It’s Tuesday. We’re all coming down from the high that was camping and boating, or Sasquatching, or hippie dancing in the sunlight. Most of us are back at work and sitting in an office, just in time for the peak warm weather this week. I don’t know which is worse, the sand I keep finding in all crevices of my body or sitting in an office where I can’t see a window.

Here are a few Metblog suggestions on how to enjoy the weather after work (or even during the day if you’re lucky…or sick?!…enough to get another day off this week):

Tonight (Tuesday May, 29): Why not make a trek across the bridge to the most sparkly, sunshiny, beachy place in all of Seattle–Alki. The Alki Crab and Fish Co. offers kayak tours at sunset for a nominal fee (daytime tours at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.), inexpensive seafood, and a new wine and beer patio. Or, jog, walk, bicycle or rollerblade the 2.5-mile trail down Alki Beach Park and stop for a $4 Mai Tai ($4 margaritas on Wednesdays and $5.50 martinis on Thursdays) at the Polynesian tiki bar, Bamboo Bar and Grill.

If you don’t think West Seattle is your thing, rent a kayak at Agua Verde Cafe, kayak to the Aboretum and enjoy the shade and glorious colors of the formal 3.5-acre Japanese Garden.

Wednesday (May 30th): Temperatures are expected to reach 85 degrees on Wednesday, two degrees shy of the record set in 1956. If it’s the sun and sweat you love, head to Costco and purchase the sweetest summer toy ever–a huge party flotation device that can hold multiple bathing suited bodies–and throw it off one of the docks on Lake Washington. While they might seem a little expensive, I have friends who own and use them from the minute the weather is warm till the end of the summer, which is more than enough time to get your money’s worth. Costco currently sells an 11-foot version with room for eight, and it even includes a floating cooler.

If you’re the type who melts in the sun and needs to be inside in the air conditioning at all times, head to REI for the last two days of their Great Gear Deal to stalk up all the hiking, camping or mountaineering essentials you’ll need for the summer. Or shop you’re little air-conditioning-loving toes off at one of these other end-of-Spring, pre-summer sales.

Thursday (May 31st): Personally, I only enjoy watching baseball when it’s warm, the roof is open, and I can sit in the beer garden or in the center field bleachers and rotate between cold alcoholic beverages and bowls of Space Dotz. If this is you, catch the Mariners play the Texas Rangers at 7:05 p.m.

Not a sports fan? You’re never too old to go to Woodland Park Zoo. Check out their new Massai Journey, an introduction to the African savanna, wildlife and people of the Massai tribe. The Massai Journey includes the opportunity to feed giraffes, explore a pseudo African village, listen to African storytelling and learn African beading.

Friday (June 1st): It’s Friday. You made it through the week. Who are we kidding? There’s only one thing I like to do on a Friday when I get off work and the weather’s nice–hit-up whatever happy hour I can that has a patio. My personal favorites are the restaurants along Lake Union. Joey’s Friday drink special is my new favorite obsession. Add a little bit of coke, cherries, slushy lemon ice and vodka and it’s a summertime drink dream. Duke’s has half-priced cocktails and $3.95 appetizers for happy hour, Daniel’s Broiler and BluWater Bistro have equally appealing patios, but I lean toward the menu at BluWater, which includes stuffed mushrooms, $4 make-them-yourself smores and pitchers of sangria.

Um, perhaps I should have made this the week’s hot weather drinking guide?!

Did everyone make it through Memorial Day weekend with plenty of sun and SIFF? I know that I did — a particular favorite was the always overbooked Paris je t’aime . The whole collection was great, but the one featuring Natalie Portman was my favorite. As was the fact that the vampire flick wasn’t the one directed by Wes Craven. And of course, a dose of gay-themed miscommunication from Gus Van Sant. Keep an eye out, the collective film opens at a Landmark theater near you next month.

And now, a few SIFF selections for your consideration …

Bajo Juarez, the City Devouring Its Daughters - [siff] - When I first heard that hundreds of women near the US/Mexico border had gone missing or been found dead, I thought that I’d misheard–the number couldn’t be that high, could it? Sadly, as this documentary by José Antonio Cordero & Alejandra Sánchez illustrates, the number is that high. Told from a woman’s point of view, Bajo Juarez tells a tale of sorrow, shame, outrage and corruption that reaches the highest level of government. Thursday, May 31, 9:30 PM; Saturday, June 02, 11:00 AM (ZG)

Black Irish [siff] - Michael Angaro, well on his way to becoming the greatest actor of his generation, leads the cast in director/screenwriter Brad Gann’s debut feature about a kid from Southie (South Boston) struggling to both survive and save his family. Friday, June 01, 9:30 PM; Sunday, June 03, 6:45 PM (ZG)

The Fever of ‘57 [siff] - Fifty years ago Sputnik’s launch into space was a mixed blessing, ushering in an era of unlimited possibilities both wonderous and terrifying. On the one hand, Sputnik offered hope of scientific advancement to benefit mankind; on the other, it helped inspire a frightening arms race. Director David Hoffman takes a look back at both sides and will provide a post-screening Q&A. Friday, June 01, 7:00 PM; Sunday, June 03, 11:00 AM - (ZG)

Orange Revolution [siff] - Four years after Americans collectively shrugged as dangling chads and botched recounts were shuffled under the rug by our highest courts, the Ukraine had an admittedly more questionable election of their own. In the face of stolen presidency, a million orange-clad protesters took to the streets in inspirational demonstrations to put scarred and poisoned Viktor Yushchenko into office. Tuesday, May 29, 7:00 PM, Egyptian Theatre; Friday, June 01, 4:00 PM, Harvard Exit (j)

Eagle vs. Shark [siff] I have no idea if this movie is any good, but just look at the title and try to come up with a way that it couldn’t be worth your time. No, it isn’t an awesome nature flick pitting predators against each other for all time supremacy. Instead, it’s a family-friendly cutiepants indie flick about geeks and nerds falling in love. And wearing animal costumes, if the production stills are to be believed. Thursday, May 31, 7:00 PM, Neptune Theatre; Friday, June 01, 4:00 PM, Neptune Theatre (j)

Black Sheep [siff] Is there any movie that I’m more crushed about missing than this one? Last year’s killer cow midnight adrenaline feature (Isolation) was among my festival highlights. This one comes with special effects by the same people who made Gollum and all of the other drool-worthy trickery for Lord of the Rings and King Kong plus the trainers who got the sheep to behave for Babe . With that kind of creativity and computational power behind a pack of genetically-engineered bloodthirsty ovisanthic sheep, there’s no better hilariously terrifying reason to visit the Eastside or stay up late. Thursday, May 31, 9:45 PM, Lincoln Square Cinemas; Saturday, June 02, MIDNIGHT, Neptune Theatre (j)

2 Days in Paris [siff] - Julie Delpy brings another American to Paris for frustrated romantic adventures. It seemed to work well when she and Ethan Hawke collaborated with Richard Linklater; it will be interesting to see how this turns out with Delpy in charge of the writing and directing and Adam Golberg as her romantic foil. (Gala Screening), Saturday, June 02, 8:30 PM, Egyptian Theatrel Tuesday, June 05, 7:00 PM, Lincoln Square Cinemas (j)

Kurt Cobain: About a Son [siff] - Directed by the same team who made They Might Be Giants even more endearing, this one’s a no-brainer for Seattle audiences hungry for more about one of our city’s most iconic rock stars. Previously unheard original recordings of conversations between Cobain and Michael Azerrad are paired with an original score by Steve Fisk and Ben Gibbard. Saturday, June 02, 9:30 PM, Neptune Theatre (j)

Dans Paris [siff] - The other Romain Duris film in this year’s festival. This one has the advantage of being set in the present and having the following phrase included in its brief description: “invokes the jazzy highs and bridge-jumping lows of love, family and reading in bed.” If you’re a sucker for New Wave inspired melancholy, this seems like a safe bet. Duris is reliably engaging — think The Beat That My Heart Skipped, L’Auberge Espagnol, and Russian Dolls — plus Variety [#] liked it. - Sunday, June 03, 9:00 PM, Lincoln Square Cinemas; Thursday, June 07, 9:30 PM, SIFF Cinema (j)

Fido [siff] - In small town Willard, the sun shines every day, everyone knows their neighbor and zombies deliver the mail. It seems a cloud of space dust passed over the earth years ago and caused the dead to rise. There was, of course, a war, and a new corporation, ZomCon was born. ZomCon defeated massive amounts of zombies and domesticated the rest of them. So when Timmy wants a pet, his family’s answer is Fido - a six foot tall housebroken zombie. This sounds like another film best enjoyed after a couple drinks. Oh, and I might skip the popcorn. Wednesday May 30, 9:30 pm, Neptune; Saturday, June 2, 9:15 pm, Lincoln Square Cinamas (PJ)

The Ferryman [siff] - The midnight movies have been taken over by New Zealand this weekend. Both Black Sheep and The Ferryman hail from there. In The Ferryman, three couples set off on a cruse from New Zealand to Fiji. They encounter a derelict ship in the middle of a mysterious fog bank. Ok, can everyone say it with me? “Who in their right minds boards a derelict ship in the middle of a mysterious fog bank?!?” But, as there wouldn’t be a movie if the three couples didn’t fall prey to this horror movie cliche, they rescue the lone survivor. This one’s at the Egyptian again, so make sure and get yourself some Frites before the movie! Friday, June 1, Midnight, The Egyptian; Monday, June 4, 9:45 pm, Lincoln Square Cinemas (PJ)

Captain Blood [siff] - One of the things I love about SIFF is that we don’t just get to see new movies. Captain Blood is an Errol Flynn movie from 1935. A physician is sold into slavery in Jamaica, but escapes and becomes a gentleman pirate. Oooooooh, pirates. Aaarrgghh! Saturday June 2, 1:00 pm, SIFF Cinemas (PJ)

We took the SasquatchLite approach to this year’s festival, opting for maximizing quality over quantity and avoiding traffic. By the time we’d collected a selection of snacks from Whole Foods, navigated the mountain passes, the scenic views (even though I’ve been to Sasquatch three other times, I always seem to forget the gorgeous big lake in the middle of the drive, the rolling farmland that is home to lots of cows and one antique market / specialty foods store), and the Gerry-like creepy desert landscape, we found our friends in the afterglow of a Ghostland Observatory show. They reported that it was ideal mid-afternoon napping material thanks to the massive bass lines that kept them happily vibrating through the peaking heat.

We rushed over to catch the tiniest bit of Mirah’s set and were then faced with a minor conflict: go see Grizzly Bear (for the third time this year) or get a good spot by the mainstage for the rest of the evening. This split our happy little family, but my contingent was the one that went over to the mainstage to listen to the Long Winters. The festival organizers had a crazy crowd control strategy in place, in which the floor was divided by a ring of barriers. Since the audience was sparse for John Roderick and co., it was easy to grab a coveted close spot. As for the band, they were poppy and mostly entertaining, though I think that they would benefit from the addition of another member to make the stage banter two-sided. When Sean Nelson was part of the group, at least Roderick had someone to joke with, rather than casting his asides to a non-responsive crowd. Perhaps he could have enlisted Sarah Silverman, who made a one minute appearance after their set?

Alas, we eventually found ourselves hanging out with some fashionable teens from east of the mountains who had encamped themselves near the stage for optimal Bjork viewing. Although they never quite matched the insane intensity of the very tall guy in our vicinity, they were converted to the revolutionary, genre-hopping, multi-lingual stylings of Manu Chao and Radio Bemba Sound System. For much of the performance, the entire mass of bodies near the stage was jumping, clapping, and pumping fists in the air (making it a little dangerous to be in the neighborhood of the very tall). The set seemed long to me, but the band seemed never ready to leave, as if they were accustomed to playing for several hours at a time, keeping the party going through the night, and were surprised that they had only a little over an hour to entertain an American audience who had waited years for the globally popular band to make a stateside visit.

As soon as Manu Chao had been coaxed from the stage, its transformation to Arcade Fire land began. A floating pipe organs flew in, five circular monitors were wheeled out, a giant silver stand-up bass was set. By the time the sprawling Montreal collective arrived, the stage was decorated with strips of glowing lights, lining the set and erected at the edge. With a long set, the Arcade Fire were left with plenty of time to play most of the songs from their last two albums. I’ve seen them several times, and they never fail to impress beyond my highest expectations. Saturday’s show was every bit as spectacular as I’d come to expect: raucous intense energy, Regine acting out the songs and playing to the sweeping cameras, drums and tambourines tossed high into the air, a mock fight involving Richard Perry, swooping violins, everybody singing, glorious brass. Early in the set, a plastic pink ribbon was stretched across the front of the crowd and was stretched and passed backwards like a massive sweeping wave. The entire set was fantastic, but my favorite was the seamless transition between Funeral’s “Wake Up” and “Rebellion (Lies)”, mostly because when the first album came out I had extended arguments with myself about which of the two I liked more. I don’t know what else to say about their phenomenal performance except that as staggeringly great as the band’s albums are, the Arcade Fire’s live shows blow the recordings out of the water.

I guess that I had plenty of time to sort this out because Bjork’s setup took forever, but I was too tired to debate and we just happily crashed out near the wall of the barrier keeping the late arrivals from squeezing to the front of the venue and dreaming up schemes to try to get a drink of water. This crowd separation scheme was was a nifty idea and I certainly appreciated not being crushed by other people, but the security was a bit lax earlier in the evening about letting people catapult over the walls (and apparently stingy about letting replacements enter through the appropriate channels), which seemed a little bit dangerous.

I’m not exactly sure what took so long — was it the cute banners getting caught in the wind? the awesome touch-screen Star Trek inspired mixers, the Icelandic women placing flags on their heads to perfectly complement their glowing fluorescent costumes? Whatever the case was, Bjork didn’t start until well after 11:30, but once she arrived in flowing yellow gown and all sorts of charmingness, her tardiness was quickly forgiven. Mixing old and new songs — including more than a few that even I recognized like “Pagan Poetry”, “All is Full of Love” — her set eventually had much of the audience dancing madly along by the time the final insane laser light show kicked in (possibly, in part, to stay warm as the temperatures dropped). After a brief encore that featured a modified version of the song that she sang for the Olympic Games, the show was over, everyone squeezed together, funneled out through the gates, to face long drives home or nearby campsites.

I’m sorry Seattle. So very sorry. Why you may ask? Because I wasn’t able to see the first showing of Paprika so that I could urge you to do whatever you could (within reason and the confines of the law) to see the second showing today.

I’m truly sorry that most of you missed possibly the best movie I’ve seen in quite a long time. Here are just two phrases I could use to describe this movie.

“Visually stunning. Exquisitely animated with moving music, vivid colors, and an artfully crafted story.”

Want to know more?
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photo by j0mamma [flickr]

Look, I know the Capitol Hill stalwarts have to be all reverential toward the B&O (especially in light of their impending, untimely demise and reincarnation) but is it ok to call out a neighborhood fixture when enough’s enough? I’ve been going to the B&O for over ten years (off and on) and there really aren’t very many places that have left me as disappointed as consistently as they have. Last night, bar none, was the worst. Relatively, it’s nothing, but as the final straw it was huge. The story is below the fold (along with some strong language and not a little bit a whinging).
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Midnight movies at SIFF are generally an experience - especially if they are thriller/horror movies. There’s just something about standing in line with a group of people long after the sun comes down waiting to be scared out of your wits.

The experience was enhanced by an order of Frites. We chose the Andalouse sauce. As a general aside, this was a good sauce, but not quite as good as I’d hoped. But back to the movie.

Last night’s midnight movie was Them.
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So you don’t like film, music, or arts & crafts–or maybe you’re just not the festival type–but you still need something to do on a Saturday night? The folks at Gravity Failure Productions have you covered by debuting their new show, Dart-Mondo tonight at 12:30 am (that’s midnight-thirty) at the University Theater (5510 University Way NE). The show is a mash-up of stand-up and improv featuring special guests from the comedy scene each week. Can’t make it this week? That’s cool, too–the show runs show July 7th.

I have a preternatural fascination with cities. I love the energy and constant state of change a big city creates and thrives on. I’ve been fortunate to have lived in a few very large cities and to have visited many more. All of them seemed to share something with each other that’s difficult to put into words — it’s that feeling you get when you know you’re witness to (and part of) something greater than the sum of its parts. It’s an energy and sensation that is humbling, exciting, and sometimes elusive.

With those thoughts about cities in mind, I saw Life in Loops last night [siff]. Life in Loops is a remix (or RMX, if you will) of the acclaimed 1997 film Megacities. Similar to Koyaanisqatsi before it, Life in Loops attempts to show us a different perspective of cities and the teeming mass of humanity that inhabits them. But that’s where the similarities screech to a halt. Whereas Koyaanisqatsi enhanced my overly romantic perspective, this film sought to destroy it along with any hope I ever had that humanity is worth a damn. Set in New York, Mumbai, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Moscow, it shows the seedy, sinister, and often pathetic underbelly of life in the city. For 80 straight minutes, it assaulted me with grotesque but profoundly compelling images. My cognitive dissonance was further enhanced by the bad ass soundtrack provided by the Sofa Rockers proving that even in the sinister and grotesque there can be rhythm and poetry.

Life in Loops plays again tonight at 9 PM at the Northwest Film Forum. If you’re in the market for a reality check, I highly recommend it.

Just caught the first screening of Red Road [siff] at the Harvard Exit tonight and thought I’d pass along a quick last-minute recommendation before the Saturday afternoon (1:30 pm) showing has come and gone. The film opens with Jackie (Kate Dickie), a young widow, surveying a Glasgow neighborhood through dozens of police cameras. In her total information awareness post she occasionally strays from alerting the police of trouble on the street to briefly engage herself in the small domestic dramas playing out on the sidewalk. Soon, she notices a familiar but unwelcome character and the tension slowly ratchets like a giant coil tightening until the eventual explosive breaking point. Although the plot unfolds gradually, each scene raises the stakes and I was in suspense most of the time wondering just where the revenge plot was heading.

If you do miss the afternoon screening, the film is scheduled to make it back to one of the Landmark cinemas in mid-June. In heavily-Scottish inflected english, with subtitles.

Look, it’s the first week of summer (American summer, that is). We told you already about Folklife, Sasquatch [1][2][3], and SIFF. We told you about the Beastie Boys sekrit show tonight. Denny just told me Critical Mass is riding out of Westlake at 6 (meeting at 5:30).

The weather this weekend? Yeah, it might spit a bit on Sunday (Folklife weekend and all), but partly cloudy and upper 60s is mighty fine weather, thank you very much.

So let me be perfectly clear:
YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY ZERO REASON TO BE AT HOME SITTING ON YOUR BUTT THIS WEEKEND.

Get up! Grab your blanket and hit on hotties while swooning to Arcade Fire at Sasquatch! Dance like a fool with the patchouli wearers and banjo pickers at Folklife! Get down with the Beastie Boys! Try to decipher a foreign language film at SIFF! And if none of that floats your boat, be like me — plant your tomatoes! Stain your sideboard! Unpack your moving boxes!

And if that STILL doesn’t float your boat, well, take this really, really NSFW musical advice from Jonathan Coulton.

GET UP PEOPLE! THREE DAY WEEKEND IN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WORLD WHEN IT’S NOT RAINING!! WOOHOO!!!!