Arts DEVO

Do not open until Friday The Chico News & Review that you are holding in your hands is issue No. 11. And if you wait to read it until Friday, Nov. 11, 2011, at 11:11 a.m. (aka 11.11.11.11:11) the natural frequency of the universe will match that of your body and pages of the paper combined, and the meaning of life will reveal itself for one second before the paper spontaneously combusts in your hands … or something like that. It’s as likely a scenario as any of the other crackpot predictions floating around that will be forgotten by the weekend. One thing that will for sure happen on 11.11.11: Veterans Day. Go hug a vet.

The end of the world One thing that won’t be happening on 11.11.11 is an NBA basketball game! You had better get used to me whining about sports in my arts column for a while. The art of basketball is too ingrained in me. The fact that there is still no NBA happening has messed up my life’s rhythm. There have been no season previews and projections to obsess over; no box scores to devour over morning coffee; and no highlights in the evening on NBA Fastbreak. To add insult to injury, a bunch of boring NHL stuff has started filling holes left by the NBA, and, most depressing, there have been no Sacramento Kings. The team drafted a guy named Jimmer Fredette (Jimmer!) for crying out loud, and we’re being denied the chance to holler his cool name. The Kings may have no true point guard, but the prospect of watching two of the most intriguing shooting guards—Tyreke Evans, the athletic scorer who won Rookie of the Year in 2010, and Fredette, the high-scoring collegian who won National Player of the Year as a Brigham Young University senior last season—along with volatile superhuman DeMarcus Cousins at center, made me more excited with anticipation this year than I’d been in several seasons. Now I’m just depressed.

Kid go boom! Sometimes the most special rock shows come to Chico through the back door and disappear quickly under cover of darkness before most anyone knew what had happened. This could have been one of those “best shows that you totally missed,” but Arts DEVO just got word from CN&R contributor Ken Smith that, joining local bands Master Lady and Severance Package at the Down Lo this Friday, Nov. 11, is none other than Argentinian punk singer Boom Boom Kid. The former Fun People front man will be singing his singular mix of melodic-punk, ballads and boleros when he comes to Chico during one of his rare U.S. tours. So, now you have no excuse.

DEVOtions

• One for Jodi’s new kidney: Get down to Monstros Pizza this Friday, Nov. 11, and pony up for this benefit for body-piercing sweetheart Jodi Lyford of Red Room Tattoo. Lyford is recovering from kidney-transplant surgery, and the good folks from Devil Kat Rock Productions and the Chico Area Pyrate Punx are putting on a show in her honor featuring the Hooten Hallers, Snakeshit Frank, Ryan Davidson and more.

• KCSC anniversary: Chico State’s Internet radio station, KCSC, celebrates its 60th anniversary with a bunch of events this week, starting with an electronic-music showcase at Peeking Chinese Restaurant Friday, Nov. 11, at 10 p.m., followed the next day with an open house at the station, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (with station alumni on the air), capped off with a party/concert at the El Rey Theatre at 8 p.m., featuring Barbara Manning and the reunited Knight Nights.

• Three in the chamber: The Oroville Concert Association is hosting the world-class Poulenc Trio for a piano/oboe/bassoon chamber concert Monday, Nov. 14, at the Oroville State Theatre.