12-17-13 Jive

Good evening! It’s Tuesday, December 17^th.  This is the Jive at Five – our daily community calendar and rundown of night time programming here on 88.1 FM WESU Middletown, your station for NPR, Pacifica, independent and local public affairs by day and the best in free-form community programming weeknights and weekends.  I'm Tim Blanchette. Thanks for tuning in.

Now for our rundown of some of what’s happening in our area this week. Be sure to check with venues for potential snow cancellations!

Here in Middletown, at the Buttonwood Tree, tonight at 6pm their Happiness Meeting followed at 7 by laughter yoga with Mimi Claire. Tomorrow Wednesday night the Buttonwood is showing the film “The Blue Butterfly, at 7 p.m. Friday night the JPJ -  454 Jazz Project  takes the buttonwood stage.  Saturday morning, it’s Qigong (Chi Kung), Tai Chi, community yoga and an empowerment workshop. Saturday afternoon’s Spoken Word session at 4 explores the intersection of faith, gender and sexuality. The Buttonwood is especially looking for poets to present work on the topic. Saturday night at 8pm, you can catch some Celtic folk music and storytelling by The Jolly Beggars. Sunday, Food Not Bombs serves food outside the Buttonwood at 1 pm, as Rumpus, an invitation to express the rhythm inside you, takes place inside. All are welcome. You are also invited to help prepare the vegetarian meal beforehand at 11 am at First Church Congregational on Court Street. Sunday afternoon at 3, and then again at 7, Peter Loffredo presents Dylan Thomas’s holiday classic, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.” Admission to this Connecticut Heritage Productions show is by donation, plus a non-perishable food item for the Amazing Grace pantry. www.buttonwood.org

Up in Hartford, at Blackeyed Sally’s, on Tuesday night’s Michael Palin's Other Orchestra, an 18-piece “big-band” works out new material. This week, Blackeyed Sally’s long running Wednesday night Blues Jam will be hosted by Tim McDonald. Thursday brings The Superpowers, dedicated to providing only the heaviest 21st Century grooves. Friday brings Devon Allman (Gregg Allman’s son) to Sally’s. Saturday, it’s the X Y Eli Xmas Xtravaganza, with guitarist Eli X. www.blackeyedsallys.com

Also in Hartford, at Sully’s Pub, you can catch Pete Scheips. Wednesday is karaoke. Thursday is Jeff Jahnke's West End Friends. And Friday brings the The Winter Wimbash, hosted by foundation bass man and musical innovation, Doug Wimbish featuring Skip McDonald and Keith Lablanc & more. www.sullyspub.com

Down in New Haven, at Café Nine, tonight DrinkDeeply presents “Leonhardt”, along with Orb Mellon and Hatfield. Tomorrow/Wednesday brings a Connecticut homecoming by Sarah Lou Richards, Jesse Terry, and Mike Clifford. Thursday, DrinkDeeply brings Ports of Spain to Café Nine, along with Milksop:Unsung and Elison Jackson. Friday at 5 brings Gary Heriot, followed at 9 by The Wagon Riders and DJ Dave Coon. Saturday afternoon’s Jazz Jam Session is with Tony Dioguardi & Friends. That’s followed at 9 by The Anti-Emo Empire Benefit/Reunion Show, with No Image, 76 % Uncertain, The Mistaken, The Coquettes, and Malcolm Tent. Sunday’s Original Sunday Night Jam is with the Morris Trent Band. www.cafenine.com.

Manic Productions brings several shows to nearby venues this week. On Wednesday, Eternal Summers, Daphne Lee Martin and the Starlight Girls play Bar in New Haven. Thursday, Manic Productions presents Field Mouse, Tancred (with Jess Abbott of Now, Now), the Box Tiger and Slander to The Space in Hamden. Friday night’s show at The Space features I Am The Avalanche, Wolves At Bay, Canvas, and Life On The Sideline. Saturday at The Space, Manic Productions presents Their / They're / There (with Owen & Into It. Over It); as well as Mansions and Birthmark (with Nate Kinsella from Joan of Arc and Make Believe). www.manicproductions.com

At Toad’s Place in New Haven, Thursday brings Danny Brown to the stage. Friday is the John Valby Triple-X-mas Show. Saturday, Kung Fu plays at Toad’s, along with The Stepkids, Twiddle and Norrin. Sunday, Gorilla Music presents the New Haven Jingle Bell Rock & Metal Fest, with a long list of bands who’l l perform on two stages. Details about this and other shows can be found at www.toadsplace.com

Back in Middletown, on Friday, at the new Scatz Restaurant and Jazz Lounge, 139 Main Street Ext., Middletown, Sez Zion performs. Saturday brings the Alvin Carter Project to Scatz. www.scatzrestaurantandlounge.com. That's Scatz with a “Z”.

On Sunday afternoon at 1:30, the Jovan Alexander Trio plays jazz at Sweet Harmony Café and Bakery, 330 Main St., Middletown.

Now here's a rundown of cinema off the beaten track in Central Connecticut:

Real Art Ways in Hartford, has extended their run of the documentary “Muscle Shoals” cthrough Wednesday. Also running through Wednesday is Mother of George, an enlightening look at immigrant life in the Crown Heights' Yoruba community. Opening Friday and running through next week is Following the Ninth: part road trip, part adventure story, it's an inspirational film about Beethoven's Ninth, the power it has to liberate us, to shield us against suffering, and to provide hope and resilience for us in dark times.

Also opening on Friday is the animated children’s tale, My Neighbor Totoro. The story follows Satsuke and Mei, two young girls who find that their new country home is in a mystical forest inhabited by a menagerie of mystical creatures called Totoros. This family-oriented feature has a powerful ecological theme. www.realartways.com .

At Cinestudio, the Trinity College cinema in Hartford,  tonight is the closing screening of A Touch of Sin, described as the story of “four outcasts on the edges of a rapidly changing China who channel their rage into a bloody rampage.” Playing through Saturday is Samsara in 4K: In what is now a treasured alternative holiday tradition, folks from Hartford and beyond get together for pot luck dinners and then come to Cinestudio for an awe-inspiring film by director Ron Fricke. This year it’s Samsara, a mesmerizing non-verbal visual experience celebrating the diversity and inter-connectedness of life on Earth, shot in 100 locations and 25 countries. Samsara - a Sanskrit word meaning the ever turning wheel of life - was made, according to Fricke, to “delve deeper into my favorite theme: humanity’s relationship to the eternal.” The images of unprecedented clarity were created by shooting on 65mm film, then transferring the film through the highest resolution scanning process available.  Opening Sunday, at 2:30 and showing again at 7:30, then running through Christmas Eve, you can catch the 1946 Frank Capra classic It’s a Wonderful Life.  www.cinestudio.org.

Back here in Middletown, Wednesday night at 7 p.m, The Buttonwood tree will be showing the film “The Blue Butterfly. Based on a true story, the film is about Pete, a young cancer victim who has a dream of catching the rare Amazonian blue morpho butterfly. With the help of his mother and a famous entomologist, Pete sets out on a transformative journey that touches everyone around him.

And now here’s a rundown of tonight’s programming on WESU.

Right after the Jive at Five stay tuned for: an hour of American and and American roots music with Bill Revill.

At 6pm, WESU presents the World Socialist Website’s daily news service.

At  6:30 Acoustic Blender with Bill Revill presents  an eclectic selection of Americana, country, folk, folk-rock, bluegrass, acoustic, and other music that has a roots influence.

From 8-9pm The Voice of the CITY with J-Cherry and the Strawberries offer  live and local Connecticut arts and music at its best.

At 9pm it’s time for Wonderland with DJ Cheshire Cat who warns of a song in his heart, a chemical imbalance in his head and a musical library at his fingers.

at11:30pm  Young & Restless with DJ Sleepy Girl comes your way

Following that we’ve got a whole lot of great holiday music to keep you entertained until the BBC kicks on at 4am.

NPR's Morning Edition starts tomorrow’s program day off at 5am.

That’s all for today’s Jive at Five, if you didn’t get a chance to write down some of the information mentioned in our community calendar, the script is published online at www.wesufm.org/jive

And if you value WESU as a source for information and entertainment in your life, how about supporting the station with a donation? This is our kinder, gentler winter pledge drive. We’re counting on you. Thanks for listening! Stay tuned for for more great programming!