It’s time again for the only reason to not do all of your Christmas shopping online: the Urban Craft Uprising is Saturday and Sunday, at the Exhibition Hall, from 11 - 5. They’re doing swag bags again for the first 100 or so people to enter each day, full of nice things from many of the vendors. It’s the perfect time to buy a handmade gift from a local vendor for all of the people on your Christmas list, or, if you’re like me and only have two teenage brothers to buy presents for, for yourself. And if that doesn’t tempt you, you should know that I have never heard of anyone getting trampled to death at the Urban Craft Uprising, which has to be an added bonus in this dangerous shopping season. Bring cash, since some of the vendors don’t take credit cards and the ATM at the top of the stairs often runs out of money pretty early.

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I’ve been following the story unfolding on Rainier Valley Post regarding Noemi Lopez, a woman who was brutally murdered by her ex-husband. Her children, ages 6, 13 and 15, and her sister, discovered the body when they returned home. She had been stabbed more than 60 times. One of our fellow neighborhood bloggers, Amber, who runs the Rainier Valley Post, lived next door to Noemi and her children, and has been giving in-depth updates since the story broke.

The three children went to stay with their aunt with nothing but the clothes on their back. Amber has created a PayPal account for those of you that would like to contribute to buying the three kids new clothes, shoes and winter coats. The details are here, including instructions for mailing a check, should you be so inclined.

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Need I say more?

the Thermals with the Shaky Hands, and Champagne Champagne. $14 [chopsuey]

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After the recent bout of “gang” related shootings in the Puget Sound area, it seems that more people are aware that Seattle actually has gangs, not just “gangs”. The difference? According to Dictionary.com, a gang is a “group of criminals or hoodlums who band together for mutual protection and profit.” According to me, a “gang” is a “group of bored wannabe-gang members posturing and acting like big thugs who make really stupid decisions.” There is an apparent difference, a legitimacy that wasn’t there before. Well, I’ve done some looking around and have come to the conclusion that yes, Seattle really does have gangs, but not in to the extreme that say, Los Angeles has gangs. Or maybe that’s more my assumption yet again.

Gang Territories

While browsing through Seattle 911 (Seattle PI, a great reference source), I found this map showing gang “territories” in the greater Seattle area. It shows more official gang activity than I had previously thought. I’d like to say that I’m not typically this oblivious to what is going on. I lived for a few years in the Rainier Beach area, hung out in West Seattle, Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley, and other neighborhoods of the city that show up on the map as neighborhoods where gangs like to congregate. I’ve seen plenty of kids that likely could have been or likely were in a gang. I knew kids who carried guns. I continued to dismiss all of it as “gang” and not gang activity. The greater the occurrence of incidents involving guns, violence, and deaths, the more likely it is that Seattle does have a legitimate gang problem.

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photo by machel spence [flickr] via our group pool [#].

• the City Council sets a course for more streetcars, and step on it! Because the South Lake Union one’s been such a hit, right? [seattletransitblog]
• West Seattle Blog is about to turn three. (Holiday) Party in the Junction, etc. [wsb]
• More about Deborh Lawrence’s impeachment ornament. Now VIRAL! [arttogo]
• Perhaps you’d like to buy a condo on the cheap(er)? Auctions abound, signifying a the real estate cloud o’ doom has reached Seattle. [alexgarcia]
• Not afraid to be servicey, CHS & friends help a neighbor find a $50 date on the hill. [capitolhillseattle]

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As regular readers recall, we simply adore “best”, “worst”, “most” and “least” lists, which is why the instant I saw the “The Most Expensive Small Towns in America” headline at BusinessWeek I rushed to click it open and check to see if any local towns made it on the list only to discover that, sure enough, there was one: Clyde Hill.

According to its official website, Clyde Hill is located 1.5 to 2 miles east of the City of Seattle and is bordered by Bellevue, Kirkland, Medina, Yarrow Point and Hunts Point. Prior to looking at the Clyde Hill website I had no idea that Yarrow Point and Hunts Point were, in fact, towns and not simply neighborhoods, but to be fair I thought the same thing about Clyde Hill at first, too. Population of Clyde Hill is just under 3,000. The median home sales price is $1,466,093 and the median household income is $132,468,. Since two public and two private schools, town government, the gas station and the Tully’s represent 295 of the approximately 300 jobs in Clyde Hill, it’s a safe bet that most of the residents commute to work.

Clyde Hill follows Stinson Beach, CA, Water Mill, NY, Block Island, RI, Hidden Hills, CA, Far Hills, NJ, Sands Point, NY, Sullivan’s Island, SC, Stone Harbor, NJ, Kenilworth, IL, and Rancho Santa Fe, NM, on the list, making me wonder if there’s some connection between the number of words in a town’s name and its cost of living.

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photo by BrittneyBush [flickr]

I adore this foggy Space Needle shot from last Sunday.

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A couple years ago a stand-off between a menorah and a christmas tree resulted in eerie scenes of winter wonderland at Sea-Tac. This year, via the Seattle LiveJournal community [#], comes word of the latest pairing in winter icons. It seems that the baby Jesus has company this year at the State Capitol. The Freedom From Religion folks have sent a little sign to Olympia to sit along side the nativity scene. [times] My own perspective is that the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year’s are so drenched with holiday music, overwhelming advertisements, and inescapable decorations that it doesn’t seem too grinchly to suggest that an airport or government building free of “spirit” or “anti-spirit” could be more of a refuge than an insult. Your mileage my vary.

While we’re on the topic of holiday insults, it turns out that the Bush family doesn’t want to spend their last days in the White House being taunted by their tree. Seattlest brings us the story [#] of local artist Deborah Lawrence whose McDermott-loving, Bush-hating ornament nearly made it onto the official tree before someone took a look at the fine collage print. [komo]

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All of a sudden, there’s a reason to go to Greenwood besides doing jello shots at the Baranoff. Gainsbourg, partly owned by Hannah Levin and taking over the old Northside Grill space above 85th, is a dark and friendly little bar with decently-priced small plate of French inspired food. (Do like we did and class up your pitcher of PBR with the escargot, which is much better than it should be at $6.)

You’ll recognize the bartenders from McLeod Residence and The Sunset, and for being pretty small the space is nicely laid out–a few booths, a line of two-person tables, and one big table with hidden leaves and a large candelabra that is an accident waiting to happen. There’s also a pretty cozy couch by the window, near the fake fireplace.

The place is a little hard to find right now, tucked in a row of storefronts with no obvious signs, and for now they are waiting for a liquor license and so only serving beer and wine–you’ll have to go across the street for liquor, for now. Gainsbourg looks exactly like what it’s claiming to be: a friendly neighborhood bar.

It’s located at 8850 Greenwood Ave. N.

(Image via Invisible Hour.)

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photo via stephen malkmus [myspace]

Once upon a time there was a band called Pavement that gave college indie-rock geeks (before being an indie rock geek was a primetime drama character trait) something to obsess over in the nineties that wasn’t grunge. Now, of course, they have faded into the mists of record shop legend, but frontman Stephen Malkmus lives on with his merry band of heroes, the Jicks. Who, by the way, feature one Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney fame on drums.

They’ll bring their sprawling, noodling, rocking all the way from Portland to Neumo’s this Saturday night. You can buy tickets right away ($17 plus fees) or try your luck and win a pair by sending a note to seattle.metblogs @ gmail.com. (please include your name and mailing address, since the tickets are “real” and not “will call”). I’ll pick a winner by the end of the day. A winner was already chosen; thanks to all for entering.

Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks + guests; $17; 6 December, 8pm, [neumos]

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photo by taylor hain [flickr] via our group pool [#].

• Eli Sanders tries to understand why the [student-funded] Daily is publishing offensive, right-wing, poorly reasoned, ill-informed, anti-gay editorials. [slog] Let’s try to not cynically compare the number of comments between that one, and this pro-Prop 8 one published the same day [uwdaily] and just accentuate the positive — it prompted Dan Savage to coin the term “douchesparkle“. [slog]
• Hell, with enough prodding, even articles about poetry can get comment-mobbed. [slog]
• The Northwest Film Forum is having a holiday party and your favorite film critic will be dressed as Santa. Every time I think of the awesomest possibility, I think of another more hilarious option. This is how they get you to show up! [seattlest]
• It’s rent-a-tree time. [ikea]
• Archie McPhee has a book! [myballard] So does 43 Things! [joshp]
• The City Market sign-making genius revealed, in Seattle magazine. [flickr]

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A quick review of the facts:

1. You live in Seattle
2. You go to Bumbershoot
3. You whine about ticket prices

Yes, these are pretty much defining characteristics that make you a true Seattleite. But it’s time to break the cycle. Right now you can buy tickets to Bumbershoot 2009 for the insanely low price of $60 for a three-day weekend. It’s the perfect gift for yourself, your friends, and anyone who likes music, art, theater, elephant ears, books, comedy, and a Labor Day overload. Plus, it’s easy to mail or carry home without incurring those pesky fees for hauling home extra luggage on your way home from holiday festivities.

Not absolutely positive that you’ll go? It’s fairly certain that you or someone you know will be able to make use of a ticket come next 5 September. All you need to do is join the Bumberfanclub to get the secret stimulating password.

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Photo courtesy of Wesa [flickr] via our group pool [#]

Nickelsville is likely to move again, after a vote by University Congregational United Church of Christ (UCUCC) to allow the homeless encampment use of their parking lot at 45th and 15th for the next three months. (#) This will be the fifth move for Nickelsville since September- they began near the Duwamish River, moved to a parking lot nearby, camped out at Discovery Park, and finally settled in the U-District at the University Christian Church (UCC). UCC needs to use its parking lot again- not surprising considering that UCUCC says that their parking lot would have earned them about $19,000 in the three months that they’ve allotted to Nickelsville. Fortunately for residents, the distance between the two camps is only five blocks, and will likely make logistics and transportation during the move a little easier for the residents.

And there soon may be more residents at the tent city. A local homeless shelter that provides 55 beds to homeless men may be out of funding, barring a Christmas miracle, according to the P-I. (#) CityTeam Ministries (formerly Peniel Missions, a 106-year-old ministry), will close on December 27th, unless they are able to raise $1 million by Dec. 4 to cover their $742,000 annual operating expenses for next year, as well as outstanding expenses from this year. If you’re interested in donating, you can read their director’s letter.

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SR 11, Chuckanut Drive rockslide by wsdot.

The smooth side of this wall is actually shotcrete, a spray-on concrete. Fascinating! I wasn’t aware that concrete could be sprayed on.

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The Space Needle disappears into the fog

If you’re thinking of running a half or a full marathon, I can recommend the Seattle Marathon series of events. Here’s a brief rundown of the event for anyone thinking about trying it next year.
Read more

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