Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer gala party on Mayan Doomsday at Boston's Torrent Engine 18

Katherine sez, "Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer will be performing a GALA PARTY on Friday, December 21st, 2012 (aka MAYAN DOOMSDAY) to benefit the restoration of Torrent Engine 18, a Boston firehouse turned flexible art gallery/theatre. On the official Last Day on Earth, the gala will offer decadent music, mystery readings, and ritual burlesque, plus fresh-fruit-infused libations by Booze Époque in a grand ballroom (a secret Boston location revealed only to ticket-holders). Gala guest spots are only available through Torrent Engine 18's Kickstarter, which ends November 30th at 9pm."

Old Boston Firehouse to become art space: Torrent Engine 18 (Thanks, Katherine!)

• [Tribune]

  the linked site says it will NOT take place at the firehall (contrary to title – consistent with text of entry)

  • [Tribune]

    was trying to figure out if “Booze Époque” was a typo, incompatible font, real name but that i did not see on the link

    • [Katrina Galore]

      It’s Booze Époque (the accent mark doesn’t always make it when re-posted)

    • [boozeepoque]

      Sometimes our É gets lost in translation.  But we are so excited to provided additional lubrication to this fantastic event.  We love that Katrina and E. Stephen are infusing new life into the Boston arts scene.

  • [Katrina Galore]

     Yes, the gala WILL NOT be happening at the firehouse itself–it’s not ready yet!

  • [AwesomeRobot]

    Well, that’s where I’ll be. 

• [Katrina Galore]

  Thank you Cory for posting this–we are so excited to unleash a gala of Lovecraftian proportions!

• [mostlyh2o]

  It continues to amaze me that intelligent people believe, not that the Mayan Doomsday will happen, but that the Mayan calendar even prophesies Doomsday at all. It doesn’t. December 12, 2012 is merely the odometer clicking around to zero. The car doesn’t disintegrate when that happens.

  • [retchdog]

    it’s a cultural reference, however lame. people don’t really believe that cats ask for cheeseburgers in stilted baby-speak either.

• [E. Stephen Curator]

  How do you know what my car might do if it (miraculously) reached one million miles?

• [retchdog]

  hrm; this actually sounds cool. all nyc gets is a live cover of purple rain.

• [C.J. Casey]

  This headline makes no sense. In addition to being degrading to the remaining Maya people, who have repeatedly stated that they don’t like having their religion and culture misrepresented and bastardized by the English-speaking world… apparently, 500-plus years of genocide and destruction wasn’t enough but they have to piss on their beliefs as well… ‘Mayan’ is a term for the language. ‘Maya’ means the people and culture. So, apparently, Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer, artists I formerly respected, are doing something on a language’s doomsday? How can a language have a doomsday? It doesn’t make sense. Please tell these two artists to stop being stupid.

  • [nehpetsE]

    E.Stephen (co-founder of Torrent Engine 18) here.
    Dear CJ Casey,
    I agree with you entirely. Scheduling constraints required that this event had to fall on December 21, & it was only after we locked in that date that everyone started pointing out “Yer party is on Mayan Doomsday!”If you’d like to send me your email address, i’ll be glad to forward it to anyone who is guilty of  cultural appropriation based semantic misconceptions concerning this issue.(BTW, to whom it may concern, despite their suspicious family connections, neither Amanda or Neil are crypto-Mayans.)

    • [tré]

       Congrats on the mature response to being called on your privileged appropriation.

  • [retchdog]

    it’s clearly a scientologist plot.

  • [Katrina Galore]

    “MAYA Doomsday”? Preposterous!

    Would one say “France Doomsday”? No, the proper way to say it would be “French Doomsday.” Obviously.

• [nehpetsE]

  When i met Amanda when she was 19, and recruited her to be part of an early production of the Empire SNAFU Restoration Project, I KNEW within seconds of meeting her, that for the first time in my life, i had met a girl who was even more joyfully, monstrously loud and horrible than myself. And I have loved her ever since. All my young life prior to that, i’d met various girls who i thought were cool at first but as soon as i took off all my clothes and started rolling around in road kill, they would become uncomfortable ask me to “take it down a notch”. Where as Amanda would be naked and covered in gore before i even got my own shoes off.
  I’m not sure what motivates the Amanda haters. But i am sure they are less stimulating to hang out with.

  • [Ben Gencarelle]

    My motivation for disliking her music is that I have ears and those ears get bored and want to leave my head when they hear her music.   

    Not liking a under talented artist isn’t a reason to be less stimulating than liking said artist.   However, basing one’s opinions about another’s stimulating qualities solely on whether or not they share an appreciation for the same crappy music one listens to is often a sign of being (more than) a bit dull or at least (very) self absorbed.

    • [wysinwyg]

      Is Palmer’s music “crappy”?  Is she “under talented”?  Or is it just not to your taste?  (I’ve listened to the Dresden Dolls like once; I remember enjoying it but I’m no huge fan myself.)

      Based on your comment (rather than your likely terrible taste in music) I have indeed come to a conclusion about how dull and self absorbed you likely are, and how stimulating your company probably would be.

      • [retchdog]

        i love amanda palmer and the dresden dolls, but i have to admit that technicality is not her strong suit. there are several dresden dolls songs which would be much better if she could just consistently sing in key. if someone’s looking for that, they’re not going to like afp/dd, and you can’t generalize from that.

        on the other hand, in my opinion, the dresden dolls could have performed on a casiotone and plastic drum set and i’d probably still have loved them.

        • [wysinwyg]

          Talent is not equivalent to virtuosity.  One need not be a talented instrumentalist or vocalist to be a talented musician/performer or songwriter.  As I said, though, I’ve barely heard any of Palmer’s music and don’t really have anything to say about her talent or lack thereof.  I was reacting to Gencarelle’s attitude.

• [nehpetsE]

  (Katrina Galore is, in her own manner, just as loud as Amanda. And that is a wonderful thing too.)