Smile Politely

Weekender: May 15-17

FRIDAY, May 15th

Lunch, bacaro, 113 N Walnut, Champaign, 11:30 a.m. to sold out or 2 p.m., $15

Per Facebook: “Buttermilk fried chicken sandwich, creamy cabbage slaw on a tasted brioche bun with cool roasted shiitake mushroom and asparagus salad.” Enough said. (JH)

 

Third Friday Pop-Up, Prairie Fruits Farm, 4410 N Lincoln Ave, Champaign, 5:30-7:30 p.m., about $10-$15 per person

Earlier this week we shared the menu for the return of the Third Friday Pop-Up. It looks great. The farm is awesome, and while the baby goats aren’t tiny anymore, they are still adorable. This is a lovely outing for families, especially if you’re looking to tire out visiting youngsters or oldsters. For some food porn, check out my take on one of last year’s Third Fridays. (JH)

2nd Annual Roots Walk, Crystal Lake Park, 6-8 p.m., free

Get out of the house and stroll through Crystal Lake Park while listening to live, local roots, folk and Americana music. The bands featured will be: The Fights, John Coppess, The Old Time Jam Group, Urbana’s Last Minute Men, Doug Schroer and Steve Long, The Firetones, and Chris Maden. (RP)

Euriah, Bitter Canon, Holler House, Donkey Donker, Mike N Molly’s, 9 p.m., $5

All you fans of indie rock and emo should get yourselves out to this show tonight at Mike N Molly’s, as locals Euriah head things up with a trio of others. Maddie highlighted it well in the Overture, but you can read more about a couple of the bands Euriah and Bitter Canon from previews from the Music staff which published yesterday. (PS, photo by Tom Chandler)

Starship Troopers, The Art Theater Co-op, 10 p.m.

Alien invaders! Gung-ho space soldiers! Co-ed showers! Neil Patrick Harris! What am I talking about? It’s Starship Troopers, and it’s coming to late nights at the Art!

From the Art’s website: “Paul Verhoeven’s wickedly satirical — and widely misunderstood — intergalactic war spectacle in which a cast of plastic Aryan ciphers battle the ‘bug’ inhabitants of planet Klendathu. With its delirious stylings and berserk action scenes, this may be the most insane and decadent action spectacle ever made.” Now is your chance to see (or revisit) this fun, smart, seriously entertaining film, which TCM has called “the most misunderstood and underappreciated sci-fi blockbuster of all time.” (MG)

SATURDAY, May 16th

Plan Your Garden, Prairie Gardens, 3000 W. Springfield, anytime, various

It’s still early enough in the season to put some seeds in the ground and reap the rewards in a month or two. Spend an hour on Saturday checking out the garden goodies at Prairie Gardens, or just pick up a potted plant to brighten up your home this summer. (RP)

Take a papercrete making class, Prairie Gardens, 9 a.m.-4:15 p.m., $20

What is papercrete? According to PG’s website, “papercrete is a hypertufa alternative made primarily of recycled paper.” I gather from the website that you’ll be making these papercrete pots to plant pretty flowers in. Sounds kind of cool, especially if you’re into gardening. Each class runs for an hour and there are four classes between 9 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Call ahead to register at 217-356-6532. (SL)

Terminus Victor w/ Nonagon, Darleen, and Faster ForwardMike N Molly’s, 9 p.m., $5

Look, this is going to be loud. And it’s going to be loud in the perfect way. If you haven’t gotten a chance to see Terminus Victor at Mike N Molly’s, do yourself that favor. Nonagon are going to be worth the price of admission alone, as well. It’s going to be a great night for guitars. (TP)

Beware of campus graduation, campus town and surrounding fancy restaurants, all day

It is that time of year again when many young people, myself included, push the eject button and plummet from the comfortable cockpit of college into the cold, hard earth some refer to as adulthood. This can be a troubling time for young people but fortunately they have caps, gowns, and parents to take them out to Biaggi’s and help them pack up their bongs and futons. So beware, townies, there may be some graduation drama this Saturday. (SL)

SUNDAY, May 17th

Read to a dog, Orpheum Children’s Museum, 2 p.m.

I know what you’re thinking: “I do this all the time when I go out to my yard and proclaim my manifesto to the neighborhood pets.” And while that may be true, there might be a more focused, more productive use of your time. From the Orpheum’s website: “Pick out a favorite book and curl up with a canine companion for the very popular Reading to Dogs on the 3rd Sunday of the month.  This program improves children’s reading and communications skills by allowing children to read to trained therapy dogs from CU Registered Therapy Dogs.” (MG)

Pop Up Graffiti Jam Session, Mike N Molly’s, 5 p.m., free

The Common Mind graffiti crew is doing live art while DJs spin tunes in the Mike N Molly’s beergarden on Sunday. Sounds like a good time, although I’m assuming this event is weather permitting, and the forecast calls for thunderstorms. If it doesn’t happen this time, hopefully it happens again! (MR)

Have a drink at Boltini and ponder the Mad Men finale, Boltini Lounge

What does fate have in store for Don Draper? Fans of Mad Men will find out in the show’s final episode Sunday night. I can’t think of a better place to speculate about what will happen than Boltini Lounge. Have an old fashioned, a vodka gimlet or a dirty martini, then you can step outside for a Lucky Strike. (MR)

Editor’s Note: Well, it’s come to our attention that Boltini is closing on Saturday. So, you can still totally do this on Saturday evening, though it will be prior to the Mad Men series finale Maddie mentions here. (PS)

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All event information is accurate to the best of our abilities, but sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes event information, times, prices, etc., change after we look them up. Whenever possible, we’ve provided a link to the original event page; you should always double-check the source before you make any firm plans. Thanks for your understanding.

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