A/E Highlights

Fistful of First Friday

Yes, we're officially scraping the bottom of the First Friday Headline Barrel now. Wasn't this supposed to have an exciting and tantalizing couple of months and then quietly die out? We don't know what to do with cultural success. It confuses us.

For those of you who still don't know, First Friday is the monthly cultural event in the downtown arts district. It features gallery openings, live music, open studios, assorted live performances and other hard-to-categorize stuff. The event goes from 6-10 p.m. This month, Colorado Avenue will be closed off from Third to Main, creating a mini-street fair with artist booths, live music by surf band Vista Four, plus food, beer and wine for sale.

The Funk House will have Visions of Home, featuring nature photography by rock climber Matt Theilen. Across the street, Dray's Place will have its second show. Around the corner at its new location at 1221 S. Main, Dust has Working Title: Paint Draw, featuring local artists as well as artists from New York and L.A. S2Art, at Charleston and Main, will have The Golden Age of the Poster, featuring late 19th and early 20th century poster designs that blur the line between mass-produced and fine art. The artists include Lautrec, Beardsley and Klimt. Also, as always there will be lithography demonstrations on their century-old presses.

The Arts Factory will have new shows in all venues, including The Contemporary Arts Collective's Lost Vegas, featuring documentary photography of residents and landscape along East Fremont Street by L.A. photographer Greg Segal and Found, landscape photography by Las Vegan Ana Maria Rodriguez. Rodriguez will be discussing her work at the more intimate Arts Factory's Sunday Brunch, from noon to 2 p.m. Cricket Studio & Face Up Gallery, the Capital H Gallery, the Cube Gallery, the Stephen Spann Gallery and the Zollar Gallery will have open galleries. 5ive Finger Miscount (or as we like to think of them, five-syllable spell-check) will feature the art of Casey Weldon. SEAT (Social Experimentation and Absurd Theater) will have free performances of Reel 11.5. They will also be performing Albert Camus' Caligula at 11 p.m. Tickets are $10 Info: 736-4313.

As always, this only covers a fraction of the shows and events. We recommend starting at the Funk House at 1228 S. Casino Center or the Arts Factory at 101 E. Charleston, where complete schedules and maps are available. Info: 678-6278 or 384-0092, or www.whirlygiglasvegas.org.

Beware the bikini whale

Not to mention the piranhas, dogfish and the inevitable rock lobsters. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, the original art school costume-rockers are back in town. The B-52's play at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Mandalay Beach. Tickets are $40. Info: 632-7580.

Set phasers on `Jackson Pollock'

Forget about the music, Cypress Hill has a new message: Paintball's where it's at, y'all. They're spreading this message with their Stoned Assassins paintball team. As a special treat, at tonight's show they'll be whipping out their Co2-powered monstrosities and pelting the audience with glycerin-jacketed paint at more than 280 mph and 300 rounds a minu...oh, they can't? Damn insurance lawyers. They kill all our fun. Cypress Hill plays at 7 tonight at the House of Blues. Tickets $28-38. Info: 632-7600.

Dance, dance like an oil painting

We don't make this up. American Flamenco Theater and Clark County will present "Los Disparates de Flamenco," a new show inspired by Goya's series of paintings titled "Los Disparates" at 2 p.m. Saturday at Winchester Cultural Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive. Tickets are $7. Seniors and children under 12 are $5. Info: 455-7340.

Enough with the rhetorical questions!

Yes, you whining little nancy boy, that is a dagger you see before you. Now, off yourself, off your scumbag uncle (who's banging your mom, by the way) or put it back in the drawer, next to the salad tongs and the pizza cutter. The Nevada Theatre Company performs Hamlet at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday at the Summerlin Centre Community Park, 1800 Town Center Drive. There's a 7:30 p.m. greenshow. Tickets are $14 for foreign peasants and $10 for residents of the grand duchy of Summerlin. Info: 791-4412.

Are sitcoms worse than cancer?

The last couple of times through town, Robert Schimmel has been doing his cancer survivor shtick. He had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which really sucked, but now he's better. In fact, he's nearing his three-year mark of complete remission. Since he found comfort in CDs and audiobooks, he asking his fans and those who would like to help a worthy cause to donate new or used ones to local cancer infusion centers. He'll drop them off, purchasing portable audio players if necessary, to help others through their treatment. Collection bins will be available at the Lance Burton Theatre during his performances. That's great, but now he's developing a sitcom, which means that the next time we see him, chances are he'll be lumpy, bland and telling "hilarious" jokes about those pesky last-minute script changes. See him now while he still has some edge. He's plays at 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, as well as June 11-12. Tickets are $35.75 and $44. Adults only. Info: 730-7160.

Rule #1: Thwart evil, little dudes

Ah, the sweet memories of youth. How fondly we remember going to a mall to shake the gloved hand of a superhero. Deep down, we knew it wasn't really Spider-Man, just some pathetic struggling actor in an uncomfortable and poorly crafted costume, but we didn't care. For just a few minutes, we could willingly suspend our disbelief and pretend we lived in that beautiful four-color world. True, we were in college at the time, but it works for younger kids, too. Spider-Man, Wolverine and Spider-Girl will perform "How to Be a Superhero!" in the food court of the Galleria Mall at 1300 Sunset Road. Showtimes are 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Each show is 30 minutes, followed by a one-hour meet-and-greet. The event is free. Info: 434-0202.