We encourage you to be a tourist in your own town, but don't buy the souvenirs. "Space Needle Souvenirs" by Nerds Eye View. WaMu really can't catch a break. The Belltowner and PhinneyWood report that their neighborhood WaMu branches were robbed over the weekend. Mid Beacon Hill explores "cheap South End fun," including a place that should be on the hipster street-of-dreams, and the Museum of Communications. Being a tourist in your own city is......

Saturday afternoon MvB is going to talk to a pack of Emerging Critics at the Seattle Rep--and hopefully avoid being panned--before heading to the Moore for Compagnie Heddy Maalem's version of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps. Sunday he's packing for Iceland. Warm socks, etc. Dropping into town between flights to and from Paris, Ronald is going to attend a seminar on blogging at the UW on Saturday. Lots of traveling, as always, for Jay. He'll......

Pho by Seattlest Flickr Contributor 7502 Winona The Magnolia Voice wonders if Nickelsville organizers will still face fines regarding the encampment, despite reaching an agreement with the city. MyBallard is still a reliable source for all things quirky and Scandinavian; so we trust them when they say that today is Leif Erickson Day and the appropriate way to celebrate is by donning some sort of Nordic sweater. Franklin High School's football team was robbed during......

Debate, schmebate. We know who we're voting for and the highlights will be all over YouTube tomorrow like moths on a porchlight. What could be better? Beer, pub grub, and two hours of trivia. Seattlest trivia, in other words, taking place this very evening at Ballard's own Old Pequliar pub. In fact, you can get started right now. Email the correct answer to this question to james at seattlest punkt com and you're eligible to......

photo by Jim (sea turtle); Seattlest Flickr pool Cupcake Royale // Ballard, Washington // Sunday // 8:45 PM A scruffy man in a well-fitting jacket plays the guitar outside with his friend who is sitting at one of the sidewalk tables. Earlier the skinny friend was waiting in line for a coffee; he tuned his guitar while he waited. Some minutes later, a bass-heavy, rock-bluesy instrumental began to reverberate through the high-ceilinged cafe. At first......

John's band, in light of America's financial misfortunes, will be returning to the home-made recording studio to use our economic meltdown as inspiration for new songwriting material. David will be watching as much playoff baseball as he can, since it's the first weekend in October, while his new live-in girlfriend wonders what she did, and if it's not too late. MvB is earning his man-about-town stripes with a Saturday visit to the scissors wizards at......

Even if you're going to tonight's John in the Morning at Night, Friday's best bet is DJ/blue-eyed soul man/gold lamé bathrobe-wearer/consummate performer Jamie Lidell, along with opener Janelle Monae at Showbox. Jamie also has an instore at Easy Street Queen Anne this evening at 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, there's the Anticon two-fer of Why? and Restiform Bodies at the Vera Project.......

Street Car at Third and Yesler courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives Belltown says thanks but no thanks to streetcars.The Stranger has an amateur porn contest, while according to the Central District News, the Central Cinema has an amateur horror movie contest.Now that the remnants of Nickelsville has moved to Discovery Park, the Magnolia Voice is your source for all things Nickelsville. There was a movie filming yesterday in Ballard, and MyBallard has the scoop.......

Reverb, bless their hearts, has given the internet the gift of free mp3s from all the bands playing this weekend's ReverbFest. The zip files are organized by venue (good idea, given this is a promotion for the festival) and feature a total of 64 tracks. The weekend's schedule and ticket info can be found here, and again: here's the mother lode of free local music. Collections from Mr. Spot's Chai House, Market Street Athlete, and......

GET SMARTIE: So you think you're a smartypants, eh? And you want to see that smartypants professor in the white house? Then you're in luck! Go use your brain for Obama tonight, and participate in a trivia night fundraiser at the Hi-Life in Ballard. The entry fee is a bit high for trivia night at a bar, but excessively low for a political fundraiser. Just think of how those Eastsiders paid $1k/plate when Cindy McCain......

It's safe to say that the only person in town who loves Dr. Dog more than us is erstwhile Stranger music editor Jonathan Zwickel. We won't go so far as to say that they "sound like the best band ever," but we do agree that the Philly five-piece have the influences (Beach Boys, Beatles, Steely Dan, The Band, and so on), the sense of melody, and the spot-on harmonies to always put on a......

"Bacon Angel" courtesy of Seattlest Flickr contributor erik98122 In the circle we run in, the word/topic/obsession du jour is bacon. It seems everywhere we turn, someone is lauding the delicious versatility of this once-breakfast-only meat. Proving that bacon is not just for breakfast anymore, the Food Network visited Archie McPhees last week to discuss this veritable (and in the case of some of their products, literal) meat candy.The Central District News is covering the bane......

ROOTS MUSIC IN BALLARD!?: Yeah, we know this happens pretty much every night, but there's a good batch of bands at the Tractor tonight. Local singer-songwriter outfits Husbands Love Your Wives and Jack Wilson & The Wife Stealers open a bill for the wonderful and interesting anti-folk fabulousness of Elliot Brood from north of the border (and east a bit). 9 p.m. // Tractor Tavern // $8 HIPPIE WOO-WOO TALK: (We can call it that......

Even if this was John McCain's Chief of Staff, we still wouldn't vote for him. Photo courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Photographer Jessiqua A couple of Seattle's finest neighborhood blogs are also covering Nickelsville. Blogging Georgetown and West Seattle Blog are both giving thorough coverage to the story.Did someone say gumbo? Honest to god, Louisiana-made gumbo in Seattle? Hallelujah! The Central District News has a glowing (tummy-grumble-inducing) review.Ballard High graduate Jean Smart won an Emmy last......

Hot on the heels of Seattlest MvB's thorough inspection and vetting of Sea-Tac's shiny new runway, we ourselves took the second of the Port of Seattle's Port 101 free public tours. The Canal 101 tour had us board an Argosy vessel and steam toward Gasworks and then the Locks whilst we examined and heard about the various activity and industry along this extremely busy waterfront. Fear not, that is not us above in the......

"vintageford_120scan" by Kyle Johnson Aside from numerous, friendly, outdoor kitties, the other thing we immediately noticed upon moving into Lower East Ballard was trucks: lots and lots of older pickup trucks. Most of the beasties are rustier, denty-er, and more well-worn than this truck, but each one is just as lovely. (Appropriate, then, that this photograph was taken on 120 format film, a classy, though rougher, older technology in and of itself.) We love to......

Our laugh echoed off the brick street and buildings when we noticed this flyer on an otherwise empty pole on old Ballard Avenue yesterday.......

[Untitled] by Sea Kay. We say: wear a helmet! MyBallard clears up the confusion about when it is actually okay to drive in 15th's bus lane.PhinneyWood has photos to show what happens when a car gets t-boned by a metro bus, careens into a parked car, and sends the once-parked car crashing on to a Phinney Ridge porch.Ron Sims twitters about what good shape Dan Savage is in, the P-I's Big Blog reports it, and......

[Untitled] Garfield Bathrooms by Adrian Harwood. This it the Garfield we remember. The Central District News covered the ribbon cutting ceremony at our newly-remodeled alma mater, Garfield High School. Seeing that the remodel was desperately needed a decade ago when we were roaming the crowded halls, we say finally. But not so fast...classes start today and the final touches still don't seem to be finished.Capitol Hill Seattle poses a very important question: who is the......

"Elliot Bay Water Taxi" courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Photographer seattlerealtorgal The Rainier Valley Post lets Beacon Hill residents know that the water advisory has been lifted and you no longer need to boil your tap water.MyBallard thinks they may have found the most expensive piece of property in Ballard. A 325 square foot shack "condo alternative" selling for $199,999.The B-Town Blog is closely following Burien's annexation request.Fear not Apple lovers, Steve Jobs isn't dead--whatever the......

OPEN MIC NIGHT: It's been a while since Seattlest has gone out to Ballard for the Scratching Post Open Mic at Mr. Spot's Chaihouse, but it was always a nice, even blend of really talented folks singing and reading (and, of course, the usual occasional acts that make you wonder why you torture yourself at an open mic if you're not performing). Plus, it's free, they have beer and wine, and the best chai in......

"En La Mer" by Seattlest Flickr Pool contributor Forrest Pangborn. Trust us-- we'd rather be exploring some tide pools today! CHS, Cap To The Hill, and Seattle Metblogs are all talking about the coolest new hyper-local, easy-on-the-eyeballs website to hit the Emerald City. Hint: restaurant inspection reports are so public record! West Seattle Blog was one of the first to report results from the Primary vote yesterday! Dang, those guys are good. Now, has......

SOPPING WET OPERA: Byron Au Yong has composed 64 mini-operas meant to be performed in water--fountains, pools, and streams--throughout the Pacific Northwest. In this weekend's installments of Kidnapping Water: Bottled Operas, musicians and vocalists will perform unique mini-operas at parks and beaches in Des Moines/Burien (Saturday) and South Seattle (Sunday). "Who publishes the sheet-music of the winds or the music of water written in river-lines?" wrote 19th century poet John Muir; maybe that someone......

"Scary Clown" (indeed) by Jay Cox The Daily Weekly reports that the City of Seattle has successfully sold its scandalous public toilets on EBay....for over $80,000 less per toilet than they'd hoped.While we know it means our Seattle Native card could be revoked, we are still less than thrilled that a new clown statue in honor of JP Patches is set to be unveiled this Sunday. We hate clowns, we always have, and since JP......

RETAIL AMBIVILENCE: Ballard boutique Olivine is closing—quelle tragédie! The store had designer favorites, as well as a healthy dose of local designer treats, guaranteeing that you won't show up to a party in the same outfit as anyone else. Over the next few days, Olivine will have a store-closing sale, with prices from 50-70 percent off—quel plaisir! August 13-17 // Olivine // 50-70% of regular prices HAPPY MUSICALS: Remember when musicals were based on......

Trains by Seattlest Flickr Contributor mraaronmorris My Ballard has lots of tasty news, reporting on Paseo's first day in a new location, Rachael Ray shooting an episode of Rachael's Travels at Volterra, and lots of fat salmon going through the Locks.Phinneywood reports and shares photos of an adorable knit crosswalk pedestrian flag that's popped up in Greenwood. We are all for guerrilla knitting projects, especially those that benefit your community, so we say hooray! The......

"Capitol Hill Rainbow Pano" courtesy of Seattlest Flickr Photographer markanunson In a weekend filled with sudden and shocking death, Blogging Georgetown mourned the violent passing of Monstero!, a well-loved skull-shaped art car in the neighborhood. Monstero! was destroyed in an early morning garage fire on Sunday morning.My Ballard lets us know that, despite the recession the rest of us are feeling, Ballard is still booming! The blog reported on the opening of a new skate......

Dead Baby Bike Race after-party photo by Sea Kay My Ballard and Phinney Wood shared a post on the annual Dead Baby Bike Race. With the recent fear-mongering regarding bicyclists in the local media--the bike race could likely have not come at a worse time. We're sure already freaked out Subaru drivers, aren't thrilled to think of the idea of a crudely named (see: hilarious) bike race that celebrates "Mutant Bike Culture."Rejoice Francophiles and hipsters......

Tonight, head to the Sunset for the shoegaze stylings of Film School. There's also L.A. pop mainstay Adam Marsland at the Skylark and local troubadour Rocky Votolato at Neumo's.......

DEAD BABY BIKE RACE: The mission statement up for consideration at the Dead Baby Bike Club is: "We just want to ride our bikes and not get hassled by the man." The Dead Babies, a hard-drinking, semi-organized band of bicylists, are holding their annual few-holds-barred bicycle race across the city tonight; it will be a madcap sight to behold. Make sense of their website if you dare; pre-reg is at 5 p.m., and the......