Culture Compass — Bill Blagg, Woofstock, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice and Beetlejuice

Today

The Magic of Bill Blagg Live

Loring Theater

1407 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis

9:30 pm

$10

You guys wanna see some guy turn a fistful of fire into a bird? Tonight? Sure, the name ‘Blagg’ lacks some magic of its own, but that doesn’t mean the man can’t deliver or at least compensate. Expect to see smoke, mirrors, flame, flamboyant hand gestures and all the trappings of a classic magic show — and all for a completely reasonable price. “For his next trick, Bill Blagg will transform your $10 dollar bill into an amazing evening!”  I can’t promise “The Final Countdown”  will be played, but it’s worth humming to yourself when the magician makes his grand entrance.

Tomorrow

"Beetlejuice"

Trylon Microcinema

3258 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis

7 p.m., 9 p.m.

$8

Remember, way back before Tim Burton became a reverse Rumpelstiltskin with his baseless and overwrought aesthetics, when he made movies that were actually fun to watch? “Beetle Juice” is one of those gems, and it gives us a peek into the twisted and bureaucratic world of the afterlife as subverted by its anarchistic titular character (played by Michael Keaton). Who knew being dead would be so complicated? Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin star in the feature about two recently-deceased ghosts coming to grips with death and their trust in young Winona Ryder — awash in black like a petite specter of death — who helps the spirits regain a semblance of their lives by reclaiming their house from her tiresome parents. It’s a true coming-of-age classic.

Saturday

Woofstock

Linden Hills

43rd St. & Upton Ave. S., Minneapolis

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Free

Call me old-fashioned, but there’s nothing I love more than a despondent dog in an undersized festive hat. This event, a fully-blown festival for dogs, is now in its seventh year — that’s almost half a century in dog years. There will be Doga, which is — you guessed it — dog-owner yoga, a water bar for dogs looking to mingle,  and an extreme makeover dog station. Can you say, “Bow WOW”? Don’t miss the doggie fashion show at 11:15 a.m. if only to see a schnauzer in a tutu drop a big steamer in the middle of the runway.

CULTURE TO CONSUME

Listen to this: Ya mutha

Summer’s over, jabronies. It’s time to take heed from the parentals and hit the books. Throw on your business sweatpants and résumé the frenzy of planning the rest of your life between binge drinking sessions with the buddies. Is the old lady tellin’ ya to eat more spinach? She’s probably right. Your stools have been a little loose lately, anyway.

Watch this: “Life in a Day”

On July 6, 2010, Ridley Scott Associates put up an open call on Youtube for anyone to submit footage of their lives on July 24, 2010. Part time-capsule, part ode to humanity, this documentary is akin to a cinematic realization of the “Day in the Life of ...” photo project series by Smolan and Cohen. With snippets of life from events mundane and momentous from all over the world, “Life in a Day”  is an ambitious project that is the result of paring down 4,500 hours of user-submitted footage to just over 95 minutes. The project has an ace-in-the-hole poignance. Something in the realm of watching it as “Comptine d’Un Autre Été”  from “ Amelie” loops in the background for an hour and a half. In all, a foolproof way to be inspired by the beauty and diversity of life on planet Earth (while also, gasp, contemplating our commonalities) as you sit in the theater obliterating a box of Jujubes.

Eat this: Apples

There’s really no denying it any longer. Fall is upon us, and apples — aside from being ripe with metaphor — are like the unofficial ambassadorial fruit of autumn. Prepare your belly and bowels for a full deluge of this season’s apple pies, apple butters, apple sauces and apple bottoms. I like mine juicy and round, but whether it’s McIntosh, Honeycrisp or good ol’ Granny Smith comin’ round for a visit, an apple is a delicious way to admit to yourself that the fun is over.

Read this: “What is it about 20-somethings?”  by Robin Marantz Henig

Fortunately this Aug. 18, 2010, New York Times Magazine feature is available for download onto a smartphone or iPad, so it can be perused and never read. The article provides some insight as to why you should get ahead of the game by taking that U-turn and moving in with your parents now as opposed to after you graduate. Kick off the school year with a real downer about how our generation just can’t seem to get around that tricky career question. In the meantime we’ll be sure to do our own laundry because mom is real tired after working all day at the cracker factory. The article also pairs nicely with the 1980 biopic “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”