Some say it takes a special kind of person to truly appreciate “the water of life,” while others might claim it takes little more than a problem begging to be drowned.  I’d have to admit to falling somewhere in the middle of the two; perhaps we should just refer to it as a healthy appreciation for this whisky born of barley and love, destined to get me into trouble.

On October 22nd, Barking Frog’s twist on Oktoberfest, “Scotch-tober,” will offer attendees the ultimate spirit experience with 1 of only 15 Master of Whisky experts residing in the United States, Ari Shapiro. The evening will feature a four-course menu developed by Executive Chef Bobby Moore and five whisky pairings.  As in real Scottish whisky, like Oban and Dalwhinnie; whiskys old enough to be in high school if they were people.  Throughout the dinner, guests will learn about whisky production and its history through interactive table-talk with Shapiro. Following dinner, guests will to the Fireside Cellar’s firepit on the patio for whisky and cigars. Cost is $95 per person; further details can be found via the Willows Lodge event calendar.

Kind of a cool thing, support our local environmental groups!

Patagonia Seattle to Award $5,000 to Local Environmental Groups in 2nd Annual Community-Selected ‘Voice Your Choice’ Campaign Vote September 24-October 24 at Patagonia Store

SEATTLE, WA — Put Patagonia’s money where your mouth is! Cast your ballot in the outdoor clothing manufacturer’s second annual “Voice Your Choice” campaign to help Patagonia’s Seattle store decide how it should distribute $5,000 in grant money to three local environmental organizations. The top vote-getter will be awarded $2,500, with the second- and third-place organizations receiving $1,500 and $1,000 respectively.

Local groups nominated for the award are Sightline Institute, Woodland Park Zoo, and 21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainable Living. Votes will be accepted at the store at 2100 First Avenue from September 24 through October 24. Participants can cast one vote per store per visit. No purchase is necessary.

The candidates were selected by Patagonia store members based on their local focus and range of environmental concerns. Consumers can learn more about the groups by visiting their websites as well as attending “Table Day” presentations by each organization that will be hosted by the store over the next few weeks. Winners will be announced in early November.

Patagonia retail stores in 25 communities throughout the country will be participating in the Voice Your Choice campaign as part of the company’s well-known support for environmental causes, including a separate Environmental Grants Program that has generated more than $34 million in grants since 1985 by donating 1% of annual sales to environmental organizations worldwide.

“Every day, local environmental organizations make a difference in the community. Our Voice Your Choice program helps them continue their work as well as spreading the word about projects taking place in our backyard,” said store manager Nicole Mamola. “Seeking community input in how to distribute the funds is our way of raising public awareness about local environmental issues and hopefully getting more people involved in protecting the planet.”

“Last year’s Voice Your Choice program distributed $100,000 to local environmental groups and was very well-received in participating communities. People were eager for the opportunity to have a say in grant decisions that will directly affect their quality of life or that of their children,” said Vickie Achee, Head of Marketing for Patagonia’s North America Retail Division. “We’re repeating the program this year to extend that opportunity and enable other organizations to benefit from the funds.”

Seattle Works is an organization for 20- and 30-somethings to positively influence the local culture and community through volunteer work, charitable giving and civic engagement. In order to fund their many fine programs, Seattle Works is offering up Emerald City Swank, a special night of giving and receiving.

A silent auction and cocktail hour starts the evening and is followed by a dinner that included free wine and a fast-paced live auction featuring a variety of excellent items and awesome opportunities.

The evening is rounded out by a dance party.

To purchase a table or individual tickets, visit Seattle Works’ site.

Next Saturday, join thousands of fellow Zombies as they converge at the Space Needle. Here are the details:

Hey Hey Seattle Zombies!
Its getting closer to our favorite season of the year and we have a wonderful surprise for you! After years of crawling around the fringes of Seattle we now aim deep at the heart of the emerald city herself. We are going to bring the zombie horde to the Center on October 10th 2009 at 3pm, meet on the grass field in front of the space needle. We also have a rock concert at the Funhouse hosted by Bucephalus Games starting at 3pm and ending at 8pm. The bands are: Dehumanizers, Sounds of Mass Production, Staples in Carpet, Demoni There is also a Zombie Karaoke lined up at Ozzie’s from 6-9 pm with zombified lyrics available, a zombie Thriller sing-a-long at 9pm, and prizes for best performance! Zombie David will lead a horde of ghouls down the street from the Seattle Center a little before 5. Cost for karaoke is only $4, and includes all the songs you want!

This will be our biggest zombie invasion of the season. Remember the success of zombie walks are you! The numbers come from spreading the word… Thank you Seattle!

Follow Seattle Zombie Walk at:
Zombie LJ
Zombie Myspace
Zombie Twitter
Zombie Facebook

Personally I won’t be there, but that shouldn’t stop you! If you go, add your photos to our Flickr pool and I’ll post the best ones after the event.

6:00 PM – Julie Whitesel Weston: The Good Times Are All Gone Now: Life, Death and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The story of how a small town turned into a Superfund site. I think it has something to do with mining, the usual reason in the American West. Of course, I live near a Superfund site that has nothing to do with mining, so what do I know?
[LINK]

6:00 PM – Selden Edwards: The Little Book
Queen Anne Books
Romance, history, and time-travel.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Greg Hofmann: No Surrender
Richard Hugo House
“Local artist, writer and zinester Greg Hofmann reads from his debut illustrated novel, “No Surrender.” Featuring additional performances by author Isaac Marion and musical acts Bagheera and Josh Powell.” -RHH
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Rowan Jacobsen: The Living Shore: Rediscovering a Lost World
University Bookstore U-District
Jacobsen is slightly less alarmist about our wee sweet Olympia oysters, than he was about honeybees. Did you know that honeybees are not native to North America? Olympia oysters are. Perhaps one should keep such things in mind when writing books about THE END OF THE WORLD.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Dr. Donald C. Johanson: Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins
Town Hall Seattle
Ah, yes, where did we come from, or rather, who?
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Ryan Boudinot: Misconception: A Novel
University Bookstore U-District
I am looking forward to reading this book, but I hate titles that end with “A Novel.” No, really? Finding it in the fiction section apparently is not clue enough, I need “A Novel” writ large on the cover and spine?
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Glen Chilton: The Curse of the Labrador Duck: My Obsessive Quest to the Edge of Extinction
Town Hall Seattle
Winner of this month’s “Most Awesome Title” Award. I want to see Chilton’s collection of 55 stuffed ducks. Hey, he’s Canadian: I’m sure if I stopped by unannounced one day, he’d totally invite me in for tea and duck-gaping.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Lauren Weber: In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue
Elliott Bay Book Co.
I’m fascinated by the new interest in frugality, savings, and conservation, really. Suddenly, I’m not a cheap-skate, TV-less freak of nature: I’m thrifty and admirable. How charming.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Ray C. Anderson: Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose—Doing Business By Respecting the Earth
Town Hall Seattle
Hear a carpet company CEO talk about creating a sustainable business. Bill McKibben thinks Anderson is a “hero.” YMMV.
[LINK]

8:00 AM – Diane Ackerman: Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day
Elliott Bay Book Co.
I’m sure that having a morning presentation about a book on the joys of dawn is a lovely idea, but I have to get up at O’Dark-Thirty to catch a bus for work. And on a Monday, no less. Wah!
[LINK]

7:00 PM – John Webster: discusses Shakespeare
University Bookstore U-District
Totes awesome!
[LINK]

7:30 PM – David Byrne w/ Others: Bicycle Diaries
Town Hall Seattle I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book, but tickets are $30! If you have the dosh, go see Mr. Byrne be his interesting self in re: bicycles.
[LINK]

Saturday, September 26, 2009

12:00 PM – Carola Dunn: Sheer Folly
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
#18 in a series set in the ’20s. Adorable.
[LINK]

5:00 PM – Robert L. Bergman: Mindless Psychoanalysis, Selfless Self Psychology and Further Explorations
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“Plain spoken and deeply personal yet theoretically sophisticated essays on questions that matter to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, and anyone with a serious interest in human nature. Written with humor and grace, [this book] takes us on a remarkable exploration of the author’s own psyche as well as our own. Dr. Bergman’s first book is a gift, a deep meditation about what our field and, more importantly, about the mysteries of being human.” – Daniel Jacobs, M.D.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – William Dewey: Without a Soul to Move
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Another post-9/11 novel, set in Denver, by a New Zealand-based writer.
[LINK]

*

Sunday, September 27, 2009

2:00 PM – June Cotner: Dog Blessings
Barnes & Noble University Village
“Calling all Pet Owners and Lovers — Enjoy a special visit with author June as she shares her wonderful book of dog stories and blessings — you’ll laugh, cry and bond with all our guests and their pets!” –B&N
[LINK]

2:00 PM – ReAct Theatre: The Agony & The Agony
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The last offering in Elliott Bay’s Tenth Annual Staged Play Reading Series.
[LINK]

6:30 PM – Dahr Jamail: The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan
University Temple Church
A benefit for Coffee Strong.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Colin Beavan: No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process
University Bookstore U-District
Hopefully this will turn out to be better than My Suburu, but I don’t know yet. Have you read it? Fill me in! (Not that My Suburu was terrible, it just wasn’t as interesting as anticipated. Also, the author of My Suburu thought he was funnier than he actually is. Tragic, really.)
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Charles P. LeWarne: The Love Israel Family: Urban Commune, Rural Commune
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The local historian is at Elliott Bay to promote his book about a bunch of people who didn’t much believe in promoting things.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Jason Whitmarsh: Tomorrow’s Living Room
Open Books
The poet will read from his first full-length collection, which won the 2009 May Swenson Poetry Award from Utah State University Press.
[LINK]

4:00 PM – Lorene Edwards: Canning and Preserving Your Own Harvest and Hortus Miscellaneous
Queen Anne Farmers Market
A canning demo and signing. Yum.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Samantha Scholfield: Screw Cupid: The Sassy’s Girl’s Guide to Picking Up Hot Guys
University Bookstore U-District
This is not flipping familiar gender roles. This is totally buying into gender roles. This is a literary Sadie Hawkins and it makes the top of my head pop off.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – George Bowering & Kathleen Flenniken: Poetry Reading
Elliott Bay Book Co.
Bowering, two-time Governor General’s Award winner, and the author of over 70 books, has also served as the first Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, was awarded the Order of British Columbia, has taught all across Canada and Europe, and has served as writer-in-residence at the University of Rome. He will read from his new collection of poems, The Box. Flenniken will read from her first collection, Famous.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Max Blumenthal: Crises Among the Radical Right
Town Hall Seattle
“Investigative journalist Max Blumenthal is famous for his left-leaning articles and videos, and lately he’s leaning even further—right into the personal lives of the Republican Party’s extreme right-wing forces. Blumenthal, author of Republican Gomorrah, says the GOP’s leading figures have more in common than just their power in conservative ranks: personal lives stained by crisis, ranging from mental illness to murder. Inspired by the work of psychoanalyst Erich Fromm, who asserted that the fear of freedom leads anxiety-ridden people to embrace authoritarianism, Blumenthal maintains that a culture of personal crisis has defined the radical right, transforming the nature of the Republican Party for the next generation and setting the stage for the future of American politics. Presented by the Town Hall Center for Civic Life, with University Book Store.” -Town Hall
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Reading: Trading Places
Richard Hugo House
“Poet Daemond Arrindell, cartoonist David Lasky and novelist Cienna Madrid “trade” genres with each other and read from new work created in a form that isn’t their norm.” -RHH
[LINK]