Oh, Barbarella, how do we love thee? Let us count the ways: The opening, zero-gravity striptease. The freaky, psychedelic soundtrack. The totally brilliant-yet-cheesy special effects. A villain named Duran Duran (that would be the perfect name for a band, by the way). A fifth columnist named Dildano (p.s., another great band name). The master thespian John Phillip Law. Italian mountain of machismo Ugo Tognazzi. So many genius elements to this Roger Vadim sci-fi epic, and yet the final picture is somehow sub-genius. Still, Jane Fonda is vampy 'n' campy, the action is stilted but fun, and the film raises a lot of interesting questions (no, it doesn't; but Jane Fonda's striptease will raise heart rates). Barbarella screens at 8 p.m. at the Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood; 314-241-2337). Admission is $4. Love!
Thursday, October 6
Wait, you don't have to tell Night & Day how awesome you are; we already know. We understand that you want to be seen in just the right places, but you never want to be first -- you don't want to give off the sad vibe of "too eager." Instead, you, loyal Night & Day reader, try to project an aura of calm, collected -- cool. So now that it's been nearly three weeks since the new lady-centric exhibits (Cindy Sherman: Working Girl and Girls' Night Out) opened at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (3750 Washington Boulevard; 314-535-4660 or www.contemporarystl.org), don't you think it's about time you paid the spectacular space and shows a visit? Thought so. Well, tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. (or really a casual 8 to 9 p.m. for you), the museum hosts the free Select Night (occurring on the first Thursday of every month through March), which offers $1 Bud Selects and free food from Kitchen K. (Free stuff is still cool, right? Good.) Plus, the RFT's own Randall Roberts will be providing the evening's soundtrack (and he's the master of cool).
Friday, October 7
At his day job, Jon Cournoyer gets to appreciate some of the finest works of art in the city (he's the head graphic designer at the Saint Louis Art Museum). So it's no surprise that his own work is rather striking as well. Creating collages of pages from old children's books and layers of silk screen, Cournoyer builds windows into a dreamy and vaguely threatening (in the Grimms' fairytale sense) but still childlike world. And after all the work of designing and laying out his pieces, he only prints them in very small runs. Cournoyer shows a selection of his exclusive and exquisite pieces as part of the Four J's show at Hoffman LaChance Fine Art (7533 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton; 314-960-5322 or www.hoffmanlachancefineart.com). The other three J's are Jeff Lockheed (the man behind the Venice Café), Janiece Senn (working in mixed-media sculpture) and Jacqueline Niebylski (a painter of atmosphere). The show opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m., and Four J's remains up through November 3.
Saturday, October 8
Frequent Night & Day Global Industries contributor Ian Froeb is a University of Maryland alumnus; Mr. Night hails from a long line of Navy men. Ergo, both Froeb and Night shall be at the Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton (1 Soccer Park Road) for the annual Lacrosse Fall Face-Off, cheering their respective lacrosse squads on to victory. Froeb, of course, stumps for Maryland's Terrapins, which is just a fancy name for a turtle (what an excellent animal for the fast-paced game of lacrosse; in case you didn't know, Froeb, that's sarcasm); the Turtles play Ohio State at 2 p.m. Night throws his support behind the Naval Academy Midshipmen, who shall board and keelhaul the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the noon opener. Fortunately for Froeb's pride, the Midshipmen won't have a shot at the Terrapins, as the hard-drinkin', quick-scoring Midshipmen would make fast work of those uppity turtles. Tickets for both games are $10 and are available by calling 314-991-7999.
Sunday, October 9
All this getting-up-at-dawn shit has really wore you plumb out! Your fingers are so callused and swollen that everyone's been calling you "Oven-Mitt Hands" (not nice). And then, the other day that damn combine done broke down again, and you were out of commission until the noonday meal (you know, dinner). But hooray, the harvest is finally over, and your winter sleep can begin -- after this weekend. You need to celebrate all your hard work! You need to go to the Harvest Festival at the Shaw Nature Reserve (Highway 100 and I-44, exit 253, Gray Summit; 636-451-3512)! There, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., you'll find enough food to last you through your hibernation, like goodies from Café Provençal, Kaldi's, Eleven Eleven Mississippi and more. And in addition to the live music, petting zoo and hayrides, there's also a farmers' market to further help you stock up for the off-season. Admission to the fest is $4 to $5; for more information visit www.harvestfeststl.com.
Monday, October 10
With the long-awaited arrival of fall (or, at least, fall-like weather), we have a hankering to do some drinkering, preferably on a porch. But the office has no porch, and Mr. Night has had his fire-escape privileges revoked by The Man. Well, The Man got no control over the Cabin Inn at the City Museum (701 North 15th Street; 314-664-2698 or www.citymuseum.org), and the Cabin has a bar and a porch. Even better, there's no cover. And better still, the Cabin Inn is open on Monday (from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.), even when the City Museum is closed. That means you can drink on the porch in the cool autumn breeze in the company of other porch-less but thirsty adults without any of those meddlin' kids messing things up. Ah, the Cabin Inn: You're the porch of our dreams.
Tuesday, October 11
As the Atrium Gallery begins its third chapter at its third location -- the Central West End (specifically, 4729 McPherson Avenue, a.k.a. Elliot Smith's old space) -- it celebrates with a grand-opening party on Friday, October 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. At this event three new shows will be unveiled, but you will barely be able to check out the artwork for the crowds! So go back today: The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday. Now, you'll be able to really examine the three-dimensional hanging works by Katy Stone in her show, Fluidity. And in Jeanine Coupe Ryding's show, Play by the Inland Sea, take a closer look (or an unobstructed faraway one) at her large woodcut prints. But if you're just dying to have a peek at more photography by Columbia, Missouri's Avery Danziger, the artist responsible for the photo Eye of God on the facing page, today's a good day for that, too. Danziger's show, Water Babies, and the others' works remain on view through November 27; visit www.atriumgallery.net or call 314-367-1076 for more.
