HubArts.com

I'm making a stand, not shining you on

Red Sox Nationalist Stephen King's new book, "The Cell," is out today, its apocalypso set mostly in Boston and New England. After years of supernatural gunslinger crapola - I know, I know, some of you really like that stuff, but jeez - he's back to destroying a familiar brand-name America. The book got a strong review from Janet Maslin in the Times yesterday, or as strong as you'd ever expect him to get there, anyway. In the Globe this morning, Erica Noonan is less enthused. But if I hadn't read the Maslin, Noonan's middling grade would still be enough to send me out to the Book Rack today. She writes, "...the book feels more like the first draft of a blockbuster screenplay, a furious stew of 'Manchurian Candidate' phone-call brainwashing, 'Dawn of the Dead' zombies, and 'War of the Worlds' scorched-earth obliteration." Maybe this makes me low-brow, but a furious stew of Manchurian brainwashing, zombies and scorched-earth obliteration sounds to me like a perfect way to spend this afternoon and probably a good part of tonight.

The morning papers

Worthwhile reading in the Herald today includes Sarah Rodman's interview with Livingston Taylor and Bob Young's piece on robots and humans making beautiful music together at MIT. ... In the Globe, Meredith Goldstein is starting to be the best thing about Sidekick, except Zippy, of course. Today she's got a story about the rock concerts now scheduled after some Celtics and Bruins games; she actually got team execs to admit that they're trying to fill empty seats in lackluster seasons. Bonus: One young rocker calls her "dude." But I'm damned if I can find the story online.

Clap your hands say presto!

"Due to overwhelming demand," LiveNation reports that the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah show on April 12 has been moved from the Paradise to the much larger Avalon. All Paradise tickets will be honored at the new venue. Tix, $14.25, on sale now at the Orpheum box office, Ticketmaster and livenation.com.

Who said classical is a drag?

 The students of the Boston Conservatory's music, theater and dance divisions are ready to unleash their 5th annual drag show. Four performances are set for Feb. 9 and 11, and you can expect everything from Liza to Madonna with a little "Annie" in between. Some "surprises from the faculty" are also promised. Tix are $10, $5 for students. Call 617-912-9222.

Want to get the dump renovated?

"This Old House" is looking for an historic renovation project in the Boston area. If you live inside 128 and are planning on giving your old house 18 episodes worth of work, you might be chosen. Email  pickmyhouse@timeinc.com with a description of the house and owners and the project, how much you're planning to spend, and a few low-rez digital pix. Apply by Feb. 15; construction must begin in March. If you're chosen, you still pay for the work, but you get to be on TV. Also you might reasonably expect a shower of gifts and discounts on the products used. You'll still pay taxes on them, however. ... You know, maybe this isn't such a great idea after all.

Power trio: Levine, Beethoven & Schoenberg

Sterling reviews this morning for Sunday afternoon's installment of James Levine's two-year Beethoven-Schoenberg project , a performance with the Symphony Chamber Players and guests Ben Heppner and Anja Silja. In the Herald, Keith Powers notes that the Chamber Players usually perform in Jordan Hall; this show sold out Symphony Hall, in large part because of Levine's star power. And, he says, it was terrific. The Globe's Richard Dyer feels much the same, also focusing on Levine's performance at the piano.

The morning webzine...

...or whatever they're calling Salon this week. There's some good reading in the ink-on-paper press this morning, including Cate McQuaid's Globe piece on the Carsten Holler "Amusement Park" which opens this weekend in the airplane-hangar sized Gallery 5 at Mass MOCA. (Whatever goes in that space is inevitably cool enough to be worth the ride to North Adams.) Joan Anderman's profile of the appealing if slightly odd Livingston Taylor is good too. Still, the weekend's must-read, which went up Friday, is in Salon: Kevin Berger's four-page takeout on Boston-area composer Osvaldo Golijov. This is the sort of long, deep-thinking yet lively  piece one hardly sees anymore outside of the Times Sunday magazine, making a case for the Argentine native as the most important and exciting composer working in America today. "Up to, oh, nine people, those who follow contemporary classical music, have got the message about Golijov," Berger writes. "But the composer is about to get the biggest boost in his career" when Lincoln Center begins a monthlong series of performances of his works. Rather than listen to me blather on, just go read it.

There's no minimum balance for genius

I didn't read the Names & Faces item this morning - the Globe used a photo of a scowly Malcolm Rogers and a less-than-thrilled Anne Finucane, and at 7:30 a.m. I couldn't deal with it. But Bank of America (where Finucane is a honcho) is sponsoring the Boston and New York legs of the upcoming "Americans in Paris, 1860-1900" exhibition. The exhibit, assembled jointly by Rogers' Museum of Fine Arts and New York's Met, "will explore the lure of the French capital for America's most celebrated painters," including Whistler, Homer, Eakins and Mary Cassatt. The biggie though may be John Singer Sargent, whose "The Daughters of Edward Darley Bolt" (from the MFA) and "Madame X" (above left, from the Met) will both be included. The show opens at the National Gallery  in London in February, hits the MFA June 25-Sept. 24, then moves to the Met in October. Of course, the parties involved are all just too darn discreet to say how much $ BoA kicked in.

Another look at 'unwieldy' MFA show

Cate McQuade's Globe piece this morning is generally positive on the Museum of Fine Arts' huge "Degas to Picasso" show I told you about the other day. But she points out that, despite its size, the show also has a way of highlighting the gaps in the MFA's collection, from the long and regrettable period in the 20th century when the Bostonians who mattered just weren't all that interested in modern art.

This benefit rocks

Robin Lane and the Chartbusters, Willie Loco Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, Dave Maxwell's Maximum Blues and the Twinemen a Feb. 16 benefit at the Regent Theatre in Arlington. "The Battle for the Brattle" will benefit Cambridge's Brattle Theatre "and while we're at it, the Zeitgeist Gallery." The event will be hosted by "George Bush and Dick Cheney," aka Ian Mackinnon and Eric Zinman, and will feature food from Blue Ribbon Barebecue. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 d.o.s. All three venues are listed as contacts, but start at the Regent, 781-646-4849.