Concert Diary: Blanket Truth, Da Bears and James Rabbit at Dog City on August 12

Though there's much to be said for the bone-rattling power of huge amps and stadium speakers, sometimes it just can't compare to the intimacy of a house show.

Despite the limitations of their performance space — a tiny, messy basement in the University District — the three bands performed with impressive energy.

The show began with a friendly and endearing set from Blanket Truth. Jon Manning sang lead and played the baritone ukulele, which was surprisingly sonorant for such a small instrument. Manning also runs the Seattle-based, lo-fi tape label Lost Sound Tapes.

Eli Damm brought the beat with a softer, indie-rock version of vocal percussion while Craig Salt Peterson complemented the songs with his sweet flute. The small crowd joked with the band between songs. like "Do You Love Me?" which wonders "do you really love me/or are you just crazy?" A few people even meowed on command for the chorus of "The Cat Song."

Da Bears, who had been listening to Blanket Truth just minutes before, reentered for their set in matching fringed leather vests with winged teddy-bear patches sewn on the backs.

The San Diego natives filled the smal space with a precocious poppy-punk rock, accented at times by lead singer Ryan Solomon's nasally sneer and EJ Binns' reedy Melodica.

By far their most catchy song is "Lindsey Lohan," whose lyrics seem to poke fun at the singer/actress' lip-synching slip up:

"just don't forget the words/when you're feelin' more absurd/chance you need to take/but I know you'll break/cause you're a child/just a little child"

Halfway through the set, the band rewarded one lucky fan with a VHS of Jungle 2 Jungle for correctly naming Abraham Lincoln as the tallest president ever.

Next came James Rabbit, who drove up from their hometown of Santa Cruz, Calif. on their West Coast tour with Da Bears.

Frontman Tyler Martin charmed the crowd with animated chatter and a whirlwind of dancing. Da Bears and Blanket Truth all watched with smiles, hinting at the tight-knit nature of their music community.

"Coast to Coast," epitomizes James Rabbit's vibe. The song, which focuses on the difficulty of traveling and maintaining a relationship, starts off with a short, spoken introduction performed by their guitarist and devolves into a chant-able chorus:

"Oh/you know/that I will go/anywhere you are/coast/to coast/and heart to heart"

The band continued to spread the love after their set, giving out CDs out for free as Manning collected gas money in a large plastic jar. He explained that the high price at the pump is a problem for low-budget bands.

Though James Rabbit's blog indicates it planned on heading back down south after their Seattle show, Martin said the band was considering playing in Port Townsend. Blanket Truth should have already left on their own East Coast tour, driving from Seattle all the way to their first gig in Athens, Ga. on August 17.

To see dates and locations for more local house shows, visit seattlediy.com's calendar here.

Citizens Assess SLUT Service

The results are in from the feedback forums on the extension of the South Lake Union "streetcar" to the University District, Central District, Fremont/Ballard, and Capitol Hill/First Hill.

Road width and traffic disruption seem to be the most common concern. Many questions asked for very specific routes—indicating that some attendees wanted to cater their own commute.

But possibly the most important questions are:

1) How does a streetcar compare to other modes of transit (e.g., buses, electric trolleys, rail in exclusive right of way)?
2) How will a streetcar affect the zoning around stations?
3) How can we integrate the system to avoid redundancy?

This comes courtesy of Ann Donovan from capitolhillnews, via James Kelly of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.

Sunset from Red Square

George really has a great view sometimes.

It's Not Just a Bagel

Bear with me folks, I've been sitting on this article for a while. Food and gas prices are still high, so consider this when you go to a cafe next...

International trade disputes , famine, and droughts have brought food production to the forefront of global consciousness. Gas prices remain high, and senators continue to call for approval of off-shore drilling.

These problems may seem far-flung, but local cafes and bakeries have noticed too. Wheat product and fuel prices are affecting business relations in surprising ways as local companies adjusts to the price increases.

The U-District's Cafe Allegro decided to change bagel suppliers when their original supplier — Noah's Bagels, a national chain — added a $15 delivery surcharge on top of earlier bagel hikes.

"It would have more than doubled the cost," says Chris Peterson, Allegro co-owner, explaining that they only order $12–$15 of bagels per order. "I think they just decided that wholesale bagel sales were not profitable."

Cafe Allegro now buys from Blazing Bagels, distributed without surcharge by Little Rae's bakery in Rainier Valley — at less than half the cost of Noah's.

Cafe Solstice, also in the U-District, switched from Noah's Bagels to Bagel Oasis, distributed by Essential Baking.

A couple of weeks ago Bulldog News & Espresso, the tiny espresso stand operating out of Bulldog News on University Way, stopped buying bagels all together. Barista Arielle Kloss says there wasn't enough demand to keep buying their usual 10–15 bagels from the Seattle Bagel Deli.

"It's hard, it's very hard," says Dennis Ballen, owner of Blazing Bagels in Redmond. "Gas is killing us." His business had to raise the price of their bagels in March, when wheat futures spiked and the cost of a 50-lb bag of flour nearly doubled to about $24. Ballen says his bakery has been able to deal with rising flour prices, but it's the gas that really worries him.

Fuel costs are pinching Blazing Bagels and other bakeries who distribute their own product as their wholesale distributors add or increase delivery surcharges. Ballen noticed one day that the surcharge for one delivery had jumped from $1.50 to $6 — an increase he says really builds up because he receives several shipments a week from several different suppliers.

Ballen has tried not to pass it on to his wholesale customers — he delivers anywhere in the Puget Sound area for $1.50 — but at this point, “The more companies that want to distribute my product, the better," he says.

"A lot of small bakeries go out of business because of the distribution. It can really hurt ya," observes James Morse, owner of Little Rae's, a bakery that distributes Blazing Bagels. Morse says when he tried to add a delivery fuel charge a few months ago, "people didn't really like it and accused us of being a part of OPEC."

Morse doesn't quite understand why Noah's increased their prices so much, explaining, “the bigger you are, the easier it is to keep your cost down.” He says smaller bakeries have to strategize to reduce costs.

“One thing we have a good system for, is we do our deliveries in the middle of the night. We get to move freely throughout the night,” Morse reveals, which serves the double purpose of avoiding traffic and getting bagels there early in the morning. Blazing Bagels delivers then too, from 1am-7am in the morning.

Not all of Noah's customers have switched, however. The owner of Cafe on the Ave, Song, who did not give his last name, says that he debated changing vendors a few months ago after a 10–15 cent price increase per bagel, but in the end decided not to.

"I'd rather carry Noah's because their quality is better," Song explains. He accepts the delivery surcharge too, pointing out that other distributors just incorporate the cost of fuel into their product prices, instead of keeping it separate.

Song says that he and other cafe owners are trying hard not to pass the buck on to their customers, but at some point they'll have to.

“Historically, we have never had to [make] two price increases in a year,” says Anna Li, Director of Sales and Marketing for Essential Baking, which bakes pastries and distributes for Bagel Oasis. Essential is particularly vulnerable to price hikes because of their commitment to organic flour and biodiesel, which are at least 50 percent more expensive than regular flour and gas.

Li sees both businesses and individuals adapting to increasing costs, and that means finding ways to work smarter, not just pass the hikes down the line.

"I think honestly, it’s just an adjustment,” Li contends. “Americans are very lucky to spend so little on their food.”

Presidential- Sweet!

Ever wonder what kind of view the President of the University of Washington gets?
Well wonder no longer folks, cause here it is:

Yup, that's SR-520 and a corner of the Husky Stadium. I bet he can see the Cascades on the right day too. Well, he will be able to, when he moves in.
These pictures were taken from the 22nd floor of the newly christened University of Washington Tower, formerly the Safeco Tower.
The building is still under construction in some places and the 22nd floor is mostly desks, chairs, and empty cubicles. The building hints at the grand company Safeco Insurance once was. Wood panels cover the walls, floor-to-ceiling windows line every floor, and the lobby has a two-story tall ceiling.

The school bought the building in September of 2006 for $130 million along with a few other properties, like the parking lot that used to house an IHOP at Northeast 44th Street and Brooklyn Avenue Northeast.

The southwest corner of the 22nd floor faces towards an complex urban landscape with crisscrossing veins of transit. The University District's Sound Transit station was to be built near the tower, but it will instead be built near Husky Stadium.

Liberty Mutual, an insurance firm based in Boston, bought locally owned Safeco Insurance in April of this year. Despite the merger, Safeco CEO Paula Reynolds said that Safeco Field will retain it's name "for some time to come" in a July 29 article in The Seattle Times.

Makes You Appreciate Your Job

A group of about 20 people in dark blue uniforms stood outside Big 5 Sporting Goods at 7:30a.m this morning. Some smoked, some watched passing pedestrians, all looked a little bored.

A man sat on a chair just inside the entryway, as if guarding the place from a mob of employees politely waiting for the signal to attack.

One older man in thick-rimmed glasses and a dark blue polo embroidered with a small "WIS" logo explained that they were counters.

Counters? I asked. Inventory counters, he answered. They are part of an international corporation of merchandisers — WIS International, to be exact — and they would count each and every piece merchandise in the store today, including the fish hooks.

By 11a.m. the counters were gone and regular customers were the only ones examining sporting goods.

Apparently Big 5 — and other big retail stores like Wal-Mart, Walgreen and Home Depot — have companies like these perform physical counts at least once a year to check their actual inventory against their computer systems.

According to Hoovers.com, WIS International employed 7,000 and made an estimated $349 million in sales with more than 200 offices on four different continents. The company is a subsidiary of American Capitol, an investment firm with an annual sales of $700 million, headquartered in Bethesda, Md.

Counting positions for WIS are on practically every internet job-search Web site. It's almost surprising that such a labor-intensive job is still around with all of the technology these days, but that's just what the company profits on — the inconsistencies between real life and its digital counterpart.

The Mid-Week News

Brace yourselves, we have lift-off:

The day has come at last for the City of Seattle to jettison it's odd space-toilets. A mere four months after Seattle Public Utilities recommended their removal, citing uncleanliness and criminality, and only two months after the City Council ordered their contract to be suspended, the five toilets will find new homes.

Bidadoo auction service will auction the toilets separately on Ebay starting at $89,000 each. SPU officers expect the auctions to begin sometime this afternoon and to stay open for 10 days. All five toilets — located on Broadway, near Pike Place Market, and in Hing Hay, Occidental, and Waterfront parks, respectively — will be fenced off starting August 1, and the toilet's new owners will remove them sometime later that month.

An advance copy of Bidadoo's ad describes the toilets as "very good physical and cosmetic condition overall," and weighing about 13,250 pounds each. Anyone who wins a toilet must also secure the correct permits to remove the unit within three weeks of their winning bid.

The Council overruled a mayoral veto to commission the toilets in 2001, predicting them to cost less than $600,000 annually. But the Seattle Public Utilities report calling for their removal predicted a savings of $4.5 million in five years, significantly more.

The German firm that designed the toilets, Hering International, still has a picture of the Pike Place Market toilet displayed on their Automated Public Toilet Web page.


Where there's smoke, there's fire:

If you thought you heard 10 firetrucks worth of screaming sirens last Thursday morning, you may not be far off. The Rabbit Hole, the notoriously grungy hookah bar at Northeast 47th Street and Roosevelt Way Northeast in the University District, caught fire sometime between the night of July 09 and the morning of July 10.

From 7:39 to 7:46a.m, the fire department dispatched six fire engines, four command vehicles, two ladder trucks, two medical aid vehicles, one air truck, and one Deputy 1 Chief, qualifying it as a full response.

All but four vehicles — the air truck, one engine, one command vehicle, and one medic — left the scene by 8a.m, and the last was gone by 9:15a.m.

Fire department records show that an engine responded to a police request for assistance there on the afternoon of July 13, staying for roughly 20 minutes.

Smoke-blackened windows and ripped caution tape mark the scene of the fire. One of the large windows on the south side of the building is covered in plastic sheeting, an apparent make-shift cover after the fire department broke the window in. A peek inside reveals a charred corner of the large room, strewn with bits and pieces of burnt couches.

The hookah bar ran into trouble in 2006 when its owners continued to operate despite the recent smoking ban, and the business changed hands to new owners at the end of 2007 who changed the name on the business license to "Night Owl Lounge." Posts on local hookah-bar Web sites indicate that the business has not been open since sometime in 2007.

Its appearance has remained relatively unchanged since closing months ago — even the beaten-down old couches are the same. But one thing has changed. The large window to the left of the entrance, which was a psychedelic mushroom mural, is now painted with a bird's eye view of a U-District intersection.

The Weekend News

Hot transit scoop:

Some Metro buses, like the number 48 pictured left, now have LED displays that indicate when a stop has been requested. They display the date and time as a default.

The King County Web site reveals that Metro Transit began a move towards "smart" bus technology last year, requiring replacement of bus communication systems and installation of internal displays.

The site also describes an automated announcement made for each stop that would include nearby landmarks, but that feature was not functioning on the bus pictured above.

From the Metro Transit Web site:

What do "smart" buses do?

• Speed bus trips along major transportation corridors using an enhanced traffic signal priority system that engages only when needed to maintain schedules
• Improve information provided to riders:
• Automatically announce the bus route number and destination to waiting passengers at each bus stop
• Automatically count passengers to provide timely, accurate rider and trip information for more effective transportation planning

In more transit-related news:

Today is Cafe Vivace's last day at their original home just off the corner of Denny Way and Broadway.

The Jack-in-the-Box across the street from them has been fenced off for months, but it seems a shame to move the cafe from its spot overlooking Cal Anderson Park to the newly constructed condominium building, "Brix," at Yale Street and Broadway where it will compete with Dilettante Mocha Cafe and Chocolate Martini Bar.

Cafe owner David Schomer said they would re-open a few days after their move in an interview with The Stranger in March. He also describes the new location as having a 44-foot mural, burnt yellow walls, and sidewalk seating. Schomer also mentioned a grand-opening party — sounds like something not to miss if you love Seattle coffee and beautiful spaces.



In other coffee-shop/ construction news:

Cafe Allegro on 42nd Avenue in the University District looks like it actually will be boxed in. The parking lot between the cafe and 15th Avenue Northeast, but permits and complications held the building back for 10 years — that is, until this sign went up two days ago.

The building permit describes the typical mixed-use, condo deal: a level of retail, a level of offices, a parking garage, and 26 residential units.

Ironically, a woman-driver, whom I recognized as an Allegro regular, honked at me to move out of the way while I took this picture. Maybe she was worried that the lot would close before she got in.


In more tropical news:

Restaurant La Casa Del Mojito on University Way between 52nd and 55th streets is getting good business on Friday nights. They opened only a few months ago, but their selection of Brazilian drinks and food seems to be attracting students and non-students alike.

They offer a few tostones, mashed and fried plantains, with almost all of their entrees, and even offer heart of palm salad — when they aren't out, like they were this last Friday, that is.

Their mojito (above, $7.00) was the perfect strength and perfectly refreshing on a warm Friday evening. The restaurant also features an open kitchen, generous portions ( like Pollo a la Parilla pictured left, $13.75), and friendly staff.

One thing could hinder their success on "the Ave" though — their prices — a bit high for student budgets. However with their proximity to Ravenna and Roosevelt neighborhoods they may not have a problem pulling in more financially stable customers.

In a final wrap-up of this Weekend News:

What's summer in the Rainier Valley with out a shiny, snakeskin-detailed car?

Waterfowl, Part II

Yesterday was a cool day in Seattle.

The sun shone brightly, but not so brightly as to melt you into a mass of quivering sweat glands. A day such as this demanded exploration of local nature, so there I went. A lot of boats cruised under the Montlake Bridge, and it looked like the Waterfront Activities Center was doing good business.


The wetlands on the edge of Lake Washington are full of life — ducks, dragonflies, water striders, and some kind of little rodent that skitters around in the bushes.

I stood in the grasses along the lake shore for at least ten minutes, trying to get a picture of a cool bird with my totally inappropriate 50mm lens, and when I looked down, three ants were crawling their way across my pant leg.

This large dragonfly kept flitting around near me, almost as if taunting me, "Nah, nah, you don't have a zoom lens and your pictures of me are going to be really crappy!"

That's just anthropomorphism, but you know what I mean.

Intending to cross over to the Arboretum through Foster Island, I walked towards the trails only to encounter this:







That's a sign warning that the trails are flooded and extra muddy because the locks up in Ballard are in use, and that raises the entire lake level. Wow!

Notice the duck in the corner? She just slid up right when I took the picture. I think the duck must be my spirit guide of sorts, because after that she hopped up on the side of the bridge I stood on and sat there for a while.

She shook her feathers, maybe to rearrange them, maybe to get the water off, and then jumped back in and glided away. Perhaps word of my first post got around and I'm being recognized for bettering the duck cause within human society. But who knows.

Today's Forecast:

Sunny

76/55

Seattle Times

This sounds fun too: Watching the Tour de France in a pub on Capitol Hill. Okay, so maybe watching it gets old after five minutes, but I'm sure there's oodles of conversation potential.

The First Issue

Hello future, imagined readers!

Welcome to my personal realm, where I publish what I like, edit myself (poorly), and write about what I find interesting!

Step inside for a quick peek at some terribly cute little ducklings that someone threw in Drumheller Fountain at the University of Washington this morning.

A representative of Facilities Services said that ducks nest all over campus, and sometimes leave their ducklings resting in the shade. The ducklings swam laps around the fountain because they couldn't climb up the walls of the fountain and were in danger because of the strong sun.


When I arrived there were only two ducklings still in the fountain — and the one pictured above right had just been found by its mother. The facilities man put out a ramp on one side of the fountain and a little floating platform on the other, so that the ducks could rest when they wanted to and escape when they figured out how to. Two men in a boat followed the two ducklings in a circle pretty ineffectually, holding their net up waiting to get close enough to nab one.


A few people stood and watched, while some went up and talked to the facilities man. A man in medical scrubs stood by, net in hand, ready to spring into action if needed. It turns out they had rescued most of the ducklings already, and they were resting in a box next to the exit ramp. The facilities man cautiously let me take a few quick photos. Thanks facilities man!

Here they are, all hunkered down:

Facilities man said they would probably relocate the duck families to Portage Bay, where they would be far away from mischievous college students.