Can't Miss It: Wednesday

JOHN FUCKING UPDIKE: His gallivanting rabbits may have lost a step, Updike reports: "When, against my better judgment, I glance back at my prose from 20 or 30 years ago, the quality I admire and fear to have lost is its carefree bounce, its snap, its exuberant air of slight excess." But as a critic he's an admirably close, inquisitive reader, and of course he's still John fucking Updike to all of us, so having him in town is a delight. In theory he'll be talking to the Seattle Arts & Lectures audience about small towns and the middle class.

7:30 p.m. // Benaroya Hall, 200 University Street // Balcony seats only: $25

REBIRTH OF SLICK: "Ish" of NYC's Digable Planets is from here, as if you needed another excuse to head to Neumos to enjoy the group's alt jazz hiphop stylings. After a breakup in the mid-90s, no one was sure we'd ever get to see Ladybug, Ish and Doodlebug on the same stage again; thank god for second chances.

8 p.m. doors // Neumos, 925 East Pike Street // $18 adv (21+)

WOMEN ON WORDS: The Seattle Poetry Slam has moved to the VIP room at Belltown's Spitfire Grill, and tonight's festivities are devoted to the Women of the World Poetry Slam prelims, with C.R. Avery--"a one man hip hop beatbox blues harmonica Americana iconoclast"--providing a little testosterone top-note for the evening. Ladies, it's all you during this second round of preliminaries. Men, take a seat.

8 p.m. // Spitfire Grill, 4th Avenue, between Blanchard and Bell // $5 (21+)

That's Matthew Brady's photo "oh noetry" above, lifted from the Seattlest Flickr pool.