So what makes Screwdriver Bar unique?

The spot was particularly popular during the late 80s/early 90s “grunge” era. As a former recording studio and rehearsal space, it housed a plethora of different bands and singers. One of the most notable groups to rehearse here was Nirvana, during the period between their albums Bleach and Nevermind. The basement became a second home for the band and for other rising grunge acts, cementing its place as an early landmark of Seattle’s grunge movement.

The Rose Theatre, thus far the oldest theater in the Sound Cinema catalog, opened back in 1907 in Port Townsend, a city on the eastern tip of the Olympic Peninsula. The theater started as a vaudeville performance space—like most in that era—before converting to movies. The space went through a couple of transitions after its initial run as a movie house, and by 1992 it was a junk shop in the heart of the lower portion of the city. At that time, a group of community volunteers, donors, and investors brought the theater back to life, and for the over thirty years since, the Rose Theatre has become a community staple. 

On my way to the station, several people complimented my shirt or my hair, others smiled as I walked past, and even more strutted by in intricate outfits, displaying various Pride flags in all manners of ways. In a sea of rainbows and smiles, I made my way home, thinking about those who had come before me, the Queer and Trans* elders I would never get to meet. What would they think of the current state of the movement? Would they think we were “loud” enough?

A few things greet you when you take in a show at the Blue Mouse. There are clocks on each end of the building's marquee, and scampering across the edges are neon, blue mice created by Tacoma-born glass artist Dale Chihuly. The lobby has the old-school movie house charm with a concession stand right inside the doors. When you go through the curtains to the theater proper, you see the old influences on the space—the large stage for performance or presentation mixed with the modern features.

The 2025 Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF) kicked off its two days of in-person screenings on June 20 and continues virtually through June 29. The opening night screened Reflections & Legacies, a feature-length compilation of films focused on stories of refugees and immigrants of Southeast Asian communities into the United States. While only a few hours of programming in a shorter-than-usual SAAFF, the evening captured a deeper sense of meaning and community than its schedule would suggest.

It’s opening night! Today marks the start of the Seattle Asian American Film Festival—a two-day affair held in Seattle at the Wing Luke Museum (International District) and Broadway Performance Hall (Capitol Hill), and followed by a week of virtual screenings for those who can’t attend in person. This year commemorates 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War (or “The American War” as it is known in Vietnam).

Descendants continue to confront parallel systems of oppression in every aspect of life. This often manifests in resistance by way of creative expressions that support sustainability and showcase ingenuity. Every year on this date, many descendants pause to reflect on the resilience of their ancestors and celebrate their legacy. The Threads of Freedom exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum is one such example in the Puget Sound.

Sometimes, to see yourself reflected back at you can be a radical experience. 
This was how it felt at Moving History – The Queercrow Archive, Volume 3 on June 8 at Northwest Film Forum. The event was the third annual installment of a collaborative project between two Seattle nonprofits devoted to preserving history through video: Scarecrow Video and MIPoPS (Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound). 

Though you may appreciate the updated and modern conveniences built into the space by the Olympia Film Society, the bones and the spirit of the structure make the Capitol Theater a way to go back in time and see a film like those who experienced the new medium for the first time. It is a bit of magic in the heart of Olympia.

Have you noticed that Vampires are making a comeback? With two new iconic vampire movies to swoon over, Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu remake (2024) and—a new personal favorite—Ryan Coogler’s Sinners (2025), there’s a growing trend towards blood sucking fiends in media (again!). And these aren’t the tame, glittery vampires from Twilight—these are the gritty, murderous creatures from our nightmares, and I love it! After watching Sinners during its box office run, I have been on a major vampire kick. So, naturally, I had to deliver a vampire novel for Parker’s Pages this month, and I found the perfect speculative fiction story for you all.

On December 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor marked the start of the United States’ involvement in World War II. It also started a wave of fear and unrest throughout the country, leading to an overwhelming prejudice against Japanese Americans. “Most of us had no ties to Japan,” Lilly Kodama, a survivor, explained. “We had never been there. We had never even seen it.” Similar to the reactionary racism and prejudice against Arab Americans following 9/11, the discrimination against Japanese Americans had no true basis in fact, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order only created more harm and prejudice against an already vulnerable community.

A day trip out of Seattle up to San Juan Island, near the Canadian border, will take you to one of my favorite Washington icons. At Roche Harbor, a short walk through a wooded cemetery more than a century old will lead to a clearing, in the center of which rests a large stone rotunda. Afterglow Vista (previously known as McMillin Memorial Mausoleum) seems otherworldly—a classical, open-air rotunda containing Masonic symbols, including a round stone table and chairs (in which the ashes of the McMillin family, along with those of John S. McMillin’s secretary Adah Beeny are interred) in the center of a Pacific Northwest island forest.

If you spend time in historical Downtown Renton, you will likely run across our next guest—just look up. Erasmus the Rooftop Dragon landed atop a crooked little building in 2019. Since then, the city of Renton has embraced Erasmus, holding the annual Dragon’s Landing festival every April to commemorate his arrival.  

Nicole Bearden (NB): I’m excited to chat today, Erasmus. I’ve never had the pleasure of speaking with a dragon before.  

Erasmus the Rooftop Dragon (ERD): The honor is yours, I’m sure.

Now known as SIFF Uptown, the theater is a hub of great cinema both new and classic. Since SIFF took over, the space has been updated with great seating, modern sound systems, and digital projection. The work that SIFF has put in has paid off, creating a space for movie lovers around the city to come and enjoy the magic of the big screen.

On a Saturday night in April in the Denny Triangle neighborhood, vintage glamour was present at the doors of Seattle’s Kremwerk complex. DJ duo Théque Support (composed of Hot N’ Spicy Disco and Moonlighter) were bringing their monthly evening of Disco Dust to Seattle, with a set from special guest Heidy P visiting from New York. Moonlighter and Hot N’ Spicy Disco are both from Detroit, the official birthplace of techno and a continuing hub of electronic music innovation. At the duo’s monthly disco parties, hosted in Kremwerk’s newest dance room, Cherry, they go old-school, dusting off vinyl records and using turntables.

If you’re anything like me, then you’re approaching Emerald Street knowing next to nothing about Hip Hop, but Abe has you covered. His approachable and straightforward explanations are easy to follow and even easier to enjoy. Starting us in Seattle’s Century District, we move through time and space, beginning at Seattle’s early Hip Hop days and arriving in the present where the community thrives.

The term "technical books" makes it sound like there are a bunch of stuffed shirts walking around with large impenetrable tomes, but Ada’s caters to far more accessible scientific, science fiction, and fantasy books. When you browse the shelves, you find that science is a broad category covering the hard sciences like biology and chemistry, the soft sciences like psychology and sociology, and the scientific arts like cooking and architecture.

A three-part poem from a Black woman in America:

On a Friday night in Capitol Hill, a crowd of eager theater-goers entered through the unassuming front doors of Seattle Open Arts Place to watch the debut of a new theater company. Well Behaved Women and Co were putting on their inaugural production, In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play).

Nicole Bearden (NB): If you end up in the U District, on the Burke-Gilman Trail, you might run across our next guest, one of Seattle’s oddest icons: The Wall of Death. I appreciate you taking time to speak with us today. I must say, your appearance is pretty intimidating, Wall, not to mention your name. What has your experience on the Burke-Gilman been like?