What's going on this week

meet and greet: If you're walking down Grafton Street at about noon today and encounter a scrum outside BT2, you can blame Paris…

meet and greet: If you're walking down Grafton Street at about noon today and encounter a scrum outside BT2, you can blame Paris Hilton.

The heiress will be in town to launch her new perfume of that name, which costs €40 for 50ml. Peuw! She must need the money. Anyone who bought a bottle of it in advance will be allowed in to meet her. The rest of us will just have to press our noses to the glass.

artists' retreat

"Astonish us in the morning" is a phrase Tyrone Guthrie used with his actors at the end of a rehearsal that wasn't running quite as smoothly as he might have liked. It's a good mantra to keep in mind. Tomorrow night, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, in Annaghmakerrig, Co Monaghan, celebrates its first 25 years with a theatrical evening at the Abbey Theatre directed by Conall Morrison. The hall is sure to be filled with the great and the good, from poets, dancers and writers to sculptors, composers and all other creative spirits. A fine collection of work from the centre, edited by director Sheila Pratschke, will also be launched. Call 047-54003 or e-mail info@tyrone guthrie.ie to see if seats remain.

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back to the future

Emerging technologies, the latest movements in science and engineering and endless predictions about what science might uncover in the future . . . From tomorrow until November 19th 380 events and interactive workshops are happening all over the country as part of the 10th Science Week Ireland. See www.scienceweek.ie for details.

the boss is back

Bruce Springsteen's concert last summer was such a resounding success that he is bringing the show back for four nights, on November 17th, 18th, 19th and 21st. Springsteen (below left) will perform songs from We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - and once he gets going is sure to deliver a few from the back catalogue as well. The Point, Dublin, 8pm, €75-€85, www.ticketmaster.ie

at the keyboard

"Ms Montero's playing has everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power . . . soulful lyricism . . . and, best of all, unsentimental expressivity." With that recommendation, go see the Venezualan pianist Gabriela Montero at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, on Thursday. Tickets €25-€30. Doors open at 7.30pm.

punk idol

Another master of reinvention, Paul Weller, aka the Modfather, comes to the Olympia, in Dublin, next Friday and Saturday. The man behind The Style Council and The Jam will be singing Blink and You'll Miss It at 8pm. Tickets €44.20- €46.20 from Ticketmaster.