Supercross AMA Series Round eight of this motorcycle mega-event is in the Astrodome. Sputtering supercross bikes will buzz and bounce around the floor of the Dome; thrills and spills are expected. No video cameras allowed. 7:30 p.m. Astrodome, Kirby at Loop 610. Call Ticketmaster, 629-3700. $10-$20.
sunday
march 17
St. Patrick's Day Houston has an Irish district -- who knew? Actually, the ones with the knowledge are members of the Upper Kirby District Association and, oddly enough, the Upper Kirby district is the "heart of Houston's Irish district." Using their big red bus, the members of the association are having a UK Pub Crawl. Now, we won't comment on the curiosity of identifying an Irish event with initials more commonly associated with the English, or even note that the Irish and the United Kingdom haven't always seen eye to eye. Houston's a big enough melting pot to let bygones be bygones. Anyway, a pub crawl is something over which an Irishman and an Englishman would likely join hands. For a small fee, revelers can park at McGonigel's Mucky Duck and then shuttle between the Ale House, the Duck and McElroy's Pub. The hot spot for St. Patrick's Day in this district is, of course, the Mucky Duck. The club will have a tent set up outside where you can hear music from Clandestine and Duck regulars Ceili's Muse. Inside and out, they'll be serving homemade Guinness stew, corned beef and no green beer. Noon to way past bedtime. McGonigel's Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, 528-5999. $3 for the park and ride; $6 cover at the Duck.
Cessna Warbirds Author and aviator Walt Shiel will sign his new book, Cessna Warbirds, and present a slide-show history of the small craft's role in military history. Cessnas, although most often thought of as hobby planes, have been part of military aviation since 1912. Shiel knows about big planes, too, both as a pilot and an engineer. He's logged more than 4,000 hours in the air in planes ranging from the Aeronica Champ to the T-38. On the ground, he's worked on the Northrop B-2 Stealth bomber and the F-16A and F-22 training systems. Lecture, slide show and book signing, 2 p.m. West Houston Airport, 18000 Groeschke Road (just west of Bear Creek Park), 578-1711. Lecture and slide show free, but the book will cost you.
monday
march 18
The Singles Travel Club Singles with wanderlust meet to talk about where to go and how to afford trips in Isabel Kimball's Singles Travel Club. All ages and incomes welcomed. 7:30 p.m. Borders Book Shop, 9633A Westheimer, 782-6066. Free.
The Benny Valerio Band Tonight, let the big blue saxophone outside Billy Blues be a signpost for "straight-ahead, in-your-face blues" from the Benny Valerio trio and for two-pound ribs on a stick. That stick is a bone, actually, trimmed and filed to serve as a stick. The two-pound rib serving is described as "almost a meal." A friend at Billy Blues tells us that the ribs look like something Fred Flintstone would eat, and that "we're thinking of calling them the Big-A Ribs, if you know what I mean -- they're huge!" 8:30 p.m. Billy Blues Bar and Grill, 6025 Richmond, 266-9294. No cover.
Gone with the Wrecking Ball It's a mix between drive-in theater and performance art, and it's one of the best shows in town. Like all classic action-adventures, it's filled with risk, destruction and explosive sounds; it's also a sentimental show, a reminder of the passing of time, of clearing out the old for the new. Drive out to the American Rice grain silo on Studemont just south of Washington, and feel the reverberation as the wrecking ball pounds and tears into the concrete sides of the once-mammoth structure; thrill to the supersized snap, crackle and pop as that same wrecking ball rips through the now-exposed steel reinforcements, creating a sweep of sparks that fan toward the ground. Better than a date movie, and there is, conveniently enough, a parking lot across the street and a Chevron Food Mart on the corner for all your snacking needs. 400 block of Studemont, after dark. Free.
tuesday
march 19
Georgia Ragsdale Nancy Ford, redoubtable local lesbian comedian, is on the bill, and that alone will bring people out in droves. But the star tonight is Georgia Ragsdale, a former Houstonian who's moved on, and moved up. Ragsdale has appeared on Comedy Central's Woman Aloud and recently filmed a love scene with Margot Kidder. While most stars emphasize the distracting technical aspects of making on-screen love, Ragsdale puts it this way: "You're lying there with practically no clothes on, and they're saying things like 'Don't put your arm there, you'll be out of frame.' And just beyond the lights is this whole bunch of sweaty men doing their jobs. It kind of kills the mood -- unless you're into that." Those who have preconceived notions about lesbian comics' acts might be surprised by the many things Ragsdale is into. One show only, 7:30 p.m. Laff Stop, 1952-A West Gray, 524-2333. $12, advance; $15, day of show.
