You can't judge a fish by its flesh color.Many Washingtonians may be surprised to learn that we have a tasty, wild King salmon in our own back yard. Copper River this, Copper River that.... Although no one is going to discount Alaska's fabulous fish, if you can buy local, high-quality salmon right here in the Apple State, why not?Washington's wild, marbled King salmon, a.k.a Chinook salmon, is high in Omega-3s, superior in taste and, unlike all the other ruby salmon swimming in the sea, our fish is two-toned in color and unique. The marbled salmon has varying amounts of both red and white flesh mixed throughout the body.The marbled effect, a genetic anomaly, makes the salmon less pink than other varieties. That's unusual, like red hair or green eyes, and to an untrained observer could be interpreted as a sign of inferiority. That, of course, would be an oceanic mistake."It has been called anemic and discolored," admits Steve Wilson, a fisherman since the late 1980s and a man who sells the marbled salmon directly to consumers at farmers markets throughout Washington. "Thankfully, people don't go by looks alone - they go by taste," he says.Three years ago at the Puyallup farmers market, Wilson gave samples of the marbled King to customers who had purchased a red King salmon. Red, white and marbled Chinook salmon are all the same species, but each has subtle taste and textural differences of its own. Wilson wanted customers to conduct their own taste test and see what they thought."People came back a week later and would tell us, 'The red was good, but can we buy some more of that marbled King?'" remembers Wilson. "By the end of the season we were selling more marbles than red Kings."
Harold Thiel knew early on that he might be heading into ministry. In fact, he was only 3 or 4 years old at the time. Sitting in church with his mother one morning, the youngster stood up and made a loud declaration. "I was standing on the pew next to my mother, and she was very devout with her hands folded, head bowed," he said. "All of a sudden, I screamed out at the top of my lungs, 'I want to be the man at the altar!' [i.e., priest]. And she was saying, 'Would you shut up?'"Now, more than 70 years later, Thiel celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination last month at Sacred Heart Parish in Lower Queen Anne. "Quite a few invitations [were] sent out, and there's been some elaborate ceremony prepared," Thiel said. Two of his remaining five classmates were also on hand. Thiel, 76, was born in Rainier Valley and eventually moved to Queen Anne. At one point he even had a job delivering- what else?-the Queen Anne News.Eventually he went off to Holy Redeemer College in Oakland, Calif., and also to the major seminary in Oconomowoc, Wis.Soon after being ordained in July 1956, he took off for Thailand, where he spent most of the next 45 years ministering to the people there.
My wife and I attended Congressman Jim McDermott's fund raiser at Benaroya Hall on July 31.McDermott was greeted with a standing ovation and spoke for several minutes about the current state of affairs and his ongoing legal battle with Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH). (Boehner sued McDermott over the release of a taped conversation involving Newt Gingrich.) The featured speaker of the night was former President Bill Clinton; to say he was a rousing success would be an understatement. The crowd of almost 2,500 went nuts at his introduction, and gave him a standing ovation that ended only at his insistence.President Clinton pointed out that the Democrats are basically a party with a philosophy, meaning they invite discussion and even dissention in an effort to find the best solutions to move our nation forward.These remarks were a breath of fresh air after five years of deceit, duplicity and dissembling.
August in Seattle can be a busy time for Seattle Opera, whose 2006 summer offering "Der Rosenkavalier" opened Aug. 5.The Richard Strauss work was staged in Seattle in January 1969, September 1975 and August 1997. My husband Hal and I attended the 1969 production, which I much enjoyed, but I have fond memories of the 1975 production during the Glynn Ross era. In August 1975, Seattle Opera's resident stage director Lincoln Clark had just returned from a trip to Santa Barbara where he had visited his former teacher, sponsor and good friend Lotte Lehmann seeking advice on staging Seattle's upcoming production. It was advice Lehman was most qualified and willing to give. She had worked with the composer, Richard Strauss and his librettist, and was very familiar with the opera, having started singing the role of Sophie, then Octavian and finally graduating to the role of the Marschallin; indeed, she became the composer's favorite Marschallin for the way she interpreted his music and staging. She played the role for many years in Europe and the United States, becoming universally acclaimed as the definitive Marschallin of her time. The highlights of Madame Lehmann's advice was shared at a preview and surprise birthday party for my Leo-born husband. The late Archie Drake, among others, was present at the party and had many stories to share of the legendary Lotte, having also been a student of hers. Lotte Lehmann died in August 1976 at the age of 89. Lincoln Clark, grateful that he had made that final visit to his mentor, put her advice to good use, making the Seattle Opera's 1975 production of "Der Rosenkavalier" a most memorable one. The 1997 "Rosenkavalier" was a luscious, lavish production, featuring sumptuous sets and opulent, colorful costumes. Strauss's music was beautifully interpreted.
When you hear the words "Western Swing" you might think of Willie Nelson tunes.  That is, if you're a fan of professional drag racing - as many Magnolians are - you think of the three summer drag races that occur in the Western half of the United States, including the recent Shucks Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent.Women have always enjoyed somewhat equal footing to men when it comes to driving a drag car.  Some say it's because they tend to weigh less and one of the laws of physics is that its easier to get a lighter mass moving.  Others argue that women have faster reactions to the starting signals.  The three NHRA Championships of Shirley "Don't call me Cha Cha" Muldowney prove that women can drive drag cars at the highest level.I had a chance to talk to two of the more prominent women, Melanie Troxel (who drives Top Fuel) and Erica Enders (who drives a Pro Stock Dodge Stratus R/T), competing in this year's POWERade racing series.  Both drive for the powerful Don Schumacher Racing team, although in different classes.
He actually had the audacity to say that this is what's best. Starbucks coffee baron Howard Schultz, the Seattle Supersonics principal owner, tried to present the recent sale of the team to a group from Oklahoma City as a celebratory affair. But the balloons and streamers screamed of audaciousness, disingenuousness and just plain B.S.And frankly, it was insulting.The sale was a good thing for Schultz and the group of Sonics owners he led. They made $75 million or so in the five years they owned the team. Which is good work if you can get it. But the truth is that Schultz and Co. sold the city out.
"This brings back a lot of memories for the parents," notes Mark Latz, the Pacific Science Center's vice president for exhibits, and my tour guide through the center's "Game On!" exhibit, running through Aug. 31.I am no parent (that I know of). My own video-game reminiscences, roughly from 1980 to 1986, revolve around a younger brother too precocious for his own good, and me, big brother, stuck "minding" him wherever arcade games might stand in file, hungry for dropped quarters.But I marvel as a stand of machines, evenly spaced in the center's muted, temperature-controlled space, brings a whiff of the long-defunct Arnold's On the Ave, electronics warming plastic from within as the eagerly anticipated summer sun warms it from without, plus the sizzle and scintillating undercurrent of beef, bacon and potatoes sharing space on a grill."Game On!" originated at London's Barbican Museum, and in certain places does demonstrate a scholarly approach to its subject. Positioned at the exhibit's entrance you'll find a game crucial to both history and nostalgia: the magisterial bips of Atari's Pong, designed by Al Alcorn for Nolan Bushnell's Atari Co. in 1972 and play-tested at Andy Capp's Tavern in Sunnyvale, Calif. Soon after Pong's installation, Andy Capp's owner called Alcorn to report a malfunction.The designer found the milk carton inside the machine's console-a jerry-rigged quarter receptacle-stuffed so full of quarters that a new one dropped would not trip the activation switch.
The sunshine did its job, and so did the volunteers and organizers as the 33rd Magnolia Summer Festival Parade got under way at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5.More than an hour before the parade, people were already on the street, staking out a spot on the curb, setting up lawn chairs and grabbing a cup of coffee.On as beautiful a day as there is anywhere in the country, the parade kicked off with the latest generation of children leading the way on bicycles and scooters, rounding the corner from 34th and rolling east on McGraw through the Village proper, throwing candy to a crowd, estimated by this reporter at around 1,000 people, many of whom were proud parents who had themselves marched in the parade a few years back.Mark Christopher from KBSG AM and FM, one of the festival committee volunteers, emceed the parade, with an improved sound system of eight speakers.Parade chairman Darrell Drew, chairing his 33rd consecutive parade, talked to several parents who remembered him when they were in the parade, and now watched as he directed their kids in the procession.In a conversation after the parade, Drew told me that only one of his children had been born when he organized his first festival parade. Now his sons are in their early 30s, and his two-year-old grandson was enjoying the excitement.The children who were not in the parade scrambled to gather as much of the candy as they could stuff in their pockets (and their cheeks).
Aug. 1 was Seattle Night Out, part of a nationwide crime-prevention program sponsored locally by the Seattle Police Department. Neighborhood streets throughout the city were cordoned off, and neighbors gathered to get to know one another better socially, rather than at a Block Watch meeting.One Queen Anne block party was special - the one on Pam Waechter's block.Pam Waechter was one of six women shot July 28 at the Jewish Federation in Belltown, allegedly by Naveed Afzal Haq, who randomly expressed his anger at Israel for its aggression against Lebanon. Though some remain in critical condition, five of the women survived the shooting. Pam Waechter died. Even Elliott Atkinson, age 7, knows the reason. "It's all about that war that's going on," he said. But to him the war is far away, whereas Waechter lived next door."Pam was a really nice lady," said Elliott. "I'm really sad that she died.
The actors are the best thing about Intiman Theatre's new production of "Heartbreak House." They shine. Although many of these seasoned thespians have worked together countless times on Seattle stages, the newcomers blend seamlessly into this talented ensemble. Directed by Jon Jory, the cast's superb performances are reason enough to see George Bernard Shaw's dark drawing-room comedy.  If you're a Shaw novice, be warned. His socially conscious creation unfolds in three acts, and his chatty crew never stops talking. But if you're a true lover of the theater and/or a Shaw aficionado, you'll celebrate his witty verbosity. You can examine every speech for its subtext and resonating philosophical insights. Or you can just sit back and savor the Shavian wit and zany characters. Reputed to be Shaw's favorite of his own works, "Heartbreak House" debuted in 1920. He actually wrote it earlier but refused to let it be produced until World War I had ended. The play's title acts as a metaphor for cultured, leisured Europe before the war, while Shaw's larger-than-life characters supposedly represent the evils of the modern world.
Richard Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier" is a romantic romp set in 1700s Vienna that balances bawdy bits with the drama of thwarted love and a contemplation of the impacts of time.This yin and yang is attentively harmonized in Seattle Opera's resurrection of its lauded 1997 production of "Der Rosenkavalier." Under the direction of Dieter Kaegi, the result is an opera in which the supremely funny and the bewitchingly transcendent convincingly coexist. Although the opera's comedy is broad, Kaegi knows when and how to let the drama emerge.Asher Fisch, who made his stunning Seattle Opera debut conducting Wagner's "Parsifal," displays equal prowess in the Straussian oeuvre. On opening night Saturday he guided his musicians in a textured performance that reinforced the various veins, from sadness to lust, running through the music. Just as admirably, Fisch steered clear of the maudlin handling to which waltz-rich scores are prone. In contrast to her last performance here as the title character in Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" in 2005, soprano Carol Vaness was flawless in her role debut as the Marschallin. Her voice was sumptuously curvaceous, and she delivered the production's truly heartrending moments as she sadly yet gracefully faced the inevitability of giving up her youthful lover to a woman his own age.
Rock School, based out of BEST High School in Kirkland, is offering summer school classes in partnership with The Old FireHouse Teen Center in Redmond.There are two summer camps available in August: For Those About to Rock and Rockergirl Camp (see information at end of article). In addition, the school is currently enrolling students for fall classes. Rock School is a non-profit music education program for teens and young adults ages 12-21. In addition to showcasing its students, the shows raise funds for scholarships and gear for the program.Rock School opened its Kirkland site in 2002 and the Seattle site in January 2005. Classes are held Monday through Thursday during the school year.
A group of Eastside youth, including several Lake Washington High School students, presented a peace-building workshop at the World Peace Forum in Vancouver, British Columbia on June 25. The youth are members of Youth Peacebuilders Network (YPN), an international, peer-led organization sponsored by the Education for Peace program.YPN chapters, in place in such diverse locations as New York City, Sarajevo, Arctic Canada and Seattle's Eastside, consist of youth leaders who challenge their peers to create a culture of peace, using an innovative new model of peacemaking called Conflict-free Conflict Resolution.The Eastside YPN Chapter's workshop at the World Peace Forum was entitled Creating a Youth Peacebuilder Network in Your Community, and focused on creating a culture of peace and the world views that are its foundation.
Your child tells you he is being bullied at school.Do you:A. Advise him to ignore it?B. Ask what he did to provoke it?C. Tell him to hit back?D. None of the above.The correct answer is D.Children who are being bullied need their parents' support and help, says Brian Bailey, violence prevention supervisor at Youth Eastside Services. Start by acknowledging the courage it took for your son to tell you about the problem, he says.Make no mistake, bullying is a problem.Fear of being bullied causes thousands of children to miss school annually, and the stress can affect their academic performance and physical and mental health, not to mention leave lasting emotional scars.Research shows that adults who were bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression and low self-esteem.
The Yellowstone adventure was an wild experience for the Scouts of BSA Troop 565 in Kirkland and was even a little educational. The trip, taken at the end of June, lasted eight days; the drive was long and hot.We stopped and visited the Lewis and Clark Caves on the way to the park, which were amazing and contained lots of incredible stalactites and stalagmites. It was a shock to go from the hot weather outside into the cold caves deep in the earth. At one point there was 500 feet of rock above our heads.On the first day at Old Faithful our troop was prepared and used our first aid kits to help a lady who got a serious cut on her leg and was bleeding badly. Our troop looked impressive and scored some points for the Boy Scouts.At the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, Scout dad Rob Collins exhibited SLAWEK (The troop's motto: Scout Law Always With Extra Kindness) and rescued a pair of sunglasses from a cliff with his fishing pole for a nice couple.Cameron D. was in charge of fighting off the bears and Devin D. was on wolf patrol.