Monday: Local singer-songwriters Jean Mann, Jill Cohn and Willow are among this town's most talented performers. Normally you'd have to pay to see each of these mighty folksingers in separate clubs ... but tonight, at Ballard's amazing Tractor Tavern, you can enjoy sets by all three for the low, low price of $12. That's only four dollars per genius, a savings of more than 80 percent of what you'd pay to see any one of these future superstars on stage at the Paramount. Act now!

Tuesday: Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan and the Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli are the Gutter Twins, a "gothic blues" project that pools the strengths of their former bands into a sound that fires your imagination, beguiles your senses and unceasingly rocks your silly ass. Seriously, you've never had such a good time feeling bad about yourself and the doomed world you live in. The evil opposites of the Glimmer Twins will visit Showbox at the Market tonight to play tracks from their Sub Pop debut album "Saturnalia."

Wednesday: Stephin Merritt, the vocalist of New York-based independent rock quartet the Magnetic Fields, speaks at Richard Hugo House this evening. Mr. Merrit will hold forth on matters artistic (he'll almost certainly talk about the band's new album, "Distortion") and practical (I double-dog dare ya to ask him a question about those Volvo commercials he made last year). The Magnetic Fields' Thursday and Friday shows at Town Hall are sold out, so this may be your only chance of getting within a hundred yards of the driest wit of this century. Even those Volvo ads play like something Noel Coward might have come up with.

Thursday: The late, great Warren Zevon once sang "Even a Dog Can Shake Hands." The galleries of Pioneer Square, in association with CityDog Magazine, aim to prove that dogs can not only shake hands but make qualitative judgments on pieces of art, and maybe even make handshake deals with the artists. This month's First Thursday art walk is dog-friendly, with showcases of canine-themed art and live portraits taken by local photographers. Best of all, many galleries will happily admit the four-legged aesthetes this evening. They will greet other dogs and look askance at the art, perhaps thinking, "I coulda painted that."

Friday: Artattack Theater Ensemble, formerly of Ashland, Ore., makes its Seattle debut with a production of Annie Weisman's "Be Aggressive." Weisman, one of the writers for the now-cancelled cult cable TV hit "Dead Like Me," has penned the modern-day equivalent of "The Odyssey" in "Aggressive," only with cheerleaders. Lots of cheerleaders. We're talking about an entire Greek chorus of cheerleaders, really, who will provide the music, sound effects and -- of course! -- cheers that will help to drive the play's two protagonists to the "Spirit Institute of the South," where they hope to learn cheerleading with "Bible-belt intensity."

Okey-dokey. Teenage girls these days, huh? If it's not the boys or the Facebook or the Miley Cyrus, it's that whole find-the-real-America thing. Don't question it. Just go to the Freehold Theater, yell if the cheerleaders tell you to yell, and hang on for dear life.

Saturday: Cartoonist Jim Woodring, in association with Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery, presents an informal salon for aspiring cartoonists, the "Friends of the Nib Comic Jam." More than a dozen cartoonists will be on hand to share tips and advice, and seminal underground comix figure Kim Deitch will screen his 1960 short film "Dial M For Monster." The muses will no doubt smile upon you if you bring a sketchpad. Admission is free.

Sunday: The Academy Award-winner for best foreign language film, "The Counterfeiters," opens in Seattle this weekend. I'm interested in this Austrian WWII drama because it touches on one of my favorite film genres (heist/con artists), because it brings to light the Nazis' attempts to bring America down by counterfeiting its currency, and because it's all about surviving on your wits. Mostly, though, I'd like to see it because it helped me to win my Oscar pool.

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