Pencil This In

FOOD: Take advantage of summer hours, if you have them, and head to the Brooklyn Mac and Cheese Cookout and General Hootenanny at The Yard. Saxelby Cheesemongers and Kelly Geary of Sweet Deliverance NYC will be teaming up to make some major mac and cheese, and it'll be served alongside Apollo wheat beer from Sixpoint Craft Ales and bourbon from LeNell Smothers. Don't forget about the apple pie, topped with a slice of cheddar, and a side of live music from the Woes. - Laren Spirer

Friday // 4 to 8 p.m. // The Yard [388-400 Carroll St btwn Bond and Nevins St] // $25, tickets available online

GAME: Snap-Shot-City is hosting a trans-Atlantic Snap-Shot duel, inviting both Londonites and New Yorkers "to become artists for a day, to focus their (camera) sights on their home cities and shoot. What's more, the New York vs London Snap-Shot-City duel will link two of the world's biggest pervasive gaming festivals through pictures, New York's Come Out & Play (which takes place on 6-8th June) and London's own Hide & Seek (26-28th June)." How do you play? Get a team together, register and download the treasure hunt list. All details are here.

All Weekend // Various Times, Locations // Free

THEATER: In the one act comedy Len, Asleep in Vinyl, a record producer with “golden ears” destined for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame becomes unhinged after winning an award for his work on an insipid album by a drugged-out Britney Spears type. He retreats to his isolated cabin in hopes of immersing himself in his vast vinyl collection, but finds no peace when the pop star, his rocker son and acerbic wife track him down with their various demands. The work of 24-year-old Carly Mensch, the Times calls it “slight but thoroughly entertaining.” – John Del Signore

Friday // 8 p.m. // McGinn/Cazale Theater [2162 Broadway at 76th Street] // $50

MUSIC: Crest Hardware's mission statement begins: "My father, Manny, has always impressed upon me the importance of community. As manager of Crest Hardware I am thrilled to provide a unique non- traditional atmosphere to showcase the art work of the creative and vibrant community we service. I have such a love and appreciation for art and I am fascinated with seeing the transformation of basic hardware materials into something other than what they are intended for." Their opening reception is Saturday and will include live sets from The Subjects, Frankpollis, Drug Rug, Bill Bell and Meowskers. On top of the music, over 100 artists have created pieces to be installed throughout the store, and there will be free food and drink! Learn more about the space, here.

Saturday // 1 p.m. // Crest Hardware [558 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn]// Free

DESIGN: This Saturday there will be an open forum with Philip Nobel, Omar Freilla, Granger Moorhead, Robert Moorhead, and Elizabeth Royte...who will be on hand to discuss your work. "According to PlaNYC 2030, the population of New York City will grow by one million people within the next two decades. Here's your chance to respond by rethinking an inevitable material and physical result of this projected increase. A design problem will be given to participants promptly at 3:00 pm to solve in roughly two hours." More details here.

Saturday // 3 p.m. // 3rd Ward [195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn] // Free

EVENT: GOOD, Council on the Environment of City of New York (CENYC), Greenmarket, Solar One and JetBlue are teaming up this weekend to bring the farm to the city! At the “Choose GOOD Farmers’ Fair,” guests can participate in bee keeping, fresh mozzarella cheese making, farming and rainwater harvesting, while learning about the value of locally grown produce. A menu of unique Greenmarket cocktails and fresh market-based food will be served, and on top of all that, These New Puritans, Jacques Renault and David Prince perform throughout the evening.

Saturday // 5 to 10 p.m. // Solar One Green Energy, Arts & Education Center [23rd Street and the East River] // $20

FESTIVAL: The MoCCA Art Festival is also on Saturday and Sunday. Last year it was Pam Beesley recommended, and this year the guests and events are top notch, featuring a nice mix of animators, cartoonists, graphic artists, and writers. Check out the list of events here; there will also be a special sneak preview of their new exhibit, Moving Pictures: Comics to Film.

Saturday & Sunday // 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. // The Puck Building // $10/day, $15/wknd pass

FOOD: The 6th Annual Big Apple BBQ is this weekend and barbecue pitmasters from all over the country (as well as a few restaurants in NYC) have descended on Madison Square Park. There's also music and BBQ seminars to enjoy while you're eating your way through different regional styles of barbecue--one non-BBQ standout was the Brunswick Stew (from the Proclamation Stew Crew). Proceeds going to the park's conservancy. - Jen Chung

Saturday & Sunday // Opens at 12 p.m. // Madison Square Park, along Madison Avenue between 23rd and 26th Streets // Price per plate starts at $8

ART: This Saturday and Sunday head over to Bushwick Open Studios, "a self-organized art festival where anyone and everyone in the community is welcome to participate by presenting art work, organizing activities or helping to produce the event. The purpose is to create an open and inclusive event that benefits the entire community through the sharing of artistic projects and the encouragement of community interaction and dialogue." There will be BOS "Hubs" near each subway stop to help you find your way around; go here for more details.

Saturday & Sunday // 12 to 7 p.m. // Various Locations // Free

Over on Atlantic Avenue they'll be bringing out the art as well, at the ArtWalk08 event which "celebrates its fifth anniversary by showcasing over 200 artists in an interactive and participatory celebration of art along Brooklyn’s Atlantic Avenue."

Saturday & Sunday // 1 to 6 p.m. // // Free

THEATER: With music and lyrics from the man who wrote the theme song to Mr. Bean, the acclaimed British chamber musical The Hired Man has been recently revived and brought across the pond for the Brits Off Broadway festival. Set in bucolic Cumbria at the turn of the twentieth century, the powerfully song musical tells the story of a young married couple struggling to make a living off the land under the darkening skies of pre-WWI England. The Telegraph says it’s “not to be missed… Howard Goodall’s score has the undulating beauty of the landscape it describes.” – John Del Signore

Sunday // 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. // 59E59 [59 East 59th Street] // $50

READING: The release party for the 25th Anniversary Issue of The Brooklyn Review, the literary journal of Brooklyn College's MFA program, will take place next Sunday at Freddy's Bar and Backroom in Brooklyn, featuring a reading by short story writer Matt Sumell and a performance by Heavy Jamal. Free copies of the journal, which also features Gothamist writer Hugh Merwin's interview with fiction writer Kevin Brockmeier, and new fiction by T Cooper and Wayne Koestenbaum, will also be distributed.

Sunday // 8 p.m. // Freddy's Back Room [485 Dean St, Brooklyn] // Free

Photo via Dogseat's Flickr.