For someone who doesn’t watch much TV–and it’s mostly sports or Spongebob when I do-I’ve sure managed to get introduced to a lot of great musicians from watching it. Case in point – Nashville native singer/songwriter Landon Pigg whose sweet, understated “Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop” was featured in a DeBeers commercial. Diamonds don’t interest me much but the song made a big impression on me, introducing me to Pigg’s music. TV’s been good to Landon Pigg–as a child he sang commercial jingles with his siblings and his first appearance in the national spotlight came after one of his songs was featured on “Grey’s Anatomy”. Another of his songs was featured on an episode of “One Tree Hill”. Since then, Pigg has focused on developing his fan base the good, old-fashioned way by releasing albums and touring, although he did take a break from the road to appear as Ellen Page’s love interest in Whip It.

Landon Pigg is back on the road now and will be bringing his poetic pop to Neumos on Monday, November 9, where he will be appearing with Among the Oak and Ash who have brilliantly reworked traditional Appalachian folk songs for a modern audience, and Seattle-born, LA-raised singer-songwriter Alison Sudol who blends alt-folk with creative pop as A Fine Frenzy.

Doors are at 7, all ages with ID. Tickets are $18 in advance via TicketsWest

Jesse Jones of King5 News tests Campbell Soup’s claim that there are 32′ of noodles in every can. He lays out a can’s worth of noodles on a football field.

Slow news day? If you want to kill some time at work, watch it here. Way to embarrass us on Consumerist Jesse.

Photo by Sooz via Creative Commons

Couch Fest wants you to know that “watching short films in strangers’ houses = awkwardly awesome”. The second annual Couch Fest is a shorts film festival that takes place in people’s houses. On Saturday, November 7, all the houses taking part in the fest host 30 minute film programs that repeat all day. Fest goers go from house to house checking out the programs that interest them and each program has a built in intermission so people can talk about the movies they’re watching. It’s a fun way to see a lot of cool short films with a group of people who are every bit as dorky about this sort of thing as you are. There are two animation programs, two comedy programs, two experimental programs, a documentary program, a horror program, a mixed program and an “inappropriately awesome” program. It’s a mere $10 for the complete festival, which allows you to see any or all of the programs running throughout the day. The first show starts at 11 am and the final show starts at 7 pm and all programs repeat every hour on the hour. Go to the Couch Fest website for locations and other details.

If you’re looking for a more traditional film festival this weekend, head down south as the 26th annual Olympia Film Festival kicks off Friday, November 6 with an opening night gala, and a program of short films and a feature by American director Tom Schiller who will be in attendance for a post screening Q&A. The festival continues through November 14 with a eclectic collection of films that includes everything from 1920 German Expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to Seattle filmmaker David Russo’s The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, a hit at this year’s SIFF. Films on the festival calendar include well-loved classics of a variety of genres (The Muppet Movie, The Third Man, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, part 2) and rarely-screened features and documentaries both old and new well worth seeing.

Speaking of both SIFF and rarely-screened features worth seeing, Le Combat Dans L’île opens Friday, November 6, at SIFF Cinema. Romy Schneider plays Anne, a woman in a difficult marriage who discovers a carefully wrapped anti-tank bazooka in the hall closet. What’s a woman to do? After the bazooka is used in the attempted assassination of a left-wing member of Parliament, Anne ends up turning to her husband’s college friend as a confidante and a lover. Torn between the past and the present, Anne’s complicated path neatly stands in for the political struggles of France in the early 1960s when this film was made.

Austrian director Ulrich Seidl guides two untrained actors into powerful performances in Import Export, a look at “the horror and the beauty of existence” (Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York) that tells the parallel stories of Olga, a Ukrainian nurse who moves to Austria to try and make ends meet and Austrian Pauli, who travels to Ukraine to deliver video game consoles as they struggle with unemployment and existence. Opens at NWFF on Friday.

Also at NWFF: the Seattle premiere of 35 Shots of Rum, a beautifully shot study of human relationships by director Clair Denis that is centered around the complex relationship between Jo, a Parisian university student, and her father, Lionel, a train engineer.

The Grand Illusion hosts the Seattle premiere of a new 35mm print of 1947’s Odd Man Out, a film noir that tells the story of an IRA operative named Johnny McQueen. On the lam after breaking out of jail, Johnny (James Mason) decides to rob a bank to raise funds for the IRA but the robbery goes bad and he is seriously wounded by the police. Johnny meets a series of people who either want to help him or turn him over to the police as he makes his way through Dublin until finally he ends up heading for the waterfront and freedom–but can he make it there before the police?

Central Cinema pays tribute to the recently deceased John Hughes with a special screening of The Breakfast Club, perhaps his most popular work. The pre-show tribute includes a selection of Hughes trailers, classic movie moments, John Hughes trivia, and a sing along to a selection of soundtrack favorites.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s sweet and utterly charming comedy of romance, self-discovery and transformation Amelie is this week’s Midnight at the Egyptian film. Audrey Tatou is radiant as the quirky, kind-hearted title character who masterfully manipulates the people around her for both good and bad, depending on what they deserve, but may not have the courage to change her own life.

Ewan McGregor is a reporter in search of his next story when he encounters Geroge Clooney as a man who claims to be part of an experimental US military unit focused on using the paranormal as a new form of combat in The Men Who Stare at Goats, a based on a true story comedy screening at the The Guild 45th.

Seattle Police officer Timothy Brenton was murdered Halloween night when an unknown assailant pulled up next to his parked patrol car and shot him.

A flag was raised over the Space Needle this morning to recognize his loss and the city is hosting a public memorial tomorrow at 1 pm at Key Arena at the Seattle Center. Doors will open at 11 am.

Prior to the memorial service, there will be a memorial procession departing at 9 am from the E-1 parking lot at UW, just north of Husky Stadium, travelling South on Montlake Boulevard NE to 24th Avenue E, South on 24th Avenue E to 23rd Avenue Em South on 23rd Avenue E to E Madison Street, West on E Madison Street to E Pine Street, West on E Pine Street to Broadway Avenuem North on Broadway Avenue to E Denny Way, -West on E Denny Way to 1st Avenue N, and North on 1st Avenue N to Mercer Street where the Key Arena is located. SDOT has prepared a map of the procession, available here.

There will be about 1,000 to 1,500 vehicles participating in this procession, causing huge delays along the route. Drivers, be prepared in advance for long waits and try to find alternate routes where you can. Parking will be prohibited along the procession route while it is taking place and 1st Ave N between Denny and Mercer, and Mercer between 1st and 5th. Bus riders take note that you’ll have significant delays and reroutes as well. Metro is working on preparing a notice for bus riders that should be up later today at their site.

Tomorrow night kicks off Seattle’s first annual Cabaret Festival, presented by the Can Can and hosted all over the place: shows will be at the Moore, the Triple Door, and at ACT Theatre [Can Can].

As far as I can tell, everyone even sort of cabaret-y is going to be involved–The Tiger Lillies, The Circus Contraption Band, Orkester Zirconium, even Emerald City Soul Club is getting in on the show. Performance art and dancing and drag and comedy and something for pretty much everyone.

We recommend any of it, but particularly Scarlet Room with Vagabond Opera on Wednesday at the Triple Door. There are two shows: one at 7:00, all ages, and one at 10:00 21+. I particularly enjoy the description of Vagabond Opera: “Weaving elements of Kurt Weil, Duke Ellington and Edith Piaf with absurdist flair, theatrics and an old world mood, Vagabond Opera presents the new wave of opera–lusty voices singing in 13 languages and presenting a cabaret of rich musical phrasing, sparkling lyrics and indomitable stage presence, all played with exuberance, skill and a gritty Vagabond edge.”

We’ve talked about Scarlet Room here before, but the last time they played the Triple Door Bonnie Vie had this to say about them: “The band is like a fantastic mechanical doll; churning out a whirl of circus and cabaret melodies, with a stage presence that is larger than life.  With dark music-box-style keys, Alexsandra Weil – the group’s vocalist and pianist – weaves elaborate stories, written by Scarlet Room’s drummer, Eloise Govedare.”

The Triple Door is probably the perfect place for the spell of all of this dark swirling cabaret. You probably don’t want to miss it.

Japanese film director Kenji Mizoguchi was admired by the likes of Orson Welles, Jean-Luc Godard and Akira Kurosawa for his work. He began his career with remakes of German Expressionistic films and adaptations of O’Neill and Tolstoy. Later he moved towards realism, spending much time documenting Japan’s change from feudalism into modernism and he would spend much of his film career exploring social and political issues of the day.

One of his older films, The Downfall of Osen focuses on one of the issues that intrigued Mizoguchi for all of his career, the struggles of a “fallen woman” to cope with the world that imprisons and debases them. Isuzo Yamada portrays the abused mistress of a den of thieves who seeks redemption through her love of a young man who dreams of becoming a doctor.

The silent film is accompanied by a live music and sound score featuring an English language translation of the benshi – the live soundtrack given to Japanese silent films. Seattle’s Aono Jikken Ensemble return from touring with quirky Canadian director Guy Maddin’s film Brand Upon the Brain to lend their talents to The Downfall of Osen.

This special event is one night only, so don’t delay in getting your tickets. It plays SIFF Cinema on Sunday, November 15, 7:00 pm.

There were two more fires in Greenwood early this morning, making a total of five unsolved arsons in the area over the past few months.

The PhinneyWood bloggers were on the scene of the first fire when the fire crew got a call about the second, three blocks away. The CPA office was burned, as was Rosewood Guitar Shop.

It’s been a blessing that so far no one’s been hurt, just property (which is more than bad enough already), but these fires are scary, threatening and harmful. The P-I’s Seattle 911 blog reports that the NW Insurance Council and Arson Alarm Foundation are offering a $10,000 reward for information to help solve the October 23rd arson that caused $2 million in damage to the Green Bean Coffee House, Szechuan Bistro, C.C. Teriyaki and Pho Tic Tac restaurants. If it takes money for you to do the right thing, so be it, but if you have any information that could help investigators catch this jerkface, please call the Arson Hotline at 800-55-ARSON. If you’re worried about your own safety, you can stay anonymous.

Election Night counting showed that Seattle mayoral candidate Mike McGinn led his opponent, Joe Mallahan, by a mere 910 votes. For reference’s sake, the student body of Chief Sealth High School outnumbers the votes that separated the two.

Today with more ballots counted the separation has only gotten smaller; the Seattle P-I and other media outlets are now reporting that McGinn leads Mallahan by 462 votes. If a dozen of them stayed home, you could fit this number of people into Jillian’s on Eastlake or the Jefferson Community Center.

Next count update comes tomorrow afternoon. Go ahead and kick your shoes off, Greg Nickels, it’s going to be a while til you find out who replaces you.

Photographer Michael Lavine’s got a new book called Grunge, featuring an essay by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and a whole bunch of excellent photographs of the Seattle music scene from the 80s and 90s, many of which are fresh even to those of us who were around at the time and all of which are stunning documentation of a significant art and cultural movement that continues to reverberate even today.

Lavine will be signing copies of his book on Friday, November 13, down at Olympia’s Orca Books (509 East 4th Ave), and also on Saturday, November 14 at Easy Street in West Seattle (4559 California Ave SW).

Additionally, the book is being celebrated at book release party Friday, November 13 at Neumo’s with musical accompaniment by Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, a band featuring members of Tad and Unnatural Helpers and the legendary Mudhoney. Doors are at 8pm; tickets are a mere $12 in advance and since this show’s likely to be full early, you’re definitely going to want to get them in advance.

Unless, of course, you’re the lucky winner of the pair of tickets Seattle Metblogs has to give away. If you and a guest would like to attend this show–and, believe me, you want to–send us an e-mail with your name and contact info at seattle.metblogs@gmail.com no later than Wednesday, November 11 at noon. Sorry minors, you must be 21 or older to attend this show.

You can check out images from the book on Lavine’s website. After you’re done looking at the Grunge images, I highly recommend checking out his “Real People” portfolio.

The last time I went to a silent movie with an organ, I was extremely impressed. We were in the middle of somewhere in Los Angeles and my boyfriend and I might’ve been the youngest people in the theater – by 30 years. The three mini movies were hysterical not because they were old, but because they were actually funny. And the organ played back-up to a great time, hysterical movies complete with sing-a-longs and, best of all, $1 popcorn.

That all said, I was just as excited to go to Silent Movie Mondays. This Mighty Wurlitzer Organ induced movie experience isn’t new to Seattle, but it was to me. After 3 years of living here, I finally had a chance to enjoy my first film at The Paramount. I’ve seen plenty of shows there, but it just seemed different to actually sit back for 2 hours and watch a movie while Jim Riggs, the organ player, jammed away with such caress and ease.

After stalling the movie thanks to latecomers (this would never happen at 45th Guild) we finally were graced with our feature film – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Apparently this was a very important movie for its time because it was the first flick was able to film in the ocean. You can tell the movie took advantage of this brand new technology because there were maybe a few too many scenes that lasted a wee bit too long and all there was to show for it were some little fishies, lots of coral and a big shark.

The movie was entertaining in the way that you see old photos of yourself with a bad trendy hairdo. It wasn’t a quality movie, but one to laugh out for it’s ridiculous characters and bad acting. And sure, the organ maestro played perfectly with each scene and we all had a few chuckles. But I also found myself nodding off every now and then because I just couldn’t stay interested to the actual movie.

Maybe I’m no movie buff, or maybe I just rather see laugh out loud silent movie comedies, but 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea just wasn’t for me. If I were a critic I’d give it a solid C. But thanks to some free popcorn my boyfriend scored, the beautiful ambience that is The Paramount and the very talented organ man, I’d give the Silent Movie Monday experience a whole hearty A.

Silent Movie Mondays is happening throughout the month of November. To get tickets, click on this link.

The Eastside Corridor is the only way to go north and south on a freeway in the Puget Sound that isn’t I-5. It covers Snohomish, King, and Pierce Counties, encompassing parts of I-405 SR 167 and SR 512.

The Washington State DOT has been looking at ways to deal with increases in population and employment along the Eastside corridor, increases that would obviously add more traffic to the roads. The new Eastside Corridor vision includes new highway lanes, improved interchanges, express toll lanes, expanded transit service and vanpool programs.

One of the options they’re focusing on right now are the express toll lanes, a two-lane system built alongside existing no toll, all purpose lanes of I-405, connecting with the high occupancy lanes of SR 167. This would create “an expressway within a highway” from Puyallup all the way up to Lynnwood. You can read about on their Tolling Survey page which includes maps, photos and all kinds of useful information, as well as the DOT’s rationale for proposing this particular plan.

They are seeking more input from the public–you know, the people who actually pay for and use these roads–and to that end they are holding two open houses to discuss the tolling study. The first open house is tonight, November 3, from 4:00 to 7:00 at Kent Meridian High School’s cafeteria (10020 SE 256th St, Kent). A second open house takes place Thursday, November 5 in Kirkland at the Kirkland City Hall Peter Kirk Room (123 – 5th Ave, Kirkland).

Sin Fang Bous, photo by Sindri Mar

Sindri Mar Sigfussion is the founding member of Icelandic pop-folk group Seabear. Feeling a desire to diversify his musical output a bit, he shortened his name to Sin Fang Bous and released an album of experimental pop that draws from a broad range of influences that’s earned a number of critical raves. He’s playing tonight at the Showbox along with fellow Icelanders Mum, touring to support their own well-regarded album. Show time is 8:00 pm.

For a preview of tonight’s show, click here

You’ve noticed by now that this H1N1 virus is a big deal since it gets covered so often in the news you’d think it was Paris Hilton’s new purse dog or something.

H1N1, or the “Swine Flu”, as some people call it, is getting so much attention for a number of reasons and they’re not all about inciting unnecessary panic. One of them is this: when the regular seasonal flu causes fatalities, it’s mostly among the very old, the very young and the already very ill, people who automatically carry a higher rate of mortality. Of course these people are also at elevated risk from H1N1, too, (although it may be worth noting that people 65 and older have the least risk of dying from H1N1) but H1N1 seems to have a thing for young people. The CDC has concluded that at the present H1N1 has caused a greater disease burden in people younger than 25. This is pretty unusual.

There’s really no reason yet to panic over H1N1; while it really sucks to get it, the majority of people will suffer for a while and then get better. Mind you, it’s always better to avoid getting it in the first place. The best way to do that is to follow all the usual illness prevention tips: wash your hands frequently with soap and water and if you don’t have soap and water available, use an alcohol-based hand rub. Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. This is really hard to do, but totally worth it as keeping your hands away from your face makes a huge difference in cutting down on the spread of germs. Don’t treat them like pariahs, for goodness sake, but try to avoid being too close to people who are already sick. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash, not your pocket, when you’re done. If you don’t have a tissue on hand when you cough or sneeze, cough or sneeze into your elbow or sleeve unless you can somehow manage to get right to a sink immediately afterwards without touching anything.

A vaccine exists for H1N1. In King County, over 400 health care providers have requested the vaccine, almost all of whom got a supply in before October 30. Another 67, 000 doses are on their way, expected to be here by November 6. The county will distribute these vaccines to health care providers and also to pharmacies for the sake of people who don’t have a medical home or who have a provider who isn’t signed up for the H1N1 vaccine.

A vaccine also exists for the regular old-fashioned seasonal flu, too, which is no less of a potential killer (although, again, most people who get it will only be miserable for a while and then get better. It’s still not worth taking a chance on.) so be sure to talk to your health care provider about that. A bunch of local businesses also offer seasonal flu shots–signs are up at Bartell’s and other drug stores and pharmacies–as well.

For more information on either H1N1 or the seasonal flu, you can visit the Seattle and King County Public Health webpage or call the King County Flu Hotline at 877-903-KING (5464) Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

Four friends head to the beach to party and have a good time in director Ryan Gielen’s feature directorial debut, The Graduates and from the start of their journey it seems like that’s just what they’re going to do. Ben, Andy, Nickie and Mattie make their way to Ocean City, Maryland for Senior Week in this smart, funny coming-of-age comedy that took the Best Comedy prize at this year’s STIFF festival.

Bolstered by an excellent indie rock soundtrack, The Graduates flavors its humor with a welcome dose of thoughtfulness, well written and acted by a cast who give depth to the sort of roles that are all too often reduced to one dimensional stereotypes.

The Graduates makes its post-festival debut in Seattle on Monday night at Central Cinema. A film maker discussion panel follows the Monday screening; the movie continues through November 5.

Image from Prince Achmed

The popular Silent Movie Monday series returns to the Paramount Theater for three Mondays in November, starting November 2 with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, released in 1916 and directed by Stuart Paton.

Like the other two films in the series, (German director Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 release, The Adventures of Prince Achmed on November 9, and classic American sci-fi adventure The Lost World, directed by Harry O’Hoyt and released in 1925, screening November 13), 20,000 Leagues is a marvel of its time, a science fiction film created long before even the most primitive of digital F/X were anywhere near development. These filmmakers used cardboard cut outs, clay, cedars and anything they could get their hands on to create their fantastic landscapes, creatures and other imaginative details. To the modern eye much of this looks a bit primitive but all these years later, they’re still entertaining and impressive for the creativity their creators imbued into them.

Based on the classic Jules Verne novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is notable for its groundbreaking underwater photography; since there weren’t underwater cameras available at the time, camera operators George M. Williamson and J. Ernest Williamson created a system of watertight tubes and mirrors rigged to allow the camera to shoot the reflections of scenes set underwater. (November 2)

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is the oldest surviving animated feature film. The film features a silhouette animation technique invented by director Lotte Reiniger using cardboard cutouts and thin sheets of lead. (November 9)

Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1912 novel The Lost World was adapted into a film in 1925. Willis O’Brien created pioneering stop motion effects to tell the story of a group of adventurers head to Venezuela where they encounter a group of prehistoric beasts surviving into the modern world.

Jim Riggs will be playing the Wurlitzer Organ to accompany all three films. Doors open on all three nights at 6pm; films start at 7 promptly.