Archive for October, 2004

Michael Moore in da hizouse?

Sorry…couldn’t resist. This was stolen from the Seattle Community on LiveJournal but I thought it was worth sharing here as well.

Michael Moore in Seattle

FOOLPROOF PRESENTS

An Evening with MICHAEL MOORE
The Slacker Uprising Tour to Get Out the Vote!
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19
7:30 pm
KEY ARENA

TICKETS – $15.00 floor, $5 uppper level
(service fees may apply)

No stranger to controversy, Michael Moore elicited boos at the Republican convention in New York while his documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11″ continues to break attendance records nationwide. Oscar winner for “Bowling for Columbine,” author of the bestsellers Dude, Where’s My Country? and Stupid White Men…and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation. Tickets: www.foolproof.org and Ticketmaster – 206-628-0888, ticketmaster & all Ticketmaster outlets

update: Also, take note that there will be a film crew from Westside Production filming/recording that night, maybe for a DVD or TV special?

Halloween Dancing Fun!

Courtesy of The Stranger and Craigslist:
Be a Thriller zombie in a giant dance reenactment party on Halloween weekend. I have some friends who went last year and had the time of their lives. Anyone, whether they can dance or not, is invited and the first rehearsal is tomorrow afternoon in Sand Point, with two more the next week.
I’m going to try my best to be there. What about you?

Don’t Drink The Water

While crews work to clean up the horrible oil spill south of Vashon Island, authorities still don

your weekend agenda

(as if we haven’t already suggested some great weekend activities…)

Friday: there’s so much to do, raising complex question of self-categorization. Do you hit up the Genius awards (see Zee’s post) and party it up with the best and brightest? Or do you go bookish and hear Neal Pollack and Stephen Elliott read at the University Bookstore? For those of you who don’t know them, Neal Pollack is the self-proclaimed “greatest living writer” and is something of a rock star both musically and in literary circles. Stephen Elliott has been doing heroically good coverage of the presidential election for The Believer and has written a new book about his experiences on the trail called Looking Forward to It. Or do you go all indie rock and check out Music for America’s presentation of Seattle’s finest self-promotional pop punks, The Lashes, at Chop Suey?

Saturday poses similar conundrums. If you didn’t get enough alt-weekly partying on Friday check out alt-monthly (?) Tablet’s party to celebrate its fourth anniversary of publishing. The theme is “holy ghost revival” at the Rendezvous. I would be shocked if it wasn’t filled with inappropriate “religious” fun. We’re talking about promises of semi-professional wrestling, celebrity bible readings, and strippers as just the tip of the iceberg! [#] The evening features another must-see literary event as the brothers Eggers descend upon Elliott Bay Books along with Doris and Dr. Benny Haggis-on-Whey. Be prepared for something special that mixes presentation, performance, song & dance. [#]

Sunday. There’s a reason that they show hours of political talk shows on Sunday. If you figured out that Friday and Saturday were trick questions — no need to choose if you plan carefully — you deserve a nap. Or catch a movie. The Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival starts this weekend too. They’re showing Rebel Without A Cause at 2 pm on the Cinerama.

Genius up close and in person

I love The Stranger. I hate The Stranger. I can’t keep my hands off of it!

Gacked from this week’s issue, an invitation:

Rub shoulders with this year’s winners at our blowout Second Annual Stranger Genius Awards party on Friday, October 15, at Western Bridge (3412 Fourth Ave S, 838-7444) at 9:00 p.m. (A free bus will run back and forth all night between the party and Bauhaus Books & Coffee on Capitol Hill.) There will be live music (Bugz in the Attic, Sientific American, SunTzu DJs), various art installations (sculpture, film, poetry), tons of people, a couple of surprises, and a bar. Come help us celebrate. And bring your friends.

Sounds like it could be fun.

Beware, the Potholes!

As I trundled my way across from the Eastside into Ballard last Monday, I was again rudely reminded of the pathetically poor pavement in the Seattle area. As I arrived at my counselor’s office in Ballard, I didn’t know if I needed mental help, or backboard to isolate a spinal compression fracture. Alas, I could still get out of the car.

As my head stopped its incessant vibrating (this day, it was not the caffeine), I hearkened back to my past travels to East Germany, prior to its reunification. Sheeeshh! The roads there, frozen in time and disrepair since WWII, were not too far worse then the bone-jarring potholefest we call pavement in Seattle. I ain’t kiddin’. Why is this?

After all, the ticket police are out in force, even slapping me, a hapless Eastsider, with a Zone violation (parking in a residential area after hours). There is plenty of investment into new-fangled, bug-prone new parking systems to streamline the gathering of revenues. Yet, I drive around Seattle like I am in some kind of mad slalom, avoiding gaping holes with jagged edges. And it appears there are no improvements in sight. Though the City of Seattle would have you think otherwise.

My Volvo dealer is thrilled though, selling me all manner of suspension and front end repairs. I wonder if I could bill the City of Seattle?

Seattle – great city, but horrible pavement. Beware, the potholes!

Death of the 10 foot sunflower

If you’re not an organic gardener in Seattle you can be excused for your ignorance of the P-Patch network. While my 3-year old thinks its a PEA-patch the “P” actually stands for Picardo which was the first community garden in the network. Now there are over forty of them offering urban garden space for anyone who gets their name on the list, waits a few months and pays the annual due of around $40.

We garden at Picardo – its the largest – as short-season gardeners which means that this Friday the plot must be cleared, all plastics and non-compostables removed, tomatoe cages lugged home and the 10 foot sunflowers torn down.

As always, I am leaving it to the last minute. Hopefully the late pumpkins will have turned slightly less green.

Interestingly, P-Patches are becoming so popular that a couple of new housing developments are advertising “wi-fi and P-Patch for tenants”. Interesting. It reminds me of those pictures of homes built underground with goats browsing on the roof.

Keeping up the PACE

Local artists have donated 130 pieces of artwork for two auctions for raising funds to build the Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE). Items for a silent auction are being exhibited at the Bellevue Square Mall, and you may view and bid for the items online as well as bid at the mall. Auction ends in nine days — October 23rd, so time to get your shoes on, and then go to the mall and get your art on.

Items for a live auction are being exhibited online, but I think you’re going to have to fork out for a candlelight dinner in order to bid on them. Dinner and live auction also in nine days: October 23rd.

street scene, broadway and harrison

DSCN0319.jpgSeen while waiting for my morning espresso beverage: This guy opens his SUV door, starts blasting tango music, and proceeds to dance with his lady friend. All without the aid of the embedded sidewalk dance steps and before 10 am. Quite an achievement.

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voteorama

O.K. Maybe you know someone who hasn’t registered to vote, but is maybe starting to feel some remorse about their procrastination. Maybe they’ve watched the “debates” or figured out that their vote could have an effect on the election.1 By now, they’re probably feeling like it’s too late and they have no hope of participating in the great American democracy experiment.

Keep the dream alive and let these slackers know that they have a few more days to register. They’ll need to take some initiative or perhaps you, responsible citizen, can drag them toward their destiny. Grab their hand and walk them down to the King County Elections Office two weeks before the election (by our estimation, this means by Monday the 18th), where friendly staff will welcome them into the fold of registered voters.

The Elections office is located in the King County Administration Building (500 – 4th Ave., Rm 553) For more information, call 206-296-VOTE (8683).

For practice “waking up and voting” the Red Line (corner of Denny & Summit) is offering $1 espresso drinks all day on Tuesdays through Election Day.

(1) See Jordan Ellenburg’s “Why your vote isn’t as meaningless as you think” [slate]

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