UptownSeattle

need new author

2007-06-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

Obviously, I haven't had the time to dedicate to Uptown Seattle. I've now relocated to a different Seattle neighborhood. I encourage others to take over!! I'll let the original owners make the choice of who to pass the uptown torch to. Let us know if you're interested.

Liberty Tax Service

2006-10-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

This isn't a picture from Seattle, but it IS a picture of the Liberty Tax Service mascot, representing the replacement of some of our fine Queen Anne retail shops up the block from Peso's. The consignment children's clothing store is gone, Monkey Love Rubber Stamps has moved from a smaller shop to a larger one, wiping out the overpriced paperstore off the block and the sweet boutique filled with purses, kama sutra products and cute clothes for skinny women is gone as well. I will miss the smiling face of that store manager, she was always very sweet.

Now, Liberty Tax Service has swooped in. I wonder if we'll see a cheesy mascot of theirs roaming the street in a few weeks. Take a look at flicker (search keywords: liberty, tax) and be afraid. I wouldn't want to see Lady Liberty drunk stumbling out of Chopstix.

Mirabeau Room CLOSED

2006-10-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

That's right. The doors have shut and the Mirabeau Room is closed. I hope a buyer will pick it up soon... I love the remodel they did on that place.

You will be missed.

What I Like About You OR Try Not to be Negative

2006-09-28T01:55:00.000-07:00

With work and moving (due to condo conversion? Yes, you guessed right!), I have not been able to take advantage of the good (and bad) bars that Uptown has to offer.
Queen Anne is not as much the destination nightclub area as, say it's neighbors, Belltown, Fremont or Ballard. But, there are many places to get your drink on. I have lived in this area over 4 years now, so I tend to see only the negative in the bar life, but herein lies my challenge.
The bars of uptown I've been to, and at least one good thing about each:

Jabu's Pub: one night of the week, they have $0.25 PBR night, until the keg is empty. Pool, cute (Stephanie?) behind the bar. Kick ass happy hour

Floyd's Place: see previous entries. Ignore the negative comments.

Ozzie's: (reach for it...)...actually this is a good place to get your drink on outdoors (the roof!), but now that it grows colder...a good place to go if you need some attention

Melting Pot: great happy hour...chocolate fondue? that sounds like foreplay to me!

The Sitting Room: warm, cosy ambiance and good wine.

T.S.McHughs: a wall of liquor to stare at while you drink some

Racha: late night happy hour and good thai food, mmm!!

Mojito's: dancing, live music,

Moxie's: great, if you're my parents

Ten Mercer: great if you're a bit boring or need a little more light than the sitting room to feel comfortable

Streamliner: darts and beer, can't beat it with a stick

Mr. Lucky's: that it's closed (it is still closed, isn't it?)

Chopstix: friendly wait staff, sing along without getting TOO much attention

Peso's: a great way to remind yourself that in comparison your life DOES have substance...but that's just some of the nightlife crowd. In general: some of the best brunch around

Caffe Lladros: great for foam and non-alcoholic drinks

Mirabeau room: love the nights, the drinks, the atmosphere, the music. AND they dropped their silly mid-week covers!

Mecca: an uptown landmark

Condo conversion

2006-09-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid that many uptown folk have recently been uprooted and replaced to other seattle areas because of the recent movement of condo conversions. Tenents in apartments across the city are having to relocate due to their apartment owners selling the property to become high-end living establishments. S & I recently moved from the 5th N. & Mercer area to the lower Queen Anne area along 4th Avenue West. We got lucky - as many apartments continue kicking tennents out by the dozens while creating a lack of housing all at the same time.

Drain, Bite of Seattle,

2006-07-25T18:39:00.000-07:00

Drain, Seattle Center, Bite of Seattle, Seattle, WA
Originally uploaded by djwudi.

"Drain"-ed is exactly what many of us felt this weekend with the insane heat that the rest of the nation has had to suffer these last weeks. I'm guessing the attendance to the Bite of Seattle was lower than previous years, as moving and being in the sun seemed like too much effort to many of us.

Monkey Love Rubber Stamps

2006-07-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

Monkey Love Rubber Stamps
Originally uploaded by justinbaeder.

A small boutique next to Peso's on Queen Anne Avenue has closed and much to my surprise, Monkey Love Rubber Stamps (a small hole in the wall store selling rubber stamps) is EXPANDING into that space as well. IS there really this large of a demand for a variety of stamps in this world? I do love this store - the woman who owns or manages it was quite helpful a few xmases ago with advice on how to make my cards extra special.
It just surprised me to see such a great piece of property be used for arts and crafts products.

I must admit I was not sad to see Paperspace disappear, taking their overpriced paper cards and merchandise with them.

4th of July at Myrtle Edwards

2006-07-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

Nearing Sunset
Originally uploaded by Sean Glenn.

We walked to Myrtle Edwards after a great bbq party with a view of Alki and the sound. The weather was a bit finicky so we waited until a light drizzle of rain passed and then walked down around 6:30pm. We were thinking we would be too late to get a good spot, but the park was relativley sparse. The "4th of Jul-Ivar's" seems to have lost a lot of it's funding, as there were no Elephant Ears (or any food for that matter) or entertainment. There was actually no one around us with music playing - so the fireworks display went unaccompanied. It was a great show, however, the design of the pyrotechnics was very nice - not too over the top and full of the gold/silver sparkling ones that are my favorite. Very low key in comparison to years that have passed.

I heard WAMU's 4th at Gasworks was shoulder to shoulder packed, so it was nice to have space to spread out and enjoy the night.

Beautiful sky and sunset delighted us as we waited for dusk...what a fantastic picture Sean took, seen here.

The park is currently undergoing some construction, which made the walk out a bit stop and go and time consuming. The entrance being right near the train track intersection made it take a while as well, which I guess couldn't have been helped. I imagine it took a lot longer getting out of Gasworks!

Here's to celebrating the freedom we have and another day gone by without a missle being successfully fired at us.

Pride Continued

2006-06-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

Dance Floor
Originally uploaded by Charolem.

I hear Queer Fest on the hill was a "protest" to having it moved from Capitol Hill to the center. What?! Why protest the move of a festival that is GROWING in popularity because of more "out" members of its community and more tolerance? Isn't the point of PRIDE to wear your colors proudly? What better way than to get off the safe hill and bring the festival to a place where all major Seattle festivals occur! In any case, Pride saw more attendants than ever before.

Being a booth worker last year and this with The 5th Avenue Theatre, I can tell you the center allows for more visibility. And the fountain was practically like this shot I found on Flickr, except there was a pack of 8 or so people wearing pink wigs to the right of the dome of the International Fountain. My co-worker came back to our booth saying "Go check out the fountain - it's a like a rave or something!"

The parade that S & I caught part of on our voyage to retrieve the car we had forgottenly left in Belltown the night prior was rather tame. It was great to see corporate sponsors like Starbucks come out. But really, any corporation that bypasses marketing to such a large demographic is honestly missing out.

I really enjoyed walking down the streets of Uptown when I did - two married husbands looked at me with a curious "Is SHE a lesbian?" gleam in their eye.

YAY PRIDE. And, hey, when it comes down to it, I'm glad there were heaps of celebrations, marches and after hours parties on the Hill as well as the center, Pioneer Square and surrounding...spread the love.

Seattle Pride

2006-06-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

Seattle Pride
Originally uploaded by Homo olympus.

That's right - PRIDE moved to Seattle Center from years up on Capitol Hill. This year the dikes on bikes led both parades - the Pride "out and proud" parade and LGBT "QueerFest" that happened on the hill.

bill & melinda gates building

2006-06-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

The Bill & Melinda Gates building will be taking over the block south of Mercer on 5th Avenue N. There's a skate park and basketball court that were originally designed and have been used by the community - these are planned on being demolished to make room for the building. Also, word is that Fun Forest has been bought out of its contract. What will the city replace it with? Undoubtedly something that clashes with the EMP almost as much as the EMP clashes with itself.
Some bet it will be parking, but I'm guessing it will be another tourist attraction.

Pay parking machines

2006-05-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

Queen Anne Ave between Roy and Mercer will soon have working pay machines for parking- no more searching around for quarters for the parking meters. It will be interesting to see how much parking costs when you pull over to grab a latte at Café Ladro’s or Peso’s.

Sam's Sushi

2006-05-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

No-Frills Standby: When I ate dinner at Sam's Sushi with one of my closest friends we were both stressed out. She seemed unable to talk, I lacked the energy to buoy her spirits. But with certain friends you don't have to try and that is what makes time together restorative. Consider Sam's an old friend—my plate of fish was nondescript, but its freshness was undeniable and elegant, delivered seemingly without effort. The spicy tuna roll ($4.75) is particularly tasty and clear, and Sam's gets extra points for serving the heads of the raw shrimp on the side, deep fried ($4). (521 Queen Anne Ave N, 282-4612, Mon–Fri 11 am–10 pm, Sat noon–10 pm, Sun noon–9 pm.)
- from the Stranger article: Sushi Thrifti

K2, commandments and concrete

2006-05-07T05:12:00.000-07:00

Hey there Seattle kids of Queen Anne & beyond...I'm Keridwyn (aka "K2", as not to be confused with the illustrious K of J and/or K fame) - J and K are letting me give this blog a whirl. Consider this my first audition as a member of Uptown Seattle. I got scared off a couple days back, when J and/or K send the following comandments. See my responses below. I encourage all readers, as well as J/K to reply to this - as my opinion is just one of many and this blog should be for the people who live here:

13 neighborhood blog commandments

As we prepare to hand off updates to our old 'hood blog, here are some rules to blog by. We follow most of them though a few are constant temptations.

1. Thou shalt not get off theme. If your theme is your neighborhood, stick to it
Deal.
2. Thou shalt not write cute headlines. Clear first, then clever
While "cute" is an adj. I don't shy away from, but if the clever outweighs the clear, you gotta keep working.
3. Thou shalt make lots of lists and include numbers in your headlines because people like lists and numbers in headlines
clear first, clever next, then numbers, ok?
4. Thou shalt not write about free stuff you score without telling people you scored it for free
Of course - why would I shy from sharing the wealth? I'm not a republican!
5. Thou shalt not write about blogging, your blog, other blogs or any other bloggity-blog related blog topics more than 2x per week
Ok, but i think i should be able to link to relevant blogs as will to help enhance Seattle-blogging-communication, as long as I'm not being redundant. If people want to know about my other blogs, they can just click on my profile. Relevant posts from Drunk in Seattle may be linked here, alright?
6. Thou shalt not write about your personal life more than 2x per year. Though thou shalt find witty ways to slide in personal touches in non-personal posts.
This needs rephrasing. There is no way to keep personal out of experiences I'm reporting on. I'm not going to use this blog to talk about how great and fabulous my friends are, though. Just maybe the great,fabulous or horrific things that affect them in Uptown
7. Thou shalt post at least 6x per week
I'll be getting my own laptop in the next few months (used ibook) - but until then, no promises, as much as i'd like to.
8. If thou goest on vacation for a long timeth, let your readers knoweth
ok
9. Thou shalt count to 10 before posting negative meany-pants stuff (this one is hard!) ok.
10. Thou shalt tag your posts consistently to services like del.icio.us
once i know what this means, I'll reply...
11. Thou shalt either try to keep lists shorter than 10 items or stretch them with silly items like this to go beyond 10 because top 10 lists are over nice.
12. Thou shalt be a stealthy blogger so you may observe your neighborhood in its natural state yes sir/ma'am!
13. Thou shalt check the Slog, Metroblogging and Seattlest before posting to make sure thou are not redundant ok.I'm not doing that now, but I think we're safe.

What do you say?

On a seperate note, AMEN to Queen Anne Ave between Roy and Mercer being such a different world now than a few weeks back. No longer will we have to drive and walk over ripped up pavement with metal spikes protruding as we round the corner from Lladro's. Peso's must be very happy to have their world back in order.
-K2

Uptown's last post

2006-01-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

New places, new posts. Turns out, the best, easiest solution for what to do with our neighborhood blog is to leave it behind and wish it the best of luck. We won't be updating Uptown after this post -- we've moved up to Capitol Hill. You can follow along here if you're interested.

Meanwhile, the brilliant posts from this blog will just drift along and gum up Google for a few hundred years. To the future, we apologize.

Thanks for reading.

What to do with a neighborhood blog when you move

2006-01-03T12:24:00.000-08:00

We started this blog about our neighborhood for a few reasons:

To share the good stuff we found on our home turf
To inspire more good stuff
To call out the bad stuff in the area
To inspire changing or eliminating the bad stuff
To weigh in on life and issues from the neighborhood's perspective

For the most part, we've been happy with the results. While we don't presume to have been the final word on anything we've written about over the past year, we do like to think we've turned a lot of people onto the best things about Uptown while protecting a few of you from the worst.

A few hundred people drop through the blog each week so there must be some little bit of value -- though the competition from reading work e-mail isn't very significant, of course. But now we're moving to Capitol Hill. What do we with our neighborhood blog?

Pack it up and take it with us?
Moving the blog to our new neighborhood is one option. On the plus side, all the 'timeless' posts on interesting stuff (yeah, 'all' of them!) would come with us and have an attachment to our new neighboorhod. On the technical side, I don't know how easy it would be to completely move a new Blogger URL but it would likely be easy enough to simply re-name the blog. Still, moving the thing with us seems disruptive -- a future full of oddly labeled Google links and cross-links from other blogs that need to be updated with new info.

Shut it down
Another option is to stop posting and just leave the blog out there drifting in space for the occasional visitor from a Google search. This seems to be the way of the old Web, especially -- full of ghost pages that just suddenly stopped being updated.

Pass it on
Finally, we could hand off the pages and posts to a new editor so the neighborhood voice continues. If there were a more sizeable inheritance, we would be pushing more for this option but, in reality, there's not much there there. Still, if somebody's interested, you know where to find us. Until the end of this week, at least.

-- j

Best sledding, tubing and tobogganing spots near Seattle

2005-12-31T07:38:00.000-08:00

Turns out, if we want lots of traffic, we should be writing about playing in the snow. We've been away on holiday for a week and not posting -- but a lot of you still visited the blog after searching for "sledding seattle" on Google.

We have a nifty little post about sledding without leaving Seattle. But we're guessing that when some of you search for "sledding seattle," you're actually looking for "sledding NEAR seattle."

Unfortunately, the Google results for the "near" search don't yield much useful info. So, here are some good links for those of you planning a drive into the mountains:

Seattle PI: Playgrounds for snow sports
Comprehensive listing with good info about what you'll find and how to find it but dated info so caveat emptor. Includes the map graphic you see on this post.

WA State Non-motorized Sno-Parks database
Sno-Parks usually are good prospects for easy access to snowy hills

Tacoma News Tribune: Pumped up on tubing
Focuses more on south part of state

Hammerhead Sleds Sled-Hill Database
High-performance sledding company maintains state-by-state listings of good hills to take a ride on its product

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, snow, sledding, tubing

Condo 4 Sale again

2005-12-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

Boo! The condo is up for sale again. Our non-buyer found us via a Craigslist ad we placed while we waited to officially list the property. We were a little wary having had some CL issues in past when we tried to give away a washing machine -- but the transaction was proceeding. Then Mr. CL started getting cold feet and asking ridiculous questions about the building. That was the first sign that we were about to get burned. Tonight, he's decided to back out. It's within his rights as a buyer. But he's leaving us hanging. So, file this post under plaintive whining -- we have to keep the place cleaned up for walk-throughs again!

--j

Charting Seattle's blog interest

2005-12-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

One of the best blogs about blogging turns us onto this neat new trick from Technorati -- the weblog search engine.

Here are two 'live' charts of references to 'seattle' and 'portland' in blogs tracked by Technorati. Portland, we got you beat, sucka! Really, we're not going to gloat about the head-to-head thing -- in both charts you can see the growing swell of blogging in general. It's especially cool to be able to track this swell in relation to what we've been writing about.

Posts that contain Seattle per day for the last 30 days.

Posts that contain Portland per day for the last 30 days.

--j

One question about the Seattle Center suicides

2005-12-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

Sure, there are bigger questions for the families or friends or witnesses. But from our perspective, we've got to ask just one -- why the Seattle Center? Is it becuase the venue is the last warm, free, public place in the city? It would be sad to see the place changed because of this. While the lame carnival rides are an embarrassment, the eclectic mix of entertainment and mall food inside the Center has created an oddly charming gathering place.

2 public suicides at Seattle Center called unusual
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
Seattle Center officials say two recent suicides in the Center House are unfortunate, but they concede there's little they can do to prevent such a thing from happening again.

Counselors have been made available to Seattle Center employees who may have witnessed the most recent suicide, which occurred Friday when an 84-year-old homeless man shot himself at the end of an evening jazz performance. The King County Medical Examiner's Office on Monday identified the man as Forest David Howe.

--j

2 restaurants for cheap eats

2005-12-20T16:07:00.000-08:00

As we wind down our days living uptown, the combination of wanting to try things we never got to and a total lack of time has us eating out quite a bit. And our looming huge mortgage has us looking to save a penny or two even when we're too lazy to cook. Recently, Belltown's Toi and Lower Queen Anne's Marinepolis Sushi Land fit the bill.

Toi lured us in with their 'Blue-Eyed Devil' all-Monday night happy hour. Why we always fall for the happy hour thing, I don't know. Happy hours are never really that great of a deal and you end up ordering off a limited menu and missing some of the best things the restaurant has to offer. Toi's happy hour was typical -- they even have the classic happy hour menu item that is a 1/2 serving of a regular entree at the low, low price of 1/2 the regular entree! We'll let you figure it out. We did better when we happily abandoned happy hour and ordered a bowl of the spicy tom ka soup and blew away all of our happy hour value with a 10 buck Grey Goose martini. So much for being cheap.

Meanwhile, cheap is the best thing going for Sushi Land -- it is definitely a low-priced option for kaiten sushi action. With the cheapest plates at $1 a pop, the neverending flow of kaiten boats is a fun way to get stuffed. But you definitely get what you pay for. We usually joust each other with our chop sticks for the last bites of unagi -- but it turns out we've been eating at fancy-pants sushi joints with good unagi. The stuff at Sushi Land was mealy and flavorless. Better were the simple preparations like the spicy tuna or California rolls. You can get the full scoop on Marinepolis SL over at SushiFinder.com -- you'll also see a note or two over there mentioning some problems with the health department. The concerns are legit -- you can see for yourself over on the King County Health web site. There were some major issues last year and some problems as recently as this October. But this kind of thing comes up with lots of restaurants -- people just tend to think about it a lot more when it comes to eating boats of raw fish. Um, yum?

BTW, to be fair, here are Toi's inspection notes -- no such issues there. Still, the next time we're feeling cheap, we'll take our chances with Sushi Land.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, restaurants, toi, sushiland

The other side of the smoking ban: body odor

2005-12-19T12:24:00.000-08:00

From the always sweet-smelling Stranger, comes this excellent point re: the impact of WA state's indoor smoking ban:

While the positive reviews stream in, there was one dissenter: "Something negative I did notice [at the Laptop Battle] was far more B.O. and a lot of farts and food smells," gripes Andrew Luck. "It was really gross. Bring back the smoke, 'cause people smell even worse when you get that many in a room."

-- j

Moving from Uptown: Top 5 things we'll miss

2005-12-14T19:13:00.000-08:00

IMG_0486
Originally uploaded by chuntr.

The new house is bought. The downtown condo is sold. Our days in Uptown are numbered. So it's time to start numbering our thoughts about the neighborhood. List journalism is the sincerest form of nostalgia.

Top 5 Things We'll Miss
5) Seeing the PI Globe neon flicker on
4) Greater Seattle Soccer League team home field: Memorial Stadium in the shadow of the Space Needle
3) Fishing on the pier in Myrtle Edwards park
2) Walking to Macrina Bakery way, way too often
1) Elliott Bay sunsets

More lists to come including things we won't miss and ideas for what should happen to this blog.

--j

Sounds like Moxie is open

2005-12-13T20:44:00.000-08:00

We've been looking forward to Moxie join the mix in the area in Lower Queen Anne. We haven't walked by yet, but sounds like it's open for business.

--j

Embarcadero-izing Seattle

2005-12-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

Embarcadero
Originally uploaded by Cocoabiscuit.

The Stranger's slog has high quality post about the Seattle City Council's recent visit to San Francisco to see the development of the Embarcadero first hand. We've been flip-flopping on the tunnel concept -- looking forward to leadership talking about possiblities beyond bridges and tunnels. The Embarcadero might not be the model for us. But pretending it doesn't exist is folly. If we wait much longer, like SF, we might have a decision handed to us by good ol Planet Earth.

--j

Seattlest beats us to it - Velocity is good shopping

2005-12-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

Check out Seattlest's We Shop in Belltown - Velocity Art & Design for a love post to one of the coolest stores in the city. It's pretty rare for J to walk into a store only to 'browse' -- he's usually more goal-oriented -- but Velocity is worth a visit even if you're 'just looking.'

-- j/k

Downtown Seattle is no place to raise a kid and that's... ok

2005-12-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

family shopping trip
Originally uploaded by poopoorama.

Having just surrendered on starting a family while living in Seattle's downtown, we feel well-qualified to call bullpoop on Peter Steinbrueck's plan to attract families to live in the city's core. We hate being negative on this. We are pro-growth, pro-hippie dippie utopia types. You have to really work to turn us off a seemingly progressive agenda. But we've seen what Seattle's downtown real estate market is like up close and personal. And nothing in this 'plan' will change it. And maybe, nothing should -- but more on that lower in the post.

First, from "THE STEINBRUECK PLAN"
-snip-
The plan seeks to reach three key objectives:
• Create a downtown where a wide variety of residents would want to live,
including families and those of moderate income. A key goal is to have people
living closer to where they work.
• Expand affordable housing opportunities for downtown workers and families
• Create a more neighborly downtown by creating more reasons for residents to
spend time in the neighborhood, such as developing quality park and community
space
-unsnip-

But a summary of the specifics illustrates just how few teeth the council can put into the plan. Here's what Peter's plan calls for:
* Doubling the money contributed by developers into an affordable housing fund;
* Preserving the historic character of downtown Seattle. An Historic Resources Survey will assure our downtown core keeps it's historic distinction;
* Creating a livable residential environment in the Denny Triangle by decreasing proposed building height limits for office towers in the Denny Triangle yet, allowing increased heights in the central business district where commercial office towers currently exist;
* Committing to creating a family-friendly park and community center for Belltown, near downtown where 8,000 residents currently reside;
* Creating a more family-friendly environment by working with Seattle Public Schools to site an elementary school downtown.

Note there is nothing in this that will stop developers from building one Cristalla after another. Why not build them? The Cristalla is sold out and the demographic that can afford it is lining up to buy more. Maybe Cristala is what Steinbrueck means when he says 'affordable family housing.' It's a ridiculous notion. Cristalla units reportedly sold for around $540 per square foot -- that's $650 grand for a 1,200-foot unit.

But I'm not here to say stop the Cristallas. I've given up on that. In hindsight, it's a silly idea. There is a big market for Cristallas -- I don't know who these people are who can afford to pay more than $600K for 1-bedroom condos but they are out there. Maybe the same people like to own 6 or 7 units to match their moods.

And I'm not here to say don't build a park in Belltown. Build it, please. We love grass and trees.

I'm saying that THE STEINBRUECK PLAN won't help families live downtown. Things like community development and elementary school projects should work with reality and make that reality better. That means putting energy into the areas where families really can afford to live. Don't give up on making downtown attractive to families (and everybody, for that matter) -- go forward with improvement plans like parks and solving transportation issues. Families will come, Peter. They most definitely will come. Just don't expect them to live there.

Full disclosure: We just bought a home on Capitol Hill (we're lucky to be able to afford to live so close to the city's center). For those of you that might take a jab because we're giving up on developing downtown for family living so more resources are available for our new neighborhood, it's hard to argue with you. And, while not everybody is going to be able to buy or rent on Cap Hill, I'm guessing that we're part of a trend.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, housing, realestate

Best of 2005: Yet another people's picks list

2005-12-09T11:03:00.000-08:00

We're suckers for end-of-year countdowns. Heck, we're suckers for any countdowns but really love the approaching new year because it gives all sorts of sources an excuse to count stuff off. NWSource.com (which is run by the 'Seattle Times Company representing the Seattle Post-Intelligencer' -- whatever that means) joins the parade with the tried-and-true 'best of your city' formula -- NWS 2005 People's Picks

Unlike a lot of the 'Best of' lists in Seattle which leave us wondering how many people from Bellevue vote, NWS's 2005 list actually has some intelligent, thoughtful picks. Usually, we can only depend on the non-vote-driven Stranger list for legit 'best' choices but NWS seemed to get a smart response pool this year. We'll take their word for it that these were truly the choices of the 'people.' Maybe the 'people' are getting smarter! yay! Also, good to see nearby venues take the top slot in movie house, dive bar, and art gallery.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, bestof2005

Adios 'Pompous' Room! Now stop parking in public spots

2005-12-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

We've already danced on the grave of carcinogen-soaked nightlife in Seattle but we can't resist one more jab at an old enemy. Normally, we try to focus on the things we like here in Uptown. But we don't have anything nice to say about El Gaucho.

So, what's our beef with the psuedo-swank steak mill? We guess it's the way they treat the 'little' people. There is a stinky old-fashioned air of superiority about the operation that has manifested itself in plenty of ugly ways over the years. I got my best look at it when I lived on the other side of the alley behind the place for two years. There have been a handful of ugly incidents between staff 'bouncers' and civilians -- nothing more than somebody being forcibly shoved to the sidewalk but still not the kind of interaction I've ever seen at another restaurant in this city.

Before you blame this kind of thing on the kind of upper-crusty-wannabe clientele the place attracts, I can also say I've had my own run-ins with the staff and management over the years. And I wasn't even a customer (so they didn't push me down). I complained because it seems El Gaucho's eager valet boys have been told it's OK to use the city streets to park Richie Rich's Humvees and Escalades. Now, call me a rule follower, but that ain't right. The street parking is for the people -- not to further the business of the Pompous Room. So, between their disregard for their neighbors and their version of customer interaction, I'm not sorry for El Gaucho in the least. We take extra special pleasure in knowing the overpriced, under-classed joint has a big empty living room where once was a pretentious cigar lounge. Adios, Pampas Room. Maybe you can reinvent yourself as a vomitorium to fully round out the decadence. (OK, tht's just mean but it's good to get it out of our system!)

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, elgaucho, restaurants

Uptown Condo 4-Sale

2005-12-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

We weren't kidding around when we said we were leaving. Here's proof. As they say in those 'everything must go' commercials, our loss is your gain. We're moving out of Uptown and leaving our cute lil condo behind to go build a nest up on Capitol Hill.

If you're interested in owning one of the last chunks of downtown housing selling for less than $400-per-square-foot, here's the craigslist listing.

Note we sold out and listed the 'Downtown' condo as being in 'Belltown' -- we had to admit that too many people just wouldn't know exactly where Uptown is. It is downtown and it is in Belltown. But it's uptown too. Oh well.

Also note that we didn't mention this added bonus -- the place comes with a blog you've probably heard of.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, condo, realestate

Where to celebrate the smoking ban

2005-12-07T12:37:00.000-08:00

DSCF0027
Originally uploaded by asabass.

It's hard not to feel vengeful. We admit it. We want to dance on the grave of an edangered species. Seattle smokers, after midnight tonight, will no longer be a direct part of our nightlife. What else to say but... yipee!

So the real question is where to celebrate? Our first instinct is to mark this event in the (formerly) smokiest of Seattle's bars. A place like the 5 Point or the Noc Noc seem perfect if we were really seeking to rub it in. But I'm not sure we're ready for the human element. Are we prepared to see the pittiful huddles of used-to-be bar smokers shuffling around aimlessly? It might be too depressing. And, worse, we could find ourselves in the middle of a smoking protest -- don't want to be anywhere near the 5 Point when jack-booted riot police show up.

So we'll probably take a different tack -- why not celebrate at one of the places that was there for you all along and now face a new environment for their businesses. We're thinking about ringing in the new nightlife in an always-smoke-free bar like the Virginia Inn. Think of it as a reward for all the fine work they did through the years giving us a nicotine-free option. Of course, if we're feeling really vindictive (and we have a large enough posse of pals) we probably won't be able to resist laughing it up at an ex-smoking joint. We're talking years of pent-up anger here, folks. And dry cleaning bills. And lung tumors, etc.

-- j

Bloggers gets busy with real world, Seattle moves forward

2005-12-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

This blog ain't our day job (lucky for us) so we've been away tending to life bidness. We're happy to poke our nose back into the world and find a few good things have happened -- even without our valuable input!

As we noted recently, the Stranger's Slog has been both a) one of the coolest local blogs going and b) frustratingly lamely executed from a geek-tech perspective. While we were away, the Slog rolled out a key piece of goodness -- integrated comments with each post. We'll waste 2 more hours there every day now... 3 if they change design so you can view each post and associated comments on a single screen and click back through the post stream. Go, Stranger geeks, go!

And, for things that truly matter, it's great to see the City Council looking for a way to put some teeth in the management of liquor problems downtown. While we have general reservations about infringing on the liberties of man, we also don't think it's a slippery slope. Banning problem alcohol types from problem areas (and identifying those 'problems' using cold hard datasets) is an important part of the equation. There are going to be plenty of other substances to abuse and we'll need to figure out responses beyond curbing the sale of malt liquor but we're cool with progress. And we didn't even have to write about it to make it happen. Magic! :)

-- j

The Stranger loves Boat Street, too

2005-12-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

We already shared our love song for the Boat Street Cafe and Kitchen -- this week's Stranger weighs in and confirms our enthusiam.

Boat Street, the sequel, feels charming and complete in a way that totally new restaurants cannot.

Read the rest.

Also, here's our review from early last month.

--j

20 Seattle streets to avoid if it snows

2005-12-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

snow1
Originally uploaded by candid.

Seattle Department of Transportation has this handy list of the 20 Steepest Streets in Seattle.

The Queen Anne area claims a lot of these climbs, no surprise.

Mix and match this list with the 5 highest points in Seattle if you want to test our your Outback's 4wd for the first time.

Here are the top 3 on the steep list.

PERCENT SLOPE	STREET NAME	FROM	TO
21	E ROY ST	25TH AV E	26TH AV E
20	W BLAINE ST	9TH AV W	10TH AV W
20	E TERRACE ST	RANDOLPH AV	ERIE AV

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, snow

5 best places to sled without leaving Seattle

2005-12-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

Yellow curb and sculpture - Seattle Center
Originally uploaded by Belltown.

If you measure sledding opportunity by proximity to God's intelligently designed snow making machines, we're here to help. Here's how to toboggan without leaving Seattle.

SDOT's Highest Elevations in Seattle

High Point above sea level, 6 parcels south of watertower at 35th Ave SW and SW Myrtle Street - 520 feet - NAVD88
Near Bitter Lake, on N 145th St just east of Greenwood Ave - 493 feet - NAVD88
NE 92nd ST and Roosevelt Way NE - 466 feet - NAVD88
Queen Anne Hill, at First Ave N and Lee Street - 456 feet - NAVD88
Highest point in Volunteer Park - 453 feet - NAVD88

Of course, if you measure the opportunity by likelihood of achieving light speed on your shitty plastic disc sled, you might do better to check out this list of the 20 steepest streets in Seattle.

Also, be careful -- urban sledding is dangerous!

--snip--
There’s no more dangerous place for kids to sled than the very place where his injury occurred: the street. When Children’s Hospital of Seattle tracked sledding injuries after one major snowstorm, for instance, it found that although 44 percent of kids sledded in the street, 76 percent of injuries came from street sledding.

"They hit parked cars, moving cars, telephone poles, trees, fixed objects, sometimes they overshoot their target," says Dr. Tongue, a clinical associate professor at Oregon Health Sciences in Portland.
--unsnip--

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, snow, sledding

Starbucks rip-off: 5 ways to score free coffee

2005-11-30T17:01:00.000-08:00

Not very X-masy of us given that the corporate coffee giant is planning a holiday "Cheer Party" (edited 7:50p 11/30/05) from 4p-6p Thursday night where they'll be giving away free drinks and goodies but we liked this list too much not to share. Bah humbug, we guess.

Barista Laments: How to get free coffee drinks
Rule number 1: Go the busiest store near you to capitalize on worker confusion.
The key is to find a *$ that is busy, where confusion makes it easy to get away with things. If you go to an empty store where the person who rings you up is the same person who makes your drink, you aren’t getting away with anything.
more...

We get all preachy: EMP art belongs at SAM

2005-11-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

blue on blue on...
Originally uploaded by ChrisB in SEA.

We're usually agnostics when it comes to corporate giants with billions to burn. But Paul Allen is pushing his luck. The blurred lines between public and private are getting to be too much -- it's hard NOT to be jealous for Seattle's museums and public spaces.

Seattle Times: Paul Allen's Experience Art Project
Paul Allen is about to break the secrecy that's long shrouded his art collection. Over the years, ARTnews magazine has cited Allen as one of the world's top spenders on art, yet few people seem to know exactly what he's been buying.

Maybe we're being naive. Maybe public art museums are structured business entities just like Allen's EMP. Maybe we should be glad Allen is sharing his collection with the proletariat. But we'd rather see this kind of spirit enriching a true public institution vs. the qausi-public institution in Seattle Center.

EMP is a non-profit today but that's not the long-term goal. Be careful putting too much of your city's culture in hands that are seeking profit.

--j

The Usual Suspects: Seattle's 3 urban nesting grounds

2005-11-28T15:32:00.000-08:00

So, where do wanna-be yuppies who can't afford to breed in downtown Seattle start looking for nests? We're on the hunt for a new home after (sadly) discovering that it is impossible for a family to live in Seattle's downtown.

General loacation requirements:

Within 2.5-mile radius around Space Needle
Within walking distance of at least one coffee shop, one restaurant and one grocery store. Bar is bonus

This pretty much narrows our search to these usual suspects:

Queen Anne
It's very difficult to accept the fact that this might be our perfect nest. Just feels too Volvo-y. But we need to face facts - QA is perfectly located and has a lot of gorgeous little (expensive!) homes. And we could still walk to a Macrina. And we don't have to live on top of the hill. Somehow, staying low makes us feel we can live in QA and retain our street credibility. (Of course, admitting that we've looked at homes in Magnolia kinda blows that credibility away, no?)

Capitol Hill
We'll use Capitol Hill to encompass everything from Volunteer Park to 1st Hill and Madison. Lots of diversity in those areas but the areas with homes for sale are mostly similiar and share Cap Hill's attributes: the highest prices around, proximity to downtown, unique homes and its own neighborhoods and business cores. Even with all this, Cap Hill's yuppie hoods aren't the slam-dunk choice they used to be. Overpricing and decay around areas like Broadway make the area less attractive. But as long as lots of people read that and say 'Good. Glad you don't like it. Let us have it!' the family home areas of Capitol Hill will be in high demand. We want to be there mainly because that is where our friends are and we kinda dig false bohemia. Groovy. But maybe our friends will move to QA to be where we are.

Magnolia
We're not sure why more people don't talk about Magnolia as an option for young, family-raising types. Strip away the urban grit and false bohemia of Capitol Hill and you'll get Magnolia -- near downtown, filled with a mix of very expensive and some relatively affordable houses and replete with its own little retail core. Magnolians refer to this area as 'The Village' and there aren't any smack dealers -- so the Capitol Hill comparison is a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea.

There are a few options outside this immediate ring of potential nesting grounds -- but no sense insulting those places until we actually are thinking about living there :)

More construction in Uptown

2005-11-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

Poor, poor Seattle. We look kind of pittiful right now with our sillty little monorail collided and stacked up in a sad hunch. Uptown also looks a little worse for wear with torn up pits of gravel and mud on nearly every corner. You can add the intersection of Denny and Queen Anne Ave to the list of construction projects in the area -- we returned from the turkey day holiday to find the Shell gas station lot being fenced off and dug up. Directly across the street, the mud pit that will become the Trio condo project deepens while just around the corner they're piling gravel high in the Olympic Sculpture Park construction zone. If you have a 3-year-old who digs Tonka trucks, Uptown is the hood for you right now.

Happy Turkey Day

2005-11-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Pie - Thnxgiving
Originally uploaded by ebs1123.

Here's something to get your bellies geared up -- flickr's pumpkin pie stream. Yum! We're out of here for the holiday. See you on the other side. Looking for something to do? Seattle Times has this round-up including a few events of note. We'd freeze through the parade Friday morning if we were around because we're corny like that.

10 Mercer: Great place for wine-by-the-glass

2005-11-22T21:40:00.000-08:00

Speedy post here but we wanted to share. 10 Mercer -- in addition to having a groovy ladder-aided wine tower -- also offers one of the best selections of wine-by-the-glass of any restaurant in Seattle. It's also a good place to catch a late meal after a movie at Uptown Cinema -- we loved the mussels and (don't laugh) the salads are wonderful treats that make you forget about the space you're wasting on lettuce.

-- j

Leaving Uptown Seattle

2005-11-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

Afternoon (wide)
Originally uploaded by Sunburn.

We've been kicking around admitting something here for a week or two. This post to the Slog is a good wall to bounce the thoughts off of. We're part of the statistics in the post -- 83% of residents downtown are single. Technically, K & I are single but we've recently decided to change that and the next step is finding a home together to become un-single and raise a family. We both harbored naive hope that we would be able to make a go of it in the city's downtown. We don't see a lot of kids downtown but we wanted to change that and to make the city's social, art and political structures part of our family's roots. We knew that we'd pay a price for this -- if nothing else, it would be more financially expensive let alone the other types of costs and burdens. But we believed the benefits would outweigh the effort.

Now we know it just ain't going to happen. We've looked. And looked. But there isn't an option for anybody looking to make the next step. Downtown is full of small condos and apartments and the few larger living spaces are designed not to provide an option for families but, instead, an upgrade option for the extremely wealthy. Mind you even these people (whomever they are -- K's a lawyer and I work for a large software behemoth) aren't getting a useful space -- they are buying a downtown luxury space with the extra room added in features like humongous bathrooms.

We are leaving Uptown even though we were willing to dedicate ourselves to being part of the structure and contributing to its changes. Now we know downtown Seattle just doesn't have a place for us. We still hope to be part of the city -- but our roots will be planted in some other neighborhood, away from the core and away from the heart and soul of what drew us here. Poor, poor Uptown -- we could have been friends.

Visitor 3,000

2005-11-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

Lots of numbers this week so a quick post to note a milestone -- last night at 10:24 PM, the 3,000th visitor landed on UptownSeattle. We entertained our 1,000th guest back in September so we're seeing more than 1,000 of ya'all per month.

#3000 came to the blog via Google where s/he had searched for i heart rummage dec 4th -- a solidly constructed query! Now, we're not the definitive source on all things i heart rummage but we are a running stream of thoughts and ideas about Seattle and its cool stuff like i heart rummage -- so Google's nifty math equations pointed the user to us and a few dozen other links.

#3000 chose our link from Google's search results and ended up on one of our archive pages where we had a useful little post about the upcoming i heart rummage schedule. Of course, it doesn't always work that way -- we feel bad for those of you who end up here hoping to find lots of BDSM info besides our post about Belltown's own pleasure dungeon. But it's cool to be part of the info flow.

-- j/k

Oops: There are actually 17 Great Seattle Blogs

2005-11-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

When we posted our 15 Great Seattle Blogs, we forgot one. Obvious Diversion deserves a place in our pantheon of sources for good data on the city. And now it's award winning so we really better mention it. So, that makes 16 Great Seattle Blogs (read that in deep radio voice please). What's with 17? That's us, silly. Right?

--j/k

Tags: uptown, seattle, blogs, obviousdiversion

25 for $25 in Uptown: Flying Fish

2005-11-17T12:32:00.000-08:00

We're not usually swayed by the over-hyped 25 for $25 dining promotion. In fact, we actively avoid it as an introduction to a restaurant we've never been to before. It's the wrong way to say hello to a new menu, we think. But last night we were at an old favorite and found ourselves ordering the pieces of the 25 promo menu anyway -- so, what the heck, why not have pumpkin cheesecake too? Like we said, we'd rather you have your first experience with Fish free of the constraints of the deal menu -- but we also understand saving some cash. BTW, surprising that 25 for $25 doesn't have some sort of charity component. It seems like that would be a good way to give the whole promotion a little heart and soul.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, restaurant, 25for25, flyingfish

15 great Seattle blogs

2005-11-15T14:14:00.000-08:00

We've updated our sidebar list of favorite local blogs. We limit our list to blogs that (mostly) cover local events, thoughts and issues. The web has a global reach and some of our favorite sites harness this worldwide power. But we also think there is plenty of room for a more local focus and that there is power in that too -- strangely enough, even the most local, navel-gazing post about your neighborhood will draw interest from around the world. We'd recommend these 15 to everybody from Cape Town to Belltown.

Belltown Bent (neighborhood)
Cascadia Scorecard (enviro)
Cornichon (foodie)
Evergreen Politics (enviro)
HorsesAss (PNW politics)
Metroblogging Seattle (pro)
Queen City Cruise News (GLBT)
Rain City Real Estate (real estate)
Restless Reader (literati)
Seattle Bon Vivant (foodie)
Seattle LiveJournal (community)
Seattlest (pro)
Slog (pro) )
USS Mariner (jock)
You Deserve the Truth (media)

-- j/k

Tags: uptown, seattle, blogs

The 31st most relevant Seattle blog... ever

2005-11-15T13:32:00.000-08:00

According to Technorati, we rank 31st among Seattle blogs in terms of 'authority' -- Technorati bases its authority calculations on the number of current incoming links and sources to a given blog tagged 'seattle' in the Technorati system. So, really, there are lots of more authoritative, more relevant blogs about Seattle that either aren't tagged for Technorati or not linked to in a way that is counted in the Technorati rankings. The other problem is way simpler -- tagging a blog 'seattle' is just too easy to do. Some of the blogs in the rankings above and below us aren't really about Seattle at all. Some happen to be written by people living in the city - others happen to work for big corporations like SBUX that have their HQ here.

So, what's the point beyond our ongoing need to be measured and treat life like a competition?

First, if you're a blogger yourself, make sure to include a link to your favorite blogs in a fashion that registers in Technorati. We need to update our links -- a few of our faves have faded away. There's a responsibility to link -- no matter why somebody keeps a blog, having visitors is important. If you like something, you need to link to it to help keep it alive. Systems like Technorati hold the key to connecting with an audience. This is especially important for small, homebrew micro-blogs like ours.

If you leave the blogging to attention-starved writer types, you need to be a discriminating consumer. Don't settle for the top scrape from the various search engines and tagging systems. Sometimes you just have to get more specific -- we like our ranking for 'belltown,' for example, very much!

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, blogs, technorati

Thanksgiving for lazy orphans: 3 restaurants open for Turkey Day

2005-11-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

Some of my favorite Thanksgivings have been spent with the orphans -- the random assembly of friends and co-w0rkers either too cheap or too bitter to go home for the holiday. If you're part of an orphan gang this year or, god forbid, hosting the fam, you might want to consider sticking a big fat fork in tradition and handing the food part of the equation over to the pros. While a potluck can be a lot of fun, there' s no shame in buying your way out of dealing with giblets. Here are three restaurants in the neighborhood where the doors will reportedly be open on Turkey Day (we'd call ahead ;) ). If you know of any others, feel free to add them to the list.

Cascadia - 2328 1st Ave
The swankest option of the bunch but no word if they make their hyped mini-burgers available for the feast.
Cutters - 2001 Western Ave
The most accesible of the trio so won't flip out your weird uncle. Most likely to include honest-to-gosh-regular-old-american-style-not-fancy-pants-style turkey in menu.
Fish Club - 1800 Alaskan Way
Solid middle ground. Fancy joint but location within Marriott Hotel will help everybody feel comfortable -- especially when you rent a room and wear bathrobe to dinner.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, thanksgiving, restaurants

The monorail properties: where they are and who will buy them

2005-11-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

We were not happy when the Puget Sound Biz Journal ran a few bone-picking obituaries for the monorail way back in August. But they were on the right trail. Always follow the money, we guess.

Those PSBJ pieces are very interesting now that the will is about to be read and the monorail project's acquired real estate is set to be auctioned off. The Journal apparently ran a map of the monorail properties sometime in August but we couldn't find it on the Web. Today's Seattle Times map (which we borrowed and modified for the graphic on this phine post) is not very detailed but does give some highlights. Anybody know what restaurants these are?

From what is online, in August 5th's Land grab: Property at issue if the monorail dies, we learn that the process has created super-lots that will likely attract a great deal of commercial interest:

"For instance, the agency was able to fill in the Fiorito family's "U"-shaped parcel by buying the abutting properties, creating the larger site the agency believed it needed for its plans. One consequence: The combined property would be much easier to develop if it is later sold, making it far more valuable."

Reporter Jeanne Lang Jones also asked a question that should be asked again -- The monorail portfolio: Would city consider buying some of the lots?

Some of the smaller properties along Fifth Avenue in downtown may be the most sought after, fetching prices perhaps as high as $210 a square foot.
Likely bidders: Neighboring property owners hoping to increase their holdings and businesses looking for new headquarters.

But it's also possible that the city should and could step in to preserve this valuable land for its citizens.

"If the city is smart and logical they would look at that before they let any of it go to the market," he said. "It's hard to find little properties like that."

Let's see if we can be both smart and logical.

Meanwhile, the little guys and gals who may have bought a home with the monorail as a draw are SOL. The real estate vulture quoted is licking his chops: "If I am an apartment or condo buyer and I bought in anticipation of being along the monorail route -- especially at a station -- I'm going to see a drop in value associated with my property," Laycock said, "especially if I bought closer to when the monorail was being planned rather than five years ago when it was just an idea."

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, monorail, realestate

New in Belltown: Rockin' Burrito

2005-11-10T10:24:00.000-08:00

Newbie Rockin' Burrito (no g, please) claims they will wrap 'all your favorite foods' in a tortilla. We have doubts -- we love Wheat Chex, so bring it, sucka. Rockin' replaces Sids Deli at 4th and Wall. It's new so it's still too clean and un-funky to be truly rockinG -- perhaps that is what they mean by Rockin'.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, belltown, restaurant

The least interesting picture of Ballard

2005-11-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

BardahlSign
Originally uploaded by Chas Redmond.

Of course, when you have the most interesting things that means, somewhere out in the universe, there must be least interesting things. This is currently the least interesting photograph of Ballard according to flickr. We love the caption: "The Bardahl neon sign in Ballard. It was not lit."

Kind of says it all, no?

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, flickr, ballard, leastinteresting

The most interesting picture of Belltown

2005-11-09T13:28:00.000-08:00

exposure
Originally uploaded by vsz.

Need to cleanse your palette after reading so many election posts over the past few weeks? We do. Yahoo's flickr, our favorite photo site, has a groovy algorithm to determine which photos users find most interesting. This is the 'most interesting' picture of Belltown. Here's the rest of the Belltown images that rise to the top. Hop over there and play with the tags to see other cool things like the Space Needle and Ballard's most interesting.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, flickr, belltown, mostinteresting

OK, Mayor, you win -- tunnel!

2005-11-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

Time for new realities. With the absolute rejection of the monorail and the state's decision to not roll-back the gas tax, the mayor's transportation wishes have been granted. There was no reason for Ballard or Capitol Hill or Wedgewood or, heck, even Queen Anne to back the Green Line with no clear path to its extension -- let alone the addition of a ROYGBIV's worth of connecting lines. So it goes. The mayor, now that he is done with his political strangulation, will have to start building. Everything is on the table again. We're even willing to reconsider the tunnel option for the viaduct -- sorry People's Waterfront Coalition, new realities.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, election, monorail, viaduct

Need to know where to vote?

2005-11-08T08:44:00.000-08:00

Ballot Box, Broadway, Seattle, WA
Originally uploaded by djwudi.

The King County elections site has a handy tool to look up your polling location. Now you have one less excuse.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, election

Return of a classic: Boat Street born again

2005-11-07T11:23:00.000-08:00

The re-birth of The Boat Street Cafe and Kitchen on the edge of Seattle's city core is an exciting development for our neighborhood. This just might be the most serious restaurant in the business. In a world full of disposable garbage, we need people who aspire to be indisposable -- to aspire to the classic.

You descend to the new Boat Street down a concrete rampway -- above you, retail and office spaces, behind you, one of the busiest intersections in the city. Stepping inside, you are transported out of the urban and into the urbane. The ethos is classic -- clean white walls and crisp table settings. A comfortable but looming formality envelopes and the restaurant has the confidence to seal it all with a classical soundtrack of Ravel.

The food befits a classic -- dishes that emphasize craft and effort without being hip, dramatic or showy (though some of the effort does emerge from behind the scenes -- the vegetable flan menu entry notes a wait for the dish's extra prep time). Best of the bunch at our table was the oysters in cream sauce with its rich saffron pool and an island of crisp biscuit. The menu emphasizes the expected but with less-explored classics like the oyster dish. The plates offered, as a collective, won't read as 'exciting.' It is the details like perfectly ripe pear slices atop the salad where Boat Street wins the day.

Dessert? Like any great restaurant, the sweets transcended the classics. The crisp, vanila-y bread pudding was devoured nearly as quickly as the perfectly balanced sweet-tart berry cobbler. Two desserts were perfect for a table of 5. Another body and we would have had to try three.

We are excited to have Boat Street in the neighborhood so know that enthusiasm colors our experience. But it's nice to meet a classic and find out that she deserves her legendary status.

The Boat Street Cafe
3131 Western Ave.
Date: Friday, Nov. 5, 2005
Time: 6:30ish
Mood: Party of 5
Wine: a spicy viognier
Starters: pear & blue cheese and several organic greens salads
Entrees: crab cakes, oysters in cream, salmon, veggie flan, braised beef
Dessert: pread pudding, berry cobbler

-- j/k

Tags: uptown, seattle, restaurant, boatstreet

Make The Stranger's Slog better, please

2005-11-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

It's a grey and rainy Monday so I have a need to pick on something. Fortunately, there's a flawed victim that might actually deserve the criticism. The Stranger's Slog blog is oh-so-close to a great experience -- progressive, counter-current posts in a mildly wacky stream-of-conciousness flow that ebbs from trickle to explosion through the day and days of the week. And it's mostly focused on Seattle. Those are the parts we like. Here are the parts we don't.

It's (dis)organized by time. You can keep your huge stream of ideas format but also give us the ability to view and link to individual posts categorized with a simple tagging structure. Without some kind of non-time structure, your good thoughts and work waste into the past. Oh, also add dates to the timestamps on the posts -- you guys post so often that it's easy to get lost.
Attach the comments streams to the post. When Savage accidentally goes bourgeois in his posts, we want to be there when the proles rise up and drop some choice comments his way. Today, comments are sent off into some kind of separate message board purgatory -- there is no context in the post, no trail of thinking that keeps the ideas moving.
Stay on Seattle. Ok. You can hit Alito now and then but we get to hear lots of voices on things on the world and national stage. Commentary on Beacon Hill? Only in the Slog.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, thestranger, slog

Why Bellevue & gamblers hate the monorail

2005-11-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

Just so you know what you're voting for on Tuesday, here is what you get. Look at that solid green line and imagine a dependable schedule of trains traveling up and down the system. Think of how much more liveable this artery will make the city core. Think of how much more connected and unified this will help make the pieces of the city -- and the potential to connect more without putting more cars on the streets and crap in the air. The risk is a continuing fracture. While there is charm and great things in the various neighborhoods and chunks of the city, it's the cohesive whole that makes it something bigger and more important.

Maybe that isn't important to you. Maybe you don't believe in the vibrancy of a true urban city vs. the distributed pallor of a suburban city. If that' s the case, vote no. Maybe you believe in true cities but you don't think the monorail is the vehicle to get us there. You can vote no, too, if you're a gambler. There are so many forces that push a city like Seattle toward fracture; we hope you're a lucky one.

Probably not much more on the election from us but you never know. Metroblogging Seattle has a good round-up of endorsements from local media outlets. Check it out if you're in need of guidance.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, monorail

The nicest thai restaurant in Seattle

2005-11-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

Usually, when people say something is 'nice,' those people don't really mean it. But when we say Rice N Spice is the nicest thai restaurant in Seattle, we're sincere to the bottom of the bowl. Nice is definitely the right word. We defy you not to like the greeters and servers that run the place. It's imposible because they smile and seem genuinely glad to see you. Every time. At every moment through the meal. The food is two or three ticks up above your typical thai fare with nice touches like actual Som Tam papaya salad on the menu. Everybody needs a dependable thai joint in their neighborhood. We're glad to have Rice N Spice in ours.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, thai, restaurant

Protest today on the streets of Seattle

2005-11-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

Your kid might have skipped school today but it was for a cause. It looks like today's student walkout to protest war in Iraq actually happened. There are so many attempts to make a statement that it's sometimes hard to separate effective, organized efforts from somebody with a lot of time to make flyers.

Here's an eyewitness account via instant messenger from a downtown highrise:

K: the kids are marching and they are loud
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2002596673_protest01m.html
Sent at 12:44 PM on Wednesday
j: a lot of people?
K: not a ton, but it's not embarrassing either
j: 200?
K: yeah, at least - twoish blocks worth
in the street, not on sidewalks
they had drums

Eyewitness K reports the crowd is headed up Capitol Hill if you want to join up.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, protest

The best empty commercial property on 1st Ave.

2005-11-02T11:08:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we have to admit it. We're naive. Case in point: We can't figure out why some places in our neighborhood have a new business in place nearly the day another goes out of business, while other properties just kind of sit there. Forever. So it is with what seems to us to be a prime Seattle location at 1st Ave. and Wall Street, directly across from the El Gaucho and neighbor to the wonderful Marco's Supperclub. Since the closure of the At.31 Gallery, this corner slot has sat empty with little activity beyond the homeless guy sleeping in the front doorway and the sad hand-printed FOR LEASE sign in the window. What gives? Are the owners holding out for a too pricey lease? Do the snobs from unincorporated Snohomish county waddling into El Gaucho scare off prospective buyers? The logic doesn't jive -- how can somebody afford to sit on empty property? But, to be honest, we don't need to be delivered from our naivete. More important to us, letting this place sit idly denies our right to be 100% fully entertained at all hours of the day, every day for the rest of our lives. Please, please, please rectify this situation.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, realestate

One restaurant bites the dust, another takes its place

2005-11-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

Arrivederci Nonna Maria. In somewhat warmed-over news, the big white sheets of butcher paper in the windows signify that the Lower Queen Anne italian spot is no more. We missed note of the closure when we made this recent posting about Veil -- getting all hot and bothered instead about the new restaurant over in Crow's neighborhood (Crow review). Nancy Leson's Taste of the Town says we're in for a treat when Nonna's replacement shows up in December -- Moxie sounds like a good concept. We especially like the idea of a "strong appetizer bent."

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, Moxie, restaurant

Live downtown? You don't want a bridge

2005-11-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

More bad ideas to replace the viaduct. Seattle Times report today describes a bridge concept to replace the crumbling section of Highway 99. The bridge would be similiar in style to the Highway 509 bridge in Tacoma, pictured here. While there are many drawbacks to the idea, the biggest problem we see is that there would be no downtown exits. It would add insult to injury to erect a curtain of cable and concrete in our face that we can't even use. Groan. Until we hear a better idea, we're with the People's Waterfront Coalition. Who says we need to replace the viaduct at all?

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, viaduct, peopleswaterfrontcoalition

The quietest Halloween.... ever

2005-11-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

Last night was, indeed, Halloween but you would not have known it walking down 1st Ave. at 11p -- the streets were 100% dead. It could have been Turkey Day for the pure lack of humans. K& I, being brave souls and undaunted by poor scheduling, put on our classiest blond wigs and coolest shades to hit the pavement in search of at least a little tiny morsel of Halloween spirit. We didn't want some throbbing Pioneer Square disco extravaganza -- just a little bite-size chunk of the holiday. The thought had been to find a quiet but bustling non-bar and sit to grab a little food and drink but man oh man did we have a hard time in the bustling department. We walked by the Black Bottle but couldn't bring ourselves to enter the empty restaurant with nobody there to appreciate our wigs. Black Bottle wasn't alone in its loneliness so we punted on our primary mission and settled for a quick drink at the Cyclops where there were a few other warm bodies, if nothing else. Wandering home through the rain, we saw the occasional wandering costume-wearer. We wanted to point each of them toward the Cyclops but also lower their expecations accordingly. Instead, we walked on by, went home, and packed our wigs away for next year. We're sure Halloween on a Tuesday night will be much more interesting.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, halloween, cyclops

More Seattle's haunted places

2005-10-31T10:52:00.000-08:00

grave1
Originally uploaded by kemikore.

Our previous post about the haunting of the Butterworth Building has drawn a lot of interest. Here's a roster of other purported poltergeist across WA state, including this nearby highlight:
-snip-
Seattle - The Rivoli - a turn of century building where the spirit of a young Eskimo girl who came to Seattle to start a new life has been felt and seen. Her mentally ill Cuban boyfriend stabbed her to death and her body was hidden behind a Murphy bed. The door to her apt. was padlocked and she wasn't discovered for several weeks until her neighbor noticed a strange smell.
-unsnip-

Yikes. For the creepiest account of the Trundle Bed Ghost and other downtown spirits, check out this Real Change article.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, haunted, ghosts, trundlebedghost

Our corporate neighbors: RealNetworks, Dendreon and Eddie?

2005-10-31T08:49:00.000-08:00

You're probably already aware of two of the more interesting gigantic corporations in the neighborhood: Real Networks lives down on Elliott while cancer-fighter Dendreon makes its home on 1st Ave , across from Minnie's. But is there another corporate gang hanging around uptown these days? Way back in July, the Puget Sound Biz Journal reported that Eddie Bauer was considering a move to the big city from its Redmond HQ but there has been no follow up. The 3101 Western Building definitely has tenants (sorry about the other morning, all - I really didn't mean to drop my towel) but we haven't gotten close enough to them to check out the labels on their shirts, yet.

- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, realnetworks, dendreon, eddiebauer

View insurance

2005-10-31T08:11:00.000-08:00

Belltown Bent's sad little goodbye to a 1st Ave Space Needle view includes some fascinating info about the city's "view protection activities." Turns out, Seattle has a plan to maintain view corridors of the landmark from various points through the city. Prospective condo hunters might put the info to good use to alleviate concerns that the parking garage across the street might become a high rise. In the meantime, we join Belltown Bent in waving 'buh bye' to the Needle with added hopes that residents of the new condo building might occasionally entertain us by hanging out interesting laundry.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, spaceneedle

Local blogger with a purpose: good wine

2005-10-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

We love blogs. We love local. And we especially love local bloggers with a purpose. Swirl & Sniff is dedicated to keeping you informed about quality 'no-pretense' wines. We found the site while digging for info about in-Seattle Wilridge Winery's Nebblio juice. Drink up!

-- j

Bat Cave Day!

2005-10-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Mexican Freetail Bats
Originally uploaded by Tolka Rover.

Vain, your neighborhood punk DIY-friendly hair salon, boutique and art gallery, is having their annual BAT CAVE DAY on Saturday. They dress up and have competitive pumpkin carving and pass out treats, including Cupcake Royale cupcakes. Yum! These bats know how to party.

Double last call + Halloween = Fall back

2005-10-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

Seattle PI reminds to turn back your clocks Sunday adding even more credence to our proposal to officially move Halloween to Saturday night. You gotta be out and about for a double last call night at least a few more times before you die.

-- j

Seattle hearts pinko commie radio

2005-10-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

Like any good citydwellers, we spend a fair amount of our time sitting in traffic. Once you've listened to your meager CD collection a few billion times, it's nice to be able to flip on the car radio and be entertained. Local radio industry expert Lisa Wood points us to the latest station ratings for the Seattle market. It's pretty darned interesting to see what advertisers think we're listening to. Lisa rightly calls out the success of KJAQ's format here in Seattle -- the station's automated 'Adult Hits' system is easily the biggest winner vs. the 2004 ratings period.

But when you look at year-over-year change on an individual station basis, there is a bigger winner than KJAQ.

Talk radio KPTK turned in the biggest gain vs. last year with its ratings points jumping nearly 200%. What the hell is KPTK? Turns out, it's good ol pinkie commie radio Air America's Seattle base -- 1090 on your AM dial. Honorable mention should go to KNBQ -- easily the biggest gainer in our car thanks to the gf's affection for 'new' country, Q- Country didn't even exist last summer and already is sniffing 2 points of ratings share.

And the biggest losers? On the other end of the political and ratings spectrum from KPTK 1090, conservative yakker KTTH stunk up the joint dropping nearly 40% from 2004. Ditto!

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, radio, ratings, airamerica, kjack

Lost mail

2005-10-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

fall into
Originally uploaded by mezzaluna.

A word to the wise for uptownites who leave town and come back to find their mail secreted away because their box was too full - go to the building on the northwest corner of 3rd and Broad between 8:30 and 9:30 in the morning. That's where your neighborhood postal employees will be sorting the mail for Uptown in a small room on the lower level of the parking garage. The postmen are quite nice, and they will give your mail back, although they might encourage you to leave a note next time you go on vacation "so I know what's going on." Was Mr. Route 82 actually worried about our sudden disappearance? He certainly knows enough about us with all the mail he sees.

-- k

Tags: uptown, seattle, mail

Tort reform is not our job

2005-10-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Warning: long discussion about medical malpractice initiative I330 ahead.

Short form - Vote NO on I330

Most of you have probably been bombarded by media on the two "tort reform" initiatives - I330 and I336. I330 is the more disturbing of the two. I330 limits noneconomic loss recovery (i.e., pain and suffering) for victims of bungled medical procedures. This is advertised as the "doctor's bill" - with the idea that a limit on awards given out by juries in medical malpractice cases will get the out of control insurance premiums for doctors back under control. Insurance premiums for docs are crazy out of hand - docs, especially those in sensitive fields where people are more likely to sue, like obstetricians, are leaving their practices in droves because of the crushing premiums for medical malpractice insurance. Fixing this problem is necessary to ensure quality health care, particularly for those in rural areas - HOWEVER, it is totally unclear, at least to us, that limiting awards from lawsuits will reduce insurance premiums. Right now doctors who have zero malpractice claims against them have premiums that are just as high as doctors that a jury found had committed malpractice. This is crazy - people with lots of car accidents pay more for car insurance, hello! - we think insurance regulation is in order, not a roundabout approach by limiting what a jury can award to someone who is hurt.

Of course, personal injury lawyers are fighting hard against I330 - for attorneys that earn their living through contingency fees paid out of of jury awards, a limit on awards could drastically limit their income. (Full disclosure: I'm a lawyer, although not the personal injury variety. But this issue has gotten a lot of attention in the legal community.) The bigger concern, though, is that people who won't recover much money through economic awards (lost wages) will not recover much at all - and these are often the most vulnerable - the poor, stay-at-home moms, the elderly and children. Also, I330 would force many to sign away their right to a jury trial if they want to sue their doctor. A rule of thumb - binding arbitration is good for big guy, bad for the little guy.

It looks like the legislature is finally going to do its job - a recent House Bill was introduced that would be something of a middle ground. This is after some practice - related bills were discussed in earlier years and Olympia caved on each of them. We think the legislature should deal with this problem - not us. It's complicated and confusing and it should be worked out by experts.

Vote no on I330. Make the politicians fix the insurance industry. That's what we elect them for.

-- k

Tags: uptown, seattle, election, i330, malpractice

Another new restaurant within walking distance

2005-10-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

Must be time to start putting on the winter coat of belly fat because we're feeling very restaurant-focussed these days. That makes the PI's Taste of the Town column a gotta-read since Nancy Leson (you misspelled Lesson, Nancy) usually digs up a few chow scoops every week. This week, she tips us off to the Nov. 11 unveiling of Veil, set to offer 'progressive american' (hey, that's us!) food and drink in the general Seattle Center region.

BTW, saw a sign in window of the Black Bottle announcing they will now be open Mondays which makes us think they probably weren't before.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, veil, restaurant

Cheap shot apology

2005-10-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I picked on a local blogger -- today, I should say sorry. I was trying to make a point about the personal nature of many (most?) blogs but did a crap job of it. What I should say now is there are a lot of reasons to have a blog. We do this for our reasons -- we like to know what is happening in the area we live, we like to praise stuff we like and un-praise stuff we don't and, frankly, we like to look at click charts to see how many people are reading. Somebody else does it for theirs. And you read because, well, you're pretty darn sure the boss doesn't know about how much time you spend surfing. Irony, oh irony -- we're making diary posts!

-- j

(p.s. -- It was also cold and rainy when I got up this morning. And I was sleepy. And I had an apple fritter for breakfast.)

How to fix Halloween for Seattle

2005-10-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

seattle
Originally uploaded by atonal.

Much confusion is forecast in this country for the next few years of Halloweens. What to do when the biggest amateur fetish party night falls on a Monday? The problem is exasberated in a city like Seattle where things seem to trickle into either the stay home & watch TV or riot in the streets of Pioneer Square categories with no middle ground.

It's confusing. If you get all dolled up in your can-can dancer, naughty nurse or pirate outfit and head down 1st Ave Monday night to wet your whistle, will you be part of a revelrous throng of costumed freaks or very, very awkward standing at the bar in a tutu while the rest of the place pretends to be oblivious to the holiday.

Many in the city are taking matters into their own hands and declaring Saturday the 29th to be the party night. Even little guys like Mira! and Cafe Bella have flyers posted advertising Saturday night events.

Still, there is confusion. Is Saturday night Halloween Part I and Monday, Halloween Part II: The Nightmare Isn't Over? Should I wear my 'Cool Guy' t-shirt costume both nights or get a different 'This IS my costume' edition for Monday?

October 31st is not Halloween. Halloween, from this day forward, is the last Saturday in October. I don't know who is in charge of setting holidays that we don't actually get a day off for but we need them to act. Hallmark, are you out there? The city of Seattle and its trick-or-treating citizens are depending on you.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, halloween

European road trip photos

2005-10-25T22:33:00.000-07:00

If you're wondering what kept us away last week, here are some shots from the road.

You'll see that not everything was foreign. For example, Prague has both...

a Mojito Cafe and...

a Deja Vu. Didn't notice a Lusty Lady, however.

--j

Tags: uptown, seattle, europe, roadtrip, france, germany, czechrepublic, paris, cochem, dresden, prague

3 food & drink developments while we were away

2005-10-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Originally uploaded by Seattle Bon Vivant.

Jeesh. You go away for a week and...

1) The mostly trustable Stranger weighs in on 3 neighborhood drinking spots including the popular Starlite Lounge, profiled here on Uptown a few weeks ago. The article also writes up the venerable Nite Lite and Western Ave newbie, the Twilight Martini Lounge. We visited the TML about a month ago but decided not to write it up because of that thing your mother used to tell you about what you should do if you don't have anything nice say. The Stranger calls TML
crepuscular which, we're happy to report, means dim.

2) & 3) Seattle's best foodie gives us the other 2/3 of our welcome home food basket with two good tips on new things to chow in the general vicinity. First, she reports on a new hotel and restaurant in the old Vance Hotel space called Red Fin. Somebody better call a lawyer.

But even more exciting to us is the first account we've read of a visit to the much anticipated re-opening of the Boat Street Cafe & Kitchen. Girl is crazy. She drove all the way from Renton(!) to have the meal -- 'sooooo worth the drive,' she says. We hope to report soon.

Oh yeah, one bonus item. The PI ran an interesting piece last month that we missed about haunt spots in Seattle -- it makes a nice companion to our post about ghosts in Belltown.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, bars, starlitelounge, twilightmartinilounge, nitelite, redfin, boatstreetkitchen, ghosts

Starbucks business idea

2005-10-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

Posting from the friendly neighborhood Starbucks today. One problem when you're 'working remotely' -- bio breaks. What do I do with my laptop, etc. when I need to visit the restroom (or WC as they like to call it in the old country)? Paranoidly pack it up? Go home? Is it a good idea to ask the guy at the next table to watch your stuff? He's been sitting there since before you came in 'reading' a placemat from McDonald's. Maybe the jerk behind this can add it to his service suite. (Man, we're crass -- must be jet lag.)

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, starbucks, bumvertising, bumsitting

Back in Seattle & tweaking this blog

2005-10-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

We're back from our European adventure and getting back into the swing of things back here in the great PNW. Back to old habits, back to this blog. We usually don't get too personal on here because a) we've got plenty to write about the good stuff in the neighborhood and b) lots of gooey things we see from time to time on other blogs makes us, well... cringe (cheap shot - but, please, isn't there anything else to write about than ourselveseses???). Anyhow, onward and upward. We've made some tweaks:

No more ads -- Google still has some work to do getting relevant advertisers into its content network. And some of the attempts to blanket keyword terms go horribly awry -- the ad above for "Seattle Belltown Condo' actually linked to condo listings for PA. Experiment over -- nobody clicked and we don't want to gum up the experience for no reason. Somebody should start an easy to use, relevance-based promotion system for blogs if there isn't one already. BTW, we're leaving Google's 'paid' site search on because we're too lazy to rip the code out of our template (sounds painful, no?)
Underlining -- Take that all you young designers! We've turned on link underlining because, damnit, that's how the Web is supposed to work. Links should be underlined (though we agree it gets a little crowded on here)
Recent Posts links on every post -- Many visitors to this blog, especially first-timers, experience this wonder of modern technology without visiting the homepage. Fine by us. To make things easier, we've added links to previous posts at the bottom of each entry page.

That's it. Just a few hours on the ground and we've already changed our mind about advertising, redesigned and phucked around for 2 hours with our template and posted a meandering entry complete with insulting link to a fellow blogger. It's good to be home!

-- k/j

Tags: uptown, seattle, adsensesucks

One last thing... experimenting with advertising

2005-10-14T12:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok, I'm really leaving. Last post before we get on the plane. You'll notice that we've hung tacky Google links all over the place. The hope is that these will produce a tiny trickle of cash to pay for advertising this very blog. Why advertise this blog? We don't know -- it's fun, we guess. But boy does Google have a nice scam going! It's worse than Shaklee! The likelihood that the ads will do anything besides annoy you are pretty low given the volume requirements Google puts down before they'll even think about cutting a check but we thought, what the heck, let's check it out. Let us know if you hate em and maybe we'll just start a tip jar or something.

Library getting short end of mayor's stick?

2005-10-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Jeesh, we should get on with our vacation already and forget all this blogging crap but we keep thinking of yet another item we need to post. Can't leave town without putting this on your radar. Restlessreader points out that the mayor might have forgot something in his budget plan:

-snip-
The Mayor has released his proposed budget for 2006. However, it does not include any increases in operating hours or funding for book collections for the Seattle Public Library. The Seattle City Council made a commitment to restore the cuts that the Library has experienced over the last four years once the budget improved. The City Council will be conducting public hearings on the budget on October 12th and November 3rd. This is a key opportunity for citizens to let the city government know what they think.
-unsnip-

If this bugs you like it bugs Restless, jump over to her blog to use her hand-dandy-auto-matic - 'I'm mad as hell' - email-the-powers-that-be mail generator to send a friendly note.

--j

Viaduct to close, you to wake up to strange whistle

2005-10-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

AlaskaWyViaduct020
Originally uploaded by Dugfresh.

Your attention please. This is a test... FYI, not only is the earthquake-tender Viaduct closing down this weekend for inspection, but the powers-that-be will use the opportunity to test out a fancy pants emergency system. Saturday morning, it is reported, sleephyheads will be awakend by the sounds of 'Westminster Chimes.' Sounds charming!

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, viaduct, waterfront, thisisonlyatest

One less dinner spot on Seattle's 1st Ave.

2005-10-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

The bad news: There are now fewer places to grab dinner in uptown Seattle to the tune of one. The good news: Dinner at Cherry Street Coffeehouse wasn't that good, really. At least, we didn't think so though The Stranger (headline writer, at least... Axis of yummy?) disagreed. Anyhow, a sad little computer printout in the window is announcing the imminent cessation of Cherry St.'s dinner service at this location. Do they serve dinner at the other ones? Stop it! Just kidding. It wasn't that bad -- it just wasn't something we'd recommend. Coffee's good though.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, restaurants

2 good things about smoking but 901still rocks

2005-10-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

When it comes to arguments surrounding Initiative 901, there are only two good things we can think of regarding cigarettes:

Finding one in fingers is leading indicator that we have already had much, much too much to drink.
Dry cleaners love em!

'Sides that, we agree with the dreamer in this vigorous Stranger Forum debate who contends that smoking is tantamount to pooping in public. Amen, brother.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, initiative901, smokingisnasty

Something to tide you over while we're gone

2005-10-13T09:34:00.000-07:00

We just stumbled on this one today so hang an asterisk on our recommendation, but Belltown Bent might be enough to hold down the fort while we're gone.

It's the kind of blog we like best -- amateur (it's his hobby, not his job, we mean) but looks pro, has lots of pictures, well written, short posts and mostly on theme (that theme being, per the name, Belltown).

Recent topics inclue Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and, one of our favorite fascinations, the Olympic Sculpture Park.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, belltown, blogs

Germans, we come in peace

2005-10-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

We're going on a quick jaunt through Europe next week so we won't be posting very often. We know, we know -- you'll miss us terribly. But we need a vacation! We start in Paris, drive to Dresden and then take a short train trip into Prague. Along the way, I'm hoping to stumble upon a few things Seattle to post from the road. In the meantime, we're hoping the Germans don't feel the need for an eye-for-an-eye.

-snip-
Woman struck as man, police fire weapons
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
A 19-year-old au pair from Germany was injured early yesterday in a shootout between a 21-year-old Seattle man and police officers outside a popular Belltown bar.
-unsnip-

--j/k
(Sara, is your name really Sara Jean Green? Or are you just pulling a Capt. Kangaroo?)

Tags: uptown, seattle, vacation

Redmond sends Uptown Seattle $761 million

2005-10-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

The real story is getting lost in all the techno hub-bub surrounding the Microsoft-Real Networks settlement. Real is right around the corner down on Elliott and lots of Realies live in these parts. Expect cash-flush tech geeks to flood the streets any minute now and the price of recreational drugs to skyrocket.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, realnetworks, microsoft

Caught on tape: Mechanical monster strikes Seattle

2005-10-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

In keeping with our supernatural theme of late, here's footage from today's destruction. Crank your volume to 10 for full effect.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, demolition, video, kindacompelling

Do we really need the Viaduct?

2005-10-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

Cascadia Scorecard, one of our favorite enviro-blogs, has a vigorous debate going on regarding the future of our Viaduct. If you live in the city, you need to read this.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, viaduct

6 mysteries of Seattle's Starlite Lounge

2005-10-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

BTW, to further investigate the alleged haunting of Belltown's Butterworth Building (as documented in this very same blog) we stopped into the Starlite on Friday night and witnessed the following paranormal events:

Decently cool, mixed demographic crowd not making too big of asses of itselveseses on a Friday night in Belltown
Balloon bouquet suddenly and mysteriously rising into the air, to ceiling
Many females' shirts rising mysteriously high while jeans rode mysteriously low
Gin and tonics mysteriously disappearing only to be replaced by melting ice cubes and lime wedges
Freakishly cold draught of air periodically eminating from bathroom hallway
Ugly man with pretty date (saw 3 of these events)

We recommend you assemble a team of investigators and check it out youselves.

-- j/k

Tags: uptown, seattle, starlitelounge, ghosts

My Own Private Beirut

2005-10-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

Fall05 068
Originally uploaded by jseattle.

With this destruction/re-construction across the street and all the action nearby at the Olympic Sculpture Park, things look a little messy here in Uptown these days. Word is that the destruction/re-construction is going to be yet another mix-use condo building. For now, it's giving our humble little apartment some extra light -- until they build the sucker back up and obliterate our view of the north and, sadly, the soothing blue glow of the ever-watchful PI globe.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, construction

Today's most-popular Seattle blog posts

2005-10-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

The 'Most Popular' page on the new Cityfeeds service seems to be a useful way to stay on top of a filtered list of top blogs about your city without having to manage your own RSS feeds (whatever those are). We're still partial to the old-school stylings of Seablogs but definitely appreciate something that requires even less manual labor like Cityfeeds. We're not sure how Cityfeeds will scale and to be able to decide what blogs make the cut and what blogs don't but, for now, it's a step in the right direction. If you're looking for new info sources or just like the idea of seeing a lot of good posts in one place, Cityfeeds could be worth a visit.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, cityfeeds

Top 5 ballot initiatives you've never heard of

2005-10-10T11:31:00.000-07:00

To be perfectly honest, there are only *five* state ballot initiatives this year -- but we're betting that you, like us, haven't exactly studied up on the issues yet. Of all the items on the ballot, initiatives can be the most frustrating and complicated votes to cast because, even if you have studied the issue, it's not always clear what happens when you vote Yes or No. Did I just approve spending that money or deny it? Don't guess. Guessing in the voting booth is bad. Fortunately, the League of Women Voters can get you all the facts and, best of all, give you points to consider both pro and con for each initiative.

LWV's Ballot Issues 2005
LWV's Simplified Ballot Issues 2005 (our favorite -- the Cliffs Notes version for voters with busy lifestyles!)

BTW, these are the fascinating five this year:

Initiative 330: Limiting Recovery for Malpractice Claims and Imposing other Restrictions
Initiative 336: Medical Malpractice Reform, Health Care Provider Licensing and Consumer Rights
Initiative 900: Relating to Performance Audits
Initiative 901: Prohibiting Secondhand Smoke in Public Places and Places of Employment
Initiative 912: Repealing the Gas Tax Increase

Right now, we plan to vote Yes 3 times. Once we study the LWV guide a little more, we'll decide on which ones.

-- j

Tags: uptown, seattle, 2005election, initiatives, leagueofwomenvoters

Boat Street Cafe - October 11

2005-10-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

petit dejeuner, Bastille Day
Originally uploaded by Lú_.

It's just an "anticipated opening" but we still might wait around outside next Tuesday and hope they feed us. The new signage looks classy, and you can peek down into the kitchen from the sidewalk, which is charming.

--k

Tags: uptown, seattle, boatstreetkitchen

Is 1921 1st Ave. really haunted?

2005-10-06T16:42:00.000-07:00

In every city's soggy shadows of October, there are shivers waiting to crawl up spines. Seattle, it seems, has its own peculiar, moist chill; dank enough to saturate even glossy Belltown. If you're looking to put a little spook into your backbone, sit in the dark and read this creepy snip from Ghost Stories from the Pacific Northwest

-snip-
In 1903, E.R. Butterworth constructed a home for his mortuary business on First Avenue in Downtown Seattle. He had been in the funeral parlor business since 1892, and business was booming. The 5 story brick building which he constructed, was a showplace among funeral parlors. E.R. Butterworth is said to have coined the terms "mortician" and "mortuary." For 20 years, the Butterworth Building saw the citys deceased pass thru its doors. Then in 1923, the Butterworth family moved their firm to a Capital Hill location, but they seemed to have left a few of their customers behind. An electrician tried to rewire a chandelier one evening after midnight. After a while he realised that two shadowy men were sitting at one of the tables. The two got up and came over to help hold his ladder when he began to work on the tricky part of the wiring. The two men continued in their conversation, but the electrician being absorbed in his wiring, didn't pay attention to the men. Then a woman in an "unearthly white linen dress" entered the dining room. Then men stared at her and began to shout insults as she walked past. Then they began to shout insults at each other. The electrician began to realize that his "helpers" were not of this world. He raced from the cafe', leaving the work unfinished. He was reportidly found by cooks the next morning, sitting on a curb muttering that he couldn't take it anymore.
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The old Butterworth Building still stands at 1921 1st Ave -- here's a description from a recent attempt to sell it:
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Built in 1910, the Butterworth building is well-built and well-maintained. The property is approximately thirty feet wide and 110 feet deep, and is situated on 1st Avenue and Post Alley. The 1st Avenue facade of the building is three stories tall and there are five stories on the back of the building which face Pike Place Market. Post Alley angles down to the market and features a number of high quality restaurants. The Post Alley tenant of the Butterworth (and the adjacent building) is the Irish pub known as Kells, which has been located here for many years enjoying this prime location. The floor above Kells is accessible from the main foyer and has views of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound. On the 1st Avenue side, the restaurant Fire and Ice is the main tenant. The restaurant is temporarily closed, but continues paying rent while searching for a buyer. Above the restaurant are two floors of office space. Heat is provided from a gas-fired hot water radiator system. The Butterworth Building is included in the National Historic Register and still retains its classic lines and architecture in the Foyer, main staircase, and on the Exterior.
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The salespitch makes no mention of the building's less-savory history or its spectral tennants rendering it all the more creepy in its exclusion of what could be considered mostly mundane details.

The restaurant mentioned above, Fire and Ice, is gone now, replaced by the recently opened Starlite Lounge. We had one meal at the Fire and Ice -- unfortunately, we were ignorant of the history at the time. Even without knowing the story, however, we noted a certain creepiness to the very soft, low lighting and the ivory white walls hung with a series of large mirrors. The evening we chose to dine there, every other table was empty. The reflections went on to infiniti and we whispered reflexively even though we knew we were alone.

I don't know if the Starlite's owners are aware of what happened there 100 years ago but we're hoping to stop by and visit the place with our new understanding. If we're ready (and eager, really) for the chill, it could be a welcome way to spend an October evening.

--j

Want more spooky stuff? Check out Evergreen Paranormal and this Metroblogging-Seattle stoked Live Journal thread about Seattle urban legends.

Tags: uptown, seattle, belltown, ghost, haunted, butterworthbuilding

Name The Park

2005-10-06T15:24:00.000-07:00

Cal Anderson Park, Seattle, WA
Originally uploaded by djwudi.

South Lake Union Park doubled in size (12 acres) and is getting a new name. Seattle Parks and Recreation put out a press release asking for ideas for the new and improved green space - work starts this year. Email your suggestions to paula.hoff@seattle.gov by November 14, 2005. Vulcan put up $10M to the construction, but I guess it's not going to be Vulcan Park.

--k

Tags: uptown, seattle, paulallen, vulcan, park

City Cyclists Warned about Third Ave.

2005-10-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

Westlake Center building up
Originally uploaded by timmycorkery.

Seattle DOT, PD and Metro are worried about collisions between bikers and buses on Third Ave (whether that's out of safety concerns or litigation avoidance is anyone's guess) and has ordered bicyclists to obey the laws and bike carefully OR ELSE. The "else" being banishing all bikes from Third Ave. during rush hour. It isn't clear how moving bikers to already crowded 2nd and 4th would improve the situation. Besides, it seems kind of fitting for the aggressive bike riders to battle for control of the street with the aggressive bus drivers.

-- k

Tags: uptown, seattle, bicyclists, cycling

Cool tay-shirts

2005-10-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

It's an epidemic.
Originally uploaded by endquote.

Seattlest devoted a blow-out, lollapalooza of investigative journalism to buying fashionable t-shirts in Seattle. We wish we had thought of the post first. Very cool to have a list of merchants offering the very trendy fashion item. We know Ts have mostly always been cool but you do have to admit that there has been a big uptick growing -- it's getting to the point that there are even spur-trends with varietals like 'retro' and 'art' joining classics like 'witty text' in the mix. Also, for you too-cool-for-school types, blog mentions of the trend do not yet mark the auotmatic death of said trend the way a mention in a Seattle Times column might. At least, not quite yet. Back to Seattlest's post, they call out neighborhood vendors I Heart Rummage, Ian and Zebra Club as good places to score a rad T -- we'd probably add a few more 1st Ave stores (Moda Express, for one). We'd also like to know more about local shirt designers -- exclusive Nike designs don't count! But folks like Ames Brothers (HQ'ed on Westlake over by Jones Soda-ville, aka "South Lake Union") certainly do. Oh, and, Seattlest, cool t-shirts aren't just for boys.

Seattle trend? Non-snooty wine tasting

2005-10-05T12:59:00.000-07:00

Start planning your weekend grocery list -- the Larry's Market on Mercer is offering a bargain-priced wine tasting for a nifty $5 this Friday. We spotted the sign while grabbing groceries last night and got a good little chuckle. But, why not go?

We like finding good things in odd places -- taco trucks, rummage sales, Target, etc. As everybody has access to more and more data, getting good things at good places is so easy that it's not cool. That's why we like the undiscovered restaurant so much more than the one 'everybody else' is raving about. Sure, there are other great, regular tastings at some of the neighborhood wine stores. But getting wine at a wine store is sometimes just too, well, obvious.

We prefer having the non sequitur to take some of the snobbish bite off of going to a high falutin' wine tasting in the first place. Strolling through a grocery store while sipping something exotic is the right mix of gutter snobbery. And, while Larry's isn't exactly the perfect symbol of proletariat living, until there are Boone Hill tastings at 7-11, it will have to do.

Uptown Wine Tastings
Thursdays
Seattle Cellars ($3, 2nd Ave)
We're a sucker for the grocery store gimmick but these guys are for real and have built quite a Thursday-night event in Belltown. You should go.

Fridays
Macrina Bakery ($10, our review) and, now, Larry's ($5)

Saturdays
Champion Wine Cellars (Free, Denny Way)
Not a tasting really, but they usually have something to share when you come in

One question in the Officer Powers scandal

2005-10-04T16:06:00.000-07:00

We've been following the Seattle soap opera of police officer John Powers but haven't had much to say. For those of you playing catch-up, Powers is the Seattle boy in blue with some questionable work habits. While we're mostly only slightly interested in the tale of drugs, bartender girlfriends and Belltown nightclubs, we're downright intrigued with this newest wrinkle:
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Internal investigators also have begun looking into new allegations that Powers and other officers routinely accepted free or discounted meals at a restaurant near Pike Place Market. Officers are not allowed to accept gratuities under department policy.

A spokesman for the restaurant said managers and servers are allowed to give free or discounted meals to "honored guests" who have been loyal to the restaurant. But he said he did not know whether that included police officers.
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We wish it was the yummy market Crepe de France stand just becasue that would be cool but we're betting on Cutters. You?