WEDNESDAY 10/18
(FOOD) Bagels in the morning, bagels in the evening, bagels at suppertime... when bagels (and burritos!) are on this Ballard joint's new nocturnal menu, you can have them anytime! For the month of October, Rachel's Bagels & Burritos will open each Wednesday night, serving spent grain pretzel pizza bagels and tortilla-wrapped delights stuffed with beans, rice, cheese, cabbage, spicy lime shallots, sour cream, and your choice of filling, with options ranging from braised brisket to smoked chicken and kimchi. If you're craving a cozy night in, simply pick up one of their DIY nacho kits and a can or two of Elliott Bay Brewing's Fresh Hop IPA and call it a day. (Rachel's Bagels and Burritos, 5451 Leary Ave NW, 5-8 pm, all ages) JULIANNE BELL
THURSDAY 10/19
(MUSIC) Earshot's world-class jazz festival begins Thursday and runs until November 5. As always, it's impossible to list in an adequate fashion all that must not be missed. So, I will just mention two shows. One is the tribute to the under-appreciated genius Mary Lou Williams, a mid-century jazz pianist. Do you know August Wilson's play The Piano Lesson? It was based on a collage by Romare Bearden titled "The Piano Lesson (Homage to Mary Lou)." Ann Reynolds, a local pianist, will make present the ghost of Williams, who was also a composer and instructor. The festival also includes the post-soul singer Georgia Anne Muldrow. Her voice? Her style? It sounds like a wind blowing through the music. A forest that's animated by the wind (branches swaying at different rates—suddenly fast, suddenly slow—leaves brushing against each other). Suddenly she is high, suddenly she is strained, suddenly she is frantic, suddenly she is low. And the content of the songs (which is often fragmentary) seems to have little to no influence on these fluctuations. As a consequence (and this is certainly the desired effect), her singing feels less emotional than purely natural, a breeze blowing through the leaves. (Various venues and showtimes, see the full lineup here) CHARLES MUDEDE
FRIDAY 10/20
Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence
(VISUAL ART) SAM's exhibit of Edo-era artist Katsushika Hokusai is about his influence, the ways his wood prints, the most famous of which is the Great Wave, have become a national and global genetic code. Meaning, this show offers something of a glimpse of the evolution of his work during and far beyond Hokusai's time (1760–1849). And this extends from work by his daughter to a Lego version of the Great Wave. (A Great Wave print is also a part of this show.) The exhibit does have a good number of prints by the master himself but most of what's presented are by other artists, in Japan and the West. To get the most out of this dense show, you must have in your mind a firm idea of the master's work, and relate it to those who influenced him and those he influenced. Hokusai is also the artist who gave the erotic world "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife." Yes, that one. The naked woman and the sucking octopus (or octopi—there appear to be two). Sadly, you will not find wood prints of this seedy kind in SAM's show. (Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave, Wed-Sun through January 21, 2024, free-$29.99) CHARLES MUDEDE
SATURDAY 10/21
The 13th Annual International Independent Video Store Day
(FILM/COMMUNITY) October is the first cold month you don't have to feel even a little guilty about socializing less to stay home and watch movies. If you're a physical media freak like me, you'll want to swing by Scarecrow Video on International Independent Video Store Day this Saturday for an event and a big sale on select Criterion films and half-off used items. If you can't make it, there's a livestream with interviews, video montages, and more. Donations on Video Store Day are crucial to keeping Scarecrow alive, so it's the best opportunity to support what you love. (Scarecrow Video, 5030 Roosevelt Way NE, noon, free, but it is a store so...) VIVIAN MCCALL
SUNDAY 10/22
(MUSIC/COMEDY) Musician/comedian/actor/memoirist Reggie Watts is not your father's quadruple-threat entertainer—unless your dad's into surrealist humor, shockingly soulful funk (and parodies thereof), and inventive beatboxing. Watts has maintained busy and varied parallel careers in these fields because his talents are as outsized as his afro. Probably best known to Seattle old-timers as the frontman for popular funk/soul group Maktub, Watts moved to NYC in 2004 and attained virality with hilarious parody tracks “Fuck Shit Stack” and “What About Blowjobs?” Many other incomparable songs (see 2010's Why $#!+ So Crazy?) and stand-up gigs led to Watts earning the bandleader role on The Late Late Show With James Corden in 2014. Watts's musical approach can be summarized by his song title “Pastiche in Lieu of Originality”; but even his self-deprecation is deceptive. Toggling between profundity and absurdity, Watts achieves the miraculous feat of turning spoofs of musical and comedic tropes into works of ridiculous uniqueness. It's hard to predict what Reggie will do onstage at the Moore, but it will certainly involve rarefied fusions of humor and sonics that would make the late Frank Zappa's mustache twitch in approval. (Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave, 7 pm, $36.50, all ages) DAVE SEGAL
MONDAY 10/23
Make a Glass Pumpkin at Seattle Glassblowing Studio
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(VISUAL ART) Halloween is less than two weeks away and you need a pumpkin. Sure, you could bundle up and go out in the cold to stomp around in a muddy field full of rotting corn stalks, or you could go to Seattle Glassblowing Studio in Belltown and make your own WITH MOLTEN GLASS! Fuck yes! You can make a mini solid glass pumpkin ($70) or a larger glass-blown pumpkin ($150) in whatever color combination your Halloween-loving heart desires. With the help of experienced glass artists, you'll get your hands hot while maneuvering a glowing glob of glass goo back and forth between the oven and the workstation to add color, shape, and, of course, a cute curly stem. It's a great activity for a cold, rainy day, too, since the workroom is full of furnaces that run hotter than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. (Seattle Glassblowing Studio, 2227 Fifth Ave, hands-on experiences start at $70 per person, daily 10 am-6 pm) MEGAN SELING
TUESDAY 10/24
(MUSIC) Now that we've all celebrated Death Cab for Cutie's 20-year-old Transatlanticism for its impeccable production, it's time to turn our ears to the future. Or at least the now. Most Transatlanticism fans agree that DCFC's former guitarist and producer Chris Walla was responsible for much of that record's magic—in an interview with Stranger Editor Rich Smith, the band's singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard even said Walla "played the studio like an instrument." Walla's days with Death Cab may be over, but he's still producing (thank goodness), and last year he quietly hunkered down in his famous Seattle studio Hall of Justice to make a record with Chicago's Ratboys. For years I had written Ratboys off as your basic Midwestern indie-kissed pop-punk outfit—good songs for road trips, lyrics that hide real feelings behind playful imagery—fun, but not much depth. The Window is a whole new Ratboys, a collection of songs that face grief and emotions head-on while experimenting with folk, vintage country, and guitar solos. Stop listening to records you loved in high school, and start listening to Ratboys. (Madame Lou's at the Crocodile, 2505 First Ave, 8:30 pm, $18, all ages) MEGAN SELING
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