The Week in Geek, 3.14 - 3.21: A Robot-Loving, Apples-to-Appling, Turing-Testing Good Time

Published Mar 14 2011, 04:25 PM by Alec Ernest

Best possible week: After learning about mushrooms, Nazi ciphers, and cancer, I explore the depths of the human condition in Frankenstein, and chill for a couple hours with Bruce Campbell and some Maltese puppies. Then my Freestyle Full Beard wins top honors; and the next day, Singularity happens at Oberon, whereupon nanomachines invent themselves and cure hangovers, just in time for Spring Break 2011. Sound ridiculous? Well look at what's happening in Boston this week, and decide for yourself.

MONDAY 3.14159265

[talk] Jae Rhim Lee @ MIT
Thinking about decomposing a dead body into magic mushrooms? Jae Rhim Lee discusses her controversial Infinity Burial Project, which asks us to question traditional beliefs regarding post-mortem preservation of self. Part of the ongoing arts + science talks at MIT. 7pm!

TUESDAY 3.15

[reading] Breaking the Code @ American Academy of Arts and Sciences
During World War II, British computer scientist and cryptologist Alan Turing, who later invented the Turing Test, helped decode Nazi ciphers. Breaking the Code is his story, followed by speakers from Tufts and MIT! 5:30pm!

[exhibition] Bill Burke: Destrukto @ the Howard Yezerski Gallery
Ever seen someone shoot a Nikon camera... with a bullet? Today's your last chance to check out Bill Burke's 'Destruko' exhibition of freeze-frame photography. He captures moments of explosion after shooting cans of soup and old cameras with high-powered rifles. Select works on display at the Howard Yezerski Gallery, open tonight until 5:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY 3.16

[symposium] Conquering Cancer through the Convergence of Science and Engineering @ MIT
Researchers at MIT aim to shift the paradigm of cancer research by converging multiple disciplines. And they (and David Koch) want to talk to you about it. Interactive panels all day, starting at 8:30am!

[talk] Patrick Rothfuss @ Northeastern University Library
Keeping up with Kvothe? Rothfuss apparates at 200 Richards Hall, Northeastern to discuss the 2nd "day" of his Kingkiller Chroncles series, Wise Man's Fear. Free and open to the public! 6pm-7:30pm.

[film] Tornado Alley Tweetup @ Museum of Science
MOS's newest "giant-screen" thriller on the science of tornado chasing is free to anyone who follow/fans the MOS Twitter page or Facebook page.

THURSDAY 3.17

[godless creations] Frankenstein @ Coolidge Corner Theatre
Danny Boyle's stage adaptation of the sci-fi classic is projected live from the National Theatre London, where Johnny Lee Miller (Did you watch Hackers yet?) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Other hilarious actor names: Balthazar Getty, Rip Torn) will actually trade roles for different performances. 6:30 pm!

[film] "Murder at Harvard" @ Mount Auburn Cemetery
In my dreamworld, all cemeteries have a film series. "Murder at Harvard" documents the 1849 murder of Boston Brahmin George Parkman, and the subsequent trial of Harvard chemistry professor John Webster. Q&A session with co-producers and writers Banta & Stange to follow.

FRIDAY 3.18

[opera] Death and the Powers @ Cutler Majestic
MIT Media Lab helped Tod Machover develop this opera, in which the protagonist uploads his consciousness to a computer to prepare for the "after-life." Check out the "disembodied-performance system" that Peter Torpey created that converts emotional states into movements and projections of light on stage. Heady. 4 performances only, premiering Friday at 7:30pm.

[gaming] MEGA GAME NIGHT @ Prudential Center
In case you don't remember last year's Mega Game Night, it involved a lot of cool people meeting up to play a lot of cool board games. Brought to you by Beantown Gamers, this is surely going to be a Catan-Settling, Apples-to-Appling, Scrabbling good time.

[film] Evil Dead @ Coolidge Corner Theatre
Horrible comical master Sam Raimi's legendary document of Bruce Campbell's Ash Williams screens as part of the Coolidge's @fter Midnite series. Is there any other movie in history that is more worthy of a midnight screening? I think not.

[con] Vericon XI @ Harvard
Not only does the 11th annual anime, cosplay, science-fiction, fantasy, role-playing convention take place this weekend, but Harvard Book Store even has all the distinguished authors coming in for a free book signing! Look for LARPing, gaming, literaturizing, and good old fashion Dance Dance Revolutioning! Kicks off Friday at 5:30pm!

SATURDAY 3.19

[cute] Downtown Boston Maltese March @ DoggieDay Playcenter
Can you imagine what would happen if a bunch of these met in a room together? 1pm.

[tournament] All-American Beard and Mustache Competition @ Precinct, Union Square
Unfortunately we've missed the registration deadline, so new competitors may not be accepted, but you probably can't grow facial hair that fast anyway. Regardless, head down to precinct to see who captures the top prizes in the Natural Full Beard, Freestyle Full Beard, Freestyle Mustache, Freestyle Partial Beard, and Fake Beard categories! Fun starts at 3pm, brought to you by the Somerville Arts Council.

[futureboston] Sarah Smith @ Harvard Book Store
As part of Vericon XI, local author Sarah Smith will be discussing on the Friday-night "Young Adult Literature" panel -- The Other Side of Dark, her latest book is a supernatural YA yarn about the real-life mystery surrounding Thomas Handasyd Perkins, "the merchant prince of Boston." Smith also happens to be a Future Boston contributor, for which the Phoenix is ever so grateful. On Saturday, she'll be appearing at Harvard Book Store from 2-2:45pm.

SUNDAY 3.20

[neuromancing] Billions of Bucks @ Oberon
Scientists at Oberon will be turning on the latest form of Artificial Intelligence, which they hope will not end the human era, but rather inspire song, skits and comedy with a cyberpunk twist. 7:30pm in Harvard Square!

MONDAY 3.21

[author] Greg Lindsay @ Harvard Book Store
In the present-future, air travel has become so integral to functioning societies that airports will become the city-center, instead of a peripheral element. Greg Lindsay discusses his book Aerotropolis, at 7pm.

[film] Transcendent Man @ Coolidge Corner
Boston premier of the documentary on singularity, featuring a Q&A session with the Big Daddy of Singularity himself, Ray Kurzweil. Unfortunately this is sold out already, but stay tuned on Craigslist and with the theater, and hope for the best.

Spring Break Preview

3.25 - Blacula @ Coolidge Corner
3.25 - Tolkien Reading Day, Third Conference on Middle Earth, Steampunk Industrial Revolution
3.26 - Bitches of Destiny Burlesque
3.27 - Ian Graham's Road to Ruins
3.28 - Steven Schlozman's The Zombie Autopsies

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