Why should you not throw a ukulele off the top of the Medical Arts Building? Because the Alworth Building is taller. Feel free to share your favorite ukulele joke in the comments. Get that out of your system, then check out Big Mama Lele at Red Mug on Tuesday and Savannah Smith at the Brewhouse on Friday.

There is never a shortage of organizations and individuals in need of a helping hand, and this week offers a tetralogy of options: On Thursday, the St. Louis County Historical Society holds its Culture & Cuisine fundraising event at the Depot while Clyde Iron Works hosts a benefit for Zeidan Zeidan, the former owner of Z’s Deli who has been diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer. On Saturday, the Duluth Art Institute’s annual fine art auction will be held at the Kitchi Gammi Club and Mr. D’s hosts a spaghetti dinner and silent auction to benefit Mary Rogers as she battles angiosarcoma.

As for general hoopla, Champ the Bulldog will truly be in his element on Thursday, the Minnesota Ballet begins its season Friday night, and there will be another zombie pub crawl on Saturday.

A bit of PDD shop talk to wrap things up: Lawrence Lee has exited as calendar editor and we’ll be announcing soon the identity of his successor. Cheers once again to Lawrence on two-and-a-half years of keeping us informed about the concerts, plays, lectures and other instances in which four or more people gather in our region.

We should also note that during this transition period we’ve fallen a bit behind in our work. If you’ve submitted an event to the calendar, please be patient. There is a backlog right now of over 300 events. We’ll get them in … eventually.