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Fun way to get out of the rain today
October 15, 2006 9:57 am
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 |   Fauntleroy | WS culture/arts

Never been to the Fauntleroy Fall Festival but sounds like it’s all indoors — 3 to 7 pm today, The Hall @ Fauntleroy (in the ex-school building, just up the hill from the Fauntleroy bizdistlet).

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And yet more weekend
October 13, 2006 12:06 pm
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 |   Transportation | WS culture/arts

Forgot to mention one last time, a BIG reason to stay on this side of the bay this weekend — the viaduct’s closing, 6 am-6 pm, both days. (And if you want to feel even better about driving less, “An Inconvenient Truth” is still at the Admiral.) Plus, in addition to the events mentioned in the post below, Chas writes to tell us it’s the last Music Nights @ White Center event tonight (seven participating venues).

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Friday the 13th, and beyond
October 13, 2006 8:45 am
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 |   WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

Here goes with our almost-weekly quick look at some of what’s happening around WS this weekend (which as far as we’re concerned, starts NOW!): The Fauntleroy Fall Festival on Sunday … Family skating at Alki Community Center tonight … Comedy juggling at Kenyon Hall tonight and Saturday … The first of two “Creative Conversations” at Youngstown Arts Center on Saturday … Clementine promises a grand-opening celebration with cake on Saturday (not mentioned on its website; saw it in a magazine ad!) … Tibbetts Church’s annual fall “rummage sale” today and tomorrow … “tick … tick, BOOM!” continues this weekend at ArtsWest … Volunteers are working on habitat restoration along the Duwamish on Saturday … Just outside the WS border, the Sonics-Storm Legends Tour stops at White Center Park/Community Center on Saturday morning … Elsewhere on the sports front, high-school football at West Seattle Stadium tonight and Saturday night … What are we missing? Leave a comment or e-mail us with anything to add!

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First weekend in October
October 6, 2006 10:29 am
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 |   WS culture/arts | WS miscellaneous

A sampling of West Seattle fun ‘n’ stuff this weekend: Tonight, the Twelfth Night Cabaret @ Youngstown Arts Center … also tonight, Family Movie Night (“Charlie & the Chocolate Factory,” free!) @ High Point Community Center … first weekend for Tick, Tick … BOOM! at ArtsWest … Saturday, EarthCorps needs help with planting & invasive-plant removal @ Lincoln Park … Sunday, remember the WS Farmers’ Market is still going strong, two more months (lettuce and tree fruit were both awesome last week, among other things)!

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September’s swan song
September 30, 2006 7:19 am
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 |   WS culture/arts | WS miscellaneous

Some eclectic events (and thanks to those who’ve e-mailed us about some of this happenings): Megawatt’s “Chautauqua” tonight … a health fair at Freedom Church today (little signs have been up on my side of WS for weeks) … yard sale season is winding down; this one today sounds interesting … live tunes tonight at venues including the lively Skylark Cafe … HS football tonight with Ingraham vs. West Seattle @ WS Stadium … an “educator reception” at Westwood Village Barnes & Noble today with editors and writers of books for “young adults” … my last plug for the Water Taxi’s final day (check the video link on this page; a report from yesterday, kinda cute) … still bored? peruse the offerings at our local community centers — like Alki CC (fall brochure here) … See you out and about!

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From the papers
September 28, 2006 7:04 am
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 |   West Seattle news | WS culture/arts

–Cool article from the latest Seattle Weekly (if the link doesn’t work for you, try it later; the SW site seems a little quirky this am) about an artist whose striking work we saw during breakfasts at Easy Street earlier this year. Seems West Seattle’s Most Famous Musician saw them too, and … the rest is history.

-WS gets a brief mention in a Times piece today by the guy we consider the funniest writer in the local newspaper world, Ron Judd. It’s an imagined Q&A explaining the NW to a non-local, including:

Q: What should I know about West Seattle?

A: It’s lovely, and sort of an island unto itself in a social sort of way. Unfortunately, after the next big earthquake, it very likely will be an island unto itself in a physical sort of way.

Well, at least we already have ferry service.

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WS weekend excitement
September 22, 2006 9:34 pm
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 |   WS culture/arts

In no particular order, and certainly not all-inclusive, here’s some of what’s going on this weekend around our side of the bay:

WestFest at Holy Rosary (through Saturday) … second and final weekend of the Green Living Expo @ High Point (on Sat. & Sun.) … new art show opens Sunday at ArtsWest … last full weekend of the Elliott Bay Water Taxi … cooking demo on Sunday at West Seattle Farmers’ Market … debut of Mars Hill Church/West Seattle in its temporary home @ Chief Sealth HS … a cross-WS rivalry game of sorts with Cleveland (currently housed @ Boren) vs. WSHS at West Seattle Stadium on Saturday night …

Anything else?

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Big weekend ahead
September 15, 2006 8:10 pm
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 |   WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

-Sunday: Morgan Junction Community Festival, 11 am-6 pm at the future site of what I know no one will dare to call the Monorail Memorial Park.

-Saturday: Delridge Affordable Housing & Resource Fair, 10 am-4 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

-Saturday: Sundodger Invitational regional college cross-country meet through Lincoln Park.

-Both days: First of two weekends for the first-ever Green Living Expo, 10 am-5 pm at High Point.

Anything big that I’m missing?

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On the run
September 13, 2006 6:55 am
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 |   West Seattle parks | WS & Sports | WS culture/arts

Don’t go to Lincoln Park this Saturday looking for a quiet stroll among the trees. It’ll be the site of the Sundodger Invitational college cross-country meet. Haven’t found the exact times yet, but did find this course map.

(Also on Saturday — one more festival before we officially say goodbye to summer — the Morgan Junction Community Festival. The entertainment lineup is posted here.)

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Theme of the day, apparently
September 10, 2006 2:18 pm
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 |   Westwood | WS culture/arts

Dropped by the Farmers’ Market just as the weekly Junction anti-war vigil was revving up. Week after week, those folks are a steady presence … it’s taken this long for most of the rest of the country to catch up.

The subject came up again during the Terry Brooks reading at Westwood Village’s Barnes & Noble this afternoon. (SRO — next time they get a best-selling author, a few more chairs might be a good investment.) Brooks (proudly introduced as a WS resident) read about a dozen action-packed pages from the forthcoming 2nd book in his new trilogy that started with the newly released “Armageddon’s Children.” (Might be more than a trilogy; he hinted it could be the first of up to 9 books.) It’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy (our favorite kind, so we just might have to buy this book), and he cited as inspiration his concern about the way things have been going since about the turn of the millennium. (Sounds like his politics are right at home in blue West Seattle …)

All this, on the eve of the milestone 5th anniversary of 9/11; tomorrow morning we’ll look back here at the special role West Seattle played in the mourning and tributes that followed that cataclysmic day.

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No need to sit around in front of the computer (uh, wait …)
September 8, 2006 8:30 am
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 |   WS culture/arts | WS Weekend Lineup

Some things to do in the days to come (by no means all-inclusive):

Friday family events at High Point/Delridge Community Centers, starting with an ice-cream social tonight. More info here.

Saturday afternoon hamster races (really!) at Petco in The Junction — 2 pm.

Mega-best-selling West Seattle author Terry Brooks at Barnes & Noble in Westwood Village this Sunday — 1 pm.

Last day of the year at Colman Pool, also this Sunday — last session, 5-7 pm.

Fundraiser concert at ArtsWest on Sunday night. More info here.

Anything else exciting (and public) on your scheduler?

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Book star @ bookstore
August 31, 2006 7:51 pm
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 |   WS culture/arts

Another West Seattle superstar is about to make a “neighborhood” appearance. Barnes & Noble at Westwood Village promises a reading by mega-best-selling author Terry Brooks in a week and a half. We’re not much for fantasy novels but we do own one of Mr. Brooks’ books — his novelization of Star Wars Episode I (The Phantom Menace).

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Looking ahead to our WS weekend
August 23, 2006 11:16 pm
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 |   WS culture/arts

Two things on the radar so far: 

-Don’t forget the open house at High Point Community Center this Friday.

-The Arts in Nature Festival features events at two West Seattle venues this weekend.

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That’s entertainment
August 12, 2006 12:30 pm
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 |   WS culture/arts

Several fun options around West Seattle tonight: “Grease” at Sidewalk Cinema next to Hotwire (we’ve been to these fun outdoor movies twice this summer and had a blast both times); “Once Upon a Mattress” in the West Seattle High School theater (billed as partly a fundraiser for the relatively new and lively Youngstown Cultural Arts Center); the last night of “Cabaret” at ArtsWest; and if you venture a little further southwest to White Center, sounds like one heck of a bash till 10 pm tonight at Pacific Rim Brewing Company, featuring more than half a dozen bands and the inimitable Rat City Rollergirls.

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What goes up …
August 11, 2006 5:27 am
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 |   Development | WS culture/arts

Two tales today of things going up:

-The Admiral Way Viewpoint’s new pole will be celebrated this afternoon. The P-I’s version of the story today is fairly vanilla; the WS Herald’s version (with photo) is spiced with the backstory of how the log used for the pole was “poached.”

-Taller and wider than perhaps a thousand poles, yet another “mixed-use” project in the Junction (this is the one on ex-monorail land across from Jefferson Square) is advancing through the city pipeline. The latest Land Use Info Bulletin (a must-subscribe if you are interested in early word on what might be going up, and coming down, near you) announces an “early design review guidance” meeting in two weeks. Now the big question — in the two months since this P-I article spotlighted the dilemma to be posed by the loss of that parking lot, is there any progress toward a solution? (as was semi-promised in the following section of that article) The concerns are significant; I wound up parking in that lot last Sunday while trying to get to the Farmers’ Market, since everything on the west side of California (and beyond) was taken (except the “pay spaces,” which I suppose we’ll now see more of), and no, the bus wasn’t a good solution — the Sunday schedules are horrible. Anyway, here’s what was in that May P-I article. Love to hear what’s transpired regarding staying “in touch with the community”:

The company that catalyzed high-rise downtown living with Harbor Steps apartments has shifted its sights to close-in neighborhoods, snapping up a parking lot in the heart of West Seattle’s Alaska Junction.

It fits Harbor Properties’ criteria perfectly: good public transportation, a walkable business district and a neighborhood “with a soul,” said chief development officer Denny Onslow.

Though specifics for the roughly 100-unit development the company plans to build there are up on the air, it’s clear the building will supplant the parking lot behind Petco, which will be forced to move once those 40 spaces are gone, store officials say.

It’s also functioned as a free community lot where anyone dropping in for dance lessons, beers or kids’ art classes could usually poach a spot.

“In my opinion it’s going to be devastating to lose that as parking,” said Michael Hoffman, owner of Liberty Bell Printing. “We were trying to get it back for our merchants association … but there was no way we could compete.”

Harbor Properties, which bid $4.5 million, has already begun talking to the community and is well aware of the parking concerns, said development director Steve Orser.

The company is willing to work on those, he said. Junction businesses, though, should also benefit from an influx of new residents looking to walk to restaurants, shopping or yoga classes.

“Sometimes our parking is lower than what you might expect because we offer alternative transportation and we encourage that as part of our sustainable and green development,” he said. “But we’re going to do our best to be in touch with the community and see if there aren’t solutions.”

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A reminder of impending fall
August 10, 2006 6:31 am
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 |   WS culture/arts

Hate to bum you out if you’d rather focus on the month left till school starts, three weeks left in August, etc., but the nice folks at High Point Community Center wrote to ask that we let you know they’re having an open house later this month to tell the world about their fall programs. Friday, August 25, 6-8 pm.

High Point has changed so much in recent years — if you’re a WS semi-old-timer like us, you may recall the days when High Point=trouble, but that’s really not the case any more. The community center (and elementary school) both have gone through beautiful remodels/rebuilds in recent years; there’s a brand new library branch; and the nearby development is a 180 from the old days of rundown housing. Venture over that way (if you live in other areas of WS) and you will likely be surprised.

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Like pulling teeth
August 5, 2006 11:57 pm
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 |   WS culture/arts

You’ve never really heard a section of a movie audience crack up till you’ve watched Steve Martin’s scenes at a showing of “Little Shop of Horrors” sponsored by dentists …

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Weekend options
August 4, 2006 8:48 am
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 |   WS culture/arts

You don’t have to join us Seafair nuts in oohing and aahing over what’s on the water and what’s in the sky … here’s just a few of the kazillion weekend options in and around West Seattle:

-Another Sidewalk Cinema movie tomorrow night. “Little Shop of Horrors” this time. We had such a great time at Sidewalk Cinema (next to Hotwire Coffee) two weeks ago, we might go to this one even though we’re kind of meh on the movie.

-Take the Fauntleroy ferry over to Vashon for Earthfair.

-See what’s new at the Farmers’ Market 10 am-2 pm Sunday. (I recommend the lettuce from the produce booth close to the northwest corner … just a couple booths up from where Eats Market Cafe usually sets up.)

-Check out “Cabaret” at ArtsWest.

-Enjoy Colman Pool (and the view) … only one month left in the season (where DID the summer go?).

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Another festival for your calendar
August 1, 2006 6:21 am
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 |   WS culture/arts | WS miscellaneous

The arrival of August is bittersweet because it’s both the best part of summer (the nicest weather) and the worst part of summer (most of the big festivals and celebrations are over). However, the fine folks of Morgan Junction are going to stretch out the season with a community festival in mid-September. If you live on the other side of WS, come down this way sometime and check it out — the “big” Junction gets more attention, but things are hopping on the south end too. Have a Caffe Ladro latte and try their espresso cheesecake; check out the fiery-sweet General Tso’s Chicken at New Teriyaki & Wok; then head west to our “south West Seattle” beaches (Lincoln Park & Lowman) or take a ferry ride to Vashon and Southworth. Lots of teardowns-to-townhomes on this end too, so things won’t be quiet for long.

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Coolness
July 23, 2006 4:21 pm
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 |   WS culture/arts | WS miscellaneous

Most of today has been spent in pursuit of ways not to roast. We’ve guzzled gallons of ice water. We’ve run up our SPU bill by running the hose on the car, the plants, each other. We oohed and aahed over the air conditioning at Target, while in search of summer-specific merchandise that of course is no longer available, since that type of store has now turned its marketing attention to “BACK-TO-SCHOOL SEASON!” (despite the fact we’re not even midway through the miserably short summer break). Now it’s time to make a nice cool salad with lettuce procured at the Farmers’ Market earlier today, and think warmly (?) about the lower temperatures allegedly on the way.

Also time to look ahead to next weekend … looks like one of the marquee events on our side of the bay will be the Alki Art Fair, Saturday & Sunday.

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Next best thing to the drive-in
July 22, 2006 11:34 pm
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 |   WS culture/arts

If you’re old enough to remember the heyday of the drive-in movie, you’ll adore the Sidewalk Cinema movie series this summer. We decided at the near-last-minute to go to tonight’s kickoff — good turnout, looked like a couple hundred people, all gathered in the courtyard/parking area just east of Hotwire Coffeehouse. Not only was “Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit” a howling good time (our second viewing), the WWII-era Bugs Bunny cartoon and JFK-era school “instructional filmstrip” video provided some laughs too.

A few things we weren’t prepared for: would have brought $ if we’d known each of these showings has a benefit charity; tonight it was Furry Faces Foundation, announced as “West Seattle’s newest nonprofit” (can’t find a website for them, darn). A hat was passed twice to collect donations, and two items were auctioned at “intermission” — a $40 Hotwire prepaid coffee card (went for $30) and something from the “flamingo flocking” folks who also had appeared in the parade earlier (went for $17). Plus, West Seattle Christian School is presenting concessions — popcorn and candy, on the east side of the courtyard (Hotwire was open before the movie too; yummy drinks).

Next Saturday night, same place, same time (excellent screen/DVD video and audio quality, if you’re picky about those things) — movie will be Jumanji. We’ll be at the Seafair Torchlight Parade downtown instead (cheering for the Hi-Yu float! and anything else West Seattle-related, including Hizzoner) but if you’re not going, Sidewalk Cinema is a great time. (Especially after a hot day … on our way out, we overheard a guy complaining he’d be going home to the “hottest house in West Seattle.” I always thought ours was. Love the western exposure, except for those two or three scorchers every year …)

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What else to do this weekend
July 20, 2006 6:01 am
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 |   How to help | WS culture/arts | WS miscellaneous

How about Shakespeare in the park … Lincoln Park!

And we’ll mention Sunday’s Farmers Market side event once more — Westside Baby’s “Stuff the Bus (with diapers)” drive (even though they’ve got big bright banners on both sides of the Fauntleroy walkover so they probably don’t need the plug)!

Whatever you do, keep cool …

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Countdown continues: Reason #4 to love The Parade
July 19, 2006 6:56 pm
|      1 COMMENT
 |   West Seattle Grand Parade | WS culture/arts

TWO-WHEELERS AND ONE-WHEELERS!

In the day-plus since I posted Reason #5, I’ve been provided with the top-secret scoop on who’s in Saturday’s big annual parade down Cali Ave. So I can tell you, the motorcycle representation includes not only the incredible daredevils from Vancouver, B.C. (making their ONLY stop in this area), and their more-reserved rivals from our fair city, but also the “Apple Dumpling Gang Motorcycle Club” and the Nile Mini Bike Unit. And on one wheel, without motors, with incredible coordination, it’ll be the Pathfinder Unicycle Team (ready to pop wheelies … or something … over the “No Boren” victory).

Tomorrow: Reason #3!

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