November 2012

The Admiral Theater's annual FREE community Christmas movie is Tim Burton's animated, "The Nightmare Before Christmas." It will show at 4pm, Sunday Dec. 16.

You are urged to arrive early since the theater will fill fast.

Admission is free but you are asked for a donation to The Seattle Humane Society.

Bring dog/cat food, toys, bedding, etc. to donate at the event.

Nightmare Before Christmas is rated PG

Film Synopsis:

As the film opens Jack Skellington, the pumpkin king of Halloween Town, is tired of the same old thing every year. He wanders into the woods and finds some holiday trees and each has a town in it. He goes to the Christmas one and finds himself in Christmas Town. He is fascinated by Santa and presents. He goes back to explain the magic to the residents of Halloween Town and they decide to make their own Christmas with their own twist of course.

• Directed by Henry Selick
• Produced by Tim Burton
• Denise Di Novi
• Screenplay by Caroline Thompson
• Michael McDowell
• Story by Tim Burton

Music by Danny Elfman

Starring

Well known West Seattle performance artist Jimmy Gersen and Alki Arts (through their new location downtown on Harbor Steps) are teaming up with activist Tracy Dart and Team Tracy for Live Performance art show during the First Thursday downtown ArtWalk Dec. 6. It's a breast cancer fundraiser so there will be a live auction after the painting, and a portion of wine & merchandise sales will be donated.

The show gets underway at 6pm.

Gersen paints large canvases for an audience and then sells the painting to raise money at many events here in West Seattle and elsewhere.

Alki Arts which just opened their downtown location recently is located at 55 University Street at the foot of the Harbor Steps, on the corner of Western & University.

Information from KCSO:

The King County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in identifying the suspect(s) involved in three armed robberies that occurred in Burien over the last month. The robberies occurred at Hispanic businesses in the area and during two of the robberies the suspect wore a wig.

On Nov. 8th at approximately 5:30 p.m. a man entered the Grocery Video Cuautla store in the 200 block of SW 152nd St, pointed a gun at customers and employees and told them to get on the ground. The suspect took cash from the register and fled out the back of the store.

The suspect was described as a Hispanic male in his 20’s about 5’6” to 5’9” inches tall with a mustache. He was wearing a light brown wig, a fake beard and was dressed in a navy blue top with a grey collar, and blue jeans. Witnesses said he spoke in “Spanglish” with a Hispanic accent.

Information provided by the White Center Food Bank:

Holiday food needs: scalloped potatoes (or similar), cereal, crackers, condiments, pickles, olives, dessert mixes (brownies, cakes, cookies, bars) peanut butter, jam or jelly (not homemade), canned fruit and oatmeal. Many of these items are currently on sale at local groceries as the holidays draw near. Our holiday distributions run December 11 through December 20; our volunteer needs will be posted on our website next week.

Drop-of locations include: December 1 at Avalon Glasswork’s Open House, Son-in-Law Tree Lot at the corner of California Ave SW and SW Charlestown, Holiday Lane at Westwood in Santa’s area, Admiral Safeway, QFC Westwood Village, BECU/Safeway at Roxbury, Big Al’s, Stor-Mor/White Center and A Place for Pets/Burien. Lafayette Elementary in West Seattle and Southern Heights Elementary in the Highline districts are both holding food drives in early December.

press release:
Inspired by the classic American film, Eastridge Church will present "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play," December 19 at 7 pm at its West Seattle campus. The free performances are unlike other production in the area, with a unique message of hope and inspiration, fun dance numbers, a live big band, and lighting and sound effects! Admission is free but a ticket is required for entry.

The church is located at 4500 39th Ave SW across from West Seattle Bowl.

"It's a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play" comes to life as a live 1940s radio broadcast in front of a studio audience (the theater audience). Dozens of actors perform the multitude of characters while the story of idealistic George Baily unfolds as he considers ending his life one fateful Christmas Eve. Little does George know that God has a different plan to let him know the value of his life.

Eastridge’s rendition of the show stands apart from others in the area with its inspirational message, a live orchestra, dance numbers, musical interludes, and video projections.

By Christopher Duclos

They sing. They dance. They dazzle.

They are the Northwest Vocal Project.

On a summer day in 2007, after a rehearsal with the Bellevue Northwest Sound Chorus, Seattle barbershop singers Ian Kelly, Matt Schoonmaker-Gates and Sam Booth contemplated a new venture. The idea was to create a Seattle based barbershop chorus that was focused towards the youth environment in the Northwest.

Their discussion led to the creation of one of the most pristine and colorful groups of singers which now ranks among the best barbershop choruses in the world. Through a short period of time, the chorus gained steam and their numbers expanded. With the help of the Bellevue Northwest Sound, three men turned into a whole chorus.

Sam Booth, one of the cofounders of the chorus was once a graduate of Ballard High school, now studying music at Central Washington University. His father, Neal Booth runs the role of musical director. His job involves shaping the group’s blend, intonation and choreography on every rehearsal.

By Joshua McNichols, author of the Urban Farm Handbook

If you've ever gardened in the city, you've probably noticed our soil isn't so hot.

Sometimes you get lucky -- like when the former owner of your house used a mulching mower for 50 years. But more often, we urbanites are blessed with a thin layer of organic matter over compacted clay or sand. New gardens in Seattle sometimes thrive for a year or two, even without being amended. But then, when nutrients are exhausted, there's a year of disease and pests that can throw new gardeners into a funk.

A garden is only as healthy as its soil, and one of the first steps to creating a healthy garden is rebuilding your soil. Above is a handy chart to help you assess which strategies to employ. The first question is: How crazy do you want to be?

Photographer David Rosen was out on Thursday morning, Nov. 29 and caught the 11.8 high tide on the Alki Beach Promenade at 6:17am.

This is actually low compared to the King Tide that will happen Dec. 15 also in the early morning hours.

King Tides which typically occur in December and January are higher than normal tides caused by increased gravitational pull when the sun and moon align.

That tide should be much higher with the level varying depending on location.
In the Seattle area it will be a 13 foot high tide. Here's a tide table we like:
http://www.dairiki.org/tides/monthly.php/sea

Here's the State of Washington's page about the phenomena http://www.ecy.wa.gov/climatechange/ipa_hightide.htm

That page carries the information about the King Tide Initiative, an effort to capture a photographic record of the tide and its effects.

It states:

The lady Wildcats traveled to Burien Tuesday night and soundly defeated Highline High School 38-12.

As the teams took the court and readied for the tipoff one could sense the outcome. West Seattle fielded a much larger team and the Wildcats size could not be ignored.

From the beginning West Seattle controlled the game. The Pirates played hard but were simply outmatched by the bigger, faster, stronger Wildcats.

Highlines fast break attempts were constantly thwarted by a wall of blue forcing the Pirates to shoot from the outside and they seemed uncomfortable doing so.
Led by #24 Lydia Giomi at the post the Wildcats took away every missed shot by Highline and quickly pushed the ball up court. The Pirates were speedy and got back in coverage to thwart West Seattles fast break forcing the Wildcats to shoot from the outside but this is where size comes into play. West Seattle’s offensive rebounding gave them the edge and second chance shooting under the hoop was the difference and at the end of the first period the Wildcats were up 11-2.
This trend continued throughout the game and in the end the Wildcats headed back to the west side with a 38-12 victory.

By Patrick Robinson and David Rosen

UPDATE 9:13am
Seattle Fire Department Public Information Officer Kyle Moore shared:
"The Fire Investigator determined the cause to be accidental, electrical wiring in the wall overheated and ignited a fire in the kitchen.

The damage estimate is $40,000."

Original Post
An unoccupied home on the 4800 block of SW Juneau caught fire Wednesday
night, apparently from the basement or the back of the house. The home was being remodeled and the owner was in the house earlier today.

A neighbor Buck Matthews, called in the fire after seeing billowing smoke and a flicker of light inside. Seattle Fire Department personnell, 15 units in total responded within 2 minutes and quickly extinguished the fire.