The intuitive counselor and medium will make her only upstate appearance during her 2010 “Share the Spirit” tour at the Mulroy Civic Center’s Carrier Theater, 800 S. State St., on Thursday, June 3, 7 p.m. A Thursday-morning fixture on WYYY-FM 94.5 (Y94)’s dawn-patrol slot with Kathy Rowe, Nan O’Brien’s three-hour nighttime show is billed as “an exciting journey of exploring spirituality,” providing a jam-packed evening of motivational and inspirational messages. Tickets are $65, available at the door. For information, call 435-2121.

The annual blowout that marks the official start of a Salt City summer takes place Friday, June 4, and Saturday, June 5, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. both days, and takes up several blocks surrounding downtown’s Clinton Square. As the name implies, expect thousands of people to sample loads of food from a variety of vendors, including Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, King David’s, Zebb’s, Kalzonies, Frankie’s Piccolo Bistro and many others. There is a fee for samples. Several wineries and local exhibitors will also display their wares underneath tents galore. And there will be wall-to-wall music from area artists, plus national talents closing out both evenings. Admission is free. For more information, call 471-9597.

Rockin’ locals Under the Gun (pictured) and The Reissues fire up the inaugural edition of this brand-new weekly hoedown on Thursday, May 20, 6 p.m., at Baldwinsville’s Paper Mill Island Amphitheater, off Syracuse Street in the village. (Incidentally, the May 12 Times Table jumped the gun, so to speak, by announcing the event a week earlier. Sorry about that!) And that’s “T” as in Thursday, according to sly fox Stacey Waterman, the honcho behind DMR Booking Agency, so teabaggers can leave their “Don’t Tread on Me” banners at home. Admission is $3, which includes your first drink, with $30 season passes available for the entire 14-Thursday run, while under-21s get in for $5. Upcoming bands include One Hard Krank plus Kat Tale (May 27), Three Inch Fury (June 3) and 50/50 with AyLyst (June 10). For more information, call 475-2500.

The Georgia-bred Grammy-winning country star barnstorms into the Turning Stone Resort and Casino’s Showoom, off Thruway Exit 33 in Verona, for an 8 p.m. concert on Friday, May 21. In a recent interview Travis Tritt revealed that he is contemplating his own record label to issue his tracks, but he still has a bumper crop of hits on his resume and he’ll likely be performing songs from his 2007 bluesy, soul-tinged album The Storm (Category 5 Records), which he created with producer Randy Jackson from American Idol. Tickets are $70, $75 and $85. For details, call 361-SHOW.

The fourth annual edition of this salute to available apartments in beautiful downtown Syracuse takes place Saturday, May 22, noon to 6 p.m. Since the 2009 showcase of urban dwellings drew more than 1,500 visitors, it’s best to hit this year’s Living Tour headquarters early, at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, 246 W. Willow St., where the tickets will be sold. There will be 11 stops on the 2010 walking tour, including square deals at Armory Square, Hanover Square, Clinton Square and Franklin Square, and along the Montgomery Street corridor (pictured, at 311 Montgomery St.). A free shuttle bus will also be available, plus folks can park in the lot across from the Dino on North Franklin Street. Tickets at the door will be $12. For details, call 422-8284.  

This indie-alternative rock trio has been around since 1997 when their song “Sex and Candy” became a monster hit, and they’re still kicking ass and taking names, which they’ll be doing in equal proportions on Thursday, May 20, 7 p.m., at the Lost Horizon, 5863 Thompson Road, DeWitt. Marcy Playground, which has nothing to do with the burg near Utica but instead gets its name from lead singer John Wozniak’s Minneapolis grade school, is currently touring in support of the band’s 2009 fourth album Leaving Wonderland. . . In a Fit of Rage (Deep South Entertainment). Wozniak’s band mates are bassist Dylan Keefe and new-to-the-party drummer Shlomi Lavie. Also on the bill for this all-ages show are three local acts: garage rockers Grain Elevator, the four-piece Dirty Speaker and Liverpool’s zombie-loving quintet Allergic to Bears. Admission is $10. For information, call 446-1934.

Watch this year’s Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges (for Crazy Heart) in the 1998 role that won the hearts of thousands of cult-movie lovers as Los Angeles slacker extraordinaire Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski in—what else?—The Big Lebowski, screening Friday, May 21, 8 p.m., at Eastwood’s Palace Theatre, 2384 James St. The continuing “Brew and View” 35mm series sponsors this Coen Brothers laugh riot, in which The Dude (Bridges, pictured with co-star John Goodman) gets entangled in a mistaken identity dilemma that involves some gun-toting goons as well as porno and kidnaping plot detours, plus The Dude’s bizarre bowling buddies and his own urine-soaked rug, with just-right laconic narration provided by Sam Elliott. A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Admission is $8, with $2 knocked off if you come dressed in a bowling league outfit. For more Lebowski lowdown, call 436-4723.

You never really know your neighbors: The guy next door these days could be part of a terrorist cell, or back in Victorian-era London the mysterious tenant just might be Jack-the-Ripper. That latter premise is what drives the 1944 gaslight thriller The Lodger, with literal heavyweight Laird Cregar (in one of his last roles before a severe crash diet resulted in a heart attack that felled him in 1944) as a strangely sinister chap and Bombay-born beauty Merle Oberon (pictured) as the Ripper’s potential next victim. Filmed with glossy production values that enhanced the fog-rich atmosphere, director John Brahm’s suspense yarn (filmed previously as a silent by Alfred Hitchcock in 1927) was a big wartime hit for 20th Century Fox. Syracuse Cinephile Society screens The Lodger on Monday, May 24, 7:30 p.m., at the Spaghetti Warehouse, 680 N. Clinton St. Admission is $3, with Cinephile members charged $2.50, with a dinner menu available. For Spaghetti Warehouse information, dial  475-1807.

The Camillus Erie Canal Park, 5758 DeVoe Road, hosts a gaggle of events to coincide with the park’s newly restored 1844-vintage Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct on Saturday, May 22, with national, state and local officials already invited to attend the bash. A boat flotilla loaded with dignitaries near the park’s Sims Store Museum gets going at 10:30 a.m., followed by a ceremonial event at the aqueduct at 11 a.m., with the U.S. Post Office presenting a special cancellation stamp. From noon to 5 p.m. the traditional Towpath Day activities will take place, with food, entertainment that includes the Morris Dancers (1 p.m.) and musicmakers Bells and Motley (3 p.m.), crafts, vendors, boat and wagon rides, and much more. A chicken barbeque goes on at the park pavilion at 6 p.m. with a $10 fee, followed by sonic grooves from the Lock 53 Jazz Band at 7:30 p.m. and a fireworks display set to light up the grounds at 9:15 p.m. Park admission is free year-round. The Sims Store Museum usually operates every Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., and tacks on the same shifts for Wednesdays and Thursdays, as well as Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m., from May to October. And canal boat tours ply the canal from May to October, 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call 488-3409. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO

The Creole-based musicmakers will stir up a musical gumbo that commences the summertime slate at the Earlville Opera House, 18 E. Main St., Earlville, on Friday, May 21, 8 p.m. Accordionist Nathan Williams leads the troupe and it’s guaranteed there will be no parking on the dance floor once their rootsy rhythms take hold of the audience. Admission is $20 for general seating, with premium seats in the first four rows fetching $25, and students getting charged $15. Call 691-3550 for more information.