Thursday 5/20

So what do Celia Cruz, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and La Virgen de Guadalupe have in common? They’re all cited as inspirations to Mayda del Valle, the youngest person ever to win the 2001 National Poetry Slam Championship – not to mention the first Latina. Catch her free show today at 8 p.m. at Isla Vista Theater. Slam poetry not your thing? Then check out Benise, a flamenco guitarist whose music combines the talent of him and his band with the beauty of dance. Benise plays at 8:30 p.m. at SOhO Restaurant and Music Club, which is located at 1221 State Street.

Friday 5/21

Picture it: an obese dog, a trio of singing vaudeville sisters and the most prestigious bicycle race in the world. Now render it all in goofy-but-cool animation, and you’ve got the “Triplets of Belleville.” An import from the land of baguette and “Baise-moi,” “The Triplets of Belleville” shows at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. in Campbell Hall. Students with valid ID get in free! If French animation doesn’t quell cool your film fever, then head over to Isla Vista Theater for “It Came From Outer Space.” Showing at 7:30 and 10 p.m., this is the first in the Magic Lantern Films series to incorporate 3-D glasses.

Saturday 5/22

Because it’s better than not going, that’s why. May means Extravaganza, UCSB’s annual free concert. Headlining this year are MxPx and Talib Kweli, as well as Donovan Frankenreiter, the Bronx, and MF Doom. Rock out free of charge starting at 11 a.m. at Harder Stadium. After dancing in the afternoon sun, head down to SOhO to see Alix Olson, for an “explosive folk poetry manifesto from a dyke spoken-word artist.” Olson is scheduled to explode at 7 p.m. Stick around until 9:30 to hear the bluesy stylings of John Lee Hooker Jr. Does he live up to his name?

Sunday 5/23 / Monday 5/24

Do you know all the lyrics to the score of “The Wizard of Oz”? Do you feel alone? Unwanted? Unloved? Solve your problems – for two hours, at least – at the sing-a-long “Wizard of Oz” at 2 and 7 p.m. on Sunday at Campbell Hall. Students must pay $16 for what UCSB Arts & Lectures promises as “magical, musical fun for the entire family.” As you come down from your Oz-high on Monday, check out “Live From the Front: Petrol and Protein,” a one-man show by Jerry Quickley, hip hop poet and Iraq war correspondent. Quickley performs at 8 p.m. at Culver City’s Ivy Substation, located at 9070 Venice Blvd.

Tuesday 5/25

Even if you don’t know Suzan-Lori Parks, chew on this: She won a Pulitzer Prize for literature. That’s probably one more Pulitzer than you won, eh? Although Topdog/Underdog, the work that netted Parks such a classy prize, is a play, she’s also an accomplished novelist and songwriter. Enjoy all of Parks’ talents at her free 8 p.m. show in Campbell Hall. Alternately, you could also catch Antara and Delilah, the folk-rock-jazz-blues-country-and-probably-everything-else duo that Santa Barbara News-Press readers voted best local band three years in a row. Antara and Delilah perform at 7:30 p.m. at SOhO.

Wednesday 5/26

No, no. Not UNIX. It’s “eunuch.” And who doesn’t like a eunuch? Even if you don’t, you damn well might after the screening of “Bombay Eunuch” at 6 p.m. at the MultiCultural Center Theater. The documentary details the tragic lives of hijras, or Indian eunuchs. Admission is free, and attendees can attend an after-film powwow at the MultiCultural Center Lounge. If you can’t quite make “Bombay Eunuch,” then try for “The Fog of War,” which screens at 7:30 p.m. This documentary details former defense secretary Robert McNamara’s reflections on the Vietnam War.