Pacific Science Center breaks out the purple and gold this weekend with “Paws-On Science”, an event that brings together local families and their kids with scientists from the world class public research university in our back yard, the University of Washington.

All weekend long, Pacific Science Center is turning its galleries and exhibit halls into activity spaces showcasing the work being done at UW. Learn how local scientists are improving light bulbs and windows, determine if comic books can make you healthier, and have a chance to create a mini tsunami. Plus, on Saturday you get a chance to witness scat detection dog Mason as he demonstrates his effectiveness at his work. Also on Saturday, look for the UW Marching Band and Harry the Husky.

Pateboard Skoem by Slightlynorth from our Flickr pool

The New York School

A couple towards the front cuddles,
As Frank’s cat excavates his armpit
And looks away from the camera,
Black and white diva tabby.

Farther back, a woman slumps,
Mouth open, wheezing? Snoring.
She snuffles, sits up, fakes a cough.
(So sorry, pardon me.)

Schuyler sweats, glistening beads
Rolling down his face as he mumbles,
His thick lisp like surf describing rock.
I think the cameraman is high.

The couple still canoodles, like the gallery
Is Make-Out Point and they are in his car
Over a dry Midwestern town,
Dirty windows steamed with lust.

John is funny. “Saturday,” he reveals,
“Is a very good time to write a poem.”
And, casually, “all words are pretty good.”
I concur, but secretly contemplate nachos.

*

Wave Books Poetry Festival, August 14-16, 2009. Good times, y’all.

Crisp Morning by Xinapray. From our Flickr pool.

Face pressing forward
into the glass mountain west,
through the train window

Thanks, Jeff, and enjoy!

Light Reign, a James Turrell Skyspace

There can be only one…

Wave Books, co-sponsors of the Wave Poetry Festival, in conjunction with the Henry Art Gallery, have offered a free pass to this weekend’s verse-fabulous events to one lucky winner. To win, e-mail a haiku (or other short poem) to seattle (dot) metblog (at) gmail (dot) com. We’ll pick a winner and a pass will be left in the lucky dog’s name at Will Call.

Poetry is cool.
All the popular kids write.
You know you want to.

Light Reign, a James Turrell Skyspace. Photo courtesy of the Seattle PI.

Next weekend, August 14th-16th, Seattle poetry press Wave Books, with the UW’s Henry Art Gallery, is hosting a poetry festival: three days of poetry, film, books, art, book arts, et cetera, et cetera. The event will feature Wave authors and take place in the Henry Auditorium, as well as the James Turrell Skyspace.

Authors scheduled to read are Joshua Beckman, Noelle Kocot, Dorothea Lasky, Anthony McCann, Eileen Myles, Richard Meier, Maggie Nelson, Geoffrey Nutter, Matthew Rohrer, Mary Ruefle, Dara Wier, Jon Woodward, Matthew Zapruder and Rachel Zucker. Various authors will read 7 – 9 PM on Friday and Saturday, but all will read in the Skyspace on Sunday, 11 AM – 4 PM.

The festival is limited to 150 tickets, and run $50 for students, $75 for regular folks. A limited number of day passes ($25 each) are available for Friday and Saturday admissions only; there are no Sunday passes.

Also at the Henry next weekend is Ann Lislegaard’s 2062, a trilogy of digitally animated installations based on classic works of science fiction by Ursula LeGuin, J.G. Ballard, and Samuel R. Delany. 2062 closes August 23rd and really should not be missed. The other must-see exhibit is Chiho Aoshima’s The red-eyed tribe, a digital mural influenced and inspired by traditional Japanese painting, modern pop culture, manga, and kawaii.

The red-eyed tribe by Chiho Aoshima. Photo courtesy of Blum and Poe.

The April-cember weather has convinced fowl invaders to settle parts of the UW campus previously reserved for pedestrians, such as flooded pathways.

dubs, via UW

In September, Spirit, the old Husky mascot sustained a shoulder injury and retired early rather than watching the UW football team’s painfully losing season. At last, the long search for a new UW mascot and the contest to name it has come to an blessed ending.
The people have spoken and the newly chosen puppy, picked in what we can only assume to be a process like the mysterious used by The Others to choose their leader, has been unfortunately dubbed “Dubs”. Early this week, his own homepage [gohuskies] and had his first face-to-face with the media. There, he romped around on the track, sat prettily for treats, and generally charmed reporters.

There’s a video of the whole adorable affair on the website. Go ahead, watch it and melt. Let’s hope that Spirit has a happy retirement watching the new kid cheer on a team that has a slightly better season. [gohuskies]

This is sort of unexpected: the Seattle PD has arrested two soldiers from Fort Lewis under suspicion of committing three armed robberies in the U-District back in January. The assaults, which were closer to the fraternity/sorority area than the Ave, were part of a crime wave which prompted numerous email warnings from the UW Police department to students and university employees. If proven, this would be a somewhat surprising resolution to a series of crimes which I think many people believed was connected to problems on the 4500/4600 block of the Ave and the accompanying drug-dealing there…

Since early 2007, to comply with a federal law requiring timely warning notification of crimes committed on or near campus, the University of Washington police department has been sending periodic e-mails to alert the campus community when wrongdoings are reported. Today brings notice of a bathroom-cruising would-be carnival barker in the undergraduate library:

The UW Police Department is investigating a reported case of indecent liberties that occurred on January 9, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. in a men’s restroom in Odegaard Library. A male victim entered the 3rd floor restroom and noticed the male suspect loitering by the sinks. The suspect started a conversation with the victim describing his own height and weight, and asked the victim how tall he was and how much he weighed. He asked several flirtatious questions while approaching the victim. The victim attempted to leave the area, but the suspect would not move. The suspect again asked the victim how much he weighed, said “let me check,” and grabbed the victim in several places. The victim stated that someone entered the restroom, which allowed him to escape. The victim was not injured in the encounter.

Condolences to the victim of this genuinely creepy encounter, without which we may have never learned the term “indecent liberties”. The rest of us should be vigilant for the suspect — a tall, dark-complected male with a “buzz” cut, strong accent of origin unknown — who was last seen carrying a small toiletry bag and using his apparent difficulty in judging size and mass from sight alone as a pick-up line.