I’m not confident that it’ll last, but at least right now the sun is shining where I am. So this weekend for me is all about the outdoors. There’s the University District, Ballard, and West Seattle Farmers Markets of course, as there have been all year. But this weekend the Broadway Farmers Market comes back! If you tried Trevani Truffles after reading about them here, they are moving to the Broadway Farmers Market soon, so get over there and get yourself some amazing chocolate!

If you missed the Seattle Tilth Plant Sale last weekend, you’re not out of luck for your summer gardens. The Friends of the Conservatory Plant Sale is Saturday from 10-3pm. You can also enjoy a wide variety of indoor plants as well. There will be experts on hand to help you resurrect any plants you might have languishing at home.

And last, Daily Candy reports that a new artisan ice cream shop is opening in Wallingford. Molly Moon’s looks to be my kind of ice cream shop. And with flavors such as Balsamic Strawberry and Salted Caramel, and the possibility of a local celebrity or two showing up, it just might be the place to be this weekend.

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I mean the term “geeks” lovingly of course, especially since I’m one of them. That’s right I’m heading down south from my home in (currently) sunny Vancouver [mbv] to attend the Emerald City Comic Convention [eccc] this weekend at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.  For the next few days I’ll be a guest blogger on the site, and one of the several of Metblog types at the convention.

If you’ve not yet considered going to the convention this weekend I’d certainly have another think on that one. It promises to be a really cool show, with lots of top name comic book creators there such as Ed Brubaker (he killed Captain America), Dan Didio, Gail Simone and Scott Kurtz.

If you don’t like reading, or looking at colour picture pages, then there’s television stars there to including Julie Benz (Buffy/Angel), Wil Wheaton [wwdn] (from Stand By Me & Star Trek: The Next Generation) and whatever science fiction actors could be coaxed down from Vancouver for the weekend.

All in all it should be a great time. This is the third year in a row I’ll have come down for the show, so that’s just not idle speculation.

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12:35 pm on a Wednesday. Bus #23, which turned into #17:

A bastard and his stupid girlfriend walk on the bus.

Bastard: Who you calling?

Girlfriend: What do you care?

Bastard: Remember this. People should call you. If they don’t, then cut them out of your life. Remember that, you hear me?

Girlfriend: Yes. I’ll remember.  

A crazy woman enters the bus. Someone immediately opens a window.

Crazy woman, talking to herself: Good. Open that window. Those people smell. Someone should tell them. Because it’s not me. I’m not the one stinkin’ up this bus. It’s them. Someone should tell them to get off this bus already.

The bastard and stupid girlfriend get off the bus at the next stop. Two old Russian women enter. One of them has obviously just peed herself. I am sitting across from her, getting ready to get off the bus.

Russian women: dakjflajdlfjadsjf;ajdsfjaksdjflajdlfj (That’s supposed to be Russian)

Bus driver: Man, I was gonna take today off.

True Story.

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Are you one of those people who graduated from the University of Washington but never quite recovered from the glory of your college days, so you’re still a little bit obsessed with the school? You just want to talk about how great it is, all the time? And you write catchy tunes? Well, the UW needs a new alma mater, and they’re looking right at you [Times].

The alma mater is different from the fight song, and they want something like a hymn that tugs at the heartstrings. The current one is unpopular and possibly slightly racist, and it doesn’t mention cherry blossoms at all. The new one will be set to music by Bill Conty, who wrote the score for “Rocky.” They’d like it to be written by a student, faculty member, or alum. (I have no idea what the alma mater for my college was. I’m not entirely sure it has one.)

The deadline is May 28, and you can submit via this handy form.

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Washington State Department of Health has added additional quit smoking support for pregnant women just in time for Mother’s Day.

The free services (no insurance required) include extra follow-up calls from a supportive quit coach and easy-to-follow materials to help improve a woman’s chance of quitting successfully and staying tobacco-free after the baby is born.

All Washington residents can call the toll-free quit line (1-800-QUIT-NOW, and in Spanish, 1-877-2NO-FUME) for free help quitting tobacco. (Link)

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Billboard says that their inclusion of Prince and Rage Against the Machine as Bumbershoot headliners [mb] was an error. Their guide to summer music festivals [billboard] has been corrected. Carry on.

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If you’re old enough to remember swing dancing in the late ’90s, you’ll remember the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, whose “Zoot Suit Riot” was a kind of anthem for that short-lived revival. After 19 years together, and a foray into molecular biology, the band will be swinging through Seattle this Friday for two shows.

Their new album Susquehanna is an oddly cohesive mix of ska, swing, reggae and Latin music, in part because the lyrics flow together well- it’s been compared to a rock opera, or alternately, chapters of modernist novel, according to frontman Steve Perry. (#).

Of course, Friday’s shows promise to be interesting- in their early days, the band got themselves into a bit of a pickle back in Oregon due to Perry’s phallic gyrations involving… a pickle. (#) The Triple Door will have a dance floor available- whether Perry will be there with a pickle is still up in the air.

The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies will be at the Triple Door for two shows Friday at 7:30 and 10:30. Tickets can be bought through their website, here. And in case you’d like to get “Zoot Suit Riot” stuck in your head, here’s the video- you can thank me later:

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I doubt this just about as hard as I can, but maybe Prince and Rage Against the Machine are part of the Bumbershoot lineup? Via rumor-loving Ear Candy [#], this blurb from Billboard’s guide to summer music:

BUMBERSHOOT
August 30 - September 1
Seattle Center, Seattle
Lineup Includes: Prince, Beck, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, Neko Case, Lucinda Williams
Festival Web Site: www.bumbershoot.org

Originally beginning as The Seattle Arts Festival in 1971, Bumbershoot consists of a variety of art, including music, film, comedy, theater, spoken word, dance, visual, performance, and literary arts. The festival takes place at the Seattle Center, a 74-acre park with over 20 indoor/outdoor venues and independent vendors located throughout the area. Headliners aside, other must see artists include !!!, Ingrid Michaelson, M. ward, and Del tha Funkee Homosapien.
[billboard]

Prince’s long jam, variety show, “Creep”-covering set at Coachella last month was something to behold [mb], but it reportedly cost Goldenvoice somewhere in the neighborhood above four million dollars to pull it off for a festival with daily admission tickets hovering close to a hundred dollars. Does Onereel really have that kind of cash on hand?

From Pinkpop in June, to Lollapalooza, Reading and Leeds in August, Rage Against the Machine have headlining spots for a slew of ever-multiplying summer festivals, but nothing on their calendar after 23 August. When I saw them a couple years ago (right after they reunited), the crowd was intense and huge. It would certainly change the scene at Seattle Center if their hardcore fans parachuted in for a Battle of Bumbershoot.

I dashed off a note to Onereel to see if there’s any merit to Billboard’s story and will let you know when I hear more. Thoughts?

update: Billboard regrets the error. [mb]

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MSN Money mentions Seattle in an article about reducing cars per household. An interesting read. Here is the relevant portion:

Local governments around the country are encouraging residents to ditch their unneeded vehicles. Arlington, Va., Denver and Dayton, Ohio, are all starting programs designed to take cars off their roads. Under Seattle’s “One Less Car Challenge,” residents who successfully go on a monthlong car diet get discounted memberships to bicycle clubs and — for those who actually get rid of a vehicle — up to $600 in credit to a car-sharing program.

Metblogs author Patricia posted about the “One Less Car Challenge“. If you’re interested in saving an average $8,580 per year (or $715 (average) for the month), check it out. It’s not too late.

Zipcar
Metro
Sound Transit
Rideshare

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Some time next week I’ll be getting a new bicycle and I couldn’t be more excited about it, but I’m a little bit nervous, too.  The last time I was on a bicycle was circa 1979, so obviously I’m a little out of practice.  I’m not worried about being able to get on the bike and ride–there’s got to be a reason “it’s like riding a bike” is the cliche that means something’s easy, right?–but I am concerned about where I’ll be riding my bike.  At least until I’ve got some quality practice riding time in, I really don’t want to be out on the streets with a bunch of cars.

 That’s why I am so glad to hear about Seattle Parks’ “Group Health Bicycle Saturday and Sundays“.  Co-sponsored by Group Health Cooperative and the Cascade Bicycle Club, Bicycle Saturdays & Sundays allow bike riders to ride Lake Washington Boulevard south of Mount Baker Beach and around Seward Park free of motorized vehicles from 9 am to 6 pm on selected weekends in the summer. 

 The first Bicycle Saturday is this very weekend on May 10; later in the month on May 18 is the Sunday date.  The remaining dates are June 14 & 29, July 12 & 20, August 9 & 17 and September 13 & 21.

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As those of you who take the Times already know, the schedule for this year’s Seattle International Film Festival is now available. Zee already gave you the bird’s eye view of some of the major highlights and structure of this year’s festival, now you can dig in and start planning all of the ways that you can avoid the great outdoors between 22 May and 15 June, from the kick-off gala presentation of Battle In Seattle to the pre-closing bender of Bottle Shock and everything in between. From the preview reel at the Press Launch, I think I’m most excited about mumblecore-meets-horror Baghead, ultra-saturated fairy tale the Fall , high-school documentary American Teen , and super stylish dystopic thriller Chrysalis. Oh, and the Album Leaf is providing a live score to Sunrise at the Triple Door [#]!!

SIFF members can start shopping today [SIFF], the rest of you should either (1) buy yourself a membership now or (2) start plotting for when ticket sales open to the general public on Sunday. If you’re not obsessive enough to dive into a full pass, I recommend starting with a couple of six packs or filling out a 20 pack. You save a bit of money and it motivates you to see a not unhealthy number of films. If you’re feeling frisky, go with a Secret Festival pass and be sworn to never speak of the films you watch on Sunday mornings, or if you just like drinking, seeing, and being seen, grab tickets to a gala or gay-la as the case may be. Sadly, the number of galas have been significantly cut this year. You’ll have to make up for it by hanging out post-screening at the SIFF lounge at MOE instead.

Press and full-series afternoon screenings have already started; so we’ll be putting together our usual slate of recommendations once it gets closer to showtime. But obviously, we can’t see everything. If you’re writing about SIFF on your own ‘blog, let us know and we’ll try to highlight SIFFblogging near and far throughout the 25-day movie orgy.

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photo by herbiehancock00 [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Surprise! DevotchKa is headlining the Capitol Hill Block Party. [tig]
• “As long as the car that serves Cap Hill is named “Desire” I’m all for it.” [slog]
• Dick’s makes the switch to trans-fat-free frying oil, world survives. [citizenrain]
• Where in the hell is a bus bound for the King Dome going? [brappy]
• KEXP set to conquer Ballard. Look out, Friday. [kexp]
• OMG I CAN HAZ WEBBY? LOLcats, and dozens of others claim trophies. [seattlest]

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Mayor Nickels is asking the citizens of Seattle to stop buying bottled water. Per the Seattle Times:

This morning, Nickels launched a bigger mission: To try to get Seattleites to stop buying bottled water.

With a five-foot-tall stack of water bottles and 56 oil barrels as a backdrop at Westlake Park, Nickels said buying bottled water costs 2,400 times as much as drinking tap water — and Seattle has some of the best city water in the world.

The stack of water bottles represented the number of empty bottles that end up in the city’s garbage every 37 minutes. The oil barrels represented the amount of oil consumed to make and transport the bottled water that Seattle consumes in 12 hours.

In my household, I drink tap water and my husband drinks Brita-filtered water. I carry a BPA-free bottle filled with tap water. Having grown up with well water, I find Seattle’s tap water to taste perfectly fine.

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The City of Seattle has announced four potential locations for a new Seattle jail.  (See this story in the P-I for a nifty map showing the potential sites.)  One is up on Aurora, past Northgate, at a driving range.  One is at Interbay, currently occupied by a bunch of businesses.  The third option is at Highland Park Way SW and West Marginal Way SW, near the First Ave Bridge and the final choice is a 12-acre site at 9501 Myers Way S, next to the training facility for the fire department. 

The jail is necessary since on December 31, 2012, the King County Jail won’t house any misdemeanor offenders, choosing instead to focus on felons. 

Finding a jail site is always difficult–who wants a jail in their neighborhood?  I sure don’t.  But the jail has to go somewhere.   To me, the most logical choice is the site near the fire training facility, but, as it just so happens that there are wetlands at the Myers site that stand a very strong chance of being destroyed if a jail is built there, despite the city’s promises to build around them without disturbing them.    The other locations all have residential housing around them which means major organized neighborhood push back. 

So, tell me, where do you think the jail should go?  Better yet, tell the City.  They’re planning a series of community forums to discuss the issue, but in the meantime you can check out their page all about the project, which includes a contact link. 

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This beer garden was spotted on Capitol Hill.

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