IMAGE: Illustrations: Dennis Culver

This Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIII (3 pm Sunday, Feb. 1, on NBC) between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals promises plenty of intriguing matchups: the Cards’ vaunted passing offense against the Steelers’ lockdown defense; Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt against his former team; the Steelers looking to win their sixth Super Bowl, against a team that’s never been there before. Fortunately for non-sports fans, there are alternatives. Embrace the bowl! MICHAEL MANNHEIMER.

Space Oddity

I don’t know what goes into a fishbowl glass full of “Space Punch” at Southeast Portland’s Space Room (4800 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 235-8303), and frankly, I don’t want to. But it’s an Easter-colored frilly drink that tastes like cheerleaders smell, it almost glows in the dark under the Space Room’s black lights, and it is all I ever want to drink again for the rest of my life. Space is the place. CASEY JARMAN.

Cuter Than Halftime

No matter how manly you are, I dare you to watch Puppy Bowl V (noon Sunday, Feb. 1, on Animal Planet) and not break out into a 100-yard smile. The concept is simple: Puppies of all shapes and sizes run around in a model football stadium, playing and rolling and pooping for three hours. He…could…go…all…the…WAY! MICHAEL MANNHEIMER.

Superior Bowl

I don’t care how much guacamole you’re making; your Super Bowl party won’t taste anywhere near as good as the Super Bowl of won ton noodle soup at Good Taste Noodle House (8220 SE Harrison St., Suite 215, 788-6909). Nine bucks gets you a vast sea of salty broth, across which sail mighty dumplings stuffed with pork and shrimp, doing battle with slices of smoky barbecue pork and roasted duck. Plus, pork cracklin’s! BEN WATERHOUSE.

Headout Picks

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 28

[WORDS] LOGGERNAUT READING SERIES
Excellent poetry and fiction from Russian-dwarf expert Peter Fogtdal, Octopus Books’ Zachary Schomburg and WW contributor Matthew Korfhage in the bones of the new Mississippi Studios. Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi Ave., 288-3895. 7:30 pm. $3

[MUSIC] RECLINERLAND
Mike Johnson is one of our city’s finest songwriters, falling somewhere in between Pulp and Neutral Milk Hotel. Tonight he turns local author Kevin Sampsell’s stories into vignettes revolving around his sweet, nurturing voice. Rotture, 315 SE 3rd Ave., 234-5683. 9 pm. $5. 21+.

[DANCE] LAR LUBOVITCH DANCE COMPANY
The 40-year-old company hasn’t toured the U.S. in more than a decade, and has never come through White Bird, so this opportunity to see one of the heavyweights of American modern dance is not to be missed. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 790-2787. 7:30 pm. $20-$50.

THURSDAY, JAN. 29

[ART!] ARABELLA 2009
With weaving as its theme, this multimedia/performance art show includes everything from evocative chamber pop (New York’s Julia Frodahl) and neo-folksinging (Malcolm Rollick) to installations (painter Molly Jochem) and character-based songs and stories (Hand2Mouth Theatre’s Faith Helma). Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 239-7639. 9 pm. $10.

FRIDAY, JAN. 30

[MUSIC] THE BAKERY SHOW
Purchase food and drinks while listening to writings and poetry about food and drinks in a bakery that was once a library. Fleur de Lis, 3930 NE Hancock St., 459-4887. 7:30 pm. Free admission. Food for purchase.

[MUSIC] SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS
Sharon Jones might not have the same clout as coke vixen Amy Winehouse, but she shares the same backing band and has better songs. Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 9 pm. $21 advance, $23 day of show. All ages.

[SCREEN] WALTZ WITH BASHIR
One of the best films ever made about the experience of war—and it’s a cartoon. Regal Fox Tower Stadium 10, 846 SW Park Ave., 221-3280. $10.50.

MONDAY, FEB. 2

[STAGE] OPEN CITY
A concert reading of a group show by the PCS Playgroup. Each of the eight playwrights wrote a short piece based on a Portland location. Gerding Theater, 128 NW 11th Ave., fertilegroundpdx.org. 7:30 pm. Free.