Friday Happenings

Burlesque-o-Rama
Boston proves its reputation as a magnet for burlesque with the launch of this year's Great Boston Burlesque Expo, which runs until Sunday. Tonight marks a meeting of the generations as burlesque trailblazer Satan's Angel hosts the "Rhinestone Revue." After that is a pool party. Yes, a pool party with burlesque dancers and the Electrolux Combo. It will be quite a night. Hyatt Regency, 575 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, $30 advance/$40 door. Pool party extra.

Sprinkler Fundraiser
The Milky Way in Jamaica Plain, which was shut down because it didn't meet sprinkler requirements, is throwing a party to raise money for a sprinkler system, which will cost $70,000. We need our candlepin! 9:00 pm, $15 advance/$18 door.

Music
--The nearly unclassifiable damage-rock group Xiu Xiu will be at the Museum of Fine Arts with Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down. 7:30 pm, $15.

Arty Slideshows
Australian performance artist and photographer William Yang presents his piece Shadows. It's a meditation on marginalization told with slides, as Yang describes his experiences with Australia's Aborigine and German immigrant communities. Institute of Contemporary Art, South Boston, 7:30pm (also performing Saturday). $28/$25. (RS)

Rick Sawyer contributed to this post. Image of Betty Blaize and the devil from last year's expo by Ed Barnas courtesy of the Boston Babydolls.

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Bostonist and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.