The Best Hoopla Ever!

FRIDAY, October 7October is International Bubblegum Month. Let us now bow before all things sugary, joyful, underappreciated and one-hit-wonderful with the Bubblegum Achievement Awards, brought to us by the fun-pushers from Scram magazine. The awards go to Steve Barri (Grass Roots string puller, producer of the all-chimp band Lancelot Link & the Evolution Revolution), Ron Dante (the Archies), Joey Levine (Ohio Express) and Dr. Demento, who needs no parenthetical. Besides sweet acceptance speeches, there will be a screening of the new documentary Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth, live performances by Dante, the Bubblegum Queen and Canned Hamm, a special puppet spectacular created by marionette master Bob Baker, and a visit from Abram the Safety Ape, plus cake, ice cream, Bazooka bubblegum, raffle prizes, oddly hip and hiply odd people. My candidate for next year: the Buoys, the Rupert Holmes–led band who recorded “Timothy,” the peppiest song about eating your friend ever recorded. Bob Baker Marionette Theater, 1345 W. First St.; Fri., Oct. 7, 7 p.m.; $52. (323) 223-2767.

First Fridays at the Natural History Museum kicks off with “The Shape of Things To Come,” where “ecology meets style with a discussion on sustainable living,” not to mention a like-minded fashion show and mind-challenging, sustainable music by Son de Madera con Zack de al Rocha and Quetzal. Fascinatingly, it all ties into the museum’s “Collapse?” exhibit, inspired by Jared Diamond (who gives a talk later in the series). Natural History Museum, 900 Exposition Blvd.; Fri., Oct. 7, 7 p.m.-1 a.m.; $15. (866) 468-3399. See Dance Clubs Pick.

SATURDAY, October 8 Racing through the streets in a frantic search for things you didn’t know you needed — sounds like just another Saturday running errands. Nope, it’s RACE/L.A., a scavenger hunt that makes city stress fun. You need a partner; then you’ll get your first clue, and the whole hunt takes between five and seven hours. Let us know how fun this is. Sat., Oct. 8, 9:30 a.m. (also Sat., Oct. 15); $120 per team. www.racela.com or e-mail racela@earthlink.net.

After sitting through Etan Boritzer’s lecture “Collecting or Collected: A Primer for Collectors and Artists,” you will be qualified to wander into the massive group art show that is Create:Fixate’s Optical Lounge and Audio Lab. After the talk, you will stroll by the art, which you will now view with a new sense of capitalism. Included among the 27 artists are works by Nate Patel, Bernie Krause, Scott Keskel, Mike Stilkey, Jessica Boone, Patrick Fraser and Carlos Raphael Vera. Wild, arty music from superspinners Liza Richardson and Wiseacre, plus performances by Chicago dance-music experimenter Joshua Collins and others, keep the soundtrack avant-garde, yet danceable. Also, there’s a raffle to benefit animals affected by Hurricane Katrina. Spring Arts Tower, 453 S. Spring St., downtown; Sat., Oct. 8, 7 p.m.-2 a.m.; free preview 4-7 p.m.; $10. www.createfixate.com.

Another battle for cutting-edge art mecca takes place at SCREAM and NewTown’s Sounding Images 2005: An International Micro-Fest of Digital Sonic & Visual Media. Let’s let the press release explain: “an adventuresome exploration of cutting-edge art seamlessly meshing experimental, digitally generated and manipulated imagery and electro-acoustic sound.” We’re guessing it’s like MTV for the pretentious set. Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond St., Pasadena; Sat., Oct. 8, 8 p.m.; $10, $5 seniors. (626) 398-9278.

SUNDAY, October 9Slurp’s up! Who will be this year’s Noodle King at the Double Ten Celebration? All we hope is that the crown is made of that really thin spaghetti. As one of the restaurants at the Excalibur in Las Vegas proclaims, “Lancelotta pasta!” Anyone can enter, and the winner gets 300 bucks. We have to add that the press contact for the event is Pedro Chan. You gotta love L.A. Central Plaza, 943 N. Broadway, Chinatown; Sun., Oct. 9, 5:30 p.m. (event 10 a.m.-6 p.m.); free. (323) 721-0774.

Yet again, slurp’s up! The LACBC (stands for something with L.A. and bicycles) invites anyone with a bike, a helmet and a sweet tooth to The Second Annual LACBC Bicycle Sundae, where you get to wheel to different ice cream stops, including Persian, Indian, Mexican and Italian varieties. You’ll cover about 10 to 15 miles, which should burn off most of your calories. Just show up with $15 at Griffith Park Manor, 1551 Flower St., Glendale; Sun., Oct. 9, 10 a.m.; $15. (213) 629-2142.

MONDAY, October 10The new Atom Egoyan film, Where the Truth Lies, gets a special AFI Director’s Screening, followed by a Q&A with the director and cast members Kevin Bacon, Alison Lohman and Rachel Blanchard, where they can explain what the hell just happened onscreen. ArcLight Hollywood, 6360 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood; Mon., Oct. 10, 8 p.m.; $11. (323) 464-4226.

TUESDAY, October 11 She banged Mick! And Morrison! And, as we learned in her classic I-had-all-your-fun book, I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie, Pamela Des Barres had a ball (yeah, yeah) the whole dang time. The moral of her story: Even little girls born in Reseda can grow up to be mad cool. The new edition of the book features an introduction by yummy rock candy Dave Navarro, who’s young enough to be her son — not that there’s anything wrong with that. Book Soup, 8816 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood; Tues., Oct. 11, 7 p.m.; free. (310) 659-3110.