THREE-DAY FORECAST

POP MUSIC

Hard rock from the desert

“No One Knows,” the Grammy-nominated, radio-saturating song from the Queens of the Stone Age’s album “Songs for the Deaf,” embodies much of what makes the hard-rocking desert dwellers a consistent rock force: a mournful vocal hinting at a blues-metal alchemy, a relentless, chopping riff, and a rare balance of power and restraint. The band precedes its summer stint on the revived Lollapalooza with a tour that includes three area shows.

Queens of the Stone Age, Glass House, 200 W. 2nd St., Pomona. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. $20. (909) 620-9580. Grove of Anaheim, 2200 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim. Tuesday, 8 p.m. $20. (714) 712-2700. Ventura Theatre, 26 S. Chestnut St., Ventura. Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. $20. (805) 639-3965.

*

MOVIES

The soul of a poet

The highlight of the concluding weekend in the UCLA Film and Television Archive’s 13th annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema is perhaps the two final films, “The Green Cold” and “The Mirror of the Soul.” These two hourlong documentaries by Nasser Saffarian, screening back to back Sunday, focus on influential poet Forough Farrokzhad (1935-67). The festival resumes tonight at 7:30 with “Runaway,” a documentary on a women’s shelter in Tehran from the makers of “Divorce, Iranian Style.”

“Runaway,” today, 7:30 p.m.; “The Green Cold” and “The Mirror of the Soul,” Sunday, 7:30 p.m., James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall, UCLA, Westwood. $7. (310) 206-3456.

*

THEATER

Tuning up ‘Whistle’

Making its U.S. premiere, Stephen Sondheim and Arthur Laurents’ newly revised Broadway musical “Anyone Can Whistle” is about a town going bankrupt -- its sole industry is built around a product that never wears out. Then it fakes a miracle to revive its economy. Misty Cotton (“Side Show”) and Ruth Williamson head the cast. Directed by Michael Michetti.

“Anyone Can Whistle,” Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave., Hollywood. Opens Friday. Runs Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m.; ends May 11. $33-$38. (818) 788-5659.

*

FESTIVAL

Enjoy culture by the sea

In honor of African American Heritage Month, the Aquarium of the Pacific holds its first African American Festival, a celebration of African and American cultures featuring ethnic food, storytelling, dance, music, arts, crafts and other attractions. Artisans will display their wares for sale. Storyteller Asha’s Baba and Joann Cyrs and her West African drum and dance troupe are among the performers scheduled to appear. Also, in a special ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday, the aquarium will honor Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Carson), who was recently named one of the 100 most influential African Americans by Ebony magazine. And best of all, the festival is free with aquarium admission.

African American Festival, Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach. Saturday-Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. $9.95-$18.75. (562) 590-3100.

*

THEATER

Comedic barbs in Laguna

A shopkeeper dies, leaving a widow and two daughters who have different ideas about how to carry on. That’s the premise for Bernard Farrell’s “Lovers at Versailles,” the third U.S. premiere of one of the Irish playwright’s barbed comedies that the Laguna Playhouse has staged in fewer than three years, following “Kevin’s Bed” in 2000 and “Stella by Starlight” in 2002.

“Lovers at Versailles,” Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Previews today at 2 and 8 p.m. and Friday at 8 p.m. Opens Saturday. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 and 7 p.m. Ends March 23. $27-$49. (949) 497-2787.

*

LIFESTYLE

Focus in a sped-up world

The Pomona College English department is holding a three-day “See Here” colloquium on attentiveness and the problems of paying attention in a sped-up, stimulus-packed world. Speakers will include Buddhist teacher Abbe Blum, art historian Norman Bryson, fiction writer Michael Joyce, artist Lev Manovich, composer Pauline Oliveros, visual artist James Turrell and video artist Bill Viola. Concerts featuring works by John Cage, Anton Webern, Steve Reich, Pauline Oliveros and other composers will be held Friday and Saturday nights.

“See Here”: All events except the concerts will be held in the Rose Hills Theater, Smith Campus Center, Pomona College, 170 E. 6th St., Claremont. Friday, 4:15 p.m., through Sunday, 2 p.m. Concerts will be held in Lyman Hall, Thatcher Music Building, 340 N. College Ave., 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. All events are free, but seats are limited. (909) 607-2212.

*

ART

A muse to the greats of her time

Lee Miller helped to create powerful images during the 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s, in front of the camera and behind it. “Surrealist Muse: Lee Miller, Roland Penrose, and Man Ray,” opening Wednesday at the J. Paul Getty Museum, looks at the colorful life of Miller and her influence on several important artists of the time. The survey includes portraits of her by Picasso, Man Ray and Roland Penrose as well as Miller’s portraits of Picasso, the Surrealist images she is best known for and photographs of World War II from her stint as a war correspondent.

“Surrealist Muse: Lee Miller, Roland Penrose, and Man Ray,” J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood. Tuesdays-Thursdays and Sundays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Fridays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Ends June 15. Free. (310) 440-7300.

*

JAZZ

An Allison wonderland at Bakery

Mose Allison, the noted singer-pianist-songwriter who has composed such songs as “Seventh Son” and “Your Mind Is on Vacation, But Your Mouth Is Working Overtime,” continues his gig at the Jazz Bakery in Culver City. Born in Mississippi in 1927, Allison played piano with such mainstream jazz notables as Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims early in his career. When he formed his own trio in the late 1950s, he also began to sing. Over the years, many of his songs have been recorded by pop and rock artists including. among others, the Who, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, the Clash and Johnny Rivers.

Mose Allison, Jazz Bakery, 3233 Helms Ave., Culver City. Thursday-Sunday, 8 and 9:30 p.m. $25. (310) 271-9039.