THURSDAY SEPT 4
Music for America
(POLITICS) Howard Dean is going to be the next president of the United States–at least if local pop bands Aveo, Hypatia Lake, the Terror Sheets, and Mines have anything to say about it. They’re performing tonight in a benefit for Music for America, a new public action committee supporting progressive candidates (like Dean). Stranger writer and Dean stalker Sandeep Kaushik is among the scheduled speakers. (Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 8 pm, $8. ) CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE
Zoö Heller
(READING) What is it about schoolteachers–even the sad, slightly sagging ones–that makes them so fuckable? In What Was She Thinking?, the richly twisted Zoë Heller novel recently long-listed for the Booker Prize, a married fortysomething attracts the attention of her 15-year-old student. She doesn’t realize the nature of his affections until one afternoon when they are standing in her classroom and she runs her hands through his hair. He looks at her and says, “Do that again, Miss.” (Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.) CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE

FRIDAY SEPT 5
‘Revenger’s Tragedy’
(FILM) Revenger’s Tragedy, an update (read: bastardization) of Thomas Middleton’s 1607 play, may not mark the complete return to form of director Alex Cox, but it’s a step. Starring Christopher Eccleston, Eddie Izzard, and Derek Jacobi, it might be best described as Gangs of New York set in future Liverpool and given a punk dressing. Added bonus: If you attend the 11 pm screening tonight and/or tomorrow, both Cox and Izzard will be in attendance. (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50 St, 523-3935, Fri Sept 5-Thurs Sept 11.) BRADLEY STEINBACHER

SATURDAY SEPT 6
‘Extropia’
(THEATER) Collaborator Productions’ spectacular Extropia is about a society whose members don’t recognize the concept of music even when it’s blasting in their ears. Troy Miszklevitz plays Foster, a guy who inadvertently hears the world’s intrinsic music and is nearly driven insane by it until he figures out a way to show the rest of the folks in his no-nonsense world how to bust a move. When the breakthrough hits, you’ll want to jump onstage, bang on the invisible machines, and experience the glee the Extropians have found. (Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 323-6388. $10. Thurs-Sat at 8 pm. Through Sept 13.) AMY JENNIGES
Dan Webb
(ART) Insomnia Machine includes the kind of work Webb has been making for the past few years: meticulously carved and beautifully weird wood objects, such as a heroic bust melting into a puddle, as well as other counterintuitive pairings of form and material. (Who will ever forget his suit of armor made of duct tape? Not me.) What’s new is the more time-based work, including a glass ball leisurely rolling down a curved track resting on a set of tall trestles. The track loops around the sculptures in the gallery, linking them together in a kind of crazy dream. Your own insomnia should be so graceful. (Opening reception Sat Sept 6, 6-8 pm, Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Through Oct 18.) EMILY HALL

SUNDAY SEPT 7
12 Minutes Max
(PERFORMANCE EXHIBITION) 12 Minutes Max—On the Boards’ long-standing, much-loved performance cabaret–almost always provides a night of worthwhile-or-better entertainment. Curated by composer-musician Robin Holcomb and, um, me, the new 12MM features the usual mishmash of talents and disciplines, with an emphasis on theatrical performance; the lineup includes solo performer Allen Johnson, a short play by Tricia Rodley, the heartfelt freakiness of singing-dancing superman Kurt Benetar, and the jaw-dropping “human beatbox” skills of AudioPoet. Special bonus: A preview of Robin Holcomb‘s new work, O, Say a Sunset. (On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, 217-9888. $7. Sun-Mon Sept 7-8 at 7 pm. ) DAVID SCHMADER
MONDAY SEPT 8
Plum St.
(MUSIC) What’s not to love about gorgeous, romantic pop melodies augmented by piano, upright bass, and cello and accompanied by frontman Reed Hutchinson’s hushed-to-wailing vocals (à la Radiohead or Muse’s Matthew Bellamy)? Nothing, that’s what. It’s a damn shame that this band has toiled in relative obscurity in its Seattle hometown while getting showcases in places like Paris. Plum St.’s self-produced four-song demo is full of dulcet, blissful, tiptoe-to-midtempo pop songs that sweeten your spirit like a rush of blood to the head. (Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison St, 324-8000, 9 pm, $6. ) JENNIFER MAERZ
TUESDAY SEPT 9
‘Thirteen’
(MOVIE) Stories about teens going out of control tend to inspire more polemic than art, encouraging viewers to identify the problem (the broken home, the oversexualized media) and turn the story into a message. Thirteen–starring Holly Hunter as a somewhat distracted single parent and Evan Rachel Wood as her blowjob-giving 13-year-old daughter–offers no such easy outs. The movie powerfully points out the vulnerability of the social structure that keeps a teen from self-destructing. (Egyptian, 801 E Pine St, 323-8986. See Movie Times, page 79. ) EMILY HALL

WEDNESDAY SEPT 10
The Life and Times
(MUSIC) Math rock begat glimmering pop rock when Shiner broke up and the Life and Times rose in its place. The Kansas City band’s recent EP debut, The Flat End of the Earth (54¡40′ or Fight!), proves just how natural the progression from math to power pop can be–unshackle yourselves and feel the freedom–and summer is the perfect season to fully appreciate the running start this band has taken toward its bright future. (Graceland, 109 Eastlake Ave E, 628-0888, 9:30 pm, $7.) KATHLEEN WILSON