Entertainment round-up

Yikes, I've gotten behind. Well, I've been a bit busy and haven't made it to anything other than the Kansas game. We don't need to talk about that, or Cyclone football in general. Then again, we do, because this weekend is the Nebraska game, and regardless of whether you're a fan or not, this affects everyone in the neighborhood. The Iowa game, which is here in Ames in odd years, has a reputation for the out-of-town guests sometimes getting out of hand (or at least being higher profile, since there are so many.) Huskers, whom we host in the even-numbered years, are just as bad both in terms of numbers and collective respect for property. Be prepared. Whatever you do in terms of signs, minimizing the potential for vandalism, and Sunday morning cleanup -- make sure you're ready for it.

Besides going to the Nebraska game Saturday, I'll be at the bar formerly known as Peoples (Papa's Corner) on Friday -- the local band playing that night has a friend in it. No solid plans other than that, but I will review anything I do make it to.

Besides the football game, there's volleyball Wednesday and soccer Friday.

If you've got kids, Rieman has an event involving various mascots and Halloween activities on Sunday. Thursday at 8 they have a lecture by an author who writes about ethnic Americans and how they express and transmit their culture through gardening.

In music, there's a concert Sunday night by the Ames Piano Quartet featuring a work by Felix Mendelssohn at Music Hall, and a Mexican group at Stephens on Friday (only $10). The M-shop has something going on pretty much every night this week, check out their website for prices, showtimes, and to get links to bands' sites. And from the category of "Buy tickets now" (even though the event isn't for another 2 weeks): BB King at Stephens on the 29th.

The movies in the neighborhood are an adaptation of an autobiography of a British writer in New York, which has gotten bad reviews; and a historical piece starting Kira Knightley as an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had similar marital difficulties.

One Greek philanthropy - "Crescent Cakes" at Gamma Phi Beta Sunday morning. I'm guessing that means pancakes since it's breakfast.

The big event (besides Nebraska) is in Lectures: John Kerry (isn't it great to be in a swing state?) on Wednesday. If you want a different political perspective, an editor from The National Review will be promoting his book, Liberal Fascism, on Thursday. There are also lectures tonight on sustainable agriculture in the Great Hall, and immigration in the Sun Room; tomorrow on food and health; photography of the white house; and marketing in Hollywood (that last one given by an alumnus who worked on the promotional campaigns for Braveheart and Titanic); and two others on Thursday (besides the national review guy and the gardens) on environmental impacts of ethanol production, and global citizenship.