A luxe date night on the cheap tonight

Tonight is the opening of a new art show hanging at Vermillion with local singer/songwriter PWRFL Power performing for the opening event. The art opening and performance tonight are free, so being broke is not an excuse to stay in. Get out and get on some art, music, and night air tonight.

This month's show at Vermillion, An Unfinished Edge, is about ambiguity, the spaces between, and what can happen when the observer is not supplied with the critical information of a story. Concerned with ideas of habitat, the work addresses conflicts and comparisons between the natural and human worlds.

Vermillion is an unpretentious space on Capitol Hill with art in the front and a comfortable, hip, and inexpensive wine and beer bar in the back. It's a great pre-func or meet up spot any time you're on the hill. The design of the space is lovely; the board games and 45s jukebox encourage lingering and hanging out. Although wi-fi isn't provided by Vermillion, I've been able to jump on neighboring networks easily enough.

Peeps are passionate about tonight's performer PWRFL Power: it's love or hate, with no middle ground. (More.) If you haven't heard him before, tonight's a no-risk chance to form an opinion.

Even if you aren't into the music, your trek to the hill is not a waste. There's lots of art to check out in the neighborhood: it's the monthly Capitol Hill Art Walk tonight. Capitol Hill Seattle created a handy walking map of participating businesses.

Vermillion
1508 11th Ave
Capitol Hill, between Pike and Pine

An Unfinished Edge, opening Thursday, February 12, 2009
Live Music by PWRFL Power And Guest DJs
6pm - Late, Free

Horizon Used Books on 15th

Horizon Bookstore
Originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson

First time in Horizon Books and boy, what a fun surprise! There's a real maze of bookshelves inside this tiny converted house. Whimsical organization makes room for serendipity.

1. A section for "Gypsies" with one book. 2. Science Fiction anthologies two rooms away from the other Sci Fi books. 3. Auto repair next to computer-related,shelved in the kitchen. 4. Baseball, psychology, science and a ladder in that room.

photos: first snow of the season

Went on a little walkabout Saturday night during the snowfall.

Stopit

Parkit

Walkit

Drinkit

cRooKiT

you are here

here

You are here. Where the accumulation of everything ended in keeping nothing.

This piece of street art is particularly site-specific and serves as a pointed reminder of the false value of "things." Look for it when walking on Pike or waiting for the bus near the intersection with Bellevue Ave.

More about the site and the sad story of what happened here one early morning in late October.

Art on Broadway: artist reception & guided tour tonight

You can view the STart on Broadway art installations anytime through November 15th, however tonight is the only opportunity to meet the artists and have a guided tour of the works staged in empty retail spaces.

The reception is tonight from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Artist Trust office (1835 12th Ave), followed by an hour-long guided tour on Broadway.

untitled, Jason Puccinelli


If you can't make it tonight, plan your own walking tour when it is dark; many of the works are washouts during daylight.

Look for one of my favorites, Sky Dance. It's like a mashup of the Nutcracker with Disney's Haunted Mansion.

Parasol, by Webster Crowell

Lake View Cemetery: just 'cause it's OctoberWeen

Graves and headstones and crows: oh my!


Lake View Cemetery, Seattle

I shot this photo back in March and blogged it then, but it seems much more appropriate to share with you this month of OctoberWeen.

Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee are buried here in Lake View. (How to find their spot.)

Do Figs Actually Ripen Here?

I was so very excited to see a fig tree earlier this week when dog-walking around my Capitol Hill micro-hood.

Seeing those giant hand leaves and suspended little greenies made me all giddy, recalling late summer days with mom, with bees, and with brown sacks filled with ripened figs. California, mid-70's.

The branches of the tree in my neighborhood are hanging over public property, and I picked up a few fallen fruit from alongside the sidewalk.

They were not ripe, so I drew on them instead.

When will the baby greenies on the tree get ripe? Or rather, do they ever ripen here in the Northwest?

I'll keep checking back on "my" tree during dog walks. In the meantime, you now know who to ping if you have more figs than you can deal with from your own trees.

A Little Walking Tour of Capitol Hill

I recently joined the Seattle Architecture Foundation's walking tour of my neighborhood. The Pike/Pine: Cars, Bars, and Dead Rock Stars tour is informative of historical and contemporary design, and use of neighborhood structures.

This tour is good for regional residents: it includes useful historical context and discussion of contemporary urban planning and redevelopment projects. However, I don't recommend you take out-of-town visitors on this tour. The Underground Tour is for the tourists; the Seattle Architecture Foundation's tour is for residents and those interested in the neighborhood's history and building design.



Check my post over on the Capitol Hill Seattle site to discover buildings that were car dealerships or auto services 100 years ago, when Pike/Pine was Seattle's "auto row." Once you know what to look for, it is fun to recognize the structures and see how they are used today. Some still have auto-related businesses.

We also had an interesting brewmaster-led tour of the Elysian Brewery. No beer tasting, but it wasn't even noon o'clock yet anyway.

Blue Angels are playing at my house

over my place
Originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson

While the rest of Capitol Hill complains of the noise and bother, I am feeling like a kid next to the roller coaster. I wanna ride!
This is my first year living on the hill and I am thrilled to get the rumble in my tummy right from my front door.
Maybe it will get old for me by the end of the weekend and I'll turn into a Capitol HIll Blue Angels grumpster.
But for now, rock and roar on!

Rubber Ducky Regatta (reggae) tonight

Bring your rubber ducky to Cal Anderson Park tonight by 7pm and join the Rubber Duck Regatta in the fountain. The wizard-of-fun Corprew (organizer of the eclipse sing-along on Teletubby Hill in February) is at it again, pulling together free and silly and fun sh*t in the neighborhood park/third place.
The rules:
1. Ducks get put into the fountain.
2. Ducks float downstream through all the rocks and bricks.
3. Eventually a duck reaches the end.

Get in the mood: sing and dance in a giant tub along with me and Ernie and all our Sesame Street friends. C'mon, you know you wanna.
"Duck, rubber duck, duck, rubber duck, duck..."

Dodgeball And a Third Place

dodgeball night
Originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson

Grownups play pickup games of dodgeball on Friday nights at Cal Anderson Park. Cal Anderson Park is a true third place: a third space after home and work to establish a sense of community and of place. It is one of my favorite spots on the hill because there is always something going on at the park.

Friday night I happened across the weekly dodgeball game. The mix was about 5% girls to 95% boys. They were having some serious fun! I want to play too, but I suck at throwing. I'd be a good blocker though!

What else makes Cal Anderson Park a "third place?" Any day, any time, people gather and sit and talk and eat and drink and read and talk some more. Besides the outdoor-living-room type of park use, all sorts of unofficial, inclusive, and socially engaging activities take place at the park: bicycle polo, a marching band playing at 1 a.m., a big group of folks singing "total eclipse of the heart" on Teletubby Hill during the lunar eclipse, people practicing their hooping and dancing. And, of course, dog walking and playground playing.

Cal Anderson Park is a gem and is our third place for many of us Capitol Hill residents.

Two reasons to visit Capitol Hill in the daytime this weekend

Saturday: Value Village writ large!

Need anything? Check out the Capitol Hill neighborhood-wide garage sale, all over the hill.

Two community spaces are in use as well, at the Capitol Hill Arts Center and the old Deanos building.

Saturday June 14th only, starting at 9 am.

Here's the map.

Sunday: Strawberries! Cherries! Grotesque - but safe - heirloom tomatoes!

The Sunday afternoon Broadway Farmers Market is in full swing.

Word is we'll start seeing local strawberries and cherries starting this weekend. Oh my. Local strawberries, how I love thee.

Every Sunday through November, 11am - 3pm

location and more info

A Seattle version of The Amazing Race: wanna play?

Here's your best chance to be on The Amazing Race tv show. Only, without the cameras. And you don't need your passport. And it only lasts 2 hours. And you stay in one neighborhood, in Seattle. And you won't be on tv. But it's probably as close as any of us will ever get. It's on Capitol Hill in Seattle and it happens May 31st. No auditions needed -- just an entrance fee, which goes to a good cause: the Sierra Club's Inner City Outings.

The Seattle Inner City Outings Search Party 2008 scavenger hunt will start off in Cal Anderson Park and threatens to cover the entire Capitol Hill neighborhood. Participants can expect a lot of running around while finding answers to clues and participating in wacky activities for points. The event is timed for a hard stop and late arrivals will have points deducted. Last year's scavenger hunt was held in Ballard and activities included finding the Latin name for a tree, stuffing a sleeping bag with one hand, playing croquet, and creating a haiku from sign rubbings. (Read more about 2007's event here and here.)

So who wants to race amazingly? Maybe even in costume, or at least coordinated accessories. (Think same-colored bandanas if costumes are too scary for you.) It is going to be too fun. I promise.

Public Access Bike on 15th?

left unlocked
Originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson

So this unlocked bike has been leaning against a bus stop sign for 3 days now. It is on a busy road and the bus stop is heavily used. I am so surprised the bike has remained in place for DAYS.

I know some folks are wringing their hands and worrying about safety and crime on the hill. Here's a counter point.

If the bike is still there on Saturday, I think I'll decorate it up and make it a public access bicycle for 15th Ave. One way trips, leave it unlocked at your destination. It's a grab-and-go thing: if you see it and need it, you go for it. Southern boundary Pike, northern boundary the Canterbury.

Call me a dreamer. This men's 10-speed is too big for me, however. That bar could easily cause damage to anyone shorter than 5' 8".

Pike Street Fish Fry: Hot Fish Now

Pike Street Fish Fry has cravable, deep-fried goodness: little chunks of fresh fish served in cups lined with paper (so old school!). You can’t go wrong here. With one bench for seating and the rest SRO, Pike Street Fish Fry is the epitome of street food, Seattle style: stand in a dry spot and eat with your hands. Drunk or sober, it hits your craving.



Pike Street Fish Fry in the old Frites location Neumos. The old Frites fryers are put to delicious use, and in an homage to the previous establishment Fish Fry offers a selection of house-made dipping sauces plus bottled Coca-Cola from Mexico.

The menu is short and tightly-focused. Offerings include ling cod, red snapper, halibut, spearfish, salmon, octopus, and a few others I can’t remember. The uber- fresh fish from Mutual Seafood is available fried, grilled, or as a sandwich made with a schmear of slaw. Average price runs $7.00. Everything is a la carte so if “you want fries with that?” is the way you roll with your fish, add another four bucks. Upscale beer and wine are available to keep with the upscale street-food vibe. The seasonal menu currently lists fried asparagus. Word is that the asparagus is amazing. I want. Perhaps today. Or tomorrow. Or both.

Although I had trouble initially distinguishing the halibut from the ling cod, both were deliciously moist, not overly battered, and not greasy. The fish and fries are served in cups lined with printed paper. The best surprise? What I thought might be an onion ring turned out to be a sliver of a lemon circle deep fried and served on top the fish. OMG. A flavor explosion and perfect accompaniment. Really, truly, perfect.



The joint is run by Michael Hebberoy of One Pot fame and Portland restaurant infamy. Love him or hate him, the night I was there he was a gracious host buzzing between the register, the beer tap, the kitchen, the door, and checking in with patrons. He had just returned from setting up donated nosh for a Vera Project fundraiser at the McLeod Residence. Good heart, good cause, good peeps. Right on.

Auspicious re-start, Hebberoy, in this cubbyhole of a spot on Capitol Hill. Peeps, expect lines out the door summer evenings.

Pike Street Fish Fry
10th and Pike Seattle

Dalai Lama on the streets

Inspirational quotes from the Dalai Lama are chalked onto the sidewalks and street corners in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. The Dalai Lama is in Seattle through April 15th for the Seeds of Compassion gathering.



"Take into account that great love and great achievement involves great risk."

"Sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck."

"Open your arms to change but do not let loose your values."

Wander the Pike/Pine corridor for more inspirational phrases from the Dalai Lama (and others).

Update: chalk + rain = ephemeral. all washed away.

Urban Beach Scenes with "flatchestedmama"

I stopped into the Grey Gallery and Lounge Thursday night to check out the opening of Amy-Ellen “flatchestedmama” Trefsger's exhibition Urban Beach Scenes.

Urban Beach Scenes is a photographic series of Amy-Ellen dressed ready for the beach and posed in the most unexpected urban settings -- including the in NY subway, in an empty warehouse, in front a working graff artist, on stadium stairs.

Amy-Ellen was immediately recognizable at the opening: she was the one with the inflatable swim ring around her waist. What did you expect with a nickname like that? A stuffy biaaatch? So not.

I chatted with friendly Amy-Ellen for a bit and discovered she is the girlfriend of fellow artist Static Invasion, who put together the magnetic poetry word art piece featured in Wooster Collective last fall. Without prompting she revealed, “He is a great boyfriend."

The swim-ringed performance artist shared that most of the photos in the series were taken in 2005. The entire series includes work with 10 different photographers, of which six are represented in the exhibition.

Amy-Ellen talked about one her favorites, which was taken in an empty warehouse: the lighting, dust particles, and spaciousness come together to shape a visceral, lonely vibe.

Incongruence is the easy theme of the Urban Beach Scenes. On a deeper level it speaks to individually interpreting the world, and deliberately choosing one’s level of conformity to the norm.

The Urban Beach Scenes exhibit runs through June 7th.

Grey Gallery and Lounge
1512 11th Avenue, Seattle

p.s. Amy-Ellen, this chica boarder liked your beach sign very much.

snow and serendipity

Snow and magic were flying last night. Yep: snow on March 26th. We've had some years with hailstorms in late March, but snow...?



Here's the magic part. Earlier in the day, Flickr peep SlightlyNorth emails me to say one of his Flickr contacts had caught me in a random shot. It wasn't me but I can see why he might think so. Later, I'm having dinner at the bar at Bimbo's Cantina and was chatting up the guy next to me, who was waiting for a friend. The friend shows up. The friend has a cool camera, which I ask him about and we visit for a few minutes. The topic of Flickr comes up, and he gives me his Moo card.

The serendipity: the guy is PD Gibson, who took the shot that SlightyNorth thought was of me. Wow.

Under the Cherry Moon

This is my first spring of city living and I'm happy to see spring bursts out almost overnight in the city too. Old prunus species trees form a canopy over the entry to the walkway of my (also) old complex.



The prunus species includes cherry and plum trees. These particular trees have purplish leaves so they are probably the Cherry Plum variety. That's about all I know (and some stuff that I don't know) so you horticulturists feel free to correct me all day long and into next week in the comments.

"...Disclose the long expecting flowers/And wake the purple year!" (Thomas Gray)

Crows and headstones: Goth cliche

There's a rookery in the firs bordering Lake View Cemetery and Volunteer Park.
While riding through the cemetery, the crows looked at me with the old stink-eye -- as if I were wandering through their living room. I guess I sort of was.



I assumed the crows-in-a-graveyard thing was a gothic invention. It's real here. And stranger still...this cemetery is where Brandon Lee ("The Crow") is laid to rest.