On Thursday, September 18th at 7pm Babeland will be celebrating its 15th birthday with a party at their Pike Street location . Contact the store at (206) 328-2914 to RSVP. In honor of this upcoming event I spoke with Audrey, the Marketing/Education Coordinator at the Seattle store.

After the jump, one NSFW photo, and Audrey’s favorite classes, books, and toys.
You know you want more!

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So says Ballard Gossip Girl. One commenter says there’s an issue with getting fire sprinklers in the place up to code.

Way this town is going, we’re going to be thankful we lost the Sonics, because the Key may be the last venue we have left.

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If you’re taking the kids to Bumbershoot this weekend, be sure to swing by the Kids Pavilion for crafting, movie making, hula-hooping and more.

And if you’re not Bubmershootin’ or heading out of town for the long weekend, there’s still plenty to do around town with the kids:

Go Car-Free in Columbia City

The second Seattle car-free day is this Sunday in Hillman City and Columbia City and coincides with bicycle Sunday along Lake Washington Boulevard S. We were pleased to see a sign in the window of the Columbia City Bakery this week announcing their plans to stay open late that day. Here’s hoping this car-free day is more successful than last week’s debacle.

Take a Moonlight Walk

Moonpaper Tent celebrates the end of summer where “fire flies, fairies, moon snails, and more help create an illuminating visual tableau of lights and quiet, as children and parents create lanterns to take along with them on a magical moonlight walk through the neighborhood. Whispered stories, glittering face-paint, and glowing surprises await!”

Bremerton Blackberry Festival

Hop a ferry to Bremerton for the annual blackberry festival. Enjoy arts and crafts, live music, and a chalk art contest. And of course there will be plenty of blackberry treats on hand, including “blackberry slugs- a delicious type of maple bar made with blackberry filling and whipped cream.” Um, yum?

Blues for Food Fest

Dance in the grass to five local blues bands at this Magnuson Park event to support the P-Patch Trust.

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As we all know, Bumbershoot can’t go on forever. Below, find some suggestions on how to plot out your last day of the festival (a.k.a. Death Cab Come Home Day) before it even begins. TIP: don’t forget to get an elephant ear. It’s the end of the summer and you haven’t had even one yet, have you? Don’t spend the long dark winter dwelling on regrets, OK?

As usual, glance through the official lineup and don’t hesitate to loudly tell us what we forgot to mention.

All the picks (and, at least one pan), after the jumpcut.

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For those brave enough to return to Bumbershoot for the tricky “middle day”, Team Metblogs salutes you. Several of us will be there, scribbling and snapping the say away. Below, is a slate of recommendations to get you started. Let us know what else from the full lineup you’ll be seeing.

The Sound of Young America Live!: Honestly, Sunday looks like the weakest of the three days at Bumbershoot, so this is the day you should check out a live taping of public radio’s redheaded stepchild The Sound Of Young America. (It’s playing all three days at the same time.) In a world where twentysomethings give to public radio pledge drives, TSOYA would have a prime spot on KUOW instead of that one-off appearance on KXOT. (I mean, honestly, KUOW, do we need yet another tired talk show aimed at the middle-aged, middlebrow former hipster? You have 16 of them already on Sunday alone.) Jesse Thorn is funny, a great interviewer, bipedal, and mostly water. [dylan] 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM, Charlotte Martin Theatre (all three days)

After the jump, plenty of other reasons to make a return to Bumbershoot on Sunday.

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_{Planet SeattleX, courtesy of Bonacheladas}

The New York Times had an excellent article yesterday about what life is like for newcomers in the Big Apple. So much of it seemed applicable to more than just Manhattan, though, that I thought I would share it.

After you move to Seattle, at some point, you realize it either is or isn’t working for you. If it isn’t working for you, you spend a whole lot of time talking about the Seattle Freeze, comparing Seattle to your former place of residence, and complaining about the weather. And we’ve all done it a time or two.

Eventually, though, I think those who truly become Seattleites discover that it’s kind of nice that people don’t talk to you on the bus; the rain feels pretty refreshing after 73-degree heat; and suddenly, somehow you’ve become a coffee snob.

So, guys, what did it for you? When did you suddenly discover Seattle was a fit for you (or not, as the case may be)?

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In just two days, Bumbershoot takes on Seattle for another epic showdown of endurance and sensory overload. The festival at Seattle Center is a sprawling, multi-headed beast of entertainment and memory-making fun. We fired up the Recommend-o-Tron and collected a list of suggestions from Team Metblogs to help you sort through the overstuffed lineup to make the most of the long weekend. Be sure to fill the comments letting us know what we missed, what we should skip, and what you’re most excited to see.

All Weekend:

One Reel Film Festival : No matter what time you stop in for the series of short film programs SIFF is showing all festival long, you’re bound to see some excellent filmmaking. Today’s highlights include Films4Families at 1:00pm and Cuisine Art at 7:00pm. Short films made for children have a way of appealing to everyone, regardless of age, and how could a series of films about food be anything other than tasty? [zee] SIFF Cinema, 12:00 - 9:00 pm

One Pot: This may be your best chance to get something really good to eat at Bumbershoot. Dinner is at 6pm each night; go to onepotbumbershoot.blogspot.com for details. [jameson] 6:00 pm, NW Rooms.

ON THE RADIO: KEXP’s annual broadcast from an undisclosed location deep in the heart of Seattle Center will bring you live performances from a diverse selection of the weekend’s darlingest bands. A few lucky people who signed-up ahead of time will be able to watch for themselves, but everyone can tune in to get a taste of Bumbershoot from the comfort of their own home. [kexp]

VISUAL ARTS: All exhibitions are open 11:00 am to 8:00 pm all three days. Highlights include:

the Power of One : A series of photographs that illustrate the powerful impact a single person can have on global society, featuring works by Charles and Ray Earnes, Nina Berman, Phil Borges, Katharina Mouratidi and Jackie Renin; several of the artists will be on hand during the exhbiition. [zee] NW Rooms

FLATSTOCK 18: Your walls are looking a little empty, Seattle. The country’s best rock poster artists fill the Fisher Pavillion with the artistic ephemera created to advertise shows by your favorite bands. While you’re sure to swoon over the Seattle–Tehran poster show in the NW rooms, you can both adore and buy the ones here. Set aside a healthy budget, plenty of time, and a place to stow your purchases. The show runs all weekend, but the best stuff has a way of selling out early. [josh/samantha/zee]

Saturday-specific picks after the jump.

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Just a reminder that the urban coyotes are here to stay. PAWS has a great coyote fact sheet with tips on how to coexist with coyotes in an urban environment. Keep your small dogs and cats indoors, especially at night. If you have an outdoor cat, PAWS also has a good tip sheet for transitioning your outdoor cat to an indoor one.

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photo by Taylor Hain [flickr] via our group pool [#]

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a column [times] about how the cute little Belltown restaurant, Marjorie [#], was losing its lease. I immediately thought, “Dang it, Beth!” [mb] Although not quite a “landmark,” this adorable and quirky space was/is a nice place to go for dates and/or to sit on the patio and enjoy a nicely made cocktail. The warm intimate feel paired with the personal service was always a hit.

This morning I received the official news in my inbox:

“it is with a heavy heart that we announce marjorie’s last night…
after 6 beautiful years at our belltown location, and without a new home lined up as of yet, we have decided to end on a high note.
on september 6th, our last night, we will host a wine dinner.”

Former Marjorie chef and current Tavolata chef de cuisine, Matt Fortner, has created the wine dinner menu, of which there will be two seatings (5 and 8:30). Since the restaurant is on the small size, both seatings will be sure to sell out. Reservations are necessary [opentable] and the cost will be $150 per person, which isn’t bad for 8-ish courses and wine pairings.

If you’re not up for a fancy-schmancy dinner, make sure to stop by on the next nice day between now and the 6th and check out that off-the-street patio. Personally, I will mourn the loss of the perfectly made beignets and look forward to Donna Moodie’s new endeavor.

address: 2331 Second Avenue | Seattle, WA 98121 | phone: 206.441.9842

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Our own Wesa sends this video of traffic at a typical intersection in Ha Noi, Vietnam:

Sorry I can't embed the video on the page, apparently Metblogs won't allow video from Flickr.

She told me she will never complain about Seattle traffic again. I don’t think I’ll hold her to that though!

Also, from her Flickr photostream I found this gem:

Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom

You can follow Wesa and her sister on their trip through Asia on their travelblog at: http://emwesaasia.blogspot.com/.

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Here’s an interesting sidelight to the whole Clover/Starbucks brouhaha - they’re now promoting iced coffee produced from the the whizbang machines, as part of their rollout of the automated french presses to more locations in the city. Greenlake’s machine produced (after an initial bit of barista confusion) a superb drink, brewed double-strength and poured over ice, from Verona beans. Granted, recent weather patterns have made iced drinks a bit of an affectation, but once the sunshine returns Clover-generated iced coffees might win a spot on my rotating list of drinks.

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As John pointed out, Bumbershoot isn’t the only thing happening this weekend. Well, add one more item to the list of reasons Seattle will become the center of the universe over the next few days. Gamers from across the continent will be flocking to the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) at the Convention and Trade Center, running Friday through Sunday.

Calling PAX a big deal is an understatement. The expo’s popularity has skyrocketed since its inception just four years ago. While the first PAX drew 3,000 attendees in 2004, it quickly outgrew its digs at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Last year, the crowd swelled to more than 35,000 attendees, and is expected to hit 50,000 this year — garnering the title of the biggest gathering of gamers in North America.

What’s the appeal? PAX has built a reputation as the event dedicated to the gamer community. Unlike the Electronic Entertainment Expo in L.A., which serves as a platform for game companies to announce new products to major news outlets, PAX keeps the focus on the game consumer. This year’s schedule includes panel discussions, game tournaments, late-night geek movies, concerts, and Rockband until 3 a.m.

On top of our thorough Bumbershoot coverage, we’ll post updates of PAX attendees getting their geek on throughout the weekend.

Photo by jvidhee.

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On Tuesday September 2nd at 7pm John Vanderslice (the nicest guy in indie rock) will be doing a free all-ages in store at Sonic Boom Records in Ballard. If you don’t get a chance to see him at Bumbershoot on Monday, or really even if you do, you should go check him out at Sonic Boom. You can never get too much JV.

Photo courtesy of Shawn via Flickr.

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I was very excited to see GZA of the Wu-Tang clan perform his legendary album, Liquid Swords, in its entirety. The crowd was a diverse bunch of frat boys, b-boys with comically baggy and loudly graphic Wu-Wear, aging 30somethings on a nostalgia trip (myself included), and a 16 year-old kid who, as the GZA pointed out, was a year old when Liquid Swords came out. Joints were smoked. People had their fists in the air, waiving them like they just didn’t care for the whole show.

The crowd was at a fever pitch when the opening strains of the first track (“When I was little…”) began, but, after the initial thrill wore off, the law of diminishing returns was in effect. There seemed to be a miscommunication between the GZA and the DJ, as an entire verse of the opening track got dropped, depriving me of my favorite rhyme on the album: “Style is old like Mark V sneakers/lyrics is weak like clock radio speakers.” The GZA stopped to explain to his DJ which hand gesture meant “cut” and which one meant “drop” the beat. (This was far too technical for me to understand.) There also was an issue with “Duel of the Iron Mic” but I believed they played it again later in the show. (Things were getting a little hazy at that point.) Most egregiously, it was hard to hear GZA and, when he is performing an album with so many great lyrics and rhymes, that was a real disappointment. It was one of those shows where the event was probably more important than the performance, with the crowd thanking the GZA for a classic album and he appreciated all the support.

If you missed the show, go buy a copy, smoke a bong hit or ten, and put on some headphones and listen to it start to finish.

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-John Mason Brown

 The most exciting literary event of the weekend[*] is at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery on Friday, August 29th. Fantagraphics is hosting an artist’s reception and book signing for Daniel Clowes, the author-artist of Ghost World. Mr. Clowes will be signing Ghost World: The Special Edition 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. The special edition not only includes the original Ghost World, one of the most critically acclaimed comics (or “graphic novel” if you are afraid your friends will make fun of you for reading comics, but what kind of friends are those, anyway? Get new friends.) ever, but also includes the Oscar-nominated screenplay adapted by Clowes and Terry Zwigoff, et cetera, et cetera, all the usual bells and whistles guaranteed to persuade fans old and new to fork over their lunch money.

 Saturday, August 30th, Seattle Mystery Bookshop hosts a book signing for author Cricket McRae, at the usual time, i.e. noon. Ms. McRae currently lives in Colorado, but the heroine of her novels, Sophie Mae Reynolds, is a crafty amateur sleuth based in Seattle (okay, Seattle-ish). Heaven Preserve Us is the second novel of this cozy series (after Lye In Wait), with a third (Spin a Wicked Web) forthcoming.

 Not free, but if you are already going to Bumbershoot, why not support a (more or less) new literary series? ACT Theatre’s Kurt Beattie directs Short Stories Live, pro actors reading stories by Seattle writers. Mary Ewald will read “Junk Mail” by Rebecca Brown and Tim Hyland reads Ryan Boudinot’s “Newholly.” This is the first year that Bumbershoot has hosted the semi-monthly Town Hall series. Sunday, August 31st, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM at the Leo K. Theatre.

[* Except Bumbershoot. Bumbershoot bumbershoot bumbershoot. Josh will be compiling and posting our Bumbershoot recs, so I'll refrain from further geekery here. (Bumbershoot!)]

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