West Seattle, Washington
23 Tuesday
“Napoleon Dynamite” wraps up the first-ever Indoor Winter Movies on the Wall (free!) series Saturday night in The Junction 
with “Napoleon Dynamite” — including a tater-tot contest! Before or after, you can check out the White Center Open Studio Art Tour – Saturday night’s also when Andre Feriante and friends perform a “Listening Room” concert at the Admiral Theater – Scouting for Food, Sanislo Elementary‘s auction, the Hi-Yu Spring Tea, World Water Day at Alki, and more, all among more than 40 events in this edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup (sponsored by Skylark Cafe and Club):Read More
NO SCHOOL TOMORROW … for Seattle Public Schools (and other institutions that follow its calendar, as well as nearby Vashon and Highline districts).
TAKE A HIKE TOMORROW AFTERNOON … with the Nature Consortium. Great timing, for the no-school day. 1 pm, meet at the 14th SW/SW Holly trailhead for a not-too-tough hike through part of West Seattle’s wonderful West Duwamish Greenbelt. RSVP to lisa@naturec.org
FORMER WEST SEATTLEITES’ FOOD BIZ CLOSING: It’s making its way around food-focused media today, and we also received a copy of the letter (thanks to Edgar) – former West Seattleites Gabriel Claycamp and Heidi Kenyon announced they are closing down Culinary Communion (which is on Beacon Hill), and selling off its equipment this Saturday. We first heard about it on Twitter this morning from former P-I food writer Rebekah Denn, so we’ll point you to her new site for the story, including the couple’s letter explaining their plans for another business, The Swinery.
One more note added @ 5:14 pm — WestSide Baby is having a “sorting frenzy” tonight – can you help? Time, info, and directions here.
That’s guitarist Andre Feriante, who will be performing in West Seattle for the first time ever as part of the “Listening Room” show at the Admiral Theater this Saturday night. If you haven’t seen one of the shows yet, “Listening Room” is a new concept at The Admiral — concerts for true music lovers. We talked with Feriante this afternoon, and he’s excited about playing the historic theater, saying he’s always curious about the history of places like The Admiral.
He’s been a musician full-time for a quarter-century and has played around the world, mixing guitar with poems in multiple languages as well as songs. With him onstage will be, he explains, “two people I play with frequently — Swil Kanim, Native American violinist and storyteller — he’s an actor, with a Native American spirit tradition, and a haunting mystical quality to his sound., as well as a deep, moving presence. Also playing with us, Eric Fridrich, a blues and jazz singer with a great big warm voice, a phenomenal guitar and harmonica player – there’s going to be some contrasts since I’m a flamenco, classical, Brazilian, Latin-style solo guitarist.” And that barely describes the “eclectic” nature of what he does, Feriante adds, saying his songs “are in the Leonard Cohen, Jacques Brel style.”
Here’s the other eclectic aspect of the Listening Room show – local muralist Glenn Case will paint live onstage during the performances. One of his most recent works in West Seattle is the distinctive Cafe Revo mural:
(September 2008 photo, as the mural was being completed)
The Saturday night “Listening Room” show is at 9 pm; tickets are $12 and available online right now via Brown Paper Tickets.
Just in from ArtsWest – the waiting list for the first session of its Summer Musical Theater Camp got to be so long, they opened a second session, and it has some room – read on for the announcement:Read More
Top o’ the mornin’ … St. Patrick’s Day events around West Seattle include corned beef, cabbage, and fiddle music at Merrill Gardens-Admiral Heights today (call 938-3964 to check if there’s still room) and Shamrock ‘n’ Roll at Skylark (WSB sponsor) tonight, including open turntables at 6 pm and karaoke at 9. Between 6:30 am and 7 pm, drop by Hotwire (WSB sponsor) for a FREE 12-OUNCE PEPPERMINT MOCHA for some green caffeine. And this evening – not holiday-related, but fighting crime is always worth celebrating, so be at the West Seattle Crime Prevention Council meeting, 7 pm, Southwest Precinct — hear about the latest crime trends, bring your crime concerns, and see Sgt. Jeff Durden explain the Community Police Team.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, 44th/Alaska; here’s the latest list of what you can expect to find. (Also look for the chance to pledge volunteer time to Junction Plaza Park.)
FREE YOGA: 11 am-12:15 pm today, Sound Yoga (WSB sponsor) offers another one of its every-so-often free yoga classes. Find out more at the Sound Yoga website.
WANT A MINI-MASSAGE? Another WSB sponsor, Pharmaca, has a massage therapist on hand in its Junction location today, 11 am-2 pm, offering massage therapy at $1/minute.
LEND A HAND TO THE LOG HOUSE: Reminder about the emergency request that came in yesterday — the Log House Museum in Alki needs help moving some stuff 11 am-2 pm today, and you’ll get treats for your trouble. Read all about it here.
MOVIE CUPCAKES: No matter which of tonight’s big movies you are going to, you’ll see cupcakes. The ones at left were photographed by Lora Lewis of Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) as she gets ready for tonight’s Winter Indoors Movies on the Wall showing of the original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (7 pm, West Seattle Christian Church activity center, free [cupcakes extra]); cupcakes also are in the works for the wedding celebration before the singalong “Mamma Mia!” at the Admiral Theater (7:30 pm, $8, cupcakes included).
MAKING OF A COVER DOG: We learned recently that one of West Seattle’s best-known canine cuties, Wendy Hughes-Jelen‘s Italian greyhound Sophia, would be appearing on a future cover for WS-based CityDog Magazine – and now (discovered via our Blogs page feed) Wendy has published the story of Sophia’s big day on her website. See Wendy’s story, photos and all, here (meantime, CityDog has promised to share a sneak peek at the cover when it gets close to hitting the stands).
With recent bowling-center closures elsewhere in the region, more bowling leagues are rolling our way – so Underdog Sports Leagues sent this announcement of new leagues at West Seattle Bowl, with registration open now:
Roll on Through Wet Weather Toward Summer!
Spring in Seattle could easily be renamed MoreWinter. It’s that tease of a season here in the Northwest that spans from after the holidays until about July. MoreWinter tosses out a nice day every couple weeks – but for the most part you could be in November. How to make it through until Summer? Take refuge in the warm embrace of the bowling alley. Liquid sunshine, prizes, theme nights (like Ugly Sweater Night), and classic fun will ward off April and May cold dampness!
The leagues are on Monday and Thursday nights, and run for 6 weeks each. Monday night league starts on the 30th of March at 7 pm, and Thursday is late-night bowling starting on March 26th at 9:30 pm.
For sign-ups and more info, check out the Underdog Sports site.
First: Direct link to today’s long list of events from our West Seattle Weekend Lineup – just click here.
Second: We have one “what’s NOT happening” note – the West Seattle High School fundraising car wash has been called off, rainout.
Next: Tonight’s the night for two fun movie events in West Seattle. First, an update on the “Mamma Mia!” preshow wedding tonight at The Admiral:
Melodie Anderson and John Babcock will get married onstage before the “Mamma Mia!” singalong screening, and yet another gift has appeared: Dinah Brein McClellan at the Admiral Theater says Standing Ovation Films has now donated its services to shoot the wedding and related events (including the donated wedding-party dinner at Cafe Revo). YOU, however, do NOT need to bring a gift – just help make sure there’s a good crowd to cheer on Melodie and John – they’re marrying before movietime, 7:30 tonight at The Admiral (tickets $8, available online till a few hours ahead of time, after that, at the door).
More in the mood for goofy family fun? Be at tonight’s Winter Indoor Movies on the Wall presentation of the original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory“:
Your sponsors are the West Seattle Junction merchants; venue is the newest multipurpose facility in The Junction, West Seattle Christian Church‘s activity center (with not one but TWO big screens!) on 42nd just south of Genesee), price – absolutely free, and you’re encouraged to bring a nonperishable food item for the West Seattle Food Bank. Worth bringing a few bucks for concession sales and the special “Golden Ticket” raffle. More at the Movies on the Wall website. (Next week, the winter series finale – “Napoleon Dynamite“!)
Again – for everything else happening today and tomorrow in West Seattle, go here!
The original “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” is the second of three Winter Indoor Movies on the Wall in The Junction … at The Admiral, the singalong “Mamma Mia” will be preceded by a real-life wedding onstage … there’s a property auction and two rummage sales … a poker tournament tonight to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society … Gatewood Elementary and Pathfinder K-8‘s big fundraisers … the last weekend to buy Girl Scout cookies … and free yoga! That’s all among more than 40 events in this edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup (sponsored by Skylark Cafe and Club):Read More
Rummage-sale season is off and … rummaging. Two big sales started this morning: West Side Presbyterian Church (above – we found quite a crowd there a little while ago) and Tibbetts United Methodist Church (tons of stuff there too as shown below), both just north of The Junction.
Tibbetts is selling till 4 pm today, 9 am-3 pm tomorrow; West Side goes till 5 pm today, 9 am-2 pm tomorrow. By the way – don’t forget to mark your calendar – the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, presented again this year by WSB, is May 9th, registration details to come.
From Alki Bathhouse in the northwest, to Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) north-central, to Skylark (WSB sponsor) and Youngstown Arts Center in the northeast, to multiple Junction-vicinity venues in the middle, and on to The Kenney in the south, the West Seattle Art Walk is under way right now all over WS. Here’s the map. See highlights – with art samples and venue details – on the official Art Walk blog. It lasts till 9 pm –great night to be out, have fun! (And if you take pix, we’d love to share ’em!)
That’s the trailer for the ORIGINAL “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” a family fave that’s FREE on the big screens in the West Seattle Christian Church Activity Center this Saturday night, for the second of three Winter Movies on the Wall – that’s INDOORS, mind you – presented by Junction merchants (and co-sponsors including WSB). Movie’s at 7, doors open at 5:30, bring a chair and a donation for the West Seattle Food Bank.
Meantime, Saturday night’s also showtime at the Admiral Theater, not just for the singalong edition of “Mamma Mia,” but also for this couple to say their vows onstage for real:
(photo courtesy Melodie Anderson)
We’ve been telling you about Melodie Anderson and John Babcock‘s wedding right before “Mamma Mia” at The Admiral, 7:30 pm Saturday – Admiral entertainment director Dinah Brein McClellan put out the call for couples after she and her team thought it might be fun to enhance the movie’s romantic theme with real-life love. She’s providing the nondenominational minister; Sugar Rush Baking Company is providing wedding cake and mini-cupcakes; Cafe Revo‘s donating a wedding dinner for four; and a secret donor’s throwing in a Chelan vacation-home stay. (Anything else for the happy couple or the fun festivities? Let Dinah know at dinah@admiralentertainment.com) You don’t have to bring anything but good cheer – it’s all part of the $8 ticket price for the “Mamma Mia” singalong (song list here; we’re thinking “Take a Chance on Me” is particularly apropos). Tickets are available online.
From the WSB West Seattle-wide Events calendar – first, two events tonight across the street from each other in Fauntleroy: The 34th District Democrats are at The Hall at Fauntleroy (old schoolhouse) for their monthly meeting at 7 pm, with the agenda including City Council candidates David Ginsberg and David Bloom (who’s already spoken twice in West Seattle in the past week, here and here); across the street at Fauntleroy Church, the ongoing “Re-creating Community in Our Day” speaker series features your WSB co-publishers tonight at 7 pm (after an optional “simple supper,” for which the church will accept donations, at 6). In Delridge tonight, anyone applying for Seattle Public Schools during this month’s open enrollment period is welcome to go to the Delridge Library 5:30-7 pm for in-person application help (more here). And tonight, Junction Idol continues at Rocksport, 9 pm.
No, you don’t have to bring a gift. Just be there for the “Mamma Mia” singalong movie showing Saturday night. As reported here last week, 64-year-old Melodie Anderson and 60-year-old John Babcock are getting married onstage at The Admiral at 7:30 Saturday night, right before the movie, as the culmination of a love story that’s stretched across 18 years and two states, starting as an off-and-on involvement following their meeting at a holistic-health-practitioner school in San Diego, then intensifying when John followed Melodie to Seattle, where she had moved to be closer to her grandchildren. Admiral entertainment director Dinah Brein-McClellan and her team hatched the idea of an onstage wedding to go with the romantic theme of “Mamma Mia,” put out the call for interested couples, and really fell in love with John and Melodie’s story, which took a dramatic turn two years ago, as Dinah relates:
In 2007, Melodie discovered she had cancer and through it all, John never left her side. “You really see what someone is made of when you go through something like that – bald head, throwing up, he was there for me.”
The experience made the couple realize that life is precious and short and they were ready to ‘seal the deal.’ The couple got a marriage license, but due to the recession and some financial losses on properties they owned they were forced to put a wedding on hold and soon the license lapsed. When Melodie told John about the offer that the Admiral had on the table, he was a bit dubious. “Melodie is really spontaneous, unorthodox and outgoing, very different from me but that’s why I love her,” he said.
To celebrate John and Melodie’s wedding, so far, The Admiral is providing a nondenominational minister, Coffee to a Tea with Sugar is donating a wedding cake plus 200 mini-cupcakes for the audience, Cafe Revo is giving the wedding party a celebration dinner for 4, and an anonymous donor is offering a stay at a Lake Chelan vacation home. (Got anything to add? Dinah’s still looking for someone who can contribute wedding decorations and flowers – dinah@admiralentertainment.com) You can be part of the fun (and sing your heart out afterward) just by going to Mamma Mia! Saturday night, 7:30 pm, $8/ticket, available online at Brown Paper Tickets.
Sorry, no runway models – instead, a fresh new concept: Real women wearing real clothes! (And, in our short clip, modeling to the fitting tune of “Got to Be Real,” the 1979 disco classic by Cheryl Lynn.) Good turnout this afternoon – we counted at least 50 – for the fashion show/West Seattle Food Bank fundraiser at The Sanctuary at Admiral (the ex-church-turned-event-venue north of Hiawatha):
The fashion show was co-sponsored by Designer Labels Consignment Boutique, Clementine, Elliott Hair Salon, Small Clothes, Coffee to a Tea w/ Sugar, and Herban Feast Catering.
Looking for a little Sunday light reading? If you haven’t already browsed the combined spring brochure for West Seattle’s city-run community centers (Alki, Delridge, Hiawatha, High Point, and Southwest) — you can download it here. It lists all the special events, classes, and ongoing features at those facilities (plus South Park) as well as the art programs at Alki Bathhouse and swimming at Southwest Pool.
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm, The Junction. Here’s this week’s fresh sheet.
WEST SEATTLE FASHION SHOW: Today’s the day, 2 pm at The Sanctuary at Admiral – full details here; part of the proceeds benefit West Seattle Food Bank.
JAZZ TO FIGHT LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA: Tonight at Rocksport, 6 pm, live jazz! – with the proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Full details here.
Lora Lewis from Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) sent that photo as screening time draws nigh for the first-ever Junction Winter Movies on the Wall — “The Mummy,” 7 pm, West Seattle Christian Church activity center (on 42nd south of Genesee, around the corner from Hotwire), bring a chair and a donation for the West Seattle Food Bank (which will count extra since the Feinstein Challenge is under way).
Big event of the weekend, the first Winter Movies on the Wall series starts with “The Mummy,” 7 pm Saturday night – then hours later, spring forward – set your clock one hour ahead at 2 am Saturday night/Sunday morning. But you’ll never miss that hour of sleep, just too much to do: A solar job fair in The Junction, the annual Fairmount Ravine cleanup, a swap event on Saturday, a fashion show Sunday, and a jazz benefit Sunday night, all among more than 40 events listed ahead in this edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup (sponsored by Skylark Cafe and Club):Read More
(Westenders Scooter Club representing! Just part of the 2008 Sustainable West Seattle Festival)
Also just out of the inbox, word that Sustainable West Seattle is taking applications for vendors and sponsors through March 23 for its second annual Festival, 10 am-3 pm Sunday, May 3rd, in The Junction. Last year’s first-ever SWS festival was a huge hit. Go here to get the application and find out more. (They’re looking for volunteer help for the festival too – call Stu Hennessey at (206) 767-9366 or volunteer@sustainablewestseattle.org)
That’s the trailer from “The Mummy,” which you can see free this Saturday night in the first presentation of the first-ever West Seattle Junction Winter Movies on the Wall, on the big screen inside West Seattle Christian Center‘s new activity center. And Lora Lewis of Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) sends a reminder this morning that it’s not just a movie – for one, they’re looking for teams for a pre-show contest:
Our pre-show activities will be the mummy ‘wrap- n-race’. The idea is we’ll have 3 teams of 2-3 people who will wrap a person from head to foot in two rolls of bathroom tissue and then race to a finish line.
And while there’s no charge for admission, just like the Summer outdoor Movies on the Wall, donations will be collected for the West Seattle Food Bank (and for the next two months, those donations count for more than face value, because of the Feinstein Challenge) – and there’ll be a raffle, with entry proceeds benefiting a local nonprofit. You’ll even find treats at the concession stand. Just bring your family, friends, chairs, and be ready for fun – doors will open at 5:30 – the center’s on 42nd SW just south of Genesee (map) – movie’s at 7. (And as for the following two Saturday nights, the “season slate” is in this WSB report and on the official Movies on the Wall site; WSB, we should note, is proud to be among the movie series’ co-sponsors. If you’re on Facebook — where we’re WS Blog — you can go here for a link to share about the movie series, or use the “Share This” feature under this item to share it via FB, Twitter, e-mail, or several other services.)
You may recall Admiral Theater entertainment director Dinah Brein McClellan putting out the call here on WSB for a couple to get married onstage during the upcoming singalong showing of “Mamma Mia.” At least one citywide media source read about it here and in turn, that brought forward Melodie Anderson and John Babcock, whose relationship has stretched across several years and two states (they originally met in San Diego; John followed Melodie when she moved up here) – as well as a cancer fight (Melodie is a survivor, and John’s been by her side all the way). We photographed them last night when they came to The Admiral to meet with Dinah, and today Dinah’s sent word that they are The Ones. The big event is a week from this Saturday – 7:30 pm March 14th, right before the movie. Now Dinah’s thinking it might be a great idea to “give John and Melodie a great sendoff.” The new Luna Park Italian restaurant Cafe Revo already has donated a celebration dinner for 4, and Dinah says Sugar Rush Baking Company/Coffee to a Tea‘s chipping in with a wedding cake and mini-cupcakes . Anybody else want to get in on this with something else for the lucky couple (in addition to attending the showing, not just to cheer on John and Melodie, but also to sing along with your ABBA faves)? Could be the West Seattle media event of the month, and you’ll be in the spotlight too (plus, who doesn’t love a love story?). Give Dinah a shout – dinah@admiralentertainment.com. She says John and Melodie weren’t the only ones to contact her, but she sees “something magical” about their story – love will conquer all, which is the theme of the “Mamma Mia” movie too.
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