Lawrence.com

As if you needed anything to do on such a fine, fine day — it's going to be in the mid-70s today and tomorrow.

No one would fault you for making mother nature your venue of choice today — say, for some yard games or disc golf, getting out by the river or just kickin' it in the neighborhood park.

Nevertheless, we've made a habit of compiling the day's best bets for you in this space, so here they are...

KU at Kansas State

After three straight conference losses dropped the Jayhawks to 5-3 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play, the Jayhawks are more worried about finding a way to win again than whether they will win the Big 12 North. Today KU will look to snap the skid at 11:30 a.m. in Manhattan when they take on Kansas State (5-4, 3-2). Full game preview at kusports.com.

Social Service League Benefit @ Free State Glass

An art sale, silent auction, Free State beer and music by DJ Sadie Soul all to benefit the Social Service League. Check out our feature on the League and the Lawrencians it helps. More info on this event.

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange presents "Ferocious Beauty: Genome" @ Lied Center

This multimedia dance performance by the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange examines the science and the effects of genetic research. This mixed discipline work integrates dance, recorded and live-feed video and a multichannel soundscape. More info on this event.

Art Brut @ The Bottleneck

British dance-rockers Art Brut were tagged by NME as part of the "art wave" scene that includes Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party, but the band's scene-deprecating sense of humor distinguishes them from the pack. Lead singer Eddie Argos is a recovering ex-goth with a distinctive sing-speak style that covers topics like D.C. Comics and forming a band. The group's fast-paced music is recklessly fun and purposefully shallow. Frank Black produced their third album "Art Brut vs. Satan." More info on this event.

Grant Hart

Grant Hart is best known as the former drummer/guitarist/singer of Husker Du, a melodic punk band that tore up the college-rock scene back when Reagan was in the White House. Hart's publicized fallout with co-songwriter Bob Mould resulted in both going their own directions; Hart with Nova Mob, and Mould with Sugar. In recent years, Hart has mostly flown solo with a rotating cast to support his many whims -- these days, more folk and Americana than punk. He recently tracked a new album with members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Opener Arthur Dodge and his band play folk, rock and alt-country tunes that the Lawrence balladeer has penned over the years. More info on this event.

See the full calendar for tonight

And new in movies...

The Men Who Stare At Goats

A fun tone is undermined by disjointed storytelling in George Clooney and Grant Heslov's romp based on Jon Ronson's amusing book about the U.S. military's research into psychic warfare and espionage. The movie opens with the promise of a "Catch-22" or "Strangelove"-style satire, but the dots of absurdity just don't connect that well. Read our full review.

Fourth Kind

This flat-lining thriller buries an interesting idea (an Alaska psychologist's research into patients' reports of alien abduction) under a barrage of gimmicky, carnival-like hokum. The movie's unwieldy mix of degraded pseudo-documentary footage and "Unsolved Mystery"-style re-enactments is as unconvincing as it is distancing.

The Box

Cameron Diaz and James Marsden have a moral dilemma: Press a button on a mysterious container and they'll get $1 million, but someone they don't know will die. What button did writer-director Richard Kelly push to get the money to make this hammy, preposterous thriller, expanded from a 1980s "Twilight Zone" episode?

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