• 'I'm not stupid. I just can't read.'
"The 13 Lessons" is a revealing, multidisciplinary theater piece about adult illiteracy in our community, told from a variety of viewpoints in forceful and humorous scenes, song and dance.

• 'I'm not stupid. I just can't read.'
"The 13 Lessons" is a revealing, multidisciplinary theater piece about adult illiteracy in our community, told from a variety of viewpoints in forceful and humorous scenes, song and dance.

• WEDNESDAY'S CALENDAR
LITERARY EVENTS

• An American experience
HOLLYWOOD -- As Barack Obama prepares to become the first African-American to become his party's presidential nominee, it may seem a bit odd that he is neither the inspiration for the documentary "Black in America" airing on CNN this week, nor is he much of a character in either of the two two-hour installments.

• TUESDAY'S CALENDAR
LITERARY EVENTS

• Who dat in high-def
Cox Communications and Fox affiliate WVUE-Channel 8 announced an agreement Monday that will deliver WVUE's high-definition signal to New Orleans-area Cox subscribers.

• MONDAY'S CALENDAR
LITERARY EVENTS

• MONDAY'S CALENDAR
LITERARY EVENTS

• SUNDAY'S CALENDAR
SPECIAL EVENTS

• The fix-it man
Everything's going to be OK, New Orleans.

• MEDIA MAN
Saints owner Tom Benson took control of local Fox network affiliate WVUE-Channel 8 Friday through the media company he created earlier this year.

• SATURDAY'S CALENDAR
SPECIAL EVENTS

• 'Sun' is raunchy fun
It's one thing to satirize campy old movies and trivial TV series. But what happens when the renegade, perverse minds of Running With Scissors deconstruct a classic, serious-as-a-heart-attack film?

• 'Sun' is raunchy fun
It's one thing to satirize campy old movies and trivial TV series. But what happens when the renegade, perverse minds of Running With Scissors deconstruct a classic, serious-as-a-heart-attack film?

• 8 new cocktails
Swizzle Stick Bar

• Alcohol alfresco
The Bulldog

• Are you ready for a sports bar?
Cooter Brown's Tavern & Oyster Bar

• BEYOND THE BEIGNET
Doughnut-making is not a career for the late riser. Just consider that when Clint Williams arrived for work Monday at 7 a.m. at Coffee & in Marrero, he was late. By a lot.

• BRIEF SHINING LIGHT
It wasn't supposed to be this way.

• Concerts
Sunset at the Landing Concert -- Downtown Covington, Columbia Street Landing. The evening concert series features The Crimson Quintet Jazz Band, John Saavedra and Fuzion Folk and 'Bout It Brass Band, 6-9 tonight. Free. Concert-goers may bring chairs, food and beverages. Some seating provided. Call 985.892.1873.

• Dance the night away
Ampersand

• Drinking and drama, cocktails and comedy
Le Chat Noir

• Drink it in
In England and Ireland, they're called pubs, short for public houses, because they are often where the townsfolk gather not simply or even primarily to drink a pint, but to meet, mingle, converse and celebrate a sense of belonging.

• Famous drinks and where to get them
Arnaud's French 75 Bar

• Happy and gay
Bourbon Pub/Parade Disco

• Hotel bars that rock
The FQB

• Lagniappe's Bar Guide Contents
Tucked inside your Lagniappe this week is our take on 85 Great Places to Drink -- from the perfect place for a classic New Orleans cocktail to a hot-spot to dance all night. So, pull out this 24-page guide and let us tell you about great lounges, roadhouses and music halls. We'll help you answer that age-old question: Where should we go this weekend?

• Lounging with a view
The Green Room Bar

• Meet up after work
Lucy's Retired Surfer's Bar and Restaurant

• Metairie neighborhood joints
Gennaro's Bar

• Movies
NEW THIS WEEK

• No last-calls
Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge

• Now serving: New on the scene
Garden District Pub

• Only-in-New-Orleans Bars
Bullet's Sports Bar

• RARE RADIATORS
At the conclusion of "House of Blue Lights," a 1986 live recording featured on the Radiators' new two-disc retrospective "Wild & Free," singer/guitarist Dave Malone exclaims, "We got all the way through it!"

• Sing your heart out at Karaoke
Dino's Bar & Grill

• Sit and chat at these quiet spots
Clock Bar

• Special Events
Tales of the Cocktail -- Hotel Monteleone and other French Quarter locations. The culinary and cocktail festival continues through Sun. Tonight, The Royal Street Strut begins in the 200 block of Royal Street, 6-8:30, with businesses offering specialty cocktails, evening shopping and music. $45. The Tiki Block Party is Sat., 6-9, on the Fulton Street Promenade and features Polynesian drinks, food and music. $50. For a list of events, prices and a schedule of seminars, visit www.TalesoftheCocktail.com.

• Take a sip without the smoke
Felipe's

• WALKING IN NEW ORLEANS
Many New Orleanians know their way around local bars as if the route were taught in geography class, but if you missed a session or two, tour guide Joe Gendusa leads an afternoon of educational bar-hopping during this weekend's Tales of the Cocktail.

• Eight great Tales of the Cocktail events
Tales of the Cocktail is a homegrown festival that has become arguably the premier event for cocktail and spirit professionals and enthusiasts. Tales began on Wednesday with its series of cocktail-related dinners, parties, tastings, seminars and tours, all of which explore cocktail culture and how it intersects with the culinary world. The festival runs through this weekend.

• Nightclubs
Andrea's Capri Blu Lounge -- 3100 19th St., Metairie. 834.8583. Maryflynn Thomas and Rhodes Spedale, 8 Sat.

• Spare Notes
--- Peaches joins Odyssey downtown ---

• Stage Business
--- 'This Thing' at Tulane ---

• Exhibitions
Museums and galleries having openings or special events this week are indicated with a (DIAMOND). To read reviews, visit blog.nola.com/dougmaccash.

• Hot Picks
--- FRIDAY ---

• Thinking Outside the Box Office: 'War Games'
Want to feel old? It's been 25 years since the 1983 time-capsule film "War Games" -- the cyber-thriller featuring a fresh-faced Ally Sheedy and Matthew Broderick in his first big-screen lead role -- first hit theaters. ("Shall. We. Play. A. Game?")

• New on DVD
ARRIVING THIS WEEK

• Reel winners
Top 10

• Strung Out
Since "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" evolved into an addictive pop-culture phenomenon, game-makers are now shoving a new batch of "Guitar Hero" titles at us. They are almost perfectly crafted, but when they fall short, they fall way short.

• Dark Knight rising
Riddle me this, Bat-fans: If you've seen one superhero movie, haven't you really seen them all?

• Don't take a chance on 'Mamma Mia'
Toward the end of "Mamma Mia!" Meryl Streep stands on a secluded cliff, singing. You can tell it's secluded as there doesn't seem to be a director or choreographer present.

• 'Savage Grace' a sleazy look at the lives of the very rich
Fitzgerald was right -- the very rich are different from you and me.

• THE SURPRISE OF 'PRIVATE EYES'
It's fun being fooled by "Private Eyes."

• 'Great Weekend' in N.O.
As one of the Travel Channel's most-seen hosts, Samantha Brown has been everywhere and seen everything, and she has reached a conclusion about vacation length: Longer is not always better.

• THURSDAY'S CALENDAR
SPECIAL EVENTS

• 'Chuck' Carbo, 82, singer for the Spiders
Hayward "Chuck" Carbo, whose ultra-smooth baritone fronted 1950s New Orleans rhythm & blues quintet the Spiders, died July 11 after a long illness. He was 82.

• WEDNESDAY'S CALENDAR
SPECIAL EVENTS

• WEDNESDAY'S CALENDAR
SPECIAL EVENTS

• TUESDAY'S CALENDAR
LITERARY EVENTS

• After the levees broke
HOLLYWOOD -- Filmmaker Spike Lee confirmed last week that a sequel to his 2006 Hurricane Katrina HBO documentary "When the Levees Broke" is in the works, but no production timetable has been established.

• MONDAY'S CALENDAR
CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES

• SUNDAY'S CALENDAR
SPECIAL EVENTS

• Vandalism or art?
Businessman Jerry Schiffman said he was "just amazed." He'd assumed that the row of cavernous warehouses near his beverage distribution depot in Bywater had been unoccupied since the 2005 flood. But apparently there had been visitors. Amid the bird droppings and rust stains, he found the remnants of an underground nightclub of sorts. Judging by the signs near the back door, admission had been $2 and beer was a buck.

• Curtain call
In 1971, a 25-year-old Times-Picayune news reporter who also reviewed theater and movies took in the latest offering at Le Petit Theatre's Children's Corner.

• Curtain call
In 1971, a 25-year-old Times-Picayune news reporter who also reviewed theater and movies took in the latest offering at Le Petit Theatre's Children's Corner.

• Men at war
HOLLYWOOD -- HBO's "Generation Kill" engaged a hotel ballroom full of TV critics in Hollywood Thursday, but it was a different gathering of critics the night before that most mattered to the producers, writers and actors who made the gung-ho miniseries about the 2003 Iraq invasion.

• SATURDAY'S CALENDAR
SPECIAL EVENTS

• ART IN THE FAST LANE
Have you seen them? Sporty cars decorated with what looks like advertising, tooling down Claiborne Avenue or drawing a crowd on Bourbon Street? Cars decorated just like Doritos bags or Lemonhead boxes -- right down to the bar codes on the bumpers, the net weight and ingredient labels? My kids love to spot them.

• BOUNCE WITH A TWIST
As a West Jefferson High School student infatuated with local underground "bounce" rap, Rami Sharkey was thrilled every time Jerome Temple filled in as a substitute teacher. At night and on weekends, Temple became DJ Jubilee, the much-loved bounce pioneer.

• Concerts
Jazzercise International Fitness Convention Opening Night Show -- Ernest N. Morial Convention Center Auditorium, 900 Convention Center Blvd. The concert spotlights New Orleans jazz talent, featuring Charmaine Neville, Henry Butler, Amanda Shaw, Jimmy Thibodeaux, The Hot Club of New Orleans, Billy Iuso and the Restless Natives and The Giordano Dancers, 7:30 tonight. Tickets are $60 online at www.jazzercise.com, at the Tres Jazz Registration booth in the Convention Center, or call 800.348.4748.

• HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY
(STAR)(STAR)½

• 'KISS OF FIRE'
What: Dancers explore the history of the tango during a benefit for Save the Children, featuring 13 tango performances, a live auction as well as open dancing.

• 'MEET DAVE'
NEW THIS WEEK

• Quick Bites
--- Chef change at La Provence ---

• Special Events
Louisiana Catfish Festival -- St. Gertrude Catholic Church, 17292 Highway 631, Des Allemands, Music, dancing, food, games, crafts, rides, a 5K run (7:30 a.m. Sat.), catfish-cooking and catfish-eating contests, 5-11 today; 10 a.m.-11 Sat; 11 a.m.-9 Sun. Free admission. Call 985.758.7542.

• Theater
NEW ONSTAGE

• THE RISE OF 'SHINE
One doesn't take an interest in moonshine without acquiring at least one story relating to its potency.

• Family Affairs
--- Get in on the act ---

• 'Here Come the Girls' and Ernie K-Doe
Against all odds, Ernie K-Doe is burning once again.

• 'Here Come the Girls' and Ernie K-Doe
Against all odds, Ernie K-Doe is burning once again.

• Nightclubs
Andrea's Capri Blu Lounge -- 3100 19th St., Metairie. 834.8583. Maryflynn Thomas and Rhodes Spedale, 8 Sat.

• Spare Notes
--- Big J, 1948-2008 ---

• Stage Business
--- 'Another Op'nin' ---

• Exhibitions
Museums and galleries having openings or special events this week are indicated with a (DIAMOND). To read reviews, visit blog.nola.com/dougmaccash.

• Hot Picks
--- FRIDAY ---

• THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI
(STAR)(STAR)

• Short subjects
'Kit Kittredge' is a doll

• Screen acting will be the focus of UNO clinic
West Coast acting coach John Homa, who counts Kirsten Dunst and Jennifer Love Hewitt among his students, is coming to New Orleans for an acting clinic for local aspiring TV and film actors.

• LOADED FOR BEAR
Guns, guns, guns. The Supreme Court says they're as desirable as apple pie. They're certainly advantageous in video games.

• Reel winners
Top 10 at the box office

• RUNNING ON EMPTY
"College Road Trip" opened in theaters this spring without being shown to critics in advance -- never a good sign.

• The action hero as nice guy
In the terse, tough-guy lexicon of '40s movies, Brendan Fraser is what you'd call a "lovable lug."

• FRENCH FILM FESTIVAL NEW ORLEANS 2008
A trip to France? Now? Are you kidding? Mon Dieu! Have you seen what the dollar's doing against the euro?

• MUSICAL COMICS
--- CRACKING CORNPONE ---

• THRILLING TRIP
--- THRILL RIDE ---