In due time, each note played by the new organ at Blessed Sacrament Church will add to the church's long line of history. That's because it's no ordinary organ. The authentic 1878 Henry Erben organ complements the aura and long history of the church. Considered to be one of the most prestigious organs of its kind, it is now at home in the 97-year-old University District church."Everyone is extremely pleased," said Christopher Murray, Blessed Sacrament's capital campaign manager. "[The organ] fits in with the gothic architecture. The dark wood of the Erben complements the dark wood panel of the building. And even though it's not completely ready, the sound is wonderful and matches the splendor of the church."
Betty Tisdale won't divulge her age. She will in Vietnam, where they revere their elders, but not here. Be assured, however, that this article belongs on this page.Betty Moul was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., the eldest of five children - all girls except the youngest, a boy who died in infancy. Their father was a dairy manager who arranged the routes of milkmen. Back then, milk was delivered by horse-drawn wagons, and people had iceboxes outside their windows. "In winter," recalls Betty, "the extreme cold caused the cream to rise above the milk."The girls' mother had tuberculosis and lived in a sanitarium. Their father died when Betty was 9, and they were dispersed among relatives and neighbors. Betty was raised by an aunt and uncle.
They say that the older you get, the more you realize what you don't know. I'd have to agree with them, whoever "they" are. It's recently come to my attention that living a healthy lifestyle requires math skills and a darn good calculator. I wasn't aware of this fact before now. Yesterday morning I got up and took the dog for a walk. To counteract this healthy behavior, I came home and ate a Pop-Tart. OK, it was two Pop-Tarts. It's all about balance. This morning I did the whole walking thing again, but I'm out of Pop-Tarts, so I'm going to have to bake some cookies. Again, balance is essential. I'm concerned, though, that the calories I burn making the cookies will negate the eating of the cookies. I'll have to do some calculations to find out just how many chocolate chip cookies I'll have to eat to keep my system in check.
P.T. Barnum, he of the circus, is a distant memory. And when he is remembered nowadays, it's usually not for founding a circus or even being one of 19th-century America's greatest promoters. Barnum is remembered most for one pithy comment, something he said that reeked of managerial cynicism (see the Enron documentary, "The Smartest Guys in the Room," for an update on managerial cynicism). Still, it has stood the test of time.Mr. Barnum, when questioned about his success at putting on shows that almost always packed the house, whether they featured bearded ladies, lion tamers or midgets jumping through hoops, observed, "There's a sucker born every minute."If you couple Barnum's phrase with a biblical injunction, "Vanity, thy name is man," you've pretty much summed up how most folks can be manipulated.
Interesting news regarding the Port of Seattle's North Bay development scheme and the impact upon the scheme should three new Port Commissioners win the upcoming election. Meanwhile, the Port has asked that the public comment for the Master Draft Plan be completed by May 26. Do you feel/sense the noise of spinning wheels? We, the public, take time to study proposals, we attend meetings in good faith, with the belief that our positions will be heard, or considered openly, and then all is up for grabs after the election. Where is the vision of duly elected officials?
After a long session, the 2005 Legis-lature has adjourned. Despite the seri-ous challenge of a $1.6-billion revenue shortfall, and want-ing to avoid a general tax increase, we had one of the most productive sessions in recent mem-ory. We made critical investments in our schools and universities, in health care for more of our population, in our transportation infrastructure and in a stronger safety net for those in need, while shielding critical public services from cuts - and without a general tax increase. Some highlights:
It's obvious in principle, but not always in practice, that there's more to nursing than medical knowledge. Crossing language and other cultural barriers, nine Seattle Pacific University (SPU) students got to put the idea into practice recently in another country. The nine, among them lifelong Queen Anne resident Teresa Chally, participated in a six-week nursing mission to Nicaragua from Feb. 5 to March 21. The trip was co-sponsored by SPU's School of Health Sciences and Seattle Pacific Reachout INTernational (SPRINT) Program.
RONALDO KALMAN"I think that they can all kiss our ass. We support half of the frickin' world, and then they turn around and piss all over us."DEBORAH ROME"It's been going on for a long time; we're just hearing more about it now. It is not new."
"Fishermen's Terminal," a documentary about the home of the North Pacific Fishing Fleet, is part of the Seattle International Film Festival this year. Directed by prolific filmmaker and author B.J. Bullert, Ph.D., the one-hour film marks the end of a four-year project that started when the Port of Seattle decided to allow pleasure boats to moor at the workingman marina for the first time.Depending on who's talking in the documentary, the decision in 2001 was an example of class warfare and the gradual gentrification of Seattle, or a move to bring in extra money to a Port property that's seen better days since it was built almost a century ago along the northeastern edge of Magnolia.
A graffiti crew has been specializing in alleys on upper Queen Anne Hill, according to a homeowner who says he caught one of the taggers near midnight on a recent Saturday night. The graffiti vandal didn't stay caught, though.The homeowner doesn't want to be identified because he fears retaliation, but the man said the same three or four tags have been repeatedly spray-painted on walls and buildings off alleys at the top of the Hill for the past year. That's not all. He's convinced the same graffiti crew has a sideline: egging homes and vehicles - including his.
The Stusser sisters, Joan and Hermine, are inseparable. They go to the ballet, symphony, stage plays, opera and synagogue together. They shop together. They even live together, and have for 68 years.They vote together, too, and always vote Democratic. Hermine's first vote for president was in 1944. She voted for FDR. Joan, 14 years younger, cast her first presidential ballot for JFK. They both remaine active in Democratic Party politics.
In the 1950s, Stewart Stern defined teen angst with his screenplay for "Rebel Without A Cause." His other screenplays, including "The Outsiders" (1961) and "The Ugly American" (1963) cemented his reputation for exposing the nightmares of the American dream.In the 1970s, his teleplay "Sybil" won him an Emmy and gave Sally Field a chance to show off her acting chops as a schizophrenic patient. In 1980s and 1990, his books "Stelle Emigrante" and the 1996 "Celluloid Closet" won him rave reviews for his insight into his times and the craft of writing.Actors, writers and directors list his works as major inspirations. Yet, his overall body of work is somewhat small and the gaps in his resume can stretch for a decade or more. Some time ago, Stern moved from Hollywood to Seattle, becoming a genial guest at film forums and an accomplished teacher on the art of screenwriting.How Stern ended up in Seattle and why his career stalled and restarted so many times is the subject of a new documentary "Going Through Splat: the Life and Work of Stewart Stern."
Every day in King County more than 50 social service agencies provide shelter and/or counseling to 2,500-3,000 homeless people. City and county governments fund these programs to the tune of more than $20 million a year, not counting additional funding from United Way, churches and the private sector. Nevertheless, the number of homeless on our streets has continued its relentless upward climb, greatly outpacing the capacity of this expanding service delivery system. Where 25 years ago there were few programs and a few hundred homeless on our streets (mostly in downtown Seattle), today estimates run as high as 8,000 homeless people county-wide on any given day.
The first weekend after Michael Clarke moved to the Miller Park neighborhood he heard gunshots coming from the intersection of East Denny Way and East Madison Street. During the first month in his new home he found dried blood on the concrete next to his building's mailboxes. These were not the only occurrences. Last month, for instance, Clarke heard the gunshots that killed a man near Deano's, often regarded as the epicenter of the neighborhood's problems."Since then we have heard gunshots, on average, every week or two," he said. "I've even heard the sounds of automatic weapons."The persistent and often drug-related crime at the intersection, one acknowledged by the city and the Seattle Police Department, prompted Clarke to become involved with the Miller Park Neighborhood Association. And he had an idea: install several networked surveillance cameras around the problematic intersection.
Well, the state Legislature has convened and disbanded once again, as they do every winter down in Olympia. There's already been plenty written about the new and "improved" gas tax, which will add 9.5 cents to the price of each gallon of gas motorists purchase in our state - a levy slated to be phased in gradually over the next four years. There's also been quite a bit written about the state Senate defeat, by one vote, of House Bill 1515, which would have banned discrimination against gays and lesbians.