November 9 to November 15, 2009

From author readings to mountain bike trail rides and comicon and motorcycle ice racing… YOUR WEEK IN EVENTS IS WAITING! So get out there and heart your community! If you want to see everything happenin’ in our greater Roanoke Valley and beyond, check out our main calendar of events here or for the best of the best, pick up A Useful Paper today! It’s all FREE, yo!

WEDNESDAY

Author James Howard Kunstler

Time: 7pm
Place: Hollins University, Roanoke, VA
Price: TBA
Info: Kunstler’s lecture, “The Long Emergency,” is based on his most recent nonfiction book, “The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil Age, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century.”

THURSDAY

Night Rides at Pandapas Pond

Time: 6:30pm
Every Thursday
Place: Pandapas Pond Upper Parking Lot
Info: Meet at the upper parking lot at Pandapas for a night ride every Thursday at 6:30. Lights required, but if you don’t have any, call 540-951-2369 and they can hook you up with a set of loaners for the ride.

USAF Heritage of America Band

Time: 7pm
Place: Kirk Avenue Music Hall, 22 Kirk Ave., Roanoke, VA
Price: FREE
Info: The Heritage of America Band has a long history of entertaining the American public and promoting esprit de corps within the military. The unit strives to inspire and to tell the Air Force story through the power of music.

Writers’ Harvest Reading

Time: 8pm
Place: Hollins University, Roanoke, VA
Price: $5-$10
Info: Faculty writers taking part are T.J. Anderson III, R.H.W. Dillard, Cathryn Hankla, David Huddle, Pauline Kaldas, Jeanne Larsen, Thorpe Moeckel, Marilyn Moriarty, Elizabeth Poliner, and Eric Trethewey.

FRIDAY-SUNDAY

Stocked Market

Time: Fri 11am-7pm, Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 11am-5pm
Place: Roanoke Civic Center, Roanoke, VA
Price: $8-$9
Info: The Junior League of Roanoke Valley hosts the 21st annual Stocked Market bringing merchants from around the country for a weekend of holiday shopping!

Othello

Time: 7:30pm
Place: Virginia Tech, Squires Haymarket Theatre, Blacksburg, VA
Price: $7-$9
Info: Director Bob McGrath imparts his personal stamp on this contemporary production of a Shakespeare classic, creating a theatrical world of visual projections with a sonic score.

FRIDAY

The Gibson Brothers & Trent Wagler & The Steel Wheels

Time: 7:30pm
Place: Kirk Avenue Music Hall, 22 Kirk Ave, Roanoke, VA
Price: $10
Info: ”There is little question about the role of the heart in the making of modern bluegrass music and there is no doubt that the Gibsons apply lots of it to the music they so clearly love to make.” – Exclaim!

Jazz Club: From New Orleans to the World

Time: 8pm
Place: Jefferson Center, 541 Luck Ave, Roanoke, VA
Price: $15
Info: Lenny Marcus and Blue Ridge Jazz Ensemble take us on a musical exploration of the birth place of jazz, New Orleans, featuring tributes to Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Marsalis Family & Preservation Hall.

Old Crow Medicine Show

Time: 8pm
Place: Salem Civic Center, Salem, VA
Price: $25
Info: Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS) have come full circle playing their own brand of American roots music with a rock and roll attitude. They have made a name for themselves as energetic performers with an unbridled spirit.

SATURDAY

Roanoke Valley Comicon

Time: 10am-4pm
Place: Salem Civic Center Arena, Salem, VA
Price: $5
Info: Heroclix tournament plus other gaming, comic books, toys, Star Wars, Star Trek, action figures, anime, manga, collectible card games, magazines and more! Door prizes every hour! Kids under 10 free with paid adult.

Floyd Contra Dance

Time: 7pm
Place: Sun Music Hall, 302 S. Locust St., Floyd, VA
Price: $8
Info: With The Contrarians and caller, Jack Mitchell. Contra dancing is easy, relaxed fun, and although the figures are done with a partner, singles are definitely welcome because its a fun, great way to meet people.

World Championship Motorcycle & Quad ICE Racing

Time: 7:30pm
Place: Roanoke Civic Center, 710 Williamson Road, Roanoke, VA
Price: $5-$20
Info: The world’s top motorcycle Ice Racers will travel to the Roanoke Civic Center to do battle in the first race of the 34th Annual World Championship Ice Racing Series.

Bill Kirchen & the Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods

Time: 8pm
Place: Kirk Avenue Music Hall, 22 Kirk Ave, Roanoke, VA
Price: $15
Info: ”Bill Kirchen rules. [His] No-nonsense diesel guitar attack is the real thing, in your face and more than a little dangerous.” Austin American-Statesman

SUNDAY

Tenderhooks / The Circus Band / The Judys

Time: 7:30pm
Place: Kirk Avenue Music Hall, 22 Kirk Ave, Roanoke, VA
Price: $5
Info: The ’hooks’ music is highlighted by sugary vocal harmonies soaring atop a bed of folky rock ’n’ roll, accented by schooled fretwork and muscular-yet-musical skin-pounding.