Miscellaneous: August 2009 Archives

Then head on down to Westlake Park, where Toyota has set up "Solar Flowers" to promote their new Prius. The flowers, which are powered by solar panels on the back of their petals and on their stems, provide wi-fi (free) and power to charge cell phones and laptops. They look as if Dr. Seuss had been given an engineering budget. They'll be available August 29 to September 7 from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. daily (this coincides nicely with the Seattle Public Library's weeklong closure). If you're a Luddite or prefer to pay for your power, you can still enjoy the sight of six-foot tall dandelions looming in Westlake Park.

WAYZGOOSE!: We swear no geese are involved (or will be harmed) during Saturday's 8th Annual Letterpress Wayzgoose, a day to creatively honor the letterpress; expect demos, shop tours, and cool designs. Make sure not to miss the Steamroller Letterpress Smackdown! There is nothing cooler than blending the letterpress traditions of the 17th century with the 21st century techniques, design, and horsepower. You'll watch design teams create a poster and then try printing it with a two-ton steamroller, used in place of the traditional printing press.

As former residents of Queen Anne, we can vouch for the myriad of stairs and passageways that connect the hill’s random access ways. Around every corner there seems to be a staircase that only squirrels or cats knew about until that racy "mature" rag Sunset Magazine exposed the phenomenon.

The good people at A&E who already have us addicted to Intervention and Obsessed have recently debuted a new docu-series about a disruptive interpersonal disorder. This time it's Hoarders, each episode offering "a fascinating look inside the lives of two different people whose inability to part with their belongings is so out of control that they are on the verge of a personal crisis." It's only been on for a couple weeks now, but we stumbled upon a repeat of the first episode the other night, and whaddya know, both subjects were Washington State residents: Linda from Everett and Steven from Olympia. Get ready to be proud.

There doesn't seem to be many voices out there that speaks in favor of the legislation, other than the CFDA and other fashion designers with big, corporate backing. At first glance, it makes sense why 86% of independent designers and fashion organizations composed of mid-level professionals, like the American Apparel and Footwear Association, oppose the act and fear that the proposed law would create an infrastructure that would hinder creativity and opportunity, especially to those with less of the latter. But we found one...

Episode 3 of this season of America's Best Dance Crew was on last night, and this week's challenge was to incorporate martial arts moves into each crew's dance routine. Local b-boys Massive Monkees drew extreme martial arts, a "rapid-fire, acrobatic style of martial art," as opposed to all those slow-moving, really clumsy forms.

The notorious "Ragin' Asians" cover story has been turned into a Monday feature on the Seattle Weekly blogs.

WHERE DOES CREATIVITY COME FROM?: For a city filled with a decent amount of creatives, advertising folks, and clients that always want the Big Idea, newest movie Art & Copy is a must see. The film, created by acclaimed documentary director Doug Pray (Hype!, Scratch, Big Rig), riffles through the minds of the ad industry's most creative and iconic product pushers. After tonight's 7:00 p.m. showing, select Seattle creatives and ad folks will host a discussion panel about the film.

Ye Olde Probcast has the weather predictions for Wednesday, and the forecast is a 90-degree day (as hot as 95, as cool as 85). We're glad summer ain't over yet, but we're also glad we'll be in an air-conditioned office for most of tomorrow.

Ballots for the primary and special election are due today, so get 'em in, folks. For reals: only 16.67 percent of all King County ballots have been returned as of last night. If you don't want to use a stamp, feel free to drop off your ballot at any of these drop boxes by 8 p.m.

After our recent heat wave, UW meteorologist Cliff Mass emphasized that weather shouldn't be confused with climate change. Then he added, with scientific sangfroid, "I suspect mankind will not act fast enough to reduce fossil fuel use to stop large global warming effects and that we will learn to live with it."

On last night's episode of America's Best Dance Crew, Beyonce was there via video to assign each team a song and challenge for their performance. For local crew Massive Monkees, the song was "Work It Out" featuring the use of hula hoops.

                 

Following a friend's gorgeous tearjerker wedding at the summit of Crystal Mountain Saturday, we awoke Sunday morning mildly hungover, but excited nonetheless, because we were going to visit the Sunrise Visitor Center at Mount Rainier National Park for the first time. The air was warm with a slight breeze, the sky a bright blue, with only a few lonely clouds passing by. A more perfect day could not be asked for.

McMenamin's Grand Lodge is a former Masonic lodge located in Forest Grove, Oregon. It is a sleepy little town about 45 minutes west of Portland, just north of the Yamhill Valley with all its wineries, and just short of the Coastal Range on Highway 26. As a result, many non-flatlanders overlook its subtle topographic charm. The town itself is home to Pacific University and a properly bifurcated main drag that winds its way through a quaint, small downtown core, passing by a decent Goodwill and a disproportionately high concentration of live theatres.

First there was last week's now-infamous "Ragin' Asians" cover story, in which noted lush Erika Hobart got her bosses to pay her for getting trashed with local Seattleites of the Asian persuasion, some of whom were underage.

PONIES RUN THE MILE: Get ready for the horses to really run this Sunday, during the Emerald Downs' 74th Longacres Mile, which happens to be one of those "win and you’re in" races for the legendary Breeder’s Cup. So sure enough, you'll see some of the top horses and jockeys, including 2008 winner Jennifer Whitaker, riding Wasserman. Besides the horse racing, the official Railbird Rally tailgate begins at 10:30 a.m., which is another spectacle not to miss. Put on the fancy hats, heels, or seersucker and witness Washington Thoroughbred horse-racing history.

Kate Hudson wants A-Rod as a sperm donor, In Touch magazine reports. Says a "friend of Hudson" (ahem): "She just turned 30 and she's ready to have her second child...so she brought up the idea to Alex and told him that they would make a beautiful baby together, and that she would assume all financial responsibility."

The Outback Christmas Tree and Kangaroo Farm lives 49.5 miles north of Seattle and is an independently owned and operated animal haven of awesomeness. The drive is quick, the grounds are quaint, and the hometown Americana is off the charts. 40-minute tours are conducted every Wednesday through Sunday at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m., and 4 p.m. Your guide provides tons of great educational tidbits, all of which are hard to focus on as you’re tramping around paths and pens, convincing yourself this wallaby or that kangaroo likes you best.

The main impediment to bicycle commuting in Seattle is that there's no direct route from where all the bike people live (north of the ship canal, mostly) to where all the jobs are (Downtown). So why not just make Aurora bike-only? FACT: Anyone driving down Aurora in a car who needed to get Downtown could just cut over on 85th Avenue North and catch the freeway there.

It's said Seattle is one of the scooter-friendliest cities in the U.S. Scooter breeding grounds demand a mix of ecological concern, frustratingly limited parking, and dare-to-be-different hipster mentality--all of which our city has in abundance. A quick look down any urban street, and your view is speckled with Vespas, Hondas, and motorbikes galore. You probably notice them a lot as pedestrian or a four-wheel driver. You'll notice them way more if you join the club.

Now thanks to the Woodland Park Zoo, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Western Pond Turtle Recovery Project, there's a few more of these wee turtles in the wild.

Oh, hello America's Best Dance Crew. We're pretty sure we've never watched an entire episode of this MTV "dance" show--that's in quotes because out of the hourlong show, total time devoted to dancing seems to be somewhere around the seven-minute mark. But this season, local breakdancers Massive Monkees are hoping to be the fourth-straight ABDC champions to hail from the West Coast, so we suppose we should say something about it.

Is the Emerald City turning into Kansas? Drought in Seattle has produced some strange phenomena, including this cornstalk growing out of a gutter in Montlake.

The Mariners' decision to appeal a judge’s ruling allowing the regional-stripping powerhouse Déjà Vu franchise to open in the neighborhood reeks of the same family pandering of a few years back when they wouldn’t let you wear “Yankees Suck” T-shirts inside the stadium.*

FOLK MUSIC GREATNESS: National touring folk music artist Tracy Grammer is in town tonight at the Fremont Abbey, making a rare Seattle appearance with Seattlest's own folk sensation Kim Ruehl. Grammer's touring for her award wining album Flower Of Avalon, and even Joan Baez speaks her praise: "Tracy Grammer is a brilliant artist and unique individual. Her voice is distinctive, as is her mastery over the instruments she plays.”

It's right smack in the middle of Seattle's 2009 Elections, and we've noticed a familiar name on the ballot. Kay Smith Blum...Kay Smith Blum--like, CEO of Butch Blum? Yes, Seattle's premier high fashion retail exec is running for Seattle School Board Position #5, and we got a chance to ask her what's the deal.

Make no mistake about it. Last Wednesday was an epic event. The thermometer was just so many numbers. But no one who has lived here, in recorded history, had ever been through anything like it.

We've been following the young lives of the Woodland Park Zoo's once ittty-bitty twin snow leopard cubs born May 25. The spotted white fluff balls have gotten big enough that they are scheduled to make their public debut on August 15, the zoo-dubbed International White Snow Leopard Day.