Madcat Women's Experimental Film Festival

(FILM) For programs as difficult as "experimental cinema," you need a good gimmick. People often claim they want to see something new, something different; but they need a good excuse, a good reason to tear themselves away from the multiplex. That's why so many of these programs are centered around the under-represented, like women, different ethnicities, and gays. This is a good collection of female-made experimental films that, for the most part, may as well have been made by albino Irish dwarfs. Who made them is less important than the fact that they are all very good (except for Leche, which is far too long and far too boring to be included in this mix). See something different, something "made by women." ANDY SPLETZER

Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2044, Program 1 at 5:30 and 9:30 pm, Program 2 at 7:30 pm, through Sun March 26.

Lear

(THEATER) You are not alone if you tire easily of "experimental" Shakespeare -- I don't want to see A Midsummer Night's Dream set in outer space any more than you do. Occasionally, though, an audacious artist goes beyond the level of indulgent futzing and refocuses the timeless vitality of a classic in a way that makes it seem crucial. Whether or not Derek Horton, an accomplished veteran of unique theater, has achieved anything on that order remains to be seen. But his curious take on the Bard, which has been dubbed simply Lear, merits at least a raised eyebrow. Shakespeare's tragic monarch is here being portrayed by an 11-year-old boy, in an enormous production that Horton is staging in the vast Consolidated Works space as a music-drenched, "Mexican Day-of-the-Dead style" spectacle. Should we ask how he plans to deal with that "vile jelly" bit of business? STEVE WIECKING

Consolidated Works, 410 Terry Ave N, 860-5245, Thurs-Sun at 8 pm, through April 9, $12-$14, two-for-one on Thurs.

Pico Iyer

(READINGS) Pico Iyer's name conveniently rhymes with "frequent flyer" -- convenient, because Mr. Iyer is, indeed, a world traveler. He's even been called a "world citizen," but that's a little corny. What Pico Iyer does well, besides fly, is write about travel, equating the constant state of wonder in which the traveler exists to childhood, that delicious displacement from which all desire to learn emerges. Iyer's newest book, The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home, is a search for what "remains constant." The search takes him through Hong Kong, Toronto, Atlanta, and England. Iyer lands here in Seattle to read tonight. TRACI VOGEL

Elliott Bay Books, 101 S Main St, 624-6400, 7:30 pm, free (advance tickets recommended).

Two by Aki Kaurismäki

(FILM) Two of the latest movies by Aki Kaurismäki, everybody's favorite drunk, bittersweet Finnish director. The man behind the absurdist comedy Leningrad Cowboys Go America, the sad comedy The Match Factory Girl, and sad-but-funny La Vie de Bohème, is a prolific filmmaker. Though his name rises in the ranks of world filmmakers, he still has trouble getting American distribution. Now you can only see his films in festivals, such during closing day of the Scandinavian Film Festival. If you miss them here, you may not have a chance to see them for a long time to come. ANDY SPLETZER

King Cat Theater, 2130 Sixth Ave, 269-7444, Juha plays at 5:00 pm, Drifting Clouds plays at 6:15 pm, $8 per film.

Flaming Lips, Looper

(LIVE MUSIC) God bless the Flaming Lips. Not only do they make great music, they put on amazing shows. Over the years, these out-there Oklahomans have lugged around strobe lights, Christmas lights, and boomboxes (and now, massive screens, gongs, portable radios, and other accoutrements), because they don't just want to play for you -- they want to engage you in every second of their performance. My first Flaming Lips show was a truly mind-altering experience that left me wondering if someone had drugged my vodka tonic, and they haven't disappointed since. Bonus points (as if they were necessary) for bringing along Looper -- the now full-time pursuit of former Belle & Sebastian bassist Stuart David. BARBARA MITCHELL

Showbox, 1426 First Ave, 628-3151, 5 pm, $13.

Return to the Garden of Allah

(THEATER) For the unfortunate masses who live under the delusion that gay nightlife begins and ends with Neighbour's, the latest production from Open Circle Theater must be considered a lively requirement in adult education. Return to the Garden of Allah, based on the recent book about Seattle's first gay cabaret (which was also one of the nation's first such landmarks), celebrates the long-running exuberance of the queer community by turning Re-bar into a boisterous semblance of the gender-blurring burlesque bar, circa 1946. The fertile comic mind of Ian Bell is responsible for the adaptation, and the cast should be more than up to the campy demands -- Andrew Tasakos, Wade Madsen, and Jennifer Jasper, to name just a few. History can be fun, kids. STEVE WIECKING

Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 323-0388, Thurs-Sun at 8 pm, open-ended run, $15.

Roy Hargrove Quintet

(LIVE MUSIC) When he was 16 years old, Roy Hargrove was just another kid at Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas, Texas. While passing through town, superstar Branford Marsalis heard little Roy play his trumpet, plucked him from the school band, and plunked him onto a nightclub stage. Hargrove's impromptu gig with Marsalis soon led to a music scholarship, a European tour, and a major-label contract -- all by the time he was 19. But wait -- this is no washed-up-has-been-young-talent-turned-obscure fairy tale. Now 30, Hargrove has not strayed from his path, with a slew of great albums (don't even try to resist Family, Crisol Habana, Parker's Mood, and With the Tenors of Our Time) and exuberant, swoon-inducing live shows under his belt. Catch him on the last night of his four-show Seattle engagement, and watch him bask in the glow of being one of the best damn horn players in jazz today. MIN LIAO

Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave (at Lenora), 441-9729, 6 pm and 8:30 pm, $14.50-$18.50, all ages welcome; call for Thurs-Sat showtimes.

Oscar Night

(FILM/TV) Sure, you can go to a bar, hang out with a roomful of complete strangers, and cheer when Hilary Swank earns her first Oscar (or boo every time The Green Mile is mentioned). I would even recommend that for all those lonely souls out there who don't have any friends. But the rest of us are gathering at home with our friends to watch the Oscars the way they're supposed to be seen -- with the controlled substance of your choice (for me, it's whiskey), and a crowd small enough for everyone to be able to hear every snippy little comment about every poor choice of the evening, from outfit mistakes to undeserving winners. Pure American entertainment. ANDY SPLETZER

ABC, 5:00 pm, free.

Kingdome Go Boom!

(IMPLOSION) Seattle suffers from a terrible lack of natural disasters. While we wait for a supposedly major earthquake that persistently lingers somewhere in the future, we have no tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, Godzillas vs. Mothras, or even real rainstorms as diversions. So, with typical frontier ingenuity, we're making our own disaster: the implosion of the Kingdome. Official word from the stadium authorities and their toadies in the media says to watch the implosion from the safety of your home -- all TV news stations will carry the event live -- but what are you, a sucker? Seattle's hilly topography offers a plethora of good viewing sites, at a safe distance from the Kingdome and outside the police-controlled evacuation area. Be creative. ERIC FREDERICKSEN

Kingdome Implosion, Pioneer Square, 8:30 a.m.

Clutter Awareness Week

(PERSONAL IMPROVEMENT) It's my opinion that anyone who doesn't have all the objects on their desk oriented to right angles is a filthy slob, and though some may call this "a crippling psychological disorder," I call it being organized. So for those of you who work beneath an eternal pile of faxes, memos, and files, today marks the beginning of "Clutter Awareness Week," the perfect opportunity to join the ranks of the civilized and neat. If you have any trouble getting started, you might try sweeping your arm across your desk in grand, dramatic fashion. JASON PAGANO

Your horribly disorganized workplace, free.

Sam Taylor-Wood

(ART) This British artist, who has pulled off the Britpack double bank-shot of winning the Turner Prize and being included in the Brooklyn Museum of Art's Sensation, receives a showing at the Henry, where an 8-minute video, Hysteria, shows in the media gallery on an endless loop. A lone woman, shot in talking head-style, moves her face through expressions of the full range of human emotion at high speed. ERIC FREDERICKSEN

Henry Art Gallery, 15th Ave NE (at NE 41st St), 543-2280, 11 am-5 pm, Tues-Sun (8 pm on Thursday), closed Monday. Through April 23.

DJ Eternal Darkness

(CLUB NIGHT) It's Wednesday. It's probably raining. Here you are in dark Gotham, all dressed up in velvet with nowhere to go. But wait! There, above the mylar streets, a soft purple glow draws you near. It's the Vogue, and it's Gothic Night, hosted by none other than the interminable DJ Eternal Darkness. You heave a sigh, and purple-lit smoke rushes from your Urban Decay Red Wine-stained lips. Everything will be okay. For now. TRACI VOGEL

Vogue, 1516 11th Ave, 324-5778, 10 pm-2 am, $3.