Skatepark artist wanted

The city of Seattle is looking for an artist or artists to enhance the design of a new Seattle Center Skatepark.

The park will be located at the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Thomas Street, opening up to Seattle Center, and include 8,900 square feet of skating terrain along with seating and landscaping.

Artists from Washington, Oregon or British Columbia are encouraged to apply. The application is available at www.seattle.gov/arts with a deadline of Tuesday, March 18.

The project budget is set at $22,850, and is scheduled for development by July with completion by the end of September.

Tickets on sale Friday for Death Cab's Bremerton show

This in from nightlife reporter Tom Scanlon:

You may need a ferry — not a taxi — to catch Seattle's hottest band, as Death Cab for Cutie launches its eagerly- anticipated tour in Bremerton.

According to deathcabforcutie.com, DCFC will play the Admiral Theatre (www.admiraltheatre.org) on April 18. Fellow Seattle band the Cave Singers will open. Tickets ($35) go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com).

Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla, Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr will be playing from the new Death Cab album, "Narrow Stairs."

Tracks from the new album include "Bixby Canyon Bridge," "I Will Possess Your Heart" and "No Sunlight."

Tom Scanlon

New videos by Abdul and {$326} you?

Paula Abdulhas released a new music video featuring her fellow "American Idol" judges. It's admittedly catchy but repetitive.

With the name "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow," I wish Abdul, who became famous for her moves and her choreography, would dance more — she leaves most of the action to the background dancers.

See for yourself here: www.fox.com/paula.

There is also a making-of video on the page as well, where Simon Cowell makes nice with Paula.

Now: if you're feeling creative and think you can make videos on your own, The Fauntleroy Centennial Group is looking for a producer to develop a 30-minute documentary DVD about the West Seattle neighborhood. The documentary would profile the community, including the past and present events that have shaped its character.

A statement of qualifications and cost estimates are due by 5 p.m. Friday, March 7. For more information, check out westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=5853#more-5853.

Happy birthday, Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain would have been 41 today.

The Nirvana frontman died at 27; he was born in Aberdeen on Feb. 20, 1967.

And Sunday, Feb. 24, would have marked Cobain and Courtney Love's anniversary. They were married in 1992 at Waikiki, Hawaii.

Rick Lambert, former program director for The End (KNDD-FM), gives an account of Cobain at fadedflannel.com/kurtcobain.

Also, here's a tribute to Cobain on YouTube, where readers have been posting him birthday wishes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZpgLNkcQE4.

The movie "About a Son," in which Cobain tells his story in his own words, is out on DVD. Here's its Web site: www.kurtcobainaboutason.com. And here is The Seattle Times review of the film: archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=kurt12&date=20071012&query=about+a+son%2C+kurt+cobain.

Finally, here's Nirvana's music to celebrate Cobain: www.myspace.com/nirvana. Fans have been leaving birthday messages there, too.

Gurus's new "Jazzmatazz" features Seattle bands

After a long weekend, kick off your workweek with some good music.

Today, rapper and composer Guru and super-producer Solar release the album "Jazzmatazz: The Timebomb/Back to the Future Mixtape," featuring Seattle's Blue Scholars and Common Market, reggae artist Damian Marley, Bay Area socially conscious group Zion I and popular MC Common. You can hear the entire album at www.hiphopdx.com/index/mixtape/id.327.

Listeners are saying it gets to the heart of hip-hop, the genre that embraces all others. Guru's past volumes of "Jazzmatazz" have featured such icons as the recent Grammy Award-winning Herbie Hancock, as well as the hip-hop band the Roots and soul singer Isaac Hayes.

Another album to look forward to is in the works from Latin rock pioneer Ersi Arvizu. You can sample her songs at mediatmp.anti.com/ersiarvizu/ersi_presspage.html.

Make sure to listen to "Mi India" and close your eyes — this slower number will help you ease into the week and relax.

Arvizu makes her solo debut May 6 with "Friend for Life," her first full album recording since 1976. The English and Spanish songs tell the story of survival. Before this album, Arvizu sang for 70s Latin rock pioneers El Chicano and the Los Angeles girl group The Sisters.

Her voice is truly mesmerizing. Even if you can't understand her words, you can feel her pain.

Foo news

The Foo Fighters are coming to KeyArena on July 9. Tickets ($25-$45) go on sale at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, livenation.com or 206-628-0888.

The Seattle rock band, formed by one-time Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, just celebrated its 10th anniversary and recently won a Grammy award for best rock album of 2007.

Eddie Vedder goes solo

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder will kick off a small West Coast tour, starting April 2 in Vancouver, B.C., and ending April 15 in San Diego. There are seven dates going through Canada and California — Seattle is not one of them.

Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 22, on www.ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets cost $65 plus venue, service and handling fees. There is also a four ticket limit.

The tour will feature music from Vedder's soundtrack for the Sean Penn directed film "Into the Wild." His single "Guaranteed" was nominated for a Grammy and won a Golden Globe for best original song. And "Hard Sun" peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.

New Zealand singer-songwriter Liam Finn is the opener.

For more information, go to www.pearljam.com.

Marian Liu: mliu@seattletimes.com