Stalk of the Town returns! This weekend officially welcomes us to the rainy season. So how will Seattlest be reaffirming life and nourishing our collective creative urge?
Stalk of the Town
Can't Miss It: Weekend Edition, August 29-31
GAMERS GONE WIRED: sudo apt-get PAX-10!!!!11one1!! The gamer convention of the year is upon us. On Friday, "Girls and Games: The Growing Role of Women in the Game Industry" at 4:30 p.m. caught our eye. On Saturday, "Is Casual Killing Core Games?" at 6 p.m. sounded interesting. Ken Levine of BioShock fame delivers the keynote address on Friday night, and there will be music and LAN parties! Ahhh, we just had a nerdgasm.
If You Live Next To Seattle U, Turn On the Radio
According to the Capitol Hill Blog, by way of Blogging Georgetown:
There is a low power radio station over at SU on 12th Ave. It's on 89.1 Mhz, and is very low power. One can only get it within 1/4 mile from the campus, beyonf which some religious station blocks them out. The signal is strongest at 12th and Cherry.They claim to use 1330 khz also, but didin't have any luck there. The call letters are KSUB.We live about three blocks from Seattle U, and haven't had much luck getting the station in. Then again, our stereo has a hard time getting in 103.7 The Mountain most of the time. In fact, the only radio station we're able to get strongly seems to be KEXP, which is fine.
We Interview: Nphared, Seattle DJ Maestro
DJ Nphared spins for Sportn' Life artists, including D. Black and Fatal Lucciauno, and he also DJs for Grynch. Seattlest enjoyed his mixes at the Parker Brothaz show on Monday, so we set out to learn more about this guy's ethos.
Get Out Tuesday: Daft Punk's Electroma @ Harvard Exit
This is the end, the end of free movies, care of Scion. Single tear. Via their Route film series, the youth-oriented car company has already tackled the true-to-life topics of blood diamonds in hip hop and nightclubbing in the late '80s NYC queer community. Now for something completely different:
What's This Thingamajiggr Now?
Fans of the Ignite Seattle tech event series who are less enthused about the fact that everyone's a fan of Ignite Seattle should probably check out Thingamajiggr. Thingamajiggr sounds like it's Ignite + tickets, somewhat. Organizer Brady Forrest of O'Reilly Radar says that there will be some short talks at the beginning, but it's more of a social party than Ignite. There will be SMS game experiments going on, there are DJs scheduled, some art, and a "Hacker Magic Show." Our kind of event. It's this Friday 8pm-2am and tickets are $15 (discount code "thingamaparty"--buy now because there are limited tickets and it's going to be announced in other places soon.)
Local Sightings Sighted
With all the great films finally starting to hit the mainstream theaters, it's certainly the most wonderful time of the film year™. But don't forget your local indie moviehouse, as the NWFF kicks off their 10th annual Northwest film fest, Local Sightings:
How Much Is That Systems Coordinator In the Window?
KEXP is having an auction of some kind where they sell off a lot of crap they have lying around to the highest bidder. Fanboys and girls of the radio station can get a place at the High Dive VIP table, the transmitter, their urinal (those wacky DJs), or an evening with Systems Coordinator Cyrus Despres.
Get Out Tonight, Sunday: Daft Punk's Electroma at CHAC; Sunday Afterparty at Chop Suey
In anticipation of French house DJs Daft Punk's show at WaMu Theatre this Sunday, head to Lower Level at the Capitol Hill Arts Center tonight for a screening of the first film directed by the electro duo:
Gay-Ass Music This Weekend
Considering this is Pride Weekend, you've got a bevy of options for live music in between bouts of sodomy, muff-diving, tina-using, and/or trips to Home Depot.
Get Out Tonight: Rocky Votolato
We've seen Rocky Votolato's name splashed all over the web and heard the DJs out there mention him enough times that we finally had to stop and say, OK -- what's the deal with this guy. We streamed yesterday's live in-studio on KEXP and well, we didn't get much work done. So enthralled were we that it was all we could do to wiggle the mouse around, do a little tappy tap of the keys, make it look like we were working.
Get Out
ART: The Seattle Erotic Arts Festival is back once again to tease and titillate us with its art and workshops. There's even an auction so you can take something home a provocative keepsake. Continues Sunday.
Date Your DJ
If you like what Quilty 3000 plays on KEXP between noon and 3pm on Saturdays, you might like Quilty 3000 ... in that way.
Silent Quiltcidity
Yep, it's First Thursday again. So when you're hanging out in Pioneer Square this evening, going from gallery to gallery, trying to determine who has the best art (and, more importantly, the best free wine), you might want to stop by All City Coffee for a bit. Because they are currently displaying some truly awesome quilts, and for the first time ever, that's not a contradiction in terms.
Aural Pleasures (9/6 - 9/12)
Yeah, we know you just spent all weekend at Bumbershoot. Is the wee little baby tired? Can't handle any more music? Ah, look at that poodum...
Aural Pleasures
Seattlest doesn't find this picture funny at all. We know firsthand how hard those awkward years of high school can be. The pimples, the pants that didn't fit right, the God-awful hours spent wishing Heather Cannon would think of us as more than that creepy guy staring at her. If you think this picture is funny, well, you're a bad person.
R.I.P. INB
After seven years, drumcentric rabble-rousers the Infernal Noise Brigade have called it quits. This weekend offers you two last chances to see the politicomusic group in action.
The Fundamental Flaw of Pledge Drives
No, it's not that everyone hates them. Everyone who works in public radio knows everyone hates them. We suspect pledge drives resemble democracy -- they're the worst form of public radio fundraising except for all those others that have been tried.
For Your Consideration: This Week at SIFF
The final full week of SIFF is upon us. It's time to get some last few films before the sun sets on this year's fest. This week's got a couple great music events as well: Friday night, Portastatic will be on hand to perform a specially-commissioned live score accompanying circus freakshow-themed silent film The Unknown (more about that in a few days).
KEXP Blog Makes Seattlest Redundant
Here a blog, there a blog, everywhere a music blog. KEXP finally throws its keyboard in the ring after spending the past two years with the most potentially awesome music blog in existence hanging out in their back pocket. Well, it's finally on the table at http://blog.kexp.org. They've got informed DJs with just the right amount of approachability and candor, and we have no idea why they've waited so long to chain them to a keyboard. To be fair, KEXP kinda skipped the whole blog thing and went straight to podcasts, which they did very well. What finally convinced them that podcasts are a flop and they need to come back and pick up on the relatively old school blog wave? If you're looking for answers in their blog announcements, you're not gonna find em.
Jazzanova > Jeff Milligan
So the music at Tuesday's Oscillate was great. Jeff Milligan's set was wonderful to listen to, and those boys from Innerflight completely brought it, playing the best Seattlest has ever seen them play. But Seattlest is going to have to break it down a bit here: Jeff Milligan is a dick. There were apparently some monitor issues and some other minor technical issues, but from the crowd's perspective everything was ok, since it sounded great once he got in a bit of a groove. But rather than just making lemonade out of these lemons, Milligan was visibly frustrated, flicking off the equipment, roughly handling his records, and berating the night's promoters. It was all very primadonna-esque and completely unnecessary. Seattlest has been soured on Jeff Milligan, so we're fine if he goes back to Canada and never returns to our fair city. Any promoters that happen across this post would do well to steer clear of him as well.
Sometimes DJs and Excess Do Mix
The bar is set extraordinarily low for visual entertainment from DJs. Most opt to just mix tracks on two turntables, and while that (hopefully) sounds good, it's just doesn't have the same presence as a band. That's why showmen like Jamie Lidell or Jeremy Ellis and John Arnold are such breaths of fresh air, giving a crowd something to watch while providing the body with a rhythmic imperative. Tonight's Oscillate with Jeff Milligan should prove equally engaging, despite still being turntable-based in form.
Androgyny vs. Hedonism
Tonight is a night of hard choices. Sure, it's more on the scale of where to see Snakes on a Plane then how to replace the viaduct, but it's a hard and important decision nonetheless. That decision? Do you attend the ghetto-fabulous debut of Bootylib at the Baltic Room or the 80s fabulous Prince vs. Michael at Rebar?
The Week's Picks...
Another week of Seattlest making all your plans for you. You don’t even have to think! Joy!

