ongoing -Feb. 10

 In 1978, we moved to Somerville from Maine, knowing nothing.  A friend in Watertown, upon hearing of our arrival in Teele Square, laughed ruefully and told us "Slumerville" stories that ended with the "densest city in the US, population wise." Look, we enjoyed our time there, even though it was pre-renewel. Now, Somerville need apologize for nothing and through Feb. 10 it has an annual open studios art event called "Brickbottom Celebrates MacDowell." (Nothing to do with "Sudden" Sam MacDowell, you old baseball nuts!) The Brickbottom Artist Association is dedicated to expanding and preserving the arts in Somerville and Boston, and this year's open house celebration features the work of 20 MacDowell Fellows. Expect visual art, literary bits (on Sunday Jan 28 at 7 p.m.)  at the Brickbottom Gallery. The regular hours are Thurs-Sun. noon to 5. It's free and open to all. (In the picture: a work by Karen Aqua.)

1 Fitchburg St., Somerville, 617-776-3410 brickbottomartists.com/site/gallery

Fri. Feb. 9

 We're not sure who invented the power ballad, but we know Bon Jovi (in photo) perfected it. Generally, it's defined as the slowed-down, radio-friendly, mawkish, "sensitive" songwriting side of hard rock bands. Hair bands, glam bands, metal bands. Live - or on video - you tended to get smoke machines, and matches lit in the audience and momentary romantic spurts from guys who wanna let the girls they're not all leather and chains. This stuff annoyed us no end, and we remember when Metallica first began and we were so taken by their no power-ballad stance that we raised that split-fingered devil's salute in their honor. Now, of course, they've since done them ... and pretty well, we might add. But power ballads remain the cheesy guilty pleasure for many an '80s rock fan - let's face it, most of them female - who let themselves fall for that romantic dream time after time. The Coolidge Corner Theatre is presenting an homage to the power ballad video called "Love Bites: The 80s Power Ballad Sing-A-Long," which means for $9.50 you can go in and sing your heart out with the stars and a couple hundred like-minded folks at midnight, Friday February 9.

290 Harvard St., Brookline, 617-734-2500 coolidge.org

Fri. Feb. 9  - Mon - Feb. 12

 We've always liked the programming moxie of Evonne Hyla Wetzner and what she's done with the Video Underground in Jamaica Plain. She's taken risky films to clubs, and now she's bringing back "Half-Cocked" and "Radiation" to the Underground at 6:30 and 8:30  through Monday Feb. 12. "Half-Cocked" is about a group of kids who steal a van full of music gear and pretend to be a real band themselves so they can stay on the road. The 1994 movie's by the "Horns & Halos" duo, Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley (in photo). The music is by Unwound, Slant 6, Polvo, Smog and others. The film-makers took "Half-Cocked" to rock clubs around the world, and this inspires them to film "Radiation," the results of what happens when a screw-up Spanish rock promoter puts American bands on tour (This premiered at Sundance in ;99 and playedd at over 40 festivals.) Video Underground requests a $3-$5 donation. (A DVD of the two films comes out Feb. 13th with extras about making the movies, and two extra hours of music.)

385 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, 617-522-4949

thevideounderground.com

Fri. Feb. 9

We knew Anthony Spinazzola only a little when we first started freelancing for the Boston Globe. He was wrapping up his career as a restaurant critic; we were beginning ours as a pop music critic. So we’ll cede the floor to his son Chris and his wife Marjorie Clapprood, when it comes to talking about “Tony Spin” and the Gala Festival of Food & Wine that holds his name.
    “He was very much loved, very different,” says Clapprood. “When he passed away, all the young up-and-comers who he’d invested a lot of time  and affection in - Todd English, Lydia Shire, Jasper White - came to Chris and Tony’s widow, Dorothy, and said ‘We’d love to do something to honor him.’ He invested time and talent. He really put Boston on the map for restaurants and California for its wineries.”
    So in 1986, the Gala was launched. It steam-rolled from there. This year’s event, the 22nd will be held Friday Feb. 9 at the Seaport World Trade Center. It's expected to draw nearly 5000 people at $200 a pop. Starting at 7:30, folks will be able to sample the wares of 130 premier restaurants and 90 wineries, many with the “famous” chef/owner or vintner in the house or at the grill. The money raised between the Gala and a smaller celebration on Thursday at Aujourd’hui should total $1 million. It will benefit various hunger relief organizations around town and support scholarships for inner-city kids entering culinary arts programs.
    Clapprood says the Boston tourism bureau told her the Gala, and other spin-offs held around the same time, bring  $50 million to the city. Chris – who, with his mother, just got the Silver Spoon Award for Humanitarian Service from industry trade Food Arts magazine – says this about his dad. “What I’ve heard is, because he actually worked in the business - he had a second job as a line cook at New England Oyster House and had been a waiter – they had a rare appreciation for him. (As a critic) he had a great deal of integrity. If a restaurant was horrible he would tend not to write about it rather than crucify it.” What his dad wouldn’t tolerate, says Chris, is indifference.
    You’ll see Clapprood and Chris Spinazzola at the the Anthony Spinazzola Foundation Gala Festival of Food & Wine, but don’t expect to find either eating. They’ll be working the crowd. They save dining for later, at an after-party or breakfast. You, on the other hand, will be pleasurably overwhelmed with choices. We know. We’ve been to a couple of these and it’s a sensory delight through and through. Music will be supplied by the MIT Jazz Ensemble.

200 Seaport Blvd., 781-344-4413 spinazzol.org

ongoing-Feb. 18

Do ya like sitting on your bum? Do ya like eating popcorn? Have a bit of post-holiday free time? And, primarily, do ya like movies, all kinds of movies? How would you like to participate in a fundraiser that will benefit the Brattle Theatre? The Theatre is holding its second annual "Brattle Watch-A-Thon Fundraiser" through Feb. 18. There's no special programming for this stretch - except at the end. What you do is go to as many of the 20 or so regularly scheduled films - a Robert Altman series, a romance block - as you can - having raised pledges from pals, a la any charity marathon - and pay a $50 registration fee. (You get this back if you raise a grand or more.) Also: You can watch movies at other theaters and can credit (half credit actually) by bringing the ticket stub to the Brattle. It begins to end Feb. 17 with a 12:30 p.m. start to the Brattle's annual "Schlock Around the Clock" stretch, which concludes at 9:30 the following night. Prizes include all kinds of neat stuff from Harvard Square businesses - two biggies for the person who sees the most movies and another for the person who raises the most dough. Prizes will be announced shortly. Check Brattlefilm.org for details. Last year, the theater brought in $10,000 and hopes to beat that this year. Whose idea? "Just a brainstorm amongst our office," says Brattle top dog Ned Hinkle.

40 Brattle St. Cambridge, 617-876-8021 brattlefilm.org