MEET ME IN THE CHAMBER: We don't need to sell the symphony fans on chamber music, but maybe you rock and rollers could use a little primer. Catch six chamber ensembles at Town Hall tonight, and get your chamber music in 15-minute doses. It's like tapas, but with violins. 8 p.m. // Town Hall // Free LOCAL AUTHOR BLOWOUT: TNT sports writer Dave Boling has written a novel. Go Dave! Guernica is set during the......

We were walking down Broadway at lunchtime trying to decide on the perfect uncrowded, sun-soaking lunchspot, when it came to us. Actually, it was printed on a sign that advertised La Puerta's lunch specials. That's when we remembered that La Puerta has an upstairs deck overlooking Broadway -- and that their food is resolutely mediocre, virtually guaranteeing light occupancy. How right we were. Just one couple was sitting outside, discussing a California "growing" operation. We......

U-N-I, the L.A. headliners at last night's show at Chop Suey, is the profoundly West Coast hiphop equivalent of human superficial fascia: loosely, intricately webbed, sticky, and pliable. Tricky, surprising beats backed Thurzday and Y-O's tight rap in a dizzying but relaxed kind of way. The night was solid for such an unsung show, with performances from some of 2008's most promising local acts: J. Pinder (his ballsy, impeccable timing meshing perfectly with high-power......

Last night, Seattlest hit up the Red Bull Big Tune 2007 Championship at Neumos just like we said we would. The idea of the competition was to showcase U.S. hip-hop producers in the form of a beat battle, tournament-style; in between rounds we were treated to the skills of DV-One and Just Blaze, and also to a mini-concert from giants De La Soul. We were not expecting this last, and it was kinda fun. Our......

Heads up, Seattle: there's a Beat Battle going down at Neumos tonight (Thursday)! It's called something dorky like "Red Bull Big Tune Championships," but don't let the name fool you. De La Soul will be there, Brainstorm will be there, Daps1 (we hope) will be there. Vitamin D's on the bill, and Sabzi of Blue Scholars is planning on strutting his stuff. Neumos has DV-One of recently (some would say wrongfully) convicted fame on the......

There are plenty of us for whom both the successful season of the Seahawks and the less-than-stellar season of the Supersonics mean absolutely nothing, other than potential for increased traffic. While we may watch highlights on ESPN, most professional sports just don't have any appeal. Watching the less than heralded sports is where the real action is. Who doesn't marvel at the technique of Kobayashi, the overexcited commentators of the dart championships, or the sublime......