Topping this morning’s list of panic-inducing headlines, apparently we could be in for a 9.0 earthquake soon. Apparently scientists have found evidence that a major slip in the Juan de Fuca plate could take place closer to Seattle/Tacoma that originally thought, which increases the amount of shaking we would be in for. A 9.0 earthquake here could result in a tsunami that may potentially reach Japan.

Cue mass exodus here.

I have to admit to being somebody who rarely considers the Eastside of our Metro Area when it comes to planning social engagements and local excursions.  Like many, I tend to think of it more as a hub for commerce and fine dining than I do as someplace I’d want to spend my weekend.  As I recently discovered, the best part of such misconceptions is how easily they’re replaced once the reality of a situation becomes clear.

Last week I was given the opportunity to take part in the “Camp Woodmark” experience at The Woodmark Hotel, Yacht Club & Spa in  Kirkland, which just so happens to be the only hotel located on the shores of Lake Washington.  Camp Woodmark was designed with adults in mind, meaning they offer a grown-up kind of fun without any of the awkward moments or pre-teen angst from the summer camps of our youth.

Upon my arrival at The Woodmark I was cordially greeted by Brandon, one of the “camp counselors” entrusted with making each campers stay as relaxing and hassle-free as possible, who presented me with a welcome package that included several Woodmark t-shirts and reusable aluminum water bottles.  Not long after that I was on the balcony of my amazing fourth floor lakeside room, enjoying a cool breeze and feeling that there may just be some merit to escaping into your own city after all.

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Still haven’t made it out to theaters to catch this year’s blogging success-turned-book-now-a-movie, Julie & Julia?  We just got word from Gold Class Cinemas in Redmond, and it sounds like good things are in store for those who waited.  In a limited-run event, GCC will be recreating some of Julia Child’s most famous recipes to serve you in one of their ultra-comfy recliners, all while watching the film.  If that wasn’t enough of an experience for Child fans everywhere, moviegoers will also be able to enjoy live cooking demonstrations on select evening throughout the month of August:

For this special event, some of Child’s distinctive dishes are brought to life and featured on the Gold Class Cinemas menu, including Red Wine Marinated Beef Satay, Classic Quiche Lorraine and Lange De Chat. Prices range from $8 to $14 per dish. Patrons can also order any of the other delectable choices from the regular menu as well.

Gold Class Cinemas has also gone one step further in creating the ultimate cinematic experience by offering live cooking demonstrations by Gold Class Cinemas’ executive Chefs on August 13th, 19th, 20th, 23rd and 26th. A Gold Class Cinemas Chef will prepare Child’s signature dishes and serve them straight to your seat, providing for a hassle-free, delicious event.

For each item purchased, Gold Class Cinemas will donate to Food Lifeline, a local organization which is working to end hunger in local communities. Food Lifeline distributes nearly 22 million pounds of food to 600,000 hungry individuals each year.

Event Details:
Julie & Julia Dinner & Movie Cooking Demo:
Cooking Demo begins promptly at 6PM (Film begins at 6:45PM)
For movie times, ticket and theater information, go to www.goldclasscinemas.com

7:30 PM – David Eagleman: Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives
Elliott Bay Book Co.

Head of the Laboratory for Perception and Action at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Sum is Eagleman’s debut as a storyteller.
[LINK]

11:00 AM – Wave Poetry Festival
Henry Art Gallery, Henry Auditorium
& Skyspace
- FILMS | 1:30-3:15 pm | Feat. Philip Whalen (1965), Bob Kaufman (1974) and John Wieners (1965)
- READINGS | 11:00-4:00 pm | Limited-seat Skyspace readings by Joshua Beckman, Noelle Kocot, Dorothea Lasky, Anthony McCann, Eileen Myles, Richard Meier, Maggie Nelson, Geoffrey Nutter, Matthew Rohrer, Mary Ruefle, Dara Wier, Jon Woodward, Matthew Zapruder and Rachel Zucker
[LINK]

2:00 PM – Randy Sue Coburn, Carol Cassella, Mary Guterson, and Heather Barbieri: Reading & Signing
Barnes & Noble University Village
The various authors will chat, read, sign, et cetera.
[LINK]

2:00 PM – Sy Montgomery: Saving the Ghost of the Mountain
Secret Garden Bookshop
“From the fabulous Scientists in the Field series of books for 4th – 7th graders, comes one on the amazing and elusive snow leopard! It is the perfect thing for every animal loving kid needing a learning project this summer, and our event is just in time for Snow Leopard Day at the Woodland Park Zoo!” (SGB)
[LINK]

11:30 AM – Wave Poetry Festival
Henry Art Gallery, Henry Auditorium
- FILMS | 11:30-2:30 pm | Feat. Barbara Guest (1993), Frank O’Hara (1966), James Schuyler (1988), John Ashbery and Jane Freilicher (1966)
- READINGS | 7-9:00 pm | Joshua Beckman, Dorothea Lasky, Anthony McCann, Geoffrey Nutter, Mary Ruefle, Jon Woodward and Rachel Zucker
[LINK]

12:00 PM – Adam Eisenberg: A Different Shade of Blue: How Women Changed the Face of Police Work
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
“Through interviews with 50 female Seattle cops, Judge Eisenberg provides an historical overview on the impact of women on police work. Seattle was one of the first to put women in police uniform in 1912, first ever to have a woman promoted to captain in 1946 and one of the earliest cities to have women patrolling the streets with the equality of their male counterparts. Judge Eisenberg sits on the Seattle Municipal Court.” (SMB)
[LINK]

2:00 PM – Hena Khan & Julie Paschkis: Night of the Moon: A Muslim Holiday Story
SPL Ballard Branch
Local author Julie Paschkis and illustrator Khan team up for a Ramadan children’s book. Very cool.
[LINK]

2:00 PM – Nikola Davidson: Feltique
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Nikola Davidson is the founder of Sticky Wicket Crafts, and co-founder of Urban Craft Uprising, Seattle’s largest indie craft fair.
[LINK]

4:00 PM – Poets West Open Mic
SPL Greenlake Branch
[LINK]

yacht, on tap tonight at vera. old pic, via me.

• Oh, how the incredible summer mural concert series continues, bidding you to get out of your office well before 6 pm and over to Seattle Center. Today’s headliners, San Francisco’s the Dodos bring all of the fuzzy red glows, foot stomping, and bright guitar picking you need from the “folk” part of their convenient genre label, but guide you more gently, lyrically, and slow oxidizing paintlike to the “psych” part. With Army Navy. $free, but for the beer garden and blankets. 6- 8 pm [kexp]
• Stick around and visit the Vera Project, where Portland’s YACHT will be headlining. In his performances Jona Bechtolt, with his glitchy funk beats and motivational dancing, transforms into something spectacular on the way to convincing you that his magic is real. $11, with Bobby Birdman. 7:30 pm. [veraproject]
• Hurry from that show to Belltown, where there’s a major happening scheduled for tonight at the Crocodile, starring Head Like a Kite. In the opening slot, Mad Rad will be performing for the first time with a beardless Terry Radjaw following his defeat on the Funhouse court last night by Sir Thomas in an allegedly tight one-on-one basketball beard-off. Dyme Def fill out the bill, making the possibility of shenanigans highly likely. [crocodile]
• all weekend, find your way, chemically or otherwise, going back to the future with Hempfest.

girl talk at the capitol hill block party in 2008, photo via me.

Due to popular demand, a second Girl Talk show has been added for 21 September. And, unlike the first, now sold-out show, scheduled for 19 September [sbx], this one will be “at the Market” (a.k.a. Showbox Original). Tickets go on sale on Monday at 10 am. Who cares if it’s on a school night, you know what to do. $15, with Junk Culture [showbox]

NWFF screens Francois Truffaut’s Mississippi Mermaid, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and a cooly lovely Catherine Deneuve in a black-hearted thriller based on a Cornell Woolrich story, inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, and dedicated to Jean Renoir. One of the best French noirs, excellently crafted and thoroughly gripping.

Also at NWFF: Jean-Luc Godard’s film essay of young militants gathered “to discuss, and ultimately deconstruct, the oppressive connection between language and capitalism”, Le Gai Savoir. Less obscure is Objectified, a bright, gorgeous examination of the design that goes into making every made object there is, examining creation, economics and environmentalism.

The Grand Illusion screens the brilliantly psychedelic wonder 200 Motels, Frank Zappa’s funny, satiric, and very, very trippy 1971 film about music, pop culture and the state of the world. This is the Seattle premiere of a brand new 35mm print so it should be looking extra colorful and crazed.

Kung fu movie fans, you do not want to miss out on Central Cinema‘s Street Fighter Kung Fu marathon, screening no less than 3 original Kung Fu features back to back in an extravaganza of ridiculous plots, bad dialogue, cheap production values and total, complete, 100 percent awesomeness.

The City of Lost Children is surreal, dark, and twisted, a mad fairy tale designed to disorient. See it midnight at the Egyptian, but don’t be shocked when you have really weird dreams afterwards.

It seems like forever since SIFF Cinema has screened a film but after their summer break they’re gearing up for Bumbershoot and beyond. This weekend the theater plays host to The Skateboard Film Festival, two days of films and events to celebrate skateboarding and skateboard filmmaking. Tonight check out a series of shorts followed by the local premier of Scott Yamamura’s A Day at the Park. Saturday’s got a number of excellent film programs based on themes like “Beyond Borders” and “Viva La France” and wraps up with a full length film about the famous/infamous Skatopia.

11:30 AM – Wave Poetry Festival
Henry Art Gallery, Henry Auditorium
- FILMS | 11:30-4:00 pm | Feat. Denise Levertov (1966), Philip Whalen (1965), Theodore Roethke (1962), Helen Adam and Robin Blaser (1976)
- BOOK ARTS | 1-3:00 pm | Sandra Kroupa, Book Arts & Rare Book Curator
- READINGS | 7-9:00 pm | Noelle Kocot, Eileen Myles, Richard Meier, Maggie Nelson, Matthew Rohrer, Dara Wier and Matthew Zapruder
[LINK]

1:00 PM – Ann Haywood Leal: Also Known as Harper
UW Bookstore U District
“Writing poetry helps fifth-grader Harper Lee Morgan cope with her father’s absence, being evicted, and having to skip school to care for her brother while their mother works, and things look even brighter after she befriends a mute girl and a kindly disabled woman.” –Publisher’s summary
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Dr. Audrey Young: The House of Hope and Fear
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The Seattle doctor writes about what happens behind the scenes at hospitals, particularly Harborview. “Dr. Young writes thoughtfully and cogently about the profound challenges of the medical system and the doctors who rise to meet those challenges, and her love for her patients shines through on every page.” – Emily Transue
[LINK]