Whassup: Money for Fun Edition

The best way to hook a reader is definitely to ask them for money, like, immediately. Right? So, with that in mind, give dollars to this: Help save beloved French-ish, world music emporium Barbes' piano. For the full, sordid details, head on over to South Slope News, but basically some German-giver wants his piano back from Barbes, so they may no longer be able to delight you with other-nationly plinkings. Give of your beer money, so that others may also dance. You can give through their Indigogo page until June 22. With that out of the way, let's get on to the things where you give money in exchange for entertainment, not community support. Welcome to Whassup: Money for Fun Edition:

* Thursday, June 13-Thursday, June 20: Northside Festival, Williamsburg: This has to be the hippest festival ever (probably) of music, film and tech stuff. Biggish music headliners include the Walkmen, Black Flag, and Solange. Check out Brooklyn Vegan's handy guide to the big shows for more details, and pump yourself up to be surrounded by all the 22-year-old Billyburg scenesters. Music until the 16th, tech the 13th and 14th, and film the 17th through 20th. $80-$260 (depending on how much of it you want to see).

* Thursday, June 13-Saturday, June 15: Celebrate Brooklyn, Bandshell: It's the very height of the Prospect Park Bandshell season, and the BRIC folks have a full lineup for your spoiled ear tubes this weekend. Thursday, Grouplove will either lift your spirits with poppy, hook-y indie rock or convince you to engage in an orgy. I'm kidding -- that's not an either/or proposition. Friday, soul legend Mavis Staples will croon you some tunes that will be good for you, both in a spiritual and good-taste sense. Then, Saturday, Calexico folds Latin music into country, '50s jazz and rock, topping all of that with a fresh mango salsa with hints of lime. 7pm or 7:30pm, All Shows FREE ($3 suggested donation).

* Saturday, June 15: Burroughs' "Wild Boys," Silent Barn (Bushwick): One of William S. Burrough's crazier works (if that even makes sense), "The Wild Boys" is all apocalyptic, youthful violence (that happened to also inspire Bowie's Ziggy Stardust look). So, the Silent Barn wanted to stage it. See how that goes. Or, you could go inhale the new "Superman" movie. OR, you could see something you WON'T forget five minutes after it's over. Or five days. And probably longer. 7pm-1am, $8.

* Sunday, June 16: Bullshit History, Freddy's: Come make shit up and be acknowledged for your bullshittery. This audience-powered game show, from the creators of Punderdome, asks competitors to invent crazy-ass theories about the past. Think of it as a more-fun version of Fox News. (Hey-oh!) 9:30pm, FREE.

* Tuesday, June 18: Roots and Jim James, Bandshell: Yes, I've already mentioned some Celebrate Brooklyn shows in this Whassup, but this is the Roots, in Brooklyn, with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James at the mic. Come on now, you wanna see what that mix of rock/hip-hop/Americana looks/sounds/smells like, don't you? Do it with your ears and your booties, people. Anyway, this one's a benefit show for BRIC, so it costs the money. 7pm, $41 (Yeah, weird, right? Forty-ONE. Because 40 would be underselling it? I don't know.).

* Tuesday, June 18: Our Robots, Ourselves, Bell House: It's been a while since I've pimped a Secret Science Club show on here, because I don't want to overdo it with the nerdtastic events (plus, all Slopers know about SSC by now, right?). But this one looks 'specially cool: cognitive scientist John Long builds robots to teach us fleshbags about ourselves. And if they believe hard enough, some of them become real boys. 8pm, FREE.

* ALL SUMMER: Outdoor Film Megalist: Yesterday, FiPS OG Ninedaves did a far, far better thing than any of us other FiPS degenerates have ever done: he compiled (almost) all the free, outdoor films around NYC this summer. Holy shit. I gotta be honest, I would never do that for you all. Never. But he did, so I want to make sure anyone reading this post looking for entertainment gets use of the research. There's everything from "Reservoir Dogs" at Tompkins Square Park in June to Goonies at McCarren Park in July to Vertigo at Brooklyn Bridge Park in August to HOLYSHITYOUGUYSTHEREAREATONOFMOVIES!! Also, as the folks at Rooftop Films were kind enough to let us know -- we forgot about them. So, check out some films shown at great heights. It's the best reason to go up on the roof this side of pissing on an enemy.