The Stranger

The affable bear of an artist Joey Veltkamp is a known entity on Capitol Hill, but his series of blanket drawings deserves a wider audience. Most of the drawings are small; almost 50 of them cover the walls at Cupcake Royale. They are, simply, colored pencil drawings on white paper, each one depicting a patterned blanket bunched over a mysterious form—or an absurdly obvious one. Some are playful, some enigmatic, and others are straight-up political, related to Veltkamp’s experience of growing up gay and hiding in plain sight. (Cupcake Royale, 1111 E Pike St, 883-7656, 8 am–10 pm, free) by Jen Graves

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You know that feeling that everybody else in the world is in on some huge conspiracy and they’re not going to reveal its secrets to you? They Live is the cinematic version of that nagging suspicion, disguised as an action-movie whirlwind. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper stumbles onto a subliminal alien mind-control plot, and then he tries to convince his friend to put on a pair of consciousness-freeing sunglasses in what many consider to be the single longest fistfight in cinematic history. What else do you need out of a movie? (Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave, www.central-cinema.com, 9:30 pm, $6 adv/$8 DOS, all ages) by Paul Constant

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Greg Campbell and his wife, Carrie, were Garfield High School sweethearts (go Bulldogs!) and are as nice as people can be. Greg was the chef of Kirkland’s late, schmancy Third Floor Fish Cafe; now he’s got his own lunch spot in Magnolia, Wheeler Street Kitchen, with Carrie as his partner. The Campbells’ soups come in a cup as big as a bowl or a bowl as big as your head for just $1 more. The chili is practically all braised beef; the butternut squash has a swirl of curry cream. Greg says those who try the butternut can’t get past it—a great rut to be stuck in. (Wheeler Street Kitchen, 3216 W Wheeler St, 257-0213, 11 am–3 pm) by Bethany Jean Clement

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We’ve not exactly been blessed with an abundance of Welsh female musicians recently, so cherish Cate Le Bon, one of the finest artists of any gender or nationality over the past few years. Her second album, Cyrk, is destined to be one of 2012’s best. Singing with courtly, regal gravitas over folky psych-rock foundations informed as much by Pavement as they are Pentangle, Le Bon crafts poised and darkly vibrant tunes that leave enduring bruises of pleasure on your brain. (Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave, www.thecrocodile.com, 8 pm, $10, 21+) by Dave Segal

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One story in Lysley Tenorio’s debut collection, Monstress, details the time the narrator’s uncle Willie decided to get into a fistfight with the Beatles. It’s an affectionate, pop-culture-soaked portrait of Filipino life. But sometimes Tenorio’s fiction goes gothic: “Robed in white,” a nun “appears at my door like a ghost,” one story begins. “She smiles, and a crack in her lower lip widens.” (That creepy widening-mouth-within-a-smile imagery!) Delightfully, you never know what’s going to be on the next page of Monstress—a pie in the face or a trip to the underworld. Or both. (University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, www.bookstore.washington.edu, 7 pm, free) by Paul Constant

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This is the first time the Frye has ever fully plugged in—its first digitally controlled immersive installation. The piece is Susie J. Lee’s 2007 work Rain Shower, first presented at Lawrimore Project, where it turned the space into a flickering weather event presided over by a barely audible dialogue of whispers. Why now with this particular piece, and how has it been for the museum still best known for its collection of 19th-century German paintings with chunky gilt frames? Lee, a past Stranger Genius Award winner, talks with Robin Held, the departing curator who led the transformation that brought the Frye to this moment. (Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave, www.fryemuseum.org, 2 pm, free) by Jen Graves

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