Arts Devo

DEVOtions: autumnal dump Arts DEVO loves the smell of fall. Not the palate-wrecking pumpkin spice bombs or unholy cinnamon-marinated pine cone odors that pollute the season; I’m talking about the smell of rot. And with millions of leaves cutting free in earnest with the lower temps and rains in the weekend forecast, things are about to get nice and sweet and musty and rotten around here. And as the leaves have begun to pile up, so too have the scribbled notes, unanswered emails and bits of local gossip. Just a few:

• Open mic is back? The Thursday Night Open Mic—the popular weekly event that was forced to shut down when its home of 17 years, downtown’s Has Beans Coffee & Tea, closed its doors this summer—might be coming back to life. The open mic’s organizer, Andan Casamajor, has found a new spot, Naked Lounge, and beginning Nov. 30, will do a test run at the downtown hangout on Thursday nights through the end of the year. If you want the new venue to stick, get out and show your support!

• Hot shows alert! JMax Productions is going off in the new year! Two new shows coming to the Senator Theatre that you must put on your calendar: Jan. 22: Portland indie-pop rad kids STRFKR (say the name loud!); Feb. 17: the singular loop-happy sounds of Merrill Garbus, aka tUnE-yArDs. It’s gonna be a good year. I can feel it!

• Kuiper memorial: Today, Nov. 2, the Museum of Northern California Art will open Notes from a Spanish Dutchman, a retrospective of the work of James Alan Kuiper, the longtime Chico artist and Chico State art instructor who died on Feb. 27. The opening reception is tonight, 6-8 p.m., and there will also be a memorial for Kuiper at Monca this Saturday (Nov. 4), 5-7 p.m.

• The art of frying: Just in time for Thanksgiving, the animal-protein connoisseurs over at Sportsman’s Warehouse are holding a couple of deep-fried-turkey seminars to demo the steps for safely cooking your own crispy bird. Stop by at noon on Nov. 11 or 19 and get the skills necessary to win the holidays this year.

• Stephanie sings: Normally, I would never advocate for Christmas music so far ahead of the actual holiday, but if there’s a local musician who has recorded an entire album filled with songs for the holiday, I’ll make an exception. Chico singer/songwriter Stephanie Madsen just dropped Christmas, a new album filled with her renditions of classics—from “The First Noel” to “Silent Night”—as well a catchy original called “Christmas Eve.” Buy local this holiday at www.stephaniemadsenmusic.com.

• Feeling Krampy: If I’m going to let the light of Christmas shine through so early, you know I’m going to give equal time to Santa’s dark and crusty fellow traveler, Krampus. Naughty kids, get ready; Krampusnacht will be here you before you know it.