[Untitled] Garfield Bathrooms by Adrian Harwood. This it the Garfield we remember. The Central District News covered the ribbon cutting ceremony at our newly-remodeled alma mater, Garfield High School. Seeing that the remodel was desperately needed a decade ago when we were roaming the crowded halls, we say finally. But not so fast...classes start today and the final touches still don't seem to be finished.Capitol Hill Seattle poses a very important question: who is the......

"Elliot Bay Water Taxi" courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Photographer seattlerealtorgal The Rainier Valley Post lets Beacon Hill residents know that the water advisory has been lifted and you no longer need to boil your tap water.MyBallard thinks they may have found the most expensive piece of property in Ballard. A 325 square foot shack "condo alternative" selling for $199,999.The B-Town Blog is closely following Burien's annexation request.Fear not Apple lovers, Steve Jobs isn't dead--whatever the......

OPEN MIC NIGHT: It's been a while since Seattlest has gone out to Ballard for the Scratching Post Open Mic at Mr. Spot's Chaihouse, but it was always a nice, even blend of really talented folks singing and reading (and, of course, the usual occasional acts that make you wonder why you torture yourself at an open mic if you're not performing). Plus, it's free, they have beer and wine, and the best chai in......

"En La Mer" by Seattlest Flickr Pool contributor Forrest Pangborn. Trust us-- we'd rather be exploring some tide pools today! CHS, Cap To The Hill, and Seattle Metblogs are all talking about the coolest new hyper-local, easy-on-the-eyeballs website to hit the Emerald City. Hint: restaurant inspection reports are so public record! West Seattle Blog was one of the first to report results from the Primary vote yesterday! Dang, those guys are good. Now, has......

SOPPING WET OPERA: Byron Au Yong has composed 64 mini-operas meant to be performed in water--fountains, pools, and streams--throughout the Pacific Northwest. In this weekend's installments of Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas, musicians and vocalists will perform unique mini-operas at parks and beaches in Des Moines/Burien (Saturday) and South Seattle (Sunday). "Who publishes the sheet-music of the winds or the music of water written in river-lines?" wrote 19th century poet John Muir; maybe that someone......

"Scary Clown" (indeed) by Jay Cox The Daily Weekly reports that the City of Seattle has successfully sold its scandalous public toilets on EBay....for over $80,000 less per toilet than they'd hoped.While we know it means our Seattle Native card could be revoked, we are still less than thrilled that a new clown statue in honor of JP Patches is set to be unveiled this Sunday. We hate clowns, we always have, and since JP......

RETAIL AMBIVILENCE: Ballard boutique Olivine is closing—quelle tragédie! The store had designer favorites, as well as a healthy dose of local designer treats, guaranteeing that you won't show up to a party in the same outfit as anyone else. Over the next few days, Olivine will have a store-closing sale, with prices from 50-70 percent off—quel plaisir! August 13-17 // Olivine // 50-70% of regular prices HAPPY MUSICALS: Remember when musicals were based on......

Trains by Seattlest Flickr Contributor mraaronmorris My Ballard has lots of tasty news, reporting on Paseo's first day in a new location, Rachael Ray shooting an episode of Rachael's Travels at Volterra, and lots of fat salmon going through the Locks.Phinneywood reports and shares photos of an adorable knit crosswalk pedestrian flag that's popped up in Greenwood. We are all for guerrilla knitting projects, especially those that benefit your community, so we say hooray! The......

"Capitol Hill Rainbow Pano" courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Photographer markanunson In a weekend filled with sudden and shocking death, Blogging Georgetown mourned the violent passing of Monstero!, a well-loved skull-shaped art car in the neighborhood. Monstero! was destroyed in an early morning garage fire on Sunday morning.My Ballard lets us know that, despite the recession the rest of us are feeling, Ballard is still booming! The blog reported on the opening of a new skate......

Dead Baby Bike Race after-party photo by Sea Kay My Ballard and Phinney Wood shared a post on the annual Dead Baby Bike Race. With the recent fear-mongering regarding bicyclists in the local media--the bike race could likely have not come at a worse time. We're sure already freaked out Subaru drivers, aren't thrilled to think of the idea of a crudely named (see: hilarious) bike race that celebrates "Mutant Bike Culture."Rejoice Francophiles and hipsters......

Tonight, head to the Sunset for the shoegaze stylings of Film School. There's also L.A. pop mainstay Adam Marsland at the Skylark and local troubadour Rocky Votolato at Neumo's.......

DEAD BABY BIKE RACE: The mission statement up for consideration at the Dead Baby Bike Club is: "We just want to ride our bikes and not get hassled by the man." The Dead Babies, a hard-drinking, semi-organized band of bicylists, are holding their annual few-holds-barred bicycle race across the city tonight; it will be a madcap sight to behold. Make sense of their website if you dare; pre-reg is at 5 p.m., and the......

By now the word has probably reached you that Robin Williams, he of Mrs. Doubtfire and The Bird Cage fame, is in Seattle to shoot footage for a film. MyBallard took some extra bloggerly initiative and shot some of their own footage of the man! (And then got politely ejected from the set.) Check out their photos and story about the encounter, including details about a dog, a French fry, and where Williams will be......

"Pillager" courtesy of Seattlest Flickr photographer devin kate Sometimes we can't help but love Ballard and how, despite all the changes, the neighborhood is trying to retain it's heart and soul. My Ballard's coverage of the annual and epic Ballard Seafood Festival reminds us of all that we love about Ballard--long lines for salmon barbecue (with copius photo evidence), coverage of the couture cover-all contest, and the crowning of a record breaking lutefisk eating champion.Blogging......

Ballard car photo courtesy of Seattlest Flickr contributor pdgibson My Ballard lets all you Ballard-drivers know that a traffic camera has been installed at the busy corner of 15th and Market.The Rainier Valley Post reports that Ana Ortega, the principal at Ali Kurose Middle School has resigned in the midst of an SPD investigation into sexual abuse by a teacher's aide at the school.Phinneywood is mourning the loss of another Woodland Park Zoo animal. Last......

FOOD ORGY: Get thee to the Seattle Center this weekend for the annual Bite of Seattle. Over a hundred booths, multiple beer gardens, cooking demos, live entertainment... all in the name of of good, local eating? Sounds like a great weekend event to us! Take advantage of the Just A Bite area, offering mini versions of local restaurant specialties for $3.75 a serving. 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri & Sat; 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun // Seattle......

Sub Pop wasn't the only iconic local business to celebrate a big anniversary this week. Archie McPhee's—the one-stop shop for all things rubber chicken, bacon, and fun-related—celebrated 25 years of business yesterday. The quintessential Seattle store marked the occasion with a sidewalk sale and a serenade from a few of Seattle's own Rat City Roller Girls. Here's to another 25 years of devil duckies, wind-up librarians, yodeling pickles, and whatever wonderful impish toys those crazy......

The is-it-or-isn't-it debate over the historical and aesthetic importance of the old Ballard Denny's was ended today with a backhoe. With none of the pomp and circumstance of the discussion surrounding the building's meaning and importance to Ballard, a backhoe began clawing into the building this morning. According to MyBallard.com which has tirelessly documented the drama and debate of the Denny's, by 7:30 a.m. "crews had already taken down the vaulted roof." Where the......

Not only has Tim O'Brien worked with everyone under the sun, anything associated with him is bound to be not only good but highly praised by fans and critics alike. He doesn't just play roots music, he lives it. He understands why it's there and, when he plays it, it's more to honor the artform than it is to draw attention to his mad skills (which, by the way, he has). No doubt when he......

The late Edith Macefield's home, courtesy of Seattlest Flickr user mary land Everyone has a price, they say. But it's always nice to see when people have more integrity than to let their property go to some silly development project. That's why we thought Edith Macefield, of Ballard, was such a swell lady. She refused to take the million-dollar buyout Trader Joe's tried to give her, so that they could take over her property......

FACT: Formerly the Sultan Theater, Seattle's Lusty Lady is the original Lusty Lady. The one in San Francisco is the one that unionized and, eventually, became a worker-owned co-op. Seattle? Not a co-op. On the plus side, it's not owned by the Colacurcio family, either. FACT: The $20 that buys a 2-minute lap dance at Déjà Vu gets you 20 minutes of glassed-in nudity at the Lusty Lady. One quarter keeps a peep show......

ART & TRAUMA: The Center on Contemporary Art in Ballard is kicking off its series of "After Dark" events with Slow Healing—a documentary/multi-media presentation about veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have returned from the field with Traumatic Brian Injuri (TBI). There'll be a slideshow at 9 p.m., followed by Butoh dancing and SEA SHOW. 9 p.m. // CoCA Ballard // $10-15 suggested donation ROOTS NIGHT: When this Seattlest talks about "roots,"......

FREE BALLARD DAY: It's been over a century, but maybe today's the day that Ballard will finally secede from the city. Stranger things have happened. Anyway, in celebration of Free Ballard Day, the fine folks at Archie McPhee will be giving a free gift to anyone who enters their store saying the secret word: "lutefisk." They'd also like you to know that you'll get a free gift if you spend more than $25. So go......

We love a good drink special, so imagine our delight when we came across a full-page ad in the Weekly for a big ol' happy hour next Wednesday. Join us for a special Seattle Weekly Happy Hour on June 4, when three dozen bars extend their specials to celebrate the release of our new Seattle Weekly Happy Hour Guide! Come celebrate and pick up a copy of your own! Sure, it's a Weekly-sponsored event......

One lucky local photographer turned the rest of us into lucky photo viewers today by getting inside the mostly dismantled Sunset Bowl the other night. We first found the collection of pictures inside the closed Sunset Bowl on MyBallard.com, which says everything sold at last month's auction will be out by Friday and that, as they say, will be that for the Sunset Bowl. After we paged through the 14 pictures in the Sunset Flickr......

It was just two months ago that the city's Landmarks Preservation Board made a controversial ruling that declared the old Denny's in Ballard a local historic landmark. For those two months, the old building has sat empty behind chain link fences, gaining layers of graffiti and gathering dust. Just this Sunday, Seattlest was driving past the abandoned building when our good friend and passenger asked, "So what are they going to do with that......

Austin-based band Monahans do to music what poetry does to words. Tonight, they'll bring their stylin' tunes to the Tractor. Also on the bill is local songwriter J. Tillman and the very pretty Zera Marvel. We called up Monahans frontman Greg last week during their brief stint with the Cowboy Junkies to find out why he thinks people should come to tonight's show. 9 p.m. // Tractor Tavern // $7 Where are you right......

Photo of The Physics by Ryan Lewis. We love some hiphop with our coffee in the morning, and KEXP's John In The Morning obliged us today with a live set from easy-going, hard-working local stars The Physics! You can stream the set and interview on KEXP's website by clicking here and setting the time to 8:07am. What you'll hear: "Brand New Thang", "I Heart Beer", an interview (including some good-natured ribbing about The Physics'......

We do love us some bar food. French fries, burgers (veggie ones anyway), fish 'n' chips. Man, we could live on that stuff and often think of the Albert Brooks comedy Defending Your Life when we allow ourselves to indulge, because he’s told that, while waiting to defend his life, he can do whatever he wants and not worry about the health consequences. We're pretty sure that’s the reason we're hoping the afterlife mirrors that......

BOOKS: Local author (from Anacortes) William Dietrich will be making the rounds of local book stores, starting tonight at University Book Store. He'll be reading from his recent book, The Rosetta Key. The book sounds a little stressful, but full of Indiana Jones-style adventure. 7 p.m. // University Book Store // Free IN BALLARD: Pufferfish is probably one of Seattle's most awesome, little-known folk-rock bands. We're talking guys with shakers on their ankles dancing......