The Suicide Girls, those tattooed-and-pierced beauties who fulfill the sexy-barista fantasies for a nation of rock & roll horndogs, are on tour (visit www.suicidegirls.com if you'd like to pretend that you're not familiar with their work; we'll play along just this once). They're promoting and signing a new DVD, Suicide Girls First Tour, at Vintage Vinyl (6610 Delmar Boulevard, University City; 314-721-4096; free) at 6 p.m., and then performing an "adults only" burlesque show at Pop's (1403 Mississippi Avenue, Sauget, Illinois; 618-274-6720; $10 to $12 ) at 11:30 p.m. Fans of the SG movement point to the comely lasses' nekkidness as a feminist reclamation of the female form; detractors note that one-handed Web surfin' may not be all that empowering for the general female populace. Night & Day Global Industries is not here to promote either side of that argument -- however, Mr. Night would like to point out that his naked trot to the vending machine was not hailed by management as a blow for equality, but an offense to decorum (and taste) punishable by a three-day suspension. Hm.
Thursday, October 20
Typically, when you tell your friends you're going to a "Jerry Springer party," you're referring to the loads of Springer show-type antics the partygoers are likely to engage in. But today when you speak about attending the second-annual Jerry Springer Party at the Casino Queen (200 South Front Street, East St. Louis, Illinois; 800-777-0777 or www.casinoqueen.com), you'll actually be talking about the real Jerry Springer, not just naughtiness! Local band Glorious Blue gets the party started on the roof of the Queen at 6 p.m., and Mr. Springer shows up at 7 p.m. to sign autographs and pose for pictures. And if all that isn't cool enough, know this: The party is free! (That is, except for the drinks you're likely to down as you're chanting "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!")
Friday, October 21
Youngsters watch re-runs of Blossom and hear the music of Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails and mistakenly believe that the 1990s were a time of great joy and bonhomie for everyone involved. But it wasn't all goatees and eyebrow piercings -- we had suffering, too. Ask the Kimmswick High School Art Club, class of '95. Fellow classmate Randy Muggs was trampled to death at a Queensryche show (everyone headed for the door en masse, and poor Randy didn't make it), and he failed to graduate owing to his unfortunate demise. But his bros remember him with a special reunion/make-out party from 6:30 to 11 p.m. at Fort Gondo Compound for the Arts (3151 Cherokee Street; 314-772-3628). Survivors of the "Whoa" decade such as Mark Early, Amanda Mueller and Anchovy display their art, share some laughs and celebrate the life of Randy, and all are welcome. Fighting Mighty Mile-High Pie pride!
Saturday, October 22
As the chilliness of winter grows ever closer, just be thankful you have a dog to keep you warm. Those of us who don't can ward off that winter chill at the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog in Queeny Park (1721 South Mason Road, Ballwin; 314-821-3647) -- at least until December 11. That's when the current Artists' Registry Exhibition of more than 40 paintings and pastels by various artists comes down, and we'll no longer get to look at the show's beautiful dogs at work (sporting dogs), dogs at rest (portraits of dogs posing) and dogs just looking to warm our hearts with their sweet gazes. The museum is open today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission costs $1 to $5, which leaves us with plenty of money to check the gift shop for maybe a doggie sweater or something -- it's going to be a long winter.
Sunday, October 23
St. Louis is lucky. Not only do we have our very own Munchkin (Mickey Carroll) from The Wizard of Oz, but now we have our own Oompa Loompas, too -- if only for a weekend. See for yourself at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre (Parker Road and Waterford Drive, Florissant), when Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is presented as a part of the Junior League's St. Louis Family Theatre Series. Today's performance is at 2 p.m., but shows are also offered at 7:30 p.m. Friday, October 21, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 22. Tickets for all shows cost $7; to make a purchase, visit www.florissantmo.com or call 314-921-5678.
Monday, October 24
Mr. Night's Italian-language skills have eroded to an embarrassing level over the past 45 years. Once he could order meatballs like a native, but now he says "pasketti." Oh, it's sad. He'll attempt to revive his moribund fluency with regular attendance at the Saint Louis Italian Meetup Group meetings at MoKaBe's (3606 Hartford Street; 314-304-5972), every Monday at 8 p.m. There's no admission cost or hidden fees, and all skill levels are welcome. The group meets simply to brush up on conversational Italian, and they warn that almost no English is spoken at their meetings. That's probably for the best, since Mr. Night's English ain't not so good like it once was.
Tuesday, October 25
Willem de Kooning could be the poster boy for the American dream: He arrived in the country as a stowaway in 1926 and died in 1997 as one of the most successful and revered artists of the century. In between the two points, de Kooning painted murals for the WPA, rose to fame in the late '40s, abandoned New York City for Long Island and slipped slowly into alcoholism. Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, the authors of de Kooning: An American Master, spent ten years writing the story of de Kooning's life, a decade of work that paid off with the Pulitzer Prize. Stevens and Swan discuss their book at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park (314-721-0072 or www.slam.org). Admission is free, and if you get there a little early you can sneak a peek at de Kooning's Untitled XXII, currently on display.
