the stills // the paramount // 20 october 2008

On Monday night, Kings of Leon, We Are Scientists, and the Stills played at the Paramount. [flickr/slideshow].

But first, though, some quirks of the Paramount. Did you know, for instance that the entire interior is under copyright and that no photographs of it can be made without permission? Or, that for rock shows, the opening band is rarely listed on the ticket and that they start an hour before showtime? I knew the latter and arrived just as the Stills were tuning and a few extremely punctual VIPs were settling into their photopit seats.

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~Mason Cooley

Readings, signings, and other things vaguely literary for Wednesday, October 22, 2008—
* Author Richard Farr will be at the SPL Douglass-Truth Branch at 6:30 PM to read from Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in the Antarctic, 1910-13. It really is about penguins. Who doesn’t love penguins? Penguins are awesome!

* The Montlake Branch hosts Deborah Rohan, author of The Olive Grove: A Palestinian Story. Rohan will read and sign from 6:30 – 7:45 PM.

* For children and their dependents, local authors Kathryn Galbraith and Deb Lund will drop by the Ballard Branch to share their newest picture books. 6:30 – 7:30 PM.

* The SPL Central Library will honor the winners of the Washington Center for the Book’s 2008 Washington State Book Awards at 7:00 PM in the Microsoft Auditorium (Level 1). 2008 marks the 42nd year of the awards. This year’s winners are Matt Ruff in Fiction, for Bad Monkeys; Samuel Green in Poetry, for The Grace of Necessity; Coll Thrush in History/Biography, for Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place; David R. Montgomery in General Nonfiction, for Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations; George Shannon (w/ Laura Dronzek, illus.) and Sherman Alexie share the Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award.

* Frightening and bizarre Food Network host Sandra Lee is making the rounds with her Semi-Homemade books. She’ll sign copies at the Women’s University Club at 7:00 PM.

* At 7:30 PM, Town Hall Seattle will feature Russell Shorto, author of Descartes’ Bones: A Skeletal History of the Conflict Between Faith and Religion in the Great Hall. Shorto traces the current “culture war” between science and faith back to Rene Descartes’ Discourse on Method. Downstairs, David Zirin will be promoting A People’s History of Sports in the United States. As usual, $5 at the door, or via www.brownpapertickets.com.

* Elliott Bay Books has Jonathan Carroll in-store at 7:30 PM to read and sign his new novel, The Ghost in Love. Library Journal Review says The Ghost in Love is an “occasionally scary, often luminous work of unconventional fantasy.” The description reminds me of A. F. Rützy’s End Credits , only with a dog. And luminous, instead of funny. Anyway, I’m looking forward to comparing the two.

On Sunday, we explored this trail located just outside of North Bend. The first 5 miles of the trail is apparently easy-medium in difficulty, then becomes more difficult as it progresses onward. We traveled about 4.5 miles up before turning around, exploring the Martin Creek Falls as well as Lucy Lake (I believe it’s called this) located just off the path further on. if you’re looking for something to do this weekend for an afternoon, I highly recommend it. Dogs are welcome on leash, though there are so few hikers out, so use your own discretion.

Snoqualmie Lake Trail #1002: “This trail crosses Marten Creek Bridge, passes numerous waterfalls and climbs through old growth forest before arriving at Snoqualmie Lake, one of the largest in the area. The trail continues for another two miles, climbing to Deer and Bear Lakes.”

photo by David Lindes [flickr] via our group pool [#].

• Oh dear. This has to be one of the more poignant personal explorations of life inside the freeze from one of the city’s better young writers. It’s stuff like this that makes me more annoyed by arguments [wired] that personal weblogs are finished. [ohmygodseattle]
• the Weekly explains why artists aren’t allowed to drink onstage [sots], but there’s still no good explanation of why the police are increasingly enforcing an outdated old law. [reverb]
• Smith is staying closer to home with its house cheapbrew. It’s been real, PBR, until it wasn’t. [capitolhillseattle]
• This is about a good a reason as any to mention that Phil Elverum and Julie Dorion put out a gorgeous new record early this month. [pwelverumandsun]
• Early this year we heard about how Jim Anderson’s recordings from the Crocodile’s soundbooth from 1992 to the club’s closing were going to be donated to the University of Washington. A few more details have emerged, but it may take a while before you’re plugging in to relive your favorite show. [10things]
• Wallingford’s favorite ice cream parlor is diving into breakfast, oatmeal style. [mollymoon]

Pity the employees of the University Village Apple Store. First, their venue closes down for much of June, barely re-opening as a small store-within-a-construction-zone in time to handle the onslaught of iPhone 3G buyers. All summer, this microstore (built out of plywood and particleboard) has tried to handle the demand for phones and laptops as the only official retail venue within Seattle’s city limits. Visitors can attest that it’s been packed tighter than the Titantic’s steerage class for months.

Now, the store is shut down totally to allow the final phase of refurbishment to begin. As part of the construction, the original wood floor is being replaced with some sort of poured-concrete system.

Despite the extensive, multi-month refurbishment, it’s unlikely Seattle will see any kind of glass staircase design element that other cities’ multi-level stores enjoy. Though the store now extends nearly all the way to the back of the building, only storage and service are expected to occupy the (previously-unused) second floor.

A few of the Metblogs authors are getting together at Artemis Cafe and Bar, located on Capitol Hill, at 7pm this Thursday! Come have a drink with us and sample Artemis’s fabulous cuisine.

Silenced Majority reports that someone took their sealed ballet out of their mailbox, ripped it up, and left it on the sidewalk earlier today.

I received a knock at my door a few hours ago from a Good Samaritan, who had found my completed, sealed, and signed absentee ballot ripped up and trampled upon on the street late this afternoon. Evidently, some zealot thought my Obama/Biden yard sign gave him/her righteous permission to rummage my mailbox, and remove and tear up my vote in an apparent fit of rage. I would have never known, save for the good person who returned it.

Regardless of who you vote for (McCain, Obama, Nader, etc), I recommend finding a USPS blue box or finding an official absentee ballot drop off location (the list is included in the information with the ballot).

If you own your own business or are thinking of starting one, you might want to check out the Grassroots Business Association. Their purpose is to “educate, inspire, empower, network and support people pursuing an independent career path.” Board members include the Organized Knitter owner, Megan Reardon (AKA not martha); Schmancy owner and Plush You! curator, Kristen Rask; and Bluebottle Art Gallery owner, Andrea Porter.

Their first event is tomorrow, 10/22, at 6pm at Vermillion.

photo by joshc [flickr]

More on last night’s big show at the Paramount later, but for now I thought I’d point out Olivier Corbeil’s time & geography-appropriate t-shirt. It’s nice to see that Montreal (sending word by way of openers, the Stills) are awaiting the re-opening of the Crocodile Cafe just as eagerly as the rest of us.

(slideshow [flickr])

“The First Thanksgiving”, painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris by way of the wikipedia. We will leave it to you to apply appropriate Seattle weblog labels to the link the depicted to their modern day counterparts.

Ahoy and good tidings Metblogs readers, friends, lovers, enemies: we’ve been conspiring in trilateral talks with the likes of Seattlest and Capitol Hill Seattle to hatch a plan for a big Seattle weblog get together in early November. Dates, times, and locations remain uncertain but are trending toward a weekday in mid-November. If you or someone who owes you a favor knows of a wonderful venue that might like to host this grand event, please direct your advice to me (josh at metblogs dot com) or the esteemed Mr. Van Baker (editor at seattlest dot com) so that we might advance this Blogsgiving Festivity most expeditiously.