Results tagged “udistrict”

Things have been relatively quiet in the U District--until last night, when a 911 call came in at 9:05 p.m. that someone or something was on fire, as flames raged from the third or fourth story of a parking garage at NE 43rd Street and 11th Avenue NE. Police say the man, riddled with the smell of gasoline, fell or jumped from the structure and landed in the alley below. KOMO-TV reports that neighbors rushed outside to the alley and discovered the man still on fire. Despite valiant attempts to extinguish the flames, the person died on the scene. Weirdly, police say the fire was not accidental, nor was it suspicious. Whaaaa?

(Seattlest, say hello to Monica Cohn, one of our new shopping correspondents.)

You may be under the impression that Seattle's numerous Than Brothers locations are equal to each other, each serving delicious pho in similarly disheveled and and unappealing dining rooms. We’re here to tell you that you are wrong. Over the past year, Seattlest David and Rachael have exhaustively toured Seattle's five Than Brothers to give you the best, the worst, and most importantly, the goldfish-iest of Seattle’s most ubiquitous of pho restaurants. Today we’ll be providing a brief overview of the distinctive features of each Seattle location. Friday we’ll be back with the first annual 2008 Seattlest Than Brothers PhO-dyssey awards!

First things first: Things are seriously awry in this town when a Taco-frickin'-Bell inspires multiple blog requiems when it closes, but Seattle's own Mix Ice Cream slips away into the night with nary a peep.

According to the Seattle Transit Blog, the University link of our not-sure-we-wanted-it-but-now-we-got-it--might-as-well-expand-it light rail system is getting the Federal funding it was looking for. It's headed to the President's desk with Seattle receiving the highest possible recommendation for funding from the Federal Transit Administration arm of the U.S. DOT. Screw you, Prop 1! Love you Patty Murray!

"After two years, it's definitely moving," writes invaluable neighborhood blogger Captain Columbia City. He talked to the market's coordinator, Karen, on Wednesday, the last day the Columbia City Farmers Market will be open this year.

Of course, Columbia City Plaza was sold to a development firm on the east coast recently, and so when the Plaza owners lease expires early next year, they'll sign a new one with the new owners. The new owners are planning on putting in a mixed use retail & condo development, but they realize that the planning & permitting process will take years, so they've very kindly offered the current space rent free for the next two years while the permitting process takes place.

Continue reading "Columbia City Farmers Market Moving..."

Fall--and yes, we think we can say it's now officially fall--is a great season for concerts. Yet another good one this weekend is an all-ages affair, with Port Angeles' own The Lonely H celebrating their second record release tonight at the Vera Project (7:30pm, with Model Photographer and Don't Tell Sophie, $7). The band's comprised of five teens just outta high school, but don't let that negatively influence your opinion of them. The guys sound (and look) older than their birth certificates, way older, like right out the 70s, with Zep-like shredding and long flowing locks. We spoke to bassist Johnny Whitman about going to college, life on the road, moving to Seattle, and hating emo bands.

There's a Seattle Times editorial today that indicates that Mayor Nickels is going to deliver a State of the City speech that calls for additional police resources; 105 new cops over the next five years, which seems a little ridiculous in the World's Safest City. The editorial hints that it shares that viewpoint, but it's not enough to satisfy some who accuse the Times of supporting the mayor's new policing plan.

Earlier today, one of you told us this: "Seattlest, you have a bit of the grumpy old man in you." Is it true, we wondered? So we asked Seattlest contributors if they've ever pulled that ultimate old man move: calling the cops. Turns out we are grumpy old men. And how!

--Jason Schmidt's now a Dodger, so the Mariners' list of decent available free agent pitchers is down to one, and so is every other team in the majors. If Barry Zito were a corporation, you'd be selling your kidney to buy stock.

"I don’t venture north of even the cut, unless provoked." So said one Seattlest contributor when we asked what inspires us to turn our backs on downtown and drive north. Wimp.

The UW became a more urban campus today with the purchase of the Safeco tower. Don't get us wrong; we love the sprawling, verdant expanses, nooks, and crannies of the main campus. However, a properly urban university -- like its students -- should engage with its neighborhood by wandering beyond campus and fanning into the surrounding area.

The Seattle Times is reporting that the last hardware store downtown is in danger of getting squeezed out. Rainier Hardware apparently has some prime storefront space in the Market and the bane of independant businesses everywhere -the re-negotiation of the lease- is rearing its head.

While you may not be accustomed to getting music news from Seattlest that's not along the "Die, Fledermaus, Die" lines lately we do actually listen to the rock music. You, know, sometimes, when we're feeling guitar-y.

Seattlest's bus ride to work lasts about twelve minutes. That's just long enough for us to find a seat, sit in it, open our bag, take out our laptop and boot it up, Start, Shutdown, Yes we would like the computer to shut down, put it away and get off the bus. Ah, another productive commute! You didn't notice it, but during the minute our computer was on it attempted and failed to find any available wireless networks. Our email rants to the editor were unable to fly out into the either.

What exactly is behind our sudden fascination with "found" material? Are we simply so enamoured with the cheap voyueristic thrills that reality television affords us that we've begun seeking out similar glimpses into the lives of others? Get away from that window you freak! Perverts...

Because of a Tuesday night conflict with our 10-week advertising class at the School of Visual Concepts, Seattlest has been forced to skip pub trivia at Fremont's George & Dragon Pub.

You've got all kinds of options for films this week rather than going to see The Amityville Horror---and please people, for the love of God, do not pay to see movies like that...it only encourages Hollywood to trot out yet another completely unnecessary horror flick remake.

Local self-proclaimed "publisher of the world's greatest cartoonists" Fantagraphics has a new issue of The Comics Journal (The 2005 Special Edition) out right now. There's some content from the manga-centric issue online---including web-exclusive art---enough to whet your appetite. Oh sure, you can read three friggin' pages on the history of the Japanese comic genre as a whole...which I'm sure is very important, given how well the stuff sells. But when it comes to juicer fare, they're a bunch of no-good teases. Just an excerpt of Adam Stephanides' examination of the violence and porn pervading Suehero Maruo's sophisticated work? We needs more. With that in mind, it might be worth a buy, if only to get one's arthouse-porn rocks off.

Maybe Seattle doesn’t have a river to dye green just for the occasion, but there are still scads of St. Patrick’s Day activities here in the Emerald City. We suppose you could go to the Seattle Center for the big celebration there, but most people would rather be out drinking, so for your Irish pub-crawling pleasure (cover charges as noted):

Nestled right in the heart of downtown Seattle is a little bit o' free WiFi. Of all places to find out about this little gem, I came across it while viewing pictures of Seattle on Flickr. So take your laptop to Westlake Park and go surfing. thnx dantc

Who doesn’t love pornography? Ok, how about the pornography business? You probably don't know that much about it, but Legs McNeil does. Legs McNeil, former editor of Spin magazine and former editor-in-chief of Nerve, gets down and dirty with his newest book The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of The Porn Film Industry. In the past, his focus has primarily been on music, including Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk, a book often considered to be the definitive chronicle of the genre.

One of the best things about Seattle is that horticulture is close enough that you can see it on a lunchtime walk. If you are in the U District, some of the city's best cherry blossoms are to be found in the Quad on the University of Washington campus, just north of Suzzallo library. Those trees are just starting to bloom.