Even though it’s 85 degrees and sunny outside, you can still go skiing this weekend at Alpental!

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going surfing tomorrow, and toying with the idea of skiing on Sunday just because I can.

Sincerely,
One happy Midwestern transplant

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photo Karcher GmbH & Co, via KOMO

Via Kottke.org, some astounding photos of the Space Needle getting it’s first bath in decades. Further perpetuating local stereotypes, the wash is even chemical-free; so don’t worry about getting soap in your eyes if you’re strolling under the Needle during the clean-up:

… the crews aren’t using any soap. That’s because what they spray up ends up going down to the Seattle Center and the EMP. Splotches of grime run from the beams under the restaurant all the way down to the base.

“We don’t intend to spray waste water with detergent on them. So we just use pure water. And this is quite challenging because the dirt on the surface is really stubborn,” said Frank Schad with Karcher. [komo]

Cleaning an icon is a high-profile enough that the company, Karcher GmbH & Co.) is doing the work for free. According to KOMO, the Space Needle is only paying for rope technicians through a subcontract.

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We know you’re just as excited about SIFF as we are, but you don’t have to wait to see a good film.

• Central Cinema is showing the heartwarming Akeela and the Bee.  Take a bunch of friends, enjoy the movie and then see if you can resist the urge to challenge each other to an impromptu spelling bee afterwards.  Also at Central Cinema on Sunday, May 18, at 2:00 pm is a special screening of Trial by Fire, a film about the struggle for freedom in East Timor presented by the Seattle-East Timor Relief Association
• The Grand Illusion presents Daughters of Wisdom, a rare look at a world few Westerners even know exists, let alone ever see that examines the lives and work of the nearly 300 nuns living in the hand-built Kala Rongo Monastery high up in the Himalayas.  Director Bari Pearlman will be in attendance Friday and Saturday. 
• Also at the Grand Illusion:  The Savage Streets, a locally made comedy about a couple of defective detectives. 
• Modern audiences might be surprised that Midnight Cowboy, the only X-rated film to win an Oscar, even earned an X-rating in the first place; its frank portrayal of a troubled street hustler and the ill and impoverished man who befriends him is hardly explicit at all by today’s ratings standards.  The emotional impact of this bittersweet tale of two losers finding strength and love in their daily struggles and their growing friendship remains just as moving today as it was in its initial release.  At SIFF Cinema Friday, May 16.
• Also at SIFF Cinema:  Robert DeNiro’s legendary portrayal of boxer Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese’s powerful film Raging Bull, Saturday, May 17, and the first James Bond film, Dr. No on Sunday, May 18.
• “He who controls the spice controls the universe!”  Dune, the film version of the Frank Herbert novel, directed by David Lynch and released to international disdain in 1984 is this weekend’s Midnight at the Egyptian movie.   Lynch himself has spent the intervening years staying as far away from the film as possible but its managed to develop a cult following and reviews far more positive than the nearly universal drubbing it got on its first run.  Mess or masterpiece, you decide.
• NWFF screens Mister Lonely, the story of a Michael Jackson impersonator who is led by a Marilyn Monroe impersonator to a castle that plays host to an impersonator community. 
• Also at NWFF:  Alice Neel, a portait of the painter whose exquisite portraiture work brought her acclaim after years of living a marginalized existence and whose difficult choices resonate through her family lines even now; and, for one afternoon show only on May 17, Le Grand Voyage, the story of a young French man who drives his aging father, with whom he has nothing in common, to Mecca, only to lose him in the crowd just as they are starting to come together at last. 

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A lot of people in this town love J.P. Patches and rightfully so–the beloved local TV clown whose popular show for kids aired in Seattle  from 1958 to 1981, its 23 year run making it the longest running locally produced children’s program in the US.    Kids loved J.P. Patches for his silly antics and parents loved J.P. for his sly wit.  (My grandmother loved J.P. when she babysat my oldest brother when he was a kid because he could always be relied upon to behave when J.P. was on air.)  This summer will mark the 50th anniversary of his show’s debut.

Even though it’s been a while since his show was on TV, there are still many “Patches Pals” out there.  J.P. has long been a fixture at Children’s Hospital and charitable events all around the Sound, using his charm to help fundraise for local charities. 

J.P. will live on forever in the hearts of many people; now Patches and his girlfriend, Gertrude, will live on forever in the form of a statue at the corner of Fremont Ave N and N 34th St, about 50 feet west of the famous “Waiting for the Interurban”.  Many a Patches Pal helped get it built and now everyone will get a chance to see “Late for the Interurban” when the statue is unveiled on August 17th. 

I think the statue will be a great addition.  It’s wonderful that Patches is being honored this way and I expect that this will be one seriously entertaining unveiling.

(thanks to Josh and to Citizen Rain for the tip.)

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this photo by sea kay [flickr] from our group pool [#] is what I imagine Friday will be like once that hot pocket of air that the local newscasters were predicting while I was still catching my breath after LOST tonight.

• ’tis the season for campus quidditch. [citizenrain]
• depending on your hopes and dreams, some places are better than others for warm nights on capitol hill. [chs]
• unfortunately none of those places are what would most-certainly be a magickal and well-attended beer garden in Cal Anderson park. someone, make this happen. whatever it takes. [captothehill]
• for those who need encouragement to have a beer or five, there is much cause for drinking. [seattlest]
• flip-flops, however, are not encouraged. agreed. [slog]

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Via the Seattle PI

Looking to bring more fresh, local, seasonally grown foods into your family? We have a challenge for you.

It’s the second annual Farm Fresh Family Challenge, sponsored by the Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance. The alliance is looking for a Seattle-area family willing to buy most of its fresh food from farmers markets between June and November this year, and to write a weekly P-I-sponsored blog during that time.

The first Farm Fresh blogger, Kathleen Whitson of West Seattle, found inspiration experimenting with farmstand eggs, debating when she would choose organic over conventionally grown produce, discovering the different body and taste of a pasture-raised Thanksgiving turkey, and figuring out how to tell her husband why it no longer felt right to make an apple pie in July.

If that’s your sort of food for thought — or if you have your own take on what a Farm Fresh Family should be — here are the details:

# Candidates must be willing to buy most fresh foods (vegetables, fruits, meats, shellfish, fish eggs, cheese, etc.) from one of the seven Neighborhood Farmers Market Alliance markets (Broadway, University District, West Seattle, Phinney, Magnolia, Columbia City or Lake City).

# They must write a weekly P-I-sponsored blog, track the prices of the products they buy each week, and be willing to occasionally host a local chef in their home kitchen to share shopping and cooking tips.

To apply, send an e-mail to nfma@seattlefarmersmarkets.org with a description of your family (how many members, ages, etc.), where you normally shop for food, how much you spend on groceries in an average week, how often you cook at home, and what prompted your interest in buying local, sustainably grown foods. Deadline to apply is May 30.

The Alliance will provide the family with assistance, including personal market tours, introductions to farmers, canvas shopping bags, shopping tokens to get started, recipe ideas and more. Photos of the family will be featured in the alliance’s quarterly newsletter and will be posted at all market information booths.

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Might as well say “no breathing”.

Where am I supposed to walk? What if I were still using my crutches? What do people in wheelchairs do?

I hate how it takes 15 minutes to walk one block. Bellevue is the worst place for pedestrians.

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I told you the other day that Molly Moon’s Ice Cream was opening in Wallingford. Well, several Seattle MetBloggers visited during their opening and we had a rather lively discussion about ice cream afterward. Now, for your reading pleasure, I present parts of our discussion. Note: Dramatic license has been taken with some of the comments and names have been changed.

Sylvie: I wasn’t impressed.
Theresa: Really? I thought the Balsamic Strawberry was great and the Vivace Coffee ice cream was out of this world. I did think the scoops were a bit small though.
Sylvie: I tried a number of flavors and none of them really screamed out wow, yummy ice cream. Plus, they were ridiculously small. So small that I thought I mistakenly got a child sized scoop.
Theresa: Well, I do agree the scoops were small. The pints were well priced though at $5.00. The Thai Iced Tea flavor tasted exactly like Thai Iced Tea - weird but cool.
Emily: Ooooh, I missed this place. Where is it? I found a great ice cream shop during the artwalk in Greenwood/Fremont.
Theresa: It’s in Wallingford. My favorite ice cream shop, by far, is The Scoop at Walt’s in Sunset Hill. Amazingly large scoops of Snoqualmie Ice cream and great waffle cones. I’ll definitely go back to Molly Moon’s in a few weeks and hope that they were just giving small scoops because it was opening weekend.

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thanks to [BrittneyBush] for the above photo of the 2007 cheese festival plucked from our [flickr pool].

If you missed the glorious news replete with cheesy puns in our local newspapers, the Seattle Cheese Festival is this weekend (May 16-18). In its fourth year, the festival seems to be trucking on with all the great highlights I’ve come to expect:

• Completely free, but very crowded cheese concourse? Check.
• Wine Garden? Check.
• Truckle roll? Check.
• Cute kids’ events that I’m going to completely avoid? Check.
• Chef demos? Check.
• Cooking Classes and Educational Seminars? Check.

Let’s talk about these seminars for a minute. If you are like me and crowd averse, but still want to participate in the festival, these are the events for you. The cooking classes are held at the particular chef’s restaurant and are a mere $50 per person which, of course, includes your food and wine. Currently only Chef Tinsley’s (Osteria La Spiga) and Chef Hetherington’s (TASTE) classes have availability left. The seminars on the other hand are held at the Top of the Market and include cheese and wine pairings along with the talk. I consider the seminar I attended last year the deal of the festival century. This year’s cost is up to $40, but I still think it’s highly worth it. Pre-registration is required, seating is limited, so do so early.

The changes they’ve made this year are notable as well. They’ve made some arrangements to spread events out to alleviate the clustering and crowding. New additions include the results of their grilled cheese contest, children’s costume parades, and a fresh mozzarella making demo (you’ll be astounded how easy it is).

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I love farmers market season! Finally, there’s a weekday farmers market open! The Wallingford Farmers Market opens today!

From their website, it appears that they are really planning to expand the market this year. I always found it a very pleasant market, a little more laid back than the busy weekend markets like Ballard and the University District. Though the vendor list was definitely shorter last year. From cooking demonstrations to honey, meat, fish, and even garden art, the market appears to be going strong and growing steadily. I’ll be there today grabbing some fresh veggies for dinner. See you there!

Wallingford Farmers Market
Wallingford Center Parking Lot
3-7pm

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(Illustrated Traffic Violations from Seattle Municipal Archives. Everyone in the Seattle MB Flickrpool!)

When I was walking from the parking deck to my office the other day, I ran into a co-worker who had also just commuted in. He noted that it only took him 10 minutes to come down I-5 from north Seattle. In a normal morning rush hour, it’s usually 20-40 minutes, maybe more. I noted the same thing too — the traffic on I-5 has been a lot lighter the last few months, almost like it’s the vacation season in August, not the middle of a cold, rainy spring.

Meanwhile, the long-route buses are overcrowded.

Are we finally seeing the seeing the effects of gas approaching $4/gallon here? Are people changing their habits? Or am I imagining it?

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Over the next 3 years, Metro will replace aging signs with new ones that include larger lettering, more route information including how to get to SeaTac, and possibly color coding. Also included in the upcoming changes:

• As each bus stop gets its new route signs, it also will get and display an identifying number. Stops already are numbered by Metro, but the numbers aren’t publicly displayed. Once they are, riders will be able to call Metro, give the number of the stop they’re at and get schedule information.

• There will be “enunciators” on the buses by 2010. A recorded voice will tell riders what the next stop is, which Larson said will be a huge boon to the visually impaired.

• Also by 2010, a sign inside each bus will scroll through the stops as the bus travels its route so riders will know what the next stop is.

Source article.

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This stunning photo was dropped into our Flickr pool by bonacheladas.

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Erin is right- the U-District Haagen-Dazs is serving up some tasty scoops from now until 8 p.m. There wasn’t even a line when I scurried down at 4 p.m., but I suspect that may have something to do with the weather.

Still, they’re giving away free ice cream, bee-friendly flower seed packets, there’s a local beekeeper on hand with a tiny apiary, and the whole staff is dressed up like extras from a Blind Melon video. Go get some- it’s pretty tasty!

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