Local poet and artist A.K. “Mimi” Allen creates some genuinely interesting and provocative art; her installation at this year’s Bumbershoot was one of my favorite parts of the festival.

Currently she’s engaged in a new project with the help of ACT Theater. Daily through December (except Monday) from 5 to 6 pm on weekdays and 1 to 2 pm on weekends, Mimi sits in a window at ACT and views the world as if it really were the stage and all of its people performers. After an hour of watching, Mimi will review the “show” she’s just seen and post it in the window so that people walking by the next day can read her review from yesterday.

Anyone who is interested is encouraged to come down and join the act: dance, pantomime, act out a scene, sing, shout (she can’t hear you in either case), or do whatever feels right to you. Your performance will be incorporated in the show as a whole.

It broke my heart to learn that Northwest Flower and Garden Show found Duane Kelly was getting out of the expo game; there are many great expositions, conventions and shows in Seattle each year but the best of them for me has always been the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, a feast of fresh blooms and classes, vendors, displays, demonstrations and lectures representing the very best of all that’s green and good. Want to build a greenhouse for your veggies, encourage bats to visit your backyard, turn a foot of patio into a green space, plant the right herbs to flavor your food or treat your minor ailments, landscape your commercial or residential property, find natural ways to deal with pests or simply enjoy some pretty flowers? These are just some of the things you’ve been able to do at the Flower and Garden show over the years.

Back in June family owned and operated O’Loughlin Trade Shows purchased the NWF&GS from Mr. Kelly and they’re bringing the show back, marking a new beginning for this established tradition. “Beauty and Functionality” is the theme of the 2010 show, to be held at the Convention Center the first weekend in February with display gardens, internationally-known speakers, over 350 exhibitors and activities for the entire family.

More details will be coming as the event gets closer, but even though it’s three and a half months away, this is an event that’s truly worth marking your calendar now.

On October 21, 1871, a man named Mr. Kennedy opened a roller skating rink at what is now 1st and Cherry [historylink]. A couple of weeks later, the editor of the Weekly Intelligencer went and broke his ankle:

One of our townsmen, who was just flattering himself with the idea of having acquired some proficiency as a skatist … while making a round on the rollers, at the Pavilion … got himself into an ungainly ‘posish,’ when the skate he was for the instant turning upon in a twinkling left him in the lurch. In gravitating to the floor, which he did with inconceivable rapidity, and that, too, without the least restraint over the grotesque contortions and genuflections [sic] of his limbs he went down in an unseemly pile, sustaining considerable injury.

The opening was attended by 100 or so people who skated all day long and then cleared the floor for dancing at 9:00.

If it seems like First Hill’s Sorrento Hotel has been around forever, that’s because it has. Well, relatively speaking, in Seattle time.

This year the Sorrento is celebrating 100 years. Part of the festivities is a Midnight Symposium series which has its second installment on November 11 with author Lesley Hazleton. Hazleton, who has written four books about the Middle East and Jerusalem, will be presenting “The Ugly American, or the Roots of Arrogance in Ignorance”.

For a mere $50 each, 40 guests will gather in the Sorrento’s 7th floor penthouse at 8pm for an evening of dialogue and discussion led by Hazleton, a hearty stew, wine and a large bottle of whisky to be shared by all. Guests who think they may require additional fortification are encourage to bring a bottle or two to share with the class.

If you’re interested, e-mail nightschool@hotelsorrento.com. for reservations or more details.

It’s only October and it’s already getting gloomy, what’s November going to be like? Odds are good it’s not going to be sunny and clear.

You’ll want an escape to somewhere warm and bright but we’re not all lucky enough to be able to shuffle off to the tropics whenever we want. That’s why you’re going to save airfare and do good by attending “Sip for SIFF: A Night in the Caribbean”.

Marvel as Pravda Studios becomes a tropical paradise right here in the dreary winter Northwest on lucky Friday, November 13 at 8:00 pm. Enjoy tasty Caribbean themed food and specialty rum cocktails all night long, a live steel drum band and even a late night DJ spinning Caribbean and Island dance music.

As if all that weren’t enough, the night features a raffle with prizes like an Ipod, a luxury shopping spree, tickets and passes to the 2010 Seattle International Film Festival, wine, and, oh, a trip to Cancun. (Okay, not QUITE the islands, but, really, are you going to complain? If you are going to complain just go ahead and give me your tickets because I’m not going to complain one bit.)

The best part about this fun filled festivity is that you’ll be having a good time while you are simultaneously helping SIFF raise funds for their many fine programs. (They’re not just a film festival.) Tickets are a mere $50 each, a bargain for what you’re getting. SIFF supporters get a discount and so do groups: get together a bunch of vos amis and get a ten percent discount for 10 – 24 of you, a fifteen percent discount for a group of 25 – 49 and an amazing 20 percent discount for groups of 50 or more.

For more information or to buy your tickets, check out the event page on the SIFF website

-Those Darlins are putting on a free show before they play at the Sunset. Where? Sonic Boom in Ballard. When? Today (Friday) at 6 pm.

-Those crazy teens should take advantage of “Teen Swim” at the Ballard Pool where they can splash around for free between 7-8 pm, tonight (Friday).

-Give audience feedback and see a free special workshop of ARTIFACTS OF CONSEQUENCE performed at Theater Schmeater at 1500 Summit Ave, tonight (Friday) at 7:30-9:30 pm.

Have a free, wet weekend.

NWFF offers up an excellent evening of movie and music magic with a screening of The Saga of Gosta Berling, starring a dewy young Greta Garbo, introduced by Paul Norien and accompanied by a live soundtrack performed by Murl Allen Sanders. Friday night only.

The 2009 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival kicks off this weekend at NWFF, Cinerama, Central Cinema, The Egyptian, Central Library, and The Admiral. As always, films run the gamut from beloved classics like1975′s The Naked Civil Servant about pioneering British activist Quentin Crisp, for example to the hot and new, like An Englishman in New York in which John Hurt reprises his role as Crisp, older and wiser than ever. There are a variety of excellent documentaries, features and shorts, as well as great programs like the opening, centerpiece and closing galas, not to mention the not to be missed Night with Mink Stole, hosted by Peaches Christ. Mink has appeared in over 25 films, including every one by John Waters, and is a vivacious, charming entertainer. Following a screening of Waters’ brutal Desperate Living with Stole as a middle-class murderer finding refuge from the law in a lawless village ruled by a mad queen, Ms. Stole will discuss her films, answer questions and do a post-show meet and greet.

The festival runs through October 25.

Speaking of festivals, the Festival of New Spanish Cinema plays SIFF through the 21st. Most of the films are US premieres and all of them represent the best of contemporary Spanish filmmaking. Amongst the offerings: The Sound of the Sea, an animated work about freedom, passion, and loss, and The Shame, an emotionally gripping tale of a couple who can’t handle their adopted son and contemplate “sending him back”.

Grand Illusion takes a break from all the graphic horror they’ve screened lately with 1964′s The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao. Starring Tony Randall in seven distinct roles, include the titular character, Dr. Lao is a gem of film with a surprising emotional intensity as an extremely unusual circus gives the inhabitants of a small town a unique view of their own selves. Plays nightly at 7; stick around for the 9 pm screening of Jason and the Argonauts, the 1963 telling of the well-known myth that tells an interesting story and features some of classic F/X creator Ray Harryhausen’s best work including a skeleton army that is creepy to this day.

phil elverum, at mfnw. photo credit: josh

• Tonight’s lineup at the Vera Project could be hazardous to your perception of reality. Or at least that’s how it seems. Phil Elverum’s latest recording as Mount Eerie, Wind’s Poem, famously takes its inspiration from black metal. Performing on this tour with a band, some of the songs unsettlingly abandon Elverum’s recent traditions of introspection in favor of the sounds of the sky and trees splitting at their very fabric. When Yoni Wolf, of headliners, WHY? sings, the universe seems to bend and flutter in unexpected ways. More words than seem possible seem to fit and fold into spaces far too small without even slightly upsetting the linear course of engaging stories. It falls into some uncharted realm between hiphop and indie rock, compelling awestruck attention. $13, 7:30 pm, with No Kids. [veraproject]

Some say it takes a special kind of person to truly appreciate “the water of life,” while others might claim it takes little more than a problem begging to be drowned.  I’d have to admit to falling somewhere in the middle of the two; perhaps we should just refer to it as a healthy appreciation for this whisky born of barley and love, destined to get me into trouble.

On October 22nd, Barking Frog’s twist on Oktoberfest, “Scotch-tober,” will offer attendees the ultimate spirit experience with 1 of only 15 Master of Whisky experts residing in the United States, Ari Shapiro. The evening will feature a four-course menu developed by Executive Chef Bobby Moore and five whisky pairings.  As in real Scottish whisky, like Oban and Dalwhinnie; whiskys old enough to be in high school if they were people.  Throughout the dinner, guests will learn about whisky production and its history through interactive table-talk with Shapiro. Following dinner, guests will to the Fireside Cellar’s firepit on the patio for whisky and cigars. Cost is $95 per person; further details can be found via the Willows Lodge event calendar.