Solace Room in the new City Hostel Seattle

If you don’t feel like driving or busing all the way up to Greenwood for art tonight, also consider the happenings in Belltown.
- City Hostel Seattle (2nd Ave and Battery St.) will once again have it’s doors open to to public to check out the uniquely painted rooms, all of which were done by local Seattle artists. They are all worth a peek into, and most will make you wish you could stay the night in them. Seriously something not to be missed. But hurry up, word has it this is the last month the rooms will be open. After this the art shows will be restricted to just the hallways.
- The Whisky Bar (2000 2nd Ave) will feature artist 179′s new show along with live painting and plenty of booze.
- Schmancy (1932 2nd Ave) has a show by Portland artist team APAK who has also created a line of plush dolls exclusively for Schmancy. (special thanks to PowFox for the heads-up on this show)
- Roc La Rue (2312 2nd Ave) has a show by Jim Blanchard that is opening and looks like something not to be missed.
- Halogen Gallery (2316 2nd Ave) has a show featuring the art of Justin Hilgrove, Ninjagrl, Soopajdelux. Always good stuff from these three artists!

7:30 AM – Mark Tye Turner: Notes from a 12 Man: A Truly Biased History of the Seattle Seahawks
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“The Seattle Seahawks retired number 12 in honor of the “Twelfth Man” — those fans who remained devoted no matter what. Written as a series of small essays and lists, with the same sly humor author Mark Turner brought to his scripts for “Talk Soup” and “Blind Date, ” this passionate “fan-oir” covers the team’s highlights, lowlights, and everything in between. Themed sections include “In the Beginning,” “Pop Goes the Culture,” “Transitions,” and recurring chapters that offer play-by-play reportage and analysis of notable victories and notorious losses.” – Publisher’s summary
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Lorrie More: A Gate at the Stairs
SPL Central Library Microsoft Auditorium
“Moore knits together the shadow of 9/11 and a young girl’s bumpy coming-of-age in this luminous, heart-wrenchingly wry novel—the author’s first in 15 years. Tassie Keltjin, 20, a smalltown girl weathering a clumsy college year in ‘the Athens of the Midwest,’ is taken on as prospective nanny … In a parallel tale, Tassie lands a lover … Moore’s graceful prose considers serious emotional and political issues with low-key clarity and poignancy, while generous flashes of wit … endow this stellar novel with great heart.” – Publishers Weekly
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Ted Falcon, Don MacKenzie, Jamal Rahman: Getting to the Heart of Interfaith: The Eye-Opening, Hope-Filled Friendship of a Rabbi, Pastor and Sheikh!
Barnes & Noble University Village
Exactly what it sounds like.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Staged Reading : Roses in the Water
Richard Hugo House
Staged reading of the play by La’Chris Jordan.
[LINK]

photo by simple insomnia [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• I took some pictures at Bumbershoot. [stereogum]
• If you’re creeped out by the Kurt Cobain avatar in the new RockBand, just imagine how Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic feel about seeing his animated ghost singing not only Nirvana songs, but also being puppeted into parroting Public Enemy and Bon Jovi. Oh, wait, you don’t need to imagine their horror. They released a statement today. [music-mix]
• The surviving mayoral candidates sat down at Cinerama today; not to catch Inglourious Basterds, but instead to duke it out over who wins the keys the the city this November. [publicola]
• In other smackdowns, Team Neighborlogs is bringing the heat to KOMO’s new, not very active neighborhood empire for some less-than-savory story-lifting. [chs/cdn]
• The spark that started one of those fires was the Capitol Hill Design Charette [crush3r], which aims to bring together designers and other beautiful dreamers to envision the future of Broadway beyond the light rail pits of Sound Transit. CHS thinks it’s important and that you should be there, world-class city style. [chs]

Have you emerged from the fog of Bumbershoot? Don’t worry, I, too am still in recovery mode. Still, as soon as memories of one festival fade, another rises to take its place. Announced today [reverb], the full schedule of Seattle Weekly‘s Reverb festival should get you excited for October (or, if you will/must, rocktober) with a full-day slate of mainly local bands who will be taking over Ballard on Saturday October 3rd.

Take a look:

The Sunset: 12:30 – Kay Kay & His Weathered Underground; 11:30 – Coconut Coolouts; 10:30 – Unnatural Helpers; 9:30 – The Girls; 8:30 – Final Spins; 7:30 – Erik Blood; 6:30 – Telepathic Liberation Army; 5:30 – Born Anchors; 4:30 – Katherine Hepburn’s Voice; 3:30 – Little Cuts

Tractor Tavern: 12:00 – The Maldives; 11:00 – Staxx Brothers; 10:00 – Widower; 9:00 – Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme; 8:00 – Fences; 7:00 – Raggedy Anns; 6:00 – Brent Amaker & The Rodeo; 5:00 – Southside; 4:00 – Hallways; Ballard Loft

5105 Ballard Ave NW: 10:00 – DJ Taco Supreme; 6:00 – Trashy Trash DJs ;

Conor Byrne: 11:30 – Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs; 10:30 – Barton Carroll; 9:30 – Zera Marvel; 8:30 – Kaylee Cole

The Bit Saloon: 12:00 – Midnight Idols; 11:00 – Mobile Slaughter Unit; 10:00 – The Keeper; 9:00 – Redwood Plan; 8:00 – Tea Cozies; 7:00 – Levator; 6:00 – The Basements

Hattie’s Hat (all-ages): 10:30 – Hattie’s Hoot! featuring many special guests; 9:30 – Rusty Willoughby; 8:30 – Shenandoah Davis; 7:30 – Shana Cleveland; 6:30 – Lonesome Shack; 5:30 – Lindsay Fuller; 4:30 – Jet Sparks

New York Fashion Academy (all-ages): 10:30 – Thee Satisfaction; 9:30 – Fatal Lucciauno; 8:30 – Spaceman; 7:30 – SK; 6:30 – GMK; 5:30 – Astronautalis; 4:30 – Fresh Espresso; 3:30 – Grynch

Salmon Bay Eagles (all-ages) : 10:00 – Shook Ones; 9:00 – Cute Lepers; 8:00 – Thee Emergency; 7:00 – The Lonely H; 6:00 – Valis; 5:00 – Wallpaper; 4:00 – Visqueen (all- ages Record Release!); 3:00 – Recess Monkey

Mr. Spot’s Chai House (all-ages): 9:00 – Kore Ionz; 8:00 – Heatwarmer; 7:00 – Lady Drama;

Volterra: 10:00 – Los Volcanes; 9:00 – Lushy; 8:00 – Leif Totusek & Freestyle Candela; 7:00 – Matt Jorgensen + 451; 6:00 – Greta Matassa; 5:00 – FOWM Jazz Combo and String Ensembles

Wristbands for the whole thing will run you $5-10, depending on your age and timeliness. [$]

video games ruined my life by poopoorama [flickr] via our group pool [#].

In case you missed it, Seattle’s premier gaming expo was ground zero for an outbreak of swine flu (or what Wired is calling H1Nerd1).

Penny Arcade, the organization that hosts the event, has a list of outgoing flights that had passengers with confirmed cases of the flu.

In addition, the University of Washington just issued an e-mail that two probable cases of H1N1 have been reported to the campus health center, originating from a particular sorority house. The University will be monitoring the flu outbreaks on campus, but officials are encouraging students and staff to take necessary precautions.

And since this flu is hitting everyone from gamers to sorority girls, be sure to wash your hands, stay home if you’re sick, and keep up to date with new info on the swine flu from King County.

It’s been a while since you’ve been on an art walk, hasn’t it, maybe even one whole week or even longer? And now you find yourself thinking, “Wow, I should totally go on an art walk.”

Really, you should.

Tonight you can head up Capitol Hill for Blitz, an artwalk encompassing art of all types in galleries, coffee shops, private studios, street corners, and retail shops. There’s a ton of work to be seen, but you might especially want to keep your eye out for “Glitterporn” at Grey Gallery, a “tongue-in-cheek exploration of censorship, sex, and pornography” and “Whimsy Home Decor”, a mixed media work combining multi-level paintings and three-dimensional murals.

Friday night there’s the Art Up Greenwood Phinney Art Walk which features photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, books, spoken word, performance art, theater and food and drink specials from neighborhood merchants, not to mention the always-charming “living art” of the cats and kittens available for adoption at PAWS Cat City. While you’re there, you should definitely stop in to Taproot Theatre to view Sam Vance’s water lily series, studying the effects of light upon water. As a bonus for stopping in during the art walk, you’ll also get to observe Vance as he sketches a portrait of fellow artist Nikki Visel, a sketch which will then be used on-stage during Taproot’s upcoming presentation of Enchanted April.

11:00 AM – Storytelling at NAAM
Northwest African American Museum
Children of all ages are invited to experience the art of storytelling and the power of stories with a featured guest.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Cecile Andrews & J. Kingston Pierce: Book Release Party
Santoro’s Books
“Let’s celebrate the release of two very impressive books from our neighborhood authors with an informal gathering at our store. Enjoy wine, light appetizers and a chance to meet our local talent.” -Santoro’s
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Cheap Beer and Prose: Reading
Richard Hugo House
Featuring Ryan Boudinot, Cienna Madrid, Mary Purdy and David Schmader. Hosted by Charla Grenz.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Zachary Schomburg & Sandy Florian: Reading
Pilot Books
The poets will read and sign, if asked nicely. Poets also appreciate food bribes, because they are impoverished and hungry. Please, think of the poets!
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Frank Bruni: Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“Outgoing New York Times restaurant critic Bruni admits he was even a baby bulimic in his extraordinary memoir about a lifelong battle with weight problems … Through adolescence, puberty, and into college, Bruni oscillated from gluttonous binges to adult bulimia … While Bruni includes such entertaining bits as the campaign trail seen through a Weight Watchers lens, and ample meals from his years as the Times restaurant critic, in the end, his is a powerful, honest book about desire, shame, identity, and self-image.” – Publishers Weekly
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Thomas Frank: The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Ruined Government, Enriched Themselves, and Beggared the Nation
Town Hall Seattle
This is a great, great book; just because Bush is out of office, doesn’t mean we should forget the lessons of that administration. If anything, it is more important that we understand what happened in order to prevent the recurrence: “Thomas Frank is back with another hunk of dynamite. The Wrecking Crew should monopolize political conversation this year. It’s the first book to effectively tie the ruin and corruption of conservative governance back to the ‘conservative movement building’ of the 1970s, and before that, the business crusade against good government going back at least to the 1890s.” – Salon.com
[LINK]

12:00 PM – Timothy Hallinan: Breathing Water
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Somebody named “Poke Rafferty” is offered the opportunity to write a biography of a Thai bigwig. Mayhem ensues.
[LINK]

1:00 PM – David Ellis: The Hidden Man
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
A 30-year-old crime comes to attorney Jason Kolarich’s attention when the leading suspect is murdered.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Alison Gopnic: The Philosophical Baby
Town Hall Seattle
Gopnic argues that the average infant has more cognitive ability than a baked potato, which demonstrates that she’s never met my nephews.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Amir D. Aczel: Uranium Wars: The Scientific Rivalry That Created the Nuclear Age
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“A concise and cogent review of one of the most exhilarating, yet fearsome, eras in the history of scientific discovery. Aczel sharply profiles the brilliant—and often conflicted—men and women who led us into the nuclear age.” – Marcia Bartasiak
[LINK]

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

Thanks to the Puget Sound Business Journal, I discovered today that a survey compiled by economics survey team analysists at the American Institute for Economic Research reveals that out of 360 metropolitan statistical areas, Seattle ranks fifth in the nation as the best place to go to college.

Seattle is ranked in the “major metro category” and came in behind NYC, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington, DC and was ranked positively in the “cost of living” category. Well, sure, Seattle seems so much more “affordable” when you compare it to those over-overpriced cities, doesn’t it? I think Seattle’s colleges and universities offer excellent educational opportunities, but you’re not going to get them at bargain pricing. Other advantages to going to school in Seattle are “entrepeneurial activity” and “city accessibility”.

On the “small college town” list, Bellingham, WA was ranked 20th in the nation, coming in first in the “entrepeneurial activity” category.

To be fair, Charles Wesley Cooley has had his own grave, and for quite some time now. The US Civil War veteran was buried at the old pioneer Western State Hospital more than a century ago, so he’s a little beyond any of this. However, a volunteer group dedicated to restoring identities to patients buried in numbered graves in the old cemetary is making sure that his name gets remembered by honoring him at his gravesite on Saturday, September 12.

“At the time, society thought it was doing these patients a favor – shielding their identities from the ‘shame’ of mental illness,” said Laurel Lemke, who chairs the Grave Concerns Association behind the cemetery restoration. “Today, we believe we are righting an historic injustice by giving them back their names and histories.”

Western State Hospital Chaplain John Johnston will preside at the 1 pm ceremony, which will include a Fort Lewis color guard and 4th US Infantry Company C Civil War re-enactors.

Cooley’s descendents – family members from California, Oregon, Seattle, Everett and Goldendale – have been invited, including two great-grandchildren in their 70s and Hans Becker of Newport Beach, Calif., who will talk about his research into Cooley and his life story.

Becker contact Lemke this spring trying to locate “Chester” Cooley’s website. Lemke found it – at Marker Number 200. The numeric marker will be replaced Saturday with a bronze marker that includes Cooley’s name and service record: Company G, 49th Infantry Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, part of the “Buckeye Vanguard.”

Cooley, who enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private in Ohio on Aug. 18, 1861, and fought throughout the war was mustered out as a full sergeant in Texas after the war ended. His service saw him take part in some of the most dangerous and well-known battles of the war, including Shiloh, Chickamauga, Franklin, Nashville and the campaign to capture Atlanta. After the war, his family moved from Missouri to Goldendale in Klickitat County in Washington state. He became ill in 1889 and was taken to Western State Hospital twice over the next two years where he died in 1891 and was buried with only a plot number to mark the location of his remains.

Saturday is the fourth family-initiated event that Grave Concerns has arranged since the group began replacing markers in 2004. After being featured in previous stories, Grave Concerns has received an increased number of inquiries from families hoping to find patients’ graves. In October, 55 additional name markers will be placed in the cemetery.

Cooley will have the first military marker in the cemetery, which is across Steilacoom Road from today’s hospital. It was closed to burials in 1953. Cooley’s official bronze marker was provided by the federal government, and the Mountain View Cemetery of Lakewood provided the concrete setting, honor flag and guest book for the family.