Friday was the opening day for the Western Washington Fair–you know it as “The Puyallup”–and, as usual, I was there. This year I started my Fair experience by watching the traditional running of the cattle. (Click here for video.

This was followed immediately by a parade featuring local marching bands, members of the military, the Daffodil Queen and her court, clows, a juggle Elvis impersonator on a unicycle, lots and lots of horses and carriages, tractors, the flags of all 50 states, and the fair’s many plush mascots.

It was a bright and sunny day which along with free admission for the first few hours inspired lots and lots of people to come on down to the fairgrounds to check out the animals, the vegetables, fruits, flowers, food, rides, exhibits and live entertainment of all sorts. The Fair is always crowded but even for someone who dislikes crowds as much as I do, it’s bearable–the fun of being there more than makes up for the minor inconvenience of having to stand through a couple lines.

The highlight for the fair for me every year is seeing all the animals. Seattle might allow people to keep a couple goats and/or chickens, but there aren’t too many chances in town to see a whole bunch of farm animals. (I’m not complaining–I really like looking at cattle but I don’t really want to live next door to them and you probably don’t either, or we’d all live in the country, not the city.) There are plenty of other attractions, though. Just looking at all the deep fried offerings on hand is more than enough for me, but if you’re into that sort of thing you can get deep fried Twinkies or Snickers bars or cola or, well, if it can be deep fried, it probably is. Me, I stick the to the traditional fair burger, piled high with sweet Walla Walla onions, and piping hot Fisher scones.

There are rides aplenty at the fair and midway games and all sorts of items for sale ranging from cheap plastic souvenirs to items for your home which could be anything from a brand new vacuum cleaner to a bubbling spa for your backyard. Every sort of craft imaginable gets represented in some way at the fair along with fine arts and hobby collections, historical displays (I strongly suggest checking out the Fair History museum) and rodeos, concerts and comedians.

New this year to the fair is “Al’s Brain”, an exhibit and 3D movie featuring Weird Al Yankovic which is all about the human brain and manages to be both informative and funny.

The fair runs daily through September 27th. Tickets are available at the gate for $11 (there is an additional charge if you want to go to one of the concerts or rodeos which this year include acts like Crosby Stills and Nash, James Taylor, Heart, LeAnn Rimes and Wynonna with the Tacoma Symphony Orchestra) or can be purchased online; fairgoers can also purchase discount packages which include “fair bucks” for food or ride tickets. Members of the military get free admission on Mondays.

When you go to the fair, please consider using public transportation. From Seattle, it’s an easy ride from downtown Seattle to downtown Tacoma on Sound Transit 594 ($3 each way) to transfer to Pierce Transit’s Fair Shuttle ($1.75 each way). You’ll save yourself the expense and inconvenience of driving in traffic and then paying an arm and a leg to park as well as help the environment. Besides, Pierce Transit bus drivers are just about the nicest bus drivers you’ll ever meet.

Mmmm....Sounds tempting....

It’s almost time for the annual “Bite of Seattle”, the festival runs Friday 7/17-Sunday 7/19. (Fri & Sat 11 AM-9 PM, Sun 11 AM-8 PM).

Should be a great time as always, this year there are over 100 food booths with every type of food imaginable. There are also 4 beer gardens for when you get thirsty and 7 outdoor entertainment stages with all types of live music; rock, pop, soul, jazz, 80’s, reggae….Pretty much something for everybody….

Looks like the weather is going to cooperate, should be in the mid 70’s all weekend….

Summertime in Seattle, can’t beat it….

It’s that time of year once again when the hot rays of the sun call for cooling off on the refreshing waters of Green Lake and Elliott Bay. That’s right, Seafair is upon us for the 60th time. It starts this coming weekend with the annual landing of the Seafair Pirates at Alki Beach from 9:30 am through 5:30 pm, featuring a battle between the pirates and King Neptune, played by Pat Cashman, swashbuckling with sword and cannon. Also upcoming: the annual Allstate Milk Carton derby. Nearly a hundred different marine craft, all made from the creative use of milk cartons, compete for $10K in prizes at Greenlake, Saturday July 11, from 10 am to 4 pm. Head down to the derby to check out the boats, food and family entertainment and don’t forget to take a can or box of non-perishable food to help Seafair sink hunger.

If this isn’t enough action for you, you can also sail with the Seafair pirates on the Lady Washington: experience a living history adventure with sailing demonstrations, maritime story telling and food and grog (in the form of quality wine) from Anthony’s and Dunham Cellars.

Information on these events and all of the Community events around the Sound (Kent Cornucopia days, July 9 – 12; Pioneer Square Fire Festival, July 11; Redmond Derby Days, July 11; Mercer Island Summer Festival, July 11; and Chinatown Festival, July 11 – 12), check out the Seafair website

The Original A. Birch Steen Muppets

Back when the Muppets were huge (and they really were huge) everyone had their favorite character: the one they identified with completely and forever. For the average 70’s teenager, Henson offered the psychedelic, totally out-of-it Muppet on shrooms who wore sequins and stared at goldfish tanks all day long. And the grandpa in your family could find commiseration with the the old men in the balcony. 

There were, of course, also plenty of fantastical, bizarre puppets in the early days of the Muppets, like the puppets of Planet Koozbane who mated by running towards each other and exploding in a plumb of smoke, and the slinky-like puppets made of plastic tubing who were there to “just dance,” as the song goes. But even these puppets were meant to appeal to a select niche of the audience: the eggheads like you and me who just want to watch things to try to understand the symbolism of everything. Too much wacky, too much egghead, too much satire, and the family wouldn’t be able to watch the whole show together gathered ’round the sole television. 

Jim Henson didn’t initially get in the game of puppeteering to ‘comment on society’. He just wanted to get on the teevee. His advantage as a puppeteer was that he didn’t know the rules, and didn’t know how many of them he was breaking. He cut the fabric for Kermit from an old coat his mom used to wear and it just so happened that Kermit’s head was the ideal shape for exploring hand movements; Henson could fiddle his fingers to make Kermit look perplexed, and he could also scrunch ‘em up to make Kermit’s grimace like he was sucking on sour grapes (Kermit often sucked on sour grapes as he was always ‘ever the diplomat’, picking up the mess of those around him). 

The Muppets ‘101′ lecture at EMP/SFM was a lot of fun, and not just because all of this Muppet history has been downloaded into my ‘noggin forever (Craig Shemin, staff writer for the Muppets since 1988, is a charming and memorable speaker with the familiar, guttural voice of a Muppet ). No, no, no: the reason why it was so exceptionally, incredibly fun was because the crowd was in such a Muppet luvy-duvy mood that I found myself watching old clips with a renewed interest, like I was the psychedelic Muppet staring at a goldfish tank and thinking “wow…fish”. I started thinking all these academic thoughts, trying to figure out why it was I was so drawn to Muppets and why puppets allow us to criticize culture while wearing a mask and what does parody mean and what does satire mean and what do all the puppets symbolize??? (I’ve since erased that portion of this essay due to…uhm…space constraints). But seriously: there was/ is something about that show that’s totally beguiling. 

You know what? Let’s just let the pictures do the ’splainin. 

Shocked

Angry / Happy

Love?

The Q/A portion of the show was equally entertaining. Question: “What is the official Henson stance on ‘Avenue Q’?” Answer: “We’re trying to distance ourselves from the character of Trekkie Monster, since we, well, we also produce Sesame Street. Henson doesn’t want to damage its goodwill with parents.” 

(Trekkie Monster, for those of you who despise / ignore / don’t care about musical theatre, sings a song in the Broadway musical Avenue Q about how he spends all night hugging his horn to “porn! porn! porn!” Trekkie Monster was created by the Henson company, along with the rest of the cast of Avenue Q. In fact, the creators of Avenue Q initially intended on creating a Muppet movie called “Kermit: Prince of Denmark.” Then they created Avenue Q instead. Which was probably a good call.)

Question: “How do y’all feel about Elmo hogging the spotlight?” Answer: “We’re happy for him, but we hope other puppets get their time in the spotlight, too.”

Then there were some boring technical questions I didn’t understand. Let’s skip to the last one, the one on everyone’s mind: “What’s next?” Aren’t the Muppets a dying franchise? Yes and no. They’re still getting gigs. For one, there’s an internet-only Muppet Cooking Show coming soon that will star everyone’s favorite Swedish chef and “an English speaking chef.” Also: Henson Alternative (”HA!”) is busy creating puppets for shows like Avenue Q…puppets who show their puppet boobs and talk about puppet porn. If you go to the ‘Henson Alternative’ page on the website, you can find a description of an upcoming show called “Tinseltown” about a gay puppet couple (one’s a pig, the other’s a bull). It looks bizarre and not funny.

Then there’s the contract with Disney, and Miss Piggy’s contract with places like “Anne Curry’s lap”, and, oh, yeah, Sesame Street…always and forever.  But here’s hoping the Hensons can find a way to entertain us the way the Muppets once did. Maybe it’ll involve more Muppet boobs, or songs about porn, maybe it won’t. Personally, I could watch old Youtubes of the balcony guys all day long and be perfectly content without Muppet boob. But that’s just me. 

There are 8 more Muppet-themed events at EMP/ SFM (through August 15th) and really, it sounds weird, but you should totally go. It was a lot of fun. Check out empsfm.com for dates and times and all that good stuff. 

The Dreampower Foundations was established this year to inspire and empower people, particularly young people, to develop their strengths and discover their life purpose. One of the ways they hope to accomplish this mission is by producing a film called Star Kids, about four children whose special gifts are the key to the world’s survival.

The non-profit organization is holding a production party to introduce the first shot scenes of the film, to introduce the film to the community and to raise funds towards completing the project. This production party takes place 3 pm Sunday, May 24, at Central Cinema with entertainment and music by local artists and performers, a meet and greet with the film’s cast and crew, a Q&A with direction William Spiritdancer, raffle prizes, a silent auction, free appetizers, and face-painting and other kid-friendly activities.

The event is free but space is limited, RSVP through their website to ensure your spot at the party.

Photo By Chris Bennion

Last Friday Seattle Children’s Theatre (SCT) wrapped up its 2008-09 mainstage season with their 101st world premiere, I Was a Rat!, based on the popular re-worked fairy tale and children’s book by Golden Compass author Philip Pullman.

The story opens with a young pageboy taken in by a childless couple, the aging cobbler Bob and his wife Joan. They give him the name of Roger, as the pageboy says he was formerly a rat and without a name, a tale quirky enough to attract the attention of the Daily Scourge newspaper, a sideshow owner named Professor Tapscrew, and a young ruffian named Billy. The search for Roger’s true home is also accompanied by the story of the newly-married Princess Aurelia, whom Roger claims to have a past with.

My family came along to see the show, with my two children especially excited to watch their first play ever.  Besides, I knew that as much as I hoped to offer people an objective opinion of the performances, what is ultimately important to the success of I Was a Rat! is a show that would be both entertaining and engaging for the little ones.  Although making it a good time for the parents certainly doesn’t hurt their chances either.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to let my children, Evan (6) and Kenzie (5) take the forefront of this review.  Their overall impression of the play was quite obvious as we left the theatre; smiles played across their faces, both extremely happy to have met the cast and get some autographs, especially those of Roger and Aurelia.  I did manage, however, to wrap up the evening by asking them a few pointed questions on the way home. (more…)

Seattle Children’s Theatre wraps ups its 2008-09 Mainstage Season with their 101st world premiere, I Was a Rat! by Barbara Field, based on the book by Philip Pullman and directed by SCT Artistic Associate Rita Giomi. I Was a Rat! opens May 1, 2009 in SCT’s Charlotte Martin Theatre and runs through June 7, 2009.

Also from the SCT press release:

In a similar vein as Wicked or The Ugly Stepsister, I Was a Rat! shows us a different perspective on a well-traveled tale. Poor little Roger (even rat-boys need proper names) has nowhere to turn. Luckily, Bob the cobbler and his wife, Joan, have a warm home and welcoming hearts. If only Roger were able to stay out of trouble long enough to enjoy them. He even manages to get thrown in jail for being a dreaded sewer monster! Thank goodness, the Princess arrives in time to straighten the whole mess out, and return Roger to his new home and loving family.

Further details, including showtimes and ticketing information, can be found on the SCT website.

Duwamish Beach by Slightlynorth

This Saturday, join volunteers to help clean up various sites along the Duwamish waterway, starting at 10am. Volunteers are needed to help weed, spread mulch in planting areas, plant native vegetation, and pick up trash. Refreshments provided by REI.

After the work parties are finished, there is a community festival from 2-5pm at Cooper Elementary School. The event will feature art exhibits, live performances, environmental education tables and community activities including kids’ crafts, nature hikes, and a chance to win prizes.

For more information visit the website, e-mail da@pugetsound.org or call 206-382-7007.

Ivar’s has declined to sponsor the fireworks show after a 44-year run, citing competition from other shows. Will another company pick up the show? Stay tuned.

Friday marks the beginning of the annual Whirligig! extravaganza down at Seattle Center, which is a sort of air-filled utopia for spring-breaking kids — both big and small alike.  At least the information I’ve been handed speaks to it being an all ages event, but my parent sense tells me that this is likely a subjective statement, wherein the grown-up fun is had by watching your childrens bouncy, gleeful merriment.  Which certainly has its appeal, I just don’t expect my excitement to hit the roof until they let my 6′7″, 250lb ass into the giant inflatable castle.  Then again, I’m speaking as someone who hasn’t attended the Whirligig! events of the past, so I strongly encourage you to straighten me out in the comments section if need be.

Whirligig! runs through April 12th, and is open from 11am-6pm daily.  Meaning you should shoot for an arrival time of 10:50am (on a weekday) if you’re hoping to avoid the huge crowds.  Keep in mind that Thursdays are free, so all bets are off on those days.  Otherwise, it’s $1.50 for a single use ticket, $7.50 for an unlimited day pass, and $4.50 for a toddler day pass.  No matter what level of stomach-jostling  fun you buy into, for the sake of everyone else, make sure your little ones hold off on that extra corn dog until after you’ve left for the day.

What: Whirligig!
Where: Seattle Center
Location: Center House Main Floor
Date: March 27 – April 12, 2009
Time: 11am-6pm