Fri., Oct. 9 -- Composting
Maybe your idea of a hot Friday-night date doesn't involve composting, or talking about composting, or even thinking about it. But bear with us: Tonight, Phipps Conservatory presents an entire Celebrate Composting at Phipps! program. There's a lecture and slideshow called "Composting: The Big View" with the Pennsylvania Resources Council's Nick Schorr, then a hands-on workshop with Lauren Seiple. Can't make it? PRC also offers a short video and more on composting at Phipps, on Saturday morning. Andy Mulkerin 7 p.m. Schenley Park, Oakland. Lecture free; workshop $40 (includes composting bin). Register at 412-431-4449 x325 or www.prc.org
Fri., Oct. 9 -- Art
Building cars, fighting wars, commandeering intergalactic spaceships -- it seems robots are busy doing everything but what they should, which is making music. But not after The Nerve gallery's Roy Gee Biv Festival. The weekend showcase of kinetic and sound art teams visiting artists with locals. Tonight, a "mechanized track rover" roams the audience courtesy of sculptor Greg Witt and sound artist Daniel Paul Boucher; local drum ensemble Gangwish opens. The fun continues with performances Saturday night and a Sunday colloquium featuring, among others, Eric Singer, of Pittsburgh's League of Musical Robots. Bet you didn't know we had one of those. Bill O'Driscoll 7 p.m. Also Sat., Oct. 10, and Sun., Oct. 11. 500 Dargan St., Bloomfield. $8-10 (festival pass: $20-40). www.noisyrobot.org
It's unlikely that the concept of "portrait" could change more than it did when oil paint gave way to photography. But the world of cell-phone cameras, PhotoShop and digital avatars is giving it a go. See how a group of cutting-edge artists explore the portrait when The Mattress Factory opens Likeness, featuring work by Paul De Martinis, Nikki Lee, Tony Oursler and more. Tonight, in fact, it's twin openings: You can also greet Greer Lankton's installation It's all about ME, Not You, as it joins the museum's permanent collection. BO Both receptions: 7-9 p.m. 500 Sampsonia Way, North Side. $10. 412-231-3169 or www.mattress.org
Fri., Oct. 9 -- Comedy
While touring the country's grungiest clubs earlier this decade, David Cross spent his days telling jokes to audiences that didn't understand, or care for, his left-wing humor. Tonight, however, the stand-up comic and Arrested Development star should receive a warmer welcome. Cross, who has released two albums -- one nominated for a Grammy -- takes the Carnegie Library Music Hall stage to promote his first book, I Drink for a Reason. Expect politically incorrect jokes from the satirist, as he touches on everything from drugs to religion. Chris Young 8 p.m. 510 E. 10th St., Munhall. $25-30. 412-368-5225 or www.librarymusichall.com
Sat., Oct. 10 -- Web
PodCamp Pittsburgh 4 invites social-networking connoisseurs and curious neophytes to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for its fourth annual unconference. The brazenly un-organized event features many simultaneous presentations about hiding from online stalkers, distributing original ring-tones and little-known facts about Twitter. Part of an international movement to spread knowledge about social media, PodCamp lets bloggers, podcasters and Facebook fanatics step away from their computers to mingle with three-dimensional people just like them. Lucy Leitner 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Also Sun., Oct. 11. 420 Boulevard of the Allies, Downtown. Free. 412-443-7969 or podcamppittsburgh.com
Sat., Oct. 10 -- Play
Tough Art is not about thugs saturating the urban landscape with gang graffiti, but rather a new Children's Museum exhibit in which the art can withstand interactions with its young visitors. Kids can preach their views on Anneka Herre's G-20-inspired podium, equipped with its own microphone and PA. They can embark on a spatial and tactile adventure in Jennifer Van Winkle's series of wooden and fabric tunnels, and more. The opening reception features a performance by Steel Towne Fire, a local group of daredevils who breathe, eat and dance with flames. LL 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; performance 2-3:30 p.m. 10 Children's Way, Allegheny Square. 412-322-5058 or pittsburghkids.org
Sat., Oct. 10 -- Babysitting
For those seeking a different kind of babysitter -- the kind who will take the kids to Pink Floyd laser shows -- the Carnegie Science Center now offers a novel service to ensure that children, ages 6-12, are entertained and educated while their parents are out. Aside from exploring the myriad interactive exhibits, kids are treated to dinner, a Halloween-themed pumpkin-measuring activity, an Omnimax film ... and a laser show set to the sounds of classic rock. Registration is required. LL 5-10 p.m. Also Nov. 14 and 28, and Dec. 5. North Side. $40 ($10 extra for 5-11 p.m.). 412-237-1639 or www.CarnegieScienceCenter.org
Sat., Oct. 10 -- Rock
Twenty-odd years later, they're still around and hell-bent on entertaining your ass: Southern Culture on the Skids brings its raunchy, party parody of all things white-trashy to Diesel tonight. The country-surf-swamp-rockabilly group's major-label run has been over for awhile; lately it's fallen in with the indie Yep Roc label, which has released a trio of albums, most recently the covers collection Countrypolitan Favorites. Aaron Jentzen 7 p.m. 1601 E. Carson St., South Side. $15 ($18 at the door). 412-431-8800 or www.dieselpgh.com
Sat., Oct. 10 -- Dance
Practicing yoga has become pretty demystified, thanks to studios across the country that cater to the inner downward-facing dog of everyone and his cool aunt. But Tripsichore, a British-based performance troupe, turns the ancient practice into something deeply different. Its gee-whiz, yoga-based interpretive dance appears to stretch the limits of human anatomy, incorporating familiar poses into movement that is as unsettling at it is stirringly beautiful. Schoolhouse Yoga brings Edward Clark and the rest of the troupe to the Dance Alloy studios, with tonight's performance amid a weekend of workshops. Melissa Meinzer 8 p.m. 5530 Penn Ave., Friendship $25 ($35 at the door). 412-401-4444
Sat., Oct. 10 -- Roller Boogie
Who doesn't miss the roller-rinks of their youth? Like the nostalgic activity it celebrates, Roller Boogie too will soon be a thing of the past. Tonight's the fifth and final installment of the popular roller-skate party, and it's going out with a bang. Music -- and there's a lot of it -- includes outta-towners Ninjasonik and Totally Michael, the Pittsburgh sounds of Pfunkt and The Hood Gang, and loads more. AJ 8 p.m.-4 a.m. Sneaky's Roller Disco, 5118 Penn Ave., Garfield. $10 ($3 skate rental or bring your own). 18 and over.
Sun., Oct. 11 -- Zombies
Shambling through the setting of the 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead, flesh-eating ghouls moan, groan and gaze hungrily through milky eyes at unsuspecting late-afternoon shoppers. For the fourth year, Monroeville Mall hosts thousands of slow-moving undead defending their Guinness Record for the world's largest zombie walk. To celebrate World Zombie Day, the It's Alive show presents the first outdoor Zombie Fest. It's in the upper parking lot, with live bands, an ugliness pageant and the obligatory brain-eating contest. Steel City corpses also feed the living, with a nonperishable donation to Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. LL 2-6 p.m. Route 22, Monroeville. Free. 412-243-8511 or www.theitsaliveshow.com
Sunday, Oct. 11 -- Rock
Ahh, October: the season when a young punk rocker's thoughts turn to AFI. The goth-pop-punk stalwarts' newest, Crash Love (on Interscope) isn't much like the punk rave-ups of the band's Nitro Records days in the '90s -- a polished, more complex, and at times more power-ballad-ish sound has overtaken the band. But the AFI basics (alienation, the macabre, growing up) remain. Fall children will flock to Club Zoo tonight to see the band along with another Halloweeny-sounding outfit, The Gallows. AJ 8 p.m. 1630 Smallman St., Strip District. All ages. $27.50. 800-745-3000
Space-rock outfit Bardo Pond was founded in Philadelphia two decades ago by brothers Michael and John Gibbons. It was the beginning of a long, drugged-out adventure that's included several releases on the Matador label, tours with the likes of Mogwai and sonic explorations that hew more toward experimental music and searing distortion than floofy hippie jams. Appropriately enough, tonight's show (organized by CP contributor Manny Theiner) takes place at Your Inner Vagabond, and also features Dark Lingo and Sundogpeacehouse. AM 8 p.m. 4130 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $8. All ages. 412-683-1623 or www.yourinnervagabond.com
Tuesday, Oct. 13 -- Rock
Chicago's Califone just released its latest effort, All My Friends Are Funeral Singers, and -- as might be expected with the cerebral four-piece -- it's more than just an album. The concept record is accompanied by a film made by frontman Tim Rutili; tonight at the Andy Warhol Museum, the band plays along with the film, then follows up with a second, more traditional set. The new record, like much of the band's catalog, combines Rutili's lush acoustic guitar work and gruff vocals with a structure and orchestration that places Califone somewhere in a realm beyond alt-country but short of shoegaze. AM 8 p.m. 117 Sandusky St., North Side. $12. 412-237-8300 or www.warhol.org
Wed., Oct. 14 -- Words
The two years Anne Sanow spent in Saudi Arabia after high school, in the 1980s, inspired a collection of linked short stories spanning the half-century starting with World War II. Triple Time (University of Pittsburgh Press) follows both desert-dwelling Bedouins and American ex-pats as their lives intertwine and cultures clash. Sanow, of Massachusetts, visits the Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series tonight to claim the Drue Heinz Literature Prize and to read from her finely observed stories. Joining her is Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto, who judged the contest. BO 7:30 p.m. Frick Fine Arts Building, Schenley Place, Oakland. Free. 412-624-6506 or www.english.pitt.edu
