Can't Miss It: Thursday

ZIPCAR OPEN HOUSE: Drop in at the grand opening of an actual downtown office for Zipcar--in the old Dept. of Licensing location at 3rd and Union. The open house runs until 5 p.m., and if you stop in and join Zipcar today, there's no annual fee for your first year. We're told there's also a prize wheel where you can win driving credits and other goodies, plus free snacks. We use the Zipcar ourselves, and we're happy to hear that the City of Seattle is joining them in a car-sharing arrangement for city employees.

'til 5 p.m. // 380 Union Street // FREE SNACKS

BALANCHINE BALLET: PNB's well-reviewed production of George Balanchine's Jewels is set to wrap up this weekend, so there's no time like the present if you've been planning on going--"In place of a story, Balanchine offers a triptych of ballet style: French romanticism (Emeralds), American dynamism (Rubies), and Russian imperial classicism (Diamonds), with music by Fauré, Stravinsky, and Tchaikovsky, respectively," we said in our lavishly illustrated review. If you love Balanchine, it's a treat to see these three pieces in a single evening.

7:30 p.m. // McCaw Hall // Tickets $25-$155

WAR ON ACCOUNTABILITY: Over at Town Hall, there's a documentary called Access Denied? The Fight for Corporate Accountability. It looks at the legal issues of "federal pre-emption" (if the FDA approves a drug, you can't sue for damages in a state court) by telling the story of Diana Levine, a Vermont musician who lost her arm due to improper drug labeling. After the screening, a panel moderated by KUOW's Ross Reynolds takes up the issue--Nan Aron, president of Alliance for Justice, personal injury attorney Bill Marler, Dr. Bruce Psaty of the UW School of Medicine, and Seattle University Law Dean Kellye Testy.

7:30 p.m. // Town Hall // $5