October 2011

Best of the City Arts Fest

Best of the City Arts Fest

Our must-see picks for Seattle's newest music and arts festival.

For the second year in a row, the City Arts Festival is bringing arts of all genres to venues across Seattle (10/20–10/22; times, prices and venues vary; cityartsfest.com). If it all feels too gloriously overwhelming, just focus on our must-see picks below. MUSIC: The Long Winters, Cobirds Unite, Cataldo and Campfire OK (10/20; Showbox at…

Suggestions for a Sounders Mascot

Suggestions for a Sounders Mascot

After three seasons, Seattle's soccer team still has no mascot. We're here to help.

Here it is, the end of the Seattle Sounders’ third season, and our beloved team still has no mascot. What gives? The Portland Timbers have earned acres of press since joining MLS last spring—thanks in large part to their manly mascot, “Timber Joey,” a lumberjack who wields an actual (not foam!) chainsaw during games. Surely…

Fremont Gets a New Live Theater Space

Fremont Gets a New Live Theater Space

AJ Epstein’s small, experimental arts space brings live theater back to the "Center of the Universe.

AJ Epstein doesn’t know quite what to call himself. The 40-year-old producer/director/lighting designer, who in June opened live theater venue West of Lenin in Fremont, has jokingly labeled himself “Responsible Party” and “El Presidente,” and has recently enjoyed the ring of “Arts Entrepreneur.” After verbally volleying all these options, he decides: “I’m an artist and…

Seattle choreographer Amy O’Neal

Seattle choreographer Amy O’Neal

O’Neal prepares for a series of new solo and duet dances at Velocity Dance Center.

Amy O’Neal has worked with Pat Graney Company and Scott/Powell Performance, as well as her own companies, Locust and (currently) AmyO/tinyrage. She is artist-in-residence at Velocity Dance Center and will perform new solos and duets with Kathleen Hermesdorf as part of Velocity’s Guest Artist Series. 10/28–10/29. 8 p.m. Prices vary. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th…

Nordic Museum Shows Lady Gaga-Approved Fashion

Nordic Museum Shows Lady Gaga-Approved Fashion

The Nordic Fashion Biennale brings cutting-edge arts to Ballard.

Surely there is no better name than Hrafnhildur Arnardottir, the New York–based Icelandic artist famous for her outlandish sculptures, installations and costumes made of braided hair and wildly woolly fabrics. Arnardottir, who also goes by the handle “Shoplifter” and is a frequent collaborator with Björk, is the curator of Looking Back to Find Our Future,…

New Cookbook Store Comes to Seattle

New Cookbook Store Comes to Seattle

The Book Larder in Upper Fremont caters to cookbook consumers.

“I love cookbooks,” says Lara Hamilton. “I read them as if they were novels.” The former Microsoft employee began collecting cookbooks a couple of years ago, and after visiting other cookbook-only bookstores (such as Books for Cooks in London) decided Seattle needed one, too. This month, she’s opening Book Larder: A Community Cookbook Store (4252…

Road Trip to Port Townsend

Road Trip to Port Townsend

These Northwest artists and Kinetic Sculpture Races are worth the trip.

WHERE: Northwind Arts Center in Port Townsend WHY: To see the “(so) Much (too) Little” group exhibition (through 10/31; 2409 Jefferson St.; 360.379.1086; northwindarts.org), featuring the gorgeous work of three emerging (and hot-hot-hot) Northwest visual artists: Counsel Langley, Gala Bent and Sharon Arnold. SIDE TRIP: Time it right and indulge your quirky side with Washington’s…

New Movie Celebrates Pearl Jam's Birthday

New Movie Celebrates Pearl Jam’s Birthday

In time for the band's 20th anniversary, Cameron Crowe zooms in on Pearl Jam’s longevity.

Those of us who remember when the whole city throbbed in the thrill of grunge rock are having a somewhat unpleasant brush with mortality of late. Not only did September mark 20 years since the release of Nirvana’s epic album Nevermind, this year is the 20th birthday of a little band named Pearl Jam, whose…

How to Throw Cool Kids' Birthday Parties

How to Throw Cool Kids’ Birthday Parties

Help for planning a kid's party with less stress, plus two local gift ideas.

Birthdays for wee ones should not be associated with nervous breakdowns. Here’s a trifecta of local talent that can assist you with planning a great celebration. PlanningMake it simple by hiring a personal concierge service, such as Honey Do (honeydoseattle.com). Eastsiders Anne Brucker (Kirkland) and Jenna Davis (Bellevue) will create a plan and put on…

Shopping and Dining in Phinney Ridge

Shopping and Dining in Phinney Ridge

Explore the new influx of restaurants in the otherwise quiet stretch between Woodland Park Zoo and G

With more backyards than bistros, Phinney Ridge tends to attract more dog walkers than foodies. But what started as a trickle of new restaurants has turned into a full-on food avalanche on this hilltop nabe nestled between Woodland Park Zoo and Greenwood, bringing with it a hearty selection of new shops and boutiques. SPECIAL TO…

Beer-Fuelled Memories of Seattle

Beer-Fuelled Memories of Seattle

Our Grey Matters columnist looks back on simpler, sudsier days

Drinking locally is a long-held tradition, though it has gone in and out of vogue. Washington was a major supplier of hops for beer and grapes for wine long before Prohibition, and during it, we avidly smuggled booze from Canada. One prominent bootlegger, featured in the new Ken Burns documentary Prohibition, which airs this month…