Wednesday 2/8
(FOOD) Seattle is so damn lucky to have Catfish Corner back in the Central District. Founded in 1985 and originally located on East Cherry and MLK Jr Way by Woodrow and Rosemary Jackson, Catfish Corner slang delicious fried catfish for nearly 25 years before being forced to close their doors in 2009. But after years away from the Central District, the Jacksonsâ grandson, Terrell Jackson, reopened a permanent location of Catfish Corner right in the heart of the CD on 23rd and Jackson. (Still on a corner, too!) The new location is a spacious 4,500 square feet, and itâs a vibe. Laid back, welcoming, like youâre eating at your grandmotherâs house. And the food! While almost everything on the menu bangs, for first timers I recommend going with the Captain's Platter ($25), a true feast and an excellent tour through their menu. You get seven!!! strips of catfish (succulent, perfectly crispy), seven prawns (briny with a nice cronchhh), four hush puppies ('cuz why not?), and a basket of fries. Happy Black History month, nerds. (Jackson's Catfish Corner, 2218 S Jackson St, open Tues-Sun) JAS KEIMIG
Thursday 2/9
(VISUAL ART) Interstitial Volume is an exhibit by Seattle-based artist Henry Jackson-Spieker made specifically for MadArt Studio's space. It is three different installations, all about consciously dictating the environment visitors make their way through and the tension that comes with it. Sometimes that tension is materialâlike how string and microfilm demand certain methods of moving through itâand in the case of the final installation, the tension is more perceptive. What am I looking at? Where does the art end and the world begin? It's a potent investigation of the ways that race, culture, and environment can clash together and inform how our bodies move through public spheres. In an interview during a preview last week, Jackson-Spieker said, "My goal is to have people want to interact with the space and want to come in. Butâat the same timeâhave the work be a little off-balancing." (MadArt, 325 Westlake Ave N #101, Tues-Fri noon-5 pm) JAS KEIMIG
Friday 2/10
(FILM) Oh, man. I can think of no better way to spend the amorous few days before Valentine's Day than cuddled next to someone cute at the cozy-ass Grand Illusion, watching Barry Egan absolutely losing his shit and falling in love in 35 mm. Paul Thomas Anderson made this film after his soul-searching, three-hour epic Magnolia, promising to deliver a lighter, 90-minute romantic comedy. But instead of casting a dashing Cary Grant-type, he enlisted Adam Sandler to play Egan, an underdog toilet supply entrepreneur with seven sisters and an anger problem. Comforting his loneliness with phone sex operators, he eventually starts a fledgling relationship with one of his sister's coworkers, Lena (Emily Watson). However, Barry falls into a scam run by the unhinged Dean (Philip Seymour Hoffman, RIP) that threatens everything he holds dear. I love this weird little movie! (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, various showtimes through Feb 15) JAS KEIMIG
Saturday 2/11
(MUSIC) A palpable coolness emanates from Linda From Work's 2021 album Burnout. It's the kind of nonchalant no-fucks-given energy that grows bolder the more you listen, with the band's minimalist garage rock songs perfectly riding the line between angrily calling out life's bullshit and casually shrugging it off and moving on. In "No," singer Hillary Tusick sings, "My words are weapons and I'm not afraid to scream them / What doesn't kill me better run." But Tusick doesn't scream those words. She sings the line with a confident swagger, but she's not angry. She barely sounds bothered! She's just letting you know how it is, whether you like it or not, and as the world continues to get louder and angrier, there's admirable power in seeing someone stand their ground without losing their cool. (Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave NW, 8:30 pm, $12) MEGAN SELING
Sunday 2/12
(PERFORMANCE) There are a number of different ways you can stage Giselle, a Romantic-period ballet about a young peasant woman who goes mad, dies, and then turns into a man-killing ghost after her crush lies to her about his identity. You can deconstruct the whole thing and turn it into a primal scream about the mental health care crisis, you can update it for the class-war/#MeToo era, or you can lean into the lush phantasmagoria of it all and produce a gorgeous spring tear-jerker just in time for Valentine's Day. In his staging of Pacific Northwest Ballet's production, which runs through February 12, artistic director Peter Boal elected the latter strategy. But just because he's not banging you over the head with a GISELLE FOR OUR TIMES doesn't mean he and the dancers aren't making artistic choices that enrich and complicate the classic. Read the full review here and know that McCaw Hall also has a renewed policy allowing audience members to bring into the auditorium a special plastic sippy cup full of wine. (McCaw Hall, 301 Mercer St, 1 pm, $48-$195) RICH SMITH
Monday 2/13
(FILM/MUSIC) Waaaaay before drag queens and extremely popular indie bands played its stage, Paramount Theatre originally operated as a vaudeville andâcruciallyâmovie house when it opened back in the 1920s. And for the past nearly three decades, modern audiences have been shuffling into the massive theater on certain Mondays to watch silent films with an organ accompaniment. And not just any organâthe Mighty Wurlitzer. This organ is one of only 18 ever built and one of three to still be in its original venue. It's key to the experience of watching a silent movie. "The goal of the theatre organist was for the audience to become so engrossed in the combination of the film and the supplemental music that they forget an actual person is accompanying their cinematic experience," wrote occasional Silent Movie Mondays organist Tedde Gibson in an email to me about the subject. "The organist's score must not dominate the visuals, but support and undergird them." And on this particular Monday, audiences will get to watch Clarence G. Badger's 1927 film It starring Clara Bow, a film that made her an international star and popularized the term "it girl." Organist Donna Parker will compose the film's score on the Mighty Wurlitzer and film scholar Jeff Crouse will introduce the film and host the post-film discussion. A honking good time! (The Paramount, 911 Pine St, 7 pm, $12) JAS KEIMIG
Tuesday 2/14
(CIVIC DUTY) It's Valentine's Day. If you need any last-minute romantic recommendations, then check out EverOut's great list of burlesque shows, dance parties, dinners, and other date-night ideas. But before you fill up on lava cake, don't forget to VOTE by 8 pm on February 14. King County is holding a special election, and in Seattle we'll be voting on Initiative 135. You can read the full Stranger Election Control Board endorsement here, but here's the gist: Initiative 135 takes the first step toward the dream of housing for all by creating a public developer equipped with the tools to âbuild, acquire, own, and manageâ housing that will stay affordable forever. Not market-rate housing, which people with low incomes can only afford when the economy crashes. Not government-subsidized housing, which developers can put back on the unaffordable market in 20 or 30 years. But social housing; publicly owned and operated, with rents forever capped at 30% of a tenantâs income. Is it perfect? Nope. But we owe it to the future to think smarter than the generations before us. Vote yes on I-135. STRANGER ELECTION CONTROL BOARD
