Farmer's markets are in plentiful supply now, and for that we're grateful. It'd be tough, and perhaps unfair, to pick a favorite out of the many seasonal markets, but we at Night & Day are absolute suckers for the killer combo of beer and pork products. Absolute suckers. So we're strongly recommending the Maplewood Farmer's Market, which features Schlafly beer and locally raised pork. Located at Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Boulevard; 314-241-2337), this market also has the benefit of being convenient for the late risers, since it runs from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays through October 27. With live music and the added bonus of the Czechoslovakian/French sci-fi epic Fantastic Planet screening inside the Bottleworks at 8 p.m. (for an extra admission charge of $4), you may as well make an evening of it. A wonderful, beer- and pork-fueled evening of it.
Thursday, June 3
On Thursday nights the Pepper Lounge (2005 Locust Avenue; 314-241-2005) hosts a party called Grüv, but those hours of darkness between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. could more appropriately be called "Legends" or something like that (give us a break, we're not marketing majors over here). The point is, for a mere $2 cover, loungers can hear some of St. Louis' most consistently great DJs spin house (and more) on the same night, in the same lamp-lit room. Local mainstays Steve-O, Boomer and Gary Mac continue to do (and play) what they love, and they also make newbies and old fans alike love what they do. Watch as they pass the Grüv torch to Moody James, who will tickle the tables alongside the infamous trio. Give the Moody one a listen: Considering the company he keeps, his sets have to be good.
Friday, June 4
There are times when the name of a play alone is enough to get your blood pumping. Zastrozzi: The Master of Discipline is one of those names. How can you not be intrigued by a play about a master disciplinarian with a sexy name? Oooh, and he has a "thug" for a henchman (Bernardo), and he travels with Mathilda, "the most accomplished seductress in Europe." C'mon, that's hot theater! George F. Walker's swashbuckling melodrama about the epic struggle between Good and Evil is presented by the Muddy Waters Theatre Company at 8 p.m. at the Soulard Theater (1921 South Ninth Street). In case you miss it tonight, and you (rightly) fear reprisal by Zastrozzi himself, the show plays again at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6, with the same schedule next weekend (June 11 through 13). Tickets are $12 to $15, and more information is available by calling 314-540-7831. Avast, slackers!
Saturday, June 5
Excuse us while we whip this out: Now that The Producers has made millions (and also made the world forget Dracula: Dead and Loving It and Robin Hood: Men in Tights), Mel Brooks has regained some of the cultural status he first built up with Blazing Saddles. Let's keep it this way. Filled with sex, grandmas dropping N-bombs, fun with alcoholism and some of the first fart jokes to grace the silver screen, Saddles is just as funny today as it was 30 years ago, and just as subversive. Powered by an amazing comedic performance by the late Cleavon Little with superb assistance from the not-late-not-that-you'd-notice Gene Wilder, it's the perfect midnight movie, which is probably why the Tivoli (6350 Delmar Boulevard; 314-995-6270; $6) is showing it at midnight as part of the theater's Reel Late series.
Sunday, June 6
If you're looking for a dramatic and relaxing weekend wind-down, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra performance outside the James S. McDonnell Planetarium in Forest Park might be for you. Between 7 and 8:30 p.m., the SLSO will perform classical hits with a celestial theme under the beautiful twilight canopy of a St. Louis summertime sky. Holst's majestic suite The Planets opens the evening in grand fashion, followed by Liszt's Les Preludes (which served as the theme music for Flash Gordon before Queen homed in on Liszt's territory), and then Strauss' Blue Danube, which provided the music for the cosmic ballet sequence in 2001. All this starry loveliness is only slightly upended by John "Ubiquitous" Williams' Star Wars theme, which is grand and sweeping, yes, but kinda lowbrow compared to Liszt and Holst, no? The performance is free, so no bellyaching. Call 314-289-4444 for more info.
Monday, June 7
The kingdom of Joe Edwards (a.k.a. University City) is loved for many things: eloquent writing (the RFT, hee hee) danceable music (Nelly), mouth-watering hamburgers (Blueberry Hill) and now stunning ceramics. And these clay creations are old, too, not just something Mr. Night and Ms. Day pinched together at Craft Alliance on a lunch break. No siree, the pieces in the University City Ceramics exhibition at the Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park (314-721-0072 or www.slam.org) are an important part of the American Arts and Crafts Movement. And even though the 50 works created from 1910 to 1914 aren't actually showing in U. City doesn't mean loyalists shouldn't check them out sometime between Friday, June 4, and October 24. We even bet King Joe would command it.
Tuesday, June 8
Jack La Lanne is possibly the most physically fit person ever. You know him: He's the juicer-infomercial guy who sings along with the much younger (but not fitter) version of himself at the end. He's still that in-shape partially because of juice. (The television is always right, so it must be true.) Don't you want to be athletic instead of crotchety when you're in your late 80s? Hell, yeah. Learn how to make juice work for you at Whole Foods' free Juicing -- The Formula for Good Health class from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at 1601 South Brentwood Boulevard (314-968-7744). Instructor and registered nurse Josephine Goffe-Gardner will teach how to detoxify and juicify your boring, juice-less diet. Don't be juice-free any longer! Learn that anything can be made into juice (fruit, veggies, bass fish, you name it). And when you're 70, you too can swim the Long Beach Harbor pulling 70 one-man boats while shackled and handcuffed -- just like Juicy Jack.
