Weekend Agenda Weekend gift-wrapping techniques, Dec. 18-20

This weekend you're either prepping frantically for the holidays, or taking a break before the final burst of preparation. Not unlike an entertainer, you've got to be thoughtful and then worry about the presentation. The way you employ that wrapping paper, scissors, and Scotch tape will dictate where you end up.

The "ball-o-paper": Eau Claire native Shane Mauss, recording a stand-up CD this weekend at Comedy Club On State, has something in his act for every loveable slob who's trying to better himself. He may seem scruffy and patched-together on the surface, but those who claw through his layers will find something to enjoy. Those who wrap in a frenzy will relate to the improvised sound explosion sax player JoAnne Powers and friends intend to set off Friday night at Mother Fool's.

The "duct-taped cardboard box": The presentation and bare-bones packaging will put your recipient on-guard, much like the sick-o premise and low-budet resourcefulness (read: buckets of fake blood) of Incest Death Squad, a locally made horror film screening Friday night at Broom Street Theater.

The "tuck and fold": Ghost Riders In The Sky might celebrate the cowboy way of life in their sold-out Friday Christmas show at Stoughton Opera House, but they sure make life on the trail look like a tidy and dapper affair. Even people who wrap with only the tightest corners and least-visible tape will have trouble finding anything out of order with their clean-cut persona and immaculate Western harmonies.

The "excessive bow": When the egg-nog cup runneth over and all 500 feet of sparkly red gift-ribbons are exhausted, it's time for extreme sonic measures. Chicago's Rabid Rabbit holds down a great Saturday bill at the Project Lodge with enough grinding low-end fury to exahust even the most fervently cheerful of spirits, and local band Droids Attack's annual Destroy All Christmas show Saturday at The Frequency may well terrify all but the creepiest of mall Santas.