Ah, cheating. Without it, the world would be damn boring. In best-selling author Eric Jerome Dickey's The Other Woman, we get the classic switcheroo. A woman finds out her hubby's getting busy with someone else, and then she ends up banging the other woman's man. You can hardly blame her for starting her own affair; after all, her new lover sure is convincing. "We're already biologically linked," he tells her. "With your husband and my wife"we've already shared body fluids." Dickey has made a career writing about people's messy entanglements. Some of his other titles are Liar's Game, Friends and Lovers and Cheaters. 5:30 p.m. Shrine Bookstore and Cultural Center, 5309 MLK Boulevard. For information, call 713-645-1071. Free.
Friday, May 30
There's nothing like a death threat to make life interesting. In Elio Petri's
Good News (1979), a nameless media executive spends his
days watching violent TV on six different screens and ignoring his wife. But
when he meets an old buddy who's terrified someone's going to kill him -- and
the guy's fascinating nympho wife -- things pick up. The Italian director's
film is supposed to comment on the barrenness of a media-dominated world (think
how disgusted he'd be with the Information Age). As a result, the urban setting
is bleak, and the sex is even bleaker. 7 p.m. Brown Theater, Museum of Fine
Arts, 1001 Bissonnet. For information, call 713-629-7515 or visit www.mfah.org.
$5 to $6.
Saturday, May 31
In the big city, it never really gets dark, and silence is hard to come by.
That's why city slickers are always thrilled, and slightly disconcerted, when
they visit the countryside. Today, if you find yourself itching to get away
but lacking your own jet plane, head to the Katy Prairie Conservancy. The organization
is teaming up with the Houston Astronomical Society for its Katy Prairie
stargazing event. There's also a chance you'll glimpse some coyotes,
frogs and other nocturnal creatures. 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Katy Prairie Conservancy
Field Office, 31950 Hebert Road, Waller. For information, call 713-523-6135.
Sunday, June 1
If you still think Pokémon rules, then get with the program. Yu-Gi-Oh!
is even more popular, so if you haven't purchased the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, software
and toys, then get thee to the Galleria for today's Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card
Game Mall Tour. Duelist leaders -- that's Yu-Gi-Oh!-speak for gaming experts
-- will be on hand to share secret hints about the card-battling game, in which
players pit mystical creatures against each other in duels. Experienced players
can enter the King of Games Challenge tournament or, if they're brave, enter
the Millennium Puzzle and try to take those Duelist leaders down a notch. 10
a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Saturday, May 31. Galleria IV, 5075 Westheimer. For
information, call 713-621-1907 or visit www.yugioh-card.com.
Free.
Monday, June 2
A teacher with a sense of humor makes class bearable. In the description for
his fiction class at Inprint, Murray Farish, who just graduated from
the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, writes, "In this class,
we will come together to present the pure products of our weirdness. We'll cast
our weird eyes on these products, as well as those from otherweirdos, living
and dead." If you're weird -- meaning, you're a writer -- you'll be among your
own kind in Farish's class. Remember, though: "This is not a course in sci-fi,
horror, fantasy, etc. Real life is weird enough." The class starts today at
6 p.m. and runs for eight weeks. The Inprint House, 1524 Sul Ross. For information
and a full schedule of courses, call 713-521-2026 or visit www.inprint-inc.org.
$275.
Tuesday, June 3
Folks suffering from coulrophobia, the fear of clowns,
are everywhere, and they have the right idea. After all, what's not to fear?
The honker nose, sheet-white skin, creepy smile and invariably sad eyes
combine for a terrifying package. Still, attending classes at the Cheerful
Clown Alley No. 166 would serve you in more than one way. On the one hand,
you can make a buck entertaining clowneys -- that is, people who love clowns.
On the other, you can send the rest of humanity in the opposite direction without
even using a dangerous weapon. The season's first class takes place today from
6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 10221 Ella Lee Lane. For information, call 281-634-3373
or visit www.cheerfulclowns.com.
$195.
Wednesday, June 4
Anthony Bourdain is the executive chef at New York's Brasserie Les Halles
and has his own show on the Food Network. He also wrote the best-selling
Kitchen Confidential, an exposé about the restaurant biz, and justpublished
his third crime book, The Bobby Gold Stories. When the novel starts,
Gold's just been sprung after serving time on a cocaine conviction, and he runs
straight back to his old turf: the club and restaurant scene. Bourdain is clearly
borrowing from his own experiences here; he himself developed a taste for cocaine
and heroin working in New York restaurants in the late '70s. (The lesson: Dabbling
in dangerous drugs at a young age will eventually propel you to stardom.) Bourdain
signs and discusses The Bobby Gold Stories at 6:30 p.m. at Murder by
the Book, 2432 Bissonnet. For information, call 713-524-8597 or visit www.murderbooks.com.
Free.
