ITP Cheaps: Videodrome, Ghosts & Ka- ka-Kia

On tap in this week's Cheap Thrill Kill Thrills from my Boston Herald column, I present Videodrome Discotheque, Kia's candy-car bribery parties and the Ghosts of Somerville, all in what should be another Best Weekend Ever (Note on OMFG TK).

VIDEO KILLED THE DJ STAR
Videodrome Discotheque Episode 8: It’s Gotta Be a Strange Twist of Fate
The Common Ground, 83 Harvard Ave., Allston; Saturday, Oct. 17, 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.; 21-plus, $3
OK, face it, sitting at home alone at midnight watching old ’80s McDonald’s commercials on YouTube doesn’t lead toward much of a social life. Thankfully, the occasionally scheduled Videodrome Discotheque dance party - named after the 1983 David Cronenberg sci-fi adventure flick - has the visual retro itch covered. DJ/VJ Craig MacNeil - and his infamous eyebrow, which has its own Facebook page - pairs up new wave and guilty-pleasure pop with a series of vintage videos up on the Common Ground’s big screen. From old commercials and ’70s TV and movie clips to whatever else MacNeil finds in his growing collection of antique visuals, it’s a group-party time machine back to the glory days when eating McDonald’s eight times a week was as healthy as drunkenly dancing to Bertie Higgins and Rick James in a dimly lighted Allston bar. C’mon get snappy.
Info: commongroundbarandgrill.com, 617-783-2071

SPOOKYVILLE
The Ghosts of Somerville performance and tour
Milk Row Cemetery, 400 Somerville Ave., Somerville; Saturday, 4 p.m. to dusk; $5-$8, all ages
Live in this area long enough, and you’re bound to have your own Somerville ghosts, from the night you bombed at the Abbey Lounge to the bar you drank too much at in Union Square to the artsy girl you foolishly fell for who lived in Davis. Personal ghosts are everywhere in Somerville, and for some, the haunting is daily. But the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission and the city’s always-thinking Arts Council want to highlight some real, otherworldly apparitions in the most densely populated municipality in New England. With roots that date back to 1630, there’s bound to be some Caspers running amok. The fifth annual Ghosts of Somerville brings back to life some of the city’s famous spirits and re-creates the undead lives of some of Milk Cemetery's famed residents, including Samuel Tufts, Window Rand and Emiline Dane. They might not be as spooky as the real-life ghosts haunting our 2 a.m. walks up Highland Avenue, but they’re just as real. (The rain date is Sunday.)
Info: historicsomerville.org, 617-625-5809

I GOT SOUL BUT I’M NOT A SOLDIER
Kia Motors Soul Collective Tour
Artists For Humanity, 100 West 2nd St., Fort Point Channel in South Boston; today through Sunday, from noon to 8 p.m.; Pains of Being Pure at Heart performs Sunday at 6:30 p.m.; all ages. FREE
What better way to hype up a new whip than to bribe the kids with DJs and indie bands? It’s like the new 20-something hipster version of candy and soda pop, and playing the role of weekend dad is Kia Motors, which is throwing a way-cool, three-day party for everyone who test-drives its new 2010 Kia Soul. It’s all capped off Sunday evening with a live performance by New York indie-pop kids Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but the events leading up to that are action-packed with some of Boston’s best DJs, including Frank White, Bladerunners and Mistaker. Add in a few other live gigs from White Rabbits and Here We Go Magic (Friday) and Boy Crisis (Saturday), and test-driving a car you may or may not purchase never sounded so sweet. Check out the Web site below for the full schedule, then go and get some hipster candy just in time for Halloween.
Info: kiasoulcollective.com