WED 27 Does your office still do Casual Fridays? You can buck that system and the systematic sexual violence perpetrated against women at the same time, by participating in Denim Day, an international awareness event inspired by a 1999 decision by the Italian High Court to overturn a rape conviction because the victim in the case was wearing jeans. Show your readiness to break through the myth-based bullshit by rocking the dungarees of your choice today, or, to learn more, go to the Pittsburg Civic Center (650 Civic Ave.) from noon-2 p.m. to get a free lunch, hear a talk by local author Teresa LeYung Ryan, and see Pittsburg city officials honor Sergeant Sandra Douglas of the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office for her work supporting sexual assault victims. Call 510-237-0113 or visit www.cvsolutions.org/news_events.htm to find out what else you can do. — Stefanie Kalem
THU 28 Normally, the DJs of the Massive Selector crew throw the kind of full-scale, totally bananas, rump-shakin’ parties where you go to get your hipster ticket punched, and boogie so hard that you wake up wondering where you left your ass the night before. But now in their fifth year of regaling Bay Area scenesters with live sets by Jazzy Jeff, Spinna, and ?uestlove, these dudes are shifting some of their energy to a low-key weekly shindig that solidifies the crew’s presence in the East Bay. Dubbed Automatic, the event takes place every Thursday night, 8:30 to 1, at Kingman’s Lucky Lounge (3332 Grand Ave., Oakland). In contrast to the crew’s usual haunts, Kingman’s is a lounge-style bar where the couches have throw pillows and the vibe is super-chill. This week’s party features B-Madness of Knowmadic DJs, along with the 2004 Massive Selector Mix-Off laureate, DJ Solace, spinning dancehall, soul, breaks, and classic grooves. Admission is free. — Rachel Swan
FRI 29 Globalization and unfair monetary policy are being blamed for many of Argentina’s economic ills. After that country’s cataclysmic financial crisis in 2001, a group of unemployed auto-parts workers in suburban Buenos Aires occupied their former factory — the only thing they demand is to be allowed to return to work. Canadian filmmakers Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein were there to record what happened, and their 2004 documentary, The Take, offers a grassroots response to predatory “free-market” machinations. The Take screens at 7:30 p.m. this evening at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St. (at Broadway) in downtown Oakland, as a benefit for the Latin American Working Class Film & Video Festival. Argentine guest speakers Cecilia Sainz and Lalo Paret will offer their insights. $5-$10 requested donation, no one turned away for lack of funds. More info: TheTake.org — Kelly Vance
SAT 30 The organizers of the Manga, Art, and Graphic Novel Expo, happening today at the Fremont Teen Center, are aiming the event at 11-to-19-year-olds. If you’re somewhat beyond that particular prime but still want to check out live demos by Waterfalls and Henagi the Ninja Girl creator Ben Seto (BlackSheepComics.com) and other comic and computer graphics artists, listen to live acoustic and Japanese pop music, get freebies and participate in prize drawings, guttle snacks, and, of course, shop for books, models, games, art supplies, origami, zines, and more, we’re sure you can find a kid who needs a ride. The teen center is located at 39770 Paseo Padre Pkwy. (enter on Sailway Dr. and turn left at the U-shaped parking lot), and there are two sessions to the exposition, one from 9:45 a.m.-1:45 p.m. and another from 2-6 p.m. Admission $9 per session. Reservations at RegeRec.ci.Fremont.ca.us or by calling 510-494-4300. For more event info, call 510-494-4344. — Stefanie Kalem
SUN 1 This year’s Berkeley Potters’ Guild Spring Sale and Show brings the pleasures of outside to the guild’s mazelike insides, with newest member Josie Jurczenia curating the theme “A Bird in the Hand.” Jurczenia will transform the labyrinth of studio spaces at 731 Jones St. (north of 4th St.) into a garden aviary, sounds and smells and all. This is the only time of year that the guild’s fourteen ceramic artists put out bargains and seconds of their functional and decorative work, as well as their finest stuff. The sale takes place this and next Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Info: BerkeleyPotters.com, 510-524-7031. — Stefanie Kalem
MON 2 Some people, like the folks at Rolling Stone magazine, believe that Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” is the most significant American recorded popular song of the 20th century. No matter how you might rank Dylan’s ditty, you could never have devoted as much time to thinking about it as Greil Marcus. Berkeley’s own veteran pop culture prophet has evidently been stalking the former Bobby Zimmerman since he saw him perform in a New Jersey field in 1963, and Marcus’ new book, Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads, burrows deeply into the myth — the recording session at Columbia in New York, the biographical references, etc. Hear all about it this evening at Cody’s Books (2454 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley, 7:30 p.m.), when Marcus unspools the yarn. CodysBooks.com or 510-845-7852. — Kelly Vance
TUE 3 José Ignacio DÃaz de Rábago Villar has been busy. The native madrileño sculptor and painter, who specializes in large-scale installations, is artist in residence at UC Berkeley’s Consortium for the Arts and the Arts Research Center, and he’s been working with a volunteer team of UC students, drilling holes in more than 300 discarded books, running a cable through each of them, and then arranging them above and around the staircase connecting the university’s Doe and Moffitt libraries, to appear as if the books are floating in space. Rábago has plans to float his Flying Books in other places around campus. The Doe Library installation is scheduled to remain in place for a year. See RabagoArte.com for more info. — Kelly Vance
