Culture Lust Weekend: Remembering Craig Noel, Vintage Gala, and OK Go

THEATER

During his 70 years at the Old Globe, Founding Director Craig Noel completely changed the face of San Diego theater. He passed away last month at the age of 94, and in his honor, the theater will host a memorial this Monday and re-name their lower plaza to Craig Noel Memorial Garden.

There’s a bit of an Oedipus complex going around at UCSD this weekend – at least on stage, as Charlie Oates’ production of “Seven Against Thebes” debuts. UCSD Professor Marianne McDonald translated the Aeschylus epic, which follows Oedipus’ two sons as they fight for control of Thebes.

Culture Shock San Diego is the hip-hop dance studio that spawned “America’s Best Dance Crew” winners Jabbawockeez, so we’re sure there’s plenty in store for its very first “Shock Showcase,” happening this Friday and Saturday in La Jolla. The event will spotlight some of the studio’s smoothest up-and-comers, from its break-dancers-in-training (Junior Shock) to the older crowd (Afta Shock).

Atten-TION! Comedian Mike Dittamo pokes humor at life in fatigues at the Oceanside Museum of Art this Saturday, presented as part of its brand new Military Comedy Night.

FILM

Cannes, schmanes. See what UCSD’s film students have been up to at the university’s third annual Up & Coming Student Film Fest, at The Loft tonight at 8pm. A jury panel including our own film critic, Beth Accomando, will weigh on the eight selected to screen for the festival – we can’t wait to see who wins.

Forget dinner and a movie (separately, at least) - The San Diego Italian Film Fest’s CineCucina occurs in three “courses” and kicks off tonight with documentary screenings at the MoPa; it concludes this Saturday with an Italian farmer’s market and an evening at the Birch North Park theater featuring Slow Food-approved Italian dishes and a screening of “Foccacia Blues,” the tale of a small-town Italian baker who takes on the corporate machine. Mangia!

EVENTS

Due to a CSU-wide Tijuana travel ban, students at the university’s campuses (locally, that means SDSU) aren’t allowed to set foot into the border town right now, at least for academic purposes. To protest, students are asking the public to head south this Saturday for “We Wanna Tijuana!”, in which they will host a press conference and escort attendees around town to explore its hidden gems (tacos de cabeza, anyone?). You can meet up with them at the taxi line directly across the border at 12:30 p.m.

Immerse yourself in the effortless chic of 1960’s California mod as the MoPA hosts its hotly anticipated Vintage Gala. Its name plays on the fact that it’s a wine tasting and restaurant fest stocked with the coolest in era photography and performances; you can swing by for a martini this Saturday evening at 6:00.

Head to downtown Cardiff-by-the-Sea after the 9-5 grind for its first-ever Taste of Cardiff festival, tonight from 5:30 – 8:30. Seventeen local eateries will compete for the Golden Fork Award; you can sample dishes from all of ‘em for a $20 ticket fee.

BOOKS

Chat with Donna Wilson, the editor of newly released anthology “Lavanderia: A Mixed Load of Women, Wash and Words,” at the Upstart Crow in Seaport Village tonight at 7:00. She’ll be there to discuss the book’s compilation of photographs, essays and poetry that reflect on the beauty contained in the act of doing something seemingly simple - washing clothes.

ART

Artist Justin Bower’s portraits are stunningly unnerving, fusing a fierce sense of realism with Technicolor and multiple perspectives. Not surprisingly, his “Flesh of My Flesh” was just selected to grace the cover New American Paintings (an uber-prestigious art journal). He’ll be at Alexander Salazar Fine Art this Saturday night at 5:00 along with fellow Claremont University M.F.A. grad Chris Trueman (whose trippy canvasses are not to be missed) for the debut of their joint exhibit, “Body of Work.”

Get a fascinating primer on local surf culture as “Waveriders: Perspectives on Surfing La Jolla,” presented by the La Jolla Historical Society, debuts at Wisteria Cottage tonight. The exhibit goes all the way back to the 30’s, when long boards ruled and “totally radical” meant something else entirely.

Brush up on your Homer before hitting up the SDMA this weekend – Saturday, the museum will debut “Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece” featuring some seriously epic artifacts.

MUSIC

Known for their seriously inventive videos (see above) and ridiculously catchy sound, OK Go is bringing their tour (and maybe a few treadmills?) to the House Of Blues this Saturday afternoon (yes, afternoon – they’ll play at 1:00 p.m.) for the venue’s 5th anniversary show. The Shout Out Louds are set to open.

It’s the 400th anniversary of composer Claudio Monteverdi's seminal “Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610” this Sunday, and to celebrate, Bach Collegium San Diego is giving the tune a pretty cool birthday song – they’ll perform the piece this Sunday night at 7:00 in La Jolla at the St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church.

Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Roger Reynolds is capping off his three years as Calit2’s composer-in-residence (though he’ll still remain a professor at UCSD) with a mixed-media performance that reflects on some of his recent (and perhaps most inventive) new work. Visit the Calit2 Theater at UCSD tonight to hear - and see - it in person.

The Museum of Making Music will offer a free screening of “They Came To Play” this Friday night at 7:00. The documentary follows those preparing for the Van Cliburn Foundation’s International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, some of whom will be there post-show for a Q&A.

Guitarist Kaki King is one talented lady, having lent her melodic riffs to the likes of Tegan and Sarah and the Foo Fighters. Listen to her live at The Belly-Up this Sunday night.