Engine Anthem

(DANCE) The sun has set but the road still rolls ahead of you. Your headlights illuminate a flurry of asphalt, yellow lines zipping under your car as you cruise across the desert, over the mountains, and through the forest. As the stars come out, that pop song on the radio turns into the purest expression of loneliness, recklessness, and hope. That's the material America is made from--and that's the subject matter of Crispin Spaeth's dance work Engine Anthem. "Spaeth's seven dancers gathered in sometimes-thrilling configurations that lasted only for an instant, then fluidly, organically melted away," wrote Stranger reviewer Stacey Levine, describing a prior performance of part of Engine Anthem. Cool, elegant, but funny and sometimes almost hyperactive, Spaeth's choreography has often had an almost mechanical edge--not in the sense of rote, but akin to the pops, whirs, and electric dynamism of a smoothly running machine. BRET FETZER

Crispin Spaeth Dance Group at On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, 217-9888, Fri-Sun at 8 pm, $15.

Anonymous

(ART) New York artist Peter Rostovsky asked people he'd never met to send him descriptions of themselves, and then painted portraits from their words. This calls the whole idea of portraiture into question--how much the artist brings to the project; how the language, the very syntax, of the description influences the image; what, in the end, portraits are for. In addition to the six anonymous portraits (shown with the written descriptions) are two enormous, very formal paintings--one of which is of Nikky Sixx in full makeup, painted in a gorgeously specific Northern European Renaissance style, with all that big hair as gloriously rendered as a cat's coat. Oooooh. EMILY HALL

James Harris Gallery, 309A Third Ave, 903-6220, opening reception 5:30 pm. Through Nov 24.

Hell House

(FILM) Oh my fucking God. This just might be the best, most astounding, sad, scary, and hilarious 25-minute documentary ever made. Hell House is a traveling Christian ministry dedicated to the graphic dramatization of the pain and horror of a sinful life. Satan (played by the church's minister) is your tour guide through a cavalcade of abortion, date rape, homosexuality, drug use, and drunken driving (all topics on which the Bible was quite eloquent). After going through Hell (semi-literally), you get to Heaven, where Jesus gives you a hug and a treat. It's tough to pick a "most shocking" element of this whole scene; from the latent pederasty of the behind-the-scenes footage to the fact that the audience consists of sobbing four- and five-year-olds... it's all gruesome. But the film is a work of admirable restraint, letting the vile fucks who run Hell House (the closest America has to a fanatical religious terror organization) damn themselves. SEAN NELSON

Little Theatre, 608 19th Ave E, 267-2055. See Movie Times for details.

Track Star, No. 2

(MUSIC) Fans of the other half of Heatmiser's Elliott Smith/Neil Gust songwriting duo are no doubt already familiar with Gust's band No. 2. While that band doesn't get up to Seattle much (last time was well over a year ago), No. 2's drummer, Paul Pulvirenti, was in town for the Sigur Rós show and stopped by the Cha Cha with this bit of news: No. 2 has recorded a follow-up to its 1999 Chainsaw Records debut, No Memory, and is currently shopping around for label interest. Track Star, on the other hand, hasn't put out an album in years (1997's Communication Breaks), but way back in March, frontman Jeff Kleinsmith told The Stranger that he's in the process of recording an album that is "melodic and creepy." It's been a long time coming, and frankly, The Stranger will believe it when we see it. KATHLEEN WILSON

Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave, 441-5611, $7.

Once When I Was Lost

(THEATER) One of my all-time favorite theater experiences was watching the tale of a young woman who fell in love with an elephant. It was a production called Idiot Heart that melded dance (folk-dance-feeling yet utterly contemporary steps), theatrical bits (including a nonsensical monologue about how some are born to run with the wolves and others, well, aren't), and glorious music from a band featuring cello, accordion, and French horn. Run/Remain--the ensemble responsible for this concoction--later exploded all over Seattle's arts scene: Dayna Hanson formed dance troupe 33 Fainting Spells, the Run/Remain Orchestra became the Black Cat Orchestra, and Gregg Lachow focused on film, directing such idiosyncratic flicks as The Wright Brothers and Silence!. Now Lachow returns to live performance, along with Megan Murphy (a Run/Remain co-founder), Sarah Harlett (formerly of the Compound), and Sam Lachow and Maggie Brown (who are occasionally The Stranger's youngest reviewers). Expect an off-kilter blend of warm nostalgia and cutting wit. BRET FETZER

On the Boards, 100 W Roy St, 217-9888, Thurs-Sun at 8 pm; $12 Thurs/Sun, $14 Fri/Sat. Through Nov 18.

Cogswell Benefit

(READING, POLITICS) On Oct 10, I learned that V. S. Naipaul won the Nobel Prize for Literature. It was a dark and cold day. V. S. Naipaul is nothing more than the miserable ruins of his best years. He is a has-been in the worst way, and what's the use of rewarding a has-been? The Nobel people should reward established writers who still have a future, like Jonathan Raban, who continues to grow and expand deep into his career. V. S. Naipaul? Why? What a waste. Tonight, Nobel Prize-worthy Jonathan Raban reads in a benefit for city council-worthy Grant Cogswell. Stacey Levine, another excellent writer who deserves all sorts of prestigious awards, will read with Raban. Under the roof of Vital 5 Productions, writing will meet politics to improve the glittering, glimmering, bling-blingering Emerald City. CHARLES MUDEDE

Vital 5 Productions, 2200 Westlake Ave, 254-0475, 8 pm, $25 suggested donation. Call the Cogswell for City Council campaign at 568-7266 for more information.

Lesbian Porn 101

(FILM) In the immortal words of that dude from Bachelor Party: "Gentlemen, start your boners." Lesbian Porn 101 is a program of clips from 20 years of "sexually explicit films for queer women." And when I say clips, I mean clips: just the good stuff. Though the show is part of the Sixth Annual Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and is therefore ostensibly aimed at the ladies, I feel it safe to speculate that there's a healthy contingent of straight fellas who might just brave the elements for the privilege of peeping a bunch of dyke sex scenes without having to endure the movies that surround them. But that's just a guess. In any event, it should be fun to see the jockeying that'll be going on when people start lining up. SEAN NELSON

The Egyptian Theater, 805 E Pine St, 9:30 pm, $8. For information about the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, go to www.seattlequeerfilm.com.

Violent Anti-Violence

(MUSIC) The anti-violence group Home Alive, along with youth organization the Vera Project, are teaming up to host a conference this weekend to discuss community-building and anti-violence work. It aims to tackle the spread of white power and other racist youth movements, with guest speakers and former white-power members speaking about their experiences in the depths of a violent mindstate. Then, what better way to build a community of anti-violence than rocking out to Mudhoney, the Catheters, and Blood Brothers, who will play later that night?! The first 100 people to register for the conference get free admission to the concert. The conference/concert is part of a fundraising drive for Home Alive. PAT KEARNEY

Local 46, 2700 First Ave. Conference registration is from 9-10 am, $20-$75 sliding scale (pay what you can). For more information call the Vera Project at 956-VERA.

Northwest Bookfest

(BOOKS) Though last year's Bookfest was somewhat lackluster and tyrannically dominated by the Exhibition Center's ghastly fluorescent lighting, this year's affair looks like it'll at least try harder. For one thing, a giant mouth will serve as a portal to a spoken-word area, where kids can perform. There will also be a competitive Scrabble area, if you're geeky and get tired from wandering aisles of publishers' wares. This weekend's vertiginous array of stuff also includes a gallery of artists' handmade books and heaps of gamelike activities. Internationally known authors such as Chuck Palahniuk, Diane Ackerman (a poet whose fluffy "histories" are widely acclaimed), Israeli novelist Amos Oz, and political writer Sam Smith of The Progressive Review will be on hand, too. In other words, this will be a huge, bookish free-for-all you won't regret attending. STACEY LEVINE

Stadium Exhibition Center, 1000 Occidental Ave S, 381-7500, Sat-Sun Oct 20-21, $5 suggested donation. For The Stranger's Bookfest picks, see the Readings Calendar.

Stop Police Brutality

(MARCH) Less than five months ago, on May 31, 35-year-old Aaron Roberts was shot in the Central District by Seattle police officers. On October 11, the jury in the King County public inquest into the shooting sided with the officers' version of events. Today at 3:30 pm, people will gather at 23rd and East Union--the intersection where Roberts died--to march downtown as a part of the Sixth Annual National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality. The march route will pass the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct at 12th Avenue and Pine Street before heading down to Westlake Center for a concluding rally. Participants are asked to wear black, to remember those whose lives ended in police custody. AMY JENNIGES

Union St at 23rd Ave, 3:30 pm. For more information go to www.october22.org, or contact the October 22nd Coalition at 264-5527, or oct22seattle@hotmail.com.

Alexander Schweder, Sarah Peters

(ART) Here's something I didn't know: There's a very prestigious artist residency at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Wisconsin. Does the name sound familiar? Yes, Kohler--the people who make plumbing fixtures. Therefore, it's not surprising that Alexander Schweder's Abjecture features a set of urinals called Peescapes. It's a half-nod to Duchamp, of course, but these are working fixtures, with their essential parts reimagined as smooth porcelain sculptures, like little target cups (for men) and elongated troughs (for women). It turns out that Sarah Peters also did a residency at Kohler, but her work is a bit more wide-ranging, featuring wigs made of metal and roses made of porcelain: the trappings of girlhood made hard, smooth, and cold. EMILY HALL

Esther Claypool Gallery, 617 Western Ave, 264-1586. Through Oct 27. Schweder will give a gallery talk and slide lecture Thurs Oct 25 at 7 pm.

Shockheaded Peter

(EXTRAVAGANZA) The seeds of this ghoulish cabaret were planted in 1844, when Heinrich Hoffman set out to buy a picture book for his son. "But what did I find?" Hoffman asked. "Long tales, stupid stories, beginning and ending with 'the good child must be truthful' or 'children must keep clean,' etc." Bored, he wrote a series of stories in which naughty children came to gruesome ends: "The Dreadful Story about Harriet and the Matches" is one title, and the simple but evocative "Snip Snip" is another. Fast-forward to 1997: A team of British artists came out with a theater piece that dismissed the hydraulics and lasers of current big-budget musicals, preferring theatrical devices from the Victorian age to create a leering, malevolent spectacle that's been compared to the works of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton. And now it's come to us. Just watch out for your fingers. BRET FETZER

The Moore Theatre, Second and Virginia, 292-2787, Tues-Fri at 8, Sat at 5 & 10, Sun at 2 & 7 (no matinee on Sun Oct 28), $25-$45. Through Nov 4.