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Arts & Events: May 2009 Archives
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add to facebookHas it been a week already? SIFF is in full effect, so it's time to take another look at upcoming films. If you're looking for even more opinions on the films that are showing during the fest, check out the Northwest Film Forum's picks, or the picks of some SIFF programmers themselves. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for gala screenings and other special events, which of course cost more.
ONE WEEKEND ONLY biome @ Seattle Rep. Capacitor, a San Francisco-based performance group that mixes dance, multimedia, and science, is finally back in town with biome. Originally scheduled for January, the performance was canceled when flooding closed I-5. Now, Capacitor is finally back for two nights with a stunning visual exploration of the micro-habitat of the rain-forest canopy, based on a close collaboration with scientists in the International Canopy Network, including Evergreen College professor Dr. Nalini Nadkarni. (Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m. 155 Mercer St. Tix $15-$25.)
"FAA Radar Dome" by ham-hock , from the Seattlest Flickr pool
During the long Q&A session after his Seattle Arts and Lectures talk, Gary Snyder was asked about climate change and everyone in Benaroya Hall mentally leaned in to hear. "I don't worry about it," said Snyder, taking the opportunity to mention that he thought about climate change in chunks of geologic time, 200 million years or so. There used to be palm trees in Greenland, he pointed out, and while we Pleistocene refugees may be freaked out at losing our glaciers, it's fair to say the world has warmed up more than this before.
Coming out of Moon Tuesday night, there was a huge line waiting to get into the Egyptian, so we quickly checked the SIFF iPhone app--which is great, btw--to figure out what they were there to see. Ah yes, All Tomorrow’s Parties, the documentary on the music festival of the same name. The film features performances recorded by over two hundred filmmakers, fans, and musicians via a variety of formats (Super8, camcorder, and even mobile phone footage) that together comprise a veritable indie who's who: Battles, Sonic Youth, Belle and Sebastian, Patti Smith, Animal Collective, Iggy and the Stooges, Portishead, Mogwai, Slint, Grizzly Bear, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Gossip, Daniel Johnston, and The Boredoms. The last SIFF screening is at the Neptune today at 4:30 p.m.
Another big chunk of Bumbershoot acts were announced last night. Apparently, we'll have the full festival line-up by mid-July, but for now we'll have to make due with the list of newest additions:
STILL TRUCKIN': Sonic Youth's new album going to try the Block Party again, so this is about as good as it gets for people like us. Three Imaginary Girls co-hosts the event with Hannah Levin, Gainsbourg's co-owner.
"Viewing the Lawn" by cloverity, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
Months ago, an acquaintance mentioned that his new favorite band was Cotton Jones. Lo and behold, we already had the album and immediately gave it a much-appreciated listen, before passing the word on to others, all of whom had the same reaction: "Who is this?!?" That's to be expected with Cotton Jones--they're low-key but instantly gratifying, with lazy melodies that are part psychedelic pop, part backwoods country. Originally known as "Cotton Jones Basket Ride," the new project from Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw, formerly of Page France, has their debut full-length, Paranoid Cocoon, on local label Suicide Squeeze.
Sügisball (Autumn Ball) shows at the Uptown at 4 p.m. today. Set in and around crumbling Soviet-era tower blocks in Estonia (which is a real country!), this Cassavetes-like, slice-of-gritty-life drama follows an almost bewildering number of lonely, yearning, unfulfilled people around. At two unflinching hours, it's not for the faint of heart or saddlesore, but it's a beautiful portrait of what you might call social architecture. And then there's Dead Snow, which we previewed and we're pleased to report our high hopes for Nazi zombies were completely justified. That's spattering the Pacific Place with gore and gray matter at 9:30 p.m. Be there.
DEAD GIRL ART: Today it will be warm and sunny, which means it's a good day to break out of the office at lunch, snag a free parking spot at the Frye, and pop into their cafe for a bite before enjoying some disturbing paintings. Their exhibit Over Julia's Dead Body showcases Gabriel von Max, a Munich Secessionist "best known for his paintings of beautiful, dead women." Gabriel was into spiritualism, somnambulism, and painting with a dark palette.
"Cow Kite Launches" by Brian Dewey, plucked from our Flickr pool
Has anyone ever told you that you reminded them of someone else? More often than not, these comparisons are mildly entertaining. Sometimes comparisons can be flattering and other times, definitively less so. But regardless of where these comparisons fall on the spectrum, there comes a point where the novelty wears off and you want to be evaluated on your own merits. Murray Lightburn of The Dears reached this point some time ago.
In five years, Aleksandar Hemon will most likely be solidly confirmed as one of America's top authors. Really, he already is, but these things take time to cement, which is perhaps another way of saying that you should go see him tonight at Elliott Bay Book Co. (100 S. Main St, 7:30 p.m.), because a couple years down the road it's going to be at a much bigger venue and not free to see Hemon speak.
'CAUSE HATE IS JUST UGLY: The California Supreme Court announced last Friday that they would be handing down their decision today on the constitutionality of the infamous Prop 8. The court upheld the same-sex marriage ban, but allowed the existing 18,000 unions to stand. Since the news is mixed, it's fitting that there's a rally and/or protest taking place at Westlake Center Park tonight. Get out and show your support either way.
untitled photo by Aaron Morris, plucked from our Flickr pool
SIFF's first full week is underway, so here's glimpse at some of the films coming up this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for gala screenings and other special events, which of course cost more. Here's what jumps out at us from the SIFF catalogue:
UK comedy Morris: A Life with Bells On has its last screening tonight at 7 p.m. at SIFF Cinema. Writer, producer, and actor Charles Thomas Oldham will be at the screening, along with all the local Morris dance fans you can shake a staff at. The event should produce a unique Venn diagram overlap of fans of PBS Britcoms and Christopher Guest mockumentaries.
On our way to a festival film at SIFF Cinema, we took a brief tour through Folklife. Five minutes was more than enough.
totem detail by duna12, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
Terrific. Goddamn terrific, that's what. Intiman's A Thousand Clowns (through June 17, tickets: $40-$55, $10 for 25-and-under) is like if Holden Caulfield grew up, got a job writing for a kids' TV show, and then suddenly quit, desperately angry about having become a "phony." On the one hand, it's as time- and place-stamped as can be--there's the hilarity of dialing the weather lady on the phone, and an impromptu "Guess that New York borough accent" contest--but on the other, these people are such characters, the play sucks you right in. We had no idea three hours had passed at its close.
Now that SIFF is officially kicked off, it's time to look ahead at the films coming up in the next month. For all film screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for gala screenings and other special events, which of course cost more. The opening weekend's lineup features a lot of great films, so if you're not out of town for the holiday, this is the time to hit up some movies!
RECOMMENDED - Final weekend! - The Last Letter @ New City Theatre. "What are you supposed to say about a Holocaust play? The Last Letter is good, it's worth seeing, but in a strange way that's not saying much, because you're talking about the story itself, not the performance. But then again, that may say as much about New City's artistic choices as anything: sometimes, less is more, and revealing the story is mostly a matter of getting out of the way." (1404 18th Ave. Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m. Tix $15.)
If you just want a sing-along, Grease (at 5th Avenue Theatre through May 30, Tickets $22-83) will suit you fine. However, if you're looking for the character development or chemistry of the movie, this production will disappoint. Oh, and this Taylor Hicks guy (American Idol Season 6 winner), who's almost being touted as the show's star, makes nothing more than a glittery cameo.
What are you supposed to say about a Holocaust play? The Last Letter at New City Theatre (Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., tix $15) is good, it's worth seeing, but in a strange way that's not saying much because you're talking about the story itself, not the performance. But then again, that may say as much about New City's artistic choices as anything: sometimes, less is more, and revealing the story is mostly a matter of getting out of the way.
All in all, opening night of SIFF this year wasn't half-bad. The movie was good, the weather cooperated, and unlike last year, there was actually free food and drinks. Of course, the program didn't start until 20 minutes late, which means after all the introductions and thank yous, the film was on at 8 p.m. instead of 7. You know, SIFF stuff.
It's the Friday before a long weekend. Why are you still in the office? Get outta here. Take a three-martini lunch... as an appetizer for happy hour. We don't wanna see an once of productivity out of you. Enjoy the weekend and take the Seattlest Flickr pool with ya!
None of us are going to Sasquatch this year. That's right, all of Seattlest--all of this MANY-HEADED CERBERUS--is far too lame to be heading out to the Gorge for what looks to be a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. Instead, we're staying home, putting a few ice cubes in our scotch, and breaking out the summer tweed. But were we attending the three-day fest this year, we'd have plenty of good acts to choose from. We perused the schedule to come up with our hypothetical recommendations for this very real festival.
Leave it to Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola to resuscitate (sorry) the sub-genre with Dead Snow, and leave it to the Seattle International Film Festival to bring it to local audiences twice in the next two weeks (once on May 23 for an Egyptian Theater midnight screening, and once at 9:30 p.m. on May 27 at Pacific Place).
This Friday and Saturday (7:30 and 2:30 p.m., respectively; tix $25-$105), Shen Yun/Divine Performing Arts brings their Chinese spectacular to the Paramount Theatre, a show billed as "five millennia in the making." But there's a twist: while Shen Yun and their sponsors note the group "is independent of China's political regime and proud to include artists who practice the Falun Gong meditation," it turns out, the family-friendly stage show is loaded with Falun Gong philosophy, the savvy group having hijacked the cause of Chinese culture to push their own beliefs.
THE BIG SHOW: Tonight is the official opening gala of the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival. The film showing is , a wacky British satire of contemporary politics, with a talented ensemble cast including James Gandolfini, who (except for Gandolfini) are expected to be in attendance at the gala tonight. For non-members, you can get in for $50, which gets you into the movie (at the Paramount) as well as a couple drink tickets and some hors d'oeuvres. For $100, you can access to the open bar. And for $200, you get the first-born child of one of Swaziland's most well-regarded actors.
"jamie by jamie" by lolitanie, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
Just saw this over at Publicola, and it's awesome--the Seattle International Film Festival has developed an iPhone app, iSIFF. You can use it the SIFFter service on it, check venue info, even buy tickets! There's also their Twitter feed. Oh, and we should point out--tomorrow night's the grand opening gala, $50 for non-subscribers. Click here to launch iTunes at the iSIFF page, or just search on your phone.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Brooklyn musician Kevin Devine is emerging as one of the greatest observational lyricists around today. He writes about what he sees and more often than not, he turns his keen analytical skills on himself. What separates Kevin from a great deal of his peers, however, is his adeptness with the pen, which he has been developing since grade school, building upon as a journalism major at college and strengthening as an extremely mobile touring musician over the past years.
FREE DATE NIGHT: Shop sex toys with your beloved. We're going to quote here: "Enjoy mini-workshops on fellatio, the G-spot, and sex positions." The first twenty-five couples in the door get a goodie bag, so if you are both cheap and horny, this is the place for tonight. 7 p.m. // Babeland // 707 E Pike St // free
"New Hive @ Night" by Ray Hutchinson, plucked from our Flickr pool
The top six winners of yet another fashion competition--Seattle Magazine's Seamless in Seattle Contest--have been selected, and they're pretty familiar to us, here at Seattlest. You've seen, or should we say read about, some of them before in our previous coverage of the Art Institute and New York Fashion Academy spring fashion shows. Finalists presented their collections to a team scrutinizing judges organized by Seattle Magazine, and left one category open for viewers to decide online, won by Eunice Poon for her "I Dream in Cake."
In case you're still on the fence about tonight's electronic extravaganza, Moderat (Modeselektor + Apparat) at Neumos, you can get a preview of the show today at 2 p.m. on KEXP, where the trio will be performing live and doing an interview. The video above is the trailer for their newly released DVD, and is a preview of the kinds of visuals you can expect tonight from Pfadfinderei.
BURLESQUE ON THE BIG SCREEN: Northwest Film Forum will be showing A Wink and a Smile only until the 21st, so if you're interested in learning more about the lives of some of Seattle's finest burlesque dancers, we encourage you to get out and see it before it's too late! The documentary follows ten ordinary women attending Miss Indigo Blue's six-week program at the Seattle Academy of Burlesque, where they are transformed from their daily lives into beautiful bombshells who are not afraid to show off their skills and new-found empowerment.
Surprising absolutely no one, Intiman Theatre artistic director Bart Sher announced he's decamping for for New York, and will wrap up his term at the end of this 2010. He's more or less gone as of now, though--he's been in New York for his staging of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, and won't direct Othello this summer. He's sending in a Sher stunt-double to fill out his contract. Meanwhile, the search for a new Seattle Symphony music director (Gerard Schwarz steps down at the close of the 2010-11 season) will be headed up by Nancy Evans, who has a page with husband Dan at HistoryLink.org: "Together they personify the term 'power couple' in Washington state."
It's back to rainy, so no need to bother being outside. Tuesday's our next Seattlest Happy Hour, this time at Licorous (on 12th at Marion, right next to Lark). We're hitting up their midweek happy hour with $4 cocktails and wine and $2 classy apps. Join us 5-8 p.m. THIS MEANS YOU.
A reader writes: "$2 movies all week at the new Thornton Place cinemas by Northgate. And yet, almost all of the offerings are overpriced. (You'd have to pay me to see Pink Panther 2, for example.)" We found a Regal Cinemas press release that says the special $2 rate is good today, tomorrow, and Wednesday only. After that, you get a free popcorn and soft drink with paid admission, May 22-31. The Crest, of course, is showing $3 movies all the time.
Local faves The Purrs headline a Monday night line-up at Neumo's, with a trio of other bands. The Purrs plan to release their third LP later this year, including "Waiting for the Asteroid," "The Outpost," a super-chill sci-fi epic that's totally out-of-character thematically for the band, and has hints of Bowie all over it.
Jan Fabre may be direct, but he's not didactic. In , which played last weekend at On the Boards, he avoids becoming just another European leftist railing against capitalism and instead delivers a nearly two-hour exploration of the fear and loathing that underlies Western liberal capitalist society. Starting with proposition that consumerism is a form of autoeroticism--that it's masturbation, basically--his theatre troupe Troubleyn delves deep into the anxiety and self-loathing of people who consume to self-realize.
HOW-TO BOOK: You may have run into Reza Aslan, author of No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, while watching the Daily Show. Now you can see the professor of creative writing (at the University of California, Riverside) in person, talking about his newest book, How to Win a Cosmic War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror. Sounding a bit like John Gottman, Aslan says the best cosmic war is one that isn't fought; he says need to strip conflicts of their religious connotations and address the more earth-bound grievances that generate the cosmic mindset.
Author Mark Kurlansky doesn’t always write about food, but it has been the subject of two of his bestselling books (Cod, Salt) and his newest book, The Food of a Younger Land (he's reading at Elliott Bay tonight, 7:30 p.m., free admission). But don’t call him a food writer.
The hipster spaceman costumes of the soldiers in Titus are your first clue that this isn't a traditional take. So too with the decision to exsanguinate Shakespeare's goriest play--each character “bleeds” red, but it's not stage blood, but rhinestones, thumb tacks, feathers, even gummy worms.
Special to Seattlest: Matt Whiting of the music blog Back Beat Seattle.
hobo baby by Walsh, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
We're reminded about two events the Canoe Social Club--"a newish space in the ID that seems to be picking up where McLeod Residence left off" (Seattle Weekly)--is putting on this weekend. At 10 p.m. tonight there's the Scratch 'n' Sniff Performers Buffet, "small/solo music acts and other similar stage antics," and tomorrow there's a fundraiser for the much-lauded New Century Theatre Company, also 10 p.m. That one features the Sarah Rudinoff/Gretta Harley musical collaboration We Are Golden. It's 21+ and $25, at the Theatre Off Jackson.
A few weeks ago, Seattlest had the pleasure of attending the Seattle Laser Dome's latest show, Laser Daft Punk. Our love for Daft Punk has been completely irrational since their WaMu Center show, so between that and the fact that it'd been a while since our last laser show (Laser Plan B), we headed down with some friends to check it out.
Janelle Brown will be reading from All We Ever Wanted Was Everything at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park (17171 Bothell Way NE), tonight at 7 p.m. This event is free.
Legend has it that Tom Hanks took the part of Picasso in the first reading of Steve Martin's play Picasso at the Lapine Agile back in the mid-nineties. Martin tried multiple times to get this play about the big forces of the Twentieth Century--embodied by Einstein and Picasso--swirling around a Parisian bar made into a movie without success, but if he could ever get the project together, and if Hanks could take some time off from his busy ripping-off-Umberto-Eco career, and if, perhaps, Martin himself could take on a role...well, let us tell you right now--that movie would fucking suck.
Upside down fountain by B.K. Dewey, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
Tonight protons and electrons will be flying as the Northwest Science Writers Association and Pacific Science Center host a scientifically-charged event titled "Dumb, Getting Dumber?"
Here's one that should have made it into Can't Miss It this morning but didn't: Tonight at Vermillion (1508 11th Ave), from 6 to 10 p.m., is the official opening of the new art show, "Des Madre: Fresh Latino Perspectives in America." Organized by Des Madre Arte blog, the show features sixteen mostly West Coast Latino artists, many working on variations of or inspired by contemporary urban street art. The show explores the complex relationship of the Latino community to mainstream American culture, a culture they're increasingly a part of. The work uses a variety of pop and classic imagery to speak to the cultural divide many contemporary Latinos feel from their parents and the cultures they come from, while at the same time remaining a distinct cultural entity in the U.S.
MIDDLE EASTERN EXPOSURE: All the way from Kabul, ladies and gentlemen, Tamim Ansary! He's in town to talk about his book Destiny Disrupted, which is like his World According to the...well, Islamic World. Spanning the time from Mohammed to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and more, he tells a counter-narrative of cultural progress in which the rise of the West kinda, you know, sucks. The San Francisco Chronicle calls the book “an indispensable guide," while the Oregonian says it is "vivid, often wrenching."
"321/365" by NW Sunshine, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
Every Seattle musician or music appreciator respects the work of Jeremy Enigk. The erstwhile lead singer of seminal (and possibly reuniting?) emo band Sunny Day Real Estate and The Fire Theft, Jeremy has since released four solo albums (five, if you count The End Sessions, which we don't). Thursday's the CD release show at Neumo's for his latest album OK Bear, which just came out two days ago. All the press materials on the new album mention that it's "less orchestral" than previous efforts, which makes it extra-ironical that he's playing with the Seattle Rock Orchestra, a full-fledged thirteen-piece orchestra (hence the name, duh), with instrumentation like that found on his first solo album, everyone's precious Return of the Frog Queen. So this is your chance to hear those songs live in their original lush form, as well as the new stuff getting the same grandiose treatment. For a taste, check out the Monday afternoon KEXP session Thursday morning at 8 a.m. (and if it's after 8, hit up the archive).
As per usual, the third week of the month means Seattlest Happy Hour. This time, along with shifting venues, we're also shifting days. So meet up with us from 5-8 p.m. next Tuesday, the 19th, at Licorous (on 12th, at Marion, right next to those foie gras lovers at Lark). We'll be enjoying their midweek happy hour with $4 cocktails and wine and some classy apps (Chef's Choice Tartine or Pretzel Dots with Coppa) for only a buck. Come one, come all!
You know that look that people get at shows? When you glance at the kid next to you in the crowd and he's got his eyes closed, completely blissed out? We call that particular expression "having a moment," as in "Everywhere I looked at Yeasayer, there was some bearded guy having a moment." Well, last night at the Croc, That Guy was Patrick Watson. Playing with his band The Wooden Arms, Watson delivered a set completely in line with his beguiling new album of the same name. There he was, with his Nick Drake voice and his eyes wide shut, making some lovely music and having a moment all night long. On the keyboard? Having a moment. Singing into a megaphone and using a plunger as a mute? Having a moment (see above). Doing his encore in the midst of the crowd, amplified by only a handmade megaphone tree strapped to his back? Having a moment. And so were we. Come back soon, Patrick.
Sweden is a country like no other. Somehow, its disparate raw ingredients, a few of which include a rich history of inclement weather, rule by Vikings, close-knit communities, and welfare states, have created some of the most affable, accomplished, and worldly people on the planet. Melding influences as varied as those that shaped his homeland, Emil Svanängen (under the pseudonym Loney Dear) creates some of the most beautiful and epically arresting music found anywhere on the globe. Like his fellow Scandinavian brethren Sigur Ros and fellow countryman Jose Gonzales, Loney Dear brings the world intricately crafted emotive music on a larger-than-life yet incredibly personal level.
Yesterday, On the Boards announced their next season of shows, and we're excited. OtB is the company we most often recommend to friends, particularly if they're , classic tragedy and issue plays about people coming to terms with things are right up your alley. But a lot of people aren't like that, and for them, the whipsmart contemporary performance at OtB, visually interesting and intellectually stimulating, is going to be a more enjoyable night out, so long as they can get over the initial "it's performance art" thing.
Everyone can be forgiven for having WWII movie fatigue, but this week at SIFF there's a movie that's worth the effort: Andrzej Wajda's )
We didn't mention the atrocious sound in our review of Frost/Nixon because it was opening night and we were sure they'd fix it--on her way out, one woman shouted at a guy near a soundboard, "Fix the sound!" Unfortunately, he was a lighting technician. Throughout the evening, the play sounded like a shitty VoIP conference call--you really had to strain to hear around the tinny echoes. But we just noticed Michael Upchurch complaining about the same thing in his review of the Flight of the Conchords show. Acoustics are famously tricky in the Paramount--only the organ ever really sounds at home there--but what we heard sounded like bad tech.
AUSTIN CITY SHIMMY: Bob Schneider made our sister site Austinist's highlight reel for SXSW back in March--winner of the SXSW Band of the Year and Best Male Vocalist awards, Schneider is touring for his new album Tarantula. Country, roots-rock, call it what you will, just don't expect a 45-minute set. With 15 or so albums to draw from, Schneider has more songs up his sleeve than a double-sided LP. Plus, he's at the Triple Door, so you can just sit back and make yourself comfortable.
Seattlest spent the weekend in Gothamist territory to see one of our favorite acts, Japan's Mono, perform one of only two tenth anniversary dates in North America (and with a full orchestra to boot). The show was positively transcendental (pics, official pics), but that's not the point of this post. Instead, we've got to call out the experience we had with the Ace Hotel, as we had plans to stay at the new Manhattan location of the boutique chain.
Troubleyn, the theatre/performance company Belgian artist Jan Fabre founded 1986 to produce his idiosyncratic stage pieces, and this week, Troubleyn makes a rare U.S. (and Seattle debut) at On the Boards with unforgettable in terms of its effects and staging.
CHANNELING NIRVANA, ONLY BETTER: Yeah, we said it, but as Kurt Cobain once noted about the Vaselines, "They are my most favorite songwriters in the whole world." So much so, that he named his daughter Frances Bean after lead singer Frances McKee. We agree and think it's totally awesome that they're in town playing on a Tuesday for only $20. A hugely famous band that doesn't come to town very often, fairly affordable, plenty of tickets left, and on a Tuesday. We are practically pinching ourselves, and can't wait to hear old favorites such as "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam" and "You Think You're a Man," among others. The last time Seattle got a chance to see them was at Sub Pop Records' 20th Anniversary, and we are loving that this time around it will be in the city, with hopefully a smaller crowd.
"there is a light that never goes out" by Chona Kasinger, via our Flickr pool
Patrick Watson is no mere man; with his band The Wooden Arms (also the name of his new album, out last week), he's a rag-tag music machine. Using piano, guitars, ukulele, cello, violin, and horns alongside even more unconventional instrumentation such as bicycle parts and wine bottles, the Montreal-based artist gets comparisons to Andrew Bird, Jeff Buckley, and Sufjan Stevens. It's weird and wonderful stuff--chamber pop compositions by M. Ward's eccentric uncle--and it grabbed us immediately.
"I don't know that you can make him too sympathetic. I don't think that that's possible."
Manifold Motion's ability to work magic with yarn puts to shame all the stitchin', bitchin' hipsters whose facility with knitting needles has never exceeded the ability to make scarves. Part meditation on our hyper-mediated culture, part paean to the arts and crafts movement, Manifold Motion's is a stunningly imaginative dance performance that's more than worth the drive to West Seattle.
Wall of Windows by B.K. Dewey, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
Frost/Nixon plays tonight at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets are $18-$60 plus fees.
Flight of the Conchords are performing three nights at the Paramount Theatre next week and if you get off your sugar lumps and get moving, you've still got a good chance at getting tickets for you and the most beautiful girl (or boy) in the room.
"Untitled" by zeebleoop , from the Seattlest Flickr pool
Today's the day! We gave you a brief rundown of SIFF '09 last Thursday, and now you can check out the offerings for yourself. The schedule's on the website, the SIFF box office is officially open on the second floor of Pacific Place, and today's Times has the pullout (that's what she said). So browse through the listings--we suggest the SIFFter if you only have a vague idea of what/where you want to watch--and go get yer SIFF on! GA tickets are $11 a film, but you can still get a six-pack for $57.
The premise of Roq la Rue's new group show is that it's in response to the shift in the pop surrealist art world towards street art, e.g., the sort of stuff that used to be on display at the sadly departed BLVD gallery. But Roq la Rue is pushing back with , and you'll get the idea.
What is it with these British girls and the soul music? Perhaps it's the coal-dusted air of industrializing Britain that gives their voices those deliciously bluesy twangs. Whatever the case, Scout Niblett is a vocally talented indie-pop chanteuse from Portland by-way-of-England who's playing the Tractor tonight.
"Action shot" by Billy is my real name, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
Tonight Seattle's premier electronic music festival, Decibel, throws their first-ever fundraising gala at the Triple Door. It's primed to be a very special event, with relaxing music, engaging visuals, and delicious food. If you're looking to reduce cost, you can even skip out on the dinner selection and get in half price ($25 instead of $50 with a gourmet dinner selection).
Last Saturday we spent a fair bit of the morning and part of the afternoon at On the Boards watching a preview of most of the studio shows from the upcoming Northwest New Works Festival, June 5-7 and 12-14 (, about the travails of a Chinese restaurant deliveryman stuck in a New York elevator. Umami Performance presents a semi-improvised dance work about a couple's difficulty sharing a home.
Seattlest loves a new book by local author (and illustrator) Karen Burns called The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl. She's had 59 jobs and offers practical career advice for working girls and boys alike. We especially liked the tips on how to interview, how to handle jobs (and job situations) that aren't particularly appealing, and--almost making us want to jump back into employment-searching mode--how to gracefully leave a job.
NONCONFORMIST INDIE ROCK GOD: That's right, Destroyer (aka Dan Bejar aka the "unofficial" wine-swilling member of the New Pornographers) is in town tonight, ready to baptize the new Crocodile with...frankly, you never quite know with Dan. One recent album, Destroyer's Rubies, opened with an over-nine-minute track, with Bejar announcing portentously, "Cast myself towards infinity, trust me, I had my reasons." Trouble in Dreams was summed up as "shitfaced" by Pitchfork, who also called Bejar an "untouchable wizard." What a character! If you haven't had a chance to visit the new Croc yet, this show is as good a reason as any.
"light has a feather" by Kevin Rosinbum, from our Flickr pool
Wednesday science writer Winifred Gallagher is in town to discuss Rapt at 7:30 p.m. at the Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St. in Seattle (free). She also pops up Thursday at the "Good Life" event at 6:30 p.m. at the Palace Ballroom, 2100 Fifth Avenue (tickets: $25).
It's the first Tuesday in May! Which means if you're a seventh son and your seventh son is born today, you've just sired a werewolf. It also means you could win a free pitcher of beer before Seattlest Trivia tonight if you can answer this question: What recent visitor to Seattle has a name that means "you are beautiful" or "you are wonderful"? Email your answer to james (at) seattlest.com. One team with the correct answer wins beer. Beyond that, it's the usual details: The quiz is at Ballard's Old Pequliar pub, it starts at 8:00 (though sign-up starts earlier, and tables run out earlier still), and it's $5 for a team of up to 5 players or $7 for a team of 6. The OP doubles the pot and teams 1-3 win cash. (Want more info? There's a Facebook group for the OP's Tuesday quiz.) One final disclaimer: Tonight's picture rounds won't be in color. Consider it an extra challenge. See you there!
STAND-UP FOR CHIMPS: Pioneer Square's Comedy Underground will be hosting a charity event for our rescued furry friends over at Cle Elum's Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. Put on by Yoram Bauman a.k.a. "the stand-up economist" and founder of Non-Profit Comedy, the stand-up comedy also includes raffle tickets, a slide show, and merchandise for sale. All proceeds of Stand-up for Chimps! will go toward spring planting for the chimps' vegetable garden, and besides money, they will also be taking donations of seeds and seedlings.
"Hanging Around in the Park" by Paul Swortz, from our Flickr pool
Akashic Books is one of the publishers that keeps us excited--they take chances on authors and bring great literature to market in an environment that seldom rewards that sort of foresight. And tonight, another Akashic All-Star tour of some of their finest authors returns to Elliott Bay Books. Achy Obejas is one of the top Cuban writers today, and in her new novel , she tracks the trials and tribulations of a scheming survivor (or better, "endurer") of the ups and downs of post-revolutionary Cuba, where Obejas continues to spend substantial amounts of time.
A show about actors recounting their most embarrassing moments is basically an invitation to mockery--it ) isn't perfect, it's also not that bad. The ensemble of actors take the stage for 12 or so minutes each to recount what's supposed to be the most embarrassing moment of their lives, and while the first half is decidedly weaker than the second, there's enough real laughs by the end to justify the ticket price.
In 1941, two of the time's most loved comedy stars, Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, were united in Penny Serenade, a three-hankie picture in which they played a couple who lose their little daughter.
Sarah Waters will be reading from and talking about The Little Stranger at the University Bookstore on Tuesday, May 5, at 7 p.m.
Opposite marriage be praised, Miss California! Seattle Opera's production of The Marriage of Figaro (through May 16; tickets: $25-$182) celebrates matrimony both madcap and sentimental, and, along the way, introduces Seattle audiences to a stellar performer, a German mezzo soprano named Daniela Sidram in the "pants" role of Cherubino.
LIPS LIKE SUGAR: It's been a long time since we saw it at Sundance last year, but Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's follow-up to Half Nelson is finally in theaters. Sugar follows a young Dominican baseball player as he tries to make it through the farm teams and into the major leagues. Sez us: "This ain't no rag-to-riches sports story, nor is Sugar in the vein of Behind the Music, chronicling a meteoric rise and fall; instead, it's a much more complex and realistic portrayal of the professional athletic system. Once again, Boden and Fleck prove their high level of screenwriting skill and directorial talent. They know how to write a nuanced script and they know where to put the camera." Sugar continues its run at the Harvard Exit through Thursday.
Mark Morris's Mozart Dances are performed at the Paramount Theatre tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $35-$75 plus fees.
Hobo cat. by mraaronmorris, from the Seattlest Flickr Pool
Revanche opens today and runs through May 13 at SIFF Cinema, over at McCaw Hall. It's in German, with subtitles, and runs two hours, but it ends up feeling like an implanted memory, as if you grew up with the people you were watching.
"44/365 - Strategic Planning" by Todd vanGoethem ( tvangoethem ), from the Seattlest Flickr pool
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In Woodinville there's a hole-in-the-wall charcuterie named Bill The Butcher which has the most outl
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