Seattle Spin: What's Happening this Week

Music: Physchobilly Brawl, Feb 19^th, $8.  More bands on this ticket than protesters at Westlake Center.  A twelve band line-up for an all-ages show, so you can rock out with your own kids and show them how it's done, old-school style.  By the time you amortize these dozen bands over the cost of the ticket, this is probably the best entertainment value in Seattle all month.

Film: The Kids Are Alright, Feb 18^th - 19^th, $7.50, by the NW Film Forum.  Witness The Who in all their explosive, magnificent glory and rise to rock dominance.  Being shown in a fully restored, brand new print, this is the closest you'll ever come to the wild theatrics, both on and off stage, of one of the greatest bands to ever smash a guitar.   

Outdoor Activity: Washington Park Arboretum tour, Feb 20^th (and every first and third Sunday of the month), free, starts at 1 PM.  Even at this time of year, the Arboretum is still a wonderful place to stroll outside, 230 acres of trees and forests.  Walking through it feels a bit like strolling through Central Park in New York City - it's refreshing to take in such a wonderful oasis in the middle of an urban landscape. 

Party: Guerilla Masquerade Party, Monsters of Rock bash, Feb 19^th.  If dressing up in costume only for Halloween doesn't scratch your itch, then get your outfit out of the closet once again and party with these gentile folks.  Join the monsters of rock (literally) as Dracula, the Bride of Frankenstein, and the rest of the ghoulish crew party out at this bash.

Family Activity: Chinese Garden Lantern Festival, Feb 20^th, $5.  Concluding the celebration of the new year of the rooster.  Watch dance performances and sample traditional Chinese new year foods.  Kids make paper lanterns and watch calligraphy demonstrations.

Conference: Women of Wisdom, Feb 16^th - 21^st, cost varies.  If you've got ovaries, then they've got you covered: everything of financial, spiritual, marriage and motherhood, mental, and physical health and well being for women.  Not a man bashing event, but instead concentrating on the positives of being a women.  Go for sisterhood, mutual strengthening, and seeking solutions to common challenges and concerns.

Festival: Festival Sundiata, Feb 19^th - 20^th, free.  Continuing black history month, a two day celebration of culture: drumming, dance, discussions, musical performance, art and photo exhibits, foods, children's crafts.  There is no shortage of activities or pride at this event. 

Class: City Chickens 101, Feb 19^th, 10 AM, at Bradner Gardens Park.  Everything tastes like chicken, so you might as well learn to grow them yourselves.  Growing chickens is kinda a hoot in itself, but certainly not without challenges (their noise, they poop alot.)  Learn how to grow chickens in your postage stamp lot with minimum hassle that'll have you savoring your next BBQ.  Besides, food always taste a bit better when you grow it yourself.

Expo: Seattle International Bicycle Expo, Feb 19^th - 20^th, $7.  Celebrate all things bicycle, with presentations and over 130 exhibitors.  With the nice weather coming out and the latent New Year's resolutions to lose weight, now's the time to get your bicycle out of the garage and get going again.  We certainly have a lot of beautiful roads to explore in our area, so here's one way to explore our scenery.

History: Genealogical Research Class, Feb 14^th, 23^rd, 26^th, and 29^th, time varies, at the Auburn Library, free.  Volunteers from the Genealogical Society answer questions on using databases and other resources.  Now go look up all of the goofballs in your family tree.

Performance: Gong Jam, Feb 15^th (every Tuesday), free.  At one moment, you're in the audience; the next, you joining the performers on stage.  Following a set of rules, the performers add or subtract members from the audience.  For everyone who's ever wanted to say once, "Hey man, I'm with the band!"

Organization: Party Volcano, a cool text weekly email list of what's happening this weekend in Seattle.  Party Volcano focuses on smaller gatherings: clubs, art shows, readings, CD release parties, dances, fashion shows, neighborhood gatherings, and such.  They capture the city's most interesting events.  If you think the weekend newsletters from NW Source, Seattle CitySearch, and Seattle Insider tend to be bland and heavy on safe, mainstream events, then subscribe to this list. 

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Dive Bars
Dive bars are a staple of American culture.  Reminiscent of the old “speakeasies,” some of our most beloved writers, poets and musicians call dive bars their “home away from home;” where they go to relax, write and meet up with other free thinkers.  No matter how gritty, earthy, graffitied or smelly the bathrooms, no matter how colorful or surly the regulars are, we are drawn at times in our lives, back to the dive bars for comfort, for barroom games and laughs with our friends, in a comfy, non-judgmental environment.  In these last few weeks of gray rainy days before Spring, entertain yourself with a night of pool, darts, pinball or whatever your game at one of Seattle’s best dive bars.

The Blue Moon:  This official Seattle landmark opened its doors in 1934 and is fantastic for taking a trip back in time (but not so good if you’re out for a night of barroom games).  Johnny Cash croons in the backdrop of nostalgic rusty metal ashtrays, visions of Ginsburg, and 17 draft beers, while the colorful clientele go about their ordinary political discourse of solving the world’s problems while others just curse loudly at each other in drunken disgust.  This dive is still a place for writers and free thinkers everywhere and hosts weekly “Grateful Dead” Sunday nights.

The Eastlake Zoo:  Don’t mind the fruit flies buzzing ‘round your pint, or the unfriendly but tame bartender behind the bar - they’re part of this dive’s charm.  This place has an “east coast” feel and is a thrifty barroom gamer’s heaven!  They have five pool tables at only $.50 a game, but in true dive fashion, you have to really jiggle the coin slot to get the last ball to come out of these old machines, and good luck getting a full set of balls – you may have to scavenge from the other tables to pull together a “regulation set.”  There’s good Blues playing all night, three dart boards, two of the coolest pinball machines on the planet (Indiana Jones and The Adams Family), and uncommonly, shuffleboard and a snooker table. 

The Alki Tavern:  Where else can you meet a cute 50-something beach bum biker who snuck out on his old lady in his bare feet (so he wouldn’t wake her) on a chilly, soggy Seattle winter night to go to his “home away from home,” and tell you that you are his buddy’s “soul mate”?  This place is home to Alki Beach’s bikers.  They’re a fun, loveable bunch; cute waitresses and a cool crowd to hang with over a couple of pints while they tell you the legend of every burn-out tire mark on the floor.  One pool table, one dartboard, and one of the fastest pinball machines we’ve ever seen… Guns and Roses!  Don’t miss Thursday nights where tacos and Wimpy Burgers are only $1.00.