UW President Mark Emmert has notified members of the UW community that yesterday’s death by fire has been labeled a suicide. No comment on whether a note or other indicators had been found.

This tragic event was witnessed by many students and faculty of the University of Washington during a break between classes and there are counseling services available for those who feel the need to see someone about the situation. There are also many sources of help for those who are depressed and/or suicidal.

Blue Saucer

It’s not all about Christmas! This coffee shop, Blue Saucer on Roosevelt, has gotten into the Halloween holiday spirit by customizing their espresso menu. Any other businesses having fun with their menu? Comments and pics appreciated: Halloween is tomorrow!

I’m even on campus and didn’t hear about this until I checked online. A 61-year old man apparently doused himself in gasoline and lit himself on fire in the middle of the UW’s Red Square. Bystanders grabbed jackets and fire extinguishers to put out the flames, and the man has been taken to the hospital for severe burns. Let’s hope he’s ok.
Ref.

In an email from Eric S. Godfrey, Vice Provost for Student Life, we now know that the victim was a former UW employee who has passed away from his injuries. There is still no motive or cause yet disclosed for the fire.

Tonight at 7:00 – 8:30 PM, the city is hosting the fifth annual arts education forum, The State of Arts Education in Seattle Public Schools, at Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM).

This year’s forum will focus on Seattle’s Arts Education Partnership Initiative [LINK - pdf file] with the Seattle schoold district. Mayor Nickels will make an appearance, to start the program, and Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson, Chief Academic Officer Carla Santorno and district Manager of Visual & Performing Arts Carri Campbell are all scheduled to speak. In order to ensure that not everyone falls asleep, there will also be student art and performances.

This is a great opportunity for parents and arts educators to find out what the city and school district have accomplished so far, and to learn about goals for 2009.

for Thursday, October 29, 2008

* 7:00 PM: The Burke Museum, rare contributor to our local Lit scene, busts out with Richard Ellis and his non-fiction book Tuna: A Love Story. Ellis is a noted marine artist, as well as the author of over a dozen (really interesting) books, including The Book of Sharks, Imagining Atlantis, and Encyclopedia of the Sea. Presented in conjunction with Elliott Bay Books. [LINK]

* 7:00 PM: Daniel Chirot, UW Sociology professor, co-wrote Why Not Kill Them All?: The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder with Clark R. McCauley. Now he’ll be discussing the book at the University of Washington Club tonight. Genocide, it’s what’s for dinner. [LINK]

* 7:00 PM: On an only slightly less bloodthirsty note, David Wolman will be at the U-District UW Bookstore to discuss and sign his book Righting the Mother Tongue: From Olde English to Email, the Tangled Story of English Spelling, a subject near and dear to my heart. Although, technically, there is no such thing as Olde English. There is Middle English, and before that the language wasn’t English at all, it was Anglo-Saxon, thank you very much. A former professor of Middle English was very firm on this point. I’m still scarred. [LINK]

* 7:30 PM: Open Books in Wallingford hosts Chicana poet Lorna Dee Cervantes. [LINK]

* 7:30 PM: A bunch of New York Review of Books heavyweights will be at Town Hall to discuss the war on terror, the occupation of Iraq, and this year’s presidential election, including Tom Powers, Martin Kettle, Jonathan Raban, and Michael Tomasky. Apparently, there was a series of essays published in the Review, The Consequences to Come: American Power After Bush. I confess, I never read the Review. I do read Jonathan Raban, though, whose presence alone makes this Town Hall worth the cover. Well, Raban and the promise that all of the writers featured will have harsh words for our current president and his, er, administration. Just six more days… or too many months, depending on whether your glass is half full or half empty. $5 at the door, or via www.brownpapertickets.com, 800/838-3006. [LINK]

Leaf Montage 2008 by Grundlepuck

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A few days ago, I (along with fellow Metbloggers Samantha and Zee) were fortunate enough to attend a preview of Taste’s new fall menu.

Italian Sausage Calzone at Taste

This Sunday, November 2, over 500 drummers will attempt to break no less than two Guinness World Records during the sixth annual Woodstick Big Beat Drum Event. Woodstick features 534 drummers in nine different cities simultaneously playing together to break the existing simultaneous drumming record of 533, free drum clinics and contests. All nine cities will be hooked up via the Internet but you can check it out in person by heading out to Juanita High School at 10601 NE 132nd St in Kirkland.

The event raises money for the Hearing Regeneration group and locally features appearances from noted drummers like Pearl Jam’s Matt Cameron, Heart’s Michael Derosier, and Modest Mouse’s Joe Plummer.

for Wednesday, October 29, 2008

* Seattle Public Library has announced that My Jim by Seattle author Nancy Rawles is the 2009 Seattle Reads selection. My Jim is based on the character of Jim in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Told from the perspective of Jim’s wife, Sadie, My Jim offers a different perspective on the familiar novel. SPL has ordered 38 new trade paperbacks in anticipation of demand, to supplement the six hardcovers currently in stock. [LINK]

The past few years have seen a number of authors retelling classic novels: Ahab’s Wife by Sena J. Naslund, (Moby Dick); March by Geraldine Brooks (Little Women); Wicked by Gregory Maguire (The Wizard of Oz). I’ll be interested in how Rawles’s contribution to the genre compares. Has anyone out there already read it? What did you think?

* 12:15 – 1:45 PM: SPL’s Wallingford Branch hosts Book-It Repertory Theatre for another presentation of their “Danger: Books!” program. Professional actors will read from banned or challenged books. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is way up there on the list of frequently banned or challenged books, which ties in nicely with Seattle Reads 2009. [LINK]

* 6:30 PM: YA Fantasy author Patrick Carman visits SPL Ballard Branch to read from Stargazer, the fourth novel in his “Land of Elyon” series. [LINK]

* 7:00 PM: Laura Anne Gilman will be at the U-District UW Bookstore to read and sign book number five in her “Retrievers” series, Free Fall. A little different from the current wave of paranormal romance novels dominating genre fiction sales, Gilman’s “Retrievers” books tend more towards the Science Fiction end of the spectrum than Fantasy/Horror. They aren’t bad. [LINK]

* 7:30 PM: Town Hall Seattle presents Mike Chinoy, former Senior Asia Correspondent for CNN and author of Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis. Chinoy will talk about North Korea policy in the Bush Administration, as well as what challenges the country may present to our next president. $5 at the door, or via www.brownpapertickets.com, 800/838-3006. [LINK]

I have never totally understood the appeal of Woodland Park Zoo’s Pumpkin Bash, the point of which is to give pumpkins to all manner of animals and watch what they do with them, in the spirit of fall or Halloween or just general pumpkin abuse. (Actually, I think I’m just grumpy because they don’t give the monkeys carving tools…watching a Tamarin carve a pumpkin would probably be the funniest thing ever.)

But this year’s pumpkin bash was this past weekend, and I might have been converted for next year by this little video of hippos bobbing for pumpkins. They’re no monkeys making jack-o-lanterns, but I’ll take what I can get.