READING—Dan Kennedy has been mastering the art of humor writing for more than a decade with his delightful, involved pieces in McSweeney's. He also knows how to work a crowd (see: popular storytelling series The Moth). Go to tonight's reading—from Kennedy's debut novel American Spirit—to see the man brandishing his multiple and considerable talents in one place. DVH
Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 7:30 pm, FREE

K-POP—If you're unfamiliar with K-pop (Korean pop music), it's jammed full of sugary mind-blasting eye candy that's SO fun to hear and watch. Tonight Holocene and Redefine magazine present Fantastic Baby: The Opulent Kingdom of Contemporary K-Pop—a discussion panel and video series featuring smarty-pants talk about the genre, AND plenty of yummy-tummy video examples! WSH
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7 pm, $5

From outside, the annoyingly capitalized Rose Festival CityFair at Waterfront Park seems exactly like the midways of my childhood: the same creaky rides, crooked games, and sad looking temporary workers. But maybe I'm just a grump and there really is a huge world of fun behind that movable fencing. I decided to find out.

The first and most exciting part about CityFair is you get to pay to get in. It's $7 at the door and that price includes full permission to walk around and see all the things you can pay for! It's like paying to get into a mall! Wheeee!

The only things that don't cost extra are being recruited by the Army and visiting the Alaska Airlines booth and pretending to have health insurance.

I was thrilled to learn that double billing for the attractions wasn't enough to cover the cost of killing all the waterfront grass so CityFair had to go out and get corporate sponsors too. Without Alaska Airlines and City (O) paying them money, they would never be able to afford to charge you to get to the part where you can pay them. It's a great deal!

It only gets better once you're past the ticket booth, so keep your hands and arms inside the blog after the jump!

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MUSIC VIDEO FEST—The second annual Portland Music Video Festival makes MTV's '80s heyday look like a pile of cold dog vomit. This curated collection has two programs of videos featuring work from the Pacific Northwest and abroad, followed by an awards ceremony and an afterparty at the Moon & Sixpence. No one's killing the video star. CF
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 6 pm, $7

COMEDY—Natasha Leggero takes on America's fucked-up class issues from the inside—or at least as close to the inside as a brilliantly dark, gleefully twisted stand-up comedian can get. Always impeccably put together, Leggero combines glamor and a razor wit like nobody else. AH
w/Barbara Holm, Jason Traeger; Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, 8 pm, $20-25

COMIC BOOKS—DC Comics originally hired Ender's Game author/homophobic bigot Orson Scott Card to write a story in their new Adventures of Superman. Controversy ensued, and Card's contribution was quickly cut—Floating World Comics is celebrating the now hate-free comic's release with a signing featuring great local writer Jeff Parker! Plus, proceeds will go to LGBT charity allout.org! Hooray! EH
Floating World Comics, 400 NW Couch, 5-7 pm, FREE

MUSIC—Holy Fire, Foals' third record, delves into ambitious, atmospheric waters while retaining the schizophrenic precision that has earned them near-universal acclaim in their native England. With a deserved reputation as an enthralling live act to boot, it's only a matter of time before they're headlining festivals on this side of the pond. AR
w/Surfer Blood, Blondfire; Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, 9 pm, $18-20, all ages

GRINDHOUSE FILM—The 1988 Indonesian film Lady Terminator is a cuckoo crazy grindhouse flick. It's full of '80s wackiness, so much shooting, and a vengeful murderess. She's pretty classy, what with her leather jacket and her huge gun and her man-castrating vagina eel. Hahahaha, YES! A VAGINA EEL! CF
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, 7:30 pm, $8

SCIENCE!—A new series from the creator of the popular OMSI Science Pubs, Nerd Nite boasts experts talking expertly on topics ranging from tattoos to face recognition to stem cells. All YOU have to do is show up, sip a beer, and nod knowingly. AH
Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan, 7 pm, $8

MUSIC—Steven Ellison, AKA Flying Lotus, makes sounds with his laptop you'd be hard pressed to duplicate with a bottle of Adderall and limitless magical powers. It's meticulous, vaguely experimental stuff—jarring on first listen, but familiar soon enough. And Lotus' work is only going to get more familiar—he'll have his own dedicated radio station in the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V. DVH
w/Thundercat, Teebs; Roseland, 8 NW 6th, 9 pm, $20, all ages

ROSE FEST—Portland's annual Rose Festival is underway, which means a ton of excitement on the waterfront in the form of CityFair. TO WIT: concerts at the terribly named RoZone stage this weekend featuring Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (Saturday) and Fitz and the Tantrums (Sunday); tons of stomach-churning rides and elephant ears; live exotic animals (!!); and tonight, fireworks! WSH
Waterfront Park, 1020 SW Naito, Fri 5-11 pm, fireworks at dusk, $7; Edward Sharpe, Sat 6 pm, $25; Fitz, Sun 6 pm, $25; fireworks tonight at dusk

The outlook on this holiday weekend's weather doesn't exactly scream "block party" in the sense of flippin' burgers in the street with your neighbor Roy. The businesses in the West End of downtown are doing one anyway, but luckily every single one of them has a roof. Click over for the details on three days of shenanigans.

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COMIC BOOKS—Two of the best artists working today, Brazilian twin brothers Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon have created some extraordinary comics, from Daytripper to De:Tales, and they've also brought vibrant life to Casanova (written by Matt Fraction) and The Umbrella Academy (written by Gerard Way). Tonight, they're in town for a rare signing—and there'll be free beer and appetizers. EH
Things from Another World, 2916 NE Broadway, 7 pm, FREE

MUSIC—Given the common ground they share, it should come as no surprise that Red Fang and Gaytheist find themselves on the same bill. Both put out pummeling, intelligent music that'll make you lose your shit, play destructively sweaty live shows, and enjoy the status of beloved local heroes for their troubles. Mullets encouraged. AR
White Owl Social Club, 1305 SE 8th, 9 pm, $15

BOOKS—Contemporary science-fiction authors don't get much bigger than John Scalzi, and for good reason: His books are exciting, clever, and speed by in a blur of emotion and laser blasts. Tonight he's in town to talk about his latest, The Human Division—and if past readings are any indication, Scalzi will be as engaging and charming as ever. EH
Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills, Beaverton, 7 pm, FREE

ONE-MAN SHOW—Ever since Mike Daisey's whole "lying to everyone" scandal regarding his research of Apple product factories in China, his standing with former devotees has been shaky, and we've heard him speak of little other than justifying himself since, which his new show Journalism does formally. Could he win us back? We're not certain, but we're curious. MS
Tiffany Center, 1410 SW Morrison, 7 pm, $20-45

MUSIC—Enigmatic Pittsburgh oddballs Black Moth Super Rainbow's hushed, synth-led experiments with psychedelic electro-pop are engrossing, sinister, and strangely accessible on their most recent effort Cobra Juicy. If you can fight your way through their die-hard fans to see them at the Hawthorne, there's every chance you'll get an unsettling yet blissful contact high. AR
w/the Hood Internet, Oscillator Bug; Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez, 8 pm, $15-18, all ages

FILM—Cinema 21's excellent noir series Return to Noir Ville is back for another year, and today's films are some great ones: the Coen brothers' Texas noir Blood Simple, 1944's Gene Tierney and Dana Andrews flick Laura, and Fritz Lang's 1953 classic The Big Heat. EH
Cinema 21, 616 NW 21st, see cinema21.com for showtimes, $6 ($40 for 13-day pass)

THE "HIPHOP"—Two nice men named "Fabulous" and "Pusher Tee" [He means Fabolous and Pusha T. Sigh.—Eds.] will perform an uplifting array of danceable tunes. They also are good at wordplay. AKA "rap," like what you do when you go to your friend's apartment and the door is locked and you hope they didn't fall in the bathtub and die. I'm old! DCT
w/Portland Express, Supanova, & more; Roseland, 8 NW 6th, 8 pm, $27, all ages

COMEDY—While he's a Tony-nominated actor (most recently for his role on Broadway in Porgy and Bess), author, and comedian, David Alan Grier will always be beloved for his multifaceted characters in the groundbreaking TV show In Living Color—and yes, he's still hilarious. Check out his high-energy, infectious stand-up tonight at the Bagdad. WSH
w/Tristian Spillman; Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne, 9 pm, $25

BIKING!—If you don't already bike to work, you've got your reasons. Put them all aside for Bike to Work Day, the one arbitrary day out of the year when you're REALLY encouraged to give bike commuting a go. Feeling adventurous? Ride to work all week! Like how that feels? Cast off your vehicular chains for good! DVH
Your home to your workplace, whenever you work, FREE

SPACEY SURF MUSIC—One of the most prolific bands of the '90s, Man or Astro-man? is still successfully blurring surf punk with spacey synth to produce an entirely original sound. Their latest release is called Defcon 5... 4... 3... 2... 1, and while still sporting their trademark space surf vibe, they seem to be heavier and goofier (in a good way) than ever. WSH
w/Audacity; Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside, 9 pm, $16-17