Culture Fiend

A Fiendish Conversation with Kris Orlowski

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:21:00 -0700

Image: Courtesy Jenny Jimenez via Facebook

Kris Orlowski, moments away from some bad luck.

There's no magical secret to singer-songwriter Kris Orlowski's success. He's a nice guy who writes nice songs that nice people enjoy. It's a simple formula that's surprisingly difficult for most musicians to pull off, and one that's earned him the respect of his peers. Whether it's collaborating on an album (Orlowski and violinist Andrew Joslyn teamed up on 2012's The Pieces We Are) or rallying to raise money (the band was robbed!), the local music community has his back. Orlowski and crew will play one of their few remaining shows of the year at Hattie's Lot Party on June 23, as part of Seattle's fundraising festival Noise for the Needy (June 20–23 in Ballard). The proceeds from the festival—which also features Portland folk harmonizers Horse Feathers, Juno–winning Canadian indie rock band Said the Whale, and local favorites the Maldives—support the Ballard Food Bank.

For our latest Fiendish Conversation, we chatted with Orlowski about what draws him to benefit shows, preparing for his new album, and almost dying in Calcutta.

It seems like you're tight with a lot of people in the Seattle music scene. The "We Were Robbed" benefit show at the Tractor in April featured a bunch of talented folks (Allen Stone, John Roderick, Shelby Earl, and more) who were just gushing about you. What’s led you to foster such a robust stable of musical friends?

I don’t know, there’s just so many musicians in Seattle. I like certain musicians because of who they are. For example, Shelby Earl, she’s a super sweet songwriter. John Roderick is the funniest guy in the world. Whenever I hang out with him, I’m reduced to giggles...which is pretty embarrassing, so I try not to hang out with him too much. Those types of people—Allen [Stone], the Gervais boys [of Curtains For You]—I really believe in them as people. I kind of just gravitate toward friendships with them, supporting them as musicians. I think it just kind of turns into something where they want to support me too, I guess. I’m always looking for new music to believe in and support, because that’s an important part of this city that we live in. Some people look at it as we’re all competing, but I don’t think that’s the way it should be, nor the way it is.

What up-and-coming local bands should people check out?

There’s a band out here that’s doing well on a national level, but Seattle hasn’t really taken notice yet. Noah Gundersen is going to blow up in the next year, year and a half. I think a lot of people are starting to discover Noah. He’s kind of one of those guys that’s a slow grow, but you look on his Facebook and he’s got 25,000 likes, but still hasn’t totally captured the Seattle audience yet. He still pulls maybe like, 250 to 400 people in Seattle. He’s not a big artist yet, but I think that’s going to change. He’s one of the people I’ve been following, and I’m friends with, so I’m a little biased as well. I knew Allen [Stone] was going to blow up a couple of years ago, before he did. It’s cool to see Noah in that position. The difference between Allen and Noah is Noah doesn’t really have the same kind of niche that Allen did. Allen’s like this blue-eyed soul singer, but I think Noah’s on that same trajectory in some ways.

What your favorite show you’ve seen in the past year?

Unfortunately, I don’t get to see a lot of live shows anymore because I’m playing a lot. I’m a little biased, but Sara Watkins was probably my favorite show. I was on tour with her for about two weeks and she’s just an amazing artist. She played a show in Phoenix at this place called the Musical Instrument Museum. Literally, they have a theater inside this museum that holds like 250 people. The sound in there was amazing, and she had the full band in there. She’s just so polished and she’s got such a beautiful voice.

If you weren’t a musician, what other line of work do you think you'd pursue?

Right after college, immediately after graduating—like, a week after—I hopped a plane to Calcutta, India and did some service work for the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa’s organization. I totally thought I was going to be doing, for the rest of my life, social justice work in third-world countries. Or at least start then, and then have some like, “We Are The World”–style business, helping to support impoverished youth and women. I did my thesis on poverty in college. I totally thought I was going to go that route. That just wasn’t in the cards. I actually got really sick in Calcutta and I had to fly home. I was hospitalized. They thought I was going to die, and I got through it somehow, and I flew— the story’s a lot more involved and I’m trying to keep it brief—but I flew home and got a job in Bellevue as an office manager and then worked my way up to an analyst role. Then I ended up being a marketing consultant at a firm called Projectline in Seattle. I’ve been there six years. I love doing it, but it’s tough because I can’t do both and do them both really well. It’s definitely a life of sacrifice, working in music, but it’s totally worth it.

Do you feel the appeal of service work leads you to play more charity shows like Noise for the Needy?

Absolutely. The rest of the guys are like that, too; it’s really cool. That benefit we did for MusiCares at the Tractor—we raised $3,600—and since we got most of our gear back, we didn’t take a cent of it. We just gave it all to MusicCares, which is so cool. Those kinds of things make it feel like I’m doing something that still contributes, beyond selfishly getting to play music.

Should fans expect any new material at the Noise for the Needy show?

We’ll probably pull out a new song. We’re working on a record right now. We’re going to record in July and August with a guy named Martin Feveyear; he runs Jupiter Studios. Really exciting. We’ve already got the dates scheduled. That album probably won’t come out until February, but we’ll probably pull out a new song, just because we're not really playing much through the end of the year. We’re doing Bumbershoot, Noise for the Needy, and maybe, like, one more show in November.

We’re going to be doing like this Pledge Music thing, sort of like Kickstarter, for our record. We’ll probably kick that off in two or three weeks. Ivan and Alyosha did one, Mike Doughty, Joseph Arthur, a bunch of people. It’s pretty legit. Ten percent of everything we raise over our goal—or maybe it’s even more than that—is going to go to Invisible Children, another benefit.

Noise for the Needy
June 20–23, various venues in Ballard, $10–$15 (per show)

Enter the Woodman: The Frye Recaps the Career of Eco-Artist Buster Simpson

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:41:00 -0700

Image: Courtesy John Holmberg

Buster Simpson, The Crow’s Nest, 1980, photo documentation of the agitprop performance. Courtesy of Hearst Newspapers LLC/Seattlepi.com/Frye Art Museum.

Can art be pharmaceutical?

Seattle artist Buster Simpson thinks so. He’s the guy who made national news in the 1980s slinging disks of limestone into the Hudson River, an action he titled Hudson River Purge. The news media dubbed the disks—intended to de-acidify the polluted waters—“River Rolaids” or “Tums for Mother Nature.”

Simpson lives at the juncture where environmental activism meets aesthetics. For more than 40 years he’s been turning ideas, found objects, puns, and the detritus of urban life into mind-expanding metaphors. He figures if he can get people to think the way artists do, the planet and its inhabitants will be healthier. Now, in the show Buster Simpson//Surveyor, the Frye Art Museum is attempting to recap a career that has ranged from 1970s guerilla art installations and ad-hoc street performances to nationally celebrated actions and commissioned public artworks.

Buster Simpson, Woodman, 1974, b&w photograph. Courtesy of the artist.

That’s a tall order. Curator Scott Lawrimore collaborated with Simpson to stay as true as possible to the spirit of the work: They ripped through walls and recycled the material into sculpture stands, hand-lettered wall texts and interspersed photo and video documentation with artifacts and mixed-media sculptural work in an effort to familiarize audiences with the wide-ranging scope of Simpson’s career. It’s a handsome show. Yet, as always with ephemeral, site-specific or performance-based art, the museum setting at times chafes against the conceptual foundations of the work. How can you encapsulate the experience of Simpson in his 1970s street performances as Woodman, struggling along near demolition sites with an unwieldy bundle of reclaimed wood strapped on his back? The whole point was to get art out of museums and into real-time interactions with people. Those unfamiliar with Simpson’s work may get bogged down in a preponderance of reading material, video and photo documentation better suited to a book or website. (A catalog of the show is forthcoming later in the summer.)

Buster Simpson//Surveyor begins outside the museum and that’s where this art is most at home. A concrete and tree root sculpture Secured Embrace—a lyrical union of man-made and natural forms—adds drama to the reflecting pond, where a handful of pixilated frog shapes, made from water-sweetening limestone, creep along the bottom. Funky yellow barricades, seemingly crafted from bent iron bedsteads, cradle trees on the parking strip and draw our attention to their silent work as air purifiers.

Image: Courtesy Frye Art Museum

Buster Simpson, Secured Embrace, 2011–present, cast concrete, tree root wads, stainless steel cable. Collection of the artist.

Inside, there’s much elegance and humor to be found, as Simpson plays off art historical icons such as Venus de Milo and The Last Supper (or Judy Chicago’s feminist icon The Dinner Party.) Simpson’s proclivity for crows seems spot-on. Ingenious, provocative scavengers, adaptable to urban environments and revered in Northwest Native cultures (where Earth stewardship is a traditional value) they seem like perfect emblems for Simpson himself.

Buster Simpson//Surveyor
Thru Oct 13, Frye Art Museum, free

‘The Killing,’ Episode 4: The Chronicles of Riddick

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:33:00 -0700

Bullet and Albino Bugs Bunny bond over carrots.

Last night was a bad one for Carl Riddick, Detective Holder’s older, more seasoned partner, who quickly found that the old ways of doing police work don’t cut it anymore. Sitting in an unmarked car and waiting to catch a suspect behaving badly blew up in his pockmarked face when Goldie the pimp made a break for Hooker Bones Lake and held an improvised press conference. And when he tried flaunt his seniority, Riddick learned that the Seattle Police Department—at least the Seattle Police Department on The Killing—is no longer an older man’s (or even a man’s) game.

Dumping on Detective Linden, Riddick says to Holder, “I’ve forgotten more convictions than she’ll ever have,” to which Holder responds, “Yeah, well you’re a lot, lot older.”

And later, when Riddick continued his rampage of condescension, this time in front of Linden herself, he absorbed the zinger of the night, when Linden deadpanned, “Twenty-three years of experience and all you are is in the way.”

It was a bad night for Riddick because it was a night in which all kinds of new (or resurrected) alliances emerged. Holder and Linden are more or less partners again. Bullet and Holder have become simpatico, so much so that Bullet can reject Holder’s proffered baby carrots and (almost affectionately) call him a “big, hairless albino Bugs Bunny.” Over on death row, convicts Ray Seward and Alton Hill are bonding, which worries guard Francis Becker, who avers his own alliance by inviting newbie guard Henderson home for a beer. And out on the street, even Bullet and Twitch—rivals for Lyric’s affections—have their own adventure.

But first we see things go south for creepy chain-smoking motel matron Mama Dips, whom you may recognize from that other Northwest murder mystery. A swat team ramrods her doors, busting johns. And Holder and Linden discover a hidden room behind the reception desk, a hidden room that’s actually a mini porn studio. Questioned back at the cop shop, she announces that the graveling, male-sounding off-camera voice in the porn vids is actually her voice, and we believe her, even as we swear off cigarettes forever.

Kallie’s mom Dannette, thanks to busybody Linden, watches her own daughter interviewed in a porn clip, and she coughs up a confession: On the evening Kallie went missing Dannette locked Kallie out of the house and didn’t answer the door when she knocked.

Meanwhile, the world’s worst parole officer blackmails Twitch into dropping his pants. Twitch copes by shooting meth, which Bullet discovers. She follows him as he looks to score more meth at Freeway Park, where some kids from an ’80s skateboard movie beat him to a pulp.

These characters soon learn that alliances come at a price. When Bullet brings back a bloodied Twitch to Lyric’s motel room, it only deepens Lyric’s affection for Twitch, not Bullet, who is literally left out in the cold. Henderson the guard learns that the supposed alliance forged by Becker was in fact a power play when Becker calls him out for not being able to force inmate Seward into taking his medication. And we know Danette’s newly revealed relationship with her boyfriend, the cab driver and Red Herring of the Week, John Mills, is a catastrophe in the making.

Of course, the resurrected alliance between Holder and Linden will no doubt have its cost as well, especially with Riddick stewing on the sidelines. It’s hard not to view the final prison scene of the episode as prophetic: Becker takes advantage of Seward and Alton’s new friendship by savagely beating Alton until Seward takes his medication. Will Riddick pull a Becker and punish Holder and Linden for pairing up too?

The Killing airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.

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Lynn Shelton's 'Laggies' Filming in Seattle

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:42:00 -0700

Image: Shutterstock

Keira Knightley

Madison Park Blogger was buzzing on Tuesday with news of a movie crew setting up at the intersection of 41st Avenue E and E. Newton Street—one of several Seattle locations for Lynn Shelton's latest film, Laggies.

When we first heard about the movie back in March, it was a dark comedy slated to star Anne Hathaway, Sam Rockwell, and Chloë Grace Moretz (aka Jack Donaghy's teenage nemesis on 30 Rock). But according to media insider sites, Hathaway had a scheduling conflict—Christopher Nolan’s new sci-fi film Interstellar—and had to bow out. Keira Knightley is now attached to Laggies, which iMDB says is about "a woman stuck in permanent adolescence [who] lies to her fiancé about going on a retreat and spends the time hanging out with friends instead."

Shelton and crew just wrapped week two of filming, according to the director's updates on Twitter, and it looks like they're taking advantage of the good weather to do a lot of exterior shots. Recognize any of the places in her photos? Follow the fun at @lynnsheltonfilm.

The Top Things to Do This Weekend: June 13–16

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 13:00:00 -0700

Image: Courtesy Tom Ahlers

Take a look inside Seattle's history of floating homes at MOHIA.

VISUAL ART & EXHIBITS

June 15–Nov 3
Still Afloat: A Contemporary History of Seattle's Floating Homes
We’ve always had a few (deep) questions regarding floating homes: Are water beds redundant? Where do toilets empty out? If a home starts to sink, does the mortgage holder have to go down with it? We’ll take it up with the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) when the exhibit Still Afloat debuts, with oral histories, archival photos, and a scale model home to explore. Museum of History and Industry, $14.

June 14
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art Grand Opening
It's not hard to find Bainbridge Island's newest cultural hub—simply get off the boat. Located at the first intersection beyond the ferry terminal, the museum boasts an intense focus on Puget Sound artists (and free admission). BIMoA celebrates its grand opening June 14 with a full day of festivities, including art demonstations and a performance by the Bainbridge Symphony Brass. Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, free.

COMEDY

June 14
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan’s comedic style forces us to examine a tough question: Is this guy even from the same planet as us? The highly condensed ball of unstable comic energy has proved his talents as the outlandish Tracy Jordan on 30 Rock and as a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Now that 30 Rock has wrapped, he’s refocusing on his standup career, which is heavily influenced by his upbringing in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Neptune Theatre, $34.

CONCERTS

June 15
Tony Bennett
Living legend Tony Bennett can still croon the standards with the best of them. He may be 86, but his performance at last year's Bumbershoot proved he can still get the crowd on its feet for multiple standing ovations. Pantages Theater, Tacoma, $89–$249.

June 16
Cyndi Lauper
It's been 30 years since Cyndi Lauper burst onto the pop music scene with her quirky style and hits like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." Lauper celebrates the 30th anniversary of the release of her debut album, She's So Unusual, by playing the album in its entirety. After all, women wanna have a little fun, too. Pantages Theater, Tacoma, $59–$129.

June 14
Blow Out: Women Who Rock Opening Concert
In honor of its new exhibit Women Who Rock—a historical and sociological look at the ladies who shaped pop and rock, from Joan Jett to Wanda Jackson to Lady Gaga—EMP hosts a blowout opening concert covering 50 years of music. Slated to perform: Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's, Hole drummer Patty Schemel, Donita Sparks, Dominique Davalos, and Shae Padilla; guest singers Annabella Lwin and Kim Shattuck; and local singers Star Anna, Shelby Earl, and Choklate. EMP, $20–$25.

DANCE

June 14–23
Seattle International Dance Festival
Performers from around the world take to the streets of South Lake Union and invade Cornish College of the Arts with contemporary dance mania. SIDF opens with an “urban art fiesta” on Terry Avenue—featuring pop-up concerts, free dance classes, a beer and margarita garden, and food by Tom Douglas—followed by shows by contemporary choreographers from Ghana, Israel, and Canada, plus a “spotlight” on locals Amy O’Neal, Tere Mathern, and Kiyon Gaines. Raisbeck Performance Hall, $20–$50.

CLASSICAL & MORE

June 13 & 15
Britten's War Requiem
Not since the 1980s has a Seattle orchestra attempted Benjamin Britten’s monumental War Requiem, which calls for hundreds onstage and evokes the destruction of World War II. This rare performance features the Seattle Symphony led by maestro Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Pro Musica chorus, three soloists, and the Northwest Boychoir. Come an hour early June 13 for a preconcert talk. Benaroya Hall, $19–$112.

THEATER

June 13–15
Sandbox One-Act Play Festival
Three nights. Four brand-new plays. More Seattle theater talent per square foot than an “Actors Drink Free” night at Solo Bar. The Sandbox Artists Collective presents a weekend of 30-minute one-acts, a mix of drama (Elizabeth Heffron’s …dispose of me…, Emily Conbere’s Knocking Bird), dramedy (Scot Augustson’s Milwaukee), and gun allegory (Paul Mullin’s Openly We Carry). Erickson Theatre Off Broadway, $15.

PERFORMANCE

Thru June 16
NW New Works Festival
Now in its second and final weekend, this annual festival of risk-taking local performances features the debut of theater piece The Land Is Always Known by the Satori Group, hip hop–influenced dance by the New Animals, and whatever actor-director-artist Paul Budraitis has concocted (June 15 & 16). On the Boards hosts two separate programs in its Studio and Mainstage theaters. On the Boards, $14–$30.

BOOKS & TALKS

June 13–15
Thought Experiments on the Question of Being Human: Robot and Artificial Intelligence
Seattle Science Festival closes this weekend with a three-day festival of Thought Experiment plays created by scientist-playwright pairs. The question: What does it mean to be human? What role do robots and artificial intelligence play? Following a staged reading, the scientist will lead a Q&A. Town Hall, $5–17.

EAT & DRINK

June 14–16
Washington Brewers' Festival
Psst. Father’s Day is June 16. The Washington Brewers Festival, with 64 breweries pouring 200 types of beers, is also June 16. (You’re welcome.) And on Saturday and Sunday, this beer fest is all ages. Kids can enjoy the root beer garden while Dad samples some suds and watches the keg-tossing competition. The keyword is watch—there isn’t enough Bengay in the world. Marymoor Park, $15.

SPECIAL EVENTS

June 15
All-Star Softball Classic
What do Sherman Alexie, Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament, SuperSonics legend Gary Payton, and chef Ethan Stowell have in common? On Saturday, June 15, they’ll all be playing softball at Safeco Field. The charity event benefiting the United Way also features a concert by local indie pop band the Young Evils. And hey, the celebs can't be that much worse than the Mariners, right? Safeco Field, $10–$125.

Sasquatch! Music Festival Expands to Two Weekends

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 11:35:00 -0700

Image: Seth Sommerfeld

The scenic view as Bloc Party plays the main stage.

It had been evident for some time that the Sasquatch! Music Festival had room to grow. Tickets for this year's fest sold out in under 90 minutes. Yet when we talked to Sasquatch! founder Adam Zachs last month and asked if adding a second weekend was a possibility, he said, "There are no plans right now to double-down on the festival," and that doing so "would dilute the spirit of the event, and it sort of leans more toward greed." Well, something clearly changed between then and now.

Today it was announced that Sasquatch! will expand to a second weekend in 2014. Unlike Coachella, which added a second weekend in 2012, Sasquatch!'s two weekends will not be concurrent and will feature entirely separate lineups. The festival will transform a four-day event over Memorial Day weekend to two three-day fests over the Memorial Day and Fourth of July weekends. It'll be interesting to monitor how the shift affects the strength of each day's lineup and the available ticket packages, but it's hard not to be excited about the prospect of spending more Sasquatch! time at the Gorge.

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art Opens June 14

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:45:00 -0700

It's not hard to find Bainbridge Island's newest cultural hub—simply get off the boat. Located at the first intersection beyond the ferry terminal, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art aims to be a welcoming sight for visitors to the island and a civic center for its residents. The museum boasts an intense focus on Puget Sound artists—and free admission. BIMoA celebrates its grand opening June 14 with a full day of festivities, including art demonstations and a performance by the Bainbridge Symphony Brass.

Executive director and chief curator Greg Robinson filled us in on the new museum's mission, the artists within, and how it's a "living room" for the community.

Why did Bainbridge need an art museum?

There hasn’t been a contemporary visual arts museum in the West Sound region, and when I talk about that, I’m really referring to Kitsap and Olympic Peninsula. There’s a growing population over there that doesn’t have direct access to an art museum. So that’s one way to look at it. Another is that our focus is different from the larger regional museums. We’re focused on artists who, for the most part, are lesser known and really local. The focus we have is on the Puget Sound region, from artists that live and work here, or special collections that exist here. All of the regional museums incorporate local artists, and even to some degree emerging artists, but this will be our sole focus.

How does the museum fit into the Bainbridge community?

When we started to do the building design we said, “As long as we’re planning this art museum, what else could we incorporate that the community could need?” There is an auditorium that seats about 95 people and we have two classrooms. We’re kind of adding to the ability for a lot of groups that don’t have a home: doing small-scale performances, puppet shows, lectures, seminars, musical performances, and all kinds of community groups, corporations, private parties. ... It goes beyond the visual arts mission that we have.

Sustainability is another key part of that mission, correct?

We project to be the first LEED Gold certified art museum in Washington state that is based on new construction. ... We have incorporated a variety of things, including geothermal energy. We have 14 geothermal welds behind the building that go down as deep as 400 feet. We have solar power on the roof. We’ve used a lot of recycled and renewable materials, including a stage in the auditorium that’s made from bamboo.

It’s not only how we designed our building. It will be reflected in some of the exhibitions we plan in the future. Margie McDonald is an artist from Port Townsend, and she has an exhibition going in the Beacon Gallery. She uses recycled wire, old gutters, and copper spools, and she’s creating this big undersea world out of recycled materials. It was important for us to involve emerging artists, which she is, to speak about the environment, which her work does, and to also reference things we think are important to us because we live in this region. Her undersea world of recycled materials touches on all of those areas.

What works on display at the opening really excite you?

There are many, actually. Margie McDonald, that excites me because it’s her first museum show in this region. We have some master artists who will be on display [Roger Shimomura, Alfredo Arreguin]. We have an opening group exhibition called “First Light.” It involved about six other people guest curating the show with me, so we’re drawing a diverse array of art from the Puget Sound region. Julie Speidel, who works on Vashon Island, has a wonderful sculpture and we’ve placed it in the lobby of the museum. It’s really kind of a welcoming piece.

We also will be featuring a few jewelry artists. Craft is a big part of our mission, so we’ll be including ceramics, jewelry, wood, and some furniture pieces. I think that’s a piece that’s not featured as much in other regional museums.

What makes the museum worth the ferry trip for Seattleites?

I think people will see, for the most part, art they haven’t been exposed to in depth. Also, our admission will be free due to sponsorships. Partly because of where we’re located, we want to be really open and accessible to the public. It doesn’t mean that we are endowed and don’t need financial support; it just means it’s so important for us to achieve that.

What are the goals for the museum going forward?

From an exhibition point of view, my goal would be to show a diverse array of artists in all mediums and different levels of their career—solo shows and group shows. We don’t have a particular point of view, but we just want to draw from the diversity of the region. From a community point of view, we hope to really serve our local community, which is really more the Kitsap area, and provide a home for various nonprofits that may not have sufficient space to do different things. In a way, to kind of be a living room for the community.

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
Opens June 14

Outtakes from the World Cup Qualifier in Seattle

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:20:00 -0700

A room with a view: U.S. v. Panama, World Cup qualifier, CenturyLink Field, June 11, 2013

By now, you might have heard that the U.S. men's national team beat Panama 2-0 last night in its World Cup qualifier at CenturyLink Field. With goals by Jozy Altidore in the 36th minute and Sounders forward Eddie Johnson early in the second half, the U.S. moved into first place in the qualifying group, holding a two-point lead over Costa Rica and Mexico halfway through the hunt for a spot in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Here's what you might have missed:

—There were 40,847 people in attendance, the seventh-largest crowd for a World Cup match in U.S. soccer's 100-year history, and it felt small when you saw all the empty third-tier seats. (Capacity for the 67,000-seat stadium was set at 42,000, in consideration of the Mariners-Astros game across the street.) If Sounders friendlies can pack the stadium, why not open it up for this? Especially given the number of fans willing to show up dressed like...

America, land of bounty and free scarves

—Uncle Sam. He was everywhere. Where do people get Stars and Stripes pants? MC Hammer would have liked those. As an aside, are we supposed to own "America" attire? Is it unpatriotic not to? These are big questions. Thankfully stadium staffers were handing out...

—Free U.S. Soccer scarves. In red. So what if Panama was wearing red too? We'll take a free scarf any day, and wave it as we chant...

"We are going to Brazil, we are going to Brazil, we are going, we are going, we are going to Brazil."

—Fingers crossed. The U.S. men's national team plays Honduras next Tuesday in Sandy, Utah. We'll see if those supporters can top ours, "the best crowd I've played in front of in the United States, without a doubt," said captain/midfielder Michael Bradley. Even if the field was...

—Lousy. Temporary grass was installed on top of CenturyLink Field's artificial turf in order to attract U.S. Soccer to Seattle. It "left a lot to be desired," said Bradley. Hey, at least we won. Go America.

The best crowd I’ve played in front of in the United States without a doubt. - See more at: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/mens-national-team/2013/06/us-mnt-vs-panama-quote-sheet.aspx#sthash.ymCBypd3.dpufthe

Seattle Summer Outdoor Movie Guide 2013

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:21:00 -0700

Pack a chair and a cooler for Fremont Outdoor Movies.

Hollywood has already kicked off a summer season that will feature everything from apocalypse comedies (This Is the End, The World's End) to apocalyptic box-office grosses (After Earth). But we don't need cushy chairs and $6 popcorn to have a good time. Outdoor movie season unofficially opens July 2 in Bellevue and the following week in the greater Seattle area.

New this summer: Fremont Outdoor Movies' lineup includes a "Stay Classy" party centered around the absurd humor of Anchorman, and the Alamo Drafthouse's somehow even more absurd singalong presentation of R. Kelly's music soap opera—or "hip hopera"—Trapped in the Closet. As always, a Big Lebowski–themed Dude Fest closes out August.

From the high camp of Three Dollar Bill Cinema's "I Need A Hero!" series to the family-friendly fare in Bellevue (which for some reason features the Oklahoma City Thunder's official movie, Thunderstruck), here's our regularly updated list of summer outdoor movies.

Fremont Outdoor Movies

July 13 Dumb and Dumber
July 20 Superbad
July 27 Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Aug 2 Risky Business
Aug 3 Alamo Drafthouse Presents Trapped in the Closet: Sing-A-Long (21+)
Aug 10 The Avengers
Aug 17 Stay Classy: Anchorman Movie Party (21+, beer garden, live music)
Aug 24 The Dude Fest: Big Lebowski Party (21+, white Russian bar, costume contest, bowling)

Movies at Marymoor Park

July 10 Back to the Future
July 17 Pitch Perfect
July 24 The Incredibles
July 31 The Hunger Games
Aug 7 10 Things I Hate About You
Aug 14 Mary Poppins
Aug 21 Jurassic Park
Aug 28 The Goonies

Movies at the Mural (Seattle Center)

July 27 The Princess Bride
Aug 3 Hugo
Aug 10 The Avengers
Aug 17 The Help
Aug 24 Les Misérables

Three Dollar Bill Outdoor Cinema: "I Need a Hero!"

July 19 Hairspray
Aug 2 Galaxy Quest
Aug 9 Batman: The Movie
Aug 16 Conan the Destroyer

Outdoor Movies at Magnuson Park

July 11 Moonrise Kingdom
July 18 Singin' in the Rain
July 25 Finding Nemo
Aug 1 Skyfall
Aug 8 The Sandlot
Aug 15 Raiders of the Lost Ark
Aug 22 Singles
Aug 29 The Princess Bride

Moonlight Cinema at Redhook Brewery

July 11 Grandma's Boy (21+)
July 28 Project X (21+)
July 25 Due Date (21+)
Aug 1 Road House (21+)
Aug 8 The Goonies
Aug 15 Pineapple Express (21+)
Aug 22 The Hurt Locker (21+)
Aug 29 Varsity Blues (21+)

West Seattle Outdoor Movies

July 11 Talladega Nights
July 20 Goldfinger
July 27 The Devil Wears Prada
Aug 3 The Muppets
Aug 10 The Avengers
Aug 17 Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Aug 24 This Is Spinal Tap

Bellevue Summer Outdoor Movies

July 2 Hotel Transylvania
July 9 Thunderstruck
July 16 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
July 23 ParaNorman
July 30 Life of Pi
Aug 6 Parental Guidance
Aug 13 Chasing Mavericks
Aug 20 Won't Back Down

Carillon Point Outdoor Movie Nights

July 13 Skyfall
July 27 Brave
Aug 10 The Avengers
Aug 24 Puss in Boots
Sept 7 The Pirates: Band of Misfits

Auburn's Summer Sounds and Cinema

Aug 2 The Lorax
Aug 16 Puss in Boots

“If You Could Diagram Dreams, They Would Look Like This”

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:19:00 -0700

Image: Courtesy Francine Seders Gallery

Fred Birchman, The Hanging Suspicion, 2012, charcoal, graphite on paper, 27 1/2 by 26 3/4 in.

When Fred Birchman titled his latest Francine Seders Gallery exhibit The River Is Moving, he paid homage to Wallace Stevens’ poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” and also to Seattle artist Michael Spafford, whose iconic visualization of the poem stretches along a corridor of McCaw Hall. Like Stevens and Spafford, Birchman’s creative language is one of economy and innuendo.

One of Seattle’s underappreciated talents, Birchman is a masterful draftsman whose technique never gets in the way of his lightness of being. In this strong show of mixed media drawings and one sculptural installation, Birchman basically presents subliminal blueprints, records of a mind working overtime to sort things out. If you could diagram dreams, they would look like this.

Image: Courtesy Francine Seders Gallery

Fred Birchman, Disaster Plan: Plate 2, 2012, charcoal, graphite, watercolor on paper, 46 by 56 in.

The drawings depict arcane contraptions, strung together with levers and pulleys that go nowhere. Birchman loves tools and in past shows has created his own fanciful sculptural adaptations, generally dysfunctional and hilarious (with a nod of appreciation to Jim Dine for his series of exquisite tool drawings). Here Birchman again references the old-fashioned tools of design and construction: true-lines and drafting tables, templates, vices and winches. The parts are substantial, beautifully rendered in three-dimensional space, but it’s all hanging together by a thread and a prayer. With layers of pentimento—coffee stained, smudged, and annotated with lists and mundane remarks—the images look labored over and then abandoned, out of time. They could have been unearthed in some medieval alchemist’s workshop. Images such as Disaster Plan: Plate 2—an endless, mostly smudged, erased, and empty sheet of paper, with a few uncertain objects sprouting in odd perspective here and there—go looking for logic where there is none.

Birchman’s work is always playful, but resonates at a deep frequency. The sculptural installation, The River Is Moving, brings together a cluster of misshapen poles, patched together and flimsy, each topped by a single little black bird house, perch extended. A few are tethered to makeshift weights or ineffectual-looking anchors, slack against a current we can’t see. An enormous sense of hope and fragility pervades the piece, as if each house were a person, trying to maintain a point of stability in a turbulent, overwhelming world. Or as if each were a little planet, like our own, endlessly spinning in the great unknown.

Fred Birchman: The River Is Moving
Thru June 16, Francine Seders Gallery