Seen on the corner of Melrose and Pine, through the window of Bauhaus while waiting in line for a chai latte this morning.

It’s especially effective when it’s flashing right before the light changes. (The bit of strategically placed tape is actually less visible when you see it live.)

I’m sure this isn’t the first time someone’s done this, but it gave everyone in the coffee queue a chuckle.

I grew up in Florida, not too far away from Sea World, which had a seafood restaurant. I always found that really, really disturbing, because I worried that what people were eating was a fish that hadn’t been doing a very good job. If one didn’t perform well enough, they’d make it into a fishburger as an example to others.

But if the idea of eating critters in the presence of other critters doesn’t disturb you at all, then maybe you should head over to the Woodland Park Zoo for Thanksgiving. They’re having a Thanksgiving buffet starting at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday:

“Tear into a feast of carved turkey and ham with all the traditional fixins

Messier 81 via Space.com

This morning, fellow metroblogger Carolyn and I found ourselves in volunteer training for the soon-to-be-opening Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. The store is the front for our own 826, and my friends, it’s going to be fantastic.

I’m sure that you yourself have been stumped on where to replenish your zero gravity toiletries or robot repair kits. Just the other day I was stuck in the far reaches of space without a spare warp drive, eating the last freeze-dried chicken dinner. The need for a space travel supply store in our fine city has been recognized, and the void will be filled starting Friday.

The grand opening of the space will be on Saturday, December 3 from noon – 6 pm. There will almost certainly be all sorts of unabashedly cool famous people there, as well as nicely dressed folk from other dimensions. From the flyer:

“Do you like traveling? Do you like exploring distant locales? Do you like proving to others that the unknown tends to be exaggerated in importance or difficulty? This is the grand opening for you.”

Seriously, folks, this store is shaping up to be one of the coolest places in the city. Kids coming to be tutored will enter the tutoring space in the back via the Atomic Teleporter. All of the profit from the retail space gets funneled right back into supporting 826 Seattle, which is helping more and more kids each day. This is good stuff, and right in time for some holiday warm fuzzies.

Greenwood Space Travel Supply Co. is located at 8414 Greenwood Avenue N. It officially opens its doors on the 25th, and its operating hours for the time being will be roughly from 12-7.

One of the post-Thanksgiving traditions in Seattle is to take the kids down for a spin on the Holiday Carousel. The Downtown Seattle Association has set up the carousel in Westlake Park for nearly 20 years, but a few years ago it looked to be all but dead until Qwest took over sponsorship.

But, according to a DSA press release, the carousel starts revolving again on Thanksgiving Friday, November 25th. Brave downtown, take the kiddies, and drop by Nordie’s to say hi to Santa.

We’re entering day three of an autumn thermal inversion in Seattle. For you non-weather geeks, a high pressure system with warm air aloft moved on top of a pool of cool air sitting over the city. Heat rises, and normally it’s warmer at the surface than the air a few thousand feet above it, so in normal conditions warm air moves up and displaces cool air to the surface which warms and rises and displaces more air… and you get things like wind and the relatively pleasant Seattle air. But if it’s warmer above, the air doesn’t move, and your autumn Seattle pollutants (wood smoke, car exhaust, political whining) get trapped at the surface.

All this to say that it’s getting hard to breathe in this town. The National Weather Service has issued a Stagnant Air Advisory, containing this ominous line:

AT THIS TIME…IS APPEARS THE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE WILL REMAIN IN
PLACE THROUGH AT LEAST THANKSGIVING DAY. THE PROBABILITY IS HIGH
THAT THE AIR STAGNATION ADVISORY WILL NEED TO BE EXTENDED.

I’m guessing right now it’s going to end on Thanksgiving Day, because it ALWAYS rains on Thanksgiving Day in Seattle. Except when it doesn’t. But usually it does.

A side-effect of this stagnant air is some incredible sunsets. Did anyone get shots of last’s nights? I can’t find any on Flickr. It was a shade of hot pink that is normally seen in sweatsuits and garage sale signs.

(BTW, anyone want to name the tune I used in the title?)

I don’t know about you guys, but I plan to do my grandma proud on Thursday and cook enough food to feed twice as many guests as I actually have. My mother–who no longer celebrates Thanksgiving, and tends to go out for burgers now–finds the thought of a feast in my one-bedroom apartment hysterically funny. To this end, she’s been sending me “humorous” Thanksgiving-related emails, most of which I disregard because they’re really not that funny. (Sorry, mom!)

This morning, though, she sent me a link to “Seattle Thanksgiving Day”, asking, “Is this what it’s like?” In most ways, this thing is as usual disregardable and slightly annoying, but there were a few spots that hit home:

DRESS CODE. Thanksgiving Day guests will arrive wearing Seattle tuxes: clean jeans, turtleneck sweaters and down jackets with weathered ski-lift tags. Hiking boots are optional.

CONVERSATION’S GAMBIT. Topics will include: 1) the election; 2) previous elections; and, 3) the next election. Several arguments will ensue before the host or hostess declares politics ‘off-limits.’

DEPARTURE’S RULE. Some guests will arrive very early; some will show up late. But they’ll all leave at the same time.

And now, on Thursday, when my guests kick off their sensible shoes and start talking monorail, this goofy email is all I’m going to be able to think about.

In keeping with Josh’s post yesterday about this weekend’s incredible music lineup, here’s today’s question:

Which song by a local artist epitomizes the Seattle/Western Washington music scene right now? What about all-time?

For right now I would go with the cop-out answer: “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” by DCFC. Dark, sweet, and anti-religious.

All-time? “Louie Louie,” of course.

image via: surfnetkids.com

So I just got wind of the possibility of my sister (and her family) coming into town for Thanksgiving. Since I had been planning on a low-key turkey breast kind of laying around day, and since my place is hardly equiped to serve a meal to four adults and an 18-month old, I sensed the need for immediate action. On went the computer, up came Google and I thought I’d share what I found so far. That is to say, a nice round up of restaurants open for Thanksgiving [nwsource], and a couple of interesting off-beat activities:

• Elliott Bay cruise and with food [#]

• Thanksgiving Bowling @ West Seattle Bowl [#]
• Thanksgiving Dance Off [tangoseattle]
• Comedy Show: Breaks and Freaks [exploitseattle]

If you’ve got any ideas for entertaining out-of-town guests next Thursday on the, uh, town, definitely pass them along in the comments. Thanks!

I know it’s late, but this weekend’s music calendar has the feel of homecoming weekend. Maybe it’s the chilli n the air, the local pride on the line with the Apple Cup on Saturday, or the true signifier of impending seasonal change (the red cups at Starbucks). Whatever it is, the next few days are awfully Seattle-centric when it comes to live music.

After a long time on the road, local indie rock heroes Death Cab for Cutie finish up their big tour in Seattle. They’re playing sold-out shows at the Paramount on Friday and Saturday night with Stars, the poppier more lovelorn delegation of Montreal’s Arts & Crafts collective. If you didn’t manage to get tickets in advance for either of these shows and don’t want to pay craigslist prices, don’t fret. You could always put on your best emo sweater and stay at home listening to a whole Death Cab for Cutie show recorded earlier this year in the other Washington at the 9:30 club [npr] whenever it’s convenient.

Another Friday option involves Seattle’s happiest internationally-beloved infectiously danceable electro-rock band, United State of Electronica. Along with Jaguar-fans, Aqueduct, they’ll be entertaining snow lovers who show up at Fremont Studios for the premiere screening of indie-rock soundtracked snowboard flick, Platinum.

Earlier this week, Dylan sang the praises of the locally underappreciated Laura Veirs; so follow his advice and make a trip to Ballard. I hear it’s nice out there this time of year. You’ll find Laura Viers at the Tractor Tavern for an early show with the quiet, lovely, melancholic Great Lake Swimmers on Saturday.

Wrap up your localriffic weekend by catching-up with one-time Seattleites, the Trachtenberg Family Slideshow Players. Way ahead of the underage girl drummer phenomenon, pioneers in the art of turning discarded slides into pop storybook songs, and with more quirk than you can shake a stick at, they’re coming back from their new home in New York City to play a show at Chop Suey on Sunday [ticketweb]. Find out if the Pizzazz! champions have become jaded by big city life or if they’re still the lovable family you remember from way back when. Get there early to check out Samantha-endorsed [mb] Tullycraft, who open with a potential twee dance party.

After the jump, a whole bunch of mp3s for your playlist.
(more…)

Seattle’s streets have survived takeover by WTO protesters, Pigs on Parade, and Ponies on Parade. This year brings no reprieve, as another set of fifty statues invade the sidewalks in the form of the Nutcracker March.

In addition to providing a clever advertisement for the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s annual production of the Nutcracker at McCaw hall, the profits from sale the local-artist decorated off to the highest bidder will go to the Northwest Center. The auction provides a nice opportunity for people who wouldn’t ordinarily shop at Value Village to do their part to help while getting a gigantic statue in the process. All the while allowing downtown shoppers to have brightly colored props to decorate their holiday snapshots.

What do you think? Do you love or hate this sort of thing? Have you seen a particularly hideous or gorgeous implementation of nutcracker decoration?

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related: In 2001, Emily Hall took a serious look at the parading pigs and didn’t like what she saw [stranger]