With this year's Bumbershoot nearly upon us, let's continue to hope that the weekend weather keeps looking good. If you don't have tickets yet, stop by your local Starbucks to avoid the lines and fees at the gates. Check out a few more tips (bring water and a jacket! take the bus! wear sunscreen! call your mother!) at the Bumbershoot site. While there's plenty of music acts to see (and to harass by requesting......

"Main Stage Dusk," one of several stitched panoramas by Seattlest Flickr pool member Andrew G Davis. It'd be easy to bitch and complain about certain aspects of the Capitol Hill Block Party. Sure, it attracts a bevy of tools who by the end of the night are barely-standing drunken douchebags. And yes, you have to put up with the poorly-scripted political pablum in between acts. Plus, in the aftermath, there's all that garbage. But......

A Crayola gets down to Elphaba at last year's Capitol Hill Block Party, courtesy of Seattlest Flickr contributor iamdonte One word, with regards to Seattlest and the Capitol Hill Block Party: stoked! There are so many music options that we (that would be Katelyn and Audrey) decided to give you a couple ways to plan each day of this year's block party. Of course, feel free to mix and match acts as you see fit.......

--when you're doing a backstroke in the crystal clear waters of Lake Wenatchee.......

Thrilled with our ongoing summer weather, wanting to take advantage of it while we can, Seattlest hopped on the bike on Saturday and headed downtown. We haven't given nearly enough face time to Olympic Sculpture Park since it was pulled together, so that was our real destination. We had a book in our sack, and intended to just lie in the warm grass and read. Of course, once we got biking, we couldn't stop ourselves.......

"Golden Gardens Beach 1" by seattlerayhutch45 A celebration of the wonderful weather we've been having. Pay a visit to our Seattlest Flickr Pool for more sunny images.......

"Seattle Summer" by Baby Seal Boy, it's a beautiful day outside. Take some inspiration from our inspirational Seattlest Flickr Pool—get out and frolic in the daisies, while the getting's good.......

"9 Block View Up Pine" by Seattle Daily Photo Kim, aka Seattle Daily Photo, shares this gorgeous view of summertime downtown bustle...at 9PM. This remains one of the chief reasons to love this city. Thanks for sharing!......

Keg tossing, seasonal brews and kids running around with the adults could only mean one thing - the Washington Brewers Festival is here for 2008. Coming up this weekend at Saint Edwards Park, in Kenmore, WA(North side of Lake Washington), almost 200 beers will be available for your tasting pleasure. The full list is here, but we're most looking forward to the Organic Alder Smoked Coffee Stout by Elliott Bay, Scuttlebutt's 12th Anniversary Scotch......

As our friend pointed out, between the weather, the Mariners, and The Love Guru, 2008 could go down as the worst summer in history. The Seattle Times took a big poop-poop all over everyone's lives by reporting that the cooler than normal temperatures could be with us through July. We understand that not all of you prefer blue skies and warm temperature, so enjoy this, it's your time. As for the rest of us,......

If your squeezed-by-gas-and-groceries-and-“strip club” budget doesn’t cover flying east this month to catch Pearl Jam at Bonnaroo or Madison Square Garden, may we suggest a cheaper, closer, and more summer-vacation-y alternative: VH1’s Rock Honors show in Los Angeles on July 12. For as little as $65 (plus fees, duh), you can see Pearl Jam live. And Foo Fighters. And The Flaming Lips. And The effing Who. And possibly see your raised fists on TV a......

So far, spring has been colder than the Mariners' bats. We’re not advocating global warming, just a little regional pick-me-up, something to get people dressing sluttier and make outdoor activities appealing. Given the three odd weekends of sun we had last summer coupled with summer ending earlier than usual, it doesn’t take much sun depravation here before folks start getting antsy. The average temperature for April was down from last year. And, given the......

We've been looking forward to this day for weeks. Mainly because ZooTunes is one of our very favorite concert series. Who doesn't love an excuse to sit out on the grass at the zoo, grab a plastic cup of some local beer, a picnic dinner, and watch world class singer/songwriters have at it? The 2008 lineup was announced this morning, and we're going to waste no more time giving it to you: June 24......

"Let Us" by Seattlest Flickr member JeanineAnderson Hooray! The first batch of the Capitol Hill Block Party line-up for this summer has been announced, and we're thrilled to see what a truly fine list it is. Hot groups such as Vampire Weekend, Les Savy Fav, Kimya Dawson, and The Physics are already confirmed, with nary a six-hour-long Spoon set to be found. (Okay, so maybe last year's Spoon performance wasn't exactly six hours long,......

Last night, Bumbershoot announced the first set of acts slated for this year's festival. So far, there's a name or two that could draw us to Seattle Center this Labor Day weekend. Beck? Hell yes! A reunited Stone Temple Pilots? Not so much. Beck / Stone Temple Pilots / Lucinda Williams / Neko Case / Ingrid Michaelson / Jakob Dylan / Del Tha Funky Homosapien / !!! / Lee "Scratch" Perry / Saul Williams......

This year if Sasquatch just ain't your thing, there's an upcoming brand-new music festival hosted by our neighbors to the north. Yes indeedy, this summer marks the first-ever Pemberton Festival, to be held July 25-27 in Pemberton, British Columbia. Considering it's their first year, this little baby music fest has rounded up some big names, including Coldplay, Tom Petty, Nine Inch Nails, Jay-Z, Interpol, Death Cab, Flaming Lips, and Vampire Weekend. There'll be two......

David Copperfield may think he can make the word "no" disappear, but it's going to be for a grand jury to decide. A federal grand jury is looking into a 21-year-old Washington woman's claim that Copperfield raped her at his private, 150-acre resort in the Bahamas. The story she tells is pretty amazing...we hesitate to use the word "incredible," because if it's true she's endured something terrifying. She says she was approached almost immediately after......

Oh Iceland. As we've previously noted, its chilly climes makes for a hot music scene. Though you may not be able to pronounce them correctly, you know the names: Björk, Sigur Rós, Benni Hemm Hemm, Amiina. There are various accent marks and umlauts up the yin-yang, but in terms of music, Icelandic spells quality. Along with hot springs, smooth vodka, and the puffin, another national treasure of the island republic is experimental electro outfit......

Seattlest is going to have to get rid of a little of our Summer Weight to feel entirely comfortable in this shirt.........

The Seattle Times has a quickie little snippet about some ski resort ownership swapping, namely that Boyne USA has bought the Summit at Snoqualmie from Booth Creek. At first we were a little concerned, namely because Booth Creek has a great track record from a customer service perspective, especially when they extended our season's pass for free after the disastrous winter of 05-06. But after a little more research, we're very excited because this is......

For the first time ever, we ventured to the sophisticated urban wilds of Toronto for their 32nd annual International Film Festival. TIFF is a big 'un, and, along with Venice, its perpetually strong line-up of award-bait always mark the official beginning of Oscar season. We hit the Canadian cinema circuit in an attempt to catch as many of the year's best films as possible. One film you won't find on 2007's best-of lists is the......

Hey Seattlest, Any idea what's going on at Gas Works Park this weekend? It looks like they're setting up for a big rock show or something. I walked up there last night, and the security guard just said it was for an invite-only private party on Aug 10, the whole park will be closed to the public, and that he couldn't tell me who the rock bands were that were going to be appearing. So,......

If you have not had the pleasure of trying this wonderful concoction from Big Time Brewing, you should get down to their brewpub on the Ave. as soon as possible. The Old Sol is a wheatwine, similar to a barleywine, but brewed with about 50% wheat malt. This year's batch weighs in at about 11% alcohol, which makes this beer a very nice sipper. The malt is rich and sweet to start out, but......

This weekend is the return of the Phinney Neighborhood Association (PNA) Summer Beer Taste, or Beerstille Day! What is it? - The 2nd annual beer tasting will have around 20 breweries pouring beers. Proceed's will benefit the PNA. How much does it cost? - $25 for 10 samples Where and when does it take place? - This Saturday, July 14 at the PNA; 6532 Phinney Ave N, Seattle - 3pm to 6pm What breweries......

Guns, booze, dames, and private eyes: The SIFF Cinema Summer Series (say that five times fast) kicks off tonight with their first annual Seattle Noir City Festival. Noir City's been taking place in San Francisco for five years now, and this is the first time it's made its way to the seamy underbelly of the Northwest. The festival is co-presented with and will benefit the Film Noir Foundation whose mission is to spread the......

Allison Krauss and Union Station are at Marymoor Park on Saturday. There was a lot of moaning and gnashing of teeth from the Seattlest camp when the Summer Nights concert series was canceled, but Marymoor seems to have picked up a lot of that slack with a decent series. Here's Allison Krauss and Union Station back when they were called Union Station and Allison Krauss. If you liked that you probably should have gone to......

Yesterday Seattlest stopped by Chop Suey on the walk home to see how the inaugural edition of the Sunday Summer BBQ Series was going. It was empty. It wasn't terribly surprising, since marketing for the series was pretty minimal, but we do fully support the concept: early shows, with grilled fare available outside. We only stuck around for the first band, Bellingham's The Love Lights, who switch up the indie-pop formula with the addition of......

The Summer Fiction issue of the New Yorker showed up in the mail box yesterday and the Pacific Northwest (ok, Portland, really, but so what) is well represented. Miranda July, of Portland, has two pieces; one a short story called "Roy Spivey" and the other a recollection of summer movies called "Atlanta." It starts: From the stains on the mattress it was clear that people had died on this bed, slowly, over the course of......

With the nice weather this morning, we were inspired to continue our profiles of summer beers. None of these are overwhelming in the taste category, but a summer beer does not have to be. Alaskan IPA and Alaskan Summer Ale - Alaskan makes some quality brews (God bless their Smoked Porter), and we have really come to enjoy these 2 light drinking beers. Their Summer Ale is a light German style Kolsch beer that is......

This week the weather's cooperating a bit more. Nothing like escaping rainy days with a film festival (except if you get stuck in a downpour while waiting in line, so pack that umbrella). Once inside you'll be golden thanks to your perusal of Seattlest picks. Trust us. Golden! But first, we want to highlight some special events: · A Conversation with Julien Temple, with musician/critic Sean Nelson, will no doubt cover Temple's three music......