WEDNESDAY WEDNESDAY Ethan Watters Millions of 30-and 40-year-old ...
Ethan Watters
Millions of 30-and 40-year-old Americans are now living lives once associated with teenage bliss: random employment, multiple sexual partners, video games and no spouses or children in sight. What happened to traditional adulthood? Writer Ethan Watters claims to know, and tonight he discusses his book Urban Tribes: A Generation Redefines Friendship, Family, and Commitment, which looks at what all these old kids are doing in America and why. Coliseum Books, 11 W. 42nd St. (5th Ave.), 212-803-5890, 7, free.
Jonathan Richman
Prozac-popping Red Sox fans listen up: Get down to Northsix tonight and celebrate the better aspects of beantown by riding down your mental Rt. 128 with Jonathan Richman. You'll feel much better after commiserating with your peers and visiting "The Ice Cream Man." It never fails. 66 N. 6th St. (betw. Wythe & Kent Aves.), 718-599-5103, 9, $10.
Daphne Gottlieb
San Francisco poet Daphne Gottlieb will read from her new work, Final Girl, a book of film criticism through poetry with the "final girl"?the last woman standing in a slasher flick?at its center. With poems titled "Bride of Reanimator," "Night of the Dead Living" and "The Babysitter," bring along a sack of popcorn and a hand to clutch. With Tennessee Jones and Maggie Estep. Bluestockings, 172 Allen St. (betw. Stanton & Rivington Sts.), 212-777-6028, 7, free.
THURSDAY
Resfest
This week, RES magazine presents a bunch of kicky little lo-fi movies, and to kick it off they're having a shindig at the Bowery. The idea of the festival is to find the intersection of new technologies and expert filmmaking. Included in the rest of the week's pixelated presentation is a treasure-trove of Spike Jonze-directed music videos, including that Fatboy Slim one with Christopher Walken dancing. The event promises to be low-budget, grainy and strangely memorable. Opening concert Oct. 9 at Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie St.), 212-533-2111, 10, $16. Festival continues Oct. 10-12 at Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St. (betw. Greenwich & West Sts.) 212-220-1460, screenings $12, $10 adv.
Jucifer
Imagine the Melvins with a hot girl singer. Jucifer is often sludgy, always strange and prone to hairpin musical turns. Don't get too comfortable with a sound or a tempo, because the slow thud can get fast at any second, and songs that seem like pop songs morph into violent bludgeon fests before your eyes. Luxx, 256 Grand St. (betw. Driggs Ave. & Roebling St.), 718-599-1000, 9, $8.
Prepare for the Unexpected
One minute, you're sitting at home, watching the game, then the next, BOOM! There's Bigfoot and UFOs and the Bermuda triangle and Lee Harvey Oswalds and you have herpes and a bullet in your belly and all you got is a pocket knife and a bottle of whiskey. Whatchoo gonna do now, punk? Well. The Red Cross has some (but not all) of that stuff covered. Their 90- minute class on how to avoid & prepare for emergencies is overloaded with practical, helpful information. American Red Cross, 150 Amsterdam Ave. (betw. 66th & 67th Sts.), 212-874-5839, 6:15, free.
Bamboo Kids
A few weeks ago in our colossal "Best of Manhattan" Issue, we named the Bamboo Kids "Best Unsigned Band." The paper urged you to see them while they're cheap, and tonight you can see them for free. Catch the Bamboo Kids at Luna Lounge and ponder what they listen to while eating breakfast or driving to Albany. Bruce Springsteen? The Kinks? Sometimes the Ramones? OK. Maybe lots of times the Ramones. But also many, many others, all of which blend to create an individual yet familiar sound. The Norwegians really like these Kids; you should too. 171 Ludlow St. (betw. Houston & Stanton Sts.), 212-260-2323, 9:30, free.
FRIDAY
The Lost Boys
Two Coreys for the price of one! And the guy from 24 sucks blood instead of just sucking, like usual. And either Bill or Ted makes a cameo?we can't remember which. The Lost Boys continues to age like a fine vampire wine, despite the INXS soundtrack. It's both an exercise in nostalgia and a unique, well-made horror movie. The choice is yours; focus on the mullets and tattered jeans or ignore them?a fine time will be had either way. Landmark Sunshine Cinema, 143 E. Houston St. (betw. 1st & 2nd Aves.), 800-555-TELL; 12 a.m., $10, $6.50 s.c.
The Blondes, INC
We love bands that can rip it up but still harmonize like angels. On the song "Place to Be," it's not hard to imagine Keith and Mick covering this song back when the Stones didn't put out audio Cheese Whiz. The Blondes, Inc. offer fuzzy rawness and distortion that is the very sound of fun. We're going to tip their glasses and then try to out-drink them. Sin-é, 150 Attorney St. (betw. Houston & Stanton Sts.), 212-388-0077, 10, $8.
Trash to Cash
If you get stood up by that special someone and find yourself home with a six-pack of Busch and a tv remote, you can always watch Trash to Cash on the FX Network, where ex-NYPD transit cop John DiResta and his brother Jimmy go around picking through garbage and making 'furniture' with it. It's like Trading Spaces, except it's on a how-low-can-you-go budget and is actually entertaining. FX Network, 10.
The Bride of Frankenstein
Rock beats scissors, but do vampires beat Frankenstein? Tonight, you decide. James Whale's 1935 black and white Frankenstein sequel and Boris Karloff star vehicle puts the ass back in classic. The man-made lady with the electric-streak Marge Simpson hair retains her ability to shock, but the weird emotional undercurrent is what pulls the film along. The Brooklyn Lyceum, 227 4th Ave. (betw. Union & President Sts.), 718-857-4816, 11, $8.
SATURDAY
Label Whores
Sick of hyphenating people before you even know their names? Compulsive about stereotyping folks because of their sneakers? This 2-hour workshop is a first step in admitting you have a problem and are willing to deal with it. The discussion will focus on "who we are as individuals" and the ever-worsening tendency in today's society to label and categorize. To be taught by some Chuck Taylor-wearing, mesh- hat-mocking psuedo-faux-intellectual anti-poser trustfunder. Identity House, 39 W. 14th St. #205 (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-243-8181, 1, $10 sugg. don.
Open House New York
Every morning you walk by the Grand Lodge of the Masons on W. 23rd St. and wonder just what's behind those ominous dark slats. This weekend is your chance to find out, as the Grand Lodge is just one of the sites in the five boroughs that will be open to the public as part of the "Open House New York" weekend. Visit the underground vaults in the New York Marble Cemetary or waltz into Gracie Mansion like you own the place. For a tramway-assisted daytrip to remember, there are three Saturday tours of the old Roosevelt Island Smallpox Hospital's grounds. How neat is that? Eighty sites in all. See openhousenewyork.com or call 917-583-2398 for full schedule.
Tower of Power
Because their second-only-to-the-JB's horn section still stops and turns on fleas, because even their longest jams are still songs, because they still use a clavinet, because they're certain to play a "What is hip?" encore, because every set is a celebration, because they're the airtightest funk band you'll ever see. B.B. King Blues Club, 237 W. 42nd St. (betw. 7th & 8th Aves.), 212-997-4144, 8 & 10:30, $30, $25 adv.
SUNDAY
Benefit For Joy Rider
With so many from the New York Dolls' extended family (band members, colleagues and fabulous hangers-on) long dead, fans need to take what they can get from among the living. As it happens, a bunch of them are playing CBs tonight. There's no word on Mr. Johansen (or Mr. Poindexter), but the Waldos, Sylvain Sylvain and The Jayne County Five?together with seven other bands?are coming together to raise money for Joy Rider. We're not sure why. CBGB, 315 Bowery (Bleecker St.) (212) 982-4052, $8, $10.
Lance Armstrong
Even if you can't watch bicycling without thinking of laundry, Lance Armstrong is an amazing human being. The dude came back from brain and testicular cancers to win the hardest athletic event in the world?five times. The French hate him for it. Today he signs his new book, Every Second Counts. And he should know. Barnes & Noble, 600 5th Ave. (48th St.), 212-765-0592, 1, free.
Aging hipsters rejoice! Jeremy Enigk, the hardest working Born Again Christian in emo rock, is back. You might remember that his band Sunny Day Real Estate was on the verge of exploding into the bigtime in 1994 before he started prioritizing prayer over screaming rock poetry. When he quit the band for Jesus, most of the other guys went off to become the Heartbreakers to Dave Grohl's Tom Petty. After a stillborn SDRE reunion, Enigk and most of the Sunny Day's boys return with the Fire Theft and a sound that's strikingly similar to Sunny Day, but with a prog-rock pop style that's distinctly their own. It's sort of like an indie rock Yes?and believe it or not, that's a good thing. Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St. (betw. B'way & Church St.), 212-219-3006, 9, $15.
TUESDAY
Just-Got-Canned Pep Talk
Losing your job is actually a very good thing. That last gig was a soul-sucker, and now you can finally get to work on that comedic screenplay. Or take up watercolors. Or slice your wrists in the bath. You've heard enough pep talks from friends; now it's time to hear some recessionary feel-good philosophy from a trained professional. It's Kristina Leonardi's job to explain how losing your job and being broke all the time opens up opportunities to discover the "more authentic and fulfilled you." What the hell, you might as well believe it. FUEL, 359 Bowery (E. 4th St.), 917-816-0834, 7, $5.
Spiritualized
J. Spaceman, the lead singer and sole songwriter for his orchestral space-rock band ensemble has created three epic albums about three themes: heroin, Jesus and the thick intersection of the two. His new album has been described as "garage-y" by people who care about that sort of thing. It's basically just more rock, less space than he's done before. The rumors that he'll take the stage at Irving with a full orchestra (though probably false) are thus doubly strange; most garages are too small to accommodate orchestras. With Soledad Brothers. Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Pl. (15th St.), 212-777-6800, 8, $25, $20 adv.
How to Save the World
President of the Earth Policy Institute and arguably the single most influential environmentalist in the world, Lester R. Brown tonight speaks on his new book, Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble, and how to save civilization from total ecological collapse. Gallery of Arts & Science, New York Academy of Sciences, 2 E. 63rd St. (5th Ave.), res. req. 212-838-0230, 6, $20, $10 st.
Split Sides opens at BAM
Celebrate Merce Cunningham Dance Company's 50th season, part of BAM's Next Wave Festival. See p. 56 for more information.