West Seattle, Washington
29 Tuesday
A local internet-service pioneer (we remember hearing about his company way back when we got online in the early ’90s) keeps a blog about UFO sightings and ET encounters, after experiencing one himself. Today he has posted a photo he took at Alki on Monday, saying he thinks it shows a “teardrop-shaped UFO.” (Hmm, taken the same day it was reported a new “X-Files” movie might finally come to pass. The truth is out there … somewhere.)
In June, the state said wi-fi service would be on the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry run by July 16th. Didn’t happen. Now there’s a new date: August 13th.
This morning’s rain was just a memory by the time the West Seattle Big Band opened its annual Hi-Yu Festival Concert in the Park tonight at Hiawatha. Excellent, eclectic program … preceded by West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician, who said a few things about his home ‘hood’s annexation centennial and noted a new commemorative tree and plaque on the south side of the community center. We caught a more interesting scene on the sidelines pre-concert, which we would have liked to have dubbed the dog ‘n’ pony show if only a canine had been present:
Then, the tunes. This was the first time we’ve ever seen/heard the WS Big Band, a volunteer group which donates its time and money to promote music in public schools.
More pix and notes from the concert, plus your next chance to catch the WSBB, after the click:Read More
We’re counting down to the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival American Legion Grand Parade this Saturday morning (on Cali, starting at Lander, ending at Edmunds). Reason #4 it’s worth your time: Humor! The Furry Faces Foundation promises a “Flamingo King and Queen” (probably closer to life-size than the PFs at right); legendary local tv clown JP Patches will be back; so will the Seafair Clowns, and the wonderful Red Hat Society, sub-billed as “Stewed Tomatoes.” Who can resist?
#1 — Buy a backpack (or more than one) and donate it to the West Seattle Helpline back-to-school backpack drive, under way right this very moment. They hope to hand out hundreds next month. Drop off the backpack(s) at Capers in The Junction, or at Helpline’s new HQ in the WS Community Resource Center, 35th & Morgan (Tues-Thurs, 10 am-2 pm).
#2 — Pre-order your copy of the new “Harry Potter” book from Square 1 Books in Jefferson Square before Friday, and $5 will go to WestSide Baby — plus you’ll get two tickets to a special “Harry Potter” event at the Admiral Theater on Friday. (It’s also not too soon to start gearing up for WestSide Baby’s “Stuff the Bus” diaper drive on 7/29!)
The first banner to appear on the Fauntleroy overpass since its last cleaning has also appeared online, thanks to the birthday girl’s proud dad.
Great news for garden lovers — organizers tell us tickets are still left for this weekend’s West Seattle Garden Tour. At your leisure, as long as it’s between 9 am and 5 pm Sunday, you will get to go gawk at “an eclectic mix of eight residential gardens” and hear from guest lecturer Marianne Binetti. You can even buy tickets online if you do it by tomorrow, or you can get tix in person up through tour day at a variety of locations including ArtsWest, West Seattle Nursery, Capers, True Value, and Metro Market.
We’ve confessed before that food-waste recycling is the one type of recycling we just haven’t quite gotten on board with yet. Looks like we’re going to have to; reports this morning (Times here, Weekly here) say we’re all going to be paying for pickup in less than 2 years. We hate paying for something we’re not using. Like the basic cable channels we don’t watch. Wish tv channels could be purchased a la carte. But we digress. So, we’ll get with the program. Maybe Sustainable West Seattle has advice! (More on the city’s “zero waste strategy” here.)
With the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival American Legion Grand Parade just days away, your resident parade maniacs here have to kick the countdown machine into gear. And now that our favorite e-mail of the year — the sneak peek at the parade running order — has arrived, we can start with reason #5: More than 75 entries, including the only Seattle-area performance by the ever-wild Vancouver (B.C.) Motorcycle Police Drill Team (VPD photo at right from an ’06 appearance).
We haven’t updated WS gas prices for a while; the price situation has stayed relatively stable. Arco on Delridge by Home Depot retains the title of WS Gas Station With The Lowest Posted Price, $2.87 as of early this afternoon (photo left); more than half a dozen other stations are in the $2.90s. This all puts us way below the state that now has the highest prices in the nation (Nebraska!), and even below the national average.
The Stranger’s bodacious blog paid a visit to The Beach and concluded that anyone whining about Alki nightlife trouble should pretty much just shut their pie hole. They checked back on last year’s controversy spots; guess they hadn’t heard about this year’s radio-fueled controversy spot, which the Alki Beach Community group on Yahoo! has been discussing for a couple weeks.
Everyone watching the Charlestown Cafe site/potential Petco project has been waiting for another city Design Review Board meeting to be scheduled, as a key next step in the process. According to the city website, that meeting is now set for August 9th.
More Hi-Yu Festival fun tomorrow night: The West Seattle Big Band concert at Hiawatha Park (hopefully the weather will hold), following a speech by Hizzoner in honor of West Seattle’s annexation centennial. It all starts 7 pm. NOON UPDATE: A little more info from the mayor’s office – he will dedicate a commemorative plaque and tree as part of the pre-concert festivities.
You have another chance tonight to hear organizers make their case for keeping the recast Alki Statue of Liberty on hold till a “plaza” and new base can be built for it. We reported on their meeting last Wednesday; they say the gathering tonight by the old statue base, 7 pm, will be similar, and they’re planning to be at the Alki Community Council meeting this Thursday as well. Here’s an updated architect rendering of what the plaza would look like (more here):
And here again is the e-mail address for the Parks Department (which has the final say) person who’s on the project — write to let ’em know what you think.
Just after sunset, the vista from Marine View Drive:
Late afternoon, many of those Vashon-visiting Vespa riders trickled off several ferries in succession – we caught this one passing the homes across from Lincoln Park:
Also on Fauntleroy alongside Lincoln Park, a sign caught lying down on the job:
Now, the story, e-mailed by a reader who says she moved to WS 3 months ago and loves it:
I was visiting my son and his wife who live a block off Alki up against a greenbelt; we were sitting on the deck talking when a very large otter walked out from under the blackberry patch. He stopped and made eye contact with each of us, then turned slowly and with belly low crawled back from where he came. It was amazing. When I stopped to ask the men working on a roof a couple doors down, they laughed and one said it must have been what he saw crossing Alki late one night …
Thanks to the reader tip pointing us to a website now up for Ama Ama Oyster Bar & Grill, which is following Ovio at the NE corner of Cali/Edmunds. Not much on the site except the promise “Coming in October!”
if you haven’t been yet – or even if you have – wander down to The Junction before Summer Fest ends 7 pm-ish. Part of the WSB team made another run through it this afternoon, catching street magic along the way:
The Vespa enthusiasts who are rallying in Seattle this weekend headed out WS way today. Chris sent us word of his Flickr page with video and pix after spotting the huge group coming off the low bridge. Looks like they were headed to the Fauntleroy ferry dock for a ride to Vashon, so watch out for the procession heading the other way later this afternoon.
About to get the boot — renters at a building that just about everyone in WS has driven past at one time or another, thanks to its amazing Alki Point location, the Rip Tide (photo below). An Alki-area reader just pointed out to us that the Rip Tide changed hands a few weeks ago (for $4 million) and is going condo, fulfilling fears voiced more than a year ago. (Sure won’t make this situation any better.)
Looks like the Saturday night Summer Fest street dance really rocked The Junction. Charles Redmond sent photos of the crowd and The Retros:
If you haven’t been to the historic Admiral Theater lately, you may not have noticed it’s starting to expand what it offers — such as, more midnight movies than just the monthly Rocky Horror Picture Show on Saturday nights …
… tonight, for example (as per the marquee above – though the rest of it’s a bit out-of-date since we took the pic at midweek), it’s the burgeoning cult fave “Harold & Kumar.” Then there’s a new series of Sunday morning classics kicking off 10 am tomorrow with “Casablanca” (also ahead: “African Queen” and “Singin’ in the Rain”). The Admiral website has been inconsistent lately (the link went to a parking page at last check) but there’s lots of info posted out front at the theater itself, including updates on the fundraising project for major interior fixes (such as, they hope hundreds of people will pony up $40 each so they can buy new seats, which aren’t covered in the types of government grants they’re pursuing for landmark restoration.
P.S. While fishing for Admiral Theater history, we learned that today is a notable anniversary for the Admiral District in general.
As mentioned in our weekend-events list, tonight is the fundraising dinner and auction for, and at (map), the Community School of West Seattle (photo right). As we reported 6 weeks ago, they are trying to raise enough money to buy their building, which otherwise will go to a developer, and they only have another month and a half. Here’s what one organizer writes about the event (6:30 pm tonight):
This will be a spectacular evening, with live entertainment by local performers and delicious food from local eateries. Some of the items available for auction include: a cruise to the Galapagos Islands, a week at Whistler, Botox cosmetic treatment, art from local artists, and exquisite jewelry.
If you can’t go but you still would like to help CSWS, donation information is on its website.
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