WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14

RACING—Portland Meadows, Portland's 67-year-old horse track, wasn't even sure if it would re-open this year. But with a little help from Oregon lawmakers—new gambling machines!—and the goodwill of its Canadian owners, the ponies are back in Delta Park until January. Have another julep. DVH
Portland Meadows, 1001 N Schmeer, live racing most Sundays and Wednesdays through Jan 26, times vary, FREE, portlandmeadows.com

MUSIC—I like to imagine Yeah Yeah Yeahs got their name from adoring early audiences who slipped into beatnik-speak to egg on the band's bombastic performances. The trio is touring their fourth album, Mosquito, which is full of the blood-pumping, grimy, danceable tunes you've come to expect from the New York hepcats. Most importantly, what will Karen O be wearing? CF
w/Har Mar Superstar; Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale, 6:30 pm, $38-43, all ages

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15

PARTY—Oregon has the least-restrictive abortion laws in the country, but that wouldn't be the case if we didn't have organizations like Planned Parenthood actively guarding our rights. Tonight's Pink Party benefit celebrates an organization that provides birth control, sex education, STI testing, and more to thousands and thousands of women and men. AH
w/DJs Anjali, Sappho, Hero Worship; Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8 pm, $12-15

FILM—Motion pictures have the power to show us who we are—but also who we once were, and who we can someday be. No work of cinema shows us these things more powerfully than 1989's classic Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which screens tonight on the roof of the Hotel deLuxe's garage. Let us watch this film, and let us be excellent to each other. EH
Hotel deLuxe, SW 15th & Yamhill, 9 pm, $9

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16

STORYTELLING—Benefit from the bravery of others at Mortified, the long-running storytelling series featuring adults dragging the most embarrassing parts of their childhood onstage with them, to celebrate and set free the gawky, dorky freak hiding inside us all. BR
Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan, Fri & Sat 8 pm, $12-15, 21+

CULT FLICK—When it comes to hilariously awful cult flicks, director Tommy Wiseau's The Room remains tough to beat! Join Cinema 21 as they celebrate their fourth anniversary of showing this interactive terrible classic, with a merchandise and concessions giveaway, AND a special Skype appearance from Greg Sestero—who plays Johnny's best friend Mark! SQUEEE!!! WSH
Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st, 10:45 pm, $7

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17

SOAPBOX DERBY—Don't miss one of the funnest Portland events ever: The annual PDX Adult Soapbox Derby, where creative daredevils put together ingeniously clever art cars and race them down the treacherous track on Mount Tabor! Expect spills, chills, laughs, not-so-many tears, awards, and tons of beers! WSH
Mount Tabor Park, SE 60th & Salmon, 10 am-4 pm, FREE

SOUL—Late last month, legendary Portland soulster Ural Thomas debuted his hot-shit new band, the Pain, at Dig a Pony's second anniversary. The Pain's not joining Thomas tonight, but that's no reason to miss the beggin', screamin', shoutin' soul of a true Portland treasure. Have mercy! NL
w/DJ Beyonda; Star Theater, 13 NW 6th, 9 pm, $6

DANCE NIGHT—Get ready to bust out your signature mashed watusi hippy hippy shake. The mad mod of the Shout! dance night is taking over the Eagles Lodge for a night of sweaty, sexy '60s-flecked soul, garage, and psych tunes. They're even promising go-go gals and the Eagles' renowned and ridiculously cheap boozy beverages. Groovy! CF
w/DJs Hippie Joe, Katrina Martiani, Drew Groove; Eagles Lodge, 4904 SE Hawthorne, 9 pm, $5 ($4 w/a can of food)

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18

STREET FEST—SE Hawthorne, with its gewgaw stores, crowded sidewalks, and curbside bongo players, can be an annoying place to navigate. The venerable Hawthorne Street Fair—where people party from SE 30th up to 50th—sounds like a concentrated dose of all that awfulness. But actually it's the opposite. It's the best way to experience the commercial strip. DCT
SE Hawthorne from SE 30th to SE 50th, 11 am-7 pm, FREE

MONKEES MUSIC—Time is funny: In the '60s, the Monkees were a chintzy cash-in pre-packaged pop group. In the '80s, people began recognizing that Mike Nesmith was actually kind of brilliant. In 2013, their remaining peers have grown fat on cynical bullshit with lazy stage shows, while the Monkees remain authentically eager to please. BR
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 7:30 pm, $47-111.50, all ages

MONDAY, AUGUST 19

MUSIC—This is too much show for a Monday, but you might as well get greedy. Sun Angle will turn your brain into gravy and your legs into jelly with frenzied, equator-hot, day-glo lava-punk. You'll already be warmed up by the spastic surf rock of Sauna and the top-down freeway jams of Bad Weather California, both in town from Colorado. NL
The Know, 2026 NE Alberta, 8 pm

FILM—A simple fact: If you do not love Ghostbusters with all of your heart, no one wants to know you. Oh, sure, a few people do know you, but they aren't happy about it. And they talk about you behind your back as "that dick who doesn't love Ghostbusters." Anyway, Ghostbusters, which you should love, screens tonight in 35mm at the Academy. EH
Academy Theater, 7818 SE Stark, see Film Times, $4

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20

FILM—As part of their Repressed Cinema series, the Hollywood Theatre is busting out 35mm prints of two movies you wouldn't want to take your mother to: 1976's New York sleaze-fest Massage Parlor Hookers and 1972's women-in-prison flick Sweet Sugar. Classy! EH
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, Hookers at 7:30 pm, Sweet Sugar at 9:15 pm, $8

ART SHOW—After being ousted from their old home and raising funds for a new one on Kickstarter, beloved local zine emporium Reading Frenzy finally flings open their doors on Mississippi. Their inaugural art show in their new space is Letterfirm, a group exhibit of typography from some of the most interesting designers and typographers working today. AH
Reading Frenzy, 3628 N Mississippi, reception 6 pm, through Sept 18