Word on the street is that the Denny’s in Ballard was demolished this morning. (#, #)

On summer evenings, Ballard seems to come alive with music drifting out of every doorway and open window. It doesn’t wind up being a cacophony of different musical styles, though- the music in that neighborhood tends to drift towards alt-country and bluegrass, with a little blues thrown in for good measure.

Tucked away beyond the Tractor Tavern throngs is the smaller, sweeter Conor Byrne Pub. Tonight, it swelled with soulful blues as Colin Lake took the small stage. Colin is the winner of the 2007 Telluride Blues Competition and a Northwest native (Portland to be precise) who developed his unusual style of playing lap-slide guitar over the last several years. His throaty vocals are a good match for the tone of his instrument- at times they seem to harmonize perfectly. And Lake has also developed a percussion style that I’d never seen done before- tapping out a rhythm on his guitar while playing.

His opening act, Alex Weed of Anchorage, Alaska, also has a good blues sound. My table disagreed as to whether he sounded more like Ray LaMontagne or John Mayer, so I guess you’ll just have to imagine what a cross between the two might sound like. Weed’s stage presence seemed a little off tonight, but that likely had to do with a series of technical issues that would have thrown even the most seasoned performer off his game. Once all the mikes were up to speed, he cut into his guitar with some excellent riffs, and even managed to get a bit of audience participation out of a pretty tough crowd.

_{Alex Weed opening for Colin Lake at Conor Byrne Pub}

Feel free to discuss theories in the comments… or question why people have jobs that deal with tracking what kind of currents attract what kind of severed feet… (#)…

On the second-to-last day of school in Seattle, the fifth-grade class at B.F. Day Elementary School is bustling around the art room, cutting streamers, trying on hats and testing out their twirls. Volunteers from the Fremont Arts Council are also busy, helping students scissor through fabric, glue on streamers and parade their wares around the school.

Like many Fremonsters, the kids who attend B.F. Day are excited about next Saturday’s parade. They dash from one end of the room to the other, looking for the glue gun, while art teacher Robin Kinney Robbins looks on.

“For the second-to-last day of school, they’re pretty calm,” Robbins says.

While this year’s graduates-to-be are busy making streamered hats, many of the other classes are celebrating the end of the school year at Golden Gardens. You would think the kids would be jealous, but they’re too busy creating streamered hats of all shapes and sizes. The girls are holding yards of fabric across the room as one of them shears through it, while the boys stand at a counter gluing fabric strips to cardboard cutouts, before a little mini-parade ensues, down the stairs, out to the playground, then back in to the office to show off.

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A few months ago, after walking the two miles to my workplace a few times, I started enviously staring at the bike commuters who whizzed by me as I trudged home. After about a week of enduring this, I vowed to get myself a bicycle and join the masses of Seattle cyclists.

I first went to Recycled Cycles to see if it might be possible to be fitted for a bike (centimeters, frame heights- I was at a loss), and to see about possibly purchasing a used one from their shop. I’d heard some friends who were doing the Seattle-to-Portland ride speak very highly of Recycled Cycles. That initial visit didn’t go as well as I’d hoped- the bicycles were more expensive than I’d expected, and the sales clerk seemed rather uninspired. He did tell me what size frame to look for, but that was about as far as he got. I was rather disappointed, after hearing all the hype.

Shortly afterwards, I acquired a used bicycle from Craigslist with every feature I wanted to have from a friendly girl who was trading it in for an upgraded version. She let us know that a couple of small repairs needed to be made, and again recommended Recycled Cycles. I figured I’d give it another try, but wasn’t expecting much on my return visit. After a few quick phone calls, it turned out that Recycled Cycles would be able to get me in quicker than any other store, and their price quotes were less expensive than most of the other shops.

I walked in expecting to have to fight to get some attention, given that I’d wandered around for quite a while the previous visit before an inquiry. This time, despite it being a busy and warm weekend, I was greeted by someone from the repair shop as I stood in line, who quickly and easily answered all my questions, and even helped me haul all my gear into the shop. After explaining the repairs to a second employee, I was told that my bike could be fixed up while I waited, and the employees let me know exactly what they would do and how much it would cost. The repairs took a grand total of about 15 minutes, while I strolled around the store, and watched the bike shop repair staff spin wheels and prod spokes in their jaunty caps.

Needless to say, I was a much happier customer on the second visit, and will certainly be returning. I really appreciated the lack of snobbery about my Craigslist-bought bike- I’ve certainly had plenty of patronizing explanations and snotty looks from cycle store employees in the past, and was dreading a repeat experience. I also was very impressed with the speed and efficiency of their service shop, and most of all with the staff, who took the time to explain to me what they were doing even on a busy Saturday afternoon. There are probably a ton of other things to appreciate about Recycled Cycles that a more informed cyclist would wax poetic about, but for me, it was nice to just have a tune-up that was courteous, prompt and informative.

Preparations for the 20th Annual Fremont Summer Solstice Parade are underway, despite the gray skies and unseasonably chilly temperatures. Dedicated Fremonsters and members of the Fremont Arts Council (FAC) are in crunch season for the parade, which starts at noon on June 21st in the middle of the “center of the universe.”

Outside the FAC’s Powerhouse on Fremont Ave., batiked banners flutter in the breeze behind a line of float skeletons fenced off from the traffic that whizzes by. On Saturday morning, FAC president Jessica Randall was sawing through the 2×4s on top of a parade trailer as she explained one of the float ideas for this year’s parade- a retrospective of parade artwork from the last 20 years.

“We’re working on a float that will show the evolution of the Arts Council, in a way,” Randall explained. “We’ve had so many different creative individuals who have come and gone over the years- it’s a fun way to honor them.”

Inside the Powerhouse, which was once the steam plant to BF Day elementary school, the walls are lined with papier mache puppet heads, banners, paintings, streamers, and enough art supplies to transform all of Fremont (at least for a day).

_{Interior of Fremont Arts Council’s Powerhouse}

Local artist Carl Smool is giving a few different workshops this year to help create The Gateway, an interactive exhibit that will grace Gas Works Park for the second half of the celebration. After the parade marches through Fremont, the celebration continues at the park around noon with live music, a beer garden, food, and a twilight performance honoring the last 20 years of the Summer Solstice Parade.

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The first is the Tree Fund, which provides anywhere from 10-40 trees to neighborhood groups to improve residential streets and build community. It’s part of Seattle’s Neighborhood Matching Funds program, which is worth checking out if you have a large or small neighborhood improvement project that’s been sitting on the back burner.

As a foot-commuter, I’m also interested in Seattle’s Pedestrian Master Plan, which aims to make Seattle the most walkable city in the country. Until September 15th, they’re collecting surveys on the walkability of various Seattle neighborhoods, including questions about what areas you don’t walk in, and why. It’s a pretty short survey, and hopefully will result in something getting done (personally, I’d like to have a couple sidewalks repaired post-tree-root-cracking). I don’t know if it’ll make Seattle the most walkable city in the country… but it’s certainly more walkable than most major metros I’ve been to.

Here’s a quick pictorial:

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So, what do you guys think- what message does Seattle send to its inhabitants and the rest of the world?

^{(Hat tip: Seattle’s own SEOmoz)}

I brought this up at a dinner party several months ago, when I saw the first article, noting that it sounded like some awful horror movie screenplay. One of the other folks thought it seemed more like gang activity. What do you guys think? Gangs? Serial foot-chopper? Jaws, come to life? Have fun this Memorial Day, but whatever you do, keep your right foot out of the water!