HubArts.com

Dining like the pilgrims, on Duxbury oysters and Harpoon stout

This comes under culture, I guess, or possibly just in the nyeah-nyeah category. But yesterday my neighbor Mike came up with a last-minute +1 for a fine event at the Harpoon Brewery in the Seaport District, where they unveiled the latest in their 100-Barrel Series of specialty brews. The new Island Creek Oyster Stout is a little less full-bodied than a Guinness, with a minerality the makers attribute to the small amount of actual Island Creek Oysters in the wort. I can't testify to that, but I can say it was fully delicious. And the ICO people were on hand shucking those fine Duxbury oysters, long a HubArts snack of choice, which washed down the stout quite nicely. So keep an eye on your local beer store for the sure-to-be-brief availability of the 22-oz bottles of the Oyster Stout, and, well, you know what to have with it. Now I think it is time for my nap.

Mission of Burma's Miller gets surreal in Somerville

Mission of Burma hits the Paradise Friday and Saturday for furtherance of the band's second coming. But whether or not you make one of those sure-to-be-fiery gigs, you might want to check out Burma guitarist Roger Miller hosting Surreal Night in Somerville on Jan. 23. He'll be DJing and hosting an evening of Exquisite Corpse games - "the riotous mind-bending games that were developed by Andre Breton and his co-conspirators during the 1920's and '30's heyday of surrealism." Cool, I think. He's even picked some favorite beers to serve. The event is at the Center for Arts at the Armory, in the Cafe, beginning at 7 p.m., which seems awfully early for surrealism. Tickets, $8 in advance, are available at brownpapertickets.com. For more information please visit artsatthearmory.org or call 617-718-2191.

Miller crop from Burma pic by neonwar under a Creative Commons license.

A.R.T. extends "Donkey Show" through summer

I guess this is one of those items where the headline tells the story. The American Repertory Theater has extended its disco-Shakespeare hit, "The Donkey Show," with an open-ended run on Friday and Saturday nights through the summer, at the club/set  Oberon in Harvard Square. The play turns "A Midsummer Night's Dream" into a booty-shaking fantasia that pulls the audience right into the action (and serves them drinks). It's part of new artistic director Diane Paulus' Shakespeare Exploded! festival, which also includes the r&b version of "A Winter's Tale" called "Best of Both Worlds" at the Loeb Drama Center and the eerie nightmare version of "Macbeth" called "Sleep No More" that plays inside a disused school in Brookline. While "Donkey Show" had a long run for Paulus in New York previously, and "Sleep No More" is a creation of the British troupe Punchdrunk, you have to think this fall has been pretty much a triumph for the new boss. I mean, when was the last time Shakespeare at the A.R.T. had to be extended for up to nine months?

"Call of the Coast" at Portland Museum of Art. And lobster.

Three of us went up to Portland last Thursday to check out "Call of the Coast: Art Colonies of New England" at the Portland Museum of Art. The exhibit, up through Oct. 12, looks at the work of art colonies in Old Lyme and Cos Cob, Connecticut, and in Ogunquit and Monhegan, Maine. Artists including Edward Hopper and Childe Hassam made merry and painted at these venues, sometimes moving from one to another. Their work on view ranges from lovely impressionism in Connecticut to full-on modernism in Maine.

The exhibit is a collaboration between the Portland Museum and the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, which means it only covers the four colonies well represented in their collections. It excludes (as Cate McQuad noted in the Globe) Gloucester and Provincetown, a pretty big loss for an exhibit with "Art Colonies of New England" as a subtitle. But once you get over that, the exhibit is well-researched, drawing ties between artists and their environment and their various teachers.

Party like you're Dutch (and free admission for designated drivers) at PEM

On Aug. 20 the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem is hosting "an evening of fine ales and fine art" to complement the summer exhibition The Golden Age of Dutch Seascapes. (I haven't been yet, but Art Throb liked it.) Following a curatorial tour of the exhibit, there'll be a discussion of Dutch beer history and culture with Peter G. Rose, author of "Matters of Taste: Food and Drink and Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art and Life." Afterward, sample six of the finest Dutch and Flemish beers paired with an array of Dutch foods. (Why do I think herring will be involved?) Sounds lovely, but the most interesting aspect is a clause in the press release that is a first to me:

*NOTE: As Dutch and Flemish beers have a high alcohol content, we encourage participants to bring a designated driver.  Designated drivers will be admitted free and will be treated to soft drinks, food, and may participate in the exhibition tour and panel discussion.

Seems like a forward-thinking plan to me. Instead of limiting everyone to a thimble-full, drink hearty and let Aunt Betty drive home. Tix are $50 for museum members, $60 for non-. Make your reservations by Aug. 14 at www.pem.org/events or 978-745-9500 x3011.

Image: The Darsena delle Galere and Castello Nuovo at Naples, 1703, Caspar van Wittel, 755 x 1410mm, Oil on panel, © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK.

Split/Signal/Somerville

I have no idea what this is going to look or sound like, but judging by the people involved, it could be cool. The Books, Caspian and Roger Miller (Mission of Burma) are among the musicians who'll be play live music for original silent films on the big screen in an event called Split/Signal. It happens Saturday night at the Center for the Arts at the Armory in Somerville, a venue so new I haven't been there, either. It's 21+, doors at 6, happening at 7. Tix are $25 but for that you get free craft beer. (How many, they don't say.)

The music/film pairings are like this:
THE BOOKS  /  rich remsberg
CUL DE SAC  /  vj dziga
ROGER MILLER  /  handcranked productions
CASPIAN  /  bryan deblasio
BLACK YODEL  /  michael maraden
ARMS & SLEEPERS  /  dado ramadani
DEVIL MUSIC  /  barrett films
MIKE DUNKLEY & TODD BROZMAN  /  jon cianfrani

Wednesday's reads

This page one Globe story this morning is a tearjerker that'll make you smile, and it involves singing. ... Nice blog review of the Amanda Palmer/Lexington High School play. ... Museum 2.0 has a whole bunch of useful advice for museums that are twittering, much of it applicable to everyone (via @artsboston). ... Boston Conservatory is ready to rebuild its performance center into something world class. ... And if you can get to the Berkshires on Saturday and have $80 to spend, Mass MoCA's 10th Anniversary Ball is gonna be fun, because the band is Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (right). ... Finally, a reminder to support HubArts by supporting our advertisers over there to the right.

ICA Summer programming

The summer sked at the ICA includes little serious curated stuff but lots of  fun events intended to attract a crowd to the harbor on warm nights. Tunes from World Music artists TBA - or your iPod. Food and food talk from some of Boston's best restaurant chefs. The cheesy sci fi movie that inspired Shepard Fairey's OBEY campaign. And more. The complete sked is after the jump.