Seven fun facts about the PI globe

If you live in Uptown it is hard not to notice the PI's revolving neon globe above it all. We like it, even though they can't seem to get all of the lights to work at the same time. Sometimes Asia is lit up, sometimes not. Sometimes it says "It's in the P-I", sometimes it says "I 's n the P- ". Here's a little history about Uptown's classic public landmark:

1. It was built in 1948 for $28,000.
2. For 40 years it was on the old PI building at 6th and Wall.
3. It was built by Pacific Car and Foundry and Electrical Products Consolidated. (Pacific Car and Foundry is still in business as PACCAR and manufactures heavy-duty trucks. It looks like Electrical Products Consolidated didn't make it.)
4. Capitol letters are 8 feet tall, small letters are 5 feet tall.
5. It weighs 18.5 tons.
6. It uses 38 kilowatts an hour when fully lit. (Which, as we already mentioned, is rare.)
7. The idea for the globe came from a promotional contest, which Jakk Corsaw won. He was a UW art student at the time. Jakk had an art gallery in Pike Place Market in the 1960s, and is now buried on Vashon Island. His real name was Jack, but he went by Jakk. We're guessing Jakk was very hip.

Sources: Seattle PI Globe history page, the Internet

-- K

Tags: uptown, seattle, seattlepi, jakk

#1001: Rollingbay WA

We passed a milestone recently here on UptownSeattle (didn't hurt a bit!) -- visitor #1000 came to the blog last week. But we're a little lame so we missed recording who that was. Oops!

So, thanks to good folks at sitemeter, we present our 1k+1 visitor -- #1001, straight outta Rollingbay WA.

Where the heck is Rolingbay, you ask? We didn't know either. But the Internet, god bless it, did.

Rollingbay WA Internet Profile
Yahoo! map
Rollingbay flickr tag
Candlelight vigils scheduled for Rollingbay

Ok, we give up. We tried to find a damn punchline for this town, but jeesh! not much to work with so you get the lame candlelight link. Not even one single sex post to craigslist or goofy personal ad anywhere on the net. No wonder visitor #1001 is entertained by our silly little blog!
--J

Tags: uptown, seattle, sitemeter, rollingbay

Seattle buses get wireless

Some of them, anyway. In the next couple of months, all the Metro buses on Route 197 between the U District and Federal Way and Route 48 between Loyal Heights and Rainier Beach will have free wireless service. There are no plans to install wi-fi on all the buses, but we hope they keep working on it. Sound Transit is getting into the game too - it's planning to set up wireless service on 5 buses that drive Route 545 between Redmond and Seattle. Redmond to Seattle, hmmm, I wonder why they picked that route...

-- K

Tags: uptown, seattle, wifi, publictransit, buses

The 100 most valuable blogs in Seattle

What are the 100 most valuable Seattle blogs? Cool geek-game Blogshares is also cool for normal folks who don't have time to research, buy and trade shares in a fantasy stock market for blogs. We are geeks so we're trading in the game (we're long Seattle Property News, thanks for asking). But we also like to dig through the listings to find new blogs -- especially good stuff that is home-grown and locally focused.

Of course, UptownSeattle had to get in the game and just had its IPO so buy, buy, buy! Or, heck, go short -- we'll crush your doubting ass with our neverending supply of fascinating tidbits.

-- J

Tags: uptown, seattle, blogshares

Follow-up: Cafe Darclee crepe class

We wrote about Cafe Darclee's food classes recently and promised a post-attendance follow-up. We're happy to report that the classy little cafe in the shadow of the Space Needle put on a pretty nice show for us and a small handful of interested crepe students last week in its first attempt at an 'Art of Crepes' event. More of a crepe seminar than a hands-on class, we were lectured on the finer points of pancake history and preparation and even got a nifty lesson in flambe. It wasn't exactly high science but we learned a bit and got to taste a few yummy creations. It definitely beat another night of Netflix or watching the Mariners lose (well, maybe not if King Felix is pitching) -- especially if you're the type that likes to watch the cook and pepper him with questions. Or, I guess, powder sugar him with questions depending if you're sweet, not savory.

-- J

Cafe Darclee
Fisher Plaza
100 4th Ave N, Suite 165

Tags: uptown, seattle, crepe, class, CafeDarclee,

Uptown round-up: catching September

Holy berjezus, it's already the sixth freakin day of the month. Next week, we'll be 1/2-way done with September and it will be Halloween before we know it! Ack! Bumbershoot has passed, the Storm are out of the playoffs, and they've added a bunch of gravel and crap to the Olympic Sculpture Park construction site! Next thing you know it, the brats will be lining up at Nordstrom's to suck up to Santa and then we'll be sitting through another 6 months of drizzle!

Apologies for the freak-out -- good to get that out of our system. Now we can get back to living our days one post at a time. Thank you for your support.

Tags: uptown, seattle

Enjoy Bumbershoot!

Le Petit Cirque: Bumbershoot, Seattle, WA
Originally uploaded by djwudi.

Flickr Bumbershoot clusters

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

Grand opening: The hottest little sex dungeon in Belltown

Who says Belltown is nothing but plastic-coated hipster wannabes? Certainly not the good people at Hellhouse Dungeon. After all, nothing says 'diversity' like bondage, domination and sadomasochism. Add the BDSM-purveyor to your list of not-to-miss Belltown night spots and stop in to welcome them to the area. They're running special rates to celebrate the opening of their new office which includes, we're told, a "brand new St. Andrew's Cross!"

We also learn this from Abby's Adult Video on Demand:

-snip-
HellHouse Dungeon is operated by Goddess Hollie, the youngest, hottest, and best Dominatrix in Western Washington. Goddess Hollie and her staff get into electro-play, bondage, suspension, strap-on domination, forced feminization, torture, humiliation, tease-and-denial, pain administration, role playing, CBT, and much more.

The Dungeon is equipped with all kinds of equipment including a variac unit, violet wand, tables (gyno and vet), bondage chairs, a swing, whips, suspension equipment, clamps, strap-ons, weights, rope, gags, canes, crops, floggers, CBT tools, crossdressing clothes, and a lot more.
-unsnip-

Welcome to the neighborhood, Hollie. Youngest, hottest and best? I'm thinking we have tons in common!

-- J

Tags: uptown, seattle, bdsm, dungeon, don'tforgetyoursafeword

Storm win first game of playoffs!

The Seattle Storm won their first game against the Houston Comets last night. The Storm are the defending WNBA champs - it's definitely worth going to a playoff game if you get a chance. The crowd gets really into it, the tickets are relatively inexpensive and you can get good seats, and they might win the whole thing again. It was very cool to be at the final game where they won the championship last year. Their next game against Houston is at Key Arena on Thursday. Go Storm!


--K

Portland: Even the hippies kick Seattle's ass

This by way of the good folks at Treehugger.com who point us to an article chronicling yet another reason Portland is sucking away all of your friends and neighbors. Curse you Portland!

We're not completely a toxic waste dump uptown, of course. We have a mini-version of a similiar project down around Vine and Western. Go check out the Growing Vine project if you're feeling crunchy. Hopefully, efforts like Vine will help us not fall too far behind progressive Portland and its neighbor-stealing ways.


-snip-
Metropolismag.com: A Green Blueprint
A Portland neighborhood may become a model for sustainable retrofits
Lloyd Crossing, a 35-block section of Portland, Oregon, may be the first urban neighborhood in the country to get off the city grid and the planetary dole. Plans call for the office and retail district--dating from the heyday of freeway construction and passed over by the downtown boom of the last 20 years--to build up to eight million square feet of floor space, quadrupling its capacity to 21,000 residents and workers by 2050. Towers and mid-rise buildings will go up around the intersection of Portland's MAX light rail and a scheduled streetcar extension. And during the same period net energy and water consumption will be reduced to levels nearly equivalent to a patch of native Northwest forest.
-un-snip-

-- J

Tags: uptown, seattle, portland, green, urbandesign, crunchy

To our readers in Alaska and UK

Thanks buddies! Here's a look at uptown's growing world influence thanks to the fine folks at freebie Web counter, Sitemeter.com

Tags: uptown, seattle, sitemeter, alaska, unitedkingdom, worlddomination

3 out-of-the-mainstream movie choices

Now Playing
Originally uploaded by pokeystik.

As pro blog seattlest notes, Cinerama has finally updated its playlist to non-Star Wars fare. Celebrate by taking in a flick at the leader of the pack of Seattle's alternative screen scene. Uptown is lucky to have a handful of "different" theaters to keep you entertained.

1) Cinerama -- grandaddy of them all. If a movie is playing here that you want to see and you don't see it at Cinerama, you are a lazy dork.

2) Pacific Science Center IMAX -- I'm a sucker for the gimmick but BIG screen is the whole point, right? Cool to see more and more Hollywood films coming to IMAX. If Hollywood finally starts making better movies, I'll be even MORE excited to go to IMAX.

3) The Big Picture -- Downstairs from the pretentious pricks and bratty valets at the El Guacho, The Big Picture is actually a small screen theater. But it's the nicest small screen you'll find. When you need a considerable upgrade from you A/V set-up *and* the opportunity to drink a gin and tonic during your screening, this is your joint.

Oh, by the way, happy Sunday. We never post on Sundays. And it seems that most bloggers take the weekend off with us. What's up with that?

Tags: uptown, seattle, movies, cinerama, pacificsciencecenter, imax, thebigpicture, elgauchopretentiouspricks

Boat Street Cafe to open soon (for real this time)

And the adress is: 3131 Western, Suite 301. No firm date yet, but the Boat Street Cafe is relocating/opening in early September in the NW Work Lofts building. It's a fairly well hidden location - last we checked there wasn't a sign, but a flurry of building activity and a liquor license application were the tipoffs. The Cafe will have an outside garden area that might not get a ton of direct sun, but also won't get direct traffic noise. It's website betrays a little worry about the "industrial" and "cinder-block" aspects of the space, but hey, we're cool with cinder-blocks. We like a little urban grit with our charming and delicious food. The truth is, we can hardly wait!

Tags: uptown, seattle, boatstreetkitchen, restaurant, wecanbarelywait

Coolest way EVER to do Bumbershoot

This by way of a post to Metroblogging Seattle re: Bumbershoot ticket prices. The PSA is all well and good. But the gem comes in a comment to the post. If this isn't THE coolest way to get into Bumber, I want to hear what is!

- snip -
I have a suggestion if folks would like to get into Bumbershoot for free for a day, or more.

I am a member of Seattle's own samba band VamoLa. We've been hired to perform for two shows per day each afternoon at Bumbershoot. For each day we need volunteers to hold palm fronds on stage with us during our two shows. Volunteers can sign up for one day or more. Volunteering gets you in free for the day/days you choose. This would involve a time commitment, on the day/days you choose, from 1pm to 2:30 and 3 till 4:30. If you would like more information contact me at drurybobmay@zipcon.net.

The deadline for volunteers is August 27th.

No one in our band gets paid. Our "group" gets paid and that is put towards rental of rehearsal space.

Worst case scenario is that you get to bounce about with the band and dancers, and have a rolicking good time.

Posted by: Drury at August 24, 2005 09:59 PM

-un-snip-

--J

Uptown Chow: Black Bottle

What to post that hasn't already been posted? The Black Bottle's concept works. Extremely sharable food with the emphasis on understatement -- it's the mood of our restaurant times, I guess. Cool with me. The menu is laidback to the point of being convenient to the kitchen staff but when you use fresh, tasty ingredients, no need to fuss. My only fault with this style is the delivery rate -- slow down, you move too fast. We experienced an 8-plate pile-up as all of our selections arrived simultaneously leaving us gulping down our chow in a near-panic to clear the decks. Clearly, Black Bottle has its good stuff prepped and ready to roll -- and who am I to suggest they change such a good thing! So you might want to plan your order in waves. In a place so casually cool, somebody has to take charge. It might as well be you.

--J

Black Bottle Gastro-tavern
1st & Vine
Date: Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Time: 7:00ish
Mood: In need of comfort, Belltown style
Wine: white with longest name on list
Starters: spicy shrimp, chilled artichoke, tomato flatbread, marinated portabello, chicken laub gai
Entrees: see starters
Dessert: gelato-stuffed chocolate cake

Tags: uptown, seattle, restaurant, review, blackbottle

My homework was never quite like this

Education alert: For those of you interested in the dark sciences of chocolate and crepes, uptown's own Cafe Darclee (Darclee, we claim you for all that is uptown!) offers a veritable Hogwart's of culinary wizardry. Every Thursday, the unlikely tenant of KOMO's Fisher Plaza holds mouths-on classes in wonderful things like chocolate chewing and crepe creation. Forget that MBA -- what you need is a crepe degree. We're signed up for an upcoming session so will post a full report upon graduation.

--J

Tags: uptown, seattle, crepe, chocolate, classes, food

What does your street need less than anything?

subway
Originally uploaded by jseattle.

Man, we hate Subway "sandwich" shops.

1) They've saturated the streets worse than SBUX. There are 10 (10!) within 1 mile of Denny and 1st.
2) They blow out sour bread smell into our sensitive little yuppie noses
3) They eat up any ability for a non-chain to sell a decent sandwich around here

Uggh. Boycott Subway!

--J

Tags: uptown, seattle, subway, sandwiches, boycott

Lots of cool events at the Market

Pike Place Market just sent out its monthly e-newsletter and there's some good stuff coming up. Thursday nights the Market is open until 9pm, complete with Afro-Cuban jazz group Sonodo. On September 18 the Pike Place Market Busker's Festival will amaze and astound. (At least, that's the goal.) 41 groups will perform. We hope to see the Circus Contraption band, that cat guy, and the older man who plays the Japanese stringed instrument. Not so sure about the depressed clown fellow. J says clowns should have to be licensed. Not a bad plan, really. Also on September 18, you can go on the Spaces for Urban Living Downtown Home self-guided tour. People who are really proud of their condos open them up for strangers to wander through and admire/criticize. It costs $20. The only way to see a bunch of downtown homes without working for a cleaning service or making a ton of friends.

--K

Tags: uptown, seattle, pikeplacemarket, events

Seattle Hates Interior Decorating, Loves Gardens

Organizers cancelled the Seattle Interior Show, an interior design/decorating consumer extravaganza slated for the Convention Center in early October. Low exhibit booth sales and lack of interest from the local interior design community were the stated reasons for the cancellation. Support and interest for the Flower and Garden Show, on the other hand, are still going strong - it will take place in February. One can only assume that the Boat Show and the Bridal Show continue to rake it in. Wonder which is the most successful? The Boat Show is the biggest boat show on the West Coast, but the Bridal Show has a fancier website. Hard to say. Up.Sea. hasn't been to any, but likes the idea of the Travel Show (and its vacation giveaways).


--K

Tags: uptown, seattle, gardenshow

The monorail is still alive, thank you very much

Rain City Real Estate Guide points us to a piece of journalism in the revenue-minded Puget Sound Business Journal. Seems the Seattle Monorail Project has assembled a fairly impressive portfolio of property at below-market prices. PSBJ ponders how the Project might divest itself of these properties should it go belly up. It's a little premature to be carving up the cadaver, we hope, so we'll chalk the pondering portion of the article up to the dollar-sign-bespotted daydreams of Seattle's business class. But the article does raise the troubling issue of homeowners in the city who purchased property near areas that were planned to be homes for the monorail's neighborhood stations. The PSBJ didn't seem that interested in those folks -- hopefully they're looking out for themselves and being active on keeping the body alive with groups like 2045Seattle.

--J

Tags: uptown, seattle, monorail