Naturally Slavoj Žižek, whose inner cultural critic wins equal time from his inner philosopher, spiced his Town Hall talk last night with cinematic references, in particular, The Dark Knight. After seeing that (and Kung Fu Panda five times, thanks to his "small degenerate son"), he was disturbed by the message that it's noble to lie on behalf of power, to protect it. In our apparently post-ideological era, Žižek argues, we're even more enmeshed in ideology......

Back when we were in college, one of our favorite theatre professors down at the University of Oregon was Grant McKernie. McKernie was an expert in experimental theatre and performance, and would occasionally tear up while recounting a particularly moving production by someone like Eimuntas Nekrošius. The challenge he always faced was convincing skeptical students that radical experimentation in performance wasn't just weirdness for weirdness's sake, or vapid pretension masquerading as high-brow art, but that......

In some ways, we wish we could experience Sundance every week, but on the other hand, we're pretty f-ing exhausted. So it's a good thing that this is our last day here. We've had a great time with both the movies and the festival-goers. We've had film discussions with strangers everywhere we went, we've argued with film critics, and we've interacted with some really remarkable people, including two Lauras from Portland, a Bermudan film......

Wednesday, September 27 >>>Town Hall, 7:30pm. Science and medical writer Thomas Hager tells you all about the drug that you won't hear about on House, M.D.: "The Nazis discovered it. The Allies won the war with it. It conquered disease, changed laws, and single-handedly launched the era of antibiotics." But does it make you feel like hugging strangers? $5 at the door. >>>Bella Cosa Foods, 4:00-6:00pm: Federico Bibi lets you taste two organic olive......

Seattlest isn't a native, but we've been here long enough to remember when Inga Muscio wrote for The Stranger (which is more than their own online archives can claim). We're pretty sure it's been at least 10 years. According to her website, she now lives in Portland -- or at least, that's where her PO box is. Much more famous than her stint at the Stranger, however, is her provocatively titled 1998 manifesto Cunt: A......