THURSDAY JULY 5


First Thursday

(ART) First Thursday: delight or dread? This week three standout exhibitions redeem the tired institution. First, there's Jennifer Heishman's The Big Picture at King County Art Gallery (506 Second Ave, Room 200, 296-7580), a space-changing installation of vinyl strips and colored vinyl stickers. Then, there's Brian Murphy and Ayumi Horie at Esther Claypool Gallery (617 Western Ave, 264-1586). Murphy's watercolors are emphatically not of the flowers-and-breaking-waves variety, but are large-scale and fleshy self-portraits with disembodied features that fade into the background at the edges; Horie, in her first post-MFA solo show, is showing a handsome installation of porcelain lanterns. Finally, at Grover/Thurston Gallery (309 Occidental Ave S, 223-0816), James Lavadour's recent landscapes straddle the fence between photorealistic and hallucinatory dream, much more active than the usual static view. EMILY HALL

All three galleries host openings tonight, 6-8 pm.


FRIDAY JULY 6


Free to Be… You and Me

(THEATER) For those of us who were little kids in the '70s, the essence of the times was not disco and flamboyant clothing, but the progressive sing-along lessons of Free to Be... You and Me, an album of songs and stories conceived by Marlo Thomas. It included such gems as Thomas and Mel Brooks as babies discovering their engendered differences, and Diana Ross on loving yourself as you are. I loved the album and the book, but the television special disturbed me somehow: It seemed to me that Free to Be... belonged in the mind, and not in the visual world. However, the folks at Open Circle are taking a stab at a live version; I don't know how campy this will be, but I advise those of you weighted down by the pervasive irony and posing of modern times to give your hard-working personas a few hours off and go see it. EMILY HALL

Open Circle Theater, 429 Boren Ave N, 382-4250. Thurs-Sun at 7, Sat at 10, Sun at 3; $20 general, $15 for 18 and under. Through Aug 12.


SATURDAY JULY 7


Air

(MUSIC) True cross-over artists, Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel of the French band Air blend futuristic keyboard sounds with acoustic guitar and 10cc-dreaminess--the end result being three albums that captured the attention of a broad spectrum of music fans. The duo's debut, Moon Safari, sounded campy and loungy without appearing unintentionally cheesy, and Air's score for The Virgin Suicides garnered the band more fans with its cerebral, early-Floyd leanings. Recently, Air released 10,000 Hz Legend, and its edgier, ominous songs ensure the band will seduce yet another faction of the music-buying community. If even just one of the adjectives used to describe Air piques your interest, do yourself a favor and check out this show. Odds are, you'll leave a fan. KATHLEEN WILSON

EMP, 325 Fifth Ave N, 367-5483, 9 pm, $17.50.


Flamenco Danzarte

(DANCE) I could discuss the history of flamenco (how the Spanish dance form sprang from Moorish, Jewish, and Gypsy roots, encompassing tangos and rumbas; how its underclass origins are still reflected in enthusiastic audience response or jaleo); or I could talk about the hungry sexual energy generated by furious passion channeled into tight, rigorous physical movement; or how small hand movements and pounding, repetitive rhythms communicate a vast emotional spectrum. Or I could talk about how Ana Montes of Flamenco Danzarte spent seven years in Europe with companies like Ballet Español del Camborio and El Burrero Peña Flamenca--or I could just tell you to go, because it will be sensual, vibrant, and beautiful. Go. BRET FETZER

On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, 217-9888. Sat at 8, Sun at 7; $12. This week only.


SUNDAY JULY 8


The Swimmer

(FILM) What do you get when you cross Burt "Brick Shithouse" Lancaster with John "Rich Man's Updike" Cheever? You get The Swimmer, a surreal 1968 oddity of existential proportions. Lancaster plays Neddy Merrill, a man-of-the-house manqué, who has "been away." To "get home" he must traverse a suburban valley of swimming pools and bitter memories. He swims, then runs, then remembers, then repeats, like some kind of symbological triathlete. It sounds odd and is, but as an exponent of late-'60s American Dream skepticism, it's like The Graduate's rich, eccentric camp cousin. SEAN NELSON

Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, 523-3935. See Movie Times for details.


Spike Mafford and Mar Gorman

(ART) In The Spikeographic Landscape, Spike Mafford gives us the world from his point of view, both interior and exterior, including a 28-foot projection of an African daisy field on the gallery's exterior. The world, such as it is, is Mafford's great topic; for years he funded his work through the National Spikeographic Society, in which he would raise money for travel by pre-selling the as-yet-nonexistent photographs from the trip. (He recently received a cease-and-desist letter from the National Geographic Society, so his self-funding organization's future is currently unknown.) Mafford's work is being shown with fetish-like dolls and drawings by Mar Gorman. EMILY HALL

Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355. Opening reception 2-4 pm. Through Aug 5.


MONDAY JULY 9


Venus & Mars

(BENEFIT PERFORMANCE) There is something very satisfying about a group of artists taking back a phrase that's been stupidly co-opted, and tonight's multimedia reclamation of Venus & Mars promises such satisfaction. No one could represent the farthest distance from pop psychology, for example, better than Riz Rollins, whose live readings taste more like visits to the collective consciousness, inspiring urgent shout-outs ("uh huh, baby, you know how it is"). Reading alongside DJ Riz are femme dyke performance poet Tara Hardy, slam poet Karen Finneyfrock, isangmahal arts collective member Maya Almachar Santos, and Buddy Wakefield and Jason Carney. The evening also promises erotic film shorts scored live by Ota Prota, live painting by Ethan Harrington, and house and trance from DJ Foolchild. Some catharsis for your wallet: It's all a benefit for Home Alive. TRACI VOGEL

I-Spy, 1921 Fifth Ave, 374-9492, 8 pm, $8.


TUESDAY JULY 10


Kiss of the Dragon

(FILM) With the potent combo of the great Jet Li and the French Luc Besson (both of whom should be forgiven for their recent forays into Hollywood filmmaking), this Parisian martial arts fest of betrayal and revenge should be a pretty safe bet. Throw in Bridget Fonda and you've got a troika of high flyin', lip bitin', slow-motion watchability. At the very least, it'll be better than Romeo Must Die, The Messenger, or Lake Placid. SEAN NELSON

See Movie Times for details.


Melting Man

(MUSIC) At Burning Man you get a bunch of stinky hippies running around copulating and pounding on drums. At Melting Man, however, you get four stages of excellent local bands and artists, including the libidinal electronics of IQU, the insular braininess of FCS North, the pop elegance of Magic Magicians, the freak genius of Steve Fisk, and the spirited groove of DJ Riz Rollins. Melting Man is one of the many performances benefiting Home Alive's Awareness Week 2001 (see Monday), and takes place at the Seattle Aquarium, a great place to hear live music and look at fish. JEFF DeROCHE

Seattle Aquarium, 1483 Alaskan Way, 720-0606 or www.homealive.org for info, 6 pm, $20. All ages!


WEDNESDAY JULY 11


White Stripes

(MUSIC) You can't really underestimate the never-ending influence of Led Zeppelin on countless bands--but what's markedly less common are artists who capture the Page twang and the Plant yowl, but deconstruct them with a fresh perspective and unsparing minimalism. Detroit's fraternal duo the White Stripes remove the bass foundation from that holiest of houses and whittle down the excess riffage--an obscenely smart construct that allows all sorts of melodic, garage-stored pop nuggets to spill forth. And in case you haven't heard, their buzz is as justifiably aggressive as their music, so plan on getting there early, you hipster you. HANNAH LEVIN

Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611, 9:30 pm, $10.


Lyle Lovett

(MUSIC) As the continuation of the legacy of great Texas singer/songwriters, Lyle Lovett has created an eclectic body of work. He has used country music in its broadest sense to springboard into honky-tonk, gospel, swing, folk, and bluesy rock. That's all on one album--the superbly titled Joshua Judges Ruth. In the decade since then he has continued to branch out, becoming a peripheral celebrity by marrying and divorcing that movie star and acting creepy in Robert Altman movies. More importantly, Lovett's music has continued to mix emotionalism and irony against a variety of musical styles, including R&B and swing jazz. On 1998's Step Inside This House, he paid homage to the Texas songwriters who have acted as his mentors, displaying some of the hand he plays so close to his vest. Like Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and the Lubbock Holy Trinity of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, and Joe Ely, Lovett is a consummate songwriter and a true original, stealthily pushing the perimeters of country with great songs. Between his dry-witted patter and stop-on-a-dime musical chops, Lovett always delivers a spectacular show. NATE LIPPENS

Pier 62/63, 628-0888, 7 pm, $35.


Walter Mosley

(READING) Walter Mosley is an excellent writer who has two concerns: race and sex. He writes about both in the classic hard-boiled form. A crime starts the narrative; during the investigation his hero has lots of sex; and at the end the hero discovers that race is at the center of the crime. The formula is potent! But, wait, there is something else about Walter Mosley that needs to be mentioned: He was Bill Clinton's favorite novelist. This is significant not because it's proof of Mosley's greatness, but because it makes one feel all nostalgic inside. Bush's administration can only offer us a pair of alcoholic daughters, but recall the happy lost years when the stock market was booming and Walter Mosley's number-one reader was ejaculating on his intern. Those were the days. CHARLES MUDEDE

Elliott Bay Books, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7 pm, free advance tickets.