friday 11|21

Darkness on the Edge of Town

POLAROID STORIES Older folks, the addicted and the mentally ill are not the only people living on the streets and in the dark corners. Kids end up out there too. Based on interviews with young prostitutes and others who live on the outskirts of society, Polaroid Stories portrays the life of America's homeless youth. This play, inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses and written by Naomi Iizukahis, is part of a series of events commemorating National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. [AS]

8pm Friday and Saturday, 2pm Sunday. World Theater, Cal State Monterey Bay, Building 28, Sixth Avenue, Seaside. $10/general public, $8/CSUMB staff, faculty and seniors, $5/ students with ID. Parking free in Lot 28. 582-3750, ext. 4.

Range Rover

MIKE BECK ON ARDEN'S GARDEN There are certain occupations that are sure to produce some interesting stories. While staying awake at a convenience store during the graveyard shift and cashiering at an adult book are sure to reveal the seedy underside of human nature, working the range as a cowboy is a good old-fashioned way to collect a few tales. Montana cowboy Mike Beck, a featured performer at the National Cowboy Gathering in Nevada, is known for putting stories of the range in his songs. Watch Beck and his band perform at a taping for the Access Monterey Peninsula TV show, "Arden's Garden." [ST]

7pm. Community Media Center, 2200 Garden Rd., Monterey. Donation suggested. For advance reservations, call 372-6480.

Acoustic World Music

GYPSY SOUL Informed by years of traveling around the world, Roman Morykit and Cilette Swann create music that sounds like a cross between Celtic, folk and new age. The duo's soothing songs have been used in television shows ranging from "Providence" to "Felicity." The group has performed at the Troubadour in Los Angeles and the 1995 Edinburgh Festival. Tonight, the group is playing to raise money for the Pacific Grove Art Center. [ST]

8pm. Pacific Grove Art Center, 568 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. $15. 375-2208.

Musical Vintage

ENSEMBLE MONTEREY Classical music is no stranger to Monterey County, where half a dozen talented groups perform and the world-famous Carmel Bach Festival is held every summer. But Ensemble Monterey will not perform Bach this weekend. Instead, the 40-member orchestra, led by Dr. John Anderson, will entertain its Salinas and Carmel audiences with Johannes Brahms' Serenade No. 2 and Gordon Jacobs' Old Wine in New Bottles. The concert also includes Martinu's lively Nonet for strings and winds. These selections should showcase the chamber group's unique sound and the beautiful settings of the Madonna del Sasso Church and Sunset Center. [CC]

Friday, 8pm. Madonna del Sasso Church, 320 E. Laurel St., Salinas. $22. Saturday, 8pm. Sunset Center, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel. $25. 333-1283.

Get Trashed

TRAILER TRASH TRUCKER PARTY Take off your John Deere cap and let your mullet blow in the breeze. Tonight, all of Club Octane will be transformed into a trailer park decorated with hubcaps, pink flamingos and garden gnomes. The first 50 people will receive free pine-scented air fresheners, and everyone will be able to compete for a free oil change or a gift certificate to Kmart. The real prize is that Pabst Blue Ribbon will be available for 50 cents at 9pm and will go up another 50 cents every half hour. Costumes are encouraged. [ST]

9pm. Club Octane, 321 Alvarado St., Monterey. $10/front room; no cover/Lava Lounge. 646-9244.

saturday 11|22

Yippie Yi Yay

DON'T FENCE ME IN Mosey on down to the Ariel Theater for a barbershop western spoof, Don't Fence Me In, told by cowboy poet Mick Vernon. It's the tale of an endangered maid, Sioux City Sue, who's threatened by an unscrupulous villain (Boo! Hiss!), and ultimately saved by the hero, Ragtime Cowboy Joe (Hurrah!). Old West music, sung by the Monterey County Cypressaires and guest performers accompanies the performance. [JL]

2pm matinee, $10. 7:30pm evening performance, $15. Ariel Theater, 320 Main St., Salinas. 375-3325 or 449-5283.

Two Giants in One Trio

BILL CUNLIFFE PLAYS BUD POWELL There is no shortage of testimonials to the tremendous talent of jazz pianist Bill Cunliffe, starting with his first place triumph at the 1989 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. He's been a leading figure on the Southern California jazz scene ever since, a first-call sideman who performs regularly with heavyweights like Freddie Hubbard, Art Farmer, James Moody, Bobby Watson, the Clayton Brothers and Joshua Redman. And as a leader he's recorded a half-dozen excellent sessions, most recently a bebop workout interpreting the music of Bud Powell, Bill Plays Bud (Naxos Jazz), which is the repertoire he'll be exploring on Saturday with his superlative trio, featuring bassist Darek Oles and drummer Joe LaBarbera (best known for his long stint with piano legend Bill Evans). [AG]

7:30pm, The Jazz and Blues Company, 236 Crossroads Blvd., Carmel, $35; students under 18 half price; BYOB; 624-6432.

The Son Also Rises

THOMAS STEINBECK The name Steinbeck rings loudly in Monterey County, bringing to mind evocative descriptions of migrant and cannery workers, and rural life by John Steinbeck. A second writer has emerged, John's son Thom, who has published a collection of short stories, Down to a Soundless Sea, based largely on the Monterey Peninsula. Starting his career as a cinematographer and photojournalist, Thom Steinbeck was recently interviewed on Oprah about his dad and his own writing. He astutely observes in Sing Fat and the Imperial Duchess of Woo, "A few denizens of the Big Sur were now and then molded by events into locally celebrated figures, while still others, by design, focused all their native genius on remaining unobtrusive, if not invisible." No such luck for Steinbeck, who does a reading at Thunderbird Bookstore. [CC]

4pm. Thunderbird Bookstore, The Barnyard, Highway 1, Carmel. 624-1803.

To Market To Market

AMERICAN INDIAN ART It's never too early to get a head start on holiday shopping, right? And hey, it's a great excuse to check out original jewelry, traditional paintings, and flute music while snacking on parched corn. Yes, the American Indian Art Market returns of the Museum of Natural History. According to artist Black Eagle, who, along with his wife, Medicine Bundle founded the market, "Today is a good day to buy." We'll take his word for it and buy ourselves, err, our family members a blanket, or a woodcarving, or a silver bracelet or two. [JL]

10am-5pm, today and Sunday. Museum of Natural History, 165 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove. Free. 648-5716.

sunday 11|23

Youthful Music

YOUTH MUSIC MONTEREY Children who display a great talent at an early age are often marked with the description "prodigy." The 120 young members of the Youth and Honors orchestras, and especially this concert's violin soloist, could easily claim that title. Caroline Campbell, who won the Carmel Music Society's Competition Award last year, first performed at the age of 8. She's now a 23-year-old student at Stanford. The Youth Music Monterey Honors Orchestra will back her up in the Sunset Center, performing Sibelius' Violin Concerto, and pieces by Rossini and Bizet. More than 20 new members, such as Grace Forrest and Jacob Coombs, will join the Youth Orchestra in playing Corelli's Little Suite for Orchestra, and songs by Grieg and Tchaikovsky. Who knows, maybe someday these youngsters will show up in the CMS music competition! [CC]

3pm. Sunset Center, San Carlos and 9th, Carmel. $10/general, $8/seniors, $5/students and kids. 375-1992.

Kids Are People Too

KIDS' CONCERT WITH CATHY FINK AND MARCY MARXER Kids are much more sophisticated than we give them credit for. Take musical preferences, for instance. I used to subject my little ones and myself to nightmarish CDs like Elmopalooza until I realized my preschoolers much prefer "mommy mus-kick" to "L is for Lightbulb." Grammy-nominated folk and bluegrass artists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer understand this, and offer a family concert at the Monterey Library, that, while kid-oriented, also promises to be musically sophisticated. [BW]

2:30pm. Community Room, Monterey Public Library, 625 Pacific St., Monterey. Free, but tickets required and limited, get tickets at the youth services desk an hour before the concert on a first-come, first-served basis. 646-3934.

monday 11|24

For the Birds

MEET THE PENGUINS AT THE AQUARIUM No, they're not native to the Monterey Bay, but they sure are cute. Limpopo, Karoo and Seekoei, South African blackfooted penguins, leave their enclosure today, Tuesday, and Wednesday to meet the press, in this case, kids and their families. Youngsters under 12 will get penguin coloring books, photos with a penguin character, and bird films and a penguin Q-and-A will be offered to all ages. If that's not enough excitement for one afternoon, leave the birds and check out the fish, Leafy Sea Dragons, Moray eels, and sharks. [BW]

Shows are 11:30am and noon, Aquarium is open 10am-6pm. Penguin Show included in price of admission: $17.95/adult, $15.95/student and senior, $8.95/child, free/under three. Splash Zone area at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, 886 Cannery Row, Monterey. 648-4800.