This Week in Geek July 5-10: Get Your Con On

Post-holiday-weekend lag got you down? Did last weekend's boozing, barbecuing and fireworking set your expectations so high such that the prospect of a return the weekend routine of eating ice cream and watching True Blood suddenly seems so banal?

Fear not, because we have not one but TWO awesome weekend-long cons to save you from the brink of desperation. This weekend is Connecticon, one of the biggest pop-culture conventions in New England. Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, rainbow-horse fans will gather from across the globe (or possibly just New England) to convene at My Little Pony Con. With the advent of MLP: Friendship is magic and the obsessive culture surrounding it (see: Bronyism) it is a must-attend Con.

There are also some awesome events going on before them (a robot, a film festival, and book signings galore) but we advise you spend the week making the life-altering decision of which con to go to.

WEDNESDAY 7.6

[book] Dawn Tripp, Game of Secrets @ Brookline Booksmith
Local author Dawn Tripp has a Massachusetts Book Award to her name, and she's bringing her newest title Game of Secrets to Coolidge Corner tonight. It's a combination of thriller, mystery, and literary fiction; the secrets of a murder are revealed through an intense Scrabble game between two willful old women. Meet the writer of this intelligent beach-read at the Booksmith.

[film] Another Earth @ Coolidge Corner Theater 7pm
Do you ever wondered what life would be like to explore an alternative mirror version of earth? Of course you do. So did Rhoda, an MIT scholar--that was exactly what she was pondering as she suddenly lost control of her car, killing an entire family. Director Mike Cahill and Writer/Producer/Actress Brit Marling come to Boston tonight to present their film, Another Earth. The movie premiered at Sundance, and it explores Brit's desire to visit the mirror-Earth planet that has suddenly appeared in the sky.

THURSDAY 7.7

[YA-SF] Nancy Holder, Crusade @ Pandemonium 7pm
YA-Fantasy author Nancy Holder has won the Bram Stoker Award four times for her works of fiction, and she also teaches a class on the Buffyverse at UCLA. She's coming to Pandemonium Books and Games this week signing her new book in the Crusade series Damned, co-authored with frequent collaborator Debbie Viguie.

[literary robots] Publishing on Paige @ Harvard Bookstore 7pm
Paige M. Gutenborg is as appropriate a name for a printing-robot that there can possibly be; she (he? it?) is an "espresso book machine" that helps the Harvard Bookstore print hard to find or out-of-print books. The bot also allows local authors to self-publish their books and collections. A demonstration of Paige's printing prowess will include remarks by authors Vittorio Palumbo, Jess Martin, Sharon Pywell and Ron Richardson.

[foux da fafa] Boston French Film Festival @ MFA
Have you ever wanted to be that person at that dinner party talking loudly about their recent experiences at the French Film Festival over at the local art museum? Yes, you have. The 16th Annual Boston French Film festival will allow you to do just that. From July 7 to July 24, the MFA will be screening the finest modern french cinema. A full list of films can be found on the website, but the festival features directors Philippe Le Guay (The Woman on the Sixth Floor) and Jean-Pierre Ameris (Romantics Anonymous).

[book] Roland Merullo, The Talk-Funny Girl @ Porter Square Books 7pm
Local writer Merullo is signing copies of The Talk-Funny Girl, a novel about cults, repression, New Hampshire, economic downturn, stone-masonry and language. Its somewhat otherworldly approach to the struggles of growing up make this story, with its funny-talking main character, an interesting summer read.

[gender-bender] Matt & Ben @ Central Square Theatre Thurs, Fri 7:30pm; Sat 8pm; Sun 2pm, 7pm
When the script for Good Will Hunting falls from the sky through the ceiling of their apartment, scrappy young heroes Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's lives change forever. Comediennes Brenda Withers and Mindy Kaling (The Office) penned a play imagining the drama that ensues as the two rocket to fame. Local actresses Philana Mia and Marianna Bassham play local actors Matt and Ben in this comedy about fame, fortune and women playing men.

[let's dance] Oh! You Pretty Things: David Bowie Burlesque @ Oberon 8pm
Some things seem to intuitively go together, despite the amount of time it takes to bring them into union. David Bowie and burlesque, for instance; the man was over-the-top, Gaga before Gaga was Gaga. Now the Oberon brings us Bowie as it was always meant to be preformed: with exhibitionism and gogo dancing.

FRIDAY 7.8

[book + film] Heywood Gould, The Serial Killer's Daughter @ Brookline Booksmith + Rolling Thunder @ Coolidge Corner 7pm, 11:59pm
Heywood Gould has written screenplays and novels, and both will be celebrated in Coolidge Corner this weekend. First, at the ‘Smith, he discusses his new novel, The Serial Killer's Daughter. Then at midnight, Gould will be present for a screening of his movie, Rolling Thunder, starring Tommy Lee Jones. A cult film (and Quentin Tarantino's favourite movie) it tells the story of a Vietnam War veteran who loses everything upon coming home.

[teenage wasteland] Mortified: Angst Written @ Oberon 8pm, 10pm
Mortified is nostalgia meets schadenfreude, self-abasement meets self-examination. Adults share the best of the worst of their childhood creations: journals, love letters and poems once jealously guarded from the prying eyes of peers, and now shared for the lulz.

[AAW YEAH] JAWS 3D @ Coolidge Corner Theatre Fri + Sat 11:59pm
Q: What's more awesome than a classic movie about sharks in 3D? A: Nothing we can think of.

[caw yeah] Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds @ MIT 8pm
The "when ___ attack" theme of Hitchcock's The Birds might sound cheesy, but that doesn't make the concept any less terrifying. This classic horror film is screening as part of the LSC Summer Film series.

ConnectiCon 2011 @ Hartford Marriot Downtown, Hartford, CT Fri, Sat + Sun
Connecticon is one of New England's biggest annual pop culture events, and celebrates all different aspects of geekdom: from webcomics to LARPing, table-top games to scifi. It will feature a Cosplay Dating Game, Geek Comedy Tour, Anime screenings and lots of people in really sick costumes.

[friendship is magic] My Little Pony Fair and Convention 2011 @ Hasbro HQ, Pawtucket RI Fri, Sat + Sun
In the past, a My Little Pony convention might have attracted exclusively nostalgic 90sphiles, somewhat creepy middle-aged women and the occasional 5-year-old. But now that every single person on the Internet is obsessed with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, we're imagining there might be droves of hipsters and redditers, as well. Come and celebrate your love for the small plastic ponycorns that represent kindness, friendship and all that is warm/fuzzy.

SATURDAY 7.9

[pottermore] Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt @ Harvard Museum of Natural History 9am
Apparently there's a Harry Potter movie coming out soon, and apparently it's the last one, so Harvard has taken the opportunity to leap onto the bandwagon with a Harry Potter Scavenger Hunt! The events run through the beginning of September, let you explore the mythical objects of the Potterverse with a Mock-Marauders' Map.

[hackz0rs] HTML5 Game Hack Day @ Bocoup Loft 9am
Test your 1337 h4ck1ng 5killz (Does anyone use leetspeak anymore? No? Good) at this goalless festival of fun and game-hackery. This low-key event is open to any Boston-area hacker willing to test his or her skill, but preregistration is required.

SUNDAY 7.10

[laughing at clouds] Singin' In The Rain @ Somerville Theatre 11am
This Gene Kelly/Debbie Reynolds classic is screening as part of the Somerville Theatre Reperatory/Classics Series. Kelly stars as a silent-film star transitioning to talkies, and Reynolds as the actress who dubs over the voice of his mean-spirited leading lady. The film will be experienced as it was originally intended--on 70mm film, on the big screen.