Our picks of this week's events

ART

Ruff sketches

Playing into stereotypes isn't always a bad thing. The ladies of Grrrrrl Power, a local, all-female artist collective, have no problem playing up the stereotypical "compassionate" side of femininity in their latest project, Pet-Friendly Art Show, an animal-themed presentation opening from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, June 15, at Bow Wow Beauty Shoppe, 1735 University Ave. in Hillcrest. 619-692-0962. www.bowwobeatyshoppe.com.

BOOKS

Poor Duke

One of San Diego's political bad boys, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, will be the main topic of conversation at Del Mar's The Book Works, 2670 Via De La Valle, at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 14. The four award-winning journalists who wrote The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Saga of Randy "Duke" Cunningham, the Most Corrupt Congressman Ever Caught, a biography chronicling Cunningham's childhood, military service, political experience and eventual downfall, will be on hand to discuss the slick reporting techniques that helped break the story and expose Cunningham's seedy underbelly. 858-755-3735 or www.book-works.com.

WORKSHOPS

DIY movie

Do you fantasize about being the next Peter Adair, Michael Moore or Morgan Spurlock? Has your dream of becoming the next groundbreaking documentary filmmaker so far been thwarted by the fact that, though you know how to shoot video, you can't edit your way out of a paper bag? Let your technical inexperience be an obstacle no longer because at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, the Media Arts Center, 921 25th St. in Golden Hill, is offering a Final Cut Pro Training Workshop, where filmmaker Carlos Pelayo will teach aspiring filmmakers how to edit video, manage tapes and media and export projects to various media outlets. To reserve your space, call 619-230-1938 x101 or visit www.mediaartscenter.org/introtoediting07. $35-$55.

POETRY

Teaming up

When you're alone in a quiet room, good poetry ricochets from one side of your brain to the other, grabbing your undivided attention like your favorite elementary-school teacher. When read aloud to a squirrely crowd, though, sometimes poetry needs a little help. At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, check out Poetry & Art, a quarterly spoken-word-meets-visual-art-and-music event held at the San Diego Art Institute's Museum of the Living Artist in Balboa Park. This installment features local theater reviewer Charlene Baldridge reading from her book of poems, Winter Roses; composer Nathan Hubbard presenting a multi-sensory performance involving drums, bass and electronics; and local painter Zuri Waters collaborating with poet J. Godley in a presentation of visual art and spoken word.

OUTDOORS

Water music

Listening to live music is swell. Listening to live music outdoors is sweeter. And listening to live music on the sea is superb. However, listening to Al Jarreau in the moonlight while floating in a kayak on the bay-and only having to pay one-third the ticket price-is seriously superior sweetness. Hike Bike Kayak San Diego is gonna make it happen for you-all you have to do is reserve a spot 24 hours in advance and then meet at the bottom of Bessemer Street off Rosecrans at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 14. 858-551-9510, www.hikebikekayak.com. $30.

SPECIAL EVENTS

This old house

The old Victorian houses in and around South Park look so beautiful, mysterious and possibly haunted. Every time you drive or walk by them, don't you wish you could take a peek inside and imagine what's gone on within those walls over the past century or so? History is cool, and local history is even cooler. The South Park Old House Fair will prove it. At 10 a.m. Saturday, June 16, start at the intersection of 30th and Beech streets in South Park and enjoy a day of walking tours, food, a beer garden and live music by The Fremonts, Louis Hamian, the Deere Johns and more. Free. 619-818-0702.

THEATER

Why not

The Old Globe Theatre hadn't done any Shakespeare in repertory for more than 20 years before its 2004 season-and three successful summers later, the staff might be wondering what possessed the theater to pass on the concept for so long. Before that question gets answered, there's work to be done, and it begins Saturday, June 16, when the Globe's latest Shakespeare rep season opens in previews. This year's slate includes the infamous Hamlet, in which a young son presumes to avenge his dad's murder; Measure for Measure, wherein truth dukes it out with hypocrisy; and The Two Gentlemen of Verona, whose arguably biggest star is a dog. You have lots of chances to check everything out, as it all runs until Sept. 30 or so at the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park $19-$62. 619-23-GLOBE or www.oldglobe.org.

MUSIC

Teen genius

What were you doing before you turned 20? Using fake IDs? Taking bong hits between classes at community college? Trying to convince your girlfriend to get on the pill? It's OK, not everybody can be like Mozart, who wrote his Sonata in B flat for bassoon and cello at the ripe old age of 19. His music probably isn't at the top of your iTunes list of recent plays, but if you veer just a bit out of your comfort zone to listen to it, you might be able to absorb just a little bit of his brilliance. Get an earful at the final week of the Mainly Mozart Festival, which begins at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 20, at the Neurosciences Institute, 10640 John Jay Hopkins Drive in La Jolla. 619-239-0100, www.mainlymozart.org.

TV

Local pride

You never know what'll happen when you follow around a 14-year-old with a penchant for foam swords. For SDSU film grad students Destin Cretton and Lowell Frank, the result, Drakmar: A Vassal's Journey, gets its premiere on HBO Sunday, June 17. The duo's subject was Colin Taylor, a high-school-bound youth deep into Medieval reenactments. Part of the film is Colin prepping for an all-out geek war; the rest is Colin making contact with his dad, who's been out of the picture for a decade. Funny, heavy and hearty, you'll cry on your handmade chainmail. Hit www.flagpop.com/drakmar for the trailer and www.hbofamily.com for showtimes.

FILM

Swingers

The classic film series at the Birch North Park Theater, 2891 University Ave., kicks off its summer season with The Philadelphia Story. The classic from 1940 stars Katharine Hepburn as socialite Tracy Lord. Tracy has divorced her husband (Cary Grant), accepted the proposal of a stiff rich dude (John Howard) and is falling for a tabloid reporter (James Stewart, who took a walk to the podium for this one). She's like a 40s Paris Hilton, minus the drunk driving, the jail term the sex tape and the reality TV show. Still in delicious black-and-white, The Philadelphia Story plays at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 14, and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 17. www.birchnorthparktheatre.net or 619-239-8836.