Best of the Week: Our Picks for November 9-13, 2015

Welcome to Best of the Day, our recommendations for what to check out around town this week. If you’re wondering what to do in Boston this week, check out these events.

Postmodern Jukebox photo by Grendelkhan via Wikimedia Commons

MUSIC
Monday, November 9
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox

Self-described as “pop music in a time machine,” Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox runs modern chart-toppers through a classic-jazz filter—think doo-wop covers of Miley Cyrus or a ragtime “Tainted Love.” And while the music’s all about the throwback, it’s hard to think of a more of-the-now success story: His vacuum-tube-era sound got a YouTube-era viral boost from the Internet. See him and his ever-rotating touring band this week at the Wilbur Theatre.

November 9-10, 8 p.m., Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St., Boston, 617-248-9700, thewilbur.com.

Nedelka Prescod / Courtesy photo provided by Berklee

MUSIC
Tuesday, November 10
Women Musicians Network

For anyone who’s strolled through the Seaport lately, seeing the temporarily dismantled skeleton of the shuttered is a stark reminder that winter looms. But even though summer music festival is over for the year, there are still plenty of ways to see mass quantities of talent in one lineup. Case in point: this week’s Women Musicians Network show at Berklee, featuring an international roster of female students and faculty that includes special guests Nedelka Prescod, Maureen McMullan, and the Pletinitsa Balkan Choir. “Expect to hear jazz, electro-pop, gospel, rock, Spanish/Indian fusion, blues, and more,” Berklee tells us.

$8 advance ($12 day of show), November 10, 8 p.m., Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA, 617-747-2261, berklee.edu.

Boston Ski & Sports Club “Blizzard” event / Courtesy photo

SKIING
Wednesday, November 11
Boston Ski & Sports Club presents “The Blizzard”

The resorts aren’t open yet, but it’s not too soon to start thinking—fantasizing?—about hitting the slopes. To that end, Boston’s largest social sports group is throwing what they’ve dubbed “Boston’s biggest winter kick-off party.” The Boston Ski & Sports Club fills up Royale with swag, and thousands of dollars’ worth of raffle prizes, ski gear, free trips, and lift passes, as well as more than 30 ski exhibitors—from Attitash, Stowe, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, Loon Mountain, and many more. The BSSC will also announce their 2016 trip schedule.

$15 ($10 members), November 11, 6-9 p.m., Royale Boston, 279 Tremont St., Boston, 617-338-7699, bssc.com.

Photo by Nina Gallant for “Café ArtScience’s Todd Maul Builds a Cocktail”

COCKTAILS
Thursday, November 12
Draw/Drink: Cocktails with Café ArtScience

This Thursday, we’re raising a toast to the innovators, to those who push boundaries and embrace the “out there” with gusto. The deCordova’s current “Drawing Redefined” exhibit is all about artists pursuing aggressively experimental drawing techniques; they’re in good company with Café ArtScience drink-slinging alchemist Todd Maul, who uses high-tech toys (like his signature rotary evaporator) to make science-tweaked cocktails that are not just cutting-edge—they’re tasty. Tonight, Maul creates unique drinks formulated specifically to complement the art on display. Explore one of our favorite outdoor artscapes, then enjoy a creative nightcap.

$35 ($25 deCordova members), November 12, 6-8 p.m., deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, 51 Sandy Pond Rd., Lincoln. Get tickets at Eventbrite.

Images via the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (credits below)

UN-ORDINARY BOOKS
Friday, November 13
Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair

Leave Amazon to the unimaginative—real book lovers (hard-core collectors and passionate browsers alike) should flock to the lit safari that is the Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair. Now in its 39th year, 122 specialty book dealers (including our own beloved Brattle Book Shop) representing 10 countries will converge on the Hynes Convention Center for three days of unfettered bibliophilia. And, as event organizers point out, even if you don’t have Rockefeller bucks to throw around, you can start working on your collection—they’ve got dealers offering items for $100 and under. Plus, in addition to the sacred objects (a first-edition King James Bible and a rare folio featuring Picasso prints among them) there’s plenty of entertainment on tap: Check in with Antiques Roadshow appraisers, wrangle poetry from the Typewriter Rodeo, and hear Merriam-Webster editor Peter Sokolowski speak on the invention of the modern dictionary.

$10 Saturday or Sunday only/$20 all three days; November 13-15, Hynes Convention Center, 900 Boylston St., Boston, bostonbookfair.com. For tickets, go to Eventbrite.

Photo credits for International Antiquarian Book Fair photos, clockwise from right: Print by Pablo Picasso, courtesy F. A. Bernett Books; painting by Yvon Taillandier, courtesy Douglas Stewart Fine Books; lithograph by Sonia Delaunay, courtesy Douglas Stewart Fine Books.