There are still tickets available for George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic at Patriots Theater at the War Memorial. His music (and hairstyle) defy categorization, and he’s been sampled by both Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. (along with countless others–he’s more sampled than James Brown, and that’s saying something!). Also, he was in Space Ghost.
Other to-dos this weekend:
Also tonight, The Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie presents an evening of Lyrical Poetry in the Park, featuring The Unknown Poet, otherwise known as TuP, whose performances are described as “the perfect combination of rhythm & blues and jazz with thought-provoking intellect all wrapped up in spoken word.” Also featured will be award-winning poet and writer D.J. Haslett, whose decision to become a poet at age 49 after working for many years in insurance sales and commercial broadcasting is an inspiration to all of us who dream of leaving our boring desk jobs to pursue our artistic dreams.
It’s “Marching In” Weekend at the Old Barracks. Captain Wright’s 1st Foot of British “regulars” return to the Barracks for a winter occupation after fighting in the frontier regions of the French & Indian War. Experience living history programs and enjoy colonial stew with the soldiers. Friday and Saturday, 10am-5pm. $8/adult, $6/senior, $6/child.
There’s still some nice weather to enjoy before winter sets in, and Saturday looks like it will be beautiful. Join members of various civic groups on Saturday morning for a tour of the D&R Canal Park as it meanders through Trenton neighborhoods. Learn about the history of the canal, development in the city, and canal challenges. Starts at Ellarslie in Cadwalader Park at 9:30 a.m. and ends at the Battle Monument. And if you feel like a little bike ride before the walk, the Trenton Cycling Revolution group will be meeting at the Calhoun Street Canal House at 9:15 and biking up to meet the walkers.
Also on Saturday, The William Trent House will be hosting a colonial candle-making event. The Trent House hours are 12:30-4pm, call (609) 989-3027 for specific information about the candle-making event.
And finally, there’s Eastern Region Championship Cheerleading at the Sun National Bank Center (formerly known as the Sovereign Bank Arena) on Saturday. If you’re not feeling peppy, stay off South Broad Street.
This Friday is the second Friday of the month, and you know what that means… Trenton2Nite! This week’s events include a free yoga class, an opening at Gallery 125, music and spoken-word performances at The Phoenix, and more, including, as always, the Scrabble throwdown at Classics Books. See the full schedule here.
Here are a few other things you can do this weekend instead of raking all those leaves. (Leaf pick-up in Trenton goes until December 20, so why do today what you can put off until next month?)
Do you knit? Crochet? Are you willing to do it in public? Trenton’s Knit and Stitch group has its biweekly meeting at Classics Books (117 South Warren St) on Saturday at noon.
Also at Classics Books, the young adult book club discusses the Newbery-Award-winning Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata at 11:00 a.m., and then at 2:00 the grown-ups can join a discussion led by author Jeffrey Perry about Hubert Harrison (1883-1911), agitator, founder of the “New Negro” movement, editor of Negro World, and the principal influence on the Garvey movement. Details on all Classics events on their Facebook page.
We mentioned this last week, but it bears repeating…the Passage Theatre Company presents Blood: A Comedy, a story about an atheist professor who loses tenure for trying to teach intelligent design, and then decides to try to make her entire dysfunctional family get religion. Hijinx, presumably, ensue. Thursday-Saturday 8:00 pm, Sunday 3:00 pm, through November 22. Tickets $25-$30.
The New Jersey State Museum’s planetarium shows are free on Saturday (and every second Saturday of the month). Free! We said free!
Dancing horses! The famous Lipizzaner Stallions will be at the Sovereign Bank Arena on Sunday, November 15 at 2:00 pm. Tickets from $22.50.
Two hundred and twenty five years ago, Trenton was the nation’s capital for about a month and a half. several Trenton area community groups have gotten together to put together a celebration of this auspicious anniversary. The kickoff party is Saturday night at the New Jersey State Museum, from 6 pm – 10 pm. There will be live music, food, and much Trenton-boosting camaraderie. The suggested donation of $10 per person/$15 per couple seems like a bargain, so go check it out! A handful of other cities also served as capital for a few weeks or months here and there before Washington, D.C., took over, but I bet they don’t party like Trenton does.
Here are a few other Trenton happenings this weekend:
Tonight the Sovereign Bank Arena is bringing you seven-on-seven full-contact tackle football played by women in bikinis. We are pretty sure that the existence of this is one of the signs of the apocalypse, but it could be a good time all the same. Kickoff at 9:00 pm, tickets from $15.
The Passage Theatre Company presents Blood: A Comedy, a story about an atheist professor who loses tenure for trying to teach intelligent design, and then decides to try to make her entire dysfunctional family get religion. Hijinx, presumably, ensue. Thursday-Saturday 8 pm, Sunday 3 pm, through November 22. Tickets $25-$30.
Classics Bookstore at 117 South Warren is hosting a few events on Saturday, most deliciously including a sweet potato pie bake-off. Show up at noon with your pie (email book_cellar@mindspring.com for more information). There’s also a poetry reading/open mic and a discussion and booksigning led by Dr. Cynthia Russel, author of Created to Be a Woman, Not a Slave, at 2:00 pm.
Are you a forensic science geek? Want to show your kids how cool science can be? Then the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial has got a show for you. Canadian group Mad Science presents CSI: Live, ”an exciting, interactive journey through the fascinating world of crime scene investigations.” This seems way better than watching David Caruso take off his sunglasses and say crazy things, and since it’s appropriate for kids 8 and up, we’re guessing there will be fewer severed body parts as well. Sunday at 2:00 pm, tickets $18.50 for adults, $14.50 for kids 12 and over, kids under 12 free, plus there’s a buy-one-get-one-free deal.
And speaking of science, don’t forget that the NJ State Museum’s planetarium is up and running again, with shows every weekend at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00.
We’re assuming you have your costumes all ready to go, and that you don’t have to go out and buy more candy because you’ve already eaten half of what you bought. You really don’t have time for mundane errands today.
Here are our recommendations for Halloween 2009:
10:00 am – 12 noon: Put your bike on/in the car and meet at the Brearley House on Meadow Road in Lawrence for a fall foliage bike ride with @trentoncycling along the D&R canal.
12 noon – 3:00 pm: All that exercise will work up an appetite, so then you’ll drive on back to Trenton and head over to The Old Barracks to bake some old fashioned spice cakes in their 18th-century outdoor oven and enjoy some hot cider.
2:00 pm: Now it’s time to get down to serious Halloween business. So you go over to the William Trent House, where Kimberly Costa will regale you with spooky 18th-century New Jersey ghost stories.
6:30 pm and 8:00 pm: After a dinner break and plenty of time to get your costumes on, it’s trick-or-treating time. Even if you don’t live in Cadwalader Heights, be sure to get yourself up to Belmont Circle to catch the Thrill Trenton group doing the full-on Thriller dance. Here’s a video of them the other night, as they joined thousands of people worldwide to set a Guinness World’s Record.
10:00 pm – 2:00 am: If you didn’t just collapse on the couch with your candy, you could go downtown to The Phoenix and do a little dancing yourself at their Halloween costume party.
And yes, you can sleep in tomorrow. We give you permission.
Yes, it’s true–sometimes there are things you want to say that won’t fit in 140 characters. So we’ll be using this site to augment the TweetingTrenton Twitter feed (say that 10 times fast).
