The Stranger Suggests

May 25 - June 1

Thursday, May 26

'Wheeled Sword'

(SKATER APPRECIATION) Tonight is yet another celebration of the rich skateboarding culture in Seattle, as artist Podge Elvenstar screens Wheeled Sword-State of Skate, his video magazine of emerging skaters and local legends, music from bands like John Atkins, the Swarming Hordes, FCS North, and the Fakies, and features on visual artists. This issue of WS also features footage of the Ballard Bowl's last hurrah. (Kincora Pub, 518 E Pine St, 325-0436. 9 pm, free.) JENNIFER MAERZ

Phil Elverum and Rich Jensen

(UTOPIA) Today, the three-week progress of the ambitious installation, Let's Get Out of the Romance Exhibition Station and Soundcheck, comes to an end. Phil Elverum (the Microphones) and Rich Jensen (Clear Cut Press) are responsible for setting this sprawling collection of memories, utopian dreams, posters, and junk into motion. It now covers several of the walls and corners of Hugo House's ground floor, and is ready for public viewing. (Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030. 7 pm, free.) CHARLES MUDEDE

Friday, May 27

Shout Out Louds

(MUSIC) Shout Out Louds is an appropriate name for a band whose praises should be sung from the mountaintops. On their debut LP, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff, the Swedish noisepop act ties you to their helium balloon hooks, sending you soaring through a romantic mélange of melodic styles and harmonies that will make fans of bands like the Concretes and the Arcade Fire swoon. Even Howl's crestfallen moments are buoyed by instrumentation so full of hope there's no room for moping around. (Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611. 9 pm, $10.) JENNIFER MAERZ

Jim Jarmusch

(SHORT FILMS) Jim Jarmusch isn't in town (he's busily accepting critical hosannas for his latest flick starring everyone's favorite finicky comedic princess Bill Murray), but his presence is at the Center of Contemporary Art this weekend in the form of an evening of nine short films that he curated. Buster Keaton's The High Sign may not be a surprise pick from such an avowed minimalist, but it's worth the price of admission on its own. (CoCA, 410 Dexter Ave N, Fri May 27 and Sat May 28, pm, $8.) NATE LIPPENS

Saturday, May 28

Le Freak

(NEW CLUB NIGHT) What? Fags in the Wild Rose? Who DARE?! From the ashes of monthly parties Muscle and Vibrator rises a brand-new night that promises to, once again, bring all the boys and girls together to revolutionize the way you think about gay bars. The masterminds behind Le Freak hope to smash what's left of your segregationist attitudes, and gather the whole gender-bent community onto one crazy, sweaty dancefloor. It happens every fourth Saturday. (The Wild Rose, 1021 E Pike St, 324-9210. 9 pm, $4.) KELLY O

Mahjongg

(MUSIC) You should be leery of white folks trying to inject African elements into funk. But once in a while (in a lifetime?), as with Talking Heads' Remain in Light, the gambit pays off. Exhibit B: Mahjongg. The Chicago band brings a flinty, urban uptightness to their funkitude, not unlike a Midwestern version of Liquid Liquid, which paradoxically will loosen you up just right. Mahjongg's new RaYDONcoNG will help you get your chaotic groove on as effectively as anything by !!!. (Rendezvous, 2320 Second Ave, 441-5823. 9 pm, 21+.) DAVE SEGAL

Sunday, May 29

'Fly Films'

(FILMMAKING CHALLENGE) Every year SIFF poses a challenge to a handful of filmmakers: Make a short film in a limited amount of time, with a limited amount of money, and then screen it before a packed house of rabid cinephiles. This year filmmakers Sue Corcoran, Thom Harp, and T. J. Martin took this insane challenge, and today you can see the results. Conflict of interest alert: The screening is MC'd by The Stranger's very own David Schmader. (Egyptian, 801 E Pine St. 1:30 pm, $10.) BRADLEY STEINBACHER

Monday, May 30

'The Gits'

(DOCUMENTARY) In 2001, director Kerri O'Kane heard about the legendary Gits' singer Mia Zapata, who was raped and murdered in 1993. Halfway through O'Kanes making of this documentary, Zapata's alleged murderer was arrested, and a little over a year ago, he was convicted and sentenced to 37 years in prison. The film touches on the trial, but more importantly it celebrates the life of a band and a woman. (Egyptian Theatre, 801 E Pine St. 3:45 pm, $10, www.seattlefilm.org or www.thegitsmovie.com for more info.) AMY JENNIGES

Tuesday, May 31

Ellen Ziegler

(ART) Ellen Ziegler's new drawings are simply gorgeous, made of thousands of tiny burned holes created using an antiquated sign-making machine. Ziegler uses 115 volts of electricity to draw on paper. The results are intricately lined patterns that suggest astrological charts, scientific models, and doilies-except these pieces' delicacy isn't tatted patiently, but singed on a copper table with a metal stylus shooting sparks. (Gallery 4Culture, 506 Second Ave Suite 200, 296-7580. 8:30 am-4:30 pm.) NATE LIPPENS

Wednesday, June 1

OCS

(MUSIC) What can't San Francisco's John Dwyer do? From the spaz-punk of Pink & Brown through the electro-shock techno of Zeigenbock Kopf and the gutter-garage freakouts of Coachwhips, the guy is well versed in nearly every style of art-damaged music. With OCS, he's more restrained, partnering with Patrick Mullens to tweak old-timey folk and death-letter blues into a lo-fi concoction that ambles along as gently as creek water-creek water that's occasionally polluted by psychedelic flying-saucer landings. (Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave, 322-1533. 8 pm, $5, all ages.) JENNIFER MAERZ