photo by Veronica Luongo [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Not only is Greg Nickels entertaining the idea of a Euroesque bike-sharing program for Seattle, he actually rode one of the bikes around at a demonstration. [seattlepi] Speaking of which, what ever happened to the electric bike sharing program [times] that the UW was going to try in the fall of 2008?
• Insanely old news in blogyears, but this story about the White Sox GM getting a ticket for jaywalking is hilarious; as is the idea that Seattleites don’t jaywalk. [seattlest]
• Slightly old news in businessjournalyears, but some details about Pony and how it’s bucking the alleged trend of non-divey bars on the hill. [seattlegayscene]
• Haven’t ridden the rails yet? Amber Campbell is providing station-by-station tours to get you on board. [seattletransitblog]
• Josh Feit sez: “McGinn was an attorney for T-Mobile in 2005 when the company was accused of screwing over consumers.” Sticker-happy bike-loving tunnel-hater McGinn responds: “just because a complaint alleges that ‘bait and switch’ occurs does not mean that there was any baiting and switching. … That’s why courts try cases (and reporters check facts) and don’t simply conclude that allegations are true.” I shrug: “too late, already voted.” [publicola]
• The Twilight Exit is getting a fresh mural painted on the side of their building and it isn’t a failwhale. [cdnews]
• There’s still time for you to get your brush with MTV webfame as an extra in one of the episodes of $5 Cover being filmed by Lynn Shelton & local bands around town. [soundonthesound]

• Second Thursday of the month mean art walking on Capitol Hill, as organized by BLITZ. Notably, there’s an arbitrary arts grant being awarded in the “people’s parking lot” to one random art dealer sporting a piece of 2-d art hanging around his or her neck [vital5]. For a makeshift map and some of the other highlights, check your pals at Capitol Hill Seattle [chs]. There had been high hopes that Marination Mobile would be on hand selling snacks, but apparently the curb or lack of curbspace provided an insurmountable obstacle. [@curb_cuisine] Luckily, the wide-ranging, exercise-encouraging Blitz Map extends to the venerable Olive Way corridor, where Taco Gringos continue to be the neighborhood’s champions of pure deliciousness. $free, list of venues available at Seattle Central from 6-6:30, or online. [blitz]
• You’re the winner when there’s Beard on Beard basketball battle between Mad Rad and Champagne Champagne. [funhouse]

Crisp Morning by Xinapray. From our Flickr pool.

Face pressing forward
into the glass mountain west,
through the train window

Thanks, Jeff, and enjoy!

Light Reign, a James Turrell Skyspace

There can be only one…

6:00 PM – It’s About Time: Reading
SPL Ballard Branch
The Ballard Branch welcomes the 240th event in the monthly “It’s About Time Writers Reading Series.”
[LINK]

6:30 PM – Shannon Borg: Chefs on the Farm
SPL Lake City Branch
A program for serious foodies – take a journey from farm to plate! Learn about the seasonal workings of life on a goat cheese farm when Borg reads from Chefs on the Farm.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Elisabeth Hyde: The Heart of the Canyon
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The former Seattleite reads from her fifth novel, about a rafting trip down the Colorado.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – William Vollmann: Imperial
Barnes & Noble University Village
The author will chat with Charles R. Cross about the book, American imperialism, migrant workers, and immigration.
[LINK]

Triptych of the performance: On Hiding An Elephant In Plain Sight: A Performance Of Private Acts

Last night I stopped by Occidental Park in Pioneer Square to check out the Free Sheep Foundation’s art performance entitled “On Hiding An Elephant In Plain Sight: A Performance Of Private Acts.” This performance is described by the artists as:

D.K. Pan, NKO and Holly Brown explore the intimate relationship between reader, author and text. Featuring the words of Haruki Murikami’s “Wild Sheep Chase” (NY Times Book Review – http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/02/14/specials/murakami-sheep.html), two ‘authors’ transcribe the novel as it is read aloud: one pens on the exterior of the box truck (which serves as stage and ‘literary vehicle’), the other types the text on an endless roll of paper. The reader will be stationed atop the box truck, audible via a PA system. Accompanying the performance will be the Hanley Family Elephant Ear stand providing deep-fried goodness.

This overnight, endurance performance serves to highlight and expose the intensely private acts of reading and writing along with the conflicting desires they engender. The relationships of voice, hand, and typewriter become intertwined in the act of imprinting memory onto a public site. A silent transformation occurs, unnoticed. A box truck becomes an elephant, text escapes the confines of its pages; we awake from a dream and find ourselves at the beginning of a journey. Murikami’s tale of search, longing, and reconciliation serves as the point of departure for this performance action.

(more…)

1:00 PM – Make A Book! Workshop
SPL Rainer Beach 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]

7:30 PM – Stage Fright Open Mic
Richard Hugo House Cabaret
Monthly open mike for writers 14-24.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Steven I. Apfelbaum: Nature’s Second Chance: Restoring the Ecology of Stone Prairie Farm
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“This page-turner for nature lovers will captivate readers who have harbored fantasies of moving back to the land and who will appreciate its mingling of environmental theory, policy prescription, and vivid personal anecdote.” – Publishers Weekly
[LINK]

Wave Books, co-sponsors of the Wave Poetry Festival, in conjunction with the Henry Art Gallery, have offered a free pass to this weekend’s verse-fabulous events to one lucky winner. To win, e-mail a haiku (or other short poem) to seattle (dot) metblog (at) gmail (dot) com. We’ll pick a winner and a pass will be left in the lucky dog’s name at Will Call.

Poetry is cool.
All the popular kids write.
You know you want to.

photo by shawnmebo [flickr] via our group pool [#]

I’m not entirely sure what to make of this (which, I suspect, is the point), but starting today at noon Occidental Park will play host to a twenty-four hour reading of A Wild Sheep Chase [$].

As part of a summer of site-specific performances inspired by the work of Haruki Murakami in the park (chosen because of its “combination of old architecture, mature trees, new and old businesses, alleyways, and varieties of people” as “a perfect site to explore his themes of the magical and the mundane, outsider and insider, the spontaneous and the routine, the ephemeral and absurd” [op]), this endurance event features D.K. Pan, NKO, Holly Brown, and an accompanying Elephant Ear vendor.

They’ll be reading the text aloud, transcribing it onto the exterior of a box truck, and typing the text on an “endless” roll of paper. Now all they need is someone to liveblogtweet it. // $free, but for the mind-boggling. 12-12. [occidentalpark]

(via artsjournal [#])

12:00 PM – Robert Ferrigno: Heart of the Assassin
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Last of a trilogy about religion, war, et cetera. The series has been well-reviewed, with the final installment highly anticipated.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Ed Brubaker & Clayton Crain: Marvel 70th Anniversary
Barnes & Noble University Village
Celebrate the 70th Anniversary by buying a keepsake edition of comic art and getting it signed by an artist. Or, go berate them for destroying a venerable American icon. Your call.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Ann Leda Shapiro: My Island
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The Vashon Island local created a picture book to celebrate her beloved home. Shapiro and friends will read and perform.
[LINK]