Entertainment

The news that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have split could not help but bring back memories of the reporting 7 1/2 years ago in this newspaper about Schwarzenegger's aggressive, loutish behavior toward women. No reason has been stated for the breakup between the former governor and California's former first lady. And maybe no cause will ever be revealed, though the stature of the two media-political heavyweights guarantees that there will be plenty of reporting and speculation.

POP MUSIC Echo & the Bunnymen rose to the top of the pile of black-clad UK pop chart doomsayers with their epochal albums "Crocodiles" and "Heaven Up Here. " The band will reprise each at this stand, which should remind today's crop of sad-sack indie rockers that melodrama can be expertly crafted and anthemic as well. Club Nokia, 800 W. Olympic Blvd., L.A. 9 p.m. Sat. $33-$42.50. clubnokia.com. Also at House of Blues Anaheim, 1530 S. Disneyland Drive, Anaheim. 8 p.m. Sun. $32.50.

The Sahara was once an exotic desert locale where Frank Sinatra could enjoy a cocktail and bathing beauties were paid to frolic in the Garden of Allah pool. In recent years, the hotel-casino has sunk to touting $1 blackjack and a NASCAR Cafe known for its 6-pound burrito. Now the 59-year-old-icon of the Las Vegas Strip is shutting its doors, yet another victim of a deep recession that has squelched the city's tourism for more than three years. In southern Nevada, casinos are frequently bought, sold, remodeled or imploded to make way for new resorts ?

FAMILY Kids can immerse themselves in the world of H2O at "WaterWorks: Soak Up the Science," a stimulating and entertaining interactive exhibit. Create the perfect rainbow, capture a raindrop and get a close-up view of snow to attain a better understanding of one of Earth's most powerful and precious natural resources. Discovery Science Center, 2500 N. Main St., Santa Ana. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Exhibit runs from Friday through Sept. 11. Adults $12.95, children 3-17, $9.95. (714) 542-2823.

When "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" debuted in May 2007, many critics derided the third installment in the Disney franchise, calling its plot incomprehensible and 169-minute running time torturous. Newsweek prayed it was the final movie in the series; the New Yorker said a monkey delivered the best performance in the film; and Time suggested an alternative title for the picture: "Pirates of the Caribbean: At Wit's End. " Yet rather than sheath their swords, Johnny Depp and Co. restocked the eyeliner supply and relaced the corsets, signing on a little more than one year later for a fourth go-round.

The Land of Painted Caves A Novel Jean M. Auel Crown: 768 pp., $30 It's been 31 years since readers were introduced to Ayla, a 5-year-old orphaned Cro-Magnon girl adopted by Neanderthals in "The Clan of the Cave Bear," the first book in Jean Auel's Earth's Children series. "The Land of Painted Caves," her sixth and final installment, picks up where "The Shelters of Stone" left off. Ayla is now mated to Jondalar and mother to a baby girl, Jonayla. She's come a long way from the outcast of the first book.

Charlie Sheen wasted little time letting the world know what he thinks of Ashton Kutcher replacing him on "Two and a Half Men. " "Enjoy the show, America," Sheen told the website TMZ on Friday, when CBS and Warner Bros. confirmed earlier reports that Kutcher would join TV's No. 1 comedy. The ousted star added sarcastically that his bosses could "enjoy a 2.0 rating in the [adults ages 18 to 49] demo every Monday" — or less than what episodes with Sheen have done in repeats. Whether Sheen's prediction proves accurate, with Kutcher on board CBS has helped steady its future after months of high-wire jockeying over "Men.

Prince William and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton could never have had an intimate wedding. They've invited 1,900 guests, after all. But the British couple's big day has set off a massive media frenzy rivaling the recent coverage of natural disasters, wars and government breakdowns combined. There have been hundreds of hours of royal-themed TV programming already, with plenty more coming, including wall-to-wall coverage of the ceremony at historic Westminster Abbey. Every major U.S. news organization plans to be there with its top talent April 29, from CBS' Katie Couric, NBC News' Brian Williams, ABC's Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer to Fox News' Shepard Smith and CNN's Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan.

What a difference a dance makes. Eighteen months ago, the Cali Swag District consisted of four largely anonymous Inglewood teenagers making R&B;/hip-hop hybrids and everything in between. They got nowhere. Then it filmed the video for "Teach Me How to Dougie," the biggest domestic dance phenomenon since Soulja Boy taught a nation of online video novices how to "Crank Dat" in 2007. Go on YouTube. You have your choice of the O.G. version, the sleek "Dougie 2.0" made with Capitol Records money, and a star-studded remix with Bow Wow and B.o.B.

— A beefy guy with a high-pressure air gun strapped to his back marches across the pool deck at the Cosmopolitan hotel's new Marquee Dayclub in Las Vegas, flanked by seven waitresses in electric purple bikinis. The women wave inflatable sharks in the air and carry a giant cake. They are celebrating the 10th anniversary of Soundbar — a weekly house-music party — as part of the hype surrounding Marquee, one of two new pool parties to open in Sin City this summer. What began in 2004 with the launch of a massive pool party called Rehab at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is reaching new levels this year as Marquee debuts alongside Nikki Beach at the newly renovated Tropicana hotel.

Silver Lake Jubilee Where: 1070 Myra Ave., L.A. (under the bridge at Sunset and Santa Monica boulevards) When: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday Price: $5 Info: (323) 362-6650, http://www.silverlakejubilee.com

Though Kylie Minogue is a huge star throughout Europe and in her native Australia, her following always has stayed cult-sized in the United States, where she's still best known for her 1987 cover of "The Loco-Motion. " ("Can't Get You Out of My Head," from 2001, threatened to change that but stopped just short.) Either way, Minogue gives her carefully calibrated arena-pop moves an uncommon degree of human warmth, whether stomping around the stage in thigh-high leather boots or cavorting with several slices of gym-rat beefcake in a simulated shower scene.

ART Venice's Art Walk may not have the massive crush of booze-addled fans as downtown's version, but that may be an upside. In the idyllic setting, artists will open their studios and galleries will host visitors for a variety of events, auctions and showings, along with a spate of culinary and musical accompaniments. Various locations in Venice, Fri.-Sun. See theveniceartwalk.org for full schedule.

Ripe, red strawberries are now flooding farmers market to brighten our morning meals and evening desserts. Hence the arrival of the annual California Strawberry Festival, a two-day celebration of the delicious fruit, featuring more than 200 arts and crafts booths; loads of fresh food and drink full of strawberries; cooking demonstrations and contests; and a little place called Strawberryland for the kids. Strawberry Meadows of College Park, 3250 S. Rose Ave., Oxnard. 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Sat. and Sun. $5 to $12. (888)

Jon Ronson is fascinated by people who are bonkers. And insane people who appear to be normal, and ostensibly sane people doing crazy things. The British journalist's book "The Men Who Stare at Goats" — about a secret U.S. military wing that hoped to use mind power to walk through walls, become invisible and perform psychic executions — was the basis for the 2009 film of the same title. Now, Ronson's paddling around the swampy parts of sanity again in "The Psychopath Test," a book that manages to be as cheerily kooky as it is well-researched.

Modern digital devices take a back seat to the clickity-clack of old-fashioned machinery at L.A.'s first gathering for typewriter enthusiasts, the L.A. Type-In. There'll be the Fastest Typist Contest, an on-site technician to clean or repair old typewriters, free expert appraisals of vintage models, and a Name That Typewriter Contest from popular films and TV shows, plus an opportunity to type letters to friends and family — envelope and paper provided. Red Lion Tavern, 2366 Glendale Blvd., Silver Lake.

"Water for Elephants" gives off an air of self-satisfaction, and you can see why. What film wouldn't be pleased with having a No. 1 bestseller as source material, an unapologetically picturesque world for its setting and major players such as Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and a superb Christoph Waltz as its stars. What's not to like? There is quite a bit to enjoy in a film that certainly qualifies as broad-based popular entertainment. But because the ingredients are so promising, there hangs over this serviceable project the wish that it had turned out better still.

The Grand Design Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow Bantam: 200 pp., $28 Robert Oppenheimer was fond of proposing that physics and poetry were becoming indistinguishable. In "The Grand Design," Cambridge theorist Stephen Hawking and Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinow seem to suggest that physics and metaphysics are also growing closer. They point out that the unified field theory that physicists, including Einstein, spent the better part of the 20th century trying to construct, probably can't exist.

Spanish-language media giant Univision Communications Inc. plans to launch three new cable television channels next year in a bid to tighten its grip on the growing Latino market and diversify its revenues. Univision is expected to announce Thursday that one of the channels will offer soccer and other sports, one will be devoted to news and information, and a third will showcase the spicy Spanish-language soap operas, or telenovelas , that fuel Univision Network's prime-time ratings.

BOOKS Steve Earle is a Renaissance man, but the kind with dirt under his nails and a raspy voice that sounds like it's seen the apocalypse and lived to tell the tale. The singer-songwriter, actor, activist, playwright and author of the story collection "Doghouse Roses" will read and sign his latest book, "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive. " Patti Smith says the novel is "like a dream you can't shake, offering beauty and remorse, redemption in spades. " Bootleg Theater, 2220 Beverly Blvd.