Metric Modulator
He's nearly 100 years old and has forgotten more about rhythm and tempo than you ever knew. Composer Elliot Carter is still bangin' around, too: Just this year, he composed "Tintinnabulation for Percussion Sextet." Tuesday, Sept. 30, attend the 2 pm lecture about Carter's career at UI's Lionel Hampton School of Music, then take in the Carter Festival at WSU, with a 7 pm lecture and 8 pm concert at Bryan Hall, where a dozen of Carter's compositions for a wide variety of instruments will be performed. Call (208) 885-6709.
History Can Be Cheap
Quick, where was the first city-owned airport in the U.S.? At the Museum of North Idaho, they know the answer (Coeur d'Alene), and they'll tell you all about it for free (on Saturday only) as part of a national get-out-of-jail-and-into-a-museum-free program. Visit www.museumni.org or www.Smithsonian.com or call (208) 664-3448, then fly with your "Wings Over North Idaho."
Let's Go! Alpaca Lunch
There are "days" for everything else, so why not National Alpaca Farms Day? With nearly 50 of the Peruvian animals -- smaller but softer than llamas -- on display out at 17005 E. MacMahan Rd. (east of Forker Road, west of Newman Lake), why not come by on Saturday and Sunday from 10 am-4 pm? You can stroke the smooth "blanket" of alpacas with names like Aspen, Chablis and Orion. They promise not to spit. Visit foothillsalpacas.com.