The mayor recently unveiled his 2007-08 biannual budget. I had anticipated a budget riddled with pet projects that wasted city funding while at the same time enacting cuts to major services.This year, however, and to my pleasant surprise, Mayor Nickels seems to be in tune with the true needs of the city. He has highlighted his priorities with the such phrases as "Get Seattle moving," "Keep our neighborhoods safe," "Build strong families and healthy communities," and "Create jobs and opportunity for all."The good news is that with all these new priorities, the funding for the general budget is actually up from previous years, giving the city more spending money. The mayor wants to stabilize Seattle Center's finances. This will keep the Center a vibrant cultural center as well as a nice tourist attraction for the city. Nickels is also planning to rehabilitate the monorail with $4.5 million in funding. Some have called this is a cynical ploy to revive the monorail project, but it simply makes good sense to fund the only attraction at Seattle Center that turns a profit, and has the added bonus of connecting the downtown area with the Seattle Center.
We-that would be my wife and I-watch almost all our movies via Netflix, the folks who mail the DVD directly to your home in the squarish red envelope.We do, albeit rarely, see a film in the theater, because we think the cinematography will be better enjoyed on the largest screen possible. The wildlife movie Winged Migration being just such a flick.But generally, the somewhat dingy theaters, candy-and-popcorn covered floors and, depending on the film, an overabundance of noisy kids, is not conducive to our maximum enjoyment of a movie.We generally eschew Hollywood blockbusters like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Rambo and similar efforts, preferring movies with an actual storyline and dialogue above the sixth-grade level. If Ebert & Roeper give a movie a big "two thumbs up," then we might give a try to a film we would otherwise pass over.With the DVDs coming to our home, we enjoy the movies in the comfort of our TV room, surrounded by our favorite snacks and beverages, not to mention our fat little cat. The disadvantage is that we are often watching movies that others have seen in the theater several months to a year or more before we see them. We generally find this an acceptable tradeoff for watching the film in comfort, and at a time of our choosing.We just watched the Spanish movie The Sea Inside, directed and co-written by Alejandro Amenabar (The Others). A winner for Best Foreign Film at the 2004 Golden Globe Awards, the 2005 COYA Awards and the 2005 Academy Awards, the film is layered with touching and at times disturbing issues of life, death and love between human beings.
Three weeks have passed since the mid-October school board meeting imploded, and it's time for school administrators and parents to cast critical eyes on the wreckage. The school board has been called dysfunctional, and considering the way they handle their public meetings, that appears to be the case. Where was the discipline on Oct. 18?The meeting's three-hour time slot nearly doubled as the board members allowed impassioned speakers to exceed their time allotments, and they sat by passively as rude, disruptive audience members interrupted the proceedings. The mechanism for public input was disrespected and derailed.The board's job is to inform the audience of the ground rules and the consequences of breaking them, and to enforce them if they are broken. While it may at times take beefed-up security to accomplish this, it's the same old-fashioned and positive structure of communication parents should use with their children. It's elementary. On a deeper level, the meeting meltdown may have been unavoidable; community frustration toward the district's funding crisis and, more recently, the proposed school closures has been building for years without a means of release. Resentments and suspicions escalate when those in power appear both unreachable and unresponsive.
When the 19th-century writer Henri Stendhal moved to Paris, his first friends were a pair of lime trees. There are now fewer trees to befriend on Queen Anne Hill. At Betty Bowen Viewpoint, in the case of the view vs. the trees, the view has won. A few weeks ago I walked to the viewpoint. Chestnut trees, leaves turning in late September, framed an eternity of blues. An elderly lady sat on a bench, the peaceful blues reflected on her smiling face. We talked. She lives in Lower Queen Anne and was surprised to learn the trees had only recently been cut down.Diplomatically, she said, "It's hard to choose between the trees and the view. But now that we've got the view, we might as well enjoy it."That dazzling view is surely the park's original purpose. Yet I want to put in another word for trees. Especially since more may be at risk from the project, proposed by Seattle Parks and Recreation, to install new sidewalks on Queen Anne Boulevard, along West McGraw Place and Bigelow."Once a tree's gone, it's gone," Chris Marks summed up the tragedy of a tree irresponsibly cut down. Marks, who once worked for the Department of Design, Construction & Land Use (now Department of Planning and Development), still remembers the rare Japanese Shiro plum in Ballard, which the city asked designers not to cut. They did anyway. There are many reasons to protect trees, Marks told me in 2003, shortly before he retired after laboring for many years over the issue of tree preservation.
On the day after Halloween, on a blustery rainy evening, 45 members of the Seattle branch of the English-Speaking Union braved the elements and any remaining spooks and goblins, rush-hour traffic and parking problems to attend a dinner and a talk by a visiting British VIP taking place in a fabulous Queen Anne condo penthouse. The VIP guest was Christopher Collins and his talk was entitled "Thatcher to Reagan to the Present." The Evelyn Wrench Speakers Program, named for the founder of the ESU, was established in order to make available to ESU branches around the country several excellent speakers every year. Wrench speakers address current events, cultural history and artistic subjects during their regional tours. The tours are planned by the National Headquarters with the cooperation and assistance of eight regional chairmen and the Branch Speakers Program chairs. The Seattle branch is part of region eight, covering Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona. The selected speakers share their specialized knowledge and experiences with the branches. Over the years, the Seattle branch speakers programs have become very popular covering a variety of subjects from antiques to historic homes, to fine arts and paintings, to the Queen's treasures from Windsor Castle. There also have been dramatic Dickensian readings and an evening with Alice in Wonderland. The programs are among the highlights of the year, covering topics of interest to the membership and adding extra social events to the existing monthly receptions. These events also provide a fundraising opportunity to benefit local scholarship and education programs supported by the branch. The speakers programs are planned a year in advance to accommodate the presenters' travel schedules (I know because I do the planning).
If you're like a lot of people, you've decided to bring organic, vegetarian and vegan meals to your table. But do you want to plan the meals and shop for the ingredients and prepare the meals?Imagine having tasty, affordable vegetarian meals delivered to your door. Lucky Palate of Queen Anne does just that.Lucky Palate combines organic ingredients such as red lentils, white beans, black beans, brown rice, onions and leeks and beets and tofu and tomatoes to create a medley of vegan and vegetarian meals. Then it delivers the meals to porches in Seattle and beyond.In September 2004, Bonnie and Ray Parton left retirement and purchased Lucky Palate to work together on something, give back to the community and mentor young people.The Partons call themselves "foodies." Bonnie defines that as "peeps (people) that love food." Ray defines that as "living to eat." She cooks and leads the kitchen and speaks in short speak. He handles the bookkeeping and technology and speaks in percents. He said, "There is zero fiber in meat. Think about that."Ray's favorite thing is hearing from their customers. That they feel better, have lost weight, lowered their cholesterol. "It's very satisfying," he said. "I feel that I provide a valuable service."
Ms. Elsie Miller's fourth-grade class at Coe Elementary School welcomed Miss Washington back to their classroom last Friday, Oct. 27. Kristin Eddings came to deliver a very special box from the Coe students' new "global classmates" at the Tibetan Chil-dren's Village in Dharamsala, India.The exchange is sponsored by Bridges to Understanding, a local organization founded by human-rights photographer Phil Borges that engages K-12 students worldwide in direct, interactive learning and storytelling to build cross-cultural understanding and leadership skills using innovative technology. Eddings traveled to the Dharam-sala on Oct. 9 to participate in a two-week Bridges to Understanding Digital Storytelling Workshop, and to visit partner classes engaging Tibetan refugee children with Seattle students. Miss Washington was also a judge in this year's Miss Tibet contest and met the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, also on a mission to the Tibetan Children's Village.As for that box: Students at Coe sent a "Culture Box" to introduce themselves culturally to their Tibetan counterparts. Contents included a classroom novel and another book about the Pacific Northwest, plus baseball cards, Jolly Ranchers, a stuffed animal and a DVD of the Coe fourth-graders singing their class song.
As soon as I walk down Virginia Street, the question forms on my tongue like clockwork even before I reach the Pike Place Market: "Why, why do they allow cars to drive through the narrow street that fronts the market?"Cars other than loading vehicles, that is.Nine years ago, divesting myself of a car and whittling down possessions in order for my husband and me to move into a 480-square-foot condo was no easy feat. Part of what I wanted, other than to simplify, was to reclaim a walking lifestyle that included shopping at the Pike Place Market. Of all the things I wanted to change about my life, buying groceries from vendors rather than dealing with parking lots broad and routine as the aisles inside was way up there on my list. So it's no surprise that I love Sundays at the market best, when the northern lane of Pike Place is roped off from car traffic so that strollers don't have to fear being run over by a taxi vying for time, and the street operates at a pace unhurried. And tolerating a visual blight of any kind when I can see it from a more aesthetic, albeit more romantic, perspective is not my forte. So when I see an engine-revving automobile/tank nearly half the size of my condo (and no more attractive and less practical today than it's ever been) trying to bully its way over cobblestone laid down in the early 1900s - well, I'm embarrassed to say it, but more than once I've addressed the situation with a remark that was just a little bit malicious.
The past 10 days have been chock full of news items I wanted to share with you dear readers. The cornucopia of news too good to pass up has been overflowing.Starting very close to home, four blocks from KeyArena for yours truly: Clayton Bennett, the new carpetbagger owner of the Sonics, who keeps acting as if he wants to keep the team here when we all know he wants to head back to the Dust Bowl from whence he sprung, has told the city fathers that he needs 15 to 30 acres, a new arena and some tax breaks to keep the team here on the shores of Elliott Bay.Bennett, in a display of gall worthy of former Pirate owner Howie of NYC, the coffee baron, has also said that he is against letting the public - that's you and me - vote on whether or not we, the aforementioned citizenry, pay for this new arena he must have with higher taxes he is seeking while skirting around the voters.Big old Clay is lucky I am not working for the city in any decision-making capacity, because I would tell him to pack up and get out now, and take his collection of gawky hoopster losers with him.
In his program notes about "Suspension of Disbelief," choreographer Victor Quijada said that he wanted to move the dancers and the audience of Pacific Northwest Ballet outside of their comfort zones.While "Suspension of Disbelief" expertly blended the pops and rolls of hip-hop dance with a few classical moves, neither the dancers nor the audience seemed anything other than enthusiastic about this addition to the company's repertoire.In an evening completely filled with new works, the company never seemed anything other than smooth, stepping into each première with the same ease that they use to dance any well-known routine.The "All Premiere" program opened with the beautifully titled and lovingly executed "Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven." Here six dancers clad in simple white unitards opened in a pose similar to the classic portrayal of the Muses, a closed circle with hands clasped and upraised to the heavens.The usual personalities of the dancers were subsumed into service to Ulysses Dove's subtle choreography, with corps dancer Lindsi Dec as strong as principal dancers Patricia Barker and Ariana Lallone. Principal male dancers Bathurel Bold, Chris-tophe Maraval and Stanko Milov easily moved in and out of the chain of solos and duets.
In his program notes about "Suspension of Disbelief," choreographer Victor Quijada said that he wanted to move the dancers and the audience of Pacific Northwest Ballet outside of their comfort zones.While "Suspension of Disbelief" expertly blended the pops and rolls of hip-hop dance with a few classical moves, neither the dancers nor the audience seemed anything other than enthusiastic about this addition to the company's repertoire.In an evening completely filled with new works, the company never seemed anything other than smooth, stepping into each première with the same ease that they use to dance any well-known routine.The "All Premiere" program opened with the beautifully titled and lovingly executed "Dancing on the Front Porch of Heaven." Here six dancers clad in simple white unitards opened in a pose similar to the classic portrayal of the Muses, a closed circle with hands clasped and upraised to the heavens.The usual personalities of the dancers were subsumed into service to Ulysses Dove's subtle choreography, with corps dancer Lindsi Dec as strong as principal dancers Patricia Barker and Ariana Lallone. Principal male dancers Bathurel Bold, Christophe Maraval and Stanko Milov easily moved in and out of the chain of solos and duets.
Some have said that "Waiting for Godot" is the quintessential play of the 20th century. Well, here we are in the 21st century still stumbling around, still trying to find the meaning of life in an absurd world. And Samuel Beckett's characters continue to remind us that we are not alone in our confusion.Vladimir and Estragon have become icons for the absurd hopes of humankind and the meaninglessness of human life. They are waiting for the promised arrival of somebody named Godot. We don't know why, but clearly the guy is important, and his appearance is much anticipated. The problem is, he never shows up.These tramps, or refugees or whatever they are, just talk, talk, talk, obsessively perhaps to keep desperation away. Their lives seem tedious. These are the insignificant people akin to those played by Charlie Chaplin or Laurel and Hardy, and the humor throughout the play has that comedic quality. We humans may have a hopeless destiny, but really isn't it a great joke on us all?
Ah, once again it's the season of giving thanks, and for many of us, that also means the season of stress. Without a plan, it's difficult to get organized or know where to start. Large meal planning in itself is daunting, not to mention coordinating friends, family and all the food. Here are a few tips to help you get through Thanksgiving feeling right at home:* Use technology - Make a list of who is attending, get their e-mail address if possible and use on-line organizing products such as Evite.com. This free and easy service is a great way to organize any gathering. You can indicate the time, date, and directions including a map to your address. You also can request items for guests to bring, and guests can make comments and even invite more people (if you want them to). The program will even automatically send out reminders a few days before the party. * Make menu cards - Most of us have a general idea of what we are planning on serving, but without writing everything down, it's easy to forget something. Use notecards or a small tablet, and on separate pages, write down the name of the dish and all the ingredients and quantities needed. Each dish should have its own card or page. The page also should include special cooking instructions and prep time and cooking time needed (write in the top corner). If you can prepare the dish ahead, write down the day and time you'll make the dish. Write the times in the top corner.Put a check mark next to any ingredient you already have, but be certain to confirm quantities on hand. Butter and other staples tend to go fast and get used for multiple dishes, and don't assume you have enough without actually checking your stock.
Looking for fresh Thanksgiving decorating ideas? Consider the great Northwest and our strong commitment to ecology and a green environment. Dress your rooms with holiday touches that can be reused, saving you time and money. Let's get started!* Glad for plaid - Instead of buying an expensive, single-use holiday tablecloth, cover your table with an inexpensive plaid fleece blanket or length of fleece cloth. Retail stores, as well as fabric stores, have these available during the holiday. Use it as a table, and later you can wash it and keep it as a holiday gift for yourself or make gift pillows from it. Be sure to pick plaid colors that work with your already existing décor.
With home purchases over a three-year period totaling more than $550 billion, unmarried women represent a growing - yet sometimes overlooked - segment of the homebuying population.A recent report from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) examines this distinct group and their purchasing behavior. The findings are "striking," according to research analyst Rachel Bogardus Drew, the author of "Buying for Themselves: An Analysis of Unmarried Female Home Buyers."The role of unmarried women in homebuying is clearly strong and shows signs of continued growth and expansion, Drew reported. "Not only are unmarried women a large segment of the homebuying population, but they are fast-growing, too, increasing their share of homebuyers by 50 percent in eight years," she stated. Along with looking at the characteristics of unmarried women relative to other buyers, the researcher analyzed home-purchasing behavior and preferences and identified four subsets of this diverse and highly segmented group. Of 18 million homebuyers in the study (defined as purchasing their home in 2000-03), 3.7 million (about 20 percent) are identified as being headed by an unmarried female. Of these, about 1.5 million purchased their first home.