Can't Miss It: Wednesday

BOOKS: Attention Chicago-watchers: NPR's Peabody-Award-winning Scott Simon is at the Moore Theatre tonight reading from his new book, Windy City: A Novel of Politics. It's a political comedy for which Simon had to come up with names for his 50 fictional Chicago aldermen; his wife named all 50 for him but he's not co-crediting her with the writing. Well, well. This is his second novel; his first is about the making of a teenage sniper in Sarajevo. It's not nearly as funny, we hear.

STARGAZING: Theodor Jacobsen Observatory at the UW is open to the public the first and third Wednesdays of the month. From April through September, public viewing hours are 9-11 p.m. You can make a reservation, even. Tonight, Natalie Ramien will give a talk about black holes around 15 - 20 minutes after opening, and if the sky is clear enough, the dome will be open for viewing (also, various small telescopes will be set up in the area just outside of the Observatory). Additional exhibits and activities are found in the Transit Room and Pier Room.

9-11 p.m. // Theodor Jacobsen Observatory, University of Washington // FREE

GLOBAL WARMING: Dr. Jonathan Overpeck, director of the Institute for the Study of Planet Earth at the University of Arizona gives one of those ripped-from-the-headlines, white-knuckle talks, titled "Climate Change, Sea Level, and Western Drought: Dangerous Anthropogenic Interference?" You've probably already heard about the global sea level rise and increasing tropical storm intensities, and maybe even know that the American West is heating up faster than anywhere else in the U.S. But did you know that:

On top of these trends is the likelihood that multi-year, even multi-decade, drought will also become more common. The recent western drought - already the worst of the instrumental era - could be a harbinger of greater aridity to come, and also a significant threat to the West as we know it.

7:30-8:30 p.m. // Eames IMAX Theatre, Pacific Science Center, 200 2nd Ave N // Admission: $5

The listed events were chosen by the editors of Seattlest and brought to you by the 2009 Toyota Corolla.