Join esoteric publisher William Kiesel for coffee and a presentation on Wunderkammern and Alchemy in the appropriately wonderful and odd surroundings of Ancient Grounds Cafe and art gallery in celebration of Obscura Day for Atlas Obscura.

The Curiosity Cabinet was the forerunner of the contemporary museum. But before public museums existed worldly collections took the form of the Kunstkammer, or art cabinet that was often the privilege of royalty alone. During the Renaissance such collections were filled with natuaralia, artificialia, scientific devices and other art treasures. William Kiesel will give a brief visual presentation displaying some early examples of Curiosity Cabinets and discuss the similarities they share with alchemical laboratories. The slide presentation will take place in one of Seattle’s finest Curiosity Cabinets; Ancient Grounds, where many wonderful objects from around the world, including tribal art, mineral specimens, Japanese and Native American masks, totem poles, intricate architectural carvings, kimonos, articulated skeletons, headdresses and other displays may be viewed while sipping excellent espresso or other beverage before during and after the talk.

What: Visual presentation by Ouroboros Press publisher William Kiesel
Where: Ancient Grounds Cafe
When: March 20, 2010 1pm - FREE but you must RSVP

Ancient Grounds Cafe and Art Gallery
1220 1st Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101-2911

This event is in cooperation with Atlas Obscura and is one drawer in their international showcase of Obscura Day.

Don’t miss this fabulous accordion shindig starring Jo Miller & Her Burly Roughnecks with squeezebox virtuoso Nova Devonie playing Western Swing and Rockabilly tunes for your dancing and listening enjoyment!

It’s an entirely new squeezebox spectacular! The third installment of the popular accordion extravaganza features musicians from five cultural perspectives: rollicking Crotian dance music with Ted Lunka and John Morovich with the Sinovi Orchestra and guest dancers; the rarely heard sounds of Cambodian accordion music from Daran Kravanh and his ensemble; Jovino Santos Neto and Ben Gown with Brazilian rhythms; and guest artists from San Francisco, the noted accordionist Elias Lammam joined by his brothers Georges and Antoine performing music of the Arab World.

Saturday, March 20, 2010 | 2 – 4pm

The show is at Town Hall and tickets are available on Brown Paper Tickets.

“Contemporary Cowboy” is part of the Wayward Series put on by Splash!, a Seattle chamber group composed of Roger Nelson, piano, Janna Wächter, voice and special guest soprano Anneliese von Goerken.

March Thursday 18th and Saturday 20th at 7:30pm
Chapel at the Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, Seattle, 98103-6900
Sliding scale of $5-15

Music of traditional cowboy songs, Morton Feldman and Jarrad Powell piano works, Ivan Sokolov and Charles Ives songs, Aaron Copland Emily Dickinson poems, Libby Larson Calamity Jane songs and the  premiere of Janna Wächter’s “Contemporary Cowboy.”  The combination of the a Capella cowboy songs dating back to 1865 and Morton Feldman’s piano music creates an atmosphere similar to the immense prairie.  Wächter weaves contemporary sounds with her own original “cowboy music.”

Join a Glimmer performer for a pre-show cocktail. Talk about dance and creativity. Talk about life. Talk about the weather. Anything goes. This opportunity is reserved for only 24 ticketholders per show (six per dancer). Get a group of friends together and shake up your regular pre-show routine.

How it works: Call ACT once you’ve purchased your tickets and tell the representative you’d like to sign up for a pre-show cocktail. (If other ticketholders will be joining you, let ACT know.) We’ll contact you directly as to where to meet. It’s a dutch date–you pay for your drink, we’ll pay for ours. From there, you and your performer will take a Seattle spring stroll over to ACT’s Bullitt Cabaret together.

Tickets: FREE with paid ticket to Glimmer performance
Reserve with ticket purchase, phone only (206) 292-7676
www.acttheatre.org

Pre-Show Cocktails with Glimmer Cast
Lingo’s version of a V.I.P. backstage pass
April 22-May 15, Thurs-Sat, 6pm (pre-show)

A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light
Commissioned by ACT Theatre’s Central Heating Lab
Presented by ACT, Seattle Art Museum and Lingo

In 2006, KT began investigating the relationship between audience and artist with the primary goal of creating a more tangible intimacy between the two. This search has led her to seek out more potent environments that ask the performer and the witness to confront each other as unique individuals who bring to the exchange their personal histories and desires. A Glimmer of Hope or Skin or Light, in all its forms, is an outcropping of this search.

The amazing German Artistic Cycling Team will be performing 15-minute demonstrations at the Seattle Bicycle Expo this weekend, taking place at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal 91 located at 2001 W. Garfield St..

There will be 300 exhibitors related to bikes, gear, travel, health and fitness, plus a Kids’ Bike Zone that will have an assortment of interactive activities including the Seattle Cirque and Acrobatics Team (S.C.A.T.S.) Unicycle Stunt Team, a treasure hunt, bicycle arts and crafts, bike-themed carnival games and Learn to Ride sessions. For more information, visit www.cascade.org

This just in from Kurt of Cafe Racer:

Come on down to Cafe Racer!

The fun starts Thursday, of course, it’s always thee best show on the planet, Gods Favorite Beefcake, along with a couple of more artist, Whitney Flynn and Spillway….

Friday night, it’s Spoonshine!

Saturday is a packed full day!
Brunch, of course… always fabulous, and as a bonus, the jokes are FREE this weekend!
AFTER brunch, head to Comicon, highly endorsed by Cafe Racer…. But afterword, there is art and music galore to be had at Cafe Racer!
Art: Opening for Seattle Mural Arts artist John Osgood, Kevin “Sensei23″ Sullivan, and Zachary Bohnenkamp.

Music for Saturday night will be ADHD and Sidesaddle Cowboys…

Sunday, Brunch again, who can’t get enough corn beef hash? And ask about our newest tasty treats, Biscuits and Gravy… They are veggie, but if you really need the meat, they go great with bacon! damn it’s good. really.

Sunday night, it’s the excellent Jazz night! Listen to what’s going on at racersessions.com Yes, it’s so cool that it’s got it’s own page! Check it out!

That’s it for the weekend… and you know what’s coming NEXT week… St. Patricks day! OOOH boy. Come on down for some corn beef and cabbage… a tradition at Cafe Racer…. So better make your reservations now. And since it was so popular the last few years, we are going to do it Wednesday AND Thursday! RSVP if you can… We’ll save you some!

And one more thing… You MUST look good for all these events, so you better get on down to see Mallory at Cafe
Razor… oh man can she set you up in a Mullet! Damn she cuts hairs damn fine!

And don’t forget to visit the Official Bad Art Museum of Art too!

“Lush Life 2″ Group Invitational

New works by Joe Sorren, Chris Berens, Marion Peck, Kris Kuksi, Travis Louie, Brian Despain, John Brophy, Martin Wittfooth, Ryan Heshka, Michael Brown, Charlie Immer, Mandy Greer, Gail Potocki, Laurie Hogin, Boomer, Madeline Von Foerster, Ryan Heshka, Andrew Arconti, and more TBA.

Roq La Rue Gallery

Opening Night Friday, March 12
Show runs to May 07, 2010

Sponsored by the Irish Heritage Club.

Take a break from the convention madness to greet the lovely and talented Los Angeles artist Camille Rose Garcia at Roq la Rue Gallery in Belltown. She’ll be signing her timely new book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and ever-popular Magic Bottle from Fantagraphics Books this Saturday afternoon.

Then head down to Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Georgetown from 6:00 to 9:00 PM for an adult beverage at the opening of Gilbert’s HIGH SOFT LISP exhibition and book launch event that serves as the after-party for the Emerald City Comicon. Expect cameos from visiting pros, exquisite art, and DJ Russ Fallout spinning classic punk platters. See you this weekend.