THURSDAY
DEC 14

MUSIC--Haunting violins, laconic backbeats, and yearning, cockeyed lyrics--it must be a quintet from Oklahoma! Perhaps the best thing since oil to be exported from Oklahoma, Starlight Mints bring their contemporary psychedelic jam on the road with their first CD. PB

Pine Street Theatre, 215 SE 9th Ave, 224-TIXX, 8:30 pm

FONTS--So you don't think fonts can change the world? Find out why you're wrong at this font function. Margaret Richardson's presents her book Type Graphics, featuring 24 significant studios and designers, including Portland's own font rag, Plazm. KD

Powell's, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free


FRIDAY
DEC 15

ATARI--Here's a chance to put your wasted youth to good use! Enter the Meow Meow's Atari 2600 Championships, show your skill at such classic games as Donkey Kong, and win fabulous prizes! Plus, there will be musical entertainment by Rock 'N' Roll Adventure Kids, The New Carissa, and our favorite 14-year-old prodigy, Adrianne Orange. Score!! WSH

Meow Meow, 527 SE Pine, 230-2111, 9 pm, $5

FILM--Calling all artsy-fartsies! This is an official "cease and desist" order to stop referencing The Seventh Seal--especially if you've never actually seen it. Of course, you can correct this horrible miscarriage of intellectualism by catching Ingmar Bergman's classic film in all its full-screen glory. Then you can reference it till you're blue in the face for all I care. WSH

NW Film Center at PAM's Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 SW Park Ave, 221-1156, 7 pm, $6


SATURDAY
DEC 16

MUSIC--With work and shopping, work and shopping, who doesn't need a moment of Zen? Dance away your mental lists and calculations to faux Brit rockers Man of the Year and dreamy electro-poppers The Helio Sequence. Ah, Calgon, take me away! KS

Disjecta, 116 NE Russell St, 8pm, $5 donation suggested


SUNDAY
DEC 17

MUSIC--OK, so even your grandma knows and loves Digital Underground, but does she know the guy who is opening, DJ Chill? I bet not! Portland's own funk-spinning king, DJ Chill is tighter, younger, and way more awesome than DU. KD

Pine Street Theater, 215 SE 9th Ave, 231-1530, 9 pm, $15


MONDAY
DEC 18

CRUISING--A family tradition: Dad changes the oil, Mom brings the high-octane egg nog, and it's off to Portland Raceway for their annual holiday light show. What some more refined families may consider a circle of hell, mine relishes. Drive as fast as you damn please through the raceway's million light bulbs of Frosty, Santa, and Jesus. Plus a radio station available only at the racetrack with incessant holiday sing-alongs. PB

Portland Raceway, 821-4396, Exit 306-B from I-5, Sun-Thurs, 5-10 pm, Fri-Sat 5-11 pm, $10 per vehicle


TUESDAY
DEC 19

MUSIC--Are you the type of depressive that likes to wallow in icy nostalgia during the winter months? Elie Wiesel books, Harold & Maude, crumpled letters from long-lost lovers--all are instruments of indulgence in your seasonally affected mind. That's why you should see Reclinerland play some pretty, snowy pop. While upbeat, somehow it's still just fucking depressing. You'll love it! With Wow & Flutter, Jeff London, Blanket. JS

Medicine Hat, 1834 NE Alberta, 788-7700, 9 pm


WEDNESDAY
DEC 20

FILM--Just when you thought it was all right to be cheery and happy about the holidays, think again! Time to watch DARK DAYS, a gritty, ethereal, you-only-wish-it-wasn't-reality documentary, about the culture of homeless people who live in the underground train tunnels of New York City. KD

Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st Ave, 223-4515, 7 & 8:40 pm, $3-$6