In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, there’s poet Nikki Giovanni, sex revolutionary Candida Royalle, joke fests and mystery comedy, new plays and folk metal, “Dope Science,” a tribute to Lana Del Rey and “Essays in Praise of Excess.” 

These looks at what’s on screen in the coming week include Ken Loach’s last at Fresh Pond, a screamer in “The Bird with the Crystal Plumage,” honors to the late character actor M. Emmett Walsh and free fare: a five-hour “Movie Orgy” and the chess-focused “Queen of Katwe” by Mira Nair.

Coffee cake’s crumb topping gets swapped out at Flour Bakery + Cafe for a buttermilk icing drizzle that doesn’t impress.

The play examines sexism in science through a 30-year look at Irene Pepperberg teaching her parrot, Alex, to have the cognitive abilities of a human child.

The book is based on Zalkind’s decade of reporting about a brutal triple murder in Waltham that claimed the death of her friend Erik Weissman.

On view in the narrow windows of the 25/8 gallery in Harvard Square, “Night Studio” is a playful ode to how artists work in the dead of night, with all its creative possibility.

The cicadas we get every summer are probably dog-day cicadas – the largest in North America, with a buzzing drone that can reach 100 decibels, as loud as a hair dryer or a subway train, though few of us ever see them.

The list of notable Cambridge filmmakers expands again with Max Isaacson, whose directorial debut – the Caribbean Western “Paradise” – lands on streaming platforms Friday after an abbreviated run at AMC Boston Common.

Nowhere else but in Frank Herbert’s “Dune” is spice so essential than at Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, where the question is always “How spicy do you want that?”

Underground at Armageddon lies a great selection of high-decibel soundscapes available in every format you might desire: vinyl, CD and cassette. And a few DVDs, rock ’n’ roll magazines and sundry merch for good measure.