Ted Bundy; The Tuli Show; Franz K; Gazes + Organic Grooves; Eat, Drink & Speak Italian; "If We Were Men, We'd Be Famous"; Superdrag/Phantom Planet; MEANY Fest
Crave escape from the 9/11 cottage industry of literature, films, photography collections and commemorative lunch boxes that refuse to let those families who were actually affected have any peace? Check out The Tuli Show this Fri., Sept. 13, when the inimitable Mr. Kupferberg, founding Fug and author of Teach Yourself Fucking and 1001 Ways to Live Without Working, offers the public an amusing, unpretentious and charming reading. (Scoring points with your punk rock friends included.) Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery (betw. Bleecker & Houston Sts.), 614-0505; 7, $5.
You think you've got a rotten, pointless, soul-stabbing job? If you had to toil at the Workers Accident Insurance Bureau looking at insurance appeals all day, you'd go home and write stories about turning into a giant bug, too. Franz Kafka was a bureaucrat's bureaucrat, and his was a world in which ordinary file cabinets could assume the dark menace of a guillotine. To give you a feel for the environment that produced some of the most unnerving literature of the 20th century, the Jewish Museum has mounted "The City of K: Franz Kafka and Prague," a large-scale look?through manuscripts, diary displays, film and the like?at the author's life in his native city. 1109 5th Ave. (92nd St.), 423-3200; closed Saturdays and major Jewish holidays, through Jan. 5.
"Gazes," Italian photographer Dilan Benedetti's project documenting, and also doing something about, worldwide poverty, joins forces with the weekly Organic Grooves party this Fri., Sept. 13, in a benefit for UNICEF's education programs. DJ Saskai from Echolounge/Giant Step, WNYU's Tim Sweeney, Carol C-Si Se' from Luaka Bop, plus regular Organic Groovers entertain, with Benedetti and Antonio Boccola providing the "visuals." Also, plenty of stuff for sale and lots of giveaways, including free booze from 10-11. All for $15, a portion of which goes to something more important than the quality of your fun. At DUMBO's 66 Water, 66 Water St. (betw. Main & Front Sts.), Brooklyn, 439-1147; 10 p.m.-4 a.m.
Signore, un po di piu, per favore. You wish you could say that to get a refill at the trattoria. Well, after next Sat., Sept. 14, you can, as foreign-language-tutors Berlitz teams up with wine mavens Best Cellars for the second in their "Words on Wine" series (the first, France/French, was last week, zut!). For two hours, local chefs prepare Italian dishes, to be accompanied by Italian wines, while the Berlitz instructors give sample Italian lessons. It's "lively and light-hearted," they assure us, with prizes and giveaways. And it's free, but we imagine there'll be a bit of a hard sell to sign up for the full language course or maybe purchase a bottle or two of wine. Could be a worse price to pay for all that abbondanza. From 2-4 p.m., at Best Cellars, 1291 Lexington Ave. (87th St.), 426-4200; Japan/Japanese is on the 21st, Spain/Spanish on the 28th.
Ernie Kovacs, Sid Caesar and...Shecky Beagleman? "If Emily Dickinson had left the house, she might have turned up in this heady brew of wags, wits and weary women," it says here. So why not kick off Saturday night (or for the more adventurous wenches among you, put Friday to bed) with If We Were Men, We'd Be Famous at Rose's Turn, featuring standup comedians Darcy Casteleiro, Nancy Giles, Gilda Konrad, Suzanne O'Neil and Janet "J. Ro" Rosen. Who says they cleaned up New York City? Sat., Sept. 14, at 55 Grove St. (betw. Bleecker St. & 7th Ave. S.), 366-5438; 7, $5.
A canceled tour and a couple of lineup changes won't stop Superdrag from doing what they do best this week?writing and playing irresistibly catchy pop songs. Their newest, Last Call for Vitriol (Arena Rock), leads us to believe the boys have their radio dial set on classic rock, after a few trips across the Tennessee border to points farther south. It's a different sound from their '96 hit "Sucked Out" and we like it. They're here for a show Mon., Sept. 16, at Maxwell's, 1039 Washington St. (11th St.), Hoboken, 201-653-1703; and with the Jason (Rushmore) Schwartzman-fronted Phantom Planet on Thurs., Sept. 19, at Warsaw, 261 Driggs Ave. (betw. Eckford & Leonard Sts.), Greenpoint, 718-387-0505.
You never know what you're going to hear from the unknown and unsigned bands who schlep their equipment, their songs and their hopeful asses to rock showcase festivals. Well, actually, you know you're going to hear a lot of mediocrity and imitation; it's the occasional gems and discoveries that make attendance worth your while. Go digging for rock gold at the MEANY Festival (Musicians & Emerging Artists New York), Tues.-Sat., Sept. 17-21, when local and regional hopefuls take over CBGB, Continental and other venues. Guest artists include Nick Clemons (Clarence's son) and local fave Paul Cote. See meanyfest.com for the complete schedule.