The weather has finally turned autumnal, and it seems to be signaling “back to school” time for adults. The cultural scene is making room for academic happenings; in the past few days K & I went to Williams College for a standing-room-only lecture by food/science/environmental writer Michael Pollan, and to Simon’s Rock for a reading by fiction writer Nathan Englander. And there’s more to come; free tickets to author Salman Rushdie’s Dowmel lecture on November 5 at Monument Valley Regional High School will be distributed this week at the school and at the Berkshire Museum.

You’ll also need your thinking caps on for the new lecture series at The Clark, in conjunction with the Institute’s new exhibit opening this weekend, “Consuming Passion: Fragonard's Allegories of Love.” The first, called “Love on the Rocks” examined famous love stories that have fascinated and inspired artists throughout the centuries, including Heloise and Abelard, Perseus and Andromeda and Apollo and Daphne. Next up is “Whose Love Is It Anyway?: Sex, Gender and Culture in Eighteenth-Century France,” featuring visiting feminist art historians Mary Sheriff of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Melissa Hyde of the University of Florida, Gainesville, in conversation with the Clark’s senior curator Richard Rand and associate director of Research and Academic Programs Mark Ledbury.  And the  popular series of free ‘first Friday’ lectures for new parents, “Escape into Art,” resumes on Friday, November 2, so newly sleep-deprived brains obsessed with diapers and baby food can find some intellectual stimulation.

Of course not everything’s happening at the academic institutions. The Colonial has a diverse schedule over the next few weeks, with two female acts from very different eras. This Friday and Saturday, 10/26 & 27, expect a hit parade of music from the 1960s -- ranging from Motown to Flower Power to Women’s Rights -- with “Beehive.” Then next Friday, 11/2, get ready for “Hormonal Imbalance: A Mood-Swinging Music Revue,” with The Four Bitchin’ Babes. The next evening’s music is more homegrown, as the Berkshire Hills Chorus presents an “A Capella Showcase.” At the Mahaiwe this Saturday, 10/27, it’s back to the academic side of things, with the E.F. Schumacher Society’s 27th annual lecture series, featuring keynote talks focused on environmental and economic sustainability by Majora Carter, Michael Shuman and Charles Turner. On Monday, the spirit of Halloween takes over with a screening of “House of Wax,” starring Vincent Price. Then virtuoso pianist Emanuel Ax takes the stage on Saturday, 11/3.

That scary movie at the Mahaiwe foreshadows one of the biggest events of the year for children. But this spooky holiday isn’t just for kids anymore. Two very grown-up restaurants – Spice and Pearl’s – are throwing special Halloween bashes this Friday, October 26. In Pittsfield, Spice is hosting a Halloween Costume Party, with tricks and treats, including DJ “Whatever” spinning dance music, and awards for the best dressed in a variety of categories, such as scariest, ugliest, silliest, most original and even best food-related costume. Party-goers can make an entire evening of it; the annual Pittsfield Halloween Parade begins at 7 pm. This year’s event will be enhanced by the presence of the straw folks mingling with the real humans on North Street, as the HayMan! public art project nears its end. At 8:30 the action moves to the Berkshire Athenaeum for a performance of “Feathertop,” based on a terrifying tale by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The “Ghastly Gala” at Pearl’s is a dinner, party and silent auction presented by the Railroad Street Youth Project. Pearl’s is one of the participants in a program to teach culinary skills to local youth. These talented young chefs-in-training are sure to put on a frightful affair, from 6-9pm. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can enjoy both, party hopping from Pearl’s to Spice. After all, if you’ve put some effort into a putting together a costume, you may as well make the most of it!

For those who just can’t get enough of Halloween, MASS MoCA is screening the classic silent screamfest, “Nosferatu,” on  November 2, with an original score played live by the Alloy Orchestra. This showing is part of the Williamstown Film Festival, which kicks off this week. A movie-lover’s marathon, the festival  includes 11 feature films, 30 shorts, seminars, parties and special guest appearances. Saturday morning 10/27 begins with a breakfast seminar at the Williamsville Inn, “Theater into Film,” focused on the long strange trip of “Running Funny,” a play that premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival twenty years ago, from stage to screen. Other special events include a benefit dinner at Café Latino on Saturday, 10/27, before MASS MoCA hosts the New England premiere of “Grace is Gone,” which racked up a couple of awards at Sundance. This two-weekend extravaganza also includes a lunch seminar at The Orchards on Saturday November 3, “Tribecca: From Idea to Juggernaut,” with one of the founders of New York City’s premier film fest. That night’s highlight is the screening of “Dark Matter,” starring Meryl Streep and AidanQuinn, at The Clark, followed by the annual champagne and dessert party. There’s nothing academic about that!

About Bess Hochstein
Buzz chronicler Bess J.M. Hochstein came to the Berkshires as a second-homeowner before deciding to move here full time. Previously a communications executive, she's now a freelance writer living in Tyringham with her corgis Duffy and Hobbs and K. She writes for several publications, including Berkshire Living, the Boston Globe, New England Wine Gazette, and Healing Lifestyles & Spas magazine.