The MLK Grocery Outlet parking lot was the staging area Friday. By Sunday, cast and crew had moved on to the mystery soda machine on John in front of the Broadway Locksmith. Seattle filmmaker Lynn Shelton is back in town and shooting scenes for a new production — Touchy Feely.

Shooting began Friday in the Central District. It’s one of a handful or projects taking advantage of beautiful Seattle weather including a commercial for a dental association that made its way around Capitol Hill last week.

Shelton previously directed several indie flicks, including the Stranger-inspired Humpday and a particularly crazy episode of Mad Men (the one in Season 4 where Don almost gets caught by the Feds, Lane’s father slaps him for having a black girlfriend and Lucky Strike drops Sterling Cooper Draper Price). The new film stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Scott McNairy, Ellen Page and Josh Pais.

Atop Capitol Hill — from Art Zone with Nancy Guppy

If you’re looking for ways to connect with others on matters related to the Bauhaus building and Capitol Hill development, here are two efforts underway on Facebook to check out:

• Densify Don’t Destroy Capitol Hill — “A place where the Pike/Pine community can come together to voice their concerns about the proposed development of the Bauhaus building and take action.”
• Maintain Capitol Hill — “Eastsiders should be barred from attempting to re-develop our neighborhood! We didn’t ask for this. Stop the relocation and cementing over of our community”

Pick your flavor. Tip of the hat to the People’s Parking Lot blog — suddenly revived in this time of need. The People’s Parking Lot is not much of a parking lot these days, by the way.

(Images: Em)

The scents and spices of Thailand are unmistakable.  Pungent garlic, hand-pounded curry pastes, and clouds of wafting chili heat that leave you coughing in amazement and delight.  For me, those smells conjure the bustle of a busy market, the excitement of a foreign place, and the prospect of a great meal.

The tale of this month’s recipe begins in an exotic land far away: Columbia City. That’s where I first got hooked on the clean, spicy, true-Thai flavors of Little Uncle’s food, at the weekly farmers market stand known then as Shophouse. Those Wednesday night Thai picnics soon led us back home to Capitol Hill for Monday night pop-up delights, first at Licorous and later at La Bête.  

Along the way, Little Uncle picked up a host of well-deserved accolades: Best Pop-Up Restaurant of 2011 (Seattle Magazine), 20 Hottest New Restaurants in the U.S. (Restaurant Management), and the apt “It may be ‘little,’ but in the all the ways that count for food-lovers, this is something big” (All You Can Eat, Seattle Times).

Lucky for us, Little Uncle has finally settled into a permanent hole in the wall (now with sidewalk seating!) right here on Capitol Hill at 15th and Madison.  Starting this week, their hours are expanding to 11a to 8p Tuesday through Saturday.  Which means that, while the Hill boasts plenty of Thai options, if you’re jonesing for Little Uncle’s food, there are still two days of the week on which you will have to make it at home.

Fortunately, unlike the homemade curry pastes that lend such complex flavor to some of Little Uncle’s food, this dish is easy.  And the husband-wife duo behind Little Uncle, Wiley Frank (formerly of Lark) and Poncharee Kounpungchart (you can call her “PK”), have graciously shared their recipe with CHS readers.

My home recipe-testing revealed a few things that you might like to know.  First, the nice folks at Mekong Rainier are very helpful if you’re trying to locate the ingredients for this recipe.  And mangosteens are coming into season, which is another good reason to head down there; you’ll be wanting a bag for dessert.  They’re mighty expensive, but worth it.

Second, about those little Thai chilies.  I made this dish twice to explore the spice level.  Four chilies, as the recipe recommends, made the dish perfectly, enjoyably spicy.  Eight made me cry a little bit.  You’ll have to find your own middle ground.

Finally, you can make this vegetable dish a meal by increasing the quantity of greens and adding diced chicken or tofu. No need to increase the other ingredients; this recipe made plenty of sauce to flavor a hefty bunch of curly kale (it sops up that sauce quite nicely) and block of tofu, which made an ample dinner for two over jasmine rice.  After stir-frying the garlic and chilies, just add your protein of choice to the pan with the sauce to give it a few minutes’ head start before adding your greens, then add a few spoonfuls of water to keep the pan from drying out while everything cooks.  

Phad Pak
Recipe courtesy of Little Uncle
1 big handful of greens and/or vegetables cut into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons yellow bean sauce
1 tablespoon Thai light soy sauce
4-? Thai chilies, up to you
4 cloves garlic
a few spoonfuls water, if needed
optional:  tofu or chicken

In a mortar and pestle, smash the garlic and chili into a rough paste (alternatively, you can chop it with a knife, but the flavor will be slightly different).  Mix the yellow bean sauce and Thai soy sauce together in a small bowl.  In a wok or sauté pan, fry the garlic and chili in oil over medium heat until you are coughing up a storm from the chilies. Add the sauce and optional chicken or tofu and cook for a few minutes, until the chicken/tofu begins to brown.  Raise the burner temperature to high, add your greens or veggies, and mix everything together. At this point, you may need to add a few spoonfuls water in order to cook whatever veggie or green you have in the pan. If so, add a bit of water and stir-fry until greens or veggies are crisp-tender.  Serve with rice.

Capitol Hill Cooks is a home cooking recipe series featuring ingredients, ideas, and recipes from the neighborhood. Have a recipe you think we should share? Drop us a line at [email protected].

Previous Capitol Hill Cooks Posts

• Not-Guinness beer bread, inspired by 13th and Pike
• 12th Ave chef crowdsources funds for cookbook app, shares recipe
• DIY Conversation Hearts, inspired by East Pine below Summit
• More… 

Here are the top posts from this week in 2011 on CHS:

• Giant light rail tunnel machinery moves into place at Broadway station site
• Capitol Hill first in city for new pre-pay morning parking for partiers (+ the rest of us)
• Broadway Chase bank suffers most significant damage yet
• Broadway Farmers Market debuts in three weeks in new (interim) Capitol Hill home
• How Seattle’s nightlife initiative could help this Capitol Hill man get some sleep
• Lights out for Bobby Morris Playfield this summer: More Cal Anderson work planned
• Report: Woman suffers severe beating at hands of man befriended at E Pike club
• Marination Station open for business on Friday

(Image: Alex Garland with permission to CHS)

Rolling loaded dice — five sides of “1%” to one “99%” — in front of a Capitol Hill Bank of America branch in lockdown mode because of the protest, members of #MicCheckWallSt entertained, informed and irritated (a few) Saturday with a game of Monopoly on a stretch of Broadway sidewalk.

More than a dozen police officers and four security guards were on hand in the 600 block of Broadway E as the Occupy offshoot made its point with theatrics, costumes and a few giant props. “The big banks have been playing monopoly with our money and our homes,” the MicCheck announcement for the protest read.

The outsized police presence was on hand as participants in Monopoly costumes handed out flyers and Monopoly cash. The bank was open but operating in lockdown mode as doors were unlocked for each customer and then re-locked after they entered the bank.

There were no reported arrests at the protest.

In March, five members of Occupy Seattle were found not guilty after being charged with trespassing for chaining themselves together inside the Broadway Chase bank in a November protest. It was clear this Saturday that Bank of America wasn’t going to put the jury system to the test on trespassing charges again.

(Image: Alex Crick)

(Image: Alex Crick)

(Image: Alex Garland with permission to CHS)

Now that spring is in full-swing, Capitol Hill’s avian residents are busy constructing nests. On a recent walk in Nora’s woods, a tiny neighborhood park on 29th and Columbia in the Central District, I spotted a pair of black-capped chickadees busily flying into and out of a hollow tree branch. Both birds repeatedly emerged from the hole with beaks full of wood and debris, which they dropped on the ground. This is a behavior called nest hole excavation, and it’s the chickadee’s first step in preparing a site for laying eggs and raising chicks.

Last month, we wrote about bird love. Now it’s time to make a home.

Black-capped chickadees are one of Capitol Hill’s most common birds. They’re highly distinctive with their black-and-white striped heads, their chickadee-dee-dee calls, and their acrobatic feeding style. During the winter, black-capped chickadees live in flocks, but in spring, they become territorial.

Black-capped Chickadee Building a Nest,
uploaded by born1945.

Chickadees nest in knotholes or nest holes that have been previously used by other animals. Both members of the pair participate in nest site excavation before the female builds the nest using materials such as moss and fur. If you happen to notice chickadees excavating a nest site, keep an eye on that spot. Chicks may appear in about three to five weeks.

Out in nature, chickadees usually nest in different spots every year. Where appropriate sites are more limited — such as here around Capitol Hill — pairs may reuse the same holes repeatedly. A neighbor in Nora’s Woods said he’d previously seen black-capped chickadees using the hole I spotted.

Nest excavation is such an ingrained behavior in black-capped chickadees that they’re unlikely to move into a hole if they find it too clean and well-groomed. If you keep birdhouses in your yard and want to attract chickadees to it, put a few wood chips inside to give them something to remove.

Interested in Learning More?
For information and fun facts about black-capped chickadees, check out their page at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Here’s a recording of the black-capped chickadee’s distinctive song, and a separate recording of its call. If the chickadees in your yard don’t sound like these recordings, never fear. Our Pacific Northwest chickadees have highly variable vocalizations. 

Capitol Hill’s Lowell Elementary has gotten some tough press lately. Parent Jennifer Brown asked if CHS could help get the word out about something positive — the school has room to grow and wants Capitol Hill kids to be part of it:

Can you help get the word out – now that the APP program has been moved to Lowell@Lincoln in Wallingford we have room to grow as a neighborhood school. We plan to have on-site before and school childcare in addition to our before and after school programs in the fall.

Great things are happening at Lowell. With overcrowding at Stevens and Montlake we want to make sure that people are aware that Lowell is accepting new students and transfer students for the fall.

ENROLLMENT OPPORTUNITY!

Spring Tour Dates!

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Lowell Elementary on Capitol Hill is currently accepting new students and transfer students for the 2012-2013 school year. 

Lowell Elementary is a welcoming and inclusive public school with high academic standards and expectations. Located at 11th Avenue East and East Mercer Street on Capitol Hill, Lowell has general education, advanced learning opportunities and special education programs. Lowell offers instrumental music to all fourth and fifth graders. 

Art, music, music therapy, physical education, and drama is offered to all students. There is  a wide variety of before and after school clubs including an award winning chess club, martial arts, cooking, Mad Science, Mandarin Chinese, Webkinz Crafts, Comedy, Yoga and a free, no tackle Rookie Rugby group open to all students in grades K-5 and all programs. 

Lowell Elementary on Capitol Hill is hosting school tours on April 23 and April 25, 2012 from 9:30am – 10:30am and an evening tour on April 30, 2012 6:30pm – 7:30pm (children’s activities in the lunch room for evening tour only). Come tour the school, meet the principal and teachers!  Please call Lowell Elementary at 206-252-3020 for more information.  

The Seattle Times reported on the school district’s “surging enrollment” last fall.

Chatty, chatty crow. Here’s who the bird found to talk to this week on Capitol Hill — a homeless homeless advocate, a HIV education promoter and a bookstore owner. Who did you talk to this week?

I overheard you saying that you were just interviewed on NPR. I have no idea what it was about, and I don’t have that soothing “NPR voice,” but would you like to be interviewed for CHS?
Sure! I was being interviewed on NPR about Seattle’s new Safe Parking Program, which connects homeless people who live in their vehicles with places to park overnight. You can find out more about this at www.stopimpoundinghomes.org.

How did you get involved with this program?
Because I’m homeless — I live in my van, which I usually park down in Ballard. I’m a good spokesman for the project, because I’m probably not the person you think of when you hear the words “homeless guy.” First off, I’m young. I’m not dirty, or a drug addict, but the same is true for a lot of homeless people. We can “pass” in everyday society, which makes us an invisible minority. For instance, I don’t look like the stereotypical “street person.” Instead, I look like …well, a guy you would come up and talk to in a cupcake shop.

Did you drive your home to Capitol Hill today?
Ha! No, I usually don’t drive to the Hill, because of the parking situation. When your home is also your vehicle, the risk of getting impounded means the risk of sleeping on the streets.

Are there laws against living in your car or van if it’s parked on the street?
No, but there are parking regulations that mean you have to keep moving your car every 72 hours. It’s a constant cat-and-mouse game with the police. Also, local residents complain, because they don’t want homeless people living on their street. The solution is always, “move along to the next neighborhood.” But if you don’t give people somewhere to go, you’re just relocating the problem, not solving it.

How will the Safe Parking Program help this situation?
The program is hooking up families and other homeless people with places like the parking lots of churches that have agreed to let them park there, so they won’t be harassed. They homeless people will also be able to use the bathrooms, and water facilities.

Do you spend much time on Capitol Hill?
I go to Seattle Central Community College, so, yeah. I also volunteer with the new Ballard chapter of Food Not Bombs, and some of the places that donate food to us are in this neighborhood. But I don’t spend much time here, outside of that. Capitol Hill doesn’t have much to offer someone like me.

Why is that?
This area has a very recessive personality. On the outside, there may appear to be a lot of diversity, but people here are very insular—they tend to stay in their own social groups. They think they’re open-minded, and they are in the abstract, but there’s really not a lot of cross-cultural interaction.

What are you studying at Seattle Central?
Anthropology. I’m mostly interested in Applied Anthropology, rather than the theoretical side of it.

So, how would you apply anthropology to change Capitol Hill?
For one thing, I’d like to see more crossover in the music scene. There are a lot of venues where a lot of different music is being played, but, again, people tend to stay in their comfort zone. For instance, you’ll have a lineup of all folk bands, or all industrial, or hip-hop, or whatever. Why not combine totally different genres in one bill?

But, do you think that the people who come out to hear an acoustic folk singer would also want to hear, say, a Cradle of Filth cover band?
Why not? At least people would be exposed to something new. Okay, I’ll admit—I don’t know if it would work, but I think it would be an interesting anthropological experiment.

Are you a musician yourself?
Yes, I play the mandolin, and the guitar and I sing. I would describe my style as “folk metal.”

Folk metal? Is that, like, “Peter, Paul & Mary meets Black Sabbath”?
I know it sounds weird, but there are actually a lot of metal bands with heavy folk influences, and vice versa. I love combining genres and subverting expectations. With music, as with people—when you open your mind, and are open to new things, you start to wake u to new possibilities.

You look strangely familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?
If you’re an academic, or if you go to a lot of gay bars, you may have seen me working in the field.

Hmmm…Are you a professor of Gay Bar Studies?
Not exactly! I go around to different gay bars to promote HIV education, and to recruit people for a study for an HIV vaccine being developed by the Fred Hutchinson Center. But I’m also a grad student in Women’s Studies.

I tend to think of Women’s Studies students as being, well… women. Is that an outdated notion?
In the undergraduate program, it’s about ten percent these days. But it’s much, much lower in the graduate departments. But, I should say that I identify as a gender-queer woman. My pronoun is “she.”

Does the mustache ever throw anyone off?
Yes! Especially when I have a beard!

What drew you to the field of Women’s Studies?
I believe that Women’s Studies is about exploring issues of equality and inequality faced by all groups, not just women. Promoting gender equality goes hand in hand with working to end racism, class-ism, homophobia, all of that.

Are you a Seattle native?
No. I was born in the Mariana Islands, but I moved to this country when I was 10.

Mariana Islands…that’s in Micronesia, right?
Exactly! I don’t meet many people who’ve ever heard of it.

I have one of those atlas shower curtains, and the South Pacific is right by the toilet, so… How long have you lived on Capitol Hill?
I moved here from Portland in 2007. Before that, I lived in San Diego. My dad was in the military, so when I was a kid we moved around a bit.

If you had to pick the thing you like best about this area, what would it be?
I love that there’s so much community involvement. And lots of very intelligent people.

What do you think is the best-kept secret in Capitol Hill?
Did you know that Cal Anderson park used to be a reservoir? Also, I think he was the first openly gay City Council member (Ed. note: state senator!). As for places, maybe Everyday Music and Elliot Bay. Okay, neither of those is a huge secret, but I love those places!

What would you say is the sexiest place on the Hill?
My apartment! No, just kidding. Hmmm. Maybe, The Eagle, a leather bar near Victrola on Pike. It’s kind of hidden behind a black wall. It’s very dark and dank and a little bit seedy, but I love it. You can play pool for free!

Is there a website where readers can learn more about the HIV vaccine trials you’re promoting?
Yes! It’s www.seattlevaccines.org

What do you do for a living?
Actually, I own this store [Ada’s Books].

You’re the eponymous Ada?
No — it’s named after Ada Lovelace, the 19th century mathematician who’s sometimes thought of as the world’s first computer programmer, because of an algorithm she developed.

What gave you the idea to open a bookstore that mostly specializes in math and computer books?
I majored in engineering, so I went to a lot of technical bookstores. But it always felt like a guy was running them—bright lights, concrete floors, not much attention to aesthetics. I thought, why not have a place with some character, and paint—somewhere that will be welcoming to both women and men? Also, I wanted a bookstore that would create a sense of community by hosting events on subjects that interest our customers.

What is an example of a recent event you’ve hosted?
There are so many. We’ve had everything from science book clubs to a guy from HazardFactory who talked about a new flaming tetherball league.

Flaming tetherball? Okay, so far in the CHS Crow, we’ve had discussions of flaming trombones, flaming nun chucks, and now…tetherballs. What’s up with the pyromaniacs on Capitol Hill?
In the hacker community, anyway, I think it’s because there’s something inherently subversive about doing something ordinary in an entirely new way.

Do you consider yourself a hacker?
I do — but that term is very misunderstood. First, I don’t do anything illegal, which is actually true for a lot of hackers. By my definition, a hacker is just somebody who’s interested in the way things work. It’s about taking things apart for the sake of understanding how they work, then putting them back together—sometimes, in ways that create something entirely different.

I gotta say—when I think of a “hacker who owns a technical bookstore,” you’re not the person who comes to mind.
Yes, I know! There’s the stereotype of the computer geek or hacker as being a male, straight, and a BDN [basement-dwelling nerd]. I want to help change that notion. I’d like to make the community more inclusive.

Are you a Seattle native?
No, I’m originally from Colorado Springs. I originally came here to go to school at Seattle Pacific, then I fell in love…

With the area, or a person?
Both! I met my husband here, but he’s from San Diego originally.

I know tons of techies who live on Capitol Hill, even though it’s not near any of the big tech companies. Why do you think they migrate here?
There’s a certain kind of techie who’s a lot like an artist. For them, tech is about exploring boundaries, and creating new things. I think these people are attracted to areas with a higher concentration of open-minded, creative types.

What do you think is the best-kept secret on the Hill?
Metrix Create:Space workshop, for one. Also, Interlaken Park—it’s sort of hidden between Capitol Hill and Montlake. You really feel like you’re deep in the woods, even though it’s not that big.

Past CHS Crows

• Jeremiah, Bridget & Marc — ‘Your foam has to be just the right consistency’
• Matthew, Raven & Don — ‘I do believe that we’re 99% in charge of our destiny’

King County Animal Control Seattle Animal Control is investigating a reported attack by a pitbull on another dog being walked on Broadway Wednesday night in an incident that also injured the pitbull’s owner.

According to police, officers were called to Broadway near Seattle Central after reports from callers who saw a bloodied woman who they thought had been attacked by a pitbull. Officers arrived to discover it had actually been the woman’s small white dog, Oscar, who had been attacked. 

CHS received an email from Oscar’s owner Mandy who shared details of the incident:

I wanted to send a quick heads up to dog owners in the area. I was walking my dog in front of SCCC on Broadway Wednesday night, around 10:15, when my 8 year-old Westie was mauled by a pitbull. The owner tried to get her dog under control, but the pit wouldn’t let go. My dog, Oscar, suffered extensive injuries and underwent surgery at ACCES in Lake City.

Police were alerted to another injured woman in the area inside a nearby business. There they found the pitbull’s owner who had suffered a significant injury to her hand when she tried to stop the pitbull from attacking. Police say medics advised the pitbull’s owner to get immediate medical attention for her injury but that she refused transport to the hospital.

Mandy says she has talked with animal control investigators about the incident and that Oscar is expected to recover. “He has a rough few days ahead of him, but he’s doing as well as can be expected,” she said.

CORRECTION: When first posted, this article erroneously reported that King County Animal Control was the investigating agency. Instead, Seattle Animal Control has jurisdiction for the incident.