THURSDAY JULY 17
Market Tours with
Matt Costello
(LUNCH + COOKING LESSON) To get inspired about organic produce, sustainable agriculture, and Slow-Food values, just spend an afternoon shopping, cooking, and eating with local chef Matt Costello (AKA the hardest-working man on First Avenue)–by day’s end, you’ll be thinking a lot more about where your food comes from, and how it was cultivated. Start by getting groceries from Costello’s favorite vendors throughout the Pike Place Market (includes seafood tips and visits to Pike & Western Wine Shop and Sur La Table); walk over to Costello’s kitchen at the Library Bistro, and watch (or help) as he cooks lunch for the group; and enjoy a delicious meal with fresh, seasonal ingredients, from a chef who is as passionate about food ethics as he is about food preparation. (Meet by the pig at Pike Place Market, 1-5 pm, $65 per person, call 340-6710 for reservations and other Market Tour dates. ) MIN LIAO
FRIDAY JULY 18
Fly
(READING) Through touring the world as the bassist for political avant punks God Is My Co-pilot, Fly met enough interesting people to populate an entire book. So she started in on Peops: Portraits & Stories of People, a graphic/written chronicle of the characters she interacted with, from comics artists like Peter Bagge and Art Spiegelman to numerous activists, writers, musicians, editors, and friends. The result is 192 fascinating pages of sketches, each surrounded by a hand-written story about or from the person at hand, as well as an interesting look at the types of personalities Fly is attracted to. Tonight she appears at Confounded in support of this new release, and I highly recommend checking out her work. (Confounded Books, 315 E Pine St, 8 pm, free. ) JENNIFER MAERZ
14/48
(THEATER) The World’s Quickest Theater Festivalcolor=”#FF0000″>* returns for another weekend of high-octane, time-sensitive theater-making. You know the drill: Seven playwrights write seven original 10-minute plays, which are given to seven directors armed with seven randomly assigned composers, designers, and casts–bringing together the sporty cream of the alterna-theater crop–with all seven shows written, rehearsed, and presented in 24 hours. Get there early–this thing always sells out. (One World Theatre at Consolidated Works, 500 Boren Ave N, 264-1735. $14.48. Fri-Sat July 18-19 at 8 and 10:30 pm. ) DAVID SCHMADER
SATURDAY JULY 19 Sean Duffy, Cole Case
(ART) Two Los Angeles artists and two distinctly Los Angeles phenomena. Duffy’s nutty work looks askance at the holy objects of culture (his shag-rug Rothkos a few years ago were just perfect); his new work riffs on the slacker aesthetic and its subsequent canonization. Case takes on landscape–not landscape as sublime and untrammeled nature, but landscape as translated by the enormous egos of ’70s earthworks artists Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer. You would think all this ironic distance would make Duffy’s and Case’s work cold and calculating, but it’s not. (Howard House, 2017 Second Ave, 256-6399. Opening reception Sat July 19, 6-8 pm. Runs through Aug 23. ) EMILY HALL
SUNDAY JULY 20 eXtreme Elvis
(FREAK SHOW) I have no idea what kinda crazy shit eXtreme Elvis has planned for this evening, as the Sunset folks have told me he promises to behave. That’s a hefty word to take from a man who, every time I saw him perform in San Francisco, stripped naked, rubbed his beefy, sweat-oiled body on the crowd, and literally pissed all over the place while warping Elvis classics into his own. Combine that with Tyco Party, new rock from the Black Panties, and wrestling from the Superstars of Ballard Wrestling Foundation, and you’re in for a freak show of massive proportions. (Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave NW, 784-4880, 9 pm, $5. ) JENNIFER MAERZ
MONDAY JULY 21 ‘Spellbound’
(BRILLIANCE) If you haven’t seen Jeffrey Blitz’s amazing, beautiful documentary on eight soon-to-be-teens competing in the National Spelling Bee, please note that it is now resting at the Guild 45th Theatre in Wallingford. How long will it remain there? I dunno, but I plead with you to dash out and see it. Now. You can read our tripe later. (Guild 45th Theatre, 2115 N 45th St, 633-3353. See Stranger Movie Times for showtimes. ) BRADLEY STEINBACHER
TUESDAY JULY 22 Chuck Palahniuk
(READING) Granted, there hasn’t been a reading by Mr. Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) that I have not recommended; every time he comes to Seattle, he automatically makes an appearance on this page. But, dear reader, what am I supposed to do? As in the past, he is the best thing happening this week, and so I’m obligated to once again recommend this writer from Portland. Mr. Palahniuk is to read from his new collection of nonfiction, titled Fugitives and Refugees. (Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free. ) CHARLES MUDEDE
WEDNESDAY JULY 23 ‘The Phenix City Story’
(FILM) Though director Phil Karlson appears to have been kicked into the dustbin of cinema history, that doesn’t mean his films are no longer vital and engaging. Showing tonight is my favorite of his films, The Phenix City Story, which is a stark, cynical drama about a massively corrupt Southern town, and the efforts of a few to clean it up. Filmed in 1955, it was way ahead of its time. (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, 523-3935, 7 and 9 pm, $7. ) BRADLEY STEINBACHER