What do you get when you walk around Capitol Hill asking people for jokes?  this video!

Video by Colfslaw.     Dirty Version.

A couple scenes from Pride Weekend… first, marching around Pike/ Pine (we’ve already seen the birds eye view). Video by bbonsey.

and dancing in the streets on Broadway. Video by fart48322

Here’s a cool little project/ experiment by Jenny and Eric… I’ll let them explain it themselves.

We are Jennifer Brookes and Eric Peterson. Jenny lives in Seattle where she photographs anything and everything. Eric lives in Denver where he writes and performs music in a number of bands. We’ve decided to combine our artistic strengths and collaborate on a project that we call tangled; we weave.

Each week, Jenny will take approximately 180 photographs and sequence them to create a 30-second stop motion piece. Operating independently and under a pact of secrecy, Eric will write and record a 30-second musical composition. Each Tuesday, we will reveal our week’s efforts to each other, combine them, and post the result to our website….

An experiment in blind collaboration as well as creative and personal synchronicity, tangled; we weave is a repository for our collective, ineffable experience, one week at a time. “Everything you do shows your hand. Everything is a self-portrait. Everything is a diary.” Check back every Tuesday for a new piece or subscribe via RSS or iTunes Podcast.

tangledweweave.comtangledweweave.com/feedtangledweweave.com/podcast/subscribe

Here’s a couple featuring Capitol Hill Locations…

And lastly, a spot on parody of the documentary “Grizzly Man“, about the Bears of Capitol Hill, by Adam Dow.

It’s starting to look like Spring time again in Cal Anderson! Video by joshywashington.

It’s easy to forget about one of Capitol Hill’s more unique parks spaces … I-5 Colonnade.  Does this count as eco-therapy? Video by CMJ Media.

The MOHAI Minute, a strange little video series from the Museum of History and Industry, brings us the history of the Volunteer Park water tower… which I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve still never climbed up.

“Unfinished Coffee Documentary – clips from the partially edited, but never finished, doc about espresso culture in seattle, after the dot-com bust.  co-produced, co-directed, shot, edited by Kenneth Thomas.”  Looks like you’ve got enough there for at least a doc short Kenneth, finish it up! 

Macklemore Performs “The Town” at Faire Gallery. Video by PatM911. 

Yesterday Slog had the Elliott Bay sign coming down from its old Pioneer Square location.  Today the sign is already up at its new one on 11th10th.

Gotta admit though, it did look more at home nestled in on that old brick building than it does sticking up above the new one.

“Since consumption is merely a means to human well-being, the aim should be to obtain the maximum of well-being with the minimum of consumption… Modern economics, on the other hand, considers consumption to be the sole end and purpose of all economic activity.” – E.F. Schumacher – Small is Beautiful

 In 1974, E.F. Schumacher published “Small is Beautiful,” a collection of essays touting the virtues of smallness. He argued that we were too focused on increasing GDP and producing more goods, and in the process stomping on the environment, and even our own best interests. Though Schumacher’s ideas were largely discarded during the boom-times of the 90s and 00s, the combined effects of the recession and our increased environmental awareness seem to be bringing Schumacher’s ideas back to the forefront.

Most agree that our economy has been irreversibly changed by the great recession that we’re still slowly climbing out of. But how will the new economy look when it re-establishes itself? Will we continue to rely on the industrial food system, or will the local foods movement prove to be more than just a trend? Will we continue to support big box retail and it’s relentless drive for lower prices, or will we realize the value of shopping and manufacturing goods locally?

Capitol Hill has many businesses, organizations and individuals who are helping to define what comes next. Here are three people I spoke with for a better understanding of how their creations fit into Capitol Hill and the re-growth of the “Small is Beautiful” movement — Summer Robinson of Pilot Books, Ian Anderson of Zone Four and Scott Allison of Cherry Hill Urban Farm.

The old Broadway Grocery location has sat empty since closing in September of last year, but rather suddenly* in the past couple of days Crossroads Trading has taken over the corner space.  North Broadway still has a pretty good collection of clothing stores, as the expanded store sits across the street from an Urban Outfitters, Red Light Vintage Clothing and Aprie, among others.  So with many seeing nothing but doom and gloom for North Broadway as Pike/Pine thrives, this could be a sign that retail is still doing fine in the area.

*see comments

OK, I’ll admit it, we here at CHS are pretty excited about Elliott Bay Books coming to Capitol Hill.  I know many of us have our reading lists and credit cards out and ready to help make sure they’ll stick around for years to come.  But if you ask Spine & Crown owner Kris Minta, our enthusiasm is misplaced. 

Kris is a hardcore bibliophile and has worked in book-selling his whole life.  He readily admits that the longer he’s been in the business, the more esoteric his tastes become, both in books and subsequently the stores that sell them.  So take these opinions with a grain of salt.  I don’t agree with everything he says here, but he makes some great points.  Definitely worth a listen.  

Kris is not exactly optimistic about the future of brick & mortar (new) bookselling…

Kris explains what is wrong with the mainstream book selling business, and why he thinks Elliott Bay has more in common with Barnes & Noble than a true indy bookstore.

I also interviewed Pilot Books owner Summer Robinson (for another video I’m working on) and asked her to respond to Kris’ claim that Elliott Bay is part Barnes & Noble.

Kris questions whether Elliot Bay is really the heart of Seattle bookselling, and takes a jab at the Stranger’s coverage of the move, calling it “Elliot Bay Porn.”

At least in terms of numbers of stores, Kris is definitely correct that Elliott Bay is just the tip of the iceberg for Capitol Hill Booksellers.  Here’s a list of bookstores that have come and gone, just in our neighborhood, compiled by commenter willieopal whos owns Pistil Books.

Here is a list of retail bookstores that have come and gone on Capitol Hill since 1993 (when my bookstore, Pistil Books, opened):

Red & Black Books
Pages (in the same space as Red & Black)
Beyond the Closet (on Pike)
Dundee Books (this was around for only about a year on Pike St.)
Horizon Books (used books on 15th)
Fallout Records (they had comics and zines)
Automotive Books (specialty store on 12th Ave.)
Co-op Books (little leftist store on 18th Ave.)
Pathfinder Books (socialist bookstore on Madison)
Warehouse Books (in the Broadway Market)
Chameleon Books (on 15th)
Boticelli Books (where Spine & Crown is now) 
Bailey/Coy

We still have these bookstores:

Spine & Crown
Twice Sold Tales
Half Price Books
Louis Collins Rare Books
Pilot Books
City Books
Edge of the Circle (not just a bookstore)
Quest Book Shop
Horizon (online)
Pistil Books (online)

I’m probably forgetting some…

Sound Transit has started to construct its huge construction wall along 10th as it begins work on the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station.  Originally Sound Transit said the wall would be 16 ft tall (when they released the rendering that I’m including here), but have since said the walls would be up to 24 ft tall.  Not sure exactly how tall it ended up being, but I was pretty surprised when I saw it… that thing is TALL, and if definitely looks taller than the rendering.

When Metro’s service changes go into effect on February 6, Capitol Hill will see an increase in peak-time service, but a decrease in non-peak service.  Although Metro avoided the 20% system wide cuts that were thought possible when Metro first announced it’s revenue shortfall, it is still having to save money through scheduling efficiencies and a 2% service cut targeted at unproductive trips (via STB).

For us here on Capitol Hill, that means we’ll be seeing less frequent off-peak service on the 10, 12 & 14 routes.  But it’s not all bad news, Metro is increasing frequency for the 9, 60 and the always crowded 8.

Cap Hill Bus Map by Oran Viriyincy

And for anyone heading to the airport, the 194 is being axed entirely, because it duplicates LINK service.  

UPDATE: Seadevi points out that also as of Feb 6, you will also be able to load bikes at any downtown bus stop at any time of the day, whereas before it was prohibited during peak times.  

Click here for more info on the Metro service changes.

Click here (.pdf) for info on Sound Transit’s service changes.

Below is more detailed info on the metro changes affecting Cap Hill. Let us know if there’s something in the changes we missed.

8

Service will improve to every 15 minutes weekdays from about 4:45 am to 7:30 pm. On Saturday, service will improve to every 15 minutes from about 8 am to 7 pm.   

9

Service will improve to every 30 minutes weekdays from about 9 am to 3 pm. Also, southbound service will be extended by one hour to about 7:30 pm. 

10/12

On Sunday, early morning and late evening service frequency will be reduced from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. 

14

On Sunday, early morning and late evening service frequency will be reduced from 30 minutes to 60 minutes.

60

Service will improve to every 15 to 20 minutes between 6:30 am and 6 pm weekdays. Northbound trips will leave from a new bus stop northbound on 15th Ave SW & SW 100th St. Two new southbound trips will leave 10th Ave E & E Mercer St at 10:10 and 11:10 pm. Route 60 will also be revised to serve the Olson Pl/Meyers Way P&R on weekdays.

194

Route 194 will be replaced by Link light rail and expanded ST Express service between Federal Way and downtown Seattle. For alternative service between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport, board Link in the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. For service to Federal Way, board ST routes 577 and 578 westbound on Lenora St just east of 4th Ave or on 2nd Ave at Lenora, Pike, Seneca, Marion, and James streets, and on 2nd Ave Ext S at S Jackson St. ST Route 574 will also provide more trips on weekday mornings between SeaTac and Federal Way including service to Star Lake and Kent-Des Moines park-and-rides.

Hey, you! I know you’re excited about your new apartment with the giant dog on the side, but keep it down!

Actually after listening to that, it doesn’t sound so bad, suck it up downstairs people.

From noisy apartment neighbors, to noisy blog neighbors… KOMO tries to stir up some controversy around the Jimi Hendrix statue’s possible move.   (a bit of free camera advice – avoid 350 degree camera spins when you could just turn it 10 degrees in the other direction… @ :20)

The Soft Pack plays “C’Mon” at an in-store appearance at the new Sonic Boom Records.

Seattle Channel profiles three Seattle area chefs that source sustainably, including Carrie Mashaney of Spinasse.

Director Terrence Brown posted an excerpt from his documentary short “Bailey Boushay House: A Living History.”

And lastly, some tourists show us what North Cap Hill looks like from the sky.  

For the past 9 months, Gabriel Campanario has been sketching his way through Seattle as part of his Seattle Sketcher blog for the Seattle Times.  A native of Spain, Gabriel mixes old media with new, sharing his sketches live via twitter, and journalism with art by using his sketches to tell stories as he learns about his new home city.  I caught up with Gabriel while he was sketching the Jimi Hendrix statue and talking to passersby about their thoughts on its possible move to the planned Jimi Hendrix Park.  

Gabriel also runs the site Urban Sketchers, a network of sketchers from around the world.

If you have an opinion on whether or not Jimi should stay on Capitol Hill, or just want to get involved in the Jimi Hendrix Park Planning process there is an open house at the Northwest African American Museum (2300 S. Massachusetts St.) tonight (Jan 28) from 7:00 – 8:30 pm in Artist Workroom #1.  More info here. 

Also make sure to check out Gabriel’s post to see the final sketch… 

And for anyone reading this from an iPad or iPad mini, the video is also up on youtube.