West Seattle, Washington
07 Thursday
From our Holiday Stuff page (which also includes this weekend’s Christmas Ship stops, among other things): 7 pm tonight, Chief Sealth HS Commons, the Westside Symphonette‘s holiday concert … free!
Running this site for almost a year now, we’ve learned a lot about just how much creativity is continuously percolating on our side of the bay. Some of it, people take the time to write us about, such as the Ginomai artists’ community that is taking shape in the space once occupied by WS Christian School, and hundreds (if not thousands) of individual projects, such as this webcomic, and this band. And then, there are the WS artistic endeavors we happen onto, such as the erotic-glass artist who will be showing his stuff tonight, during a Biznik business-networking event at his studio. Boggles us a bit, but we’ll readily admit to a somewhat sheltered life. Play safe!
Forgot to mention the Admiral‘s monthly showing of “Rocky Horror Picture Show” in our weekend-events post. It fell so far off our radar that we were truly startled to walk out of a 9 pm-ish Admiral movie tonight and find the lobby full of chattering, creatively dressed RHPS fans. More startling still, two late arrivals whom we passed as they giggled and staggered toward the theater from the Safeway vicinity, both in black corsets and fishnet stockings a la Dr. Frank N Furter, as coatless as if they were strolling to a showing in Key West at 34 degrees C, rather than West Seattle at 34 degrees F. Never a dull moment!
Headlining these next three days is The Junction’s “Wonderful Weekend,” starting tonight with the open house involving many Junction stores and restaurants, continuing tomorrow night with the Tree Lighting, and wrapping up Sunday with wagon rides and Santa Photos @ Coffee to a Tea with Sugar. Also this weekend in The Junction, “Voices of Christmas” continues @ ArtsWest. We’ve got a ton of other holiday notes, including nonprofit wreath sales, on our WS Holiday Stuff page. (And if your weekend includes putting up Christmas lights, remember that we plan to list the biggest WS displays on that same page, so send us your address if yours qualifies, or that of anything else big, bright ‘n’ beautiful that you see ’round here.) Also this weekend — it’s Bingo Night tonight as part of the Fabulous Family Fridays series at High Point Community Center, volunteers are welcome Saturday at a Camp Long work party.
1 — this snow/ice madness should finally be over and done with
2 — first night of “Voices of Christmas” @ ArtsWest (link on our WS Holiday Stuff page)
3 — Alki Art Studio reception @ The Bathhouse
4 — Greg Laswell live in-store @ Easy Street
5 — a wild-sounding poetry-book release party @ Talarico’s (really)
… and all through the town/nothing much was scheduled/’cause few were around.
Well, it’s not that slow, but close (the really good stuff is next weekend, including the 2nd annual West Seattle Tree Lighting). Keep in mind that the community centers are closed, the Senior Center’s closed, but stores are open, so it’s a great weekend to start shopping! (We’ll post some recommendations soon for only-in-WS gifts.) Aside from that, here’s a few weekend events: Santa’s arriving @ Westwood Village at noon Saturday … the Holy Rosary Tree Lot opens Saturday (we’ll be scoping out others this weekend too) … on Sunday, it’s one of the final four West Seattle Farmers’ Market days of the year … ongoing art exhibits include “Visual Ensembles” @ ArtsWest, Alexis St. John’s retrospective @ T(ea) Gallery, and “Art for the People” by Chad Stieg @ Revolution Coffee & Art.
So we’re sitting in the balcony at Cinerama downtown watching Casino Royale, the new James Bond movie (six thumbs up). The theme song is by Chris Cornell of Audioslave, ex-Soundgarden. “Doesn’t he live in West Seattle?” we ask ourselves. Sadly, post-movie research reveals, he used to, but not any more. He got divorced and remarried; his ex-wife got the house in Gatewood. Good song, tho; hear it here.
Here’s some of what’s up this weekend around West Seattle: For starters, things are jumping on Delridge tonight, with the “semi-annual open house” for Youngstown Arts Center & Cooper Artist Housing, plus an “open-campus celebration” for Delridge Community Center, the Delridge library branch, and nearby community-service agencies … Friday Night Family Skating again tonight @ Alki Community Center … EarthCorps work party Saturday @ Me-Kwa-Mooks … Holiday Craft & Plant Fair on Saturday @ Southwest Community Center (as posted earlier on our WSB Holiday Stuff page) … Community Rummage Sale on Saturday @ Hiawatha Community Center …“In Fere” Saturday & Sunday nights @ Youngstown Arts Center … Andy Crow plays piano & organ Sunday afternoon @ Kenyon Hall … West Seattle Neighbors for Peace & Justice presents “Sir! No Sir!” @ the WS Library on Sunday afternoon … the Visual Ensembles exhibit continues @ ArtsWest … live music tonight and tomorrow night (as is usual for Thurs/Fri/Sat nights) @ Skylark Cafe … Finally, two memorials that we mentioned below: Saturday afternoon @ Seattle Center Pavilion, the public memorial for 47th/Admiral accident victim Tatsuo Nakata; also on Saturday, the Dix memorial cruise. Anything we missed? Leave a comment or e-mail us.
-Last reminder that the city’s Southwest Design Review Board meets tonight @ the police dept.’s SW Precinct, with 2 projects on the agenda: the controversial apartment/condo/”park-pool” proposal for 4515 41st SW, and “mixed-use” @ 4116 Cali.
-Tipster wrote to tell us about Salon.com’s comic “K Chronicles” giving a shoutout to West Seattle. (Since Salon requires subscriptions or “day passes,” good news is, a different site has a free link to the strip here.) Further investigation reveals its author Keith Knight will be at the T(ea) Gallery (in the SOA zone) tonight for an afterparty following his appearance at Hugo House; per the comic, he’s related to the TG’s owner.
Wow, the weekend already? The calendar doesn’t lie. So here’s some of what’s up around WS this weekend, in no particular order: If you want to see the biggest movie of the year for cheap, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 has finally landed @ the Admiral … A much different sort of film screens tonight at Youngstown Arts Center, “I Know I’m Not Alone: A Musician’s Search for the Human Cost of War” … The Friends of Orchard Street Ravine have a work party tomorrow … The Four Sheep Acoustic Music Concert Series continues Sunday night at Youngstown AC with Susan Gibson … Looks like a slow weekend otherwise; calm before the holiday storm! Leave a comment if you know of something cool we missed …
The folks at Divina remind us that (as we mentioned earlier) tonight is the first of the revived West Seattle Art Walks. (2nd Thursday of each month) Participants include: At Divina, local sculptors Randy Bolander, Art Donnelly and Karin Richardson; painters Kelly Rae Cunningham, Brian McGuffey, Carla Davis and Deana Plymale; illustrator Jeanette Piper; creative concept designer Wyn Bielaska, Seattle Lutheran art teacher Jacob Dahlke, and Colombian artisan Clara Obregon … at Hotwire Online Coffeehouse, paintings by Mary Enslow, co-owner of Twilight Artist Collective, curator of Hotwire coffeehouses …
At Clementine, West Seattle metal sculptor and ring maker Rachel Alber … at Coffee to a Tea with Sugar, photographs by Michael Spence … 8 Limbs Yoga (enter from alley), West Seattle photographer and painter Lauren T. Kitsner … at Cupcake Royale, paintings by Alex Thomas … at Elliott Bay Brewery, oil paintings by Tim Pew and Will Hass … then stop at West 5 afterward, tell server or bartender that you took the Art Walk, and organizers promise a complimentary glass of champagne. All this tonight, 6-8 pm in The Junction!
On our list as a must-go: Megawatt’s Gathering of Neighbors, noon-3 tomorrow @ Chief Sealth HS … Tonight and tomorrow are the last performances of tick, tick … BOOM! at ArtsWest … Partman Parthorse is live in-store tonight @ Easy Street in The Junction … Twelfth Night stages “The Dining Room” this weekend @ Youngstown Arts Center … Free “Walk/Talk/Taste” tour @ PCC West Seattle this Sunday … All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner tonight at High Point CC … 4 live music shows tonight, 3 tomorrow @ Skylark Cafe … It’s post-weekend, but the Ballard Sedentary Sousa Band will be at The Hall @ Fauntleroy on Monday … And don’t forget that the West Seattle Farmers’ Market continues 10 am–2 pm Sundays all the way into mid-December! … What’d we miss? Leave a comment on this item with the info, or e-mail us.
Speaking of boutiques (see below) … the proprietor(s) of Divina just let us know about the first edition of a new series of West Seattle Art Walks, coming up next week! It’s set for 6-8 pm one week from tonight (Thursday 11/9) starting at Divina, where walking maps will be available (along with vino and snax). Organizers plan to do this each month thereafter, on the 2nd Thursday. (Perhaps it could evolve into something like this.)
And now, from our weekly sampling of What’s Up Around WS This Weekend (starting today — doesn’t everyone want a three-day weekend?) … as always, we don’t claim that this is all-inclusive … but fun nonetheless: Youngstown Arts Center is a jumpin’ place again this weekend, with events including “Ghost Game†dinner theater tonight and “The Night Parade†(featuring trapeze performances) on Saturday night … Fauntleroy Creek is a hive of excitement this weekend, with a Megawatt “field trip†on Saturday (you need to sign up, if they have room left) and drumming at 5 pm Sunday to call the salmon home … Then there’s lots of live music, including The Bend and The Quiet Ones @ Easy Street tonight, a full weekend of bands at Skylark Cafe … if you like bingo, the West Seattle Senior Center schedule says it’s Halloween Rainbow Bingo tonight … fun for the family with a marionette puppet show at Alki Community Center on Saturday afternoon … and “Tick, Tick … BOOM!†continues this weekend at ArtsWest; LATE ADD: how could we forget the Huling Bowl, WSHS vs. Chief Sealth, 7 pm tonight at the stadium next to SW Community Center! … As we say every Friday, please leave a comment or e-mail us to let us know anything cool that we’re missing!
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).
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).
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!
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)!
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!
–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.
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?
-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?
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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