Arts & Events: October 2009 Archives

"Glare-Skull" by Shawn McClung, from our Flickr pool

Ah, how we love Lydia Davis.... We're so excited that she will be here in Seattle next week to speak on the subject of "A Beloved Duck Gets Cooked: The Influence of Innovative Forms." Yes, we know that this premise may sound strange, but if you've read her work, you understand--this woman is quite the odd duck herself, and we absolutely love her for it.

"Last Laugh" by Bryan Smith, from our Flickr pool

"Husky Pumpkin" by Chelsea N, from our Flickr pool

Halloween is Saturday (in case you don't have a calendar, television, or friends) so why not treat yourself to some dress-up after time spent corrupting small children's stomachs with sugar?

After a flurry of demonstrated community concern, the sale of the Capitol Hill OddFellows building to developer Ted Schroth was finalized in January of 2008, and his company seemed to want to put the whole uncomfortable matter behind them when touting the glorious financial potential of the space:

"The OddFellows Building presented us with an incredible opportunity to restore one of the neighborhood's most cherished icons," said Ted Schroth, the project's developer. "It has been an exciting and rewarding project to be a part of, and we are very excited about the tenants who have already chosen to make the building their home. We are looking forward to finding the right mix of remaining retail and office tenants to share in this remarkable piece of history."

It's a book that will sit on our bookshelf probably until we die, ready to supply a quick trip down memory lane whenever we desire it.

WORLD SERIES GAME 1: It's the defending World Series champs against the reigning payroll champs. We're cheering on Ibañez with the hope that he will someday return to Seattle where we spell his name right.

Canadian punk anarchists Propagandhi have been an activist band since ’86, taking on the usual suspects -- imperialism, capitalism, religion, racism, et al. Seeing as those issues still haven’t been resolved, the group isn’t finished yet.

"Log booms in Lake Union, 1911" by Seattlest Municipal Archives, from our Flickr pool

As this show is part of The Earshot Jazz Festival, it stands to reason that the set might trend toward the jazz/R&B end of her spectrum, putting her jamming conglomerate to full use. It’s sure to please.

DEAD ALIVE: Touted as "The Goriest Fright Film of All Time," Dead Alive (aka Braindead) will be playing tonight at Central Cinema. And yes, they will be featuring Peter Jackson's director's cut with the full lawnmower scene. The plot sounds fantastic--a woman is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey, dies, and comes back to life to kill and eat DOGS, among other living creatures. It doesn't get much more awesome than that.

"found note" by Jay Cox, from our Flickr pool

BOOKS AND BOOZE: Head over to the Sunset Tavern in Ballard to hear Stranger editor and book critic Paul Constant chat with author Jonathan Lethem about his new book, Chronic City, which involves NYC, a rock critic, an astronaut, and pot. Does alcohol a better literary criticism make? Find out tonight.

"Looking down the light rail tunnel" by Wendi Dunlap, from our Flickr pool

If you love wine - particularly the Cabernet grape varieties - here’s your chance to sample Cabernet and Cabernet -based blends from over thirty Washington wineries* while helping to raise money for the Center on Contemporary Art. The CoCA benefit, produced and arranged by resident Sommelier David LeClaire, will also allow the opportunity to meet and chat with the wine-makers who have each crafted their own styling of what is Washington State’s leading red varietal. Local artists will be on hand presenting their work as well. All proceeds from the event will go to CoCA.

Speight Jenkins steps out from the wings just before the opening curtain on La Traviata to announce that the star of the show, soprano Eglise Gutiérrez, is suffering from a cold...but will perform regardless. Knowing murmurs (and not a few coughs) rustle through the audience: in the opera, the soprano's character has consumption and expires. Was this a pre-excuse for a sub-par performance?

Gossip is an Olympian band that chose its name wisely: they're worth spreading, fun to know, and slightly malicious. We mean that in the best possible way. Live, the three-piece vibe raucous fury, singer Beth Ditto's righteous wail affixed like a spike to the front of guitarist Brace Paine and drummer Hannah Blilie chop shop roadster. Fast, dark, and dangerous, just like Gossip.

It’s easy to miss the entrance for graypants, inc. design studio while walking past the crowded Pike/Pine Corridor storefronts on 11th Ave. But with the addition of local artist Mark VonRosenstiel's new painted mural on the wallways of the studio entrance stairway, the character and personality permeating throughout the space can be a little more accessible to those on the street. Or, in a reverse philosophy, the mural has “pulled the vitality and color of our Capitol Hill neighborhood right from the street and into our studio.”

WRAPPED TIGHT: The Seattle Weavers' Guild annual show and sale is today and tomorrow. It was also yesterday, so if that's when you wanted to go, we hope you knew that. The sale will showcase one-of-a-kind hand-crafted items, along with daily demonstrations of weaving and spinning. Proceeds from the sale are used to fund the guild's volunteer outreach program, so we won't feel too bad when we spend way too much--again--on home-loomed tapestries for the study.

Uh, so why did it take so long for Seattle to re-establish a local book festival after the Northwest Book Festival fizzled out in 2003? Regardless, there seems to have been some sort of suppressed need for such a thing, as the good folks who decided to resurrect a literary festival have received an utter deluge of community support and participation for the project. The inaugural Seattle Bookfest--taking place this weekend at the Columbia City Event Center--is so stuffed with authors and speakers, exhibitors and neat events that it boggles the mind to know that the whole thing evolved from a few Columbia City residents getting together this spring and saying, "Hey, why don’t we try to put together some kind of book festival?"

HOLD ONTO YOUR DOUGH: Seems the folks at Southern Comfort finally want to make up for all of those awful hangovers with a free rock show. Deal. Tonight those sweet whiskey people present The Hold Steady at The Crocodile. Jump through a couple little hoops (register for a ticket), and you’re in.

Coming up in the late 80s in New Jersey, The Bouncing Souls built their rep in the New Brunswick college scene, honing their punk rock sound in Knights of Columbus Halls and house parties. Their first full-length dropped in '94, their second two years later, and in '97 they made their eponymous national introduction on Epitaph. Tonight, they celebrate 20 years together.

It’s been a decade since Jay’s knocked around our northwest corner. We’ve watched him move from street documentarian to respected label president, making fashion and matrimonial stops along the way, all the while releasing bomb after banger. It’s no mistake his latest album went number 1, taking him over Elvis into the history books: he’s a living, breathing single machine.

SIGN LIGHTING PARTY: The original sign, in place since 1930, is damaged beyond repair. The new sign is made from environmentally responsible materials and is 90% more energy efficient. The new sign will be lit for the first time tonight.

As one of the funniest young comedians on the circuit, Mike Birbiglia has already seen tremendous success on stage and screen. There's a good chance you've seen one of his specials on Comedy Central, seen one of his late night appearances or seen his jokes as animations on the Internet. If you've yet to see Mike on screen, it's likely you've heard his voice on the Ira Glass' legendary modern radio series, This American Life. To top it off, Mike just finished the first run of his highly acclaimed Off-Broadway one-man show titled "Sleepwalk with Me," which humorously details his unpredictable and occasionally violent sleep disorder.

The 2009 Earshot Jazz Festival is gaining momentum with tonight's premier of Sarah Jane Lapp's Animated Jazz Experiments film Chronicles of a Professional Eulogist. The film is a hand-drawn (India ink, gouache and wax) animation, which follows a prospective pro-eulogist as he learns the secrets of the trade, its ordained responsibilities and economic angles. He wonders about the creation of communal memory, while Seattle-based Lapp's fanciful, maneuvering animation combines with jazz musician Mark Dresser's melancholy and musing score. The relatively short film covers much ground, with a narrator who constantly considers memory and life, duty, death, and phenomenal love.

Last weekend marked the halfway point of Spectrum Dance Theater’s Byrd Retrospective Festival - three weekends, nine shows, 16 works. The festival is an earnest reflection on the influence of Artistic Director and choreographer Donald Byrd, who has rapidly raised Spectrum’s status as a serious contemporary dance company since inheriting its direction in 2002.

Hugo House will be officially kicking off its 2009-2010 Literary Series this Friday with well-known Seattle favorites such as Rebecca Brown, Keri Healey, Eric McHenry, and local hip-hop artist Macklemore.

THE RISING SEA: Town Hall hosts Orrin Pilkey and Rob Young, professors and authors of The Rising Sea, tonight as the second installment of a series on sustainability issues titled Soundings From Island Press. The two will be discussing the possible consequences of sea levels rising by as much as seven feet in 2100, and how we can plan ahead for saving lives and communities in coastal cities such as Miami, New York, and New Orleans.

VIDEO GAMES ON STAGE : "Something sinister is coming to the subdivision." Jennifer Haley's new play explores suburban dystopia in which all of the adolescents grow increasingly obsessed with a zombie video game.

    

It's the original Anna Nicole story: first you party, then you die. Yes, there's torment, but pleasure comes first. A familiar operatic plot (Moulin Rouge, La Bohème), telegraphed by the heroine's consumptive hack as the curtain rises: she's a-gonna croak before the night's out.

No sense in dwelling on the shortcomings of Seattle’s American football teams. This Monday, there’s only one sports story worth writing and reading about, and that’s the Seattle Sounders FC.

"Rizz Rollins" by spratt504, from our Flickr pool

We’re not sure if you remember, but Monday night was hot. Maybe not outdoors, but if you happened to be at Nectar with us and Fool’s Gold, chances were good you’d copped a sweat by the second song.

Brooklyn-based Black Gold plays next week at the Comet and you could win tickets!

These arms are snakes. Sure, they aren't the best for executing handstands or gripping silverware. But they're great for climbing trees, and they can swallow large prey whole, which is nice.

That cavernous space in Fremont where Circus Contraption performed? Part of the old Red Hook brewery, adjacent to Theo's chocolate factory? Well, there's good news: the space is alive and well and once again in use as an entertainment venue. The current show (running tonight through November 21st) is a spin on Teatro Zinzanni's dinner-as-theater shtick; here it's called Cafe Nordo, a floating restaurant run by a fictional martinet chef named Nordo Lefeszki.

NASHVILLE RAMONES: Kelley Darlin, Jessi Darlin, and Nikki Darlin—collectively known as Those Darlins—ply their whiskey-fueled rockabilly tonight at the Sunset in Ballard. Full of sunny cynicism, the Darlins pull their influences—The Black Lips, Ernest Tubb, Tav Falc—into rave-up waltzers like the "The Whole Damn Thing," "Wild One" and "Snaggletooth Mama." We are ready to fall in love and/or brawl our feelings out. Hey Sunset: Better get the chickenwire up. Friday 9:00 p.m. // Sunset // Tickets: $10

Please forgive Seattlest for the horrible attempt at a punny play on words headline, but we spent most of Thursday watching a spaceship balloon drift across Denver. So now our brain is dead.

"Red, Balloons." by Musely, from our Flickr pool

"Galer & 9th Avenue W., 1952" by Seattle Municipal Archives, from our Flickr pool

You know you're at a fashion show in Seattle when a dog makes an appearance on the runway and the theme is all about recycled and refurbished fashion and organic fabrics.

If the words Neutral Milk Hotel and free don’t relieve any autumnal sorrows you might be feeling, we’re afraid we probably won’t be able to help you.

'CAUSE SARAH VOWELL'S INCREDIBLE: Much-loved favorite author, humorist, journalist, and sometimes Pixar character Sarah Vowell will be in town tonight to read from her latest novel, The Wordy Shipmates. For anyone who has yet to have read Vowell's work, we promise this will be an excellent opportunity to get acquainted not only with her latest, but as well with Vowell herself. To ensure a seat or standing spot we highly recommend getting there early--there's definitely a reason why this book has been on the bestseller's list for practically forever.

Today is blustery, the kind of day best spent bundled up in your favorite sweater and gently sipping at some hot cocoa. Although we generally believe this to be the best way to enjoy autumn, tonight Nectar offers a choice alternative: Fool’s Gold.

MONDAY WITH KID CHARLEMANE: Steely Dan tends to fall off the radar now and again. Their smooth, soft and hypnotic melodies can distract you from remembering how incredibly awesome they are. Technically you can miss them tonight, since they're playing again tomorrow, but why play with fire?

If you missed any of this weekend’s football action, certainly the resulting sonic booms from Montlake and SoDo caused a noticeable vibration in the rock you’re living under.

• Torontoist checked out the weird and wonderful sights on their city's newly launched version of Google Street View, including this keeper.

• Continue reading "Weekly Around the -Ists"

"Volunteer Park wading pool, 1936" by Seattle Municipal Archives, from our Flickr pool

"YIP268 - The Hand Of A Master" by Shawn McClung, from our Flickr pool

Handmade Nation - a documentary about the flourishing do-it-yourself art, craft and design community - has been a labor of love for first-time filmmaker and director Faythe Levine. The idea for the film was conceived in 2003 during Levine’s trip to Chicago's Renegade Craft Fair and production began in 2006 when Levine and her director of photography, Micaela O’Herlihy, spent a year and a half traveling around the country, interviewing over eighty independent DIY-ers. We first heard about the project last year when Levine and her team were screening clips of the film while trying to raise money to offset the remaining production costs.

"Hiawatha Playfield, 1912" by Seattle Municipal Archives, from our Flickr pool

Coverage of the Bush administration’s liberal use of secret surveillance against American citizens was biggish news when it broke. Nevertheless, it seems to be a diminishing issue, perpetually subsumed by subjects more immediately pressing to the average citizen. Part of the problem may be that beyond the obvious violation of privacy, few of us have any idea what the potentially far-reaching and (really) long-term legal ramifications wiretapping and the NSA actually have on ours and future lives.

This weekend, we’re happy to recommend two events that may just enhance your mental and physical health, while helping to connect you with your neighbors one last time before the rain-induced hibernation officially begins. These two events combine three of the city's strengths: local music, community and the great outdoors.

Chona Kasinger shows Almost Famous, a selection of her dynamic concert photography at the West Seattle Cupcake Royale. We've shown her photographs on Seattlest in the past -- her bright, active images of artists on-stage and off remind us why we started going to shows in the first place. Her show runs through October, with an opening party tonight is part of the West Seattle 2nd Thursday Art Walk.

After twenty-five seasons as Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Music Director, Stewart Kershaw tendered his resignation Tuesday in a letter to the company, effective immediately. In his announcement, Kershaw stated, “Please understand that I am now 68, have been a professional ballet conductor for the last 43 years, and recently completed 25 seasons as PNB's Music Director. It is also exactly 20 years since my efforts to create the PNB Orchestra were rewarded in October 1989.”

"Joey Nix - JuJu Installation - Burlesque Girls 01" by Shawn McClung, from our Flickr pool

WILD THING: Although it is time for the playoffs, we aren't referring to Mitch Williams or Charlie Sheen's character from Major League. The Wild Things is the novel version of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are,for which Dave Eggers wrote the screenplay. The Spike Jonze movie is in theaters October 16 but Eggers will be speaking about the book today.

"Bowl Full of Color" by Bryan Smith, from our Flickr pool

"DSC_0300" by BnGphotos, from our Flickr pool

Local artist Soule has been peddling her dishware on Etsy for several years now - each one-of-a-kind design is hand painted, heat-sealed and dishwasher safe. For her line, Soule paints on plates, mugs, tumblers, tea and cream-and-sugar sets, and so forth; entirely with original and/or custom-ordered artwork. The seasonal Zombieware is new, and fun, and unique, and 20% off if you sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Jacque-Henri Lartigue's images of urban life are sweetly quirky and full of whimsy in a way that could only have been possible prior to two world wars. If you're a fan of the movie Rushmore, you owe it to yourself to see his work, as director Wes Anderson has drawn on Lartigue’s photographs for inspiration. Lartigue’s photographs are accompanied by the photography of Marion Post Wolcott, who worked with the Farm Security Administration during the 1930s and 40s.

"Unnamed" by Jenny Vorwaller, from our Flickr pool

Along with our favorite purveyors of Seattle goof rock, BOAT and Aqueduct, we were delighted when one of our or newest favorite pop rock imports--who happen to also have an aquatic name--self-released their third offering just about one month ago. The Seattle by-way-of-Boston trio The Sea Navy have continued to fine-tune their craft of producing tunes that should delight fans of the Cold War Kids, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists and catchy pop rock

"You could say that this book is about what happens when you give your rites of passage a body-swerve."

Odds are there will be thousands of Michael Jacksons crawling the streets this Halloween, so do yourself a favor and up the ante by actually learning some of Jackson's most recognizable choreography, gleaned straight from his music videos. The folks over at Century Ballroom dance studio are teaching a four-week Michael Jackson Tribute class series, covering the moves from Jackson's "Beat It," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Bad" and "Thriller." (Overachievers: learn how some of the choreography was conceived by listening to NPR's interview with Jeffrey Daniel, who worked with Jackson on the "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal" videos.)

LAY LADY, LAY: see Mr. Bob Dylan himself. Ever had the urge to hear 'It Ain't Me Babe', 'Whiskey River', and 'Jack and Diane' live in one evening? Of course you have. Make tonight the night and satiate your urge with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson and John Cougar Mellencamp.

"View of Seattle from the Bainbridge Ferry" by Alan Cordova, from our Flickr pool

"Coffee" by Amy Galbraith, from our Flickr pool

LADY KONNYAKU Damn, we've had Gwen Stefani's song, Harajuku Girls, stuck in our heads for like, three years. Perfect timing for Seattle's own Japanese street fashion designer, Lady Konnyaku's Underground Fashion Show and party this Saturday night. Cheap tickets, booze, fashion and fun.

This weekend the Seattle sports world parachutes into a Midwestern hot pocket as footballers Sounders FC, Huskies, and Seahawks play within about 300 miles of each other in Indiana and Ohio. Their respective opponents are tough. We're hoping at least two, if not all three squads win, because we think imbibing is much more fun in victory than in defeat.

"SAFE!" by Jay Cox, from our Flickr pool

ARE YOU JUST? Michael J. Sandel, professor of philosophy at Harvard, talks about political and moral philosophy at Town Hall. Sandel’s all-encompassingly titled “Justice” courses are among the most highly attended in the university’s history. Sandel is the author of Just: What’s the Right Thing to Do, which examines our obligations to others.