WEDNESDAY 9/8
Patrick Hagerty
The wool! The glory! The Puyallup Fair!
Dare to Be Square Quilting
Quilts of death!
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Classical: Shouldn't It Be Beer?
I miss the "Day of Music" performance marathons the Seattle Symphony used to begin their seasons with, but they've come up with another idea to get people in the door in a convivial mood: booze. Then once they're liquored up, hit 'em with a bunch of new music! The three concerts in their Beethoven & Wine Festival (Wed.–Fri.) will include three symphonies, a couple of concertos, and a suite from Ludwig's neglected but adorable ballet score The Creatures of Prometheus—plus, on all three nights, Of Paradise and Light by Augusta Read Thomas, the first of the season-long series of 18 (!) Gund/Simonyi Farewell Commissions commemorating Gerard Schwarz's final season as the orchestra's music director. These hour-long, intermissionless concerts start at 7:30 p.m., the tastings ($5 for three pours) start at 6:30 p.m. They lead up to Saturday's official gala opener (7 p.m. Sat.), with premieres by Samuel Jones (a cello concerto for Gerard's son Julian) and Schwarz himself (The Human Spirit, for choir and orchestra). Benaroya Hall, Third Ave. & Union St., 215-4747, seattlesymphony.org. $9–$69. 6:30 p.m. GAVIN BORCHERT
Philanthropy: Drinks for a Cause
Booze and charity go together. Doesn't everyone feel more compassionate after a martini or three? That's the notion behind SW's monthly Happy Hour for Hope, tonight gathering benevolent drinkers at the Bad Monkey Bistro. In fast-changing South Lake Union, with new Amazon towers sprouting left and right, the three-month-old Monkey occupies a low little 1953 office building at the corner of Harrison Street, on the slope where the SLUT heads home to the barn each night. It's easy to miss, but worth visiting for the regular piano-bar nights, karaoke, and sports events on TV. But tonight's focus is on nonprofit networking, and proceeds from the $4 drink menu will benefit the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, whose annual Seattle AIDS Walk—mark it on your calendar—is Saturday, Sept. 25 in Volunteer Park. So you'll have two weeks to recover from your hangover. Bad Monkey Bistro, 400 Boren Ave. N., 467-1111, badmonkeybistro.com and llaa.org. Free. 5–7 p.m. T. BOND
THURSDAY 9/9
Public Art: Into Orbit
Some may complain about the disruption Sound Transit is causing with the walled-off construction pit for its future Capitol Hill Station, scheduled to open in four years. But not animator Clyde Petersen and fellow members of the Seattle Experimental Animation Team. For them, the STart Public Art Program has provided a 19-by-30-foot slab of wall that will, beginning tonight, become a screen on which eight short films will emerge. "It's gigantic," says Peterson of the "Wallrus" site near the northeast corner of Cal Anderson Park. Over the next six months (or less), he'll create a series of colored chalk drawings that will become "an animated music video for The Thermals...placing them in outer space." The Portland band's new album Personal Life launches this week from Kill Rock Stars, and Petersen will painstakingly animate the song "Not Like Any Other Feeling." He notes, "It's about four minutes long. I've never done a project of this scope." Let's do the math: He'll execute 15 drawings for each second of video—that's more than 3,000 unique panels of animation! After each drawing is done, it's photographed with a DSLR from the same fixed position on a tripod. "I'm gonna try to do it as quickly as possible, because of the weather," Petersen explains. "You have to animate when it's not raining." (Through 2014.) Cal Anderson Park, 1635 11th Ave., soundtransit.org. Free. Animation begins at 6 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
FRIDAY 9/10
Crafts: Heavy-Metal Quilter
Some may know the talented Boo Davis for her work as art director for Seattle Weekly. But others who read her recent profile in The New York Times will recognize her as the artist and author of Dare to Be Square Quilting (Potter Craft, $21.99). The how-to component of her book is clearly rooted in customary quilting, with careful diagrams for your cutting and stitching. But her design influences reflect Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Ozzy Osbourne—not your grandmother's cozy template, in other words. The book contains detailed instructions for making quilted robots, throw pillows, shopping bags, and stuffed bunnies. And, of course, quilts. It's a DIY guide well-suited to today's economy, where recycled fabrics can become precious handmade gifts. Assemble Gallery, 7406 Greenwood Ave. N., 913-2470, daretobesquarequilting.com and quiltsryche.com. Free. Book launch party: 6–9 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
Fairs: The Riding of the Lambs
The Puyallup Fair asks "What could be more fun for a 6-year-old than holding onto a sheep and lasting six seconds?" Personally, I can think of several things. A better question might be: What's more perversely fascinating than watching the wee riders try to stay on the backs of the woolly critters? You'll have the chance to do just that at the fair's Mutton Bustin' competition, one of many such livestock-related events. If four-legged animals aren't your thing, there's a lineup of dinosaur rockers like Bret Michaels of Poison (!), plus more recent musical luminaries, including Adam Lambert and Kid Rock. When you get hungry, there's more food on a stick than you can shake a stick at: cotton candy, corn dogs, shish kebabs, and caramel apples. And if you happen to have your own children in tow (or if you just really like SpongeBob), a range of costumed cartoon characters will be roaming the Toonzville building. But, please, don't let your kids try to ride them. (Through Sept. 26.) Puyallup Fair & Events Center, 110 Ninth Ave. S.W., 253-845-1771, thefair.com. $9–$11. 10 a.m.–11 p.m. REBECCA COHEN
