Night & Day

Thursday
November 5
If you find the dating game to be more like combat, Colorado Free University's Art of Meeting Someone New course may be just the thing for your heat-seeking arsenal. The class covers the full range of dating topics, from foolproof ice-breakers and meet-and-greet etiquette to how-to's for handling budding romance. Perhaps best of all, the course handbook includes pages of info on alcohol-free places to meet the unattached. The course runs from 6:30 to 9:30 this evening at the CFU campus, at 1510 York St.; the $32 fee covers textbook, buffet and mingling. Call 303-399-0093 for details.

For those who are way past needing help with the dating scene, the Children's Hospital is offering intimate instructions on a much different topic: toilet training. The aptly named Oh, Pooh covers the down-and-dirty basics of potty training for reluctant youngsters and their bewildered parents in a seminar conducted by CH doctors and staff. The class takes place tonight from 7 to 8:30 at, appropriately, the Gates Wildlife Center at the Denver Zoo. Call 303-864-KIDS for more information.

Friday
November 6
The Lower Downtown Arts District continues its First Fridays celebration of pedestrian art with another self-guided walking tour of LoDo's galleries. Two dozen of the area's finest art houses will be open to the public for a freebie weekend jump-starter, including the Wind Horse Gallery, 1499 Blake Street, which is marking its grand opening with a fresh display of Tibetan antiques. For a complete list of participating display casas, contact the LDAD at 303-820-3139.

If you dig your musical stew with a dash of Cajun heat, The Radiators are the perfect brand of sonic gumbo. Tonight these long-lived Crescent City favorites bring their New Orleans-style rock, soul and funk to the Fox Theatre for a night of red-hot, sweaty fun. Doors open at 9:30, and the wiggling starts shortly thereafter. For tickets, $20, call 303-447-0083. The Fox is located at 1135 13th St. in Boulder.

Surrender, Dorothy! For the first time in more than 25 years, The Wizard of Oz will reappear from behind that curtain, and you're encouraged to pay attention. The 1939 classic is now being rereleased in honor of the film's sixtieth anniversary, and the new version sports a digitally restored opening sequence and a Dolby Digital soundtrack, to boot. The film is being shown at a cast of area theaters, including the Mann Theaters at Cherry Creek, the United Artists 12 at Greenwood Plaza and the brand-new UA15 at the Denver Pavilions.

Saturday
November 7
Like your excitement between the covers? Pay a visit to the sixth annual Rocky Mountain Book Festival. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, this yearly celebration of all things literary will put forth a library full of hard-backed wonders. A pair of stages will host appearances by a number of national and regional authors, including PBS's Jim Lehrer at 3 p.m. and former senator Gary Hart at noon. There will also be a wealth of poetry and theater, where actors will bring to life a number of renowned-in-ink figures: Malcolm X comes to life at 1:15 today and Sunday, while Mark Twain takes the stage at 11:45 today and 2:45 Sunday. The event takes place at the Denver Merchandise Mart, 451 E. 58th Ave. Call 303-839-8320.

Calling Mr. Dooley: When The Kingston Trio asked the aforementioned gent to hang down his head back in 1961, they could not have dreamed of the tune's staying power--or their own. Tonight at 8, the members of this timeless threesome will hold their heads high at the Denver Auditorium Theater in a folky fundraiser for local public-television station KBDI-TV/Channel 12. Tickets are $30 at the door; get details at 303-830-8497.

Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away, but the Scientific & Cultural Facilities District is showing its appreciation early. Today is the second day of celebration as the SCFD, which oversees the funding of countless science and culture facilities in the metro area, hosts a family-friendly cornucopia of gratis events throughout the area, including admission to the Denver Zoo and an IMAX film at the Denver Museum of Natural History. Today's highlights include a performance by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in Boettcher Concert Hall at 11:30, a concert by the Denver Brass under the Galleria at the Plex at 12:30, free tickets to Always...Patsy Cline, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Travels With My Aunt. (For info on the plays, call 303-893-4100.) Pick up a full listing of participating organizations at all area Starbucks, or log on to www.artstozoo.org.

Sunday
November 8
Denver filmmaker Peter Deak makes his silver-screen debut tonight with Coma Girl, an eye-opening oddball romantic comedy that centers on a once-comatose hospital escapee. Filmed entirely in Colorado with a local cast and crew, it should keep film buffs wide awake and dreaming in the Mile High City. The film airs at 7 and 9 at the Bluebird Theater, 3317 E. Colfax Ave., 303-322-2308.

Get a jump on holiday cheer by attending the Brown Palace's annual Champagne Cascade at noon in the Brown's Atrium Lobby, 321 17th St. Hotel head honcho Pete Aeby launches this upper-crust tradition by using an antique saber to lop off the crown of a bottle of Moët et Chandon. The ensuing bubbly then fills the tower of 6,000-plus champagne glasses gracing the Brown's entrance. For the scoop on this novel application of the trickle-down theory, call 303-297-3111.