Things to do in Sacramento

Regardless of weather, the home tour must go on.

"Rain or shine, we're open," said Kris Quigley, among the organizers of the 39th annual Sacred Heart Holiday Home Tour, which started its three-day run today. "There's been so much work put in by our designers and home owners, there's no way we could postpone. Hopefully, the rain will let up a bit and people will still come out."

Featuring five elegantly decorated homes in East Sacramento's Fabulous Forties neighborhood, the tour usually attracts more than 5,000 patrons. This weekend, its organizers had to add rain gear to its preparations.

"Bring your umbrella - we're ready," Quigley said. "We've got booties you can slip on over your shoes and take with you to the other homes."

A major fund-raiser for Sacred Heart Parish School, the tour continues until 8 p.m. tonight. The homes also will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets are $30 and available at the tour's booth on 38th Street between J and M streets or online at www.sacredhearthometour.com. Or call (916) 556-5050.

Every Fourth Woman, a domestic-violence survivors union, wants to help educate the public about one of the nation's most debilitating crimes against women.

To that end, the exhibit "Creating Freedom: The Art and Poetry of Domestic Violence Survivors" will be at the the California Museum from now through Dec. 24.

The exhibit features 29 poems and 42 works of art, including photography, collage, installations and oil paintings by 46 California domestic-violence survivors of every demographic and ethnic group.

"This exhibit is in some ways an SOS from domestic-violence survivors ourselves, because no one else has been willing to tell our story," said project organizer Diana Bilovsky.

The California Museum is at 1020 O St., Sacramento. For more information: (916) 653-7524, www.californiamuseum.org (click on "Short Term Exhibits").

Sacramento's Death Grips were named Spin magazine's "artist of the year" on Tuesday, capping a tumultuous year for the brash and critically acclaimed punk-rap group.

Death Grips' recent past includes being dropped by Epic records, scrapping a hotly anticipated tour, releasing two albums -- including one without the approval of its record label and a very NSFW album cover -- and re-mixing a track for Bjork.

Spin magazine's accompanying feature on Death Grips details the band's humble beginnings, including frontman Stefan "MC Ride" Burnett's longtime stint as a busser at Paesano's restaurant, to its very public fight with Epic records.

It's not too late to buy tickets to witness a bit of living history. Former U.S. president and author Bill Clinton will speak at 8 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Memorial Auditorium, 1515 J St., Sacramento. Doors will open at 7 p.m.

The founder of the philanthropic William J. Clinton Foundation is part of the Sacramento Speakers Series' lineup of six global notables hosted by the community lecture series.

"We have a limited number of VIP seating in the Dress Circle, and some in the second balcony," said Tiffany Kelly, the company's executive director for marketing and business development.

Taylor Swift -- six-time Grammy winner, confessional songwriter and Kennedy dater -- will return to Sacramento on Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013 as part of her "Red" tour.

Tickets for the Sleep Train Arena concert are $32, $82 and $97 and go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster.com (800-745-3000). Presale tickets are available starting at 10 a.m. Tuesday if you sign up through Swift's website.

Tickets for Swift's show last year at the arena went fast. So start early or you are never, ever going to get one.

Smooth jazz saxophonist Eric Darius, whose sound combines jazz, pop, jazz, gospel and R&B, will perform at 7:30 tonight at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento.

Above is a video in which Darius, whose concerts include close interaction with fans, talks about his approaches to music and performance.

The concerts supports The Links, Inc., a volunteer service organization made up of 12,000 professionals from around the country. The Links, Inc., is dedicated to the addressing cultural and economic concerns of African Americans and other people of African descent.

The Links, Inc., which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, includes programs that support youth development, scholarship, the arts, health and wellness, community outreach and charitable giving.

Tickets are $45 general, $60 preferred. And are available at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K St., and at Dimple Records outlets and through Tickets.com.