Requiem for a Block , a website that popped up this summer to preserve a last glimpse of Pine Street, now has a companion piece of sorts in the Stranger’s oral history, “the Death of East Pine“.

It’s the cover story; so by now I’m sure you’ve read it. But if you haven’t, you might want to click over there this afternoon. I’ve lived in Seattle for less than a decade, I really appreciated being able to read all about the good old days from the people who lived them. But I think that my favorite part is that it provided an excuse for Kathleen Wilson to once again appear in the pages of the Stranger to tell us about all of the rock stars she saw while hanging out at the Cha Cha, probably reading a book in the glow of the forgiving red lights:

… How about just a list of the many famous people I witnessed passing through the doors of the Cha Cha? Shirley Manson, Girls Against Boys, Catherine Wheel, Tommy Stinson, Duff McKagan, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Ian McCulloch, Sarah Silverman, Janeane Garofalo, Todd Barry, Slats, David Cross and the other Mr. Show guy, Daniel Rey, Gil Norton, the Get Up Kids, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Superdrag, Supergrass, R.E.M., the New Pornographers, Tony Alva, Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, At the Drive-In, Adam Jones, the Bad Seeds, Jane Adams, Mark Eitzel, Judah Bauer, Erasure, the Muffs, Krist Novoselic, the Melvins, Therapy?, Snow Patrol, Joseph Arthur (who peered through the window, thought about going in, decided against it). [stranger]

O.K., I lied. The thing that I loved the most about the feature is that after all of those stories it ends with Kathleen Wilson making a case for why the block making way for boring new development is maybe not such a big deal. I have a lot of memories of the bars on that block — some boring, some funny, many likely misremembered — and blandification sucks, even when it’s replacing a run-down block, and especially when it’s replacing a run-down block with a big building that has no room for any places that make noise late at night. Still, cities that never change aren’t especially healthy; so I think that on balance she’s probably right. Somehow, I think we’re all going to be alright.

that’s atomic + the anne bonny

Fine. It’s after Thanksgiving. You can commence getting into the “holiday spirit”. Even better, engage your faux-nostalgia by doing your decoration with some of the cool old things featured in the windows of Olive Way’s retro- alley.

For all you ski bums out there, good news! Not only did Mt. Baker open today, but Crystal has now announced that they are opening for the weekend. If you are looking to stay closer to home, stay hopeful: Stevens has not made an announcement yet, but the webcam pictures bode well. Snoqualmie on the other hand, in classic ghetto mountain fashion, has not only no information, but their webcams are out. So that’s your update, folks. Please shred the nar-nar this weekend.

by Darwin Bell (flickr)

Back when the closure of Leilani Lanes was announced, Dylan noted:

Leilani, of course, is from the blue collar Boeing era of Seattle. You worked at the factory all day, drove home on US 99 (I-5 was still under construction into the mid-60s), grabbed your ball, and headed down to Leilani for bowling league night. See the guys, bowl 200, drink half a dozen Rainiers.

The pieces of that older Seattle are getting fewer and farther between. Leilani Lanes is no more, and their iconic sign was cracked and rusting and headed for a salvage yard.

Good riddance, said some. (Ahem.)

As it turned out, the sign was saved from the wrecking ball by Jim McAuliffe, who keeps an eclectic collection of Americana at his son’s nursery off Route 9 near Snohomish.

There’s some grumbling that the sign isn’t staying in Seattle. It’s still good news for those of us who like to keep pieces of our past around. Snohomish isn’t that far of a drive.

photo by thomas brown [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• running into the limits of personalization. [starbucksgossip]
• three reasons why we should recycle. [bravenewleaf]
• srsly. the showbox is staying “at the market”. here’s the e-mail that everyone’s been re-posting. [slog]
• Carrie Brownstein on popular videogames where you pretend to play an instrument or be in a band [monitormix]
• When your building is named after an amusement park in Ohio yet doesn’t have the Blue Streak in the parking lot, how can you really expect it to be anything other than a disappointment. [apartmentratings]
• The P-I continues their mystifying tradition of dizzying micro-specificity by launching a blog to chronicle the paper’s new features. [buzzworthy]
• ’tis the season of celebrating Danny Westneat. [crosscut]

photo by jay cox [flickr] via our group pool [#]

Have we mentioned how much we love our commenters? You’re a wonderful, almost entirely troll-free bunch that regularly comes through with useful information!

Exhibit A, DEEPSEAFISHIN on the deliciousness of Taco Gringos [mb]:

We stumbled in around 2:15 last Saturday night after Clever Dunne’s locked up. We had two rounds of carne and pork tacos, they were awesome!!! Every taco is two bucks and genuine “taco truck” style; meat, onions, cilantro, hot tortillas, and hot sauce. I am already thinkin’ about next weekends tacos. The two guys running the place said the menu will be changing often and will be open until 2:30 or so Tuesday-Saturday. I don’t mean to gush, but I have been looking for good tacos in Seattle for a long time. Gracias!

Exhibit B, COMTE on Pike Street Beer & Wine [mb]:

Generally good selection for the beer-snob, although not as mind-numbingly comprehensive as Wallingford’s Bottlewerks. Still, I can’t imagine any beer-ophile not being able to drop a quick $20 (or more) for some of the available product, which includes a reasonably good selection of both international (heavy on the lowlands, natch) and domestic craft brewers. Didn’t pay much attention to the wine selection, but they do have several varieties of meads, which are a welcome addition at this time of year.
Still, spot-check pricing for some of the more common items; while the one-stop shopping is a plus, some of their domestic selections look a tad overpriced compared to the local grocer just up the street.

Keep up the good work! At this rate, I’ll have no excuses to go shopping for beer or tacos.

Photo courtesy of [WashingtonBeer.com]

No matter the time of year, there seems to be a beer festival going on in Seattle. And what better the season than Winter, when beer bellies can be hidden underneath sweaters, peacoats and other fuzzy layers? This weekend, get out and taste some of Washington’s best winter beers at the 3rd Annual Winter Beer Festival. Much like Oktoberfest in Fremont, a $25 admission gets you six 5-ounce beer tastes, with additional tastes priced at $1.50. The festival will be held at Hale’s Ales Brewery & Pub in Fremont and will feature more than 30 winter beers, in addition to a Vintage Beer Tasting, featuring popular winter beers from years past. (The 2007 beer list included Yulefest from Bigtime Brewery & Alehouse, Cabin Fever from Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro, Sno Cap from Pyramid Ales & Lagers, Bye-Bye Frost from Elysian Brewing Company and more.) Hale’s will be serving food and Samish Bay Cheese will be giving away organic cheese tasting to compliment the beers.

Warning: The Web site says “Many of the beers served at the Winter Beer Festival have high alcohol. Please drink responsibly.” Suhweet. This says to me–more bang for your buck!

Check out the Winter Beer Fest then head to Brouwer’s–essentially down the street–for their Big Wood Fest.

Beery Holidays.

3rd Annual Winter Beer Festival

Hale’s Ales Brewery
4301 Leary Way NW
Seattle, WA 98107

Friday, November 30th, 5-10pm
Saturday December 1st, 1-10pm

$23 advance/$25 at the door (No credit cards! Cash and check only!)

For the data obsessed among us comes ZIPskinny. ZIPskinny gathers census and other data and groups it by zip code. For instance, when I entered my zip code of 98102, I discovered that 64.6% of us have a bachelors degree and 62.2% of us have never been married. There are all kinds of interesting logical fallacies one could fall prey to with data like this but it’s fun to look at anyway. And for those with a special interest in defining place [chs], you can also compare up to twenty different zip codes at a time.

[Via The Daily Score]

Dear Nordstrom:

This morning I learned from The Oregonian [story] that you plan to kick off the new year in January by kicking out your store pianists.

You say that you’ve found that your customers prefer canned music to live.

I’d like to know just who these customers are. They’re not me, that’s for sure–I’ve always liked the pianists in your stores. Hearing live music as I shop makes me feel welcomed and valued and I don’t think I need to tell you that people who feel welcomed and valued are more likely to spend money in your store than people who do not. Indeed, when I mentioned this story to a couple of my co-workers (both of whom are regular and frequent Nordstrom shoppers), they, too, were dismayed to learn that live music is sent from the store without even a markdown and relocation to the Rack to make up for it.

Please reconsider this decision, Nordstrom. It’s a foolish one.

photo by gary lund [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• calling all birders: is this ominous bunch of avians an unkindness or a murder? [seattlest]
• kexp’s dirty secret: they keep the indie rock elf drunk and locked up in a cage all year. [kexp]
• on the non-legal status of Flexcar-geared “car share” parking spaces. [crosscut]
• buy yourself music while not feeling guilty about avoiding charities. [kexp] // related: “How Can We Raise Awareness In Darfur Of How Much We’re Doing For Them?” [onn]
• In a story about electric bikes on campus, some interesting numbers: multiply the price of parking permits by 3.6, cut the number issued by 1.7 over 17 years. [times]
• this is going to make Strangie’s head implode: Ari Spool on Camel’s targeting of under-agers by sponsoring shows featuring their favorite bands. [lineout]