THURSDAY 9/10
Philip Palermo
You will attend the fair.
The goat commands you.
MGM/UA
Behold! The Swayzecstasy!
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Food/Books: The Critic Unmasked
Frank Bruni, probably still blushing from the longest, warmest sendoff The New York Times has ever bestowed on a departing restaurant critic, is coming to town this week to promote his new book, Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater (Penguin, $25.95). The memoir details an improbable life path from fat kid to binging-purging adolescent to (notably slim) professional critic charged with dining out 10 or more times a week. Now that he's shed his anonymity, Bruni's revealing himself to be a whip-smart, engaging guy, so the Q&A session should be as fun as the reading—unless audience members try to turn it into a weight-control support group. Shout them down with questions about nemesis Jeffrey Chodorow and what Bruni thinks of Times replacement Sam Sifton's anonymity problem. Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St., 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com. Free. 7:30 p.m. JONATHAN KAUFFMAN
Food/Festivals: Hot Little Island
Just when you get jaded by the endless summer parade of obscure ethnic and national festivals, along comes a celebration of a land so isolated, so marginal, so small and obscure that it restores your faith in festivaldom. Thus, A Taste of Iceland! Yes, Iceland, the land of Björk, volcanoes, genome decoding, catastrophic financial meltdowns, and seemingly random diacritical marks. And it is a land worth celebrating with a weekend menu at Ray's designed by chef Thorarinn Eggertsson— of Reykjavík's trendy bistro Orange; yes, we said trendy—that features gray duck, reindeer, and salted cod. Also tonight (beginning at 6:30 p.m.), there's a free program of films at the Varsity that includes the SIFF favorite comedy White Night Wedding, directed by the same guy (Baltasar Kormákur) who did Jar City and 101 Reykjavík. Friday at the Croc, songstress Ólöf Arnalds makes her first-ever Seattle appearance (8 p.m., $10, 21 and over); everybody loved her debut album Við og Við, and not just for the crazy spelling. All of which may put you in the mood to fly the seven and one-half hours from SeaTac to Reykjavík (now that Icelandair has established nonstop service) for next month's Iceland Airwaves music festival to hear Gus Gus and other international bands. It's like Ibiza, with snow. Ray's Boathouse, 6049 Seaview Ave. N.W., 789-3770, icelandnaturally.com. Prices vary. Call for reservations. BRIAN MILLER
FRIDAY 9/11
Fairs: Making Hay
This year's Puyallup Fair begins Western-style with a cattle drive through downtown. (No, there aren't ordinarily cows in the streets of downtown Puyallup.) Tonight's parade also features draft horses and equestrian drill teams; the whole procession launches 17 days of rodeo events, amusement rides, clowns, music, celebrities (well, those guys from Deadliest Catch), and food. (My favorite, though I don't know what they are: Krusty Pups.) 1980s survivor "Weird Al" Yankovic will be presenting the exhibit Al's Brain: A 3-D Journey Through the Human Brain, which may or may not be like a carnival freak show. The family-friendly fair also offers activities like a petting zoo; Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants will also be looking for hugs. For grown-ups, the biggest name in the evening concert series is likely James Taylor (Sat., Sept. 19). Other acts include Crosby, Stills and Nash, LeAnn Rimes, Wynonna (with the Tacoma Symphony!), and hometown girls Heart. (Through September 27). Puyallup Fair & Events Center, 110 Ninth Ave. S.W., 253-841-5045, thefair.com. $8–$11. 10 a.m.–11 p.m. LAUREN LYNCH
Football/Books: The Hawk Scrolls
If you've been searching for a comprehensive, conversational-toned, boosterish history of the Seattle Seahawks, composed entirely of short, bathroom-length entries, search no longer. And yes, that may sound like an absurd "if," but the Hawks are sports lifeblood in these parts, and every fan has memories he or she would like to relive, or even just confirm. Enter television writer Mark Tye Turner and his Notes From a 12 Man: A Truly Biased History of the Seattle Seahawks (Sasquatch, $24.95). Recalling everything from the team's trade of Ahmad Rashad to Steve Largent's epic revenge hit on Denver safety Mike Harden, it's enough to put even the most Cliff Clavin-ish of us to shame. Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St., 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com. Free. 7:30 p.m. DAMON AGNOS
SUNDAY 9/13
Film: The Zen Dancer/Bouncer
"You've got a degree from NYU. What in?" "Philosophy." "Any particular discipline?" "No, not really. Man's search for faith. That sort of shit." Care to guess who that philosopher is, and in what 1989 movie he kicks ass, trades quips with Sam Elliott (long before the Coen brothers got the idea), defeats Ben Gazzara, and wins Kelly Lynch? There can be only one man, one answer, one made poignant by his ongoing struggle with cancer: Patrick Swayze in Road House. Preceded by Dirty Dancing, which you all know by heart, the 1989 Road House finds Swayze in a contemplative mood. He's a man of peace, yet one not afraid to fight. But the true fight, my friend, lies within one's own mind. And the calm Swayze seeks through his mastery of martial arts is a deeply spiritual quest. But men—bad men, ruffians and rednecks—are drawn to his calm. They're unbalanced and volatile; they flow like water to the serene Zen center that is Swayze, so that he, the sensei, can instruct them. Because he has a Ph.D. in ass-whooping. And each beating is a lesson. (Through Wednesday, rated R, 114 minutes.) Central Cinema, 1411 21st Ave., 686-6684, central-cinema.com. $6. 7 and 9:30 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
