Best Bets for Oct. 6-8 | The Bainbridge Blab

Needless to say, it hasn’t been a great week.

At least three major areas remain devastated by storm damage — with a fresh nasty tropical storm brewing even now off the Gulf Coast, too — and the Las Vegas strip became the scene of a historic tragedy and the President’s throwing paper towels at people.

Oh, and Tom Petty died. As if all that weren’t enough.

But it is once more the weekend, Bainbridge. And, like the head honcho Heartbreaker himself proclaimed:

“I don’t believe the good times are over

I don’t believe the thrill is all gone

Real love is a man’s salvation

The weak ones fall, the strong carry on”

-Straight Into Darkness

So carry on with your bad self, Bainbridge. Do what you love this weekend. Or, at least do something with somebody you love. Rejoice, relax and recall that this too shall pass.

Maybe the way to start is with a night of laughs, courtesy of The EDGE Improv at an evening of imagination on demand at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Bainbridge Performing Arts.

The troupe’s riotous antics have inspired rave reviews for more than two laughter-filled decades.

The EDGE Improv delivers ingeniously improvised first-Saturday evenings of on-the-spot comedy, all from audience suggestions. The troupe performs to sell-out crowds regularly at BPA, where the troupe’s gambols and shenanigans have earned a devoted community of followers seeking respite from life’s wearisome routines and worries.

Troupe member Cynthia Lair said: “Only onstage with The EDGE is there an amusement park where you pay to sit in a hole, an elevator full of people taking a shower, and an exotic-dancing car repair shop. All totally believable.”

The EDGE troupe members include Ken Ballenger, Frank Buxton, John Ellis, Todd Erler, Cynthia Lair, Susan MacPherson, Bhama Roget, Andrew Shields, Chris Soldevilla and Matty Whitman.

Tickets, $16 for adults, and $12 for seniors, students, youth, military and teachers, may be purchased online at www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org, by phone at 206-842-8569 or in person at BPA (200 Madison Ave. North).

BPA Box Office hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and one hour prior to each performance.

Or, maybe take a stroll and check out the budding fall colors at Bloedel Reserve (7571 NE Dolphin Drive), the annual Super Squash Scavenger Hunt is going on now.

Peruse the pumpkins, scrutinize the squash and enjoy the wide variety of colors, shapes and textures of this Bloedel-propagated harvest. Children are given a special map to help find all the hidden squash around the grounds. The hunt goes on all month long across the grounds, and participation is included with the price of regular admission.

Check out www.bloedelreserve.org to learn more.

Or, maybe a night at the movies is more your cup of tea in these trying times.

The new “Blade Runner” sequel — “Blade Runner 2049” — is playing at Bainbridge Cinemas in both standard and 3-D formats starting Friday afternoon. Nothing like a good dystopian view of tomorrow to make today look better, right?

The hotly-anticipated sequel stars Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas and Jared Leto, and sees a young blade runner (Gosling) discover a long-buried secret leads him to track down renegade former blade runner Rick Deckard (Ford), who’s been missing for 30 years.

The original film, based on the outstanding novel by Philip K. Dick (“Man in the High Castle,” “A Scanner Darkly,” among others) was a game changer, and one of Ford’s most beloved, powerful performances. The sequel’s getting some good buzz and should be just the escapist prescription you’re looking for after a week like we’ve had.

Prefer to be around friends, under the bright lights getting your groove on and/or cutting a rug, as the kids are wont to say?

Don’t forget about Amplify 2017, the Space Craft’s second annual fundraising event, on Saturday, which promises to be quite a good time. Expect music, passion, and merriment! Attire is rock and roll cocktail casual, natch.

Visit www.Spacecraftpresents.org to learn more and purchase tickets.

Indeed, there’s all kinds of recreation on the Rock this weekend. Seek and you shall find, Bainbridge. It’ll be Monday again before you know it.

Or, as Tom Petty himself said:

“Buy me a drink, sing me a song

Take me as I come ‘cause I can’t stay long”

– Mary Jane’s Last Dance

The Bainbridge Blab is your one-stop spot to get the 411 on all things 98110. From South Beach to Agate Passage, Battle Point to Rolling Bay, we’ve got the straight skinny on Bainbridge Island: the latest chatter, babble and burble. News, too. Have a tip or a comment for the Blab? Email us at editor@bainbridgereview.com.