Arts DEVO

Random lyric generator:

• Well, just look at that girl with the lights coming up in her eyes … No film has had more of an impact on my life than Fast Times at Ridgemont High. (In fact, Cameron Crowe’s book that the film was based on was the first—and, for many years, only—book I read all the way through.) I was in junior high when I sneaked into the R-rated flick at the Gateway theater in Anderson (a skill I’d finally perfected after being publicly spurned trying to cop some animated boobage from Heavy Metal and sneak into the showers of Porky’s). And upon emerging from the theater, the next four or so years of my life were mapped out: After multiple viewings, I memorized the lines and every new-wave, preppy, stoner, rocker style, and preceded to meander through my twisted vision of each fashion while fumbling my way through interacting with girls.

Thanks to the El Rey Theatre, I can relive the memories this Friday night (Feb. 5, 11 p.m.) during a late showing of Fast Times. Only this time, I’ll have a date.

• So just call on me brother, when you need a hand … Bill Withers has not been the most prolific American hit-maker, but he’s written and performed enough absolutely perfect songs to become a legend. At the top of the list are, of course, “Lean on Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine,” two of the smoothest, most memorable tunes in the pop and soul canon.

This Wednesday, Feb. 10, Still Bill, a documentary on the man’s life, will premiere at Chico State’s Harlen Adams Theatre. Music Department Chair Keith Seppanen (who is friends with Withers—the godfather of Seppanen’s son) will speak at the screening, which will be a fundraiser for the department. Tickets are $10-$12. Call 898-6333.

• That Queasy Weasel leading the Helltone Three, blasting those horns as loud as can be … Have you heard local band Brass Hysteria yet? If you’re starving for something different in the music scene, this banjo-plucking, gut-bucket-thumping, ska-punk-bluegrass-rockabilly crew with horns has just released its debut, Rural Sexual, and is plotting local shows throughout the spring semester. Hear and discover at www.myspace.com/brasshysteria.

• There’s a darkness on the edge of town … Chico’s artness is getting it from both sides: Not only did the North Chico warehouse art scene die off after the final show at The 46’s Highway 32 space, but it appears as though the South Chico warehouse art scene is also now a memory. As quickly as it opened in the wake of its predecessor TiON, The Frame arts space has quietly vacated its Ivy Street warehouse. Skyler Sabine, one of the space’s organizers, insists that The Frame as a community-arts instigator is not done, but has instead “merely freed itself from a ‘thing.’” Look for the culmination of some of The Frame’s projects to be running free around Chico in the months to come.

• We represent the lollipop guild … If you were wondering how the Blue Room was going to pull of the “Munchkin” part of its Munchkin POV version of The Wizard of Oz, here’s your visual featuring … actual Munchkins! Or, maybe it’s just regular-size actors with oversized props? Either way, Babylon Heights continues Thursday-Sunday, 7:30 p.m.