photo by shawn [flickr] via our group pool [#].

• Is the Stranger readying a neighborhood blog killer or just preparing to add comments registration system? Please please please the option number two. [capitolhillseattle]
• Oh no. First suicidal dolphins [guardian], now disappearing salmon? [nerdseyeview]
• Gluten-free girl launches a spin-off. Oh, and she’s starting a second website. [gfg]
• Let’s all indulge the dream of a magnetic poetry float in the Gay Pride parade for just a few moments. [hillku]
• Tips and tricks on doing buses right instead of the horribly wrong way we’re doing it now. I have never seen this many comments on Crosscut ever. [crosscut] Maybe it’s because “Driving is no longer fun”. Oh, Joel Connelly. (confession: I couldn’t make it through either of these articles.) [pi]
• Outdoor movie season starts this weekend in Fremont with Superbad. [seattletraveler]

And it ends up being Jason Fried over at 37Signals, who summizes:

Public art in a public outdoor space in the middle of public paths and public lawns yet you can’t touch it. The only interaction is visual. It’s standoffish. It feels like a missed opportunity…. Contrast this with Chicago’s Millennium Park. Public art and architecture that is entirely interactive.

Our sculpture park is all sculpture and not at all park. Shame, shame, shame on SAM for failing to grasp what “park” actually means — and that setting up these “force fields” around art only continues to reinforce the public feeling that art is “elitist.” (And I mean that in the actual sense of the word, not in the contradictory and hypocritical sense of Republican “Obama elitism.”)

Maybe you already know. Maybe you used to know. Maybe you’ll know again soon. Whatever your perspective, this column looks to answer one question: what’s it like being single in Seattle?

It started, as any good Web 2.0 romance should, with a comment on the rival Seattle blog he wrote for. I had thought he was cute for some time; he posted about peeing on a tree. I commented that his post encouraged me to get over my silly little crush on him. No response.

…Until a few weeks later when I checked my spam filter. “Congrats–most women have to meet me at least twice before a crush wears off,” he’d replied. Cute. I replied, and we ended up having a bizarre but hilarious (to us) discussion about HTTP error codes. (Reproduced after the jump for the curious.) Fellow Metblogger Josh once told me upon reading that conversation, “I can’t imagine how things between the two of you didn’t work out.” And sometimes I wonder the same thing.

He friended me on Google Chat and I immediately began ignoring lectures and chatting with him instead. Often I had to stifle laughs in the middle of Intro to Comparative Literature, some times more successfully than others.

Inevitably he asked me for a drink. I demurred, not wanting to let on I was merely 20 to his 30. I suggested tea instead. In a day or two he upped the ante: a picnic in Volunteer Park.

I suddenly became wracked with guilt. I had a confession to make. I had a boyfriend, a boyfriend on the way out but a boyfriend none the less. We decided to go on the picnic anyway. I told my boyfriend, who loved his blog and was excited I was going to meet him. (There was a reason he was on the way out.)

I sat outside Volunteer Park Cafe for a good half hour before our planned meeting time, wanting time to look fresh in the shade rather than like I just dragged myself up the hill from 23rd (which I had, in fact, done). I keep looking up nervously from my book (Dana Vachon’s Mergers and Acquisitions) but nothing but moms and Bugaboos.

Then a guy in yellow rubber flipflops walks up.

Not cute at all.

(come back tomorrow for part 2…)

Read more

I just got back from a whirlwind of a trip to NYC. Years and years ago, I actually lived in Midtown and racked up a pretty penny in credit card debt because of it. Now, I just like to visit every now and then. But I thought I should share my take on which city is better (in my opionion).

Airports: Seattle wins

• Sea-Tac: I know in a previous post I mentioned my distaste for Sea-Tac. I since realized I’m a dumbfuck and have come to love their cleanliness, their easy going attitudes and if you go on a Saturday at 7am you won’t have to wait on any lines at all.
  
• JFK: Normally, I wouldn’t fly into JFK but for whatever reason this was either the cheapest or the most direct way to get to New York. When I got off to use the bathroom I was petrified. Old stinky bathrooms, with kids crying and doors that wouldn’t lock properly. Never mind the fact that an Italian dad slapped his kid for just standing there. I knew I arrived in New York, and immediately wanted to go back home.

Food: Tie

• Seattle: I think that Seattle has had some great new restaurants lately. Since I live here, get Daily Candy and know a thing or two I have an advantage over tourists who will probably just go to Wild Ginger and never know the glory that is Rancho Bravo or Lunchbox Laboratory. There are some major disappointments though. Like, for a city that has some of the freshest fish, I have yet been to an amazing fish place. I think Tom Douglas is overrated. And don’t even talk to me about Jewish Deli’s or a decent slice of pizza.
  
• New York: Sure, they always say everything is just great there. But I kinda think it’s all hype. For instance, I think Boston has a better Little Italy. And Vancouver has a better Chinatown. Granted I didn’t go to Balthazar (although I’ve been) or Tavern on the Green (I’ve also been and it’s a huge waste of money), but I did go to bodegas, one decent sushi joint and enough Jewish delis to get my fill for the year. I bought one unmemorable black and white cookie at Zaro’s (if you want a Jewy bakery chain that delivers, place your bets on Juniors instead) and then one very memorable one at Mother’s (in the Bronx). Liebman’s Deli had a reasonably priced, and not famously stuffed pastrami sandwich. And I did get to go to my FAVORITE pizza place ever near Columbia on 110th and Broadway. But my $6 hot dog at the Yankees game pissed me off more than filled my tummy with goodness. And besides Mother’s black and white cookie and the pizza, the most memorable food I had was a one scoop of Butterfinger fro-yo at Tasti Dlite. Basically, the things we don’t have in Seattle are great in New York but you can also hit some real duds. A lot.

Transit: New York wins

• New York: Hands down, the subways, buses and everything else are just easier to follow in NYC. You get one little map and you can just figure it out.
  
• Seattle: In Seattle, even the bus drivers don’t really know where they’re going. And the maps (if they’re even there) at the bus stops are in Japanese. The maps on the bus are even worse, because they don’t actually show you ever stop they make. The only way I get around Seattle is on the bus and so I’m dependent on our Trip Planner and I know that if I’m going somewhere I haven’t been to before than I sit up front and tell the driver to tell me when to get off. These are the tricks you learn when living here, but if a tourist came to to Seattle, I can only imagine how confusing getting around would be for them.

Bums: Seattle wins

• Seattle: Okay, maybe the bums only live in Capitol Hill, Downtown, Pioneer Square and University Village but there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t get asked for money or a cigarette. And I don’t even smoke.
  
• New York: Surprisingly, they were missing from this week of tourist fun. Maybe it was the unbearable heat that made them scatter deep into the bushes, but I simply didn’t see many of them. Only one dude made his speech on the train about how he can’t pay for rent, but even he smelled decent enough and didn’t look like he had the crazies. Just shove a Real Change in his hand and he might actually get a buck from me.

People: Seattle wins

• Seattle: I love that Seattle doesn’t have loads of people living here (yet). Because the more people in a city, the more suffocating it gets. In Seattle, you can escape the noise. You don’t hear cabs at all hours. You can go through your whole day without hearing a car honk. And I love this.
  
• New York: When I lived here in my early 20s, I loved the people, the life, the noise. But even after my 3 month stint, I just wanted to relax. Maybe go to a zen garden without my discman (before ipods were invented) and just be. You just can’t do this in Manhattan. And so, for me, this is the biggest reason why I only go to visit and not to live. Because after a week of all that noise and all the people, I just want to curl up in a ball and hide.

Sights: New York wins

• Seattle: I actually kinda think Seattle wins, but to be fair New York really does have so much to see and do. Almost too much. I like Seattle for their breathtaking views of the city and their abundance of parks, but when it comes to old buildings and cool sculptures I think Seattle lacks. I’m much more into older buildings, rather than obscure sculptures of an ampersand. The modern styles of our library are nice, but the older libraries are nicer. And there just aren’t enough big museums here for me.
  
• New York: Museums. Check. Old buildings with character. Check. A great big park in the middle of it all. Check. Check. Like I said, there’s almost too much in New York. But that can also be a good thing.

Overall: Seattle

• I’m biased of course, but I just love it here. Seattle was the first place I moved to where I didn’t know anyone. And I was scared and excited. And as I was driving into the city, it was the first time I said out loud, “I’m gonna live here forever.” It’s only been a little over 2 years, but so far Seattle hasn’t disappointed me yet.

the wackness, still via siff, courtesy occupant films

There are rumors circulating that the weekend will be sunny. You know better than to let that sway you from overdosing on the last three days of SIFF, right? Below are some suggestions from us about how to avoid an unpleasant sunburn without breaking out the sunscreen. In addition to these, the festival has time set aside for repeat showings of films that win awards on Sunday afternoon; so keep an eye out for that announcement.

Sunrise [siff] : People who love film call this one of the best in the history of the medium. My interest in it is magnified by the fact that SIFF commissioned the Album Leaf, Jimmy Tamborello’s lush post-rock band, to compose and perform a new score for it during two showings at the Triple Door. [josh]
Friday June 13, 7:00 pm & 9:30 pm (Triple Door)

Letting Go of God [siff] : A film version of Julia Sweeny’s one-woman show / monologue chronicling and reflecting her conversion from Catholicism to Atheism Naturalism. If you haven’t seen this in person, heard it already on This American Life [#], or just want to experience the whole thing again with the director/star in attendance for their movie’s world premiere, this is your chance. [josh]
Friday June 13, 6:30 pm; Sunday June 15, 4:00 pm (SIFF Cinema)

the Wackness [siff] : Hip-hop, marijuana, and therapy with Ben Kingsley before leaving the NYC for college. Plus a special guest appearance by one of the Olsen twins. Mid-nineties urban nostalgia fiends need look no further. [josh]
Friday June 13, 6:30 pm (Egyptian); Sunday June 15, 6:30 pm (Cinerama)

Mysteries of Pittsburgh [siff] : Michael Chabon’s novel gets the big screen, kinda-big star treatment. This looks like one that will eventually play outside the festival circuit, but if you want to see Mena Suvari and Sienna Miller before all of your friends, check it out this weekend [josh]
Friday June 13, 9:30 pm (Egyptian); Sunday June 15, 2:00 pm (Uptown)

Jolene [siff] : E. L. Doctorow’s controversial short story about a young woman on the run from her tragic past comes to life in director Dan Ireland’s feature film that covers ten tumultuous years in the life of the determined title character as she crosses America in search of her the life she dreams of having for herself. [zg]
Friday June 13, 9:30 pm; Saturday June 14, 2:30 pm (Cinerama)

Chrysalis [siff] : A stylish science fiction noir thriller from France involving plastic surgery, mental manipulation, human trafficking, and some seriously stunning visual effects. [zg]
Friday June 13, 11:55 pm (Egyptian); Saturday June 14, 10:00 pm (Cinerama)

Bottle Shock [siff] : Bottle Shock tells the story of the first California wine to win in a blind tasting in Paris (at a time when France was considered to be the ONLY place to produce drinkable wine). I grew up in the Napa Valley and so I knew a little bit of this story going in. That included the ending. Despite that, this movie still had me on the edge of my seat crossing my fingers and biting my nails that everything would all work out in the end. I’m not sure you can go wrong with Alan Rickman in just about anything, but beyond that, this movie was incredibly moving. It is based on a true story, which is to say that the basic facts are all true. There really is a Chateau Montelena, there really was a contest, and Jim and Bo Barrett (along with Mike Grgich) were responsible for producing the winning wine. The scenery is beautiful (and was actually shot in Napa and Sonoma). I cannot tell you how strongly I urge you to see this movie. [patriciaeddy]
Closing Gala, Saturday June 14, 6:30 pm (Cinerama)

Towelhead [siff] : Perhaps it is a bad idea to choose a movie just because you love the director’s television work, but this is exactly what I did. Six Feet Under’s Alan Ball, who purportedly will be in attendence at both showings, directs this “darkly comic portrait of racial and sexual alienation lurking beneath the wholesome façade of suburban America.” [cero]
Saturday June 14, 6:30 pm; Sunday June 15, 1:30 pm, (Egyptian)

Donkey Punch [siff] : The title pretty much says all you need to know. The Midnight Adrenaline series goes out with a bang, with audiences getting to know far more about the programmers that we maybe ever wanted to find out. [josh]
Saturday June 14, 11:55 pm; Sunday June 15, 9:00 pm (Egyptian)

After the jump, reminders of previous recommendations with screenings this weekend plus a photo of Danny Glover dropping a Grand Canyon reference after Trouble the Water!

Read more

Alexander Nevsky, still courtesy SIFF.

Here it is people: the third and final week of SIFF . Is everyone still on board? Found your line zen? Overcome the constant sensation of missing everything and always being in a hurry? Mastered your decision-making about what distinguishes a “3″ on your ballot from a “4″? Lost track of the rest of civilization? Here are some picks to guide you through the beginning of this week from your Metblogs prognosticators:

Baghead [siff] : I don’t want to say much more about Baghead than that it’s funny, scary, and something of a relationship movie. Anything more than that might spoil your enjoyment of it. After all, someone at the Sunday screening thought they were seeing a movie called Baghdad and had a great time. OK, just one more thing. I want this movie to make lots and lots of money so that the Duplass brothers can keep making really good low production value movies with not incredibly famous actors. It’s entirely possible that their aim of trying to have the stupidest title of the year (sorry guys, I’m afraid that you’ve narrowly lost that contest to Beverly Hills Chihuahua this year) with stories of interpersonal awkwardness in the face of the scariest thing they can think of on a road trip can survive the loose-feeling handmade aesthetic, but I’d rather not see it come to that. [josh]
Monday June 9, 4:30 PM (Egyptian)

Walt & el Groupo [siff] : Uncle Walt takes his animators on a goodwill tour of South America. Wacky hijinks ensue, allegedly changing our artistic and political landscapes to this day. Crazy enough to be fascinating. [josh]
Monday June 9, 4:30 PM (Uptown)

Momma’s Man [siff] : Azazel Jacobs makes a movie about a guy who makes a weekend trip to visit his parents and finds himself unable to leave their apartment to return to his wife and children. Whether this sounds like the premise for a quirky indie drama or a terrifying horror movie may depend on your own family situation.
Monday June 9, 7:15 PM; Wednesday June 11, 4:30 PM (Uptown)

Theater of War [siff]: Meryl Streep took on on the title role in Brecht’s anti-war play when it was staged with a new translation by Tony Kushner in 2006 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. This documentary includes footage from the play, shows Streep digging into the role, and provides backstory on the playwright. [josh]
Tuesday June 10, 7:00 PM; Thursday June 12, 4:30 PM (SIFF Cinema)

In the Land of the Headhunters [siff] : Back in 1914 photographer Edward S. Curtis produced this silent film about love and war amongst the Kwakwaka’wakw people in what we now call the Queen Charlotte Strait area of British Columbia. Entered into the United States Film Registry for its cultural and historical significance in 1999, the film made its debut here in Seattle way back in December of 1914 at the Moore Theater. Thanks to SIFF, the Burke Museum and the Seattle Theater Group, it’s back at the Moore with a newly restored version accompanied by the orginal orchestral score and descendants of the original cast. [zg]
Tuesday June 10, 7:00 pm, The Moore Theater

Stranded: I’ve come from a plane that crashed on the mountains [siff] : One of many movies mined from the story of the Chilean soccer team whose flight crashed in the Andes and had survivors resorting to cannibalism. This one, however, finds the survivors and their families, taking them back to the site of the crash thirty years later. [josh]
Tuesday June 10, 9:30 PM

Trouble the Water [siff] : New Orleans native Kimberley Roberts and her husband fight FEMA’s milles of red tape as they struggle to rebuild their post-Katrina lives in Memphis in this provocative documentary that includes footage Roberts filmed of the hurricane’s assault on her hometown. Be prepared to be both deeply touched and extremely pissed off. Executive producer Danny Glover and the films directors, Carl Deal and Tia Lessin, are scheduled to attend both screenings. [zg]
Wednesday June 11, 4:30 pm; Friday June 13, 9:30 pm, (Harvard Exit)

Fields of Fuel [siff] : If you haven’t turned Green yet, then see this flick about bio-diesel. It’s one of those movies that’ll make you want to sell that gas guzzling car of yours. Until you realize you need said car to get around, and don’t want it smelling like fried chicken. [ba]
Wednesday June 11, 7:00 pm; Thursday June 12, 4:30 pm (Harvard Exit)

Alexander Nevsky [siff] : Prince Alexander Nevsky raises an army to fight Teutonic knights set on invading Russia in this epic film from the Soviet Union originally released in 1938. It’s worth going for the way pre-CGI battle sequences alone. Enhancing the experience, Sergei Prokofiev’s original score will be performed live by the Seattle Symphony. [zg]
Thursday June 12, 7:30 pm; Friday, June 13, 7:00 pm; Saturday June 14, 8:00 pm, Sunday June 15, 2:00 pm, (Benaroya Hall)

Visioneers [siff] : In Jared and Brandon Drake’s dystopic future, productivity and forced happiness have displaced feelings and dreams. Zach Galifianakis stars as a descendent of George Washington who is trying to avoid exploding (literally) like so many of his fellow citizens who succumbed to feeling too much individuality. It is entirely possible that this movie isn’t about any of this, and is instead about a man’s slow descent into madness driven by a combination of impotence and displaced extra-marital lust. The humor is dark, the pace is slow, but with the grim outlook enhanced by a score from the Polyphonic Spree it casts a heavy spell. [josh]
Thursday June 12, 9:30 PM; Saturday June 14, 4:00 PM (Egyptian)

_{photo courtesy of Metroblogging’s own Slightlynorth / Shawn [flickr]}

The New York Times published a short travel essay on Georgetown a couple days ago [nyt]. In it they describe the appeal of a neighborhood Fantagraphics curator Larry Reid calls the “last outpost of any blue-collar, bohemian arts culture in Seattle.” When put that way, the appeal is self-explanatory. For those reasons and more, I really enjoy Georgetown. There’s an authenticity (grittiness?) to it that is missing from many other Seattle neighborhoods. Lunch at Jules Mae’s Saloon is easily turned into a Seattle history lesson and a short walk along Airport Way always leaves me feeling fortunate that Georgetown exists (however precariously) and sentimental for a different Seattle.

And so, thanks to the TNT’s Grit City, the Tacoma comparison begins. Noting that among other things Tacoma (like Georgetown) has its own glass blowers, artists on scooters, and cheap rent, Grit City proudly declares that Tacoma is the new Seattle. Here I thought Portland was the new Seattle. Or Omaha. And if those cities are the new Seattle, what’s Seattle? Once again, an Internet poll comes to our rescue.

 Loading …

Update: I just noticed that Grit City is not claiming Tacoma is the new Seattle. They’re claiming Seattle is the new Tacoma. All the sudden this meme became a lot more more sinister.

The article in today’s PI about urban gardening [PI] talks about something I’ve been thinking about a lot myself, recently. (The PI is reading my mind.) I live in an apartment with a fairly large balcony that gets afternoon sunlight, so I’ve been experimenting with a balcony container garden because I got tired of waiting for a P-Patch. Right now I’ve got a bunch of flowers, edible and not so edible, tomatoes, herbs, and an adorable columnar apple tree. It’s all fertilized by the leavings of the worms that survived the winter in the worm box I built in November [mb]. We’ll see how it goes, of course, but all of the new things–I’ve had the herbs and apple tree since last year–have been planted for about a month and are growing and flowering like gangbusters. Because it’s all in containers there’s little danger of weeds, so the time investment is small, and I’m learning a lot. I went to the University District farmer’s market to buy the plants, and the vendors were enthusiastic and helpful and incredibly knowledgeable.

The success is starting to go to my head, and I’ve been eying the large shaded dirt patch in front of my apartment building a lot recently. But it looks like I’m not the only one–people all over town are trying to reclaim nooks and crannies of dirt to grow food. People with backyards and no time to mow are handing the space off to neighbors who want to grow produce. It all seems like a good way to foster community relations, and relieve a tiny bit of anxiety about food shortages. Maybe we should all start farming in the city while it’s still fun, not a necessity.

A few city officials are looking to inventory public land to find spots in parks and other places that could be taken over to grow food. Some architects are looking at planning buildings with gardens on top, buildings that collect and recycle rainwater, and possible all of the above for buildings made of recycled shipping containers. The City Council passed a local-food resolution, to research incentives for developers that include space for food gardens. It all seems like the right direction, at any rate, although the housing situation in this town still gives me the vapors.

Would you do it, Metroblogging readers? Is farming with your neighbors a worthwhile proposition? What would you grow?

Making its world premiere at SIFF on Thursday, May 29, Butterfly Dreaming is a shot in Seattle thriller that ponders the nature of reality. Writer/director Rufus Williams was inspired to create his debut film after being inspired by his own curiousity about the subject.

“I had a dream that I’d killed someone,” says Williams. “Not a fantasy, just a dream.”

Upon waking from the dream he found himself wondering just what reality really is. “How do we know if we’re dreaming? How do we know if we’re not?”

Weaving elements from his own life into the tale, former mathematician Williams concocted the story of a mathematician named Rob who is grieving from the loss of his wife who finds himself trapped in a state of madness where he must continually straddle the line between paranoid reality and anxious dreams. As the line between the two states becomes more and more blurred, Rob struggles to sort out the difference between what he thinks is real and what is “really” real.

“How do you know?” Williams wonders. We define reality in part by how it progresses in time, but “what if our dreams had continuity?”

And what really happened to his wife?

Williams promises to answer that question in Butterfly Dreaming, but the answer, he hopes, will lead to more questions. “I would like the audience to have the ongoing experience,” he says, “Someoen stops a couple days later and says, ‘That was weird’.”

“I hope the audience comes out debating theories,” Williams says. “If that happened, I’d be absolutely delighted,” adding that his own friends and family for whom he has screened the film have ended up arguing their theories as to what “really” happens in the film.

As a first-time filmmaker, Williams was enraptured by every part of the process from the thrill of putting the script together to the “intense” experience of filming, to the pleasure of bringing all of the elements together in post-production.

“I really enjoy films that make me think about something,” he says. If he’s gotten it right, Butterfly Dreaming offers plenty to think about. Check it out for yourself Thursday, May 29, at 9:15 at Harvard Exit and again at Harvard Exit on Saturday, May 31 at 11:00 am.