WEDNESDAY
MUSIC
RANDY TRAVIS
Here’s conceptual élan: The last song on Rhino’s recent Randy Travis Anthology: Trail of Memories is titled “No Reason to Change,” whichcoming after 43 other songs that basically do the same thingwill make you want to yell, “No shit, Randy!” at your CD player. That same thing, of course, is to sing some of Music Row’s most prime product in a baritone that’s both modest and luxuriant, and to sound both humble and definitive doing it. Count on Travis (pictured) to reprise Memories‘ choicest cuts at this show, from the early, instant-classic country No. 1 “On the Other Hand” to more recent stuff like “Honky Tonk Side of Town” and “Stranger in My Mirror.” 7:30 p.m. Wed., Aug 6. $25-$35. Miracle Ranch, 15999 Sidney Road S.W. (Port Orchard), 206-628-0888. MICHAELANGELO MATOS
FRIDAY
BOOKS
TERI HEIN
Reading Atomic Farmgirl: Growing Up Right in the Wrong Place is like having lunch with an auntie with a remarkable memory for her youthand a youth almost as remarkable as her memory. Hein’s well-written memoir meanders from her Eastern Washington childhood to late-19th- century legends of the Palouse to recent, disturbing events that Hein (pictured) attributes to the radioactive waste discharged by the nearby Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The book is sharply divided between her musings about farm lifesomewhat interesting if only because the author is homegrownand her observations, experiences, and descriptions of the prevalence of cancer in her hometown. The latter are quite scary. 7:30 p.m. Fri., Aug. 8. Free. Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St., 206-624-6600. KENNEDY LEAVENS
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
FILM
THE ROAD WARRIOR
Short as we are on honest action flicks this summer (T3 perhaps excepted), here’s a welcome late-night revival of George Miller’s 1981 dystopia- Down Under epic. Mel Gibson (pictured) reprises and greatly improves upon his Mad Max character from ’79, and Miller too benefits greatly from a bigger budget and canvas upon which to project his under-cranked vehicular mayhem. The pre-CGI car chases are unbelievable, and Miller stages all the action sequences with unmuffled V-8 velocity; this is a movie that never, ever touches the brakes. While the original was rather cheap and corny, and 1985’s Beyond Thunderdome bloated and sentimental, Warrior occupies that cinematic sweet spot between plot (farmers versus bandits) and pure pedal-to-the-metal action. (R) 11 p.m. Fri., Aug. 8-Sat., Aug. 9. $7.50. Grand Illusion, 1403 N.E. 50th St., 206-523-3935. BRIAN MILLER
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
PERFORMANCE
PARTSONG
My guess is that this production by the Testpattern collective will be like any given passage in Matthew Barney’s Cremaster series, i.e., possibly pretentious, probably incoherent, but loaded with the kind of imagery that gets under your skin. The product of three writers, two musicians, a choreographer, and a visual artist responding to the word “obstruction,” Partsong is an installation/ performance thing staged in one of those ominous former military buildings at Sand Point. Hosted by two mysterious men in crisp suits of white twill, each trailing an extra-long sleeve on the floor, the hour-long event will take place in three rooms, including one transformed by artist Elizabeth Jameson into a forest of rock-candy necklaces. Space limited; call for reservations. 9 p.m. Fri., Aug. 8-Sat., Aug. 9 (repeats next weekend). $10. Sand Point Naval Air Station (Magnuson Park), Building 11, 206-405-4382. DAVID STOESZ
SATURDAY
SEAHAWKS
PRESEASON OPENER
The big question this season is whether Seattle’s subpar NFL franchise (7-9 last year) has put together a defense (under new coordinator Ray Rhodes, recently of Denver) to complement a better-than-average offense (ranked seventh, with a team-record 5,818 yards last year) and, overall, prove worthy of Paul Allen’s publicly financed ($300 million) stadium by maybe making the playoffs. In this first preseason matchup, against equally mediocre but aspiring San Diego (8-8), the fifth edition of coach Mike Holmgren’s (pictured) Seahawks is the first to work with him as he concentrates on coaching instead of also serving as the team’s general manager. But don’t expect to see much from the starters this early in the training schedule. 7 p.m. Sat., Aug. 9. $23-$280. Seahawks Stadium, 800 Occidental Ave. S., 888-NFL-HAWK. CHUCK TAYLOR
