1) El Sistema in Somerville
El Sistema, a program that originated in Venezuela and seeks to improve children's lives through classical music, has been featured on 60 Minutes, on the TED blog and elsewhere. Tonight, as part of an effort to bring El Sistema music programming to Somerville kids, there's a planning meeting. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the Cummings School, 42 Prescott St.

2) Battle of the Mayors, round 3
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone beat the mayor of Melrose two weeks ago, and he took down the mayor of Revere last week. Today, Curtatone takes on the mayor of Amesbury in the WFNX Battle of the Mayor's song-picking competition. Amesbury, if you don't know, is practically in New Hampshire. Somerville Patch didn't realize WFNX reached the airwaves in Amesbury; the station always seems to get fuzzy in places much closer, like Natick. Anyway, listen to WFNX (101.7 FM) this morning at 9 a.m., then vote for your favorite song on Facebook, by calling (781) 595-WFNX (9369), or by texting the word WFNX, and your song choice, to 22122.

3) Familiar Faces: Family and Self Portraits
A handful of Somerville artists are now on display at the Brickbottom Artists Association. Their work features depictions of the artists themselves and members of their families—familiar faces providing a sort of antidote to what Brickbottom's website, in describing the exhibit, calls an "over-stimulated" world. Gallery hours are from noon to 5 p.m.

4) Beatleness!
How did Beatlemania happen, and why are the Beatles still so important? Sociologist Candy Leonard explores this phenomenon in a fun talk that will be enjoyable to Beatles fans of all ages. The talk is from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory.

5) Weather
Today will be partly sunny, with more sun later in the day, and temperatures will be in the mid 40s.