7:30 PM, Weds. June 1
1st ANNUAL AWESOMESAUCE TEEN EXTRAVAGANZA
Special guest Fantasy YA author SHERWOOD SMITH
Featuring ten minute readings by John Melendez (15), Kathryn Sweatman (16), Emma Jacques (12), Whitney Xu (13),and Kayla Bashe (16), who organized the event. PLUS: L.A.'s Sherwood Smith, the author of a number of science fiction and fantasy novels, including the "Wren "series for Young Adults, the Exordium novels, the recent "Atlantis Endgame," a novel of the Time Traders series, and the Solar Queen novels, reads excerpts of her writing and answer attendees’ questions via SKYPE. FREE!
6:30 - 10 PM, Fri. June 10
BUG OUT!! @ The Rac
Featuring HONOR AMONGST THIEVES, ROY CHAMBERS, BEN LUCKMAN, JEREMY BENSON, & THE ROADSIDE GRAVES
Sideshow Performance/Sculpture Unveiling/Live Music
6:30 - 7:30 PM (outside, in front) Sideshow escapists Honor Amongst Thieves swallow mongol sabers, eat Edison light-bulbs, and spit fifteen foot flumes of flame into the blue black sky above Main Street, w/special guest Billy Bullwhip, a whip artist who, from ten feet away, can knock free a raisin from the ginger clench of his partner's teeth. 7:30 PM (outside, in front) Metal sculptor Roy Chambers unveils his 9' Don Quixote made from found objects and re-purposed metals (on permanent display in front of The Raconteur). Chambers effectively erased any memory of Allen Jones' fetishistic fiber-glass nudes with his steam-punk, milk bar cow-skull in The Raconteur's production of A Clockwork Orange (on display in the rear of the shop since the 2009 production). 8:00 - 9:00 PM (inside) Singer/songwriters Jeremy Benson & Ben Lukman. 8:30 - 10:00 PM (outdoor stage, in back) Rac house band The Roadside Graves (w/special guests) playing songs from their new S.E. Hinton inspired album "OUTSIDE" (stay gold, ponyboy!). All for FREE! Can u believe it? Note: Bug Out!! is our contribution to the town-wide, summer arts festival, Junebug, which occurs every Friday in June.
2 PM, Sun. June 12
Richard Klin/Lily Prince
SOMETHING TO SAY
Thoughts on Arts and Politics in America
Reading/Discussion/Slide Show,
In Something to Say, Klin interviews artists and thinkers as disparate as Pete Seeger, Howard Zinn, punk rock activist Franklin Stein, and Palestinian American stand up comedian Maysoon Zayid. Each interview is accompanied by a striking B/W portrait from Klin's wife, photographer Lily Prince. The fusion of art and politics is axiomatic in much of the world. In America, their relationship is erratic. What is art in the service of social justice? Is an artist obligated to address the political? This book profiles, in words and photos, disparate creative forces who offer thoughts on their point of engagement with the political sphere. FREE! Books on sale at event.
9:30 AM, Sat. June 18
3rd ANNUAL METUCHEN TREASURE HUNT
Ages 6 & up!
The Raconteur, in conjunction with the Metuchen Mt. Zion Masonic Lodge (and What's the Scoop), is again sponsoring a Metuchen based treasure hunt! In keeping with the rollicking spirit of The Man who Would be King, Freemason Rudyard Kipling's fantastic tale of two masonic scoundrels who set off from 19th century British India in search of gold and adventure and end up as kings of Kafiristan, and The National Treasure, in which hoard hunter Benjamin Gates follows a series of cryptic clues to find an ancient cache intertwined with the arcane history of Freemasonry, young adventurers (boys and girls 1st through 5th grade) work in teams, following clues and unraveling a variety of knotty riddles as they move from one mysterious location to another (various stores and outdoor landmarks) within the town limits of Metuchen proper. Each cracked conundrum will lead players ever closer to the final treasure! Expect anagrams, number puzzles, and a brass plated, cylindrical device known as a Cryptex. Raconteur gift certificates awarded to all participants. To sign up, click HERE. Space is limited. The hunt is completely FREE. Any questions, or if you would like to help, please click HERE.
8 PM, Tues. June 28
JAILBOX
w/special guests
Live Music
Think Radiohead meets The Police. More soon. FREE!
8 PM, Weds. June 29
TRAVIS NICHOLS
Discussing/Signing
THE MONSTER DOODLE BOOK
W/Live Music by THE LADY IN THE RADIATOR
Half-finished doodles of monsters and other creatures, featuring misshapen bodies, oodles of appendages, and all kinds of gross crud. Finish the monster-shaped alphabet, create a flip-book, comic strip, and more. Drawings can be scary, disgusting, cute, or weird. It's up to you. Nichols is a writer, artist, cartoonist, and Texan living in Brooklyn, NY. His comics appeared in Nickelodeon Magazine and Herbivore Magazine. He is the author and illustrator of Punk Rock Etiquette, which was awarded a Blue Ribbon by the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and was nominated by YALSA as one of the 2009 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults. He's played in more than a dozen bands, and he loves meteorites and eating watermelon over the sink. FREE! Books on sale at event.
