Friday marks the beginning of the annual Whirligig! extravaganza down at Seattle Center, which is a sort of air-filled utopia for spring-breaking kids — both big and small alike.  At least the information I’ve been handed speaks to it being an all ages event, but my parent sense tells me that this is likely a subjective statement, wherein the grown-up fun is had by watching your childrens bouncy, gleeful merriment.  Which certainly has its appeal, I just don’t expect my excitement to hit the roof until they let my 6’7″, 250lb ass into the giant inflatable castle.  Then again, I’m speaking as someone who hasn’t attended the Whirligig! events of the past, so I strongly encourage you to straighten me out in the comments section if need be.

Whirligig! runs through April 12th, and is open from 11am-6pm daily.  Meaning you should shoot for an arrival time of 10:50am (on a weekday) if you’re hoping to avoid the huge crowds.  Keep in mind that Thursdays are free, so all bets are off on those days.  Otherwise, it’s $1.50 for a single use ticket, $7.50 for an unlimited day pass, and $4.50 for a toddler day pass.  No matter what level of stomach-jostling  fun you buy into, for the sake of everyone else, make sure your little ones hold off on that extra corn dog until after you’ve left for the day.

What: Whirligig!
Where: Seattle Center
Location: Center House Main Floor
Date: March 27 – April 12, 2009
Time: 11am-6pm

Couldn’t make it over to Piecora’s for McGinn’s mysterious pizza party (in which he’s announcing a run for mayor)? Justin from Capitol Hill Seattle is live-twittering the occasion. All the info, without any of the delicious calories:

twitter.com/jseattle

From yesterday’s press release, we learned that in addition to being a likely contender against Greg Nickels for Mayor, Michael McGinn is a former president of the Greenwood Community Council and former local chair of the Sierra Club. Before founding the Seattle Great City Initiative in 2006, he was a partner at Stokes Lawrence.

6:30 PM – Laurie Halse Anderson: Wintergirls
SPL Ballard Branch
Anderson pushes genre and cultural boundaries with her YA fiction and Wintergirls is no exception, tackling the complex issues around adolescent eating disorders and body image. Don’t let the seriousness of the subject or the YA classification deter you: Anderson is a wonderful writer, and her books are compelling.
[LINK]

6:30 PM – Faculty Reading
Richard Hugo House, Cabaret
Take Hugo House instructors for a test drive! Spring quarter teachers Anna Balint, Caren Gussoff, Clare Meeker, Paul Nelson, Midge Raymond, David Schmader, Ann Spiers and Carolyne Wright discuss their classes and read some of their own work
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Christopher Sanford, MD: The Adventurous Traveler’s Guide to Health Wide World Books and Maps
Learn how to reduce injuries and illness while you travel. Dr. Sanford is co-director of the UW Travel Clinic.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Jim Richardson: Celtic Heart, Celtic Soul
Benaroya Hall, S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, $20
The photographer presents the results of 15 years of documenting the Celtic homelands and a reawakening of Celtic identity in the British Isles. Part 2 of 2. Presented by National Geographic Live!
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Kris Saknussemm: Private Midnight
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Horror and noir mix in Saknussemm’s second novel. Detective Birch Ritter becomes obsessed with a woman who knows too much. Bondage, domination, mindgames, sexual humiliation… good times, good times.
[LINK]

Our favorite post-brunch field trip transportation, the King County Water Taxi (which we all used to know as the Elliott Bay Water Taxi) is coming back next Sunday, April 5 [metro]. The Ferry District will be having a party for it–you can ride for free all that day, and there will be festivities in Seacrest park from noon to 2:00 with live music and posters and, I’m sure, shenanigans of all sorts. It’s returning a few weeks earlier than last year, because it is so great, and will run through October, bringing us ever closer to the excellent rumors that it will some day run year-round.

 

Celebrations for the re-opening of the famed Crocodile Café have been popping up all over town. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s your chance to use an excuse to revisit the new (and improved?… that seems to be a point of contention) famed music venue. On Tuesday, March 24th the Croc will play host to the Justice festival—a music event where 100% of the proceeds go directly to homeless advocacy and social service groups. 

The Justice Tour visits Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles and is coordinated by Tom Morello of Rage against the Machine. Each city on the tour-stop has a community partner which receives the proceeds from each respective concert. In Seattle, this organization is New Horizions Ministries, an organization with slight religious undertones that helps support street youth in downtown Seattle. Musical guests include Steve Earle, Kim Thayil, Ben Shepherd, Mark Arm, Wayne Kramer, Boots Riley, Blue Scholars and more. You can find out more about the event at the Justice tour website. That’s where you can also purchase your $15 ticket (which is less than half of what the Shins are charging for their show in May– AND none of their proceeds are benefitting any community partners. Unless you count the Showbox as a community partner… anyway, I digress) The Justice Tour website says to “Bring socks!” to the Croc event (for donation, not to wear), and help out this local organization. If you’re like me, and have religious commitment issues rest assured that NHM programs are still helping kids more than that neighborhood crack dealer.

As for the community partners in the other cities—San Francisco will be the partnering with Project Open Hand, while the Los Angeles partner will be PATH. If you’re into the music, go! If you’re into the cause, go! If you’re on the fence about both but want to see the Croc, go! If not, then find your own reason to go. or not.

photo by crystalchroma [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• AGENDA: One wouldn’t think that it would be possible for the Tallest Man On Earth to sneak into town without notice, but that’s almost exactly what happened. Thanks to Three Imaginary Girls for the reminder that the appropriately-sized Swedish scratchy and dark folk singer. With Damien Jurado’s new band and Hoaquim $12, 7:30 pm [tig/tripledoor]
• Even horses might become victims of the economic downturn, as the Seattle Police Department thinks of shedding its four-hoofed officers. [slog]
• the true first show at the reborn Crocodile was a private show starring Robin Hitchcock with Peter Buck and friends. [cherrycanoe]
• Like everyone’s mother, newscaster, and houseplant, Courtney (@courtneylover) Love is on Twitter. [nymag]
• Future BMW owners will have to go beyond Capitol Hill to find their next auto. [chs]
• Get all of your favorite Nirvana on 180g vinyl [mbv]
• Wonder what happened to all of the downsized P-I staffers? Rebekah Denn is keeping track. Like most of the non-downsized staffers, many of them are also on the web. [dailyweekly > eatallaboutit]

Kentucky-native Bonnie “Prince” Billy, is coming to the Moore Theater this Thursday, March 26th.  The release of the his most recent album “Beware” is sure to make an appearance at his show– and its so wonderful. You can join me at the show, if you want. Question is: are you willing to tear yourselves away from the basketball games long enough to win and enjoy BPB’s upcoming show ? (Let’s face it, Pitt and Villanova will be  battling in Boston for the Eastern Conference anyway. No need to watch those games.)

If you’re willing, here’s what you have to do:

email: seattle.metblogs@gmail.com with your name, mailing address (for the tickets) and the REAL name of Prince Billy. First correct answer wins a pair!

For the unlucky few who don’t win and still don’t mind sacrificing March Madness for some great Appalachian indie folk (if you can call it a sacrifice), you can still buy tickets here!

 

Bonnie Prince Billy// Thursday, March 26th//The Moore Theater (On Pine, between 5th and 6th ave)// doors 7:30pm

7:00 PM – Jonathan Alter: The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope
Town Hall Seattle, Great Hall
Eric Liu discusses the similarities of and differences between FDR’s administration and the Obama administration with the author, Newsweek senior editor, and NBC News correspondent. This even is the Seattle Public Library’s 2009 A. Scott Bullitt Lecture in American History.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – George Akerlof: Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism
Town Hall Seattle, Downstairs, $5
From the website: “Akerlof shows how Reagonomics, Thatcherism, and the rational expectations revolution failed to account for human psychology, and asserts the necessity of an active government role in economics.”
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Jane Vandenburgh: A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century: A Memoir
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The author of Failure to Zigzag and The Physics of Sunset returns to read and sign her new memoir.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Jim Richardson: Celtic Heart, Celtic Soul
Benaroya Hall, S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, $20
The photographer presents the results of 15 years documenting the Celtic homelands and the reawakening of Celtic identity in the British Isles. Part 1 of 2. Presented by National Geographic Live!
[LINK]

1:00 PM – King & Snohomish County Spelling Bee
Town Hall Seattle, Great Hall
Okay, I know it’s not a reading or a signing, but come on! Who doesn’t love a spelling bee? Drama, tension, sportsmanship, short people… the glory of victory, the agony of defeat, it’s all there!
[LINK]

2:00 PM – Joel Berg: All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“A lifelong hunger activist, Joel Berg not only documents the reality of the US hunger crisis, but also presents a blueprint to end child hunger here by 2015 as a starting point in ending domestic hunger. Find out how to join this national effort and join the national conversation about hunger.”
[LINK]

Simian Mobile Disco brought their synth-heavy dance party to a sold-out Neumo’s on March 13 and were welcomed by a boisterous and enthusiastic crowd of dance-crazed fans.

SMD’s Jameses (Ford and Shaw) twiddled and tweaked knobs on a stack of vintage synths and analog drum machines.

The duo’s live rig was a messy maze of midi cables, digital effects and obscure gear that looked like it would require an advanced degree from MIT to assemble.

Visually stunning to watch? Hardly, but the music made up for it and the crowd was there to dance–or jump in place amidst a sweaty mass of people packed in the club.

Surrounded by towers of pulsing strobe lights the duo remixed many of their best songs (“It’s the Beat” and “Tits and Acid”) while adding flourishes of sequenced arpeggios and phased-out string parts.

The sweat-drenched crowd was having all of it and some.