Starting today, the Sound Transit Link Light Rail line from Westlake to Tukwila is officially open. This weekend, everyone rides for free. (As of noon, that's been about 13,000 people.) Paid service starts on Monday. Transit officials said yesterday that the system is ready to go. Fourteen two-car trains are operating all weekend. On Monday, 14 trains will be operating during peak hours and 12 trains at all other times. more ›

A reader writes: "$2 movies all week at the new Thornton Place cinemas by Northgate. And yet, almost all of the offerings are overpriced. (You'd have to pay me to see Pink Panther 2, for example.)" We found a Regal Cinemas press release that says the special $2 rate is good today, tomorrow, and Wednesday only. After that, you get a free popcorn and soft drink with paid admission, May 22-31. The Crest, of course, is showing $3 movies all the time. more ›

As we were saying just yesterday, there's a new cafe in town. Oddfellows Cafe. They opened in the teeth of weather in the teens last night, so we thought we owed it to them to trudge down Broadway and take a look at the new digs. It's much more spacious inside than we expected, more like Smith than cozy little Volunteer Park Cafe. The menu was limited, thanks to the effects of snowy, icy streets on deliveries. But the bar was pouring cocktails, and the beef stew had already won some hearts. (Sidebar: since we were promised a "great value" on food, can we discuss the $6 side of French fries? Seems de trop, even with a "special sauce." You know, what with the ongoing "longest recession of the post-war era" and all?) more ›

Things are cash-only at the moment, since there's a glitch with the swipey-reader system, but otherwise it's all systems go. We also got a dark chocolate graham-cracker cookie. more ›

Yesterday the Port of Seattle invited a rag-tag crew of media, runway protesters, environmental activists, local residents, and assorted schmoozers on a tour of Sea-Tac's third runway, a project about 20 years in the making, and set to open on November 20, 2008, pending final FAA certification. more ›

We have no idea why there isn't an exclamation mark after new restaurant Olivar's name. It just seems natural. But there isn't, even though they must be excited to be open. We didn't go to the grand opening last night, but we could smell the kitchen and it made us very hungry. more ›

If there's one thing you can say that the artists whose shows opens tonight at Roq la Rue have in common, it's that they both really like women. Esao Andrews, an NYC-based artist, likes to contort the feminine form into the oddest situations: stuck inside the bowl of a flower vase, riding a giant swan, or with a head blasting hot air into the sack of a hot air balloon. Japanese artist Fuco Ueda is a bit dirtier: many's the knock-kneed girl in a, shall we say, situation, whether stroking a unicorn's horn or sleeping while a shrimp swims by, emitting a blooming cloud of semen. more ›

There's some sort of primeval or subconscious part of our brains that remains fascinated with the potential magic of spaces we can't enter, whether it's down a rabbit hole, on the other side of a mirror, or the life of things within the walls of our home. The work of Dutch artist Femke Hiemstra, which goes on display at Roq la Rue tonight, captures that fascination with whimsy and wit. Her paintings demonstrate a miniaturist's attention to detail as well as a wildly active imagination. Her paintings on found objects, like , beg us to see the potential magic in the everyday. more ›