Dan's Papers - September 21, 2007 - Take Five 2007 with Jan Silver

This weekend is filled with local events such as Southampton's Folk Art & Farm Festival, the Amaryllis Farm Equine Rescue benefit in Water Mill, and the largest clam contest judging Sunday in Amagansett. The week also brings many film screenings: a Sophia Loren weekend at Bay Street Theatre, Vincent and Theo in Southampton, Avenue Montaigne in Southampton, and Mulholland Drive at Stony Brook Southampton. There's a Sunday afternoon piano concert in Southampton, several interesting talks during the week, and the Group for the East End has an autumnal equinox celebration at Montauk Point next Wednesday evening (free admission).

The Southampton Historical Museum has a Folk Art & Farm Festival on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at its Meetinghouse Lane home. There will be Revoluntionary War re-enactors, Colonial woodworking and wool-spinning demonstrations, a maze, children's activities and a farmer's market (free admission).

Amaryllis Farm Equine Rescue, which houses and rehabilitates horses scheduled for slaughter, will benefit from an art show and sale on Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., at the Water Mill Museum.

The 17th annual Largest Clam Contest, sponsored by the East Hampton Town Trustees, closes on Saturday. Clammers have been submitting hard clams from all the town harbors to four official "holding" sites: Wainscott's Seafood Shop, the Amagansett Seafood Store, Stuart's Fish Market (Amagansett), and Gosman's Fish Market (Montauk). The judging begins at noon Sunday at the Trustees' office on Bluff Rd., Amagansett. Prizes will be awarded for the largest clam from each harbor plus an overall winner. The public is invited Sunday to sample local clams and enjoy a bowl of Bonac clam chowder.

The Group for the East End has an Autumnal Sunset & Moonrise evening at Montauk Point next Wednesday, September 16, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Bring binoculars, a blanket, warm clothing and a hot drink to watch nature's show (weather-permitting!).

COMING UP: There's a "Downtown 81" screening and party at East Hampton's Guild Hall next Saturday, Sept. 29, to celebrate the lower Manhattan art and club scene of the 1980s. Film producer Marisol will screen her film Downtown 81, featuring the artist/graffiti painter/poet/musician Jean Michel Basquiat, who was 19 when the film was made. Artist Billy Sullivan and writer Glenn O'Brien will attend the after-party, and the band Triplefreq will perform. Guild Hall's Junior Circle is organizing the evening as a benefit for the John Drew Theater restoration; tickets are $50 and the screening begins at 6 p.m. (call 631-324-0806).

Gateway Playhouse's production of the country/western musical Urban Cowboy, based on the popular movie starring John Travolta and Debra Winter, continues at the Bellport barn theater. Tickets ($37-43) are sold online at www.gatewayplayhouse.com, or by calling (631) 286-1133 or 888-4TIX NOW.

Pianists Katherine Addleman and Alvin Novak present a Sunday afternoon concert of music by Mozart and Schubert at Southampton's Rogers Memorial Library, 3 p.m. There is no admission charge (program is underwritten by Friends of the library), but please call (631) 283-0774 ext. 523 to reserve seats.

Recommended entertainers at local clubs and restaurants this week: Montauk - acoustic rock/folk with Michael Dann weekends at Surfside Inn, surf & rock with the Surf Dogs at 668 Gigshack on Sat; Amagansett - at the Stephen Talkhouse (631-267-3117) on Fri.- soul-style with Eclectic Collective; Sat.- reggae with Inner Roots, Sun. - soul/r&b with Annie Morgan Band; Estia Cantina (631-267-6320) - salsa Thurs. with Mambo Loco. East Hampton - jazz Fri. at Almondito; Fri. pop and jazz standards with Jane Hastay and Peter Martin Weiss at Coco Restaurant (Maidstone Arms), pianist Paul Gene at Babette's Sat.; Sagaponack - Twilight Thursdays (5-7:30 p.m.) at Wolffer Estate Vineyard with live music. Sag Harbor - Annie Morgan Band on Fri. at Mumbo Gumbo; Bridgehampton - World Pie jazz brunch Sun. with Stefanie Cardinali Group, Pierre's Restaurant- light jazz with Dennis Raffelock on Sun. and Jody Carlson next Tues., Monica sings at One Ocean on Thurs.; Water Mill - guitarist Steve Fredericks at Muse on Thurs; Southampton - Lone Sharks on Sat. at Southampton Publick House; Westhampton Beach - musicians Fri. & Sat. at Annona; East Quogue - Annie Morgan Band on Sat. at Docker's.

Poet Joan Larkin will read from her latest collection, My Body: New & Selected Poems, at Canio's Books, Sag Harbor, on Sunday at 2 p.m. On Tuesday at noon, author/editor/columnist Anthony Brandt will speak about shipwrecks from Biblical times to the Titanic at Southampton's Rogers Memorial Library (bring a sandwich; coffee and dessert will be served; call 631-283-0774 ext. 523 to reserve seats). On Wednesday at noon, Dr. Allen Fein will separate health fads from "must do" habits for optimum health in a talk about "Improve Your Wellness Now" at the Southampton library (seat reservations 631-283-0774 ext. 523).

The Picture Show at Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor, has Sophia Loren films this weekend. El Cid with co-star Charlton Heston is the Friday 8 p.m. feature, and Houseboat with co-star Cary Grant is the Saturday 8 p.m. movie. Tickets are $5 and the box office opens at 7 p.m. Sag Harbor's John Jermain Library screens We Are Marshall (2006), the drama about the crash which killed many members of the Marshall University football team, on Friday at 6:30 p.m.; there is no admission charge but arrive about 6:15 p.m. to get a good seat.

Southampton's Parrish Art Museum continues its "Artists' Lives" series on Friday, 7 p.m., with Robert Altman's moving Vincent and Theo, about the relationship between Vincent Van Gogh and his more practical brother Theo. Tickets are $5 for Museum members and $7 for guests at the door. On Monday at 3 p.m., Avenue Montaigne (France, 2006) will be shown at Rogers Memorial Library, Southampton (no admission charge but call 283-0774 ext. 523 to reserve a seat). Next Thursday, the Pollock-Krasner House's "Artists on Film" series concludes with Mulholland Drive (2001), David Lynch's dark look at the lives of two young women, an amnesiac (Laura Herring) and an aspiring actress (Naomi Watts), who become strangely entwined in Hollywood. The film starts at 7 p.m. in Chancellors Hall, Stony Brook Southampton; tickets are free to Pollock-Krasner House members and Stony Brook students, $5 for others.