Seattle Weekly, January 22, 2014

JANUARY 22-28, 2014 I VOLUME 39 I NUMBER 4

SEATTLEWEEKLY.COM I FREE

THE 12TH-MAN HANDSHAKE: A NEW TRADITION PAGE 7 | ART INSPIRED BY ZELDA PAGE 19

The downtown game that is bringing together kings and pawns. By Kelton Sears

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

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news&comment 5

TUNNEL VISION

BY ELLIS E. CONKLIN | Bertha’s just

one of the Dept. of Transportation fubars that could sink an Olympia funding bill.

Also: Sherman’s aggro interview brings out the ugly side of Seahawks fandom.

7 | SPORTSBALL

9

SQUARESVILLE

BY KELTON SEARS | The characters

and communities that surround Seattle’s public chess spaces.

food&drink 15 SEASIDE WAYS

BY NICOLE SPRINKLE | Hits and

misses at downtown’s new Spanish spot.

Plus: the unconventional delights of Aragona’s wine list.

15 | FOOD NEWS/TEMP CHECK

arts&culture 19 BRAVE NEW WORLDS

BY KELTON SEARS | Cable Griffith’s

imagined landscapes bring together the real and the virtual.

24 FILM

OPENING THIS WEEK | Urban crows, Dickens in love, and Luna Lovegood as a mean girl.

26 | FILM CALENDAR

29 MUSIC

Volcano Choir pulls it together; remembering Drew and Joe; two NPR darlings share a bill; and more.

29 | SEVEN NIGHTS

odds&ends

27 | THE GEEKLY REPORT 33 | TOKE SIGNALS 34 | CLASSIFIEDS

»cover credits

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY JOSHUA BESSEX

Create a Healthier World

Editor-in-Chief Mark Baumgarten

Degrees Include: • Naturopathic Medicine • Acupuncture • Psychology • Human Biology • Exercise Science

EDITORIAL Senior Editor Nina Shapiro Food Editor Nicole Sprinkle Arts Editor Brian Miller Entertainment Editor Gwendolyn Elliott Editorial Operations Manager Gavin Borchert Staff Writers Ellis E. Conklin, Matt Driscoll, Kelton Sears Editorial Interns Margery Cercado, Colleen Fontana, Devon Geary, Imana Gunawan Contributing Writers Rick Anderson, Sean Axmaker, James Ballinger, Michael Berry, Sara Billups, Steve Elliott, Margaret Friedman, Zach Geballe, Dusty Henry, Megan Hill, Robert Horton, Patrick Hutchison, Sara D. Jones, Seth Kolloen, Sandra Kurtz, Dave Lake, John Longenbaugh, Jessie McKenna, Terra Clarke Olsen, Kevin Phinney, Keegan Prosser, Mark Rahner, Michael Stusser, Jacob Uitti

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news&comment The Road to Ruin

KYU HAN; BELOW: WSDOT

hint that nothing will happen this year and the massive funding plan may be put off until the 2015 session.

Blame this, at least partially, on the well-publicized mistakes, delays, and cost overruns that plague the bridge and tunnel, observes Senate Republic Caucus Leader Mark Schoesler. “It has made it very difficult in the court of public opinion,” adds the Ritzville wheat farmer. “It has now become a very hard sell.”

Notes Tacoma Democrat Jake Fey, vice-chair of the House Transportation Committee: “This [the mistakes] have given them a place to go. It makes it easier for them to do nothing.”

All of which angers state Sen. Mark Mullet.

“The fundamental reality is that traffic sucks, and to sit down and do nothing, that’s no solution,” says the Issaquah Democrat. “Yeah, everyone is frustrated with these problems, but that’s no excuse to do nothing.”

Last June, the Democrat-controlled House did manage to pass a $10 billion plan, financed in part by a 10.5¢-per-gallon gas-tax hike.

Bertha blocked. 520 barely afloat. Blunders on mega-projects Then in November, the Republican-dominated Senate Majority Coalition, which initially may doom an already shaky state transportation bill. balked at any increase in the current

BY ELLIS E. CONKLIN state gas tax of 37.5 cents a gallon, bumped the hike a penny to 11.5¢ named for Seattle’s only per gallon. racked and leaking pontoons; offwoman mayor?

The Senate plan would end ramps put in the wrong place on Like a whale upon the any talk of tolling on I-90—a state Route 16; Highway 520 bridge sand, the five-story-tall, budget fix being considered by contractors drinking on the job; and 7,000-ton Bertha is awesome some lawmakers—and focus on an $80 million deep-bore tunneling machine, completing projects already underthe world’s largest, that hasn’t chewed an inch of and yet helpless—at least when confronted with 8-inch-diameter way, including the west landing of glacial silt since Pearl Harbor Day. steel well pipes. Since drilling began the 520 floating bridge. It also calls It does give one pause. The way things are on July 29, the contraption has for widening I-90 over Snoqualmie progressing—or not, rather—it could take The 520 floating managed to bore through just 1,000 Pass and the glutted I-5 choke point at nearly three years to construct the 1.7-mile bridge (top) is feet of dirt, and is now stuck in the Joint Base Lewis-McChord, as well as waterfront tunnel: about half the time it took to over budget, while muck. And the blame game is on. linking I-5 to highways 167 and 509. build the 1,907-mile-long First TranscontinenBertha (above) Secretary Peterson has made it Any agreement between the two tal Railroad, and that was 150 years ago. is stuck. known that she “has had concerns” bodies, though, is in serious jeopThe cost of the design fiasco on the 520 about the Highway 99 tunnel project almost ardy—not only because of WSDOT’s embarbridge pontoons has reached $208 million, eatfrom the summer day on which Bertha’s cutter rassing goofs, but because of peripheral issues ing up most of the project’s contingency fund— head began to turn, prompting Seattle Tunnel that have surfaced in recent weeks. For one all of which has forced Transportation Secretary Partners project manager Chris Dixon to blast thing, Republicans insist that sales taxes colLynn Peterson to add $170 million to the cost WSDOT for casting STP “in a bad light.” lected on construction projects be recycled back of the bridge replacement, now estimated to Meanwhile, the matter of whether WSDOT into future road works, while Democrats want climb close to $3 billion. or STP is at fault for, shall we say, unfortunate the tax to go into the general fund.

Even small stuff goes awry. Recall how in communications over the hunk of pipe left in Also, some GOP lawmakers are demanding 2007, when Washington State Ferries suddenly the ground by a WSDOT contractor in 2002— that any transportation package must include retired its “steel electric” fleet, it was forced to reforms that would include revisiting how the get new ferries built to handle certain routes. As which poor Bertha bit into on December 3 beneath South Jackson Street and South Main state calculates prevailing wages when bidding a result, rushed designs led the state to pay $50 Street—may eventually become a WPA project construction projects. In addition, they demand million more for the Chetzemoka than for other for lawyers. All in all, not a good omen for a a pledge from Gov. Jay Inslee to forgo a capboats of similar design. badly needed and long overdue statewide transand-trade agreement signed last fall with CaliTwo years later, in November 2009, engineers portation plan. fornia, Oregon, and British Columbia. from the Washington State Department of “It has poisoned the well,” says state Sen. So if the transportation bill goes down in Transportation discovered that the new off-ramp Tim Sheldon (D-Shelton). “I mean, call before flames, WSDOT’s blunders might not be the on the Nalley Valley Viaduct project on state you dig, and fix the cracks before you float a cause. Still, posits Transportation Choices Route 16 was 12 feet out of alignment with the pontoon.”

Coalition executive director Rob Johnson, the proposed exit. It cost almost $1 million to fix. recent flubs may have sown deep doubts beyond As one Olympia wag who toiled as a staffer Olympia. “I’m not sure all these setbacks are in the legislative trenches for nearly 20 years The well to which Sheldon is referring is the having much of an impact in Olympia,” he says, explains, “The perception back home is, ‘Why $12.3 billion transportation package that, after “but it could have a big one if this thing ever put any more money into this bottomless pit?’ ” 10 months of fruitless negotiation, languishes goes to a public vote.” E Of course, what could be more emblematic in Olympia. Legislative leaders concede the of a bottomless pit than the idle earth mover megabill is hopelessly stalled, and have begun to econklin@seattleweekly.com

Richard Sherman Unites America

P

undits, psychologists, and assorted experts tell us that, in our divided world, the one thing that often brings us together is sports. The thrill of victory, even the agony of defeat, stirs healthful rivalries and pits us in spirited competition. In the end, we are

BY RICK ANDERSON united by the understanding that it’s only a game, blah, blah, blah.

But they’re right. Take this week’s NFL Championship game between the Seahawks and the 49ers, played on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. That thrilling, last-minute victory for Seattle, and the agony of San Francisco’s defeat, clearly brought the nation together in ways we once couldn’t imagine.

SEATTLELAND

C

•

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

•

Disputing the conservative rally cry, a leading economist Spoiler: Seattle would look a lot different if all the Earth’s ice sheets melted. says raising the minimum wage won’t cause job loss.

New Beats By Dre ad featuring Richard Sherman: Don’t even try him with those other sorry headphones!

Notorious Seattle slumlord owes The Attorney General said towns and counties can ban pot biz. $1 million more in fines and penalties than City Hall originally estimated.

JOSHUA BOULET

aTHE WEEKLY BRIEFING | What’s going on at seattleweekly.com: • •

On social media, for example.

In the past, communications were slower and more private, and it took days for us to gather in unison. But now, thanks especially to Twitter and Facebook, we can bond instantly.

That’s what happened within minutes of the final whistle Sunday night. Sports fans across America were quickly coming together to talk about what Richard Sherman, the Hawks’ star cornerback, said after the game.

He was wrong, many agreed. And black.

You may have noticed Sherman is AfricanAmerican when he made a memorable postgame appearance live on the Fox game broadcast. He had just tipped away a potentially winning pass to 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree in the end zone, and was still hyped, and surprisingly defiant, in victory.

“Well, I’m the best corner in the game!” Sherman shouted into the microphone of sidelines reporter Erin Andrews. “When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that’s the result you are going to get! Don’t you even talk about me!”

Andrews seemed stunned, maybe thinking he was referring to her. No, Sherman indicated, he was talking about Crabtree (who had pushed him away after the game and refused to shake his hand—after Sherman had also bragged to him that “I’m the best in the game!”).

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 5

news&comment» Richard Sherman » FROM PAGE 5

“Last night shows that racism is still alive and well . . . And that’s so sad . . . At least some people respect MLK’s dream.”

randerson@seattleweekly.com

I

February 7th and 8th Friday & Saturday 10 am -6 pm

SPORTSBALL

Our columnist, right, and his courteous friends.

The 12th-Man Handshake, as I have now decided to call it, has stretched beyond watching games together. It’s now spread throughout the country, to friends who have to watch the games without Seahawks fans around. Every time the Seahawks score a touchdown, every game, the photos start coming in from Philly and New York and L.A.—my friends extending their hands from wherever they are, offering a handshake in celebration from across a continent.

Now to Mr. Lynch. After his 40-yard touchdown run Sunday, Lynch waved back the convoy of offensive linemen who had come to participate in the traditional dance or random jumping that accompany most NFL touchdowns. Instead he calmly extended a hand to guard James Carpenter, then to tight end Zach Miller, then to wide receiver Golden Tate, and down the line of celebrants, including quarterback Russell Wilson.

I’m dubious that the geeky celebration of a few white-collar Seattleites who drive sensible imported compacts could somehow have osmosed through however many levels of social circles it would need to reach that of millionaire athletes who (in Lynch’s case at least) drive white Lamborghini Aventadors. Still, if we’re both doing it, that constitutes a trend!

The celebratory handshake has many benefits.

For one thing, it can be enjoyed by young and old alike. Heck, even well-trained dogs can join in. It’s polite and reserved, two traits that define Seattle culture. And, perhaps most important, you can do it without any danger of spilling your beer.

Fellow fans, I invite you to join Marshawn Lynch and me in making the 12th-Man Handshake the official touchdown celebration of Seahawks fans everywhere. E

sportsball@seattleweekly.com

With a special appearance thby Arman on Saturday the 8 .

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Sherman continued the debate on his Twitter account: “There was a lot of talk before the game,” he typed, referring to some past dissing of him by Crabtree. “Now I’m the bad guy lol . . . Well if u judge my character on the field . . . So many glass houses.”

He also had seen the racist comments; some fans even sent them to his account. “Last night shows that racism is still alive and well . . . And that’s so sad . . . At least some people respect MLK’s dream.”

The uniting of fans continued online in Monday’s newspaper comments. “I see you have this fool on your front page,” one of almost 200 commenters wrote to The Seattle Times, referring to a photo of Sherman holding the NFC trophy. “No class.” Another thought Sherman possesses “an unfortunate combination of high testosterone and a low IQ.” And another asked, “Hate much?”

As Seattle heads to the February 2 Super Bowl against Denver in New Jersey, expect to see at least two more weeks of the nation coming together in sports. In saloons all over town Sunday night, you could already hear them shouting, “Kill those freakin’ Broncos!” In unison, of course. E

Arman Trunk Show

’m not going to come right out and say that Marshawn Lynch stole my touchdown celebration. Let’s just lay out the evidence.

I watch most Seahawks games with two childhood friends. During the games, we don’t act appreciably different than we did as children—we yell, throw things, make dumb jokes— but when the Seahawks score a touchdown, we have a tradition of shaking hands in the most gentlemanly way possible.

I’m not

BY SETH KOLLOEN exactly sure why it started. I guess there’s something funny about calmly shaking hands after you’ve been jumping around like a maniac. Perhaps it’s a slight nod to the fact that we are adults with 401k’s instead of weekly allowances. Or maybe it’s that we had to tone it down after that one celebration when we tipped over a couch.

COURTESY SETH KOLLOEN

“Don’t open your mouth about the best or I’m going to shut it for you real quick!” Sherman screamed into the microphone, again apparently directing his remarks to Crabtree, adding: “L-OB!” shorthand for the nickname gives to Seattle’s defense, Legion of Boom.

To some, it was another typically unguarded, trash-talking Sherman moment—like the time he told ESPN commenter Skip Bayless in an interview-turned-debate, “I’m gonna crush you on here, in front of everybody.” Bayless, he added, was “ignorant, pompous, and egotistical,” and Sherman wasn’t.

That brought a lot of fans together to decide which of the two they disliked the most.

So naturally, Sherman’s Sunday-night comments sent a union of sports fans rushing to their Facebook and Twitter accounts to point out the flaws in the cornerback’s argument.

He was stupid, for one, and an idiot, for another, many agreed. And quite a few felt quite strongly that he also was not white.

As several Tweeters featured on Deadspin put it, he was “an ignorant ape” and “a fucking gorilla.”

In case anyone misunderstood the implications, a number of others spelled it out: n-i-g-ge-r. I searched around the Internet and lost count of similar racist comments from sports fans.

Crabtree, in a postgame interview, said Sherman “didn’t make any other plays in the game . . . You make one play and you talk?” Later, on Twitter, he added: “Film don’t lie . . . pull up the tape of that game and show me where this guy is the best?”

The 12th-Man Handshake

7

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1

1/17/14

10:43 AM

How the chess mat down at Westlake Park has brought

together, creating unlikely bonds between kings and pawns.

By Kelton Sears

t’s the end of the opening phase when a pungent man with a skateboard sits down next to the large

outdoor chess board at Westlake Park and slowly starts to roll a joint. w Not many people notice—most in the large crowd are thoroughly engrossed in the game happening on the ground in front of them. Finished with his prep work, the fragrant man takes out his lighter, burns the joint, inhales and then exhales a cloud of pot smoke. With the dank smell of marijuana floating through the air, the crowd finally looks up. w “Hey, man,” one of the chess players says. “I can’t focus if I’m getting contact high.” Westlake street chess etiquette, it turns out, dictates a strict “No smoking stogies or joints near gameplay” policy. w After a bout of indignant grumbling, the man with the joint moves over and sits on the ledge by the concrete park’s water fountain to finish. w Gameplay resumes. w For most Seattleites, Westlake Park is not a place to play games. It is a place where activists go to scream into a megaphone, or where homeless people go to scream at passersby. It is a place where tourists board the Ride the Ducks trucks to gawk at “Pike’s Place” and honk plastic duck whistles at people on the street. w It’s not the most happening place. w In 1999, it sort of was, but only because the park turned into a convenient place for police to round up 200 protesters for a mass arrest during the WTO riots. In 2012 the park got its own Facebook page, “Seattle Westlake Park Drug Dealers,” where people have since posted pictures of mostly shirtless gang-bangers in the area. A year later, a Seattle Police Department undercover investigation in the park resulted in 31 arrests for gang activity and cocaine peddling. But there have been efforts to turn around this park and the rest of the downtown core. Last year then-mayor Mike McGinn created the City Center Initiative, to try to get downtown businesses, social services, and other “stakeholders” to talk to each other about how to clean up the area, but progress is slow, and, with a new mayor in City Hall, the program is now in limbo. So Westlake Park remains a sort of no-man’s land—aside from one 64˝ x 64˝ square mat where order, more or less, is strictly maintained. » CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

a community

JOSHUA BESSEX

Checkmates

9

» FROM PAGE 9

Kings, Queens, and Transients

“I’ve made all sorts of friends out here,” John Henderson says in his thick Scottish brogue. The bespectacled older gentleman is prone to fits of laughter and punny, idiom-laden jokes. “One of my good friends who comes down here to play is actually a multimillionaire,” he says.

That friend—a man who always wears shades and often holds a cup of coffee—is notoriously

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

John Henderson

enigmatic among the chess community here. He changes his name each time you ask. I got “Caligula” when I asked.

Another friend Henderson met here at Westlake, Peter Kinev, grew up in the Soviet Union.

As a child he was sent to a Soviet chess school because of his advanced skills. Now he works as a coder, using the cognitive and organizational skills he picked up playing the game to create complex web systems, including one used by the U.S. Census. Kinev, now grey-haired and a little bent over, speaks in a heavy accent when he praises Henderson’s chess skills.

Calin Teodoru

Evol “Evil” Wilson

“Losing is hard . . . You smart for 10 minutes, then you’re back up at it again and you’ve learned something.”

JOSHUA BESSEX

10

“We have to warn people the parks are closing and that they can’t start another game. There are lines of people that form around these things.”

To date, Seattle Parks and Recreation has put chess mats in four parks: Westlake, Occidental, and Hing Hay year-round, as well as one in Freeway Park during summers. Seattle has spent an estimated $5,110 buying the mats, replacing those that get worn out, and buying new pieces when old ones break. All things considered, it’s a minimal sum to pay for something that is slowly turning parks known for crack deals into pockets for supportive communities—places where anybody can come to learn how to be a decent strategist or make a few unlikely friends, as long as they are willing to keep their pot smoke to themselves.

In the seven years since Schoenburg decided chess might be a good idea for Westlake, an enormously diverse community has sprung up there—shouting, laughing, and scheming around one medium-sized piece of tarp with some black and white squares printed on it.

Construction workers, artists, immigrants, retirees, stoners, bankers, coders, the homeless, and hotshot millionaires alike all regularly make their way to the chess mats to match wits and talk smack. When the weather gets really bad, they head to Seattle Center to play on the giant chess board at the Armory—but a simple cold winter day won’t deter them from Westlake’s rough-and-tumble chess charms. You can probably find them out there right now.

And while much of the time the people playing chess end up shouting at each other just like

With all the world-class games he watches, all the strategy books he’s read and reviewed, and his 263-game winning streak, Henderson has earned the nickname “The Champ” among the Westlake chess community, where many mistakenly assume he’s a grandmaster, the highest honor bestowed upon a player by the World Chess Federation.

“The Champ” spends his time at the park acting something like Westlake’s unofficial chess teacher. Most people here seek him for postgame critiques, advice on strategy, or insights into positioning. A nearby banker recently spent time with him learning openings.

In many ways, Henderson’s educational streak carries on the legacy of the very first chess friend

“He’s very, very good,” Kinev says, patting Henderson on the back. “He’s on a whole different level, this man over here. It’s no use trying to play him really.”

Many people here at Westlake sing Henderson’s praises. He’s here most of the time, just standing back and watching the games—something he’s accustomed to here and in his job as an international chess correspondent for The Scotsman, Scotland’s national newspaper. Henderson claims he sees somewhere around 1,000 chess games a week, whether online, on TV, at tournaments, or at Westlake.

“When you see as many chess games as I do, the strategy just becomes sort of second nature, I suppose,” he says.

JOSHUA BESSEX

ASHWIN RAO

In 2007, Victoria Schoenburg’s unit in Seattle’s Parks and Recreation department was put in charge of an initiative to put “positive activities” in downtown parks. For 15 years, until 1986, Schoenburg had lived in New York, where, she recalls,she would stroll through Washington Square and Greenwich Village among the wonderful scenes of people playing chess. So she decided to slap down some giant chess mats in Seattle to see what would happen.

“We did not anticipate the chess mats downtown would be as popular as they’ve become,” she says.

they did before the game appeared in the park, Schoenburg’s goal of bringing some positivity to Westlake has succeeded. These are the stories of the vibrant street chess chums whose lives have become intertwined with that tarp Schoenburg laid down seven years ago.

he made in Seattle—the friend who ended up convincing him to leave the rolling highlands of Scotland for Seattle.

Just three blocks from the Westlake chess set sit the Royal Crest Condos, the former home of chess grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, indisputably one of the best players Seattle has ever seen. As a child, his family fled Syria during the country’s 1966 coup, settling here thanks to a Boeing computerprogramming job his father landed. At 12, Yasser began learning the ins and outs of chess from David Chapman, the paralyzed ex-college-football player living upstairs in his family’s Central District apartment building. At 13, he became the Washington Junior Champion. In the early ’70s, as a student, he formed Garfield High School’s first chess club, which continues to this day.

The nascent team went on a warpath, sweeping all three possible state titles two years in a row. Seirawan moved on to international chess success, but not before dominating the U.S. Chess Championships, winning the title four times and establishing himself as the country’s best player throughout the ’80s and ’90s. A 1981 Sports Illustrated profile (“Yasser, That’s My Baby”) detailed the events that led to Seirawan’s early international success at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in the Netherlands, where he beat Russian grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi at the ripe age of 19—just three years after starting Garfield’s chess club.

Between 2000 and 2003, Seirawan went on to save the U.S. Championships from financial hardship by sponsoring and moving the games to Seattle through his Seattle Chess Foundation, a non-profit that uses chess in the classroom to

educate kids. He even challenged convention by having men and women compete against each other in the Championships for the first time.

In 2002 he invited John Henderson to pack his bags, move out of Scotland, and become the press officer for the games. Henderson gladly accepted, and the two became close friends.

Henderson came partially based on the work being done by Seirawan’s Seattle Chess Foundation. “It’s just a simple board game, but they’ve found that it helps kids with learning disabilities start concentrating,” Henderson says now.

Seirawan attested to that himself in the Sports Illustrated profile. “Like all kids, I had tremendous energy drives. I’d run up and down hills and valleys, and then climb a tree and eat a rock.

unless they brought it up. Gradually they got to know Henderson, and gradually they boosted their games.

“I think they were, and are, drawn to the chess mat because it gives them confidence in themselves,” Henderson says. He tells me he saw a former “pupil” up in the U District recently—a man he first met right after he was released from prison. He had learned chess in jail—“an outlier among his peers,” Henderson says, who spent most of his time studying.

“I ran into him and he told me he’s gotten things together and is moving to San Diego,” Henderson says. “Chess can really help you get focused—I mean, you go back to its origins and you’ll find out that the game started as a way to

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teach generals to organize their militaries. It was a war game.”

But now at Westlake, it’s helping people find peace. And in John Fox’s case, employment.

“I was sort of homeless by choice at the time,” Fox tells me.

The Sumner native had just finished hiking around the West Coast when he started coming to play chess at Westlake, between jobs and homes. People here call him “John the Terrible” because of his stint as a professional wrestler on TV. Promoters told him to use the name “Jason X,” riffing on the horror-movie classic. Fox would put on a hockey mask and overalls and get into the ring to bring the smackdown—earning a small following in Portland and Vancouver.

“I still find fans uploading videos of my matches,” he says, “I lost most my own videos in a flood.”

The competitive drive on display in his wrestling also buoyed his lifelong love of chess. When he was out of work and homeless, he started playing chess most days just to pass the time. He found friends here at Westlake—it became a sort of home itself. Eventually Seattle Parks employees took notice of his frequent visits and offered him a job at Westlake last May. Now he puts out the chess set every morning and oversees Westlake as a full-time park concierge. “I guess you could say chess gave me a job.”

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You Win Some, You Lose Lots

“You gotta go! Make a move already,” JoJo yells, trembling in his metal park chair and clutching his cane.

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SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

Suddenly I was forced to focus all my energies on the board.”

The non-profit Seirawan helped start, now based in Bellevue, has since turned into America’s Foundation for Chess, spreading the game throughout second- and third-grade classrooms across the country to help kids develop cognitive skills. Seirawan lives in the Netherlands now, lured by his Dutch wife’s cushy job there and the county’s guaranteed rent control, but Henderson is helping to keep his legacy alive at Westlake.

“Chess can be an equalizer,” Kinev says, standing next to Henderson. “Many of the homeless people who come play here are quite good. They spend their time learning, sometimes from John, sometimes themselves. It’s not unusual that a homeless person will beat you.”

“That’s what’s great about it,” Henderson adds.

“There aren’t any social boundaries in street chess like this. Homeless people come play my millionaire friend, and it’s true that many of them are very good.”

Henderson has played a number of the homeless people who come to the Westlake chess mat, offering them a coffee after the match. He says they will sit and talk to him about chess, wandering off into different spheres of conversation— how they’re doing, how hard their lives are.

“It became obvious after the banking crash that more people were living rough in Seattle,” Henderson says. “I noticed more homeless people coming by the set right after then, just congregating and passing the time, watching, playing.”

So Henderson did what he always did—once he got to know them, he offered his tips and tricks, never asking about their living situation

Scientists helping scientists improve health

11

» FROM PAGE 11

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

12

Calin Teodoru gets ready to make a move while jose Vargas looks on.

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JOSHUA BESSEX

“YOU GONNA MOVE OR WHAT? YOU JUST GONNA TALK ALL DAY?” Standing on the other side of the chess board, Evol Wilson grins.

According to Wilson, the folks at Westlake Park call him “Evil Wilson” because of this grin—but between me and you, I’ve never heard anyone but him use this nickname.

He loves giving nicknames. He has one for everyone who plays chess down here: Ming the Toothless. Leo the Mexican Coyote. He coined “The Champ” for John Henderson. The list goes on.

“JoJo’s just trying to intimidate me,” Wilson whispers in my direction, cupping his hand to his mouth. “There are infinite options for your next move in chess, but there’s only one move you’re supposed to make. With JoJo, the key is taking your time to really find that move, because he’s gonna rush you and run out your patience.”

Wilson often does this—ruminating strategy aloud. It’s his second favorite thing to do, after handing out nicknames. He has one for JoJo too.

“I call him David Carradine,” Wilson whispers. “He’s like that guy in that TV show Kung Fu, swinging his cane around like a karate master or something.”

A number of people at Westlake back this up: The man loves to swing his cane in times of trouble. I’m told the police had to break up a fight between JoJo and another older man who’d

bested him in a game at the park. When they arrived, they found the two shouting at each other, JoJo swatting his foe with his cane.

“They’ll never arrest him, though; he’s not really a threat to anyone,” Wilson says. “He’s just an old man.”

“HEY, YOU GOTTA HURRY UP, I GOT PEOPLE TO MEET!” JoJo screams, adjusting his fedora.

JoJo does seem like he’s got places to go. He’s tapping his cane on the cement like a madman.

Wilson grins again. More of Jojo’s bluffing, he says: “It’s all a lie.” Wilson finds it hard to believe the old man has anywhere to be but here—playing chess on the big outdoor mat as he’s done almost every day for two years. Wilson should know—he’s been here just as long, visiting when he’s not at his construction job or playing in his band. “We called ourselves the White Keys, because we are two black dudes. It’s like the opposite of the Black Keys.”

Things aren’t going so well for Wilson right now. He thinks he’s about to lose to JoJo. He tells me he knew he lost 20 minutes ago. He often loses here. Despite that, he keeps playing.

“Man, there’s definitely a pecking order here at Westlake,” he says. “The Champ is at the top, and I’m somewhere near the bottom, probably.”

This summer, a preteen girl came to the chess set and challenged Wilson. He lost, inspiring a chorus of mockery from his colleagues. When he tried to teach his girlfriend chess, they ended up breaking up after she alleged he was cheating (at the game, that is). Losing game after game against a friend at Westlake, Wilson finally won when his opponent agreed to play without a queen.

“Man, that’s the thing about street chess,” he says. “Between the cars, the crackheads, and the girls, it’s hard to keep focused sometimes. I mean, it’s Westlake—but I like that about this park.”

On cue, a woman starts screaming over and over to nobody in particular, “I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!” Wilson studies the chessboard until more screaming starts. This time it isn’t the homeless woman, but JoJo again. “HEY, MAN, I GOT PLACES TO BE—WE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE BY NOW IF YOU WEREN’T TELLING YOUR LIFE’S STORY!” Ignoring his own advice not to let JoJo rush him, Wilson begins hastily moving his pieces, launching a flurry of messy captures.

JoJo takes a bishop.

Wilson takes a queen.

JoJo takes a queen with his pawn.

After the intense game development, Wilson sighs and shrugs. It’s becoming rapidly apparent that he really is losing.

Suddenly a man appears across the street and

starts waving, yelling JoJo’s name.

“HEY, MAN, I GOTTA GO! I WIN!” JoJo says, darting across the street to meet his friend.

“Well,” Wilson says, “I guess he wasn’t lying about having someplace to go this time.”

For all the losing Wilson does, he keeps coming to Westlake. When he’s not there, he says he plays his friends on his phone, or on chess.com.

He sort of likes to lose.

“Losing is hard,” he says. “It hurts, man, it’s painful. But it’s actually really good. You smart for 10 minutes, then you’re back up at it again and you’ve learned something. It’s like life, man. Chess here at this park, street chess, it’s just like life.”

God’s in the Game

ksears@seattleweekly.com

A Reader’s Guide

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SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

José Vargas is wearing a hat with a pink feather in it—a little showy, sure, but it’s a mark of how on-top-of-the-world he feels.

“I have a beautiful life,” he says in his rich Spanish accent. “I am near the end of my life, but I have beautiful life. Some people no believe me, but I really mean it.”

Vargas, 72, comes to Westlake almost every day to play or watch chess. It’s part of his retiree ritual.

“I have bus pass, $27 for four months. I come here to the city from my home in Tukwila. Then I go to the YMCA, maybe, steam room, hot pool, sauna, exercise. Then I go to the Chinese buffet.

Big food. Then I come here to chess. I have beautiful friends here. I have good days here.”

Vargas says chess is a gift from God. It redeems him.

Sometimes, because of his age, he feels physically ill. Other times he wrestles with his psyche and self-doubt. He says that because he is older and Mexican, people often stereotype him as a criminal or homeless when he is out in the city, calling him names.

Whenever that happens, Vargas comes to Westlake and, he says, tries to connect with God through chess and the community here. He says it causes a warm feeling to wash over him, a feeling that makes him thankful.

“I was born in California, Ventura County. I smoke too much, drank too much, and lost my mind.” In California, Vargas’ friends fell into vice as well, an unhealthy environment that prompted his escape to Seattle. He went to Renton to earn a degree in welding, which he parlayed into a job assembling and repairing ships at the docks.

It kept his mind off his addictions until he was forced to retire due to a work-related injury.

Vargas points to the chess set. “Here, I don’t smoke and drink. Here, I keep my mind. I remember that I have a mind.”

Chess isn’t about strategy for Vargas. He doesn’t even care to win. He says trying too hard and reading all the strategy books would only cause conflict. Too much winning and you start getting in fights with other people over the competition.

“Winning is no good. It’s no good being good.

I don’t need it. You can feel it in your blood when people don’t like you because of the win,” Vargas says. “I do not like that feeling, I do not want people to be mad because of the game.”

He isn’t looking for conflict, just friendship and a bit of brainwork. Even simple, off-the-cuff games keep his head on straight: “It keeps me clear. It’s a beautiful thing. It helps my mind, the discipline does.”

Vargas takes his hat off and places it over his chest. “I found God and friends here. Before, I grew up in garbage cans, eating scraps,” he says.

Vargas points at the chess set again.

“Now I have everything.” E

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food&drink Confused in Catalonia

Aragona brings Spanish chic downtown, but the food isn’t sure where it belongs.

BY NICOLE SPRINKLE

You may leave very taken by the artistry and execution of an entrée—or very let down by its ambitious failing. concrete and reclaimed wood, something to have a strong opinion about—is refreshing. I just had to remind myself that instead of a cozy seaside spot, I was maybe eating in chic downtown Barcelona. This isn’t a romantic kind of place where you’d hunker down with your lover and devour a bowl of clams (or peas)—the stark lighting, certainly, will kill any amorous intent. Instead, imagine Pedro Almodóvar taking Penélope Cruz out for a drink and a well-appointed meal to discuss

their latest project, dressed to be seen.

But when the food began to arrive, I was struck by how unsure it seemed of itself and of its place in the almost avant-garde space: a gallimaufry of rustic and revisionist dishes which, depending on what you order, will alter your experience dramatically. From the moment you “break bread,” according to our waiter, over a housemade sunflower cracker and nibble on some tiny olives, you feel you’re meant to embark on a homey culinary journey. But that just doesn’t jibe with the fanciful decor. The confusion continues: You may leave very taken by the artistry and execution of an entrée; very let down by its ambitious failing; or, on the flip side, wistful that a Spanish staple didn’t get a splashier treatment.

It was among the appetizers that I found the best execution and the right choice of old-meetsnew. The spot prawns with cider sauce is one I’ll tell friends about—it snagged a spot in my brain where my most memorable meals live on. Small dots of red shrimp roe coalesce, waiting for a spoon to spread them about and permeate the pungent, cider-infused broth with salinity. The five smallish spot prawns are so delicate and tender (yet firm), it’s as though someone thought to cook them for a moment, then suddenly decided to pull them from the heat. They’re not raw, but the juice of their bite is sweet and fresh. Who knew shrimp could taste this bright—not heavily spiced or blackened or pickled in citrus for ceviche? When my daughter reached for her second, my maternal instincts darkened for a flash, realizing I’d only get one (particularly given the $22 price point for this little, exquisite plate).

Fortunately, the adobo cod appetizer was plentiful. About seven chunky “nuggets” of cod come lightly fried; their tangy juices squirt out as you chomp into their crispy exterior. The choice of a vinegary adobo for a fish like cod was a great one.

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

BY SARA BILLUPS

Adding to his roster of Ballard Avenue restaurants, Ethan Stowell will launch Chippy’s in the former Dutch Bike Company space in the Kolstrand building. The fish, chips, and chowder spot will also serve old-school eats like crab rolls and shrimp Louie, plus cocktails and eight beers on tap. Look for a March opening.

Watering hole The Octopus Bar is slated to open in the former Wallingford Pizza House space on North 45th Street. The idea for a nautical-themed spot was conceived a few years back, and, with the help of Kickstarter, it’s finally scheduled to roll out on Saturday, Jan. 25. Hours will be 2 p.m.–2 a.m. Mon.– Fri., noon–2 a.m. Sat.–Sun. Belle Clementine will shutter February 8. Serving communal-style meals in Ballard since December 2011, owner David Sanford spread the news via e-mail: “It is very difficult to articulate how much this community of diners, farmers, families, and supporters has meant to me and the team here at BC.” Brimmer & Heeltap officially opened in the Le Gourmand/Sambar space in Ballard. The bar-meetsbistro from former Joule/Revel chef Mike Whisenhunt and Jen Doak serves veggies, seafood, and meats available in small or large portions for sharing, plus a late-night menu featuring pickled oyster shooters and cauliflower salad. Hours may expand down the road, but for now Brimmer & Heeltap will be open from 5 p.m.–midnight daily except Tuesday.

Chinese eatery and event space Zhu Dang will replace defunct Capitol Hill club The Social. Zhu Dang is the first venture for owner Steve Cheng, who cut his teeth working in local kitchens for the past decade. Cheng is planning to build out the kitchen, redo the 8,000-square-foot space’s innards to make it more cohesive, and revamp the outdoor area. Look for opening day at the end of summer. E food@seattleweekly.com

Temperature Check

FROM JOSH NEBE, CHEF/OWNER OF DACKEL AND COOK AT RADIATOR WHISKEY

Chefs being able to dress like real people. It’s so nice not to have to wear a uniform. Granted, all my clothes feel just a wee bit greasy.

Restaurants based solely around how kitschy they are. It’s about the food, damn it! Not how awesome the hardwood you scored is, or how many knickknacks you found on Craigslist.

Bad barbecue. I want to cry when I eat dryass ribs. Please, for the love of God, leave it to the South?

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

Aragona’s bold design.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KYU HAN

W

hen I last interviewed Carrie Mashaney, recently eliminated on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters and chef de cuisine at Aragona, a new regional Spanish restaurant she’s helming with her former Spinasse boss Jason Stratton, I asked her about a trip to Spain that the pair took—a tasting journey to help them conceive Aragona’s menu. Pressed about her favorite meal, she talked about a restaurant right on the ocean in Barcelona, the meal’s highlight “a bowl of perfectly cooked peas and thinly sliced jamón.” How delightful, I thought.

Since then, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the restaurant’s opening, excited by the idea of Catalonian-style cooking, with its heavy emphasis on seafood; of the quaint but quintessential simplicity one could relish in a bowl of peas. I’d thought about my own time in Spain, the seaside restaurants where I’d enjoyed things fresh from the ocean with little more than a squeeze of lemon, like whole grilled anchovies and bubbling bowls of paella.

So though I knew Aragona was to be a highly designed downtown spot, right across from the Four Seasons hotel, I somehow wasn’t prepared when I stepped into the cool, massive, modernist space—right next to the water, but with scant views of it (except from the bar, which is nicely situated apart from the dining room, at the entrance). It’s disarmingly urbane with its geometric, colorful paper lights; its “centerpiece” mosaic column bejeweled with white marble, pops of red, and a sparkling burst of gold at its base; its ubiquitous sheen of blond wood; and its surrealist “private” room for four that—in contrast to the rest of the restaurant—looks ironically like an old Spanish grandma’s dining room and feels like an installation piece in a contemporary art museum, or perhaps a stage set.

A Seattle restaurant with a well-thought-out design concept—something beyond exposed

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» FROM PAGE 15

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

This is something you might easily find at a tapas bar in Barcelona, only better. The beef tongue, too, served escabeche (acidic) with currants and capers, had a beautiful bite, and the play of the sweet currants and salty capers was not only delicious but playful—being, as it was, hard to tell which was which. All these appetizers read clearly to me as very thoughtful—and ultimately satisfying—elevated Spanish fare.

But then a sunchoke tortilla (a take on a simple Spanish-style quiche one often encounters in tapas bars) came with little flavor and was rather dry, ostensibly heightened by the addition of sea urchin on top. Oddly, the

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While there is certainly plenty to savor at Aragona, the question of whether to stick to more regional dishes or artfully reimagine them is one that begs for an answer. urchin was quite bland and did nothing to improve the dish—rather, it called attention to its shortcoming. The braised beef cheeks with King Bolete mushrooms and puff pastry, on the other hand, were like a fantasy version of a pot roast, so tender and falling apart it seems to be cooked for dainty fairies without knives.

Or, as my daughter so eloquently put it, “This meat doesn’t need to be broken” (read: cut).

Its texture was so incredibly moist that it was easy to mistake a bite of it for the smoothness of the accompanying mushrooms, while the mushrooms were so flavorful as to resemble the meat. Close your eyes and take a wild guess as to which of the two you’d just bitten into . . .

But order, say, the rice with squab, and spend your time ferreting out the small bites of olive and kohlrabi just to give your taste buds something. Though the squab wasn’t over-

cooked, it had no flavor, and was the worse for the toothsome, lackluster rice it was served atop. Same for the $30 chicken cooked two ways with squid, foie gras, and white beans.

The grilled chicken was unforgivably overdone and the pieces of braised chicken not actually flavored much by being cooked, as we were told, in the squid juices; the few bites of foie gras were hard to find. The foie gras was essentially a hollow attempt to fancy up a hearty stew, as the sea urchin attempted to do for the tortilla. But throwing exotic ingredients haphazardly at a classic Spanish dish doesn’t necessarily make it good. It just makes it more expensive.

And though the soupy rice with geoduck, in theory, is a nice Pacific Northwest play on rustic paella, it doesn’t deliver in all the right ways. It’s bracingly briny, which may appeal to some but turn off others. While they’re smart to work in sweet, braised turnips to offset the fishiness, a few more would really help balance this dish perfectly. Yet still I felt most emphatically that this entrée was very authentic, just as I’d expect it to be in Spain, where tastes are perhaps more accustomed to stronger flavors: classic, as opposed to the very revisionist chicken with squid. The question is: Will diners looking for a “sophisticated” experience embrace a simple bowl of seawater-like soupy rice (at $26, no less)?

Dessert, too, suffers from an identity complex. Would I be most satisfied with the fried xuxos (basically Spanish donuts, in this case filled with vanilla cream) or the more inventive-sounding steamed almond and sweet potato cake with chestnut, honey, and muscatel? Thanks to the outstanding waiter I had on both my visits—extremely well-versed in the details of every dish, unexpectedly down-toearth given the posh environment, funny, and opinionated to boot—we ordered the xuxos. I joked with him that if they came out tasting any better than basic sweet fried dough, I’d be thoroughly impressed. They did indeed; the sweet cream interior and truffle-salted fried exterior were pitch-perfect. For comparison,

we ordered the sweet potato cake (oddly, $2 less), but were disappointed. Expected to be dense and moist, it was terribly dry, and even the few tasty bites of chestnut semifreddo couldn’t make up for that.

While there is certainly plenty to savor at Aragona, the question of whether to stick to— and perfect—more regional dishes or artfully reimagine them is one that begs for an answer.

If that answer is, in fact, both, that’s OK. But if so, the execution needs far more tweaking.

Because ultimately as a diner, you can’t help but want to try to understand a restaurant’s intent—the promise it makes to you when you sit down and open that menu. Without that clarity, inconsistency can abound and your confidence in ordering can be shaken.

And if you’re leaving a neighborhood to fight downtown traffic, find and pay for parking, and spend far more on your bill, that confidence can’t be compromised. In my interview with Mashaney, she talked about the decision to be downtown and how she hoped that more

quality restaurants would do the same, potentially enlivening what’s generally thought of as a place for tourists (and restaurants that cater to them). While I too wholeheartedly embrace infusing downtown with character, I can’t help wondering if locals who’ve been thoroughly romanced by the trend of great, small, and affordable neighborhood restaurants will be game to take the leap of faith. I believe there are plenty of Seattleites willing to pay more for exceptional food, and with luck, Aragona will eventually deliver it.

Seattle, in my opinion, needed an ambitious Spanish restaurant. But how that loftiness will translate into consistently great cuisine, particularly given the price point, still remains to be seen.

But if Spinasse is any indication, we can only hope that Aragona will find its sweet spot yet. E

nsprinkle@seattleweekly.com

ARAGONA 96 Union St., 682-3590, aragonaseattle.com.

5–10 p.m. Mon.–Thurs., 5–11 p.m. Fri.–Sat.

ArAgonA

Dive Into This Exuberant Spanish Wine List

BY ZACH GEBALLE

T

Aragona’s list doesn’t just include a few glass pours; Tanghe and Rohrbaugh are committed to the idea that a bottle of sherry can be the centerpiece of a meal. “We have some rare and incredible sherries from epic producers,” Tanghe says, “and our goal is to switch the light on for some guests that sherry goes so well with our food.”

Of course that can be a challenge without confident yet approachable sommeliers. Which is where we return to that glass of seawater. Asked for his pairing for a dish of “soupy” rice with geoduck and turnips, his excitement over a semi-sparkling glass of Avinyo Petillant Blanco is palpable. “It’s just like getting a big mouthful of seawater,” he gushes.

While that might not sound super-appealing to some, it’s an experience I can’t turn down, and

Aragona’s list doesn’t just include a few glass pours; Tanghe and Rohrbaugh are committed to the idea that a bottle of sherry can be the centerpiece of a meal. the result is as promised: The combination of the wine’s petillance (or sparkle), the dish’s salinity, and the geoduck’s pronounced “oceany” quality reminds me of some particularly energetic waves I encountered as a child near La Push. It may not be unequivocally delicious, but it’s most definitely memorable.

In the end, that’s Aragona’s promise: a chance to step outside the norms of Seattle’s wine scene and service, to trust in a skilled and creative wine team, and to try the wines of an underappreciated bastion of great vines. I say wade in and taste the surf. E thebarcode@seattleweekly.com

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

he hallmark of a skilled sommelier is to make drinking something like a glass of seawater appealing. It may be an unconventional approach to selling wine, but it’s also a sign that the sommeliers at Aragona are confident in their wine, their food, and most of all their ability to pair the two.

After eating (and drinking) there, I can vouch that their confidence is well-founded.

Spanish wine is still a bit of mystery to most of the dining public. Cava sits alongside prosecco as everyone’s default inexpensive sparkler (though of course it’s capable of much more), albariño is a trendy white, and Rioja has some cachet, but the bulk of the wine made in Spain is thoroughly off the American radar. It might not be a crusade, but Aragona’s master sommelier Chris Tanghe and his teammate Jackson Rohrbaugh are clearly committed to shining a light on some of the country’s hidden gems.

It starts, and sometimes ends, with sherry. One of the world’s great fortified wines (no, we’re not talking about Thunderbird here), it suffers from the association most people make with the heavily sweetened (and low-quality) sherries that the British grew to love over a few centuries. In its true form, sherry is a complex, nuanced, and dry wine that offers a wealth of pairing possibilities. As Tanghe explains, “Sherry goes well with just about everything. It’s almost as versatile as Champagne,” the generally accepted universal pairing.

17

Final Two Weeks

Must Close Feb. 2

Jan. 8–Feb. 2, 2014

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

www.seattleshakespeare.org

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On stage: Jan 23 - Mar 2, 2014 Box Office: (425) 392-2202 www.VillageTheatre.org

arts&culture As influenced by Skyrim as the Cascades, Cable Griffith has created an ode to the grandeur of landscapes real and virtual.

BY KELTON SEARS

KYU HAN

T

Griffith at his very real Beacon Hill studio.

not vast at all,” Griffith says. “With Zelda, you look back at the first one in the series and realize how simple it was, how these little sprites got put together to form this giant world you might never be able to completely explore.”

Griffith’s work is an attempt to create his own giant world, a practice he roots in the traditions of landscape painting while integrating the abstracted, simplified symbology of video games.

“In the history of painting and the history of video games, there are these conventions, there are these systems of representation. For instance . . . different ways through time that trees have been depicted. Artists did oil paintings of them, and then there were tree sprites,” Griffith says, referencing the two-dimensional bitmaps early game developers used to render graphics. The difference between Griffith and classically trained landscape painters is that he accepts both methods of representation as equally valid.

The result looks like something Thomas Cole might have made if he’d grown up reading Nintendo Power instead of Last of the Mohicans: incredibly dense worlds populated by a wiggling ecology of unidentifiable bioforms and endless geometric tree sprites. World Two Overview, a piece that riffs on Super Mario’s SNES overworld screen, is overwhelming in its scale.

Islands, forests, cliffs, and pyramids extend into the distance.

Griffith has used his “World Overview” paintings as references for other works.

He picked a spot in his World One Overview and created a new painting as if he were standing on that chosen vantage point—much like Google Street View—fleshing out smaller sections of the larger landscape.

“It was an attempt to claim that land,” Griffith says. “It’s a very basic human instinct, I think, to make your stake on a landscape.”

Quest takes its name from that instinct, to explore a

world that Griffith is also actively creating. After his last exhibit, Islands, which focused on the eponymous landform, Griffith is taking Quest as an opportunity to traverse the expanses in his head. “There’s been this promise of perpetual discovery since I was a kid, so with this work, I just let it go where it wanted to go,” Griffith says. There are narratives hidden in this world, even though Griffith never paints defined characters or subjects.

On a trip to Yellowstone, Griffith and his wife stayed in a hotel with a beautiful natural vista.

Griffith sketched the scene in his notebook, and later revisited it in Gallatin Passage, a canvas that he says began very bare but ended up dense with hidden, suggestive narratives. A dotted line plunges into a hole—did a creature just jump in?

Is the line a rope or indicative of motion? Is that disc-shaped mushroom figure flora or fauna?

“The point of the paintings are not to share my own feelings or thoughts,” Griffith says, “but to trigger stories and possibilities in the viewer’s mind that might inhabit these spaces.” E

ksears@seattleweekly.com

QUEST G. Gibson Gallery, 300 S. Washington St., 587-4033, ggibsongallery.com. Opens Jan. 24.

11 a.m.–5 p.m. Wed.–Sat. Ends March 4.

JAN 26 FEB 7 T H RO U GH

CASH, CARS AND 1 AMAZING TRIP!

Younger viewers will know Stritch from 30 Rock.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 22

Women in Cinema

This mini-festival begins with a bang by screening the documentary profile Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, about the legendary Broadway and cabaret performer who recently retired from the stage at 87. Attending the screening will be director Chiemi Karasawa, who describes her subject thusly: “There’s no better New York character and life to experience than Elaine Stritch. She is of Broadway. The film is about courage and acceptance, the inevitability of aging, of time, about making decisions and about accepting yourself, and I think that’s a great lesson for everybody to learn.”

Eight other titles being screened through Sunday include the documentary Maidentrip, about a 14-year-old girl’s effort to sail around the world solo, and the Anna Paquin–starring Free Ride, about a woman involved in the ’70s drug trade.

See siff.net for full schedule and details. SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., 3249996. $6–$11 individual, $40–$60 series. 7 p.m.

BRIAN MILLER

THURSDAY, JAN. 23

Frédérick Gravel

On the Boards seems to have a direct connection to Montreal. In the past, they’ve brought us Canadian dance artists like Édouard Lock and Marie Chouinard from the source city of highrisk dancing; now they’re adding Gravel to the roster. His intense physicality—as both dancer and choreographer—matches the tenor of his

» CONTINUED ON PAGE 20

– SEATTLE’S CLOSEST CASINO – I-90 EAST TO EXIT 27 • I-90 WEST EXIT 31 SNOQUALMIE, WA • 425.888.1234 SNOCASINO.COM

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

he Kokiri Forest always made me want to go outside.

That opening segment of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time imprinted a strangely distinct concept of what “wilderness” meant in my childhood brain.

Waking up in that verdant, elven tree village of Kokiri, hopping from rooftop to rooftop to scrounge enough rupees for a Deku Shield, informed the way I played in the woods outside my house in real life. I would hop from stump to stump, swinging a stick overhead and screaming “HYEAH!” like Link did when he jumpattacked a slobbering plant-monster.

The effect wasn’t an anomaly. Zelda’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto was inspired to make the game after venturing into the forests and caves around his home in Japan as a child. In an odd reflexive phenomenon, Zelda informed my environment in the same way that the environment had originally informed Zelda.

Cable Griffith, a young Cornish painting professor with hair that sticks up at all angles, grew up playing video games and jumping around the woods behind his house too.

“I was talking to someone just earlier today about the Zelda series, and how it was one of the first game environments you could get completely lost in because of how big it is,” Griffith tells me. He reflexively sees popular game worlds in the real world all the time.

“It’s funny. I was out camping recently and the trees around the campsite reminded me of a forest I’d been in in Minecraft. Hiking through the Cascades made me think about Skyrim. It’s that same phenomenon.”

Griffith thrives on these crossover moments— the strange pull that virtual environments can have on the mind; the way that even simple, abstracted representations of the world in games like Atari’s Pitfall or Adventure can instill the same sense of wonder that a national park preserve can.

His new show at G. Gibson Gallery, Quest, is a collection of landscape paintings inspired by this merger of virtual and real environments, a culmination of an interest in imagined ecologies he’s been chasing since his earliest works.

“I’m fascinated that games can captivate you and make you believe in this space. I love that it can trigger this sense of vastness even though it’s

ThisWeek’s PickList

SUNDANCE SELECTS

The Majesty of Tree Sprites

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arts&culture» Pick List

DENIS FARLEY

» FROM PAGE 19

Gravel’s Usually Beauty Fails.

artistic home. For his piece Usually Beauty Fails, he ramps up the energy with a live rock band onstage, plus overt sexuality that he leavens with irony. Based in any city, Gravel would be in the front of the current wave. (Through Sun.) On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St., 217-9888, ontheboards. org. $25. 8 p.m. SANDRA KURTZ

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Who is Lotte Reiniger? The pioneering German female animation artist (1899–1981) created exquisite short films, beginning in the 1920s, using silhouette animation. Tonight’s package of four works is set to a new score, to be peformed live, by local musicans Miles & Karina (aka Dave Keenan and Nova Devonie), in a program called “Do the Doktor Doolittle.” Running through February 2, this year’s feast includes 11 feature films and 14 short-film packages—ideal for short attention spans—that should serve children of a variety of ages. The schedule also offers live events, like a pajama-party performance by kid-rockers Recess Monkey (7 p.m. Fri.), animation demos and hands-on workshops, and the traditiona pancake breakfast (9:30 a.m. Sun., Feb. 1 at the nearby Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption). Tonight, Reiniger’s black-andwhite animations are marvelously handmade; she creates iris effects and separate prosceniums for some scenes, distilling her folkloric stories into stark, simple relief. Created during the silent era, they require few intertitles for kids to read.

In The Tocher, for example, it’s easy to follow the story of a penniless woodsman, rebuffed by the father of his swain, who’s then given a special gift by dancing fairies at a mountain lake. How can he win back his beloved? I think your kids can guess the answer—it takes money, honey.

DanceJenkinsDance.com. $20–$27. 8 p.m.

SANDRA KURTZ

Seattle Chamber Music Winter Festival

This year’s winter festival is the biggest yet, seven concerts over two weekends (tonight through Feb. 2). This expansion makes sense; January, logically, is when it’s easiest to persuade Seattleites to stay indoors. (When the Society’s July festival was held at Lakeside School, that campus’ pastoral charms were a considerable draw, but I’ve found only exceptional repertoire can lure me to sequester myself in same-old-same-old Benaroya Recital Hall on a lovely summer evening.) Highlights include Shostakovich’s despair-laden Piano Trio in E minor (Sun., Jan. 26); a cello sonata by his spiritual descendant Alfred Schnittke (Sat., Feb. 1); and a bit of a focus on Bartók (Fri., Jan. 24, Thurs., Jan. 30, Sun., Feb. 2)—who, of all composers, got a recent shout-out on Downton Abbey. (Isabel: “I prefer Bartók.” Violet: “You would.” BA-ZING!) Benaroya Recital Hall, Third Ave. & Union St., 283-8808, seattle chambermusic.org. Single tickets $16–$48, packages $135–$315. 7:30 p.m. (pre-concert recital 6:30 p.m.) GAVIN BORCHERT E

Jenkins luvs women.

Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380, nwfilmforum.org. $10–$12. 7 p.m.

(Repeats 1 p.m. Sat., Feb. 1.) BRIAN MILLER FRIDAY, JAN. 24

Shirley Jenkins

Jenkins has been a part of Seattle’s dance community for more than 30 years, first as a leading dancer with the Bill Evans Dance Company, then as a choreographer and teacher in her own right. Her style is a new look at old-school modern dance, with its full physicality, emotional

REBECCA SULLIVAN

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

Children’s Film Festival

expression, and deep sincerity. Women . . . Gotta Luv ’Em is full of intensely personal work drawing from her recent experiences with illness and recovery (cancer and hip-replacement surgery), as well as her eclectic dance heritage. (Through Sun.) Cornish Playhouse (Seattle Center),

» Performance MEDICINE BALL: PLAYWRIGHTS V. POETS Seattle

B Y G AV I N B O R C H E R T

Playwrights Collective presents a literary battle. Inscape, 815 Seattle Blvd. S. $10–$20. 7 p.m. Fri., Jan. 24, 2 & 7 p.m.; Sat., Jan. 25.

Stage

CURRENT RUNS

OPENINGS & EVENTS

AMERICAN WEE-PIE Lisa Dillman’s comedy, set in a cup-

cake boutique. Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse, 7312 W. Green Lake Ave. N., 524-1300, seattlepublic theater.org. Preview Jan. 23, opens Jan. 24. 7:30 p.m.

Thurs.–Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Feb. 16.

ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 19.

THE EQUATION Theatre9/12 presents Charles S. Waxberg’s Depression-set “examination of a capitalistic economy and what it does to humanity.” Trinity Episcopal Church, 609 Eighth Ave., 332-7908, theatre912.com. Pay what you can. Opens Jan. 24. 8 p.m. Fri.–Sat., plus some weekend matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Feb. 15.

THE FOREIGNER In Larry Shue’s comedy about a shy man who poses as [the title], “people say the most extraordinary things when they think no one can understand them.” Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, 425-3922202, villagetheatre.org. $34–$65. Preview Jan. 22, opens Jan. 23. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Thurs. (plus some Tues.), 8 p.m.

Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 2 & 7 p.m. Sun. Ends March 2.

A GREAT WILDERNESS The premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s play about a pray-the-gay-away camp in Idaho.

Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222. $12–$65. Opens Jan. 22. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Sun. plus some Wed. & weekend matinees; see seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Feb. 16.

THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED Douglas Carter Beane’s inside-Hollywood tale of a closeted actor, his agent, a rent boy, and the rent boy’s girlfriend. ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., 938-0339, artswest.org. Opens Jan. 22. 7:30 p.m.

Wed.–Sat., plus 3 p.m. Sun., Jan. 26. Ends Feb. 8.

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Send events to stage@seattleweekly.com, dance@seattleweekly.com, or classical@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings. = Recommended

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DISNEY’S LITTLE MERMAID JR. Youth Theatre

Northwest presents this stage adaptation. Youth Theatre Northwest, 8805 S.E. 40th St., Mercer Island, 232-4145 x109, youththeatre.org. $13–$17. 7 p.m. Fri., 2 & 7 p.m. Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Feb. 9.

THE DOCTOR Seattle Experimental Theater’s improvised Doctor Who spoof. Theater Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S., seattleexperimentaltheater.com. $12–$15. 8 p.m. Fri.– Sat., plus 2 p.m. Sun., Jan. 26. Ends Jan. 26.

JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA British creators Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas aim less at the talkshow host and trash TV than at the country that made him a star. Act 1 is a sendup of a typical Springer episode; in Act 2, Jerry’s sent to Hell to emcee a showdown between good and evil. The fearless and intensely hard-working Balagan Theatre ensemble is directed by Shawn Belyea.

GAVIN BORCHERT The Moore, 1932 Second Ave., 877784-4849, stgpresents.org. $17.50. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat., 2 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 26.

THE NORMAL HEART Larry Kramer’s groundbreaking 1985 AIDS drama, presented by Strawberry Theatre Workshop.

Erickson Theatre Off Broadway, 1524 Harvard Ave., 800838-3006, strawshop.org. $18–$36. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends Feb. 15.

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THE NORTHWEST ORCA CANNERY PRESENTS: DR. THADDEUS Q. BALLARD’S MUSICAL FOLLIES & COMEDY REVUE Ghost Light Theatricals’ neo-vaude-

ville show. The Ballard Underground, 2220 N.W. Market St., 395-5458, ghostlighttheatricals.org. $12–$20. 7:30 p.m.

Thurs.–Sat. Ends Jan. 25.

PETER PAN Broadway Bound’s production, full of energetic young talent. Shoreline Center, 18560 First Ave. N.E., 5265437. $17.50. Runs Fri.–Sun.; see broadwaybound.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan 25.

RICHARD II On Carol Wolfe Clay’s austere set, George Mount’s embattled King Richard II dwindles from a coddled jackass prince to a naked nobody controlling nothing. Forget pathos, director Rosa Joshi goes for cyni-

cal laughs—and the approach does work; perhaps it’s the best way to get a modern audience to connect with the somewhat bureaucratic play. MARGARET FRIEDMAN Center House Theatre, Seattle Center, 733-8222. $25–$48.

7:30 p.m. Wed.–Sat., plus some weekend matinees; see seattleshakespeare.org for exact schedule. Ends Feb. 2.

TEATRO ZINZANNI: HAIL CAESAR: FORBIDDEN OASIS Frank Ferrante returns as the flamboyant, omni-

sexual chef Caesar; slinky Dreya Weber, equally skilled as an aerialist and singer, plays a resurrected Cleopatra.

Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., 802-0015. $108 and up.

Runs Wed.–Sun.; see dreams.zinzanni.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 26. (The radio-themed “On the Air” premieres Jan. 31.)

TRUST ME A new musical about two friends at different boarding schools, produced by Village Theatre’s Kidstage program. Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, 425-392-2202, villagetheatre.org. $16–$18. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.– Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 26.

UPSIDE DOWNTON Jet City Improv’s sendup of a certain PBS costume drama. Wing-It Productions, 5510 University Way N.E., 781-3879, jetcityimprov.com. $12–$15. 8 p.m.

Thurs.–Fri. Ends Feb. 14.

Dance

FREDERICK GRAVEL SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 19.

• GRUPO CORPO This Brazilian troupe “combines the sen-

suality of Afro-Brazilian dance forms, the liquid swing of jazz, and the technical prowess of ballet.” Meany Hall, UW campus, 543-4880, uwworldseries.org. 8 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 23–Sat., Jan. 25.

SHIRLEY JENKINS SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 20.

•

Classical, Etc.

• SEATTLE OPERA Fascist imagery, deco furniture, and

Marie Anne Chiment’s lovely vintage costumes place this Rigoletto in the 1930s. Portraying, grippingly, this corrupt society’s emotional toll is Marco Vratogna as the title court jester—self-loathing in his sucking-up to power, guilt and anguish running through every passionately full-voiced line. As Gilda, the daughter he cherishes and shelters (to a fault), Nadine Sierra sings with a marvelous

lightness, youthful in timbre if mature in body, flexibility, and assurance. The same is true of Francesco Demuro as the Duke, who seduces her. There’s no mistaking the opera’s misanthropic view of human nature. Verdi indicts everyone—nobody in Rigoletto is honest. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall, Seattle Center, 389-7676, seattleopera.org. $25 and up. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Jan. 22, Fri., Jan. 24, Sat., Jan. 25. Ends Jan. 25.

SEATTLE SYMPHONY Marcelo Lehninger conducts symphonies by Mozart and Prokofiev and concertos by Prokofiev and Haydn. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., 215-4747, seattlesymphony.org. $19–$112. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 23, 8 p.m. Sat., Jan. 25, 2 p.m. Sun., Jan. 26.

• SEATTLE CHAMBER MUSIC WINTER FESTIVAL SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 20.

UW CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Haydn and Mozart in a nice

intimate space. Brechemin Auditorium, School of Music, UW campus, 685-8384, music.washington.edu. $5. 7:30 p.m. Fri., Jan. 24.

EXISTENCE HABIT Sonic exploration (voice, electronics, prepared guitar, bass) from this Oregon trio; Seattle’s Bill Horist and Paul Hoskin open. Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave. E., existencehabit.wordpress.com. 8 p.m. Fri., Jan. 24.

TRIO PARADIES Early-romantic music on period instruments. Queen Anne Christian Church, 1316 Third Ave. W., 726-6088, galleryconcerts.org. $15–$30. 7:30 p.m. Sat., Jan. 25, 3 p.m. Sun., Jan. 26.

MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE As part of their “Sparks of Glory” chamber-music series, music by Erwin Schulhoff, Hans Krasa, and others. UW Hillel, 4745 17th Ave. N.E., musicofremembrance.org. Free. 7 p.m. Mon., Jan. 27.

JEFFREY COHAN & JOHN LENTI Music for flute and lute from the age of Louis XV. Christ Episcopal Church, 4548 Brooklyn Ave., 633-1611, salishseafestival.org. $15–$20. 7:30 p.m. Mon., Jan. 27.

MOZART’S BIRTHDAY TOAST Celebrate his 257th with sonatas, arias, and his clarinet/viola/piano trio, plus bubbles and sweets. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 652-4255, townhallseattle.org. $13–$18. 7:30 p.m. Mon., Jan. 27.

INSTEAD OF A music and dance performance from this quartet and special guests (Stuart Dempster, Steve Peters, and others). Chapel Performance Space, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N., 789-1939, waywardmusic.blogspot. com. $10–$15. 8 p.m. Tues., Jan. 28.

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• •

FREE FIRST SATURDAY: YEAR OF THE HORSE Celebrate the lunar New Year by designing your own horse Sumi painting or kick up your heels and enjoy local Kung Fu club Mak Fai! This celebration will also feature live music, more performances, family tours throughout the galleries, and a screening of the Kids Flick My Avatar Horse (Hu Keming and Liu Shen, 2013).

Sponsored by

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1 11 AM–2 PM 1400 E PROSPECT ST

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EV E N T S

PROMOTIONS

arts&culture» Visual Arts

W W W. S E AT T L E W E E K LY. C O M / S I G N U P

TOWN HALL

CIVICS

SCIENCE

ARTS & CULTURE

COMMUNITY

(1/22) Deborah Cohen Overcoming the ‘Obesity Epidemic’

B Y K E LT O N S E A R S

Openings & Events CABLE GRIFFITH & ELIZABETH JAMESON See A&C

(1/23) Max Tegmark A Physicist’s Guide to the Universe (1/23) Erez Aiden Culturomics: Unlocking Culture with Raw Data

A R T S A N D E N T E R TA I N M E N T

(1/24) Global Rhythms Krar Collective with Gabriel Teodros

(1/26) Seattle Festival Orchestra A Winter Concert (1/27) Mozart Birthday Toast

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

Find out about upcoming

performances, exhibitions,

openings and special events.

(1/27) Ishmael Beah ‘Radiance of Tomorrow’ (1/28) Ray Jayawardhana Nailing Down Neutrinos TOWN HALL

CIVICS

SCIENCE

ARTS & CULTURE

COMMUNITY

(1/29) Richard Powers WWW.TOWNHALLSEATTLE.ORG with Nancy Pearl ‘Orfeo’ Women rule in this all new, all original (1/29) modern danceStolen weekend,Youth createdpresents by celebrated Not On Our Watch Seattle choreographer Shirley Jenkins!

Responding to Sex Trafficking Locally

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(1/30) Erik Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee, & Ramez Naam Surviving the Technology Revolution (1/31) Richard Fiske Kilauea: Hawaii’s Most Famous Volcano (2/2) Early Music Discovery Early Music for All: An Intergenerational Sing-Along!

(2/5) McKenzie Funk January 24-26, 2014 | Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center Getting Rich from Climate Change

TICKETS:

$25 general / $20 student & senior ($27/$22 at the door)

DanceJENKINSDance.com or (800) 838-3006

Send events to visualarts@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings = Recommended

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collection, Marking Time, is an ode to Depression-era iconography in collage and bronze sculpture. Robin Layton’s Capturing Energy collects two distinct series of the photographer’s work, one focusing on “of the moment” images, and the other on America’s interest in basketball. Winston Wachter Fine Art, 203 Dexter Ave. N., 652-5855, winstonwachter.com. 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Mon.–Sat. Ends Feb. 21.

QUOTH THE RAVEN This group show functions as a tribute to the darkness and intelligence ravens and crows. A portion of the sales proceeds will go toward corvid research. Krab Jab Studio, 5628 Airport Way S., 715-8593, krabjabstudio.com. 2–5 p.m. Tues. & Thurs.

Ends Jan. 30.

SEATTLE WOMEN’S CONVENTION After SAM’s all-woman exhibit Elles, local artists Susie Lee and Susanna Bluhm, as well as critic Jen Graves, are picking up the conversation a year later. At tonight’s discussion, they will wonder aloud whether or not females are being represented enough, or properly, in the Seattle art world. Hedreen Gallery, 901 12th Ave., 323-9405, seattleu.edu. 6–8 p.m. Fri., Jan. 24.

STEPHEN VITIELLO This media artist and electronic musician presents a free lecture. Henry Art Gallery, 4100 15th Ave. N.E., 543-2280, henryart.org. 7–9:30 p.m.

Thurs., Jan. 23.

TRIGGER/HOUSE/LOVE Trigger, New Dance Happenings, and The Pendleton House team up for a night of music and dance. Lovecitylove, 1430 Summit Ave., lucienpellegrin.com. 8:30 p.m.–1 a.m. Fri., Jan. 24.

Ongoing

• RONALD HALL Hall’s paintings are fun. They brim with

color and humor, looking like the scattered contents of someone’s subconscious. Over here is a guy sawing a watermelon, over there is a house . . . thinking about toilet paper. Hall opts for vibrant pinks and turquoises— neon hues that make his work instantly pop. Despite that bright palette, however, Hall didn’t call his new show The N Word for nothing. Amid the flights of fancy and surreal, cartoonish stylings are heady juxtapositions of race issues past and present. Frederick Douglass is given pink skin; Olivier Le Jeune is pictured in nightmarish slave restraints; a “Missing” poster is transposed over a traditional African mask. In Blind Nation, Barack Obama is even depicted wearing a thorn of crowns with a black censor’s bar over his eyes while the White House explodes in a plume of smoke in the background.

Did his election really launch America into a proud new post-racial era? Not in Hall’s paintings. Gallery4Culture, 101 Prefontaine Place S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 2967580, 4culture.org. 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Mon.–Fri. Ends Jan. 30.

Leaves of Light Art and memorials are inseparable, and some might consider prehistoric funerary rites to be the origin of

BY BRIAN MILLER what we now consider Western art. During her November visit to Tacoma, Los Angeles artist Jennifer Steinkamp was in the awkward position of installing a video, called Shimmering Tree, that was originally created in 2007 as a tribute to her mentor and friend Mike Kelley.

Then he committed suicide in 2012, so the piece now looks to us like a memorial, regardless of Steinkamp’s intent. Filling most of a 35-foot-high wall, her tree runs through four seasons and colors in about eight minutes, swaying in the wind, budding, sprouting leaves and flowers, then shedding them again. Here are the natural cycles that we associate with life and death (and again, art, and other seasonal rituals). The big dark gallery is solemn, like a church; and a table with reference books about Kelley—an avantgardist rarely shown in the Northwest—almost seems an altar. Still, Steinkamp says her tree “is more like a dedication to him, certainly not a representation of him. It’s a piece in honor of

THEFUSSYEYE

BRIAN MILLER

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

(1/30) CISCRP presents Aware for All Clinical Research Education Day

section, page 19, for more on Cable Griffith. Elizabeth Jameson presents a new multimedia exhibit collecting odd leather miniatures of dresses and dunce caps and photos and drawings of gas masked figures. G. Gibson Gallery, 300 S. Washington St. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 587-4033, ggibsongallery.com. Opens Jan. 24.

11 a.m.–5 p.m. Wed.–Sat. Ends March 1.

DAVID MAISEL: BLACK MAPS David Maisel will lecture on his latest photo series, a collection of aerial photographs of environmentally damaged landscapes as a result of human destruction. Photo Center NW, 900 12th Ave., 720-7222, pcnw.org. $10/$8 .embers. 6:30 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 23.

GARY HILL After a residency at the Pilchuck Glass School, Hill has created ALOIDIA PIORM, a mixedmedia installation and glass structure incorporating the artist’s fascination with language and the atomic bomb.

James Harris Gallery, 604 Second Ave., 903-6220, jamesharrisgallery.com. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Wed.–Sat., Ends March 1.

HANK WILLIS THOMAS Question Bridge is a “transmedia art project” that explores the identity of the black male in contemporary culture. Thomas will give a lecture on the project. Photo Center NW, 900 12th Ave., 720-7222, pcnw.org. $10/$8 members. 6:30 p.m.

Wed., Jan. 22.

KATE LEBO On National Pie Day, this local author and pie enthusiast will discuss connections between pie, art, and culture, led by UW professor Anita Verna Crofts. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., 800-335-7323, bookstore.washington.edu. 7 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 23.

DEBORAH FAYE LAWRENCE Dee-Dee Redux is a retrospective of Lawrence’s collage work since moving to Seattle in 1993 featuring Dee-Dee Lorenzo— Lawrence’s alter ego. ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., 938-0339, artswest.org. 1–7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends Feb. 22.

DYLAN NEUWIRTH MMXIV uses neon light to explore today’s digital obsessions. Vermillion, 1508 11th Ave., 709-9797, vermillionseattle.com. 4 p.m.–midnight Tues.– Sun. Ends Feb. 8.

PIPER O’NEIL & ROBIN LAYTON Piper O’Neil’s new

him.” Trees and natural imagery don’t really figure in Kelley’s own work, which often included sex and intimations of violence, sometimes represented with plushies and stuffed animals. (As a musician, he and his band Destroy All Monsters shared a stage with Sonic Youth.) He was a figure associated mostly with the L.A. underground scene of the ’80s, a city boy. Steinkamp’s video tree is artificial, not a representation of anything you’d see in a forest or park; it’s an abstracted, Photoshop creation. Today, says Steinkamp, “It became a memorial, which is peculiar. Funny how that happens.” Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., 253-272-4258, tacomaartmuseum.org. $8–$10. 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Wed.–Sun. Ends Jan. 26.

t of s e b e h t g n i r !

T filte S E W H T NOR

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WITH THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY FEBRUARY 6–9

Brian Stokes Mitchell, known for his Tony Award–winning work on Broadway and his guest-starring role on Glee, returns to Benaroya Hall for a weekend of beloved ballads and romantic music. This is a concert not to be missed.

SEATTLE POPS SERIES sponsored by

International Guest Artist Sponsor

2 0 6 . 2 1 5 . 4 7 4 7 | S E AT T L E SY M P H O N Y. O R G Ticket Office at Benaroya Hall Mon–Fri, 10am–6pm, Sat, 1–6pm

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL

BE

JANGINS . 31

23

arts&culture» Film

Opening ThisWeek

driven to succeed. Any writer who’s ever struggled to meet a petty deadline can only marvel at his stamina and imperviousness to pressure. As the most famous writer of the 19th century, the entire world depended on each new installment of his serialized novels.

But then there was the 19th-century problem of sex. Dickens both had too much of it—producing 10 children with his wife Catherine— and too little, as Claire Tomalin explored in her 1990 book The Invisible Woman. That woman was Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones), Dickens’ much younger mistress for the last dozen years of his life (1812–1870). Does it sound tawdry and inappropriate that Dickens basically pays Nelly’s shrewd actress mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) for this arrangement? There’s something icky about it—one thinks of Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, or of Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn.

An older, powerful man can too easily convince himself that love, not economic necessity, brings a vulnerable teenager to his bedroom at night.

There are many pleasures to The Invisible Woman, and they chiefly have to do with the man and his Victorian milieu. As both director and star, Fiennes loves the scenes of Dickens’ public readings to concert halls full of rapt fans, hanging on his every word. The script, however, by Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady) isn’t very quotable or nuanced, mainly toggling between Nelly’s 1885 present and scenes from her past. (She has to heal, you see, prompted by a sympathetic parson.) Because Ternan as an historical figure left little in the way of a public record, her character feels vague and conjectural; Jones and the filmmakers haven’t got an angle on her. Nelly’s just a fan, a confidante, a lover (it takes over an hour to get to the sex), and finally a scandal to be hidden.

And hide she does. The movie’s basic problem is that it’s bound to end in stalemate and shadow.

Since Dickens squelched the story in his day with a warning letter to the Times, the invisible woman shall remain invisible. She’s never going to have her moment on TMZ like Rielle Hunter.

Yet the psychology of modern filmmaking dictates that Nelly must find closure in her later life.

You may not believe it; but if nothing else, the film will move you toward the bookcase, or Kindle—wherever your copy of Great Expectations is kept. BRIAN MILLER

Rush’s auctioneer is out of his element.

American Promise

24

The Best Offer RUNS FRI., JAN. 24–THURS., JAN. 30 AT SIFF FILM CENTER. RATED R. 131 MINUTES.

There have been better Oscar winners in the foreign-language-film category, but few as beloved as Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso (1988). In the quarter-century since he made that heartwarmer, Tornatore has followed with a hodgepodge of projects, many of them touched with a sentimental or precious spirit—a middling record, which is why it’s intriguing to see him turn to a genre picture. Yes, The Best Offer is a

STEFANO SCHIRATO/IFC FILMS

American Promise begins with serious intent and high expectations. The filmmakers, Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson, set out to chronicle their young son Idris and his schoolmates over a dozen-year period—a process inspired by the remarkable British Up series and, presumably, Hoop Dreams. Only two children stuck with this project, however: Idris and his friend Seun Summers, first seen as they begin grade school at Manhattan’s upper-class Dalton School.

In the early stages, Brewster and Stephenson seem to steer the movie in a willed direction: What will be the challenges for two AfricanAmerican boys at a predominantly white, highachieving school? The Dalton officials seem utterly sincere in their desire to diversify the place, but the challenges are real. Some of them, however, don’t relate at all to race; both Idris and Seun have specific learning issues, for instance.

After some years Seun can’t keep up with Dalton’s standards and opts for a Brooklyn public high school with a mostly black student body.

American Promise is often engrossing in exploring the anxieties and dreams of two young black males as they navigate life, and Idris and Seun are distinctive people. But our view of them is complicated by the camera’s sometimes intrusive presence, and by the uncomfortable fact that Idris is the son of the film’s directors.

Brewster and Stephenson, who frequently appear on camera, push Idris with what appears to be around-the-clock studying. They’re driven people who can’t understand why their oldest son isn’t ambitious in the same way. That makes it hard to decipher the film’s own perspective. What I see are two overbearing parents who are not only projecting their own ambitions onto their kid, but plunking down a camera to capture disappointing or embarrassing moments.

Some questions: Did the presence of the lens more significantly change Idris’ behavior or that of the filmmakers themselves? Might the parents have been a touch warmer and less schoolmarmy if they hadn’t been living their lives for a camera to record? Are they trying to document life as it happens or prove a point? The social portrait of American youth is overshadowed by those troubling aspects. Whatever interesting issues this movie might bring up, the lingering impression is that first and foremost, it might not be a great idea to subject your own child to the distorting lens of the documentary camera. ROBERT HORTON

character study, but it also has a built-in suspense mechanism that leads the writer/director away from his more pretentious tendencies.

Plus, any movie that puts Geoffrey Rush in the central role deserves attention. Rush plays the feared auction-house owner and connoisseur Virgil Oldman, who glides through the highart universe, gavel in hand. (Where exactly this universe is centered is vague; the setting is an unnamed European city where everybody speaks English as common language.) The epitome of class, he’s actually running a tidy scam in plain sight, collecting expensive paintings by underestimating their true worth and using a plant (Donald Sutherland) as high bidder. Virgil, a lifelong bachelor, is drawn into a mysterious relationship with a wealthy young client (Sylvia Hoeks) who needs to sell the treasures from her rambling mansion. She refuses to let herself be seen, but needs Virgil to appraise her belongings, and they carry on an oddly tender communication from opposite sides of a hidden door.

Occasionally he lingers around the place, hidden behind a statue, just to catch a glimpse of her; a lifetime of looking cannot be denied. Meanwhile he surreptitiously gathers odd steampunk gizmos from her basement, and conspires with a local tinkerer ( Jim Sturgess, from Across the Universe) to assemble the pieces of what appears to be a pre-20th-century robot.

Tornatore doesn’t exactly have a light touch (in case we might not fully understand Virgil’s aversion to human intimacy, the character always wears gloves), so the average viewer will see big plot developments hatching from very early on.

Nevertheless, the movie’s a pleasant enough collision of arty eye-candy (pretty locations, secret rooms lined with painted masterpieces) and trash, all goosed along by a cheeky musical score by octogenarian Ennio Morricone. The storyline hangs on a series of unlikely events, but Tornatore’s sheer commitment to the material (every scene is visibly fussed over) makes even random interiors dense with detail. And Rush, an elegant actor who always seems game to mess himself up, gets to play around in his catlike way. He justifies this overdone but enjoyable exercise in fluff.

ROBERT HORTON

G.B.F. OPENS FRI., JAN. 24 AT PACIFIC PLACE. RATED R. 92 MINUTES.

One of the truly underrated acting performances of recent years—in fact it was barely rated at

all—came from Evanna Lynch, astonishing as Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies. I don’t recall ever seeing a screen presence like hers: luminescent, ethereal, played with the most delicate and serene pathos; I am not kidding when I say I think she got screwed out of a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. And now I’m more convinced than ever that Lynch has some kind of greatness in her, because she’s nothing like that as an utterly conventional mean girl in G.B.F. (She apparently needs help picking projects, though.)

The film’s premise is cute: Discovering that gay boys are the latest trendy accessory, North Gateway High’s three queen bees—rich bitch Fawcett (Sasha Pieterse), perky Mormon ’Shley (Andrea Bowen), and Caprice (Xosha Roquemore), who rules the drama department—vie for the friendship of newly out Tanner (Michael J. Willett, with the looks of a baby Matt LeBlanc but not nearly the intellectual gravitas). Also pulling him in different directions are Soledad ( Joanna Levesque), who’s anxious to start a Gay-Straight Alliance but needs, you know, an actual gay; and his own nerd clique, including the flaming Brent (Paul Iacono), miffed at his former sidekick’s new social prominence.

Even by dumb-teen-comedy standards, though, the ratio of jokes that land to those that fall flat is not what it should be. A few troupers show the kids how it’s done, though: Natasha Lyonne’s camp expertise (Die Mommie Die!, But I’m a Cheerleader) gets her a few effortless laughs, and Megan Mullally, as Brent’s ostentatiously supportive mom, contributes one hilarious moment with her deadpan narration of Brokeback Mountain’s tent scene (“Oh, my . . . I guess necessity is the mother of invention”). G.B.F. has its charms, but if Mullally can’t save a gay comedy, it can’t be saved. GAVIN BORCHERT

The Invisible Woman OPENS FRI., JAN. 24 AT SEVEN GABLES AND LINCOLN SQUARE. RATED R. 111 MINUTES.

There’s been a recent vogue to make superheroes out of English literary figures: We’ve had a brawny, brawling Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.), a lethal, gadget-happy Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman), and even Jane Austen as a zombie fighter (not yet filmed, though it probably will be . . . I nominate Emily Blunt for the role). For that reason, it’s a relief to find Ralph Fiennes’ Charles Dickens essentially as we imagine him: vital, human, prolific, charming, flawed,

DAVID APPLEBY/SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

OPENS FRI., JAN. 24 AT SUNDANCE CINEMAS. NOT RATED. 135 MINUTES.

Fiennes as Dickens.

ACAdEmY AwARd NOmINEE ®

best Costume design • miChael o’Connor

Raze RUNS FRI., JAN. 24–THURS., JAN. 30 AT GRAND ILLUSION. NOT RATED. 87 MINUTES.

Ordinarily, one would expect that a cult-movie blend of Game of Death and Kafka featuring women in a tournament of hand-to-hand fighting would be an automatic winner. Well, some people would expect that. Alas, Raze falls short of exploitation expectations, delivering its bucket of blood without revving up the necessary drivein craziness.

The women in question have been kidnapped and are being held in a mysterious set of windowless chambers. Their captors make it known that if the women fail to fight to the death when they are paired in individual combat, their loved ones at home will be hurt. (After a round robin, one winner will survive and, supposedly, be released.) Between battles, the women exchange dialogue about outsmarting this system, but director Josh C. Waller is more interested in plunging straight into the bare-knuckle action than in complicating his concept. Our root-

“ONE OF THE BEST PICTURES OF THE YEAR!”

ing cameo that you might very easily not catch, given the muddy look of everything). Sorry, but this would not pass muster on the second half of a 1970s drive-in double-bill, which really ought to be the litmus test here. ROBERT HORTON

kenneth turan, los angeles times todd mcCarthy, hollywood reporter manohla dargis, the new york times

THE IN VISI BLE WOMAN based on the book by Claire tomalin

written by abi morgan direCted by ralph Fiennes

Tokyo Waka

exClusive engagement

CheCk theatre direCtories or Call for showtimes

starts Friday, January 24

RUNS FRI., JAN. 24–THURS., JAN. 30 AT GRAND ILLUSION. NOT RATED. 63 MINUTES.

Seattle is unusually well-provided with both crows and crow experts. The UW’s John Marzluff is a national expert in the corvid field (and, with illustrator Tony Angell, co-author of In the Company of Crows and Ravens). Local author Lyanda Lynn Haupt penned an untutored backyard appreciation in her more recent Crow Planet. And given all the YouTube videos starring those brainy, feathered beasts, it should be expected that there are now crow documentaries.

John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson visited Tokyo for more than five months to film interactions between man and crow, and their observations are charming if not terribly novel.

www.sonyclassics.com

ViEw THE TRailER www.THEinVisiBlEwomanFilm.com

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Bell dishes out some punishment.

IFC MIDNIGHT

Yes, crows have adapted easily to our urban environment of fast-food scraps and easily punctured trash bags. Yes, they deposit walnuts at traffic intersections for our tires to crack. And yes, they create tools to help feed themselves. We in Seattle know that, because we’re surrounded by clever crows of a different family. (The Japanese birds are jungle crows, with a beefier beak—almost like a raven’s—and more pronounced brow; they’re less sleek and a little more brutish than our Northwest flocks.)

“They can eat anything,” says one admiring ornithologist. A Shinto priest sees in the crows’ consumption of Tokyo’s bagged garbage “the ruins of desire.” Yet that city has waged war on these well-adapted scavengers, and we watch them being smothered to death in plastic bags (a cruel yet fitting irony). Tokyo Waka is nowhere near so winning or thorough as The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, but there are some nice grace notes—like nests made out of plastic hangers.

If the Japanese can’t manage their trash and recycling properly, crows are doing it for them.

(Samuelson will conduct a Q&A following the 7 p.m. Friday screening.) BRIAN MILLER E

film@seattleweekly.com

(877) 784-4849 January 13 Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

January 27 Pandora’s Box

February 3 Peter Pan

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SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

ing interest lies with Sabrina (Zoë Bell), if only because she genuinely regrets the business of killing off her opponents. The same can’t be said for the Richard Sherman of the group, bigtalking Phoebe (Rebecca Marshall), a bombshell who professes to enjoy the nastier parts of the dilemma.

They, and we, get a few glimpses of the overlords of this most dangerous game. They’re played by Doug Jones, the spindly mime usually seen beneath alien makeup or replaced by computer-generated creatures (he was Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies), and Twin Peaks veteran Sherilyn Fenn. Bell makes a grim protagonist; the strapping Aussie is a longtime stuntwoman and the star of Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, part of the 2008 Grindhouse double-bill. Her blue-collar authenticity goes partway toward selling this unadorned situation, but the action gets repetitive and numbing pretty early on. A possible inspiration, the 2005 Georgian film 13 Tzameti, had a sinister network of cross-purposes and dark social comment to keep it aloft as it explored a similarly violent nightmare. Raze doesn’t come near that level of unease, and can’t even gin up any big surprises (save for one cast-

STGPRESENTS.ORG

25

arts&culture» Film

BY BRIAN MILLER

Local & Repertory SHOWTIMES

JANUARY 24 - 30

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AUDIENCES WILL BE CHARMED.“

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– GARY KRAMER, GAY CITY NEWS OFFICIAL SELECTION

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SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

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fight that bonds its two male leads, and that clichéd metascene is the inspiration for David Fincher’s dark, gleefully incoherent 1999 comedy Fight Club, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Office drone Edward Norton receives his first beating from Brad Pitt, along with a whole nutty philosophy of male liberation—but just ignore it with the other manifestoes. Fincher employs an elliptical structure of multiple flashbacks and fantasy sequences, digressing frequently to prowl the sordid details with slo-mo computer-generated camera trickery. Early on, Norton compulsively attends disease survivor support groups— without being sick himself. It’s a fresh, funny, fast-paced beginning, and the next two acts do sag by comparison.

(Not unlike Norton’s buddy Meat Loaf, for that matter.)

Helena Bonham Carter barely dignifies her klepto-nympho role, but Fincher makes better use of the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind?” on the soundtrack. (R) BRIAN MILLER Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684, centralcinema.com, $6-$8, Jan. 24-29, 9:30 p.m.

IN A WORLD... SIFF contines its Monday night “Recent Raves!” series with Lake Bell’s accomplished 2013 comedy, her debut feature. Carol Solomon (Bell) is a voice nerd, fascinated by the accents she covertly tapes with her ever-present Dictaphone, yet her career is confined to voice coaching, not doing voiceovers for movie trailers, her family trade. When her widowed father Sam (Fred Melamed) kicks her out of the house to make way for a young new girlfriend (Alexandra Holden), he condescendingly tells Carol, “I’m going to support you by not supporting you.” Implicit in his rebuke is that women, with their higher voices, have no place in his manly profession. Then the couch-surfing Carol catches a break at a recording studio run by amiable Louis (Demetri Martin).

Everything that transpires among Lake’s players is predictable, but in a pleasant, breezy way. In a World… plays like an overstuffed sitcom, with Carol’s wacky friends and neighbors dropping in for brief, effective bits (these include Nick Offerman, Rob Corddry, and Tig Notaro).

It’s a knowing industry satire, but not a mean industry satire. Bell doesn’t write the conflicts, easily resolved, or characters any deeper than they need be—save for the imperious yet fragile Sam. Some may recall the wonderful Melamed, an actual voiceover artist, from the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man. His Sam is sexist, sure, but also a wounded bundle of pride whom Carol must somehow nudge off his voiceover throne. (R) B.R.M. SIFF Film Center, (Seattle Center), 324-9996, siff.net, $6-$11, Mondays, 7 p.m. Through Feb. 24.

SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER Local film appreciation group The 20/20 Awards presents this 1993 chess drama, written and directed by Steven Zaillian and based on the book by Fred Waitzkin about his own chess prodigy son. (PG) Grand Illusion, 1403 N.E. 50th St., 523-3935, grandillusioncinema.org, $5-$8, Thu., Jan. 23, 6:30 p.m.

SILENT MOVIE MONDAYS Organist Jim Riggs will provide live accompaniment for G.W. Pabst’s 1929 Pandora’s Box, starring Louise Brooks as a prostitute who refuses to bend to social convention. You could call it a fallen woman melodrama, only Lulu never displays the slightest remorse or guilt for her scandalous succession of lovers (she seduces half the family of her eventual newspaper publisher husband). After all her sinning (which paralleled Brooks’ public life), that Lulu has to die seems not a moral punishment but kind of validation of a life lived without fear of risk or consequence. She chooses Jack the Ripper like any other lover. (NR) B.R.M. The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 877-784-4849, stgpresents.org, $5-$10, Mondays, 7 p.m. Through Feb. 10.

•

•

THE SPROCKET SOCIETY’S SATURDAY SECRET MATINEES The 1949 serial Batman & Robin will be

screened in weekly installments. January’s surprise features will have a superhero theme. (NR) Grand Illusion, $5-$8 individual, $35-$56 pass, Saturdays, 2 p.m.

Through March 29.

THE THIRD MAN Orson Welles stars in Carol Reed’s wonderfully atmospheric 1949 adaptation of Graham Greene’s The Third Man. Some people say that Welles exerted his influence on the picture over director Reed, but that’s unfair to the British pro. His use of skewed camera angles, Vienna’s labyrinthine sewers (shot on location), and great zither score (by Anton Karas), makes Welles’ Harry Lime only one part of a dark canvas of corruption. Joseph Cotton plays the innocent Yank who can’t believe his old pal is involved in underworld drug dealing and murder. When the two of them meet for the famous Ferris wheel scene, his eyes are opened to how

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even upright Americans can turn rotten in the right milieu (always a favorite Greene theme). Comparing the revelers below to ants, Lime asks, “Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money?”

(NR) B.R.M. Central Cinema, $6-$8, Jan. 24-29, 7 p.m.

UMBERTO D Is this the greatest dog movie ever made? I don’t care how clever Lassie or Toto or Rin Tin Tin or Asta may have been, Flag is the dog for me. The little mutt is also the life force that keeps an impoverished pensioner clinging to his dignity in Vittorio De Sica’s 1952 neorealist classic, screened as part of SAM’s The Golden Age of Italian Cinema retrospective. Carlo Battisti plays the aged former civil servant being threatened with eviction by his heartless blond floozy of a landlady. Some kind of Jack Russell terrier mix plays Flag, and they’re an unbeatable team. Umberto sells his books to make the rent and buy dog food, while Flag proves stoically willing to panhandle when his master is too ashamed. Four years after The Bicycle Thief, De Sica is still unsparing in his indictment of Italy’s postwar poverty and selfishness. The old social safety net of family and village is gone, and it’s everyone for himself. Thank God Umberto still has Flag. (NR) B.R.M. Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3100, seattleartmuseum.org, $63-$68 (series), Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Through March 13.

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Ongoing

• AMERICAN HUSTLE The latest concoction from David

O. Russell is full of big roundhouse swings and juicy performances: It’s a fictionalized take on the Abscam scandal of the late 1970s, in which the FBI teamed with a secondrate con man (here called Irving Rosenfeld, played by Christian Bale) in a wacko sting operation involving a bogus Arab sheik and bribes to U.S. congressmen.

Along with the FBI coercing him into its scheme, Irving is caught between his hottie moll Sydney (Amy Adams) and neglected wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence). Even more complicated for Irving is that one of the targets of the undercover operation, a genially corrupt yet idealistic Jersey politico (Jeremy Renner), turns out to be a soulmate. Equally unhappy is the presiding FBI agent (Bradley Cooper, his permed hair and his sexual urge equally curled in maddening knots), who’s developed a crush on Sydney that is driving him insane. Russell encourages his actors to go for it, and man, do they go for it. If this isn’t a great movie, and it’s not, it sure is a fireworks display. The movie’s fun to watch, if seemingly untethered. It would be nice to be able to avoid comparing it to vintage Scorsese, but the ricocheting camera and syncopated use of pop songs do seem awfully familiar, and just a little ersatz. (R) ROBERT HORTON Sundance, others HER Spike Jonze’s unlikely romance is set in a smooth, efficient near-future Los Angeles. There are no poor people, no upsetting stories on the news. Technology works perfectly. Everyone ought to be happy, and that’s the problem for mopey Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix). Gradually it emerges that he’ separated from his wife (Rooney Mara), but won’t sign the divorce papers. Impulsively deciding to upgrade his phone and home PC, Theodore opts for the new OS1 ( “It’s not just an operating system, it’s a consciousness”). He chooses a female voice (Scarlett Johansson’s) called Samantha, which soon takes over his life. Before long they’re going on dates together—and more. (Meanwhile, Sam is evolving at a startling rate; “Tell me you love me,” she implores.) When Theodore finally spills his secret, his friend Amy (Amy Adams) treats it like no big news—everyone’s falling in love with an OS, she tells him. In this ingenious and unexpectedly touching story, both humans and programs worry about being alone. And both yearn to connect across the digital divide between sentience and software. (R) B.R.M. Majestic Bay, Sundance, others INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS While there are funny bits in this simple story of a struggling folk musician in 1961 Greenwich Village, very loosely inspired by Dave Van Ronk’s memoir The Mayor of MacDougal Street, the situation for Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is fairly dire. He has no money, no apartment, and no real prospects in the music industry—apart from an album that isn’t selling.

He’s the wrong guy at the right moment, as the movie’s poignant final scenes make clear. The Coen brothers aren’t really making a comedy here, and you should temper your expectations to appreciate the movie’s minor-key rewards. Isaac can really sing and play guitar; the sterling soundtrack, by T Bone Burnett, is built around live music performances; and the catchiest tune—an astronaut ditty called “Please, Mr. Kennedy”—is a knowingly cornball novelty song. But Llewyn’s a jerk to fellow musicians and benefactors, rude to his sister, and dismissive of others’ talent—possibly because he’s unsure of his own. Idealism has made Llewyn cynical. As a man, Llewyn is a selfdescribed asshole offstage; he’s only at his best onstage.

If music can’t save him or provide a career, it’s also his

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FILM

Bowling for Geeks

W

e Seattleites often pride ourselves on being smarty-pants.

Not only have we been ranked one of the smartest metropolitan areas in the country by business magazine Fast Company, but we’re home to Ken Jennings, the trivia mastermind who holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy! at 74 games in a row. I’d like to think Jennings isn’t an anomaly. Maybe it’s all the coffee and salmon we consume (sciBY TERRA CLARKE OLSEN entists have noted that both are good for your brain), or maybe we’re just an information-hungry city (ranking near the top of every “Most Literate Cities” poll).

Regardless of how we get our smarts, one thing is for sure—we’re a trivia-obsessed city.

There are endless trivia competitions in and around Seattle, catering to know-it-alls and casual researchers alike. In a few short days, a few locals will have the chance to prove that the Northwest tops the trivia ranks when five teams from the area head south to compete in Geek Bowl VIII on January 25 in Austin, Texas.

Geek Bowl is the national championship of Geeks Who Drink, the well-known pub-quiz organization that hosts trivia nights in more than 35 area venues. Held at Austin’s Moody Theatre, the bowl will be an epic battle of wit among 200 teams, with copious amounts of alcohol and entertainment. And the stakes are sort of high.

Local teams Village Idiots, Adios Mother Fuckers, Smells Like Geek Spirit, Dam Yu Syphilis, Jr!, and Force Choking the Chicken will be competing for bragging rights and a chunk of the $10,000 in cash prizes (first place wins $6,000).

As anyone who’s played trivia knows, a random and broad range of knowledge is necessary.

Luckily, our teams are a diverse bunch. Smells Like Geek Spirit counts among its members a Starbucks barista who dominates Broadway musicals and a Google engineer with a commanding knowledge of ’80s pop. Chad Smith— attorney, adjunct professor, and the “old guy” expert (science, politics, and all things ’80s) of Village Idiots—notes his teammates’ wide-ranging backgrounds (from musician to bartender) and interests, which helps cover their bases.

A diverse team makes a strong team, but preparation is also key. Algorithms engineer Andrew “Rif ” Hutchings, Smells Like Geek Spirit’s resident Hungarian-literature and non-Euclidean geometry expert, has been advising the rest of the team to “put down the young-adult novels and read grown-up books.” But you also need confidence when fighting the clock and self-doubt.

Smith forewarns that “90 percent of the time, the first answer you think of is your best answer.”

If you find yourself in Austin, you can buy tickets to watch the event live—otherwise keep an eye out for videos posted on the Geeks Who Drink YouTube channel. And if you think you’ve got what it takes, look for a Geeks Who Drink trivia night near you. E

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only succor against life’s crushing disappointments. (R) B.R.M. Harvard Exit, Sundance, others NEBRASKA Whether delusional, demented, or duped by a sweepstakes letter promising him $1 million, it really doesn’t matter about the motivations of Woody (the excellent and subdued Bruce Dern). What counts is the willpower of this cotton-haired, ex-alcoholic Montana geezer. His son David (Will Forte, surprisingly tender) becomes the enabler/Sancho Panza figure on their trek to Nebraska, where Woody expects to get his prize.

There is a lifetime of regret and bad parenting to reveal in Alexander Payne’s black-white-movie, which makes it sound more bleak than it is. There’s both comedy and pathos as Woody makes his triumphant return to Hawthorne, en route to the sweepstakes office in Lincoln, Nebraska. Supposedly a prospective millionaire in his old hometown, he’s a big shot at last, grander than his bullying old business partner Ed (Stacy Keach). If the locals mistakenly gush over Woody’s good fortune, and if his own ridiculous family, the Grants, come begging for riches, he enjoys the acclaim. Also visiting Lincoln is Woody’s wife, the movie’s salty truth-teller. Kate (June Squibb, a hoot) cheerfully defames the dead, ridicules Woody’s lottery dreams, and gives zero fucks about offending anyone. With its mix of delusion, decency, and dunces, Nebraska is a little slow for my taste but enormously rewarding in the end, one of the year’s best films.

(R) B.R.M. Guild 45th, Harvard Exit, others THE SQUARE Jehane Noujaim’s documentary is both timely and behind the current news cycle. And that’s not to fault the Egyptian-American filmmaker’s brave, total, immersive commitment in a fluid and sometimes dangerous situation. She spent over two years following the protests and battles at Tahrir Square, which erupted in January 2011. No one, including her, had any idea where events would lead. Her perspective is mostly groundlevel, following a half-dozen charismatic revolutionaries, some of whom speak English. One of Noujaim’s cameramen, Ahmed, is a central figure in the protests, making speeches, debating skeptics, and tossing stones at the police. He’s the one closest to the Arab Street, and we can see him grow exhausted from the cycle of taking the square, being beaten back, and returning months later. The initial euphoria eventually runs into a brick wall called the Muslim Brotherhood. The Square’s granular approach makes it a very partisan doc. Noujaim is on the side of the revolutionaries—who wouldn’t be?—without ever trying to summon a thesis from all the exhilarating, power-to-the-people process of revolution. To be fair, that may be impossible. Her film is an invaluable chronicle of an historic moment. (NR) B.R.M. Sundance 12 YEARS A SLAVE English director Steve McQueen’s harrowing historical drama is based on a memoir by Solomon Northup (here played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free man from Saratoga, New York, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841. Solomon passes through the possession of a series of Southern plantation owners. One sensitive slave owner (Benedict Cumberbatch) gives Solomon—a musician by trade—a fiddle. Then he’s sold to the cruel cotton farmer Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), who also owns the furiously hard-working Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o). Patsey, like Solomon, is caught inside the terror of not knowing how to play this hand.

Do they keep their heads down and try to survive, or do they resist? This is no Amistad or Schindler’s List, tackling the big story, but a personal tale. Instead of taking on the history of the “peculiar institution,” the film narrows itself to a single story, Solomon’s daily routine, his few possessions. The film’s and-then-this-happened quality is appropriate for a memoir written in the stunned aftermath of a nightmare. Along the way, McQueen includes idyllic nature shots of Louisiana, as though to contrast that unspoiled world with what men have done in it. The contrast is lacerating. (R) R.H. Guild 45th, others THEATERS: Admiral, 2343 California Ave. SW, 938-3456; Ark Lodge, 4816 Rainier Ave. S, 721-3156; Big Picture, 2505 First Ave., 256-0566; Big Picture Redmond, 7411 166th Ave. NE, 425-556-0566; Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684; Cinebarre, 6009 SW 244th St. (Mountlake Terrace)., 425-672-7501; Cinerama, 2100 Fourth Ave., 448-6680; Crest, 16505 Fifth Ave. NE, 3636339; Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St., 523-3935; Guild 45th, 2115 N. 45th St., 547-2127; Harvard Exit, 807 E. Roy St., 323-0587; iPic Theaters, 16451 N.E. 74th St. (Redmond), 425-636-5601; Kirkland Parkplace, 404 Park Place, 425-827-9000; Lincoln Square, 700 Bellevue Way N, 425-454-7400; Majestic Bay, 2044 NW Market St., 781-2229; Meridian, 1501 Seventh Ave., 223-9600; Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380; Oak Tree, 10006 Aurora Ave. N, 527-1748; Pacific Place, 600 Pine St., 888-262-4386; Seven Gables, 911 NE 50th St., 632-8821; SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Queen Anne Ave. N., 324-9996; SIFF Film Center, Seattle Center, 3249996; Sundance Cinemas, 4500 Ninth Ave NE, 633-0059; Thornton Place, 301 NE 103rd St., 517-9953; Varsity, 4329 University Way NE, 632-6412.

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the big gig: 6 speeds, lo to hi SAT/JANUARY 25 • 8PM

kim virant and gerald collier SUN/JANUARY 26 • 7:30PM

cheryl wheeler w/ jill cohn TUE/JANUARY 28 • 7:30PM

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happy hour every day • 1/22 daniel rapport trio • 1/23 tekla waterfield • 1/24 supersones / joe doriatrio•1/25shadybottom•1/26thebrianleetrio•1/27crossrhythm session • 1/28 singer-songwriter showcase featuring: judd wasserman, whitney lyman and the lotus vellum • 1/29 brad gibson group TO ENSURE THE BEST EXPERIENCE · PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY DOORS OPEN 1 HOUR PRIOR TO FIRST SHOW · ALL-AGES (BEFORE 9:30PM)

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arts&culture» Music

More Than Vernon

SevenNights E D I T E D B Y G W E N D O LY N E L L I O T T

Volcano Choir is more than the sum of its parts— one of which happens to be the leader of Bon Iver.

Wednesday, Jan. 22

BY PATRICK HUTCHISON

night—in which your favorite top-40 hit (providing that hit isn’t “Call Me Maybe”) gets a bluegrass treatment as you belt it out—keeps gaining popularity. Or at least Nectar keeps devoting more nights to the event, which is now a weekly affair. So go try your hand at Snoop’s “Gin and Juice” as Dre’s beats are plucked out on a mandolin. Nectar Lounge, 412 N. 36th St., 632-2020, nectarlounge.com. Free. 21 and over. DANIEL PERSON DARKSIDE isn’t the type of band that will reveal its master plan right away. Everything the Brooklyn duo does is shrouded in darkness and hushed bass lines.

One moment band members Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington are enveloped in electronic soundscapes; the next they’re wallowing in funky grooves. The music is always building up to something, but whatever sinister act they’re concocting remains mysterious.

With High Water, Nordic Soul. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, neumos.com. 8 p.m. $20 adv. 21 and over.

DUSTY HENRY

KARAOKEGRASS, Nectar Lounge’s live-band karaoke

Thursday, Jan. 23 CAMERON WITTIG

“We let things sit, build them up, and break them down again . . . We could do it faster, but it wouldn’t be for the correct reasons.”

Send events to music@seattleweekly.com.

See seattleweekly.com for full listings.

Wrangling the technical side has always been a

challenge for Volcano Choir, whose first album, Unmap, wasn’t performed live until an experimental set of shows in Japan in 2009. “That was really when we realized we wanted to move forward with this,” recalls Wincek. Over the next few years, members Chris Rosenau, Jon Mueller, Daniel Spack, Matthew Skemp, Vernon, and Wincek slowly pieced together the tracks for Repave. (Andy Fitzpatrick joins the lineup for their live shows.) “We let things sit, build them up, and break them down again,” Wincek says.

“We could do it faster, but it wouldn’t be for the correct reasons.”

Seattle may be their last stop, but Wincek says this tour certainly won’t be their last. With new songs already in the works, he anticipates Volcano Choir will continue to grow, right along with each member’s individual projects. Ever evolving, always together. E

music@seattleweekly.com

VOLCANO CHOIR The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 682-1414, stgpresents.org. $21.50 adv./$25 DOS. 8 p.m. Sat., Jan. 25.

Friday, Jan. 24

After putting out a well-received 7-inch on local label Good to Die, DEADKILL is ready to unleash its first full-length, No, Never!, on the world tonight. Full of all the old-school, early-’80s, punk-influenced tunes the band has established in its tenure, the new record is a step forward in both song structure and production.

With Dust Moth, Rookery, Into Violence. Chop Suey.

9 p.m. $8, 21 and over. JAMES BALLINGER The songs on PATTERSON HOOD’s third solo album, 2012’s Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance, were conceived as part of a novel/album combination the Drive-By Truckers leader began writing on tour. The novel part never got finished, but the songs did; and though Lightning isn’t essential, Hood’s body of work is, and any chance to see him sing is a chance worth taking. With Michel Stegner & Keith Lowe. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-4618, thecrocodile.com. 5:30 p.m. $20. All ages. DAVE LAKE YUCK Originally from London, this indie-rock outfit underwent some major changes in 2013. In addition to losing founding member and front man Daniel Blumberg, the group recorded and released its sophomore effort, Glow & Behold, to much acclaim. And while the lineup change definitely prompted new sonic dimensions, the fuzzy, garage-rock vibes remain—even if they’re a bit more polished this time around. Neumos. 8 p.m. $13 adv. 21 and over. KP DJANGO REINHARDT’S BIRTHDAY Spend an evening honoring the man widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz guitarists. The Greg Ruby Quartet and Ranger and the “Re-Arrangers” with Michael Horowitz are going to have their work cut out for them duplicating some of the most intricate music ever recorded. The Royal Room, 5000 Rainier Ave. S., 906-9920, theroyal roomseattle.com. 9 p.m. Free. CR

Wild Cub

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

A mashup of three Wisconsin bands (the other two are All Tiny Creatures and Collections of Colonies of Bees), the seven-member ensemble is a professional collaboration shot though with friendship and mutual respect. “It’s funny how few people realize that about us,” says keyboardist and technical maestro Tom Wincek over the phone from the tour that will end at the Neptune Theatre this Saturday.

Listening to each individual band’s albums— Bees’ Customer and Giving; Creatures’ Harbors; and Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago and Bon Iver, Bon Iver—chronologically is like listening separately to the instruments that make up a symphony. They come together on Repave: Bon Iver’s dramatic haunts, Creatures’ bluesy riffs, and Bees’ weird, layered sounds. The results can be dramatic, with pounding percussion and breath-taking pauses; delicate, with acoustic guitars carefully plucking out melodies; and straightforward, loud, in-your-face rock, electric

guitars blaring over Vernon’s falsetto cries. As Wincek puts it, “Sometimes all you wanna do is just rock the fuck out and be able to affect people in that way.”

But these musicians don’t make noise for noise’s sake. The slamming rock chords are just as important as any of the blips of sound layered beneath—and there are a lot of blips. “Some tracks literally have as many as 100 audio layers,” explains Wincek, talking about how to translate that sound live. “Each one of them has to come through just a few computers and be orchestrated perfectly.” I ask him if he ever worries about screwing it up. “Jesus, yes,” he says, as I hear him knock on wood.

WILL MORGAN HOLLAND

F

or fans of Grammy-winning indieacoustic royalty Bon Iver, Volcano Choir’s latest, Repave, is a satisfying listen: Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon’s falsetto vocals are strung consistently enough throughout the album that fans can lose themselves in it. But—and I say this as a feverishly dedicated Bon Iver fan—those who appreciate this band only for its lead vocalist are truly missing a lot of fantastic music.

Last year was a great one for ROBERT DELONG—he was named an “artist to watch” by MTV and Billboard and had high-profile shows at Coachella and SXSW. The multi-instrumentalist brings his melodic brand of EDM back to Seattle in the middle of his winter West Coast tour. With Mystery Skulls, Zoolab. Barboza, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9951, thebarboza.com. 9 p.m. $18. Also Fri., Jan. 24. MICHAEL F. BERRY DTCV Though James Greer’s stint in Guided by Voices was short (playing on only two albums 20 years ago), that band’s post-punk tenacity carries over to his new project, DTCV. Vibrant guitar hooks growl beneath Guylaine Vivarat’s entrancing vocals. Sweet melodies over bright distortion: a suitable mixture for a nostalgia trip to the ’90s. With Tangerine, Charms. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 324-8005, chopsuey.com. $7 adv./$10 DOS. 8 p.m. 21 and over. DH NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALLSTARS Since 2000, the Dickinson brothers and Chris Chew have managed to release an astonishing 10 studio albums, the most recent being last year’s World Boogie Is Coming. The Allstars are nothing if not consistent, and have all along stayed true to their folk/Americana/blues repertoire. Showbox at the Market, 1426 First Ave., 628-3151, showboxonline.com. 8 p.m. $20. CORBIN REIFF At 85, in defiance of Father Time, BURT BACHARACH continues to record and perform at a rate that would

give people a quarter of his age fits. With his smooth vocal delivery and gentle piano phrasing, he remains an icon to many, and has yet to lose a step. 37500 S.E. North Bend Way, Snoqualmie, 425-888-1234, snocasino. com. 7 p.m. $40. CR Formed in early 2012 by songwriter/composer Keegan DeWitt and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Bullock, Nashville-based quintet WILD CUB caught the attention of Seattle music fans last summer with a breakout set at the Capitol Hill Block Party. That’s where the indie-pop sweethearts first stole our hearts, delivering a dancy mix of ’80s-inspired synth-pop from their debut LP Youth. Unfortunately, getting hands on said debut, released in the UK last August, was a bit of a challenge for those stateside. Thankfully, the 15-track deluxe edition (featuring two brand-new bonus songs, “Blacktide” and “Lies”) will see a wide release through Mom+Pop on Jan. 21—just in time for the show.

Spanning the gamut of new wave, tropical, and neosoul sounds, the group is eclectic—and energetic, to say the least. Adding to the excitement, this show will also serve as a celebration of Wild Cub’s Jan. 21 debut on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. With Hands. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599, tractortavern. com. 8 p.m. $12. 21 and over. KEEGAN PROSSER

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arts&culture» Music God’s Favorite Birthdays Monday, January 27

J

Join us in the Trophy Room for Happy Hour: Thursday Bartender Special 8-Close Fridays: 5-8pm RESERVE THE TROPHY ROOM FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT!

udging from his breathtakingly bitter lyrics to “Goodbye Honky Town,” Drew Keriakedes did not find Florida a particularly congenial environment to grow up in: “The South is a mouth which feeds on the bottom of a slough . . . Yer children will murder you when they git bigger . . . I’ll be the one with the hatchet grinning.”

The Northwest was more to his taste; here, under the stage name Shmootzi the Clod, he explored roots music’s macabre, carny side— Greil Marcus’ “old, weird America” incarnate. He found an ideal home in Seattle alt-circus troupe Circus Contraption, which he joined as the band’s frontman; there he met Joe Albanese —”Dexter Mantooth” in the Circus and Meshuguna Joe in

the side project they launched together, God’s Favorite Beefcake. An unflappable bassist who anchored the CC band for the decade the troupe was together, the quiet Albanese stayed largely out of the limelight, while Keriakedes developed an act—sword-swallowing, forks up his nose, and other geekery—for the Circus’ “Show to End All Shows,” which, sadly, did, in 2009. Shmootzi’s songs added something new and distinctive to the CC aesthetic: a nostalgic pathos that cut to the bone with the simplest musical means, often in waltz time, sometimes gospel-flavored; coupled with the off-kilter weirdness of his stage persona, they could be devastating. They’ll be even more so at tonight’s birthday celebration of the music he and Albanese—both killed in the May 31, 2012, Cafe Racer shootings—made together: an “informal sing-along of Joe and Drew’s music, and a chance to hang out and raise a glass.” Cafe Racer, 5828 Roosevelt Way N.E., 523-JAVA. 9 p.m. GAVIN BORCHERT

Shmootzi—a devastating songwriter with a carny soul.

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Saturday, Jan. 25 Apathy can still be catchy. POSSE’s self-titled debut record was defined by surfy reverb and post-punk vibes. The (living) spirits of Frank Black and Stephen Malkmus loom over the band’s sound, with vocalists Sacha Maxim and Paul Witmann-Todd singing with nonchalance and making the music accessible to other disenchanted indie rockers. With Neighbors, Koda Sequoia, Swamp Meat. Blue Moon Tavern, 712 N.E. 45th St., 675-9116, bluemoonseattle.wordpress.com. $6. 9 p.m. 21 and over. DUSTY HENRY Since forming in 1988, New Orleans sludge-metal legends EYEHATEGOD have been through more than any band should: overdoses, lineup changes, jail, hurricane Katrina, and the untimely death of founding member and drummer Joey LaCaze last August. After recruiting Melvins drummer Dale Crover to play a one-off show and tribute to LaCaze last year, the band chose to carry on with new drummer Aaron Hill from NOLA’s Missing Monuments and Mountain of Wizard.

While this was no doubt a tough decision, Eyehategod is moving forward with plans for a new full-length, recorded before LaCaze’s passing—a testament to the band’s ability to dust off, strike back harder than ever, and continue to prove itself a true force in heavy music. Between the downtuned, slow-as-molasses riffs and vocalist Mike Williams’ crazed yelling, the group has influenced hundreds of bands by now.

With Graves at Sea, Deathraid, Wilt. The Highline, 210 Broadway E., 328-7837, highlineseattle.com. 9 p.m. $20 adv. 21 and over. JB On July’s Damien Jurado–produced Swift Arrows, singer/ songwriter/critical darling SHELBY EARL lets her life experience shine through while her soulful voice tells stories of struggle, growth, and hope—all backed by a

band that features members of Hannalee plus a choir of pals that includes Kris Orlowski and Say Hi’s Eric Elbogen. This show celebrates the release of Swift Arrows on (pink!) vinyl. With Smokey Brights, the Local Strangers. Tractor Tavern. 9 p.m. $10. 21 and over.

AZARIA C. PODPLESKY With its own debut album in the works, VAUDEVILLE ETIQUETTE will bring its blend of indie folk, rock, and country twang to one of the ’70s’ classic albums, Rumours. Performing Fleetwood Mac’s most successful release in its entirety, the Ballard-based band is sure to have many swaying dreamily. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880, sunsettavern.com. 9 p.m. $8. 21 and over. MARGERY CERCADO

Sunday, Jan. 26

1000 ORIGAMI VAGINAS BENEFIT “An ancient

Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes in a year will be granted a wish . . . ” So what if one were to fold, say, a thousand vaginas? What then? Well, they’d be raising money for cervical cancer, that’s what. Learn to fold and “vagazzle” origami naughty bits for a cause, or drink beer while others do. Live music to follow from Taxidermy Western, Buffalo Stagecoach, and others. Lo-fi Performance Gallery, 429 Eastlake Ave, E., 254-2824, thelofi.net. 4 p.m. Free benefit/$6 cover for live music.

21 and over. JESSIE MCKENNA It’s hard to forget the YING YANG TWINS, the Atlantabased hip-hop duo that made waves in 2000 with “Whistle While You Twurk,” and followed that with a feature on Lil Jon’s high-school dance anthem “Get Low,” among others. The Twins’ formula is simple: gritty delivery, tinny dance beats, and lyrics that you wouldn’t dare repeat in front of your mom (even as an

adult). Oh, and the intent to party. With Dan Valdes, D Menace, B. Cole. Nectar Lounge. 9 p.m. $15 adv./2 for $25 adv./$20 DOS. 21 and over. KP Known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics, JOSH RITTER may have released his most emotional, thoughtful collection of songs in 2013 in his post-divorce The Beast in Its Tracks. This intimate show will find the accomplished singer/songwriter and guitarist playing an all-acoustic set. With Gregory Alan Isakov. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 682-1414, stgpresents.com. 8 p.m. $25.50 adv./$28 DOS. All ages/ bar with ID. KP Since announcing his departure from Bone Thugs-NHarmony in August, LAYZIE BONE has been recording a solo album and growing a business venture, Harmony Howse Entertainment. The few singles he’s dropped won’t disappoint BTNH fans, and it appears that his former bandmates support his new projects.

With Dirtay + Capriccio. Neumos. 8 p.m. $15. MFB

Tuesday, Jan. 28

A bill of pop-punk’s best midsized bands ought to have no problem filling El Corazon’s lounge tonight. Headlining is Oklahoma City’s RED CITY RADIO, which combine the Jawbreaker/Hot Water Music style of gravelly vocals with Bad Religion’s three-part harmonies.

Two Red Scare Records bands, who each put out good records last year, also appear: Elway and Direct Hit! With Success, Poke Da Squid. El Corazon Lounge,

Colin Meloy and John Roderick

Wednesday, January 22

H

ow many floppy-haired, bespectacled, NPRadored, guitar-playing, indie-folk songwriters can you get onto one bill? Well, maybe only two, but it’s still a great pairing. (Where is Jonathan Coulton when you need him?) Decemberists leader Meloy, who hasn’t released an album with that band since 2011, concludes his first solo tour in five years with this stop in Seattle. Meloy is celebrating this tour, as he has previous ones, with a new covers project: a series of EPs, available only at the shows, that has included Morrissey, Shirley Collins, and Sam Cooke. Meloy had trouble deciding whom to cover for this installment, so he chose randomly by throwing something at a group of records he was torn between. He ended up recording Colin Meloy Sings the Kinks.

In addition to some covers, Meloy will play new material, which will eventually make up a new Decemberists record. “I’ll probably try

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109 Eastlake Ave. E., 262-0482, elcorazon.com. 8 p.m. $10 adv./$12 DOS. All ages. DL Twelve years ago, it looked like “country rap” was going to be a thing. In 2001, Bubba Sparxxx was scoring unlikely hits spitting lyrics from his tractor. And then came NAPPY ROOTS, who in 2002 released the best-selling rap album of the year with Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz, featuring infectious bangers about rural black life. Whether country rap’s sudden popularity had something to do with America’s post-9/11 embrace of everything from the heartland is too big a question to answer here, but suffice to say the genre and the artists who championed it did not have much staying power throughout the aughts. Newer Nappy songs can sound like an inspirational speaker’s script as the group recounts the emotional peaks and valleys that come with going from multiplatinum to has-been (the takeaway: Don’t abuse Jack Daniels). But it still has an ear for a great beat, and Skinny DeVille still has one of the best flows in the game. With the Staxx Brothers.

Nectar Lounge. $12. 21 and over. DP John Stirratt and Pat Sansone are most known for their work in experimental alt-country outfit Wilco, but their work in THE AUTUMN DEFENSE shows the two are perfectly capable of crafting indie-pop tunes on their own. Impeccable Americana hooks and soulful crooning show the duo as a polished act, not just a side project. With Hand of the Hills, Lowlands. Tractor Tavern. $15. 8 p.m. 21 and over. DH

to throw in more deep cuts,” Meloy told Rolling Stone in November about the set list. “Just because I feel like the people that come out to the solo shows tend to be that 10 percent of die-hard Decemberists fans that know all the weird songs we recorded in two minutes in 2004 and put on a Kill Rock Stars B-side.” During his Decemberists hiatus, Meloy has penned two fantasy children’s novels: The Wildwood Chronicles, both of which his wife, Carson Ellis, illustrated, and which were both New York Times best-sellers. (The third will be released in February.)

Joining Meloy on the last four shows of the tour (the first leg featured Eleanor Friedberger) is local luminary John Roderick of The Long Winters, who has also found success as a writer, for years as a Seattle Weekly columnist. Though he’s been less active as a solo artist of late, he’s continued to collaborate and produce, and recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of The Long Winters’ seminal When I Pretend to Fall with a series of special shows, including one at this very venue. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 682-1414, stgpresents.org. 8 p.m. $30. All ages. DAVE LAKE

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PETER WHITE THURS, JAN 23 - SUN, JAN 26

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109 Eastlake Ave East • Seattle, WA 98109 Booking and Info: 206.262.0482

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23

HAPPY HOUR

SONS OF THE SOUND

SEATTLE WEEKLY • JAN UARY 22 — 28, 2014

with Audentia, Sin Cicus, brotherinferior, plus guests Doors at 7 / Show at 7:30PM All Ages/Bar W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS

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Mike Thrasher Presents:

with Stick Figure, Seedless and Valley Green Doors at 6:30 / Show at 7:30PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $17 ADV / $20 DOS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 25

CALABRESE with Dead Bats

The Expendables After Party Featuring Live Music From:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24 Mike Thrasher Presents:

EMERY with The Classic Crime, The Wild Life, Peace Mercutio and

Shoreline Drive. Doors at 6:30 / Show at 7PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $16 ADV / $18 DOS

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24 The Emery After Party Featuring Live Music From:

SUBJECT TO DOWNFALL Lounge Show. 21+. FREE.

Music Begins immediately after the conclusion of the Emery show in the main showroom.

LocaLReLeases Gem Club, In Roses (out January 28, Hardly Art, iamgemclub.com) Judging by its component parts, In Roses seems pretty simple, but the final product is much more complex. Utilizing just piano, cello, and vocals, Gem Club weaves together one delicate story after another. Singer/pianist Christopher Barnes’ falsetto is reminiscent of those of Tom Krell (How to Dress Well) and Justin Ringle (Horse Feathers), while singer Ieva Berberian’s airy lilt adds a bit of elegance to each song and cellist Kristen Drymala contrasts the album’s ambient lightness with a sonorous heft. There’s a somber beauty in the Massachusetts-based trio’s music, a sound also heard on its 2011 debut album Breakers. The two albums share a tone that’s somehow both melancholic and hopeful; and yet In Roses, Gem Club’s first with Berberian, is more sonically expansive. Whereas the songs on Breakers don’t stray too far from a single tempo, those on In Roses do, while also playing with subtle crescendos and sweeping melodies.

Gem Club’s strength lies in knowing when to highlight each piece of its ensemble. At times, near the end of “First Weeks” or album-closer “Polly,” for example, Barnes and Berberian step aside as vocalists to let the piano and cello intertwine to create a reflective mood. At others, during “Soft Season,” for instance, vocals take center stage, as Barnes and Berberian show how well their voices blend over soft piano notes.

Here too there is a subtle difference: While the lyrics maintain a reflective quality, that reflection moves from an inward focus on Breakers to a relationship focus on In Roses. All these subtle changes between the two albums show that Gem Club is comfortable in its genre, unafraid to experiment. AZARIA C. PODPLESKY

PR OMO TI ON S

AR T S AN D E N TE R TAI N ME NT THE EXPENDABLES

SATURDAY, JANUARY 25

THURSDAY, JANUARY 23 Society, HadesMachine and Raw Dogs Lounge Show. Doors at 7 / Show at 7:30PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS

arts&culture» Music

PERFECT BY TOMORROW Lounge Show. 21+. FREE.

Music Begins immediately after the conclusion of The Expendables show in the main showroom.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 26

THE PERSEVERING PROMISE

with Projections, Equal Ruins, plus guests Doors at 7 / Show at 7:30PM All Ages/Bar W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS

MONDAY, JANUARY 27

SELF DEFENSE FAMILY with Silver Snakes, Creative Adult and

Where My Bones Rest Easy Lounge Show. Doors at 7 / Show at 7:30PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $10 ADV / $12 DOS

JUST ANNOUNCED 2/15 LOUNGE THE EPILOGUES 2/27 T. MILLS 3/2 MIDDLE CLASS RUT 4/13 KR / ALEX WILEY 4/18 SEVENDUST (ACOUSTIC) 4/19 THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN 5/30 METALACHI

UP & COMING 1/28 THE TOASTERS 1/28 LOUNGE RED CITY RADIO 1/29 LOUNGE OH DEAR! 1/30 LOUNGE ACIDIC 1/31 DAVID ALLAN COE 1/31 LOUNGE ULTRA BIDE’ 2/3 KID SLIM 2/6 THE MENZINGERS 2/6 LOUNGE NEO GEO 2/7 LOUNGE ICARUS THE OWL 2/8 SUPER GEEK LEAGUE 2/9 MICHAEL SCHENKER 2/10 BREATHE CAROLINA 2/11 FALLING IN REVERSE 2/12 LOUNGE MICHAEL DEAN DAMRON 2/13 REHAB

Tickets now available at cascadetickets.com - No per order fees for online purchases. Our on-site Box Office is open 1pm-5pm weekdays in our office and all nights we are open in the club - $2 service charge per ticket Charge by Phone at 1.800.514.3849. Online at www.cascadetickets.com - Tickets are subject to service charge

The EL CORAZON VIP PROGRAM: see details at www.elcorazon.com/vip.html and for an application email us at info@elcorazonseattle.com

Girl Trouble, Hit It or Quit It (out now, K Records and Sub Pop, subpop.com) Tacoma has made countless contributions to the Northwest’s history, culture, and punch lines—from the famed aroma to Ted Bundy.

Musically, we have the City of Destiny to thank for Bing Crosby, Neko Case, Jerry Cantrell, and the Sonics, to name just a few. But for a sound that defines the perpetual underdog city to the south, we need look no further than one band with one distinctive lo-fi garage-rock sound. Back in 1988, before grunge was a household term and Seattle had covered the world in flannel, shirtless lead singer KP Kendall, madman guitarist Kahuna, back-beat drummer Bon Von Wheelie, and mysterious bassist Dale Phillips gave birth to Girl Trouble’s debut LP, Hit It or Quit It, a co-release from K Records and Sub Pop. While Girl Trouble never saw the success some of its contempo-

raries did—much like the town the band has so proudly claimed for three decades—the record is a gritty, quintessentially Tacoman masterpiece that still holds a place in rock annals, and not just because it was Sub Pop’s first full-length LP. Now, a quarter-century later, it’s being rereleased by K and Sub Pop, a nod to the past for an endearing record that’s, surprisingly, just as searing as the moment it was pressed. Opening with “Wrecking Ball,” careening into “Hot Monkey Love” and “Riverbed,” and riding a Northwest surf-rock wave through “Where’s the Loser,” Hit It or Quit It—recorded mostly live, and probably produced for the price of a case of Oly—captures a band at its finest and a town at its truest. Bonus tracks “White Lightning” and “Shakin’ All Over” only sweeten the deal for music buffs. Thirty years after their first show, Girl Trouble may not be famous and may still practice in the same shed, but there’s no denying the indelible mark these Tacomans made on Northwest music history. Respect.

MATT DRISCOLL

Jeremy Jay, Abandoned Apartments (out now,

K Records, krecs.com) In “Covered in Ivy,” California-born, London-based Jeremy Jay sings “Settle down/ Hole up for the winter.” Based on the sense of isolation of Abandoned Apartments, it’s safe to say Jay has taken his own words to heart. His voice echoes slightly throughout each of the album’s 10 tracks, making it sound like he recorded it—his fifth full-length on K Records following 2011’s Dream Diary—alone in an empty room (an abandoned apartment, perhaps?) rather than a proper studio. Other lyrics, like “Footsteps in a darkened street/Colors fading fast” from opener “Sentimental Expressway,” add to the isolation. It’s not until the addition of guitar and percussion at the end of “Covered in Ivy,” the second track, that Abandoned Apartments’ sound begins to fill out. Yet Jay continues to express the lonely vibe through a variety of sounds, from “Sentimental Expressway” ’s dark synths to the bluesy “I Was Waiting” (which features a few bits of spoken word about carrying memories in bottles and having difficulties traveling to California) to “Far and Near,” with its groovy bass line. Abandoned Apartments has a much darker, goth tone than Jay’s previous releases, especially compared to Dream Diary.

At times a few elements become muddled and obscure Jay’s lyrics, and there’s a rough quality to his vocals, almost as if he decided to use each first take no matter what. It’s not a bad choice; it just makes the album seem a little incomplete. Looking at his varied discography, it’s difficult to predict how Jay’s music will evolve, but judging by Abandoned Apartments, a darker sound has definitely become part of his repertoire. AZARIA C. PODPLESKY

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arts&culture» Why Are We ‘Saving Medical Marijuana’ Again?

T

o an outside observer not involved in the fight, it must seem curious how often the cannabis community has to “save medical marijuana” in Washington state. Why is it that Washington politicians, from Gov. Inslee on down, have started to define the state’s 15-year-old medical-marijuana law as an “unregulated”

BY STEVE ELLIOTT problem?

And why did patient groups just spend two more days in Washington lobbying (and trying to educate) legislators?

While I can’t definitively tell you why lawmakers just can’t seem to leave the medicalmarijuana law alone, I can point to one huge

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the bill’s original language, including portions establishing the right to patient collective gardens, under which Washington’s current dispensaries operate.

The legally complex underbrush left behind is what medical-marijuana advocates still must struggle through, and is the reason that this community must fight a seemingly endless battle to preserve patient access in the face of the implementation of recreational legalization and its attendant shutdown of patient collectives—at least, if the legislature decides to follow the Liquor Control Board’s recent recommendations.

Rep. Eileen Cody’s HB 2149 follows, almost to the letter, the board’s recommendations. SB 5887, sponsored by Sens. Rivers, Tom, and Litzow, isn’t much of an improvement.

Governor Inslee on the phone with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Aug. 29.

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But there’s another, better, medicalmarijuana bill, HB 2233, sponsored by Reps.

Sherry Appleton, Luis Moscoso, Roger Freeman, and Jessyn Farrell. This bill, which has been assigned to the House Health Care & Wellness Committee, would finally provide arrest protection to any MMJ patients who have a recommendation from a physician, without the need to join a state registry (as is required in Cody’s bill). It would also protect patient collectives that procure a simple business license from the state, and would leave unaltered the current 24-ounce, 15-plant limit for patients.

Will the compelling testimony from people like Ryan Day—the Thurston County father of a 5-year-old boy, who told the Health Committee (at a hearing for Rep. Cody’s bill) that the bill’s proposed three-plant limit just wouldn’t provide enough medicine to make the oil which helps stop his son’s seizures— make a difference? I hope so. E

tokesignals@seattleweekly.com

Steve Elliott edits Toke Signals, tokesignals.com, an irreverent, independent blog of cannabis news, views, and information.

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factor in the confusing mess that it’s become in Washington: former Gov. Chris Gregoire’s lineitem veto of much of SB 5073 three years ago.

That bill—approved by the legislature and sent to Gregoire’s desk, where it was eviscerated—would have expanded safe, legal access to medicinal cannabis and finally would have extended arrest protection to medical-marijuana patients in Washington state.

Gregoire, citing fears of state employees getting busted for administering the medicalmarijuana program (which has never happened in any state), vetoed almost all the significant portions of SB 5073. And yet the Governor struck sections which would have formally legalized medical-marijuana dispensaries (which had operated in a “gray area”) and provided arrest protection for patients (the 1998 law provided only an “affirmative defense” through which patients could get marijuana charges dismissed in court).

The governor left in a few meager scraps of

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Employment Computer/Technology Senior Account Manager-Electrical Systems for avionics electronics solutions company responsible for managing business development, revenue growth, profitability and account management for international projects for avionics electrical systems including managing account activity, business portfolio and client service for assigned accounts; coordinating strategies for increased sales of products and services; establishing quality and project delivery standards, preparing account specific retention strategies and plans; forecasting and identifying key parameters for profitability; overseeing project team and defining expectations and managing contract arbitrations and validating project action plans. The position requires a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering and 5 years experience in the job duties as stated or alternatively a Master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering and 5 years experience as a Project Manager overseeing international project management of avionics electrical systems. The position is located in Seattle, WA with 30% travel. Send resume to Thales Avionics, Inc., Attn: HR, 140 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08854. Please indicate SCM in subject line.

Apartments for Rent King County

Abandoned Vehicle Auction City Wide Towing

Studio in Ravenna for rent $750 206-441-4922

14045 Midvale Ave. N. Seattle, WA 98133 January 31st 25th, 2014 10AM Preview 2 Hours Before 2000 Toyota Rav 4 1980 Jeep Pickup

WA Misc. Rentals Rooms for Rent

(206) 364-7070

Real Estate for Sale Pierce County Federal Way

2 Bedroom, 2 Bath manufactured home. Located at Bel Mor Park Golf and Country Club.

1500 Square feet. New deck, large kitchen, large living room, dining room.

Master bedroom with bath. $6,950 or best offer. 206-335-1223 or 206-795-6495 Real Estate for Rent King County

2 BR DUPLEX FREE LAUNDRY BASIC UTIL. INCL. Easy commute to Seattle or airport. Call for rents & details

206-947-1316 (after 3p)

ALGONA

2 BR: MOUNT RAINIER View duplex! Features garage, fresh paint, refurbished & all new appliances! Near Supermall & Freeway. $1,000 per month, first, last & damage dep. No pets.

Purchase $219,950. Call 253-293-8817.

BURIEN

Greenlake/WestSeattle $400 & up Utilities included! busline, some with private bathrooms • Please call Anna between 10am & 8pm • 206-790-5342

U-DISTRICT $450-$550 All Utilities Included!

Call Peir for more info (206) 551-7472

3 BEDROOM Rambler.

Washer, Dryer.

New Carpets. Fenced Yard.

Close to Schools and Shopping. $1400 month, first, last. $1000 damage deposit. Call: 206-3919082

A+ SEASONED FIREWOOD

HCG Weight Loss Plan Works Lose Weight Fast, 20-30lbs/mo Call Today 1-888-541-9754

Dry & Custom-Split Alder, Maple & Douglas Fir

Speedy Delivery & Best Prices!

Prestige Cemetary Plot, Sunset Hill Memorial in Bellevue.

Garden of Heritage Section, Last Plot Available. Valued at $22,000 Sell for $19,500 425-312-5489

Professional Services Music Lessons

1994 MARTIN D-28 Acoustic Guitar with original case. In excellent condition. Aged like a fine wine! $1850. Call: 360-520-5702

GUITAR LESSONS Exp’d, Patient Teacher. BFA/MM Brian Oates (206) 434-1942

Home Services Handyperson

PROMPT - RELIABLE Home Repair. All phases. Senior Discount.

Call Peter 203-314-9274 (Local) PETERB*860BG Lic’d/Ins.

Miscellaneous

We buy broken and unwanted cars pay up to $700.00

206-941-1857

Find it, rent it, buy it, sell it...Call classifieds today (206) 467-4364

WE ARE SCHEDULING INTERVIEWS FOR DIRECT MARKETING REPS

TUKWILA $550 MONTH. Your own private living room, bedroom, bath. Private Entrance. Sink, fridge and counter area plus free TV. View, off street parking. Own parking place. Laundry on-site. Large quality home.

Employed with steady income.

References and deposit required. No Smoking, No Pets. 1 Adult Only. 206-246-4700 or 206-243-4171 Evenings.

As a Marketing Rep for TLC4Homes Northwest Inc. you will help Generate Leads for Arborists employed by Evergreen Tree Care Inc. Our Arborists Provide Home Owners Free Estimates and Free Safety & Health Inspections for Tree & Shrub Trimming, Pruning & Removal Services. We Provide Paid Orientation, Marketing Materials, Areas to Work and Company Apparel.

Announcements

Reps AVERAGE $30,000-$60,000/ YEAR Generating Leads for Tree Work.

Help us Keep Trees Safe & Beautiful! The Tree Industry can provide you steady year round work.

FOR YOUR HEALTH LAURIE LMP #MA00014267 (206) 919-2180

Work Outdoors- Year Round Work.

Set your own schedule- Work Part time or Full time.

Travel, Cell Phone, Medical Allowance Available.

We do require a Vehicle, Driver’s License, Cell Phone & Internet Access in order to be considered for our Position.

Lost

FILL OUT OUR ONLINE APPLICATION AT: WWW.TLC4HOMESNW.COM

NORTHEND MASSAGE

OR EMAIL RESUME TO RECRUITING@TLC4HOMESNW.COM CORPORATE RECRUITING DEPT. FOR SNOHOMISH, KING, PIERCE, KITSAP & THURSTON COUNTY 855-720-3102 EXT. 3304 OR 3308

MUSIC

W W W. S E AT T L E W E E K LY. C O M / S I G N U P

PR O M O T I

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MISSING DOG - LOGAN. Missing since August 10th from Auburn area. Sightings in Kent and Bellevue. Mini Blue Merle Australian Shepherd. Very scared and skittish.

Please call Diane at 253-486-4351 if you see him. REWARD OFFERED.

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instagram.com/

Musical Instruments

425-312-5489

Cemetery Plots

WA Misc. Rentals Want to Share

W EEK LY

Sport Utility Vehicles Suzuki

WANTED: SUZUKI Samuri, soft or hard top.

4WD, 5 speed, any condition!

Private buyer.

Cash in hand! Dan, 360304-1199, brennan.dan44@gmail.com

University District 3 bedroom apts available for rent.

206-441-4922 9am–2pm

Firewood, Fuel & Stoves

Beauty & Health

weekly list of the top drink specials right in your area.

- Activism - Culture - Dispensaries - Legalization - Legislation - Medical - News - Products & More

SEATTLE WE EKLY • JANUARY 22 — 28, 2014

Seattle Weekly, one of Seattle’s most respected publications and a division of Sound Publishing, Inc. is seeking an Outside Advertising Sales Consultant. This position will be responsible for print and digital advertising sales to an eclectic and exciting group of clients. Applicants should be hardworking self-starters, competitive, outgoing and goal- oriented. The ideal candidates will demonstrate strong interpersonal skills, both written and oral, and have excellent communications skills; must be motivated and take the initiative to sell multiple media products including on-line advertising and special products, work with existing customers and find ways to grow sales and income with new prospective clients.

Sales experience necessary; Print media experience is a definite asset.

Must be computer-proficient with data processing and spreadsheets as well as utilizing the Internet. Position requires use of personal cell phone and vehicle, possession of valid WA State Driver’s License and proof of active vehicle insurance. We offer a competitive salary (plus commission) and benefits package including health insurance, paid time off (vacation, sick, and holidays), and 401K (currently with an employer match.) Parking is also provided. If you meet the above-noted qualifications and are interested in working for the leading independent newspaper publisher in Washington State, then we want to hear from you! Email us your cover letter and resume to:

The Daily Herald, Snohomish County’s source for outstanding local news and community information for more than 100 years and a division of Sound Publishing, Inc. is seeking a Marketing Coordinator to assist with multi-platform advertising and marketing solutions of print, web, mobile, e-newsletters, daily deals, event sponsorships and special publications as well as the daily operations of the Marketing department.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to the coordination, updating and creation of marketing materials across a range of delivery channels, social media, contesting, events, house marketing, newsletters and working closely with the Sr. Marketing Manager to develop strategies and implement the marketing plan. The right individual will be a highly organized, responsible, self-motivated, customer-comes-first proven problem-solver who thrives in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment with the ability to think ahead of the curve. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package including health insurance, paid time off (vacation, sick, and holidays), and 401K (currently with an employer match.)

If you meet the above qualifications and are seeking an opportunity to be part of a venerable media company, email us your resume and cover letter to

Auto Events/ Auctions

35

ACTIVIST JOBS! Work with Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. to: • Protect our Civil Liberties • Fight for Reproductive Rights • Fight for LGBT Rights • Defend a Woman’s Right to Choose

Earn $4800-$8000 for Spring

Full-time/ Part-time/ Career. Call Aaron at 206-329-4416

Classified

Call

@ 206-623-6231, to place an ad

Do you have PTSD and want to STOP using alcohol or cut down to a safe level of drinking? Volunteers are needed for the APT Study examining two different types of treatment for people who have both alcohol problems and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Compensation up to $483.

Call the APT study at 206-543-0584.

Experience the Power of Oxygen Call or text Alex (206) 707-6959 Fremont Clinic in Seattle Singing Lessons FreeTheVoiceWithin.com Janet Kidder 206-781-5062

Seasonal Allergies? Are you allergic to Pollen, Weeds, Food or have other allergies?

Earn $100 for each qualified plasma donation. Call Today! 425-258-3653

www.plasmalab.com

HAPPYHAULER.com Debris Removal • 206-784-0313 • Credit Cards Accepted!

PAKALOLO MEDICAL AUTHORIZATIONS YOUR LEGALLY DEFENSIBLE RECOMMENDATION

PAID FOR UNWANTED CARS & TRUCKS

$100 TO $1000

7 Days * 24 Hours Licensed + Insured

ALL STAR TOWING

425-870-2899

MOST CASH PAID 4 GOLD JEWELRY 20%-50% MORE 24/7 CASH 425.891.1385

WWW.KIRKLANDGOLDBUYER.COM WANTS TO purchase minerals and other oil & gas interests. Send details to P.O. Box 13557, Denver, Co 80201

W W W. S E AT T L E W E E K LY. C O M / S I G N U P

$

Find it, rent it, buy it, sell it...

OPEN ON SATURDAYS (1) Original Patient Watermark aka “green card” (1) Original Designated Provider Watermark 24 HOUR VERIFICATION WEBSITE 360-275-2004 Located in AVOID STRONG OPIATES Belfair

Call classifieds WE E K LY today

80Flat Fee

DINING

AND BARBITUATES

Alternative Therapies, for pain, all qualifying conditions a healthier means of achieving your goals.

Classified Ads Get Results!

$ TOP CASH $

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER (206) 467-6231 The inside scoop on features, columns and reviews.

W E E KLY VA seeks adults with D I N I NG W W W. S E AT T L E W E E K LY. C O M / S I G N U P schizophrenia and adults without schizophrenia for a research study investigating how genetics may affect the development of schizophrenia.

• Participants should be age 18-65 with no current drug or alcohol problems.

• Participants will be paid $15/hour for their time and provided lunch.

Please call: 206-277-1163

FILM

HAP

FILM NEWSLETTER

The inside scoop on upcoming films and the latest reviews.

ADOPTION

Devoted, nurturing, loving gay couple in Seattle, looking P R O Meducation, O T I O N S fun, E N TaSfamily offering M US IC first babyE Vinto to adopt travel, laughter, and unconditional love and support.

Call, TEXT, or email anytime about Kyle & Adrian; 971-238-9651 or kyleandadrianfamily@gmail.com or visit kyleandadrianadoption.com

ITY H A P P Y H O UR CONFRONTING INF ILEQ M U IN HIGHER EDUCATION

W W W. S E AT T L E W E E K LY. C O M / S I G N U P

AR T S AN D E N T E R TAI N M E N T

ADEMIC LABOR SYMPOSIUM ON CONTINGENT AC

Adjuncts and Contingents Together Washington/SEIU Local 925 and The Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies invite adjunct and contingent faculty at private universities to join an action oriented forum on academic labor practices, how they reflect social inequity, and the growing contingent faculty response.

DINING

Saturday, January 25 9:30am - 5pm UW Seattle RSVP at www.actogetherwa.org

W EEK LY

MUSIC

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MUSIC NEWSLETTER The inside scoop on upcoming shows and the latest reviews.