THURSDAY, January 15

SEX WORK ART--Check out a whole new side of the sex industry with the Sex Workers Art Show. Part burlesque, part traveling art exhibit, well-known sex workers such as comedienne Ducky Doolittle, author Michelle Tea, filmmaker Scarlot Harlet, poet Leslie Bull and many more will present an evening of expectation-busting music, performance and visual art. WSH
Berbati's Pan, 231 SW Ankeny, 248-4579, 9 pm, $8 advance, $10 door

REEL MUSIC--Two films, two perspectives on hiphop: Hiphop Hope shows how 9/11 affected heads from the NY ghetto differently than the rest of the world; the great Five Sides of a Coin gets famous faces--Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, The Pharcyde, etc. --to talk about real hiphop culture. JS
Guild Theater, SW 9th & Taylor, 221-1156, 7 pm, $7

FRIDAY, January 16

ROCK--There are a whole lot of hard-rocking outfits marching through the beery slush of Portland's bar venues, many of them indistinguishable. Federation X is a retro, metal-lite take on things, and sounds just like tight jeans and silver tour buses. MS
w/Undisputed, The Catheters & The Triggers; Twilight, 1420 SE Powell, 236-7668, 10 pm, free

MUSIC--The film McCabe and Mrs. Miller is amazing because it's a Western, replete with horses and saloons... about the Pacific Northwest! And by that same logic, the cowboy-soundin' boys of Richmond Fontaine are amazing, too. Well, that, and lead singer Willy Vlautin's fuzzy, countrified rock ditties are downright gorgeous... and yet, all about Portland! Crazy! Tonight, the band celebrates the release of their new album, Post to Wire. JWS
Dante's, 1st SW 3rd, 226-6630, $6

SATURDAY, January 17

LOTS OF DOGS--From yarnball Shih-Tzus to slinky whippets, the Rose City Dog Show has got them all: the most obedient, talented and agile dogs you've ever seen. Hell, some of these dogs even read poetry! PB
Expo Center, 2060 N Marine Drive, 7:30 am - 6 pm, $7.50

RADNESS--Dude. Wikkid's total demolition derby of guitars and fragile tweeting vox is haunting and disarming, unsettling and challenging. They're like a swarm of birds that knows your secrets--and you know you've got stuff to hide. JS
Million, 116 NE Russell, 9 pm, $7

YING YANG--Dirty South just keeps getting dirtier thanks to the Ying Yang Twins. Making use of nasty-ass gravelly-voiced rhymes, the Atlanta-based Twins (aka D-Roc and Kaine) along with Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz are best known for bringing the club bangin' hit, "Get Low." Hear their newest jingle, the ass-shakin' "Salt Shaker" on their current tour, appropriately titled Ying Yang Thing Thang. WSH
Berbati's Pan, 231 SW Ankeny, 248-4579, 9 pm, $15 before 11 pm

SUNDAY, January 18

ROADSHOW--A caravan of entertainers is rolling into town, but without any gut-poisonous snake oils and flippered babies. No, today's roadshow is the Perpetual Motion Roadshow, an explosion of poetry, video, zines, and music. But if they dare turn out carpetbaggers, we better run 'em outta town! MS
w/Cynthia Gould, E. Belew, J & more; Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak, 274-1449, 7 pm, free

WAKE-UP CALL--Even if you are a stubborn atheist, it is hard to deny the presence of something divine after a few rounds of gospel music. That stuff moves through the body like electricity and can turn on even the dimmest soul. Today, attend a gospel brunch in honor of Dr. King. Fill your belly with French toast and bacon, and fill your soul with the rousing, foot-stomping music of the Lord! PB
St. John's Pub, 8203 N. Ivanhoe, 288-3286, 1 pm

MONDAY, January 19

CIVIL RIGHTS--Unfortunately with stubborn disparities and lingering racial tensions, we still need to remember that Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream has not yet been fully realized. Today a remembrance march starts in two different locations and converges at one location. PB
Sisters of the Road Café, 133 NW 6th Ave, OR Lorenzen Conference Center, N. Graham Ave. (at N. Gantenbein), call 222-5694 for more info, 5:30 pm

TUESDAY, January 20

PLAY--Traditionalists beware! The Portland Center Stage's production of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice is a full-on modern update, with musky nightclubs, Eminem background music, and three enormous video screens filtering the play's key monologues through CNN-style newscasts. See Shylock, Portia, and the whole messed-up gang as never before. JWS
Portland Center Stage, 1111 SW Broadway, 274-6588, 7 pm, $16-51

WEDNESDAY, January 21

AUTHOR!--What were we to possibly expect next from Mark Kurlansky, author of such historical oddities as Salt: A World History and Cod? Why, 1968: The Year that Rocked the World of course! It's the only logical progression! Learn all about peace, love, and Bobby Kennedy from one of the most dedicated researcher/writers in the business. JWS
First Congregational Church, 1126 SW Park, 227-2583, 7:30 pm, $7-12