E-Mail This Article to a Friend Make our day A Clint Eastwood preview at Sanders Theatre, Sanders alums the Revels go ahead and branch out, plus more

Making the HFA’s day

It’s the pretty cool 25-year-old who gets a videotaped greeting from Clint Eastwood for his or her birthday, and that’s not even the half of what the Harvard Film Archive is receiving. On Monday October 6, at 8 p.m., the HFA will be the beneficiary of a special Sanders Theatre preview of Clint’s shot-on-location Mystic River. The evening will include an appearance by author Dennis Lehane (on whose novel of the same name the film is based), a performance by pianist Brad Hatfield (who’s performed with the BSO and the Pops) of the film’s theme, and the aforementioned personal message from the director. Tickets are $25; call (617) 496-2222.

Intimate revelry

The folks at Revels are expanding their offerings beyond the bounds of mere solstices with "The Revels Salon," a series of six encounters — "eclectic in content, social in nature" — with musicians, actors, and artists at the Commanders Mansion in Watertown. It kicks off next Friday, September 19, with esteemed local actresses Paula Plum and Karen MacDonald (the latter a founding member of the American Repertory Theatre) offering excerpts from their Dress UP, Wigged OUT, as well as free-ranging conversation. Also look for musician and Globe critic Scott Alarik’s "Folk Music in the 21st Century: The Road from Here" (October 17); an evening with Appalachian folkie Jean Ritchie, in conversation with Revels founder John Langstaff (November 21); an evening with First Night founder and quilt artist Clara Wainwright (January 16); physicist and Revels musician Brian Holmes’s "Physics of the French Horn — And Garden Hoses" (February 20); and Revels associate Mary Ann Haagen on "The Music of the Shakers" (April 16). The Commanders Mansion is 440 Talcott Avenue in Watertown, and each "salon" begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, or $100 for all six; call (617) 972-8300 extension 22.

Boston blues

When Congress declared 2003 the "Year of the Blues," we’re sure the music, and not the feeling, was what it had in mind, but we’re feeling ’em more than we’re hearing ’em at the moment — especially with the closure this week of Harvard Square’s legendary House of Blues, the chain’s original venue (see "Arts News," on page 4). Undaunted, the Boston Blues Festival is pushing on with a pair of events. On Saturday September 27, the great Hubert Sumlin, guitarist for the late Howlin’ Wolf, will be honored with a Boston Blues Trust Lifetime Achievement Award at what’s being billed as the East Coast Guitar Summit at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street in Arlington. Also appearing are J. Geils, Kid Bangham, Johnny Moeller, Darrell Nulisch, Brian Templeton, David Maxwell, Mudcat Ward, and Per Hanson. It’s at 7:30 p.m.; tickets are $25 in advance, $30 day of show. The following afternoon, September 28, the action moves to the Hatch Memorial Shell on the Charles River Esplanade, where the "Sunday Soul Spectacular" will feature Mighty Sam McClain and Sam Bluzman Taylor — both of whom will be picking up Lifetime Achievement Awards — along with Nulisch, the Dwight Richter Band, Jose Ramos, and Joe Barger and the Soul Providers. That one’s free, and it starts at noon. For tickets to the Regent gig, call (781) 646-4TIX, or visit www.bluestrust.com.

All Mixed up

It’s been 10 years since Mix 98 started throwing its annual Top 40 blowout Mixfest, but it’s been a hell of a lot longer since Duran Duran were a legit Top 40 band. Still, even if the math doesn’t quite add up, who’s going to complain about DD’s headlining Mixfest X, especially when the undercard includes of-the-moment pop kids Michelle Branch and Jason Mraz, middle-of-the-road standard bearers Barenaked Ladies and Train, and singer-songwriting enchantresses Tori Amos and Dido. They’re all under one roof on Friday October 3 at the FleetCenter. Tickets are $39.50 to $87.50; call (617) 931-2000.