8 Days A Week 

Author and Davidson College graduate Catherine Landis will appear at the Little Professor Book Center on Park Road at 7pm to sign her new book Some Days There's Pie. For more information, call 704-525-9239.

THURSDAY 23

The Food Lion Speed Street festival hits uptown Charlotte today, and runs through Saturday. Featured is a slew of music artists (Better Than Ezra, George Jones, Steppenwolf), NASCAR drivers (Richard Petty, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, Kyle Petty and more), games, food, and more. For more information, log onto www.600festival.com.

Shadowlands, the love story of C.S. Lewis (author of The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters) and American poet Joy Davidman, continues tonight at the Off-Tryon Theatre. The show will run Thursday-Saturday through May 25 at 8pm. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. For more information, call 704-375-2826.

The Yorkville Players and Victory Pictures will present One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Dale Wasserman at the McCelvey Center in York SC. The play will run for three consecutive weekends with curtain times each evening at 8pm. The show dates are tonight through May 25 and May 30-June 1 with a special matinee performance on June 2 at 3pm. Tickets are $12 per person. For more information, call 803-628-5025 or visit online at www.yorkvilleplayers.com.

FRIDAY 24

Pink Martini, a group of 10 musicians who were part of the lounge music fashion a few years ago, will perform with the Charlotte Symphony tonight and tomorrow at 8pm in Belk Theater of the Performing Arts Center. Tickets range from $15-$55. For more information, call 704-972-2000 or visit online at www.charlottesymphony.org.

Kyle and Patty Petty (that's right -- of NASCAR fame) will appear at the Little Professor to autograph copies of their tribute to their son Adam. A Petty Family Album will be signed from 1-3pm. For more information, call 704-525-9239 or visit online at www.carolinabook.com.

Grandmaster Flash, the originator of DJ "breaks," is still on the road, and stopping in Mythos for the "Flash Is Back" Tour 2002. Flash became a groundbreaking hip-hop icon by working with the breaks of songs, blending classic & rare funk records as well as new stuff into one seamless mix. Rennie Pilgrim will also be performing, as the "Nu Skool" yin to Flash's "Old Skool" yang. Doors open at 10pm, and admission is $20. For more information log onto mythosclub.com.

The Charlotte Knights, missing retired slugger Jose Canseco, take on the Richmond Braves today and tomorrow at 7:15pm, and again Monday at 2:15pm. Tickets are $6-9, available by calling 704-36-HOMER.

The Lake Eden Arts Festival (L.E.A.F.), a growing music festival held in Black Mountain, NC, is once again upon us. The festival, which runs today through Sunday, features dozens of music acts (Donna The Buffalo, Be Good Tanyas, Robin and Linda Williams and loads more), poetry, a kid's theater, food and beverages, crafts, workshops, healing arts and more. Ticket prices and times are too convoluted to begin to list here. Might we suggest, then, checking out www.theleaf.com, or placing a call to 828-68-MUSIC.

Writer Jay Ahuja will be making a couple of appearances this week to promote his new sports chronicle, Speed Dreams: A Guide To America's 23 NASCAR Tracks. He will appear today at The BookMark from 12-1:30pm for a signing, and on Monday at Barnes and Noble Sharon Rd. at 5pm for a discussion and signing. For more information contact The BookMark at 704-377-2565 or Barnes and Noble at 704-554-7906.

SATURDAY 25

Champions On Ice, the 2002 Olympic Tour, will arrive at Cricket Arena for a show tonight at 7:30pm. Featured athletes include Michelle Kwan, Sara Hughes, Philippe Candeloro, Elvis Stojko, Surya Bonaly, Victor Petrenko, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Eisler, and many others. Tickets range from $35-$55. For more information, call 704-522-6500.

La Fiesta Latinoamericana comes to Charlotte Merchandise Mart today and tomorrow to bring entertainment from at least 30 Latin American countries. The event is designed to expose the public to Latin American culture and to show off the amateur and professional visual, performing arts, and dance. Food will also be provided by local Latino restaurants. For more information, call 704-377-0007.

Paramount's Carowinds presents Joyfest 2002 today, starring nu-gospel headliner Kirk Franklin. Also on board will be Trin-I-tee 5:7 and Rodnie Bryant. Tickets begin at $24.99, and are available at Carowinds, by calling 704-522-6500, or at www.ticketmaster.com.

Something called the Milk Rules! Road Trip, sponsored by the Got Milk? campaign, will be in town today and tomorrow. Featured are chances for teens to win a spot on MTV's TRL, a chance to redeem soda for "teen friendly" flavors of milk like cotton candy and cappuccino, and more. Check it out today before the Knights game in Fort Mill, from 11am until 1pm at the Food Lion on Concord Parkway in Concord, and Sunday at the Harris Teeter on Rea Road.

Beginning at 4pm today in the Turn 2 Hospitality Village, Lowe's Motor Speedway presents The Main Event, a boxing card featuring several bouts featuring fighters like Charlotte's own Calvin Brock, a 2000 Olympian, and 2000 Olympian Silver Medalist Ricardo "Rocky" Juarez. In the main event, Joachim Alcine takes on Marcos Primera for the IBA Americas Junior Middleweight Championship. Tickets are priced at $50, with VIP hospitality packages also available. Call 1-800-455-FANS for more information.

SUNDAY 26

With the Hornets now munching on beignets and slurping coffee with chicory, racing is the biggest game in town until the NFL season starts. The King Daddy of these is the Coca-Cola Racing Family 600, which takes place today starting at 5:30pm at Lowe's Motor Speedway. In addition to the under-the-lights racing action, country music icon George Jones will perform his Vietnam tribute song "50,000 Names" during the patriotic-themed pre-race activities. For tickets to the Coca-Cola Racing Family 600, expected to be almost gone at press time, call 1-800-455-FANS or log onto www.lowesmotorspeedway.com.

Recording artist Paul Taylor, one of instrumental music's fastest rising stars, will perform at the Performing Arts Center tonight at 8pm. Tickets start at $28. For more information, call 704-522-6500.

The MFA program in creative writing at Queens College presents a series of Faculty Readings this week. All will be held at 8pm in the Accenture Auditorium in the John H. Sykes Learning Center. Tonight features Peter Ho Davis and Alan Michael Parker; Tuesday, Elizabeth Stuckey-French and Ron Rash; Wednesday, Susan Perabo; and Friday, Roland Merullo and Cathy Smith Bowers. The readings are free. For more information, call 704-337-2335.

MONDAY 27

Today is Memorial Day, a day to honor the men and women who have served and fought in the US armed forces. The holiday started out as a commemoration of the Union war dead after the Civil War, so for decades, most Southern states didn't celebrate it. Luckily, the Civil War is all behind us and forgotten now (ahem) and we can all join together and honor our vets by grilling meat and having appliance sales. Oh, an update on the Civil War thing. It seems that some folks still get a bit riled over the whole thing (who knew?) and some states, such as South Carolina, still deem it necessary to have a separate day to honor Confederate war dead. Hey, people, can't we all just get along?

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation will offer Latin American Activity Day for children ages 6-12 today at the Methodist Home Recreation Center, 3200 Shamrock Dr., from 8:30am-4:30pm. The day will include arts, crafts, games, sports, stories, food, language, songs and dances. Cost is $15 per child. For more information, call 704-432-0098.

TUESDAY 28

Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues will be presented at the Neighborhood Theatre starting tonight and running through June 9. The performance will star Glynis Bell, Rhonda Ross, and a third performer to be announced. Showtimes vary from day to day (Tuesday-Sunday) so it's best to call for times. Tickets are $32-$42. For more information, call 704-358-9298 or visit online at www.neighborhoodtheatre.com.

The Charlotte Knights take on the Syracuse SkyChiefs today through Friday at 7:15pm. Tickets are $6-9, available by calling 704-36-HOMER.

WEDNESDAY 29

The Actor's Theatre of Charlotte presents David Linsay-Abaire's Fuddy Meers tonight through June 16 at Spirit Square. Showtimes are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday June 16 at 2pm only. Tickets are $9 tonight for opening night, June 4 is Pay What You Can Night, and all other tickets range from $14-$18. For more information, call 704-372-1000 or visit online at www.actorstheatrecharlotte.org. *