Modern times, vintage look

"Corn Dogs, Blue Ribbons & the American Pastoral"
Somerville photographer Meg Birnbaum took a cheap plastic camera and shot black and white images at seven New England fairs this summer. The result is "Corn Dogs, Blue Ribbons & the American Pastoral," a collection of photos that combine modern subjects with an antique feel, such as "Circle Swing". Mon-Fri 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thu 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sat noon-5 p.m. Free. Montserrat College, Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery, 23 Essex St., Beverly. 978-921-4242 ext. 1319.

"Call Her Savage" and "Blood Money"
The Harvard Film Archive launches its series "Vice vs. Virtue in Pre-Code Hollywood" with a double-bill screening of "Call Her Savage" and "Blood Money." The series focuses on films made after sound was introduced at the end of the 1920s up through the 1934 Production Code that censored unwholesome onscreen behavior. The Friday films will offer early 20th-century takes on adultery, Greenwich Village cabaret, sexual masochism, cross-dressing lesbians, kleptomaniacs, and corruption - the kind of thematic cornucopia that would make modern whistle blowers go apoplectic. 7 p.m. $8; $6 students (free for Harvard students). Harvard Film Archive, 24 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-495-4700. visit hcl.harvard.edu/hfa for complete schedule.

"2008 MIT Mystery Hunt"
Every year on the weekend preceding MLK Day, MIT hosts a two-day, live-action puzzle game that inspires brainy teams to piece together enough clues to be the first to find the location of a symbolic "coin" hidden somewhere on campus (the coin could be anything from a snow globe to a paperweight - the real prize is the right to plan the hunt the following year). In recent years, the puzzle count for the weekend has broken a hundred, with brain ticklers you'd need a background in chemistry to solve to more everyday offerings, such as crosswords and souped-up Sudoku. If you want in on the puzzling action, show up early on Friday and pitch yourself to teams. "Once the hunt starts, it really takes on a bunker mentality," said the leader of last year's winning team, Scott Purdy. "The rooms these people are using will smell by the end of the weekend." Happy hunting! Friday at noon. Free. MIT, Building 7 Lobby, Cambridge. web.mit.edu/ puzzle

"Joyful Noise" concert
To honor Martin Luther King, Jr., the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center presents "Joyful Noise," a concert showcasing the music of the Harlem Gospel Choir, Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School Vocal Ensemble, and dancing from Boston's OrigiNation, Inc. 8 p.m. $20, $16 seniors and students, $10 ages 12 and under. Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge. 617-496-2222. boxoffice.harvard.edu

Spoken word benefit concert
Brandeis student organization, VOCAL, hosts "VOCAL 2008: Speaking Up for the Future," a spoken word concert to raise money for after-school programs and affordable housing in Waltham. The concert boasts an international lineup including Saul Williams from the film "Slam" and Mayda Del Valle, an original cast member and writer for Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. 8 p.m. $16-$36. Brandeis University, 415 South St., Waltham. 781-736-3400. vocal08.com