· Local art-scene wunderkind Mark Bradford's rooftop installation—a Katrina-evoking sign visible only from the sky that says "HELP US"—continues at the Steve Turner Contemporary Gallery. Sums things up nicely, we'd say.

· The 99¢ Only Calendar Girl Competition is a beauty contest in which the contestants are dressed in the finest wares available at a 99¢ Only store. "Why yes! This bikini top IS made of two spaghetti strainers."
· Pippin, the trippy '70s musical, opens the Mark Taper Forum 2009 season, with a production from Deaf West Theatre and the Center Theatre Group. If you've never seen Sammy Davis Jr.'s "Rhythm of Life" from the movie version Sweet Charity (Fosse + psychedelic + black dude singing and dancing = close enough)—check it out. They were doing "Thriller" moves way before "Thriller."