The Best Things to Do from Home This Week

Now that the people have spoken and Donald Trump’s days in the White House are officially numbered, hopefully you can move through this week with a little more ease. To help you with that, and to keep you safe at home as COVID cases continue to rise, we’re hitting you with the best ways to stay entertained from your couch through Sunday, from an evening with journalist Omari Salisbury to Sovereign Festival – Queer Black Women Film Fest, and from The Kitchn’s Thanksgiving Food Fest featuring Seattle pie whiz @lokokitchen to the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Rep 2 to a post-election conversation with Bob Ferguson and other contributors to Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy. Plus, in addition to everything listed on our in-person events calendar, check out our StreamLocal events hub for other upcoming virtual events, and stay tuned for a roundup of the best in-person things to do around town this weekend. 
Jump to: Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Multi-Day
MONDAY
FILM
Collide-O-Scope: Fantastic DistractionsLast week’s doomscrolling has eased its grasp a little, but we’ve still got a global pandemic, a couple more months under a tyrannical leader, and a whole lot of systemic injustices to fight against, so mental distractions are still key to staying resilient. Let Collide-O-Scope do that work for you with tonight’s “free-wheelin’ phantasia of ephemeral footage.”
READINGS & TALKS
Daudi Abe with Geo Quibuyen: An Essential History of Hip Hop in SeattleWith a foreword by local legend Sir Mix-a-Lot, Seattle Central College professor Daudi Abe’s new book Emerald Street: A History of Hip-Hop in Seattle traces our city’s long line of hip-hop greats, exploring how and why hip-hop culture flourished in the local scene. He’ll be joined in conversation tonight by Geo Quibuyen, the co-owner of Hood Famous. 
Monday Night Moby-Dick Club with Christopher FrizzelleRevisit (or visit for the first time) Melville’s great American novel every week starting tonight for the latest installment of Christopher Frizzelle’s online book club. 
See Also: Multi-Day Events
TUESDAY
FILM
What The Femme: I Will SurviveFor this online class, pop culture analyst extraordinaire Dr. Allison Palumbo will discuss the “woman-as-survivor” identity and her role in films from the 1980s to the present.
READINGS & TALKS
After the Election: Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy in AmericaJoin contributors to the anthology Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy—including Washington State Attorney General, Bob Ferguson, poet and essayist Cherene Sherrard, and author Alison Hawthorn—for an evening of readings and conversation with Elliott Bay.
Journalism Series: Yamiche AlcindorPBS NewsHour correspondent Yamiche Alcindor has garnered a reputation for telling stories about the intersection of race and politics. Join her for a virtual event with Seattle Arts & Lectures one week after the election.
See Also: Multi-Day Events
WEDNESDAY
COMMUNITY
Auburn’s Salute to Veterans 2020This COVID-safe Veterans Day celebration will take the place of Auburn’s annual Veteran’s Day Parade. Tonight, they’ll show a previous year’s recorded ceremony. 
Green Seattle Days: Live Walks and TalksGreen Seattle Partnership and Forterra NW will take you on virtual walk-and-talks live from the Seward Park Audubon Center. 
Virtual Silent Reading PartyThe first worldwide silent-reading party was such a huge success that we’re making it weekly. Every Wednesday at 6 pm we’re going to throw these parties, at least until stay-at-home is over. Attendees at the first Zoom silent-reading party included famous actors, writers, composers, artists, families, teenagers doing their homework, people staring into space listening to the music because it was just so beautiful, cats, and even one household on Orcas Island that was eating dinner and decided to broadcast the reading party as their background music. (What a brilliant idea!) It wasn’t just a great party to be at. Behind the scenes, this was a roaring success as well. The Stranger brought in revenue from the reading party for the first time ever, our musician Paul Matthew Moore made ten times more on Venmo tips than he’s ever made in the tip jar at the Sorrento (thank you for your generosity—he deserves it!), and hundreds of people at the party have written us emails, clamoring for more. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE
Workshopping Democracy: The Art of ProtestArtist Shemona Morena will share information about 350 Seattle’s art-focused activism before an online workshop where participants will create their own artistic calls to action.
MUSIC
Black Fret & NVCS Present: Tres LechesAnother group that earned some love in that NPR piece about bands redefining Seattle music, Tres Leches are a power trio in the untraditional sense: There are three members (Alaia D’Alessandro, Ulises Mariscal, and Zander Yates), but none of them are anchored to their instruments, instead trading off between guitar, bass, and drums. And their sound isn’t static, either. Their self-styled genre description is pretty apt—”art punk, distortion pop, dark basement”—and finds them flexing their chops within an established theme before gracefully (or raucously) sliding into another one. Check out “Reading Rainbow” off 2018 debut studio LP Amorfo for archetypal Tres Leches. It’s a fine slice of seething weirdness and crunchy intrigue marked by odd melodic flourishes, staccato lead shouts, and backing vocals that swirl, coo, and echo in ghostly layers. LEILANI POLK
READINGS & TALKS
Christopher Kimball & J.M. Hirsch – Cookish & Shake, Strain, DoneJoin Christopher Kimball and J.M. Hirsch of the James Beard Award-winning multimedia food company Milk Street as they discuss recipes and techniques from their new books, Cookish and Shake, Strain, Done, respectively.
See Also: Multi-Day Events
THURSDAY
COMMUNITY
FALL FETEShow your support for local contemporary dance company Whim W’Him by entering a raffle, purchasing a cocktail kit, and pitching your suggestions for a crowd-sourced dance performance—all without leaving your house. 
Living Voices: Native VisionFollow the journey of a young woman who becomes a Navy nurse as her community makes crucial contributions to the United States during World War II in this virtual presentation and performance at the Museum of Flight. 
FOOD & DRINK
PNA Winter Beer (Virtual) TastingsIn place of their annual winter beer extravaganza, the Phinney Neighborhood Association will bring you three evenings of Zoom beer tastings with different breweries, starting with Seapine Brewing, Lucky Envelope Brewing, and Georgetown Brewing. Tickets for each night include six full-sized beers — two from each featured brewery — and access to the live Zoom tasting. Tonight’s event is sold out, but get your tickets ahead of time for next Thursday, when you’ll get to taste Haze in the Hood Imperial IPA and Moreish IPA from Reuben’s Brews, Hoppy Sour and Light Cruiser from Urban Family Brewing Co., and Rooftop Holiday Ale and Scotch Scotch Scotchity Scotch from Rooftop Brewing Co.
MUSIC
NVCS Presents Jay Cobb Anderson and Megan LettsRelax with an evening of folk Americana with singer-songwriter duo Jay Cobb Anderson and Megan Letts, courtesy of Nectar. 
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2Lauded by the New York Times for her “take-no-prisoners emotional investment…in every bar,” Alisa Weilerstein will perform Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2 under the baton of Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot. The evening will warm up with Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte and will conclude with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8.
PERFORMANCE
Reflections Dance FestivalDancers Cipher Goings, Kimisha Turner, Mackenzie Neusiok, Muckleshoot Canoe Family, and Nia-Amina Minor will reflect on the roller coaster of a year that is 2020 with an evening of original dances performed live from Seattle’s newly reopened Pier 62. 
See Also: Multi-Day Events
FRIDAY
MUSIC
Skerik BandVirtuosic saxophonist Skerik is so simultaneously prolific and left-field that his life’s work has been dubbed something new altogether: saxophonics. He’ll perform tonight with his band. 
VISUAL ART
Seattle Recycled Arts Fashion ShowThis online, open-submission fashion show presented by Seattle Recycled Arts will feature designs made of at least 75% recycled or reused materials. 
See Also: Multi-Day Events
SATURDAY
COMMUNITY
BLACK VOICES MATTER: Behind The Lines With Journalist Omari SalisburyLocal independent journalist Omari Salisbury will talk with KING 5’s Joyce Taylor about his roots in Seattle’s Central District, his path to founding Converge Media, and his recent coverage of Black Lives Matter protests on the frontlines.
Democracy Dialogues: The Evolution of Social ChangeJoin educator and activist Allani Seals and former Black Panther and current diversity consultant Elmer Dixon for a conversation on the evolution of social justice activism, from the Black Power movement to the Black Lives Matter movement. 
Virtual Saturday UniversityThe Seattle Art Museum presents eight online talks exploring Asian art, “from legend and ritual, to trade and cultural exchange, to technical innovation and changing artistic practices.” The overarching theme seems to be rich pigments found in the natural world and their significance throughout Asian art history. 
FILM
HUMP! Greatest Hits, Volume 2The HUMP! team is bringing back some fan-favorite amateur porn shorts from years past in the second volume of streamable compilations.
MUSIC
Bushwick Book Club: Become America by Eric LiuThe Bushwick Book Club will offer their musical interpretation of Becoming America by Eric Liu, the progenitor of Citizen University’s Civic Saturdays, a nondenominational service that celebrates the American civic tradition.
NVCS Presents ‘Funk the Pandemic’ feat. Unsinkable HeaviesGet your evening funk fix from the Unsinkable Heavies at this virtual Nectar show.
A Studio Session with the Marc Seales GroupNotable Northwest jazz pianist and UW Jazz Studies professor Marc Seales will perform his be-bop/post be-bop specialities with his band. 
PERFORMANCE
Live from the West Side: Women of BroadwayTony Award winner Laura Benanti and acclaimed actress and singer Vanessa Williams will treat you to a mix of Broadway show tunes, pop songs, and personal stories in this livestreamed series brought to you by the 5th Avenue Theatre. 
READINGS & TALKS
Kae Tempest with Willy VlautinLondon-based poet Kae Tempest will join Elliott Bay for a discussion on the power of creativity in cultivating self-awareness, aka the subject of their first work on nonfiction, On Connection. They’ll be joined by writer and musician Willy Vlautlin. 
Intergenerational Japanese America: Larry Matsuda & Kiku HughesBoth Lawrence Matsuda’s first novel My Name is Not Viola and Kiku Hughes’ graphic novel Displacement deal with systemic racism and the triumphs of resilience and resistance during the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. Join them for a joint presentation with the Wing Luke Museum. 
See Also: Multi-Day Events
SUNDAY
MUSIC
International Playstory TrioMulti-instrumentalists and storytellers Cooper Moore, Clayton Thomas, and Dave Sewelson will take you on a musical journey on Royal Room’s virtual stage. 
READINGS & TALKS
Seattle NaNoWriMo Midway PartyThose participating in National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) can work toward their 50,000-word goal at this online community write-in with Hugo House. Jennifer Swagert, the official NaNoWriMo municipal liaison for Seattle, will host. 
Tamara PayneUsing extensive research and interviews with surviving members of Malcolm X’s family, Tamara Payne’s The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X is a National Book Award finalist. Join the author for a presentation with Elliott Bay. 
MULTI-DAY
FILM
Romanian Film Festival”The Romanian film industry has been producing international festival hits since 2004, and the so-called New Wave filmmakers and their successors have never stopped innovating. This brief but mighty film festival screens movies that range from caustically funny to fearlessly intellectual,” wrote former Stranger Arts Calendar Editor Joule Zelman last year. Back for a seventh year, this online edition will pay special attention to films that inspire social change and give hope for life after the pandemic. (Friday-Sunday)
Sovereign Festival 2020 – Queer Black Women Film FestPoet and songstress Jessica Rycheal, dancer and visual artist Takiyah Ward, and other local Black womxn creators will premiere new work for this online film festival presented by Earth Pearl Collective.(Friday-Sunday)
Tacoma Film Festival 2020Tacoma plays host to independent filmmakers from the Pacific Northwest and throughout the world in an intimate festival intent on examining community and showcasing perspectives from a diverse group of moviemakers. This year’s online event will feature over 150 films, including Gilda Sheppard’s documentary centerpiece Since I Been Down, about the immoral three-strikes law passed in Washington State in the early ’90s that allowed persecutors to imprison youth. (All week)
FOOD & DRINK
The Kitchn Thanksgiving Food FestThe popular cooking website The Kitchn will host a two-day food festival, featuring virtual programming on Instagram live. The lineup includes a secret family mattar paneer recipe demo with Indian-ish author Priya Krishna and her mother Ritu Krishna, your cooking questions answered by food blogger and cookbook author Nik Sharma of A Brown Table, Thanksgiving cooking trivia, cocktail demos, side dish showdowns, and more. On Sunday, Seattle pie whiz Lauren Ko of the Instagram account @lokokitchen will demonstrate a pumpkin black sesame pie to wow your friends and family.(Saturday-Sunday)
MUSIC
Shelter Fest SeattleLocal heavy-hitters like Gifted Gab, Tiffany Wilson, Rell Be Free, BEARAXE, Beverly Crusher, and other Seattle-based BIPOC musicians will perform live at this online music festival benefitting local Black artists and restaurant owners who took a blow from COVID-19 setbacks. (Saturday-Sunday)
PERFORMANCE
The Elixir of LoveThis modern operatic comedy tells the story of a country bumpkin in love who is about to lose the company of a rich and independent landowner. “Wine, a windfall, and a fateful furtive tear eventually reveal happy truths as sincerity triumphs amid much rejoicing,” reads press materials. This Seattle Opera production, premiering online and designed specifically for the digital stage, stars Madison Leonard, Michael Adams, Patrick Carfizzi, and Tess Altiveros. (Friday-Sunday)
Pacific Northwest Ballet 2020/2021 Season: Rep 2After a successful debut digital season, the Pacific Northwest Ballet is back for round two, this time celebrating new works by female choreographers Jessica Lang and Penny Saunders, bolstered by solos from Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles and Susan Marshall’s Arms. In addition to the performances, the weekend also brings a virtual gala, featuring tributes, an auction, and the premiere of Alejandro Cerrudo’s Pacopepepluto (which, if it’s anything like last year’s One Thousand Pieces, should be a real treat). (Thursday-Sunday)
Unleashed 2020Pork Filled Productions’ staged reading festival of new genre works by POC playwrights will take place online this year, featuring great new works like Patrick Zhang’s modern noir I Thought I Was Safe and Jesse Jou’s 100 Hungry Ghosts. (Tuesday-Saturday)read more