Nosy Parker: New Skate Bowl, "Fences" Installation at Volunteer

Strolling through Volunteer Park on our lunch break, we spotted a new skate bowl where the antiquated reservoir used to be. With what looks like a (mini) super-collider laid out on the bottom, it's Seattle grunge meets Seattle hi-tech. Is this a response to the success of Cal Anderson Park, just down the Hill, with the younger set? If so, Volunteer is firing both barrels.

Further inspection yielded a new artistic installation "reminiscent" of Christo's "Gates" for Central Park. Populist Seattle reinvents the concept with what we're calling "Fences" -- same glorious orange pageantry, but in a matrix pattern preventing access. Where the "Gates" invited, "Fences" say, "Keep off the grass." And what grass! In a delicious tweak of park-going expectation, it's a sprayed-on green. An allegorical comment on the Bush Administration's failure to disclose the facts making up its virtual reality, the installation is unikely to change partisan minds, but its "grassroots" appeal may win hearts.

Speaking of Cal Anderson and the younger set, we were dozing near the park's aquatic mons veneris the other day when we heard of a gaggle of kids making plans for a party game featuring an unusual amuse-bouche. The name? Bobbing for Turds. Apparently the scatological spin is provided by Baby Ruth or similarly nutted chocolate confections. Oh, Capitol Hill.