MUSIC: Late '90s Santa Cruz band the Huxtables headline a night of "fun rock" tunes. Take, for example, the song their dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons, "Dungeon Master," which they had to revise after the latest edition of the game was released. Talk about staying true to your deliciously dorky roots. (For a more in-depth explanation of this adorable geek-rock song, go here.) Alt-country band the Bitter Sweets and Two If by Sea open......

*COMEDY/THEATER: Rejoice, mama's boys of San Francisco. According to SF Weekly, "Judy Gold and award-winning playwright Kate Moira Ryan traveled around the U.S. for five years, interviewing over 50 Jewish women of different ages, ethnicities, and occupations," resulting in the Drama Desk Award-nominated comedy hit, 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother. For those of you who have yet to cut the cord, this show is for you. (Runs until March 23.) 7 p.m. //......

*CLUB: Check out Rock Out Karaoke over at Amnesia. What is Rock Out Karaoke? Well, it mean that you will hear neither a Righteous Brothers cover nor a note from everyone's least favorite musical, Grease. And isn't that what you really want in a karaoke night? Of course it is. (Glenny Kravitz hosts.) READING: Sorry to throw another Valencia Street happening your way, but: author and artist Ian Philips, of Suspect Thoughts Press, reads......

*MUSIC: Kelley Stoltz, Grand Archives, the Morning Benders, and le Weather Underground sing some songs for you over at the Independent. (Part of Noise Pop 2008.) COMEDY: Get ready to hee yourself silly. Kenny Altman hosts Ron Vigh, Kelly McCarron, Maggie Newcomb, and Morgan Ryan Kasmier at "Gays and Dolls," a homosexually-charged night of stand-up hilarity. You can catch the queers killing it over at the Clubhouse. (BYOB, people. For reals.) CLUB: New York-based......

*COMEDY: That wacky/sexy comedy troupe, SPF7, puts on a show at The Dark Room tonight. According to Justin Lamb, "there will be a politically incorrect ad campaign for fruit, a massage, He-Man erotica [an aside: while cleaning out our old bedroom the other day, our mother came across and disposed of our cherished Man-E-Faces figure. Needless to say, we are crestfallen. -- SFist], food stealing from Satan, a sex offender with low self esteem,......

ROCK: Over at Edinburgh Castle, the aptly-titled indie-punk band Cupids headlines tonight along with Levator (Seattle) and Dazzling Strangers. *FILM: The film you all had to sit through in English Lit class goes up on the big screen, Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. In addition to the gorgeous Shakespearean tragedy, KRON 4's Jan Wahl interviews Olivia Hussey ("Juliet") and the divine Connie Champagne performs. (Psst, Connie Champagne will be the highlight of the night.......

According to the fine folks over at The Sword (NSFW), the GayVNs (NSFW) will be held here on Saturday -- you know, those homosexual pornography achievement awards, which led to Mayor Gavin Newsom getting all Berkeley City Council on us after he declared Feb. 23 to be Colt Studio Day last year? -- coinciding with that hairy-large-gay-appreciation festival thing happening. Anyway, last year the GayVNs had comedienne and social critic Kathy Griffin hosting the......

READING: Idiolexicon Poetry Series brings together different types of poets -- from slam to experimental, hip-hop and academia -- having them share a stage. Tonight, the lineup includes performances by poets Stephen Meads and Myron Michael, and music by Cynthia Weyuker. Happens tonight at the Boxcar Playhouse. COMEDY: Part of local sketch comedy troupe SPF7, Justin Lamb and Jay Starr perform tonight at Club Deluxe. MUSIC: One of the Innovators of the Bakersfield Sound,......

Lucas (1986), Say Anything (1989), My Bloody Valentine (1981): The first film has socially-retarded Corey Haim falling head over heels in love with a sensitive football player, Charlie Sheen, or something like that; Cameron Crowe's tale of teenage love and angst has John Cusack causing egregious noise pollution when he holds up a ghettoblaster pumping out a Peter Gabriel ballad; and the final film has a murderer in a small coal mining town killing......

Hal Holbrook in "Mark Twain Tonight": Julia Sugarbaker's husband and Oscar nominee for this year's Into the Wild, Broadway veteran Hal Holbrook won a Tony Award in 1966 for playing satirical American writer in this performance, and he's been doing it ever since. This one-man show draws on observations taken from Twain's own material. A real treat for admirers of American literature. The show starts tonight at 8 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center......

Rope Burn by Still Flyin' (directed by Isobel Knowles) Still Flyin': Not to knock (heh) its former incarnation, the Odeon, but we love the Knockout. From obscure DJ nights to live bands, this nightclub seems to pull it off minus any affectation -- a difficult feat for any artsy venue to accomplish. Tonight head over to the Outer Mission spot and catch beloved San Francisco-based supergroup Still Flyin', along with rock-ish outfits Yellow Fever......

Let's Get Lost (1988): Bruce Weber followed around jazz trumpeter and heroin addict Chet Baker on a year-long excursion, "from the West Coast, to the East Coast, to Europe--including a stop at the Cannes Film Festival--with interviews with Chet, colleagues and friends, including dueling insights from his third wife, a former British show girl, and three children in Oklahoma, and from old flame Ruth Young, a sardonically throaty torch singer." Screens tonight at 7......

Undergoing a procedure to erase 30 years from its face, the Castro neighborhood is going retro, circa 1978, for the filming of Gus Van Sant's Harvey Milk biopic, Milk, which starts shooting this week. Already the Castro Theatre, right, and boutique shop Given, formerly Milk's camera store / campaign headquarters, are being renovated to get that '70s vibe. Rumor has it that Castro Street between 18th and 19th streets (i.e., the staphicenter) will be......

Sketchfest continues...

RiffTrax Live at the Castro - Plan 9 from Outer Space: MST3K's Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett provide live commentary on Ed Wood's cult classic, the abominable and beloved Plan 9 from Outer Space. Eeee! Like, we could just die! (Part of SF Sketchfest.) Starts at 9 p.m. at the Castro Theatre.Your Macworld Expo Parties: It's winding down, kids. Partake in the Macworld festivities while you can.Ships in the Night: San......

Cosco Busan Update: ...

Hoodies-N-Heels: Tonight's hip hop for the ivory white comes to you care of DJ VinSol. But he does more than just pump out hip hop staples. His electro, thrash, and slick soul sounds will have you staying to this Mission club just a little bit longer, getting just a little bit more drunk. A win-win, really. Goes from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Double Dutch; free. Media Web Meet-Up III: The Producers: Come......

Michael Pollan: Come hear this foodie sensation talk about his latest book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, in which he suggests that you should not "eat anything that your great-great grandmother would not recognize as food." (Impossible. Also, yes, Michael Leaverton, we DO need to know the exercise logs of the fowl we plan on eating.) Catch him tonight in conversation with restaurant critic, Hayes Street Grill chef/co-owner, and local food celeb......

Laughing Squid’s Last Minute Unholiday Party: Scott Beale and the gang will be having a most splendid post- and un-holiday party/experiment with social media. Although LS will be "providing some beer and buying pizza, but please feel free to bring some more beer, wine, leftover holiday food, etc." The mood is low-key and geek-filled, and we mean that in the best possible way. Starts at 7 p.m. at Citizen Space. Ben-Hur (1959): Not only......

The last time we saw Sandra Bernhard, which was at Bimbo's earlier this year, we almost walked into her as we were leaving the ladies room and she was making her entrance from the back of the theater, crooning "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." After a stagehand or security guy or au pair grabbed and shook the holy hell out of us, preventing us from colliding with Ms. Sandra, we went......

Oakland Interfaith Gospel Ensemble: This awe-inspiring gospel ensemble from "the other side of the Bay," noted for its "interfaith, multi-racial, and multi-cultural" makeup -- will get you in the mood. The Christmas-y mood, that is. And if you can't handle all of the holiday joy abounding, there are plenty of bars around the neighborhood where you can get your joy on, booze-wise. The singing starts at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at Slim's; $15.Midnight......

Festivus: Although we see no mention of the traditional "Airing of Grievances" or the post-dinner "Feats of Strength" battle, we can't imagine any proper Festivus celebration without them. Still, whether or not tonight's party follows strict Seinfeldian doctrine, a good time will be had by all at Green Aid's holiday bash. Mutaytor performs at this Black Rock City-ish night of fun. Starts at 7:30 p.m. at SomArts Cultural Center; $70. Dub Mission: Renowned for......

-- Unsilent Night: New York-based composer Phil Kline’s holiday concert creates "an outdoor ambient music piece for an infinite number of boomboxes. It’s like a Christmas caroling party except that [you] don’t sing, but rather carry the music, each [member] playing a separate track that is a "voice" in the piece. In effect, we become a city-block-long sound system" So ... there you have it. Tapes and CDs will be handed out to participants.......

-- Jackie Beat: Give 'Til It Hurts: It's a Christmastime cabaret with infamous dragster Jackie Beat. She will take some of your favorite holiday classics and render them tasteless and tacky, and you'll love every minute of it. Yes. Yes, you will. The show starts at 8 p.m. at the Empire Plush Room; $30-$32.50. -- Badmen, Hoe, Agent Deadlies, and Kittie Perm: Oh, the lunchtime grilled cheese-and-tomato sandwich memories we have from this venue.......

-- Crime in Choir: CIC rocks it. Hard. For reals. Big time. One of the purest sounds coming out of SF these days, really. Brave the chill and head down to Potrero Hill to check them out. You won't regret it. Pink Mountain and Science of Yarba open at this anniversary party for Frenetic Records. The music starts at 10 p.m. at Bottom of the Hill; $10. -- It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine:......

SFist interviews Crispin Hellion Glover, who is screening his films at the Castro Theater this weekend. ...

-- Doug Benson: How he didn't win the last season of Last Comic Standing is above and beyond all logic. Then again, competitive reality TV makes little sense at times. (See: Banks, Tyra) Benson managed to make it on LCS not once, but twice. And with good reason: he's downright hilarious. Nikki Glaser and Mo Mandel open for the Benson. Show starts at 8 p.m. (and continues until Saturday) at the Punch Line; $15.......

-- At Long Last Love (1975): At last -- the fecal matter-fest that is Peter Bogdanovich's career-killing, Cole Porter-infused musical. Starring Cybill Shepherd, Burt Reynolds, and Madeline Kahn, how did it all go wrong? Find out for yourself tonight at 7:45 p.m. at the Castro Theatre; $6-9. (Psst: Best Little Whorehouse In Texas screens at 9:45 p..m.; Smokey & the Bandit at midnight -- it's a Burt Reynolds extravaganza!) -- Bumpin' Uglies: Hey there,guys......

-- The Gold Rush (1925): The Tramp makes his stamp here (via playing with his food) as one of America's most beloved comedic characters of the silent era. Screens tonight at 8:45 p.m. at the Castro Theatre; $6-9. -- Juliette and the Licks: Idiosyncratic actress/Scientologist and her (pretty damn good) vanity project perform along with opening acts Scissors for Lefty and Suffrajett. Music fans, the celebrity-curious, and thetans converge at 8 p.m. at Great......

-- Post-Postcard 11: the 11th Annual Small Format Art Sale: At this event, you are the artist and your work is on display. "Artists are encouraged to submit small format multiples--whether that be a series of hand-made paintings or a stack of production run postcards." Plus, this is the perfect SF-y place to go to buy your holiday cards. The postcard kickoff goes from 6-9p at the Lab; free admission. Also, cash/checks accepted; $20......