Lovegrove Pig Roast, 2011 edition

In 2011 our pig-roast went on the road, with a semi-pastoral Boston edition under tarps in the rain

and a reconnaissance trip to rural northern New Mexico (stay tuned for developments on that front)

Now it's time to bring it home again.

You ready?

Saturday, December 3rd

Lovegrove Alley

Start in the afternoon (around 2pm)

Eat in the evening (around 7pm), after parading the pig

The cold doesn't matter: we'll keep you warm

Bringing a dish doesn't matter: we'll feed you

Bringing beverages matters: bring for yourself, and to share

The point is, just be here.

We have performed, we have pigged, we have paraded

Highlights of Saturday's festivities? The pig, the performances at Theatre Project (Diane Edgecomb's solo work "Restraints," and Jolka's duo "Passages"), the parade of the pig (see clip below, narrated by Tom Megan, rocket scientist from Boston), seeing faces oft-hoped-for, meeting dozens of new faces, and well of course the EATING...not just pig, but corn bread and green beans and baked beans, oh my!

So many Saturday options...Jacob's Ladder, anyone?

You already know that the Saturday alley-menu includes oven-building, fire-stoking, ale-imbibing, nail-pulling (from that 19th-century heart pine), theater-watching (8pm, "Restraints" and then "Passages," www.theatreproject.org), pig-parading, pork-eating, and music-making (there's rumor of an accordion and its master coming on the bus down from NYC)...

...but wait! There's more! Children's game enthusiast/jump-rope professional/mischief-maker Karl Marxxx will host a large-scale Jacob's Ladder recreation in the alley, where people (that's you, the Pig Roasters) will act as the "fingers" in both simple and elaborate oversized string-game creations. No preparation necessary, but if you want to prepare, see if you can relearn Jacobs Ladder. Karl will get us going around 6pm: "See y'all li'l piggies Saturday!"

Alley Pig Roast, 3rd Edition: now with live theater option!

We didn't widely advertise our first pig-roast, back in March, since it was a trial-run: what happens when, at midnight in the middle of a Baltimore alley, you build a cinderblock oven, lay a locally-welded frame on it, add an 83-lb pig, and stoke the fires for five hours?

The answer: a whole lotta tasty pork.

So we did it again over Memorial Day weekend, in daylight this time, including a parade and 50+ people to help us eat that pig (96lbs). We still had a bunch left over.

Now the summer heat has passed.

Time for Round #3.

Saturday, October 16th

1211 Lovegrove St

4pm: Build the oven

4:30pm: Start the fire

5pm: Pig goes on the fire

5pm onwards: Sit around enjoying libations, watching the fire, and pulling nails out of 100-year-old heart pine, rescued from a neighboring row house (bring your own hammer/crowbar or borrow ours)

8-10pm (optional but heartily encouraged): walk two blocks to Theatre Project, 45 W. Preston St, and watch two acts of amazing international physical theater

(details, see livingmyth.wordpress.com and theatreproject.org)

10:15pm: Pig comes off the fire! Parade around the neighborhood! Toast the mighty trio of artists performing this week at Theatre Project! Eat pig, be merry! Boston-based composer/musician/wit-extraordinaire Tom Megan will also be in attendance, so bring your music-makers and be ready for anything.

Real Men Make Pies

And you should come eat them.

Tonight, 7pm-11pm.

(There's not even Molly Ross' luminous Lantern Parade to distract you - it got moved to tomorrow.)

you may wonder

You may have noticed a recurring motif of jump-roping photos here...could it be because one of the founding members of the Lovegrove Alley Beneficent Society is a national champion jump-roper? Hmm?

It could!

It is!

He is the one and only Karl Jones. He jumps in winter, in summer, on a stage, in the alley, in a coat, in Saran Wrap. And he teaches other people how to do it, too.

All we're saying is, there're more reasons to come to the alley than merely our food and drink.

Autumnal LABS, October 24

The wind is up, the leaves are coming down, and we're on for another edition of LABS. Join us on October 24th in the alley, 1211 Lovegrove St, from 7pm until late, for amazing home-cooked food (including burgers on the grill), fresh apple pie, and a tasty keg. $20 per person, all proceeds to benefit an artist (we'll be selecting someone local this round).

There is nothing sucky about this deal, only massive amounts of goodness. Plan to be here.