theme. Guests are welcome to wear costumes (I will be-anyone have ideas for creating a Space Babe costume?) but need not feel obligated to do so. ( details )
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: autumnal Current Music: www.wumb.org Tags: events, halloween
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12:35 pm
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Review: The Winter's Tale, performed at MIT on Thursday, September 20 Thursday night alexx_kay and I went to a production of "The Winter's Tale" at MIT put on by students of THE Cambridge University American Stage Tour (CAST) http://castonline.org/ and while initially I had my doubts about how enjoyable it would be due to the various ambiguities of the play itself along with the fact that it was a student production, I can definitively state that this was an amazing production that demonstrated once again that these plays were meant to be experienced live, not just read.
Indeed, one of the aspects of CAST's production which made the play so much livelier than I expected was that the company exploited every possible moment for making the play come alive to the audience.
While it didn't occur to me at the time, this sense of liveliness was kicked off when we bumped into eanja and fabrisse before the show and then when we took our seats found ourselves sitting in front of xiphias and cheshyre, maintainers of the wonderful
bard_in_boston, virtual home of all things Shakespeare in the Boston area.
The play itself is, as I commented, a bit ambiguous in its categorization: while the theme itself is very dark--jealousy and the destruction it enacts not only upon individuals but upon families and social order--the play is often listed as a comedy, because nobody actually dies (thanks, Fabrisse). According to Marjorie Garber's book _Shakespeare After All_, Winter's Tale can be categorized as one of the late romances, along with Tempest and Midsummer's Night, and also as one of the triad of "jealousy plays" which include Much Ado and Othello. The players made a creative choice to highlight the comedic parts of the play while not downplaying the darker elements, the two main means for doing this being the use of puppets and the use of character/costuming references to Lewis Carroll's _Alice in Wonderland_.
Yet the use of children's toys and stories did not detract from the dark theme of jealousy and violence. As anyone who knows about the secret history of Punch and Judy can tell you, violence is woven through the oldest puppet plays. And as for stories, a winter's tale is a story told during the darkest part of the year. ( continued below cut )
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: mercurial Current Music: www.wmbr.org Tags: events, mit, reviews, shakespeare, theatre
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05:49 pm
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MIT Press Loading Dock sale+other book events Kes: alexx_kay and I count the MIT Press loading doc sale to be an annual anniversay evene, and it really is a wonderful event. Last year's find came from a fellow CMSer who called from across the room "Kes! I have a cultural history of footnotes here..." and I just put up my hand and he slapped it into my palm. Yes. Oh, and the other book someone found for me was a book about the computers of Star Trek. Being a media studies scholar means never having to say your sorry for justifying your Star Trek books as a professional expense.
News from the MIT Press Bookstore * Fall Loading Dock Sale * the 2007 Ig Informal Lectures * authors@mit reading with Robin Lippincott Also: Sherry Turkel's new book _Evocative Objects_ which includes an essay by Henry Jenkins
The Fall 2007 MIT PRESS BOOKSTORE LOADING DOCK SALE DAY: Saturday & Sunday DATE: October 20th & 21st TIME: 10:00am to 7:00pm ROOM: MIT E38, 292 Main Street, Cambridge MAP: http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=E38
"a feeding frenzy for the brain"
On October 20th & 21st The MIT Press Bookstore will hold its legendary Loading Dock Sale. Literally *tons* of books will be on sale at drastically reduced prices--up to 90% off their original retail price. Can't come in the morning? Don't worry--new items will be added throughout the course of this two day extravaganza. You've heard the stories, now see it for yourself!
For parking or event information call 253-5249, email books@mit.edu, or check http://web.mit.edu/bookstore/www/events/
Evocative Objects: Things We Think With Edited by Sherry Turkle For links to a podcast interview with the author, table of contents, and sample chapters, go to http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11121&mode=toc
The 2007 Ig Informal Lectures DAY: Saturday DATE: October 6, 2007 ( continued below cut )
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: exhausted Current Music: www.wumb.org Tags: books, events, fetish, mit
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01:22 pm
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MIT: Marvin Minsky talk tomorrow on The Emotion Machine Kes: I attended Minsky's lectures on this during my final semester at MIT, and you can, as noted below, read it online.
MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) http://www.csail.mit.edu/events/eventcalendar/calendar.php?show=event&id=1557
Topic: The Emotion Machine Speaker: Professor Marvin Minsky, EECS Date/Time: Wed, 12-Sep-2007; Refreshments: 3:00PM, Talk 3:15PM to 4:30 Location: MIT Stata Center (Building 32), Room 32-G449 (Patil Room)
Relevant URL: http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/E7/eb7.html
Most previous proposals to make AIs have foundered because each was based on some single idea -- no matter that it was a valuable one. For example, these approaches included using formal logic, neural networks, statistical learning or simulated evolution. And while each of these can solve some class of problems, none of them came to be able to do the more "reflective" kinds of thinking that make human beings so much more resourceful. So, I?ll briefly describe the multilevel "Critic-Selector" architecture developed in my book, The Emotion Machine. I hope this scheme will help us to build a system that can exploit every clever idea that we can imagine.
To prepare for the talk, I suggest that you read the draft of Chapter 7 of the book, which you can find at http://web.media.mit.edu/~minsky/E7/eb7.html
Current Location: aerye Current Music: www.937mikefm.com Tags: ai, events, mit
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11:59 am
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Raptor Weekend in Rhode Island Kes: It is unlikely that I will make it to this event, but it sounds amazing.
Raptor Weekend - September 8-9, 2007 Owls, hawks, eagles and other live birds of prey will thrill the audience during live presentations and flight programs at New England's largest raptor event, held at the Environmental Education Center, 1401 Hope St., Bristol, R.I.
This two-day event brings licensed raptor rehabilitators and other raptor experts from around New England together. As such it has become New England's largest raptor event! There will be live presentations showcasing extraordinary birds of prey like a Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle and a variety of hawks, owls and falcons. http://www.asri.org/raptor_weekend.htm
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: excited Tags: events, raptors
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02:16 pm
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October is Art Beyond Sight Month Kes: Because duskpeterson brought up the subject and museumfreak flaunted her Bob Flanagan icon at me (more about Flanagan below the cut), I'm posting this piece that I've been working on. I think it might be fun to organize a blog event for October, maybe some writing about art and visual impairment, descriptions or pictures of art we have produced, I'm working on some photographs...anyone interested? Also, I am currently working on a proposal for an IAP event at MIT addressing blindness and art, I'll keep people posted on that as it develops.
Welcome to the fifth annual Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month: October 2007. http://www.artbeyondsight.org/change/aw-index.shtml
Art Beyond Sight: A one-stop resource for bringing art and culture to people with visual impairments http://www.artbeyondsight.org/
International Conference in New York City September 28-30, 2007 http://www.artbeyondsight.org/change/aw-conference.shtml Art Beyond Sight: Multimodal Approaches to Learning, Creativity and Communication Location: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City Organized by Art Education for the Blind & The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Art Beyond Sight: A Resource Guide to Art, Creativity, and Visual Impairment by Elisabeth Salzhauer Axel (editor), Nina Sobol Levent (editor) (AFB Press, 2003) available in print and on ASCII disk, also available on Bookshare.org Order at AFB page ( more links and book titles below cut )
Current Location: aerye Tags: blind art, blindness, events
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01:58 pm
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Richard III as gothic horror
alexx_kay posted this to his LJ, and the video in question underscores why I refer to Richard 3 as gothic horror. As alexx_kay notes in his post, you can see us in the lower right corner--or rather, you can see the back of our heads--and witness our response to being referred to as the "cheap seats." One of the reasons why this piece struck us as particularly funny was that, when we left Melville Keep to go to the performance, herooftheage had a vat of fake blood bubbling on the stove which he intended on using in a Pennsic performance of "The Green Knight," and M. was gently attempting to suggest that he really didn't need to splatter the first ten rows... Note: You probably do not want to be eating or drinking while viewing this video.
block quote start Thanks to riba_rambles, the marvelous Michael Anderson meta-Shakespeare piece A Bloody Deed http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8371319459486098655 is now available on-line. Everyone I know who has a sense of humor owes it to themselves to spend half an hour watching this. kestrell and I were actually at this performance (you can see the backs of our heads), and bought the (small-run) DVD ["Freestyle Shakespeare"] as soon as we found it was available. I've since shown this sketch off to dozens of people at every opportunity. Now, thanks to the wonders of the internet, I can spread it even further. Enjoy! block quote end
Current Location: aerye Current Mood: macabre Tags: events, horror, richardiii, shakespeare
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11:17 am
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Bioshock party Have I mentioned how much I like my life? Last night I went to the hubby's office party, which in my universe was the Bioshock release party.
It was fun, if overly loud. I got to see alexx_kay swamped by fans. I was introduced to a couple of people with really nice accents. I drank something green (actually, the mode of delivery was for one of the Little Sisters to shoot the green stuff directly into your mouth using a syringe, and the green drink turned out to be a tasty apple martini, dubbed an Adam for the event). I want one of the Little Sister costumes. I talked to dariusk who has been posting some nice things about Bioshock to his games LJ tinysubversion, including notes from the BioShock Post Mortem http://syndicated.livejournal.com/tinysubversion/86946.html (this is a great LJ for learning about the games industry and networking in particular).
Now i must go cut this club bracelet off of my wrist and did I mention, I *really* liked the Little Sisters, though I kept expecting the song "Cry Little Sister" from "Lost Boys" to start blasting from the sound system (did I mention it was loud?).
Current Mood: complacent Tags: events, games
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11:14 am
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Books for foodies featured at Harvard Bookstore+Michael Palin and Steven Pinker events From the Harvard Bookstore newsletter
In the store this week, we're featuring Food. Specifically, we're looking at local food - from the locally-grown greens found at farmers' markets all around town (I go for the locally-baked cookies) to the multitude of local eateries. The Boston/Cambridge area is riff with great local chefs who also happen to write fabulous cookbooks. On our front tables, you'll find books by Chris Schlesinger of the East Coast Grill and All-Star Sandwich Bar, Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger, and Ana Sortun of Oleana. Jasper White of the Summer Shack stopped in recently to sign copies of his SUMMER SHACK COOKBOOK. For the kitchen-savvy, we have free guides to all the farmers' markets in the state, as well as Agricultural Tourism Maps of Massachusetts (complete with PYO Farm Listings... that's Pick-Your-Own), courtesy of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Other great reads grace our tables, including GRUB: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen and Marion Nestle's WHAT TO EAT, a guide that will answer your questions if you're confused about what 'certified organic' really means.
Tickets for our September events haven't sold out - yet. Call 617-661-1515 to order with a credit card, or stop by the store for tickets. Tickets are now on sale for Back ON THE ROAD: A Fifty-Year Retrospective of Kerouac's Beat Classic (9/6), an evening with Michael Palin (9/7), Steven Pinker (9/11, $5), and Junot Diaz (9/12, $5). Tickets can be purchased at Harvard Book Store or over the phone with a credit card at 617.661.1515.
Current Location: aerye Tags: books, events
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08:37 am
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CineMental presents "Naked Lunch" movie+shorts at Brattle tonight Quoted from the email
It is that time again! CineMental is back for the long hot month of August. Please join us in the air conditioned space of the historic Brattle Theatre for a presentation of David Cronenberg's adaptation of William Burroughs' Naked Lunch. The screening will be preceded by Ed Buhr's short film "The Japanese Sandman." A visual interpretation of one of William Burrough's letters to Allen Ginsberg written while in Panama.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007 CineMental featuring Naked Lunch with shorts Brattle Theater 40 Brattle Street Harvard Sq. Cambridge 9.30pm, $10, all ages http://www.truthserum.org
(1991) dir David Cronenberg w/Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm; Novel by William S. Burroughs [115 min] Deftly interweaving elements of the classic Beat novel with actual facts from William S. Burroughs equally strange life, Cronenberg proves that even the most unfilmable text can be brought to the screen when in the hands of a talented artist. Exterminator author Bill Lee begins to have some disturbing experiences when he becomes hooked on the bug poison he uses at his job not the least of which is a living typewriter that is also a giant talking bug. Indescribably weird and wonderful.
Tonight's film will be introduced by local historian, author, cultural critic and Dartmouth College faculty member, Michael Bronski (Pulp Friction: Uncovering the Golden Age of Gay Male Pulps,2003 and The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom, 2000) and preceded by short films inspired by Burroughs.
Tags: events
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08:58 am
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Redline issues if you are oming to my party on Saturday... The Ashmont train on the redline, which is the train that we use to get to Melville Keep, will only be running as far as JFK/UMass Boston this weekend, at which point there will be a shuttle bus to take for the rest of the trip.
This shuttle usually leaves people on Dorchester Ave somewhere near Melville, but it is, I think, unreliable and a bit scarey for blind travelers in particular (Dorchester Ave near our house is four lanes of very fast driving).
Which is to say, be aware of the redline problem, and if you feel this may keep you from coming to the party, post here and we may be able to arrange a ride.
Current Location: aerye Current Music: www.wumb.org Tags: events, mbta
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04:37 pm
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Cambridge: Susan Cooper events in November Posted to a local sf-related list--I will definitely have to make the MIT event, woot! The Dark Is Rising movie is one fantasy film about which I am actually excited.
Hello,
I'm writing from the Cambridge Public Library to let your group know that we will be hosting two events in November highlighting the work of Susan Cooper and fantasy writing, with the theme of "Unriddling the World." On November 14th, there will be a panel discussion (held at MIT) with the panelists being Susan Cooper, Gregory Maguire, and Roger Sutton (executive editor of the Horn Book Magazine.) On November 15th, the Cambridge Forum will host Susan Cooper for a talk at the First Parish in Cambridge , Harvard Square.
I have attached a "save the date" flyer [cut-n-pasted into the message below] which says a bit more about these events for those who are interested. We are compiling a large list of places where we would like to send publicity for these events, but we would love your ideas about any other groups where events might be listed on a website, etc. Is there a place on your website we could publicize this event? Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks for any ideas you have, and if you have any questions about the events, please feel free to call Daryl Mark at 617-349-4409.
Sincerely,
Amy Newmark Cambridge Public Library
Current Location: aerye Current Music: www.wumb.org Tags: books, events, fantasy, mit
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10:11 am
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Pics from the Harvard Square Potterfest+What to read next+William Gibson in Boston Kes: My own recommendation to the "What to read after Harry Potter" list would be _Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog_ by Ysabeau S. Wilce (2007), a madcap fantasy which features one of my favorite female protagonists in ages. Flora is also very funny and has a weakness for going off on adventures just like her favorite dime-novel character, even if Flora herself only has her foppish best friend Udo as a sidekick. There is also a magic book and a --kind of--haunted library and a very scarey librarian (who so far--I am only halfway through the novel--I have only heard about, but I hold out hope, and it makes me think gyzki would like this book).
From the Harvard Bookstore newsletter
August 11 and 12 is officially sales tax-free weekend here in Massachusetts! Not only will all our customers receive tax-free purchases that weekend, but we're tossing in an additional 10% discount for all our frequent buyers. Not a Frequent Buyer? Stop by the store or give us a call (617-661-1515) to sign up. We're also taking this special weekend to highlight our 75th anniversary celebrations. Spend $75 or more during the tax-free weekend and -for only $5- swing your new stash of books home in a limited edition 75th Anniversary Harvard Book Store tote bag.
Now that the dust has settled, a huge thanks to all you Harry Potter fans who joined us for an evening that no one will soon forget. On July 20, upwards of 20,000 people poured into Harvard-turned-Hogwart's Square to roam the streets, watch Harry and the Potters perform live, and (of course) pick up their copy of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. Here at Harvard Book Store, muggles of all sizes created wands, transfigured their own snitches, competed in some serious trivia, and howled with excitement when the first book was handed out at 12:01 a.m.. Click here to view photos of all the Potter-pandemonium, including dashing Harry-impersonators and one larger-than-life Golden Snitch. http://www.harvard.com/link/2810
For those who have finished reading the final volume in the Harry Potter series and are itching for a fresh book, check our kids' section display of "What To Read Next" including such sound post-Potter suggestions as THE LIGHTENING THIEF, the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series; WICKED LOVELY (called "a dark, intriguing tale" by bookseller Liz G.); and The Bartimaeus Trilogy, among other fantasy recommendations.
Author event: Sunday, August 19, 6 p.m. William Gibson SPOOK COUNTRY Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street Tickets are $5 - and are selling fast! Remember that our $5 tickets are good for $5 off a purchase at Harvard Book Store or at our events. Tickets can be purchased at the store or ordered over the phone with a credit card at 617.661.1515. The science-fiction master who brought us NEUROMANCER (and coined the term 'cyberspace') will read from his latest tech-thriller -- an unsettling and fast-paced exploration of technology, media, espionage, and addiction.
Current Location: aerye Current Music: www.wumb.org Tags: books, events, ya fantasy
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10:18 am
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Our Space Our Place afterschool program for blind and visually impaired students begins registratio Forwardef from a blind students mailing list Hello,
this is Cheryl cumings. I work with the organization Our Space Our Place, Inc.. We are beginning to recruit for our after school program which will begin on September. Please share the following announcement with anyone you believe will be interested. In advance, thank you for your assistance.
Sign up for Kids Space!
An after school program for elementary and high school students who are visually impaired and blind.
Kids Space
Tuesdays Students age 6 - 12 Time: 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Location: The Tobin Community Center, 1481 Tremont Street Roxbury MA.
Thursdays Students age 13 - 18 Time: 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM Location: The Tobin Community Center, 1481 Tremont Street, Roxbury MA. ( continued below cut )
Current Location: aerye Current Music: www.wbos.com Tags: blindness, education, events
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