This week, talk is cheap—and valuable, with several free and interesting speaking events happening in and around the city. First we hear from an entrepreneur who helps institutions of learning learn about themselves; then a writer who’s cleverly converted a classic film trilogy into a still more classic form; and finally a small business owner who wants us to mind the world’s beeswax.
Monday, July 7
Starting the week off with a night out? Consider going Outer. The Outer Space (295 Treadwell St, Hamden; 203-288-6400) has its next weekly trivia gathering tonight—“five rounds of trivia, ten questions each round”—with signup starting at 7 p.m.
Tuesday, July 8
Through conducting surveys and compiling the resulting data, Panorama Education gives thousands of American schools a window into how various stakeholders—students, parents, teachers, administrators—view their own institutions. Today at 4 p.m., the company’s cofounder and CEO, Aaron Feuer, gives us his own impressions. He’s speaking at William L. Harkness Hall (100 Wall St, Rm 119, New Haven) as part of the “Yale Entrepreneurship Speaker Series,” organized by the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute, which invites business figures to “discuss how they built their startups, overcame obstacles and found success.” Panorama counts New Haven’s public schools among its clients, so perhaps we’ll get some local insights. Free; register here.
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Wednesday, July 9
Sandwiched between the 11 a.m. start and 2 p.m. close of the CitySeed downtown farmers’ market today is this summer’s first “Blues, Berries and Jam” event on the New Haven Green. From noon to 1:30, perennial BBJ foursome the Cobalt Rhythm Kings plays the blues beneath what current weather reports predict will be at least partly blue skies. Free.
Refreshments can make anything better—even the spectacular Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Today at 4 p.m., the library gives an opening reception for its latest mezzanine-level exhibit, whose name is a mouthful anyway: A Legacy Parlous Abiding: The Hohenzollern-Schlaberg-Hughes Collection at Yale. On display are “books, maps, artwork and correspondence” that trace a family’s history to “Central Europe at the dawn of the modern age through the calamitous wars of the 20th century and beyond.” Free.
Thursday, July 10
The Force is strong with jack of many trades Ian Doescher. First he got a B.A. in music from Yale, then a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a PhD in ethics from Union Theological Seminary. His calling in recent years is either characteristically reverent or totally irreverent, depending on how you look at it: mashing up Shakespeare and Star Wars into bestselling books. He’s now done one for each of the initial three movies, with a tour for the latest, The Jedi Doth Return, bringing him to a spot in a galaxy not so far, far away: R.J. Julia Booksellers (768 Boston Post Rd, Madison; 203-245-3959). The free event starts tonight at 7 p.m. Reserve a seat.
Friday, July 11
Tonight at 8 p.m., Yale Summer Cabaret is back from an 11-day break with Jackie Sibblies Drury’s curiously titled play We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915. As the name of the work signals, it’s happy to go meta, and the plot obliges, featuring six real Cabaret actors portraying six fictional thespians working to stage a play within the play. Centering around the little-known Herero and Namaqua Genocide of the early 20th century, the fictional play’s subject matter forces its cast to confront their own attitudes about race and violence—and yet, despite that heavy subject matter, the story is also “exhilarating and surprisingly funny,” according to the Summer Cabaret folks. Tickets are $25, or $20 for Yale faculty/staff and $15 for students. Playing through July 26.
Saturday, July 12
The recently unveiled exhibition New Now at City Gallery (994 State St, New Haven; 203-782-2489) welcomes a new member to the artist-run collective: Aspasia Patti Anos, who does “photographic, mixed media and monotype work” (such as Uncertain Path, pictured second above), and who has said that in her art she seeks “clarity arrived at through chance and complication.” During an artists’ reception today from 2 to 5 p.m.—plural because it also pulls in work by existing City Gallery members Mary Lesser, Tom Peterson and Paulette Rosen—you might just find some clarity as well. Free.
Sunday, July 13
Expect birds and bees but mostly bees today at Pardee-Morris House (325 Lighthouse Rd, New Haven). Catherine Wolko, owner of Watertown-based The Humble Bee Company, which harvests and bottles organic raw honey from its hives and has a beeswax-based beauty line, is giving an “all-ages” talk and demonstration called “Bees, Please!” from 2 to 3 p.m. Along with giving her audience the low-down on the nature and value of honeybees, Wolko is bringing honey to sample and beekeeping outfits to try on. Free. The Pardee-Morris House itself is open from noon to 4 p.m.
At 3 p.m. today, it’s the final game of the World Cup. Whether you’ve watched religiously so far or haven’t caught a single minute, this is your last chance to enjoy the world’s best national teams play the world’s most popular sport. Broadcasting on ESPN at home or at a bar nearby.
Written by Dan Mims. First photo, courtesy of the New Haven Museum, depicts Catherine Wolko of The Humble Bee Honey Company. Second photograph depicts Aspasia Patti Anos’s Uncertain Path.
