Do you like the Rat City Rollergirls? How about burlesque? Well, put the two together and what do you have? Black Eyed Burlesque: featuring the Rat City Rollergirls.

November 21st & 22nd you can join the Rat City Rollergirls at Theatre Off Jackson for two unique nights of burlesque. Performers include members of:

Grave Danger
Throttle Rockets
Socket Wenches
DLF
Rat Fink Refs
Lightening Fists of Science

There will also be appearances by RCRG alumni, pre-show by DJ Maude Elletee and a few other special surprises. Tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets starting at $20 for GA, $30 for Premium Reserved Seats or $125 for a special VIP package which includes a table for two on stage, champagne service, a gift bag and VIP access to an after party on the 22nd.

If you’re 18+ you should come out and support your local Rat City Rollergirls for what is sure to be a fun and unique experience.

Image courtesy of pdgibson via Flickr & CC.

On Tuesday September 2nd at 7pm John Vanderslice (the nicest guy in indie rock) will be doing a free all-ages in store at Sonic Boom Records in Ballard. If you don’t get a chance to see him at Bumbershoot on Monday, or really even if you do, you should go check him out at Sonic Boom. You can never get too much JV.

Photo courtesy of Shawn via Flickr.

This past Sunday saw thousands of women descend upon Genesee Park in South Seattle for the 17th Annual Danskin Women’s Triathlon Series. They swam 1/2 a mile in Lake Washington, biked 12 miles on I-90 and ran 3.1 miles around Genesee Park. There were women of all shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds who participated. I’m happy to say that I was one of those women.

A co-worker convinced me to sign up for the triathlon and I’m glad that she did. I trained with the Team Danskin Heart Zones training group, which was founded by Sally Edwards, a pioneer in the sport of triathlon and former Ironman world record holder. The group training was amazing as was having the opportunity to spend time with Sally Edwards and hear her speak.

It was an unbelievable experience and I would encourage all women to give it a try.

For more information:

Official Danskin Triathlon Series website
Heart Zones Training
Team Danskin

Photo courtesy of Shawn via Flickr.

Looks like the Murder City Devils are going to be getting back together for some fun this summer. The only official news as of now is that they’re playing a show in Portland on September 6th for Willamette Week’s Musicfest Northwest. According to them that “might not be the end of the news”. For some reason, I had the feeling they’d be getting back together this summer. Actually, I kind of wondered if they’d possibly be playing the Sub Pop Anniversary Show since they were affiliated with Sub Pop. There is no news of them playing that show as of yet, but I wouldn’t be overly surprised. Should be interesting to see what they get up to.

Photo courtesy of ianbart via Flickr.

Tonight, Peter Buck and R.E.M. touring member Bill Rieflin will be on hand at Easy Street Records in West Seattle for the release party of West Seattle resident David Belisle’s new book “R.E.M. - HELLO”. For the past seven years David has traveled with and photographed R.E.M. and has been able to capture the band and their friends as no one else has. An interesting view into their lives on tour, in the studio and in private with an introduction by Michael Stipe.

The party starts at 7pm and goes until 10pm. Books will be available for purchase and there will be a signing by David and Peter from 7-8pm.

Easy Street Records is located at 4559 California Ave SW in the Alaska Junction.

Photo courtesy of Shawn

This Saturday is the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure at Qwest Field. If you’re looking for something to do early Saturday morning, please consider coming out and supporting the Race for the Cure. If you’re not into running/walking the 5K, you can always volunteer or Sleep In For The Cure (you can pay the fee and receive a shirt, but not have to show up to the race). 75 percent of the money raised from this race stays in Puget Sound to help women in our area. The rest goes to support national breast health programs and research to find a cure. If everyone participating in the race raises $150 (the cost of a mammogram), more than $2 million will be collected.

I will be there running in memory of Gretchen Mathers an amazing woman I had the great pleasure of knowing and working with who passed away last August from her battle with breast cancer. Also, I’ll be running in honor of a number of my relatives who have survived their battles.

Photograph from the 2007 Race For the Cure courtesy of dierken.

This Friday May 23rd the doors will open for the last time at 608 for a blow out farewell show featuring Red Triangle Trio which includes members of Crack Sabbath, Estradasphere and McTuff.

For the past year, 608 has been the Ballard area home, recording studio and show space for the eclectic band Estradasphere. They’ve had some awesome shows and recorded with some amazing artists there and I’m sad to see the space go. I had the opportunity to see Amanda Palmer (from the Dresden Dolls), Estradasphere and Jason Webley there and it was like having a show in a friend’s living room.

Unfortunately even though Estradasphere will no longer have the space, it will be changing hands to those who used to run the SS Marie Antoinette and from what I hear they will be using it for similar purposes.

Thank you Estradasphere for opening your home to all of us and for all the wonderful shows hosted. It was a lot of fun and I’m glad you were able to keep it going as long as you did.

The doors for the final show will open at 9pm and the cover is $7. 608 can be found at 608 NW 65th St in Ballard, right between Slave to The Needle and Molly Maguire’s. Hope to see you there!

Thanks to Shawn for yet another photo!

I’ve checked with the University District location (4301 University Way NE) and they are indeed participating.

Apparently there is a honey bee crisis where honey bees are disappearing at an alarming rate, and Haagen-Dazs is trying to raise awareness. When you purchase a pint of any of their honey bee-dependent flavors they will donate funds to support sustainable pollination research. For more information check out Help The Honey Bees.

This past Saturday NOFX stopped off at the Showbox Sodo for their second to last show on the second leg of their 2008 tour. It’s nice to see NOFX doing some club type shows instead of big Warped Tour festivals like they normally do these days.

The doors opened at 8:30pm, and we showed up sometime after 10pm. Were able to catch No Use For A Name, however we missed the opening band American Steel. I’ve seen NUFAN a number of times and they’re not a bad band, however I’m not a fan. There’s just nothing about them that jumps out at me. The crowd was into them and they played their “hit” ‘Justified Black Eye’ that was on one of those Fat Wreck Chords compilations.

NOFX came on stage shortly after 11:30pm to the song ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ by Damian Marley. They opened with ‘Dinosaurs Will Die’, which was a bit of a surprise, but a good one for sure. Their set was a nice mix of old and new songs. They’ve been a band for over 20 years, so they have a lot of material. They also played my favorite cover of ‘Radio’ by Rancid ever. In fact, I have to say I like their cover version more than the original. It’s just a lot more fun. There was the typical NOFX chatter between every single song. Fat Mike spent a lot of time talking about his disdain for children, religion and the state of politics these days. They played ‘Murder The Government’ but not ‘Idiot Son of an Asshole’ (a song about our current president). They also dedicated ‘Whoops I OD’d’ to a local kid who was a big fan of theirs who died of an overdose. I saw one of the kid’s friends there holding up a memorial t-shirt during the song. It was pretty cool. They were only supposed to play until 1am, but ended up going over that by a bit and ended closer to 1:30.

All in all the show was great. NOFX had an insane amount of energy, even though Fat Mike kept going on about how drunk he was and how he felt like he was cheating the audience because he couldn’t play so well. The only thing is, I don’t like Showbox Sodo very much. The place was packed and when there are hundreds of people jammed in there it gets really gross as the night goes on. For a rather large, open space it gets really hot and damp and at the end of the night the floor is all wet and there is condensation dripping from the pipes in the ceiling. Not to mention, if you’re on the shorter side, it’s hard to find a good vantage point to watch the show.

*Special thanks to Shawn for the crappy camera phone picture.

Tomorrow marks the start of the Elliot Bay Water Taxi season which runs through the end of October (however there are rumors that the taxi will soon provide year-round service). There will be a kick off party at Seacrest Dock in West Seattle at noon with food, live music and activities. King County Councilman Dow Constantine will be on hand to host the event, hopefully wearing his bright yellow Converse that he wore last year. Seriously, his shoes are awesome. Also, rides during the day will be free, instead of the $3.00 it normally costs for a one way trip. If you’re driving, I suggest parking up near the West Seattle Farmer’s Market at the Junction, browse around the market, then take the free shuttle down to the dock. That way you can enjoy two fun activities going on in West Seattle this Sunday.

Photo courtesy of Shawn from last year’s event.