Tour the world in four days

Madison will soon be filled with sounds of traditional drums, bells and stringed instruments as the Madison World Music Festival plays out Wednesday to Saturday, Sept. 16-19. This largely free event will start in the UW's Memorial Union, 800 Langdon St., with an opening ceremony by the Tibetan monks of the Loseling Monastery and a "Creating Buddhas" film screening at 4 p.m., and then take over the Union Terrace through Friday.

Events will move to the Willy Street Fair on Saturday, Sept. 19, with music from Mexico, Basque country and Mongolia and return to the Memorial Union for the finale, a Mystical Arts of Tibet performance at 8 p.m. For a schedule of all events, visit uniontheater.wisc.edu/worldmusicfest.

Swim, bike or run, or just cheer them on

Go cheer on more than a thousand people as they swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run a 26.2-mile marathon on Sept. 13 in the Ironman Triathlon Wisconsin. The swimming portion begins at 7 a.m. at Law Park on Lake Monona and the race will continue until the course officially closes at 12 a.m. Support the athletes and the Verona Area School District by visiting the bike loop located in Verona from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will be food, face painting and other activities for all ages. For a race map and more information, visit ironmanwisconsin.com.

The sunny side of blues

Who could possibly feel blue when the weather's so gorgeous? The third annual Sun Prairie Blues Festival brings terrific blues musicians to a sunny location at Angell Park on Saturday, Sept. 12. The line-up crosses several generations, from veterans like living blues legend Magic Slim and the Teardrops (8 to 10 p.m.) to younger folks like the Perry Weber and the DeVilles (4:30 to 5:30 p.m.), to really younger folks like nine-year-old blues guitar sensation "T-Man" Tallan Latz (3 to 4 p.m.).

Tickets are $10 in advance through spbluesfest.com or $15 at the door, with net proceeeds going to the Sun Prairie Lions Club and other charities.

Get in the fighting spirit

Progressives who can't wait for Fighting Bob Fest this Saturday, Sept. 12, in Baraboo can get warmed up with the kick-off event this Friday, Sept. 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Barrymore Theatre, 2090 Atwood Ave. Jim Hightower, authors Jeremy Scahill and Greg Palast, and the Cap Times' own John Nichols will be on hand for an event that, in the words of the organizers, will commemorate the eighth anniversary of 9/11 without resorting to the usual grandstanding.

The event will include clips from Sherry Jones' documentary "Torturing Democracy." Tickets are $9 in advance from the Barrymore box office at 241-8864 or www.barrymorelive.com, or $11 at the door.

Let your knowledge blossom

Take a look at photographs, drawings and written descriptions of rare gardens in China, Japan, Korea, Siam (Thailand) and India in the Olbrich Botanical Gardens, 3330 Monona Drive. "Asian Gardens of the 1920s: The Travels of Elizabeth K. Roys," is on display on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Sept. 27.

This Sunday, Sept. 12, at 2 p.m., exhibit curator Betsy Anderson will be supplementing this artwork with a slide lecture exploring Roys' inspirations to capture these rare gardens that now predominantly exist only in her art.

A cat and mouse game

There's a lot to complain about with Madison's lakes and water, but hopefully nothing will ever get to the point it does in the Strollers Theater's new production, "Cat's-Paw."

Eco-terrorists hold a news reporter hostage to bring attention to water pollution and how the world is treating the Earth. The drama, first produced in the 1980s, brings up questions of civil and not-so-civil disobedience, morals and messages.

The production opens Thursday, Sept. 10, and runs through Oct. 3 with performances on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $15, $10 each with a group of 10 or more.

Call 661-9696, ext. 2, for reservations or more information.

Local eats

You don't actually have to crawl down the street in Stoughton on Saturday, Sept. 12, unless you just eat so much you have no choice. But that's not the point of the Localmotion: An Eat Local Crawl celebration of local foods, farmers, chefs and restaurants of Stoughton.

Those on the crawl can sample foods at 10 local places: All Through the House, Bella Roma, Cheeser's, Fosdal's, Main Street Kitchen, Main Street Pour House, Montage, Page Street Pizza, Sonny's and Yahara River Grocery Cooperative.

There is no admission charge, but the price for the "tastes" will range from $2 to $5.

For more information on the event and local foods in the area, go to yaharagrocery.coop.

Really big show

Robert Rauschenberg's work always reflected the times, using photos, news clipping and other objects to create a kaleidoscope of art.

Much of that will be on show beginning on Sunday at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, 227 State St., with "Signs of the Times: Robert Rauschenberg's America," which runs through Jan. 3. The show includes 59 lithographs and screenprints from 1968-1970.

On Saturday, Sept. 12, MMoCA director Stephen Fleischman and curator of collections Rick Axsom will trace the development of Rauschenberg's work during the late 1960s in an Art Talk at 7 p.m. in the museum's lecture hall.

For more information, go to mmoca.org or call 257-0158.

Poster children

Outside of a few designers, concert posters have historically been a disposable art form, something to be slapped up on a window or kiosk in the knowledge that it'll be ripped down or covered by the next poster. But high-quality, original screen-printed posters are started to become very sought after by art and music fans alike; some bands have different posters designed for every show they do on a tour. And they usually only run $15-$20, which is cheaper than a T-shirt.

With the second annual Forward Music Festival running Thursday to Saturday, Sept. 17-19, festival organizers invited 30 Midwest designers to create posters for the many bands in the show. Check out their work at the Great Flood Poster Showcase at the Project Lodge, 817 E. Johnson St., on Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 7-11 p.m.

The posters include Mikey Burton's dripping plaid shirt motif for the Richard Buckner show and Adam Garcia's deep-sea diver for the Ra Ra Riot show. After Wednesday's exhibit, the posters will be viewable around town, and available for purchase for $15 at the Forward merch table in the Overture Center lobby during the festival. For more info on the festival, visit fmf09.com.

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