What's your bag? Shopping? Skanking? Snarky politics? Whatever you're into, Wednesday's got it. more ›

Boston made waves in the '70s with its Little City Hall program. Heck, MIT even published a book about it. It's time for Seattle to cash in: we beat their patent by a half century. more ›

Uh, so why did it take so long for Seattle to re-establish a local book festival after the Northwest Book Festival fizzled out in 2003? Regardless, there seems to have been some sort of suppressed need for such a thing, as the good folks who decided to resurrect a literary festival have received an utter deluge of community support and participation for the project. The inaugural Seattle Bookfest--taking place this weekend at the Columbia City Event Center--is so stuffed with authors and speakers, exhibitors and neat events that it boggles the mind to know that the whole thing evolved from a few Columbia City residents getting together this spring and saying, "Hey, why don’t we try to put together some kind of book festival?" more ›

We are seeing some sort of odd trend or angst recently, as more shootings take place on Friday. Once again the SPD Blotter notes another early morning Friday shooting, this time in an alleyway in Columbia City across from a hip hop show. Witnesses from a nearby bar at Rainier Ave S and S Hudson Street heard a single gunshot, the bullet striking the victim, a 25-year-old male, in the abdomen. A local citizen later drove the victim to Harborview. Police report the gang unit is now looking into this case. more ›

Fans of yum will be descending on Columbia City this evening for the official opening of Gert's BBQ's mobile location. They'll be open tonight from 3-10 in the Columbia Plaza parking lot at 4801 Rainier Ave S. more ›

The trains will open with service from Westlake to Tukwila on July 18. It will be free to ride on the 18th and 19th with paid service starting on Monday, July 20. The base ticket price will be $1.75 with a .05-cent increase with every mile. When the Tukwila to SeaTac section opens in December, it will cost $2.25 from Westlake to the airport. Trains come about every 7.5 minutes during peak times, and every 15 minutes otherwise. more ›

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• Awwwwwww, yeeeeah! Seattle was named 2009 City of the Year by Fast Company Magazine. Go us.
• Think again if you're up to no good in West Seattle, they have "Deadly Aim" on their side. Word to the wise, don't want to mess with a roller derby girls, especially this weekend.
• Never thought you'd see this: Former GOP Nominee Dino Rossi challenge former Seahawk, Brock Huard to a spring roll-eating contest. Anything for charity, right? It's the last day to get your tickets to the ID Spring Roll 2009, a party/fundraiser for the International District's Downtown Chinatown. Oh, the Massive Monkees will be there too.

Private dinner club Caché took the past couple months off from hosting delectably intimate, gourmet family-style dinners to do a few little things, like get married, move into a new house, and get themselves named one of the top "secret suppers" in the country. The nerve! But last week they announced that they're back up and running--only now they've moved from a Belltown work/livespace to a craftsman in Columbia City. This weekend, they kick off their first meal back with a monumental theme: Bacon is the New Black, featuring their internet-famous bacon-wrapped bacon. Drool over the upcoming menus. Reservations can be made at info@cacheseattle.com, as long as you keep it hush-hush, on the QT. more ›

We just ate a remarkable tomato--a Brandywine heirloom variety, we ate it apple-style--and it reminded us that tonight is the Columbia City farmer's market. From 3-7 p.m., you have the opportunity to restock your locally-grown fruits, vegetables, nuts, and meats at the Columbia Plaza, located at 4801 Rainier Ave. S. Here's what's in season in the Pacific Northwest this month, and please don't forget to eat your fill of juice-laden heirloom tomatoes while they last. We've also heard the tamales at the Columbia City market are not to be missed. more ›

HAVE SOME FAITH: George Michael wrote songs that informed the sexuality of millions of young girls around the world—songs that went on to become gay anthems, long before he came out. The 25Live Tour promises to be the hottest, funnest, gayest, screamy-est concert Key Arena has seen all year. Wave to this Seattlest who will be sitting in the second row. more ›

Last month, Ron from Beacon Hill commented that he prefers Roy's BBQ to the nearby Jones BBQ. This spurred us to get off our ass and finally check Roy's out. The verdict: hot damn, that's a good sandwich. more ›

Seattlest has long been an on-again-off-again vegetarian. Our last fall from herbivorous grace came in our New York City-living days, when our girlfriend at the time's dad cooked us up a burger and some hotdogs. We didn't have the heart to say no, and they just smelled so good. Thank God, because we wound up moving to New Orleans, where life is meaningless without a good roast beef po-boy and all the juice it produces in a steady stream up (down?) your arm. more ›

We love lists. Which is why we're a little sad that we didn't know about Amazon.com's UnSpun until we read The Paper Noose's post on Georgetown's place in the Top "Hip" Neighborhoods to Live in Seattle, WA. There's nothing we love better than completely arbitrary lists with no discernible criteria beyond kneejerk personal opinion -- except maybe passing them along. According to UnSpun users, the top 10 "hip" neighborhoods are: 1. Capitol Hill (surprise,... more ›

"After two years, it's definitely moving," writes invaluable neighborhood blogger Captain Columbia City. He talked to the market's coordinator, Karen, on Wednesday, the last day the Columbia City Farmers Market will be open this year.

Of course, Columbia City Plaza was sold to a development firm on the east coast recently, and so when the Plaza owners lease expires early next year, they'll sign a new one with the new owners. The new owners are planning on putting in a mixed use retail & condo development, but they realize that the planning & permitting process will take years, so they've very kindly offered the current space rent free for the next two years while the permitting process takes place. more ›

Starbucks is going to slim down its drink menu, notes Starbucks Gossip. They cite a line from an AP wire article on recent Starbucks business: more ›

The quick answer: there is still Seattlest Trivia at the Old Pequliar. But now it only comes around every five weeks or so. more ›

Shortly before our car exploded, we were looking for a new place to rent. After our car exploded, our apartment search took a back seat to car shopping. But in the last few weeks, once our new car was settled, we returned to scanning Craigslist and strolling through neighborhoods. After spending all of our time in Seattle living above the cut (Wallingford, Wedgwood), we were hoping to move to the Rainier Valley (better work commute)... more ›

We were planning to write some posts this week on Pair (we love it) and Columbia City (we really love it). But then our car burned up, so we thought we'd put that at the head of the line. more ›

Seattlest has two big dogs. We love them. We are those people who love them a little bit like our children. But: they are our dogs, and we love them. Like actual children, we are clear on the fact that not everyone else would love them, and honestly we don't like everyone else's dogs either. Especially the small yappy ones. So a state law to allow dogs in bars? Please, please, Seattle, make it stop. Children can't drink and don't belong in bars, and neither do dogs. more ›

We're thinking about moving. more ›

Friday evenings, Columbia City Cabaret takes over the Columbia City Theatre for some adult-oriented hijinks. Emceed by Tamara the Trapeze Lady (who also performs), the program changes from week to week, so its performance history already includes various singers and bands, burlesque artists, drag queens, aerialists, and probably a juggler of something. more ›

You know that five year-old Nokia candy bar we’ve been lugging around? Shocking, but it’s not Bluetooth-enabled! more ›

Last Friday, Seattlest spent an enjoyable evening at the Columbia City Theatre. We were there to see the new Black Box Opera production, “Sondheim, Newman and Weill.” It’s a cabaret show made up of songs by, not surprisingly, Stephen Sondheim, Randy Newman and Kurt Weill. more ›

Local food blog tastingmenu.com spent last week coordinating the second annual TasteEverything Independent Food Festival Awards. The awards are given by bloggers around the world to honor their favorite food experiences of the past year. more ›

Next in line of Oscar-nominees: Steven Spielberg's Munich, playing at the Metro, Columbia City, and the Meridian 16. So far, this is the one that has us most baffled, Best Picture-wise. It's good, even brilliant in parts, just like most of Spielberg's work, but it's problematic, and not just in the political sense. more ›

Pizza sucks in Seattle. Feel free to post your own obscure favorite in the comments or simply let it pass. Sure, there are a few highlights here or there around the city where something resembling an actual pizza can be obtained, but the overall quality of the city's pizza is piss poor. Here's a tip: If the crust is wet, it sucks. Wallingford, oddly, has a few ok places, though. The Wallingford Pizza House (previously The Chicago Pizza House hint hint at the writer's hometown) is...so-so. Northlake Tavern and Pizza House is a couple clicks above that on the evolutionary ladder. Very edible. Obviously we're struggling to establish a whole lot of pizza credibility in the neighborhood. Enter Tutta Bella, though. more ›

Seattle is a great progenitor of technology, but only now, in the year 2005, is municipal Wi-Fi finally coming to town. To put this in context, Spokane has had a wireless downtown corridor for over a year. Is Seattle behind the times? more ›

Seattlest has been known to enjoy many great First Thursdays, but we've always secretly asked ourselves why Pioneer Square should have all the fun. It looks like we weren't the only ones, given the recent explosion of new walks all over the city. more ›