Intiman Theatre's season opener doesn't hit a home run. It's more like a base hit. But playwright Richard Dresser's "Rounding Third" does offer a comedic peek into the world of Little League baseball. Not the players, but the coaches who guide those young souls by example while teaching them the rules of the game. Dresser actually penned his two-character play after his own son's Little League coach suggested that a slower player fake an injury to help the team win. Dresser was so outraged, he sat down and started writing. But this lightweight theatrical riff on America's favorite pastime might have played better as a 90-minute sojourn, rather than a dragged out, two-act saga. Despite the gallant efforts of its talented actors, "Rounding Third" plods along, especially the first half. You get a little tired of two wildly different male archetypes bantering back and forth. Thankfully, the second act picks up the pace - or maybe we just adapt.
Dressed in brown corduroys and a white sweater zipped up the front, the tiny Chinese-American woman examining the installations at the Henry Art Gallery looks like one of the university's graduate students. But no, this delicate creature is Maya Lin, she of the mammoth ideas, the landscape-size sculptures and the enormous reputation. There she was last week putting the finishing touches on the overwhelming exhibition of her recent works which is now open to the public.Among the approximately 40 pieces on display are sculptures, prints, sketches, audiovisual materials and three room-size installations. These three are the most awesome and irresistible.
Work has begun on a 144-niche columbarium next to the Magnolia Lutheran Church, and 42 parishioners have already reserved a spot there for their cremated remains, according to columbarium committee chair Dan Newton.Having a columbarium on church grounds was a dream of the late Douglas Langholtz, a former pastor at the Magnolia Village church, said Newton, who used to drive the pastor around in his later years.
The Fishermen's Terminal Advisory Committee (FTAC) last Friday shot down new, more restrictive, Port of Seattle-proposed rules for live-aboards at the working marina near Magnolia.Numerous fishermen at the terminal have argued that the deaths were the result of unsafe conditions on the docks. But the Port seemed to shift the blame for the deaths more to the victims and framed the argument for tougher rules as a way to deal with people of less-than-sterling character using the marina as a cheap place to live.
The Mr. Lucky night-club in Lower Queen Anne lost its liquor license for six months last week when the state Liquor Control Board took action at the urging of the mayor's office. A notice posted on the club's front door and a side window cited a number of reasons for suspending the license. They included serving an underage patron and allowing one or more underage people to frequent an area off-limits to those younger than 21 on April 15. That's the date when three people were shot and wounded in a crowded hallway inside the club, and the suspension notice charged that the bar "engaged in behavior that provoked conduct which is a threat to public safety."
The Mr. Lucky night-club in Lower Queen Anne lost its liquor license for six months last week when the state Liquor Control Board took action at the urging of the mayor's office. A notice posted on the club's front door and a side window cited a number of reasons for suspending the license. They included serving an underage patron and allowing one or more underage people to frequent an area off-limits to those younger than 21 on April 15. That's the date when three people were shot and wounded in a crowded hallway inside the club
Strollers were adorned with signs, children chanted "si se puede" (yes, we can), and senior citizens moved along with them during a 30-minute immigration rights march held at the top of Beacon Hill. While their ages were different, their voices all expressed the same disapproval.Many older South End residents had expressed concerns to the march organizers that they were unable to attend the large April 10 and May 1 demonstrations in downtown Seattle because of the parade route's length. The solution was the smaller march based out of Beacon Hill's El Centro de la Raza.
Trudy Eastman rings up purchases behind the counter of the Southeast Seattle Senior Center Thrift Shop. Her sister Becky places vintage hats into a box for an excited customer. The hat appears to be a bargain, as the customer explains that $5 is cheaper than renting one. As board members of the Southeast Seattle Senior Center, the Eastman sisters have volunteered much of their time in renovating and running the shop in hopes of raising much-needed funds for the center. Income from United Way of King County dropped this year, and the Southeast, Central, and Vashon senior centers have all been forced to increase their fund-raising.
Sometimes a good party is more than needed, a fact that Graham Hill Elementary School's Parent Teacher Association knows well. On April 21 the PTA raised the roof and a bunch of money for their kids with a Pearl Django concert at the Mount Baker Community Center. According to PTA member Betina Simmons Blaine, her organization was hoping to raise $4,000 to go toward the school. The event brought in $4,500.
With the arrival of spring and warm weather, the dandelions have once again made a reappearance around our neighborhood. This hearty weed is responsible for not only shelves full of lawn and garden weeding paraphernalia, but also quite a few bruised knees and sore backs. Seen from the car window at 20 miles an hour, what is the difference between perfect Marion bluegrass and a neatly mowed lawn decorated with a few dandelion plants? You've just got to keep the yellow flowers picked each day.
I'll begin by saying that I would rather live in Seattle than anywhere else in the world. OK?That said, I'll try to put into words how it feels to be of Mediterranean descent, both of genes and mind, while wearing fleece pajamas, heat turned up, cat refusing to go outside. In May.I'm sure you're wondering why I stay in a place with such a short-lasting summer, the same question I've asked myself for the past 20 years soon as August fades. Is it the richness that follows the rain, so immensely beautiful I can hardly believe my eyes? Or have I integrated with the words gurus recite: that the one thing that annoys us most is the one thing we most require?
We've talked here before about guns. The ease of acquiring assault rifles and handguns - two weapons really only good for killing people and holding up banks and stores - in this culture. I've explained that I am not a gun-hater and that I qualified with both sidearms and the M-16 in Basic Training lo those many years ago (1966). We've also spoken here about my belief that hunters should have one or two hunting rifles, and that law-abiding folks should have a home-protection weapon like a shotgun if they feel the fearful need.But none of those prefaces to the following statements are ever enough for the gun-nut lobby, convinced that they have a constitutionally questionable right to be armed to the teeth.What brings all this up again is a story in the April 25 Seattle Times, where current police chief Gil Kerlikowske is quoted as being surprised at "the unprecedented level" of firearms incidents resulting in death and maiming recently in our allegedly safe, yuppified city.
'll begin by saying that I would rather live in Seattle than anywhere else in the world. OK?That said, I'll try to put into words how it feels to be of Mediterranean descent, both of genes and mind, while wearing fleece pajamas, heat turned up, cat refusing to go outside. In May.I'm sure you're wondering why I stay in a place with such a short-lasting summer, the same question I've asked myself for the past 20 years soon as August fades. Is it the richness that follows the rain, so immensely beautiful I can hardly believe my eyes? Or have I integrated with the words gurus recite: that the one thing that annoys us most is the one thing we most require?
Drowning in paper: this aptly describes the experience of writers working on The Magnolia Historical Essay Project II at this point in time.Topics like Fort Lawton (Mike Davis, writer, and contributor to this paper); the Children's Convalescent Home for Crippled Kiddies (Sharon Warsinske and Monica Wooton); and Lawton Wood (Don R. Clark, Wayne Gray)-these subjects entail extensive research, lots of reading, conducting interviews, as well as a "needle in a haystack" feeling when one finally gets down to writing an interesting story with a beginning, middle and end.
We have closely followed the city's Magnolia Bridge Replacement Project. Despite recent news reports on the bridge, there is much that the city has done deserving of the community's applause. However, it is also important that the community be focused on demanding that the city achieves a minimum of construction downtime as well as a feasible construction detour.Magnolia must always have three connection points to the rest of the city, including an approach from the south that connects into Magnolia Village and, to southwest, into Magnolia at the Howe Street bridge