for Wednesday, October 29, 2008

* Seattle Public Library has announced that My Jim by Seattle author Nancy Rawles is the 2009 Seattle Reads selection. My Jim is based on the character of Jim in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Told from the perspective of Jim’s wife, Sadie, My Jim offers a different perspective on the familiar novel. SPL has ordered 38 new trade paperbacks in anticipation of demand, to supplement the six hardcovers currently in stock. [LINK]

The past few years have seen a number of authors retelling classic novels: Ahab’s Wife by Sena J. Naslund, (Moby Dick); March by Geraldine Brooks (Little Women); Wicked by Gregory Maguire (The Wizard of Oz). I’ll be interested in how Rawles’s contribution to the genre compares. Has anyone out there already read it? What did you think?

* 12:15 – 1:45 PM: SPL’s Wallingford Branch hosts Book-It Repertory Theatre for another presentation of their “Danger: Books!” program. Professional actors will read from banned or challenged books. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is way up there on the list of frequently banned or challenged books, which ties in nicely with Seattle Reads 2009. [LINK]

* 6:30 PM: YA Fantasy author Patrick Carman visits SPL Ballard Branch to read from Stargazer, the fourth novel in his “Land of Elyon” series. [LINK]

* 7:00 PM: Laura Anne Gilman will be at the U-District UW Bookstore to read and sign book number five in her “Retrievers” series, Free Fall. A little different from the current wave of paranormal romance novels dominating genre fiction sales, Gilman’s “Retrievers” books tend more towards the Science Fiction end of the spectrum than Fantasy/Horror. They aren’t bad. [LINK]

* 7:30 PM: Town Hall Seattle presents Mike Chinoy, former Senior Asia Correspondent for CNN and author of Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis. Chinoy will talk about North Korea policy in the Bush Administration, as well as what challenges the country may present to our next president. $5 at the door, or via www.brownpapertickets.com, 800/838-3006. [LINK]

H A P P Y  ~ D I W A L I photo via J I G I S H A on Flickr

The Seattle Asian Art Museum is celebrating Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, with a Diwali Ball next Saturday night. Festivities include live music, dance performances, and “bollygrooves” music by DJ Aanshul. Tickets are $50 a head, but that includes Indian tapas, wine, beer and “signature cocktails.”

This sounds like fun, but it got me wondering what other Diwali celebrations are going on in Seattle. Perhaps something a little more low key.  I searched around, but couldn’t find a thing. Anyone know of any?

If you’d like to go to the ball at SAAM, tickets are available here for $50 a person. Or $150 gets you a Rajah ticket which includes an invitation to the VIP opening of Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodphur. All proceeds from the ball go to support the exhibit.

• If you missed the free screening of The Corporal’s Diary, a locally-produced film with an intimate focus on the life and death of a young serviceman from Bellinghman, earlier this week, never fear: you can catch it at the Grand Illusion starting Friday, September 26. Combining film shot by Corporal Jonathan Santos during his tragically brief tour of Iraq with footage of his mother’s visits to families who have also lost loved ones in the war, The Corporal’s Diary is a moving meditation.
• Late night at the Grand Illusion this weekend: the delightlfully bizarre Repo Man in which Emilio Estevez’s portrayal of the title character presents a snarky view of youthful alienation in the Reagan-era, all played out to the tune of what might be the greatest punk rock movie soundtrack ever.
• Late night at the Egyptian this weekend is a darkly-satiric thriller of a different sort. The Host is a thoughtful horror story about a mysterious and terrifying creature in which a father takes desperate action to save his captive daughter.
• Decibel celebrates their fifth year of exploring the tight relationship between visual art and electronic music this weekend at Northwest Film Forum with two multimedia showcases featuring artists like William Basinski, Library Tapes, Carole Kim and Son of Rose.
• If you liked Up the Yangtze at SIFF this festival past, you’ll probably like Still Life which opens at SIFF Cinema on Friday as they share a similar view of the same subject. Having seen the former isn’t a presquisite for seeing the latter; indeed, anyone might want to take in a showing of Still Life, a considerate and aware look at life for those trailing in the dust of modernization in the shadow of China’s Three Gorges hydro project.
• If the idea of a so-bad-it’s-good movie with a schlocky plot and trite, mediocre plot enlivened by a catcy soundtrack and some cool choreography accompanied by pizze and beer sounds good to you, get yourself down to Central Cinema for Dirty Dancing.

photo by Forrest Pangborn [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• the DECIBEL Festival starts tonight. Three Imagninary Girls explain it to you in terms that even non-electro warriors can understand. [tig]
• Greg Kucera & Regina Hackett tell you how to get your art represented. [arttogo]
• Boeing to challenge US News & World Report in the collegiate rankings game. [ideas.nyt]
• WaMu found a suitor in JP Morgan Chase. [slog]
• Everything you loved about 1621 12th Avenue is gone or soon to be that way. Latest casualty = Lower Level. [seattlest]

Seattle Metblogs visits with Gary Zinter, owner of the Bus Stop.

Bus Stop on Closing Night Before the Wrecking Ball

Bus Stop was one of the few real bars left on Capitol Hill. It wasn’t trying to be a club or a restaurant. It was just a bar: a dark, simple, small space where you could have a conversation with a total stranger and not get the heeb vibe from typical scene anxiety or desperation. The joyful combination of the uber-smart, friendly clientele comprised of an unpredictable variety of misfits and a ridiculously strong pour made the Bus Stop a home away from home for a host of regulars.

Gary Zinter was forced to close his bar at the Pine Street location in November 2007 after a hostile takeover by the Empiric Overlords of Seattle real estate.

Bus Stop is back. This fall you’ll find the bar 3 blocks north of its original location at the intersection of East Olive and East Denny Way.

___________________________________________________________________________________
What became of you and your staff after shutting down the original location of Bus Stop?

I went back to work in tech so I could afford to reopen the bar. Most of the staff went to work elsewhere but will be back! My boyfriend, Rodney Shrader, the manager of the bar, has been out of work and is now managing the build-in. Needless to say, he was a little bored till we got the go-ahead to start building in.

So when can we expect to cozy up to your bar again?

We are starting the build-in this week, actually! It should be about two months. Cross your fingers! We’ll probably do an official opening but not with a lot of hoopla. Gratefully, people are always asking when we’re re-opening, so we’ll be excited to see everyone in the place again.

Tell us about the new space? Is it near a bus stop?

We’re at 1552 E. Olive Way at Denny next door to where the Coffee Messiah used to be. Olive is turning into this new neighboorhood-y strip. Lots going on over there and not a lot of new building. The space is a great old store front, which I love. The actual bus stop is around the corner. I wanted to call it “Parking Lot” in honor of the situation with the old space. Hahaha. It was a nail salon. Some people want us to call it “Nails”.

Why was Bus Stop so successful so quickly?

We got folks coming in who weren’t part of the scenes in the other bars in the neighborhood. I think people were comfortable there!

What’s gonna be different with the new location?

Not a lot. Space is almost the same. A few design changes, but we weren’t too heavily designed last time. I hope it feels very much like the old place.

Gary Zinter, Owner

How long have you been in Seattle?

9 and a half years. Jeez!

What have you been doing all these years? Who IS Gary Zinter?

I keep reinventing myself. Like Madonna. Except with better taste later in my career. I do theater. Was an actor, then a producer, and now I’m directing more than anything else. Wish I had more time and money so I could spend more time doing it. The Bus Stop is sort of my retirement plan. Go to work at the bar and get out of the regular 9 to 5, you know?

What’s the best thing about making this bar your own business?

It really turned into a community for the regulars and the folks who helped build it. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to reopen, but the closing was heartwarming, actually, and I really missed it when it was gone. I want it to be there for many, many years.
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Photos by: Doug McLaughlin

Today, the Department of the Interior granted the Hanford Reactor B, which produced plutonium for the “Fat Man” nuclear bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki and currently sits on the site of the largest nuclear waste storage area in the country [wiki], National Historic Landmark status. This, from an administration that threatened earlier this year to cut cleanup funding by $600 million. [p-i]

But hey, locals are happy about this development, but I admit that I barely understand most of the words in this sentence: “Local officials have been seeking the landmark designation for years, hoping to save the reactor from being permanently cocooned as part of the cleanup of the highly contaminated site.” [times]

_{Seattle Space Needle Restaurant, courtesy of Bonacheladas}

I know, I know. No Seattleite worth their salt ever goes to the Space Needle. It’s $16 for an adult one-way ticket on the elevators to the observation deck. And it’s crowded. With tourists. Tons of tourists. I was warned about it almost as soon as I arrived in Seattle- “too expensive,” “the food is terrible,” “only for tourists,” “don’t waste your money.”

But this week, my parents were visiting, and they wanted to go to the top of the Space Needle. Of course, at $16 a pop just to ride the elevator, I thought it might be a better deal to check out Sky City Restaurant, which rotates 360 degrees every 47 minutes.

In reality, despite the minimum $35 charge per person for dinner (meaning that you can’t get away with ordering a $10 salad), it was probably the highlight of their visit. The food was really good- it wasn’t amazing, but it was well prepared, artfully arranged, and tasty. Many of the meat dishes are local to Washington, and a good deal of the rest of the food is from the Pacific Northwest, which I certainly wasn’t expecting. And really, if you’re technically paying $16 just for the view anyway, the food is somewhat reasonably priced. It was much higher quality than I’d expected as well.

Towards the end of our meal, the people at the table next to us ordered the Lunar Orbiter dessert, a sundae that sits atop a dish full of dry ice made to smoke when waiters pour a bit of water on it as it’s served. Even though we didn’t get one ourselves (those meals are pretty big, which I don’t expect when it comes with a high price tag), my dad loved the entertainment provided by the dessert. And the views were phenomenal, even though we had been to the viewing deck at the top of the Columbia Tower- the tallest building in Seattle- earlier in the day.

The observation deck, of course, was a totally different story- completely packed, and super touristy. Some of the interactive exhibits on the observation deck were nice, but the sheer amount of people around didn’t make me want to stick around any longer than necessary.

So, I guess my semi-Seattleite take on the Space Needle is this- paying $16 to get to a crowded observation deck is not worth it. But paying $35 a plate for an hour long meal with beautiful views of the city? Definitely worth considering, particularly if you’ve got friends or family in town that you want to show off Seattle to.

I’m not particularly a good hostess. I like my space. I don’t like to be around people all the time. And I like to sleep or go at my own pace without someone saying, “Now what?”. That said, here’s what I did when a friend I’ve had for 15 years came to Seattle for the first time for a visit.

Wednesday:

-Plane Delayed till 2am. The “weather” was to blame.

Thursday:

-Took lots of pictures at Kerry Park and Parson’s Garden.

-Went back to my apartment because my Atlantan guest wasn’t used to our cool mornings.

-Went to Pike Place Market for more picture taking. She had a yummy crumpet with jam and nutella at the Crumpet Shop, while I “ate lunch” at my all-time favortie smoothie place, Shy Giant.

-Took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Walked around. She got fudge. I petted the yarn at Churchmouse Yarns and Teas.

-Then it was time to introduce my guest to some of my friends. So we all went to Rancho Bravo, had some drinks and played Rock Band until the wee hours of the morn.

Friday:

-I slept at Alki Beach, while she took pictures of kids being buried in sand.

-Then it was time to show her my old place and the bums that come along with it. Thus, to Capitol Hill we went. We split a small CrazyCherry concoction, where I now always ask them to put the toppings on the bottom as it is way more eatable this way, and then we threw the frisbee around at Volunteer Park. Actually, I take that back. The boyfriend, a friend and I threw the frisbee around. I guess in Atlanta they don’t play frisbee. Luckily my friend - a boy - was more than happy to teach my guest how to be a true Seattleite. Cue in a romantic comedy montage and suddenly a vacation couple is born.

-She’s never had Ethopian food before, so the boyfriend and I prayed for fast service at Queen Sheba, and miraculously our wishes were granted. I opted not to get too drunk on Tej because I knew I still had the night to entertain.

-With that said, I needed caffeine. Fast! We took her to Vivace so she can see the pretty picture in the cup. She took a picture and I drank it fast. Then said good-bye because they closed their doors on Sunday and will become yet another store that sits under a condo (am I the only one who really fucking hates this new trend). Rumor has it, the new Vivace will reopen near the new Dilletante.

-We went to Hot House. Ahhhhhh, I can sleep. I can read. I can be in a whisper zone. We both needed some relaxing and this was the place. We spent a good 3 hours sweating our tits off in the jacuzzi, in the steam room and in the sauna.

-THEN, we had drinks at Bleu. I used to actually like this place, but the more I come here the more I realize it just sucks. The service that is. The guy was more like friends with everyone than an actual server. He berated the boyfriend for ordering something non-alcoholic (note to all servers, DO NOT DO THIS, you will get a shit tip from me if you do) and when we asked for the bill and saw that he was having a cigarette and then went inside and delivered some food and then went back outside for another cigarette and then bumped into a friend and talked to him for 5 minutes we just left without ever getting the bill. If I was in Spain, this would be considered normal. But we’re no where near Spain, and this douche got what he deserved.

Okay, where was I? Oh right, SATURDAY:

-We started the morning a little late and went directly to the ID for the Chinese Festival (brought to you by the one brand I always think of when I see anything Chinese, McDonalds).

-We meandered toward Occidental Park and bumped the Fire Festival which was actually pretty cool. It was a little kid’s wet dream, what with old fire trucks and police cars and fire drills.

-And off to Ballard we go. We had dinner at Lunchbox Laboratory, where I finally got to try the Dork. I was actually a little underwhelmed, but the chocolate cherry milkshake saved the experience so all is forgotten and I’ll happily go back to eating the meat I’m used to over here.

-It happened to be Art Walk in Ballard so we checked out some “art” and then bought some clothes at Twenty20.

-Then, it was drinks and skeeball at Kings.

Sunday:

-Made blueberry/chocolate/walnut waffles and an egg scramble for 5 to prepare for our day trip to Vancouver!

-Immediately got one speeding ticket. We made the officer laugh so he gave us a little bit of a break. Note to self. Make them laugh.  

-Stopped in Richmond for Dim Sum.

-Walked the shit out of Stanley Park. Learned a little about Totem Poles. Walked around some more.

-Slept in the car on the way back.

Monday:

-Yay! Hiking! We went to Denny Creek Trail and Franklin Falls. What a great short, easy hike. At the Denny Creek Trail, after an hour or so of a steady incline (500 ft?), at the end you are greeted by large flat rocks and kids sliding along them into the river. I passed out on the rocks while the friends and guest played. After I properly drooled everywhere, we did the even shorter hike to Franklin Falls, where once again the treat was at the end. A beautiful fall that splashes in your face and is just so refreshing, we were all happy to have gotten out of the city for the day.

-Then we took the guest to Gas Works so she could take pictures of kites, seaplanes and defunct gas plant site.

-And as a proper goodbye, we tried to go to Paseo but of course they are closed on Mondays. So we did the second best thing and had great beer and eats at Brouwer’s. My seitan BBQ sandwich wasn’t quite as meaty as other seitan I’ve had, but still good nonetheless. And I highly recommend the Apple Wit (I forget the name of the actual beer, but it’s the only Apple Wit on the menu). If you like Hoegardden (which I just learned is pronouced Who Garden and not Hoe garden, like I’ve been saying for years) then you’ll like this citrusy beer with an apple infused twist.

Tuesday:

-She left. And I went to a place I really wanted to take her, but just didn’t have the time: the Arboretum.

Anyone else have guests this summer? Where are you going? How are you coping? Do you feel totally run down when they leave, or am I just getting old at the ripe age of 29?

It’s official. The city of Seattle, having completely blown their legal case, settles up with the Sonics owners for $45M and the SuperSonics name.

I’d love to say that this is horrible, but hasn’t anyone watched the last 11 or so years of Sonics basketball? Shawn Kemp’s kids? The inexplicable signing of Jim McIlvane? Draft picks that were either rough and unready teenagers or European players that barely knew how to play — when they actually signed with the team? Howard Schultz running off Nate McMillan and ultimately handing the team to a bunch of Oklahoma City businessmen and scurrying back to Starbucks where he’s done nothing but continue SBUX’s run into the ground?

It’s sad to say this, but good riddance. I’ll always remember ‘96, but the Sonics have turned into that girlfriend you’ve had that just let herself go, sits on the couch all day, gets stoned, and ultimately tells you she’ll dump you for that guy down the street unless you start giving her more and more expensive toys. Ultimately, the only thing you can do is point at the door and maybe call and tell the guy to swing by Tiffany on the way back.

And about this guy, er, city. Oklahoma City.

Truck stop to the world,
Call center, Flamer of Lips,
Player with Freeways and the Nation’s Cherry Limeade maker;
Sucky, soulless, boring,
City of the Big Slouchers:

Having grown up in Tulsa, well, of course I hate Oklahoma City. It’s a suburb in search of a city, a vast array of strip malls, tract housing, and interstates that were being continually rebuilt my entire childhood. Urban renewal usually meant a tornado plowing through town. Home to the Oklahoman, or Jokelahoman as we used to call it, which the Columbia Journalism Review once dubbed the Worst Newspaper In America. OKC was always the city in search of a soul and a purpose. Tulsa had the ballet, the opera, the art museums. Oklahoma City had the Cowboy Hall of Fame.

In some ways OKC is the mirrorverse Seattle. Republican, sprawling, flatter than flat, a bus system that doesn’t really go anywhere. And yet… you see one similarity with Seattle — they want to be something else. Seattle was founded on the idea of “New York by and by,” but that has in the end meant striving so hard to be big that it never really figured out how to do it sanely. Oklahoma City was founded in a day during the Land Rush, and since then it’s been trying to be a big city, but never has quite figured out what it meant. Both Seattle and Oklahoma City have done their best to knock down anything pretty in the name of progress. Both live in the shadow of larger, more global cities (Vancouver/Dallas) and smaller, artsier, happier with their lot towns (Portland/Tulsa).

So, yeah. The Sonics are gone. Off to the giant truck stop in the middle of the plains, where they will be begging Tulsans and Lawtonites and McAlesterans and Woodwardians to make the drive into the City, pay $150 a seat, buy a $10 small popcorn, and watch the NBA paste their asses 41 games a year. And us? Well, if we want to, I guess we can rebuild the Key, steal ourselves another NBA team, and make some other town unhappy.

In the end, though, we’re keeping Seattle, our ugly, lovely town amid the hills and lakes and trees. The Sonics, meanwhile, get Oklahoma City, out of which only four good things have come: The Flaming Lips, I-35, I-40, and I-44.

I think that’s a pretty fair trade.

PS to Mr. Tramel: Sorry, the guilt goes with the team. And also, all the crappiness we’ve seen the last 11 years. Enjoy.

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

• Like the Mariners, the singles scene at Safeco is living in the basement and rarely scoring. [p-i]
• the owner of www.thecrocodile.com is trying to teach us a vocabulary lesson. [t.i.g.]
• This is actually kind of cool. Weezer threw at secret Hootenanny at Vera last weekend. [lineout]
• Bostonian visits Seattle, finds “hippies and grunge-era survivors” in Capitol Hill. [boston via chtriangle]
• Feed the Animals fails to rescue Sand Point party. I’m going out on a limb and guessing that maybe Girl Talk isn’t to blame. [lineout]
• The University District used to be Crazytown, at least according to the map. Let’s all start calling the streets by their old names, just to be super retro. [seattle.lj]