SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

The season is coming when not much of anything non-Christmas-related is going on in town. Soon, we'll be inundated with colorful lights and an unending parade of cloying holiday songs. As Seasonal Affective Disorder officially begins to take hold, a pall of false cheer will stand as the only line of defense against crippling depression. In other words: Happy Holidays!

Still, there are glimmers of brightness in nerd events that will also help to keep our minds off of the all-encompassing miasma of winter. For instance, the last Saturday before December rears its ugly head is an opportunity to embrace not only local literature, but local small businesses. Small Business Saturday is like the Captain Planet to Black Friday's vile Hoggish Greedly. Instead of getting trampled and maced at Walmart, Small Business Saturday encourages you to relax the day after Christmas, and then shower your local stores with love.

Working in conjunction with Small Business Saturday are two events designed to connect you to local authors and fellow book-lovers. King's Books will be hosting the Tacoma chapter of Indies First, an event started by Sherman Alexie that gathers local authors and has them take turns as booksellers at various independent bookstores. Book recommendations, readings, and general merriment will be coming from authors such as Erik Hanberg, Mark Lindquist, Joshua Swainston and others.

Meanwhile, literary magazine Creative Colloquy will be stationed at the Nearsighted Narwhal, with readings from Michaela Eaves, Jack Cameron, J. Anne Fullerton and our own Christian Carvajal. Needless to say, in addition to rubbing elbows with these authors, buying some written words of your own should be the order of the day. And, while you're at it, take a moment to stroll down Sixth avenue and pick up some stuff from places such as Hi-Voltage Records and Retrospect.

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

The other bright spot in this long stretch of darkness is that awards season is upon us! And, what better way to mark this season than with the release of the fall's first big, meaty piece of Oscar bait: The Theory of Everything. Having only seen the trailer, I can basically just tell you that the biopic of Stephen Hawking sure looks like it's swinging for the maudlin fences. Still, the actor they got to portray the famous physicist (Eddie Redmayne) is the spitting image of Hawking, so kudos to that guy and his inevitable Oscar nomination.

Really, though, this is the time to be rejuvenated and remind yourself that there really are good films still out there, even though the rest of the year may mostly tell you otherwise. I've already recommended this one before, but I will continue to sing its praises when I tell you that you absolutely must see Birdman, if you care anything at all about the art of film. Luckily for you, both of these movies will be playing at The Grand Cinema, so you have absolutely no excuse not to see them.