11:00 AM – Intiman Front Porch: Crime and Punishment
Barnes & Noble, University Village
Reading and conversation group
[LINK]

12:00 PM – Carola Dunn: Manna from Hades
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
First in a new series, set in a small, mid-20th century, Cornwall port town. Eleanor Trewynn is reunited with her niece, Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow, but murder and robbery intrude.
[LINK]

1:30 PM – Karol Brown: A Visit with Harriet Tubman
SPL Columbia Branch
“[A]n engaging, spellbinding portrayal that includes songs and stories containing messages of hope, unity and brotherly love.” Like many children, I was fascinated with the story of Harriet Tubman. Performer Karol Brown brings the American icon to life in this wonderful presentation, suitable for all ages.
[LINK]

2:00 PM – Seattle Reads: Huck Finn: In or Out of School
SPL Central Branch, Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium
“In connection with Seattle Reads My Jim, two teachers, two students, and a parent discuss the merits and challenges of teaching Huckleberry Finn in the schools. Why the continuing controversy around Mark Twain’s classic novel? Does Huck Finn belong in curriculum?” I vote Yes.

3:00 PM – Mahmood Mamdani: Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, Mahmood Mamdani wrote a brilliant analysis of the conflict in Darfur and the “war on terror.”
[LINK]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJu611UdfxA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

It seems impossible to believe, but if press releases are to be trusted then the Thermals have been around since 2002 and spent most of their existence in the long, dark tunnel of the post-9/11 Bush administration, in “days of fear, terror, and saliva”. It’s no wonder then that their last album, the Body, the Blood, the Machine was so obsessed with the end times. With all of the change and hope in the air near the end of 2008, then, it isn’t entirely surprising that the liner notes for the continuation of that album (Now We Can See, released on Tuesday by Kill Rock Stars) can sound so catchily upbeat about deaths and devolutions of various flavors.

And so how exciting will it be to see the undead, seven-year-old band tomorrow at Neumo’s in the crush of other upbeat bodies as they finally step out of the political shadows that clouded most of their existence? It will be even more wonderful than you can imagine, especially if they bring hilarious costumes or play “no culture icons” and drive everyone crazy with joy. [flickr] And because we love you (and are jealous that we’ll be on an airplane during the show), we have a pair of tickets for one of you to see them for free. Quick, like a bunny, send an e-mail message to seattle.metblogs @ gmail.com with your full name and “the Thermals” in the subject line. I’ll pick a winner by the end of the day; those who include fun facts about amphibian evolution will improve their odds substantially.

//The Thermals, Panther, Parenthetical Girls :: 8 pm, $15 [neumos]

The 17th Annual Polish Film Festival kicks off Friday night at SIFF Cinema. If you’ve attended in the past, then you already know that Poland produces some great films; if you’ve never been, this year offers you an excellent introduction to Polish film. Feature films this year include a film about “emotional narcosis” called Drowsiness, romantic comedy Once Again, and Friday’s opening night films Sex Change, a sly political comedy in which a macho man of a president suddenly finds himself turning decidedly feminine, and Warsaw Dark, a suspenseful drama about murder and corruption. The festival runs through April 19 and also includes documentaries, shorts and appearances by filmmakers and film cast members.

The Grand Illusion continues their “X-Rated Adaptations of Pier Paolo Pasolini series with Salo, or, 120 Days of Sodom, Pasolini’s most outrageous film, one that requires a strong stomach at the very least. Based on Pasolini’s interpretation of 120 Days of Sodom by the infamous Marquis de Sade, Salo takes place in the titular Italian state under Nazi control in 1944 where four young people are subject to excruciating torture while a group of middle-aged women tell stories designed to inflame all sorts of passions. Very intense, very unwholesome, very disturbing.

Late night this weekend the Grand Illusion continues the torture theme with early 70s exploitation flick Barn of the Naked Dead, a grindhouse style story about three young women desperately trying to escape the murderous madman who has trapped them in his house of horrors.

NWFF presents this Friday and Saturday special premiere screenings of Ashes of American Flags, a well made concert documentary that showcases five live performances by the band Wilco and gives audiences a closer look at the personalities behind the music.

Also at NWFF: Hunger, British visual artist Steve McQueen’s passionate recounting of the final six weeks in the life of Irish hunger striker Bobby Sands who died in 1981 protesting the conditions for political prisoners in the British penal system.

Much lighter fare is on the calendar over at Central Cinema, where they’ll be screening Cameron Crowe’s debut film, Say Anything, celebrating its 20th anniversary of release.

Midnight at the Egyptian: the ridiculously awesome (or is that awesomely ridiculous?) The Warriors.

6:00 PM – Julie Paschkis: Imaginary Menagerie
Santoro Books
Illustrator Paschkis has earned a number of awards and honors including the Parents’ Choice Award for Fat Cat. Head Body Legs was an ALA Notable Children’s Book, and Night Garden was named one of the Ten Best Illustrated Books of 2000 by the New York Times. Imaginary Menagerie is a book of poems about mythological creatures.
[LINK]

6:30 PM – David Benioff: City of Thieves
Pan Pacific Hotel, $45
“Words & Wine is an author series created by book event maven, Kim Ricketts whose vision is to celebrate the written word through dynamic and unique literary events. Words & Wine events take place at the elegant Pan Pacific Hotel Seattle where guests mingle with the author while sipping award-winning wines from the Chateau Ste. Michelle portfolio and enjoying savory nibbles created by John Howie’s Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar Lake Union. For the highlight of the evening, the engaging Warren Etheredge of The Warren Report leads an intimate on-stage interview and conversation with the author.”
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Film and Discussion: A Soldier’s Heart
Town Hall Seattle, Downstairs
Donations welcome
Funds raised will benefit a scholarship fund for Veterans participating in a PTSD healing retreat.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Joe Raiola: The Joy of Censorship
SPL Central Branch, Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium
Raiola traces MAD Magazine‘s unlikely and colorful history, from renegade publisher Williams Gaines’ historic showdown with the United States Senate over comic book censorship to MAD‘s emergence as a revolutionary satirical force.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – John Felstiner: Can Poetry Save the Earth?: A Field Guide to Nature Poems
Open Books
The scholar, translator, professor, and writer answers his own question.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Midge Raymond: Forgetting English
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The local author signs and reads from her award-winning debut collection of short stories.
[LINK]

I’ve been remiss about reminding everyone about our second No News Is Bad News event, which will be tonight at 7pm in Bertha Landes Room of Seattle City Hall. Yes, tonight. Told you I was remiss.

So here’s the press release we’ve been distributing. If you’re not doing church, tweetups, or the Slog Happy Hour tonight, please swing on by.
(more…)

Almost three years ago, a boy living in South Seattle with his father, stepmother, and stepbrother, was accidentally shot at home by his stepbrother, who was handling a gun. The stepbrother had, it seems, taken a gun from his father’s collection, brought it to school, and traded it for the gun that eventually killed his sibling. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and was sentenced to home detention [pi].

Now, the boy’s mother has filed suit against both the boy’s Seattle family and the Highline School District. The court documents claim that the school district had a flourishing gun trade that officials didn’t try to stop. The father is being accused of failing to secure his guns.

No trial date has been set yet, but this seems like an unexpected twist in an already sad story.

Los Campesinos!, the completely awesome Welsh (via England, Russia) septet will be playing Neumo’s tomorrow. Tomorrow being Friday, April 10, 2009, for those whose grasp of the time-space continuum is a little blurry. Doors open at 8PM.

I had hoped to go and get my semi-annual dance on, but lo, the demands of life and work have interfered, so I will be home, feeding the cat, taunting the dog, and nursing the human. My loss is your gain, though. Email seattle [dot] metblogs [at] gmail [dot.] com and our fearless leader will put two (2! count ‘em, 2!!!) tickets on the Will-Call list, so you and your hunny bunny can bop ’til you drop. Just type (or cut’n'paste) WE ARE BEAUTIFUL, WE ARE DOOMED in the subject line and click send. The first entry received wins, so… ready… set… GO!

6:30 PM – Michael Mackey: “Bifurcations at the Bedside: How Non-Linear Dynamics Can Help to Understand Periodic and Dynamical Disease”
UW Kane Hall, Room 120
The Walker Ames Lecture Series presents Professor Mackey, author of Times Arrow: The Origins Of Thermodynamic Behavior. Prof. Mackey will discuss non-linear dynamics, with emphasis on disease as a product of bifurcation, in non-mathematical terms.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Jeff Lowenfels: Teaming with Microbes: A Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web
UW Bookstore, U-District
Bugs! Bugs everywhere!!!
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Thomas Ricks: The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008
SPL Central Branch, Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium
Ricks uses hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with top officers in Iraq and on-the-ground reporting to document the inside story of the Iraq War since late 2005.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Dead Poets Society: Poetry Reading
Richard Hugo House, Cabaret, $12
Readings of famous dead poets Charles Bukowski, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath and Gertrude Stein by not quite as famous local poets. Each contemporary poet will also present an original work inspired by or in response to their selected dead writer.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Doug Fine: Farewell, My Subaru: An Adventure in Local LivingTown Hall Seattle, Downstairs, $5
Go learn how an author and NPR contributor fared in his attempt to live locally and sustainably in the Southwest desert.
[LINK]

The Seattle Public Library offers a lot more than simply books: they’ve got movies and meeting rooms and multimedia of all sorts, including a huge bank of computers open for use by anyone with an easy-to-obtain library card. The SPL offers up a lot of nifty programs at their various branches: you can attend lectures (Joe Raiola speaks on “The Joy of Censorship” Friday, April 10 at 7:00 pm at the Central branch downtown) or community meetings, see a movie or a live arts performance, take a class and, now, you can even learn a new language.

The SPL’s new service, Mango Languages allows English speakers to learn Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Greek, Russian and Mandarin Chinese. Spanish speakers can use Mango Language to learn English.

To use Mango Languages from a library computer, you simply click the link; from a computer outside the library system, you’ll just log into the Mango site with your SPL card number. Select a language from the drop down menu and the narrator will lead you through the lesson.

Obviously learning through a computer program isn’t going to turn you into a fluent speaker with such a precise tongue that even native speakers are fooled, but it is a good way to get a taste of the basics of a new language, scrape some of the rust off of an old language, or just improve your vocabulary as a whole. Try as many different languages as you want until you find the language or languages that appeal to you and then take advanced courses or just be a diletantte about it all and pepper random foreign phrases into your daily speech for fun.

For other fun offerings, be sure to check out the SPL website.

12:00 PM – William Dietrich: The Dakota Cipher
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Third in a historical mystery series. Ethan Gage sets out to find Thor’s Hammer and/or a tribe of Caucasion native Americans.
[LINK]

6:00 PM – Write Time: Word Play Workshop
Richard Hugo House, Classroom
A writing workshop for TEENS ONLY. Got that? TEENS ONLY
[LINK]

6:30 PM – Warren Hammond: Ex-Kop
Queen Anne Books
Hammond reads from his SF-noir-mystery.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Chelsea Martin, Brandon Scott Gorrell, and Frayn Masters: Group Reading
Neptune Coffee
Why write my own copy, when I can steal someone else’s? “It’s a small press bonanza, as Portland’s own Kevin Sampsell takes that three-hour drive North with the latest author from his chapbook press, Chelsea Martin. She will read from her little book, Everything Was Fine Until Whatever, and will be joined by Haiku Inferno stalwart Frayn Masters, deadpan Seattle writer Brandon Gorrell—whose book During My Nervous Breakdown, I Want My Biographer Present will be published by Tao Lin’s Muumuu House Press in June—and Frayn Master.”
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Curtis Ebbesmeyer: Flotsametrics and the Floating World
UW Bookstore, U-District
The Seattle oceanographer revolutionized the science of chaotic ocean currents by tracking trash. Brilliant!
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Lucas John Mix: Life in Space: Astrobiology for Everyone
Elliott Bay Book Co.
How many ordained Episcopal priests with Ph.D.s in biology (from Harvard, no less) are there in the universe? This is worth going to just for the novelty factor, although I suspect Dr. Mix will be fascinating in his own right.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Stage Fright: Poetry Reading
Richard Hugo House, Cabaret
Poetry open mike for writers 14-24.
[LINK]