Last night at Benaroya Hall, author Richard Powers read from a new short story called "Modulation." It was classic Powers; a dense, far-reaching, and meticulously vivid tale of a computer virus that infects music player devices via filesharing sites. He weaves the story around four different individuals: a Japanese hacker recently released from prison and now employed by the RIAA to huntdown filesharers, a Brazilian journalist researching soldiers in Iraq who blast ear-crunching music from......

True Hoop's been running a fascinating serial written by Gregory Dole, who was Leandro Barbosa's interpreter when he worked out with NBA teams before the 2003 draft. Part IV talks about Barbosa's work out with the Sonics, wherein he wowed the top of the Sonics' org chart, including then-poobah Howard Schultz. Barbosa had a great workout, hitting his shots, blowing past defenders, and unleashing a nasty crossover that caused Kirk Hinrich to fall on his......

We were unusually excited to be seeing Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House down at ACT. While we love the theatre, we tend to feel that a lot of theatre...well, sucks. Boring, repetitive, drawing-room plays about coming to terms with things (race, disease, sexuality, victimization, etc.). So we're always on the look-out for exciting new playwrights with truly original voices, and Ruhl seemed a good bet. A Pulitzer prize finalist and a MacArthur "genius" award winner......

The Triple Door continues to be the Venue Most Likely To Book Bands We'd Like To Sleep With. Ah, metaphorically, right -- bands that create an instant, itchy lust to hear more. Now while we cool down a bit, here's a coming-up-next announcement: Wednesday, 7:30pm: Rosie Thomas w/Denison Witmer & Sheila Saputo. A folksy singer/songwriter with a fabulous voice, Thomas has a charmingly off-beat stage presence. Sunday/Monday, 8pm: Rufus Wainwright is in town for......

"Who are you guys?" asked a team correcting their quizzes. Hüsker Don’t won Seattlest trivia last night. They got only 4 questions wrong on the entire quiz. We overheard a couple of teams discussing paying them not to show up, and another couple discussing paying someone to ensure they can't show up, if you know what they mean. If there were any question: they're back. Who's not back? Seattlest Seth. We don't know what......

25 teams! Free ashtrays for the taking! Controversy about whether or not Bangor is a "city" or just part of Bremerton! And a geeky white boy dance-off to close the evening! Yes, last night's Seattlest trivia at the Old Pequilar was, again, a madhouse -- the fun and exciting kind of madhouse. Our friend Brannon fulfilled a lifelong dream of writing a trivia quiz and making his friend read all the questions -- and a......

Apparently there's a reason we don't usually start the quiz fuelled by a shot of Jack Daniel's -- we give away answers. Sharp-eared teams -- which was most of them -- noticed that we gave away the answer to a Wizard of Oz question when talking about Hugh Rockoff's interpretation of the book as a parable about the gold standard. We didn't realize it until we were reading the answers, and suddenly understood why......

Though they promised to be there, Husker Don't was not among the teams playing the pub quiz at the Old Pequliar last night. Once again, their absence was greeted with applause as a Winchell's dozen of other teams realized their chances to win the big bucks had just improved. Congratulations to regular players (but inconsistently named) The Secular Left's War on Boxing Day, who took first place by four points. Last night we also......

Before we get started, a question: the Old Pequliar wants to know if people are interested in a quiz on the day after Christmas. If you'd be likely to show up, or if you usually show up but wouldn't, let us know in the commments so we can report back. Seventeen teams played Seattlest's pub quiz at the Old Pequliar last night. The top three teams took home cash, and the last place team......

Wednesday, December 13 >>>Hugo House, 7:30pm. Screenwriters Salon: Geoff Miller and Mark Handley invite you to bring your questions about format, technique, structure, dialogue, writing characters, and how to use your catering gig to hand your script to celebs. $5 general/$2 students. Free to members. >>>Seattle Public Central Library, 5:30-7:00pm. Mayor Greg Nickels and City Council President Nick Licata rochambeau to see who gets to salute Seattle author Tim Egan. His book, The Worst......

These cold nights we've been having really take us back to when we were kids and we had to ruin our awesome Halloween costumes with coats and bulky sweatpants to keep warm. The kids are out there working hard this Halloween night, so don't be an ass. Cough up the candy. Tuesday 31st, Halloween Night >>>"Devo Tribute Night" at Chop Suey. Teeth and Hair, The Pleasureboaters, The Torn ACLs, A Gun That Shoots Knives.........

Last week we caught a free showing of the Brazilian documentary Favela Rising, courtesy of Scion's marketing machine. With the promise of free cocktails beforehand, we trundled down to the Harvard Exit about a half hour in advance of the show. Upon making our way upstairs to the top floor, we felt a bit like we'd crashed someone's party where we quickly realized we knew no one there. The atmosphere was more "Yo check out......

Another month, another free Scion-sponsored documentary at the Harvard Exit. This time around (tomorrow night), it's Favela Rising. Favela Rising documents a man and a cultural movement, a city divided, and a Brazilian ghetto (or favela) united. Haunted by the murders of his family and friends, Anderson Sa leaves his drug-dealing days behind him, and instead chooses to lead a social revolution in Rio de Janeiro's most dangerous slum. Through his unique Afro Reggae......

After kicking our collective asses for four consecutive days, the heat is finally backing down. So pull yourself together. Go outside again -- especially to Capitol Hill this weekend. Tuesday 25th >>> The Long Winters at Sonic Boom in Ballard. Putting The Days To Bed, the third LP from Seattle's The Long Winters, combines the lyrical intimacy and melodic complexity of the Ultimatum EP with the guitar pop rave-ups of the bands previous full lengths.......

Last night, the air was thick with sweat and World Cup Fever. That's what you get when Brazilian actor/musician/superstar Seu Jorge comes to town. The sold-out show was hot and crowded---and the least hipsterish we've ever seen Neumo's. Members of the audience were speaking in Portuguese, donning soccer jerseys, and wearing glasses less out of concern for their image than their eyesight. All in all, it was an energetic, friendly crowd. And when Seu,......

The end is near. Soon SIFF will be but a fading memory. So if you've been putting it off, this weekend is the last chance until next year for you to get some festival action. As an added bonus, on Sunday night at the Broadway Performance Hall, there will be an encore presentation for two of the films (one short, one full-length) that end up taking home SIFF awards. If you missed 'em the......

You've got two options for where you should be Saturday night. Sure, there's more going on, but you'll have to trust us when we say that these two are where the action is. Anything else just won't be as good...unless it is. Buzz has been high for the Seattle return of Jamie Lidell. After stealing the show opening for Four Tet last year, the praise has been non-stop, and rightfully so. Lidell manages to make......

There we were, mostly strangers, alerted by email, huddled around a table in a Capitol Hill back room. The product to be sampled was an extremely high-grade Bolivian variety, hard to get. Just a single bag had been a cooperative venture. "Get your nose all the way down there," we were instructed, "and make sure it's a good long inhale." So in many ways, our first coffee cupping was just what you'd expect. We hadn't......

With all this talk of indictments, World Series action, and last night's Gilmore Girls, it is easy to forget that we are about to pick a mayor. Well, not so much forget as not realize. It turns out a guy named Greg Nickels has been our mayor for the past few years, and just like every other politician, he wants another four years for legacy building, mayoral library fundraising, and the pass that lets him......

Unlike a certain whiny bastard with terrible taste, most people have had nothing but glowing praise for The Constant Gardener, the new film from Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles. And with good reason---the movie's a taut political thriller about a genteel mid-level British diplomat in Africa (Ralph Fiennes) whose activist wife (Rachel Weisz) is killed, an event which spurs him to get to the bottom of her murder by digging ever deeper. Y'know, 'cause he's a......

What’s it really like to be the child of a Nobel Prize winning physicist? Tonight Seattle is offered a glimpse into this world when Michelle Feynman, daughter of Nobel Prize-winning Richard Feynman, discusses her father’s life and work. Joining her in this reminiscence will be local scientists George Dyson and Prof. Steve Ellis. Richard Feynman was no ordinary scientist. A self-described “curious character”--check out the blurb on the back of his book “Surely You’re......

Who are the 11:30pm girls? What: Ipanema Brazilian Grill When: Saturday, Mar 12 at 12pm On a recent, gorgeous Seattle Saturday afternoon we had brunch at the newest churrascaria in Seattle - Ipanema Brazilian Grill. The only thing better than the weather that day was that we got to enjoy the experience with three Brazilian friends (and a Cuban and an American who had spent time in Brazil). The place was virtually empty. But......

Did you know that "Baby Got Back" has consistently been one of the most purchased ringtones in cellphone history? Sometimes we like to think about the people out there who would pick that song to play whenever their cellphone rings. We hope there is a junior executive making a big sales pitch to a board of directors and that during a big presentation his phone starts playing "My anaconda don't want none unless you got......