Local Artists in the National News

Seattle talent gets some props over the long weekend. First, film director Lynn Shelton has a nice profile in The New York Times. Her film Humpday, seen at SIFF, opens this Friday at the Harvard Exit. We'll review it Wednesday, and add an interview online. (The NYT profile was written by Michelle Orange, whose byline often appears in our pages.) Second, cartoonist Peter Bagge gets a prominent link on Jalopnik.com for a strip called "Why Amtrak Sucks." It's included in his new collection Everybody Is Stupid Except for Me, and Other Astute Observations (Fantagraphics, $16.99). Bagge has a reading coming up at Fantagraphics Books (7 p.m. Sat., July 11), directly after which his band plays at Jules Maes Saloon.