WEDNESDAY 7/22
Bellevue Arts Museum
Work by Michael Madzo, on view at
Bellevue’s Artsfair.
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Blogging: Generation Overshare
These days, everyone's got a blog. The Washington State Department of Transportation has one. I know an 8-year-old who has six of them—that's three more than Seattle Weekly. They're used for everything from investigative journalism to knitting instructions. Yet 15 years ago, no one knew what they were. How then did they rise so far so fast? And what happened to them as they rose? Scott Rosenberg's new book, Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters (Crown, $26), looks at the rise of blogging, from a few instances of techie newsletters and college-student tell-all confessionals to today's infinitely diverse blogosphere. It's a worthwhile retrospective for anyone with an interest in online content. Which is to say pretty much all of us. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., 634-3400, bookstore.washington.edu. Free. 7 p.m. DAMON AGNOS
THURSDAY 7/23
Outdoor Movies/Beer: Don't Make Me Stop This Car!
Chevy Chase doesn't believe in the '80s. Or maybe he doesn't believe in his 1983 hit Vacation, in which he, ever the ironic boomer, plays the father on the hellish kind of family road trip he likely endured in the '50s. Thus he's both smirking at the paternal role and overinhabiting it. He's the married man (to Beverly D'Angelo) and father (to Anthony Michael Hall), but he's also wildly faking his part, as in Fletch, not wanting to be a prisoner to the whole suburban station wagon–driving dad thing. Maybe for that reason, the movie—which begins the Thursday night Moonlight Cinema series (through Aug. 27)—was hugely popular, spawning two sequels that collectively spanned the Reagan era. Chase's Clark Griswold is a hero for those times: stubborn, unprepared, overly sure of himself, more than a little stupid, yet still smiling and likable—not unlike the Gipper himself. And if you're wondering when they'll get around to remaking Vacation, they already have. Remember? It was called Little Miss Sunshine. Yes, you can bring your own food (or do take-out from Forecaster's Pub), but no outside booze—the beer garden provides that at $4 per glass. (R) Redhook Ale Brewery, 14300 N.E. 145th St., Woodinville, 425-483-3232, redhookmoonlightcinema.com. $5. Gates open at 6 p.m.; movie at dusk. BRIAN MILLER
FRIDAY 7/24
Dance: Hot Steps
Selena's Guadalajara is a small Mexican restaurant that's easy to overlook as you drive past on North 45th Street. If you haven't eaten there, you're not really missing much. But if you like salsa dancing and you haven't been there, you should remedy the situation immediately. On weekends, the waitstaff clears away the tables, hits the lights, and starts up the fog machine to transform the restaurant into a dance club. A DJ spins rare salsa records from the '60s and '70s, including plenty of upbeat numbers and the occasional schmaltzy ballad. Selena's is friendly and familial. The patrons are truly there to dance—not to get wasted and hit on one another. And while it draws a predominantly Hispanic crowd, everybody is welcomed with open arms. But novices be warned: Feisty (and slightly intimidating) restaurant owner Laura Santibañez often sneaks away from her bartending duties to salsa with her customers—and she doesn't take no for an answer. Selena's Guadalajara, 1715 N. 45th St., 632-7858. $10. 10 p.m.–2 a.m. ERIKA HOBART
Arts Festivals: Bellevue Bohemia
Artsfair has been taking place in Bellevue since 1947, and this year it features 90 new exhibitors among more than 300 juried artists, both local and national. One of this year's prizewinners is Whittier, Calif., jeweler Eric Silva, whose chunky, dramatic sculptural pieces incorporate antlers, recycled wood, and semiprecious stones. One of his necklaces features a string of oversized aquamarine beads disappearing into a deer-antler Y; oxidized stainless-steel loops hang from the bottom of the antler, while the whole thing is clasped together with ruby-tipped sterling-silver circles. At the other artist booths, you'll find wooden teakettles, unusual knit scarves, nested ceramic bowls, and playful glass vases, as well as painting, photography, and prints. It's an indoor/outdoor fest (through Sunday), with food booths and stuff for the kids, too. Exhibits and activities extend to Bellevue Square; just north of the mall, at Cost Plus World Market, the crafts-oriented Bellevue Festival of the Arts runs concurrently. Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., 425-519-0770, bellevuearts.org. Free. 9:30 a.m.–9:30 p.m. ADRIANA GRANT
Lynch Fest: Hollywood in Her Head
This year's Twin Peaks Festival will be a smaller, scaled-down celebration: no visits from the Log Lady or behind-the-scenes docs about the beloved former TV series filmed out near North Bend. Instead, here's a chance for David Lynch aficionados to gather with their kind to watch Mulholland Drive. (Which, BTW, began as the pilot for another TV series.) After the screening, viewers can adjourn afterward to SAM's Taste cafe to discuss what exactly that 2001 mind-twister actually means. Just how innocent is Naomi Watts' aspiring starlet? Is she inside the story or outside of it, rewriting her script as she'd like to see those Tinseltown dreams realized? And what crime are she and Laura Elana Harring actually investigating? Then there's the mystery of Billy Ray Cyrus: Has he ever been deployed to better effect? I think not. (R) Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., 654-3121, seattleartmuseum.org. $8–$10. 7:30 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
