Some of my favorite memories are childhood visits to my great aunt's house on a quiet, tree-lined street in Lakewood, Ohio, a densely-populated suburb on Cleveland's west side. Much of the housing in that sweet, small-town community consists of large family homes, handsome brick apartment buildings and cozy duplexes. Almost every residence sports a front porch where, in nice weather, people can lounge, offer a friendly word to a passing neighbor and watch the world go by.In the summer my parents would drive me for an overnight to see La-La, my great aunt, and Rhea, her unmarried daughter. My mother grew up on Parkwood Avenue, in the lower half of the duplex where Rhea and La-La lived. * * *When I arrived in Seattle in 1986, Capitol Hill reminded me a lot of Lakewood.
With so many eyes on Broadway, thanks in part to the city's recent and controversial zoning decision, and the even more recent Pride parade's relocation news, it's easy to miss Capitol Hill's latest upstart just a few blocks away.Nineteenth Avenue East, between Aloha and Madison streets, has experienced a commercial and residential upswing during the last year as new businesses and new housing made 19th their new home. Together, they're turning the once sleepy street into an active business district. Such new commercial activity alongside such mainstays as Monsoon and Kingfish have created a vibrant new attitude and street life.
In the photograph, David Williams stands with his right hand grasping a crow. His fingers gently, but firmly, wrap around the bird's legs. The scene gives the appearance that Williams holds a large black popsicle - a Crowsicle. Observers might be tempted to ask, "This is science?"Science it is, though Williams and the crow are participating in the study for different reasons. He's there, along with University of Washington researcher John Withey, to study the birds. As Williams explains, "Being social birds, crows gather in roosts to converse and share information. In the summer breeding season, the number may drop to as low as 300 because they stay and defend their nest territory instead of socializing." The remainder of the year can find over 10,000 birds occupying the roost.The bird waits patiently while Williams points out what makes crows such successful urban birds.
She calls them confections, and indeed, they look good enough to eat, though Jan F. Reed's truffles and petit fours are made of silk or satin or faille. Her hats, too, are wonderful little concoctions that some might say deserve to be put under glass. Reed, however, designs her inedible bon bons to grace tables at parties or be given as party favors, while her hats are meant to grace the heads of Queen Anne brides, or their mothers or sisters, or other Seattle women attending such gala events.
You have a choice of two movies. One was made in the 1930s or '40s or '50s; the other was made sometime between, say, 1980 and last week. Forget about who's in them or who made them. In fact, let's stipulate that in both cases it was nobody special and neither film is anything but ordinary. Your chances of being satisfyingly diverted, engaged, entertained are measurably better if you select the older movie. Even if both films are run-of-the-mill. Because once upon a time they had lots better mills. This is a thesis you can check out any hour of the day by comparing what's showing on Turner Classic Movies or American Movie Classics against the miscellany on HBO or Starz. The grainiest 68-minute program picture out of Warners in 1933 is almost certain to have more moxie, more bite, more coherent storytelling and narrative drive, and probably more to say to a present-day viewer with an operative brain, than the latest direct-to-video sleazefest or multi-megabuck, hi-tech stunt derby from Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay.
Hamburgers; what could be a more American taste treat than that great ground-beef sandwich named after a German city? (We're purposely ignoring frankfurters, of course.)And who could forget that lovable character, Wimpy, from the "Popeye" comics? Or his ever-present tag line, "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."Around hamburgers empires were built. The lowly hamburger is almost responsible for the very existence of the franchise-restaurant industry. One of the first was the famous Big Boy double-decker.
The campaign against the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) is growing more intense as it comes closer to having a real impact. This year's freshmen will be the first to have their WASL scores determine whether they graduate.Remember, the WASL was set up to determine if students can read, write, listen, think and perform sets of math skills before they advance to the next grade or graduate from high school. The point is to make sure that a high-school diploma means more than that a student sat at a desk for four years.The WASL's objective standards mean colleges, technical schools and employers can significantly reduce the billions of dollars they spend each year teaching kids what they should have learned in the K-12 system.
Kit O'Neill (at left) and Peggy Gaynor dig in during the Ravenna Creek Alliance's July 1 groundbreaking ceremony to daylight a portion of the Ravenna Creek within Ravenna Park.
Two recent pedestrian/car collisions resulting in serious injuries to Hamilton Middle School students have prompted members of the Wallingford community to brainstorm ideas for making the Stone Way North crosswalks safer for pedestrians and drivers.
On the corner of North 35th Street and Albion Place North in Fremont sits Piriformis Nursery & Garden Art. The small shop, obscured by the plants blanketing its surroundings, has been supplying drought-tolerant plants to the avid, novice and "lazy" gardener for more than seven years. In a city constantly plagued by summer-drought concerns, owner Tori Galloway has found a successful niche as one of the few (if not the only) nurseries to specialize in unique and interesting, drought-tolerant plants. She works hard to find plants she describes as "low maintenance with high drama."
After spending several years dedicating their time and energy to Seattle Public Theater's youth program, high-school graduates Anna Crandall, Maggie Williams and Katt Carlson will take their final bows."All three of them, when I met them, were kids, and watching them grow up and deepen and expand is such a thrill," said Shana Bestock, artistic and education director at Seattle Public Theater (SPT). "To be a part of their lives and to be able to see a kid through so much change in the role of teacher and director in a non-parental role is a real honor and treat, and I really treasure it."
About 60 people, two television news teams and the Seattle Pride Committee faced off on the evening of Sunday, July 17, as the committee listened to comments about the committee's announced intention of moving the Gay Pride march and festival downtown next year.It was a big crowd, larger than expected for a committee that rarely sees more than two or three visitors in attendance. The seven committee members wore matching black T-shirts with the Seattle Pride logo over the left breast. All were jammed into a room with no windows on a warm night. Fans hummed steadily while the crowd drank water and warmed to the topic.Most of those speaking said, in different ways, in different words, that the idea stank. A petition opposing the move, with more than 8,000 names (a stack of paper about as thick as the white and yellow pages of the phone book), was thunked down on the table in front of the committee.
Although the current featured exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum is ostensibly a show of Isamu Noguchi's sculpture and design, it really should be considered a collaborative work. In SAM's new show, the decorative and functional art of Noguchi is the centerpiece of Robert Wilson's installation. And in this instance, the installation is as important as the objects on display.Noguchi, master of minimalism in furniture, stage sets, lamps, urban design and sculpture, fused Western modernism with Japanese aesthetics. The child of an American mother and a Japanese father, he was exposed to the influences of East and West throughout a life that spanned much of the 20th century. His impact on art and design is enormous, and contemporary furniture design and much of modern sculpture continue to reflect his style. Museums throughout the world include his work in their collections.Wilson is an internationally acclaimed director, choreographer and installation artist who became friends with Noguchi in the 1960s despite an age difference of almost 40 years. Both were involved in the theater, an arena where Wilson is still lauded for his groundbreaking stagecraft. In this exhibition Wilson uses his extraordinary talents to pay homage to the genius of Noguchi, and in doing so, he transports the visitor.
A couple weekends ago, I took an easy getaway to the Olympic Peninsula and camped in the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge's Voice of America campground. It rained. Still, I needed time away to reflect on our losses. First, we lost the Seattle Fringe Festival, gone astray to bankruptcy ($120,000 measly dollars). Now, in 2006, we'll no longer celebrate Gay Pride on Capitol Hill. I can hear their new theme song now, blaring with a special gay and lesbian choir on a giant rainbow - colored float, singing "Dooowntooown, everything's waiting for youuuu," and it just makes me sad.But I was glad to read in Monday morning's P-I that 60 people showed up to the monthly Seattle Pride Committee's meeting on Sunday, July 17, protesting the move with a petition of more than 8,000 others who want Gay Pride to stay on Capitol Hill.
First Hill would seem a natural for Sound Transit. Home to three hospitals and a university that together employ more than 20,000 people, First Hill also has one of the lowest car ownership rates in Seattle. Including the neighborhood in Sound Transit's light-rail plans seems like a no-brainer. Not any more. A recent risk assessment and cost analysis has thrown Sound Transit's original plans into flux. Board members are now considering removing the First Hill station from the agency's North Link light rail segment. Not surprisingly, neighbors are less than pleased.