Seattle Twist

Sylvia O’Stayformore, a longtime drag hostess and fixture on Capitol hill, is taking the new light rail to explore the city. She has taken the lead pianist of her previous band, Pocket Hercules, and they are off to explore the world. First stop Orient Express. Join Sylvia and Tor Middlewood as they explore rare Bacharach, vaudeville standards, girl group songs and original compositions. It’s true intimate cabaret at it’s finest. The train cars are small so come early to get a good seat where all the action is. Dinner and Drinks are served all night.

Tor Middlewood has an abiding love for 60s Pop of all kinds, but Girl Group artists and French Pop in particular. Since he encountered reactions ranging from bewilderment to dismay when suggesting to the heterosexual musicians he’s worked with trying to work Girl Group songs into their repertoire, he thought he may as well give a drag queen performer a try. Good thing he did. He has found in Sylvia an alacrity and openness to so many kinds of music he loves, it has set the beehive, or should we say anthill, of his mind a-whirl with the possibilities.

Tor, who plays guitar as well as keyboards, has played Rock of all kinds with a plethora of musicians and can bring the RAWK with the best of them, but, feeling it’s not quite right for him to stuff a sock in his pants and perm his hair, and due to the fact that he doesn’t have a Marshall stack, has decided to turn his talent elsewhere…. for the time being. Certain songs he’s written which were turned down by other musical outfits he is in and has been in can now find an audience. He calls his pairing with Sylvia O “a little twisted, but overall, perfect. Now this is fun!”

Orient Express Restaurant and Lounge 2963 4th Ave. S. (SODO) Seattle WA. Show runs every Thursday night (January and February) from 8:00pm-10:00pm No Cover

Thursday, January 7, 2010 08:00 PM - Thursday February 25th, 2010

Restaurant reservations and information: 206-682-0683

This Sunday offers some fine one-day shopping opportunities for those on your lists with tastes toward the “alternative.” Club Motor (SoDo) hosts the gothy “Mourning Market” from noon to 6pm, and the Transcendent Church of Bass (Interbay) hosts the “Bizarre Bazaar” from 3pm to 7pm. Both are free to attend and feature a good selection of local alternative artists and craft people.

“It all began at Crypticon ‘09… A group of us sinister crafters had crossed paths before but had not yet been contained in one room. So at the end of three days filled with horror and zombie filled goodness, we said goodbye until next time. But when will that be I wonder? Portland’s community had many events for us to sell our wares. But we all call Seattle our home, so why is it all business and no fun?! Miss Ginger called on the ladies to attend Dark Tea where we plotted and schemed… Mourning Market was born!”

“The Bizarre Bazaar is a community-supporting Alternative Market and Visionary Art Opening, featuring a variety of distinctive products created by local artists. We are turning the Transcendent Church of Bass into a market and filling it with art, crafts, clothing, and other epic loot. The Elixir bar will be open during the event, and downtempo DJ’s will add to the vibe. Please mark your calendars - it is free to attend, and everyone is welcome. It is a great opportunity for us to gather, connect, and support our artists by buying their creations so that they can continue to create art that is even more amazing.”

Web Sites & Directions:
Mourning Market - Club Motor, 1950 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA?
The Bizarre Bazaar - Transcendent Church of Bass, 920 Elliott Ave W., Seattle, WA 98119

December 2, 2009 – SEATTLE, WA. The third anniversary celebration for Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Saturday, December 12, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, promises to be an unforgettable affair. The event features appearances by an international cadre of compelling cartoonists and artists as well as the world premiere of PORTABLE GRINDHOUSE with editor Jacques Boyreau. An entertaining panel discussion will be held the following Sunday afternoon, December 13.

PORTABLE GRINDHOUSE: The Lost Art of the VHS Box collects colorful cover art from a selection of vintage exploitation genre films. Cleverly packaged in a VHS slipcase, this anthology celebrates the film format that changed pop culture forever. On opening night Portland-based editor and B movie aficionado Jacques Boyreau will unveil a monumental site-specific “Portable Grindhouse” mural designed by Candice Schroeder. Boyreau commissioned Schroeder to create an equally impressive mural for his “SuperTrash” movie memorabilia exhibition currently on display at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.

December 12 also marks the third anniversary of Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery. To celebrate the occasion, Fantagraphics Books has assembled an amazing group of cartoonists to socialize and sign books. Among the stellar line-up of guests: Femke Hiemstra (ROCK CANDY) from Amsterdam, Paul Hornschemeier (ALL & SUNDRY) and Jay Ryan (BEASTS!) from Chicago, Portland’s Dame Darcy (MEAT CAKE), and Seattle’s own Peter Bagge (HATE), Jim Woodring (FRANK), Ellen Forney (LUST), Scott Musgrove (THE LATE FAUNA OF EARLY NORTH AMERICA), and Jim Blanchard (TRUCKER FAGS IN DENIAL.) Musical entertainment will be provided by Bagge’s pop combo CAN YOU IMAGINE? featuring Steve Fisk and an opening set by the enchanting DAME DARCY.

On Sunday, December 13 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery presents a panel discussion focusing on PORTABLE GRINDHOUSE. Five distinguished experts in the field will screen short clips from their favorite exploitation film and discuss its influence on their work, as well as the broader social implications of the genre.

Panelists include artist Lisa Petrucci (KICKASS KUTIES) of Something Weird, cartoonist Marc Palm of Scarecrow Video, Seattle Times pop culture critic Mark Rahner with film critic and curator Robert Horton, co-writers of horror comic ROTTEN. The panel is moderated by PORTABLE GRINDHOUSE editor Jacques Boyreau and will be followed by a book signing and reception. Admission is free as always.

Who doesn’t love a circus? Who doesn’t love freaks? Seattle’s own PURE Cirkus returns with freaks, suspensions, jello wrestlers and fire performers this Wednesday Nov. 25th at Heavens nightclub (the former Catwalk in Pioneer Square).

Advanced tickets and more info on the SST / PURE Cirkus Roadshow

Hijinks From HazardFactory

The industrial artists of HazardFactory apply their practiced predilection for mechanized mayhem to the humble sport of miniature golf. Forget everything you expect and be prepared for innovative chaos. Compete with your chums during 21+ evenings.

Will your ball survive the destruction zone? What will you do to score when a hole dodges your perfect putt? Take on tricky mechanisms. Launch balls at moving targets. Levitation. Centripetal Actuators. Accelerator Pads. Ball Bouncers. Secret passages.

Each and every hole is dripping with excitement!
21+ fun gets your balls smashed and your holes trashed late into the night. Bring the family to one of our kid friendly matinees where technical ambassadors will explain the science behind ball levitators, elevators, launchers, and the myriad of other mind blowing tricks that power the course.

Seriously malicious competition is par for the course. The winner in a group of 4+ gets receives a free drink during happy hour. Seattle’s first annual Smash Putt! Brought to you by the same folks that bring you the annual summer Power Tool Races.

Drop it in your calendar pronto, cause you can only tee off during the last 3 weekends of November! 

More Smash Putt! INFO and details?

Check it all out here on their website

Trolloween is the Birthday celebration for Seattle’s famous Fremont Troll.

October 31st is the Trolls 20th Birthday!

It is held on his Birthday October 31st at 7pm sharp.
The celebration  starts with the Troll under the Aurora Bridge (Troll Ave & N 36th St), as he loves a good laugh and a great story.   Then revelers will be off for the annual Haunt of Fremont (a procession of costumed dancers & performers (& you) taking over the streets of Fremont.)

This 20th anniversary of the birth of the Fremont Troll, you’ll be experiencing the tale of  Dante’s Inferno. Many seasoned artists and performers will present their twisted and whacky version of this dark tale, known to us as: ‘Just a little lover’s spat ~ honey’.

Rain or dry, revelers will sing, dance, marvel, and laugh their way through the dark underbelly of Dante and Fremont.   This is an unsweetened and piquant family event with plenty of fun to scare the laughs out of any stoic kid or stogy adult.

Vamola

Come dressed as your favorite dead celebrity and take part in our costume walk across the final stage, under the Fremont Bridge, for the appreciation of your community.

If you can lend a hand to help pull off this fabulous piece of street theater, meet by the Troll at 6:30pm & check in with the volunteer coordinator to get a job.

p.s. Find your place in hell by taking this quiz: http://www.4degreez.com/misc/dante-inferno-test.mv

Here is a group pool set of photos from the Zombie Walk in the Pacific NW, which took place on Saturday 10/10/09. Just click to begin the slideshow.

For those with a predilection for things dark and heathen, it’s well worth a trip down to Portland for the Conflux Dark Arts Festival this Friday and Saturday. Last year’s event was very strong and varied in musical and visual performances and deserved even a larger audience than it had. This year’s event features steampunk favorites Abney Park and Seattle goth veterans Legion Within among many other performances.

For information and tickets see the Conflux MySpace page.

(For additional photos of last year’s event, see Pete’s Conflux flickr set.)

Prague’s “Kulture Magazine” says of Degenerate Art Ensemble, “They entranced the audience… the secret of their performance is perfect drama, gradation and splendid visuals, indescribable costumes and a punk-symphonic-garage-big-band style. Dynamic upheavals were turning into relaxing passages and everything was falling into place like wheels in a post-modernist clock machine.”

Friday and Halloween Saturday, Oct. 30 and 31, at the Moore Theater.

Purchase tickets online (you will need the coupon code SONIC )
Degenerate Art Ensemble web site

August 4, 2009 – Seattle, WA. The notorious Georgetown Art Attack returns to action on Saturday, August 8 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. This festive monthly event draws attention to one of Seattle’s few remaining art communities with challenging visual and performing arts presentations as well as unique dining, drinking, and shopping opportunities throughout the historic neighborhood.

The August 8 installment of the Georgetown Art Attack includes: “CB” a photography exhibition exploring the culture of the café racer motorcycle by Jaime Forero at Smarty Pants; a special display of Tina Randolph’s large-scale linocut print recently produced during the Flat Stanley Steamroller Print Initiative in Georgetown at Frida/Georgetown Tile Works; “Comics Savants: A Survey of Seattle Alternative Cartoonists” celebrating 20 years of Fantagraphics Books’ presence in the region featuring Peter Bagge, Jim Blanchard, Charles Burns, Ellen Forney, Roberta Gregory, Ted Jouflas, Megan Kelso, David Lasky, Jason T. Miles, Patrick Moriarity, Eric Reynolds, Jim Woodring, and introducing Eroyn Franklin at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery; Recent works by Georgetown painter Tyler Kohat at All City Coffee; West Coast punk rawk show with Koalacaust from Santa Cruz, Joyce Manor from Long Beach, Tacoma’s Premise Beach, and Jason Clackley of Seattle at Squid & Ink; and the usual spontaneous mirth and merriment we’ve come expect during the Art Attack.

Additional information and map at: www.georgetownartattack

July 29, 2009 – SEATTLE, WA. Since relocating to Seattle from Southern California 20 years ago, Fantagraphics Books has remained committed to nurturing and promoting the diverse practitioners of alternative comics in the Northwest. The country’s most successful purveyor of challenging comics routinely employs local cartoonists and publishes the work of regional artists which has contributed to Seattle’s international reputation as the unrivaled center of alternative comics. To celebrate this association, Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery presents “Comics Savants: A Survey of Seattle Alternative Cartoonists” opening Saturday, August 8.

This exhibition will feature over a dozen emerging and established artists, including many of the most accomplished cartoonists in the alternative movement. Among them: Peter Bagge, who coined the term “alternative comics” in 1990 and as the highly-regarded creator of the phenomenal HATE comic book series attracted dozens of young cartoonists to the city during the 90s decade; Seattle native Charles Burns, whose teen years are fictionalized in his amazing graphic novel BLACK HOLE, soon to be a motion picture directed by David Fincher; Visionary artist Jim Woodring, one of only a handful of cartoonists to be embraced by the fine art world, having been awarded the United States Artist Fellowship in 2007 and a 2009 Art Trust Washington State Artists Fellowship, who will exhibit work from his forthcoming graphic novel WEATHERCRAFT; Ellen Forney, whose collaboration with local author Sherman Alexie won the prestigious 2008 National Book Award; David Lasky who will exhibit pages from his collaboration with Seattle writer Chris Estey “The Last Testament” from HOTWIRE #2; Second wave Seattle alternative cartoonist Megan Kelso; emerging artist Eroyn Franklin, who will exhibit hand cut pages from her Xeric award winning graphic novel ANOTHER GLORIOUS DAY AT THE NOTHING FACTORY; current and former Fantagraphics Books staffers Jim Blanchard, Roberta Gregory, Patrick Moriarity; Ted Jouflas; Jason T. Miles and Eric Reynolds.

In addition to the display of original artworks, an eclectic array of comics and graphic novels by exhibiting artists will be available. Many featured artists will attend the opening reception of Saturday, August 8 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery is located at 1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.) only minutes south of downtown. This event coincides with the colorful Georgetown Second Saturday Art Attack featuring exciting visual and performing arts presentations in close proximity throughout the historic artists’ enclave.