Salem Ma- Your Destination for Digital Detox

 Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Festivals  No Responses »
Nov 182014
 

While one could say there is always something “magical” going on in Salem Ma, it is especially true on the 3rd Thursday of every month— courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum. The PEM/PM event Digital Detox, scheduled for Nov.20th, is a perfect example.

PEMPM Past EventThe public in invited to join in an evening away from the distractions of technology. Yes. Travel back to a simpler, yet more direct time of personally speaking to someone, or writing actual letters. Leave it to our challenge-taking local museum to “push the envelope” and experiment with this old-fashioned concept.

PEM/PM is an unconventional gathering feature cocktails and conversation, art making and music, culinary demonstrations and surprising experiences. Members and Salem residents (with ID) are admitted free of charge, while nonmembers pay a nominal $10 fee. The event runs after hours from 6-9pm

(Also on the third Thursday of every month, the entire museum stays open from 10 am to 9 pm.)

Doneeca Thurston, new PEM Adult Programs Coordinator, explains the rationale behind Digital Detox, “the inspiration draws from our permanent collection. A lot of our newer exhibits have digital components whether its music, interactives, or visuals, which has been really fantastic. While its great to incorporate technology and reach our audiences in new and exciting ways, we realize that there is still something very special about walking into one of our permanent galleries and just taking in all of classic artwork and sculpture.”

She adds, “So this event is an invitation to power down and enjoy the evening engaging in the art of conversation, writing a heartfelt letter to a friend or loved one, or ease your mind with a peaceful meditation session.”

OPEN MUSIC SESSION in the Atrium
Join in on this impromptu jam session led by The Dejas. Everyone is welcome.

LETTER WRITING in the Atrium
A long forgotten practice, letter writing. Pen a note for a special someone, PEM will provide the stamps.

NAPTIME in the Atrium
Let your phone get some much needed rest. As an incentive, PEM is even handing out specially designed sleeping bags, for your phone that is!

LIKE in the Atrium
Now you can “like” someone in person. PEM staff will be handing out thumbs-up stickers by the info desk. “Like” a friend or stranger- be sure to say what you like about them.

SELFIE in Studio 1, Create Space
Students from Montserrat will be on hand to help you capture the perfect selfie. Stop by the Create Space to have one of these talented artists draw your portrait.

ART-MAKING in Studio 1, Create Space
Create your own vinyl record art. Paint, bedazzle, draw, the possibilities are endless.

VINYL RECORDS in the Atrium
Spin some vinyl records, courtesy of Salem’s own Hoofbeat Records

ART OF CONVERSATION at Pop-up’s throughout the galleries
Salem State University’s Philosophy Club brings interesting conversation to PEM. Join in on the conversations at several pop-up’s throughout the galleries.

7:00, 7:30, 8:00, and 8:30pm
MEDITATION in the Indian Gallery, 2nd floor
Certified Primordial Sound Meditation Instructor, Susan Himml, will lead 20 minute meditation sessions. Sign-up at the information desk.

As the nights get cooler, this sounds like a very warm & toasty, friendly & comforting event. There will also be a cash bar and special small plate menu items from the Hawthorne Hotel. For more info, call the PEM at 978-745-9500, (or toll free 866-745-1876). The Peabody Essex Museum is located on East India Square (161 Essex St.) Salem.

(Photo of previous PEM/PM event (c) 2014 Peabody Essex Museum. Photo by John Andrews)

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Salem Does Not Rest; Downrigging Weekend Next Event

 History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals  No Responses »
Nov 012014
 

Halloween has come and gone, but Salem does not roll up the sidewalks. We move on to the next big event, which in the case of this weekend, harkens not to our “witchy” past, but our maritime history. Salem’s first annual Downrigging Weekend is set for November 1 & 2.

The Essex county sailing community marks the end of the sailing season with this two-day event. And you benefit!!! Half-price public sails on the schooners Thomas Lannon, Ardelle, and Fame and downrigging demonstrations aboard Friendship are just some of the elements of this festival.

  • The Thomas Lannon is a beautiful representation of a turn-of-the-century Gloucester fishing schooner.
  • The Ardelle is a representation of the handsome and seaworthy pinky schooners that dominated the fisheries in the 1820-1840 period.
  • The Fame is a representation of the Salem privateer that captured the first prizes of the War of 1812.

Downrig_Flyerabc_1Inspired by the Sultana Downrigging Weekend, the Salem Downrigging Weekend is a celebration of not only the end of the sailing season, but also a tip of the sailor’s cap to maritime culture, wooded boats and the sailing heritage of the Essex county.

The Captains of the Fame, Ardelle & Thomas Lannon, along with the Salem Maritime National Historic Site and Essex National Heritage Area are partnering together to offer this weekend of activities – both on land and sea.

There will be 6 public sails, 6 live demonstrations, 2 films, 3 Q&A sessions with captains, ship tours and more! Public sails require a reservation and fee, but all other activities are free and open to the public.

Then you can follow-up your stint on the water at Finz Restaurant from 7-10pm on Saturday night for drinks, free appetizers, music, raffles and plenty of salty sailing wisdom.

Schedule of Events

  • Make sail reservations online for all vessels via the Schooner Fame website
  • Please make a note of the individual trip times (see below) for each vessel. When making a reservation, choose the reservation time that matches the vessel you’d like to sail.
  • Fame sails: 10:30am, 1:00pm, 3:00pm.
  • Ardelle sails: 11:30am, 2:00pm.
  • Lannon sails: 4:30pm.

Saturday, November 1st

  • 10:30 – 4:30pm. public sails aboard Fame, Ardelle, Thomas Lannon.
  • 11am – 4pm. Friendship open for public visitation.
  • 11am – live demonstration aboard Friendship.
  • 12:30pm – free screening of the Thomas Lannon movie, plus q&a session with captain.
  • 2:30pm – live demonstration aboard Friendship.
  • 4:30pm – free screening of the Fame movie, plus q&a session with captain.
  • 7pm – 10pm. “downrig or die” evening event at Finz Restaurant.

Sunday, November 2nd

  • 11am – splicing workshop aboard Fame.
  • 12pm – Ardelle downrigging demonstration.
  • 1pm – Lannon downrigging demonstration.
  • 2pm – Friendship downrigging demonstration. q&a session with captain on the ongoing preservation and maintenance program for Friendship.

All vessels will be docked at the Salem Maritime National Historic site (173 Derby Street) or Pickering Wharf Marina (23 Congress Street). Free film screenings will be held in St. Joseph Hall, 2nd floor. (160 Derby Street). Visit www.nps.gov/sama for the complete schedule and updated information.

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The “Other” Salem Court Case Presented as Interactive Murder Mystery

 Haunted Happenings, History, Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Festivals  No Responses »
Oct 182014
 

Goodnight, Captain WhiteIf you’ve enjoyed the excellent performances by History Alive! Inc. with the interactive and “moving” production of Cry Innocent, then we are here to advise of a 2nd production it presents in Salem, titled Goodnight Captain White. But— this is just a bit different.

Running Oct. 24th, 25th, 31st and November 1st. at Old Town Hall, this comedic-mystery retells the not so well-known true event of the 1830 murder of Salem Sea Captain Joseph White:

It’s 1830. “All friends and well wishers are invited to attend” the retirement party of Captain Joseph White’s favorite ship, the Caroline. But this magnanimous invitation lures a host of enemies and ill-wishers into the perfect opportunity to murder the rich, old captain. Allegiances twist and turn. Foibles are exposed, depravities revealed. It’s up to the audience and an under cover Daniel Webster to figure out whodunit and how.

Written by Mark Stevick and directed by Kristina Wacome Stevick, the tale is about the real Captain Joseph White, a rich, elderly, retired shipmaster, who was murdered while sleeping in his Essex Street home. It has all the elements of good book, movie or TV episode: local folks among the accused & guilty, and a high-profile prosecuting attorney in Senator Daniel Webster, hired by the White family to prosecute for the Commonwealth.

But where is the comedy? Goodnight, Captain White is not a reenactment like Cry Innocent. “We’re not sticking to the exact history here,” Mark Stevick has commented previously. “We follow the original story, but we’ve cut and combined to make for a more high-energy, comic period piece.”

Kristina Wacome Stevick has also stated “Is it right to laugh about terrible behavior? To do so doesn’t mean we endorse murder, adultery, slavery, betrayal. In our laughter we release the tension of recognition. As we watch these extreme fellows careen toward their comeuppance, we’re relieved they are not ourselves and we cringe at the thought that they could be, were our circumstances less privileged or graced.”

Use of innuendo, double entendres, a bit of improv from the actors, and even input from you, the audience, to help uncover & define the clues makes for a lively evening— that has nothing to do with ghosts, goblins or ghouls. Just a nice murder mystery.

Doors open at 7:15pm for “noshing and revelry.” Show begins at 7:30pm. The price of admission includes soirée fare and a “Crowninshield Punch.” For more information email historyalive@gordon.edu or call 978-867-4767.

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Stoker and Price to Speak in Salem

 Haunted Happenings, History, Salem Event  No Responses »
Oct 122014
 

Coming soonObviously neither Bram Stoker (creator of the popular Dracula character) nor Vincent Price (celebrated actor in many a macabre movie) can be here. Both have passed on. But descendants are keeping the memories, stories and work alive… and will be sharing with you this month during Haunted Happenings: Dacre Stoker on 10/16 and Victoria Price on 10/20.

Dacre Stoker is the great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, and himself an author, having written Dracula: The Un-Dead (with Ian Holt) said to be based on handwritten notes of Bram Stoker’s for characters and plot threads. He will be in Salem to discuss the Stoker family perspective on all things Dracula as part of a film screening of the award winning documentary Vampires of New England at CinemaSalem, 7pm on Oct. 16.

Canadian by birth and now living in South Carolina, Stoker has been a teacher and an athletics coach (in fact he is a former Pentathlon world champion and coached the Canadian Pentathlon team in Seoul at the 1988 Summer Olympics). And from this clip, you can hear he is also an engaging speaker.

Dacre Stoker – Garlic and Vampires from Historical Haunts on Vimeo.
Called “The Blood is the Life: A Night of Dracula and New England Vampires” the event is presented by Historical Haunts LLC and Cinema Salem. Stoker will be available for photos and autographs afterwards.

For more info go to www.histhaunts.com or www.cinemasalem.com.

This month has also been a celebration of another author, Edgar Allan Poe. Of course one could not visit the written works of Poe without the visual memories of the stories as presented by Vincent Price in many movies. Rounding out the celebration of all things Poe will be a special appearance by Victoria Price, the actor’s daughter on Oct. 20th.

Price will make herself available in three different areas of Salem:

  • 5:30 pm, a walking tour of Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery
  • 6 pm, a lecture/talk at the next-door STV studios.
  • After the lecture ends, Price will meet with participants at The Scarlet Letter Press & Gallery for an evening of wine & words (she will sign autographs).

Victoria has established herself as a lively, popular public speaker (as you will see in the below clip) on topics ranging from the life of her famous father, to interior/industrial design to the role of the art collector in society.

Victoria Price from thesoundofvincentprice.blogspot.com.
Her stories about her dad will charm, entertain and give you insights to the man that we loved to have scare us.

For more info go to The Scarlet Letter Press or The Nightmare Gallery.

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Sanderson Sisters Return to Salem Rescheduled; Hocus Pocus on the Common Oct. 18

 Haunted Happenings, History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals  No Responses »
Oct 092014
 
Come little children, I’ll take thee away; into a land of enchantment. Come little children, the time’s come to play: here in my garden of magic.

Hocus PocusHauntingly chanted by a Sanderson sister in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, that is something as children we learned was a bad thing to hear echoing in the cloud-filled skies— be you in Salem Ma or elsewhere. But, after all it was just a movie. And that movie is fondly recalled every year here in Salem, where the producers actually took the time to film several scenes.

Radio 92.9 is presenting a free, weekly Haunted Movies Series in Salem during October; this week Hocus Pocus, rained out last week (perhaps the burning rain of death?) has been reset for Saturday, October 18 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm on the Salem Common under the stars.

Bring a blanket or beach chairs to watch this movie, which picked up 2 wins and 11 overall nominations during the 1994 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA awards.

Last year was the 20th anniversary of the movie. Here is a bit of trivia: did you know that the actor playing Thackery (not Zachery) Binx was Sean Murray who now plays Tim McGee on NCIS? You did? Well, did you also know that he was the voice of neither Thackery nor the cat? Movie Magic.

Hello Salem! My name’s Winifred, what’s yours? I put a spell on you…

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