Plus, Charles Mudede explores the New Italian Cinema Festival at SIFF Cinema, and I review the Burning Fuse Festival at Grand Illusion.

Paul Mullin accompanies this announcement with his usual broadside.

There’s a stereotype about Seattle, and especially its artists, and even more especially its theatre aritists, that we have an inferiority complex. We have trouble believing that anyone who lives and creates their art here can really be doing work of such quality to deserve national recognition. After all, if you’re such a good playwright (or actor or director or designer), why the hell are you living here?

Alas, I think there’s some truth to this myth. But I also earnestly believe that in the next few years we’re going to see the stereotype so completely exploded that it will never be able to reconstitute to haunt us again.

If this coverage by NPR proves one thing it’s this: the rest of the nation actually does give a damn about what we do in this city. They actually do care what happens to our newspapers, and they actually do want to know about what kind of original theatre we’re doing here, what stories we’re telling, uniquely, as Seattleites.

What they don’t care about, what they will never care about, is how carefully and exquisitely we craft a restaging of some chestnut from the canon, or the play that knocked ‘em dead off-Broadway last year. And this isn’t because those stories aren’t good, it’s because those stories aren’t uniquely ours. Seattle theaters that dedicate themselves exclusively to craft and the canon and providing a local outlet to New York’s latest exports are museums. And Seattle will never have as good museums as New York, Chicago or LA.

He's got a point. And if some theater somewhere in the city had been willing to work with Paul on this project (on his admittedly fast timeline), our city's professional acting talent could've read the scenes for the national radio audience.

But there wasn't, except for North Seattle Community College, whose student-actors got the chance instead.

• They're already dressed for their funeral.

"Steve [Bonnell] and Brian [Turner] have kind of phased themselves out over the last year or so, and it'd be weird going on with them," says Jonah Bergman, the band's bassist. "So our Home for the Horrordays show is going to be our last one."

Even though Schoolyard has been playing recently without Bonnell and Turner, the two will be rejoining the band for the December show, happening at El Corazon on December 19th. It will also be the last show for Kane Hodder, who have played many a show with Schoolyard over the years. (And they too will be performing with their original line-up, including bassist Nick Cates and guitarist Jeremy White.)

Despite the break up, Bergman and Co. probably aren't done with music. Schoolyard's music has always been about dead things coming back to life, after all. In fact, he stressed that all Schoolyard fans will want to be sure they arrive to the show on time to see the opening "special guests."

But before they look too far ahead, with or without new projects, they're concentrating on giving Schoolyard the funeral service it deserves. "This band has been the only thing that we’ve thought about, and done every day for the last 10 years and now it’s gonna be done."

RIP, Schoolyard Heroes.

Home for the Horrordays is Saturday, December 19th, at El Corazon with Schoolyard Heroes, These Arms Are Snakes, Kane Hodder, Sirens Sister, and special guests. Doors are at 7 pm, it's all ages, and tickets are available here for $15.

Timothy Thompson, a former news reporter for Portland radio station KXL, will have 11 years and 6 months in prison to think about the severity of what he did to his wife Susan and their three young children, Knapp said. In a bench trial with no jury, Knapp found Thompson guilty of eight counts of assault and one of criminal mistreatment.... Since his arrest, Timothy Thompson said the bruising came from a single occasion when the couple’s “game” of correction got out of control. That story was clearly a lie, McKey said. The bruising was almost unbelievable—purple, green, yellow, red and blue. Knee to waist. Breast to navel. Looking more like the lividity of a corpse than injuries to living tissue, they were administered over years with such exacting care that no one would even notice them on a fully-clothed Susan, McKey said.

The beating game came to an end when the police were called to the house because a woman was screaming. Thompson wasn't home but the police noticed cuts and bruises and that Susan Thompson, "was barely strong enough to lift her infant son." The Thompsons—Mr. and Mrs.—argued that the beatings were a game meant to compensate for Susan Thompson's "lack of discipline" growing up. The couple also wanted a "traditional American family," complete with a submissive wife who stays home with the kids, but Susan Thompson had a hard time submitting. So, beatings. It was all supposed to be "titillating and fun," Mr. Thompson told the court—it was supposed to be consensual sex play—but the court didn't buy it and neither do I. First, because Susan Thompson was punished when she tried to call her parents, which smacks—sorry—the typical abuser's attempt to isolate his victim. And then there's this:

In April of 2009, the beatings escalated to 70 to 100 swats a day. Thompson decided to start using a surveyor’s stick instead of a belt because his arm was getting sore, McKey said. After he was done, daddy would sometimes have the children take the rod and smack the bruises, too, to “let mommy know she had to learn her lesson,” McKey said.

Sorry, but it's not a consensual adult sex game if you're forcing your children to participate. Christ.

The strong supporting cast includes DJ Riz (KEXP) and the Made Like a Tree DJs Struggle and D'jeronimo in the lounge, and SunTzu Sound opening for Jazzanova in the main room. Diverse, top-flight dance music happens 9 pm-2 am; 1325 E. Madison St./21+/$12 adv. Tickets available at Ticketweb.com and Chop Suey box office.

(Also, techno DJs M'chateau, Ctrl_Alt_Dlt, and Jonny Romero will be hosting an afterhours show at Electric Tea Garden starting at 1:30 am. Entry is $5 with a Chop Suey stamp.)

I know, I know: earthquake, crumble, mass death. Plus giant vats of political poison from the Viaduct wars.

But Kadeena Lenz of WA DOT just gave me a ray of hope: "I'm not sure anyone's seriously thought about that as an option—with this project, nothing seems improbable."

She's got a meeting today with a project manager. She promised to bring it up.

Below is video I shot of the speech—which also serves as a great primer on the huge budget mess this state is now facing.

"It goes without saying, today has not been my best day," Gregoire began, nodding toward the news of the state's $2.6 billion budget shortfall. "But you know what, I gotta tell ya, If it was ever a time to have a Democratic governor, a Democratic house, and a Democratic senate, now is the time." She promised her proposed budget would be brutal ("It will be nothing like you have ever seen in your life") and then she declared:

An all-cuts budget is not the value of the people of the state of Washington. We must step up to our responsibility to this state and look for revenue to get the job done.

For the declaration, start at 3:37. Or, to learn all about the $2.6 billion shortfall and get up to speed on Gregoire's thinking about how to deal with it, watch the whole damn thing:

These guys are one of my favorite metal bands that's currently touring. They'll be here on December 11th and you can bet there will be goat horns in the air.

• Williams + Hirakawa

You played at the Crocodile here a few years ago and you busted out a light over the stage with your mic stand. It was bugging you. Glass went everywhere. Do you remember that? Cause you owe the club $14.50.

Casablancas: I do remember that. I apologize. That's probably one of the coolest looking things I’ve ever done though.

Do you bust out lights often?
No. That was pretty much just a lucky shot. I was totally surprised to hit the target. I wasn’t expecting to hit it all. It was more a symbolic gesture.

You should start breaking out lights every show.
It could be cool, but they’d probably start charging me. I’d end up losing money on it.

What about breaking some other things? Maybe some props. You could break through a cinder block or something. Or stage a fight with someone.
I like where you’re going with that. Like a planned thing, something I explode every night. You want a job?

This is a whole new career for you. Forget music, you’re now a stuntman.
Finally. Yes.

So at what point did you realize you wanted to do a solo record? Were you messing around in a studio, or was it something you set out to do?
A bunch of different things added up. Over time, over the months leading up to it, I thought, “I want to do this, I have to do this.” I don’t know, when you feel like you’re getting lack of interest and enthusiasm from the people you play with, and they go off and do solo albums, I kinda felt like I had no choice.

Where did you do the recording?
I started it in New York. Did a lot in LA. Then finished it Omaha, Nebraska with Mike Mogis.

Was it weird recording and not having it be Strokes?
It was weird at first, yeah. I didn’t want to be cocky. I wasn’t sure how it would be, or if I could do it. I did a few tests on my own to see how it would be. I liked the results and it was really fun, so I continued.

How did it differ from Strokes sessions?
I’d say it was more involving, all around. With the Strokes, even if it’s something I write, like a guitar part, I show it to the band, and we rehearse it in a song, and see how it sounds. I put in my two cents in on the tone, but with the band, it's a collaborative thing. On our last record though, I pretty much stayed away from nitpicking tone, and just let the guys work it out. With this solo album, it’s me on all levels of the song. So it’s different that way. I mean, I’m totally involved with the Strokes don't get me wrong, but doing it solo, there’s no one there to hand the song off to or pick it up where you leave it. But then there’s also not someone there you have to debate. I like doing it both ways.

Did you play with any strange or different instruments in the studio for this album?
Not really strange instruments so to speak, but I did use some analog keyboards that I thought were cool. Like the Andromeda.

And you’re a master of the jaw harp right?
You mean a jews harp? Ha. I have played one in my lifetime, but not for this record. There were definitely things we tried in the studio. Like Mike Mogis tried some weird instruments. He has some good ones. They look like a Jules Verne time machine or something. Lots of buttons. You know, we’d try a real piano, and that wouldn’t work, then we’d try an organ and that wouldn’t work. Then we’d try some weird creepy ambient sound, and that would work.

What music are you into these days?
Times New Viking. Telepathe. Beirut. I’ve been listening to those bands a lot.

How do you write songs? Do you have a certain process? Do you go through different phases with it?
I’ve gone through two general phases in my life with writing. I used to never write anything down and just go by memory. Now, I do the opposite, I record everything. The recording process has become recording everything. Every time I play something that seems cool. It can be something random. I could be in a car, or asleep. I’ll record the idea. Then most of the song building, and evolution and structure and arranging happens in editing.

What’s the line up in your band?
I love my band. There’s two drummers, two guitars, and two keyboardists.

Two drummers? So you have the Allman Brothers thing going on?
That would be the last band I’d want to be compared to. Nothing against the Allman Brothers at all. I just don’t really want to sound like them.

Any stories from the tour thus far?
Just the other night we were in San Francisco and this crazy group of Swedish girls was dancing on the edge of the balcony. One of them was wearing a bikini. Like, that’s what she wore out. Just a bikini.

Where are your favorite places to play in the world?
I love playing in New York. For some reason, Glasgow, Scotland is always nuts. And your town, Seattle. It’s always really good there.

And you’ll be going straight to the Croc to replace the lightbulb?
Yes. Definitely.

I am a fan of Lee Daniels' Precious—which chronicles the ridiculously hellish life of a Harlem teen in 1988—for some reasons included here.

But I'm also interested in the ongoing anti-Precious backlash, the most vitriolic contribution to which so far comes from the New York Press's infamous contrarian Armond White:

Shame on Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey for signing on as air-quote executive producers of Precious....Not since The Birth of a Nation has a mainstream movie demeaned the idea of black American life as much as Precious. Full of brazenly racist clichés (Precious steals and eats an entire bucket of fried chicken), it is a sociological horror show. Offering racist hysteria masquerading as social sensitivity, it’s been acclaimed on the international festival circuit that usually disdains movies about black Americans as somehow inartistic and unworthy.

Courtland Milloy at the Washington Post continues the criticism of Perry and Winfrey:

Of course, "Precious" would not have received nearly as much media buzz if Oprah Winfrey and Tyler "Madea" Perry had not signed on as executive producers. Oddly, neither has made a movie about rising above a challenging background and becoming a wealthy and influential entertainer.

Asked by Entertainment Weekly magazine why she got involved with the project, Oprah said: "I realized that, Jesus, I have seen that girl a million times. I see that girl every morning on the way to work, I see her standing on the corner, I see her waiting for the bus as I'm passing in my limo, I see her coming out of the drugstore, and she's been invisible to me."

Instead of making a movie about how she beat the odds, Oprah has taken to divining ugly life stories from black girls she passes in her limo. Maybe the Obama girls should stay off the sidewalk for a while.

In "Precious," Oprah and Perry have helped serve up a film of prurient interest that has about as much redeeming social value as a porn flick.

To me, a honky watching Precious, the fact that Precious was made by a black filmmaker, based on a novel by a black writer, and co-produced by two media titans who also happen to be black communicated something to me about the film's value and, I guess, it's "truth." But according to Armond White (who, like Courtland Malloy, is African-American), it's all a con:

Perry, Winfrey, and Daniels’ pityparty bait-and-switches our social priorities. Personal pathology gets changed into a melodrama of celebrity-endorsed self-pity. The con artists behind Precious seize this Obama moment in which racial anxiety can be used to signify anything anybody can stretch it to mean. And Daniels needs this humorless condescension (Hollywood’s version of benign neglect) to obscure his lurid purposes.

And then there's this: The testimony of Mo'Nique, who portrays Precious' biggest monster, mother Mary. From an interview with the Associated Press:

AP: How would you describe the film?

Mo'Nique: It is about a forgotten people. It is about obesity. It's about molestation. It's about cruelty. It's about HIV/AIDS. But it's about triumph—and that's the beauty of the movie. People say, "How do you walk away saying it's beautiful?" When you watch it and you understand, through it all, somebody can pick themselves up and keep it moving, that's beautiful... So I was proud to be a part of something that is very honest, and Lee Daniels, baby, he's going to give it to you. He's going to give it to you raw. No chaser, no lollipop licking, this is it. It's the dirt, it's the grime, it's what we're afraid of.....I don't know of any other director that would have given two fat, black women the opportunity to do what we did... The world needs to see it because guess what, Mary Jones exists, baby. So does Precious.

Why I bolded that line above: Despite any and all claims of racism or black-on-black betrayal, Precious represents something all decent people must celebrate: A serious movie filled with almost nothing but great parts for African-American women (that also happens to be directed by a gay guy).

Precious begins its Seattle run today.

Here's a sneak peek at one of them, made by Coco Howard. She photographed it in the forest (!).

That's a suicide note in his left hand, poor guy. He is full of felt organs that she also made. (It's like she made dozens of works of art in this single piece.) Will anybody be able to bring themselves to smack the crap out of any of these things?

Unbelievable. (I'm not being nice; you know me.) And for a good cause.

This is just the beginning. More next week.

• The Corner of Sweet and Bitter at Open Satellite

I've written plenty about Koizumi already here, so you probably want a rest. But last night he gave a talk that was also a performance, so I just want to share it for those following the issues involved in his work. The central issues are freedom and abuse, as I wrote last week ("On Whether the Artist Is Cruel").

And then he brought up an image of the movie poster for "The Last Samurai," and Tom Cruise's giant serious face (surrounded by long, flowing hair) came onto the Henry's projection screen. Music (I can only assume the movie's soundtrack) began to play over the sound system—cheesy and effective music, the kind of music that moves you to cry if the movie director wants you to cry.

Koizumi explained that he saw "The Last Samurai" on the plane. ("It's like 'Dances with Wolves' but about Japan," he said.) Its nationalistic, hyped-up portrayal of Japan was so pseudo and so absurd that he found himself laughing out loud—until he looked around and saw two women crying. He stopped laughing and started being amazed: what was this work of art that could make one person fall down laughing and another cry her eyes out?

He thought of "The Last Samurai" versus "Kill Bill"—the "sick" image of multiculturalism versus the "healthy" (aware, smart, edumacated, post-PC, etc.) image of multiculturalism.

Which would he rather make in his own art?

He delivered the answer as if he were channeling "The Great Dictator," his voice rising as the music got louder and louder. It's hard to see and hard to understand, but I tried to capture it on video as soon as I saw it happening. (Video on jump)

• Jaycee
• (Click to Enlarge)

From the press release:

The show examines the artists’ common influence in Japanese wood block print, manga and historic figures including Utamaro, Hokusai, and Katsuhiro Otomo. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled over Japan for more than 300-years, yet creativity thrived despite (or perhaps because of) this oppression. Wood block prints were called ukiyo-e, “pictures of the floating world” — a world of the courtesans, brothels, and Kabuki theaters frequented by an urban class growing in wealth and size, who celebrated a lifestyle free from government-imposed restrictions. This installation reflects the relationships between political oppression and artistic expression, economic growth and social structures, the impact of technology on communications and communities, and the tensions that lead to a restructuring of our worlds.

Mike Wagner is a painter, conceptual artist and non-commissioned public illustration specialist, born in Philadelphia raised in Seattle. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, this year his paintings have been featured at Zeitgeist Coffee and FlatColor Gallery — including a series showcasing the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

I AM is a self-trained Sharpie maestro, comic book and video game illustrator. Originally from Philadelphia but now calls Seattle home, his work has recently been seen in Kushi Bar and Venom.

Their work will be displayed against a backdrop of video-art installation that will loop archival footage, classic moments from Akira Kurosawa and John Hughes movies, as well as a short film that was shot in Japan the summer of 2009 by graffiti writer, photographer and producer TEWZ (Chicago).

See the full press release after the jump:

At Kohl-Welles event, Gov. Gregoire stated that another cuts-only budget would not be acceptable.

This could be the first sign that the Democratic super majority could show some guts and raise revenue to balance the budget. They might not have a choice, since there is so little left to cut:

70% of the state budget is protected through constitutional, federal, contractual and other mandates, which means the Legislature would need to slash 27% from the remaining $9.6 billion in unprotected spending in order to achieve an all-cuts budget. I suppose that could be done, but only at the expense of great human suffering.

If the legislature leans on a cuts-heavy budget in 2010, General Assistance Unemployable (or GAU) could be toast. According to their website, GAU is described as a "state-funded program that provides cash and medical benefits for persons who are physically and/or mentally incapacitated and unemployable." Since GAU is only available for individuals who don't qualify for other government assistance, without GAU many of these people would be on the street. It survived elimination in last year's budget, largely because Speaker Frank Chopp defended the program.

Spokane County sheriff's deputies used a stun gun on an attacking pit bull dog. It didn't stop, so they shot it with a .45-caliber handgun, and it still kept coming. They finally killed it with a blast from a 12-gauge shotgun.

And so good with children.

How you're dressed counts for a lot. (Bringing a pea-coat up here, in retrospect, was a poor decision; never have I had an article of clothing inspire such ire.) Anything beyond the practical draws attention, all negative. A thick coating of aggressive humility is requisite. Looking the part of a down-to-earth, humble working man or woman counts for quite a bit, it seems—perhaps even more than acting that part. A piece of the Palin puzzle fell into place when I finally recognized this pattern. To her hometown supporters, I suspect, there was no more damning criticism of Sarah than her costly clothing shopping sprees. It's telling her book and public appearances all strongly deny even the most obvious and demonstrated facts of her campaign-financed wardrobe revamping.

The Alaskans have also proven quite prickly about minor offers of help, basic interactions like holding open a door or offering directions. Being self-reliant, projecting the image of not needing anyone or anything to get about your life, seems to matter deeply. Nowhere else has the phrase “Can I help you find something?” been loaded with such malice. This seems like a place filled with outsiders, individuals who didn't fit in well elsewhere. The general attitude is blurred between a desire for acceptance and interpersonal connection and a sour-grapes fuck-off-I-don't-need-you-anyways. Todd's membership in the AIP clicks for me a bit more now.

I guess the Noblesville, Indiana Going Rogue book signing didn’t go very well yesterday because 300* or so of the 1000 people with wristbands were asked not to tread on Sarah Palin and then she tried to make a getaway with Baby Trig and several duffel bags full of cash but wingnuts have learned to protest about everything these days, so they were having none of it. This is the best thing you will see about horrible, horrible Sarah Palin on the internets all day and until the end of time.

Go to Rumproast to read angry comments left on Sarah Palin's Facebook page by some real disappointed real Americans.

The British government has brought down its long-awaited Digital Economy Bill, and it's perfectly useless and terrible. It consists almost entirely of penalties for people who do things that upset the entertainment industry (including the "three-strikes" rule that allows your entire family to be cut off from the net if anyone who lives in your house is accused of copyright infringement, without proof or evidence or trial), as well as a plan to beat the hell out of the video-game industry with a new, even dumber rating system (why is it acceptable for the government to declare that some forms of artwork have to be mandatorily labelled as to their suitability for kids? And why is it only some media? Why not paintings? Why not novels? Why not modern dance or ballet or opera?).

So it's bad. £50,000 fines if someone in your house is accused of filesharing.

One Way to Try and Save Newspapers: Like Prince and Sigur Rós, Blur is going to release a CD via a UK newspaper.

Fight! (Kind Of.): The feud/not feud between Fiery Furnaces' Matthew Friedberger and Beck continues.

Mark Your Calendars: The line-up for 2010's All Tomorrow's Parties includes Sleep, Iggy & the Stooges, Mudhoney, and more.

RIP: The driver of one of Miley Cyrus' tour busses was killed when the bus rolled this morning. Cyrus was not on board.