THURSDAY OCT 16
Dennis Hensley
(READING) For most authors, writing a book is a dry, deeply lonely experience. But for the follow-up to his 1999 comic novel Misadventures in the (213), Dennis Hensley packed his living room with his funniest friends, screened a series of infamous films (from Cruising to Glitter), and compiled the greatest quips, insights, and insults into Screening Party, from which Hensley will be reading tonight at Bailey/Coy Books. Expect a night of highfalutin talk about lowbrow entertainment and inspired pop-culture dishing. (Bailey/ Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free. ) DAVID SCHMADER


FRIDAY OCT 17
The Blood Brothers
(FOREHEAD-SLAPPINGLY OBVIOUS) That The Stranger subtly advises your attendance at the latest Blood Brothers bloodbath is, at this point, about as jaw-dropping as a bowel movement--but seriously... we're not flappin' these big stupid ol' gums for our own sake. And it's not just us--the inflammatory British music press (NME, to be specific) has finally caught on, recently declaring the Blood siblings the "best live band in the world." In the world, folks. And NME's never been wrong. You know 'em, you (rightfully) love 'em, you've already bought your ticket. Right? (Graceland, 109 Eastlake Ave E, 262-0482, 6 pm, $10. ) ZAC PENNINGTON


SATURDAY OCT 18
Black Lips
(MUSIC) Some bands mine the psychotic sound of near collapse, like duct-taped wagons speeding downhill with broken axles and the wheels one pothole away from oblivion. Atlanta's Black Lips jab that vein with irreverence and uncontrolled crisis, a Gories meets the Cheater Slicks sloppy rumble of damaged guitars and distorted vocals and a frontman who once played his axe with his dick (according to the Dirtbombs' Ben Blackwell). Far from sloppy-just-for-the-sake-of-it garage punk, there's a discontented beauty to the Lips' turbulent parade, the kind of mutated idiocy/genius that few bands accomplish. (Comet Tavern, 922 E Pike St, 323-9853, 10 pm, $5. ) JENNIFER MAERZ


Jason Puccinelli
(ART) Puccinelli's 2001 face-hole paintings invited you to put yourself into various perverse and unlikely scenarios (as a bullfighter in a black-velvet-style painting, a baby emerging out of the birth canal) in order to test, however ironically, moral boundaries; in Dazzle Camouflage, which kicks off this season's Consolidation Series (called Fraud), Puccinelli looks at how we distract ourselves from reality with bright, pretty objects. His ethical terrain is a series of five brutal stage sets glammed up by fashion models--clubbing a baby seal, bringing down Wall Street with a bomb, pushing the button that ends the world. With gorgeous photography by Adam Weintraub. (Consolidated Works, 500 Boren Ave N, 381-3218; opens Sat Oct 18; reception 6-8 pm, gala opening 8 pm-2 am; shows through Nov 23.) EMILY HALL


SUNDAY OCT 19
Northwest Bookfest
(FESTIVAL) Bookfest is a two-day literary (and sometimes not so literary) smorgasbord of readings and events--way too many to list here. There are some good reasons to go on Saturday--namely, Jonathan Raban--but if you don't want to hand over your whole weekend to the festival, Sunday's best. Highlights: Clear Cut Press' "pageant of futurity," where CCP's new anthology, The Clear Cut Future, will be on hand (as will be Stranger Genius Award recipient Matt Briggs, whose first novel will be published by CCP in the spring) at 2:15 pm on the Mary McCarthy Stage; and Sherman Alexie at 3:30 pm on the Richard Hugo Stage. There's more--again, too much to list here. (Sand Point Magnuson Park, Hangar 27, 7400 Sand Point Way NE, 378-1883, www.nwbookfest.org for full schedule, Sat-Sun Oct 18-19, $10.) CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE


MONDAY OCT 20
Satellite Happy Hour
(DRINKING) Ten or so years ago, I used to drink at the Bohemian in Pioneer Square on Wednesday afternoons for one simple reason: They offered, from 5 to 7 pm, $1 well drinks. Things have not changed. I still buy well drinks at that price, except now at the Satellite Lounge, during a profoundly happy hour that runs from 4 to 7 pm on weekdays. What would I do without cheap booze? (Satellite Lounge, 1118 E Pike St, 324-4019.) CHARLES MUDEDE


TUESDAY OCT 21
Home Movie Gong Show
(PUBLIC HUMILIATION) Bring your embarrassing home movies, be they from your childhood or just last week, and they will be shown before a live audience. And if that's not painful enough, three celebrity judges--Sarah Rudinoff, Steve Wells, and our very own David Schmader--with either allow your movie to run its course, or gong it into oblivion. Humiliation should be diluted via public performance. This event will undoubtedly be both hysterical and cringe-inducing. (Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, 325-6500, sign-up begins at 8 pm, show at 9:30 pm, $9. ) BRADLEY STEINBACHER


WEDNESDAY OCT 22
Diane Middlebrook

(READING) If anything could drive me to place my head in an oven and turn on the gas, it would be having to endure Gwyneth Paltrow's portrayal of Sylvia Plath in the new undoubtedly shitty movie based on the somber poet's life (her career, her marriage to Ted Hughes, her descent into madness). While the movie-going public sits through Hollywood's plot-heavy take on the storied literary marriage, others of us will be reading Diane Middlebrook's Her Husband: Hughes and Plath, an "astutely reasoned" and "fluidly written" (Publisher's Weekly) account of Plath and Hughes' famous (and famously destructive) alliance. Still debatable is the question of whether Hughes was a womanizer or Plath was simply a shrew. (Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 624-6600 for info, 7:30 pm, $5.) CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE