Touring in support of Sad Robots, Montreal’s Stars played the Showbox Thursday night. Recreating the dense and textured sound of their studio albums is no mean feat live, but the Canadians pulled it off without putting any gauze between Amy Millan’s lyrics and the enthusiastic audience.

Complimenting the aural intensity was a technical proficiency with lighting that seemed perfectly suited to the dynamics of the Showbox’s space: performer-specific spotlights allowed the techs to highlight either Amy, Torquil Campbell or both during various songs. Colored arc lights went a long way towards creating the atmosphere as well. Perhaps a bit too far; pop quiz: Stars or Coldplay?:

The end of the evening saw opener Think About Life charge up to the front of the crowd, infecting bystanders with drive-by performance endorphins as they cheered Stars on.

For a much-closer view, don’t miss Chona’s amazing photos from the event.

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

• agenda: if you’re not going to give Black Kids and the Virgins a chance [neumos], maybe you’d rather see people from around the world face off over laptops at Nectar. [fremontuniverse]
• eighteen things, many of which are likely to make you want to scrape together all of your pennies to go to Poppy. [capitolhillseattle]
• the makings of a long-overdue Leanimal fanclub. [slog]
• Grant Aaker and Josh Wallert win Local Sightings with Arid Lands; Krisitan McKay took home the short film prize. [hotsplice]
• A review of the successor to Minnie’s old location on Denny. My mind was too blown by reading that “whym” rhymes with “time’ that I couldn’t make it to the conclusion. [vocarcious]
• The long, unexpected story of why S.L.U.T.-coining Kapow! is leaving South Lake Union. [bigblog]

I already mentioned A Drink for the Kids and its big grand finale spectacular taking place tomorrow at Neumo’s [mb]. You’ve got the Ruby Suns, Mt St. Helens Vietnam Band, and Tokyo Police Club on stage, People’s Republic of Komedy’s Kevin Hyder keeping you laughing between sets, and DJ Righteous Trash keeping you dancing when you aren’t laughing or rocking or while you’re drinking (this is mainly to say that the intermission music will be better than the whole Jackson 5 Greatest Hits played straight through and if conversation wanes someone onstage is bound to say something funny to break the tension). In addition to being a fun Saturday night for you, the proceeds benefit the Vera Project.

So, you have the chance to do something for The Kids (who are, after all, our leading-the-way future, especially if the future you want is one built by creative and talented young people) and that something is drinking, which sounds like a pretty good way to feel good about your 21+ self. A lucky one of you, though, will have things even easier. We have a spare pair of tickets to give away for free, saving the winner at least $30 + fees to put under their mattress or convert immediately into whiskey. These, being for the moment potentially safer investments than your retirement savings account. Flush with cash and averse to games of chance? Tickets are still on sale. [neumos]

With the stakes so high, do be quick about sending an e-mail to seattle.metblogs at the gmail dot com. The winner will be picked pretty much randomly, although I’m willing to improve the odds for anyone who provides a fun fact about New Zealand. I’ll let you know if you’ve won by noon tomorrow.

• SIFF Cinema brings you a series of Shakespeare-themed films that starts off Friday with My Private Idaho, Gus Van Sant’s (in)famous film about two Portland hustlers played by Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix that was inspired by Henry IV. On Saturday check out the 1952 Cannes Film Festival winning film, Othello, directed by the legendary Orson Welles doubling with Welles’ Macbeth. Other films in the series include Richard III, Looking for Richard, Hamlet, Baz Luhrman’s vividly modern Romeo + Juliet and Tempest with John Cassavetes, Molly Ringwald, Raul Julia, Gena Rowlands and Susan Sarandon.
• Otto Preminger directed 1959’s Anatomy of a Murder, a brilliant courtroom drama nominated for no less than seven Academy Awards. James Stewart stars as a humble small-town lawyer who must defend his client (Ben Gazzara) against charges of first-degree murder for shooting a barkeeper who–allegedly–raped his wife (the lovely Lee Remick). A sharp-eyed look at the law, Anatomy of a Murder remains fresh and fascinating all these years later. Starts Friday at the Grand Illusion.
• Late night at the Grand Illuision: From the Pole to the Pulpit: Ron Ormond screens a series of fiery religious propaganda films from the 70s directed by Ron Ormond, director of “trash classics” like Teenage Bridge, Mesa of Lost Women, and The Monster and the Stripper.
• Late night at the Egyptian: Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction.
• Central Cinema offers up the timelySeattle premier of Boogieman, a look at long-time political operative Lee Atwater, tied to Reagan, both Bushes and now McCain.
• Northwest Film Forum brings you The Exiles, a groundbreaking 1961 film about young Indians in the big city. Also showing at NWFF: Secrecy, a documentary about the “seduction and power” of secrecy as it relates to national security and the public’s right to know. The ACLU of Washington will host a pre-screening reception on Friday night.

Via Vulture [nymag], the trailer for the forthcoming film version of Stephenie Meyer’s teen vampire love story Twilight, which, according to legend is set in the Olympic Penninsula’s own Forks, Washington. Although the author basically picked the town out of Google as the setting for her novels [sm], their popularity has infused the area with tourism potential. [times]

From the looks of the preview, it seems like director Catherine Hardwicke actually included a lot of the Pacific Northwest in the filming locations without actually including Forks itself. [imdb] My only experience with the town was a last resort hotel and the worst Mexican restaurant I’ve ever encountered; so I can’t say that I blame them for not seeking total authenticity here.

In addition to pumpkin patches galore, here’s some more weekend happenings:

Young Gardeners Story Time at the Center for Urban Horticulture

The theme this week is fall fruit with books about apples, pears, and bananas. I’m not sure how bananas qualify as fall fruit, but it’s all good, I guess. The stories are followed by a hands-on activity.

10/11, 10-11am, Elisabeth C. Miller Library

Kelsey Creek Farm Fair

Fall farm fun with pony rides, hayrides, kid’s crafts, and pumpkin decorations. Live entertainment by Cowboy Buck.

10/11 - 10/12, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Kelsey Creek Farm Park

Sounds of Cuba at the South Park Library

Learn about Cuban dance music and culture in this bilingual presentation by the Supersones classic guitar trio. Refreshments provided.

10/11, 3-4pm, South Park Library

Grand opening celebration for the expanded Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center

Mercer Slough is a 320 acre nature park within the city of Bellevue. To celebrate the opening of their newly expanded Environmental Education Center they are having speakers and workshops throughout the day. Activities include: native species on-site planting, water creature exploration in the ponds, toddler hikes, and facility tour with park rangers.

10/11, 10am - 5pm at Mercer Slough. Free shuttles run every 15 min. from the Newport High School parking lot

Utsav: South Asian Performing Arts Festival

“Strings, flutes, drums and dances from various South Asian countries highlight the talented artists of the Northwest. Ancient and modern, vocal and instrumental music and a tremendous variety of dance styles and their rhythmic foot beats convey the deep connections of Seattle’s growing South Asian community to these countries’ art forms.”

10/11 - 10/12 at the Seattle Center House and UW campus, locations and schedule of events here

photo by photocoyote [flickr] via our group pool [#].

• the Stranger aims to test your drinking and thinking skills. [slog]
• Noticing SPIN noticing the plaid resurgence, with hard numbers from ReverbFest and speculation about the depth of a Fleet Foxes’s wardrobe. [seattlest]
• A nice survey of the Sound Transit art, especially the surprisingly good installations on Broadway. [p-i]
• John McCain = the Seattle Pilots. [wonkette]

You’re not doing anything tomorrow at 4:00, right? Because tomorrow at 4 Kuros Zahedi is starting another Urban Alchemy project for Sound Transit, meeting at the corner of Broadway and E. Roy to pick up trash in Capitol Hill that will be turned into an art object to be displayed somewhere on Broadway. (I’d imagine somewhere to do with the light rail.)

“Part of the conceptual background for this art project is to have people from diverse walks of life working together to do something good. My aim is to be able to collect trash together and side-by-side with poor folks, senators and billionaires! We have all helped create a mess in the world and we can all humbly bend to the ground together in a symbolic gesture of hope.”

They’ll have gloves, sacks, and refreshments ready for you.

This week, through “A Drink for the Kids“, bars and clubs around town have been pitching in to help the Vera Project by donating proceeds from over-21 drinkers to the beloved and wildly successful all-ages scene-enhancing organization. All you have to do is go to a participating bar, order some Dewar’s or Redhook products and good times and good deeds follow. Probably the easiest and tastiest good deed you’ll do all week.

The revelry commences with a celebratory show at Neumo’s hosted by the Republic of Komedy’s Kevin Hyder. Until now, the super secret headliner was, you know, super secret, but we now know that Mt St. Helens Vietnam Band and Sub Pop’s own Auckland pop darlings the Ruby Suns will be joined by Ontario’s Tokyo Police Club, of seizure light, screaming keyboardist, and bromance-inducing bouncy rock fame. Get your tickets while you can. $15, 8pm, Saturday. [neumos]

Can’t make the show? Drink up at Linda’s, King’s Hardware, Spitfire, or West 5 on Friday and the Cha Cha, Hattie’s Hat, Mission, or Rendezvous tonight. And then maybe see a show — Stars bring lush romantic pop to the Showbox (at the Market), Gogol Bordello put on gypsy punk shenanigans (at Shobox SoDo) and Feral Children will tear up the Comet. Oh, October, indeed.

Involuntary commitment laws and the mental health system in Seattle/King County have been under scrutiny after the murder of Shannon Harps by the mentally ill James Williams on New Years Eve. I wrote in January that the mental health system will always be flawed, a thought echoed by many others in the region. A specialized task force recently made a list of recommendations that, if implemented, could likely (and hopefully) reduce the chance of this type of incident occurring again. Here are a few of the 57 recommendations made:

~Providing more tools for enforcing outpatient treatment in the community.
~Reducing privacy barriers so police can know the mental health histories of people they deal with in “real time.”
~Allowing those who make involuntary treatment decisions more leeway to consider past history of violence.
~Allowing juries a new option of “guilty but mentally ill” in addition to “not guilty by reason of insanity.”
**Via this Seattle PI article**

The recommendations could likely help a portion of those diagnosed mentally ill, prevent the early release of the extremely unstable, and in my opinion, help reform the current outpatient process with a better system of checks and balances. These recommendations came from a mixed group of psychiatrists, corrections officers, police officers, mental health counselors, county- and state-level executives, criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors and legislators (Seattle PI) who worked together to coordinate a comprehensive list that focuses on the entire support network, not just one area.

The task force, per the same PI article, also takes a look at the role of key areas that need help. Washington’s psychiatric hospitals are overflowing with patients, lacking about 900 beds. Each of those patients that are turned away from the psychiatric hospital end up in the ER, on the streets, or in care homes that lack the resources to properly treat them. Currently, Washington ranks last in the country in the number of community psychiatric beds for either voluntary or involuntary commitments, said Amnon Shoenfeld, director of mental health for King County. This is unacceptable.

Similar to the situation in which the growing number of homeless find themselves in, the mentally ill face a dwindling number of beds and services as the system is simultaneously reduced and overwhelmed. Instead of waiting for another murder that spotlights the inadequate system in place, the state and county need to implement these and other changes and bring the current system up to the standards of modern times. Adding 20 beds to serve the hundreds that need help will only plug one small leak in the dam.

Looks like we have a crisp, fall weekend in store - perfect weather for making a visit to one of the many, many pumpkin patches in the area. Here are just a few that I’ve been to (and one that I haven’t):

The Farm

We went here last year with a school group and had a good time. In addition to the pumpkin patch, they have a corn maze in the shape of Washington state, free wagon rides (pictured above), and a petting farm. There is plenty to do, but it it’s nicely spread out and didn’t feel too crowded.

The pumpkin patch is open from 10am - 6pm daily throughout October.

The South 47 Farm

South 47 is one of my favorite farms to visit any time of the year. It’s not too far from Seattle, it’s all organic, and it just has a nice, friendly vibe. They have a U-pick pumpkin patch as well as a variety of decorative and mini-pumpkins available at their farmstand. Their corn maze is in the shape of a giant tractor. Hayrides on the weekends for $2/person.

Open through October, see the website for dates/times.

Remlinger Farms

This was the first pumpkin patch we went to when my kid was one, and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. If you want the all-inclusive pumpkin patch/amusement park experience, then this is the farm for you. They’ve got everything from roller coasters to pony rides to train rides to pedal cars. Oh yeah, and they have pumpkins too. I can’t say what it’s like on the inside, since we were put off by the long lines and high entrance fees - we ended up just picking up some pumpkins in the farm store and calling it a day.

Open weekends through October 26, see the website for dates/times.

Jubliee Farm

This year I think I’m going to check out Jubliee Farm. They are organic and their slate of pumpkin season activities sounds about my speed: free hay rides, kid’s maze, farm animals and U-pick pumpkins.

Open weekends through October, 10am - 5pm

What’s your favorite pumpkin patch?

If I happen to be at the Seattle Center the same time there’s a high school football game, I might go watch it. I’ll listen to the reports about it on the television or radio and read about it in the newspapers or on the internet, but only when it’s convenient for me. Obviously, I’m not exactly a huge fan. However, I do know enough to know that we’ve got some really great football programs at high schools all around the Puget Sound.

Rivals.com conveniently just validated this knowledge for me with the release of their rankings of the top 100 high school football programs in the US. Unsurpisingly, the top ten teams came from schools in Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, California, Georgia, and Mississippi, places where high school football is often just as serious and important as any pro sport, perhaps even more so. I think this makes the appearance of a couple Washington schools on the list all the more impressive because we don’t have such tradition here; our football players aren’t good because they have the whole community behind them at all times–our football players are just plain good.

Cracking the top 100 are Bellevue HS in Bellevue, of course, coming in at number 70 this week with a 5-0 record. If that’s not awesome enough for you, consider Issaquah’s Skyline HS: they’re ranked number 23, also with a 5-0 record propelled wins like their last one where they wiped out Garfield 35 - 2.

On Monday, I had the privilege of interviewing Stuart McLean, creator and host of popular CBC variety radio program the Vinyl Café. Since 1998, McLean has been taking the show on the road, visiting cities throughout Canada. Last year, the Vinyl Café visited the US for the first time, bringing the Christmas concert to a sold out Moore Theatre. The Vinyl Café returns to Seattle this year, with a show at the Paramount on Friday, October 10th. Tickets are still available, through the Paramount [LINK], Ticketmaster, or by pledging to KUOW [LINK]. You can listen to the Vinyl Café every Sunday at noon on KUOW.

In addition to his work in radio, McLean is a prolific and bestselling author; professor emeritus at Ryerson University in Toronto and former director of the broadcast division of the School of Journalism; and three time winner of Canada’s Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour . His most recent books feature stories about the fictional couple Dave and Morley, and their family, friends, and neighbors; the Dave and Morley stories are a highlight of the radio program. You can listen to excerpts from the Vinyl Café by following the “HOW TO LISTEN” link at the website, http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/home.php

[A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend: I'd intended to record this interview, but due to technical difficulties (i.e. operator ineptitude) I fell back on good old-fashioned note-taking. Any omissions, misstatements, or errors are entirely due to my horrific handwriting and obscure abbreviations, and should not reflect upon Mr. McLean, who was patient, thoughtful, and intelligent.]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Seattle MetBlogs: First and foremost, do you consider yourself a radio personality, a humorist, a writer… a professional Canadian?

Stuart McLean: I very much consider myself a writer, though I’ve worked in radio for 30-odd years. It’s a precious gift for a writer to experience that connection to their audience, a writer is lucky to get that. [Touring,] I am able to stand on stage and be there at the moment of giving and receiving, and it becomes a collaboration. I work with the work. I’ve been a guy who works on the radio, but if you told me I could do only one thing, I would be a writer.
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There are several things that I look forward to every year and I gotta tell ya, Hump! is right there at the top. Sure it may seem weird sitting around a theater with a bunch of strangers watching amateur porn (and, to be honest, it is at first) but it is also fun and often hilarious and something that is great to be a part of. Not to mention, how perfect is it that it coincides with the start of Halloween festivities this year?

Tickets went on sale this morning and as of now there are still seats at four different times on both Friday and Saturday. However, all past three Hump!s have sold out, so if you want to go, get over to Brown Paper Tickets now and reserve your spot. [bpt]

I’ve written about Austin Cantina before. They are a little Ballard establishment where the food is good and the service is always even better. One of the reasons I enjoy going there, is that I can be assured of getting grass fed beef and local, organic pork in a lot of their dishes. I recently asked the owner, Jefe, to tell me a little bit about his restaurant and why he makes the choice to use local ingredients.

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