Best Bets Orange County HERE AND NEAR

TODAY

10am-6:30pm

Last Chance

“Armani, Amazonia, RuPaul and Klein: Creating Identity,” an exhibit examining the roles that clothing, jewelry, insignia and body modification play in creating identity and establishing status, closes Saturday at the Cal State Fullerton Anthropology Museum. Conceived, organized and curated by a team of students under the direction of Bowers Museum chief curator Armand Labbe, the show uses African dress, tribal feather work, textiles, clothing, jewelry and other items to explore such concepts as class, rank, role, authority and gender.

* “Armani, Amazonia, RuPaul and Klein: Creating Identity,” at the Cal State Fullerton Anthropology Museum in McCarthy Hall, 800 N. State College Blvd. Also Friday, noon-2 p.m.; Saturday, 2-4 p.m. Free. (714) 278-3626.

TODAY

11am-10pm

Jazz

Jazz West Coast II is the second conclave convened by the California Institute for the Preservation of Jazz and focusing on the cool-jazz movement of the ‘50s. Four days of panel discussions, film and concerts in Newport Beach, beginning today, will feature such West Coast figures as composer Lennie Niehaus, saxophonists Bud Shank, Herb Geller, Bill Perkins and Teddy Edwards, trumpeters Jack Sheldon and Conte Candoli and many others. There’ll be tributes to Shorty Rogers, Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Art Pepper and Shelly Manne as well as the 50-year celebration of Howard’s Rumsey’s Lighthouse, the beach-side club that was the center of the West Coast jazz universe.

* Jazz West Coast II, Hyatt Newporter Hotel, 1107 Jamboree Road, Newport Beach. Continues Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Individual event tickets $8-$25, four-day pass $300. (562) 985-7072.

TODAY

11am

Author

Before being elected governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura was a Navy SEAL, a professional wrestler and sometime actor (“Predator,” “Batman and Robin”). Now the politician with the shaved head has added one more credit to his resume: author. In the gov’s new book, “I Ain’t Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic From the Bottom Up,” Ventura chronicles his life and takes on bloated government, career politicians and apathetic voters.

* Jesse Ventura speaks at 11 a.m. today at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. General admission: $15. At 2 p.m. Ventura will sign copies of his book purchased at the library. (714) 993-5075.

TODAY

8pm

Last Chance

Fullerton Civic Light Opera’s production of “The King and I,” the musical about a widowed teacher who travels to Siam to tutor the king’s children, enters its final weekend at the Plummer Auditorium. Under the direction of Jan Duncan, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which won a Tony in 1952, shines with detailed performances by Karen Forest as Anna and Clynell Jackson III as the King. “With small adjustments, this version makes just about an ideal ‘King and I’ for those who want to experience this shimmering jewel of Broadway theater for the first time, or for those who want to hear the work again with fresh ears,” wrote Robert Koehler, reviewing for The Times.

* The Fullerton Civic Light Opera presents Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I” at Plummer Auditorium, 201 E. Chapman Ave., Fullerton. Also Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 p.m. $14-$35. (714) 879-1732.

TODAY

8:30pm

Comedy

Paul Simon could’ve easily had Bobcat Goldthwait in mind when he wrote “Still Crazy After All These Years.” He honed his act in Boston in the early ‘80s before moving to the West Coast, where he began his “Police Academy” career as gang leader Zed. And where he is currently writing a pilot based on the life of his dog. Fans can catch his trademark voice and quirky routines this weekend at the Brea Improv.

* Bobcat Goldthwait brings his humor to the Brea Improv, 945 E. Birch St. Also 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. Friday, 8 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday. $12-$17. [714] 529-7878).

TODAY

8pm

Theater

Return with the Laguna Playhouse to the days of the classic film noir, to the sleazy piano player in a cocktail lounge, to the down-on-his-luck private eye, and to the ravishing blond who only means trouble. But this time you can tap your feet to the whole thing in the Southern California premiere of Craig Bohmier, Marion Adler and Scott Wentworth’s witty spoof of musicals. The trio, whose newest musical “Enter the Guardsman” was recently a hit in London, established their own genre with “Gunmetal Blues,” which had a loudly hailed off-Broadway run in 1992.

* “Gunmetal Blues,” Laguna Playhouse’s Moulton Theater, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Tuesdays-Satudays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m., matinees Saturdays-Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends June 20. $31-$38. (949) 497-2787.

TODAY

8pm

Music

Morbidly superstitious, Gustav Mahler tried his best to put off writing a ninth symphony, aware that Beethoven and Schubert had died after writing theirs. In fact, Mahler did die after completing this monumental work, although he had already begun to sketch out a 10th. Carl St.Clair and the Pacific Symphony will perform what turned out to be Mahler’s epic farewell--his great Ninth Symphony.

* Carl St.Clair will conduct the Pacific Symphony in Mahler’s Ninth Symphony tonight at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $17 to $48. ($10 student/senior rush, one hour before curtain, subject to availability.) (714) 755-5799.

FRIDAY

6-8am

Retro TV

Throughout the course of this quasi-western series of the ‘70s and ‘80s, there would be natural disasters, alcoholism, marital problems, financial ruin, blindness and death. “Dallas”? No, it’s “Little House on the Prairie,” the show based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. The series, starting another run today on TBS, begins with Kansans Charles and Caroline Ingalls (Michael Landon, Karen Grassle) and their three daughters settling in Minnesota to try farming (7 a.m.). It’s the second episode, in which Laura (Melissa Gilbert) and Mary (Melissa Sue Anderson) go to school for the first time, and cements one of television’s classic rivalries: Laura Ingalls versus Nellie Oleson (6 a.m.).

* “Little House on the Prairie,” TBS. 6 a.m.

FRIDAY

1-10pm

Festival

Berry fans will be seeing red at the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival and celebrity parade, themed Strawberry’s Salute to Billy Barty. The tribute to entertainer Barty is the fruit of his labors--his 15 years of participation in the festival, now in its 41st year. Comic actor Pauly Shore will be parade grand marshal. The festival also includes carnival rides and games, arts and crafts, talent shows and entertainment. Of course, lots of strawberry food will be ripe for the picking!

* The 41st annual Garden Grove Strawberry Festival, Village Green, 12862 Euclid Ave. Friday, 1 to 10 p.m. Also Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Monday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Parade is Friday, 10 a.m. to noon. Free. (714) 638-0981.

FRIDAY

11:30pm

Retro TV

Sure, everybody knows its name now, but “Cheers” wasn’t always a hit. In fact, it was almost canceled during its first season--17 years ago--because of low ratings. That’ll be hard to believe when you watch the still-amusing premiere episode, in which Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) walks into the Boston bar and spars with Sam Malone (Ted Danson) for the first time. Diane is an unrealistic snob, but she’ll get her comeuppance--on the show and off. In 1987, Long took a powder so she could do bigger and better things; Danson stuck it out until the series ended, in 1993. Now he’s still starring in a series, “Becker,” and she’s doing guest spots on “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.”

* “Cheers” premiere, KTLA Channel 5. 11:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

9am-5pm

Festival

Orange Countians can have their haggis and eat it too at the United Scottish Society’s 67th Annual Scottish Highland Gathering and Festival at the Orange County Fair and Exposition Center in Costa Mesa. The two-day festival will feature performances by singer guitarist Alex Beaton, fiddle virtuoso Alasdair Fraser and Celtic rock band Clandestine, as well as by the Canadian Scottish Regiment, the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing Band and pipe-and-drum bands from throughout the West. In addition, there will be continuous bagpipe and highland dance competitions, and demonstrations of the caber toss, hammer throw and other Scottish athletic games. Visitors will be able to trace their Scottish heritage at nearly 60 clan tents, and more than 40 vendors will sell Scottish and traditional crafts and other products. Bangers, meat pies, sausage rolls and even haggis--the traditional dish made from sheep organs boiled in the sheep’s stomach lining--will be sold, along with malty English ales and other fare.

* 67th Annual Scottish Highland Gathering and Festival at the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. Also Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. $2 to $14, or $4 to $20 for a two-day pass. (949) 509-7710.

SATURDAY

8pm

Pop Music

Loud, rowdy and relentless, the Supersuckers play rock ‘n’ roll without any hyphens or modifications. Will recent misadventures in the music business--signed, then dropped from its first major-label deal, with Interscope--make the Seattle band louder and more ornery than ever? Will it live up to the immodest title of a 28-track retrospective of favorites, rarities and previously unreleased songs due in August from longtime label Sub Pop? Catch the show, and see whether singer Eddie Spaghetti and his mates are indeed “The Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World.”

* Supersuckers, the Bomboras and Hai Karate. Club 369, 1641 N. Placentia Ave., Fullerton. $10. (714) 572-1816.

SUNDAY

8pm

Pop Music

John Mayall’s signature tune is “Room to Move,” and it would take a roomy shelf to hold all the albums that the patriarch of the British blues has released since his 1964 debut. The new “Padlock on the Blues,” featuring Mayall’s current Bluesbreakers lineup plus guest appearances by John Lee Hooker and Bluesbreaker alum Coco Montoya, is the 52nd of his career. Youth gets its hour on this bill in the form of the Derek Trucks Band, led by the 19-year-old, slide-guitar playing son of the Allman Brothers Band’s drummer, Butch Trucks.

* John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Derek Trucks Band and Rocco DeLuca. Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. $18.50-$20.50. (949) 496-8930.