Worth Staying in Manhattan For
On Friday night the classic art-punk outfit Wire (have a listen here) opens the Seaport Music Festival, the free outdoor concert series with the city’s best views (check out the stellar schedule at seaportmusicfestival.com). On Saturday from 6-8 pm, the public’s invited to the opening reception for David Byrne’s massive installation, “Playing the Building” (pictured). He’s outfitted the historic Battery Maritime Building at 10 South St. with an organ that triggers sounds from its metal beams, pipes and electrical conduits — and you’re invited to play it every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 6, May 31-August 10. creativetime.org

Also in Manhattan this week: The book signing and opening reception for “25 Under 25: Up-and-Coming American Photographers, Volume 2,” featuring the work of BB photographer Michael Harlan Turkell. Thursday, May 29, 6-8 pm, Tisch Gallery, photo.tisch.nyu.edu

Affordable Art Sale
To prepare for the blowout Bushwick Open Studios next weekend, Arts in Bushwick will sell affordable artwork by participants to help benefit the festival — and host an open bar to grease those palms. Friday, 7:30 - 10:30 pm, Lumenhouse, 47 Beaver Street at Park, artsinbushwick.org (Pictured: “Gura,” by Rafael Fuchs)

Film Festivals Gone Wild
Sundance isn’t the only game in town for cinephiles; this Friday the Brooklyn International Film Festival kicks off at the Brooklyn Lyceum with Paul Kirk’s “Able Danger,” a film noir about terrorism, conspiracies and beautiful Eastern Europeans — followed by much lighter fare at the after party, where the complimentary Stella Artois and hors d’oeuvres from Planet Thailand will be flowing. wbff.org

Williamsburg’s Brick Theater kicks off its own theater/film festival on Friday with a free preview cabaret featuring film installations and experimental music from Glissando Bin Laden and the curiously named (). Through June 29, the theater will host screenings, film-inspired and infused plays, and a movie-themed redux of the classic game show, You Bet Your Life! bricktheater.com

And in Fort Greene Park on Saturday, Rooftop Films will screen its first free film of the season: “At the Death House Door,” by the makers of “Hoop Dreams,” about a pastor-turned-activist who oversaw executions at a Texas prison. 9 pm, rooftopfilms.com

Sinfully Fun Syntax
Matthea Harvey, one of today’s younger and more promising poets, continues her exhaustive reading schedule with a stop Tuesday night, June 2, at BookCourt. The Brooklyn-based writer’s latest work, “Modern Life,” is a fascinating collection of sharp, clever verse that explores a world of robot boys, centaurs and the apocalypse. Her poems, published books and reading schedule are all at mattheaharvey.info.

Funniest Brownstoner Commenter
The NY Mag piece about popular Brownstoner commenter “The What” as a window onto all the anger and fear bubbling in the “New Brooklyn” was great — but we wished some mention had been made of the “This will all be worthless when Atlantic Yards is built” commenter(s). Though he/she now appears infrequently, this simple line, posted in response to new development news, was as funny as tacking “in bed” at the end of any fortune cookie prediction. Some priceless variations: “Your favorite pair of boots will be worthless after AY is built” (in response to news of the collapsing facade above Joe’s Shoe Repair) and “That squirrel will be worthless when AY is built” after a dead squirrel was spotted on Brownstoner’s block.

Sent by Keith and Nicole.