Ever have one of those weekends where there's so much going on that you almost have to plot out how you are going to hit everything like a military campaign?

"By 1800 hours we take the Four Walls Gallery, by 1945 hours we'll need to have seats at Local 188. If we haven't established a beachhead at SPACE by 2100, all will be lost."

It's something like that this weekend.

Not to discount all the other fabulous things going on this weekend, particularly on Friday and Sunday, but Saturday has the markings of a big day.

But still, a few things that piqued my interest tonight:

- Apparently the Master Distiller from Bushmills will be in town tonight doing a bit of a whiskey pub crawl.
As some of you already know, Portland is in a fight with Louisville and Boston in Bushmill's Twin Cities contest. (Go there to vote for Portland)

Gordon Donoghue, the master distiller (how cool of a title is that?), will be receiving a key to the city and leading a pub crawl starting at Bull Feeney's at 5:30 p.m., with stops at Gritty's and RiRa before ending at Brian Boru's at 10 p.m.

- SPACE Gallery is going back in time for tonight's First Friday Art Walk with ARCADE. The gallery will feature games and other interactive media inspired by the great old-school video games of the 70s and 80s. Video games and demos will be projected on large screens and you can expect music to take you back to those arcade glory days. The exhibit opens at 5 p.m and is free. If you stick around later in the evening you'll be treated to the circuit-bending, button-mashing, chip-head madness of Computer at Sea and North Haven's 8-BITches. Music starts at 9:30 p.m. and is $6.

SATURDAY

• What happens when you call up a few friends and say "hey, I've got a new CD coming out, you want to come to my show?" If you're Portland's original bluesman Samuel James, you pack the house with a lot of local talent. Here's the roster: Sontiago, dilly dilly, D. Gross, Railroad Wil, Blinky McGhee, Moses Atwood, Papa James (Sam's papa), Joe Fletcher, Meantone, Myron Samuels, Blind Billy Blake, Country Don (from Taiwan) and an opening set from Maiah Connell. Mr. James went into the wilds of Canada late last year to work on his new album, "Songs Framed for Sorrow and Joy," which is set for release a month from now. But if you ACT NOW (and go to the party) you can not only hear some of the new songs, but also snag the CD in advance. Great how that works, right? Show starts at 9 p.m. and is $8.

• There's gonna be an undeniable and perhaps even overwhelming amount of soul coming out of the Asylum tonight as Soulive and Chronus 75, featuring Nigel Hall and Ryan Zoidis of Rustic Overtones. The common thread here of course is sax man Sam Kininger, who has been known to play with both camps on occasion. Hall has been working on a new album that is expected later this year.
  The NY-based Soulive (under the historic Stax label!) has been making jazz, funk, soul and fun for many years now. Originally an old school jazz trio, they've changed at times, adding on people here and there. Most recently they picked up a vocalist, Toussant, for their most recent album "No Place Like Soul." The band is back to three now and touring hard. They've worked with a lot of the best, including Chaka Kahn, Ian Neville, Robert Randolph, Corey Glover, Talbi Kweli and Black Thought of the Roots. (Also, Dave Matthews, so take that as you will.)
  Show starts at 10 p.m., tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door.

• You may have noticed the ominous signs around town warning you to "Destroy the Plastique Man." It's a riddle, wrapped in an enigma with a hard candy shell, that only As Fast As may be able to solve. "Destroy the Plastique Man" is AFA newest release, and I'll say the hilariously awesome "Streets of San Francisco" photos have partially won me over. For an early taste of the album head over to Bull Moose in Portland for a free show and chance to pick up the CD early. It's a warm up of sorts, the album will be released on Tuesday and next Friday they are performing at The Asylum with Dominc and The Lucid.

Finally, we end this week with a little bit of patriotic video love. If anyone caught the Colbert Report last night, you know it was a good one. Stephen and John Legend got into a little tiff over who loves lady liberty more. And there was only one way to solve it...through song.
This has got a little something for everyone - Mr. Legend for the ladies, and a little bit of 80s nostalgia for the rest of us.

Enjoy.

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