THURSDAY 8/16
IRA DEPORTEE--This will be the bar story to end bar stories, so don't try to interrupt Terry Kirby with your own recollections of that scrappy fight you had with your buddies. Kirby--IRA volunteer, POW, member of the Long Kesh Great Escape, and H-Block 3 member--addresses his life and the history of Northern Ireland's troubles over the last 30 years. He is joined by musicians Jack Geary and Oliver Mulholland. The Irish Emigrant, 5260 University Way NE, Seattle, 7:30 pm, $7 suggested donation. For more information call 246-4599.
SATURDAY 8/17
ROYAL HORSES--Sixty rare Iberian horses will be showing themselves off in Puyallup this weekend. These horses are scarcely found outside of Spain and Portugal (the Iberian Peninsula), because for centuries it was illegal to export them--if you were caught trying to do so you would be put to death. So look, but don't touch: Old grudges run deep. Tonight there is a special show called Extravaganza of the Andalusian. Western Washington Fairgrounds, Puyallup, (253) 841-5045, 7:30 pm, $2.
SATURDAY 8/18
HEMPFEST--See Stranger Suggests. "First of all you get a fat bag of ism/From uptown, any local store sells the shit, friend/Purchase a philly, not the city of Philly, silly punk/I'm talking 'bout the shit called the Philly blunt/Lick the blunt and then the Philly blunt middle you split/Don't have a razor blade, use ya fuckin' fingertips/Crack the bag and then you pour the whole bag in/Spread the ism around until the ism reach each end/Take your finger and your thumb from tip to tip/Roll it in a motion then the top piece you lick/Seal it, dry it wit ya lighter if ya gotta/The results, mmmm... proper/That's how you roll a blunt/That's how you roll a blunt/That's how you roll a blunt/That's how you roll a blunt/That's how you roll a blunt/That's how you roll a blunt/Let's all roll a blunt/... and get fucked up." From "How to Roll a Blunt" by Redman, from the album Whut? Thee Album. Myrtle Edwards Park, Alaskan Way at Bay St, Sat-Sun Aug 18-19, 10 am-8 pm, free.
MONDAY 8/20
LAUGHTER CLUB--At a bleary-eyed 7:00 in the morning, the Green Lake Laughter Club invites you to join their members in laughing for laughter's sake. Apparently, laughter clubs originated in India in 1995, and there are now 800 of them worldwide. Based on the principles of yoga, the guests laugh for good health, which means no put-down jokes will be permitted. Actually, there are no jokes told at all, so unless everyone in attendance does the always-amusing "evil laugh" (with heads thrown back, Whaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-style) to provide the event with some good comedy, I'm not exactly sure how the laughter's going to stay rolling. The Aqua Theater in Green Lake, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 7 am. For more information (but no jokes) call 800-669-5233, or go to www.worldlaughtertour.com.
WEDNESDAY 8/22
SEX FORUM--This event is titled, "Suck My Gender: A community forum on who we are and what gets us off." The organizers have decided to invite "all genders and sexualities" (not "both" genders but all of them) to this multimedia forum that addresses sex and gender, both between the sheets and on the streets. The event is being produced by the Gay City Health Project and Toys in Babeland. Broadway Performance Hall, Broadway and Pine St, 7 pm. Call 860-0195 for more information.
