Three Poems – Dave Wheeler
Tuesday, February 2, 2016 12:08 — 0 Comments
American Voyeur Story All my screens glow tonight: trying to keep up with Ryan Murphy’s new product, while eying my ruddy neighbor tending toilette across the way, my mind compromised by lust left untied, cries for bright asylum from the comfort of my bed. Bootlegged episodes stream as I follow memes, hashtags, window dressing, window again, and noting ideas for a new poem I want to call Zachary Quinto but won’t; his name tastes too dangerous, like urgent secrets whispered during climax. Besides, the neighbor’s lights are out, and Evan Peters’s in his briefs again. And so am I, describing […]
A Part Of Living: The Deadly Art Of Ego
Wednesday, January 27, 2016 13:48 — 0 Comments
In contemporary culture the word “ego” has become synonymous with the word “vanity,” but Freud defined the ego as the functional self, working as a moderator between the internal world of fantasy and the external world of cultural norm. I met a man named Ego, expecting him to be as egotistical as the contemporary fallacy, but was surprised by his refreshingly moderate nature. Although you’d never hear it from him, Ego Shoreclay is a successful painter, tattoo artist and graphic designer, who’s finely detailed explorations in the macabre are sought after by collectors world wide. I wanted to ask him about his work, but felt a […]
The Spider Fern’s ‘Safety’ and Garbeau’s ‘Little Laugher’
Monday, January 25, 2016 11:08 — 0 Comments
The early part of 2016 brings new EPs from two Seattle-area bands worth checking out: the Spider Ferns and Garbeau. Last year, the Spider Ferns released their well-received debut LP, Soon Enough, a slinky, sometimes icy collection of electronic pop meditations. Their new EP, Safety, is very much in the same vein, with songs built around downtempo beats propping up effects-laden electric guitar and Kelly Fleek’s prominent vocals. “Stronger Still†opens with an iconic 80’s brass synth pad, a drum loop and intermittent laser-sounding synth bursts before Fleek’s dramatic vocals slowly enter the scene. The song stalks around for over […]
Three Songs To The Head vol. 38
Friday, January 22, 2016 12:28 — 0 Comments
Hello and welcome back to Three Songs to the Head where we share three songs that moved us, three songs we love, three songs we can’t get out of our heads! Today, we’re featuring COHO, Mind Vice and Eugenie Jones. Enjoy! We’ve written about COHO back in their early, early days. Since then, they’ve shortened their name, gained some experience in town and now they’re participating in something charitable: the Seattle University-born band released two songs for sale, the proceeds of which, the band says, will all go to Mary’s Place, a home for women and children in need. […]
One Super Important Question for Six
Thursday, January 21, 2016 11:30 — 1 Comment
Hello! This is simple: I wanted to ask some people who do great work in the city what they thought was the most important issue facing Seattle in 2016. Here are their answers: Matt “Spek†Watson (writer, musician): I think there’s a very strong current of new capital and resources running through the city right now, and the challenge is not only going to be how we avoid being swept away by that current, but how we use it to power new programs and policies that strengthen existing communities. I think we need to think creatively and act quickly to […]
Golem the Famulus – Jenny Mary Brown
Wednesday, January 20, 2016 12:05 — 1 Comment
The new foal is late. Our mare’s at 357 days. Each day my dad checks her udders for waxing to find them dry. When she is ready, she’ll rub her nose all over his beard, refuse her oats, and stare into the abyss. She’ll lose her early-labor jitters eventually, settling down. She doesn’t need help. If I could, though, I’d sort some Georgia clay, measure each lump, each grain to transmute into cells, and risk my life in evocation. I’d chant names until the right one, the name of god, comes. I’d bring the Golem north to serve only her, […]
Big Ass Boombox 2016
Monday, December 28, 2015 11:39 — 0 Comments
On January 8th and 9th, the third annual Big Ass Boombox festival will take over the Crocodile Cafe and the Upstairs downtown and host it’s massively well attended free, all-ages music and literary festival. Featured bands this year include Ever So Android, Julia Massey, The Great Um, Gibraltar, Furniture Girls, Bigfoot Wallace, Electric NoNo, Abraham, Chris King & The Gutterballs and about two dozen more. Featured readers include dating guru Maggie MK Hess, City Arts music editor Jonathan Zwickel, poets Michelle Penaloza and Rebecca Hoogs, Seattle Weekly music editor and VICE contributor Kelton Sears, prose writers Shaun Scott and Adrian Ryan […]
Three Songs To The Head vol. 37
Wednesday, December 23, 2015 11:07 — 0 Comments
Hello and welcome back to Three Songs to the Head where we share three songs that moved us, three songs we love, three songs we can’t get out of our heads! Today, we’re featuring Chi Turner, Greet the Sea and Chris King & The Gutterballs. Enjoy! Sometimes you need a really smooth souled-out jam to kick the morning off and Vancouver, B.C.’s Chi Turner has just the thing for you. This track, “Am I Dreaming,” is like the moment when you put the needle down onto the record and you know moments of bliss are about to come. But on […]
All Millennials are Kevin McCallister
Tuesday, December 22, 2015 11:38 — 0 Comments
The following is an excerpt from Shaun Scott’s e-book “Something Better: Millennials and Late Capitalism at the Movies,†available on Amazon and iTunes from Thought Catalog Books. This holiday season marks the 25-year anniversary since the release of Home Alone. Millions of Millennials may grow nostalgic for the memories the movie evokes. Because no matter what became of Macaulay Culkin, Millennials will always see a part of themselves in Kevin McCallister. Home Alone begins when members of a giant extended family in Chicago take turns demeaning young Kevin McCallister. In the film’s breathless opening sequence, Kevin McCallister has his culinary […]
Rapid Transit – Kristine Ong Muslim
Monday, December 14, 2015 11:19 — 1 Comment
For you, it is always rush hour, always the same hydraulic hiss of electric train doors tight-lipped about their vacuum, their hull swollen with immediacy, their carriage smothered by your restlessness, always the same familiar melodic ding of train doors clamping shut their seamless traction, their gaskets and threaded metal joints— the slow wear and tear prodding you along, for all time oblivious to your aimless lurching forward to whatever city you have fled from this time. Chafed by friction, the rails hold up, hold down your roaring part of the world.
What am I?
Bioluminescent eye
That sees by the shine
Of its own light. Lies
Blind me. I am the seventh human sense
And my stepchild,
Consequence;
Scientists can't find me.
Januswise I make us men;
Glamour
Was my image then—
Remind me:
The awful fall up off all fours
From the forest
To the hours…
Tick, Tock: Divine me.
-- Richard Kenney
Book Release and Reading Feb. 6
January 6th, 2016
Hello fellow readers, travelers and Monarchians! Our first book, Traveling Light, written by Seattle author, Jim Brantingham, is now for sale! And we will be throwing a release party for it Feb. 6 at 6pm in Ravenna Third Place Books (on the corner of 65th and 20th NE). Jim will be reading from the book and there will be guest readers accompanying him. Space is limited, so we suggest you come early. Books can be bought through this link here or at Ravenna Third Place Books (which just ordered it’s second wave of books). We are super excited for this release and […]
