CHARLES PETERSON
From Touch Me Im Sick
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THURSDAY
LAUNCH PARTY
TOUCH ME I'M SICK
Charles Peterson is known for capturing the dark, explosive naïveté of Seattle's late-'80s/early-'90s rock scene, but his second photo book, Touch Me I'm Sick, offers a tender, sometimes hysterical perspective on the fashion and culture of the times as well. In one picture, a pair of white high-top BK Knights belonging to a stage diver sails through the air. In another, a face familiar to those who knew the scene sports a jean jacket weighted down by band buttons and sarcastically deep sentiments. Together with pilfered pages from zines of the era, the documents define what this faction of our city was. Though Eddie Vedder's introduction feels half-baked, Peterson's self-portrait and final-page essay are thoughtfully honest and unapologetic; the now-famous photographer is clearly still scratching his head about what it all means. You could write this stuff off as rock memorabilia, but it's cultural anthropology seen through a very keen lens. Launch party featuring Girl Trouble, the Briefs, and DJ Bruce Pavitt: 9 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 23. $6. Crocodile Cafe, 2200 Second Ave., 206-448-2441. LAURA CASSIDY
WEDNESDAY
STAGE
DRACULA
If you've never bitten into Bram Stoker's classic, you've missed the juiciest part the imprisonment and seduction of young solicitor John Harker in the Count's castle, which is usually given only cursory treatment in the book's many adaptations (although Francis Ford Coppola's film version caught some of the horrific kink). Book-It Repertory Theatre, however, always knows where the good stuff lies in a novel, and company member David Quicksall has adapted and staged poor virginal Jonathan's palpitating recollections of his torment for our wicked delight. With Jerry Lloyd as the vampire and the perfectly nebbishy Jonah Von Spreecken as Harker, it should be worth a shiver or two. Previews begin 7:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 22. $15-$26. Center House Theatre, Seattle Center, 206-216-0833. STEVE WIECKING
THURSDAY
FILM
LOCAL ANIMATORS SHOWCASE
Have you ever felt like hooking and reeling in Albert Brooks' piscine character from Finding Nemo, then clubbing him to death while he flops around helplessly in the bottom of your aluminum boat ("No . . . more . . . shtick . . . from . . . you!")? Well, this 85-minute program should satisfy that appetiteand most others. Northwest animators, including Bill Plympton, will be represented with 18 new titles, such as Woke Up Dreaming from Portland's Chad Essley (who drew the image below)a two-and-a-half minute trance/flying dream through forests and over streams, set to lulling techno music. The show is preceded at 7 p.m. by a documentary about an "animated building installation" in Portland. Whatever that is, chances are it's interesting, too. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 23. Free (donations requested). 911 Media Arts Center, 117 Yale Ave. N., 206-682-6522. BRIAN MILLER
SUNDAY
GOSPEL
MAVIS STAPLES
The famed pop-gospel star reached the Top 40 eight times in the early '70s with her family band the Staple Singers. Songs like "I'll Take You There" and "Respect Yourself" had a spiritual subtext that didn't keep them from crossover success (nor keep "I'll Take You There" from being used in a Gap ad last year). While she still sings with her sisters, Mavis (known as "The Voice") started a solo career even before the group hit it big. One of her most recent discs is a tribute to gospel titan Mahalia Jackson, and she's been bringing that show on the road: nothing but her, an accompanist on Hammond B-3, and the traditional spirituals that Jackson made great. As Earshot director John Gilbreath promises: "Souls will be saved. Lives will be changed." Seattle pianist Marc Seales will open with a solo set. 8 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. $24. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 206-547-9787. Part of the Earshot Jazz Festival. MARK D. FEFER
WEDNESDAY
CONTROVERSY
AARON MCGRUDER
You know you're influential when The Washington Post drops your comic strip for a week due to a few harsh words about Condoleezza Rice. The Boondocks, Aaron McGruder's wildly popular strip, is back on the Post's Web site this week, and his second Boondocks collection, A Right to Be Hostile (Crown, $16.95), hit the stands this month with a foreword by (of course) Michael Moore. McGruderwhose hip-hop flavored social-political satire is frequently compared to the late, great Calvin & Hobbesis no stranger to censorship. His particularly sensitive stripsread: antiwar, anti-Bush and friendshave been temporarily cut from a number of major newspapers since the strip began in 1998. Tonight he'll promote the new book and speak on race issues in the media. 7:30 p.m. Wed., Oct. 29. $14. Shoreline Community College, 16101 Greenwood Ave. N., Shoreline, 206-546-4606. KATIE MILLBAUER
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