If You’re New to Seattle, Here’s What You Need

News • Slog AM/PM

Slog PM: Dubious DNA Usage in China, Snow in Los Angeles, Dead Cows in Washington

by Nathalie Graham • Thursday at 5:37 pm

Cannot promise this beef was never frozen.
Cannot promise this beef was never frozen. jotily/Getty Images

Former Sen. Joe Fain had some heavy-hitting support in getting new gig: Fain served for two terms as a Washington state senator. He lost his election bid this November amidst rape allegations against him. He was recently hired as the CEO of the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. Two of the people who were contacted as references on his behalf? Former Washington state governor Christine Gregoire and Ana Mari Cauce, the current president of the University of Washington.

New climate super PAC vows to support Gov. Inslee's inevitable presidential run: Act Now on Climate was formed on Thursday. Its leader, Corey Platt, a former political director for the Democratic Governors Association that was chaired by Inslee last year, said that climate change is the most pressing issue for the next president. Act Now on Climate can raise and spend as much money as it wants. Inslee is the super PAC's first choice.

Continue reading »
Food & Drink

Seattle, Where Are Your Favorite Places to Eat and Drink? VOTE NOW!

by Leilani Polk • Thursday at 5:00 pm

2019-F_D-survey_with-header.jpg

For the 2019 edition of The Stranger’s Food & Drink guide, we’re Dining Around the Clock, offering a breakdown of our favorite Seattle-roasted coffee makers, where to get breakfast and brunch, lunch, dinner (including the best places to bring a date, your family, or an out-of-town guest), and late night options, as well as some of our favorite happy hours and locally-brewed beers.

This year, we want to hear from you, our readers, about your favorites, too. We’ll be running a survey over the next three weeks, where you can vote on your favorite Seattle spots. We’ll include the winners of each category in the 2019 Food & Drink issue, which hits the streets on March 27.

Tell us what you love, Seattle—take the survey here. You have until midnight on Tue., Feb. 26.

Film/TV • Things To Do

31 Movies Worth Watching in Seattle This Weekend: Feb 21-24, 2019

by Stranger Things To Do Staff • Thursday at 4:32 pm

The intense drama Burning by Chang-dong Lee racked up 30 film festival and critics awards and 104 nominations.
The intense drama Burning by Chang-dong Lee racked up 30 film festival and critics' awards and 104 nominations and is playing at SIFF Egyptian this weekend only.

If you love movies, you've got a busy weekend ahead! You can catch up on Oscar-nominated films, and, of course, watch the ceremony itself. But there's plenty more going on, like the Seattle Asian American Film Festival, the universally praised drama Burning , and a run of the gloriously silly Singin' in the Rain. Follow the links below to see complete showtimes, tickets, and trailers for all of our critics' picks, and, if you're looking for even more options, check out our film events calendar and complete movie times listings.

Stay in the know! Get all this and more on the free Stranger Things To Do mobile app (available for iOS and Android), or delivered to your inbox.

Note: Movies play Thursday–Sunday unless otherwise noted.

2019 Oscar Nominated Short Films: Animated, Live Action and Documentary
In this year's crop of animated short film nominees, meet characters like animals in therapy, a sweet little bao dumpling come to life, a Chinese American girl who wants to be an astronaut, and other charming folks. In the live action films, an aging woman bonds with her nurse; two young boys are interrogated over the death of a toddler; a mother receives a call from her young son, whose father has apparently abandoned him while on vacation; and more in these tense and touching films. The documentary subjects include a Zen hospice, Nigerian immigrants facing racism in England, refugees rescued from the Mediterranean, Indian women fighting menstruation stigma, and 20,000 American Nazis in 1939.
SIFF Cinema Uptown (live action & animation only) & AMC Seattle 10

Continue reading »
Weed

What Are Seattle's Budtenders Smoking? Nolan Byng Loves Diamonds N' Sauce.

by Lester Black • Thursday at 4:11 pm

Nolan loves his dabs.
Nolan loves his dabs. Lester Black

Welcome to a new regular installment on Slog where we ask the most pressing question on everyone's minds: what are Seattle’s budtenders smoking?

Nolan Byng has been helping people find the right pot for their pipes since 2010 when Washington was still selling weed under the old medical system. He said he got involved in the industry after he left the Navy.

"From high school, I went into the Navy at 17 and then I broke my back in four places and had to get out. I got my medical card the next day and then got involved in the industry by chance," Byng told me.

Now he works at The Bakerée, a pot shop in Georgetown that looks like an unassuming budget motel from the outside. The shop's interior is far more inspiring, with the exposed wood beams, white walls, and an art gallery that takes up nearly half of the shop. On a recent visit, paintings made out of skateboards by local artist Jason Singler were hanging.

Continue reading »
Savage Love

Savage Love: Consider the (Extra) Lobster

by Dan Savage • Thursday at 3:15 pm

feb21_savage_more-lobster_web.jpg
Joe Newton
Two weeks ago, a longtime reader challenged me to create a new sexual neologism. (Quickly for the pedants: You're right! It is redundant to describe a neologism as "new," since neologisms are by definition new: "ne·ol·o·gism noun a newly coined word or expression." You got me!)

"Neo-Neologisms, Please!" was too polite to point it out, but my two most famous and widely used neologisms have been around so long—pegging (2001) and santorum (2003)—that they're practically paleogisms at this point. So I accepted NNP's challenge and proposed "with extra lobster." My inspiration: on a visit to Iceland, I was delighted to discover that "with extra lobster" was a menu item at food carts that served lobster. This delighted me for two reasons. First, lobster is fucking delicious and getting extra lobster with your lobster is fucking awesome. And second, "with extra lobster" sounded like it was a dirty euphemism for something equally awesome. I offered up my own suggested definition—someone who sticks their tongue out and licks your balls while they're deep-throating your cock is giving you a blowjob with extra lobster—and invited readers to send in their own. It was my readers, after all, who came up with the winning definitions for pegging ("a woman fucking a man in the ass with a strap-on dildo") and santorum ("the frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex").

Continue reading »
Music • Death

Peter Tork of the Monkees Is Dead

by Ned Lannamann • Thursday at 2:30 pm

1550775129-petertork-michaelochs.jpeg
MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES / GETTY IMAGES

The Monkees' Peter Tork, born Peter Thorkelson, died this morning at age 77. The announcement came over his Facebook page, which did not state the cause of death, although in 2009 it was reported that Tork was treated for cancer in the form of adenoid cystic carcinoma.

As depicted on the 1960s TV show, Tork played the role of the goofy, "dumb" Monkee, with his head in the clouds—the Harpo Marx of the gang. Behind the scenes, Tork was a thoughtful, folk-trained musician who embraced the '60s counterculture movement, and often felt confined by his role as a "pre-fab" teenybopper idol.

1550775188-gettyimages-74286198.jpeg
MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES / GETTY IMAGES
Continue reading »
Savage Love

Her Boyfriend Is Lovely and Kind and Smart and Jealous and Irrational

by Dan Savage • Thursday at 2:04 pm

1548976856-savage-letter-of-the-day-stamp-2019.jpg

My boyfriend is jealous of a co-researcher on my team. I have no interest in him romantically because he’s unattractive and married. We also have nothing in common outside of work. We’ve been messaging a lot because about the project and because of a problem we had with a coworker. But all our messages are work related. Instead of telling me directly that this flurry of messaging was making him (my BF) uncomfortable, my BF was making snide remarks. It was hard for me to tell if he was joking and letting off steam or he was seriously upset. My boyfriend is lovely in all respects, but sometimes gets jealous and accuses me of things. It's always over small misunderstandings, mistakes, or misinterpretations.

For example, I overslept one morning when I was supposed to wake him up early so we could have sex before a postcoital test (PCT) at the gyno He accused me of doing that on purpose, rather than accepting that is was an accident. I just slept through my alarm! It happens! I’ve had cold sores since I was a kid in the winter and he got one and it turned out it was herpes. He’s accused me of keeping that from him and giving it to him in order to tie him to me. But I swear to God and my mother and all I hold holy that I had no idea they were anything other than cold sores and I had no such intentions at all!

He’s pretty suspicious, but I can’t say that in that herpes/cold sore case, it isn’t without reason. In all other regards, he's a wonderful partner—smart, kind, patient, funny, socially conscious, health-conscious, decent in bed, someone I can open up to and talk with about anything with. I’m crazy about him.

Do you think I’m ignoring a problem that's going to get bigger? It hasn’t become more frequent or more severe. Is this just a side-effect of him being so smart—he puts things together, he remembers details, and comes to conclusions. But his deduction skills are being put to a bad use where my loyalty is concerned. Am I overreacting? I've been with jealous men in the past and I might be sensitive to these baseless and illogical accusations. Is there a better way to deal with them? I tend to be very direct. I tell him his interpretation of events is off and tell him my version. But he doesn’t believe me and then he and I get annoyed with each other. Nothing is really resolved. He still accuses me of random shit, which makes me feel like he doesn’t trust me, and then makes me question what I am doing with someone who doesn’t trust me and makes me wonder if I want to have children with someone like this at all. He has straight up told me he doesn’t trust me, that he doesn’t trust anyone, and anybody who trusts other people is stupid or lying. Dan, we’re trying to start a family and moving to another country together. Am I being like an ostrich here? Or is this like a “price of admission”?

I really value your input, because you’re outside of this situation and have always given so many people such great advice.

Distrusted And Mulling Nervously

Continue reading »
Things To Do • Early Warnings

Buy Your Tickets to These 30 Newly Announced Seattle Events Before They Sell Out

by Stranger Things To Do Staff • Thursday at 1:57 pm

Popular potty-mouthed comedienne Chelsea Handler will make a June stop in Seattle on her Life Will Be the Death of Me book tour.
Popular potty-mouthed comedienne Chelsea Handler will make a June stop in Seattle on her Life Will Be the Death of Me book tour.

We all know that many of the biggest Seattle events often sell out well in advance. But it's not a lost cause—if you plan ahead, you can still score tickets for the most popular events. To help you with that, we've rounded up all of the major events that are going on sale in the next couple of days, like the Watershed Festival and Dave Matthews Band, plus things that have just gone on sale, like School of Rock. Can't get tickets? Check out our complete Things To Do calendar for more events.

Note: Tickets on sale at 10 a.m. unless otherwise specified

ON SALE FRIDAY
COMEDY
Chelsea Handler: Life Will Be the Death of Me
Fri June 1 at Moore Theatre

MUSIC
Betty Who
May 10-11 at Neptune Theatre
New show added for May 11; May 10 tickets already on sale

Continue reading »
Film/TV • Music

Inbox Jukebox Track of the Day: The Gospel-Soul Gem "You Got to Learn, to Let It Go" from Sam Waymon's Soundtrack for Cult-Classic Film Ganja & Hess

by Dave Segal • Thursday at 1:34 pm

You got to learn that Ganja & Hess is one of the most compelling films ever—with a killer soundtrack.
You got to learn that Ganja & Hess is one of the most compelling films ever—with a killer soundtrack. Strange Disc

Sam Waymon, "You Got to Learn, to Let It Go" (Strange Disc)

Bill Gunn's bizarre 1973 film Ganja & Hess is an unprecedented fusion of blaxploitation, religious salvation drama, vampire thriller, and horror. When I first saw it in the late '90s, it struck me as an African-American El Topo or Holy Mountain—a psychedelic cult film full of dazzling imagery, existential dilemmas, and incredible music on the soundtrack. It requires at least two or three viewings to absorb. You can experience this sui generis movie tonight in a rare Seattle screening at Northwest Film Forum. Trust me: You need to see it on the big screen.

To put it lightly, I was overjoyed when Strange Disc put out Sam Waymon's Ganja & Hess OST during last year's Record Store Day. I was jonesing to hear those recurring, eerie child-choir chants on my own terms, and also the film's climactic song, "You Got to Learn, to Let It Go." Starting with a chunky, sample-worthy drum break, the song blossoms into a powerful gospel-soul lope not unlike Pastor T.L. Barrett's immortal "Like a Ship (Without a Sail)." The overarching feeling of "You Got to Learn" is that of nonchalant inspiration, a casual glide through the gates of "Heaven." Even an atheist can't resist it.

Continue reading »
New to Town

Don't Believe the Lies—People Dance in Seattle

by Chase Burns and Jasmyne Keimig • Thursday at 12:50 pm

Daybreaker is an “early morning dance movement” that’s an hour of yoga then two hours of EDM.
Daybreaker is an “early morning dance movement” that’s an hour of yoga then two hours of EDM. ANDREW RAUNER

We won't lie to you: Seattle is not a dancing city. The official Seattle Dance Move is a barely perceptible head bob with (if you're lucky) a light sway from side to side. But to conclude that no one dances in Seattle would be flat-out wrong. People DO dance in Seattle! Wildly! With passion! They just don't do it everywhere. To help you understand that this city isn't totally stiff, here's a list of Seattle's favorite dance spots.

Note: This is a very abridged list. It leaves out plenty of bars that have dance floors. Visit The Stranger's online dance events calendar for the city's best, up-to-date list of Seattle dance nights.

Continue reading »
2020

Andrew Yang Has No Idea What Capitalism Is

by Charles Mudede • Thursday at 11:58 am

Andrew Yang speaking at the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair in 2018
Andrew Yang speaking at the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair in 2018 Andrew Frawley

What is human-centered capitalism? The 2020 presidential Democratic candidate Andrew Yang believes it's the "next stage of capitalism." He sees capitalism as a set of clear stages that begin with the markets of old; next is mercantilism (which is just robbery); then there is the industrial capitalism of the 19th century; then the welfare capitalism of the second half of the 20th century: and the neoliberalism of today (he calls the last 'institutional capitalism'). The human capitalism he proposes appears to be a synthesis of all of these stages. But what is missing from this picture? Not only that it fails to include the struggles of socialism as playing a key part in this evolution, but Yang's concept of capitalism doesn't recognize its boundaries. For him, it does not have a clear outside and a clear inside.

The history of capitalism, according to Yang, is only about capitalism, as if it did not have an internal logic that responded and adapted to an outside that constantly threatened its very existence. One of those threats was/is socialism, another is the current environmental crisis. But what exactly is it that's threatened? What are people in a variety of social movements confronting when they want better health care, better pay, better childcare, clean water? What is the internal logic of capital?

Continue reading »
Visual Art

Oh Shit! Mariane Ibrahim Gallery Is Moving to Chicago!

by Jasmyne Keimig • Thursday at 11:35 am

The gallery will be bidding adieu to the Pacific Northwest
The gallery will be bidding adieu to the Pacific Northwest Courtesy Mariane Ibrahim Gallery

After seven years in Seattle, Mariane Ibrahim Gallery is packing up their bags (er...white cube) and moving to Chicago. The internationally renowned gallery will be closing officially on Feb. 28. In a statement on their Instagram last week, they said that they will be opening their new flagship location later in the year with a "strong focus on international growth." In the time between the closing and re-opening, the gallery will be operating remotely.

Mariane Ibrahim Gallery was a very distinct and distinguished presence in the Seattle art scene. Run by the eponymous Mariane Ibrahim-Lenhardt, the gallery mainly focused on contemporary art made by African artists from around the world. In the past few months here in Seattle, they've shown Zimbabwean artist Kudzanai Chiurai and South African artist Alexandra Karakashian. The gallerist—who grew up in both Somalia and France—is also a huge player in global art fairs, taking home the first Presents Booth Prize at New York’s Armory Show in 2017 for showing the work of German-Ghanian artist Zohra Opoku.

Continue reading »
Music

Kremwerk's Research Night Features the Unpredictable Electronic Musician Laurel Halo

by Dave Segal • Thursday at 10:56 am

Ann Arbor-born, Berlin-based Laurel Halo
Ann Arbor-born, Berlin-based Laurel Halo Phillip Aumann

Berlin via Ann Arbor, Michigan, musician Laurel Halo has gone far in the underground-electronic-music world by eschewing obviousness in her productions. That courageous approach has led to releases on discerning labels such as Hyperdub, RVNG Intl., and Livity Sound. I once described Halo’s sound as being “poised between artful abstraction and strangely beautiful song-based structures”; that still holds. With 2017’s Dust, she collaborated with the deft percussionist Eli Keszler in a valiant effort to rewrite the electro-pop rulebook with her patented off-kilter melodic and rhythmic allure. For last year’s Raw Silk Uncut Wood, Keszler and cellist Oliver Coates join Halo for a heady whirl into an austere kind of electronic chamber music that’s more about discovering unconventional textures and conjuring elusive moods.

No telling what she’ll bring to Kremwerk tomorrow night, but it’s bound to be fascinating. Some media below.

Continue reading »

Big News!

by Nathalie Graham • Thursday at 10:34 am


News • 2020

Howard Schultz Didn't Vote. Again.

by Rich Smith • Thursday at 10:06 am

School levies just arent important enough for this great unifier.
School levies just aren't important enough for this great unifier. SPENCER PLATT / GETTY

Howard Schultz failed to cast a vote in the special election on February 12, according to the Seattle Times. That means the billionaire has only voted in 11 out of the last 39 cycles, giving him a 28 percent participation rate in the democracy he's thinking about maybe hoping to save.

A key detail from the Times's story: "In a message to Starbucks employees in 2016 as part of a voter-registration campaign, [Schultz] wrote, 'More Americans should participate in all elections, even those for city councils and school boards.'"

Continue reading »

Next