Crosscut
Travis Hay at Crosscut writes, “There’s no denying 2009 been a great year for Seattle music. It’s the year The Crocodile was resurrected, Pearl Jam pushed itself its back way rock relevance, and hip hop hit hard. But when the local music history books are written, the final year of this decade might be remembered best for Michael Jaworski and his record label Mt. Fuji Records…. Mt. Fuji’s roster of local talent rivals that of just about any Northwest indie label and all of its releases seem to spotlight the depth and diversity of the city’s rock scene.” Read the full feature on the local label at the above link.

Seattle Times
Tenor saxophonists Pete Christlieb and Hadley Caliman first played together as part of the legendary jazz club, Marty’s, house band. Now, at age 77 they are the last surviving members of that hallowed group. Tonight, the two will play together again, something they rarely manage to do, at the New York Fashion Academy as part of the annual Ballard Jazz Walk. The show is a testament to two durable careers and a lasting friendship. The two also spent this week recording their first album together.”This is really a milestone for us to be together,” said Caliman.

Seattle Times
The New York Times’ Travel section today features Seattle’s as “a proud and meaningful theater town.” “One of the reasons I came to Seattle was because there’s a theater scene here unlike most other cities,” said Brian Colburn, managing director of the Intiman Theater, who moved here last year from the Pasadena Playhouse in Southern California. “You can walk from theater to theater here, meet friends or colleagues at a cafe.” That sort of communal, artsy spirit has long been identified with Seattle, of course, perhaps reaching its height during the grunge-rock era of the 1980s and early ’90s of Nirvana and the Campbell Scott-Bridget Fonda movie Singles. Young people moved here to be part of the music or arts scene; some of them would join theater companies or even start their own. Read more at the above link.

West Seattle Blog
The Admiral Theater in West Seattle invites you to help choose their free holiday movie! Last year, the theater showed perennial favorite A Christmas Story and this year would like to show something you can’t see on TV (i.e. It’s a Wonderful Life). Maybe it’s a charming foreign Christmas film or maybe it’s Naughty Santa. Email Dinah@admiralentertainment.com or fill out a slip and put it in the Christmas box at the theater and let them know what you’d like to see on the big screen. Admission is free, but food bank donations are suggested. The film will be announced the first week of December and the screening will be Saturday, December 19 at noon.

Plus Camerimage
Local filmmakers Matt Daniels and Michael Ragen of Thinklab, Inc. have been nominated for Best Music Video and Best Cinematography in a Music Video at the Plus Camerimage in Poland. The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage is the most recognized festival dedicated to the art of cinematography and its creators. The video for local musician Damien Jurado’s “Caskets” features the band and stars Damien’s younger brother, Drake. It was shot in beautiful Eastern Washington and can be viewed below:

4Culture
As Mike McGinn transitions into the office of Seattle’s Mayor, he is inviting us all to be involved in this civic process by answering three questions.

1. How do we build the strongest possible team to achieve the policy objectives and values set forth by the campaign (grass roots community involvement, transparency and neighborhood focus)
2. How do we build public trust in the new administration?
3. What do you view as the incoming administration and the city’s greatest challenge – what should we do first out of the gate?

These questions are intentionally open ended. Please feel free to focus your answers on the film and music or any other issues that are of particular importance to you. Great City has put together a form where you can enter your answers. This page also links you to a video of Mayor-Elect McGinn talking about the transition. Note: Forms must be completed by Sunday, November 22 at 6pm.

Stereogum
After topping the Amazon Editors’ Best Albums Of 2009 list, Neko Case took a victory lap, performing a loose, pitch-perfect “Red Tide” for Jimmy Fallon last night.

Pitchfork
The Seattle music community’s GIVE compilation is receiving national attention. Pitchfork , the web’s leading indie music site, highlighted the downloadable music and video compilation today, which will surely place it second only to skinny jeans on every kid’s holiday wish list. The compilation benefits local hunger relief and arts education nonprofit Arts Corps. Go team!

Indie Wire
Last summer, as Lynn Shelton’s Sundance fave Humpday was about to open in theaters, Dan Savage, the founder of Seattle amateur porn festival “HUMP!” called out Shelton on his blog. “He demanded that I show HUMP! some love because, as he pointed out, without the existence of HUMP!, there would have been no Humpday,” Shelton told indieWIRE today. “I had to agree.” In fulfillment of her promise to Savage, Shelton decided to make a quasi-sequel to Humpday to screen at HUMP! Entitled Beyond Gay, the short film follows a gay man and a lesbian who attempt to get it on one particularly randy morning. Shelton came up with the concept for the short while filming $5 Cover Seattle. IndieWIRE has the short up for viewing at the above link.

Film Threat
Bobcat Goldthwait is most widely known for his irreverent stand-up character: the awkward fellow with the self-described “Grover voice,” which he reluctantly carried over into several film roles. The indie film fan may also know him from cult film favorite Shakes the Clown, which he wrote, directed and starred in. But these days, Bobcat has shed the Andy Kaufman-esque persona completely and resides behind the camera, directing his own scripts, such as 2006’s Sleeping Dogs Lie, which he followed up with the similarly themed World’s Greatest Dad. In this recent interview, director Bobcat Goldwaith answers why he chose to shoot his recent film, World’s Greatest Dad, in Seattle.