FEBRUARY 4-10, 2015 I VOLUME 40 I NUMBER 5
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WORKERS’ RIGHTS SPREAD» PAGE 5 PORKING A PIG: THE BEST THING ON TV » PAGE 19
FEAR & LOATHING IN LEGAL TERRITORY
Michael A.Stusser goes deep into the marijuana revolution. Page 8
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inside» February 4–10, 2015 VOLUME 40 | NUMBER 5 » SEATTLEWEEKLY.COM
»5
news&comment 5
RIGHTS ON THE LEFT BY MATT DRISCOLL | Labor issues
gain traction in Tacoma and Olympia. Plus: a grave dispute, and a UW prof helps laymen decipher Congress.
8
CANNABIZ
BY MICHAEL A. STUSSER | Now that
pot’s legal, who’s profiting and who’s having to readjust?
food&drink
15 COOKSTARTER
BY PATRICK HUTCHISON | A program sets up new Seattleites in the food industry. Plus: a shout-out for STOUT. 15 | FOOD NEWS 15 | THE WEEKLY DISH 18 | THE BAR CODE
arts&culture 19 SHOCK VALUE
BY SEAN AXMAKER | Why Black
Mirror is the best thing on TV right now.
19 | THE PICK LIST 21 | OPENING NIGHTS | Inspired by
Cervantes and Shakespeare. 22 | PERFORMANCE 23 | VISUAL ARTS
OPENING THIS WEEK | S&M, financial
fraud, Oscar shorts, and a very patient mom. 26 | FILM CALENDAR
27 MUSIC
BY GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT | Two
women have fun with a tired Willie. Plus: Nacho Picasso’s blue period. 30 | THE WEEK AHEAD
Editor-in-Chief Mark Baumgarten EDITORIAL Senior Editor Nina Shapiro Food Editor Nicole Sprinkle Arts Editor Brian Miller Music Editor Gwendolyn Elliott Editorial Operations Manager Gavin Borchert Staff Writers Ellis E. Conklin, Matt Driscoll, Kelton Sears
31 | CLASSIFIEDS
»cover credits
ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC LARSEN CORRECTION
In the article “Valentine’s Day Dinners” in our January 28 issue, we stated that the fee for a couples’ cooking class offered by Blue Ribbon Cooking School was $155 per couple. The correct fee is $155 per person. SW regrets the error.
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news&comment
On the March
Ask a Smart Guy John Wilkerson
The success of workers’-rights activists in Seattle has bred a wave of imitators across the country. Now Tacoma is following the lead and Olympia isn’t far behind.
BY SHAWN PORTER
BY MATT DRISCOLL
A
SHAWN PORTER
It all started here.
KYU HAN
Outside the Target store in Tacoma on the Saturday before the Super Bowl, two signature gatherers battled the elements and the occasional scoff to follow in Seattle’s footsteps in another way. They aim to place an initiative on the ballot to raise Tacoma’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, and were gathering the John Hancocks needed to do so. To anyone who followed Seattle’s march toward a minimum-wage hike, the scene and playbook are familiar. Buoyed by the emergence of Socialist Alternative star Kshama Sawant, 15Now used the threat of a ballot initiative—like the one passed in SeaTac in 2013—to spur Seattle lawmakers to action on the minimum wage, resulting in an historic ordinance passed last June. While Tacoma’s Mayor Strickland says the City Council doesn’t have “immediate plans” to take up the issue, it’s not hard to foresee a similar initiative forcing her city’s hand. Strickland admits it’s a possibility. Rest assured the similarities are no coincidence. As Ty Moore, a national organizer for 15Now, points out, since last spring regional chapters of 15Now, which got its start in Seattle, have popped up in more than 25 locations across the country, including Portland, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Boston. While smaller and less organized, Tacoma is one of these. In one way or another, activists in these cities are all using a minimum-wage game plan crafted here. “As national attention developed in Seattle, more and more people began discussing how we spread the fight,” Moore says. “A number of chapters kind of sprung up in late spring and summer. We’re using Seattle as a model, but adapting to the different locations. . . . In Tacoma we’re in discussions with them over
what exactly the ballot initiative should look like, but that’s absolutely happening.” As with the paid-sick-leave movement, the minimum-wage victory in Seattle is also being felt in Olympia this session. Newly elected Sen. Pramila Jayapal (D-Seattle) was a key member of Mayor Ed Murray’s minimum-wage task force. As the former executive director of OneAmerica in Washington, she was also involved in supporting SeaTac’s minimum-wage ballot initiative. On the third day of the session this year, Jayapal, along with state Rep. Jessyn Farrell (D-Seattle), dropped legislation that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 over the next four years (and tie the wage to the consumer price index after that). Jayapal points out that a poll conducted by Heart Research earlier this year showed overwhelming support for a significant increase in the minimum wage across the country—even in red states—and that here in Washington, her $12 legislation is likely “a lot more reasonable” than what voters might enact at the ballot box. Sound familiar? That’s by design. “We have a lot of fodder, I would say, and we have the messages. We have the model for forming a coalition of small business and labor and community—that full model of organizing support,” says Jayapal, only days after Working Washington, the group of activists who in 2013 spearheaded fast-food strikes that kicked off Seattle’s minimum-wage movement, was out in force during a committee hearing for the House of Representatives’ version of the minimum-wage bill. “It wouldn’t be hard to mobilize the same kind of support across the state should we need it,” she continues, “if the state legislature fails to act.” E
mdriscoll@seattleweekly.com
JEREMY DWYER-LINDGREN
the take-away » Tough Lessons From That Stupid Super Bowl So the Seahawks lost the Super Bowl in excruciating fashion. Perhaps you heard. But instead of wallowing in the misery, here are three undeniable lessons the big game—and its fall-out—taught us. 1. Only narcissistic tools record themselves watching football and then post their “crazy” reactions online. Don’t be a tool. 2. Play-by-play commentary doesn’t work on Facebook. Three days later we are still being reminded of the hope that we carried into the final minute on our news feeds. Until Facebook fixes its algorithm to disappear all in-game posts when the game clock hits 0:00, please stop mucking things up with heat-of-the-moment “Touchdown!!” or “OMG Horrible call!!” posts. 3. In times like these, perspective is important. Losing sucks, but overall this season was a blast.
L
ast month, two University of Washington political geeks were honored by Communication Arts for a program they developed called Legislative Explorer. The big-data project attempts to demystify the byzantine federal lawmaking process by showing how every single bill moves (or doesn’t) through the U.S. Congress. Using a graphic interface easy enough for Atari 2600 users to master, Legislative Explorer gives a livelier view of our donothing Congress. We spoke with the brains behind the cool new tool, Professor John Wilkerson. Where did the idea for Legislative Explorer come from? The physical sciences use visualiza-
tions to explore massive data sets. So what we thought was maybe we can take the same idea and apply it to political sciences. The general public’s view of the legislative process is basically the Schoolhouse Rock view, right? This is an alternative to that.
You wrote that “Americans understand the legislative process in terms of a ‘one size fits all’ linear narrative.” So what is that narrative?
The narrative is that these individual members of Congress are coming up with ideas and then they’re introducing a bill and they’re sort of serving as a shepherd trying to move their individual bill through the process.The reality is the legislative process is a lot more complex than that. How do you mean? Well, for example, there’s a miscellaneous omnibus trade bill, where the leaders of the committees are saying we’re going to do a trade bill, and so they send out a call inviting members to introduce bills to propose suspensions of duties on specific things. So what you see is all of a sudden 600 bills are introduced by members and being referred to 45 committees. I wasn’t even aware of that process before Legislative Explorer because it’s hard to see in a table. But you look at it visually and fwoom, all this stuff happens. And what happens to those bills? They all die. But the Ways and Means Committee reports out a single bill which has bundled all of them into it, and that becomes law. Congress. But then if you use Legislative Explorer and you look at what’s happening, you’ve got 10,000 bills being introduced to 45 different committees, not to mention the subcommittees, so there’s all of this activity happening there. I don’t think the public appreciates that complexity, and Legislative Explorer gives people an opportunity to see that. E
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
packed City Council meeting in Tacoma last week was the latest proof that the fight for workers’ rights has begun to take a firm foothold beyond SeaTac and Seattle. On the docket was a paid sick- and safe-leave ordinance two years in the making. While Seattle passed its paid-sick-leave ordinance back in 2011, ensuring that full- and part-time workers in the Emerald City would be able to take time off with pay when they got sick or a family member fell ill, the politics of such a move have proven more challenging in Tacoma. It required finesse, in other words. As Mayor Marilyn Strickland tells it, when the idea first surfaced—thanks in no small part to timely prodding from a group of citizen activists called Healthy Tacoma—the City Council “maybe had one vote” in favor. By last week, the Tacoma City Council had been moved to approve its paid-sick-leave ordinance. Though nearly five hours of heated debate preceded it, the final tally wasn’t even close, with only one vote against. The law will take effect in early 2016. “Seattle’s economy is roaring at an unprecedented pace. I think we took an approach that was more unique to our situation,” Strickland tells Seattle Weekly. “I think any movement takes time for people to wrap their minds around it.” What we are witnessing is a movement. By passing a paid sick- and safe-leave ordinance, Tacoma became one of nearly 20 cities and states across the country to do so—joining not only Seattle, but also Portland, New York City, and Newark and states including California and Connecticut. And if some lawmakers in Olympia have their way, it won’t be long until all cities in Washington enjoy the same protection. This year State Senator Cyrus Habib (D-Kirkland) and Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma) have each sponsored bills that would require most Washington businesses to offer some form of paid sick and safe leave to employees. This is the third session in a row Jinkins has pushed for the legislation. She believes the tide is turning, and, citing at least a minimal amount of bipartisan support in the Senate, reports being more optimistic than ever. If the bill can get to the Senate floor, she believes it has a real shot. “With almost any piece of legislation we have, it takes education. Some [bills] take more time to educate than others,” Jinkins says with a laugh. “I think as we see more and more jurisdictions passing [paid sick leave], it makes members feel more comfortable with it. “I’m notoriously bad at predicting these things,” Jinkins admits. “But I would say that I’m really hopeful this year.”
This interview has been edited for length, clarity, and style.
5
How does this change the way we view Congress? We have a sense that [this] is a do-nothing
news@seattleweekly.com
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
news&comment» Daughter of Big-Time Developer in Fight Over Family Gravesite
W
changed her children’s names to Selig and will hen he died three years ago not allow Braun to see them. at age 38, Russian-born Kyril Braun provided copies of e-mails she Faenov was an American exchanged with Lauren, who has since moved success story with a family, to Los Angeles and stepped quickly into a money, and a promising future as a visionary Hollywood executive-producer role. (Her computer programmer. Having risen to head credits include Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlof Microsoft’s High Performance Computing berg and A Walk Among the Tombstones with Liam Lab, Faenov and wife Lauren Selig, daughter Neeson). In one, Braun recounts a phone call from of the man Lauren. She allegedly told Braun it was “disgustwho built ing” no one thanked her father for arranging the Seattle’s BY RICK ANDERSON funeral for “your son.” Braun apologized and said tallest skyshe and others were more consumed with the pain scraper, lived here with their two young daughand sorrow of Kyril’s death. ters. Their marriage of 10 years began with Braun did hope, however, to return to Faenov’s proposal on bended knee in Paris. Seattle in a few weeks to visit the grave again But behind this perfect life was the realand get together with Andrea Selig, Marity of a troubled man battling with his tin’s wife, whom she e-mailed. Lauren visions. As his mental health deterioSelig responded for Andrea: “Do not rated and he sought psychiatric coune-mail my mother anymore. She has seling, darkness set in. On May 25, no interest in meeting with you or 2012, Faenov committed suicide. seeing you.” Braun also claims Lauren He would be remembered for, has thwarted her attempts to see her among other things, his smile and grandchildren, and at the funeral his empathy for others. He’d also be reception, when she picked up remembered as the man who one granddaughter, Lauren urged Bill Gates to step into the “came over, and without any supercomputer market and sucexplanation, grabbed her out of cessfully persuaded Steve Ballmer my arms and left me standing to launch the company’s Techniby myself.” cal Computing Initiative. I asked the Seligs The story of Faenov’s and their attorney to life, and death, should “The grave had been respond to Braun’s have ended there. But it has come alive again from desecrated by the daughter claims, noting that Braun portrays the the grave, and is quietly being retold in courtrooms. of one of the most powerful family in an unforgiving light. After hearing A civil lawsuit brought by and wealthiest people nothing and placing his mother, Marina Braun, a second set of phone seeks to have Faenov in Seattle.” calls and e-mails, I got unearthed from a Jewish cemetery atop Queen Anne Hill and reinterred an e-mail from attorney Chuck Rullman. The “silence was intentional,” he wrote. “Please do in Portland where she lives. not contact us further on this issue.” She is suing Lauren Selig, today a HolIn court papers, Rullman dismisses Braun’s lywood producer, and her father, megaclaims and says “Ms. Selig will not be baited developer Martin Selig, in the belief that they into a war of words with her former motherhave abandoned both Faenov’s grave and his in-law.” Braun’s attorney, Matt Menzer, says memory. For the land baron, who developed the Seligs have used “take no prisoners” tactics the 76-story Columbia Center and continues in court, and claims Selig’s attorney hung up to erect towers around the city, it is a big battle on him “after directing an expletive-laced over the smallest piece of real estate he owns, phrase at petitioner’s counsel.” and so far he is winning. Whatever the tactics might be, they’re Selig paid $13,200 for the plot at Hills of working. Three months ago, King County Eternity Cemetery, run by Temple De Hirsch Superior Court Judge John Ruhl dismissed Sinai, where Faenov was buried without a Braun’s reinternment petition, and in December headstone. Under Jewish tradition, a marker refused to reconsider it. Last month, Braun filed can be placed on a grave at any time up to an appeal, arguing Ruhl failed to follow the law. the first anniversary of a death, in a ceremony Another hearing awaits her—if she lives. called the unveiling. A few months before Kyril died, Braun’s But, says Braun, there was no headstone mother died. Nine months after Kyril’s death, after the first or the second year. And a headBraun’s father died. And two months after stone that had been put in place by Faenov’s Kyril died, Braun was diagnosed with breast friends was removed under threat of a lawsuit cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. by Lauren Selig, Braun claims. “The grave She has developed other life-threatening comhad been desecrated by the daughter of one plications, she says. No, she adds, the Seligs of the most powerful and wealthiest people in have not called. E Seattle,” she tells me, leaving behind scarred earth where the headstone was. randerson@seattleweekly.com She also claims in court records that her Rick Anderson writes about sex, crime, money, son’s family cut all ties with her, that Lauand politics, which tend to be the same thing. His ren changed her name back to Selig prior to latest book is Floating Feet: Irregular Dispatches Faenov’s death, and that after the death she From the Emerald City.
SEATTLELAND
MARINA BRAUN
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
omething about following a black pick-up truck in the dead of winter to a giant marijuana field in the middle of nowhere still feels wrong. It’s not so much the snow on the Okanogan ground, or that there’s no cell service in case these drug dealers want to body-bag my ass. Actually, it’s the safety of the escapade that blows my flippin’ mind. This gang of ganja farmers is operating in the great wide open, growing a shit-ton of legal weed—even hyping it on social media—and doing so without having to keep one eye peeled for DEA choppers, drug-sniffing dogs, or local coppers. Is this the end of paranoia? Maybe. Maybe not.
8
New marijuana laws in Washington and Colorado might have some lucky citizens wallowing in a safe stoney cocoon, but nearly 700,000 people a year are still arrested in the United States for marijuana-related offenses. In many states, you could serve 25-to-life for buying the amount of weed I just snagged at a recreational shop for $45. This issue is not settled. Not by a longshot. And as Tim McCormack, owner of Antoine Creek Farms, tells me as he steps out of his snow-covered ride, the long shadow of marijuana’s illegality had them scared shitless at the beginning of their public pot experiment. “Oh, believe me, it was plenty weird for us when we had to transfer 1,600 marijuana plants in a U-Haul truck at 4 in the morning from an ‘undisclosed location,’ ” he says as the sun sets behind the mountains that butt up against his grow fields. McCormack, CEO of one of the state’s largest marijuana producers, is referring to a conundrum known as the “first seed problem” or the “magic-bean scenario.” Since marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, even fully licensed growers find themselves in a catch-22. See, before you get a license, it’s illegal to grow marijuana or even possess seeds. That means that the first growers under the Washington law have been expected to conjure an immaculate conception, producing plants from thin air. Once those growers are given licenses, state officials just look the other way while the farmer magically comes up with starter plants; don’t ask, don’t tell. But don’t tell that to the county sheriff. “I had a long discussion with my partner, Brian [Siegel, CFO] about who would drive the truck with our plants, and what we’d say if we got pulled over,” McCormack recalls. The reason Tim didn’t drive? “Well, I told Brian that the whole management team shouldn’t get busted in the U-Haul. And I’m also a lawyer, so I could bail him out.”
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FEARAATNHDING (AND PRAOLFTIET)RRITORY LO IN LEG » FROM PAGE 8 Fifteen days after McCormack and Siegel’s June run, an inspector from the state came by to make sure the non-flowering plants they’d miraculously created were the right size. Then each was bar-coded and entered into the state’s BioTrack software system, officially becoming part of the state’s newest legal industry. The black market, it turns out, still has value in Washington’s new green market. It is, quite literally, the seed of the recreational revolution. While wheat is the most planted, and sugar cane has the highest annual yield, cannabis is the planet’s biggest cash crop, worth over $300 billion. And weed is the fastest-growing industry in the U.S., with growers reaping about $36 billion a year. What used to be an underground economy is now above-board in some places, and threatening to take flight. This past November, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. all passed ballot measures to legalize recreational use for adults, joining Washington and Colorado. For the first
Joe Bighouse, the Master Grower at Antoine Creek Farms, is old-school. And by that I mean he’s paranoid. Asked about his pre-legal experience, he recoils before relaxing. “Well, I guess they can’t go back and get me now,” he mutters. “Look, it’s not exactly something I could ever put on my resume, but I had lots of indoor experience. A big operation. Outdoors, though? This is all new to me,” he says, walking around his giant legal operation where workers dry, trim, and package the marijuana. He’s right about the “big” part. This inaugural grow consists of 1,147 plants and 21,000 square feet of plant canopy. And this is just one operation. The Washington State Liquor Control Board (whose name clearly now needs to be hyphenated) has approved more than 300 growers to supply the Evergreen State’s demands, with another 2,000 applicants still pending. And because no one (at least in government) had a clue about how large the plants might get (the seeds being magic and all), rather than limit the number of plants, the LCB imposed a cap on cultivation—at 2 million square feet of plant canopy. Antoine Creek
Antoine Creek Farms will yield one thousand pounds of weed this year.
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time, a majority of the U.S. population thinks marijuana should be legal; the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year was about it (“vape”); Tommy Chong made the semifinals of Dancing With the Stars because of the cultural recognition he built with it; grandmas smoking it are a viral sensation; and Hillary Clinton saw a vision of it in her latte. Ganja-smoking is smack-dab in the middle of my wheelhouse; I have a long history with the stuff. While I don’t support the idea of waking and baking, blazing at 4:20, or firing up “Everyday, All Day,” it has served to energize and inspire me for decades. That said, I don’t think that marijuana is the Solution, that it’s necessarily “Better Than Alcohol,” or that “if we all had a bong, we’d get along.” It’s also not a Devil Weed or a gateway drug, but it is still clearly not a good idea for developing brains. Legal here, but listed as a Schedule 1 narcotic at the federal level, the plant is the center of a fascinating conundrum. With this in mind, I set out to get clues to marijuana’s future. Passing fad, or the End of Prohibition? Should we Just Say No, or is the revolution real?
currently accounts for just one percent of that potential canopy. Whereas indoor operations—the go-to in illegal days—require energy-sucking lights and ventilation, outdoor plants can grow through the roof. But marijuana doesn’t always grow like a weed. “There are a lot more variables growing outdoors, that’s for sure,” Bighouse explains. “Rabbits, mold, mildew, wind, deer, frost, grasshoppers. Hell, plants can even get sunburned.” Bighouse stops as he sees me taking copious notes. “The thing that—I guess—we don’t have to worry about is being busted. I tell ya, though, a lot of time I’m out there checking plants, and just waiting for the helicopters.” The first harvest at Antoine Creek got hit hard by a freeze, but will still generate a thousand pounds of marijuana and be separated into more than 600,000 packages for sale in stores— some of it flower (or bud), some finely ground leaf, and some of it the sticky kief powder many of us like to sprinkle on a bowl for an added kick. By law, independent labs will test the product for contaminants including salmonella and E. coli, determine the levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal psychoactive component
in marijuana) and CBD (one of at least 60 active cannabinoids identified in cannabis), and make sure that all chemical contents are correctly displayed on package labels. That ain’t cheap. “If we want legal weed, it’s got to be regulated, or the whole thing will get shut down,” McCormack notes. “On our end, it’s a big investment— for us, over a million dollars. There are a lot of steps to follow with testing and labeling. But this is the way we’ll be taken seriously as an industry, as businesses. Consumers will know exactly what they’re getting, the government will be involved in the process, and we’re happy to comply. We call it the Fellowship of the Green.” For the much larger red-state “fellowship” out here in Chelan County, the politics cut both ways. In the 2012 election, the voters rejected same sex-marriage (57 percent), voted for Mitt Romney (57 percent), and supported the initiative to legalize weed (52 percent). Nationally, there’s still a “Be Smart, Don’t Start” mentality from Republicans, as only 30 percent of them support recreational marijuana. Those pushing the numbers into the overall majority here include millennials, nonwhites, and independents. “Most everybody’s been really great and supportive here,” McCormack notes. “Though the local propane company wouldn’t sell to us. Apparently we don’t ‘align with their corporate morals.’ ” McCormack’s law degree makes him well aware of the delicate legal tightrope his company is walking, and how quickly that rope can go slack. “Look, we’re managing against risk. The next presidential election could be detrimental to our bottom line, so we’ll try and make money while we can—and enjoy being a part of this incredible time in our history.” One dispensary that will not be selling Antoine
Creek’s strains of legal cannabis is Lance, a drug dealer operating “outside the lines,” shall we
shatter, budder, and hash oils the likes of which Cheech never saw coming. Lance is hesitant to give me too much information about his own “farming methods,” but he will tell me he’s a middleman for two individual indoor growers in the Olympia area with several hundred plants each. Today Lance is offering a choice of either Lemon Haze or Ghost, his most popular strain as it’s consistently “qual”—by which he means it gets you super-baked. “My guy’s been growing for, like, 30 years, and has it down to a science,” he says. According to Lance, his supplier actually is a scientist at the University of Washington. “Smell this,” he says, opening a giant Tupperware of Lemon Haze. I’m no cannabis connoisseur—to me, weed is weed— but I take a whiff and am impressed by the citrus tones and skunk afterbite. I buy a big ol’ baggie. I couldn’t tell you if the sinsemilla at legal dis-
pensaries such as Cannabis City or Uncle Ike’s is better or worse than street kush; I’m sure eventually the retailers will have the best Alaskan Thundergoo and Cannabis Cup Winners ever grown. What I can tell you is that the dispensary experience, for me, is infinitely more pleasant than sitting with Lance in my car exchanging cash and awkward conversation in the dark. No offense to Lance, he’s a fine, interesting fellow. If you haven’t visited a licensed dispensary in one of the legal territories, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. These aren’t your gritty Haight-Ashbury head shops with beaded curtains, psychedelic velvet wall hangings of Jimi Hendrix, and dusty shelves full of peace pipes, Hacky Sacks, and grinders galore. Rather, most recreational dispensaries (“rec shops”) have that “new-car smell”— they’re not only brightly lit, but sit in renovated buildings with high-end security and the look and feel of Apple (and not one you can make a pipe out of ). They do this not only to avoid
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“The chance of going to jail here is pretty much gone.... I’m happy about that. But in terms of sales, I’m down probably 30 to 40 percent.” trouble with the neighbors and the federal government, but to attract a newer (more affluent) clientele. When unseasoned customers first visit, rather than feel they’ve made a drug deal, they’ll have an experience they’re familiar with, so long as they have patronized Restoration Hardware or SuperSupplements. But no matter how hard they try, these shops can’t shake the longstanding stigma of Reefer Madness. The sinister smoke screen of the War on Drugs will require more than a few years of semilegal existence to fade. Marijuana is still a controversial subject, and rec shops are being opposed in Washington and Colorado, with city councils, church groups, and neighborhoodwatch programs attempting to bar them. (Thus far more than 100 cities and counties have put a halt to marijuana businesses in Washington.) Many retailers have been given licenses, but can’t find a place to set up shop, as they aren’t allowed within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds, libraries, game arcades, public-transit centers, or parks. Other ordinances hindering success include limitations on signage and advertising and a ban on window displays; the sale
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
say. Peddling “traditional supply,” as it’s known, Lance sells weed out of a backpack, pays no taxes, and avoids the costs of lab testing, security, health care, payroll, and packaging (except for the Ziplocs). He also didn’t need to pass a criminal background check, as is required for dispensary owners. “I think it’s cool they legalized it,” Lance says while we sit in our usual spot in the PCC parking lot. “The chance of going to jail here is pretty much gone now, which, ya know, is a big deal. I’m happy about that. But in terms of sales, I’m down probably 30 or 40 percent.” Surprisingly, the exodus of customers isn’t for fear of being busted. “People just want variety. I have this lady baking some great cookies, but otherwise, for edibles and oils and all that crap, you need to go to a dispensary.” Edibles—pot brownies, chocolate bars, suckers, and such—currently make up almost 50 percent of the legal-marijuana market. And that’s just the tip of the green-berg when it comes to ways to get high. The days of big ol’ bong hits, dime bags, and ditch weed are waning, being replaced by vaporizers, THC caramels, elixirs, dab kits, and a variety of concentrates, including
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of marketing materials is also strictly forbidden. Sure, it’s cool to sell Aunt Bessie from Omaha a big ol’ bag of Pineapple Kush that will knock her on her ass, but for Chrissakes don’t let her buy a XXXL Clear Choice Cannabis T-shirt! The best solution to the opposition in legal territory is the Oregon model: Cities can opt out of having retail stores, but they won’t receive any of the taxes collected on pot. Boo-yah! Though Washington was slow out of the gate, the 100 rec shops that have gotten rolling are reeling it in—and then giving large chunks back in taxes. Total sales for July–December 2014 were $65 million, giving the state government more than $16 million in excise taxes to play with. Once the WSLCB gets into the groove and starts approving more applications for stores (334 will ultimately open) and new products (edibles, marijuana-infused coffees, oils, even a Weed of the Month Club), boatloads more money will line the state coffers, enabling political pinheads who propped up prohibition to bail themselves
Lance isn’t the only one working outside the
bounds of 502. While the initiative set up a framework for recreational marijuana, it didn’t address the longstanding use of medical cannabis, which has been part of our Evergreen culture since the passage of Washington’s Medical Use of Marijuana initiative in 1998. Citizens passed I-692 by almost 60 percent, making our fair state one of the first of 23 (plus the District of Columbia) that have legalized medical marijuana. As the state legislature tweaks the new law, people like Deidre Finley, owner and operator of the MMJ Dispensary, hang in the balance. Her business could soon be vaporized, so to speak, and leave folks like those who I’m eavesdropping on at the Cannabis Farmer’s Market in rural Black Diamond without the collective’s knowledge and expertise . . . and cheap weed. “It won’t get you stoned, Nana,” a pink-haired 20-something reassures her blue-haired grandma. “That’s true, ma’am,” explains a vendor. “This cannabinoid oil has very low THC—the part of weed that gets you high—and is very high in CBDs.” That’s the compound in cannabis that’s no fun (and by that I mean it won’t get you
Edibles now make up 50 percent of the recreational market.
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stoned to the bejesus), but has been effective in treating symptoms in patients. “Medical marijuana—and cannabis extracts— help with so many medical ailments: chronic pain. seizures, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, and the list goes on,” explains Finley. She’s held this farmers market on her property on weekends for several years; it’s one of nine in Washington. “Instead of a gateway drug, they should call it an exit drug,” she says. “People come here from all over the country to have access to cannabis products that often replace pharmaceutic drugs, wean them off methadone, and replace alcohol.” Finley isn’t blowing smoke: The Journal of the American Medical Association just released a report showing a 25 percent reduction in fatal painkiller-related overdoses in “420-friendly states.” “The vendors here,” she states, “are making custom formulations for patients—topicals for rheumatoid arthritis, special CBD oils for migraines that are 20 times more powerful than ibuprofen, transdermal patches for people going through chemo.” One after another, Finley pulls me over to meet patients who use cannabis to treat their ailments: a middle-aged carpenter with MS who smokes to relax his muscle spasticity; a woman
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
out of debt. But while I-502 directs taxes toward infrastructure, health care, education, and substance-abuse prevention, the exact allotments were left hazy, so members of the legislature have been clamoring like stoners at a dessert buffet for the sweet spoils. It’s reasonable to argue that the legal taxes are too high, helping to keep the street trade alive. (In a triple-decker tax sandwich, pot is taxed 25 percent at multiple levels: from farmer to processor, from processor to retailer, and then from retailer to consumers, who also get hit with a 10 percent sales tax. And don’t count out the Feds—who expect some of that drug money.) At around $10 a gram, Lance’s ganja is half the price of similar strains in recreational dispensaries. The disadvantage? Well, the black market is illegal in all 50 states, and while you may get only a $27 ticket in liberal locales like Seattle, other backwaters will lock up your ass lickety-split. The law also results in Lance taking greater, scarier risks. For several years he’s driven a carload of bud to Texas, making around $30,000 profit for the journey. This year, to compensate for his loss to retailers, he’s taking an extra trip with his lemony-dank. If caught, he could serve massive jail time.
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suffering from Chiari malformation who “fired her doctor”; an old man whose family was wiped out by “downwinders syndrome” (exposure to radioactive contamination) and claims he beat cancer with pot. The MMJ circus tent was like an evangelical show, except instead of preaching about Jesus, they were being healed by the power of pot. Praise Sativus! “502 is for getting people high,” notes Finley. “They set a minimum level of 3 percent THC. They don’t allow CBD products. Some of my patients aren’t looking to get high. And no [recreational] growers want to grow low-THC strains, as it’s not appealing or profitable. We have boutique, patient-loving growers here [at the farmers market] who are the only ones who will grow it. We need the medical system.” No doubt not all the people milling about the farmers market are using marijuana as medicine . . . unless you count getting super-baked as stress relief. But nationally, marijuana is medicine for about two million Americans who use the herb to alleviate the effects of everything from Alzheimer’s to cancer. Whereas the country is split on recreational weed (roughly 52 percent support legalizing it for adults), an overwhelming majority—78 percent—support it for medical purposes if a doctor recommends it. The current parallel system of recreational sales and medical use is, simply, a clusterfuck. Whereas there are only a smattering of state-licensed rec shops in the Seattle area (capped at 21), over 300 medical dispensaries have opened their doors here—many in the past few months. And among those are an unruly group of so-called medical dispensaries and delivery services that don’t check IDs and don’t follow rules related to collective gardens. The city isn’t exactly rolling out the red carpet for this new business. “They’re creating a public-safety nightmare, frankly, and they’re undercutting the 502 stores because they’re unregulated and untaxed,” said City Attorney Pete Holmes recently. “If you’re a commercial [medical-marijuana] operation lacking a 502 license, it’s a felony operation. Period.” Finley agrees that the system isn’t perfect, but says the medical system is necessary. “A lot of bad actors are taking advantage, and they need to stop calling themselves ‘medical,’ ” she says. “I’d be willing to require testing of cannabis, regulate dosages, and pay B&O taxes [which she already is doing]. But a large percentage of very sick people are also very poor people. So to charge 87 percent taxes to those who can least afford it doesn’t make sense.” Efforts are underway to merge the two marijuana systems. Senior weed statesperson Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles is attempting to combine the parallel medical and recreation dispensaries, clean up the insane tax issues, and allow for personal growing for all citizens (six plants each). Major points of contention include what taxes medical customers might pay (if any), what rules and regulations producers and growers will need to follow, and whether experienced medical dispensaries will be given licenses. This last point is particularly sticky, since medical-marijuana dispensaries have been cultivating knowledge and building trust with their patients for decades. “I’m sorry, but a 24-year-old budtender in the
city isn’t going to ask about your symptoms,” says a patient at Finley’s farmers market, “or know everything these long-time dispensary operators and vendors do.” Obviously my own assumptions about hippies,
heads, and dead-end stoners had kicked in as I prepared for the final stop on my tour, deep inside the world of marijuana activism. After sending a third e-mail confirming a meeting with Vivian McPeak, the longtime executive director of Seattle’s Hempfest politely responded, “Yes, Michael, I have you on my calendar.” I needn’t have worried—not only is McPeak the CEO of the world’s biggest marijuana gathering, he’s sharp as a tack and more organized than Martha Stewart’s spice rack. “We’re coming up on our 25th year of doing this, and have over 1,000 trained staff and volunteers who make Hempfest possible,” McPeak tells me when we meet. “Permits, safety patrols, insurance, first-aid responders, Porta-Potties— we’ve got our shit together—we’re organized.” I wondered if the band of hungry entrepreneurs hoping to get in on the Green Rush
“Politics trumps the law. If they they wanna bust you—guess what? They will. We’re looking for equality for all under the law.”
worried him. “I think it’s actually advancing the cause. Jobs, commerce, revenue, taxes; it’s part of the process of ‘normalization.’ We’ve always said we want to include everybody. Capitalists, stoners, ganjapreneurs. Everybody. So now I just want these people who are seeing the ROI potential to think about where they’d be without the hippies and longhairs who came before them.” As McPeak points out, legalization lines up beautifully with conservative values: states’ rights, individual freedom, sound fiscal policy, American-grown industry, and smaller government. Job creation’s also a biggie. According to CannaInsider, a job-finder and business newsletter for weed, marijuana will create 200,000 new jobs this year, from hands-on gigs like edibles artisans to kush tour guides, lab techs, and web developers. So now that pot’s heading mainstream, is there a need for Hempfest? “More than ever. There’s no ‘legal’ pot. You pass me a joint—it’s a felony! It’s great that Initiative 502 passed, but it’s not legal to smoke marijuana at the federal level. Even at the state level, 29 grams is a misdemeanor, 40 grams a felony. Growing plants—if you’re not a
patient—gets you five years in the pen. Politics trumps the law. If they wanna bust you—guess what? They will. We’re looking for equality for all under the law.” Well aware that the winds can change—sometimes overnight—McPeak wanted to leave me with one more critical note: “We’ve really got great momentum, now, but it’s ours to fuck up. A guy was just making BHO oil in his apartment the other day and blew up the ex-mayor of Bellevue. That’s no good. People can’t be leaving their edibles out for some toddler to eat, they can’t be driving around impaired—that’ll blow it . . . for all of us.” In the next 10 years, dozens more states will vote
on legalization, including California, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, and Arizona in 2016. If the patterns from Washington and Colorado continue—high tax revenues; lower incidents of drunk driving, property crime, and domestic violence; and lower teen drug use—it seems likely, if not a no-brainer, that the pendulum will swing. But in all battles worth fighting for, there will be debate and resistance. And so what can we on the bold frontier of green Washington impart to those who will follow? What can trailblazers share with neophytes? What have I learned? Well, for one thing, marijuana is many things to many people, but what it is not is either side of the false dichotomy that’s been built around it. It’s not a panacea and it’s not a gateway to hell. It’s medicine for cancer patients. It’s an escape for soccer moms. It’s a material used in paint, fuel and plastics. It’s a cash cow for private prisons. It’s a secret hobby of middle-aged accountants. Weed is not this or that; weed is this and that. (And that. And that.) Perhaps one day there won’t be these two extreme images of cannabis. Perhaps, as with alcohol, people won’t be judged and labeled according to whether or not they indulge, but rather by how they act when they do. It’s tough to predict what pot will become, because we’re not even honest about what it already is. My best guess for the future? There’ll be a cannabis section in grocery stores, similar to where the liquor section is now. It will include some THC chocolate bars, a few CBD pills (that don’t give you the buzz, but help with migraines, joint pain, and insomnia), nice selections of artisanal bud, and packs of disposable vape pens. Stiletto stoners and Costco members will load their welllabeled, hopefully organically grown cannabis products into their shopping carts—next to the granola, Chianti, heirloom tomatoes, and neverending toilet paper rolls—and life will go on. But we are still far from that mellow new world. Just ask Tim McCormack. This summer, wildfires came dangerously close Antoine Creek Farm, and McCormack wanted to thank the fire and police departments for protecting his dream from going up in flames. “After the fire was contained, I invited them all to party at the farm,” McCormack explained. “The Sheriff looked at me and said, ‘We can’t come to a pot party, man.’” Still, the CEO wanted to do something for these brave men and women. He remembered the Okanogan sheriff telling him that since weed was now legal, the new drug-smelling dogs had to be retrained not to sniff out marijuana. As a thank-you, McCormack is sponsoring the new K-9 units. Peace out, dog. E
news@seattleweekly.com
Look for Michael Stusser’s new column “Higher Ground” in future issues of Seattle Weekly, where he will cover the latest in the legalization movement.
food&drink
Funding an American Dream, One Food Stall at a Time
FoodNews BY JASON PRICE
Two immigrants pave the way for an exciting new market. BY PATRICK HUTCHISON
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Greek food and drink lovers will be happy to learn about Vios owner Thomas Soukakos’ new venture on Capitol Hill, Omega Ouzeri. Served in the sleek space are Greek classics with a contemporary twist, as well as plenty of ouzo. Live your Peloponnesian dreams vicariously while sipping a fine glass of something and eating grilled octopus.
PHOTOS BY TIA WHITE
Shaker + Spear opened in the Palladian Hotel with breakfast and dinner service. Chef Walter Pisano’s menu focuses on seafood with a definitive New American style, including diver scallops with golden raisin purée, bloomsdale spinach, and pinenuts; and grilled opah with basil sauce, bulgur, spiced yogurt, and salmon caviar. The Palladian also hosts Pennyroyal, a new cocktail bar. E morningfoodnews@seattleweekly.com
they dealt with immigrant and refugee populations, Deng was at their meetings, e-mailing their leaders and bombarding them with flyers. In the beginning, the biggest setback for Deng was also the most unexpected: No one believed him. He wasn’t asking for money (Deng has funded the project so far with his own personal savings); he only wanted people to trust him and apply. “It actually took quite a while to establish trust with community leaders. I think there was a strong sense that what I was offering sounded too good to be true, so they didn’t want to endorse me,” says Deng. Eventually his persistence started to pay off as community leaders got to know him. With that trust, applications flooded in. After months of looking, Deng and a small team of dedicated volunteers had a pool of 37 applicants, whom, through interviews, taste tests, and a few basic business classes, they narrowed down to two: Carver and Nkirote. However, Deng says, the decision wasn’t easy and staff debated for hours on end about which candidates to choose. “Rosario and Jackie both made us wonderful samples of their food, and when we spoke with them about their passion for cooking, it was clear that food and family were two themes that ran deeply throughout their lives.” “I was incredibly nervous,” says Nkirote over
drinks at the Panama Hotel Café in the International District. “We knew how many spots there
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BY NICOLE SPRINKLE
NICOLE SPRINKLE
Rosario Carver (left) and Jackie Nkirote.
the process if you want to start your own business,” Carver says. For new citizens, there are challenges. McDonald acknowledges, “When people arrive here from other countries, there are a lot of barriers. Language differences, cultural misunderstandings, and social isolation make it difficult for them thrive.” Deng’s plan was to fill the intimidating gaps people like Carver were ill-equipped to overcome. Through a vigorous application process, Deng would select his “Fellows” based on their commitment to the project, their need for his group’s services, and the quality of their food. Once selected, Marketshare would guide them through every step in the process: getting certified to serve food and processing applications to operate their own food cart at outdoor markets and through catering events. Marketshare would take care of all up-front costs related to certification, equipment, rental spaces, and any miscellaneous paperwork. The Fellows would only be out their own hard work. If they walked away, Marketshare would take the loss. If successful, the Fellow would eventually operate a food cart and begin paying Marketshare back for the equipment as their own profits allowed, until they eventually owned their own business and the tools needed to continue running it. To find qualified applicants, Deng took his experience working for political campaigns and grassroots organizations and started pestering every community group he could find, encouraging them to ask their members to apply for Marketshare. If
TheWeeklyDish
Baked Eggs and Lamb
This weekend I got out the shallow mini-casserole dishes I use especially for individualized portions of baked eggs when guests are staying (it never fails to impress). Though no one was visiting this time, I figured Super Bowl Sunday warranted a special effort, so I made a kind of Middle Eastern baked eggs with lamb (inspired by a lot of lamb hashes I’ve been seeing on brunch menus lately). I had about a pound of ground lamb, which I browned in a pan with some olive oil. To this I added one small chopped onion, and cooked it for approximately five minutes. Then came a quarter-cup of very fresh parsley, a teaspoon of my own homemade garam masala mix (though it’s fine to buy a premade one, or even just sub in curry powder), a large can of diced tomatoes, and of course salt and pepper to taste. I cooked all this for another four minutes, then divided the mixture among four of my “fancy” dishes. I cracked an egg atop each, and baked them for about five minutes at 400 degrees (a little longer if you want your egg less runny). I sprinkled the whole affair with chopped fresh cilantro and voilá—a dish that looked and tasted as good as what you’d expect to see at a restaurant (in my humble opinion). E
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
ast week, as the Northeast got pummeled by snow, Seattle enjoyed a few early spring days, reminding me that warmer weather and farmers-market season are only a few months away. This year, among the seasoned professionals at citywide markets will be two new additions: Jackie Nkirote and Rosario Carver, graduates of an innovative new program called Marketshare that guides immigrants and refugees in Seattle toward owning their own mobile food business. Beyond their own success, Marketshare offers the city an exciting possibility: a diverse, expansive, centralized street-food market. For Philip Deng, Marketshare’s 28-year-old founder, the idea started when he returned to Seattle after living and working in China, where his family originates, for several years. “I fell in love with outdoor food markets I found in foreign cities. They were these amazing centers, not just for food, but for the community. They’re an ancient idea that is still incredibly relevant in so many places in the world. When I came back to Seattle, there just wasn’t anything like that.” But Deng didn’t just want to create a place where local food trucks could corral themselves, he wanted to create the sense of community that was at the core of the markets he loved. He wanted to help populations in need of opportunity, and, yes, he also wanted to eat some damn good food. In 2013, the most recent year for which numbers are available, Washington welcomed 2,144 immigrants and refugees from all over the world. When they arrived, most settled in major metropolitan areas for greater job opportunities, often working with food. According to Alanna McDonald of Project Feast, a local nonprofit that provides food-service training programs, the food industry is uniquely suited to help immigrant and refugee communities find work. “Food is shared across every culture, regardless of your language or background, so it can be a powerful expression of identity and culture. Plus, most people already have some food skills, so we simply add to those in a way that makes it easier for them to break into employment.” Since its inception at the beginning of 2013, Project Feast has helped over 140 immigrants and refugees get their food-handler permits, and 31 students have completed its six-week training program in basic commercial kitchen skills. It is just one of many programs that offer some kind of job-training assistance for groups with barriers to employment, but for people like Carver, who arrived in Seattle from the Philippines 12 years ago, something was still missing. “There are lots of great programs to help people, but a lot of them just give you pieces of support. You’re still on your own for most of
KYLE JOHNSON
Chef Edouardo Jordan will open Salare Restaurant this summer in Ravenna’s Saxe Building. Jordan has steadily gained local accolades for his work at The Herbfarm, Sitka and Spruce, and most recently as chef de cuisine at Bar Sajor. Salare will focus on housemade charcuterie, salumi, fermentation, and nose-to-tail cooking, among other things.
nsprinkle@seattleweekly.com
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food&drink » FROM PAGE 15 were and how hard it would be to be chosen.” Originally from Kenya, Nkirote came to Seattle 10 years ago to live with her mother and sister. She worked as a hostess for a number of years, but always wanted to follow in the family business—in Kenya, her father had worked as a butcher, and the entire family had once run a small café. Likewise, Carver’s dream after coming to Seattle was to get involved with food. “I had done catering in the Philippines, but tried to find other work when I got here. But I just kept finding myself getting pulled back into food. I couldn’t avoid it.” Looking for services to help her realize her dream of starting her own food business, Carver was one of the first people to go through the program at Project Feast, which then turned her onto Deng and Marketshare. As Marketshare’s first Fellows, Carver and Nkirote found themselves in regular meetings, getting certificates and food-handler’s permits, reviewing business practices, filling out paperwork, picking out equipment, and choosing recipes for their new food stalls. Each step represented an obstacle they might not have overcome without help. “It’s scary,” says Carver. “There are so many steps to getting a business started, it’s really intimidating. Without help, I don’t think I could have done it.” If all goes well this market season, both will make profits large enough to begin paying off their equipment while also earning a salary. Ultimately, Deng hopes that Marketshare will be a self-sustaining system and provide Seattle with the sort of food market he fell in love with abroad, made up of new Fellows like Carver and Nkirote. As successful Fellows earn their equipment and make enough to move on, they’ll start their own food trucks or brick-and-mortar restaurants. Successful stalls will fund new Fellows to replace them at the market and so on and so on, leaving us with a constantly rotating outdoor food market. The location for such a market has not been decided, though Deng is looking to place it somewhere near the Central District, where accessibility and affordability offer the most promising options. When Nkirote and Carver open up shop this spring, they’ll each feature food characteristic of their background. Carver plans on a menu of classic Filipino food. “It’ll be salty, regional food from Bicol. Lots of spicy stuff; coconut milk; lumpia, of course, but with variations you might not be used to.” Likewise, Nkirote will stick with what she knows best: Kenyan family-style meals. Interested patrons will find Carver and Nkirote and their homecooked meals at citywide farmers markets. If all goes well this market season, both women will fulfill a dream they share with hundreds of other potential applicants in the immigrant and refugee community. “I see this as a first step to being self-reliant. I have a child and a husband, and I see this as something I can do for our family and our future,” Carver tells me. Nkirote adds, “We can finally work for ourselves. Even though we have unconventional dreams, we can accomplish them. It’s a great example for our kids and our community. We can be proud of this.” E
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STOUT: A Preview
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port the toppings, which included cauliflower, chipotle cream, chimichurri, roasted corn, tomatoes, cotija, queso fresco, green onion, and Mexican crème. It’s all vegetarian, but popular among meat-eaters as well, according to a staffer. I’ll second that. Other menu options: Spicy Jameson BBQ wings served with Stilton aioli (STOUT is generous with portions), or for something lighter, the grilled chicken salad. Of the three burgers available, the “Morning After” burger is my pick due to the fried egg on top. Another personal fave: the kielbasa dog, served on a pretzel bun. Were I not already stuffed, the mac ’n’ cheese with smoked bacon sounded yummy, as did housemade cake doughnuts with a caramel and spicy-chocolate dipping sauce. E
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STOUT 1530 11th Ave., 397-3825, stoutpubs.com. 11 a.m.–1 a.m. Sun.–Thurs., 11 a.m.–2 a.m. Fri.–Sat.
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ou don’t have to be a beer nerd to enjoy STOUT, Capitol Hill’s new beer-centric pub on 11th and Pine, which opened over the weekend; it also serves satisfying pub fare and cocktails. Customers can hang their jackets and coats on the many wall hooks and grab a seat—at either a table of up to four, one of the many bar seats that don’t require squeezing in, or a raised community table. The glass-bauble chandelier hanging over the center of the modern-design space adds warmth and a lot of light to what already feels cozy. Sports can be viewed on any of the many TV screens, visible from any seat. Extra perk: Charge your electronic devices in a slew of outlets, or even plug in your laptop at the bar. STOUT offers a selection of 20 regional draft beers (Washington, Oregon) on tap, plus one Canadian: McAuslan Brewery’s StAmbroise Oatmeal from Quebec. The bottle list is extensive, with beers from farther-flung places like Denmark, England, Austria, Belgium, and Germany. The friendly and knowledgeable staff can offer recommendations based on personal taste. Even beer lovers may be surprised by harder-to-find selections like Left Hand Brewing’s Milk Stout Nitro. The drinks are buzzworthy too, with many a beer cocktail among them, like the Tagalong, a sweet and citrusy concoction—gin, Aperol, and honey syrup mixed with Bale Breaker Top Cutter IPA—served in a tall glass and garnished with orange peel. Sounds weird, perhaps, but it works. The Capitol Hill Mule—STOUT’s own take on the gin mule, made with blackberry and cinnamon-infused gin, lime, and Cock ’n Bull Ginger Beer—sounded intriguing as well. The food is upscale comfort: think artisan flatbreads, like a delicious one with pasillachile-roasted cauliflower. The flatbread was on the thinner side, but sturdy enough to sup-
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SPEED RACK
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W
hat happens when you combine a bunch of the best female bartenders in the Pacific Northwest, a veritable ocean of booze, and a frenetic and challenging competition? The best possible way to spend your first postSeahawks Sunday of the year: Speed Rack Seattle. Equal parts bartending competition and bacchanalian free-for-all, it has rapBY ZACH GEBALLE idly become one of my favorite events of the year, and it’s this Sunday (2–6 p.m.) at the Century Ballroom. Like a well-made cocktail, Speed Rack is equal parts drama, humor, and indulgence. The centerpiece is of course the bartending competition. It’ll feature female bartenders from throughout the Northwest and as far away as Hawaii, including contestants from some of Seattle’s finest bars: Haley Holman from Liberty and Kathleen Manley from Rob Roy. Portland’s Angel Teta (Ataula) will be back to defend her title as Miss Speed Rack Seattle. We’ll see if an actual Seattleite can earn the crown this year. To do so requires a strong command of classic cocktails (I’m not sure I could make a Rosita on the fly) and an ability to make them as quickly as possible and perfectly enough to keep the judges happy. Each of the four judges names a cocktail, all four of which need to be assembled with a timer ticking away and a raucous, well-lubricated crowd. It’s a challenge that can psych out even veteran ’tenders, and it tends to overwhelm new competitors. “A common mistake from first timers is they ‘forget to forget’ that it’s a competition,” Speed Rack co-founder Lynnette Marrero reveals. “For example, they often know the drinks, but they can let the ‘game’ psych them out. The most successful ladies forget that it’s a competition, and they just bartend.” Another common mistake I notice is simply forgetting to garnish drinks. At last year’s event, I was surprised to see just how tense things got as the semifinals and finals rolled around. By the time Teta knocked off Seattle’s Amanda Reed (formerly of Tavern Law, now at Oliver’s Twist) in the finals, the energy was palpable, if not quite up to CenturyLink Field standards. Between rounds, there are a bevy of beverages to sample from the many prominent distilleries that sponsor the national competition. Even better, the entire event is a fundraiser for breast-cancer charities, raising more than $250,000 to date. Tickets are $20 in advance through EventBrite, $25 at the door. E
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arts&culture
ThisWeek’s PickList
Shock Value
Why seeing the worst on Black Mirror makes it the best show on TV right now.
BY SEAN AXMAKER
THURSDAY, FEB. 5
B
Rory Kinnear (center) as the aghast PM receiving his ransom demand in “The National Anthem.”
what the consequences are . . . how we use or misuse it,” Brooker recently explained in Wired. “We’ve not really thought through the consequences of it.” Subsequent episodes lack the shock and audac-
ity of “The National Anthem,” but not the fundamental insight. Again our relationship with technology changes how we interact with one another. “The Entire History of You” imagines life with a digital hard drive supplementing our unreliable organic memories. Its users constantly rewind back—to both the good parts and the not-so-good parts—rather than looking forward. What’s a better gotcha in the middle of a lover’s spat than projecting onto the living-room TV a moment your partner would rather forget? It’s a sort of mind-meld WiFi retaliation. “Be Right Back” is more delicate and wistful, a touching twist on “The Monkey’s Paw,” about a grieving widow cushioning her loss through a digital avatar recreated from the footprint of her husband’s social-media presence. Her mourning only becomes more heartfelt while trying to connect with a virtual echo of flesh and blood. And the searing “White Bear” pivots from a worldgone-wild horror into an even more insidious portrait of savage justice as interactive entertainment. Brooker’s stories are novel enough to draw us in, yet familiar enough to become a warped reflection of ourselves and our culture. But what makes these stories matter is the human element. Technology is ultimately a tool, and Black Mirror is about how we allow these tools to get in the way of human connection and communication—or worse, become a substitute for them. The irony that this show has become a minor sensation thanks to Netflix’s technological infiltration into 50 million willing American homes, making us slaves to the screen, surely can’t be lost on Brooker. Maybe there’s a plot in there for season three. Meanwhile, I’ve got another episode to plug into. E
arts@seattleweekly.com
WENDELL LOCKE FIELD
life refracted through the lens of the past. Premium annals like HBO and Showtime generate buzz with thoughtful, challenging adult storytelling mixed with nudity, sex, and violence. Game of Thrones is a brilliant warped mirror of European history and the ways of power and politics, but it tells us nothing about The Way We Live Now. (Meanwhile Starz has largely abandoned storytelling and gone straight for spectacle in the sex-and-bloodbath pageant of Spartacus and the silly Da Vinci’s Demons.) Brooker, by contrast, is genuinely out to challenge the audience and its expectations. (He recently told The New York Times, “Most dramas tend to reassure the viewer,” whereas his goal is to “deliberately unnerve the viewers.”) Not unlike Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone, he’s using fantasy and sci-fi to comment on modern life and the human condition. There’s usually a barbed twist somewhere along the journey; but unlike most recent Twilight Zone copycats, the topical hook is there to snag the viewer so Brooker can reel them into his narrative payoff. He has a thing for genre conventions, acerbic commentary, and pushing the envelope of acceptable humor, using these tools not to offer solutions, but to critique and reframe how we see our social problems. Thus “The National Anthem” twists cyberterrorism into an act of perverse performance art. Its English viewers are compelled to give the terrorist exactly what he wants: their undivided attention. And that too is Brooker’s mission: TV from which you cannot turn away. And what precisely are we staring at? That brings us to Brooker’s title, which sounds like some supernatural artifact. In fact his dark mirror references something endemic to modern American life. It’s the interface of your media device of choice: smartphone, tablet, TV monitor . . . that dark screen that threatens to suck you in when you power it up. In the near- and not-so-near futures of Black Mirror, we see the spectacle of our own surrender to those screens. “I like technology, but Black Mirror is more
Anyone familiar with Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, Fuller’s 2001 account of childhood during Rhodesia’s bloody civil war, will immediately recognize in this new memoir her masterful ability to write about a person’s ties to home and her obsessive deconstruction of her larger-than-life parents. Those parents, and her African upbringing, are at the core of Leaving Before the Rains Come (Penguin, $26.95), here used as a lens through which to assess the collapse of her marriage. Unlike other stories of divorce, this one cleaves profoundly to place—with Africa standing in for her and America for her husband. “Domestically,” she writes, “our two cultures had come into opposition like participants in a nominally friendly sports competition and clashed more aggressively than was necessary.” Fuller’s preoccupation with her own story, her own background, her own dogged romanticizing of her Rhodesian identity at times threatens to overshadow the topic at hand. Rains sometimes feels like an extended arm of her earlier work. Yet because that prior material is so
Fuller resides in Wyoming these days.
intensely rich, and so obviously the true love of her life, it’s always a pleasure to read, or reread as the case may be. And while that diverting pull never releases, she gradually eases us into the narrative of her marriage and of motherhood—and we realize it could never have been told without those powerful ties to her heritage. Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., 386-4636, spl.org. Free. 7 p.m.
NICOLE SPRINKLE
In Case of No Emergency: The Films of Ruben Östlund
With his Force Majeure up for an Oscar (and included in this weekend retrospective), the Swedish director Östlund is something of an outlier at the Academy, which usually tends to favor the graybeards of European cinema. Yet Östlund is relatively young (at 41), and his previous output has been entirely unseen here. Three prior features are being screened from the past decade (The Guitar Mongoloid, Involuntary, and Play), preceded by a pair of shorts that bear
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
Why is that? Across our spectrum of network, cable, and streaming channels, sci-fi and fantasy shows are surprisingly backward-looking. Social commentary has been left to the prism of period shows like Mad Men and The Americans: modern
Alexandra Fuller
CHANNEL 4 /NETFLIX
ritain’s audacious answer to The Twilight Zone for our plugged-in world of social media and screen culture, Black Mirror seemed to come out of nowhere. The anthology show debuted on Netflix in December with “The National Anthem,” which caused a viral sensation. That first episode addressed hacking, cybercrime, political protest, and extortion with a savagely satirical story about the kidnapping of a royal family member. To save her, the Prime Minister was instructed—in the form of a video ransom demand streamed for the world to watch— to fuck a pig on live television, and he did. “The National Anthem” was the most transgressive thing I’ve ever seen on TV, and I see a lot of TV. Written by English journalist-turned-satirist Charlie Brooker, Black Mirror’s creator, that episode was wickedly, nastily funny. Unlike most premium American television, however, its shock value has a real point. The YouTube terrorism of “The National Anthem” is but an nth-degree exaggeration of our own cyber-bullying, celebrity phone hacking, and North Korean cyber-attacks. Just as the rapt, ghoulish audience within the show watched with the same mix of clucking concern and morbid fascination we regularly bring to TV reality sideshows and Internet clickbait, we stuck around to see if Brooker would follow through on his dare. He played on our own desire to see the worst—then gave it to us. But he also gave us the human element: what happens to the man in the midst of the nightmare. Some were surprised to learn, however, that Black Mirror isn’t brand-new. In fact—and this makes it seem all the more prescient—the show debuted on English television in 2011, ran here to a small audience on DirectTV in 2013, then finally scored a wide viewership thanks to the gargantuan reach and instant access of Netflix. All six episodes of the first two seasons are currently available to stream. A seventh episode—a 2014 Christmas special starring Jon Hamm— played on British TV and stateside on DirecTV, but has yet to reach Netflix. And apparently there are plans for a possible American remake. Few U.S. critics were previously aware of Black Mirror, which arrived at just the right cultural moment—more immediate, relevant, and daring than anything else on American TV. During the winter doldrums, as most shows went on hiatus for holiday specials and other network stunts, most of us TV lovers were busy deciding if binge-watching Marco Polo was a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Then came the news that every episode of Friends would be available on Netflix in January, yawn. So Black Mirror crushed the competition and began dominating the TV discussion.
» CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 19
BODIES OF WORK
The Foundry (San Francisco) Alana O Rogers Dance Company (Seattle)
Coriolis Dance (Seattle) Gabrielle Revlock (Philadelphia/New York City) Jamie Karlovich (Seattle) Lindsey Linds Matheis (Portland/New York City) The Stone Dance Collective (Eastside) Project20 (Vancouver, BC)
"...one of Seattle’s most talked about and important outlets for dance." -Critical Dance
from this one. (Previews begin tonight; opens Feb. 12; runs through March 1.) 5th Avenue
February 14th, 2015 7:30pm February 15th, 2015 3:00pm
FRIDAY, FEB. 6
Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival
In its 10th edition, this year featuring 29 titles, the fest is opening with two separate screenings. First is a live-scored musical presentation (by the Texas synth-wave group Roladex) of John Carpenter’s 1981 dystopian satire Escape From New York (7 p.m. Uptown, $15-$20). Everyone knows the plot, as Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) breaks into prison (i.e., Manhattan) to rescue the same president who’s run our country into the ditch and oppressed the underclass, whose numbers certainly include Plissken and his criminal cohort. Payback is sweet, so long as you’re paid for it. Then there are the short films (midnight, Egyptian, $7–$12). Among them, I like Bo Mirosseni’s sci-fi comedy Time Travel Lover, in which a young couple’s potential hookup is interrupted by an emissary from the future. That Future Matt (writer Elisha Yaffe) tries to convince Present Matt (Yaffe again) to keep it in his pants. Also, he warns of frustrated Hannah (Stephanie Hunt), “Listen, man, she is crazy!” Predictably, the Matts keep multiplying, with different messages from the future, as if every possible complication from a one-night stand should be played out in the time (11 minutes) needed for one quick shag. The Butterfly Effect does riffle its wings here, though Hannah turns out to be the decision-maker. The Matts are all talk, but it’s up to her to resolve things. (The shorts program will repeat, with different packages screening through Sunday.) Cinerama, SIFF Cinema Uptown
Lucinda Parker & Michael T. Hinsley
Two Portland painters doing their damnedest to Keep It Weird™ visit Seattle. Parker, who’s “recently focused on mountains,” presents a series of craggy canvases rendered like highly stylized cartoons— rocky peaks reduced to oblique color panels, strange patterns, and odd angles. They’re a welcome break from the hyper-realistic, overly reverent Northwest landscapes that flood local galleries every month. This region is beautiful, but it is also freaky, a duality Parker manages to capture. Hinsley’s paintings eschew the bucolic for the waste bin. Imagine all the drippy paint-marker graffiti you see on Dumpsters across the city, cobbled together into incredibly busy, bustling schizophrenic psychoscapes. His paintings reflect how the city feels at its most chaotic—overwhelming, colorful, fun, and a little disorienting. He sometimes garnishes his canvases with garden dirt. In Portland, dirt is a legitimate medium. I hope this catches on in Seattle. (Through Feb. 28.) Linda Hodges Gallery, 316 First
Tickets on sale now at www.brownpapertickets.com Visit us at Chopshopdance.org
Saturday, February 14
VALENTINE’S DAY DINNER & SHOW
& SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 324-9996. Passes: $65– $75. See siff.net for schedule. BRIAN MILLER
The Babadook
Join us for a succulent Traditional Hawaiian Feast prepared by the Kauai Family Restaurant followed by
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Threats of violence in Oklahoma!, racism in South Pacific, slavery in The King and I, Nazis in The Sound of Music: Looked at this way, you wonder how Rodgers and Hammerstein ever got a reputation as Broadway’s premier dispensers of corn syrup. Perhaps the darkest of their shows, though also the most elegiacally romantic, is 1945’s Carousel, the pair’s second collaboration. In addition to some of Rodgers’ loveliest music (that Ravellian opening waltz and the duet “If I Loved You”), it also includes a suicide and—most problematically, because the book seems to rationalize it—spouse abuse. “But is it possible, Mother, for someone to hit you hard like that—real loud and hard—and not hurt you at all?” “It is possible, dear—for someone to hit you—hit you hard—and not hurt at all.” Eeew. But in another homegrown production in 2012, the 5th tackled the issues of Oklahoma! head-on, and even added a few, so it’s hard to imagine them shying away
© MATT NETTHEIM/IFC MIDNIGHT
Ave. S., 624-3034, lindahodgesgallery.com. Free. Opening reception 6–8 p.m. KELTON SEARS
Carousel
fingered, and he wears a cape and a Victorian hat, like a creature from an earlier era of horror—suggesting that what’s scary never really goes out of style. After a great deal of slow-burning buildup, the Babadook becomes real, and mother and son must wage battle (but then they have been all along). This is the debut feature of writer/director Jennifer Kent, who skillfully keeps us locked into the moment-by-moment thrills of a monster movie, but also insists that this Babadook is clearly a stand-in for the other problems that inflict the lonely household: grief, guilt, depression, an unwillingness to live life. The Babadook may be a monster, but he’s the monster Amelia and Sam needed. (Through Thurs.) Grand Illusion, 1403
Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave. 625-1900, 5thavenue. org. $29 and up. 8 p.m. GAVIN BORCHERT
Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380. $6–$11. See nwfilmforum.org for schedule. BRIAN MILLER
11100 NE 6th St Bellevue, WA 98004
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
» FROM PAGE 19 interesting similarities to Force Majeure. In the 2005 Autobiographical Scene Number 6882, some young holiday-makers gather on a bridge, too many beers in the tank. The guys dare one young partier to leap from the span—maybe 15 or 20 meters above the water, they guess. Male ego is in play here; the guys have to put on a brave face—or confront their cowardice—in front of the women, rather like the husband who flees the avalanche in Force Majeure. Incident by a Bank (2009) is more technically ambitious: an unbroken 12-minute shot, inspired by a bungled, real-life bank robbery, in which our attention is directed by digital pans and zooms within the frame. It’s almost like an Advent calendar as comic little vignettes and characters come to the fore, then recede, while onlookers try to make sense of events. There’s a slight Jacques Tati vibe to the deadpan choreography, though no obvious gags. The watchful sense of anxiety is familiar: Think of the husband in Force Majeure scrutinizing the avalanche, the wife evaluating the husband, and the silent hotel concierge eyeballing them both. No one’s quite certain of the other’s motives or what they’re seeing. (Through Sun.) Northwest Film
Asher Lev (Brussels/Israel)
20
arts&culture»
Davis in The Babadook.
How did this children’s book get into the house? Nobody seems to know. This one—it shares its title with the movie we are watching—is called The Babadook, almost an anagram for “bad book,” and that’s the effect it has on Amelia (Essie Davis) and her 6-year-old son Sam (Noah Wiseman). They’re especially vulnerable to its dark magic. Among other issues, the death of Sam’s father some years earlier is very much in the background of the scary little tale that unfolds. The Babadook himself is dark-suited and creepy-
N.E. 50th St., 523-3935. $5–$9. See grandillusion cinema.org for showtimes. ROBERT HORTON
SUNDAY, FEB. 8
Nick Hornby
© MIRIAN DOUGLAS
CHOPSHOP StoneDance Productions and The Theatre at Meydenbauer Present
Hornby has become a much-sought screenwriter.
If you’ve seen Wild, you’ll know that the English novelist Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) has become an expert adapter of what once used to be called women’s stories. Perhaps appropriately then, his new Funny Girl (Riverhead, $29.75) follows a provincial beauty queen through her meteoric early success as a sitcom star of the mid-’60s. Swiftly renamed Sophie Straw, our plucky heroine is a bit like Georgy Girl: a single girl arrived in London at a time when single girls were suddenly presented with a whole new menu of freedoms. And more, Sophie becomes on TV an emblem for newly outspoken, emancipated single girls who are colliding with the old notions of class and gender roles. Yet she’s a careerist, happiest when working, and determined to succeed on the Beeb. I didn’t realize until reading the endnotes to Hornby’s happy, humorous novel how many real-life TV industry references and shows he’d interpolated into the plot. In a sense, Funny Girl is his imagining of the backstage intrigues and affairs of an imaginary sitcom during the era when he grew up, glued to the box. It is, like his prior novels, a warmly affirmative affair, with no villains or serious setbacks. And, Hollywood take note, it’ll offer a plum role to an actress who’d look great in vintage Carnaby Street fashions and knows how to sell a joke. Carey Mulligan had her turn in An Education (adapted by Hornby), so I’ll cast my vote for Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything). But who will play Terence Stamp for the Terence Stamp cameo? Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 652-4255, townhall seattle.org. $35–$40. 7:30 p.m. BRIAN MILLER E
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PDon Quixote
MCCAW HALL, 321 MERCER ST. (SEATTLE CENTER), 441-2424. $30–$184. RUNS THURS.– SUN. SEE PNB.ORG FOR SCHEDULE. ENDS FEB. 8.
Orza and Murphy in Don Quixote.
© ANGELA STERLING
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SEATTLE PUBLIC THEATER AT THE BATHHOUSE, 7312 W. GREENLAKE DR. N., 524-1300, SEATTLE PUBLICTHEATER.ORG. $5–$32. 7:30 P.M. THURS.– SAT., 2 P.M. SUN. ENDS FEB. 15.
English playwright Charlotte Jones’ 2001 comedy is like a dazzling yet oddly odorless rose, lovely in concept though strangely unsatisfactory. I ache to adore it, yet I also crave something more. Loosely lifted from Hamlet, Humble Boy starts with pantywaist astrophysicist Felix Humble (Jason Marr) returning home for his father’s funeral. There his vainglorious mother Flora (Macall Gordon) has rid their countryside house of her late husband’s belongings, including a beloved batch of bees. Moreover, even before his death, she took up with boorish neighbor George Pye (Mike Dooly). (If they get married, it will make her Humble-Pye.) From there, Jones explores love, loss, and letting go of the past via much passive-aggressive arguing and humor. Excursions into physics and references to Stephen Hawking’s “theory of everything” also give the proceedings a brainy, Stoppardian tinge. Director Marcus Goodwin matches the show’s design elements like companion plants at Kubota Garden. Richard Schaefer’s sumptuous green set suggests tea and cucumber sandwiches in the Cotswolds. Candace Frank’s comely costumes capture every character component: When Felix attends a family (dys)function, his toosmall suit and garish wide tie—belonging to his dead dad—indicate his profound apprehension. Goodwin’s artfully arranged cast also includes Alyssa Keene as the brazen Rosie (George’s daughter, also Felix’s former girlfriend). Particularly funny is a scene in which she sympathetically suggests exsex with Felix to clear his mind of mundane moral choices, scholastic suspicions, and humdrum mama drama. Instead of worrying about superstring theory, why not make like the birds and bees? No less effective is Dooly, who encourages such contempt for George that I cheered his comic comeuppance. Yet despite the heirloom seeds of talent here, the script’s soil is unstable. Jones’ long first act languishes with lagniappe language; then the second shifts to amusing alacrity. Also, I was left digging for exposition. Felix has ringing in his ears . . . why? Is this important? Is he blooming mad like Hamlet, or what? One could go on forever with the gardening, floral, and apiary metaphors. Goodwin (and Jones) create an elegant topiary maze, but it ultimately leads to a feeling of meh. If Hamlet was ineluctable tragedy, Humble Boy is more ragged, unkempt comedy. For a better treatment of science and tangled family tumult, there’s Stoppard’s Arcadia, Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen, or David Auburn’s Proof—the 2005 filmed version of which is probably available on Netflix. ALYSSA DYKSTERHOUSE E
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There is nothing subtle about Don Quixote. The Spanish-inflected dancing (full of big virtuoso tricks), the thumping rhythms in the score, and the lavish theatrical byplay almost jump off the stage and into your lap. By the time Marius Petipa made the entertainment in 1869, using a minor subplot from Cervantes’ novel, he was becoming an expert at transferring exotic locales or characters into the structures of classical ballet. And while many contemporary productions have streamlined the storytelling and cut back on the mime, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s 2012 version, first staged by Alexei Ratmansky, restores a big helping of the original details. It’s a work packed full of bravura roles for multiple dancers and a selection of meaty character-acting parts to move the story along. Kitri, the innkeeper’s daughter, is in love with the barber Basilio, but her father wants her to marry another, richer man. After some adventures in the countryside for them and for Don Quixote, the two lovers manage to trick her father into blessing their marriage, and the wedding celebration fills the last act with the kind of technical challenges that Petipa adored. Several dancers are returning to roles they’ve performed before; there are some major debuts, too. Carla Körbes is back as Kitri, this time with Batkhurel Bold as Basilio, and the two obviously relish building on their previous performances. Körbes is at that sweet spot in her career where she has both technical and interpretive skills, so that she can imagine what is possible—and accomplish it. Bold shares her confidence, giving one of his best performances, his formidable power balanced with buoyant enthusiasm. Two other couples alternate in the lead roles: Lindsi Dec adds Kitri to her repertory, dancing with her husband Karel Cruz. It’s a pleasure to see their personal relationship bolstering their performance: Dec dances this challenging role with a veteran’s aplomb, while Cruz’s usual noble style and smooth technique are consistent. Another Basilio, Seth Orza, returns from a knee injury and rehab with attack intact, relishing his time onstage. Elizabeth Murphy takes a step forward to match his zest as Kitri. Petipa was known for creating many smaller parts for dancers at all points in their careers. Carli Samuelson has incredible snap as Cupid, dancing the highly mannered solo with great integrity. Sarah Ricard Orza demonstrates real versatility by shifting from the smoldering street dancer Mercedes (during the matinee) to the graceful Queen of the Dryads (that evening). And Leta Biasucci and Angelica Generosa pounce on the choreography for Kitri’s friends, making some really difficult material seem like a game. Non-dancing actors Allen Galli and Tom Skerritt return to their roles as Sancho Panza and Don Quixote, respectively. Skerritt’s more naturalistic style contrasts with Galli’s, whose background in commedia dell’arte and physical comedy makes his Sancho a wonderful straight man. Their presence bookends the production, so that at the end of the ballet we wonder where they might be going next and what adventures they might find. SANDRA KURTZ
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CAROUSEL SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 20. • CIRCUS OZ That’s “Oz” as in Oztralian, “Circus” as
MARCIA BALL WED, FEB 4
Blues pianist/vocalist and her band touring in support of The Tattooed Lady and the Alligator Man! AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH
JEFFREY OSBORNE THURS, FEB 5 - SUN, FEB 8
Classic R&B Musician touring in support of his latest jazz release A Time For Love
JIMMY WEBB TUES, FEB 10 - WED, FEB 11
”Few singers blend grit and grandeur like Jimmy Webb.. [his] voice is like an old Mustang heading through a treacherous yet often gorgeous landscape.” - Rolling Stone
MINDI ABAIR AND THE BONESHAKERS FEATURING RUSS FREEMAN THURS, FEB 12 - SUN, FEB 15 ”Abair’s sax growls, grunts and grinds like it’s a smoky joint in Lafayette, Louisiana, with more gristle than a T-Bone steak at The Pantry.” - Jazz Weekly
all ages | free parking | full schedule at jazzalley.com
in acrobatics, juggling, comedy, and live music. The Moore, 1932 Second Ave., 877-784-4849, stgpresents. org. $35–$55. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 5; 8 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7; 2 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8. DEAR ELIZABETH Sarah Ruhl’s portrait of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell is built on their correspondence. Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222. $17–$67. Previews begin Feb. 6, opens Feb. 11. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Sun. plus some Wed., Sat., & Sun. matinees; see seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends March 8. THE EDGE Bainbridge Island’s own improv troupe. Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island, 842-8569, theedgeimprov.com. $12–$16. 7:30 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7. I MAY HAVE SEEN THE DEVIL Alejandro Stepenberg’s take on Hamlet “transplants the action to a New England asylum circa 1946, and rewrites the lead role . . . to be played by a woman who is locked in a lesbian relationship with Ophelia.” $10– $15. 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com. Opens Feb. 6. 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat. Runs Feb. 6, 7, 27, & 28 at Theatre4, fourth floor, Seattle Center Armory; runs Feb. 13, 14, 20, & 21 at the Ballard Underground, 2220 N.W. Market St. SPIN THE BOTTLE Annex Theatre’s late-night variety show. Annex Theatre, 1100 E. Pike St., 728-0933, annextheatre.org. $5–$10. 11 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6. TEATRO ZINZANNI: THE HOT SPOT Frank Ferrante and Dreya Weber return for TZ’s new show, in which “love and magic in the digital age collide.” Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., 802-0015. $99 and up. Opens Feb. 5. Runs Thurs.–Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni. com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends June 7. THREE RING CIRCUS A new stand-up/improv/sketch comedy show, every first Wednesday. The Grotto at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave. $5. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Feb. 4.
CURRENT RUNS
ANNIE JR. As performed by Youth Theatre Northwest.
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DR NK? SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
Find Hundreds of Happy Hours near you.
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Search “Happy Hours” and download for free. Available for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry. Happy Hours shows all of the food and drink specials going on near you. Click through to see photos of the bar or restaurant, and details such as the menu, location, amenities, and what other people have to say. Happy Hours Mobile App brought to you by
Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 E. Mercer Way, Mercer Island, 232-4145, youththeatre.org. $13–$17. 7 p.m. Fri–Sat., 2 p.m. Sat.–Sun. Ends Feb. 8. AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS Five actors take on a total of 39 roles in this madcap adaptation of Jules Verne’s adventure novel. Village Theatre, 303 Front St., Issaquah, 425-392-2202. $35–$67. Runs Wed.– Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends March 1. (Runs at the Everett PAC March 6–29.) THE BLACK LODGE Design your own Twin Peaks episode at this improv show. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, 587-2414, unexpected productions.org. $12–$15. 8:30 p.m. Fri.–Sat. Ends March 7. CIRQUE DU SOLEIL “KURIOS—Cabinet of Curiosities” asks “What if by engaging our imagination and opening our minds we could unlock the door to a world of wonders?” Marymoor Park, 6046 W. Lake Sammamish Pkwy. N.E., Redmond, 800-4501480, cirquedusoleil.com/kurios. $35–$156. 8 p.m. Tues.–Sat., 4:30 p.m. Sat. (& some Fri.), 1:30 & 5 p.m. Sun. Ends March 22. A DELICATE BALANCE Albee’s drama about troubled, brittle people in close quarters. Trinity Parish Church, 609 Eighth Ave., 332-7908. Pay what you can. Runs Thurs.–Sun.; see theatre912.com for exact schedule. Ends Feb. 14. THE EXPLORERS CLUB In Nell Benjamin’s comedy, an intrepid woman shakes up Victorian society. Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., 781-9707, taproot theatre.org. $15–$40. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat. Ends Feb. 28. 4,000 MILES The 20-something Leo (Adam Standley) bikes from Seattle to New York in Amy Herzog’s play, there becoming a roomate with his acerbic widowed grandmother Vera (Susan Corzatte). Safely ensconced in the comedy-ofmanners genre, we spend a fun 100 minutes (with no intermission) watching these lovable Odd Couple roomies offend, oblige, and predictably re-offend each other with relatively little at stake. All four performances are delicious, including those of Adria LaMorticella (as Leo’s enigmatic girlfriend, Becca) and the typhoon-like Sara Porkalob (as his new love prospect, Amanda). This 2012 comedy is a mostly sweet stroll on the High Line, warm as a July breeze, studded with harmlessly withering one-liners and darkened only by the shadows of Leo’s best friend’s
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death on the bike trip and Vera’s fading memory. In terms of heartspace, director Mathew Wright’s 4,000 Miles covers a lot of ground. MARGARET FRIEDMAN ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery, 4711 California Ave. S.W., 938-0339, artswest.org. $15–$46.50. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Ends Feb. 15. HUMBLE BOY SEE REVIEW, PAGE 21. LOCALLY GROWN This festival promises “5 weekends. 9 productions. 32 performances” of new works by K. Brian Neel, José Amador, Jennifer Jasper, and others. New City Theater, 1404 18th Ave., 800-8383006. $12–$15. Shows run Thurs.–Sat.; see radial theater.org for full lineup. Ends Feb. 28. THE MODERN ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES The audience takes the place of Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle in this improv mystery. Jet City Improv, 5510 University Way N.E., 352-8291, jetcityimprov.org. $12–$15. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Fri. Ends Feb. 13. MWINDO Cheryl L. West’s new play, based on a Central African tale, sounds roughly Lion King-y: the exiled son of a chief goes on a coming-of-age quest. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center, 441-3322. $20–$36. Runs Fri.–Sun. plus some Thurs.; see sct. org for exact schedule. Ends Feb. 15. NATURAL Marcus Gorman’s play examines shifting social relationships among six Seattleites. Annex Theatre, 1100 E. Pike St., annextheatre.org. $5–$10. 8 p.m. Tues.–Wed. Ends Feb. 18. OUR TOWN Thornton Wilder’s iconic drama is opening one of the theaters at 12th Ave Arts. 1620 12th Ave., 800-838-3006, strawshop.org. $18–$36. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Feb. 21. THE PIANO LESSON In 1936 Pittsburgh, Berniece Charles (Erika LaVonn) wants to keep the past— including the piano—close. For her, the magnificent instrument is like a revered elder for whom multiple lives were sacrificed. For her brother Boy Willie (Stephen Tyrone Williams), eager to invest in land their family used to work as slaves and then sharecroppers, the piano represents a ticket to economic independence. These are the stakes in August Wilson’s 1990 Pulitzer winner. Director Timothy Bond—formerly local, now with Syracuse Stage— orchestrates breezy informality in the Charles household, and some of the richest chords involve bursts of harmonized blues and pot-banging percussion by composer Michael G. Keck. Meanwhile, beyond the family swirl, there are ominous noises and electrical blackouts, plus offstage manifestations of a ghost—the white landowner, recently drowned in the well—at the top of the stairs. These occult tendencies can feel like a bit of a deus ex machina copout, but they don’t ruin the pleasures of uniformly fine acting, a changed historical context since the last local staging in ’93, and the sense of enduring kinship. MARGARET FRIEDMAN Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222. $17–$102. 7:30 Wed.–Sun. plus some Wed., Sat., Sun. matinees; see seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Feb. 8. PIGGYBACK Improv inspired by a preceding stand-up routine. Unexpected Productions’ Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, 587-2414, unexpectedproductions. org. $10. 8:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Feb. 8. THE SECRETARIES A black-comic satire of gender stereotypes set in an Oregon lumber mill. Theater Schmeater, 2125 Third Ave., 324-5801, schmeater.org. $22–$29. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends Feb. 14. SPRAWL Pregnant Shawna (Samie Spring Detzer) and misanthropic Monique (Laura Hanson) are a pair of realtors who’ve organized a book-club meeting at one of their listings: a crappy new spec home in a middle-of-nowhere development. Guests converge in amusing vignettes: Elaine (Marc Kenison, aka “boy-lesque” dancer Waxie Moon), the mayor’s condescending wife, prone to preening her hair into a planetary nimbus; a gay couple, both halves of whom are named William (Justin Huertas and Ben McFadden); and friends Heather (Jessie Underhill) and Bibi (Leah Salcido Pfenning). Then the book-club members are stung by soul-infiltrating insectoids, then gradually become insectoids themselves—who are far less interesting than the people they started out as. Strobe lights, swampy gases, vomiting, alien voices, seizures . . . pretty much the full warehouse of horror-genre misfortunes gets trundled out. This 90-minute one-act apocalypse comedy by Joshua Conkel—whose Milk Milk Lemonade Washington Ensemble Theatre produced in 2011—draws more laughs skewering the burbs than churning dust storms of sci-fi camp. The WET peformers, and Ali el-Gasseir’s direction, are better than the script. MARGARET FRIEDMAN 12th Avenue Arts, 1620 12th Ave., washingtonensemble. org. $15–$25. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Mon. EXTENDED through Feb. 7.
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• THE THREE SISTERS The plot of this 1900 clas-
sic can be summed up as “Three sisters want to move to Moscow and never do.” However, Chekhov marvelously infuses his static story with melancholy wit, as Olga (Julie Briskman), Masha (Alexandra Tavares), and Irina (Sydney Andrews) lament living in a provincial town where knowing three languages is “an unnecessary encumbrance, like a sixth finger.” Chekhov resides somewhere between naturalism and a heightened, almost enchanted realm. Directed by John Langs, this production expertly achieves both effects, allowing our imaginations to roam between them. His splendid performers live up to the stellar script. Why, 100 years after the revolution put an end to Chekhov’s Russia, does this masterpiece still hold up? Because hope and despair are timeless. Each of us has our own unsatisfied objective. Our own Moscow. ALYSSA DYKSTERHOUSE ACT, 700 Union St., 292-7676. $15–$25. Runs Thurs.–Sun.; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Feb. 8. TWELFTH NIGHT Shakespeare’s romance is reset in 1920s New Orleans. Meany Studio Theatre, UW campus, 543-4880, drama.uw.edu. $10–$20. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Feb. 8. ZAPOI! Quinn Armstrong’s imaginative fantasia on Soviet life. Annex Theatre, 1100 E. Pike St., annex theatre.org. $5–$20. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. plus Mon., Feb. 9. Ends Feb. 21.
Dance
SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Finalists from
the TV competition series on tour. The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 877-784-4849, stgpresents.org. $35.75– $65.75. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 5. TEN TINY DANCES 2015 The aphorism about good things and small packages turns out to be true when it comes to Ten Tiny Dances, an occasional series of works designed to be performed on a 4´ x 4´ platform. That’s 16 square feet—smaller than most bathrooms. So there are no arching leaps or long running sequences, but instead movement made to be seen in close. Producer Sara Jinks has recruited a varied cast for this edition, including local stalwarts Wade Madsen and Dayna Hanson, classical Indian dancer Douglas Riding, and Typing Explosion alum Sarah Paul Ocampo. Harvey Danger’s Aaron Huffman provides the music. SANDRA KURTZ Velocity Founders Theater, 1621 12th Ave., 800-838-3006, brownpaper tickets.com. $16–$18. 8 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6–Sun., Feb. 8.
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NORTHWEST BALLET: DON QUIXOTE • PACIFIC SEE REVIEW, PAGE 21.
Classical, Etc.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY Christian Tetzlaff plays
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto; Ludovic Morlot also conducts Berlioz, Debussy, and Ravel. Benaroya Hall, Third Ave. & Union St., 215-4747, seattle symphony.org. $20–$122. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 5, 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7, 2 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8. SEATTLE IMPROVISED MUSIC FESTIVAL The 30th annual celebration of spontaneous composition pulls together a local all-star lineup—Stuart Dempster, Angelina Baldoz, Dave Knott, Wally Shoup, Susie Kozawa, Jessika Kenney, William O. Smith, Lori Goldston, Greg Campbell, organizer Paul Hoskin, and many others—plus guest musicians from as far afield as Lebanon. Chapel Performance Space, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N. $10–$20. 8 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 5–Sat., Feb. 7. SEATTLE WOMEN’S CHORUS “Reel Women” salutes women onscreen, from “Let It Go” backward. Cornish Playhouse, Seattle Center, 388-1400, seattlewomens chorus.org. $25–$60. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 5; 8 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7; 2 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8. AVE RENAISSANCE WOMEN’S CHOIR Music from the German renaissance, accompanied by C’nardally Waytes Cornetto and Sackbut Ensemble. Trinity Parish Church, 609 Eighth Ave., 7:30 p.m. Fri. Feb. 6; Trinity Lutheran Church, 6215 196th St. S.W., Lynnwood, 7:30 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8. Donation. earlymusicguild.org. MOSTLY NORDIC Five concerts, one each devoted to a Scandinavian nation, with smorgasbord to follow. First up, Finland, with the North Corner Chamber Orchestra playing Sibelius and more. Nordic Heritage Museum, 3014 N.W. 67th St., 789-5707, nordicmuseum.org. $47–$55 (concert only $22–$27). 5 p.m. Sun., Feb. 8.
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B Y G AV I N B O R C H E R T
Send events to stage@seattleweekly.com, dance@seattleweekly.com, or classical@seattleweekly.com
» Visual Arts Openings & Events
Ongoing
DAVID ALEXANDER The artist, an avid environmental-
• ZACK BENT Lean-out, Lean-to is an installation
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inspired by a chance encounter with a truck canopy in Spokane. Bent adapts that structural form into a “monolithic chamber of secrets.” Jack Straw New Media Gallery, 4261 Roosevelt Way N.E., 634-0919, jackstraw.org. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Feb. 6. BRUCE BICKFORD If you live in Seattle and love animation, then bow down to this hometown hero. Since the ’60s he’s relentlessly churned out bewitchingly bizarre films featuring surreal landscapes both hand-drawn and crafted in clay. Although he’s most remembered for his half-dozen years as Frank Zappa’s resident animator, he’s continued to produce incredible work, including one of history’s greatest work’s of stop-motion, Prometheus’ Garden. Vermillion, 1508 11th Ave., 709-9797, vermillionseattle.com. 4 p.m.midnight. Tues.-Sun., Ends Feb. 7. BAM BIENNIAL: KNOCK ON WOOD Again, there’s a very materials-focused emphasis to this biannual group show. Clay and fiber art were featured in 2012 and 2010, respectively; now it’s the chisel-and-mallet set’s turn to display their creations. Some of the three dozen artists featured you know or have seen before at BAM (or local galleries), like Rick Araluce, Whiting Tennis, and W. Scott Trimble. The juried selection offers every variety of woodworking from the Northwest, ranging from indigenous Native American carvings to smartly modern furniture that might fit into your SLU condo. In addition to a juried award, which bestows a future solo show and a $5,000 prize (the winner to be announced this week), there’s a popular balloting system whereby visitors can select their own favorite pieces. And you cast your voting on regular old scraps of paper— appropriate, of course, since they were originally made of the same material the artists are using. BRIAN MILLER Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-519-0770, bellevuearts.org. $5-$10. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sun. Ends March 29. CITY DWELLERS A dozen contemporary Indian artists are represented in this show organized by SAM and originating entirely from the private local collection of Sanjay Parthasarathy (a Microsoft millionaire) and wife Malini Balakrishnan. Scenes and icons from Mumbai to New Delhi are represented via photography and sculpture, from an all-native perspective. As tourists know, India is ridiculously photogenic, from its colorful idols and deities to the slums and beggars. It all depends on what you want to see. Photographer Dhruv Malhotra, for instance, takes large color images of people sleeping in public places—some because they’re poor, others because they simply feel like taking a nap. Nandini Valli Muthiah opts for more stage-managed scenes, posing a costumed actor as the blue-skinned Hindu god Krishna in contemporary settings; in one shot I love, he sits in a hotel suite, like a tired business traveler awaiting a conference call on Skype. Sculptor Debanjan Roby even dares to appropriate the revered figure of Gandhi, rendering him in bright red fiberglass and listening to a white iPod. This impudent figure tweaks both India’s postcolonial history and the relentless consumerism that now links us all, from Seattle to Srinagar. BRIAN MILLER Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3121, seattleartmuseum.org. $12–$19. Weds.-Sun. Ends Feb. 15.
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CONTEMPORARY PRINTS FROM THAILAND AND PRINTS OF INDUSTRY A selection of prints from the
Chiang Mai Art on Paper Studio, as well as an exhibition of prints examining the rise of the industrial era. Davidson Galleries, Ends Feb. 16. PATRICK DRISCOLL & BARRY STONE Driscoll is a painter, but he prefers T-shirts and underwear to canvasses. Stone’s “data-bending” work uses technology to warp his photo and video pieces. James Harris Gallery, 604 Second Ave, 903-6220, jamesharrisgallery.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. Ends Feb. 14. JOHN GRADE Middle Fork is a replica of a giant Western hemlock created with plaster molds and real wood chunks. MadArt, 325 Westlake Ave. N., 6231180, madartseattle.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Apr. 25. ANN HAMILTON The artist has created new commissioned art for the Henry that she invites viewers to interact with through touch—elements of the show can be ripped off the wall and kept for later. Henry Art Gallery (UW campus), 543-2280, henryart.org. $6-$10. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Weds., Sat. & Sun. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thurs. & Sat. Ends April 26.
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B Y K E LT O N S E A R S
Send events to visualarts@seattleweekly.com See seattleweekly.com for full listings = Recommended
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
ist, portrays his landscapes in a highly fluid, melty paint style, prodding at the fact that the subjects are in danger of slipping away thanks to climate change. First Thursday opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Foster/White Gallery, 220 Third Ave S., 622-2833, fosterwhite.com. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28. ANNUAL JURIED EXHIBITION Scott Lawrimore sorted through 1,500 submissions and picked his favorites for this exhibition. First Thursday opening reception, 5-8 p.m. Gallery 110, 110 Third Ave. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 624-9336, gallery110.com. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28. BED BATH & BETWEEN Nine local and international artists display work in a “hand-painted wallpaper” environment. First Thursday opening reception, 6-8 p.m. SOIL Gallery, 112 Third Ave. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 264-8061, soilart.org. Noon-5 p.m. Thu.-Sun. Ends Feb. 28. CHRIS BERENS Eerie, gothic paintings of pale, childlike figures in dark settings. First Thursday opening reception, 6-9 p.m. Roq La Rue, 532 First Ave. S., 374-8977, roqlarue.com. Noon-5 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28. MARK CALLEN AND RACHEL DORN Yakima’s Dorn creates colorful, aquatic-looking ceramic sculpture. Callen paints saturated natural landscapes. First Thursday opening reception, 6-9 p.m. Core Gallery, 117 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 467-4444, coregallery.com. Noon-6 p.m. Wed.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28. MELINDA HANNIGAN Oil paintings of unusually tight close-ups of portions of seafaring vessels. First Thursday opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Patricia Rovzar, 1225 Second Ave., 223-0273, rovzargallery.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Sun. Ends March 1. AMANDA KNOWLES The artist grew up with a scientist mother, and pays homage to her upbringing in Nescience by utilizing diagrams and a scanning electron microscope to create her works. First Thursday opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave., 206-624-7684, davidsongalleries. com 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28. JUSTIN MARTIN Using materials that purposefully recall his rural upbringing, Martin creates “poetic sculptures” in his new show Windburnt. First Thursday opening reception, 5-8 p.m. Punch Gallery, 119 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), 621-1945, punchgallery.org. Noon-5 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28. MYSTERIES OF THE HEART New work from May Lee Chung, Rachel Morton, Magda Petrou, and Barb Yeakel. Opening reception, 6-9 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7. A/NT Gallery, 2045 Westlake Avenue, 222-0680, antgallery.org. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Sun. Ends Feb. 28. POP! 3 The pop-culture-themed art gallery’s final show, featuring prints from all of its previous shows over its four year lifespan. Opening reception, 7-11 p.m. Sat., Feb. 7. Ltd. Gallery, 501 E. Pine St., 457-2970, ltdartgallery.com. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tue.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28. ANNE DREW POTTER Her representational clay sculptures in Vanitas explore what she calls the chief vice of the digital age: vanity. Opening reception, 6 p.m. Fri., Feb. 6, Pottery Northwest, 226 First Ave. N., 285-4421, potterynorthwest.com. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Tues.-Fri. Ends Feb. 28. JOHN RADTKE Minimalist sculptures and drawings created by the local artist during a recent residency in Wyoming. First Thursday opening reception, 6-8 p.m. Gallery4Culture, 101 Prefontaine Pl. S. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), galleries.4culture.org. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Ends Feb. 26. CHRISTINE SHARP Impressionistic landscape paintings of natural landmarks. First Thursday opening reception, 5-8 p.m. Lisa Harris Gallery, 1922 Pike Place, lisaharrisgallery.com, 443-3315. 10 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Ends March 1. RYOKO TAJIRI This Japanese artist specializes in pseudo-cubist portraiture, rendering subjects out of painted geometric planes. First Thursday opening reception, 5-8 p.m. Hall|Spassov Gallery, 319 Third Ave. S., 453-3244. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tues.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28. 25 ALUMNI To celebrate Gage Academy of Art’s 25th anniversary, 25 alumni from the school will show their recent work. First Thursday opening reception, 5-9 p.m. Axis Pioneer Square, 308 First Ave. S., 681-9316, axispioneersquare.com. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mon.-Thurs. Ends Feb. 27. JODI WALTIER She primarily works in intricately dyed and inked fabrics, here presented as flat, wall-mounted works. First Thursday opening reception, 5-8 p.m. Shift Gallery, 312 S. Washington St. (Tashiro Kaplan Building), shiftgallery.org. Noon-5 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Feb. 28.
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EGYPTIAN
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24
UPTOWN
A darkly comic erotic fantasia
THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY
Academy Award Nominee Best Actress: Marion Cotillard
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT Best Picture Oscar Nom
SELMA
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arts&culture» Film
Opening ThisWeek
P2015 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Short Films
OPENS FRI., FEB. 6 AT SUNDANCE CINEMAS. NOT RATED. 81 & 79 MINUTES.
The law of averages tells us there must be years in which cheerful, silly efforts are nominated in the best documentary short film category. This is not one of those years. Released to theaters in anticipation of the February 22 Academy Awards ceremony, these five shorts—screening in two programs—serve up serious issues and personal essays. Whatever their subject matter, the category is critical for getting attention focused on short films that would otherwise struggle to find a venue for exhibition. The nominees are longish, as short films go, with the briefest clocking in at 20 minutes. That’s White Earth, one of two U.S. films in the group. It cries out for a longer treatment, because it’s an American story that has developed so quickly it hasn’t gotten the notice (or concern) it deserves: the North Dakota oil boom created by fracking. Director J. Christian Jensen introduces us to children whose parents are chasing work in the oil fields, although these families are still living in trailers. The movie’s just a prelude, but in its central narrator we have a plain-spoken kid who could audition for the next Terrence Malick voiceover role. Two films from Poland are especially tough to watch. Aneta Kopacz’s Joanna is a beautifully crafted portrait of a young mother dying of cancer, with special attention given to her bond with her bright, articulate son Johnny. Less polished is Our Curse, in which filmmaker Tomasz Sliwinski and his wife Magda document their life with an infant son born with Ondine’s curse, a rare disorder that requires mechanical ventilation during sleep. The unblinking portrait of a child in pain is close to being unbearable to watch.
PThe Duke of Burgundy
PHuman Capital OPENS FRI., FEB. 6 AT SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN AND FILM CENTER. NOT RATED. 110 MINUTES.
The waiter bicycling home from a banquet, hit by a bratty rich kid’s SUV late in the slushy December night near Milan, isn’t identified until the final minutes of this fine, damning drama. And his name is accompanied by a payout in euros (an insurance settlement), because financial value and human worth are the twinned subjects of Paolo Virzì’s film (adapted from American
No deficit of love: Dorval and Pilon.
Mommy OPENS FRI., FEB. 6 AT GUILD 45TH. RATED R. 139 MINUTES.
Some movies want to wear you down—an approach that seems logical for, say, a World War II tank picture like Fury. It’s not so obvious why Xavier Dolan’s award-winning Mommy seeks the same effect. This 139-minute domestic drama is a tornado of emotional (and sometimes physical) fury, with occasional joys sprinkled throughout. But man, is it a chore to watch. Dolan, a 25-year-old French-Canadian filmmaker, burns through ideas and situations with the urgency of youth, a blazing rush that creates a sometimes-exciting mess. Much of the film’s fire comes from a teenager, Steve (Antoine-Olivier Pilon), who suffers from extreme ADHD and acts out in violent ways. He’s home with his single mother, Diane (Anne Dorval), who can’t handle him—no one could. In Dorval’s superb performance, we get a full portrait of this woman: a middle-aged former wild child who is nobody’s idea of Mother of the Year, yet who watches over her son with ferocious, wolf-like attention. Their volatile relationship plays out in an incongruously clean, tidy Canadian suburb. That’s where they meet Kyla (sad-eyed Suzanne Clément), whose life has slowed because of a vocal stutter, and whose suburban-wife boredom is lifted for a spell in her contact with these astonishing neighbors. Scenes tumble across the screen in a helter-skelter way, as though Steve’s mercurial moods were dictating the progress of the movie we’re watching. The precocious Dolan—who’s already directed five features, beginning with I Killed My Mother—has shot Mommy in a square aspect ratio, which is really going to cause problems for home viewers who must have their widescreen TVs filled from side to side. The overbearing technique (which opens up at a couple of key moments) increases the sense of claustrophobia, I guess, even though your eye gets used to it after a few minutes. One of those moments, late in the film, provides Mommy with one of its finest sequences, a genuinely heartrending fantasy of what the future could be if only Steve were like other people. It’s the kind of daydream a longsuffering mother might allow herself in the midst of an ongoing household nightmare. At times like that, you can see the talent that lies beneath Dolan’s aggressive method, and the promise of something great in his future. ROBERT HORTON
SHORTS.TV
writer Stephen Amidon’s 2004 novel, kicked forward to reflect the recent global financial crisis). Two families are affected by the hit-and-run incident: the rich Bernaschi clan, led by slick, harried hedge-fund manager Giovanni (Fabrizio Gifuni); and the middle-class Ossolas, whose wheedling, ambitious patriarch Dino (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) is determined to hustle his way to higher station. If that means cutting corners, he’ll gladly lie to his banker for a loan; and Giovanni’s firm is happy to accept his high-risk investment. Giovanni and Dino become acquainted only because their teenagers are dating (though that relationship isn’t what it seems). What they have in common—with the rest of Italy, Virzì implies—is that everyone is trying to game the system. The financial preamble, road accident, and aftermath are seen from three separate perspectives over six months. Dino’s avuncular view is self-serving: His second wife Roberta (Valeria Golino—remember her from Rain Man?) is pregnant; and he wants/resents la dolce vita the Bernaschis represent. Inside their mansion, however, we see the gilded discontent of Giovanni’s wife Carla (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), whose loutish son is involved with Dino’s daughter Serena (Matilde Giol). The latter is, along with stepmother Roberta, one of the few characters here not motivated by money, and she brings to the picture a keen moral calculation the adults lack. As we—and the police—gradually gather what happened that fateful night, Serena must decide which family to destroy by telling the truth. Giovanni’s hedge fund is imploding; her father could lose their own home; and she’s discovering a new kind of love far from the Bernaschi estate. How Virzì resolves these story strands isn’t tightly knotted; this is the kind of flick where a teenager leaves her laptop open for Daddy to read her e-mail while she sobs in the shower. The elegant Bernaschi and earthy Ossola families often feel like they’re in two different movies (by Antonioni and Rossellini, respectively), though that’s partly Virzì’s point: Italy is a nation still divided between those above the law and those trying, with little success, to break the law. When Carla finally tells her husband, “You bet on the downfall of this country, and you won,” we’re not sure if it’s a rebuke or a vindication. But he corrects her: “We won.” They still have their fortune, and only the little people go to jail. Or die in a ditch. BRIAN MILLER
An unnamed counselor at the Veterans Crisis Line.
Perhaps the most artful film of the bunch is The Reaper, a Mexican meditation on the life of a slaughterhouse worker whose job is killing hundreds of cows a day. Director Gabriel Serra focuses his razor-sharp camera on the interiors of the workplace and finds haunting images, from the grimy machinery to the eyes of the doomed cattle. Much more utilitarian in style is Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (directed by Ellen Goosenberg Kent, already available on HBOGo), a look inside the Veterans Crisis Line facility where responders handle desperate phone calls from (sometimes suicidal) veterans. Its 40 minutes pass breathlessly, as we move from one tense case to the next. The film’s success stories are overshadowed by its statistics about how many vets commit suicide every day (22) and the fact that since 2001 more military personnel have died by suicide than in battle. If Oscar voters cast their ballots for subject matter—they usually do—this one seems a likely winner. ROBERT HORTON E
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
Tough call if you’re a movie marketer: Do you sell The Duke of Burgundy as a story of a professor who specializes in the study of moths and butterflies, or a tale of a lesbian S&M role-playing relationship? Of course this is a trick question, because this movie is both. It has plenty to interest lepidopterists and kinksters alike. The film is mostly set in and around a beautiful old house in the countryside (Hungarian, though the film’s in English). We first meet the professor, Cynthia (Sidse Babett Knudsen), as she cruelly bosses around Evelyn (Chiara D’Anna), a younger woman who appears to be her maid. It turns out this ritual of humiliation is not only mutually accepted, but mostly dictated by Evelyn, who enjoys being punished. She insists that they repeat the same game-playing stories, while Cynthia grows more disenchanted with these rules. She has the house and the career, but she looks terrified of losing her pretty young companion, and goes through the paces accordingly. Occasionally we sit in on lectures that appear to involve an all-female club of moth experts, a quirk that confirms how much this movie is its own airtight, self-contained system. Writer/director Peter Strickland, whose previous film was the devilishly clever Berberian Sound Studio, is nearly flawless at creating that system. On the one hand, his movie is an incredibly handsome homage to a certain kind of arty erotic picture from the ’70s (the opening credits are wonderfully antique), yet he shows no nudity and generates little salacious excitement. The two actresses are completely locked into this world, never winking at the camera or losing the human vulnerability behind the unconventional, uh, “lifestyle.” At one point the movie pauses for a trippy sequence that directly quotes Stan Brakhage’s classic of experimental cinema, Mothlight (for which the filmmaker pasted bits of real moths onto the film reel), but with a distinctly sexual kick. Amid this hothouse atmosphere, something roots The Duke of Burgundy in a universal subject. However weirdly it might present itself, and whatever Cynthia and Evelyn’s S&M tastes might be, the relationship issues between the two women are pretty mundane: One is getting bored; one is needier than the other; one has money and the other has youth. Dressing these everyday anxieties in bondage gear gives the movie an undercurrent of droll humor, which becomes part of its sneaky appeal. ROBERT HORTON
SHAYNE LAVERDIERE/ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS
OPENS FRI., FEB. 6 AT SIFF CINEMA UPTOWN AND FILM CENTER. NOT RATED. 101 MINUTES.
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arts&culture» Film
ANDY GRAMMER ALEX & SIERRA 2/24
with MISS MAY I + NORTHLANE + FIT FOR A KING + ERRA
2/16
7PM
COMMIT THIS TO MEMORY 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY TOUR
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK
2/17
with WILLIAM BECKETT BRICK + MORTAR
2/18
RIFF RAFF
7:30 PM
FLIGHT with BEAT CONNECTION
8PM
ECHOSMITH 8PM
DAN+SHAY with CANAAN SMITH
3/28 9PM
9PM
with PAN ASTRAL
8PM
8PM
GEORGE EZRA with RUEN BROTHERS
4/6
LOTUS 2/22
8PM
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN TOUR
FACILITIES
2/21
with DUKE EVERS
2/26
with THE COLOURIST
KARL DENSON’S TINY UNIVERSE 2/19
8PM
3/21
RUN DMC REMIXED
featuring VOKAB KOMPANY with BROWNOUT
matter if you remember • ACTRESS It doesn’tThereally Wire or not; nor is it worth
with PARADISE FEARS
LEIGHTON MEESTER
AUGUST BURNS RED
8PM
JAMES BAY 5/10 – ON SALE FRIDAY AT 10AM
8PM
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
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IN FLAMES + ALL THAT REMAINS with special guest WOVENWAR
3/7
RODEO TOUR
YOUNG THUG + TRAVI$ SCOTT
3/31
with BIG BUSINESS
7PM
THE FUTURE HEARTS TOUR
ALL TIME LOW with
8PM
STROMAE 4/6
MASTODON +CLUTCH 4/26
8PM
5/6
ISSUES + TONIGHT ALIVE + STATE CHAMPS
GRIZ
with THE FLOOZIES + MUZZY BEARR
5/8
Brandy Burre from looking up her scant credits on IMDb. This recursive documentary about her increasingly discontented life as a mother and housewife in the Hudson River Valley, meanwhile trying to resume her old trade, provides a definitive role. Burre—surely with some sort of publicity agenda in mind—agrees to let director Robert Greene trail her through what proves an eventful period in her life. With two small children and a mostly silent boyfriend, Burre faces a familiar female dilemma. Her youthful identity is being smothered by domestic life. The next two decades are set for her in sleepy, snowy Beacon—unless she can somehow revive her career. Burre remains unknowable—to Greene, to us, and to her increasingly baffled, stoic boyfriend. Actress raises but refuses to answer some unsettling questions. How strong is your marriage? And: How well do you know your spouse? (NR) BRIAN MILLER SIFF Film Center (Seattle Center), 324-9996, siff.net. $7-$12. 7 p.m. Mon. CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL SEATTLE This annual festival offers a lot more than movies. Music, dance, filmmaking workshops, a pancake breakfast, and other kiddie activities are also on the schedule. Several packages of animated and live-action shorts are presented in themed screenings throughout the fest. Visiting filmmakers will attend selected screenings. (NR) Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380, childrensfilmfestivalseattle. nwfilmforum.org. $6-$8. Ends Feb. 7. ENTER THE DANGEROUS MIND An EDM musician may or may not be schizophrenic in this new indie thriller by Youssef Delara and Victor Teran. (NR) Grand Illusion, 1403 N.E. 50th St., 523-3935, grandillusioncinema.org. $5-$9. 9 p.m. Fri.-Sat. A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT This debut feature by Ana Lily Amirpour is a very studied mood piece, dryly humorous and more inclined toward the arthouse than the drive-in. There will be blood—and it will be sucked—but Amirpour has more on her mind than horror in this black-and-white, Farsi-language vampire movie. Sheila Vand plays our unnamed heroine, a young woman who walks (and yes, sometimes skateboards) down the streets of Bad City at night. Clad in her chador, drenched in the movie’s black-and-white gloom, she has a great vampire vibe. Her soulmate also moves through the nocturnal city: Arash (Arash Marandi), whose vintage T-bird has been claimed by a local gangster—yet even without wheels, he’s still cool. When he dresses as Count Dracula for a costume party and runs into the vampire there, their union is written in blood. Amirpour, an experienced hand at short films, is content to let the movie float along on its gorgeous monochrome look and punk attitude. (NR) ROBERT HORTON SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 801 E. Pine St., 324-9996, siff.net. $7-$12. 11:55 p.m. Sat. MY LAST YEAR WITH THE NUNS This adaptation of Matt Smith’s 1997 stage monologue has three irresistible selling points if you’re a) Catholic, b) were raised on East Capitol Hill during the 1960s, and c) have an aversion to warm and easy nostalgia. Directed by Bret Fetzer (who also staged the original monologue), Nuns doesn’t cover a lot of ground, but it also doesn’t need to. It’s a condensed, somewhat fictionalized account of what it meant to be a teenage troublemaker during 1966–67, when Smith and his buddies were in the eighth grade at St. Joseph’s. Smith is unsparing—and often hilarious— about his clannish, insular, and bigoted parish, populated by large families whose kids were just beginning to sense the liberal breeze of the late ’60s. The anecdotes and adventures Smith relates aren’t terribly novel (stealing from the collection plate, etc.); but again, they don’t need to be. Their snotty, profane details transport us back to our city’s preliberal roots. Seattle is then seen through the parochial perspective of a lad Smith calls “a 13-year-old white Catholic boy who is cluelessly racist, homophobic, and misogynistic, and is only now just barely beginning to confront the horror of his thinking.” (NR) B.R.M. Grand Illusion, $5-$9. 3 p.m. Sun., 7 p.m. Mon.-Tues. SATURDAY SECRET MATINEE Hosted by The Sprocket Society, this Saturday matinee series (through March 28) features the 1941 serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel, preceded by various vintage cartoons and shorts. Total program length is about two hours. (NR) Grand Illusion, $5-$9. 1 p.m. Sat. SECRETARY Based on a 1989 short story by Mary Gaitskill, Secretary’s oddly affirmative tale is one of private pathology turned to self-discovery. Instead of therapy (she’s fresh from the nut house), Lee (Maggie Gyllenhaal) finds a healthier, if still unconventional, outlet for her masochistic tendencies while being bound, spanked, and dominated by her anal-retentive attorney boss (James Spader). Proofreading has never
Ongoing
• BIRDMAN A movie star in a career skid since he
stopped playing a masked superhero named Birdman back in the ’90s, Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is preparing his big comeback in a Broadway adaptation of Raymond Carver stories, funded and directed by himself. Obstacles abound: Riggan’s co-star (Andrea Riseborough) announces she’s pregnant with his child; his grown daughter (Emma Stone) is his assistant, and not his biggest fan; a critic plans to destroy the play. And, in the movie’s funniest headache, Riggan must endure a popular but insufferable stage actor (Edward Norton, doing a wonderful self-parody) who’s involved with the play’s other actress (Naomi Watts). This is all going on while Riggan maintains a tenuous hold on his own sanity—he hears Birdman’s voice in his head, for one thing. To create Riggan’s world, director Alejandro González Iñárritu and Gravity cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki present the film as a continuous unbroken shot (disguised with artful digital seams). The result is truly fun to watch. (R) R.H. Sundance, Pacific Place, Big Picture, Kirkland, Majestic Bay, others INHERENT VICE Why Thomas Pynchon would go back to 1970 with his late (2009) hippie detective spoof is obvious: nostalgia, command of period color, and unfinished business as one optimistic decade curdles into another—trying to locate Where It All Went Wrong. But what mysteries are there for Paul Thomas Anderson to plumb? Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a mutton-chopped gumshoe operating near the L.A. beach, salt air and cannabis fumes constantly in his lungs, vaguely pursuing a missing-person case. His “old lady” Shasta (Katherine Waterston) turned him onto the case, which sends him stumbling through a gallery of SoCal eccentrics. (These include Martin Short, Owen Wilson, and Benicio Del Toro.) Don’t expect any mysteries to be solved here; Doc is a P.I. who collects very little hard evidence, yet he persists, unperturbed by the absence of such facts. (R) B.R.M. Guild 45th, Meridian, others TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT Sandra (Marion Cotillard) has been on medical leave from her workplace, owing to depression. She has a low-level job in a manufacturing plant in Belgium. She’s ready to go back to work, but management has decided to cut her position. According to labor laws, her 16 fellow employees can vote to keep her on the job—but the boss has offered them each a 1,000-euro bonus if they agree to lay off Sandra. She has a weekend to plead her case to each co-worker. Every few minutes we are reminded of the cruelty of being put in this position, and the humiliation of having to repeat her argument. Throughout, the deglammed Cotillard is more than up to the task of convincing us of Sandra’s modest place in the world. The very human stories of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have always had a political purpose, and this superb film’s portrait of the power of manipulation and greed is one of their clearest. (NR) R.H. SIFF Cinema Uptown WHIPLASH Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) is an unbridled asshole for art’s sake, a petty Stalin figure inside the Juilliard-like music academy that greets the innocent Andrew (Miles Teller). Andrew has fled Long Island and his kindly, weak mensch of a father (Paul Reiser) to be the best drummer in the best studio band at the best school in the country. That means pleasing the imperious, bullying Fletcher, a man who seems endlessly displeased with the world’s lax standards. (The Oscar-worthy Simmons, who originated this role in writer/director Damien Chazelle’s prior short, doesn’t oversell the villainy or froth at the mouth.) How Andrew responds to such abuse—quite calculated, as we shall learn—is the heart of this thrillingly propulsive drama, an intense, brutal, and often comical tale of mentorship gone amok. Chazelle, a genuine new talent, has compared his Sundance prizewinner to a war movie or a gangster picture; yet it’s a battle where the two antagonists share the same musical goals. (R) B.R.M. Ark Lodge
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THE MISSING LINK TOUR
7:45 PM
been so sexually charged. In a movie about erotic and emotional displacement, each of Lee’s typos invites stern correction. The 2002 Secretary treats the S&M stuff for laughs, not titillation, yet the two excellent lead performers never wink at the audience or belittle their characters. (Also note that a very different sort of romance, Sleepless in Seattle, is also playing the theater this week; see website for schedule.) (R) B.R.M. Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684, centralcinema.com. $7-$9. 9:30 p.m. Fri.-Tues.
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» Music
Willie, Barbara, and Me
Introducing Girls’ Night, my new live review column.
I
GIRLS’ NIGHT
The EQC was packed—filled with gambling patrons and cigarette smoke—and the show was sold out. It was my fourth time seeing Willie, the second at a casino, and the first that it occurred to me I might not see the man, now 81 and visibly aged, perform again—at least live, anyhow. Barbara had seen him before too; she even once got a hug backstage at Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit. “My friend had liberated a bottle of red from Dashboard Confessional’s dressing room,” she said, “so I was a little more outgoing than I usually am.” True, Barbara was more reserved than the typical fan that night—an assortment of brawny dudes double-fisting Bud Lights and senior
couples rallying for a special weeknight occasion. I was too. Dinner was a half-eaten sandwich on my lap (Barbara had a hot dog) when Willie came on promptly at 8 p.m., family in tow: sister Bobbie Nelson on keys, Mickey Raphael on harmonica, Paul English on drums, Kevin Smith on bass. The veteran songwriter wasted no time launching into “Whiskey River” to a hearty cheer from the crowd, and quickly rolled into a set of the usual standards: “Georgia on My Mind,” “On the Road Again,” “Me and Paul,” “Funny How Time Slips Away.” But the performance was unbalanced—the sound muffled, the spotlight out of sync, the tempo often off-beat, and Willie looked bonetired. I was bummed, but Barbara shrugged it off. “You don’t go to see Willie Nelson for the technical aspect,” she said. “You go because he’s a living legend.” She’s right, of course— even though the icon was a little road-weary, I couldn’t help but think that watching him perform “Always on My Mind” should be on everyone’s bucket list. Barbara was more annoyed by the bros in the row ahead of us, constantly hopping out of their seats for more beer, blocking her view. She did, however, really enjoy Bobbie’s stoic way at the keys, dutifully plunking out her ragtime solos: “I just love her!” I thought that was interesting. You have to love Bobbie, Willie’s “little” sister who is in fact three years older than her brother. It’s her plucky piano that sets the lively barroom feel of so many Willie tunes. Yet she’s far from a show-woman. Head down, focused, slow to smile: you get the feeling she’d be perfectly fine playing just offstage, out of the spotlight, ever willing and happy to support “big” bro. Perhaps that’s what Seattle music has in Barbara—a reliable, loyal ally who’s not looking for recognition, but just to be on the team. The kind of woman who would work press for a very young Death Cab free of charge just because she liked the songs. She deserves a lot of recognition for efforts like that, but she’s certainly not mining for it. She’s just looking forward to what’s next. Which is? Another show, of course. “Barry Manilow at the Key in May,” she says, without a hint of sarcasm. E
gelliott@seattleweekly.com
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
put out a call a few weeks back to a group of women involved in the Seattle music scene—an assortment of writers, artists, photographers, entrepreneurs, personalities, band managers, and bloggers I’ve come to know since I started writing for Seattle Weekly more than five years ago. I was reaching out with a request: Pitch me a show, we’ll go together, and afterward I’ll write about it. The idea is to connect with local ladies doing cool things in and for Seattle music in an informal live-music setting, that, when filtered through the lens of gender, might yield a few insights about what it’s like, for the both of us, to experience as women. The response has been great and my datebook is filling up, but few pitches pleased me more than that of BY GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT Barbara Mitchell, who suggested Willie Nelson at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma. I was thrilled, and somewhat amused: I love Willie—country music’s everlasting road warrior —but Barbara, as Seattle rock writer Hannah Levin once wrote, “subscribes to an overall gothic aesthetic.” Freewheeling Willie “Roll-Me-Up-andSmoke-Me-When-I-Die” Nelson? Really? “It’s Willie fucking Nelson,” Barbara said excitedly after we met last Thursday and walked to the Sounder that would take us to T-Town. “You just have to see him.” It was a good reminder of what makes such a perspective so valuable, especially today in Seattle’s rapidly changing music scene. An open mind to music of all stripes can open doors to tastes you might not know you have or friends you have yet to meet. Though she’s told me horror stories about a certain Phish sound check, generally speaking, Barbara’s enduring support of Seattle music has not only made her a lot of buddies in town, it’s also been the backbone of her freelancing career, allowing her to score gigs in PR and band management (for the likes of Death Cab for Cutie), her own record label (Roslyn Records), and her current role in media relations for One Reel, the arts organization that runs Bumbershoot. (For more about Barbara’s work, read my profile of her in last year’s Best of Seattle issue, “Best Arts Promoter.”)
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
arts&culture» Music
Nacho Daddy’s Rap Nacho Picasso’s new album with Blue Sky Black Death plunges the artist further into the darkness.
BY ALEXA TEODORO
J
Nacho Picasso: Alive, well, wouldn’t mind dying soon.
AVI LOUD
Stoned & Dethroned continues these themes, with titles like “’89 Dope Spot,” “In a Trance,” and “I’m to Blame for the Rain.” The tone is deliriously haunting, with tracks that underscore Nacho’s flippant misadventures—to be expected from a pair of producers who have worked on cuts featuring Gucci Mane, Cam’ron, and Deniro Farrar. A self-proclaimed villain, Nacho contributes lines like “I’m the lion king/Lining up my coke hyenas” and “If hip-hop’s dead, bury it next to chivalry” that mesh effortlessly with BSBD’s spooky instrumentals, which could easily score a psychological thriller. Throughout, the rapper balances braggadocio with dark stoner humor to mirror the proverbial sex, drugs, and rock & roll that have come to characterize pop music. (Yes, there’s a joint on the album called “Sex/ Drugs/Rock&Roll.”) “It’s one of our darkest albums,” Nacho says. He goes on to wax poetic, in his cryptic way: “It’s not like I got overthrown, it’s just like I turned my back on the throne.” He then goes on to casually remark that he’s “tired of immortality” and wouldn’t mind dying soon. Perhaps that’s a nod to the album’s 11th track, “Ghost,” when he raps about a city where people “only question life, never question death”—but certainly it’s a better option for him to stick around, at least, to enjoy the praise. E
ateodoro@seattleweekly.com
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
esse Robinson has been awake for only about an hour, but he’s already lost his top grill and locked his keys in his car. “I’ve just been taking L’s left and right today,” he says in characteristic slang, chalking up how he can’t catch a break. We’ve linked up in West Seattle, and the sun is just starting to set. “That’s why I don’t get up before eight.” Better known as Nacho Picasso to his fans, these likely pot-induced mishaps barely register, as the rapper is riding a wave of success at the moment. A few months ago he signed to Surf School Recordings, which is helmed by producer Harry Fraud (who’s worked with the likes of Wiz Khalifa, Rick Ross, Mac Miller, Prodigy, and Pusha T, among others), and he’s been enjoying ever-increasing praise from outlets like Pitchfork and XXL. Perhaps most important, Picasso recently dropped his latest album, Stoned & Dethroned (out now, Surf School Recordings). It’s Picasso’s fourth project with production duo Blue Sky Black Death, a highly anticipated follow-up to the team’s first three collaborations, released within a sevenmonth period in late 2011 and 2012. Together they’ve developed a unique brand of sinister gangsta rap that has become a staple of both the Seattle and underground music scenes. “It’s our idea of what Seattle should sound like. It’s gloomy,” says Ryan Maguire, who goes by the name Kingston in BSBD. “Everything sounds purple and blue to me. Like ominous, rainy, drugs, depression, suicide.”
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arts&culture» Music
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coming soon: Behemoth / CanniBal Corpse · suiCide silenCe · maChine head · fallujah · dr know · motionless in white · mod sun enslaved · the devil wears prada · at the gates · andrew jaCkson jihad · the Color morale · eleCtriC wizard · the maine
El Corazon www.elcorazonseattle.com
109 Eastlake Ave East • Seattle, WA 98109 Booking and Info: 206.262.0482
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 4TH
AIROSPACE
with Lucid Optics, Cauzndefx, The Dead Emcee, Thief Of Hearts Lounge Show. Doors at 7:30PM / Show at 8:00 ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS
SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 5TH
30
RAW FABRICS
with Chrome Lakes, Megasapien, Pity Kiss Lounge Show. Doors at 7:00PM / Show at 7:30 ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6TH
THE DICKIES with Dreadful Children,
The Witches Titties, The Crap, Sick Ward Doors at 7:00PM / Show at 8:00 ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $13 ADV / $15 DOS THE DICKIES AFTER SHOW PARTY 21+ LOUNGE featuring live music from KIDS ON FIRE FREE Music begins immediately after the conclusion of The Dickies show in the showroom
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7TH
JUCIFER
with Lb!(pound), X Suns, Teacher, Year Of The Cobra Doors at 8:00PM / Show at 9:00 21+. $10 ADV / $12 DOS
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8TH CHAINBANGERS DISC GOLF SHOP PRESENTS:
IPL @ THE EL INDOOR PUTTING LEAGUE
PS3 Disc Golf * Prizes * Ping Pong * Mini Putting Challenges * Drinks * Food $10 Singles / $5 Doubles ($10 per team) 21+. Doors at 6:00PM / Event at 6:00PM
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8TH
Q DOT
with Brainstom, Tre Ross, Square Bizz, Kay Miyagi Lounge Show. Doors at 7:00PM / Show at 7:30 ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 10TH MIKE THRASHER PRESENTS:
BEHEMOTH
with Cannibal Corpse, Aeon, Tribulation Doors at 7:00PM / Show at 7:30 ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $27.50 ADV / $30 DOS THE BEHEMOTH AFTER SHOW PARTY 21+ LOUNGE featuring live music from THIS IS WAR FREE Music begins at the conclusion
of the Behemoth show in the showroom
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 11TH
SHIRIN
with Waking Things, Dumpster Baby, The Good Weird Doors at 7:00PM ALL AGES/BAR W/ID. $8 ADV / $10 DOS
JUST ANNOUNCED 3/6 LOUNGE - MENTAL REX 4/5 LOUNGE - ROSEDALE 4/20 - DEFEATER 4/21 - RICHIE RAMONE 4/28 - ORGY 7/22 LOUNGE HOUR 24 UP & COMING 2/13 - SUPER GEEK LEAGUE 2/14 - PIRATEFEST FEAT. ALESTORM 2/15 - CANCERSLUG 2/15 LOUNGE - ABYSSINIAN FLAG 2/16 LOUNGE - CORINA CORINA 2/17 LOUNGE - SET YOUR ANCHOR 2/18 LOUNGE - HAIL THE SUN 2/20 - SUICIDE SILENCE 2/21 - REAGAN YOUTH 2/22 - IPL @ THE EL 2/22 LOUNGE - SHINE BRIGHT BABY 2/24 - ENUFF Z’NUFF 2/27 LOUNGE - BLACK PUSSY 2/28 - SUBJECT TO DOWNFALL 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
Location, location, location. Not only is it important in real estate, but it also helps the recording process. Well, at least it did for singer/songwriter JIMBO MATHUS, known for his role in Squirrel Nut Zippers. For his ninth album, Dark Night of the Soul, Mathus visited Dial Back Sound Studio in Mississippi for nearly a year, recording bits and pieces of songs as they came to him with the help of Fat Possum Records’ Bruce Watson, who operates the studio. Together, Mathus and Watson gathered 12 tracks that cover the spectrum of Southern music: blazing rock jams, rollicking country tunes, and heartfelt blues, all featuring Mathus’ homegrown twang. With Barton Carroll. Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave. N.W., 789-3599, tractortavern.com. 8 p.m. $10. 21 and over.
Multi-instrumentalist Jordan Evans and vocalist/guitarist Pete Hanks, aka electro-rock duo MURDER VIBES, came seemingly out of nowhere late last year with their self-titled debut, but the album, both dreamy and dark, is already making a big impact. Hanks’ vocal channeling of Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, and brooding lyrics like “Did you ever love me?/You can tell the truth/Did you ever love me?/I made up everything,” from “Oceans,” build a somber foundation, but synth-driven moments from Evans, especially on tracks like “Right One” and “Not Alone Tonight,” add some light at the end of the tunnel. With Nyves, Zoolab. Barboza, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9951, the barboza.com. 8 p.m. $8 adv. 21 and over. Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, aka Maryland-based rapper LOGIC, just turned 25, but he’s already had the life experience of someone twice his age—all of which he’s chronicled on his debut album, Under Pressure. On “Soul Food,” the rapper recalls seeing eviction notices posted on his door while dealing with a drugaddicted mother and a father who was M.I.A., and on “Gang Related,” Logic gets into the mindset of his brother, a former drug dealer. But as Logic notes in “Intro,” he’s on top despite a rough past. “I used to wonder what it feel like/But now, I know, achieved the goal/I ran the race, I won the gold.” With DJ Rhetorik, Michael Christmas. The Showbox, 1426 First Ave., 6283151, showboxpresents.com. 9 p.m. $22. All ages. Can’t get enough of FOX AND THE LAW’s live show? Well, you’ll soon be able to listen to not one but two of the garage-rock quartet’s energetic concerts anytime you want. At this show, the band is releasing Live From the Banana Stand, a set it recorded at the Portlandbased record label of the same name. And at the end of the month, Fox and the Law will release Live From Capitol Hill Block Party. Together, these albums, no doubt full of distorted vocals and bluesy guitar riffs, should keep fans busy as the band enters the studio to record its fourth full-length. With Wolfgang Fuck, Sashay, SSDD. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880, sunsettavern.com. 9 p.m. $10. 21 and over. Though it’s been almost three years, I can still vividly recall the first time I heard KRIS ORLOWSKI. My mom and I were browsing at an art festival in Coeur d’Alene when we heard a rich, smoky voice ring out from one of the stages. The more we heard, the less we cared about our shopping, and we began to follow the sound until we happened upon Orlowski and crew. I rarely have such a visceral reaction to music, but with Orlowski it was love at first listen. With three EPs and a full-length, Believer, under his belt, it’s safe to say the band has captivated many a listener in the same way. With Le Wrens (Thursday), Hollow Wood (Friday). Triple Door, 216 Union St., 838-4333, thetripledoor.net. Through Friday. 8 p.m. $20 adv./$25 DOS. All ages.
Friday, Feb. 6
For this month’s Community Partnership Showcase, which benefits a new local organization each month, KEXP’s Sharlese Metcalf and her Audioasis crew are hosting indie-folk singer/songwriter and Postal Service collaborator JEN WOOD in support of Street Yoga, a program that brings yoga to young people facing adversity throughout the city. Wood’s latest, Wilderness, is more piano-driven than previous releases but just as personal. In it, over sweeping synth elements from Andy Myers (Stenobot, Supercommuter), the singer examines the impact her early exposure to Christian culture had on her life. This piano/ synth combo works to update Wood’s sound without making it unrecognizable. With Tangerine, Ruler. Columbia City Theater, 4918 Rainier Ave. S., 723-0088, columbiacity theater.com. 9 p.m. $7 adv./$8 DOS. 21 and over. JUSMONI, also known as Mother Sister and Saffroniaa, has taken New Year’s resolutions to a whole new level. This year, the electro-soul singer plans to work on her next full-length album; inspire young people across the country
to “become ministers of culture and urban historians”; build sustainable food farms for communities of color; and move to India for three months with her son. Whew! The singer has set up a GoFundMe page to help her accomplish these goals, and while she still has quite a way to go before reaching her target of $3,000, determination like that will certainly help. With 9th Wonder, Romaro Franceswa, Dex Amora. The Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave., 441-4618, thecrocodile.com. 8 p.m. $11. 21 and over. Emily Westman and Andrew Vait met as undergrads in Florida. After graduation, the pair moved to Seattle and began to flourish in the scene with solo projects and as members of Blunt Mechanic, the Torn ACLs, Lemolo (Westman), and Eternal Fair (Vait). The pair were musically reunited after Vait sang as part of a Queen tribute put together by Seattle Rock Orchestra, for which Westman drums and arranges. Having performed as indie-pop duo SISTERS for just under a year now, Westman and Vait are combining the best of both worlds when the Rock Orchestra backs them up on arrangements of their debut EP, Diamonds of Gold. With Tamara Power-Drutis, Maiah Manser. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, neumos.com. 8 p.m. $12. 21 and over.
Saturday, Feb. 7
“Eclectic” doesn’t even begin to cover the self-titled debut from THE RAMBLIN’ YEARS. Before the nine-track album is finished, the local quintet bounces from countrytinged rock to folk to hip-hop and back. Album opener “Hold On to You” seems like a straightforward country tune until Daniel Dunn comes through with a jazz club– worthy saxophone solo. And songs like “Stay Away” and “Stone by Stone” feature rhythm guitarist Katie Sweeney’s jazzy vocals and lead guitarist Sean Clavere alternating between singing and rapping. With Exohxo, Silver Torches. Columbia City Theater. 9 p.m. $8 adv./$10 DOS. 21 and over. After 10 years together, THE MALDIVES have become synonymous with alt-country, both in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The band’s latest, Muscle for the Wing, which was produced by Shawn Simmons (The Head and the Heart, Grand Hallway), builds on its debut full-length, Listen to the Thunder, and finds the septet, fronted by Jason Dodson, even more in sync. Though the Maldives can throw down a heavy riff with ease, as on “Blood on the Highway,” there’s a folkier side to Muscle, as on album opener “I’m Gonna Try” and closer “Go Back to Virginia,” that keeps things fresh. Neumos. 8 p.m. $12. 21 and over. THE DEVIL MAKES THREE are pros at the ol’ bait-andswitch. The California trio’s latest, I’m a Stranger Here, is incredibly jovial on the surface, but when you look past the upbeat bluegrass and really listen to the lyrics, darker elements become more apparent. “Dead Body Moving” tells the story of someone coming to terms with death; “Worse or Better” deals with rough relationships; the band personifies substance abuse on “Mr. Midnight.” It’s easy to use upbeat tunes as an excuse to sugarcoat lyrics, but The Devil Makes Three (guitarist/singer Pete Bernhard, upright bassist/vocalist Lucia Turino, and multiinstrumentalist Cooper McBean) have struck a balance between catchiness and brutal honesty. With Joe Pug. The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 682-1414, stgpresents.org/ paramount. 8 p.m. $21.25 adv./$26.25 DOS. All ages.
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Though her lyrics are sometimes borderline slurred (see: “West Memphis”), bluesy rock singer LUCINDA WILLIAMS’ voice is so expressive, it’s hard not to jump from one emotion to the next as quickly as she does when listening to her 11th studio album, Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone. Williams is no-nonsense on “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” melancholic on “It’s Gonna Rain,” optimistic on “Stand Right by Each Other” and “Walk On,” and grateful on “Stowaway in Your Heart.” Handling the lengthy project like the pro she is, she takes every opportunity across the double album’s 20 songs to showcase her distinctive rasp. With Kenneth Brian Band. The Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 682-1414, stgpresents.org/ neptune. 8 p.m. $37.50 adv./$40 DOS. All ages. Pennsylvania rock six-piece DR. DOG has been together for more than 15 years, but Live at a Flamingo Hotel marks the band’s first live album—which is a shame, as it’s onstage that the group really shines. Flamingo Hotel’s set list should please Dr. Dog fans new and old, as the band stretches back to its early discography for songs like “Say Ahhh” and “County Line” from its debut album, Toothbrush, while also including tunes like “The Truth” and “Broken Heart” from its latest studio release, B-Room. The entrancing quality of the band’s live shows comes through loud and clear on Flamingo Hotel, which should satisfy fans unable to see the real thing themselves. With Hanni El-Khatib. Showbox. 8 p.m. $26.50. All ages. BY A Z AR IA C . P O D P LE S K Y
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LPN/CSS PSRS offers a rewarding opportunity for individuals to provide residential and community support to adults with developmental disabilities. Generous Benefits! Immediately hiring 2 PT positions, Fri/Sat, 6am to 6pm and 6pm to 6am. Site located in Kent. Wage:$18.50/hour. Must have valid LPN. Send Cover letter and Resume to apply: cmartin@gopsrs.org or visit us 149 Park Ave N., Renton 98057
ADOPT: Affectionate Devoted Married Caring Lawyers Joyfully await Miracle Baby. Excited Grandparents too. Expenses paid 1-800-563-7964 Announcements
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
Puget Sound Regional Services offers a rewarding opportunity for individuals to provide residential and community support to adults with developmental disabilities. Generous Benefits! $10.50/hr. FT/PT available. in Seattle, Federal Way, Renton and Kent areas. To apply: Call 206-772-5700x121 cmartin@gopsrs.org or visit us 149 Park Ave N., Renton 98057
Be a part of the largest community news organization in Washington! Do you have a proven track record of success in sales and enjoy managing your own territory? Are you competitive and thrive in an energetic environment? Do you desire to work in an environment which offers uncapped earning opportunities? Are you interested in a fast paced, creative atmosphere where you can use your sales expertise to provide consultative print and digital solutions? If you answered YES to the above, then we are looking for you! Seattle Weekly, one of Seattle’s most respected publications and a division of Sound Publishing, Inc. is looking for self-motivated, resultsdriven people interested in a multi-media sales career. This position will be responsible for print and digital advertising sales to an eclectic and exciting group of clients. As part of our sales team you are expected to maintain and grow existing client relationships, as well as develop new client relationships. The successful candidate will also be goal oriented, have organizational skills that enable you to manage multiple deadlines, provide great consultative sales and excellent customer service. This position receives a base salary plus commission; and a benefits package including health insurance, paid time off, and 401K. Position requires use of your personal cell phone and vehicle, possession of valid WA State Driver’s License and proof of active vehicle insurance. Sales experience necessary; Media experience is a definite asset. Must be computer-proficient. If you have these skills, and enjoy playing a proactive part in impacting your local businesses’ financial success with advertising solutions, please email your resume and cover letter to: hreast@sound publishing.com ATTN: SEA. Sound Publishing is an Equal Opportunity Employee (EOE) and strongly supports diversity in the workplace. Visit our website to learn more about us! www.soundpublishing.com
Employment Computer/Technology
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Real Estate for Rent King County
Classified
Call
@ 206-623-6231, to place an ad Clean quiet sleeping rooms south end $130/week, includes laundry and utilities 206-762-2757 FREE: Legal Services at www.jrslegalservices.com
HAPPYHAULER.com
Debris Removal • 206-784-0313 • Credit Cards Accepted!
MOST CASH PAID 4 GOLD JEWELRY 20%-50% MORE 24/7 CASH 425.891.1385
WWW.KIRKLANDGOLDBUYER.COM Seasonal Allergies to Pollen, Trees, Grass or Mold? Earn $185 per plasma donation plasmalab.com 425-258-3653
Singing Lessons
FreeTheVoiceWithin.com Janet Kidder 206-781-5062
“Seattle Stu”
Jazz Trio or Quartet for Hire Available for Parties & Restaurants (TOPPS!) Please Call: (206) 223-1110 from 1pm -7pm E-mail: sinison@comcast.net
$ TOP CASH $
PAID FOR UNWANTED CARS & TRUCKS
Apartments for Rent King County
West Seattle Junction area. Basement apt., 2 BD, view, 30’ deck, washer & dryer, jetted tub. Off street parking. No smoking, no pets. $1,800/mo. All utilities included. (206)932-1251 Avail March 1st. 1 BR APT with private entrance. Fully furnished $700. All utilities including cable. Background check and $400 deposit. Auburn 253-906-0410.
Appliances
Appliances
AMANA RANGE Deluxe 30” Glasstop Range self clean, auto clock & timer ExtraLarge oven & storage *UNDER WARRANTY* Over $800. new. Pay off balance of $193 or make payments of $14 per month. Credit Dept. 206-244-6966
NEW APPLIANCES UP TO 70% OFF All Manufacturer Small Ding’s, Dents, Scratches and Factory Imperfections *Under Warranty* For Inquiries, Call or Visit Appliance Distributors @ 14639 Tukwila Intl. Blvd. 206-244-6966
WA Misc. Rentals Rooms for Rent Greenlake/WestSeattle $400 & up Utilities included! busline, some with private bathrooms • Please call Anna between 10am & 8pm • 206-790-5342
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KENMORE FREEZER
Repo Sears deluxe 20cu.ft. freezer 4 fast freeze shelves, defrost drain,
interior light *UNDER WARRANTY* Make $15 monthly payments or pay off balance of $293. Credit Dept. 206-244-6966
was over $1200 new, now only payoff bal. of $473 or make pmts of only $15 per mo. Credit Dept. 206-244-6966
KENMORE REPO Heavy duty washer & dryer, deluxe, large cap. w/normal, perm-press & gentle cycles. * Under Warranty! * Balance left owing $272 or make payments of $25. Call credit dept. 206-244-6966
STACK LAUNDRY Deluxe front loading washer & dryer. Energy efficient, 8 cycles. Like new condition * Under Warranty * Over $1,200 new, now only $578 or make payments of $25 per month
$100 TO $1000
%206-244-6966%
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REPO REFRIGERATOR Custom deluxe 22 cu. ft. sideby-side, ice & water disp., color panels available
206-543-0584.
W E E K LY
EVEN
MUSIC Temporary, Temporary-to-Hire & Direct Hire Do you have administrative experience? We place: Receptionists
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SEATTLE WEEKLY • FEBRUARY 4 — 10, 2015
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MEDICINE MAN WELLNESS CENTER Walk-ins Welcome
On-Line Verification Available Providing Authorizations in Accordance with RCW 69.51A
$99 includes Authorization and Card Doctors available Tuesday 2 - 6 • Thursday 11 - 3, Friday 11 - 6
Also Open Sunday 12 - 4
4021 Aurora Ave N. Seattle, WA 98103 • 206-632-4021 www.medicinemanwellness.com Now accepting all major credit/debit cards!
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CAREER TRAINING
If you want to change your life for the better, choose career training from Everest College!
1-888-291-1362 • www.EverestLearn.com 5 LOCATIONS: Bremerton • Everett Renton • Seattle • Tacoma Financial aid available for those who qualify. Programs and schedules vary by campus. For useful consumer information, please visit us at www.everest.edu/disclosures.
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