WLUW Hootenanny at Subterranean

From the WLUW website:
This Saturday, January 10th, it's your chance to whoop it up and do si do at Subterranean - it'll be a WLUW Hootenanny featuring the Golden Horse Ranch Square Dance Band. Annie Coleman is a third generation square dance caller, and she'll teach you all the basics, as we promenade and allemande the night away. The Hoyle Brothers will get things started with some authentic old time country music. Showtime is 10 PM, and tickets are $8.

The Polkaholics & Battle of the Bands

Rory Lake's Battle of the Bands pits four local acts in competion for your favor, with a star guest band to make it worthwhile if the others suck. This week it's Descendro Allegro, Sugarwalls, Quasar Wut Wut and Lynyrd's Innards. The legendary Polkaholics headline. At the Bottom Lounge, 3206 N. Wilton (Belmont and the train). $8, 21 and over, show starts at 9pm.

Biodiversity in the Neotropics

Dr. Michael Dillon, curator and head of vascular plants in the botany department of the Field Museum, and other museum staff scientists will give a talk on the "Neotropics," the tropical regions of Central and South America. The scientists will discuss the challenges of inventorying species in these deverse areas, assess the status of conservation and talk about a project that's working to better understand the tropical rainforest and track more than 30,000 individual plants through time. 11am; free with museum admission. More information here.

SPEC Chicago @ Uncle Fun

Uncle Fun, 1338 West Belmont, hosts its first ever live show upstairs in the gallery, featuring readings by a variety of Chicago-area zinesters, bloggers, writers, and poets, This event, brought to you by the Self-Publishers Event Council of Chicago. Reading/performing will be:
Billy Roberts (Proof I Exist & Her zines, Loop Zine Distro)
Emerson Dameron (Kazoo zine, freelancer)
Alicia Dorr (Random Life In Progress zine & Zine Guide, blogger)
Ken Hunt (Perpetually Bad Timing zine, poet)
Aaron Cynic (Diatribe zine)
Michelle Aiello (Indigo zine)
Larry Roth (1544 zine)
Christopher Barton (Chicago blogger, freelancer)
Julie Larson (Chicago independent writer)
Andrew Mall (Living Proof zine)
Kate Sandler (S.P.E.C. Chicago webmaster, poet)
Brent Ritzel (Zine Guide & Tail Spins magazine)
The event starts at 7pm; $3 suggested donation. For more info, check the SPEC Chicago website.

Recycle your Christmas tree

Still have a Christmas tree up? Don't worry! You can recycle it. Today between 9AM and 2PM, the city will have recycling points at various Chicago parks (list in PDF form). Take your tree to the park nearest you, and it'll be mulched. You can keep the mulch for your own garden, or donate it for someone else's. Everybody wins! If you miss today's recycling, you can still take advantage of the program next Saturday (January 17). For more information, contact the Chicago Park District at (312) 742-PLAY.