thursday
november 7
Ninth Annual AIDS, Medicine & Miracles HIV Retreat Conference A variety of healers -- including Dr. Marge Poscher, "Diva of Comedy" Karen Williams and Native American storyteller Terry Tafoya -- will converge for this gathering of HIV-positive persons and their loved ones. Traditional scientific methods and other types of therapy will be discussed. A caveat: Only positive methods will be sanctioned. Those who like to handle their diagnosis with black humor will be told to lighten up, and will suffer chiding by well-meaning cheerful people. Starts at 4 p.m. today and continues through Sunday. Stouffer Renaissance Hotel, 6 Greenway Plaza East. $155 for all three days; $55 for people living with HIV. For more information, call 800-875-8770, e-mail amm//www.csd.net.
Innovative Piecing Not piercing, but piecing, a quilt-making technique, and just one of the arts showcased in the International Quilt Festival. More than 900 antique and modern quilts were displayed last year, and organizers expect many, many more this year. The show offers classes, vendor booths with hard-to-find tools and materials and the thrill of being among some of this country's finest artists. To register for a class, call now! 10 a.m.7 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m.5 p.m. Sunday. George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas. For information, call 781-6864. $7; $5, seniors; free, children ten and under with adult.
Nutcracker Market Just this morning, we saw a Christmas music commercial, and now here's the Nutcracker Market. From now till Xmas, we'll be bombarded with ads and carols with barely a break for Thanksgiving. Might as well get all your shopping done now. The Houston Ballet Guild's market boasts unique gifts from almost 300 vendors. Take your mom; it's a family thing. 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m. today; 10 a.m.8 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Astrohall, Astrodomain, Kirby at Loop 610. For more information, call 523-6300. $7; free, children under five.
Psychic Phenomena The Art League's annual auction and benefit offers works by dozens and dozens of local favorites, free drinks, food from a select group of restaurateurs (including Benjy Levit) and palm readers. Art, by the way, isn't the only thing on the auction block -- you can also bid for trips, jewelry and dinners. 7:30-10:30 p.m. Art League Gallery, 1953 Montrose, 523-9530. $25 per person.
friday
november 8
The Art of Making Elegant Jewelry Boxes Oh yeah, you think, if I could get my hands on some Brazilian rosewood or a nice section of bird's-eye maple, I could build a nice pivot-lid box or maybe an inlaid chess set. Well, maybe you could. Today, Hanson Galleries presents Tony Lydgate, the author of The Art of Making Elegant Jewelry Boxes; he'll sign books at the art show. You'll have a chance to see some of the trinket boxes in the book and to take home the book itself. Go ahead, score some now-extinct wood and try to duplicate the artistry of Lori Glick's delicate half-moon boxes. (Frankly, we suspect more people have perfect pitch than the patience for box-making at this level.) 5-8 p.m. Hanson Galleries, Town & Country Mall, 800 West Sam Houston Parkway East, 984-1242.
Grand Hotel des Etrangers This multimedia poetry-dance installation art performance is based on the rambling ideas of Canadian Claude Beausoleil. Touted as a virtual production a notch or two above the Disney Hall of Presidents, the show combines live action and projected elements to form an on-stage dreamscape. The Society for the Performing Arts presents two evenings in this hotel, and you are urged to buy tickets early because seating is limited. Only part of the theater will be filled, so that the audience can get up close and personal with the nightmares and memories of a lonely writer. 7 and 9:30 p.m. tonight only. Wortham Center, Cullen Theater, 227-ARTS. $30.
Contemporary Art from Japan: Clayworks, Painting and Sculpture Until recently Japanese artists working with ceramics were expected to produce functional items. Only in the last couple of decades have artists been encouraged to create forms with no particular function. This show features purely art pieces owned by collectors all over America. Preview reception, 7-9 p.m. Show runs through December 15. Blaffer Gallery, University of Houston (entrance no. 16 off Cullen), 743-9530.
ComedySportz ComedySportz is six years old, and everyone is invited to celebrate the anniversary. If you enjoyed the troupe's improv high jinks way back when at the River Cafe (or even if you've never even seen the games), then come on out for a special show with local celebrities banging the "Judge Whapner" gavels and games chosen by the audience. 8 p.m. Treebeards, 315 Travis. For info, call 521-2226. $8.
David Brenner Hey, he was in comedy before there was cable. Before A&E had an evening at the Improv, Brenner had made the second Book of Lists as the number-one most frequent TV-show guest. He's here for four shows only. 8 and 10:30 p.m. tonight and tomorrow. The Laff Stop, 1952 West Gray, 524-2333. $18.
