Seattle’s hardworking Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs is hosting a series of public art roundtables and they’d like to invite you, the aspiring public artist, to join them.

The Public Art Roundtables workshop is dedicated to emerging public artists. Attendees get to take part in half hour roundtable discussions on everything from preparing a strong application to developing projects and covering one’s rear end, legally speaking. There are also opportunities to schedule 15 minute one on one sessions for more individualized discussion.

Some of the presenters include artists Marita Dingus, Claudia Fitch, Kay Kirkpatrick, and Kristin Tollefson as well as staff members of the Art & Cultural Affairs office.

If you want to attend these roundtables, taking place Saturday, September 19th at City Hall, the good news is that they’re totally free. The bad news is that there is limited space–you’ll want to hurry and sign up ASAP; get contact info by visiting the Office of Art & Cultural Affairs workshop page.

7:00 PM – Terry Brooks: Princess of Landover
UW Bookstore U District
The local author will visit the UW, to read and sign.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Scott Oki: Outrageous Learning
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“Local philanthropist, community leader, and former Microsoft executive Scott Oki, founder and chair of Oki Development, Inc., presents some possible solutions to the problems facing public education today…This evening’s program features an onstage interview with Terry Tazioli, host of TVW’s Author Hour program, and will be recorded by TVW for later broadcast. Coming as we are about to embark on the new school year, this discussion will explore areas Scott Oki addresses in the book, including eleven ‘planks,’ or foundational ideas which offer positive ways of bringing about change. Scott Oki is a former president of the University of Washington Board of Regents, and was a member of Governor Gary Locke’s Commission on Early Learning.”
[LINK]

(more…)

In case you are not quite the bibliophile that I am and haven’t already heard, all Seattle Public Library (SPL) branches will be closed Monday, August 31st through Monday, September 7th, due to budget cuts. The official statement is HERE. And when they say closed, they mean closed: no book drops will be open; the online catalog will be down (excuse me while I go hyperventilate into a paper bag); neither TeleCirc nor the Information line will be available; no mail will be received; no book club books will be sent. For all intents and purposes, the library system will cease to exist.

On the bright side, no items will be due and no fines will accrue on past due items. Cold comfort.

It’s unfortunate that SPL has to shut down at a time when usage is way, way up. According to Friends of SPL, visits to SPL locations went from under 7M per year in 2004 to over 12M last year, and climbing. Visits were up 7% in May 2009, over May 2008, and circulation was up 11% for the same month. In addition to an increase in the number of requests and visits, the amount of material people check out is also up: 20% between 2007 and 2008. This trend is reflected in my own household: since beginning our Book Buying Abatement Program, in January 2007, nearly every book that enters our house is from the library, and we also borrow music, videos, and DVDs, instead of renting or purchasing. Apparently, we’re fairly typical.

If you have books on hold waiting for you or items due, take care of it before Monday, or Sunday if your local branch is closed Sundays. And if you happen to be down at the Southwest branch, the crazy woman weeping hysterically and refusing to leave Sunday evening… will be me.

It’s about the time for high school football to start all around the state, but it’s never to early to rank the hottest teams, season started or not.

High School Rivals has already issued their popular list of the top 100 high school football teams in the US and there are definitely some familiar names on it.

At #20 is Sammamish’s Skyline whose first game isn’t until September 5th when they take on #79 Jesuit, from Oregon. At #53 is Lakes, from Lakewood who play their first game September 4th against nearby rival Bonney Lake. Bellevue (#63) also plays their first game on September 4th, hitting the grass with Marriot from British Columbia.

Three schools not seem like a huge number, but when you look at the list and realize that Texas, Virginia, Florida and Georgia, places where pro teams wish they could get the attention high school football gets, have a combined total of 25 percent of the listings with the rest divided up amongst California and then all other states, well, it’s pretty impressive. Besides, history has shown that once play begins several other Washington teams will make the list at least once or twice during the season.

The Seahawks, the Huskies and the Cougars get the lion’s share of media attention, of course, but serious football fans (or even the curious who don’t want to shell out the big bucks it takes to go to see the big boys) should definitely check out the high caliber quality of play available on the high school scene.

The Seattle School District Athletic department maintains a department web directory which includes links to sports schedules by school for all the local schools in the Metro league (including Seattle’s public high schools, Bainbridge Island, Holy Names, O’Dea and other local private schools.) All the other school districts have similar listings, so check out the ones in your area. You never know–that kid at Memorial Stadium today just might be the man playing at Qwest tomorrow.

12:00 PM – Jayne Castle: Obsidian Prey
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Number six in a “psychic romantic suspense” series. Reserve before 8/18 and get a limited edition gift packet. Woot.
[LINK]

4:00 PM – Richelle Mead & Lili St. Crow: Blood Promise & Strange Angels
UW Bookstore U District
“Two Seattle authors present their stories: Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series follows a young woman—half human, half vampire—training to protect good, living vampires from evil, dead vampires. In the fourth book, Rose (the bodyguard) must abandon her charge (Lissa, one of the good vampires), to keep a promise. Lilith St. Crow’s Strange Angels concerns a young woman who hunts ghosts with her father, and the trials that beset her when her father turns up dead—and walking around.” –UW Bookstore
[LINK]

5:30 PM – Writer’s Salon Series: Dinner
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“…a special ticketed dinner/event with David Mas Masumoto in the Elliott Bay Café’s salon space. A reception starts at 5:30 p.m. (with dinner at 6 p.m.) Prior to the 7:30 Mas Masumoto reading, chef Tamara Murphy of Brasa (and new proprietor of ebc) and café chef Zephyr Paquette will prepare a family style farm dinner showcasing products from our local farms. Relax and enjoy casual ‘more intimate’ conversation while sharing a meal with our honored guest before our free public reading event this same evening. Price for this special dinner are $35, all inclusive, or $57 with a signed copy of Mas Masumoto’s new book.” -EBB
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Nancy White Carlstrom: It’s Your First Day of School, Annie Claire
Secret Garden Bookshop
Ultimate Tuesday!
[LINK]

7:30 PM – David Mas Masumoto: Wisdom of the Last Farmer: Harvesting Legacies from the Land
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Mas Masumoto’s other books include Harvest Son, Epitaph for a Peach, and Heirlooms.
[LINK]

one of the many great photos of the “lullaby moon” festivities from riko colin chock’s [flickr] splendid photoset [flickr]; found via our group pool [#]. if, like me, you had no idea that “lullaby moon” was a thing, walking out of a cocktail tasting into the parade of white-clothed costumed performers could be awfully disconcerting.

• Front page news: the “colorful” multi-lingual “characters” of Rainier Valley are sticking to riding the rickety old bus instead of making use of the sleek modern light rail. Maybe it’s because the routes aren’t all that similar, but it could also be because they’re so “colorful” and enjoy overly slow, long bus rides, with frequent stops on the way downtown where there’s plenty of time for arguments, fights, and other occasional crimes to erupt. Or maybe they like it so much because they can calling it “The Seven” because that’s so much more “colorful” and it merits as much Title Case Capitalization as is journalistically allowable. [times]
• Godzilla sighting in Bellevue; corpse crawling with people. [anotherbouncingball]
• Via Trib’s breaking down walls in Belltown. Hope they remember the Great Smith Falling Door Saga during the refurb with a rolling garage door. [belltownpeople]
• Yoko Ono hasn’t yet returned an e-mail from Jen Graves. j/k, this is actually a fascinating story about what happens when a guard overparticipates in a piece of participatory art. [slog]
• What hyperactive neighborhood blogs often look like to outsiders. [ohmygodseattle]

Belltown, your brunchtime options are expanding: this weekend Del Rey started serving brunch. I don’t know how it will compare to Rite Aid during the afternoon as a pick-up spot, but I do know that the Kahlua french toast was really, really good. The batter was not too sweet, the portion not too huge, and the jam on the side possibly lifesaving jam.

My companions all went for more savory dishes (I can’t tell you what they were because the menu isn’t up yet, although there was definitely a giant breakfast burrito and some ham cups), and there was a significant amount of passing plates around and enthusiastic mumbling. The chorizo is excellent, and stuck on a skewer with an olive to garnish the Bloody Mary. If you really need to wake up, the Angry Maria is a Bloody Mary using habanero-infused tequila. Personally, I will stick to mimosas.

Brunch is the most important meal (or two) of the week, so another option in Belltown is definitely a thing to be happy about. As a bonus, you can follow Del Rey on Twitter, and sometimes they will give you things. Del Rey is also the only place in town I know of so far with a mayor special if you use foursquare–happy hour prices all day for the mayor and one guest. Everyone else gets $2 off their first well drink Sunday – Thursday.

7:30 PM – Vicki Halper & Diane Douglas: Choosing Craft: The Artist’s Viewpoint
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“Vicki Halper, an independent curator/writer who formerly was associated curator of modern art at the Seattle Art Museum, and Seattle CityClub director Diane Douglas, who formerly directed the Bellevue Arts Museum, have collaborated on a striking, engaging new book…” -EBB
[LINK]

photo by joshc [flickr]

One of the key attractions of Pony, a bar that I don’t think I ever stumbled through sober, was its pervy impermanence. Now, they’re preparing to re-launch in location that doesn’t come with a built-in expiration/demolition date. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to see how well it will work as a permanent installation since they won’t be opening the doors until next month. [lineout]

Still, with the street-sign collage enclosing flatiron patio, it sure casts an imposing beacon, like hard gleaming spaceship drifting down Madison. When a friend and I walked by this weekend, the general consensus from passing street people who stopped to peek through the cracks was that it would be “the shit”.