Get Busy: The Best Things to Do This Week

Wednesday, Sept. 28

Mike Richardson

The Dark Horse comics founder speaks! He doesn't give many interviews, so this is your chance to ask him pressing questions about Aliens vs. Predator or Concrete. Oregon Historical Society, 1200 SW Park Ave. Noon. Free

Related: Dark Horse Comics' Secret Origins—as Told by the People Who Were There 30 Years Ago

Lompoc Shrimp Boil

Lompoc is holdin' a good ol'-fashioned shrimp boil—and doing it on the cheap. Five bucks gets you both a pint of beer and a bowl of shrimp, sausage, corn and potato—and there will be other barbecue specials inside. Lompoc 5th Quadrant, 3901 N Williams Ave., lompocbrewing.com. 4 pm.

Thursday, Sept. 29

Mr. Pig

Join Portland's Latin American Film Festival for a party and screening of Diego Luna's newest. Mr. Pig tells the story of a California pig farmer trying to smuggle his last, precious porker across the border to Mexico. After-party at Magnolia's Corner, a vegan-friendly establishment. Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy Blvd., hollywoodtheatre.org. 7 pm. $9.

Dinosaur Jr.

Fun fact: The Dinosaur Jr. reunion has now outlasted the original trio's initial run together. And it's continuing to produce music far better than it has any right to be. Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not, the band's 11th album, is another fuming blast of riffage and melody that reminds just how miraculous the past decade of their partnership has been. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 503-225-0047. 8 pm. $25 advance, $30 day of show. All ages.

Friday, Sept. 30

Portland Fresh Hops Fest

This annual beer fest at Oaks Park is always late to the party, but it's the biggest fresh hops fest in Portland. Expect 60 different fresh-hop beers. Oaks Park, 7805 SE Oaks Park Way. 5-9 pm Friday, noon-8 pm Saturday. $20 for a glass and eight drink tickets. 21+ Friday, under 21 allowed till 5 pm Saturday.

Jonathan Safran Foer

The insufferable boy hero of literature and Michelle Williams paramour comes to Portland to be himself at Powell's, reading a book that's like being trapped in an eternal argument under sexless sheets. Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., powells.com. 7 pm. Free.

Saturday, October 1

Dj Shadow

So the Avalanches album was kind of a letdown, but the man who originally elevated sampling to high art has been the model of consistency for the last two decades. And even if his latest album, The Mountain Will Fall, doesn't reach the heights of his 1996 masterpiece, Endtroducing,…well, what the hell does? Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th Ave., 971-230-0033. 9 pm. $25. 21+.

The Wedge

Each year, about 50 different cheese and meat and jam makers from across the state show up and hand out their stuff on the street. The $20 admission will get you the biggest cheese board in all of Oregon. Green Dragon, 928 SE 9th Ave., thewedgeportland.com. 11 am-5 pm. $20 includes $5 voucher to buy cheese.

Sunday, October 2

Starship Troopers

The jury is still out whether Paul Verhoeven's 1997 dystopian sci-fi war flick was a straight-faced send-up of libertarian author Robert A. Heinlein's "eccentric" source material, or a dumb blockbuster about alien bugs that suck out your brains. Either way, Starship Troopers is, like Verhoeven's Robocop and Total Recall before it, pure blood-splattered mayhem. NW Film Center's Whitsell Auditorium, 934 SW Salmon St., 503-221-1156. 7 pm. $9.

Blazers Fan Fest

Oh, basketball, we thought you'd never return! Sure, the only on-court action is an intra-squad scrimmage, but at this point, we'll take what we can get. And besides, it's never too early to start regretting giving Evan Turner all that money. Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St., nba.com/blazers/fanfest. 3 pm. Free. All ages.

Monday, October 3

Mean Girls Day

He asked us what day it was. And OMG, we told him it's Oct. 3. We died inside. Now we're, like, dating. Anyway, it' s Mean Girls Day. Celebrate with a three-way phone call. Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan St., 503-223-4527. 5:30, 7:30 and 9:30 pm. $4 adults, $3 kids.

Ngugi Wa Thiong'o

A novelist, journalist and playwright whose work once put him in prison, Ngugi wa Thiong'o is one of Kenya's most important living writers. After his family was torn apart by the Mau Mau War, Ngugi enrolled in college and eventually wrote a memoir called Birth of a Dream Weaver. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., powells.com. 7:30 pm. Free.

King

The L.A. trio, comprising singer Anita Bias and twin sisters Paris and Amber Strother, makes some of the best mood music imaginable, anchored in silken testimonials to the enduring power of love that are as smooth as Sade and sensuous as Prince's most lustful moments. Doug Fir Lounge, 803 E Burnside St., 503-231-9663. 9 pm. $17 advance, $20 day of show. 21+.

Andrew W.K.: The Power of Partying

Andrew W.K. is head-banging philosopher, a paragon of positivity, and a raging, sweaty, sometimes bloody ball of light. (He's also musician, but that's pretty far down his résumé.) On this speaking tour, he discusses his favorite subject—partying—and the liberation of living life as a never-ending kegger. Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark St., No. 110, 503-288-3895. 8 pm. $20 advance, $23 day of show. All ages.

Willamette Week