The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Slog: Visual Art

  

Where to Celebrate Mother's Day 2024 in Seattle
Shrub Cocktails, Edible Roses, and More for May 12 and Beyond by EverOut Staff Your mother figure deserves only the best, so we've hand-picked the finest ways to honor her. Whether you want to bestow brunch and cocktails from Mioposto upon her or head to the 16th Annual Flower Festival, you're sure to find a festive option here.  FOOD & DRINK CitizenProcrastinators, rejoice: No reservations are necessary for basking on Citizen's sunny, dog-friendly patio, and they'll have a special "Mom's mimosa" and photo ops available. Simply order with a QR code to summon brunch staples to your table.Uptown

Stranger Suggests: Hourglass Lying Down, Thunderpussy with the Seattle Symphony, Seattle Art Book Fair, Author Talk with Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard
One really great thing to do every day of the week. by Audrey Vann WEDNESDAY 5/8   Hourglass Lying Down (VISUAL ARTS) Sophia Arnold might be one of my favorite contemporary artists—her oil, acrylic, and watercolor compositions of surreal scenes are intoxicating, lush, and seemingly full of secrets, reminiscent of Elizabeth Malaska's paintings. In the group exhibition Hourglass Lying Down, Arnold's works will appear alongside Polaroids by Autumn Knight, luxuriant paintings by Klara Glosova, and collages by Serrah Russell. Anticipate a dreamy feast for your eyeballs. (Koplin Del Rio Gallery, 6107 13th Ave S, every Wed-Sun through Jun 8, free, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO THURSDAY 5/9   Seattle International Film Festival 2024 Don't miss 'We Can Be Heroes' at SIFF Tuesday, May 14 and Friday, May 17. COURTESY OF SIFF (FILM) SIFF will return for its 50th year with the best in international and independent cinema à la mode from across the globe, and you know the drill—the city's most well-recognized hybrid festival, which boasts hundreds of films from 84 countries and regions this year, will present screenings virtually and at SIFF venues citywide. Some standouts from this year's lineup include the June Squibb-fronted Thelma, the buzzy A24 drama Sing Sing, Ilana Glazer’s Babes, Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow, and Harmony Korine’s infrared vaporwave nightmare Aggro Dr1ft. Stranger staffers watched and reviewed dozens of the festival's films here, if you want some help deciding what should make it on your to-watch list. (Various locations, May 9-19, see the full schedule at siff.net) LINDSAY COSTELLO FRIDAY 5/10   Thunderpussy with the Seattle Symphony (MUSIC) Thunderpussy almost didn’t make it. The future looked bright for the band when they released their debut full-length Thunderpussy in 2018. They earned critical acclaim for their riff-filled brand of ’70s-inspired rock, got featured in Rolling Stone as Mike McCready’s “favorite new band,” and ended the year signing to a major label, Republic Records’s subsidiary Stardog. In the years that followed, though, things took a turn. It wasn’t clear whether the band would ever release a second record, let alone exist. But, after years full of heartbreak, loss, and uncomfortable but necessary metamorphosis, Thunderpussy are back, they’re stronger than ever, and they’re ready to blow the lid off Benaroya Hall on Friday. In the ultimate celebration of the band’s survival, Thunderpussy will (finally!) release their second full-length, West, alongside the full 54-piece Seattle Symphony in a boundary-pushing immersive show. (Read the full story here.) (Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 8 pm, $50-$145, all ages) NATHALIE GRAHAM SATURDAY 5/11   Teenage Fanclub (MUSIC) Thirty-five years into their career, Glasgow-based luminaries Teenage Fanclub are still churning out gloriously catchy, charming, and slightly sad indie rock songs. Last year, the band released their twelfth album Nothing Lasts Forever, which takes cues from '60s rock bands like the Byrds for rich harmonies, warm guitars, and a slight country twang. Welsh folk singer Sweet Baboo will open. (The Crocodile, 2505 First Ave, 6 pm, $30, 21+) AUDREY VANN SUNDAY 5/12   Seattle Art Book Fair Seattle Art Book Fair is May 11-12 at Washington Hall. courtesy of SABF (BOOKS) Prepare your tote bags, people: The Seattle Art Book Fair, an annual roundup of experimental publishers, DIY designers, and independent creatives who consider books to be Art with a capital A, will return this month. The festival celebrates all things art book-related, with a variety of talks, activities, and (natch) artists slinging chapbooks and zines. Far-flung creatives and local presses will be present. Don't forget, you live in a UNESCO City of Literature. Act like it!! (Washington Hall, 153 14th Ave, May 11-12, free, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO MONDAY 5/13   SIFF 2024: Grasshopper Republic (FILM) Grasshopper Republic begins with an incredibly niche premise—the capture and sale of grasshoppers as food—and opens up to the broader question of where "natural order" begins and ends. In his twist on the "nature" documentary, Daniel McCabe zooms in on everything from delicate grasshopper larvae to work-savaged human faces, while a narration-less narrative follows a procession of tangled, overwrought grasshopper traps from cities to farms, and from centuries-old jungles to disastrous mudslides. Every person and animal in this film gets a fair moment to perch silently, examine its surroundings, and do whatever it can to survive—and McCabe's greatest success is to portray each of these moments without judgment, and with incredible beauty. A must-watch—especially once its sky explodes with dense, green clouds of harvested grasshoppers. (SIFF Cinema Downtown, 2100 Fourth Ave, 12:30 pm, $16.50-$17.50) SAM MACHKOVECH TUESDAY 5/14   Author Talk: Koreaworld, Deuki Hong & Matt Rodbard           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Deuki Hong (@deukihong) (FOOD/BOOKS) With their new cookbook Koreaworld, chef Deuki Hong and journalist Matt Rodbard delve into the thrilling world of modern Korean cuisine, including "sweet-spicy barbecue, creative rice and seafood dishes, flavor-bombed stews, and KPOP-fueled street food," telling stories through interviews with chefs and home cooks as well as splashy photography. Dig into craveable, complex dishes like giant short ribs, samgyetang roast chicken, pineapple kimchi fried rice, and cold broccoli salad with ssamjang mayo. Hong and Rodbard will be joined in conversation by Sara Upshaw of OHSUN Banchan, followed by a Q&A and signing. (Book Larder, 4252 Fremont Ave N, 6:30 pm, $39.55, admission includes a copy of Koreaworld) JULIANNE BELL  Prizefight!  Win tickets to rad upcoming events!* Thunderpussy May 10 at Benaroya Hall ENTER NOW!  Contest Ends 5/9 at noon NEEDTOBREATHE May 11 at White River Amphitheater ENTER NOW! Contest Ends 5/10 at noon *Entering PRIZE FIGHT contests by submitting your email address signs you up to receive the Stranger Suggests newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time.

We Watched Dozens of SIFF Films (and You Can Too!)
The Stranger reviewed dozens of SIFF films! Here's what we loved and what we hated. by Stranger Staff Spring is in the air and Allegra and Zyrtec are sold out at drug stores across Seattle—that can only mean one thing. It's time for the Seattle International Film Festival!  This year SIFF celebrates the festival's 50th anniversary and there is a lot to look forward to. As Stranger contributor Chase Hutchinson reported last month, "Not only is it a really strong year of films, but the even better news is the SIFF Cinema Workers Union recently ratified their first contract after coming together to form a union last year." For the past few weeks, we've been combing through dozens of SIFF films to find some of the best the fest has to offer, and this year is full of treasures. There are many memorable documentaries, following everything from grasshoppers and bears to Luther Vandross and LARPing teens, as well as thrillers that are as sublime as they are sinister. (I Saw the TV Glow will “tear open your mind and soul.”) There’s a can’t-miss bittersweet love story, a moving coming-of-age story set in Norway’s stunning tundra, and more than one powerful drama that will leave you pondering life’s big questions long after the popcorn bucket has run empty.  Of course, there were also a few duds. (Why, Harmony Korine? Why?) But that’s part of the wonder of SIFF, right? No matter what you choose to see, you get to tuck into a dark theater and escape into another world for a couple of hours… sometimes with chocolate popcorn. SIFF films show in theaters May 9-19 and select films will be available for streaming May 20-27. Get tickets and see the full schedule at siff.net. And seriously, unless you enjoy being bored by mundane trainwrecks (filmed in infrared for some reason?!!?) consider skipping Korin's hyped-up Aggro Dr1ft and opt for one of our several recommended films instead. We put an asterisk next to all the titles we especially enjoyed to make it easy. We're here for you. Happy SIFFing! 399: Queen Of The Tetons COURTESY OF SIFF *399: Queen of the Tetons USA, 2024 (90 min.) Dir. Elizabeth Leiter Blame it on the Tetons… or on a royal family-esque paparazzi… or on cowboys who want the laws to change so they can hunt grizzly bears. Whoever's fault it is, the grizzly bear matriarch named "399" is in danger. This gorgeous nature documentary follows 399's biggest fans as the bear navigates life in Grand Teton National Park as a single mother of four. (She's technically raised 18 cubs, but these four are the ones 399's rearing in the film.) The subject's passion for 399 was contagious and I found myself loving this mama bear myself. The most aggressive characters in the film were humans, not bears, which affirmed my answer to the telling question: "If you were alone in the woods, would you rather encounter a bear or a man?" BEAR. Especially if it was a badass mother celebrity like 399. RACHEL STEVENS Screening Sunday, May 12 at Shoreline Community College and Monday, May 13 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Also available online May 20-27. Admissions Granted COURTESY OF SIFF *Admissions Granted United States, 2024 (90 min.) Dir, Miao Wang and Hao Wu This documentary explores Affirmative Action policies, those specifically related to Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard. This lawsuit, spearheaded by Harvard students and applicants, protests Affirmative Action. The group claims that race-conscious admissions programs negatively impact students by enforcing a “cap” on how many Asian Americans are accepted. Citing instances of highly qualified Asian American applicants who had been rejected or waitlisted, SFFA argues that students in this group would have been admitted to Harvard had they been non-Asian. The film also examines proponents of Affirmative Action through interviews with students, Harvard educators, and legal advocates who argue that dismantling Affirmative Action to pursue a colorblind admissions process will severely limit student body diversity by drastically reducing the amount of Black and brown students admitted. Admissions Granted will leave you critically considering the difference between equity and equality. It will also leave you saying, “Wow. Higher education is so fucked.” BRITTNE LUNNISS Screening Sunday, May 12 at Majestic Bay and Monday, May 13 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Aggro Dr1ft USA, 2023 (80 min.) Dir. Harmony Korine Bless the hearts of all who take the plunge into the occasionally nightmarish though mostly mundane infrared vision from the maniac Harmony Korine, but his latest is many miles away from his best work. Aggro Dr1ft centers on an assassin who only succeeds at killing your interest and speaking like he was plucked right out of Grand Theft Auto. It's terrible. Seeing it at the theater formerly known as the Cinerama will likely be among the most wildly unique ways anyone gets to experience it, though it also will just be a very big way of seeing a film that is actually very small. CHASE HUTCHINSON Screening Friday, May 17 at SIFF Cinema Downtown. Bonjour Switzerland Switzerland, 2023 (88 min.) Dir. Peter Luisi You can bet your bottom dollar that this film will be a SIFF hit. Why? One, it is a "wacky comedy." Two, it's about the importance of multiculturalism (many cultures can happily co-exist). Three, it has a little romance. Four, it shamelessly advertises the beauty (urban and natural) of the landlocked country. Five, it's a total fantasy—Switzerland votes to make one of its four official languages (German, French, Italian, Romansh) the only official language. The initiative's proponents promise that this unification will be good for business and save Switzerland a ton of money. Everyone expects the winner will be German, the country's most spoken language, but it turns out to be the second-most spoken language, French. The German speakers seem to accept this unhappy result, but the Italian ones don't. They protest on the streets and form a secret resistance movement. The film has a happy ending. CHARLES MUDEDE Screening Saturday, May 11 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian and Sunday, May 12 at Majestic Bay. Also available online May 20-27. Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story COURTESY OF SIFF Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story Madagascar, 2023 (81 min.) Dir. Luck Razanajaona Disco Afrika: A Malagasy Story concerns what can best be described as the post-colonial blues. Meaning, it's about how the country's independence movement failed to structurally transform its society. Nothing much changed after Black rule was established in 1960. The very poor remained very poor, the very rich remained very rich, and political oppression persisted. This is how the film's main character, Kwame (Parista Sambo), sees things. His father, a revolutionary and disco composer and singer, was killed by Black rulers; his friend was killed by Black soldiers; his other friend makes money from exploiting Black people. The movie is a touch slow but has its moments. CHARLES MUDEDE Screening Friday. May 17 and Sunday, May 19 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Also available online May 20-27. The Etilaat Roz COURTESY OF SIFF The Etilaat Roz Afghanistan, 2022 (92 min.) Dir. Abbas Rezaie Brace yourself for a different kind of journalism documentary—one where reporters and editors are trapped inside a chilling prison of the Taliban's making. The Etilaat Roz, named after Afghanistan's preeminent corruption-busting newspaper, begins one day before Afghanistan's drastic Taliban takeover in August 2021. It takes place entirely inside the paper's increasingly fraught offices as its vigilant editor-in-chief ceases the print edition, helps his colleagues seek asylum, and shifts to an online publication model. Harrowing conversations and reveals of anti-journalist violence make this an important document of modern, ongoing Afghani turmoil, but a confusing subtitle translation and a lack of sequences outside the paper's offices make it a less clear and colorful document than its featured reporters would likely produce on the same subject. SAM MACHKOVECH Screening Sunday, May 12 and Monday, May 13 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Also available online May 20-27. *Green Border Poland, 2023 (147 min.) Dir. Agnieszka Holland The feel-bad movie of the fest that proves once more that acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland is one of the best to ever do it. This unflinching portrait of the modern refugee crisis in Poland upset the right-wing leaders there for all the right reasons. Following a Syrian family who travel through Belarus to find a better life, it is split into parts that don’t fully cohere as much as they intersect. Shot in stunning black-and-white that gives life to both compassion and cruelty, it is a poetic yet punishing watch about a subject that would demand nothing less. CHASE HUTCHINSON Screening Wednesday, May 15 at SIFF Cinema Downtown and Thursday, May 16 at Majestic Bay. Girls Will Be Girls COURTESY OF SIFF Girls Will Be Girls  India, 2024 (118 min.)  Dir. Shuchi Talati This film is the slowest slow burn ever to slow burn. It’s like watching two cars approach each other at 1 mph, waiting to see if either will speed into a crash. If you’ve read “sexual rebellion” in any descriptions and expected something punchier, scale yourself back to an accurately awkward coming-of-age story. You will likely be cringing down a memory lane of your own firsts. Set between a tight-laced Indian boarding school and the main character's home, 16-year-old Mira (Preeti Panigrahi), her mother Anila (Kani Kusruti), and Kesav Binoy Kiron as the fuck-boy Sri each do a solid job at playing within the dichotomy of mature and immature. While things slowly, slooowly unfold in Mira’s romantic awakening, the film holds a more valuable underlying plot in the dynamic between young mother and teen daughter. NICO SWENSON Screening Monday, May 13 at Shoreline Community College and Wednesday, May 15 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian. *Grasshopper Republic USA, 2023 (94 min.) Dir. Daniel McCabe Grasshopper Republic begins with an incredibly niche premise—the capture and sale of grasshoppers as food—and opens up to the broader question of where "natural order" begins and ends. In his twist on the "nature" documentary, Daniel McCabe zooms in on everything from delicate grasshopper larvae to work-savaged human faces, while a narration-less narrative follows a procession of tangled, overwrought grasshopper traps from cities to farms, and from centuries-old jungles to disastrous mudslides. Every person and animal in this film gets a fair moment to perch silently, examine its surroundings, and do whatever it can to survive—and McCabe's greatest success is to portray each of these moments without judgment, and with incredible beauty. A must-watch—especially once its sky explodes with dense, green clouds of harvested grasshoppers. SAM MACHKOVECH Screening Monday, May 13 at SIFF Cinema Downtown and Wednesday, May 15 at AMC Pacific Place. Also available online May 20-27. Hitchcock’s Pro-Nazi Film COURTESY OF SIFF Hitchcock’s Pro-Nazi Film France, 1987 (203 min.) Dir. Daphne Baiwir Many things are wrong with this French documentary about one of the 20th century's greatest directors, Alfred Hitchcock. For one, its title, Hitchcock’s Pro-Nazi Film (Le Film pro-nazi d'Hitchcock) is misleading. Hitchcock's Lifeboat, apparently the doc's subject, is not a pro-Nazi film, as some famous American journalist with a bone to pick absurdly claimed. But anyone who has watched the film, which, admittedly, is far from the circle of Hitchcock's British and American masterpieces, knows that it's about the world coming to terms with the rise of Nazi Germany. Also, the doc is really about John Steinbeck—the director, Daphne Baiwir, heaps way too much praise on the hack and his relationship with Hollywood. As for Hitchcock, he is neither here nor there. Also, the doc's use of music is atrocious. If you love Hitchcock, I recommend you sit this one out. CHARLES MUDEDE Screening Tuesday, May 14 and Wednesday, May 15 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. *I Saw the TV Glow USA, 2024 (100 min.) Dir. Jane Schoenbrun You will always remember where you were when you saw I Saw the TV Glow, the latest from the exciting director Jane Schoenbrun. It tears open the mind and soul to lay bare what it means to be alive in all its transcendent yet terrifying detail. Telling the story of two teens—perfectly played by Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine—who connect over a show known as The Pink Opaque, I Saw the TV Glow is a stunningly evocative experience about culture, transness, and exploration that feels like it is creating its own cinematic language. It’s not only the most inventive work of modern independent horror since We're All Going to the World's Fair, Schoenbrun’s previous feature, which was also outstanding, but it’s the type of film that feels like it will only worm its way even further into the recesses of the mind the longer we have the honor to reflect on it. CHASE HUTCHINSON Screening Friday, May 10 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian and Saturday, May 11 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. In Our Day COURTESY OF SIFF *In Our Day South Korea, 2023 (84 min.) Dir. Hong Sang-soo Nothing happens in the world of In Our Day. A cat runs off, a poet drinks an ill-advised beer, and three women murmur over a box of interesting toiletries. But disguised within the film's mundanity are serious reflections on the cosmic mysteries of identity, grief, vulnerability, and life itself. (In Our Day asks direct questions that you might be wondering about, too, like "What is it to live?" and "What is all of this?") If you're familiar with Hong Sang-soo's reticent, observational style, this likely comes as no surprise. If you're not, expect something akin to Aki Kaurismaki and Eric Rohmer's storytelling—people talk, people think, and then the film ends. It leaves you thinking, too. The 84-minute runtime is well worth it. LINDSAY COSTELLO Screening Friday, May 10 at Majestic Bay and Sunday, May 19 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. *July Rhapsody Hong Kong, 2002 (103 min.) Dir. Ann Hui The key moment in this film happens like this: As a Hong Kong poetry teacher, Mr. Seng (Tou Chung Hua), tells his student/lover, Man-ching (Anita Mui), that he is moving to Taiwan, his face goes out of focus. This simple distortion perfectly captures the blow experienced by Man-ching. She doesn't want him to go; she wants to be with him forever. Not happening. She has to, in the words of the Gap Band, "Wake up early and find me another lover." And Man-ching does—a fellow student who eventually becomes a high school poetry teacher, Lam Yiu-kwok (Jacky Cheung). They get married, raise two boys, and live in a small apartment. Their marriage, however, hits the rocks when Mr. Seng returns to Man-ching near the end of his life and Lam discovers that one of his students, Choi-lam (Karena Lam), has a crush on him. At first, the teacher resists. He is just like that Police tune, "Don't Stand So Close to Me." But his student will not take no for answer. Don't miss this bittersweet movie. CHARLES MUDEDE    Screening Saturday, May 18 at SIFF Cinema Downtown. Luther: Never Too Much COURTESY OF SIFF *Luther: Never Too Much United Kingdom, 2024 (101 min.) Dir. Dawn Porter Whether you know Luther Vandross for his prolific career as a background singer (appearing on countless classics like David Bowie's Young Americans and Chic's C'est Chic), his sensual R&B ballads, or his iconic bop "Never Too Much," (which was lipsynced on RuPaul's Drag Race Season 14), the point is that you know him. Dawn Porter's new documentary on the angel-voiced luminary chronicles his career through archival footage and talking head-style interviews with legends like Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, and Jamie Foxx. In terms of filmmaking, this film does not reinvent the wheel—it's your standard PBS-style doc. However, the captivating live performances of Vandross make for a highly entertaining watch. Plus, the film digs deep into his experiences with fatphobia, racism, and homophobia in the music industry. AUDREY VANN Screening Friday, May 10 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian and Sunday, May 19 at AMC Pacific Place. *Memories of a Burning Body  Costa Rica, Spain, 2024 (90 min.)  Dir. Antonella Sudasassi Furniss  All other directors should be taking notes on Antonella Sudasassi Furniss's genius way of weaving documentary into dramatic film. Patch-work reflections from three women’s lives are lucidly quilted into a narrative of love, sex, sexism, aging, and so much more. A content warning is necessary, the film grapples with heavy subject matter including sexual assault and domestic violence, but these topics and stories are handled with great care as Sol Carballo (playing the part of “Woman”) masterfully encapsulates all three lived experiences into one body. The film is in Spanish with subtitles and is well worth the watch. NICO SWENSON Screening Tuesday, May 14 and Wednesday, May 15 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Also available online May 20-27. *The NeverEnding Story West Germany, 1984 (94 min.) Dir. Wolfgang Petersen After directing Das Boot, a film about the crew of a Nazi submarine, Wolfgang Petersen, made a fantasy film, The NeverEnding Story. Though not as wonderfully bizarre as Jim Henson's Labyrinth (1986), it does have an existential monster called the Nothing—it's something like a black hole that sucks the life out of a fantastic world. The movie also has a great theme produced song by the master of disco-techno, Giorgio Moroder, "Never Ending Story." It's a super-dreamy new wave tune with a chorus that sends you to the region just above the clouds. Sure, Labyrinth has David Bowie, but his performance of the Goblin King is far more impressive than his songs on the film's soundtrack. None comes even close to "Never Ending Story." CHARLES MUDEDE  DJ NicFit will provide a live soundtrack to the film. Screening Tuesday, May 14 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian. *The New Boy  Australia, 2023 (96 min.)  Dir. Warwick Thorton  Who doesn’t love a movie with Cate Blanchett? That being said, she’s not the main focus of this movie in a really good way. Aswan Reid (the titular Aboriginal boy) is supported by an amazing cast in delivering a truly brilliant work of magical realism. Set in a 1940s Australian monastery, this film both literally and metaphorically depicts the insidious violence of colonial cultural erasure. Symbolism runs wild as the plot makes quick turns from moments of near comedy, to mystical absurdity, to an unnerving bleakness that hits exactly where it’s supposed to. The New Boy is an important and impactful conversation starter that is not one to miss! NICO SWENSON Screening Saturday, May 18 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian and Sunday, May 19 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Pigsy COURTESY OF SIFF Pigsy Taiwan, 2023 (95 min.) Dir. Li Wei Chiu Combine the cheesy, low-cost CGI of the Sing! movie series with the dystopian future of Blade Runner, and you have Pigsy, the feel-bad cartoon of the summer. A man and two talking animals must figure out what's gone wrong with a plan to send the "most productive" members of society to an idyllic city in the sky. This scheme, it's worth noting, analyzes all human and animal lives for their future potential, and every bad plot twist stems from someone rejecting this draconian control. If there's a not-so-bleak wrinkle in Pigsy, it's been lost in translation—literally, as the film's Mandarin-to-English captions are currently ChatGPT-caliber nonsense. Not a ton to love here, unless you're roughly 4 years old and can thus enjoy the expressive animation and a few bombastic martial arts sequences without reading the captioned curse words. SAM MACHKOVECH Screening Tuesday, May 14 at AMC Pacific Place and Wednesday, May 15 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian. The Primevals USA, 2023 (90 min.) Dir. David Allen The intricate stop motion animation by the late David Allen (The Howling, Young Sherlock Holmes) amazes, but the writing does not. In The Primevals, an expedition to find a live Yeti in the Himalayas discovers a lost world of hominids and lizard men. Shot in the summer of 1994, and shelved over financial difficulties, Allen worked piecemeal on the film until his death in 1999. He was only 54. A successful fundraising campaign in 2019 enabled an original effects artist, Chris Endicott, to finish Allen's stop-motion sequences. It's pulp that evokes the '50s creature feature and fantastical '80s adventure films like Clash of the Titans. The best of this genre are romantic adventures suffusing action with deliberate cheese. The Primevals is not that, and it's frustrating because the film couches brilliant animated sequences (like Allen's giant snarling ape, alive with expressive detail) between live actors stumbling through hackneyed dialogue. The Primevals is perfect for someone who knows who Ray Harryhausen is, and can enjoy a movie for the sheer magic of stop motion. VIVIAN MCCALL Screening Friday, May 10 and Tuesday, May 14 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian. Also available online May 20-27. Red Rooms Canada (Québec), 2023 (118 min.) Dir. Pascal Plante Every festival will have one major disappointment that, while you can see its potential, never fully comes together in the end. A psychological thriller of sorts about a model whose life becomes consumed by the trail of a serial killer, it's drawn understandable comparisons to something like David Fincher’s Zodiac. The trouble is, save for a fantastic performance by Juliette Gariépy, it is just not nearly as bold as it thinks it is. For every terrifying moment that has the power to sear itself in your mind, like one surrounding the world’s worst cosplay, the rest slips away. CHASE HUTCHINSON Screening Tuesday, May 14 at Majestic Bay and Wednesday, May 15 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. *Resynator USA, 2024 (96 min.) Dir. Alison Tavel Can a little-known synthesizer carry a film? Just about. Director/writer Alison Tavel's quest to learn about her revered instrument-inventor father, who died in a car crash when she was a newborn, translates into a heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting portrait of a troubled genius. Don Tavel (1952-1988) invented the Resynator, an instrument-controlled, monophonic, rack-mount analog/digital synthesizer with a propensity to generate distinctively bizarre sounds. Even though superstars such as Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, and Peter Gabriel dabbled with it, the Resynator never became mass-produced, and Tavel was crushed by its failure. Finding one of the few existing Resynators in her grandmother's attic, Alison becomes obsessed with getting it working and into the hands of prominent musicians around the world—and views the instrument as key to knowing and demystifying her dad, whose life had more darkness than she'd realized. DAVE SEGAL Screening Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Also available online May 20-27. Seagrass COURTESY OF SIFF *Seagrass Canada, 2023 (115 min.) Dir. Meredith Hama-Brown Finding a balance between the sinister and the sublime, this is a film that exists right on the edge of becoming a full-fledged ghost story just as it grounds itself in genuine emotions. Seagrass, magnificently crafted by writer-director Meredith Hama-Brown, focuses on a family that is coming apart despite going on a trip meant to pull them together. It reveals how the most painful parts of life can come from those we are closest to. With a spectacular performance by former Seattleite Ally Maki, it’s a film that sneaks up on you just as all that’s on the margins does to the characters. CHASE HUTCHINSON Screening Monday, May 13 at Majestic Bay and Tuesday, May 14 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. Also available online May 20-27. Sebastian COURTESY OF SIFF Sebastian United Kingdom, Finland, Belgium, 2024 (110 min.)  Dir. Mikko Makela  Don’t confuse this film with the 2023 horror flick of the same name… though parts might still leave you either thrilled or covering your eyes. This daunting drama sets you on a two-hour journey of a writer by day turned sex worker at night. If you’re looking to have a pity party for a white twink with abs, then this is the picture for you. Sure, the main character does have his struggles within a voyage of self-discovery, but along the way he steps over his countless (and more interesting) POC friends and coworkers who are never given any real plot other than to be tools in his tale. The film does aspire to flip the script when it comes to sex work, so if you’re worried that it’s just another story of tropes complete with violations of consent, guilt, shame, and regret … you’re only 90% right. NICO SWENSON Screening Sunday, May 12 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian and Saturday, May 18 at SIFF Cinema Uptown. *Sing Sing USA, 2023 (107 min.) Dir. Greg Kwedar Sing Sing is the abundantly thoughtful and terrifically acted drama closing out this year's festival. Follows a group of incarcerated men who act together in their own productions, it's more than just based on a true story. Rather, it features many of the men playing themselves, though don’t call them “non-professional actors.” They've all been putting in the time to hone their craft and the result is a film where every performance feels alive in a way most other works could only dream of. That a never-better Colman Domingo just fits in seamlessly as a part of the ensemble is a testament to their collective talents. When the curtain rises on the beauty they’ve all built, what we witness is a work of art that never papers over the injustices just as we see the men who are fighting for their humanity in a world that doesn’t value it. CHASE HUTCHINSON Screening as part of SIFF's closing night party on Saturday, May 18 at SIFF Cinema Downtown. The Tundra Within Me COURTESY OF SIFF *The Tundra Within Me Norway, 2023 (95 min.) Dir. Sara Margrethe Oskal Norwegian village girl (Lena) turned Oslo artist returns to her Reindeer-herding hometown, Sápmi. Lena is skeptically welcomed, drawing criticism for her feminist art, which explores gender roles in the herding community. She soon falls in love with Mahtte, a local herder who caught feelings for Lena after watching her sing in a bar. (Been there!) Set against Norway’s ethereal winter landscapes, TTWM offers a visual spectacle. (The snowy scenery and majestically cute reindeer alone make it worth seeing.) The film encourages viewers to reflect on practices of their own heritage, why they exist, and how to embrace them today. Overall, TTWM artfully explores the union of tradition and modernity, the act of resistance, and what it truly means to be “home.” The romance storyline felt unnecessary (sorry Mahtte), but alas, someone’s gotta Lena warm in the tundra! BRITTNE LUNNISS Screening Friday, May 17 at SIFF Cinema Uptown and Saturday, May 18 at Shoreline Community College. Also available online May 20-27. We Can Be Heroes COURTESY OF SIFF *We Can Be Heroes USA, 2024 (86 min.) Dir. Carina Mia Wong and Alex Simmons In 2006, an award-winning documentary called Darkon told the story of live-action role players (LARPers) who concocted grandiose stories in the woods while swinging foam swords at each other. We Can Be Heroes tells a similar real-life story with a twist: neurodivergent kids meet at a sleepover camp that revolves around adventuring and LARPing. Over an 86-minute runtime, troubled teens battle fictional demons on the way to tearing down real ones, ranging from crushing anxiety to post-COVID acclimation to fatal diseases. The gimmick of improvised, Tolkien-esque battling, as assisted by kindhearted, hella gay camp counselors, lands somewhere between Game of Thrones and Glee on a watchability scale—which, yes, is a compliment. The film sadly leaves some kids' stories undercooked, but there's still plenty of euphoric, teenaged self-discovery to enjoy. SAM MACHKOVICH Screening Tuesday, May 14 at SIFF Cinema Egyptian and Friday, May 17 at Shoreline Community College. *Wings of Desire Germany, 1987 (127 min.) Dir. Wim Wenders There are two angels in Wim Wenders's masterpiece Wings of Desire (or The Angels Over Berlin): Damiel (Bruno Ganz) and Cassiel (Otto Sandler). The former is silly (he falls in love with a trapeze artist played by a queen of late 20th-century art house cinema, Solveig Dommartin) and spends way too much time lurking around her circus. The latter is serious and actually does his job, which is to watch over all the city's inhabitants and comfort them as best as he can (the angels are invisible). Sadly, the film, which is utterly beautiful and provides a document for West Berlin just before the fall of the wall, focuses on the silly and rather creepy angel. CHARLES MUDEDE Screening Monday, May 13 at SIFF Cinema Downtown. *Means we loved it!

Slog AM: Biden Is Coming to Seattle, Israel Seizes Rafah Border Crossing, TikTok Sues the US over Ban
The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Vivian McCall Police barricades at UW: Yesterday, Hannah reported that UW placed police-guarded barricades at all entrances of the Quad, representing the first crackdown on student protesters in six days of peaceful camping. A spokesperson told Hannah the barricades were temporary, but did not address protester concerns about the police presence. Also, there was Charlie Kirk, founder of the far-right student organization Turning Point USA. His organization pushes conservative politics in high schools, colleges, and universities. In recent years, Kirk has embraced white nationalist talking points and figures.  Protesters had asked the University to cancel his appearance, concerned about the far-right agitators he may draw to their encampment. Kirk’s Turning Point USA team asked campers to debate him at his nearby event, but they declined. The Daily at UW reported that his crowd outside the HUB peaked at 200. Later that night, Kirk spoke at the HUB Ballroom. The Seattle Times reported that a protest group marched from the nearby light rail station to form a protective barricade around the encampment. Counter-protesters showed up, chanted "USA!" a bunch, and cleared out around 9:30 pm.          Another quiet day at the Popular University For Gaza Day #6 (or #8 depending on where you count from) pic.twitter.com/g2pXeJLp3C — Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) May 7, 2024 Joe Biden is on his way: The least popular president in 75 years is coming to Seattle for a campaign fundraising event this Friday. FOX 13 reports the time and location have yet to be announced and that Biden may participate in other activities organized by the White House. Like every presidential visit, it’s probably going to disrupt the movement of every person in this city. Ex-Yakima officer was investigated before his death: Elias Huizar killed himself during a police chase last week after he abducted his infant son and allegedly killed his ex-wife Amber Marie Rodriguez and teen girlfriend Angelica Santos. Papers have reported that Huizar was suspected of sleeping with Santos before she was of legal age, but documents now show he was suspected of doing the same with Rodriguez in 2009—when she was 17 when he was 24—years before he was a police officer. Before he died, Huizar was also suspected of raping Santos’s 16-year-old friend.  Plane catches on fire and it is not Boeing’s fault: Passengers on Delta flight 604 from Cancún to Sea-Tac evacuated via emergency slides after a fire broke out in the nose of the plane. Sparks caused the apparent fire, which was out by the time Port of Seattle firefighters arrived, but they gave the area a good soaking anyway. In a sympathetic gesture to Boeing’s beleaguered public relations department, God, or whatever cosmic forces control us, made the fire on Airbus A321neo instead of a 787. Tree-killing beetles found in Bothell: KING 5 reports the invasive California fivespined ips have been navigating north since the 1990s. They were first found in Oregon in 1999 and in Washington just two years ago. US Forest Service entomologist told the station he thought they’d only made it as far as Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Tacoma. Then pines started dying in Seattle, Renton, and University Place, which scientists linked to the beetle, which can kill a tree in a year. Despite their destructive potential, stopping their advance is out of the question and also there’s no plan to eradicate them. But if you see a pine topped with red needles, it might be the beetles, and you should consider contacting the DNR at this link. All eyes on Rafah: The Israeli Defense Forces seized the Rafah border crossing, a vital entry point for humanitarian workers and exit for injured people seeking medical care outside of Palestine. Another border crossing, Kerem Shalom, has reopened. Al Jazeera reports that thousands of Palestinians have fled Rafah to set up makeshift shelters in central Gaza. The Kuwaiti Hospital, one of the last functioning health facilities in Rafah, reported 35 dead and 129 wounded people. One of the dead was a 4-month-old child. Foreign leaders in Australia, Germany, Qatar, and elsewhere have condemned Israeli operations in Rafah. Officials confirmed to CNN that the US paused a bomb shipment to Israel last week over concerns the country would use them in a ground operation there. Stormy Daniels testified: The former porn actress and star witness of Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in New York City described her 2006 encounter with him in great detail. She has recounted the awkward, upsetting encounter before, and the subsequent $130,000 payment to keep it secret, but never under oath and in court. Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche blustered that Daniels’s testimony was “inappropriately prejudicial” and moved for a mistrial. The judge denied his request. TikTok sues US: The app and its parent company ByteDance say the potential ban is an unconstitutional violation of American users’ First Amendment right to free speech. The White House did not comment on the lawsuit, but President Joe Biden and congressional leaders have argued the law was necessary to protect user data from the Chinese government. The government still hasn’t produced any evidence that the app has used data from American users for spying or the proliferation of propaganda, despite what some congressional leaders believe. A number of them said they were motivated to ban the app over videos about Palestine. TikTok challenged the ban today pic.twitter.com/Y9zwJA8XY4 — Washington Post Universe Guy (@davejorgenson) May 8, 2024 Boy Scouts rebrand: After 114 years, Boy Scouts of America is changing its name to Scouting America next year. A fresh start is probably a good idea, as it’s been a rough, but dynamic era for the organization. Five years ago, it opened the program to girls, and before that, queer kids and gay scout leaders. But in 2019, an outside report revealed sex abuse was more widespread than previously thought. That led to a bankrupting mudslide of 82,000 lawsuits and the establishment of a $2.4 billion fund to settle those claims. The name change is meant to make an expanding legacy institution feel more welcoming to everyone it already allows in, but some Conservatives are trying to cash in on anti-woke rage by insisting the “left” took the “boy” out of Boy Scouts. The FDIC is toxic, report finds: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is supposed to be regulating the bankers, but can’t even keep their own employees from harassing women and people of color at work. The report, prompted by an investigation from the Wall Street Journal, cited 500 people, several of whom alleged FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg bullied and verbally abused workers. Investigators concluded sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and bullying were pervasive at every level and senior leadership looked the other way. Gruenberg has apologized to staff over the report. Shh! The whales are talking: Researchers studying thousands of recorded sperm whale calls are decoding what they call a phonetic alphabet of clicking noises. Scientists think different distinct bursts of clicks, which they call codas, serve as the building blocks of language, which vary in duration, rhythm, and tempo. They’re still not sure if a coda works more like a word or a vocal sound such as a vowel or consonant. Their next step is to try to link codas with specific behaviors and eventually discover what they’re talking about. I imagine it’s something like, “Clean all this plastic shit out of the ocean!”

UW Sends Barricades and Cops to Gaza Encampment Protest
Protesters say cops don’t keep them safe, “We keep us safe.” by Hannah Krieg This afternoon the University of Washington propped up police-guarded barricades at all entrances of the Quad. This marks the UW’s first crackdown on student protesters after six days of peaceful camping. While a UW spokesperson told The Stranger that the barricades are a “temporary effort today,” the spokesperson did not address protesters' primary concern, the presence of police. In other similar protests across the country, police presence has led to arrests, violence, and encampment sweeps. While the students are taking precautions after UW’s flex of power, they maintain they won’t leave their tents until the administration caves to their demands. For several days, student protesters have expressed concern over Charlie Kirk’s scheduled campus appearances. Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA, an organization that promotes conservative politics at US schools. Students worried the event would bring right-wing agitators to their encampment. The encampment, once a group of 20 or so tents relegated to one corner of the lawn, has exploded in size over the past week, taking all four quadrants with at least 100 tents and even more canopies.  NOW: A large group of student advocates are setting up more tents at the quad at UW, at least doubling the existing Gaza solidarity encampment that's already calling for the Universoty to divest from Israel pic.twitter.com/9PrpN2VXIz — Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) May 1, 2024 All the while, the occupation seems to have remained relatively peaceful. Students told The Stranger that they want to keep it that way. They said the encampment should be about their three demands: materially and academically divest from Israel, cut ties with Boeing, and end repression of pro-Palestinian students and faculty. Police violence against students is “connected” to state violence against Palestinians, but “the focus really needs to be on Palestine and ending the genocide,” media liaison Gina Liu said last week. To keep the peace, the United Front for Palestinian Liberation (UF) and other groups supporting the encampment protest asked the UW to cancel Kirk’s campus events, which included tabling at the HUB lawn at 12:30 pm and a talk at the HUB Ballroom at 6:30 pm. UW claimed it could not cancel the event—one of UW’s registered student organizations (RSOs) invited him and they are “free to extend invitations to guest speakers.” According to the ACLU, barring speech at a public campus, no matter how offensive, violates the Constitution.  UF asked if the administration could at least move the event to a different part of campus, since the encampment sits just a short walk away from one of the events.  Some students have raised concerns about the Charlie Kirk events on campus today because his right-wing crowd will be so near by the encampment. I walked (possibly not the most direct route) between the protest and the Turnimg Point USA table to give you and idea of proximity pic.twitter.com/Z5kwUYZs6i — Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) May 7, 2024 In an email to the administration, UF wrote, “We ask this out of concern for student safety and with the knowledge that administration cares to take steps that will reduce the potential for conflict or violence that could result in harm to students.”  UW did not move the event and instead propped up metal fences, guarded by a handful of police officers, at all six entrances to the Quad around the time Kirk started his debate event on the HUB lawn.  Cops stand inside the barricade around the Quad. “Our priority is the safety and security of our campus community,” UW spokesperson Victor Balta said in an email statement. “There are multiple events on campus today and this evening that could draw attendees with strongly opposing viewpoints. We recognize that tensions are especially high due to events around the world, and our hope is that people with opposing views refrain from seeking confrontations and avoid antagonizing one another.” Balta said the barricades are a “temporary effort today,” but did not specify under what circumstances UW would close the gates. Balta also did not comment about police presence.  Students said they would have been fine with barricades, but they claim the UW only offered them contingent on police presence. In a statement on social media, UF wrote “[UW admin] claim that this is a protective measure, but we know that police do not keep us safe.” Cops did not keep protesters safe in UCLA when pro-Israel counter-protesters attacked their encampment. Instead, the Los Angeles Police Department let counter-protesters beat up students for more than two hours. Governor Gavin Newsom said the “limited and delayed” response was “unacceptable.” Cops have shown up to other demonstrations across the country in riot gear, shooting rubber bullets and spraying tear gas into crowds of students. Civil rights groups say their response has been excessive.  For now, students are holding down the fort and continuing their scheduled programming. A media liaison told The Stranger that they bolstered their security team in anticipation of counter-protesters, but have not encountered more activity than usual. Only a few people counter-protested Kirk’s event, which he claimed as a victory.  Acting like Turning Point USA team didn't go into the encampment and ask them to come debate. You WISH you got a reaction from them lol https://t.co/DsGkT8e0Oj — Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) May 7, 2024 Tuesday afternoon, students appeared to practice forming a defensive line with makeshift shields. A student told The Stranger that the encampment protesters have not had to form a line against the police or counter-protesters, and they hope they never have to, but seeing what happened at other schools, they are preparing for the worst.

Council Conservatives Got the Dictionary Definition of an Audit, but Still Won’t Talk About Progressive Revenue
Unsurprisingly, the only council member to learn anything from the budget review is Tammy Morales. by Hannah Krieg According to a recent in-depth review of the City budget, council central staff attributes 79% of the City of Seattle’s increased spending between 2019 and 2024 to inflation and the rising cost of labor associated with it.  One would think that such a finding would challenge some of the new conservative council members' assumptions that the previous City Council ripped the projected $241 million hole in the 2025 budget by reckless spending and, in turn, would bolster the argument for new, progressive revenue to pay workers and expand social services. So far that’s not the case. No one in the committee meeting gave a clear indication of whether the audit has swayed them one way or the other on taxes in last week’s meeting. But there’s plenty of time before the fall budgeting process when the council will have to balance the budget. For now, the council will meet once a month this summer to continue examining the 224-page report in what Budget Chair Dan Strauss calls his “Select Summer Budget Series.” Strauss says the council will go through the budget trends department by department to inform which of their limited levers they should pull to balance the budget—lay off staff, cut services, take from already-earmarked funds, or increase revenues.  Council Members Rob Saka, Joy Hollingsworth, Maritza Rivera, Cathy Moore, Bob Kettle, Tanya Woo, and Sara Nelson did not respond to The Stranger’s request for comment about the audit.  I’m used to it, but this is especially frustrating because the council newbies avoided questions about the budget deficit during their 2023 campaign by calling for a budget audit before they took a stance on new revenue or major cuts. The promise of an audit served as a bat signal to their supporters at the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Seattle Association because it endorsed an underlying assumption that the previous council suffered from a “spending problem” and detracted from the ongoing conversation about new streams of revenue the City could use to fill its looming budget shortfall.  The council quickly realized they could not conduct as thorough an audit as they would like, but Strauss thinks that the central staff’s analysis fits the dictionary definition of an audit.  Some of the council newbs seem satisfied, others not so much. Kettle said he “loves” the report in the committee last week. But Rivera said she and Strauss will have to “agree to disagree” on the definition of an audit in a council briefing Monday.  Whether this achieves their campaign promise or not, every council member knows the report is as close to an audit as they are getting this year. They can still punt the conversation by saying they need to wait until the council finishes the Select Summer Budget Series.  That’s kind of what Strauss did on the phone with The Stranger when he avoided advocating for more revenue or specific cuts based on the high-level presentation of the audit that central staff gave last week. He said, so far, the audit provides “no obvious decisions anywhere” for solving the looming deficit because the council is still “looking under every couch cushion and under every rock.” That’s sort of his style, annoying as it is to journalists, voters, and the girls who love the gossip. But he did praise JumpStart, a payroll tax on the biggest businesses in Seattle, for saving the budget and countless City jobs. And he ran on a loudly pro-progressive revenue platform in 2023, so he may start making more noise for taxation when the real budget negotiations begin in the fall.  But the austerity has already started. Last month Seattle Public Libraries announced 1,500 hours of service cuts between April 12 and June 2 because of staffing shortages exacerbated by the Mayor’s hiring freeze. Instead of jumping to save the public amenity by taxing the rich or corporations, Libraries, Education, and Neighborhoods Committee Chair Rivera blamed the unions and the markup on ebooks. Expect more of those kinds of arguments as the Select Summer Budget Series continues. Unsurprisingly, the only council member to take the audit’s findings as a sign of the City’s need for new progressive taxes is Council Member Tammy Morales, the only reliable progressive in the bunch. In an email statement, Morales said, “We need to pass new progressive revenue that ensures corporations are paying their fair share. Cuts to working-class services like libraries, community centers, and food assistance are not the answer.”

Slog AM: New Seattle Police Contract Costs City $96 Million in 2024, SPD Officer Threatened to Beat Another Officer 'To Death,' Israel Cuts Off Aid to Gaza
The Stranger's morning news roundup. by Ashley Nerbovig Morning! Low chance of rain this morning before 2 pm, and the National Weather Service expected today to start cloudy and then turn sunny, with a high near 57. Looking outside right now, just appears to start sunny. Grab some sunscreen and hit the streets!  Seattle Police Officers contract cost released: City Council central staff released the cost of the 2020-2023 Seattle Police Officer's Guild (SPOG) contract and the cops absolutely hustled us. This year, the City plans to pay officers an additional $96 million in back pay and raises. The contract adds about $40 million in additional spending to the 2025 budget, a year in which the City expects a $240 million budget deficit. The contract heads to full Council vote next Tuesday. Looks like the new SPOG contract will go directly to Full Council for a final vote on Tuesday, 5/14. Seattle will be paying $57.1 million in backpay to SPOG members for 2021, 2022, and 2023. Accounting for the raises, officer pay will then cost about $40 million more per year. — Amy Sundberg (@amysundberg) May 6, 2024 Very related... Here are all the council members' email addresses: rob.saka@seattle.govtammy.morales@seattle.govjoy.hollingsworth@seattle.govmaritza.rivera@seattle.govcathy.moore@seattle.govdan.strauss@seattle.govrobert.kettle@seattle.govtanya.woo@seattle.govsara.nelson@seattle.gov Speaking of Seattle Police Department Officers: SPD Officer Ryan Rose challenged another officer to a fight after the officer went to talk to him about how Rose had ruined a potential drug bust, causing the suspects to scatter, according to DivestSPD. Officers said Rose had "Leeroy Jenkins'd" the drug bust. When Officer Seth Romeo tried to speak to Rose about it, Rose became angry and called Romeo a "pussy." Rose later told another officer that Romeo was “lucky that I am not off duty. I would drag him out the car and beat him to death.” Anyway, no increased accountability measures in the new SPOG contract that gives this cop a raise.  Speaking of raising wages: The King County Council plans to vote Tuesday on whether to increase the County's minimum wage to more than $20 an hour, according to the Seattle Times. The bill has some caveats: it only applies to unincorporated King County and has some different minimums for small-to-mid-sized businesses, so it really only applies to three businesses. Still, that's probably good. The bill looks likely to pass, with five out of nine council members already voicing their support. University of Washington has no plans to cut ties with Boeing: Through a spokesperson Friday, UW President Ana Mari Cauce maintained that the University had no plans to meet student protestors' demands that UW end its relationship with the weapons manufacturer, according to the Seattle Times. Cauce stands with a long list of college presidents who continue to say, "Nom nom nom, we love blood money." Israel seizes border crossing as it prepares to invade Rafah: Israel's preparations for a "limited" ground incursion into Rafah has "choked off" aid to Gaza as it closes a crucial border crossing, according to NBC News. The cutting of aid comes as the people of northern Gaza deal with a "full-blown famine." More than a million Palestinians fled to Rafah after Israel began raining airstrikes down on Gaza. Now, Israel has asked 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate eastern Rafah. Hamas agreed to a cease-fire proposal, and yet Israel has said it plans to continue its invasion. More than 34,700 Palestinians have died in the conflict so far, according to the Associated Press, and other outlets acknowledge that's likely an incomplete count. HIND’S HALL. Once it’s up on streaming all proceeds to UNRWA. pic.twitter.com/QqZEKmzwZI — Macklemore (@macklemore) May 6, 2024 [Eds note: Macklemore’s past taste in, uh, "disguises" may open him up to criticism.] Customers launch fundraiser for Ballard market: An explosion engulfed Take 5 Urban Market in Ballard in flames early Thursday. The building itself survived, but the accidental natural gas explosion destroyed everything inside. Customers want to make sure the market can bounce back and have launched a fundraiser— MyBallard has more. Republican City Attorney Ann Davison kind of sucks at her job: Between February 2022 and August 2023, Davison’s office has taken 36 cases to trial and secured a guilty verdict in exactly eight. I have to dive into these numbers a little more, but the lack of convictions out of her office, and lack of trials, seems about right for a candidate with limited trial experience. Repubican City Attorney Ann Davison's Office literally can't win at trial. Between February 2022 and August 2023, her office took 36 cases to trial, and she only won 8. Her conviction rate at trial is 22%. — Ashley Nerbovig (@AshleyNerbovig) May 6, 2024 Former Bothell City Council member remains in jail on murder charge: James McNeal, 58, faces second-degree murder charges for the death of 20-year-old Liliya Guyvoronsky. Prosecutors say McNeal met Guyvoronsky while she worked as a dancer, but then began seeing her and financially supporting her after she left the adult entertainment industry, according to the Everett Herald. The charging documents say Guyvoronsky tried to break up with McNeal, and wrote herself a note: "Do not interact w/James today." Authorities have not yet released a cause of death. Trump's hush money trial continues: Prosecutors called Stormy Daniels to the stand Tuesday to testify about her sexual encounter with the former president in 2006, which she says she was paid to keep silent about, according to the Associated Press. Should be interesting reading. This is more of an aside, but I think we should start calling it "Shush money." Mayor plans to move some refugees: Mayor Bruce Harrell said his office plans to move some families with kids out of Powell Barnett Park, saying they've identified some other shelter. Lilly Ana Fowler has more: Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office plans to clear Powell Barnett Park in the Central District where 100s of asylum seekers — mostly from Venezuela & Angola — have been camping. They say they’ve identified other shelter. Response comes after some raised questions about conditions. pic.twitter.com/dvZ439EdlC — Lilly Ana Fowler (@LillyAFowler) May 6, 2024 "Tried to talk to God/But He said sort yourself out": Pillow Queens' new album Name Your Sorrow is a beautiful, lyrical piece of art. Highly recommend listening on a long, sunny walk.

Boss Vintage at Georgetown Trailer Park Mall Robbed
Sellers Start GoFundMe to Recover Nearly $5,000 of Missing Merchandise by Vivian McCall Last Sunday, Kylie Waibel and her husband saw the bashed back window of her shop, Boss Vintage, from the alley of Georgetown Trailer Park Mall. The interior, save for a spray of glass shards on the floor, was still neat. Nothing had been pushed over, or rifled through, but much was missing. Whoever broke in had filled Waibel’s own shopping bags with heaps of her vintage clothes and merchandise from four other consignment sellers at her shop. She wondered if someone had cased her shop beforehand, and noted the now missing button-ups, vintage belts, enamel pins, handmade clay bookmarks, and antique brass trinkets. When she tallied the damage, she discovered they’d taken $4,685 worth of stuff. “On the positive side, it could have been way way way worse,” Waibel said. “But for a small business, when you get five grand of product taken from you—it is a hit.” The Georgetown Trailer Park Mall decided to pay for repairs to the trailer, but Waibel’s lapsed insurance policy and no known footage of the robbery gives her little recourse for the stolen items themselves. For most Boss Vintage artists, selling their work and clothes are their sole source of income, and isn’t easily replaced. Waibel spent years curating her collection, which specialized in plus-size vintage. Waibel’s friend, Vivian Crane-Conant, lost hundreds of stickers and handmade tie-dye shirts in the robbery, totaling more than $1,500. She started the GoFundMe to reimburse the sellers at retail value. She was inspired to start it after her Instagram followers widely shared her post asking people to look out for her shirts at boutiques and consignment stores. The post didn’t turn up the stolen items, but it was clear the community wanted to support them.  As of Monday, they’ve raised $585. Most of the cash would go to Waibel, Crane-Conant, and an artist who lost $600 mostly in precious stone jewelry. An additional $200 would be used to purchase a Ring Camera to prevent future break-ins. Crane-Conant said she’ll throw in a care package to anyone who donates $100 or more. “I understand that people are hard up, but it just sucks that people would steal from a small business, especially when these are a lot of art pieces,” Crane-Conant said. “I don’t know how you’re gonna sell that.”

The Best of Belltown Bloom 2024
This year’s fest featured haka, rad rock songs about sex, and mesmerizing avant-garde experimentation. by Brittne Lunniss Belltown Bloom is the passion project of sisters Valerie and Veronica Topacio, and the annual music festival has blossomed quite a bit over the years. You might recognize their names—you’ve likely seen them play across Seattle or even heard them on KEXP in their band La Fonda, a feel-good, femme-fronted, indie rock dream team. What started as a hyperlocal fest in 2019, Belltown Bloom has recently drawn in big-name acts including L7, Pussy Riot, Alvvays, and Crumb to name a few, but while the festival has grown in size and support, the Topacio sisters have maintained its DIY spirit. They're the ones painting cardboard cutouts of planets, attaching sweet little clouds to stages, or adorning walls with twinkling lights all while booking a festival that takes over all three of the Crocodile's stages. Festival-goers can bop between Here-After, Madame Lou’s, and the Croc's mainstage throughout the two-day fest and catch some bands who may be playing their first show and others who are playing their 1,000th! Belltown Bloom specially curates each bill to support womxn artists, as well as those in the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities, and this year, the Topacio sisters focused in on electronic, techno, and avant-garde acts. It feels near impossible to narrow down my favorites from last weekend, but alas, here are five performances I can’t stop thinking about: La Fonda performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Gustaf Gustaf performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Brooklyn’s post-punk Gustaf took to Madame Lou’s stage on night one. Frontwoman Lydia Gammill (self-described as a “human art screamer”) commanded the audience with a loud, abrasive, refreshingly punk performance. Intentionally disheveled, Gammill leaned into the faces of attendees with contorted facial expressions and intimidating eye contact. Reminiscent of Amyl and the Sniffers and Viagra Boys, Gustaf provided the most punk set of the weekend. From the moment Gammill grabbed the mic, she turned into an unfuckwithable character you simply couldn’t shy away from. Looking like the lovechild of Edward Scissorhands and Draco Malfoy, I felt mesmerized by (and maybe a little scared of?) Gammill’s stage persona. The room filled for Gustaf’s highly anticipated set and I quickly understood why. One of their most popular songs, “Best Behavior,” had the crowd forcefully swaying and violently bopping their heads. While I didn’t get the moshpit I was hoping for, it didn’t matter—we were all too busy being hypnotized by whatever uncontainable move Gammill made next.  Gustaf performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Gustaf performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Shelby Natasha Shelby Natasha performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Shelby Natasha opened up the Here-After stage Saturday night with a wistfully beautiful set. Playing guzheng (a traditional Chinese instrument), Shelby incorporated tradition and modernity into tender moments of heartache. With the softness of Laufey and the cultural innovation of Arushi Jain, she flowed from one song to the next. If you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t have been able to tell when one ended and another began. The audience held back applause until the end of the set so as to not interrupt the delicate 30-minute experience. Under sea-colored lighting and intergalactic cutouts, Natasha’s ethereal voice was complemented by a cellist who played under the simple moniker “Clark.” The Here-After took on a “listening room” atmosphere and felt made for Natasha as attendees melted into the movie-theater-style seating and drifted into her uniquely lo-fi world. Shelby Natasha and "Clark" performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Rat Queen Rat Queen performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS During night two, Seattle’s own experimental punk outfit Rat Queen opened their set with dirt, grunge, and a song that was, according to vocalist Jeff Tapia, about “getting drunk and fucking.” (Don’t tempt us with a good time, Jeff!) Every member put their whole rat-queen-ussy into the show filled with songs about sex, drugs, and mental illness, drawing bites from riot grrrl, post-punk, and whatever the hell the way.  Tapia flirted with bandmates while flipping their hair and gazing wide-eyed into the crowd. Protesting the restriction and commodification of women’s bodies, they brazenly projected “reproductive rights are human rights” before delving into sex-positive, body-positive songs like “Scene/seen.” Rat Queen was goddamn royalty at Madame Lou’s.  Rat Queen performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Theia Theia performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Em-Haley Walker, known as Theia onstage, trekked all the way from New Zealand for their Madame Lou’s set. An alternative-pop artist, Theia didn’t shy away from political anthems calling out social injustices in her home country. Backed by dance-pop beats, Theia chanted “I’m not your princess” while dashing across stage flaunting long blonde braids and a manicure designed to slice. With aggressive facial expressions and a guttural cry to the gods, Theia performed a traditional New Zealand haka in the middle of her set. Theia, a member of the Māori heritage, brought the audience to their knees (quite literally) at the end of the night. The crowd sat on the floor of Madame Lou’s for an intimate version of her song “Creep.” Having seen the crowd jumping and punching the air several minutes prior, it was clear that Walker commanded their every move. Theia was the perfect set to close the Madame Lou's stage—gifting us unmatched energy, compelling culture, and the bravery to be your fucking self.  Theia performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Theia performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS TOKiMONSTA TOKiMONSTA performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS Hailing from Los Angeles, TOKiMONSTA (also known as Jennifer Lee), headlined the Crocodile’s mainstage Sunday night. Lee, a first-generation Korean American, is a captain in the EDM scene. Lee’s funk, rap, and R&B-inspired beats drew the largest crowd of the weekend and turned the Croc into Seattle’s hottest club for her 30-minute set. TOKiMONTA’s recent music has been particularly cathartic for the performer. Having been diagnosed with Moyamoya disease, Lee underwent two brain surgeries in 2016 which briefly left her unable to comprehend language. After two months, OKiMONSTA pushed herself to write again. Lee says the experience has made her music progressively more introspective and “precious.” Indeed, because she implements sounds of water and wildlife into her songs, closing your eyes during a TOKiMONSTA set transfers you to a whole new universe of twangy cosmic synth. It was clear the crowd was cheering for her music, but also for her resilience and the art she has fought so hard to create. TOKiMONSTA performing at Belltown Bloom 2024. BRITTNE LUNNISS

Joining the Hive with the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association
I dove into the beekeeping world at a time when I was untangling myself from my own hive. by Nathalie Graham I hurried through the arboretum. I caught glimpses of the fresh blooms in Rhododendron Glen. I paid tribute to the last petals clinging to the towering camellia bushes as I brushed past.  Breathing heavy, I jogged into the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association (PSBA) apiary. For my latest exploration into Seattle subcultures, I got into the hives with Seattle’s hobbyist beekeepers.  Former apiary manager and 12-year veteran hobbyist beekeeper Maureen Sullivan asked that I not reveal the exact apiary location because the last time someone wrote about the apiary, queen bees from three hives went missing. And queens are expensive. These ones were around $60 a queen. “People came in and stole them,” Sullivan said. (If you are reading this, please do not steal any queens.) “We can’t have this fenced off,” she gestured to the grassy area lined with stacks of bee boxes. “There’s been damage, people tip hives while jumping over them—frat boys. It’s really sad.” And yet, frat boys hazing each other by vaulting over bee boxes is the least of the worries for the hobbyist beekeeper in the Pacific Northwest. Beekeeping is hard. Nearly half of all hobbyist beekeepers' hives die each year due to a cocktail of complications including climate change, starvation, and nasty mite infestations. To complicate things, Seattle’s climate is not one preferred by honeybees, all of which are non-native. Yet, there are a lot of beekeepers here. That’s why clubs such as the PSBA are important. Together, the beekeepers help each other, through shared knowledge and resources, to keep their bees alive.  Stop fucking with hives, frat boys! NATHALIE GRAHAM "The Craziest Beekeeper I Know" To get the beekeeping buzz, I talked with Dawn Beck, a retired accountant and former chief financial officer at Shoreline Community College. Beck is now the president of PSBA, the manager of two other bee groups in Washington, a board member of the Washington State Beekeepers Association, and a delegate to the American Beekeeping Federation.  “I’m one of the craziest beekeepers I know,” Beck said. “I’m involved in so, so many things. It’s almost more of a full-time job now. I just love it.” Beck manages around 50 hives. Each hive has around 30,000 to 50,000 bees. That’s, as she put it, a lot of bees.  “I just like taking care of things,” Beck said. But, it’s more than that. Beck loves learning. In the eight years since she’s been keeping bees, Beck earned a master beekeeper certificate from the University of Montana, and she’s currently in the process of earning a master beekeeping certificate from Cornell University.   Beck’s accountant friend, Elizabeth Schirmer, introduced her to the hobby. Schirmer and her husband, Pat Schirmer, who works at Boeing, started keeping bees back in 2007 when they went to a beekeeping class on Phinney Ridge one Wednesday instead of their typical Wednesday evening sail.  “Once I started doing it, I’ve always done it,” Pat said. “My only regret is I didn’t start sooner.” Pat loves the sound, he loves the way the gear and the hive parts make the garage smell. At their house in Ballard, the hives sit outside the sliding glass door which leads to their bedroom. The hum of the bees creates the perfect white noise for an afternoon nap, he said. One year—in 2009—the pair owned a stack of hives eight high. They produced 150 gallons of honey that year.   Elizabeth and Pat both said Beck’s hobbies always absorbed her, it’s just who she is. Once she got a taste for it, Beck threw herself into beekeeping, which was a challenge at first. “It’s really hard to learn,” Beck said. “Because I was working full-time still when I was starting, I didn’t have the time to dedicate and I didn’t have a mentor.” Now retired in the Skagit Valley with her own bees, Beck dedicates her time to making it easier for people like her to get started.  “I spend a lot of time mentoring and teaching other people so they don’t have to learn the hard way,” she said. Happy birthday, honey bees. NG Bee Talk A crowd of nearly 30 people gathered in a room at the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture for the PSBA’s monthly meeting. Twenty more tuned in via Zoom. Trays of cheeses and fruits, a hot water kettle, a variety of Trader Joe’s teas, and a half-empty jar of PSBA honey dotted the counter. Multiple attendees wore socks with sandals. I counted at least four bee shirts.  The nearly three-hour affair covered community updates, beginning beekeeper lessons, hive advice, and a bee talk from Beck, who shared a presentation on the varroa mite, the thing she believes is responsible for mass-hive death.  Beck, who has blonde hair with some pink streaks in it, started her presentation with bee anatomy, specifically a part of each bee called the fat body, which produces a ton of necessary protein as well as natural inoculative properties for bees. The bees share this produced substance with the whole hive. Bees live an average of six to eight weeks, but if they were to keep their fat body for themselves instead of feeding the whole colony, they would live for two years, Beck said. She hit on the selflessness of bees and the altruistic behavior necessary for colony survival.  I thought about the group of people in this room, smiling to myself when considering how similar they were to the hives of bees they tended.  The varroa mite, Beck said, consumes this fat body when it latches onto the bees. This stunts bee growth, starves colonies, weakens their immunity, and makes them less sturdy for the winter. Thus, the mass die-off. Beekeepers must regularly check for and manage mites if they want their hives to survive, Beck said. Brian Silverstein, who works in tech, started beekeeping when he moved up to Seattle four years ago. “My wife and I have been interested in trees and plants and bugs and stuff forever,” he said. So, when his wife found PSBA, it was only natural they’d get their own bugs.  The PSBA is a community invested in everyone’s well-being—or, at least, the well-being of their hives.  “There are some people here who have been keeping bees since before you or I was born,” Silverstein said. “Everyone loves to share their information. I bought my first bees from someone I met here.” Bruce Becker, for instance, is an attorney who started beekeeping in 1968, when he was 14 years old. His dad’s uncle kept bees on Bainbridge Island and, so, as soon as he had enough money to do so, Becker bought himself a hive. He made his own hive tools, many of which he still has today.  “I enjoy parts of [beekeeping]” Becker, wearing a faded KUOW hat, said, his sense of humor wry. “I’m getting to the point where it’s harder to do the things I could do 10 years ago.” Hives for days. NG Having help from the PSBA community, or from family, comes in handy.  Silverstein and his wife work together on the hives at their Northgate home.  “My eyes are terrible,” Silverstein said, “When you’re doing your hive inspections, you know, you’re looking for larvae, you’re looking for eggs—I can’t see eggs. I can either get out my phone and take pictures and look at them later, or [my wife] comes along and I pull the frame out of the hive and I say, ‘Here, are there any eggs on there? Any larvae on there?’” Sam Culliton, a commercial diver, started beekeeping at his home in Shoreline last summer after buying bees from a PSBA member. He already has two hives, both which survived the winter.  “It’s a little bit like a puzzle,” Culliton said. “A lot of people are really attracted to the honey side—that’s totally a side thing for me. I love learning about it.” The PSBA and its members have a wealth of information which Culliton absorbs. He’s sharing that information with his family. Of his two kids, his daughter is the one who’s really taken to it.  “It is amazing seeing some of the things she asks about and some of the things that I share with her that she—we have other neighborhood kids who come by to see [the bees] and I hear her telling them the same things,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Wow, not only did she actually listen, but she cares enough to share with others.’ If that was all I got from [beekeeping] that would be awesome.” Hi from the hive. NG Apiary Day The PSBA apiary hosts two hands-on learning sessions a month, however, if the weather is below 55 degrees and if it’s raining, class won’t happen.  The day I joined the apiary work party was the day PSBA introduced three new hives. Over the winter, three of PSBA’s hives died, one from starvation, another from a mite explosion, and the last hive got stuck under sponges placed in the hive for treatment and, well, also starved. Lots of hives die over the winter. “What nobody talks about in beekeeping is drudgery,” Sullivan said. “It’s just drudgery. It’s not high drama. It’s not romantic. You spend a lot of time cleaning your gear, scraping your gear, worrying about your bees. I wake up and worry about mine.” Still, people bee keep. “There is a lot of beekeeping in Seattle,” Sullivan said, “and we just hope people get the education they need instead of, like, going off of Martha Stewart—not that I don’t love Martha Stewart, but did you ever look at that article where she’s on the front? She’s got her bee suit all pinned in the back so tight and fitted, and it’s like, ‘You can’t move in that.’” The key to being a good beekeeper, according to Sullivan, is being responsible. And being responsible means learning how to tend to your bees.  The work parties are essential to beekeeping education. Anyone can join, regardless of if they have bees.  Emma Cutner, 23, a recent college grad who worked on a beekeeper’s farm last summer in France, came for more beekeeping experience. She asked people hawking honey at local farmers markets whether she could help them with their bees. Someone pointed her to PSBA. She, admittedly, doesn’t even really like the taste of honey. She likes being around the bees. “It just smells almost nostalgic,” Cutner said. “Like when you were playing in your yard as a kid. The bees smell like outside.” For two hours under the mild spring sun, the nine or so of us in attendance transferred bees to their new hives.  This involves dumping small boxes filled to the brim with buzzing bees into a hive box and introducing a queen. The queens are trapped inside, too, but in a separate, tinier box. The hive learns about her this way, and, if they like her pheromone mix, they cling to her small cage as if pledging fealty. The beekeeper whacks the bigger box full of lesser bees, shaking it until a bee deluge pours out of a round hole in the box’s base with a “whoomph.” Those bees fill the beehive box. Beekeepers then remove the stopper to the queen’s tiny cage and replace it with—you guessed it—a little marshmallow. The beekeeper adjusts the panels inside the hive, places the caged queen in the middle, and closes the lid. The queen’s subjects, her worker bees, will then eat the marshmallow and free her from her small prison.  Eat the marshmallow, free the queen. NG I pulled on a loaner bee suit, slipping into the too-big meshy fabric (Martha Stewart would never). Apiary manager Kathleen DeVilbiss zipped my hood shut. She wore rubber bands around her ankles, presumably to keep the bees from crawling up her legs. I didn’t have any rubber bands for my pant cuffs. I hoped for the best. “The first time you start touching bees is always pretty amazing,” DeVilbiss said. I filled the hive full of newly transferred bees with the panels we removed, edging the bee-covered panels closer to make everything fit with a hive tool, a long flat metal instrument. The air coming off the hive felt hot and frenetic, alive with the beat of thousands of wings, the whir of a hive disturbed. Every time I moved my head, the movement of my bangs inside my bee suit looked like a bee in my peripheral vision. I quelled any panic, ignoring the phantom feeling of something crawling on the back of my neck. Bees flew around my head, my hands, my arms.  I can't say putting my hands in the hives altered my world much. But, it was the community aspect, both from the bees and the beekeepers, that struck me. I dove into the beekeeping world at a time when I was untangling myself from my own hive. My partner, Harry, and I moved into a house with two of my best friends almost two years ago. This month, we moved out. In that time, we all became close, our routines and lives more intertwined than they'd ever been, a glorious change from the suffocating solitude of the early pandemic. We lent ears to each other's struggles, doled out advice when necessary, gave our time to help with each other's pets, and, sometimes, stole each other's groceries. I'd lived with all of these people before—my friends in college and after, with Harry after that—but, never all together, not like this. In recent months, after getting engaged, Harry and I realized it was time to have our own space again. As we separated our lives, deliberating whose spoons were whose, the grief hit me: I would likely never live like this again. While there is part of me that's excited to only worry about just me and Harry and not our metaphorical hive, it was nice to be surrounded by people who I loved, to live communally in a way that benefited all of us.  Any ideas on which Seattle subculture I should explore next? Want me to tag along with you on your favorite hobby or pastime? Send me tips at playdate@thestranger.com. 

Blowing Minds and Melting Faces
Thunderpussy play Benaroya Hall Friday, May 10, with the Seattle Symphony. by Nathalie Graham Thunderpussy almost didn’t make it. The future looked bright for the band when they released their debut full-length Thunderpussy in 2018. They earned critical acclaim for their riff-filled brand of ’70s-inspired rock, got featured in Rolling Stone as Mike McCready’s “favorite new band,” and ended the year signing to a major label, Republic Records’s subsidiary Stardog. In the years that followed, though, things took a turn. It wasn’t clear whether the band would ever release a second record, let alone exist. But, after years full of heartbreak, loss, and uncomfortable but necessary metamorphosis, Thunderpussy are back, they’re stronger than ever, and they’re ready to blow the lid off Benaroya Hall in May. In the ultimate celebration of the band’s survival, Thunderpussy will (finally!) release their second full-length, West, alongside the full 54-piece Seattle Symphony in a boundary-pushing immersive show. “We’ve had ups and downs and love and loss and transitions,” said the band’s vocalist Molly Sides. “At the end of the day, knowing that I can come home to my community in Seattle as my anchor, as my nest—I want to celebrate that as much as I do the music and the performance and the environment. Benaroya feels like such a special fucking space to do that.” The big, hair-whipping sound of Thunderpussy—Sides’s at-times-crooning, at-times-growling vocals; the stuttering, thumping heartbeat of the drums; the thrill of the electric guitar—has always birthed big, outrageous, over-the-top performances. That’s how Sides intended it.  “We first started Thunderpussy to create a space where people can come in and forget what’s happening out in the world, connect to each other, rock out, dance, and feel something different from before,” she said.  Sides and guitarist Whitney Petty have dreamed of a show like this for years.  “Molly and I have wanted to combine dance and rock in a way that is more orchestral and cinematic and a sort of rock opera,” Petty said. That dream, complete with the orchestra and the dancers, will be coming true on May 10. But it couldn’t have happened without the years-long gauntlet they navigated both as a band and as individuals. Thunderpussy power. Sarah Craig The Gauntlet Sides and Petty founded Thunderpussy about 10 years ago, right around the time when the two first started dating. Sides, from Idaho, and Petty, from Georgia, found each other in Seattle. The two’s love story became intertwined with their independent love affairs with the city. Sides was a dancer at Cornish College of the Arts. Petty had been a deckhand on boats who looked forward to every time the boat docked in Seattle because of the culture and the life in the city. At the first opportunity, she moved to Seattle.  During the pandemic, while working on West, the two broke up. With the split and other challenges the pandemic wrought—they lost their record deal, their agents lost their jobs, and performing live, the band’s lifeblood, was temporarily banned—Thunderpussy’s future looked bleak. “We thought Thunderpussy might disappear,” Petty said. “I definitely didn’t think we’d be able to finish the record, let alone perform together.” “That was another question: ‘Can we continue to do this? Are we making Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours right now?’” Petty said, adding with a laugh, “[That’s] their best record, so I hope we are.”  Then, in 2022, Alice in Chains invited Thunderpussy to open for them on their summer tour.  “It was hard for us to be together and try to dig it out,” Petty explained. “Then, to be onstage together and sing ‘The Cloud’ together—that was our love song—how are we supposed to do it?” But, they couldn’t pass up the opportunity. They performed and things felt normal. “It was fucking sun and rainbows and everyone was happy,” Petty said.  Petty’s voice caught in her throat as she talked about the breakup. While things are much healthier between the two now, she still feels the pain. “Losing the relationship between Molly and I was a huge loss,” she said. “That will be present for a long time in my life. It’s been devastating in so many ways—and beautiful in so many others that we continue to fucking love each other.” West was born out of this loss as well as the grief both Sides and Petty experienced when their last living grandparents died.  “Isn’t it weird that you feel all of a sudden like a grown-up when you lose your last ties to your parents’ parents?” Petty asked. Even though both she and Sides are in their mid-to-late thirties, they both felt a weird maturation that came with this grief.  The album is about maturing, Petty explained, both personally and as artists. She said she started writing one of the songs, “Misty Morning,” almost 10 years ago, but she wasn’t a talented-enough writer or guitarist to finish it back then.  “This record has absolutely been an exercise in patience,” Petty said.  For Sides, West is “fueled by a color wheel of emotions. It’s a labor of love and grief and sadness and every emotion in between. COVID shattered everything apart. Now we get to put the pieces back together again to make everything glow. To bring light into the darkness we’ve been in.” Rock out with your Thunderpussy out. Sarah Craig Blowing Minds and Melting Faces Around 40% of the shows the Seattle Symphony presents are “pop culture” shows rather than classical music, according to Carissa Castaldo, popular programming administrator at the Seattle Symphony and Benaroya Hall. But “it is not every day that an orchestra gets to drop a pop album to the public,” Castaldo wrote in an email.  A symphony collaboration like this album debut allows a completely different experience from a regular show, Castaldo explained.  “More and more, we are finding pop artists who want to collaborate with a symphony because they are craving a more robust musical presentation—something that cannot be done in a big arena and that makes the audience focused on the music versus the production,” she said.  The collaboration only happened because Sides made it happen. Working with Andrew Joslyn, a Seattle-area composer and producer who arranged the strings for West, the two went to the Symphony with the idea for the show. Sides made a PowerPoint presentation. She hopped on a litany of conference calls.  “I feel so incredibly grateful that they’re taking a chance on us, that they’re open to saying ‘Thunderpussy’ in the campaign and the marketing,” Sides said.  The Thunderpussy name has been polarizing since the band’s inception—it took five years and two US Supreme Court Cases before they could legally trademark the name for the first time in 2020. Now, the symphony is fully embracing it, though admittedly, “it took a minute for some staff to get used to hearing ‘Thunderpussy’ in meetings,” Castaldo said.  “I feel like this has been such a new can of worms that has opened for everybody and we’re all ready to get into the can together and shake it up,” Sides said.  One of the most gratifying parts of this experience for Sides has been communicating with the symphony about her vision.  When describing how she envisioned the orchestral arrangement of the song “Misty Morning,” Sides didn’t speak in “music terms.” Instead, she explained it as a feeling: “Like walking through a thick fog to the center of the witch’s brew.” And the symphony understood. “They’re like ‘That’s what we’re going for!’ I feel very David Lynch in that way.”  She hopes that witchy feeling, and all the other feelings embedded in this production, come across to the audience. She’s been working nonstop on the show to ensure the result is far more than just a concert. “My hope is we are creating an environment—it is not a show, it is not a performance—it is an all-encompassing, all-embracing, supportive environment,” she said.  That means dance performances before the show, during the show, and after the show from local dancers and choreographers Alice Gosti and Amy J. Lambert.  Sides wouldn’t say much more about the performances except that “Thunderpussy is taking over Benaroya Hall. The whole hall.” In the meantime, the band, which also includes bassist Leah Julius and drummer Michelle Nuño, is rehearsing like crazy so they can “blow minds and melt faces,” Petty said. They’ll only rehearse twice with the full symphony before showtime, so that independent work is crucial.  Petty said that Thunderpussy had gotten to a point where they knew each other so well that they could just show up to a show without rehearsing and nail it. This show won’t be like that, she said.  “We are going to rehearse our butts off for this like it’s our first-ever show,” Petty said. “This is probably the most important thing I’ve done in my life.” Whatever happens on May 10, you can bet your ass it will be one of a kind.  “We try to thread the line between classy and trashy, swanky and janky,” Sides said. “This feels more classy, and yet still a little unhinged.” Thunderpussy play Benaroya Hall Friday, May 10, with the Seattle Symphony. Tickets are available at seattlesymphony.org.

The Top 35 Events in Seattle This Week: May 6–12, 2024
Seattle International Film Festival, Thunderpussy with the Seattle Symphony, and More by EverOut Staff Happy Monday! Start your week off right with our roundup of all the best things to do, from the kick-off of the 2024 Seattle International Film Festival to Thunderpussy with the Seattle Symphony and from Michelle Wolf to Melanie Martinez: The Trilogy Tour. Still sorting out your Mother's Day plans? Check out our calendar for ideas. MONDAY FILM Uncropped with Tricia RomanoFormer Stranger editor-in-chief Tricia Romano, who recently penned The Freaks Came Out to Write: The Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture, will offer an in-person Q&A session at this screening of the Wes Anderson-produced documentary Uncropped. The flick follows "legendary" Village Voice photojournalist James Hamilton, whose subjects included everyone from Hitchcock and Meryl Streep to LL Cool J. Hamilton reflects on the coolest collaborators and most notable images of his 40-year career, which spanned New York City's "heyday" of alternative print media. LINDSAY COSTELLO(Grand Illusion, University District)

Slog AM: North Bend Zebra Captured, Israel Orders Evacuations in Rafah, Trump Violates Gag Order Again
The Stranger's morning news round-up. by Nathalie Graham Zebra nabbed: All illegal frolics must come to an end. On Friday, a group of "ordinary folks" and animal control wrangled the North Bend zebra, who had been on the loose for about a week after escaping from a trailer. Apparently, the zebra, who locals dubbed Z, is actually named Sugar, or Shug, for short. Shug's off to Montana now, the place she and her zebra friends were headed when they broke loose from the trailer transporting them last week.  Israel ground invasion seems imminent: Israel ordered the evacuation of around 100,000 Palestinians living in Rafah, the southern city in Gaza where 1.4 million Palestinians originally fled to avoid conflict with Israel. Now, Israel is telling people in parts of Rafah to evacuate to Muwasi, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone already packed with hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in squalid conditions. With these evacuation orders, an Israel ground invasion into Rafah seems imminent despite warnings from Israel's international allies.  Al Jazeera shut down in Israel: Just before the new evacuation orders, Israel shut down Qatari-based news organization Al Jazeera within its borders and seized communications equipment. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a tweet, "The government headed by me unanimously decided: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel." Al Jazeera has been largely responsible for dogged on-the-ground coverage and the world's understanding of the actual goings-on of the war. Al Jazeera called the closure of its Israeli operation a "criminal act." Banning the press and stifling speech is not something a democracy does.  No campus-wide commencement for Columbia: The university announced Monday it was canceling its main commencement ceremony on May 15 and instead will focus on smaller "school-based celebrations," according to NBC News. The commencement pivot comes after weeks of high-tension protests on the campus. Columbia said security concerns were a main factor in the decision.  A hopeful weather week: This week will start off colder and wetter. Each day, however, should get progressively warmer and drier until, around Saturday, we hit the 80s in Seattle. Wow, summer already!  We are going to go from winter to summer weather in the span of 6 days. The Sunday high of 51° in Seattle is the normal high for February 18th to 25th. The forecast high of 79° Friday is the normal high in Seattle for July 21st through August 9th. Today, showery and cool. #wawx pic.twitter.com/0t7Yyodypp — NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) May 6, 2024 Harrell adds $100 million to transportation levy: Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell's proposed eight-year transportation plan initially drew complaints because the $1.35 billion plan didn't increase funding for transportation investments, rather, the plan maintained the same investments as the prior transportation levy. The initial draft focused on bridge maintenance and road repair. Hearing the disappointment in the public, Harrell added $100 million to the plan's budget, money which will focus on building out sidewalks, and further pedestrian and transportation improvements. Do we... gotta hand it to him here?  Semi truck crashes on Aurora Ave: An overloaded semi truck smacked into three power poles along Aurora Avenue and knocked out power for around 800 people on Sunday evening.  France reclaims important title: Finally, the French can claim they have baked the world's longest baguette. For five years, Italy held the coveted title. Now, after baking a 461-foot baguette, French bakers have reclaimed the title. Since scale is important here, I'll tell you that this behemoth baguette is around 235 times longer than a typical baguette. Maybe the French should consider making baguette length an official unit of measurement. A different issue for a different time.   Shame on you, evil chicken nugget company: Tyson Foods, which it turns out produces more meat than just chicken nuggets and is the world's second-largest meat producer, is dumping its toxic waste into America's rivers and lakes. According to The Guardian, over the last five years, Tyson dumped "millions of pounds of toxic pollutants... including nitrogen, phosphorus, chloride, oil, and cyanide" into American waterways. Tyson's toxic wastewater could fill "132,000 Olympic-size pools." Tyson's actions are a symptom of historically lax environmental regulations on the meat industry, a legislative softness that is in itself a symptom of effective lobbying efforts on behalf of that industry.  Floods in Brazil: Heavy rains in the southern Brazil state of Rio Grande do Sul have killed 78 people so far and have displaced more than 115,000 people.  "We never thought we would go through this." The death toll from floods in southern Brazil has increased to 75, with more than 88,000 people displaced after days of torrential rain, local authorities say. pic.twitter.com/LrjqfNh95E — DW News (@dwnews) May 5, 2024 Car crashes into White House gate: A car crashed into a White House barricade at around 10:30 pm on Saturday. The driver was killed on impact. Security Service determined there was no threat and the crash was merely a traffic incident.  Trump's weak gag reflex: Donald Trump violated the gag order in his hush money case once again and was fined $1,000. Last week, he violated the gag order—"which bars him from making incendiary comments about jurors, witnesses and other people closely connected to the case"—nine times. He paid $9,000 for those fines. The judge reprimanded Trump Monday and said more violations could result in jail time.  A song for your Monday: Listen, I didn't realize the Kendrick vs. Drake beef would turn into multiple diss tracks when I linked one here on Friday. The discourse is now too thick for me to wade into with any authority, so I will not be linking any more diss tracks. So, let's see, um. How about this song? Do you like this song?

Derek Sheen and Dewa Dorji Added to Saturday’s Undisputable Geniuses of Comedy Show
Tickets are still available for $25! by Megan Seling Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, Sam Miller, our scheduled comedy headliner, will not be able to perform as originally planned. In place of Sam, we are thrilled to announce that Dewa Dorje and Derek Sheen—two former beloved comedy Geniuses—have been added to the lineup. These two incredibly funny humans are sure to bring you some laughs along with our other Geniuses! We apologize for this last-minute changeup and appreciate your understanding and support. We can't wait to see you all tomorrow for an incredible show! Grab your tickets here.

This Week in Seattle Food News
Kedai Makan Expands to Belltown, Hey Bagel Is Coming, and Renee Erickson Announces Three Restaurants by EverOut Staff Welcome to May! The local food scene is abuzz with activity this week, as the beloved Kedai Makan opens a Belltown location, the pop-up Hey Bagel plans a U Village storefront, and famed chef and restaurateur Renee Erickson announces three upcoming restaurants in Pioneer Square. Plus, find out where to get Star Wars-themed treats this Saturday. For more ideas, check out our food and drink guide. NEW OPENINGS  Jack's BBQJack Timmons's Texas-style barbecue joint plans to debut a new Eastside location next Thursday, May 9, serving steak, fried chicken, and breakfast tacos in addition to its signature smoked meats.Redmond