GET OUT: All the Chocolate You Can Eat...Need We Say More?

FRIDAY

Poetry and Book Arts

The Museum of Art and History

5-9 p.m.

$5 admission/$3 students

The art of the book is the theme at the Museum of Art and History Friday night, and longtime Cruzers know that since the days of Robinson Jeffers fashioning the printed word has had a special place here.

From Book Arts Santa Cruz, you will learn the arts of papermaking, marbeling, paper molds, calligraphy, origami books, how to use a table top press, laser cutting and book binding. And, there will be workshops on turning the printed page into altered books (is everything in Santa Cruz somehow altered?) book art sculpture, book collage and paper folding books.

Then, from 6-8 p.m. Poetry Santa Cruz will do readings and workshops.

SATURDAY

Gayle Skidmore

360 Mission St.

8-10 p.m.

Free

Someone complained to me the other day that Santa Cruz just didn't get good music? Are you high, I wanted to say.

Let's see, over two weeks you could have seen Lucinda Williams, They Might Be Giants, Dennis Chambers, James Durbin, Chris Rene, the Wailers..and that's just off the top of my head.

But what really makes this a great place are two of the smaller venues that keep bringing in musicians for little or free who are definitely on the way up.

The Abbey is one of them. Don't let the church connection fool you. They are bringing in top-name troubadors, such as Gayle Skidmore, the San Diego songwriter who has played with Jason Mraz.

Take one listen to this video and you know this is the real deal..at the right price...Free.

SUNDAY

Santa Cruz Chocolate Festival

1-4 p.m.

$12 advance; $15 at the door

Some people may be thinking about football today, but most of them are just fair-weathered fans anyway. For those who want more immediate stimulation, there is a smorgasbord of chocolate, an orgy of the liquid and solid substance once thought to be an aphrodesiac and magical treatment for what ails you.

There will be chocolate covered bacon, antioxidant chocolate, mango chocolate and almost anything you can imagine. There's even a place where kids can make their own cupcakes.

And it's all for a good cause: the UCSC Woman's Club , which helps raise money for scholarships.

Here's a list of vendors:

• Ashby Confections
• Blossom Trail Honey
• Demostrations by Cabrillo College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management
• Chocolate, The Restaurant on Pacific Avenue
• Chocolate Happens
• Chocolate Visions
• Cocoanut Grove Santa Cruz
• Cold Stone Creamery - Santa Cruz
• Dove Chocolate Discoveries
• Goose's Goodies
• Little Sky Lavender
• Lula's Chocolates
• Marini's Candies
• Mission Hill Creamery
• Nut Kreations
• Pacific Cookie Company
• Shaman Organic Chocolates
• Snake & Butterfly
• STARZ Cupcakes
• SUDzzz, Eco-Friendly Day Spa
• Sunridge Farms
• TCHO
• Theo Chocolate
• Toffee By The Sea
• Trader Joe's, Santa Cruz
• Whole Foods Market - Santa Cruz & Capitola
• Xocai Antioxidant Chocolate