Whatever peace you may have felt last weekend is over now. From now on, until it snows again, there will be something for you to do, something to feel like an asshole about if you miss, just a constant goddamned guilt trip of faltering potential. I’m going to try and warn you about a few here, but believe me, there’s no way you can hit all of this. You’re fucked.

Let’s start with Ben Sures’ CD release Thursday, the day SEE hits the stands. Ben’s new disc Gone to Bolivia is the focus, and it’s an emotional travelogue in the sense of being a travelogue about emotions. Sures rather chipperly eviscerates a world he’s travelled at least partially as a cruise ship entertainer, but I think the album shows an interesting philosophical burrowing by the singer. Especially when he’s singing about his rather shameful doings at the dawn of his own innocent sexuality. This show is at Westbury Theatre in the ArtsBarns in the Fringe Kingdom, tellingly presented by the Northern Lights Folk Club and CKUA.

Friday from 4-9 p.m., fashion designer Stanley Carroll is turning Shag (10910-105 Ave.) into Pop Up Shop, where he’ll be showing off his latest creations. We don’t talk about clothes nearly enough as art, and rarely in terms of responsibility of where we ultimately get them from. I read an interesting article in The Believer recently, speculating how a “buy local” movement along the lines of the food and eating revolution pushed along by books like Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma is unlikely in clothes. Let’s face it: most of us have drawn a line in the sand. A lot of us see our clothes as ultimately disposable, certainly in terms of trends coming and going. Because of this, and this transcends any embracing of trends, we all want our clothes cheap — which of course means having them made in pretty deplorable conditions overseas. I’m not trying to guilt trip anyone here, I do it myself. It’s just interesting to me how, you know, we’ll try and buy locally produced meats or vegetables for a little extra, but how there is just no way in hell most people I know would do the same for their wardrobes without some complaining, just ask the ghost of Nokomis. Maybe we should pay more attention to what’s being made around us? That’s
your call. But Carroll’s show is a chance to do so.

Friday night, Black Mastiff, Field + Stream and Morals are at New City, and Sunday afternoon at Empress is the Inaugural Joe Bird Award, some support cash going to Scott Peters of Captain Tractor for his work in the music scene for the past three decades. Bird’s been gone for two years now, but this gathering proves that the love people feel for him hasn’t faded. The musical lineup will include a lot of Joe’s friends, including Dana Wylie, Ido Van Der Laan, Terry Morrison, Sherry-Lee Heschel, Grrremains (Joe’s old band) and the ever-busy Captain Tractor, whose CD release party is also Friday night at the Roxy. Like a lot of you, I can say I love that weirdo and I see him out the corner of my eye at the strangest times, especially places where men wear skirts.

Don’t forget to pick up your tickets for Wyrd III at weirdcanada.com/wyrd, which you can get easily online. The Dinwoodie lineup is amazing and features the return of the Famines amid more than a dozen other inventive bands. Aaron Levin is Edmonton’s most innovative booker by far, so plop down that $20 and let him sleep a little easier at night how about?

Finally, Amelia Aspen — Ms. Motorjoan herself — is adding all her foxy powers to BrontoScorpio. I will tell you the whole story soon.