Friday Music âÄî Trampled by Turtles, Charlie Parr and Boomchucks. First Avenue 701 1st Ave. N $14-16 8 p.m. Duluth’s best is barreling southward to invade Minneapolis like a clan of agricultural militia men Friday night. Trampled By Turtles have a tight bluegrass sound that is as Midwestern as Paul Bunyan, and as giant, too. Charlie Parr has a lonesome-as-AM-radio blues sound that is as sturdy as a John Deere. First Avenue venue should be interesting for these hoo hawin’ hillbillies. Music âÄî Gospel Gossip, Telepathos, Red Pens and Sun in the Satellite 501 Club 501 Washington Ave. S. 9 p.m. PixiesâÄô dust will be a-scattering all over the 501 Club this Friday (the Black Francis brand âÄî not Tinkerbell). It’s been a monumental year for the artsy two-piece Red Pens, as they released their first album and, oh yeah, won City Pages “Picked to Click.” Gospel Gossip have a similar tasty alt rock flavor. Yum. Art âÄî Xavier Tavera: Farsas Weisman Art Museum 333 River Rd. E. 10 a.m. Minneapolis photographer Xavier Tavera has a peculiar yet engaging mini-retrospective at the Weisman. He takes pictures of Mexican wrestling, which is apparently even more high-flying than American Pro Wrestling. Music âÄî Playing for Change O’Shaughnessy Auditorium 2004 Randolph Ave. $35-65 8 p.m. Mark Johnson will be taking on O’Shaughnessy Auditorium with his clan of musicians who he has assembled from New Orleans, Israel, Ghana and Zimbabwe. Movie âÄî “The Men Who Stare at Goats” Lagoon Cinema 1320 Lagoon Ave. 7:30, 8:40, 9:40 p.m. Despite a rather kick-ass cast (George Clooney, John Malkovich, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey), “The Men Who Stare at Goats” has received rather lackluster reviews. Nonetheless, go anyways âÄî if only to be an admirer who stares at George Clooney. Saturday Music âÄî The Mountain Goats and Final Fantasy Cedar Cultural Center 416 Cedar Ave. S. $18-20 8 p.m. The Mountain Goats are, frankly, one of the more awesome folk groups around today, imparting the good word with their optimistic crooning. Their repertoire includes Biblical parables such as “Genesis 3:23” and Psalms “40:2.” As for Final Fantasy, don’t let the atrocious band name deceive you, Owen Pallett (the brains behind the operation) is an indie maestro. Comedy âÄî Brett Favre’s Christmas Spectacular: The Immaculate Interception What better for a rebound weekend following the outrageousness of Halloween than to check out a nutty mockery of the most hated or loved new resident to our great metropolis? Brave New Workshop 2605 Hennepin Ave. $24-27 8 p.m. Music âÄî Mark Mallman, The Alpha Centauri and Total Babe Turf Club 1601 University Ave. W. $6 9 p.m. Minneapolis scene veteran and darling Mark Mallman is as enchanting to the eye as to the ear with his Alice Cooper-level high-energy shows. He’s at the Turf Club on Saturday; go watch as he pummels his piano like it owes him money. Music âÄî Kiss and Buckcherry Target Center 600 1st Ave. N. $19.50-128 Yes, you read that right âÄî Kiss is coming to the Target Center. But before you start caking on the white and black makeup and trying to stretch out your tongue, take note that Peter Criss and Ace Frehley have been replaced, and will not be rocking. Now, before you dejectedly place the makeup back in the closet and your tongue back in your mouth, know that Gene Simmons will be there âÄî and his tongue won’t be in his mouth. Movie âÄî Frank Capra Series: “American Madness” The Trylon 3258 Minnehaha Ave. $8 8:35 p.m. Frank Capra, director of the dearly beloved “It’s A Wonderful Life,” had a knack for not only seeing the glass as half full for himself, but convincing the entire country that it is so. “American Madness” is no exception in the realm of optimism, but there is a darker tone to the humor in comparison to its cheerful successor. Sunday Art âÄî Laura F. Bennett of the Red Pens Café Maude 5411 Penn Ave. S. 5 p.m. Laura Bennett might as well use paintbrushes as opposed to drumsticks in her art-rock band Red Pens. Impossibly, her vivacious art may be more impressive than her music. Music âÄî Steely Dan Northrop Auditorium 84 Church St. S.E. $53-175 7:30 Steely Dan is still a band? Wha? Well in that case âÄî Donal Fagen’s sweet jazz lyricism at Northrop? Yes, please. Theater âÄî Elijah’s Wake, A Visual Poem Open Eye Figure Theater 506 24th St. E. $15 4 p.m. In the Twitter-spoiled, short attention-spanned world in which we live, perhaps it is too much to ask to dwell on the imagery of a poem written on the page. Never fear, generation, the Open Eye Figure Theatre has got you covered. “Elijah’s Wake, A Visual Poem” will put the words to life in the form of a puppet show. Music âÄî Valient Thorr, Architects, Impaler and Spacewolf Triple Rock Social Club 629 Cedar Ave. S. $10-12 8 p.m. There must have been a time, I think, in which the world was genuine. Really real. Pre-postmodern. A time in which being cool was a reflection of the virtues you extolled, rather than how well you could mock another. We, of course, live in an age of irony. Thus, when Valient Thorr busts out bruising guitar riffs a la Ted Nugent, we know they are being sardonic, and we know they are being cool. Art âÄî Photographer to the Tsar: Revealing the Silk Museum of Russian Art 5500 Stevens Ave. S. 10 a.m. Be you a Trotskyite or a Stalinite or a capitalist, go check out the new exhibit at the Museum of Russian Art. Do it, comrades. Listen to this: Morrissey, the bratty Smiths front man, released a new album, “Swords,” last week. Pay your respects to the wittiest Brit rocker since Ray Davies (of The Kinks), because he has had more of an effect on the music you listen to than you realize. Read this: Bill Simmons, the (I’ll say this loosely) Chuck Klosterman of sports writing, recently released his second book, “The Book of Basketball, The NBA According to the Sports Guy.” It’s bound to have plenty of witty culture references and Sports Guy-isms. I can’t wait to read his analysis on the Lakers-Celtics rivalry in the ’80s. Eat this: In search of the newest, coolest pancake? Bon Vie café on Selby serves up pumpkin pancakes at this time of year, and theyâÄôre as good as they sound. Warning: The Potatoes OâÄôBrien, however, are not. Drink this: The Green Tea Mojito at The Lyndale Tap House combines the best drink from the plantation with one of the healthiest imports from the east. Maybe those antioxidants will cancel out that ethanol. Watch this: Michael Jackson’s “This Is It,âÄù obviously. Possibly an answer to The StrokeâÄôs album âÄúIs This It,âÄù JacksonâÄôs melee of dancing and scandal (âÄúIs that REALLY Michael in every scene?âÄù asks every trashy celeb. News show) is keeping the debate on the controversial singer alive and well. Click this: At Ready Mech, you can print off colorful patterns that you fold yourself into one-eyed pirates, astronauts and several other characters. These artistic creations are perfect for those times when you suddenly need to make with a gift.