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Five things to do in Chicago this weekend, from the obvious to the absurd.

Thursday Dec 04, 2008.     By Centerstage Chicago Staff

Lifestyle Feed

1. Cabaret Biciclet
8:30 p.m. Saturday at Happy Dog Gallery; 21+
What do you get when you combine bicycle art with erotica (with a little glam rock and burlesque on the side)? We have no idea, but it's definitely an intriguing prospect. This titillating evening - which also includes some kind of groovy naked starship - is sure to inspire at least one Tour De France team.

Find more must-see art shows here.

2. StollenFest
8 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday at Cafe Selmarie
Calm down, kleptos. This isn't some looting free-for-all. It's an event centered around the bread-like cake popular in Germany (scheduled to coincide with the actual StollenFest in Dresden). In addition to all the sugar and carbs you can handle, there will be stollen trivia (here's one for free: the typical shape of the treat is meant to represent the Christ Child in diapers), and a contest to anoint the next Honorary Selmarie Stollen Ambassador. The winner gets Type 2 diabetes! Make sure to check out the Lincoln Square Christkindl Market while you're in the area.

'Tis the season for sweets. Get yours at these local bakeries.

3. Repeal Day Party
8 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday at Moonshine; free
Plenty of folks were making moonshine during the dark days of Prohibition, when the entire nation turned into a dry campus for 14 years. So it only makes sense to stop into this Wicker Park mainstay for a few drinks to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the Volstead Act. Swing dancers will be on hand in period attire (you should consider dressing up, too), and the Dewar's folks will be out in force, handing out Dewar's Dollars, which you can use for old-timey things like shoe shines and shaves. Oh, and drinks!

Still in a celebratory mood? Check out these other Repeal Day parties.

4. Q-Tip, The Cool Kids
9 p.m. Saturday at House of Blues; $30.50-$33, 21+
No matter what you think of Q-Tip's post-A Tribe Called Quest career (and there are a lot of people who really, really hate "Vivrant Thing"), you can't deny the man's impact on hip-hop. Or his stage presence - dude can make an arena shake even while wearing a grade-school bookbag. His latest, The Renaissance, appears to have mended a lot of the bridges he burned with hardcore heads, so get back on the bandwagon now before Phife Dawg tries to get in on the action again. The Cool Kids, Chicago's new-generation answer to the Beastie Boys, will attempt to live up to their own hype earlier in the evening.

For more music events this weekend, check out the calendar.

5. Holiday Shopping
Ok, we realize that heading isn't very specific, but this appears to be the weekend when all the craft shows go down - so we wanted to be sure you didn't miss out. Let's see, there's the One of a Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart (noon-9 p.m Thursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.-Sunday; $7-$10), DEPART-ment's holiday show at AV-aerie (7-11 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; free, cash only), the Renegade Craft Fair at Pulaski Park Fieldhouse (1419 W. Blackhawk; 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; free) and Cornelia Arts Center's holiday show (6-9 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; free). There are probably more, but the point, is, you'd better get while the getting's good.