Anatomy of Saul Bass

(FILM) To behold the stunning title sequences of Psycho or Anatomy of a Murder is to see perfect craft. More than any other title designer, Saul Bass elevated the previously negligible role of the title sequence in a feature film to the paramount role it now so seldom deserves. Typically allied with a single director--he did all of Scorsese's titles from Goodfellas through Casino, Bass' last film--his craft was at its most distilled in the films of Alfred Hitchcock and Otto Preminger. Indeed, the first two minutes of North by Northwest and Bunny Lake Is Missing are among the finest moments of the respective directors' careers--no foolin'! Go fill up on these little gems in this tribute, which comprises the retrospective film Titles by Elaine and Saul Bass as well as Bass' short, Why Man Creates. JAMIE HOOK

Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2055, Thurs-Sun June 8-11 at 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 pm. $7.50.

Dick Dale

(LIVE MUSIC) What can be said about Dick Dale? That he's widely regarded as the founding father of surf music? That he may well be the only artist adored by both the Beach Boys and the goth subculture? That thanks to him, an entire generation of moviegoers now associates the words "pulp fiction" with crunchy surf guitar riffage? That he has an unnerving tendency to refer to himself in the third person? Looks like the Catwalk's newly installed sound system (courtesy of the Fenix) is gonna get a workout. GENEVIEVE WILLIAMS

Catwalk, 172 S Washington St, 622-1863, 8 pm, $10.

The Fever

(THEATER) Wallace Shawn is famous as that stubby, bald, adenoidal actor referred to as a homunculus in Woody Allen's Manhattan--but he's also an extremely smart and politically complex playwright, best known for his exploration of everyday fascism, Aunt Dan and Lemon. But shortly after that, Shawn began performing a play-length monologue in people's living rooms about a traveler in a Third-World country stricken by the contradictions of morality and global capitalism. The Fever may sound dry and pedantic, but Shawn's script meticulously builds a web of small personal details into an irresolvable moral conflict. It's been done in Seattle before, but the casting of John Procaccino--seen recently in shows as varied as Side Man and The Game of Love and Chance--promises to make it fresh. BRET FETZER

A Contemporary Theater, 700 Union St, 292-7676. June 9-25; Wed, Thurs, Sun at 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat at 8 pm, $10-15.

Destiny's Child

(LIVE MUSIC) I was a little nervous when I saw the packaging for Destiny's Child's follow-up CD. My favorite clean-scrubbed, church-going, finely tuned R&B singers appeared to have gotten a makeover. (The first hint: Their self-titled debut featured them flashing Ultra-Brite smiles while posing against a pristine white backdrop. On the new release, the ladies are pouting with gloss-frosted lips.) Fortunately, their new slatternly image hasn't changed the group's sound much. With hits like "Say My Name" and "Bills, Bills, Bills," their bubble gum is just a little bit stickier this time. JOSH FEIT

Opera House, Seattle Center, 628-0888, 7:30 pm, $24-$28.

Charles Burns

(ART) You'll recognize the blank-eyed characters, the noirish atmosphere, the precise, hard-edged drawing style. Burns is the sharp, sly hand behind Big Baby and MTV's "Dog Boy," and his comics pedigree is impeccable--palling around with Matt Groening and Lynda Barry at Evergreen, illustrating Sub Pop covers, and making his national debut in RAW. Grotesque and innocent, narrative and subconscious, appalling and compelling--this is comics art at its best. Comics artists come and go, but Burns (like Crumb, like Spiegelman) endures. EMILY HALL

Roq la Rue Gallery, 2224 Second Ave, 374-8977. Opening reception Fri June 9, 6-10 pm. Through June 30.

Renters' Summit

(MEETING) Renters' liberation commando and Seattle City Council Member Judy Nicastro (there's a once-in-a-lifetime combination) is hosting a Renters' Summit where oppressed tenants like yourself can represent. Come shout out about illegal landlord retaliation, rent gouging, and leaky faucets. There was a reason The Stranger's editorial board urged you to vote Nicastro, and this is it--now show up at the summit and strike fear into the hearts of Judy's city council colleagues. Her election wasn't no goddamn fluke, and her platform has political legitimacy. Get Judy's back. JOSH FEIT

Seattle Center, Northwest Rooms, 8:30 am-1 pm. Call Council Member Nicastro at 684-8806.

Art! Art! Art!

(PARTY) You can't keep a good scene down, thank god! Market Street Studios is an office building in Ballard that has been converted into work spaces by artists (now that upscale types are taking up all the loft spaces, where else can artists turn to but old offices?), and is where a good chunk of the Project 416 artists migrated to when their excellent Pioneer Square space was closed down by developers last summer. This event--which features performance and installation in addition to art! art! art!--is also in celebration of the one-year anniversary of RedHeaded StepChild, Seattle's balls-out, all-art zine (and of which, by way of full disclosure, I'm a member). Meet the StepChildren, get a T-shirt, and participate in whatever crazy art stunts we dream up between now and then. EMILY HALL

Market Street Studios, 2801 Market St (at 28th, across from the Locks Deli/Grocery), 6-10 pm.

Video Game Championship

(CONTEST) Sure, you rack up top scores when nobody's around--but let's see how you do when the pressure's on, baby! Seattle's real arcade is hosting the Washington Video Game Championship, giving Seattle's arcade enthusiasts the chance to prove their skills at nine games, including Attack from Mars, Rush the Rock, and Tempest. What's more, high scores will be recorded in the Twin Galaxies' Official Video Game & Pinball Book of World Records, so that your mind-blowing 186,000-point performance on Donkey Kong may live forever. JASON PAGANO

Hi*Score Arcade, 612 E Pine, 860-8839, 2-6 pm, no entry fee.

Date Jesus!

(ONLINE DATING) Are you a single young woman seeking romance and spirituality? Well, if you are and you're willing to travel, you can have it all in one package, because "Jesus" is living in D.C., has "a lean swimmer's body and a six pack," enjoys Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, and is looking for love. At jesus.com, you can view the 26-year-old Jesus' flowing locks, read his sermons, and even win a chance to shower with the anointed one! Jesus is pretty darn accommodating, too: "If you are not spiritual, Jesus will share a beer and pleasant existential banter"; and if showers aren't your style, he'll offer you a bubble bath instead. MELODY MOSS

Get jiggy with Jesus at jesus.com.

Paris Review

(MAGAZINE) Pick up the Spring 2000 issue of The Paris Review ("The Poetry Issue") for more poems than you can read in a year, including fresh John Ashbery, smart interviews with Carolyn Kizer and Geoffrey Hill, the remarkable true story of a forged Emily Dickinson folio page purchased for $2 million, plus "The Man in the Back Row Has a Question VI," a cranky, clarifying critics' roundtable that includes this breath of fresh air from the leader of the pack, Harold Bloom: "I can't bear these accounts... of these poetry slams... men and women declaiming rant and nonsense at each other. The whole thing is judged by an applause meter which is actually not there, but might as well be. This isn't even silly; it is the death of art." GRANT COGSWELL

Available at newsstands citywide for a mere $12.

Cowboy Junkies

(LIVE MUSIC) I have never been to the South. But somehow, somewhere, at some point, I'm convinced I was a Southern--no, wait... a Suthu'n lady, with a back porch and dusty Confederate flags in the attic, who loved the wrong men and rinsed away heartache with bourbon and crushed mint leaves. This must explain my love and loyalty for the Cowboy Junkies: The soft, sweltering, 10-miles-an-hour band that beautifully evokes images of lonely Airstream trailers, wilting railroad towns, and homecoming queens with toddlers and lost dreams. Country, folk-pop, whatever--lead singer Margo Timmins' voice stubbornly transcends categorization; the group's hushed sweetness remains timeless and trendproof; and hearing them live will inspire either bittersweet tears or lopsided grins... depending on the day. MIN LIAO

Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave, 443-1744, 8 pm, $24.

Bolshoi Ballet

(DANCE) Russians are stereotypically famous for their consumption of vodka, their big fur hats, their mixture of boisterousness and melancholy (i.e., "the Russian soul"), and their insane dedication to physical disciplines--primary among them, ballet. So the Bolshoi Ballet is kind of a big deal. Their national tour of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet should be a dazzling display of skill, power, and precision, as dancers with muscles that would make a linebacker cower in fear prance and tiptoe in tights. A rare opportunity to see some phenomenal dancing. BRET FETZER

Paramount Theatre, Ninth and Pine, 292-ARTS. Wed-Sun June 14-18, Wed-Fri at 7 pm, Sat at 2 and 8 pm, Sun at 2 pm. $26-$126.