Julian Date 2454713.50000 (through JD 2454831.50000)

It’s a very good thing that your Arts DEVOte’s alter-ego is Calendar Man (not to be confused with the impossibly lame Batman villain of the same name). As the man at the publicity crossroads of Chico arts, Calendar Man has great, great powers and suckling at those powerful teets keeps A.D. very well-fed. And, as promised in his last Chico State-focused column this week, A.D. will use those powers for good and share with you his picks for the rest of Chico’s arts events from now through Dec. 31, 2008. (Note: Things like the month-long Artoberfest­see schedule in this week’s insert–celebration and the monthly Art 1st Saturday walks, while highly noteworthy, aren’t included as a whole, but rather individual items within each are highlighted.)

10. Chikoko’s Bizarre Bazaar, Dec. 13 and 14, Chico Women’s Club. Chico’s fashion-designing performance-art collective puts on many great one-of-a-kind fashion performances throughout the year, so A.D. just pulled this two-day holiday arts and crafts showcase and performance out of his locally designed and crafted hat.

9. autobahn , Sept. 11-27, at the Blue Room Theatre. Jerry Miller directs and Blue Room co-founder Denver Latimer stars in Neil LaBute’s short-play cycle featuring seven scenes that each take place in the front seat of a car.

8. Ozomatli, Nov. 12, at the Senator Theatre. Something in A.D.’s DNA causes him to be reflexively turned off by anything that hippies like, even if the thing they like isn’t something that only hippies like. Hacky Sacks, organic barley wine, recycling—sorry, no thanks. But, this one music-fest staple has been touted by enough “normies” to coax A.D. to join the jam. The socially conscious, rhythmically intense Latin/hip-hop/rock posse is supposed put on the kind of amazing live show where even cranky-pants indie-rockers can dance. A.D. is there!

7. St. Anne Thrax: Free “impromptu visitations” are happening somewhere at some point during Artoberfest, and that’s all A.D. needs to know. Visit www.saintannethrax.com

6. Tim Miller performs “Glory Box,” Oct. 29, at 1078 Gallery. The internationally acclaimed performance artist visits Chico to present his “funny, sexy, and politically charged exploration of same-sex marriage … and his identity as a gay man.”

5. Tussle and Lemonade, Oct. 3, at the CRUX. If A.D. is picking just one thing on the current CRUX schedule to recommend, his live-music bias leans toward this visit from two Bay Area crews playing semi-experimental, gritty, crazy dance rock … although, the monthly Crux Groove multi-discipline hip-hop shows (Oct. 18) and the 48-Squared two-day paint-a-thon (Oct. 10-12) are rad sauce as well.

4. Photography of Ira Latour, Oct. 4-25, at 1078 Gallery. It’s world-class photographer season in Chico. Chico State’s University Art Gallery has the Ansel Adams show throughout October; Avenue 9 Gallery has Under the Influence of Ansel Adams and His Legacy (Oct. 17-Nov. 22), featuring works by photographers influenced by Adams; Chico State’s Humanities Center Gallery has works by Adams student David Johnson, Dec. 2-17; and the 1078 is featuring Adams contemporary and Chico resident Ira Latour throughout October, with an opening reception and talk with the artist on Saturday, Oct. 4.

3. Rogue Theatre: The company with no home will be performing its current slate at the 1078 Gallery, and the most intriguing selection for this fall is actually a toss-up between Michael Hollinger’s existential comedy An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Bouef (Sept. 18-27), and Charles Busch’s farcical Times Square Angel (Dec. 4-13).

2. Open Studios Tour, Oct. 10-12. No event happening during Artoberfest epitomizes the Chico arts scene better than this two-day, self-guided tour through every gallery, café and home studio in Chico (plus Paradise the following weekend, and Oroville the weekend after that). Start with the opening reception at the Chico Art Center Friday, Oct. 10.

1. Chico Glass Fest, Oct. 23-25. This debut event gets the top nod for the simple fact that it is the exact kind of signature event that can solidify Chico’s attempts to become an arts tourism destination. Take a discipline for which Chico is already world-renowned (glass blowing), add demos and displays at showcase venues (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. and 1078 Gallery), mix in plenty of live local entertainment (Crazygrass, Dave Elke Trio, Chris Schadt Band, Chikoko fashion collective), then drop it into the middle of the Artoberfest celebration, and you have the potential for a can’t-miss annual event.