Wednesday 4/19
SPLIFF! Film Fest: Greatest Rips!
(FILM) The Stranger's SPLIFF Film Fest is back! What's SPLIFF? Has your head been stuck in a weed cloud for the past several years or something? SPLIFF is The Stranger's film festival by stoners, for stoners. It's weird, it's hilarious, it's sometimes a little confusing. Think HUMP! with fewer dicks and more bongs. SPLIFF! Film Fest: Greatest Rips! is a collection of all the greatest hits, rips, tokes, drags, pulls, and puffs to ever appear in SPLIFF!s over the years. A few of the shorts you'll see include the Fenty makeup tutorial-inspired BBHMM BLUNT, the horny Switch Hitter Haze, and a wild spoof on goofy mid-90s anti-drug campaigns N.O.P.E. You can stream it from home starting Wednesday, April 19. Even better? Go to the one-night-only in-person screening on Friday, April 21 at the Egyptian! SPLIFF is best with besties. (Streaming April 19-26; screening at SIFF Cinema Egyptian Fri April 21, 805 E Pine St, 8 pm, $15) MEGAN SELING
Thursday 4/20
(MUSIC) HOLY SMOKES, I sure love 4/20! I also love music, food trucks, and friends! Find all these things and more at Substationâs third annual Crank the Dank. Organized by Substation and the band Dank, Crank the Dank is a one-day festival consisting of 19 bands (beginning at 4:20 pm of course). The lineup features stoner metal, doom metal, and psych-rock groups including locals Serial Hawk and Of the Heavy Sun, as well as international acts like Switzerlandâs Torpedo. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the family of Gene Broadgate, a core member of the Substation community who recently passed. Nacho Mamaâs Tamales and Chronic Dogs will be posted outside the venue to satisfy your munchies. Find out what the heck stoner metal is, smoke some weed (DEFINITELY NOT IN PUBLIC HAHA), eat a hot dog, and celebrate the metal community. I have a feeling thatâs what Gene would have wanted. (Substation, 645 NW 45th St, 4:20 pm, $20) BRITTNE LUNNISS
Friday 4/21
Seattle Erotic Art Festival 2023
(ART) The festival where the art wants you to appreciate it ;) returns. Join thousands of sex-appreciators and -enjoyers at Seattle Center this weekend for a diverse showcase of smarts and smutâvisual art, performances, readings, installations, movies, workshops, and more. Listen to Seattle author and scientist Su Tasib at Opening the Curtain: When and How Should We Reveal Our Full Sexuality, a talk about disclosing kinks and attraction; check out the panel about the State of Porn Today, or watch live erotic portraiture and body painting. You must be 21 or older to cum Friday and Saturday, and 18-plus to attend Sunday. Donât forget your ID! Find an extensive pricing guide here. Tickets are tiered to make the festival financially accessible to more people. Thereâs a separately ticketed film fest and erotic movement lab, too, if thatâs more your speed. (Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, 301 Mercer St, April 21-23, $15-$275)Â VIVIAN MCCALL
Saturday 4/22
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(MUSIC) It's Record Store Day! You're either very excited to join the crowds for hours of crate digging or you're planning on staying home and supporting your favorite record stores every other day of the year, without fighting off folks clamoring for limited edition releases like Taylor Swiftâs Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (Sonic Boom has it; it'll sell out quickly). A few highlights: Royal Records is opening at 9 am with performances from Serafima, Tomten, Wizdumb, Pitschouse, and Plash starting at 11 am; Sonic Boom opens at 11 am and Top Pot Doughnuts is giving away free doughnuts and coffee for folks who line up early; and the Rockfords, the supergroup featuring members of Goodness, Pearl Jam, and Jodie Watts, are playing their first show in a decade at Easy Street Records at 7 pm. Our calendar EverOut has a comprehensive list of more RSD options here. (Various locations, find more details in EverOut's Record Store Day guide) MEGAN SELING
Sunday 4/23
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(FOOD) Everything at Puffy Pandy is adorable. There is a whole rainbow of macaronsâTrix, yuzu, Butterfinger, black sesame, coco-pandan, ube, and mangoâand to up the cuteness they also offer 'em in minis that are small enough to pour into a bowl and eat like cereal. (I would notâa box of 20 costs $10.) And while the macarons are good, it's the cream puffsâthey call them puffiesâthat keep calling me back. They rival Beard Papa's. They're smaller, but they have a better filling-to-shell ratio and are crammed with smooth, custardy fillings flavored with White Rabbit candy, cookies 'n' cream, mocha, durian, and Cap'n Crunch cereal. (I haven't tried the durian; I'm incapable of liking durian.) For a more summery treat, you can also get a larger puffy stuffed with your choice of Full Tilt Ice Cream and crunchy toppings, but I haven't been able to pull myself away from those Cap'n Crunch puffies long enough to give one a go. They're just too good. (Puffy Pandy, 9828 16th Ave SW, open Thurs-Sat noon-8 pm and Sun noon-6 pm) MEGAN SELING
Monday 4/24
(FILM) Saim Sadiqâs 2022 Joyland is more than a beautiful piece of cinema, it is a cultural trailblazer. Based in Pakistan, the melodrama explores gender and sexual identity in a country that criminalizes both. The film follows the life of a young married man, Haider (Ali Junejo), who becomes a backup dancer for a trans performer named Biba (Alina Khan). Out of fear, Haider keeps his new job and relationship a secret from his conservative family. Joyland has received international support for questioning tradition and defying gender norms. Unsurprisingly, it has been banned in Pakistan's heavily populated Punjab province on behalf of âun-Islamicâ material. To make it even more upsettingly queer, the film stars Pakistanâs first-ever trans lead, Alina Khan! If art is an act of resistance, Joyland is a fucking force. Also! Joyland recently won Best International Film at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards! Itâs not easily streamable so donât miss it! (SIFF Cinema Uptown, 511 Quen Anne Ave N, 8 pm, $13-$14) BRITTNE LUNNISS
Tuesday 4/25
Claire Dederer with Sonora Jha and Angela Garbes: Monstrous Artists
(BOOKS) In her new book Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma (out April 25 on Knopf), Claire Dederer expands on the questions she began to explore in her 2017 Paris Review essay "What Do We Do with the Art of Monstrous Men?" Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, John Lennon, Louis CK, Bill Cosby, Michael Jacksonâthey have all been accused of (and, in some cases, admitted to or been charged with) horrific and/or criminal behavior but goddamn if I don't start to shimmy the moment "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" comes on at a bar. Can I still dance? Michael Jackson is dead. He can't (allegedly) hurt anyone anymore. The debates have raged on for years. But, as Dederer makes clear, the question of whether or not we can separate the art from the artist is so much more nuanced than just a yes/no. Should we? With everyone? Who should we consider when "canceling" an artist? Their victims? Ourselves? Dederer will discuss the book at Town Hall with Sonora Jha (How to Raise a Feminist Son) and Angela Garbes (Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change). We'll all probably leave with more questions than answers but at least we won't be alone in giving a shit. (Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 7:30 pm, free-$5, all ages) MEGAN SELING
