Friday Happenings

Fundraising Walk Registration Deadline

-- The Boston Area Rape Crisis Center is holding its 3rd Annual Walk for Change on Sunday, and First Lady Diane Patrick will be right there walking. Registration is at 10:00 am, and the walk itself is from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Today is the deadline for online registration.

-- Today marks the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's death, which Boston University will memorialize with the panel discussion Forty Years of Inspiration: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Panelists include Chuck D, Talib Kweli, Anna Deavere Smith, Nobel Prize winner (and BU prof.) Derek Walcott, Boston's poet laureate Sam Cornish, poet Nikki Giovanni, and others. Performances to follow. Metcalf Hall, George Sherman Union, Boston University, 775 Comm. Ave., 5:30pm. Free. (RV)

Musical Comedy to Inspire the Munchies

-- Watching the entire cult movie might require an attention span adjustment, but "Reefer Madness the Musical" adds music and comedy to the film's messages about the dangers of smoking the cheeba (or insert your favorite nickname). School of Law Auditorium, Boston University, 765 Comm Ave, BU; 8:00pm; $7. Also Saturday. (RV)

Books

-- Kurt Vonnegut's son Mark reads from his father's posthumous collection Armageddon in Retrospect. Bostonist lets you know what to expect. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, 6:00pm. $5 (Presented by Harvard Book Store)

Music

-- Swedish pop star Jens Lekman is to Stephin Merritt what Swedish Fish are to jelly beans: friendlier, easier to digest. Paradise Rock Club, 967 Comm. Ave., 8:00pm. Sold out, but tickets are available on Craigslist.

Fine Art, Design

-- It's New Collectors' night at AD 20/21: Art and Design of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Learn the basics of art collecting from experts in the field. Plus, 40 exhibitors offer 108 years of fine art, furniture, and jewery, representing all the modern design movements. Cyclorama, 539 Tremont, 5:00pm-9:00pm. $15. More details.

Caroline Roberts and Rob Vassegh contributed to this post. Vassegh blogs about cheap events around Boston at Cheap Thrills Boston.

Image of Jens Lekman from the Paradise event announcement.

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