THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 20

PUNK READING--For those who sit around the "Old Punks Home" waxing nostalgic for the days of yore when spiking your hair and piercing your septum actually meant something, you shouldn't miss Mark Andersen reading from his book Dance of Days. A fascinating examination of the D.C. punk scene, Andersen also points out how punk ethics can still be a reality in today's corporate-happy world. WSH

Powell's on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne, 238-1668, 7:30 pm, free

HIPHOP--Tonight is an evening of choices. Choice a)*Pay a moderate amount of money to see some killer NW hiphop all stars, like Lifesavas, Cool Nuts, Starchile, and Boom Bap Project b)**Pay a little money to see a bunch of local MCs spinning freestyle. The choice is yours! KD

MUSIC--A mix of percussion, wind instruments, guitar, violin, accordion and vocals, Rollerball is like improvisational art rock gone amazingly right. Openers Ovo are similarly experimental, but they lose the horns, add turntable loops, and feel slightly more gloomy. It'll be like you're in Portland, but in sixth dimensional space. KS

Blackbird, 3728 NE Sandy, 282-9949, 9 pm, $6

DANCE--Tutus are so passé. The new patrons of contemporary arts require the electric ferocity of Ronald K. Brown's company Evidence, charged with the infectious energy of traditional African dance. Thank gawd, we won't be needing our opera glasses and mink stoles. MS

Lincoln Hall (PSU), 1620 SW Park, 725-3307, Sept 20-22, 8 pm, $12 students and seniors, $24 adults

HAGGARD--In case you don't already know, Mr. Lady is a bunch of really, really awesome women who run a record label, and the Haggard is just one of their many fine bands. They're hard, loud, awesome, and the CD they're releasing tonight will probably make them famous someday. KD

Red & Black Café, 2138 SE Division St, 8 pm, 231-3899, $3-$5

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22

DRAG--If La Bonita can put together drag show (called (d)construction w/ Randy to the Max Productions) even one tenth as well as they assemble a pork quesadilla or vegan tamale, then this musical gender bender fashion festival will be absolutely fabulous. Plus, it's in a Mexican restaurant, and what's weirder than that? KS

La Bonita, 2839 NE Alberta, 281-3662, 11 pm, $5-10

ROCK--Just because it's called the Plea for Peace Tour doesn't mean it's okay to wear tie-dye. (Nothing makes that okay.) But if you want to hear Hot Water Music's lively sociopolitical emo set and find out what a "neck beard" is, by all means, go. MS

Shattuck Hall (PSU), 1914 SW Park, 224-TIXX, 6 pm, $13

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 23

PUNK--I've always thought that the Damned was possibly the best name for a band I've ever heard. This probably has something to do with the fact that I also love the music they make, which is still the same bare bones/balls-out punk they've been making for about 500 years. See them before they die. KD

Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 219-9929, 8 pm, $15

POLITICS--Who's watching the watchers? For the past year the FBI has collaborated with the local cop shop to put together a wide-reaching network of surveillance, the Joint Terrorism Task Force (see Soapbox, page 7). A vote whether to renew the program is scheduled for Wednesday. Today, at an informational meeting, activists will tell you how to stop Big Brother in his tracks. PB

City Hall, 1225 SW Fifth, noon, free

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 25

READING--Did the U.S. deliberately bomb the Chinese embassy? Does Gerbers really use the WTO to suppress laws that promote breast feeding? It may sound like conspiracy crackpots, but it's the real thing: Project Censor brings the top 100 censored and unreported news stories from last year. PB

PSU Smith Memorial Hall, 6:30 - 10 pm, call 827-0249 for more information, $5-$10

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 26

MUSIC--Money Mark plays soulful, pimpy keyboards much like those early Moog recordings you bought for $35 on ebay a couple years ago. The super treat will be Buffalo Daughter's SuGar Yoshinaga on accompaniment. See 'em now, cause they might be label-less and penniless now that Grand Royal has folded.

Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, 233-1994, 7 pm, $13.50

THEATER--If you've always been curious about what happens behind the walls of a penitentiary, but didn't care to spend the years there learning, Count Time, Count Time is an incisive look into the challenging and torturous spiritual lives of inmates. Written in collaboration with five former prisoners and distilled through poet Debra Terry, the play has an eerie genuineness. PB

Back Door Theater, 4319 SE Hawthorne, 230-2090, 8 pm, $8