July 2009

"Land of the Lost"
Directed by Brad Silberling
Rated PG-13
(One star)

One of the lesser tortures of a white-collar career is the day you get pulled into a meeting facilitated by a toothy consultant who cheerfully declares: “In this room there are no bad ideas!” And so you cringe in your Aeron ergonomic chair because you know there are, in fact, bad ideas and you’re about to hear a bunch of them.

News flash: our cheerful consultant seems to have landed a gig with the writing team for Will Ferrell’s latest film, “Land of the Lost.”

You may remember that “Land of the Lost” was a funky television show from the 1970’s that sported a pretty cool title and little else. The story revolved around a scientist who stumbles into a alternate universe populated by dinosaurs, ape-men, lizard-people and some sort of teleporting crystals.

The show was a cluttered mess of borrowed bits and pieces (including ripping off the basic concept of “Lost in Space”) most likely thrown together by overworked script writers desperate to keep the show going from week to week and as such never rose above the B-list of kid’s TV.

Dear Editor,

If it had been up to me the bridge to West Seattle would have been named the Jeanette Williams Bridge from day one. I am glad it is going to finally be called that.

For 26 years I rode the bus to my job at Sears as a record and invoice clerk in the M.O. Dept. I as well as I imagine other riders felt ships and boats were sitting, waiting for our bus to approach to have the bridge opened.

By the time it was damaged and only partly able for traffic to cross, I had retired and was driving two times a week to Renton to care for my aged father. It often would take 40 minutes to get across each way.

Mrs. Williams held out for the replacement to be a high bridge.

When it was finished I called her office to thank her for her courageous work. Her secretary thanked me profusely and said she would be delighted by my call for most of her calls were asking for something to be done or complaints.
I only wish her name could have been added in her lifetime. But I also feel that this wouldn’t have been as important to her as getting the high bridge built.

A. Barrett
West Seattle

In last week’s West Seattle Herald, we mistakenly identified the West Seattle American Legion Grand Parade as the "Hi-Yu Parade."

While we acknowledge the large contribution the Hi-Yu organization made to the parade, we applaud the West Seattle American Legion's efforts in once again assembling a fine parade, and regret the error.

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan spoke to a crowd of more than 50 people July 25 at Trinity United Methodist Church in Ballard.

Sheehan drew notoriety for staging a sit-in outside of George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, after her son was killed in the Iraq war.

Naomi James was in the audience at Trinity United. She said she was excited to see Sheehan speak because Sheehan was a major force standing up against what was happening in Iraq.

"It took so much courage to stand up and speak out," James said. "She's just a brave person."

Rev. Rich Lang, in introducing Sheehan, compared her to Martin Luther King Jr. and Caesar Chavez. He said Sheehan, almost alone, stood up and unmasked the deception of the government.

"She stood outside of the emperor's sanctuary and asked to speak to the king," Lang said.

Sheehan started out the evening speaking about her history, before moving into a question and answer session and book signing.

She said the media gave her a lot of coverage outside of Crawford when she waited to ask the former president what noble cause there was for the Iraq War.

"I was that summer's Michael Jackson," she said.

Have you ever seen a photograph that was very clearly one special moment in time? That's what photographer Carole Ellis is always looking for.

Ellis came to photography after pursuing a number of other careers and avocations. She's been in the toy business, the antique business, and has been a water color painter too. She always thought that she would be like her sister, an artist, or her brother a photographer but along the way she got into metal sculpture and stuck with it for more than 10 years.

It was very dirty work though so she gave it up for her health. Then her husband brought home a digital camera and she said, "Whoa! That's it!"

She kept at it, practicing and learning more and until it became a passion. Now it is Ellis said, "The love of my life."

She now uses a high level professional camera, a Nikon D300 and has an array of lenses. She's not one of those who spends hours in front of a computer however.

"I'd rather be out shooting photos," Ellis said.

Ellis said she has "Pictures in my head" that she tries to capture. She often comes close to what she has in mind and will spend hours, waiting for the right light or moment to appear.

If there were any room for a coop in my small Ballard yard and I thought that our two dogs could co-habitate with yummy-looking poultry, I would not hesitate to have a couple or three.

And a visit with Amy Snover’s chickens didn’t change my mind. Snover has had chickens for much of her adult life and isn’t fazed about having them in the city.

The two chickens in residence were both named by Snover’s five year old son, Aaron, and now go by “Record” (like a record player), who is a Barred Rock, and “White Ranger," a Delaware.

I was hoping to find out that it was just way too much trouble and I wouldn’t want them anyway. Unfortunately, the Snover family loves their chickens.

“They’re really funny, not smart, but can surprise you by seeming smart sometimes” she said. “And the eggs are totally different [from storebought], the freshness is hard to describe. The yolk is really yellow, stands up really proud, like a ball almost."

But surely chickens must be terribly expensive to house and feed and keep entertained.

One of the best memories of doing the Statue of Liberty renovation project has been the opportunity to hear so many stories about people whose lives inspired the bricks placed around the base of the statue.

The first story that came to my attention is that of my friend, Linda Chauvin, who has lived on Beach Drive for six years.

Linda volunteered time to our fundraising effort, handing out brochures one long afternoon at the statue. She wanted a brick to honor her father, 2nd Lt. Gene Shauvin (different spelling; same family), a World War II Army Air Corps pilot, missing in action since September 1944.

She was only three years old when his plane was shot down in the countryside of Nazi occupied Belgium, near the Dutch border, and has only dim memories of him; yet, she never forgot him.

During the first day of the 35th Annual 2009 Ballard SeafoodFest weekend, more than just the salmon fillets got cooked. The thousands who attended were getting baked as well.

Their reward? Listening to a rare performance by the Squirrels, which included their unique take on Michael Jackson's hit "Ben."

There was also El Vez, the Hispanic Elvis impersonator, who was sweating in his bright red overalls and the eclectic Manooghi Hi, all on the Ballard Avenue mainstage.

The ubiquitous Warren Aakervik of Ballard Oil was cooking the salmon and baking the bread loaves with many volunteers including the Ballard High School Sea Scouts, all in the midst of smoke and fire on this hot day with temperatures in the high 80s.

After a few handfuls of Simply Sinful Caramel Corn, cotton candy and other sweets, it was lemonade, beer, or just plain water to the rescue.

Rain sprinkled down starting at 7 p.m. but few seemed to complain on day-one of the traditional Nordic festival.

CLICK ON PHOTO FOR SLIDESHOW

On July 18, community members in the Whittier Heights neighborhood put together a work party and ice-cream social to fundraise for a new park to be built on Ninth Avenue Northwest and to give the local neighbors a chance to get involved with brainstorming ideas for the open space.

Last year, the city of Seattle purchased a 39,000-square-foot property at 7028 9th Ave. N.W. and dozens came out in support last week of what will become the neighborhood's newest park.

Development meetings will start in the fall but the community is getting a head start on fostering a vision for the park.

Alyssa Smith, who is a part of the community group that’s involved with the development of the park, was at the site early in the morning trimming the hedges along the park.

“The purpose of this event really is to create an awareness within the neighborhood, to give input for the future park,” said Smith.

“We were thrilled when the city bought it," said Joan Weaver, who lives around the corner from the new park. "It‘s nice to see all the newer families getting involved with the neighborhood through the park. It‘s starting a whole new wave."

Paintings, photography and mixed media by prominent native artist and storyteller Roger Fernandes are now on display at the Duwamish Longhouse and Cultural Center.

Fernandes, 58, lives in Sammamish and grew up in Seattle. His native name is Kawasa. He is a member of Lower Elwha Band of the Klallam Indians from the Port Angeles area of Washington on his mother’s side. His father’s side is Portuguese and Hawaiian.

Fernandes won a folk life award from the Washington Arts Commission for his work in teaching about Coast Salish art. He also has a degree in Native American Studies from Evergreen State College.

He was on a select roster of speakers for the Washington Commission for the Humanities and created a special performance entitled “Teachings of the First People.”

“A lot of people assume storytelling is a way to pass time or explain the world through legends, myths, and folk tales," said Fernandes. "It’s so much more profound than that. It’s innate in people to tell stories and to gather something from them. It has been this way for thousands of years, before the written language.”