The magical world of Cirque du Soleil comes back to Redmond with crazy acrobatics, beautiful costumes, and all the antics that make these shows so much fun!
In Focus: Cirque du Soleil's Kooza
Room to Ignite at the King Cat Theatre Tonight
Seattlest went to Ignite way back in '06 and loved the shit out of it: "We learned so much about happenings in and around the Seattle tech world we feel like we leveled up like twenty times."
Can't Miss It: Wednesday
THINK GLOBALLY: Global development is such a lonely two words. But it doesn't have to be. Think tank Global Washington invites you to drop in at their event Global Connections this afternoon, with guest speaker Adam Smith. It's all about helping Washington’s nonprofits, businesses, academics, and government agencies come together and increase their impact globally. The talky part is 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and then there's an hour-long reception.
Oktoberfest - Part II
After enjoying last weekend's Washington Brewer's Oktoberfest, we are now preparing ourselves for this weekend's Fremont Oktoberfest.
All The News
-- Consumerist presents: Confessions of a Starbucks Barista. Commenters say: she sounds like a PR flack.
-- An Event Apart is in town.
-- Metro buses unwrapped, then partly rewrapped.
-- Up-to-the-minute updates on Seattle Web 2.0 popularity. Quick, someone give them venture capital.
-- Dig your trench coat out of your closet -- the Noir City film festival is coming to Seattle.
-- The Kingdome was no Busch Memorial Stadium.
Speaking Tour: 4/30 - 5/6
BOOK CRUSH: Librarian Nancy Pearl´s latest book is Book Crush, a guide to books you loved when you were growing up. How does she know? Head over to the launch party and find out.
SOAP Throwing in the Pride Towel
After many on again, off again mis-starts Seattle Out and Proud is abdicating responsibility for Pride festivities this year, as expected.
Speaking Tour: 4/23 - 4/29
SHERMAN FREAKING ALEXIE: The best-selling author returns with his first novel in ten years. Flight tells the story of an orphaned Indian boy who travels back and forth through time in a violent search for his true identity. Real Change-published poets (that would actually include Alexie, too) read as part of the program.
Speaking Tour: 4/16 - 4/22
CALL 911! CALL 911!: Political and economic commentator and White House strategist during the Nixon administration, Kevin Phillips talks about his book, American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century. Phillips traces the set of related causes that caused the downfall of historical world powers. That same combination of ills he says -- global over-reach, militant religion, resource problems, and ballooning debt -- is at work in the U.S. today.
Speaking Tour: 4/9 - 4/15
PREQUEL TO MCARTNEY'S WINGS: Richie Unterberger, the author of several books on the history of rock, shows some film footage and plays some music recordings of unreleased Beatles material. He´s promoting his latest book, The Unreleased Beatles -- Music and Film. We had no idea they were in jail! (Ha! Because of the "unreleased" -- see how...oh...sure, we can move on.)
Speaking Tour: 4/2 - 4/8
THAT STARBUCKS "I WAS A CHILD SOLDIER" GUY: At twelve, Ishmael Beah found himself fleeing rebels, wandering from village to village. At thirteen, he was a soldier in Sierra Leone, hooked on drugs and capable of things he would never have imagined. Now, rehabilitated and living in the U.S., he tells his story in A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, in an attempt to raise awareness of the child soldier phenomenon.
Speaking Tour: 3/26 - 4/1
FANTASTIC FICTION SALON: Novelist, nonfiction author, and short story writer Terry Bisson has swept every honor in the science fiction field as well as France's Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire. He joins Hugo House's Writing Fantastic Fiction workshop series, where he will teach "Who Likes Short Shorts? We Like Short Shorts!"
Speaking Tour: 3/19 - 3/25
WOMEN & MONEY: Personal finance expert and author, Suze Orman talks about the complicated and dysfunctional relationship that women have with money in her book, Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny.
Speaking Tour: 3/12 - 3/18
LESS IS MORE: In Trance of Scarcity: Stop Holding Your Breath and Start Living Your Life, Victoria Castle asks why we feel that nothing is ever enough. Castle's book shows us how to escape this malaise and become more relaxed and alive. Hopefully it doesn't involve crisscrossing the U.S. on a book tour.
Speaking Tour: 2/26 - 3/4
SEATTLEST BOOK CLUB PICK: For March, we're reading Jonathan Raban's Surveillance, set in a not-so-distant future, when everyone's actions are highly monitored. Get a head start on the conversation by hearing from Raban himself. (We'll know if you went or not.)
Get Out
MUSIC: Chicago's Kate Simko was last in town to play the Decibel Festival, where she wowed those in attendance with her lush, melodic techno. She's back in town to support her latest release for local boutique label Kupei, a collaboration under the Detalles alias.
Speaking Tour: 12/13 - 12/19
>>>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.
Get Out
SPORTS OBSESSION: Any longtime Seattlest reader knows that we can't get enough of curling, whether it's watching on the CBC or playing ourselves at Seattle's Granite Curling Club, the only dedicated curling facility on the West Coast. Our obsession is often met with odd looks, but a curling open house is honestly one of the best ways going to spend your time/money.
Speaking Tour: 11/15 - 11/21
>>>UW iSchool at Kane Hall, 7:00-9:00pm. "Voices in an Empty Room: Five Apologies for the Narrative": Children's author Richard Peck discusses his writing and teaching careers, and his experiences with the kids today. He'll read from On The Wings Of Heroes, his new novel about a World War II childhood. Free with RSVP. Kane Hall, Rm. 220.
Speaking Tour: 11/8 - 11/14
>>>UW Forum for Science and Ethics Policy, 5:30pm. Dr. Dennis Schatz, VP for Education at the Pacific Science Center, cheerleads for “Making Science as Pervasive as Sports in Society.” His ulterior motive? It can only be to pack the Sonics off to Oklahoma and build our very own Exploratorium right here in Seattle, to which we say “Be Aggressive, Be Be Aggressive!” Free. UW Health Sciences Building, T-478.
Speaking Tour: 11/1 - 11/7
>>>Benaroya Hall, 7:30pm. Seattle Arts and Lectures brings prolific big shot and errant van survivor Stephen King by. Maybe you’ve heard of him? For the Constant Reader, it’s an event not to be missed. He'll talk about Lisey’s Story, his latest novel. Tickets $25 and $35. But, like many things in King’s Dark Tower world, they’ve already moved on.
A Birdmonster And A Starsailor Walk Into A Bar
So the last two days we heard seven bands. And that was a Sunday and Monday night! Our ears are tired. Not that you care. Where the hell were you, anyway? About 20 people showed up for the El Corazon show. It was all-ages, but only four under-21ers skipped Sunday-night homework to come. A bunch of Euro-sausage arrived late to catch Starsailor at the Crocodile. You know, with their Euro-pop t-shirts and orange sneakers. It was like a tale of two night clubs: one gritty (i.e., an actual leaking ceiling) and over-amplified, with a fiercely indie audience, and the other gritty (the ceiling has various kinds of sound baffles nailed to it) and over-amplified, with a used-to-know-someone-who-was-fiercely-indie crowd.
Skate Your Way To The A List Tomorrow In PDX
Blake Nelson wrote a book that will be released in September called Paranoid Park about a skater who kills a security guard at a skate park. It hasn't been reviewed yet at least as far as we can tell on Amazon, but the cover art is super cheesy. Well, there is the little publisher's review thingy:
Aural Pleasures
This week Seattlest invites you to get your hand out of your pants and join us for some shows...
Zeldman and Meyer Have Designs on Seattle
Here's a shocker: Seattlest is fond of websites. We're especially fond of the kind of websites built by people like Jeffrey Zeldman and Eric Meyer, two of the brains behind Web design magazine A List Apart.
Paging Beavis and Butthead
"Hey Beavis, check it out. Nordstrom's is having a Men's Extended Size Event."
Celebrating Seattle's Black Chefs
The New York Times, with annoying & typical provincialism, claims that black chefs are "struggling" [note: free registration required]. Not so in Seattle, where a culinary star like Daisley Gordon shines at Campagne.

