The publicity for Intiman Theater's production of Shakespeare's "Richard III," naming him as a tyrant, caused quite a stir with the local Richard III Society, resulting in this letter from Jonathan Hayes, their president and a longtime Magnolia resident: "I note that Intiman will be producing Shakespeare's "Richard III." It's certainly great theater - his Richard must be close to the top of the list of villains we love to hate - but it is also, of course, lousy history.Given his main source, Thomas Moore's 'History of the Reign of Richard III,' and the political climate of the Elizabethan England, it's probably inevitable that the play would be a piece of agitprop political propaganda aimed to support the repressive Tudor police state by smearing its predecessor. The party line was, "Look at the vicious tyranny we in the wonderful Tudor dynasty rescued you from." The Tudors were masters of public relations, and though they did not hesitate to use the iron fist when they felt it necessary, they did prefer the velvet glove approach.Richard, however, was very far from being a tyrant. It is sad that his reign was so short, as he was one of the medieval period's better kings.
Although summer is now upon us, many homeowners still haven't gotten around to that much-needed, yet often-dreaded annual task: spring cleaning.Whether getting ready for a houseful of guests for this year's Fourth of July barbecue or hordes of children running around, winding down from school's end or simply trying to maintain that cleanliness that, in the long run, will ensure for better real estate value - it has come to be understood that cleaning is important.Of course, the most common complaint that most of us have uttered on at least one occasion is that we simply "don't have the time to clean." However, a few of the North End's cleaning services have offered a few tips for those who are determined to pick up that broom and tackle those cobwebs.
My son just came in from taking the dog for a walk. He (the son) walks into my room and sits on the bed to talk to me as I am writing on the computer. I have no memory of the conversation until I hear, "Eww! What's in my hair? Ewww! It's a slug!" The next thing I see is my son batting something out of his hair and then getting up to leave. "STOP!" I say in The Voice.He stopped. Sometimes The Voice works, and sometimes it doesn't. I think it all depends on whether the child can't get past me to get away before I catch him. I was between him and the door. He was stuck. "A slug? You flicked a slug into my room and now you're leaving?"He was looking at me as if I were daft. "It was just a little slug, Mom!"Oh, well then. That makes it all right. The established rule for letting a slug stay in my room is that it must be less than 2 inches in length and fake!This one was disturbingly real and now residing somewhere in the box of socks and clothes on the floor by my bed.
With millions of high-school seniors graduating this month, many commencement-ceremony programs will list the colleges and universities they'll attend and what they will study. Most students headed to a trade school will either pass on listing a school or won't list a profession. In America, it's not cool to be a cable installer, electrician, plumber, machinist, carpenter or ironworker. In our culture, you're expected to tell everyone you're going to be a doctor, lawyer, computer wiz or president of a Fortune 500 company.An ingrained messageThat message was ingrained in our family. My dad was a World War II veteran who used the G.I. Bill to become a journeyman electrician. While my father was proud to earn his master-electrician status and make a darned-good living for 50 years, he didn't think his profession was good enough for his kids.My father beat it into our heads that we needed to go to college to "make something of ourselves." Only a college degree would satisfy him because, to him, an electrician did not command the same respect as an electrical engineer.Just before he died, we had a long talk about his life. I reminded him that he had accomplished some remarkable things as a master electrician, including teaching others his craft and serving as electrical superintendent on some major construction projects. He even helped wire the intercontinental ballistic missile silos in central Montana. His response to me: "But you never finished your master's degree when you got out of the Army."
What began as a series of readings to raise money for a now-defunct bookstore, has evolved into a successful multimedia program. Such is the legacy of Rebecca Brown, who sought to help the Red & Black bookstore and, in turn, created Jack Straw Productions.The Jack Straw Writers Program is celebrating its 10th year on Sunday, June 25, with a reading and reception featuring writers from the program's past. Merging words with soundsA nonprofit audio center located in the University District, Jack Straw Productions offers three artist-residency programs in its professional recording studios. The Jack Straw Writers Program was established as a component of the Artist Support Program, which assists artists in all disciplines who want to incorporate sound in their work. The program introduces writers of all literary genres to the audio medium through recording, radio, live readings, publication on its website and in its annual print anthology.Each year an invited curator selects up to 14 writers on artistic excellence and diversity of style as demonstrated in their submitted work samples. Participating writers receive training in vocal presentation and microphone technique. After a short period of preparation, the writers are expected to conduct a public reading, one that is also recorded for KUOW listeners.
I went out looking for garage-sale treasures, and I found something I've wanted for a long time: a beautiful bench separated from an old vanity set. I've been thinking for some time that I could put the bench in my bedroom and use it in a number of ways. My treasure bench could go beside my bed to hold books or magazines or at the foot of my bed to hold an extra blanket. And it's also strong enough to work as a stool, so I can get to the top shelf of my closet. Three uses for the price of one item - I'm sold. And I only paid $2 for the bench to begin with!But there is one problem: The bench needs a paint job to tie it in with the color of my bedroom. And if you are like me, you hate the subject of refinishing something: It takes time, never comes out quite right, costs too much and the colors always seem to look so "store new."Well, let me share a secret with you: I have the greatest, smartest grandmother of them all.
The success of the annual Fremont Fair can be credited to Russell Keigley , a Fremont Fair volunteer for the last 17 years. His work earned him the Washington Festival & Events Association's 2006 Volunteer of the Year award, which he received during the fair's kickoff party on June 13. A former Fremont Public Association food-bank recipient, Keigley wanted to show his appreciation by stuffing envelopes, making ID badges, putting up posters and even directing traffic for the fair.
Tammie Condor remembers the moment she learned that Sacajawea Elementary School, where her child attends, was potentially going to be closed by the Seattle School District."Our first notification was from the media, finding out that we were on the school-closure list." Condor said. "And it was a shock. The closure criteria that was on the list did not merit closing Sacajawea." The Community Advisory Committee (CAC), the group charged with recommending schools for closure, said that one of the reasons Sacajawea, 9501 20th Ave. N.E., merited closing was because of its low "core parent participation.""We thought that was the most ridiculous thing that we could imagine," Condor said. "We had yellow shirts made so we could show up at the first town-hall meeting and show the tremendous parent support for the school. "By the end we went through 438 shirts, and we didn't have enough," she said.
Seattle Pride has moved its main action off the Hill. So what's Broadway going to do? QueerFest!The Seattle LGBT Community Center, Three Dollar Bill Cinema and Bent: A Queer Writing Institute, have pooled their efforts to produce QueerFest from noon to dark in Volunteer Park this Saturday, June 24.According to the sponsoring organizations, the celebration in Volunteer Park is a vehicle for sexual minority artists to be themselves and showcase their talents in a safe, independent and supportive environment. Of course, audiences of every kind are invited because QueerFest also strives to bridge the social, economic, political and generational gaps in both the LGBT community and the broader community generally."We'll have burlesque, spoken word and music, so we'll have all kinds of fun things," said Shannon Thomas, executive director of the LGBT Community Center. All the events are free, even the traditional open-air movie in the park which begins at dark. This year's movie is "Victor/Victoria."With the main Seattle Pride celebration moved to Seattle Center and the march route moved downtown this year, many members of the Capitol Hill LGBT community began making plans to have alternative activities on Capitol Hill during Pride weekend.
Dakota Elton"I'm going to do what any self-respecting homosexual would do and do all the parades and events and then spend the rest of the year bitching about it."Lindsay Deck"I'll go to the Broadway parade. I want to find some big gay parties. I'll be up here all weekend. I want to ride the bull at Cowgirls Inc. so I can get my free vibrator. I need a vibrator."
There's a question I often hear as a wellness practitioner: "Is it covered by insurance?" This thought has also occupied my own mind as I ponder what wellness supports I will and will not allow myself. I've always been fortunate to have health insurance that covered expenses I encountered due to illness. But what I've come to realize is that aside from periodic screening exams, "health" insurance primarily provides for response to disease that has already taken hold. I'm not currently hampered by disease, and I don't plan to be in that position if I can help it. Instead, I choose to proactively support my health. I think we all have a right to optimal well-being both as individuals and as a society.How do you define "well-being?" Take a moment to wonder how you would like to feel (emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually) every day, and how your life experience might differ if this ideal state were normal for you. It's amazing to stop and consider the immense influence that the state of our being has upon every life experience we encounter. Optimal well being enables us to expand our horizons, to experience joy and to contribute meaningfully.
A gentle comedy about the darker side of milk might just kick-start the Seattle film industry. At least, that's the hope of local filmmaker Rick Stevenson who wrote and directed "Expiration Date," which opens this week at the Egyptian. The film revolves around a young man who is convinced that he will be killed by a milk truck, a fate that befell his father and his grandfather.In his quest to wrap up his life before being flattened, Charlie wanders through Seattle, making a strange odyssey from Pike Place Market to Capitol Hill to Phinney Ridge. Of course, he meets a girl and learns there is more to life than his expected "Expiration Date."This whimsical comedy "all comes from a desire to make films at home," said Stevenson, whose previous films include "Magic in the Water" and "Dinosaur Hunter." "Vancouver, B.C., effectively killed the Northwest film business," said Stevenson. "And I was a part of that. I went there to direct TV and movies. But then I got married and didn't want to spend so much time away from my family."After years in the business, Stevenson decided that the standard production of the independent film could not float a local feature film industry. There is nothing about making a film that will attract investors in the way that starting up a software firm does.
I belong to a support group called Changes Parent Support Network, for parents of at-risk youth. Though I am not the support-group type, this one works for me. I attend Changes every week because of the actions of our younger daughter. In the spring of 2002, when she was almost 13, she morphed from a delightful child into someone unrecognizable. She became hateful and ran away, frightening my husband and me to the core. When she came home, things got worse. Weekly counseling was pitifully insufficient. We had to do something more drastic; we had to intervene.We sent her first to a wilderness camp in Idaho for a month, then directly to a therapeutic boarding school in Oregon for 18 months. Having her away for that long was a wrenching experience, but at the time we felt it was worth it. She worked hard for someone her age on many difficult issues. Her graduation was one of the most emotional experiences of our lives.After she came home she did well for several months. Teachers told us she worked hard in school and was a delight to have in class. Then she suddenly spiraled downward again. Soon we were going to her school almost daily in response to the latest report of abhorrent behavior. Finally, she ran away again, and was gone all summer.Thus began a long, depressing, sorrowful pattern of her running away for months (when we'd worry about her), and briefly appearing at home (when she was verbally abusive and untrustworthy).
Tim Eyman's failure to gather 112,000 signatures to put a referendum on the ballot refuting recently passed gay rights legislation came as a welcome, glorious surprise. When I awoke to the news the morning after, I couldn't help but feel jubilation and gratefulness to the people of Washington state, who respect the right to privacy and believe everyone deserves to have their civil rights protected, regardless of who they choose to love.The successful passage of legislation in January and failure of the referendum to reach the ballot this month gives the entire community - gay and straight alike - an opportunity to acknowledge how far we've come in the battle for recognition and societal acceptance. Washington becomes the 17th state to adopt a gay rights act. 
During Prohibition, Irving Berlin wrote a song suggesting the drinking set go to Cuba. If you want to go to Havana, starting Thursday, you only need to make your way to 10th Avenue and East Pike Street to discover the city's newest watering spot with faded elegance ala the Cuban capital."The entry way is actually around the back of the building through the parking lot," said Quentin Ertel, whose extensive experience in Capitol Hill and Belltown nightlife has made him well prepared to to open his own cocktail lounge. "It's a little bit like a speakeasy entrance."Havana, as the new establishment is called, is furnished with four booths, three under the large, front windows (looking out on 10th Avenue) and a huge, wrap-around booth taking up one end of the seating area. There are about 20 bamboo-topped tables on three levels. DJs will set up the booth on the middle level and all are suitable for parties."I'm so excited to open because I have talked to so many people who want to have their birthday parties here," Ertel said.He said he has seating for about 75, though the room occupancy is actually rated for 99. The light fixtures are refurbished antiques. Some are architectural salvage, like the five pendulum lights above the booths, rescued during the Cleveland High School renovation. The bar is smooth, white marble, 16-feet long, with a decorative backbar featuring gold Corinthian columns.