THURSDAY MARCH 21


This Is Burlesque

(SLEAZY ENTERTAINMENT) Cheap, tawdry jokes combined with cheap, tawdry displays of pulchritudinous flesh--some things just can't be improved on. This evening of bump and grind features New York grindhouse star The World Famous *Bob*, a 5' 10" tower of bodacious blondness, as well as stellar local starlet Heather Hughes (in the guise of Frau Büfellah und das Burlesque Twoop) and the babes of BurlyQ, augmented with a dash of drag and beefcake--something for everyone. (The Catwalk, 172 Washington St, 622-1863, 10 pm, $8.) BRET FETZER


FRIDAY MARCH 22


Documenting Islam

(FILM) The Little Theatre is hosting the documentary portion that closes the Fifth Arab and Iranian Film Festival. The series includes Sacred Sounds, Patterns of Beauty, The Inner Life, Nusrat! Live At Meany, and many others, highlighting Islamic arts and culture. It offers an inside perspective rarely seen in Western depictions of Islamic people, mixing the political with the deeply personal for a handmade feel that also engages audiences with some difficult questions and realities. Perhaps the festival organizers sought out particularly relevant contributions, or maybe it's the tenor of the times, but the shorts, features, and documentaries of this festival have all given moments of cinematic and human resonance. (Fri-Sun March 22-24, the Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave, 675-2055, see Movie Times for complete schedule.) NATE LIPPENS


SATURDAY MARCH 23


Kingsbury Manx

(MUSIC) While the main attraction tonight is Clinic, bill mates Kingsbury Manx also bear mentioning. This North Carolina quartet's languorous rock is the kind in which slide guitars and quietly profound lyrics sneak up and stroke you softly before enveloping you in a sonic swarm of porch-jam instrumentation. If you like the Shins (and you still should, you know) or Sparklehorse or any of that despondent, itchy music that sounds hot despite all the blue sadness, Kingsbury Manx has all that and a sweet, unpretentious disposition too. Quite a contrast in style and form to everyone's newest obsession, Clinic, but the incongruousness of tonight's bill serves to showcase each band's sizable talents nicely. (I-Spy, 1921 Fifth Ave, 374-9492, $10.) KATHLEEN WILSON


SUNDAY MARCH 24


Peter Bacho

(READING) When Matthew Stadler moved to Oregon four years ago, Seattle lost half its sexy writers. The other half is Peter Bacho, a Filipino American author whose new book, Nelson's Run, is damn sexy. It has a sexy cover (a young man with a radiating crouch), and a sexy story (a young man flies to the Philippines as a "sexual tourist" after the mistress he shares with his father kills his father). I also hear that Peter Bacho is sexy in person. (Take Another Look Books, 5100 S Dawson, 721-1022, 1 pm, free.) CHARLES MUDEDE


MONDAY MARCH 25


25 for $25

(GOOD EATIN') You have until March 28 to jump on the "25 for $25" wagon--a smokin' promotional deal from 25 local fine-dining establishments that offers multi-course lunches and dinners for just $12.50/$25 per person. Sample bargain prix fixe meals all over town from some of Seattle's badass chefs: Find out what Christine Keff has up her sleeve at Flying Fish (728-8595), or what's offered at normally big-budget places like Cascadia (448-8884) and the Painted Table (624-3646). Earth & Ocean's (264-6060) dinner lineup includes a grilled pork tenderloin with white beans, roasted garlic, and Meyer lemon gremolata; and Andaluca (382-6999) offers a petite version of its signature Cabrales-crusted beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes. And if those examples don't impress you, then there is nothing left to say. (Mon-Thurs only, reservations recommended. For a list of participating restaurants go to www.nwsource.com/cityguide/restaurants/25for25.html.) MIN LIAO


TUESDAY MARCH 26


'Trouble Every Day'

(FILM) There are many who will have problems with certain scenes in this movie, but don't trust your gut instincts--instead trust the talent of the director, Claire Denis. Just know that she is, along with Wong Kar-wai, the most important director working today. She made Beau Travail, so how in the world could her new film, Trouble Every Day, be wrong or bad? Impossible! This horror film, which takes place in what the Crooklyn Dodgers once described as "the land of the aftermath," is an outstanding work of cinema. (See Movie Times.) CHARLES MUDEDE


WEDNESDAY MARCH 27


DJ Naha

(MUSIC) So you wanna go out dancing, but you're sick and tired of big gay house music. House, drum and bass, jungle... you're bored, bored, bored. Check out DJs Naha, Ki, and Smile, Wednesday nights at the Last Supper Club. I've always thought of breaks as the "punk" of electronica, and after seeing DJ Naha rock the dance floor, I know it's true. Naha's unique style of mixing hardcore, pounding jungle, and a bit of nasty hiphop is fast, hard, and amazingly danceable. This girl knows her shit. And not many other female DJs choose such a fierce style on the turntables; girls aren't supposed to be so hard. It makes me admire Naha in much the same way I admired the "bad" girls in high school... the girls who listened to Slayer instead of Bon Jovi. (The Last Supper Club, 124 S Washington St, 748-9975, $3.) KELLY O