Cousteau, Black Angel

(MUSIC) If you love the look and sound of Bryan Ferry, but wish he'd been frozen in time circa late-'80s Bete Noir, Cousteau is as close as you're going to get to that kind of swaggering coolness. British and impossibly elegant, Cousteau is cinematic and retro, conjuring images of dark alleyways and film-noir shadows while telling stories of timeless near-miss love. Black Angel is a Portland soul ensemble featuring Tahoe Jones and former Drunk at Abi's front man J. R. Pella on vocals. (Showbox, 1426 First Ave, 628-3151, $15.) KATHLEEN WILSON

One Night Only: Sam Trout

(ART) You probably know Lula without knowing that you know her. She's a little cartoon-sticker figure who turns up on the backs of street signs all over Capitol Hill, on walls choked with posters, on the notebooks of people in the know. Perhaps you even own a Lula coaster or two (or four). Now, Lula's proud papa, Sam Trout, brings us Lula's Bedroom, an installation that not only yanks her into the realm of three dimensions, but also raises her to the level of a real American brand: a room featuring a Lula clock, a Lula toothbrush holder, Lula cookies, and other tempting items. Pay the little girl a visit. (321 Third Ave S, 720-9909, between Seattle Lighting and King St. Station, look for One Night Only and Lula signs, 7-11 pm.) EMILY HALL

Capitol Hill Block Party

(BOOZE, BANDS, BENEFIT) For those of you who are unable to attend the Vashon Island Strawberry Festival this weekend, the annual Capitol Hill Block Party is in full wild-weekend mode, with over three-dozen bands, a Bloody Mary breakfast, and Seattle's ultimate punk queens, Ursula Android and Jackie Hell, in attendance. For the full lineup of what your eight bucks (10 bucks day of the show) will get ya, check out the official Stranger pullout guide ( or see the paper, page 51). And just so you don't feel totally guilty for whiling away two afternoons blowing out both your liver and your eardrums, know this event is a benefit for JAMPAC, Home Alive, and musiCARES. (Sat-Sun July 13-14, Pine St & 11th Ave, $8 adv. at www.ticketweb.com/$10.) JENNIFER MAERZ

Bastille Day Party

(FOOD & FESTIVITIES) Since Bastille Day is such a passionate holiday--sort of like the French Fourth of July--it's fitting that Le Pichet's annual celebration will be an authentic, standing-room-only blowout. Show up at dusk, enjoy chef Jim Drohman's Parisian street-food offerings (party food under $10: salt cod fritters, pommes frites, crepes, merguez sausages... ), and wash it all down with wine (by the glass, under $5!). Oh, and of course there will be entertainment--traditional French music, Django-style jazz, and other performers--but you'll find me huddled in a corner, hands wrapped around a glass of cheap Côtes du Rhône, my mouth full of fried salt cod. (Le Pichet, 1933 First Ave, 256-1499, 9 pm-2 am; get there early--no reservations accepted.) MIN LIAO

Kamasutra

(DIRTY BOOK) Despite its fame, the Kamasutra is rarely read. In fact, most people do not recognize it as a literary text but as a sex manual filled with images of twisted lust. The new translation of the book (by Wendy Doniger and Sudhir Kakar), however, has only a few dirty pictures but lots and lots of dirty words. (Available at Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, and Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, $26.) CHARLES MUDEDE

Al Burian

(PUNK MEMOIRS) Zine writing can get so stale and self-referential, you're almost better off reading your boyfriend's diary than attempting to get through most of the self-made, wannabe DIY stars out there. Chicago's Al Burian is a definite exception to the rule, though (see preview, page 31). The Milemarker bassist has a zine called Burn Collector that documents his everyday (travels across the country, air-guitar sessions in book stores, breakups that end in hospital visits to the emergency room) with such wit and humor it makes you wish his work came out more often than once or twice a year. Burian comes to town to read from Burn Collector 12, an issue set in the ass-cold winter in Chicago. (Confounded Books, 2235 Second Ave, 441-1377, 7 pm.) JENNIFER MAERZ

Alice Wheeler

(PHOTOGRAPHY) In All About Evil, Wheeler returns to her old stomping grounds of Seattle subculture, back from a lonely-landscape riff she went on a few years ago. Those were nice enough, but when Wheeler photographs people, the works just ignite--it's a difficult combination of intimacy and a kind of aloofness from judgment that pulls and pushes you into knowledge. (Diane Arbus was very good at this, although sadder.) Here, Wheeler shows not only the contemporary freak show (drag queens, body-piercing aficionados) but embarks on a series of self-portraits in costume, some Cindy Sherman territory made the more interesting by the photographer's own sojourn in the underground. (Greg Kucera Gallery, 212 Third Ave S, 624-0770, Tues-Sat, through July 27.) EMILY HALL