Here are three films playing in Seattle this week that will help you blot out the rising sun of baby vampires and supernatural codependency. more ›

An interview with Rachel Hynes, solo performer, and half of the creative team behind The Helsinki Syndrome. Seattlest speaks to Hynes about the status of Helsinki Syndrome, whether it is artistically desirable to live in Seattle and the genesis of her latest project. more ›

MY LIFE IS A MUSICAL: Regular karaoke not enough of a challenge for you? Head to the Rendezvous tonight for Cineoke, in which you sing along to your favorite scenes from musicals. Warm up with some Chicago, belt out The Sound of Music, and soon you'll be Singing in the Rain. Don't forget the jazz hands. 7-9:30 p.m. // Rendezvous Jewel Box Theater // 2322 2nd Ave // $5, 21+ more ›

HOLIDAYS AT THE ZOO: Even the animals at the Woodland Park Zoo are getting into the holiday spirit. For the next three days of the zoo's Winter Celebration, zookeepers will bring the animals gifts of tasty treats like "wreaths trimmed with fish or assorted fruit, evergreen trees with ornamental fruit, or wrapped boxes filled with favorite tidbits." For today, the schedule of feedings is sun bears at 11 a.m., grizzlies and pigs at noon, and the elephants at 2 p.m. Tomorrow, the orangutans, otters, golden lion tamarins, and tigers get theirs, and Wednesday closes things out with the emus, gorillas, and Australian birds and keas. more ›

MORE POWER TO YOUNG AMERICA: The Nite Owls are performing at the ever-excellent Corner tonight, boosting a strongly-recommended show's status up to "can't miss." The Nite Owls' mash-up of punk, rock n' roll, and hiphop will have you dancing and whooping it up, and at the Rendezvous, that means you'll be warm and in good, funny company while you do it. The group is comprised of members from The Saturday Knights, Cancer Rising, and Grayskul. Hear that? Also rockin' the stage: Orbitron, Ripynt, and Johnnie Storm. Shake off the cabin fever with us in Belltown tonight! more ›

COO COO CANNONBALL: The Breeders are at Neumo's tonight. The freaking Breeders, people. If we hadn't already made up our minds to spend the evening watching a guy we'd never heard about until yesterday, we would so be there. But you should go, because the Breeders are responsible for a good chunk of our development as a songwriter, and homage needs to be paid. Dammit. The Breeders! Seriously. more ›

This weekend smells like autumn. But if you point your nose in just the right direction, you'll smell something a little brinier, a little boozier; you will catch a whiff of some of Seattle's most creative hiphop, a scent emanating tonight from the High Dive (Grayskul/Champagne Champagne) and at the Rendezvous (They Live!/Fatal Lucciauno) for "The Corner." It's your call where you fork over your cash, but either way you're going to be in the company of Seattle-drenched hiphop greatness. more ›

This reminder courtesy of Seattlest's favorite Port Orchard cartoonist Pat Moriarity: more ›

more ›

If you're awesome, you don't get SAD, we see. You get BOLD! Awesome's John Osebold [MySpace] is filled with the spirit of the season:

Hello! Happy December. I love this month. I wish I could give you all something this holiday season but I'm not very good with cards or throwing parties.

Sometimes the world really is a beautiful place. Specifically when there's beer involved. Jack's meeting friends on Saturday for a session of oak-aged beer tasting at Brouwer's Big Wood Fest. He'll then spend the rest of the day rubbing his tum tum and smiling a lot. Thrilled about the possibility of the year's first snow fall, Kim will spend as much of the weekend as possible getting over the cold that's been lingering for a... more ›

Tonight local "urban folkster" Ali Marcus celebrates the release of her fourth album, The Other Side, at the Rendezvous' Jewelbox Theater. The intimate venue will be the perfect setting for dear Ali's sweet voice, and the party's sponsored by the Hopvine, where Ali's been a prominent Wednesday night open mic performer for nearly three years already. more ›

National film festival correspondent Kyle Anderson on Seattle's other one more ›

Sports: Depending on your particular personality profile, Monday Night Football is either something hideous to run away from as fast as you can through the snow-clogged streets or something to celebrate with giant fleece Seahawks blankets and flasks disguised as binoculars. Or you're from Wisconsin and you're celebrating and running away at the same time. Tickets for tonight's game can be had by rolling the dice outside the stadium just before kickoff or by getting down with Craigslist, but you might be better off cozying up to your favorite neighborhood bar for the game. more ›

>>>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. more ›

more ›

We called Elliot Bay Books last week in advance of John Hodgman's reading, and asked whether they thought it would be crowded. Should we show up early, now that he's all famous and whatnot? Not a bad idea, they said, maybe 7pm. The reading was to start at 7:30. We strolled into EBB as the clock struck 7, and our heart sank into our feet as we spied the line at the bottom of the spiral staircase, making its own spiral all the way through the cafe next to the reading room in the basement. Luckily, Seattlest Jack and Audrey were wiser than we are, and had arrived even earlier, securing our seats three rows back, just left of center. more ›

Seattlest just found out that John Hodgman's troubador-in-waiting and coonskin-cap-wearing songwriter extraordinaire, Jonathan Coulton, will be performing at the Jewelbox Theater (chez Rendezvous) after the reading at Elliot Bay. Those who've only read Hodgman's book and not attended any readings may not be so familiar with Coulton--who plays musical and straight-man counterpart to Hodgman on a variety of fronts--but his acoustic remix of "Baby Got Back" brings down the house every time. more ›

Yeah, yeah, KEXP has an online feed and there's plenty of other internet radio worth listening to out there, but you're here and you might as well listen to these. Also, if you're a band and you have full mp3 files online send us a link and maybe we can include them in next week's playlist. more ›

Now that there's a chill in the air, Seattlest has taken to closing our windows at night before curling up in a warm bed with some hot cocoa and earplugs. That's right, it's officially the fall tour season, and there's live music galore. Behold! more ›

Everyone who writes from time to time has a few pieces of work that should never see the light of day. Well, that's about to change. Tomorrow evening, Seattle will bear witness to the Salon of Shame, a take-off on NYC's Cringe reading nights, wherein people dig deep into their repertoires and voluntarily disclose embarrassing things they've written. Y'know, the sort of things where you might not be able to make eye contact with the individual after the fact. Awk-ward! more ›

Local FBI (that's Fantagraphics Books Inc) leader Gary Groth will read excerpts of the Nixon tapes Saturday night at the Rendezvous' Jewel Box Theater in Belltown, as part of the travelling theater series Verbatim Verboten. The premise of the series is an interesting one: word-for-word (hence the "verbatim" title) interview transcripts with famous people who thought they were speaking off the record. more ›

Some things never change: the sun rises and sets, the seasons come and go, the Cubs have another lousy year---and we still love "Awesome." Yes, "Awesome," local comedy troupe/rock band, well-known 'round these parts for their self-described "absurdist garage art-pop with indie-prog sensibilities," about which we have previously gushed. more ›

A group from the Pindeldyboz syndicate will be delighting the crowd at The Rendezvous with their witty writings Sunday and you should go because Sean Carman, Shya Scanlon, Louisa Peck, Jami Attenberg, Ryan Boudinot, Whitney Pastorek and Sarah M. Balcomb are all easily findable on the internet. more ›