The Seattle P-I is reporting that Seattle Police have arrested a suspect in the recent series of Greenwood arsons. Greenwood residents and business owners are cautiously relieved. The police will continue their investigation into the fires and continue to patrol the neighborhood, but let’s all hope that they got the right guy and there just won’t be any more fires.

One of the businesses damaged by fire is Taproot Theater, one of my favorite theaters ever since every time I go to one of their productions it seems like it is even better than the last one…and they started off for me at “excellent”. Taproot planned to present a world premier production of John Longenbaugh’s Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol this fall, but the fire changed all that. Unable to find an appropriate venue to host the play, they’re delaying it until 2010, but you don’t have to wait until then to get a taste of the show – Taproot will be presenting two staged readings of the play in December at SPU‘s McKinley Hall.

On Friday, December 4, and Saturday, December 5, cast members will perform a staged reading of the play which gives a Dickensian twist to the 1894 holiday season for master sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Tickets are available at the door on a pay-what-you-can basis–and please do pay as much as you can because proceeds go to the Greenwood Fire Relief Fund, helping out all the Greenwood neighbors affected by the fires.

Sine the full production of Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol won’t be on stage until next year, Taproot’s managed to find a worthy replacement in a live radio play presentation of modern Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life starting November 27 at North Seattle Community College’s Stage One Theater. As an added attraction to what’s certain to be a fun show, Taproot’s offering two special “dinner and theater” events on December 2 and December 9. Patrons get a delicious meal catered by Upper Crust Catering at the college, served to the accompaniment of the Dickens Carolers. For tickets or more information, check out Taproot’s site.

(Photo credit: Eric Stuhaug)

Some of my favorite childhood memories involve going clamming. What joy there is in crossing the beach in hot pursuit of the wily razor clam and what pleasure there is concluding the hunt with a clambake. Clams are quite fun to catch and even more fun to eat.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has given the go-ahead for some razor clam digging in November. Their season update approves digging at Twin Harbors November 14 – 17; Long Beach, Copalis and Mocrocks for November 14 – 15; and Kalaloch Beach for Monday, November 16 only. Additional dates have been tentatively scheduled through January. It is important to always verify the approved dates for clamming before you go out.

If you do decide to go clamming–and really, you should, it really is quite fun–you might want to take advantage of the special deal being offered by the Kalaloch Lodge in the Olympic National Park. Their Clam Digger Lodging Package offers clam diggers at all levels from first-timers to old hands a night of lodging in their beautiful facility conveniently located near to the beach plus breakfast in the morning. It’s available Monday, November 16, and is tentatively scheduled for Friday, December 4, Saturday, December 5, Thursday, December 31 and Friday, January 1, subject to approval from the Washington and National Park Services. Newbie clammers can book a room using the code CLAMDIGNEW for a package that starts at $169 and includes a night at the lodge, a bucket, shovel and net and breakfast for two the next morning. Clam diggers who already have their own tools can use the code CLAMDIGPRO for a package that starts at $129 and includes the room and breakfast. Guests can stay additional nights for just $99 a night, an excellent deal. Besides clamming there are all kinds of things to do and see in the Olympic NP which contains beaches, rain forest valleys, mountain peaks and far, far more different types of plants and animals than you can name. It’s one of the most beautiful places in our state, and, honestly, maybe in the whole world.

To learn more about the Kalaloch Lodge or to book your clamming experience, visit their website. (Even if you’ve decided that clamming is just not for you, it’s an excellent vacation spot and the lodge offers a bunch of great package deals aimed at a variety of interests.) To learn more about the Olympic National Park, visit theirs.

All the information you need to know about clamming in Washington (including how to clean and cook the tasty things) can be found in the Razor Clam section of their website.

Some basics: a license is required for any digger 15 years or older. Any 2009 annual shellfish/seaweed license or combination fishing license is still valid or you can get a razor-clam only license available in annual or three-day only versions. Buy a license online, by phone at 866.246.9453 or in person at any of the more than 600 authorized license vendors. ALWAYS check the weather and surf conditions before heading down to the beach so that you know what you’re facing and, seriously, don’t be stupid about the ocean. It may be a beautiful source of bounty but “killer waves” is a literal expression sometimes.

Eric Ankrim as Peter Pan and David Pichette as Captain Hook in SCT's upcoming musical production of "Peter Pan." Photo by Chris Bennion

Seattle Children’s Theatre is keeping their impressive momentum going this year with tonight’s opening of Peter Pan, the third production of the 2009-10 mainstage season.  This musical adaptation of James M Barrie’s original play will run through January 10th of next year, and is directed by SCT Artistic Director Linda Hartzell.  I should probably also mention that they’ve got a badass crocodile costume for your enjoyment as well.  And while “badass” may not be in the standard descriptive vernacular for children’s plays, I can’t help but stress how appropriate it is all the same.

Oh, and just in case you’ve suffered total cultural amnesia or have been trapped on a deserted island since you were 3, here’s a synopsis of the production (spoiler alert!):

One of the greatest American musicals for any age—join Peter, Wendy and all the characters we know and love as we fly away to where dreams are born. Peter Pan flies in the Darling’s nursery window and tells the children that if they just believe and think lovely thoughts, they can fly to Neverland with him. There, they join Peter’s Lost Boys for fun and grand adventures. When Wendy and Princess Tiger Lily are captured by a menacing band of pirates, however, it takes Peter’s wily wit and Tink’s resolve to free them. Finally, with the help of one tick-tocking crocodile, Peter manages to turn the pirates against their Captain. When Wendy, John and Michael return to London, Peter Pan continues to visit Wendy once a year, until one day he finds that she has grown up and had a child of her own. Now it is little Jane’s turn to journey to the place where dreams are born with the wonderful Peter Pan.

Further details, including showtimes and ticketing information, can be found on the SCT website.

Senegalese pop star Youssou N’dour has made headlines for his music in more than one way – frustrated by negative perceptions of his Muslim faith, he created a deeply spiritual album titled Egypt which he used to call for a more tolerant view of Islam. Youssou N’dour: I Bring What I Love is a documentary of N’dour’s music, his off-stage life and “unprecedented images of Senegal’s most sacred Muslim rituals” and screens this weekend at SIFF Cinema

NW Film Forum continues its “Films at the Edge of the World” series with the Seattle premiere of director Lisandro Alonso’s Liverpool, which follows a sailor named Farrel on a lonely journey in the southernmost region of Argentina. He asks his captain to let him leave the ship and see if his mother still lives in their old village, setting off on a long, gloomy trek through snowy mountain ranges. Alonso will be in attendance for Friday and Saturday’s screenings.

Also at NWFF: Araya, the 1959 documentary about life in the Venezuelan peninsula of the title, restored to its full original glory by a dedicated team of film archivists and historians.

Gene Tierney was never more terrifyingly beautiful than in Leave Her to Heaven, screening at Grand Illusion with the Seattle premiere of a new 35mm print. After marrying a novelist played by Cornel Wilde, Tierney’s character decides she just can’t bear to share his affections with anyone, not the crippled younger brother whose death by drowning she helps cause, not even the baby she’s carrying until she deliberately causes a miscarriage and especially not family friend Jeanne Crain whom Tierney frames as her murderer just before killing herself.

Big Trouble in Little China was originally meant to be a Western set in the 1880s, but by the time the film was released in 1986 it became an action comedy starring Kurt Russell as a truck driver who helps rescue his buddy’s girlfriend from bandits in San Francisco’s Chinatown before heading underground to fight an ancient sorcerer. A commercial failure at its time of release, Big Trouble went on to become a cult movie; you can see it on screen at Central Cinema.

Speaking of action films with a cult following: Roadhouse, featuring Patrick Swayze as the bouncer you really don’t want to mess with, is this weekend’s Midnight Movie at The Egyptian.

Lisandro Alonso is a filmmaker from Argentina whose works are provocative and cinematically stunning, but not very well known here in Seattle, where they’ve never been shown. Northwest Film Forum is changing that last bit by bringing Alonso and his four films to Seattle for their At the Edge of the World: The Cinema of Lisandro Alonso, opening Wednesday, November 11 and continuing through November 19.

La Libertad focuses on the ordinary daily life of a simple woodcutter as it ponders the significance of the mundane. Los Muertos follows a man’s attempts to reunite with the daughter he hasn’t seen in the thirty years he’s been in prison. Fantasma is a meta-commentary on his first two films that uses the lead actors from his previous films to ponder the themes presented in them. Liverpool yet again brings a solitary figure in search of his own past.

Alonso will be in attendance at screenings through Saturday and also presents a Master Class for filmmakers and those aspiring to be.

John Darnielle’s struggles with his faith may be the motivation behind his latest Mountain Goats album, but if previous shows are any indication, I expect a high level of devotion from his fans tonight at the Showbox. Whether the topic is fevered dreams or conversations with belief, the shows tend to be populated by legions of fans, getting sweatily pumped by the shared intensity of the moment. However, the real reason for this post is to encourage you to show up early enough to catch Owen Pallett, who, when he’s not arranging Arcade Fire string sections or Richard Kelly soundtracks, records and performs as Final Fantasy. Although his loop-happy violin covers of Joanna Newsom and Bloc Party may catapulted him to blogfame, his original material is also strong, creative, and engaging. Performances are typically solo, although sometimes a friend comes along to provide live overhead projector animations. I promise that this all sounds a whole lot more precious and treacly than it really is. $20, doors at 8. [showbox]

IFP Seattle is a not-for-profit organization that exists to help local filmmakers advance their craft by providing education on the business side of film making and helping them make connections and get exposure on a national level. One of their programs is the Spotlight Award, a grant that gives a filmmaker the in-kind goods and services to produce a short 35mm or 16mm film.

The winner of the Spotlight Award is chosen from a pool of local filmmakers whose short films are judged by an IFP jury. This year’s finalists are Justin McGowan with “Going Home”, Jeremy Mackie with “While You Weren’t Looking”, David Miller with “Love in the Year 2000″, Shawn Telford with “The Last Virgin” and Timothy Watkins and Charlie Ferguson with “Photo Booth”.

The winner will be announced at a free to the public party at Central Cinema Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00 pm (doors at 6:30). Fans of local films should definitely make it to the party to find out which of the very deserving candidates gets the award.

Break the Hump Day doldrums by heading out to Rebar for the second annual Literary Death Match, a wild cross-disciplinary shootout, with readers like Stacey Levine (who won the PEN/West Fiction Award for My Horse and Other Stories) and Aaron Dietz (author of Reserved for Emperors) and performers Kelleen Conway Blanchard (playwright of “Small Town”) and Danbert Nobacon (lead singer of Chumbawumba).

Judges for the event are Paul Constant (of The Stranger), Maria Semple (This One Is Mine), and Jonathan Evison (All About Lulu), the host is Todd Zuniga of Opium Magazine.

The Literary Death March takes place Wednesday, November 11; doors at 8:00, show at 9:00. $10 at the door, but $8 in advance at Brown Paper Tickets.

Where: Re-bar, 1114 Howell St. (map)

Cost: $10 at the door; $8 pre-sale at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/87563.

Hey! Remember last year when all of Seattle’s most wonderful bloggers and most adorable reader got together for drinks, amazing hand turkey art making, socializing, and raised a bunch of money for Northwest Harvest, convincing many an attendee from the mixer upstairs that we were more interesting and eligible than the techy singles? Well it’s time to do it all over again. Mark you calendars for the 18th of November and plan to be at Central Cinema from 6 to 9 with a donation in hand and warmth in your heart. It should be a super fun time — please pay a visit to blogsgiving.org and let us know that we’ll see you there.