THURSDAY SEPT 6
52 Pick Up
(THEATER) The play 52 Pick Up, about the rise and fall of a relationship, is broken up into 52 scenes. Every night the actors throw a deck of cards in the air, then pick them off the ground one by one. Each card corresponds to a scene, and thus the order is different for every performance. Theater simpletons Andrew Litzky and Llysa Holland make a big deal about the statistics–how the odds of the scenes playing out in the same order are roughly one in 63 gazillion. What this number doesn’t express is why you would want to structure a play this way. For one thing, it keeps Litzky and Holland on their toes, encouraging them to be fresh and present in every moment. For another, it mirrors the way we remember our lost loves: as a series of fragments, each with its own pang of hope or loss, that pop into our heads at unexpected moments. The writing is a little bland, but the taste is bittersweet nonetheless. BRET FETZER
Theater Simple at the Union Garage, 1418 10th Ave, 784-8647. Thurs-Sat
at 8, Sun at 2 on Sept 9 & 23, Sun at 7 on Sept 16, $10-$12 (pay what you can
on Thurs Sept 13 & 20). Through Sept 23.
Nasir
(Music) Let’s talk about DJ Nasir. I have two friends who watched Nasir spin records at the Baltic Room a year or so ago, just before he took a break from DJing for health reasons. Whenever I meet these two at a bar or restaurant, around the top of the fifth pitcher of beer or the bottom of the third bottle of wine, they invariably remark on the beauty of that night, the elegance of the mix, and the Venus-like atmosphere that settled between the polished dance floor and the fake stars above the bar. This is the spell Nasir holds on them; the spell of his vaporous personality. Like all great DJs, Nasir erases the identity of the records, so that all he ever plays is himself. CHARLES MUDEDE
Baltic Room, 1207 Pine St, 625-4444, 5-10 pm, $5.
Marion Peck
(ART) With reference to my recent screed about painting, I can most heartily recommend those of Marion Peck. Her paintings–often, but not only, portraits–are very formal and traditional, but at the same time tie the viewer in knots thinking about then and now. Her old themes are updated in surprising ways, drawing an acute contrast between the authority of the medium and the singular vision of the artist. At her exhibition last year, Peck showed a wall full of tiny portraits, like locket images, that were very inexpensive–a delicate yet obscene gesture at stratospheric art prices. In her new work, Peck mines her dreams–interesting, since her work has always called to mind the impossible but not unimaginable logic of the subconscious. EMILY HALL
Davidson Galleries, 313 Occidental Ave S, 624-7684, opening reception 6-8
pm. Through Sept 29.
Philip Gourevitch
(Readings) The author of the highly acclaimed study of the madmen and madwomen who destroyed Rwanda forever, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, Philip Gourevitch returns tonight with a new book, A Cold Case. The book is about an unsolved, 27-year-old double murder that happened in darkest America. The fact that his older book covered a genocide and his new book concentrates on a double homicide is significant. There are only two types of deaths in this world (the third one, your own, doesn’t exist–it’s never witnessed by you): One is the death of many, the other the death of one or a few. To traverse these equally terrible points (genocide to homicide) in just two books is to describe a strange totality–meaning to describe (or scribe) everything in a strange way. What else could Philip Gourevitch write after this book? CHARLES MUDEDE
Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
FRIDAY SEPT 7
Listen to Wishkah!
(MUSIC) Remember that day five years ago when you went out and bought Nirvana’s From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah? And then you took it home and played it like, twice, and really liked what you heard but your head was still full of the studio versions and the death and really who could blame you for never having given Wishkah the attention it deserves? Well, now’s the perfect time to right some wrongs and rediscover Nirvana’s beautiful, brutal, and brilliant live record. Every track on this career-spanning collection has something unique to offer, with special praise reserved for the terrifying versions of “Drain You” and “Milk It,” and an early rendition of “Breed” (known at the time as “Imodium,” as Krist tells us in his lovely liner notes) so hilariously sloppy it makes Pepsi shoot out of my nose. With the 10th anniversary of Nevermind and Charles Cross’ new book (which I loved), Nirvana’s back in the always-creepy media spotlight. Here’s an ass-kicking reminder of why anyone cared in the first place. DAVID SCHMADER
Available at fine record shops everywhere.
Mudhoney
(MUSIC) I think someone should make a Mudhoney condom. It would sell like crazy. It could be for the big boys (like Magnum-plus sized), and it would be pre-lubed with a special lubricant, also called Mudhoney. The “Mudhoney” would be built to last and guaranteed never to break–so durable in fact, that it could be reused multiple times on various people, and, as dirty as it ever got, the user could trust that it was still fresh. (Oh yes, this would be a very special condom.) The packaging would feature none other than frontman Mark Arm’s legendary sneer, and beneath his timeless mug the wrap would be emblazoned, “Touch me, I’m sick.” JEFF DeROCHE
Graceland, 109 Eastlake Ave E, 381-3094, 10 pm, $13.
SATURDAY SEPT 8
Our Song
(FILM) Though it’s easy to be cynical about a film about three inner-city black and Hispanic girls made by a middle-class white guy, Jim McKay‘s Our Song is a thing of remarkable beauty and sensitivity. Set in an urban environment full of unseen dangers, the movie’s class- and race-based observations are background for the writer/director’s interest in uncovering the mysterious, palpable inner lives of the lead characters. So, despite a Ken Loach vibe (made all the more apparent by the involvement of a youth center marching band that forms the locus of the girls’ lives), the prevailing aesthetic influence owes a lot more to Truffaut, whose most vivid films were all about the faces of kids. SEAN NELSON
Opens Friday Sept 7 at the Varsity; see Movie Times for details.
SUNDAY SEPT 9
Fantomas
(MUSIC) I don’t often find myself recommending supergroups or non-linear avant metal noise fests, but the Fantomas are worth it. Spastically sprung from the Technicolor, improv-driven brain of Mike Patton (Mr. Bungle, ex-Faith No More), the Fantomas are propelled vividly by the wrecking-ball guitar work of Buzz Melvin, and nailed firmly to the ceiling by the percussion of former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo (who, despite the fact that he was last seen recording Vivaldi’s Rites of Spring, is undoubtedly one of the best metal drummers alive). Even better, all the tracks from their latest release are covers of horror-film theme songs. What could be more delightful than watching such talent rattle through everything from the Twin Peaks theme to Cape Fear and Spider Baby? Count me in. HANNAH LEVIN
Showbox, 1426 1st Ave, 628-3151, $13/$15.
MONDAY SEPT 10
East India Trading Company
(POETRY) It’s sad, but as a poet I often go to poetry events out of a sense of duty. Usually they’re too self-conscious to be fun, and rarely beautiful enough to really be a pleasure. But East India Trading Company is a crazy, lovely mess, perfect for a Monday when you need to be reminded there are still those desperately committed to their art (and to having good fun with others’ art). It’s home to everything from impassioned confessionals to bluesy beat poetry, plus swirly goth antics and some down-and-dirty love songs. Where other poetry nights tend to stagnate into an obviously cliquey torpor, East India stays fresh, nourished by the earnest sweat of those working to unlock the secrets of the universe through spoken word. BESS LOVEJOY
East India Trading Company, Coffee Messiah, 1554 E Olive Way, 208-1188,
sign-up at 7, show at 7:30, free.
TUESDAY SEPT 11
Save Rainier Vista
(PUBLIC HEARING) Rainier Vista, the public-housing project at S Edmunds Street and Rainier Ave, is slated for a makeover that will turn the development into a mixed-use community (a mix of low-income and market-rate housing). The Seattle City Council is considering signing off on an agreement with the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) that would allow the SHA to revamp the public-housing development without replacing all the low-income units there. This would break the SHA’s two-year public commit-ment to do one-for-one replacement at Rainier Vista, a commitment that requires the SHA to replace all 481 low-income units there with comparable housing. That means housing for people making a maximum of 30 percent of Seattle’s median income. If the agreement is signed, that means nearly 100 units will be lost. Show up at city hall and let them know that displacing poor families is a shitty thing to do. JOSH FEIT
Municipal Building, 600 Fourth Ave, 11th Floor, 5:30 pm.
WEDNESDAY SEPT 12
The Wicker Man
(DVD) After decades of only being available in hatchet-job repertory prints and crappy VHS transfers, this seminal 1973 gem of intellectual, pastoral horror has finally made its way to DVD. Though the negative was long ago destroyed (a bonus documentary tells the whole sordid tale), the disc is a beautiful offering of the film’s muted colors, eerie folk music, and titanic performances by Edward Woodward (as a prudish Christian cop searching for a missing girl) and the great Christopher Lee (as a pagan Lord with a few tricks up his sleeve). Smart, sexy, slow-burning, and profoundly British, The Wicker Man has the power to creep you all the way out. It’s time to keep your appointment. SEAN NELSON
The deluxe two-disc DVD package (in a lovely little wooden box) is available
for sale and rental at Scarecrow Video, 5030 Roosevelt Wy NE, 524-8554.