The city of Mukilteo, Washington, 25 miles north of Seattle and best known for its scenic views of the Olympics, the Cascades and Puget Sound, the historic 1906 Mukilteo Light Station, and being half of the Mukilteo to Clinton Washington State Ferry route, is one of the nicest small cities around the Sound, or, at least, I’ve always thought so.

Guess I’m not alone: Money magazine named Mukilteo to the tenth place spot on its list of “Best Places to Live” 2009 edition, citing its lovely scenery, good schools and low unemployment rate.

Mukilteo follows cities and towns in Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Texas, and Georgia: other Washington locales that made the top 100 are Sammamish at number 12, Newcastle at number 17, Richland at number 51 and Silverdale at number 92.

this photo by Brittney Bush [flickr] contributed via our group pool [#] alerts us to the arrival of Porchlight, a new cafe on Capitol Hill.

• the Surly Gormand subjects himself to sixteen Top Pot donuts and finds that he doesn’t hate all of them. [surlygormand]
• Soul Night looks hot and foggy in its new digs. [lineout]
• the unsinkable P-I globe claimed some Seafair prizes. [bigblog]
• A. Birch Steen crashed the tech party at the Google cafeteria. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. [slog]
• Carrie Brownstein is going to try to immerse herself in all things Phish. [monitormix]
• Scott Rosen took a trip around the country to talk to other relatives of Pan Am 103 victims. [seattlepi]

photo by b. k. dewey [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• With Greg Nickels in Washington, DC today, the floor is clear for the rest of the field to gather and talk transportation, growth, housing, and environmental sustainability over cocktails. They’ll join Friends of Seattle at Spitfire for 6 pm social drinking before submitting to grilling by PubliCola‘s Erica C. Barnett when happy hour ends at 7:00 pm. The contenders on panel will include Jan Drago, James Donaldson, Joe Mallahan, Mike McGinn, and Norman Sigler who will debate and try to make a case for why they should make it through the primaries to replace Seattle’s nationally famous mayor. 6-8:30 pm. $free. [spitfire/facebook]

MC Marshall of MANIK Skateboards watches a young skater do a trick!

This last weekend was an exciting one for skaters of Seattle. After months of construction, Seattle Center’s SeaSK8 is finally open to the public. Located in the space between Key Arena and Fisher Pavilion, SeaSK8 is one of the most impressive skateparks Seattle has seen in a long time. At about 10,000 square feet (and a cost of $2.2 million), it has elements that most skaters should be able to enjoy.

Last Saturday was the official opening of the park. The day started with a 30-minute “no skate” presentation by the different groups responsible for the park’s existence, ended with a ribbon cutting. After that it was pure skating mayhem. Marshall from Manik Skateboards took over as MC and lead everyone through trick competitions on the various elements of the park. These included a vert competition at the giant glass punk wall, best trick over the gap on the benches, best trick down the 4-foot tall stairs, best trick by a kid 11 or under, and on and on. All of these events netted the skaters tons of free gear from the many sponsors. There was even live music from the Vera Stage setup in the nearby plaza. A really fun day!

If you skate, get out there and use this park!

6:30 PM – Ellen Chu & Beth Chappel: Discussion
Richard Hugo House, Alice Room
“The Northwest Independent Editors Guild: Editors Ellen Chu and Beth Chapple discuss science editing. Topics include how science and language mix into a career for an editor; how those without a science degree work in the field; how to stay current; and certifications, including the Editor in the Life Sciences credential. All editors guild meetings are open to current members and to professional freelance editors considering membership. Bring a potluck item to share if you like.” (RHH)
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Colum McCann: Let the Great World Spin: A Novel
SPL Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium
I just watched Man On Wire last night. What an amazing film, about an amazing person. Phillippe Petit didn’t just walk between the Twin Towers on a cable, he danced back and forth for 45 minutes, crossing eight times! The mind, how it boggles. (My stomach, how it heaves.) McCann wrote a novel about 10 people who witnessed Petit’s amazing coup, and how it might have affected them. Just to reiterate: the novel is fiction, the event was real.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Heather Barbieri: Lace Makers of Glenmara
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Fashion designer has crisis, travels to Ireland, and finds self (amid lingerie). Because pretty panties make everything better. Seattle author, Seattle-ite protagonist.
[LINK]

This year’s Taste TV sponsored Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon was a thoroughly enjoyable event. A variety of chocolatiers from throughout the US–including a respectable showing of locals–had products on display and available for sampling. The focus, of course, was on actually tasting the chocolates, truffles, and caramels on offer, but a a definite bonus was being able to talk with the chocolatiers about their craft. Chocolate making is a fascinating process limited only by the skill, imagination and access to raw materials available to the maker. Fortunately for everyone in attendance at the salon, the chocolatiers on hand all seemed to have plenty of each.

With so much great stuff from which to choose, selecting prize winners is surely a true challenge for the judges. I would have liked to give everyone a prize for their great work, but there were some items that stood out as my favorites. Crave Chocolates, of Bozeman, Montana, produces lovely to look at, even lovelier taste artisan truffles in dark, milk and white chocolate, with flavor combinations that enhance the chocolate without overwhelming it. Their Cold Smoke truffle–white chocolate, lime zest and coconut–was a taste of light zesty sweetness like a breath of fresh, citrus-scented air. Posh Chocolat, from Missoula, Montana, had a great selection of chocolates and truffles but it was their artisan sea salt caramels with flavors like coconut-pineapple caramel with Hawaiian pink sea salt, Thai peanut caramel with ginger sea salt, and bacon caramel with Applewood smoked sea salt that impressed me the most.

Speaking of caramels, my absolute favorite single item tasted today was the chipotle caramel from Forte Chocolates, out of Stanwood, Washington. Smoky, sweet, with the precise amount of richness to make them luxurious without being overwhelming, this was one of the best caramels I’ve ever tasted. Owner Karen Neugebaur also offers in-home chocolate classes and tasting parties; check out her web site for details. Oh! Chocolate, with locations in Mercer Island, Bellevue, and Madison Park is also offering chcoolate classes, every Friday at 3 pm through Labor Day at their Madison Park location.

Port Orchard’s Carter’s Chocolates presented what were my favorite truffles of the salon with excellent flavors inspired by wine, tea, liqueurs, beer and fuit and chili. Their chile, crafted using a blend of spices created by Two Snooty Chefs, also from Port Orchard, was a masterful blend of smooth chocolate and fire.

photos from robin pecknold & throw me the statue at neumo’s on saturday.

Saturday night marked the grand finale of Vera Project‘s seventh annual “A Drink for the Kids” fundraiser. Throw Me the Statue mixed-in plenty of sneak peeks of their forthcoming album Creaturesque as encouragement to visit a real live record store and talk to a real person about music next month, related stories about being mistaken for nineteen-year-olds at a basketball court, challenged attendees to rack up massive bar tabs (for the kids, of course, and also a free t-shirt), and generally poured on the usual charm offensive.
Robin Pecknold, performing sometimes solo, and other times with Fleet Foxes bandmates and pals J. Tillman and Skye Skjelset treated an adoring crowd (one woman, in particular, couldn’t contain herself from shouting her elation at the band’s return to ‘the hill’ between almost every song break) to a mix of old time spirituals, Fleet Foxes standbys, and plenty of covers. By now, his take on Neutral Milk Hotel’s “Two Headed Boy” (surprisingly good, and only a few forgotten lyrics) and the Magnetic Fields’s “the Book of Love” must surely be making the rounds on the internets by now (a quick search turns up audio [peenko] from taper Jackson Barnes [megaupload]; others have extracted that mp3 for you [p'fork]); a half-hearted attempt at Belle & Sebastian’s “Stars of Track and Field”, on the other hand, was wisely halted soon enough to fade into much-deserved obscurity; and a request-filled encore concluded with Fleetwood Mac with a bit of help from his sister.
Though he professed that this wasn’t really his event — he doesn’t drink and has no love for children — he drew a large fundraising crowd, with the only crime being that fans may have been too transfixed with the happenings onstage to slip away to order more drinks from the bar.

2:00 PM – Lucia Perillo: Inseminating the Elephant
SPL Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium

first, there’s the matter of the enema, which ought to come
as no surprise. Because what the news brings us
is often wheelbarrows of dung — suffering,
with photographs. And so long as there is suffering,
there should be also baby elephants — especially this messy,
headlamp-lit calling-forth. The problem lies
in deciding which side to side with: it is natural
to choose the giant rectal thermometer
over the twisted human form,
but is there something cowardly in that comic swerve?

[LINK]

Mmmm....Sounds tempting....

It’s almost time for the annual “Bite of Seattle”, the festival runs Friday 7/17-Sunday 7/19. (Fri & Sat 11 AM-9 PM, Sun 11 AM-8 PM).

Should be a great time as always, this year there are over 100 food booths with every type of food imaginable. There are also 4 beer gardens for when you get thirsty and 7 outdoor entertainment stages with all types of live music; rock, pop, soul, jazz, 80′s, reggae….Pretty much something for everybody….

Looks like the weather is going to cooperate, should be in the mid 70′s all weekend….

Summertime in Seattle, can’t beat it….

10:00 AM – Matthew Amster-Burton: Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater
UW Bookstore, U District
Not just a book signing, but also a cooking demo! Yum. The Seattle food critic and blogger cooks and signs. It’s also quite probable that he will speak.
[LINK]

2:00 PM – Make A Book! Workshop
SPL Northeast Branch
Instructors from the Seattle Center for Book Arts show you how handmade books can add a creative twist to traditional soft-cover and hard-cover books. All bookmaking materials and supplies provided. For ages 12 and up.
[LINK]

3:00 PM – Brenda Bryan: Barking Buddha: Simple Soul Stretches for Yogi and Dogi
SPL Queen Anne Branch
Discover a new meaning to the term “downward dog!” Please do not bring any pets to this program.
[LINK]

4:00 PM – Poets West: Open Mic
SPL Greenlake Branch
[LINK]

6:00 PM – Peter Bagge: Everyone is Stupid Except for Me
Fantagraphics Books
Book release party & exhibit. “Following the reception, guests are invited to a free performance of Peter Bagge’s latest power pop combo, Can You Imagine?, at neighboring nightclub Jules Maes Saloon. Featuring prominent Northwest musician and producer Steve Fisk, this delightful band combines elements of anachronistic new wave, girl-group pop and punk to create an accessible and exciting sound. The evening’s musical entertainment will feature a special reunion of Bagge’s 1990s sensation The Action Suits whose members include current and former Fantagraphics staffers. Also on the bill are current projects by Action Suits members: Eric Reynolds’ Fox Hollow and Andy Schmidt’s group Hank Adams. Jules Maes is located at 5919 Airport Way South, just one short block north of Fantagraphics Bookstore.” (Fantagraphics)
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Seattle Noir vs. Portland Noir: Reading
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Noir cage match! Which city is darker, grittier, more suffused with existential angst? Which will prevail? There can be only one…
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Sisters Singing: Blessings, Prayers, Art Songs, Poetry and Sacred Stories by Women
Town Hall Seattle
Readings by local contributors June Bluespruce, Katherine Metcalf Nelson, Carolyn Davis Rudolph, Anne Mize, Beth Coyote, Pesha Joyce Gertler, Linda Barton, and Marcia Moonstar. This evening’s performances includes special appearances by musician Jami Seber, vocalists Alysia Tromblay and Coleen Renee, and by Carolyn Birgit Flynn.
[LINK]