THURSDAY, JANUARY 14

WONDERLANDValerie and Her Week of Wonders is a gauzy, trippy, gorgeous Czech vampire flick, and tonight three local bands—Nurses, Gulls, and the Slaves—provide their own live avant-garde soundtrack in a screening presented by Fin de Cinema. NL
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8:30 pm, FREE ($2 suggested donation)

SVENONIUS—It's a very special edition of I've Got a Hole in My Soul, everyone's favorite DJ Beyonda-helmed dance party. Ian Svenonius (the Make-Up, Nation of Ulysses, Chain and the Gang) is guesting on the decks, so expect some extra-odd twists in the mix. MS
Rotture, 315 SE 3rd, 9 pm, $3

FRIDAY, JANUARY 15

HOOPS—Tonight marks the lone Portland appearance of Dwight Howard and his Orlando Magic. How will the Trail Blazers—a team that lost both its centers to season-ending knee injuries—guard the best big man the NBA has seen since Shaq was young and skinny? Um, they won't. But come out and hope for a minor miracle. EAC
Rose Garden, 1 Center Ct, 7 pm, $18-160

DANCE ROCK—Seattle band Velella Velella has been silent over the last few years, but tonight they return with their live-band dance rock--think RJD2 run through the filter of Pacific Northwest indie rock, or a less restrained Sea and Cake. Dance enthusiasts Guidance Counselor and Rachel Blumberg's latest venture, Arch Cape, round out the show. EAC
Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $8

SATURDAY, JANUARY 16

THERE AND BACK AGAIN—Oh, it's a magnificent tale, Mr. Frodo—how you destroyed that terrible ring, an' saved that nasty Gollum creature, an' met Gandalf an' Strider—an' elves, Mr. Frodo! Elves! Today the big folk celebrate it all, with The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers and The Return of the King, and there'll be hobbit-inspired food for second breakfast and costume contests and jugglers and more! It'll be the grandest party since Mr. Bilbo's eleventy-first birthday, it will! SAMWISE GAMGEE
w/Freak Mountain Ramblers; J.R.R. Tolkien Birthday Celebration at the Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd, 11 am-close, see Movie Times for showtimes, FREE (movies $3/each or FREE with Oregon Food Bank Donation), all ages

SHOWCASE—Point Juncture, WA's electro-garage-pop has earned them a place among Portland's best bands, but we've got a Seattle label to thank for releases like 2008's Heart to Elk. Tonight Point Juncture shares the stage with their Mt. Fuji labelmates the Maldives, Black Whales, and Virgin Islands. AH
Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $10

THERE WILL BE BLOOD—All four of Portland's hometown roller derby teams face off in one badass season kick-off bout. Bring on the broken hearts and broken bones! SM
Portland Expo Center, 2060 N Marine, 6 pm, $14-24

EUROHORROR—A chainsaw-wielding psycho carves up naked coeds at a New England university—never mind that 1982's Pieces was actually made in Spain and contains some of the silliest dialogue and goofiest acting of all time. It's one of the funniest, weirdest, bloodiest flicks you'll ever see, and a rare 35mm print kicks off the awesome new Late Night European Horror Series, brought to you by the Grindhouse Film Festival. NL
Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st, 11:30 pm, $8

SUNDAY, JANUARY 17

MUSTACHIOED FOLK—Day three of the Parlour's acoustic festival, Music to Folk To, is the lovingest day yet, featuring Ocean Age, Sam Cooper (of Horse Feathers), and Oh Captain, My Captain. Twenty bucks gets you a mustached wristband and access to all three days. JC
The Parlour, 2628 SE Powell, 3 pm-midnight, $10 ($20 weekend pass), all ages

READ IT, SEE IT—After last year's fantastic adaptation of Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion, Portland Center Stage tackles another Northwest literary classic. David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars, set on a small Puget Sound island in 1954, examines racial conflicts in the aftermath of WWII and the US's Japanese internment policy. AH
Portland Center Stage, Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW 11th, Tues-Sat 7:30 pm, Sun 2 pm, through Feb 7, $28.50-65

MONDAY, JANUARY 18

MOTHBALLS—It's too bad there aren't any more tickets to the sold-out touring show from the Moth, a New York-based storytelling group and public radio wunderkind. However, since many of those holding tickets will likely be gullible, slow-moving OPB members, they should be easy to mug on the sidewalk before the show. A little New York right here in Portland! PAC
Gerding Theater at the Armory, 128 NW 11th, 7:30 pm, $25

INALIENABLE—So, you can't get into the Moth's sold-out storytelling session, but you're still in the mood to have someone read to you. Don't pout. Instead, head just around the corner, where innovator of feminist sci-fi and fantasy Ursula K. Le Guin and editor Margaret Killjoy will cradle you in interviews from Mythmakers and Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction. JC
Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7:30 pm, FREE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 19

HIS NAME IS EARLE—As Walon on HBO's The Wire, Steve Earle could get Bubbles off the smack, but it's his music that is the real draw. The ironic face to the alt-country movement, Earle's best material might have been left in Guitar Town, but the man's gravelly voice and personal/political lyrics still sound as good as ever. EAC
w/Hayes Carll; Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, Tues Jan 19 & Wed Jan 20, 8 pm, $36.50-38, all ages

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20

TOM TOMSTom Tom Magazine is dedicated solely to female drummers and tonight benefits its next print edition with specially crafted drum super solos and duos from some of PDX's hardest hitters (including members of Unwound, Lovers, Purple Rhinestone Eagle, and many more). MS
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8 pm, $7

IDLE TALK—Not to tell tales, but I heard a rumor that the band called Pie Ghosts isn't actually a band called Pie Ghosts. Rather, there's back-fence whispering that the Yummy Fur's opening act is actually a famous Portland band about whom you may have heard a little hearsay. Just something I heard through the grapevine. Scandal. Scuttlebutt. DB
w/ASSS; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 9 pm, $5, all ages