One Weird Weekend

Perhaps it’s something in the air – the thunderstorms, the ash still stirred up from the Gap Fire – and perhaps it’s the alignment of the stars. Whatever the cause, the Santa Barbara area is the place to be this weekend for anyone seeking a little extra weirdness. On both Saturday and Sunday, here in town and up the coast, there are UFOs, zombies, bonsai trees, and ukeleles lurking everywhere.

As regular readers already know, the Central Coast Science-UFO Symposium is in full swing in Santa Maria, and going through Sunday. No UFOs are expected to land here in Santa Barbara, but we should be prepared to help out any flying saucer pilots who may need to stop for directions.

Santa Barbarans who’ve opted to stay close to home over the weekend to avoid the Santa Maria UFO Symposium should nevertheless beware of zombies. On Sunday, a zombie photo shoot will be held here, although the precise location was not available at press time. Anyone sighting a horde of zombies, therefore, should remain calm unless they live next door to the cemetery.

Sunday is also an important day for Santa Barbara bonsai enthusiasts. The Bonsai Club of Santa Barbara is holding its Annual Potluck and Workshop, where anyone with an interest will be welcome with or without tiny trees. It may be too late to attend this particular event, but the club holds regular Saturday workshops.

For anyone looking for a way to fill both days of the weekend profitably, Weird S.B. would like to suggest attending the S.B. Ukelele Club meeting on Saturday, followed by a workshop on “Nonviolent Expressing Skills” on Sunday afternoon. The second event will allow attendees of the first to properly explain how they spent the previous afternoon, with no smashing of beginners’ ukeleles necessary.

Other musical events this weekend include an accordion performance by Alexander Cargnelli at the Trinity Lutheran Church. He will be playing “pieces from the classical repertoire, including compositions by Bach and Mozart,” according to Santa Barbara’s Accordion Club’s Web site. Admission is $8 – which means that you actually pay to go, in case anyone is confused.

In short, Santa Barbara’s experiencing an unusual surge of weirdness for such a laid-back town. It might be wiser to simply stay at home – you never know when an accordion-playing zombie might be right outside your door.