West Seattle, Washington
27 Monday
Busy night – WSB team members have been to the High Point Neighborhood Association pedestrian safety tour (video on that later) and a couple stops along the monthly West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction. Participation is especially strong on the north end, where we dropped in on Ginomai at the SW corner of 42nd/Genesee, which opens artists’ working studios during the Art Walk, and Divina (California/Genesee), where student art from several schools around West Seattle is on display – if you missed it during the Art Walk, you can check it out at Divina any time till the day before Thanksgiving – here are just a few samples (the wire sculptures at the bottom of the photo, and more hanging from the shop ceiling, are particularly cool):
While in The Junction, we also noticed Shadowland‘s sign is up – we’ve discussed its quirky exterior here before, and will check back in daylight for a wider, brighter perspective:
First: Word comes from Divina that the shop @ California/Genesee will feature student artists, K-12, from around West Seattle, during tomorrow night’s monthly West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction (more participants are listed on the Art Walk blog). A separate e-mail, from Amy, alerts us to the fact that this year’s Poetry on Buses poets include two Gatewood Elementary students — 6-year-old Sharon Zumwalt (read her poem here) and 6-year-old Giovanni Paredes (read his poem here); this year’s winning poets are being celebrated at a launch party tonight.
OK, so last night’s election results suggest nobody’s in much of a mood to give government more money. However, as we have reported here previously, this is the time of year when local governments are deciding what to do with the money they already have (or are slated to get) – and Seattle Public Library supporters have an urgent call for library users to help make sure the library’s needs are “on the books” if you will:Read More
Many cool West Seattle events in the week ahead – this one tomorrow packs poetic punch.
Hands down the most memorable story we’ve had the privilege of telling you this week has been that of “West Seattle Art Attack,” an anonymous local glass artist who, while working on creations for nonprofit-benefit sales, decided to plant the not-quite-perfect productions in local yards. (Previous reports here, here, here, and here). WSAA’s heartstrings (ours too) were tugged by one comment below the 1st post, from Barbara, who wrote that she longed for a pumpkin in honor of her anniversary, Halloween, because her husband’s been in Iraq for their last two anniversaries. Well, as of tonight, she has one:
WSAA contacted WSB to ask if we could mediate a pumpkin delivery for Barbara. So we did; then she sent photos, as well as thanks for the pumpkin and for the anniversary card included by WSAA (in the bag seen below) — it wished Barbara and husband a happy anniversary, on behalf of everyone in WSB-land.
Two clips from West Seattle’s own homegrown Skeleton Theatre last night; you may recognize the soundtrack. (Read all about Skeleton Theatre, including where and when to go see it for Night 2 tonight, on the ST site.)
(video no longer available due to host’s shutdown, sorry!)
If you’re at home – go peek at your yard – you might have a present from a mysterious, anonymous local glass artist who tells WSB he/she has been leaving surprises in yards around West Seattle “that look like their owners would appreciate a new bit of unexpected art.” The artist sent photographic proof (the one at right was taken under cover of night):
The artist says you’ll know it’s one of theirs if it’s signed “West Seattle Art Attack.” Let us know if you find one! (P.S. More jack-o-lantern photos coming; still time to get yours in.)
We’ve been tracking the Admiral Theater‘s evolution in recent months (scroll down its category page for archived posts); today, there’s a nice feature about the Admiral in the P-I. Reporter Kery Murakami had asked us, while working on the article, if we had any Admiral memories; as we told Kery, unfortunately we don’t — unless you count having watched “Garfield The Movie” there a few years back and almost fainting with laughter at the clumsy product-placement overkill — but we’re glad Kery found some West Seattleites who do. The Admiral will be jumping tonight, by the way, with the “Rocky Horror” Halloween bash, featuring live music from Sister Hyde, 9:30-2 am, $15.
(Photo: Fairmount Springs traffic-island decorations along Fauntleroy.) ‘Tis the weekend before Halloween, and all through the peninsula … Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), nothing rhymes with “peninsula.” Let’s just get to the 47 events lined up for you this weekend, many of which are Halloween-themed, so get those costumes ready:Read More
Good crowd for the events at three Fauntleroy venues this afternoon. Our videographer stopped by to catch a song from the West Seattle Big Band. (Note the audio mix is a little odd because we’re just using the camera mike; a high-quality external mike is next on the shopping list!)
It’s been a busy year for the WSBB, seen at other big events including the Hi-Yu Concert in the Park and Alki Statue of Liberty unveiling.
Another reminder that festival season doesn’t end when summer sails away: An annual autumn highlight in West Seattle, the Fauntleroy Fall Festival, happens this Sunday afternoon — with music, food, and tons of fun — and it’s one of 31 listings on this week’s edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup:Read More
As the new leadership at the Admiral Theater continues morphing it into much more than a second-run moviehouse, 
they’ve got local independent filmmakers premiering a movie there this Saturday. We talked (via e-mail) with co-director Damon Agnos of “Haymaker & Sally,” which he explains as: “If you liked ‘Starsky & Hutch’ but felt it needed more action; if you were thrilled by ‘Scarface’ but wished Tony would sponsor a Little League team; if you enjoyed ‘Serpico’ but wished he didn’t get shot in the face; if you always wanted ‘Miami Vice’ to do an episode where Crockett and Tubbs grill the kid behind the counter at the local Kinko’s, then ‘Haymaker & Sally’ is for you.” (Poster at right, designed by Andrew Miller.) So why premiere the movie in WS instead of the usual indy-film haunts (Capitol Hill, U-District, etc.)? Read on:Read More
Great news – looks like decent weather to stroll The Junction during tomorrow night’s monthly West Seattle Second Thursday Art Walk. The official Art Walk blog lists participating artists, with a reminder that you can get a free glass of bubbly at West 5 if you mention you’re Art Walk-ing; we’ve also heard from Dan at Ginomai on the north end of the route (Genesee/42nd) and he says, “We have a number of studio open houses as well as an additional 3 West Seattle artists showing in our community room. Free off-street parking lot to begin your walk from!” 6-9 pm tomorrow.
The ArtsWest production gets a thumbs-up (fangs up?) review in this week’s edition (second item here). Next show: tonight.
Two highlights for tonight from our frequently updated, relatively new (thanks for all the contributions; keep ’em coming!) West Seattle Events page, which already features Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas events too:
FREE AT ARTSWEST TONIGHT: It’s not a performance night for “Bat Boy: The Musical,“ but you can see and hear from its director and music director, among others, tonight at 7:30 during the latest installment of ArtsWest’s “On Stage” discussion series.
AT KENYON HALL TONIGHT: This is also at 7:30 — jazz bassist Jay Leonhart performs solo tonight (he’ll be at Kenyon Hall again Wednesday, with comedy added to the bill for that show).
You can check our new Events page any time to see what’s happening any day of the week (and thanks to everybody who’s sent us additions so far; keep ’em coming) but we’ll still bring you the West Seattle Weekend Lineup list every Friday morning too – with full weekend details (such as music acts at the major WS venues). Here’s this week’s edition; more than 30 items this time around:Read More
Romy Ehrsam (photo left) is likely the youngest of the many artists 
having receptions in West Seattle in the next few weeks — 6 years old! The rubber-stamp craft store Friends and Company in The Junction is hosting a reception for Romy tomorrow night, during which she will sign copies of the stamp she designed (photo below, shown with the original block print it’s taken from); it’s being distributed by what Friends and Company tells us is one of the industry’s bigger names, Idaho-based Rubbermoon. The reception starts at 6, signing at 7. Romy’s a second-generation stamp artist; her mom Gretchen Ehrsam designs them too.
A few highlights from the Events page (additions welcome; let us know!):
4:30 PM: Celebration scheduled to mark the start of construction phase 2 @ High Point; park at West Seattle Elementary, event at 31st & Holly (hope the weather clears!)
6:30 PM: North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting @ Delridge Library
7:00 PM: Southwest District Council meeting @ South Seattle Community College
7:30 PM: Opening night @ ArtsWest for “Bat Boy” (through November 10th)
Never mind the weather, there’s no such thing as a bad weekend … this time around, we’ve found 31 WS events for you to enjoy:Read More
This reminds us, we’ve been meaning to mention Skylark has music Thursdays as well as Fri-Sat-Sun.
At left (photo by Matthew Durham, courtesy ArtsWest), it’s the amazing Bat Boy, no longer just the figment of active tabloid imaginations (RIP, Weekly World News). ArtsWest‘s season opens next Wednesday with the Seattle premiere of “Bat Boy: The Musical” (tickets available online). For the theater-intrigued, one free event during the “Bat Boy” run is particularly worth noting: Next Monday @ 7:30 pm, ArtsWest’s director of theater will be among those participating in what AW describes as “a lively discussion about music as a character, musicals as social commentary, and how this all relates to the strange boy with pointy ears at the heart of “Bat Boy” … Zinovitch is directing “Bat Boy” and has something to say about the show in this new post on the ArtsWest MySpace blog.
Fall officially arrives early Sunday morning. Before and after that, there’s a massive amount of things to do in WS — from Holy Rosary’s annual WestFest tonight and tomorrow, to the North Delridge Adopt-a-Street cleanup, to tonight’s rescheduled outdoor movie (weather looks better), to the last Children of the Revolution appearance (they’re fabulous) of the season at Cafe Rozella tonight, and tons more: 37 events ahead!Read More
5-8 PM TONIGHT: Fall art show reception @ Alki Bathhouse.
7 PM TONIGHT: Alki Community Council meets @ Alki Community Center.
7 PM TOMORROW: Gate opens, next to Hotwire, for rescheduled Sidewalk Cinema presentation of “Monty Python & the Holy Grail.” Hope the weather holds!
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