The Telematic Collective's fusion of music, dance, theatre, and video will be performed on Oct. 15 at IUPUI University Library. (Submitted photo)

"After Paul McCartney" is a one-man play by David Hoppe, performed by Rob Jahansen (pictured) that will be performed at the Athenaeum Auditorium on Oct. 9. (Submitted photo)

1. The Telematic Collective

4:30 p.m. Oct. 15, free, IUPUI University Library, 755 W. Michigan St.

Where will the most original music happen in Indianapolis on Oct. 15? It's a trick question. One correct answer: In IUPUI's main library, where Prof. Scott Deal will lead a performance by the Telematic Collective. Another correct answer would be that the most original music in Indy on October 15 will be scattered across North America. The Telematic Collective consists of musicians and researchers in universities and think tanks across the continent who perform live even though they have never actually been in the same physical space. It's more than an ultra-high tech gimmick. The Telematic Collective's fusion of music, dance, theatre, and video arts is always cool and often beautiful.

2. "After Paul McCartney"

6:30 p.m. Oct. 9, $20-$25, Athenaeum Auditorium, 401 E. Michigan St., www.indyfringe.org.

A one-man play by David Hoppe, performed by Rob Jahansen

You may know David Hoppe as the insightful social critic and editor for NUVO, but you might not know he is also a playwright. His latest piece, "After Paul McCartney," received glowing reviews at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. As you might expect, the one-man play is partly about the ex-Beatle. Even more it is about friendship between men, a topic rarely addressed in popular culture outside of beer commercials.

3. Hot, molten, extreme art

*8 a.m. to noon Oct. 11, free, Indianapolis Art Center, 820 E. 67th St., www.indplsartcenter.org.*

If you have any friends who say, "Art is for sissies," drag them to the Second Biennial Iron Casting Symposium. Students and professionals will slosh hot, molten, liquid metal as they create sculptures that will be displayed in the IAC's ARTSPARK. This is extreme art! If the creative process goes wrong, people get crippled, maimed and killed. Bring sunglasses and pay attention when you are told, "Stand back!"

4. More than a museum

6:30 p.m. Oct. 9, free, Indianapolis Museum of Art Deer Zink Arts Pavilion, www.imamuseum.org.

Think big museums are just mausoleums of culture, filled with pretty paintings and old stuff from ancient Egyptians? Some museum directors are working hard to change this. IMA director Maxwell Anderson is pushing American museums to go beyond being repositories for Western Civilization. At this event, he will participate in a public conversation with Boureima Diamitani, head of the West African Museum Programme in Senegal, who wants African museums to help preserve national cultural identities, and even to defuse civil wars. After the conversation, wander through the IMA galleries, view the pretty pictures and old Egyptian stuff with new eyes.