Green Lake resident Michael Krasik and Portage Bay's Richard Meyer will bring a collection of digitally restored, silent-era films to the screen for a special, two-night Seattle debut at Kenyon Hall.Kenyon Hall, a performance space in West Seattle since the 1930s, houses a fully restored Wurlitzer theater organ and a Chickering grand piano.The first night, Wednesday, Sept. 13, will include four American comedies: "One AM," "Cops," "Big Business" and "Pass the Gravy," with an introduction and commentary by Meyer. "One AM" features a solo performance by Charlie Chaplin. Some of the other well-known performers in these comedies include Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and Buster Keaton.
Believe it or not, it's September already, and every mom and dad is thinking: "School - change gears!" Yes, our lovely summer has come to an end, but don't limit that concept of changing and having fun to just shopping for clothes.Consider the lowly lunch box. Surprisingly, the school lunch box, as we know it, is a fairly recent invention, considering how long children have been going to school. Created in 1950 by Aladdin Industries, the first, true school lunch box promoted the then-popular TV show "Hopalong Cassidy." The metal lunch box was so popular that more than 600,000 were sold in the first year alone. Soon, other firms were copying their success. The American Thermos Co. quickly added the Roy Rogers lunch box to its product line. In record time, Jiminy Cricket, Dumbo, Pluto and Mickey Mouse also were appearing on school lunch boxes. Many collectors today consider this period of the metal, "character" lunch boxes as the golden era. However, school administrators at the time did not think so, since metal lunches boxes often caused injuries when there were angry disagreements in the lunchroom.
I have been so focused lately on worldly issues that I've missed a whole slew of interesting, little news and feature items from here, there and everywhere in the crazed world we share.The Blue Moon, an ancient and honorable watering hole and music venue on the west side of the University District, has finally come to some sort of agreement with our Mayor's Office and will be allowed to continue to do business. The city was trying to close the venerable tavern down, citing alleged problems with drug dealers the bar denied hosting.Cynics in the area thought maybe it was the fact that the Moon's clientele don't generally look like condo owners with tiny dogs of unpronounceable breed waiting outside coffeehouses yapping away merrily.However, Gustav Hellthaler, the Blue Moon's owner, didn't sound inordinately pleased after the settlement was worked out, at least not when he talked to a Seattle Times reporter.
While driving home with my13-year-old son and his 13- and 14-year-old cousins, I became acutely aware that teenage boys are certifiably insane.Before we left for home, my overly grateful sister pushed two boxes of doughnuts through my car window. She explained that her boys would get hungry on the way home and hoped this food would see us through until we got to my house.We were only going two blocks.OK, it was a little longer than that, but you see the problem. Three hormonally overloaded eating machines, with not much in the way of inhibitions, were spending the weekend with me. I knew I was in for trouble.The box of glazed doughnuts didn't last two minutes. The white, powdery doughnuts, however, lasted a bit longer and became a source of amusement for the boys.My nephew Cameron rubbed the white powdered sugar all over his nose and then, claiming that he was on drugs, moaned and writhed in a pseudo-drug-induced spasm.
Health-care reform has become a perennial issue in politics across the country and at all levels of government. But while little headway seems to have been made by any side, the 45th Street Clinic in Wallingford has quietly been providing care to uninsured and low-income patients. Serving a diverse populationThe 45th Street Clinic is a member of Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers (PSNHC), a nonprofit organization that provides primary and preventive care through its 17 clinics in Seattle. PSNHC offers a wide range of services, including medical care, dental care, family care, mental-health counseling, prescriptions and nutrition and health education. In 2005, PSNHC treated a total of 45,763 patients, according to its annual report. Of these, 77 percent were living below the poverty line. Bahaa Wanly, director of medical services at 45th Street Clinic, estimates the clinic sees an average of 140 patient visits per day. About 80 percent of the clinic's patients live in poverty, he said.
Most art festivals succeed or fail in direct relation to their name-recognition amongst their desired audience; the Decibel Festival is no different. However, few festivals can claim to have actually grown into their name like this years forthcoming electronic, multimedia showcase that calls Capitol Hill home for four days every September.Simply put, decibels measure the ratio between two quantities. They are most frequently used to quantify sound levels and, thus, it's perhaps no surprise that this is how the story of the Decibel Festival begins.In January 2003, the first Decibel-titled event occurred at the infamous Washington Hall. Its focus was music, specifically minimal techno - an up-tempo blend of electronic dance music that tends to be more stripped down, bare and thoughtful than the typical progressive dance remixes of commercial pop hits one can currently hear on local station C89.5 FM. The event, Convergence, marked the first physical incarnation of an idea that had been floating around on local techno e-mail-groups for some time.
The Stranger likes to think of itself as Seattle's main alternative weekly, as opposed to the more straight-laced reputation of the Seattle Weekly . But when their Election Control Board wrote "... it's imperative that Maria Cantwell get a running start to fend off the charismatic Republican challenger Mike McGavick in the general election," I felt like I was reading the mainstream, status quo Weekly. Moreover, The Stranger now bills itself as "Seattle's Only Newspaper," yet the half sentence they spent on Democratic challenger Hong Tran was clearly derived from Alex Fryer's slanted Seattle Times profile that dismissed Tran as "quixotic." The idea that voters must choose Cantwell now in order to prevent a Republican victory in November is antithetical to the idea of a primary election. Yet, that's exactly what The Stranger , the Cantwell campaign and the state Democratic Party leadership want you to believe. They are so terrified by seeing Cantwell's lead over McGavick in the polls occasionally dip into the single digits that they would be all too happy to do away with any discussion about the many ways Cantwell has failed the Democratic Party and its constituents, or any possible alternatives.
As summertime wanes and the days become shorter, I find my attention turning toward more serious matters than suntanning and days spent at the beach. For the past five years our country has been at war, but you would never know it by the unfair and reckless tax policies passed into law and complete lack of sacrifice requested of the majority of Americans. The sacrifice has come in the form of 2,600 American lives lost. Many of these soldiers had looked to the military as an honorable form of service and pathway to career success.Our president has said there will be no resolution of the Iraq conflict while he is in office, leaving this albatross on the neck of the next administration. People can see George W.'s true colors. He arrogantly took us into a war without any plans for a successful exit strategy. We were not greeted as liberators, but occupiers of a sovereign nation. We've had a hell of a time trying to unify various factions in Iraq, much less hunting down Al Qaeda and the real cause of 9/11: Osama bin Laden. And much of the world views the U.S. through hostile eyes.Now, more than ever. we, the people of the U.S., need to rededicate ourselves toward peacemaking on a local and global level. The once popular hymn "Let There Be Peace On Earth," continues with "and let it begin with me."
It was created when a practical need was met with sixties idealism. Thirty-five years later, the Country Doctor Community Health Center is not only still around, it has evolved into a much-needed neighborhood institution.In 1971, several volunteers opened a free medical clinic during the evening in a recently vacated fire station on 15th Avenue East. (That location is now the On 15th Video store.) The goal was to fill a community need for medical services, many of which were geared toward low-income seniors. For the unpaid volunteers, most of whom were medical residents at the University of Washington, the clinic was a labor of love. Keeping the doors open was a considerable challenge. Seattle was experiencing pretty dismal economic times - think Boeing bust - and many people did not have adequate health care. "Neighborhood activism founded the clinic," said Country Doctor Community Health Center's Executive Director Linda McVeigh. She worked at the clinic when it first opened. After taking a four-year break to work at the Seattle Day Nursery - now Childhaven - she returned in 1976. In 1984, she was offered the position of Country Doctor's first executive director, which she has held ever since.
Rainier Valley offers a multitude of catering opportunities. If you are planning a wedding, office meeting, private party or just want to have some friends over for that last great summer meal, I've listed a few catering options that you can find right here in Rainier Valley. Next time you are looking for a catering option look in your own backyard and find some really friendly, professional caterers that can make an impression at your event.Private Chef, Inc. is a local Seward Park business that started offering home delivered dinners in 1998. Chef Carole Chancler has expanded her business and now offers boxed lunches, catering and cooking classes. The catering menu offers themed menus like Russian, Italian, Caribbean, French and many more. Chancler has a degree in food science and nutrition from the University of Washington and has continued to study cooking techniques in many foreign countries to expand her talents. Her husband is a fireman, private caterer and chili cook-off champion in his own right. They live in the Seward Park neighborhood and for years subleased kitchens around Seattle until they found the perfect spot for their business located on Wilson Avenue South. Now they can work, live and play in the same great neighborhood. For more information about Private Chef, check out their website at www.privatechefonlone.com.
Everyone has pet peeves that get them worked up, and authority figures that misuse their positions rank high on my list. Usually I observe this digression from afar. However I recently was used as a scapegoat by an elementary school principal in an attempt to save her school from closure. I was in my second year as a volunteer reading tutor at my neighborhood elementary school. The first year was heavenly with a short walk, an easy-going teacher and the sweet, six-year-old student that I tutored. However, the next year my child's substitute, second-grade teacher was quite unfriendly. I tolerated her gruff demeanor as a minor impediment in order to tutor my child, but the coup-de-grace came when I arrived to tutor my student one day. "She's not here today," the sub sneered before brusquely walking off.I felt her response was inappropriate, and I approached the principal about the educator's questionable interpersonal skills. I expected to hear that she was a problem employee and that others also had difficulty with her. Wrong! The principal appeared surprised with my revelations. She speculated my perception had to do with "cultural differences." This explanation was incongruous with my life experiences and contrary to my belief that rudeness knows no color.
Elvis was a crooner with sleek black hair, a young guy exuding sexuality. A little black Manx, he'd picked up with our cats, settling on the porch. We weren't feeding him, yet. He was battling with other fully equipped toms in the neighborhood, most strays like him.Somebody else's cat, he came wearing a flea collar. I tried not to give him a name, calling him "Spare" or "Little Boy." My wife christened him Elvis after hearing him caterwaul. Friendly, he'd hop in our laps if we sat on the front steps, or stretch up to a shoulder and purr. He didn't stay a porch cat for long.If they're lucky, ferals or strays become homebodies. Both of our boys - Mister Cat and Squirrel - found our house before we knew it was their home. The girls we adopted, Xena from PAWS and Luna from a neighbor's dad.Cats attract cats, make friends, live in social groups, feral colonies and clowders for housecats. They groom and hunt together, and look after one another. Squirrel was welcomed by Mister Cat and Xena. Last winter, he stepped inside on the coldest night of the year. We got him fixed and named him after his attitude as much as his gray fur and white belly.
Tamara Guyton - Parent: "I have mixed feelings about it because Jemma just started kindergarten. Its exciting but a little bittersweet."Alloney Burris - Third grader"No, because you don't get to stay up as late and I don't like cutting out stuff and gluing it on things. I do like gym and recess."Montiana Rasul-Chiono - Sixth grader"Yes, you get to meet new people and have something to do and learn new things so you can get a good job when you grow up."
It's been years since the idea was first proposed. Creating an Alcohol Impact Area (AIA), which would place restrictions on the kinds of products a store could sell in an effort to reduce the impacts of chronic street alcoholics, has been pursued with various degrees of enthusiasm for nearly a decade.Recently, those in favor of taking this step got their wish. On Thursday, Aug. 31, the Washington State Liquor Control Board unanimously approved the city's formal request to establish the Central Core AIA. The approval comes after several Good Neighbor Agreements - efforts at voluntary compliance where businesses would agree to restrictions that were not mandated - were deemed unsuccessful. The AIA goes into effect on Nov. 1. When it does, stores will be prohibited from selling a large number of the high-alcoholic, low-cost beverages typically favored by street alcoholics. Businesses are prohibited from selling alcoholic beverages until 9 a.m., and cannot sell single containers.
An "interfaith service of prayer and hope on the fifth anniversary of 9/11" entitled "Moving Forward Together," the service drew people from all over Seattle to "lament for those who died and those who still suffer as a result of the attacks of September 11 and the conflicts following and continuing to this day."