viva voce // bumbershoot 2007

At first, this is going to sound kind of crazy, but once you think about it maybe it makes a little more sense. Right now Bumbershoot is selling three-day passes to the 2008 festival at a deeply discounted prices. You might think that your life is such a combination of chaos and free-spiritedness that committing to be in Seattle for Labor Day weekend, two hundred seventy-seven days from now, is impossible. On top of that, you don’t even know who will be playing! But if history is any indication you can probably guess that the mainstage will feature some teen-friendly emo one night, hip-hop superstars another night, with the wildcard slot held for either an up-and-coming rock act, rebounding nostalgia artist, or Fergie, there will be tons of comedy, and a couple dozen local and national indie touring artists you’ve been hearing on KEXP all year.

If you’re the type of person who likes Bumbershoot, you know that you’ll be at Seattle Center from 30 August to 1 September; so why not pre-emptively save a little money? In the event that you’re whisked out of town on an all-expenses-paid end-of-summer holiday, I’m sure that you can find a slacker friend who forgot to buy tickets until who would be happy to get yours, making you someone on a dream vacation who profits off their friends. Your life just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?

There you go. Tickets are $60 [bumbershoot]. You’ll need to become a “bumberfan” (this has never worked for me, despite multiple efforts) or you can just type “BUMBERHOLIDAY” into the form and get the goods. Buy a set now and all of the sudden you’re a responsible adult who plans your life nearly a year in advance. Or you’re a idealist who throws caution to the wind on good faith and decent savings. Or, you’re a person who gives good gift. Either way, you’re a winner.

This sounds like a marriage of two of the least fun ways to meet people that I’ve ever heard of, but: SpeedDate.com is going to be hosting Seattle/Tacoma’s first (?) online speed dating event on Thursday at 8:00. This way, I guess, if you’re into internet dating but just don’t have the time to invest in all of the profile reading and emailing, you can use the series of 3-minute “dates” to decide if you have chemistry before you meet in person. The first 30 people to sign up will get a free webcam.

It looks like the website just launched last month with a San Francisco event. According to them, “We started the event at 8PM and expected it to last about an hour. People continued to speeddate until past 2am. Over 1100 3-minute dates took place and 230 people participated.” The press release is pretty scant on details about the business itself, but it says, “SpeedDate.com was founded by two recent Stanford Business School graduates. SpeedDate’s patented system allows singles to effectively find chemistry online. The company is backed by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Menlo Ventures.”

So there you go. Thursday at 8:00. If you give it a shot, please let me know how it goes.

Did you feel the earth move under your feet (or maybe, your bed) last night? Don’t worry, you may not have been particularly intoxicated (or talented), just extra-sensitive. A 4.0 earthquake rumbled Seattle from 17 miles northwest of Bremerton just after eleven. [usgs]

(via the ever-vigilant seattle livejournal community [seattle.lj]))

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

• Sanjaya to drop in for a solo during Black Nativity, without the ponyhawk (I hope). [tig]
• the enduring mystery of the 10/12. [capitolhillseattle]
• 11,000 runners, 1% going to charity. [times]
• ColumbiaCitizens, heralding the coming wikification of the neighborhood microblog? [slog]

The 2007 Seattle Center Winterfest kicked off its five-week run at the Seattle Center. The Winterfest has been one of my favorite local festivals ever since it first started, twenty-or-so years ago. All the events take place in various locations at Seattle Center and there’s plenty of fun, low- and no-cost events for people of all ages. For full details you should visit the Seattle Center website [site], but here are a few events I think worth noting:

• Circular: Artist Caroline Knapp’s interactive art installation is about the simplicity, complexity and history of the humble yet mighty circle. The installation opened 11/23 and runs through 12/31 in the Center House–stop by on 11/30 & 12/14 from 6pm to 8pm or 12/8 & 12/22 from 2pm to 4pm and draw your own circle to be digitally recorded and displayed in the gallery through its closing.
• Ice rink: For a mere $5 for adults and $3 for children aged 6-12 (kids five and under are free with a paying adult) you can experience the thrill of gliding on the ice and/or falling down on your ass a lot. Ice skating is good exercise and way fun and really doesn’t take all that long to learn. Take your own skates or rent them for $2. Cash only.
• Holiday World Market: Weekend through December 23, visit the Center House for your chance to buy unique holiday gifts from all over the world. You’ll find stuff here you won’t find everywhere or anywhere else.
• A Wish to Dance: NW Tap Connection presents a story of two teens who want to learn to dance, a story told through tap, African, swing, square and many other forms of dance. Free at the Center House on 11/30 at 8pm.
• Bonfire: Who doesn’t love a bonfire? People with ice in their hearts, that’s who. Get toasty with this brand new Winterfest event, a bonfire on the South Fountain Lawn between the Ice Rink and the International Fountain. 12/15 from 5 to 7 pm.

Approximately 1,045 days since opening its doors[mb], Bus Stop poured its last drink and sang its last song on Sunday night. The place was packed with well-wishers who queued up for final karaoke performances, reasonably priced drinks, crowded dancing, and at least one big group picture clustered around the bar. At the microphone, most squeezed in brief eulogies for the place before the music for their songs kicked in (one guy celebrated the bar as place for everyone, even people with only one arm and one leg). When I left just after midnight, things were still going strong.

Did anyone stay until last call? Were there tearful teardowns of the graffiti-decorated walls? If you have any great photos (there was certainly no shortage being taken), we’d love it if you’d share them in the group pool.

In case you missed it: Threadless is in the middle of their holiday $10 t-shirt sale. This one, by Kirksey Wells is a great option for the coffee lover on your list, or for anyone back home that you feel might be worthy of a vaguely Seattle-related garment that is not one of those “when will these stupid items go away” Sleepless in Seattle nightshirts that they sell at SeaTac.

[skymall]

Maybe your family or friend group has an annual contest to see who can give the worst gift? If so, this $45, 18-inch Kurt Cobain action figure from Skymall could be just the thing to win you the prize. Don’t wait for the flight home to place your order. This monstrosity—complete with ball-jointed neck, articulated shoulders, and motion-activated sound clips—takes ten days to arrive via standard delivery.

(via “ten reasons we’re doomed: skymall edition” [gizmodo])

photo by
by joshc [flickr].

what’s this? A late night taco stand called Taco Gringos is set to open on Olive Way. Taking over the tiny space that used to be Sweat Shop, they’ll have limited hours of operation: Tuesday through Saturday, 8 pm until “late”.

Not sure if they were open this weekend — did anyone happen to wander in?

photo by corey hau [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• hot, yet uninvestigated, tip: There is a new beer store on Pike and Belmont that sells thousands of types of imported beer. Sounds like paradise. Anyone been? [seattle.lj]
• the weird sculptures by the Paramount, explained. Sort of. [capitolhill]
• The tree in Westlake Center actually looks kind of nice at 2 am by the light of the full moon. [seattledailyphoto]
• a few words about the seattle marathon / and top pot doughnuts. [hillku]
• Olympia dating ‘blogger visits Seattle, quits blogging. [nerve]
• agenda: sing Bus Stop into oblivion, say hello to condos. [slog]