Loudfest
(MUSIC) If you're a fan of loud, sludgy hard rock--or what one writer describes as music so oppressively heavy it's like getting "teabagged by God"--here's a showcase of some of the best teabagging talents in the Northwest. NW Loudfest Vol 1 has an excellent lineup of Kyuss-Soundgarden-Sabbath-inspired rock, with Golden Pig Electric Blues Band, Bacchus, Argonaut, and the Bronze (two guitars, 24 speakers, and the drummer from Karp). (Sit & Spin, 2219 Fourth Ave, 441-9484, $6.) JENNIFER MAERZ
The Fast Runner (Atanarjuat)
(FILM) The first film ever to be shot entirely in the Inuktitut language comes to theaters some TWO WEEKS after its SIFF appearance. How's that for progress? Although the filmmakers have lovingly reconstructed every detail of prehistoric Inuit culture by recording life on the infinite tundra with digital-video intimacy, they keep the characters palpably real. Inside glowing igloos and behind roiling teams of sled dogs, the viewer sees a legend sprout from the very ice. Do not miss this extraordinary film. (The Egyptian, 801 E Pine, 323-4978, Fri-Sun.) MATT FONTAINE
Sunset Tavern Anniversary
(PARTY/MUSIC) I may like to grumble about having to travel all the way to Ballard like it's Dubuque, Iowa, or somewhere requiring luggage, but honestly, it's just a shtick when it comes to going to the Sunset Tavern. I like the cozy rock and roll joint a lot and wish them a happy Second Anniversary on this, their second night of celebration. On hand will be Portland's grandparents of the underground Dead Moon, plus the Glory Holes, the Droo Church, and DJ Cake, otherwise known as Kurt Bloch, who kicks out some fine vinyl jams. (Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave NW, 784-4880, $7.) KATHLEEN WILSON
James Ellroy
(READING) The so-called Demon Dog of American Fiction returns to Bailey/Coy, Capitol Hill's finest bookstore, to read from his latest novel, The Cold Six Thousand, newly out in paperback. Ellroy's recent short works have found him exploring the more maniacal shadows of his rhetorical style, alliteration, "jazz" rhythms, and the like, occasionally to the exclusion of comprehensibility. This novel proves that the syntactical riffage always serves his subject matter, in this case, the Byzantine paranoia and corruption of 1960s America. Ellroy's voice is as muscular as his prose, and he is, after all, one of our greatest living authors. (Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free. Also at the University of Washington, Kane Hall, 634-3400, 2 pm, free.) SEAN NELSON
Dirty Stories Volume 3
(SMUTTY COMIC) Dirty Stories Volume 3 is the first volume I have read in this series of sexy comics, and I'm inspired to collect the first two volumes. As the title implies, the stories are, as black high-school girls often say, "nasty." There is one about a bukkake porn star, another describes two lovers having sex in a small airplane bathroom, and another is simply called "a girl's bestiary." The collection has 26 contributors (many of whom contribute art to this paper) and not one bad comic. (Available at www.fantagraphics.com.) CHARLES MUDEDE
CoCA Underground Film Shorts Program
(FILM) Chicago filmmaker Rusty Nails and CoCA's Kathryn Bertram are presenting the CoCA Underground Film Shorts Program featuring over 20 weird, wacked-out, and just plain beautiful short films by the likes of David Lynch, Guy Madden, David Cronenberg, Kirsten Stoltman, and many more. There's a special emphasis on local filmmakers, and Nails, who has worked with Troma, John Waters, and the Dead Kennedys, should prove to be a lively host. (CoCA, 1420 11th Ave between Pike and Union, 728-1890, 8:30 pm.) NATE LIPPENS
Promise
(A PAINTING) Now that we're enjoying the annual half-season when Seattle is the most beautiful place on Earth, it's every citizen's duty to take an afternoon stroll to Pioneer Square's Davidson Galleries, to have his or her soul molested by this stunningly beautiful painting by Ruprecht von Kaufmann. Described in his press materials as "a contemporary German expressionist obsessed with sex and death" (hubba hubba!), von Kaufmann has captured in Promise a simultaneously unique and universal portrait of the fear and desire of the innocent and vulnerable. It made my thuggy boyfriend cry. Go see it. (Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave S, 624-7684, Tues-Sat 11 am--5:30 pm. Through June 29.) DAVID SCHMADER
