WED JULY 22
READING
‘Antigolf’ Release Party
This is going to be one of those readings where the audience will laugh very hard, but at different times. James Gendron’s soothing voice somehow makes his associative jokes funnier, more unexpected. Willie Fitzgerald’s humor lies in the kinds of objects he chooses to describe, which at first seem random but end up anchoring the story. Sarah Galvin is the funniest poet anyone has ever met. The headliner, John Colasacco, is the author of Antigolf, a book of poem-y/prose-y pieces that establish flat, nearly boring worlds from which sudden wildness spring. (Vermillion, 7 pm, free) RICH SMITH
THU JULY 23
FILM
‘Girlfriends’
Before she engulfed 1980s television in a ball of flames, Melanie Mayron starred in Claudia Weill’s wry, understated feminist indie about a young photographer with a brain and a fantastic mop of curls trying to navigate friendship, romance, and artistic compromise in pre-gentrified downtown New York City. Despite having served as the template for Lena Dunham’s Girls (Weill directed an episode in season two), this sadly obscure treasure remains very hard to see. Tonight, Stranger Genius Award nominee Scarecrow Video screens it in their screening room for free. (Scarecrow Video, 7 pm, free) SEAN NELSON
FRI JULY 24
MUSIC
Capitol Hill Block Party
The expansion of what was once a cute little makeshift outdoor show into a gargantuan orgy is a little overwhelming, but don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t a staggeringly good bill (see: Shabazz Palaces, TV on the Radio, Kinski, Wye Oak, Gazebos, the Kills, Father John Misty, etc.). The full schedule is on our Things To Do calendar. ($50 one day/$125 three-day pass, some stages 21+, July 24–26) SEAN NELSON
ART
‘Mectoub’
The full title of Scarlett Coten’s series of photographs taken over the last three years is Mectoub, in the Shadows of the Arab Spring, which suggests that her pictures are political and historical documents, and in some ways they are. Coten is a French woman who takes pictures of Arabic men, and she and her subjects toy with the male gaze and the history of “Orientalist” painting. But while one man vamps, the next looks intently, earnestly. Each man responds to the camera in a personal way, making the series layered and complex, not just pretty. (Mariane Ibrahim Gallery, free, through July 25) JEN GRAVES
SAT JULY 25
CUTENESS
Hello Kitty’s Supercute Friendship Festival
Yeah, I know. Hello Kitty is played out, and involves some troubling psychosexual signifiers. However, I’m not sure you’re fully aware that this event involves a giant stage spectacular with grown humans dancing in Hello Kitty®, My Melody®, Badtz-Maru®, Keroppi®, Chococat®, Dear Daniel®, and Pompom Purin® costumes. It’s like Ice Capades without the ice. Tickets start at $20, but if you’re willing to shell out $200 for the Platinum Bow Package, you get to meet “at least five” characters for a photo op and you get a tote bag. (ShoWare Center, 2 pm, $20–$200, July 24–26) SEAN NELSON
SUN JULY 26
TECH
Hack the CD
Tech is a notoriously white-male-dominated industry, and as Seattle’s tech sector continues to boom, many people of color are being left out. Hack the CD aims to change that disparity by bolstering African American entrepreneurship, specifically in the Central District. The three-day Hack the CD Cultural Innovation Conference invites participants of all ages, regardless of educational background, to develop their start-up ideas—whether semi-formed or barely half-baked—through networking, mentoring, and partnerships. The conference culminates on Sunday with a free presentation of the work completed that weekend, plus an after-party. (Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, 9 am, free, July 24–26) KATHLEEN RICHARDS
MON JULY 27
CELEB
Anthony Bourdain
Most people will show up to the Paramount Theatre to hear “culinary bad boy” Anthony Bourdain speak lustily about pork, swear a lot, and recall the time he ate a beating cobra heart. This is what Bourdain is most known for, but the best (and most radical) thing about him is actually the humble curiosity he brings to the cultures he explores through food. I got bored of hearing Bourdain swear 10 years ago, but I never tire of hearing him, after taking a bite of a dish in some far-off place, look the cook in the eye and say, “Thank you.” (Paramount Theatre, 7:30 pm, $55–$246, all ages) ANGELA GARBES
TUE JULY 28
CHOW
Columbia City Chow Down
Rainier Avenue South is a magical place for eating and drinking—a place where you can get Ethiopian injera, Neapolitan pizza, Kenyan goat, Peruvian roast chicken, and craft beers—sometimes all under the same roof. Chow Down, a restaurant-and-bar crawl through Columbia City and Hillman City, gives you the chance to taste the many cultures found in those neighborhoods. Even better: Proceeds benefit the Rainier Valley Food Bank, ensuring everyone in the neighborhood is well fed. (Columbia City/Hillman City, 5–9 pm, $50) ANGELA GARBES
See our calendar for even more things to do, every day of the year.