West Seattle, Washington
31 Friday
Those musicians are from the Duwamish Dixieland Band, recorded after the West Seattle Memorial Day event two months ago. Tonight, you can see them in a more festive setting, again absolutely free, as Providence Mount St. Vincent kicks off its monthlong series of Friday night outdoor concerts (and “The Mount” is joining WSB as a sponsor to make sure you know about it) … the first-ever Edible Garden Tour (free!) … a major beach-volleyball event … and the next West Seattle Movies on the Wall presentation, with WSB presenting this week’s movie … and the Delridge wading pool will start opening on Sunday (as first reported here) … more than 40 events ahead:Read More
That’s a scene (featuring Bob Hoskins, with Kathleen Turner voicing “Jessica Rabbit”) from the pioneering live-action/animation comedy “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” — celebrating its TWENTIETH anniversary (where did the time go?) this year. You can watch it on a big screen this Saturday night as West Seattle Movies on the Wall continues its summer series – this week, West Seattle’s only 24/7 news source (that’s us!) is the official presenter, in tandem with one of our sponsors, Click! Design That Fits. Come to the Hotwire Coffee (also a WSB sponsor) courtyard sometime before dusk to stake out your spot – the movie’s free, bring a nonperishable-food donation for the West Seattle Food Bank, which also is the beneficiary of nicely priced concessions offered by West Seattle Christian Church (yet another WSB sponsor). Also bring a few dollars for raffle tickets – co-publisher Patrick has been out lining up some COMPLETELY COOL West Seattle stuff (it’ll be a surprise!!!!) to raffle off; the nonprofit beneficiary will be the Nature Consortium, which with volunteer help works tirelessly to restore West Seattle’s amazing West Duwamish Greenbelt (and they’re sponsoring the Arts in Nature festival next month). California/Genesee, see you there Saturday night.
No same-night spoilers on the home page, so click ahead if you want to know how Blayne did tonight, and/or what his Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) boss Lora Lewis said about it afterward …Read More
For the third straight August, best-selling sci-fi/fantasy author Terry Brooks, who has a home in West Seattle, will mark the release of a new book with a reading/Q&A/book-signing event at the Westwood Village Barnes and Noble. (Read our August 2006 report here; our August 2007 report here – the photo at left is from that appearance.) According to Brooks’ website, terrybrooks.net, it’s at 6:30 pm on August 27th, one of two Seattle appearances he has planned in conjunction with the release of the next book in his “Genesis of Shannara” series, “The Gypsy Morph.” ASIDE TO BOOK FANS – ANOTHER B&N EVENT COMING UP THIS WEEK: We originally got into book-info-finding mode tonight after getting a note from the Westwood Village B&N about a book-release party this Friday night for a different author, different series (with a related discount offer for WSB’ers) – read on:Read More
Even if you don’t frequent the WSB Forums, this thread’s kind of fun (thanks to PSPS for starting it): Movies shot, all or part, in West Seattle. Everyone knows about the “Sleepless in Seattle” Alki scene (and the hilarious implication it’s around the corner from Lake Union), it seems, but otherwise, we’ve seen some surprises so far! (P.S. The city “Film and Music Office” posts a weekly newsletter.)
More photos to share as the weekend ends, from West Seattle’s biggest beach and one of its smallest — just ahead:Read More
It may look gray outside, but at the second day of the Alki Art Fair (stretching along the promenade from both sides of the Bathhouse), sunbreaks are happening and so is everything from live music (above, the Forget-Me-Nots, one of the acts playing this morning) to a silent auction (note the banner fluttering in the photo background at right) to kids’ activities like an art tent and a bouncy house. If you can’t quite shake the autumn-ish mood brought on by the clouds, we found at least one booth with handmade sweaters on sale:
Suzanne de la Torre (headquartered on lower Queen Anne) is selling her handmade creations – one of many artists whose wares you can admire, and if you are so moved, purchase. Other apparel for sale at the event includes Alki Art Fair T-shirts, past and present:
T-shirts and tank tops will run you $15 (look for the tent on the water side of the Bathhouse). The Alki Art Fair continues till 5 pm today.
MEET THE NEW BRANCH MANAGER: Julie Enevoldsen from Friends of Southwest Branch Library writes to invite everybody to the branch on Monday night, 6:30-7:45, to meet the new branch manager, Theresa Mayer. Light refreshments will be provided at the event in the upstairs meeting room; the Southwest branch is on the southeast corner of 35th/Henderson (here’s a map).
READING RECOMMENDATIONS: Librarians from Southwest and West Seattle (Admiral) branches recently provided the official Seattle Public Library systemwide blog, Shelf Talk, with some reading suggestions, based on what local readers are enjoying this summer; read the list here.
First thing this morning, vendors were getting ready for the Alki Beach Art Fair, today and tomorrow 10 am-5 pm, rain or shine, and the Statue of Liberty Plaza construction isn’t getting in the way – as the photo above shows, there are booths to the west, and also lots of booths to the right, on both sides of the bathhouse. Let’s hope things stay dry because tonight is parade night:
That’s the West Seattle Hi-Yu float, royalty, and volunteers in last Saturday’s West Seattle Grand Parade – towed because of ongoing trouble. They have received a “very special exemption” from Seafair to be towed the entire length of tonight’s Torchlight Parade route downtown. (If you’re not going to the parade, remember many downtown streets will be completely or partly blocked off – the main parade route goes down 4th, from Seattle Center to the International District, and it’s preceded by the Torchlight Run, which puts the northbound Alaskan Way Viaduct out of commission approximately 5:30-8 pm.)Meantime, back on our side of the bay, it’s Movies on the Wall night again next to Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor):
That’s the trailer from the ’80s classic “The Goonies,” tonight’s movie, starting at dusk (9 pm-ish); free admission, but bring a nonperishable food donation for the West Seattle Food Bank, which also is the beneficiary of concession sales presented by West Seattle Christian Church (WSB sponsor). One more outdoor movie note: There’s an outdoor showing of “An Inconvenient Truth” in Fremont tonight – $5 donation suggested – and the proceeds will be split by Sustainable West Seattle and Sustainable Ballard. (North 35th/Phinney Ave. North, map; “doors” open 7:30 pm.) And on the indoor-activities front, Fauntleroy Church (WSB sponsor) continues its centennial celebration:
That’s the crowd that turned out for last night’s Bean Feed and Talent Show, paying tribute to a long-ago church tradition; this afternoon, Fauntleroy Church has an open house, 1-4 pm — if you’ve never been there, it’s worth checking out the steepled sanctuary in its beautiful wooded sanctuary across the street from the old schoolhouse (9140 California SW; map). What else is up, you ask? Check the West Seattle Weekend Lineup.
Lots of outdoor fun this weekend. Let’s hope the weather cooperates. 58 events ahead:Read More
They’re known more for washing (and styling) hair than for washing cars, but today the staff of Illusions Hair Design (WSB sponsor) became volunteer vehicle-scrubbers to raise money for Pencil Me In For Kids. When we dropped by the car-wash site outside the West Seattle Eagles‘ HQ in The Junction during the car wash’s final hour, they were already closing in on 30 cars. Speaking of volunteer power, we got an “after” photo from Saturday’s last round of portable-painting at Pathfinder K-8:
Eric Baer reports almost 50 volunteers were on hand, including two teams from Seattle Works (which had declared this a “hot project”). Now on to volunteer neighborhood-issue activism:
Those three are from the Highland Park Action Committee (from left, Jessie, Dina Johnson, Blair Johnson), which maintained a presence at White Center Jubilee Days all weekend as part of its campaign against the two potential city jail sites in southeast West Seattle. (Wondering about the costumes? Blair’s is obvious; Jessie and Dina were going with the WCJD “Pirates” theme.) HPAC’s next meeting is 7 pm tomorrow (Monday) night, Highland Park Improvement Club @ 11th/Holden, where they’ll plot strategy for Saturday morning’s city-organized jail-sites forum @ South Seattle Community College‘s Brockey Center (9 am-noon). Dina also sent photos from an entirely unrelated event – the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival this weekend at Hiawatha:
That’s Habib, dancing solo. Dina shared a few more Medfest photos, which (if you’re viewing this from the home page) are a click away:Read More
That’s part of the crowd that had staked out spots in the courtyard next to Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) while it was still light enough for us to get a decent photo – by the time the movie (“Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” preceded by a NFFTY short) started around 9:25 pm, we estimate, somewhere between 150 and 200 people were on hand (and still room for more – down front, as Sidewalk Cinema‘s Philip Borgnes pointed out in his pre-show remarks, although we’d advise arriving no later than 8:30 pm). Aside from a brief technical speed bump that resulted in the opening credits running twice, plenty of fun — the fundraiser raffle ($1/ticket, 3 for $2) offered movie-appropriate prizes (shrubbery, Knights Who Say “Ni” cupcakes) among other loot (Hotwire prepaid $20 coffee card); the concessions courtesy of West Seattle Christian Church (WSB sponsor), with proceeds benefiting West Seattle Food Bank (same as the raffle) are nicely priced (popcorn, candy, beverages including $1 water or soda); the pre-movie short was a touching little feature produced by students at Ballard High School. Beautiful clear night but it cooled off fast, so a blanket and/or jacket is usually a good idea. Next Saturday night, the movie is “The Goonies” (trailer); the full series list is on this page, along with each movie’s sponsors (we’re a co-sponsor for the entire series and also presenting “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” an old fave, two weeks from tonight).
#1, the killer bunny:
That’s from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” showing tonight at dusk in the courtyard next to Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor), the first of six West Seattle Movies on the Wall over the next month and a half of Saturday nights (full list here – in part the result of YOUR suggestions, via WSB and Junction ballot boxes!). Reason #2: Sidewalk Cinema, which makes the movie magic happen, promises a preshow feature – a youth-made film from NFFTY! Reason #3, help the West Seattle Food Bank – bring a nonperishable food donation (admission is free), and buy something from the concession stand set up by West Seattle Christian Church (WSB sponsor) — proceeds go to WSFB. See you there!
HUGE West Seattle Weekend Lineup – with the West Seattle Grand Parade (2007 photo above shows members of the Seattle Chinese Community Girls’ Drill Team, which is in the lineup again this year) at midday tomorrow … then tomorrow night:
That wall next to Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) is converted to a movie screen as Movies on the Wall starts a six-Saturday-night run … Oh, and did we mention Mediterranean Fantasy Festival at Hiawatha all weekend? And the West Seattle Garden Tour on Sunday? 53 events ahead (and a new handy feature to click ahead to each day):Read More
Just so happens the song was “The Children of Sanchez” when we got that video of The Children of West Seattle (some of ’em, anyway) romping during the West Seattle Big Band‘s hour-and-a-half Hi-Yu Festival Concert in the Park tonight @ Hiawatha. Good-sized crowd – band manager Jim Edwards told us afterward that concertgoers started showing up as early as an hour before showtime (great night for a picnic dinner!). Ahead, more video (including an extremely young “assistant bandleader”), and your next chance to enjoy free outdoor summer concerts in West Seattle (one of which will also star the WSBB):Read More
You saw it here weeks ago, but now it’s official – with the premiere two nights away, Bravo has officially announced the cast of “Project Runway” Season 5, including Blayne, the artistic barista from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor). Here’s his official bio on Bravo’s site (with headshot links below it to the other 15 contestants). As we mentioned last week, Hotwire proprietor Lora Lewis has organized a viewing party for the Wednesday night season premiere in the community room at Ginomai (southwest corner of 42nd/Genesee, right around the corner from Hotwire), 8 pm, BYONABD (bring your own non-alcoholic beverage – and dessert).
West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction is the “star attraction” this weekend, but by no means the only one. A little further south, White Center Music Nights resume tonight at Cafe Rozella and Full Tilt Ice Cream; tomorrow morning, a Vietnamese Cultural Festival brings an invitation for you to find out more about what some had considered “the mystery statue of Orchard Avenue” (photo above; recent WSB feature story here) … there’s also Shakespeare in the park, a track meet, a high-school reunion … in all, 52 listings ahead (including a double traffic alert):Read More
Last night, we mentioned the viewing party set next Wednesday to cheer West Seattle barista Blayne on “Project Runway.” Tonight, there’s another reality-show viewing party in West Seattle — Comic/impressionist Marcus will be at Rocksport at 8 pm, where you can join him to watch the show on which he’s a finalist, “Last Comic Standing.” He’s also getting ready for his performances at Admiral Theater tomorrow night and Saturday, so Admiral management invited us to shoot a snippet of video with him this morning – it’s more of a plug than a comedy routine but if you have 40 seconds to spare, his Captain Jack Sparrow imitation is pretty dead-on:
The Admiral’s got a ton of live comedy shows coming up, all listed here.
You read it here first June 18 — Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) barista Blayne (photo left) made it to “Project Runway,” according to Hotwire proprietor Lora Lewis (as of tonight, still no formal announcement of the Season 5 cast), and now Lora sends word of a viewing party for the PR new-season debut next Wednesday — a big-screen TV will be set up in the community room at Ginomai (42nd/Genesee; map), which can hold about 30 people; 9 pm next Wednesday (7/16), bring a small dessert and non-alcoholic beverage to share, the room will open around 8 pm. (If you are looking for a viewing party WITH booze, Lora says nearby Shadow Land is planning one.)
Now that the 4th is past, we’ll talk more about other events coming up – the big one next weekend is West Seattle Summer Fest Friday-Sunday in The Junction, but next weekend has more to offer too, including an event at the site shown above: Along Orchard west of Delridge, across from Home Depot, by Tug Tavern, that small house with the big statue out back is inviting you to a Vietnamese Cultural Festival a week from today, including a closer look at the statue; we first found out about it after dispatching a student-journalism team to go find out more about the statue, something we’ve meant to do for a long time, as we often get questions from passersby – read on to learn about it, and about next Saturday’s event:Read More
(July 2007 photo by Bob Bollen)
Hot on the heels of the 4th of July, it’s another big event at Alki today – the Seafair Pirates Landing, which is more than just the “landing” itself, with vendors and freebies starting at mid-morning and continuing into early afternoon – new features this year, the Pirates promise at their website – their arrival is one of 25 West Seattle events in this special Sat-Sun-only WSWL (since Friday had its own 4th of July page):Read More
Luminarias like those will grace the field at West Seattle Stadium tonight, 10 pm, during the American Cancer Society-fundraising Relay for Life of West Seattle (WSB preview story here), which begins tonight with a 6 pm survivors’ lap, and continues all night, till noon tomorrow. Many other weekend highlights, including “Music Nights” resuming tonight at Cafe Rozella (with Children of the Revolution at 7 pm), a welcome-home party for surfing-injury survivor Addie Killam … 37 West Seattle events/activities ahead for tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday:Read More
At center, it’s R.E.M. co-founder Peter Buck, flanked by West Seattle residents David Belisle (L) and Corianton Hale (R), at the launch party for their new book R.E.M.:HELLO tonight at Easy Street in The Junction. (Read more about it in our original report.) Here’s some video looking over their shoulders at the crowd for the signing during the first hour of the party:
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