Emily White
(READING) Okay, let's get something straight. This item is about Emily White, a writer, who is not the same as Emily Hall, also a writer, who happens to be me. Now that I've got that out of the way, I want to say that the other Emily has written a kick-ass book called Fast Girls: Teenage Tribes and the Myth of the Slut, which is a dazzling mix of theory, reporting, poetry, and social criticism. (Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.) EMILY HALL
Modest Mouse
(MUSIC) It's been a pleasure to watch this amazing trio mature from three boys out of Issaquah bustling with hope and promise to grown men creating two of the Northwest's finest albums, 1997's The Lonesome Crowded West (Up) and 2000's The Moon & Antarctica (Epic). Rumors are circulating that this may be Modest Mouse's final tour; nevertheless, only a fool would miss either of these shows. (Showbox, 1426 First Ave, 628-3151, tonight w/VLLFS.JMG, all-ages, 6 pm doors; Fri w/FCS North, 21+, 8 pm doors; each show $17.) KATHLEEN WILSON
The Catheters
(MUSIC) Bring on the brash punk rock of the Stooges and Mudhoney. Tonight the Catheters officially ring in the release of Static Delusions and Stone-Still Days, the band's jacked up 11-song adolescent shitstorm of a Sub Pop release. Good news for the label: The Catheters actually deliver, on both the punk and the posturing. This is a killer band with a bright future ahead of it. And as exciting as the release may be, the live show is even better. (Crocodile, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611, $8.) JEFF DeROCHE
dumb type
(DANCE THEATER SPECTACLE) Japanese dance/theater/installation troupe dumb type uses astonishingly sophisticated video technology and raw human presence to flip between frenzy and eerie stillness. A wall of giant video projections interacts with skillful dancers and a jarring soundtrack. It's just so fucking cool. Not many performances can genuinely be called hypnotic; this can. (Thurs-Sun March 7-10, On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, 217-9888, $26.) BRET FETZER
Spike Mafford, Michael Spafford
(ART) Hercules, as punishment for murdering his family, worked alone. In their show Shared Labors, Mafford and Spafford display the beginnings of a father-and-son collaboration on this subject, which Spafford has been mining with woodcuts and painting for over 20 years (including the Capitol Building's "controversial" murals that were removed by offended prissy people). Together they traveled to Greece to clap eyes on the sites of the mythological labors; Mafford's photographs, Spafford's woodcuts, and some paint-on-photo collaborations are the result so far. (Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, 782-0355, opening reception 2-4 pm. Through March 31.) EMILY HALL
Scratch
(FILM) Directed by Doug Pray, Scratch is a documentary that finally gives it up to the scientists of hiphop, the DJs. They were eclipsed, as many of the interviewed DJs explain, by the MC--the stars of hiphop (graffiti writers are the saints of hiphop, and breakers are hiphop's freaks--in the biogenetic sense). To read the rest of this film review, please turn to the film section of this paper. (See Movie Times.) CHARLES MUDEDE
Riain Callahan
(ART) Meeting at the Surface is inspired by Callahan's work as a peepshow dancer; each photograph becomes its own little peepshow, veiled as it is in black cloth so that the viewer is forced into a most intimate situation in order to see it. The usual tropes are taken a step out into the field, and become a meditation on looking and how the viewer is implicated in the act, and whether or not emotional distance is even possible in these circumstances. The work, rather than her dancing career, is its own justification. Callahan advances the debate about art by sex workers by making--bless her--thoughtful, interesting work. (Little Theatre Gallery, 608 19th Ave E, 675-2055, opening reception 6-8 pm. Through April 20.) EMILY HALL
We Sold Our Souls For Rock 'n' Roll
(FILM) In this 2001 film, Decline of Western Civilization, chronicler Penelope Spheeris turns her documentary sights on Ozzfest, with predictably hilarious/depressing results. After punkers and glam metal boyz, the nü metal morons of generation Ozzy are almost shockingly stupid, as are the bands, and the whole sick, sad, sorry culture of what passes for rebellion in the early aughties. That said, the film is revelatory and hilarious. Spheeris still has it. (JBL Theater at EMP, 325 Fifth Ave N, 262-3219, 8:45 pm, $7.) SEAN NELSON
