miscellany

So now you've gone through all the other listings and you haven't come up with anything else to do. That isn't all that surprising, really, since not that much at Harvard has really gotten going yet and you probably saw all the films you wanted to see over the summer. Of course, there's always the first-week-end-of-school-when-no-one-has-that-much-work-to-do-yet-or-the-initiative-either parties to drop in on, but you have to be a really hardcore party-goer to do that all weekend.

On the other hand, this is probably a good weekend to hit the Cambridge bars. You can sit around and discuss and nauseum fascinating topics like what you did over the summer without having to do it in smokefilled, crowded rooms full of people who you don't feel all that comfortable with.

Cronin's, on the corner of Mt. Auburn St, next to the Treadway, is still my favorite bar around here. It used to be where Holyoke Center is now, and was the center of Harvard drinking activity, but got moved to this rather odd location when Harvard decided to go bureacratic. It's usually pretty empty now, and is always quiet (particularly because the high booths and ferocious waitresses don't invite rowdiness), but it has a great jukebox--one which you can hear, a distinct difference from the music at 33 Dunster Street, where they play good music but you can barely hear the person next to you, much less the music.

One Potato, Two Potato isn't even worth trying, unless you have an extremely low tolerance. Expensive drinks with a minute amount of alcohol--orange juice at the Store 24 is cheaper and barely less intoxicating.

Opposite O'Briens Funeral Parlor on Mass Ave. there's the Plough and Stars--rowdy, always crowded, but kind of a nice change from the collegiate atmosphere that pervades the Square. The Plough and the Oxford Ale House on Church St. both have live music on weekends, so while they aren't great for talking you can sometimes find room to dance.

The Ha'Penny, under the Blue Parrot on Mt. Auburn St., has live music too, but it tends toward the folkish and is always full of rather bizarre people who are looking for someone to pick up. Not cheap, but they have a better selection of wines than most places around--although if you're setting yourself up as a wine connoisseur, you should probably go to the Wine Bar in the garage instead--but prepared to spend a lot.

The other well-known pickup joint near the Square is, of course, the Casablanca, under the Brattle Theater. Upstairs at the Casa B. is always full of single women, while the downstairs is generally preppie. They make good mixed drinks, though. The Casab tends to card more than most Cambridge bars, so bring ID, real or otherwise.

Right in the Square there's Barney's and the Wursthous. The Wursthous is pretty middleaged, on the whole Jake's is much more comfortable. The atmosphere is similar to that in Ha'Penny's, without the bizarre clientele.

If you get tired of bars around here, there are lots more in Boston--a glimpse into the realm of the obvious, I suppose, worth considering if you make sure you leave long before last call, which frequently comes about an hour after the last subway. My favorite Boston bar is the Top of the Hub, even though it's crowded, expensive and outrageously bourgeois, because if you get a table near the window you can get dizzy just watching the lights, which cuts down drinking costs a lot. It's at the top of the Prudential Center, really easy to find.

State law in Massachussetts forces bars to close by 2 a.m., so don't expect to find anywhere open after that. Cronin's main drawback is that it closes about half an hour earlier than the others, but you can always run over to 33 Dunster for a last drink. As a former barmaid, I consider it my duty to remind you to tip your waitress--a quarter per person is the absolute minimum, more is always appreciated. Come the revolution, tips won't be necessary; but for now, no one can live on $1.15 an hour.

If you are not a big drinker and still haven't found anything you feel like doing, the New England Aquarium has announced that October will be Monster Month, starring the Loch Ness Monster. A 24-minute film on Nessie will be shown Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., weekends at 11:15, 12:45, 2:15, 3:15 and 4:00.