West Seattle, Washington
12 Wednesday
Faith-based activities abound this weekend – Seattle CROP Walk in the Alki area on Sunday (WSB 2007 photo above); two chances to have your pet(s) blessed; Holy Rosary‘s annual Alumni Sunday … Meantime, tonight and tomorrow are the final performances of “The Vertical Hour” at ArtsWest, and the weekend even offers a chance to press cider with neighbors. 41 events on our handy list ahead:Read More
That’s Jessie Summa-Kusiak, proprietor of Skylark Club and Cafe, standing next to her menus (the only ones we know of where WSB is mentioned, thanks to the tater tots and their nod in this popular post). Skylark has just joined WSB to sponsor the West Seattle Weekend Lineup every Friday (you can always find the latest one here). She says Skylark is all about “beverages, food, and entertainment.” On the first count – 13 new drink specials, 11 beers on tap, one hard cider.
On the second count (menus here) – her recommendations include mac and cheese, meatloaf, SFV sandwich, or if you’re dieting, the grilled chicken spinach salad, though she also notes they’re “baking delicious desserts from scratch, and we offer not just lunch and dinner 6 nights a week but weekend brunch Saturday AND Sunday.” Plus, she’s got a lunch punch card; after 7, #8 is on the house. Re: entertainment (calendar here) – “Free live music 6 nights a week, closed Mondays. Mostly local original acts, all genres. We link to music clips on our website so neighbors can listen to a sample before deciding whether to head down. Lots of opportunities for YOU to be the rockstar. Karaoke, open mic, open tease, open turntables. Kids are welcome until 11 pm on Sundays for our all-ages show (and before 9 pm every other night).” Jessie moved to West Seattle 11 years ago and opened Skylark two years ago (she was previously a manager at Amazon). She elaborates: “My husband Charles and I met as I was forming a band here in the late 90s (he was my bass player), and we discovered that we had an odd thing in common. Both our fathers supported the family growing up in the 70s by playing guitar in rock bands. His dad was in a disco/funk cover band that played in Atlantic City, mine fronted an original jazz-fusion band in Boston. My dad currently is a composer and does film scores for Errol Morris. (johnkusiak.com; a movie he scored, “Secrecy,” screens at the Northwest Film Forum Oct. 10-16) I’ve been booking bands since college and I managed Ladyfest Seattle 2004. I always wanted my own club, even when I lived in Boston. Here in WS I also realized there was a need for a laid-back, neighborhood place that wasn’t too upscale or intimidating. All the new places going in at the Junction seemed so fancy. Also I wanted to create a place where a woman could go, alone, and have a drink and read or work on her laptop or whatever without being hit on or feeling weird. That we do have solo female regulars tells me I’ve succeeded in creating the right ambience. No TV was another requirement, since I find TVs so distracting when I’m out with friends. Exceptions are games and elections, of course … we’re planning a big election day party (cancelling karaoke for the night) and we’ll have the results projected on a big screen as they come in.” She’s launching weekly Trivia Nights on 10/15 and doing monthly Open Turntable nights (mentioned here; next one is 10/28). Welcome to Skylark Cafe and Club, 3803 Delridge (map); look for its banner atop the West Seattle Weekend Lineup tomorrow morning. Meantime, thanks for your support of all the WSB sponsors who make it possible for us to bring you fresh West Seattle news/information/discussion 24/7; they’re all listed here along with information on how to join them.
Tonight, 9:30 pm, bring your singing voice to Bamboo on Alki for the second and final audition round of “Alki Idol.” Want to see who won the first audition session last week? The list, and videos, are posted here.
SOUTHWEST LIBRARY ART SHOW: Registration is now open for the 17th Annual Artists Showcase at the Southwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library (35th/Henderson; here’s a map). Interested artists can either register at the branch or call 206-684-7455; October 25 is the deadline. Organizers say this is a non-juried, nonprofit exhibit; you’ll be able to see it on display at the branch from Monday, Oct. 27, through Saturday, Nov. 15.
WEST SEATTLE ART WALK ONE WEEK FROM TONIGHT: As mentioned last month, the next Art Walk has a record-high list of participants – 43 venues, all over West Seattle! Now it’s just a week away; 6-9 pm Thursday, Oct. 9. Here’s the list; new additions (highlighted on that document) include venues in Delridge and on Alki!
(looking south from the north end of the central LP parking lot where the crew’s headquartered)
ORIGINAL 9:17 AM POST: As mentioned here last week, the city’s film office confirmed shoots were coming up in West Seattle (while reiterating it can’t reveal who/what/when/where) – now, two reader notes say there’s a crew in Lincoln Park today; we’re on our way to see what we can find out. 9:31 AM UPDATE: 2 people down there (including WSB’er Jenny; thanks!) told us it’s called “The Whole Truth.” That didn’t bring up anything obvious on iMDB.com but a straight Google search brought up this page for the movie, and the e-mail address at the bottom would seem to verify. (Plus, a person we talked to said someone from “Law and Order” is in the cast, and the actors listed on the movie’s webpage include Elisabeth Rohm.) Not the first movie to film in Lincoln Park, of course; this recent WSB Forums thread about WS movie shoots mentioned the 1995 Drew Barrymore movie “Mad Love.” 9:48 AM UPDATE: Just found a production blog for the movie, by director Colleen Patrick. What we learned on site: They’re there till 8 pm tonight; the central Lincoln Park parking lot is closed for the duration; they’re currently shooting south of the ballfields that are near that lot. 10:10 AM: Adding a few pix. Note the “Talented Animals” truck (there’s a dog on the cast page):
When we ran a quick clip of last week’s “Ladies of Laughter” headliner a few hours before she performed at the Admiral Theater, we prefaced it with something like, it’s been a week with a lot of gloomy news, so maybe you could use a laugh. And here we are a week later, and things really didn’t get much cheerier. So we hopped over to the Admiral this afternoon to talk for a moment with Susan Rice, who’s the last “Ladies of Laughter” performer, tonight and tomorrow at 10 pm at the Admiral ($25 with $5 going to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer fund). We asked her how can you … or do you … come up with humor at a time like this; she answered wryly, but also thoughtfully. Read more about her here (by the way, she’s a native of Longview); tickets are available here.
Sunday’s the day – Northwest Hope and Healing (WSB sponsor) moves its 5K run/walk to Alki this year (photo’s from Lincoln Park last year), to raise $ to help local women fighting breast cancer (register here!). And on Alki tomorrow, you can “walk/roll” to help the fight against ataxia. 2 more weekend highlights: InfoCamp Seattle, right here on the west side, and one of WSB’s first sponsors, Click! Design That Fits, invites you to its birthday party. More than three dozen events ahead:Read More
We’ve received a couple notes in the past week or so from folks who saw/heard what appeared to be film crew types doing some scouting in the Seacrest/Armeni area, and talking about what sounded like action scenes. So we checked with Chris Swenson in the Mayor’s Office of Film and Music to see if there was anything that could be said publicly (knowing most of these are supposed to be kept quiet); here’s the reply we received:
… unfortunately Seattle film permits are not available to the public until the filming is complete or the project is aired. We do have a number of projects happening in West Seattle over the next couple weeks.
Swenson also promised to forward our inquiry to the productions’ publicists in hopes they might care to tell us something. We’ll let you know whatever we hear; please let us know if you know anything and aren’t sworn to secrecy!
All from the WSB Events calendar page: At Southwest Community Center, help design SWCC’s new fitness room, first workshop at 6 pm; at St. James Place (9421 18th SW), South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition monthly meeting, 6 pm (reps from Seattle Police and King County Sheriff’s Office among other agencies/groups, always lots of great information); at Southwest Precinct meeting room (Delridge/Webster), Southwest Design Review Board, Admiral Safeway project at 6:30 pm and 38th/Alaska “Link” at 8 pm; at Bamboo Bar and Grill, auditions start for “Alki Idol,” 9:30 pm
On the national/world front, a rough week, scary week. If you need a little distraction, the West Seattle Weekend Lineup has lots of it, including comedy tonight and tomorrow as the Admiral Theater‘s “Ladies of Laughter” series continues. This afternoon, we caught up briefly with headliner Carrie Snow, who managed to tie yoga and comedy together:
Snow says Seattle comedy star Peggy Platt will appear with her at The Admiral tonight. Meantime, you can read more about Snow here; tickets are $20, with $5 going to the Susan G. Komen breast-cancer-fighting fund.
Fall officially begins Monday. So this is it (today’s weather seems to have jumped the gun). Clouds or sun, summer’s going out in style – with 
the West Fest Fall Family Festival (WSB sponsor; ’07 photo at left) at Holy Rosary tonight and tomorrow, the first-ever West Seattle Junction Car Show (co-sponsored by WSB) on Sunday, two live theater options (final performances of “In the Sawtooths” by Burnt Studio Productions [WSB sponsor] at Youngstown Arts Center, and the ongoing “The Vertical Hour” at ArtsWest), 46 events ahead – first, a big shoutout to Skylark Club and Cafe, the brand-new sponsor of the Weekend Lineup (live music, food, and more):Read More
The list of participants has just been finalized for the next three West Seattle Art Walks — and organizer Lora Lewis from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) sent the roster, which totals a record-high 43 businesses/venues, from Delridge to Alki to The Junction (where the Art Walk originated) and points south. Have a look. Next Art Walk: October 9, 6-9 pm.
The autumnal equinox isn’t till a week from Monday, so you actually have two more summer weekends left, counting this one (and the weather sure looks semi-summery) – events include the first weekend of “The Vertical Hour” at ArtsWest (photo above by Matthew Durham), the Barbecue Championships at Alki, the huge West Seattle Gateway Cleanup, and a whole lot more – 47 West Seattle events for tonight through Sunday night, listed ahead:Read More
WEST SEATTLE GATEWAY CLEANUP: Even if you’re not one of the hundreds of volunteers joining in this huge cleanup effort, you should know that it will shut down a lane on the Fauntleroy end of the The Bridge, so that participants will be safe – the cleanup is happening from Walking on Logs till 35th/Fauntleroy, but the lane closure will start before there. Hours are approximately 9 am-3:30 pm. (Here’s our most recent preview.)
NEIGHBORHOOD MATCHING FUND CELEBRATION: A whole lot of projects around our part of the city (and elsewhere) wouldn’t have happened without the city chipping in NMF money. The program is celebrating its 20th anniversary and throwing parties around town including one Saturday, open-house style, 10 am-2 pm at Youngstown Arts Center.
BARBECUE CHAMPIONSHIPS: Once again this year, the Evergreen State Barbecue Championships are happening on Alki this weekend. Saturday-Sunday are the official days but you are likely to see setup happening (and a lot of RVs) starting Friday night. Last year when we covered this, a big question was “does anyone SELL food?” We have word of at least two vendors – one of which is a sponsor, Tom Douglas Restaurants, which says it’ll be selling “Rub with Love BBQ Salmon Sandwiches with Arugula and Fennel Mayo.” We don’t have precise hours for vendors but on Saturday we’ll report what we find out at the scene.
ANOTHER BARBECUE: Village Green Perennial Nursery (WSB sponsor) is having its annual halibut barbecue, with live music, noon-3 pm Saturday; we wrote about it in this White Center Now post about the fishing trip that brought in the halibut!
PLAYGROUND PROJECT: Supporters of a “playscape” in Admiral’s California Place mini-park plan a neighborhood ice-cream social starting at 3 pm (the park’s at California/Hill; here’s our most recent coverage of the proposal).
FUNDRAISING CAR WASH: Just got word the West Seattle High School girls’ volleyball team has one in the parking lot, 10 am-2 pm Saturday. Lots more events, and you’ll see them in the West Seattle Weekend Lineup tomorrow.
ART WALK NIGHT! It’s the second Thursday of the month, which means tonight’s the night for the West Seattle Art Walk — more than 30 venues all over West Seattle, all listed here (including these WSB sponsors: Click! Design That Fits, Hotwire Coffee, M3 Bodyworks, Dream Dinners, Seattle Wellness Programs). 6-9 tonight. You can even enjoy the first hour and a half or so, then move on to:
SECOND WEEKEND FOR “IN THE SAWTOOTHS”: Burnt Studio Productions (WSB sponsor) starts its second of three weekends for “In the Sawtooths,” tonight and Saturday night at Youngstown Arts Center. Read more about the production here, including a special discount offer for WSB’ers. (And after you see it, Burnt Studio would love to hear your thoughts here!)
DESIGN REVIEW FOR 5020 CALIFORNIA: If board members don’t have serious concerns, this may be the last public design review for the mixed-use project at California/Dawson (see the planned presentation here). 6:30 pm, Hiawatha Community Center.
HIGH POINT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION QUARTERLY MEETING: Should be a beautiful night to gather at Commons Park Amphitheater to learn about Somali/East African culture 6-7 pm, then discuss other neighborhood issues after 7.
The White Center Food Bank (which also serves part of southern West Seattle) is getting a boost from an artistic fundraiser under way now at Avalon Glassworks: Proprietor Shannon Felix explains, “We’ve made big, beautiful green glass apples with white stems which sell for $80, of which 50% goes directly to the White Center Food Bank. They are limited-edition, signed and numbered, six-inch apples. The $40 proceeds from each apple equate to approximately 200 pounds of food for the food bank.” Avalon Glassworks is on Avalon just south of The Bridge, by Luna Park Cafe (map) – and according to its website, if you visit 2-5 pm today, you can see glassblowing happening live (the site mentions other dates too)!
That’s a coffee joke from comedian Tracey MacDonald, who’s at the Admiral Theater tonight and tomorrow to kick off its monthlong “Ladies of Laughter” series. Other weekend highlights include the last weekend for Colman Pool plus two big Alki events – the Statue of Liberty Plaza dedication tomorrow and “Car-Free Day” on Sunday – 36 events in all, ahead:Read More
(updated since original publication – now that all artists are welcome, not just West Seattleites)
Earlier this summer, we brought you coverage of the many ways Fauntleroy Church celebrated its 100th birthday, from bell-ringing to beachfront vespers, and now there’s one more big event on the way. From Judy Pickens:
As a gift to the community to cap its centennial celebration, Fauntleroy Church/United Church of Christ is planning an art show and is calling for artists to participate.
The Fauntleroy Art Show will be the weekend of November 7-8. Participants should be prepared to show works (in any medium) that reflect the centennial theme, “Celebrating the Light.” Artists may display work at no cost; artists wishing to sell will contribute 15% of sales to help cover event expenses.
Details and application forms are available at ArtsWest, at the church office (9140 California Ave. SW; 932-5600), or by e-mailing info@fauntleroyucc.org. Applications must be received by October 1 for consideration.
Other Fauntleroy events include the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s monthly meeting a week from tonight, the premiere of the Fauntleroy documentary “The Fauntleroy Story: 100 Years of Community” on 9/24 (we wrote about the sneak preview in late July), and Fauntleroy Fall Festival 10/19; you can find out more about all of the above at fauntleroy.net.
That photo of a scene from “In the Sawtooths” is courtesy of Burnt Studio Productions, which joins us as a WSB sponsor to make sure you know all about its new play, which opens Thursday and runs through September 20th at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. Here’s a special offer: Burnt Studio would like to extend a special offer to West Seattle Blog readers. Mention the WSB at the door and get $5 off your ticket! Now, about “In the Sawtooths”: The play written by Dano Madden stars (as shown L to R in photo above) Chris Bange, Scott Lendzion, and Sam Read and is directed by Brian Tyrrell. As described on the Burnt Studio site, “‘In the Sawtooths’ tells the story of Oby, Nellie and Darin, best friends who, as a yearly ritual, go backpacking in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains. As their annual trip nears, their bond is unexpectedly tested by tragedy. What will become of their friendship as they navigate through an immense and unexpected wilderness? At its heart, the play deals with how friendship changes with age. The distinctive quality of In the Sawtooths, says the playwright, is the depth of its male characters. ‘It’s not a play about three men that people are used to seeing,’ Madden says. ‘I think there’s a lot more emotional depth to male relationships than most people realize. This play really delves into that dynamic.'” Burnt Studio — described as “an eclectic performing-arts organization serving West Seattle ” — also notes: “Dano Madden was recently named one of the ’50 Playwrights to Watch’ by The Dramatist.” You can see “In the Sawtooths” at 8 pm on any of these nights: September 4, 5, 6, 11, 13, 18, 19, 20. Buy tickets at the door to get that special WSB-reader discount mentioned above (otherwise, tickets at the regular price are available online at this Brown Paper Tickets link). We thank Burnt Studio Productions for sponsoring WSB, along with the other local groups and businesses you’ll find listed here (along with info on how to join them, and an update on our record-setting August traffic).
Musicians 11 to 77 are invited to join the multi-age groups of Westside Symphonette as it gets ready to start a new season of rehearsals and performances — no audition required! Toni Reineke says you just have to show up. The first rehearsals are two weeks from tomorrow — Tuesday, September 16th, 5:30-6:30 pm for the junior orchestra, 6:45-8:15 pm for the senior orchestra. New location this year — the temporary (till summer 2010) home of Chief Sealth High School, which is the former Boren JHS at 5905 Delridge (map). Questions? E-mail Toni at tonireineke@comcast.net or call her at 206/243-6955.
Where did it go? Let us know as soon as you figure that out. (Monday’s the last day for West Seattle’s 7-day wading pools, by the way, so in their honor we’re illustrating this with the photo above, from Delridge on the first Sunday it opened after a neighborhood campaign to change the schedule.) Meanwhile, if you’re not going away for the holiday weekend, here are your West Seattle options — 31 events and activities listed ahead (including Monday holiday schedule-changes):Read More
(classic 1939 trailer for “Wizard of Oz”)
If you’re going through outdoor-movie withdrawal after the end of the West Seattle Movies on the Wall series last Saturday, you might want to be at High Point Community Center tonight, where Thursday night Family Night activities continue, with “The Wizard of Oz” showing just after 6 pm. As for something else a lot of people will be watching tonight – we haven’t heard of any major West Seattle viewing parties for Sen. Barack Obama’s acceptance speech BUT the 34th District Democrats were promoting the 11th District Democrats‘ viewing party in Tukwila – here’s the info on that. If you’re in south West Seattle or White Center, tonight’s the monthly South Delridge/White Center Community Safety meeting, 6 pm at St. James Place (9421 18th SW; map) – with an excellent agenda item, best practices for when and how to call 911. LOTS of other events tonight, and you can find them on the frequently updated WSB Events calendar page.
That’s what West Seattle-residing mega-best-selling author Terry Brooks told a standing-room-only audience last night at Westwood Village Barnes and Noble: While he’s on tour to promote the newly released third book in his “Genesis of Shannara” series, the book he just finished writing – yesterday! – is the first addition in a decade-plus to his “Magic Kingdom” books (catalogued on his website as “Landover”). Last night’s event marked the third consecutive year he brought his book tour to “his neighborhood store,” as B&N-WV community-relations manager Robin Ennis-Cantwell called it. Ahead, listen to Brooks talk about what else he sees ahead, and about a book his playwright sister has just published:Read More
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